film-blog

Film blog These are films that I saw on TV or at the cinema. -----------------------------------------------------------Casino Royale

the sad anecdote about Casino Royale is that Peter Sellers wasn't feeling well at the time he filmed the scenes at the casino. As you know Orson Welles plays in the film too, and one of his party tricks was to perform magic tricks. If you've seen the movie "Fake" that Orson Welles did, then you'll understand what kind of mind boggling person he is. Basically poor Peter was totally freaked out by Mr Welles and refused to film with him in the scenes at the casino. Nevertheless, both actors are amazing, plus David Niven and Woody Allen. :) I love Casino Royale because it's completely over the top and totally funny. The bit you should look out for is when Peter Sellers' character walks past the aquarium and that classic Dusty Springfield/Burt Bacharach song "The Look of Love". This is what I call very sexy. That scene is pure movie heaven. The script and the direction are a total mess. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: July 02, 2006 12:01AM saw a film called "American Gun" which was James Coburn's last film. Co. star Barbara Bain and Virginia Marsden. Told in flashbacks, this is the story of a man whose daughter has been shot and he wants to pursue the enquiry after police closed the case. He manages to trace back the gun to the owner as he does so he reminisces about his daughter's life, his time as a soldier during the second Word War where he saw many people around him being shot. His wife is against the idea of him doing this enquiry. There is a twist to this film which is very smart hence I won't reveal it.

Date: July 08, 2006 12:48PM I saw a film called The Long Memory with John Mills. 1952 - produced by Rank - ealing studios some stills from the film: [www.reelstreets.com] mostly shot in Gravesend/Kent, this gritty film is about a guy called Davidson who gets set for 12 years in prison for a murder he did not commit on the basis of false testimonies, incl. from his own girlfriend. Bitter and resentful, he wows himself to take revenge. Is revenge going to destroy him completely? Date: July 09, 2006 08:40PM if I was a bloke, I would want to be James Stewart. He was one of the nicest people ever to be on film. Not a bad bone in his body. This afternoon ITV made a special effort to show two movies ahead of the football world cup final. which were:

Harvey (1950) Starring: James Stewart, Josephine Hull Director: Henry Koster Synopsis: When a gentle, pleasant man tells his friends about his best pal, an invisible six-foot-tall rabbit, his sister considers having him committed to the funny farm. Runtime: 104 minutes MPAA Rating: Not Rated Genres: Classic, Comedy, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Destry Rides Again (1939) starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Brian Donlevy, Charles Winninger screenplay by Felix Jackson, Gertrude Purcell and Henry Mayers, based on the novel by Max Brand directed by George Marshall Genres: Comedy, Western Tagline: They make the fighting sinful west blaze into action before your eyes! An owner of a chain of movie houses published an advertisement in all American newspapers: "The following actors and actresses are declared undesirable at the box office" printed in bold letters were the names: Garbo, Hepburn, Crawford, Dietrich, etc. That was a death sentence. The studios at that time, it must be understood, pursued a strict business policy: each time a distributor wanted a film for example, one with Garbo or Dietrich, he was forced to buy six mediocre films (or even downright bad films) as part of the deal. This public announcement shook the film industry. Metro-Golwyn- Mayer remained loyal to its stars, and continued to pay them, but it no longer wished to invest money in their films. Paramount wasn't so generous; They fired me, and Columbia withdrew the George Sand project. During the course of the summer of 1939, I received a call from the Hollywood producer Joe Pasternak. "In spite of everything, I'm taking the risk of making a film with you," he said "Jimmy Stewart has already agreed, and I would like to have you as his co-star in the western, Destry Rides again," I answered, "Not for anything in the world". But Josef von Sternberg advised me to accept the offer. So I left Antibes and set out for Hollywood. It was fun to make the film, and we were all delighted with its great success. Joe Pasternak was especially happy, since he had challenged the film industry and saw that his efforts had been rewarded." from pp207-209 Pan Books 1978

Seven Day to Noon heartbreaking documentary-style film filmed on locations in London, Photographer Gilbert Taylor United Kingdom (1950) directed by John Boulting Writer James Bernard starring Barry Jones , Andre Morrell , Hugh Cross , Sheila Manahan , Olive Sloane , Joan Hickson Atomic scientist Barry Jones is horrified by the destructive power of the weapon he's working on, so he steals one and demands nuclear disarmament - or he'll blow London to smithereens! The authorities have seven days to comply and start to evacuate the city as the hunt for the renegade boffin begins. This tense and intelligent thriller is one of the earliest movies to deal with people's fears over "the bomb" Joan Hickson who plays a landlady in the film is better known as Miss Marple from the later TV series. Actors are all fantastic.

