Hmm. Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, Danny de Vito, Pam Ferris (the best thing in it), Vincent Schiavelli (from Cuckoo's Nest) and whoever that gravelly-voiced guy is (Harvey Fierstein, apparently).
A bit of a mess, somewhat over-directed. You have to smile at Norton's politically correct children's rhymes though.
Saturday, 14 November 2015
Sherrybaby (2006 Laurie Collyer)
Hmm. Subtle. We see why she's trying to get her father's attention so needily - it's to distract him from her daughter. Maggie Gyllenhaal is good (and rather sexy). Coincidentally with Giancarlo Esposito again, Brad William Henke, Danny Trejo (a former inmate himself). Good scenes with the kid. Ending hopeful but not cheerful.
Night on Earth (1991 Jim Jarmusch)
Five cab stories take us through the night, round the world, through people.
Gena Rowlands and Winona Ryder in LA.
Perhaps most amusingly, Amin Müeller-Stahl and Giancarlo Esposito - plus Rosie Perez - in NYC.
Isaach de Bankolé (who really is from the Ivory Coast) and Beatrice Dalle in our beloved Paris.
The force of nature Roberto Benigni ("I can't eat meat now, and don't eat vegetables because of the pumpkins") and Paolo Bonacelli (The American) in Rome.
Matti Pellonpää and passengers in Helsinki.
Photographed by Frederic Elmes (Broken Flowers, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, The Ice Storm).
Gena Rowlands and Winona Ryder in LA.
Perhaps most amusingly, Amin Müeller-Stahl and Giancarlo Esposito - plus Rosie Perez - in NYC.
Isaach de Bankolé (who really is from the Ivory Coast) and Beatrice Dalle in our beloved Paris.
The force of nature Roberto Benigni ("I can't eat meat now, and don't eat vegetables because of the pumpkins") and Paolo Bonacelli (The American) in Rome.
Matti Pellonpää and passengers in Helsinki.
Photographed by Frederic Elmes (Broken Flowers, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, The Ice Storm).
Friday, 13 November 2015
Working Girl (1998 - oops - 1988 Mike Nichols)
Really enjoyed this again, particularly that Melanie Griffith's character is stronger than her romantic partner Harrison Ford - it's Sigourney Weaver who's the archetypal bitch, though nice boss Philip Bosco soon sees through her. In fact it's a Judy Holliday film, updated.
Griffiths looks eerily like her mum in one street shot; same grey colour suit as The Birds. She's rather good in this.
With an alarmingly young looking Alec Baldwin and Oliver Platt, Joan Cusack, Kevin Spacey.
Edited by Sam O'Steen and shot by Michael Ballhaus.
Review from 23.2.10 included: "Worth whole price of admission for [albeit fleeting] shot of Melanie hoovering in only her knickers!"
Written by Kevin Wade, whose realistic cop TV show Blue Bloods is well reviewed
Griffiths looks eerily like her mum in one street shot; same grey colour suit as The Birds. She's rather good in this.
With an alarmingly young looking Alec Baldwin and Oliver Platt, Joan Cusack, Kevin Spacey.
Edited by Sam O'Steen and shot by Michael Ballhaus.
Review from 23.2.10 included: "Worth whole price of admission for [albeit fleeting] shot of Melanie hoovering in only her knickers!"
Written by Kevin Wade, whose realistic cop TV show Blue Bloods is well reviewed
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Seize the Day (1986 Fielder Cook)
Not a film for those feeling depressed, Ronald Ribman's adaptation of Saul Bellow's 1956 novel features a number of vividly captured but unsympathetic characters, starting with Robin Williams, who has the temper of snake that's been run over by a wagon. He's his own worst enemy, though his situation is hardly helped by venal ex Katherine Borowitz, heartless father Joseph Wiseman and philosophical scam artist Jerry Stiller. Well acted, claustrophobic (made moreso by its 4x3 framing), with canny and intrusive sound design. Produced by 'Learning in Focus' (presumably for American TV), featuring well-known faces such as John Feidler and Tony Roberts.
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004 Alfonso Cuaron)
Iris dissolves - even at the very end of the credits.
The great sound design is by Richard Beggs, whose first film was Apocalypse Now, and since then has worked on most of Sophia's films. He imported his own sound studio to England to work on it, and reportedly tried to avoid any sound that said 'magic'. (Certainly the Dementors scenes seem to be accompanied by electronic noise.) He also worked often with Cuaron (though not - interestingly - on the Oscar-winning Gravity).
The great sound design is by Richard Beggs, whose first film was Apocalypse Now, and since then has worked on most of Sophia's films. He imported his own sound studio to England to work on it, and reportedly tried to avoid any sound that said 'magic'. (Certainly the Dementors scenes seem to be accompanied by electronic noise.) He also worked often with Cuaron (though not - interestingly - on the Oscar-winning Gravity).
Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai (1999 Jim Jarmusch & scr)
Distinctive, unique, and very funny, ultra-stylish from opening (literally) bird's eye view of city to ultra cool music from RZA (Wu Tang Clan), shot by cool cameraman Robby Müller.
Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Tricia Vessey, Henry Silva, Isaach de Bankolé, Camille Winbush.
Full of moments to love - the boat builder on the rooftop, the conversations in French and English, the cartoons that litter the film, the mystique of the samurai's 'way', 'Night Nurse', the old gangster who has a heart attack (thus Forest lowers one of his guns)...
Weirdly enough, the other illegitimate offspring of Melville's Le Samourai was on TV the same night (Clooney in The American).
The book quoted, Yamamoto's 'Bushido: the Way of the samurai', features frequently interesting material, such as "Matters of great concern should be treated wisely. Matters of small concern should be treated seriously" and, anticipating the climactic confrontation "When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong."
Also, I liked "Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase, ‘Form is emptiness.’ That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase, ‘Emptiness is form.’ One should not think that these are two separate things."
Jim's films are: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) the vampire one with Tom Hiddlestone, Tilda Swinton and Mia Wasikowska, The Limits of Control (2009) also with de Bankolé, Broken Flowers (2005), Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), short episodes with Murray, Waits, Benigni, Buscemi, de Bankolé, Dead Man (1995) with Johnny Depp (a sort of western), Night on Earth (1991). multiple stories about cab drivers, Mystery Train (1989) (Memphis, Elvis), Down by Law (1986), Stranger Than Paradise (1984, cousins meet) and Permanent Vacation (1980).
Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Tricia Vessey, Henry Silva, Isaach de Bankolé, Camille Winbush.
Full of moments to love - the boat builder on the rooftop, the conversations in French and English, the cartoons that litter the film, the mystique of the samurai's 'way', 'Night Nurse', the old gangster who has a heart attack (thus Forest lowers one of his guns)...
Weirdly enough, the other illegitimate offspring of Melville's Le Samourai was on TV the same night (Clooney in The American).
The book quoted, Yamamoto's 'Bushido: the Way of the samurai', features frequently interesting material, such as "Matters of great concern should be treated wisely. Matters of small concern should be treated seriously" and, anticipating the climactic confrontation "When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong."
Also, I liked "Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase, ‘Form is emptiness.’ That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase, ‘Emptiness is form.’ One should not think that these are two separate things."
Jim's films are: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) the vampire one with Tom Hiddlestone, Tilda Swinton and Mia Wasikowska, The Limits of Control (2009) also with de Bankolé, Broken Flowers (2005), Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), short episodes with Murray, Waits, Benigni, Buscemi, de Bankolé, Dead Man (1995) with Johnny Depp (a sort of western), Night on Earth (1991). multiple stories about cab drivers, Mystery Train (1989) (Memphis, Elvis), Down by Law (1986), Stranger Than Paradise (1984, cousins meet) and Permanent Vacation (1980).
Saturday, 7 November 2015
Celebrity (1998 Woody Allen & scr)
We only watched it in June?? It's awfully good. There's a scene where Leo kicks off in a hotel room that is fabulous for watching the acting of both he and Kenneth Branagh. Long takes in this - and the following scene with the cops - give it authenticity and involvement.
Sven Nykvist has shot the film in a seriously contrasty inky-black way. During the filming he was diagnosed with progressive aphasia which caused words to become mixed up and leading to loss of speech. He only made a couple more films after this.
Judy Davis is perhaps the stand-out as a woman who just can't believe her own luck. Charlize Theron looks eerily like Scarlett Johanssen.
Sven Nykvist has shot the film in a seriously contrasty inky-black way. During the filming he was diagnosed with progressive aphasia which caused words to become mixed up and leading to loss of speech. He only made a couple more films after this.
Judy Davis is perhaps the stand-out as a woman who just can't believe her own luck. Charlize Theron looks eerily like Scarlett Johanssen.
Brief Encounter (1945 David Lean)
Now, my absolutely favourite moment is when he says 'Thursday?' and she doesn't reply, just turns into the carriage. It's the look on her face - helpless, hopeless, unhappy infatuation.
Also like the scene where she flees from the flat and we have two shots of her running, filmed from a vehicle, then as she runs out of steam the camera returns to a fixed position.
There are lots of clocks and references to time.
Also like the 'Flames of Passion' trailer is followed immediately by ad for pram!
Also like the scene where she flees from the flat and we have two shots of her running, filmed from a vehicle, then as she runs out of steam the camera returns to a fixed position.
There are lots of clocks and references to time.
Also like the 'Flames of Passion' trailer is followed immediately by ad for pram!
