Scr. William Fairchild, novel Joseph Conrad.
Ralph Richardson, Trevor Howard, Robert (& Annabel!) Morley, Kerima, Wendy Hiller, George Coulouris as a native, Wilfred Hyde White, Frederick Valk.
Music Brian Easdale, photography John Wilcox and Ted Scaife, filmed in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Atmospheric. Strikingly edited and shot.
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Good Will Hunting (1997 Gus Van Sant)
He's talented - why did he remake Psycho? "It was my sort of anti-remake statement!" It ended up being not a shot by shot remake because it had to have its own life. Danny Elfman scored it, and said the critics would kill him, which they did.
Written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (AA), with Robin Williams (AA), Stellan Skarsgaard, Minnie Driver (who's fabulous - her giggles sound real, then she made me cry when Damon dumps her. Not really made it - all TV lately).
Music Danny Elfman, ph. Jean-Yves Escoffier.
Interesting positioning of camera / lenses. Good interplay between Williams and Damon (something about 'the bad stuff reminds you of the good things you were too busy to notice'). Great ending (Affleck, then car on road). Well overdue.
Written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (AA), with Robin Williams (AA), Stellan Skarsgaard, Minnie Driver (who's fabulous - her giggles sound real, then she made me cry when Damon dumps her. Not really made it - all TV lately).
Music Danny Elfman, ph. Jean-Yves Escoffier.
Interesting positioning of camera / lenses. Good interplay between Williams and Damon (something about 'the bad stuff reminds you of the good things you were too busy to notice'). Great ending (Affleck, then car on road). Well overdue.
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Revolutionary Road (2008 Sam Mendes & co-prod)
Screenplay Justine Hathe, novel Richard Yates.
Kate Winslet, Leonardo Di Caprio (both rather good), David Harbour, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon (Take Shelter).
Ph. Roger Deakins. Music Thomas Newman. Editor Tariq Anwar.
Not quite as engaging as Sam's others. Great ending.
Kate Winslet, Leonardo Di Caprio (both rather good), David Harbour, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon (Take Shelter).
Ph. Roger Deakins. Music Thomas Newman. Editor Tariq Anwar.
Not quite as engaging as Sam's others. Great ending.
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
Topaz (1969 AH)
Written by Samuel Taylor (Sabrina, Vertigo, Avanti), novel Leon Uris.
Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin (wife), John Vernon, Karin Dor (mistress), Michel Piccoli (Bunuels), Philippe Noiret (Cinema Paradiso), Claude Jade (daughter, Truffauts), Roscoe Lee Brown.
Music - Maurice Jarre. Ph. Jack Hildyard.
Forty years on, Hitch begins Topaz like Blackmail - as a near silent film (and later plays a trick with the audio of a fountain). Another great silent scene featuring Stafford and Brown at a hotel leads to film's best suspense moment: photographing of papers and chase (Browne is unfortunately the most charismatic character in it). Though plenty of good touches (cameras in sandwiches) film is restrained and one of the longest Hitchcocks isn't sustained by enough suspense. Still, much underrated. Hitch appears leaping from a wheelchair!
Stafford-Dor love scenes not very convincing, either.
Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin (wife), John Vernon, Karin Dor (mistress), Michel Piccoli (Bunuels), Philippe Noiret (Cinema Paradiso), Claude Jade (daughter, Truffauts), Roscoe Lee Brown.
Music - Maurice Jarre. Ph. Jack Hildyard.
Forty years on, Hitch begins Topaz like Blackmail - as a near silent film (and later plays a trick with the audio of a fountain). Another great silent scene featuring Stafford and Brown at a hotel leads to film's best suspense moment: photographing of papers and chase (Browne is unfortunately the most charismatic character in it). Though plenty of good touches (cameras in sandwiches) film is restrained and one of the longest Hitchcocks isn't sustained by enough suspense. Still, much underrated. Hitch appears leaping from a wheelchair!
Stafford-Dor love scenes not very convincing, either.
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Attack the Block (2011 Joe Cornish & scr)
Edgar Wright is an exec producer.
Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Nick Frost
Ph. Tom Townend (Panavision)
Was making me think of tons of 70s movies esp. Assault on Precinct 13, Shivers, The Warriors and even the Zombie films.
Funny and subversive, it even manages a politically pointed conclusion.
Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Nick Frost
Ph. Tom Townend (Panavision)
Was making me think of tons of 70s movies esp. Assault on Precinct 13, Shivers, The Warriors and even the Zombie films.
Funny and subversive, it even manages a politically pointed conclusion.