Date: July 24, 2006 08:50PM i saw Amelie (le destin fabuleux d'amelie poulain). this is a world i can relate to. nice to see La Foire du Trone, Montmartre, Rue Mouffetard and the interior of a French bistrot. Even a painter (poor soul has osteoporosis). soundtrack by Yann Thiersen starring the lovely Audrey Tautou worth listening to the French version (that More4 showed) for the narration by Andre Dussolier. a modern classic. charmingly weird film :) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: July 27, 2006 12:05AM I saw this strange film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger [www.screenonline.org.uk] A Canterbury Tale (1944) a little classic of British cinema and it's not a period drama about Geoffrey Chaucer book of the same title, not even a modern remake of an old story but it takes the theme of going to Canterbury... Powell and Pressburger films are always well worth watching, very intelligent, atmospheric and poetic.

Date: July 29, 2006 06:00PM yesterday i watched Lost in Translation (2003) with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. For those who don't know it, it's set in a modern hotel in Tokyo and two guests, one shooting a whiskey advert, the other accompanying her photographer husband meet. Nothing much happening in that film but it's very watchable and cool soundtrack. www.lost-in-translation.com i saw it on film four channel which is now free ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Boys Don't Cry A film from 1999 based on the life Brandon Teena, a young person who was facing a sexual identity crisis and coming to terms with it. Hoping to get a sex-change operation in the near future, Teena lives out his identity as a man. What happened to that person is a classic case of hate crime and small town prejudice, yet also some kindness from a few people. Shocking story... this is a website about Brandon Teena [songweaver.com] link to the film with Hillary Swank and Chloe Sevigny on bbc2 [www2.foxsearchlight.com]

I watched a film called Code 46 with Samantha Morton and Tim Robbins directed by Michael Winterbottom [www.code46movie.net] It's a sci-fi film set in a globalised multicultural world. Tim Robbins plays a guy whose company in Seattle asks him to investigate a fraud at one of the companies in Shanghai. I'm not giving the plot away, but the themes in the film are about memories being erased/kept, about pills that make you read people's thoughts (= empathy virus) and pregnancies being regulated by the authorities, and class barriers between those who benefit from cover and those who live outside of it. One realises that some of the themes exist in modern china and modern USA. In China there is birth control, and in the USA there are people who don't have medical cover. strange film - soundtrack is trendy with the keyplayers of electronics of 2003 (David Holmes, etc) The actors are excellent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Frantic by Roman Polanski with Harrison Ford and Emanuelle Seigner Paris 1988 Harrison Ford and his wife arrive from Los Angeles to Paris where they spent their honeymoon thirty years ago. As they arrive they notice that they got the wrong suitcase and set out to sort that luggage question. However, next thing is that the MRs gets kidnapped, and Harrison is frantic to find her. The police is not really much help especially as there is a language barrier. The US embassy says they can't do much because it's not their jurisdiction. Harrison has another look at the suitcase and opens it, inside he finds a phone number, he tracks the owner down but when he arrives at the flat the guy lies dead. a young lady played by Emanuelle Seigner who likes Grace Jones, chewing gum and cocaine arrives and the scene. Both decide to join forces and find what's behind the story... more than they bargained for. Not spoiling the story. This is a stylish film, and the actors are excellent. It's not the most cheerful of films at all but as a thriller it works. It is certainly not one of these romantic paris movies. more: [www.imdb.com]

THE IPCRESS FILE with Michael Caine, Gordon Jackson GB Michael Caine plays Harry Palmer who works for British Intelligence. His superiors are the major and Mr Ross. Harry likes the good things in life, good food, women and he also wears NHS specs - nevertheless he is a good shot. Anyway,his colleague Jock (played by Gordon Jackson) has been collecting details about some device that drives eminent scientists mad thus rendering them useless for further research project. As this story is set during the Cold War, you won't be surprised that there are some evil nasties who come from the cold East, but one of them speaks English very well and resides in London. It dawns on Harry that perhaps someone in his department is a double agent but who? Mr Ross? Jock? The Major? His girlfriend? The path leads to the East End of London where nothing is as it seems... Watch it because the last line of the film is very existential. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VARIAN's WAR TVM USA Starring: William Hurt, Julia Ormonde In this true story, William Hurt plays the American academic Varian Fry who after witnessing the antisemitic attacks of Reichskristallnacht in Germany 1938, sets out to help Jewish artists escape from Nazi occupied Europe. His project having met the approval of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he sets for Marseilles/ France - which is now under the rule of the Vichy Government of Marechal Petain (a French collaborationist regime). The film shows how the gestapo assists the French police, to make matters worse, the local US consul is an admirer of former US president Edgar Hoover (him of the bootleggers) hence not inclined towards the liberal ideas of F.D. Roosevelt. The assistant at the consulate however supports Varian Fry, and soon enough, Varian has two associates to help him - his job is to get visa for spain for the escaping artists. Some passports have to be forged because the Gestapo has placed an order to deport famous names like Franz Werfel, Heinrich Mann... Marc Chagall was aghast to learn that the French police arrested him, however in this case, Varian intervened directly, and as the USA in 1940 was still a neutral country, the French police did not want to risk an altercation between a protege of the president and themselves. Anyway, after that the artists (some undercover) plus Varian, Marc Chagall +wife, and the two associates make their way to the Spanish border. The police suspects something fishy but they have no proof. The artists are across the border and Varian tells the police that he's lost. So they bring him back to his hotel in Marseilles. A year later, Varian was to be expelled from France. I would recommend anyone to look up the biography of this extraordinary man.