The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947 Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Philip Dunne screenwrote R.A. Dick (a.k.a Josephine Aimee Campbell Leslie) 1945 novel and it's a very pleasing story, fully enacted by Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney accompanied by an artful Bernard Herrmann score, shot by Charles Lang 'Jr.' (Senior was a camera technician at Realart, a small Hollywood studio where Jr went to work.)
I like that maid Edna Best also starts going on about 'landlubbers' and has a secret attachment to the sea captain - as, it turns out, does daughter Natalie Wood (who becomes Vanessa Brown). With George Sanders, Robert Coote (AMOLAD's dead airman) and Whitford Kane (the publisher).
Edited by Dorothy Spencer, blast it!
I like that maid Edna Best also starts going on about 'landlubbers' and has a secret attachment to the sea captain - as, it turns out, does daughter Natalie Wood (who becomes Vanessa Brown). With George Sanders, Robert Coote (AMOLAD's dead airman) and Whitford Kane (the publisher).
Edited by Dorothy Spencer, blast it!
Friday, 6 November 2015
Obsession (1976 Brian de Palma & co-scr)
Paul Schrader is the other writer, twisting Vertigo beautifully into something sicker... Overall, film couldn't be more like Hitch's - though also has echoes of Marnie, Dial M for Murder and Rebecca - exaggerated by one of Bernard Herrmann's last great scores, featuring a choir and church organ.
More wonderful deep focus and interesting compositions from Vilmos Zsigmond, at his most diffused (like, it must be said, many of the exterior shots in Vertigo) - film is almost entirely shot at angles, also like its predecessor... Some seriously good scenes such as the first drop-off of the money on the pier, with wonderful moving perspective...
Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold, John Lithgow.. Doesn't really have any other characters of note.
Q thinks the mausoleum in the park looks ridiculous. I am of course inclined to agree.
Film is nuts, but most interesting. Finale in corridor looks eerie - they're so far apart from each other...
More wonderful deep focus and interesting compositions from Vilmos Zsigmond, at his most diffused (like, it must be said, many of the exterior shots in Vertigo) - film is almost entirely shot at angles, also like its predecessor... Some seriously good scenes such as the first drop-off of the money on the pier, with wonderful moving perspective...
Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold, John Lithgow.. Doesn't really have any other characters of note.
Q thinks the mausoleum in the park looks ridiculous. I am of course inclined to agree.
Film is nuts, but most interesting. Finale in corridor looks eerie - they're so far apart from each other...
Broken Flowers (2004 Jim Jarmusch & scr)
The deadpan Bill Murray confronts various women from his past - Sharon Stone (and 'Lolita' Alexis Dziena), Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under), Jessica Lange (with Chloe Sevigny) and Tilda Swinton, whilst finding some emotion finally at graveside of the one that died... Jeffrey Wright and Heather Simms are the lovely neighbours.
Very dry, and funny. Simply told with most interesting (actually unforgettable) music by Ethiopian jazz artist Mulatu Astatke.
Whole film is deadpan, actually.
The film clip I didn't recognise is The Private Life of Don Juan (1934, Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon).
Very dry, and funny. Simply told with most interesting (actually unforgettable) music by Ethiopian jazz artist Mulatu Astatke.
Whole film is deadpan, actually.
The film clip I didn't recognise is The Private Life of Don Juan (1934, Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon).
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Spanglish (2004 James L Brooks)
Comedy sort-of-romance on the subject of the language barrier (Sandler's character says 'no, no, no' when he means 'yes') with typical Brooks moments (as voiceover says 'she stepped over the threshold into America' her cousin walks into a plate glass window). Also about families.
Well acted by all- Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vega, Cloris Leachman, Shelbie Bruce, Sarah Steele (who Q correctly identifies as now in The Good Wife) and Thomas Haden Church (briefly).
Professionally put together by Richard Marks from John Seale's images to Hans Zimmer's music.
Well acted by all- Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vega, Cloris Leachman, Shelbie Bruce, Sarah Steele (who Q correctly identifies as now in The Good Wife) and Thomas Haden Church (briefly).
Professionally put together by Richard Marks from John Seale's images to Hans Zimmer's music.
Tuesday, 3 November 2015
The Narrow Margin (1952 Richard Fleischer)
No one seemed familiar to us in taut train thriller (not really a noir), cunningly written by Martin Goldsmith and Jack Leonard and adapted by Earl Fenton. Charles McGraw and Don Beddow are the detectives entrusted with looking after gangster's wife Marie Windsor - David Clarke, Peter Virgo and Peter Brocco (who made an impression) are out to get them, and Jacqueline White and her son Gordon Gebert (Holiday Affair) are the innocent bystanders.