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Away We Go (2009 Sam Mendes)
Scr. Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida.
John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal.
A sweet and subtle look at relationships and their offspring. "Yeah my tilted uterus is a fucking secret". And when he keeps trying to 'argue' with her.
Music Alexi Murdoch. Ph. Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine, Be Kind Rewind, Blow).
John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal.
A sweet and subtle look at relationships and their offspring. "Yeah my tilted uterus is a fucking secret". And when he keeps trying to 'argue' with her.
Music Alexi Murdoch. Ph. Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine, Be Kind Rewind, Blow).
Your Sister's Sister (2011 Lynn Shelton & scr)
Emily Blunt, Mark Duplass, Rosemarie de Witt.
Has slightly improvved feel. Good.
Has slightly improvved feel. Good.
Friday, 2 November 2012
Romance on the Orient Express (1985 Lawrence Gordon Clark)
Should have taken a clue from the title.
Cheryl Ladd, Stuart Wilson, Ruby Wax, Julian Sands, John Gielgud.
Difficult to know what's worse: script, direction or leading actors, but it's good to watch bad films now and then to remind you how good good ones are. A clue is that Ruby Wax gives the best performance. Music sounds like it's from Reggie Perrin. The ending is genuinely sick-making.
Made me wonder whether Murder.. was filmed on sets. I beliueve it was, at Elstree. Did they reuse them for this?
Cheryl Ladd, Stuart Wilson, Ruby Wax, Julian Sands, John Gielgud.
Difficult to know what's worse: script, direction or leading actors, but it's good to watch bad films now and then to remind you how good good ones are. A clue is that Ruby Wax gives the best performance. Music sounds like it's from Reggie Perrin. The ending is genuinely sick-making.
Made me wonder whether Murder.. was filmed on sets. I beliueve it was, at Elstree. Did they reuse them for this?
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972 Robert Fuest & co-scr)
Price, Robert Quarry, Valli Kemp, Peter Jeffrey, Hugh Griffith, Peter Cushing, Beryl Reid, Terry-Thomas, John Cater, John Thaw.
I didn't think Mrs Phibes was Caroline Munro this time. Unfortunately every time Phibes (doesn't) speak, boring crap comes out that doesn't advance the plot much. Good clockwork snake murder, but body in bottle is curiously under-presented.
Some lovely deco design, this time shot by Alex Thomson.
I remembered it being funnier than the first one, but it isn't.
I didn't think Mrs Phibes was Caroline Munro this time. Unfortunately every time Phibes (doesn't) speak, boring crap comes out that doesn't advance the plot much. Good clockwork snake murder, but body in bottle is curiously under-presented.
Some lovely deco design, this time shot by Alex Thomson.
I remembered it being funnier than the first one, but it isn't.
Monday, 29 October 2012
Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987 Louis Malle & scr)
Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejto.
Devastating and totally unsentimental. Unexpected (teachers are OK, so are some Germans, French boy shops them).
Devastating and totally unsentimental. Unexpected (teachers are OK, so are some Germans, French boy shops them).
Monday, 22 October 2012
Carrie's War (2004 Coky Giedroyc)
Yes, Mel's sister.
Keely Fawcett (who seems to have retired after this), Lesley Sharp, Alun Armstrong, Pauline Quirke (who's great in this kind of role).
Novel, Nina Bowden.
Quite fine.
Keely Fawcett (who seems to have retired after this), Lesley Sharp, Alun Armstrong, Pauline Quirke (who's great in this kind of role).
Novel, Nina Bowden.
Quite fine.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935 Leo McCarey)
Novel Harry Leon Wilson, screenplay Humphrey Pearson (accidentally shot by wife while he was in a drunken rage) Walter DeLeon, Harlan Thompson.
Charles Laughton, Roland Young, Charles Ruggles, Mary Boland, Zasu Pitts, Leila Hyams (Freaks, Island of Lost Souls, retired 1936).
Photographed by Alfred Gilks (since 1920), editor Edward Dmytryk.
Maybe Roland Young's best film.
Charles Laughton, Roland Young, Charles Ruggles, Mary Boland, Zasu Pitts, Leila Hyams (Freaks, Island of Lost Souls, retired 1936).
Photographed by Alfred Gilks (since 1920), editor Edward Dmytryk.
Maybe Roland Young's best film.
Experiment in Terror / The Grip of Fear (1962 Blake Edwards)
Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Stefanie Powers, Ross Martin, Ned Glass (Charade, The Fortune Cookie), Anita Loo, Clifton James.