No music. Lit well by George Diskant. Features some eye-catching stuff, like a tough fight in a train compartment long before From Russia with Love and a thrilling finale.
No music. Lit well by George Diskant. Features some eye-catching stuff, like a tough fight in a train compartment long before From Russia with Love and a thrilling finale.
The Other Love (1947 André de Toth)
Typical Eric Maria Remarque stuff - couple trying to find love amidst tragic circumstances (the film's best scene is where Barbara Stanwyck realises her room mate has just died) - given slightly sluggish treatment. Neither Niven nor Richard Conte feel quite believable as doctor and racing driver respectively.
Shot by Victor Milner with a stirring score by Miklos Rosza for RKO.
Shot by Victor Milner with a stirring score by Miklos Rosza for RKO.
Monday, 2 November 2015
Blow Out (1981 Brian de Palma & scr)
With its seed in Blow Up, de Palma then shamelessly steals from everyone else including his mate Coppola (The Conversation) and of course Hitchcock (Vertigo in both plot and colouring).
Travolta and Lithgow are fine, not so sure about acting talents of de Palma regulars Nancy Allen and Dennis Franz. Quite diffused lighting from Vilmos Zsigmond (with some fantastic moments of deep focus), music by Pino Donaggio that sometimes works: a bit of a mixed bag though pretty enjoyable. Actually lots and lots to recommend it, including seriously skilful editing by Paul Hirsch.
At one point anyway, Quentin Tarantino's named this as one of his three favourite films (the other two being Rio Bravo and Taxi Driver).
Thanks to Angelfire for quoting the ASC article which confirms that furious finish is an optical effect (bluescreen filming with the fireworks added later). Still looks amazing though, and seasonally timely, though in fact Vilmos' mate Laszlo had to reshoot the last two reels which went missing (you'd never know):
Travolta and Lithgow are fine, not so sure about acting talents of de Palma regulars Nancy Allen and Dennis Franz. Quite diffused lighting from Vilmos Zsigmond (with some fantastic moments of deep focus), music by Pino Donaggio that sometimes works: a bit of a mixed bag though pretty enjoyable. Actually lots and lots to recommend it, including seriously skilful editing by Paul Hirsch.
 |
| Astonishing night deep focus from Vilmos Zsigmond |
Thanks to Angelfire for quoting the ASC article which confirms that furious finish is an optical effect (bluescreen filming with the fireworks added later). Still looks amazing though, and seasonally timely, though in fact Vilmos' mate Laszlo had to reshoot the last two reels which went missing (you'd never know):
Amy (2015 Asif Kapadia)
Very well put together documentary, calling our attention to Amy the lyricist. We're left in no doubt where the problems in her life lay and reckoned the bodyguard should have been her manager all along.
Some surprising omissions: Barbara Windsor friendship (would have lifted end section); very little about the impact Mark Ronson had on her career; outdoor gig where she seems to be assaulted, then falls apart.
Some surprising omissions: Barbara Windsor friendship (would have lifted end section); very little about the impact Mark Ronson had on her career; outdoor gig where she seems to be assaulted, then falls apart.
Brandy for the Parson (1952 John Eldridge)
James Donald and Jean Lodge are inveigled into helping crap smuggler Kenneth More deal with fourteen barrels of brandy. Also involved are Charles Hawtrey, Michael Trubshawe (who in support of his friend David refers to his housekeeper as 'Mrs Niven'), Alfie Bass, Reginald Beckwith, Frank Tickle (vicar), pursued by Frederick Piper.
Written by John Dighton and Walter Meade, novel Geoffrey Household - title is Kipling. Shot by Martin Curtis, music John Addison. Film is produced by John Grierson.
Traffic accident scene where passengers talk in farmyard sounds is funny, though seems to be belong to another film altogether.
Written by John Dighton and Walter Meade, novel Geoffrey Household - title is Kipling. Shot by Martin Curtis, music John Addison. Film is produced by John Grierson.
Traffic accident scene where passengers talk in farmyard sounds is funny, though seems to be belong to another film altogether.
Sunday, 1 November 2015
Dead of Night (1945 Various)
I hadn't noticed before that in 'The Haunted Mirror', there's a very subtle track into close up of Ralph Michael. Also that the hostess Mrs Foley (Mary Merrall) is the only one in the group not involved in a ghost story of her own.
Actually, only made it as far as the delightful 'Golf' episode so it doesn't really count.
Which episodes did Douglas Slocombe film and which did Stan Pavey (apparently the stories were filmed concurrently so I guess they did two each)? The golf scenes by the lake really stand out.
Actually, only made it as far as the delightful 'Golf' episode so it doesn't really count.
Which episodes did Douglas Slocombe film and which did Stan Pavey (apparently the stories were filmed concurrently so I guess they did two each)? The golf scenes by the lake really stand out.
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