Crisply shot by Philip Lathrop, music by Mancini.
Crisply shot by Philip Lathrop, music by Mancini.
The Iron Lady (2011 Phillida Lloyd)
Written by Abi Morgan.
Meryl Streep (AA and BAFTA, as did make-up), Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach (young MT), Olivia Colman, John Sessions, Anthony Head, Richard E Grant, Roger Allum.
Music Thomas Newman, photography Elliot Davis.
The acting is better than the film.
All the archive footage is stretched.
Meryl Streep (AA and BAFTA, as did make-up), Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach (young MT), Olivia Colman, John Sessions, Anthony Head, Richard E Grant, Roger Allum.
Music Thomas Newman, photography Elliot Davis.
The acting is better than the film.
All the archive footage is stretched.
Duck Soup (1933 Leo McCarey)
Not to be confused with 1927 Laurel & Hardy film of same name, on which allegedly McCarey worked (unsubstantiated). He made dozens of shorts in the twenties and is one of seven winners of top three Oscars for Picture, Director and Screenplay on same film - the others being Wilder, Coppola, Coen Brothers, James L Brooks and Peter Jackson - his was Going My Way (1944). He also made Make Way for Tomorrow which Orson Welles said would make a stone cry, one of Ayoade's Top 10.
Scr. Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman & Nat Perrin.
With Raquel Torres.
Actually made it through to the end, which seemed quite unfamiliar!
Scr. Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman & Nat Perrin.
With Raquel Torres.
Actually made it through to the end, which seemed quite unfamiliar!
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Fast Girls (2012 Regan Hall)
Lenora Crichlow, Bradley Jones, Rupert Graves, Phil Davis (a curiously under-written role), Noel Clarke (co-scr.)
Unremarkable film about girls in relay team.
Unremarkable film about girls in relay team.
Sunday, 14 October 2012
To Be Or Not To Be (1942 Ernst Lubitsch)
Story Melchior Lengyel, scr Edwin Justus Meyer (also co-wrote the story of Midnight).
Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Halliwell Hobbes.
Ph. Rudolph Maté.
Great identity confusion. Lombard's last (plane crash). Beard scene incomparable.
Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Halliwell Hobbes.
Ph. Rudolph Maté.
Great identity confusion. Lombard's last (plane crash). Beard scene incomparable.
Sunday, 7 October 2012
Marley (2012 Kevin Macdonald)
Our third premiere of the day, intelligently put together (some of the new footage has beautifully filmed shots, use of photos and Bob's words in titles).
Interestingly quite light on family (11 children by 7 women) and drug-taking, through we gather he liked fish tea and football.
Ph. Alwin Kuchler (Hanna ), Mike Eley (Parade's End, Touching the Void ) & Wally Pfister (additional footage).
It isn't overwhelmed with greatest hits either.
Interestingly quite light on family (11 children by 7 women) and drug-taking, through we gather he liked fish tea and football.
Ph. Alwin Kuchler (Hanna ), Mike Eley (Parade's End, Touching the Void ) & Wally Pfister (additional footage).
It isn't overwhelmed with greatest hits either.
What Did You Do In the War Daddy? (1965 Blake Edwards, & story)
Another premiere, a wacky war comedy, scr by William Peter Blatty!
James Coburn, Dick Shawn (reminding us of Alec Baldwin), Sergio Fantoni, Aldo Ray, Harry Morgan (who goes completely mad), Carroll O'Connor (General), Giovanna Ralli
Mus. Henry Mancini, ph Philip Lathrop.
Great fun with highlights of festival, fake battle, Shawn in drag, finale. Lots of silent stuff - where it all came from.
James Coburn, Dick Shawn (reminding us of Alec Baldwin), Sergio Fantoni, Aldo Ray, Harry Morgan (who goes completely mad), Carroll O'Connor (General), Giovanna Ralli
Mus. Henry Mancini, ph Philip Lathrop.
Great fun with highlights of festival, fake battle, Shawn in drag, finale. Lots of silent stuff - where it all came from.
Design for Living (1933 Ernst Lubitsch & prod)
Play Noel Coward, scr. Ben Hecht
Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Jane Darwell
Ph Victor Milner
On first viewing, not as sprightly or funny as other Lubitsches, but I'm sure when we get to know it we'll love it. Great opening. Seems to have no music. Very risqué material. The dusty mattress!
Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Jane Darwell
Ph Victor Milner
On first viewing, not as sprightly or funny as other Lubitsches, but I'm sure when we get to know it we'll love it. Great opening. Seems to have no music. Very risqué material. The dusty mattress!
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