84 CHARING CROSS ROAD with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins produced by Mel Brooks Mel Brooks produced this charming film based on a true story. His wife Anne Bancroft plays Helene Hanff, a New York writer who tries to source antique books by English author for her library, she doesn't have much of a budget so she writes to an address given in a magazine called "The Literary Review". The address is the one in the title, and a Mr Frank Doel replies all the way from London to tell her that his shop can accommodate her. This film is about long distance friendship, transatlantic relationships and the love of old books over a period of 20 years (from 1949 to 1969). This is a lovely film because one will find lots of details in the film and it's so full of life.

BIGGER THAN LIFE directed by Nicholas Ray produced by James Mason with James Mason, Walter Matthau James Mason plays a mild-mannered teacher who is happily married with wife and he has one son, a small house, struggles a bit to make ends meet so he works a few hours at a taxi place. His colleagues and pupils like him. His best friend is the sports teacher played by Walter Matthau (an early role for him) who comes round the house for a chat. James has lately been feeling poorly but he goes on working until he passes out and has to be rushed to hospital. There he gets a diagnosis that he has a very nasty form of arthritis which is affecting his joints and heart muscles. The only medication that is efficient is cortisone and he will have to take it indefinitely as the disease in incurable. So he does what the doctor says and after a while feels better, in fact he feels so much better that he decides that a double dose will make him feel even better, so he starts forging prescriptions. The problem is that after a while he starts to get totally deluded and starts talking a lot of rubbish such as childhood is an illness which needs to be cured, or that he is a great scientist who doesn't need people. He even starts accusing Walter Matthau and his wife to have an affair. His poor wife is totally shocked. Walter finds an article in the New York Times that explains the side effects of cortisone - that gets him and James' Mrs (she looks a bit like Diana Rigg by the way, but it's not her), worried. Mrs asks her husband to stop taking the pills, he says that she and Walter want him dead. Then after a visit at the Church, James reads about Abraham's sacrificing his son, and he gets the idea to do the same with his kid, Mrs says that Abraham didn't kill his son because God was against the idea, however James says that God was wrong. Anyway, Walter comes on time to knock him out, it's back to the hospital for James. The doctor says that he'll get back to normal but from now on the cortisone intake will have to be supervised. James is still baffled at what happened to him and his family.

A film that I would like to recommend, it was on this morning at 6.30 am, too early for me, however I saw it a while ago.... it's milestone of British cinema which i have to get on DVD is: The Citadel from 1938 with Robert Donat based on the book by A.J. Cronin. I may have mentioned it somewhere that the film and the book inspired the idea of the NHS founded in 1946 by Aneurin Bevan. A rare occasion when a book/film having an influence on history - the book was written by a doctor who had done very careful research on the state of healthcare in the UK in the 1930s. A topical film indeed because the news informed us yesterday that part of the NHS is going to be privatised as private company DHL has been appointed to handle the daily purchases from paper clips to MRI scan. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: September 10, 2006 12:47AM I got the animation "Belleville Rendez Vous" (a freebie from The Times). It's very charming and people in it speak English and French. For anyone who likes bicycles, Pink Panther animations and Jacques Tati films. It's not really for kids even if there is a dog in it (he's called Bruno). Anglo-Franco-Canadian-Latvian cooperation. Anyone who is learning basic French at school will be able to understand the soundbits in the film. The characters look delightfully grotesque and disjointed. Some of them are deformed by their jobs. and it's macabrely funny too. :) Date: September 13, 2006 12:42AM To have and to have not with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall 1944 based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway TCM afternoon movie

Date: September 27, 2006 05:32PM I'm now off to watch a remake of a classic of British cinema called "The 39 Steps" based on a novel by John Buchan. the 39 steps was a later version with Kenneth More. Excellent story and beautiful Scottish scenery. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This afternoon I caught one of the most visually stunning English films it's the highly intelligent and heartwarming "A matter of Life and Death" with "gentleman" David Niven. Even people who don't believe in the afterlife will be charmed by this tale of a man whose numbers were supposed to be up surviving and falling in love. The celestial authorities want him to report upstairs and a trial has to sort out the matter. Bravo Channel4! :)

October 06, 2006 01:04AM the last film that I saw was The Barefoot Contessa with Ava Gardner and Humphrey Bogart. If I was a bloke, I would want to be Humphrey Bogart's character in that film. An independent production, this film tells the tragic story of Maria Vargas who grew up in poverty in Spain and is discovered by a financier (who fancies himself as a film mogul) who takes her to Hollywood. Humphrey Bogart plays the once-famous-now-obscure director who is hired to make a best-selling independent movie with Maria. I think that Ava Gardner was slightly too mature for the role but if the character is meant to be her age then it makes the story even more touching, plus she is so beautiful! I won't tell you the story because you have to discover it by yourself. Humphrey Bogart as a brooding sarcastic man who befriends Maria got a role that suited him very well. The director of the film is Mr Mankiewicz. It's a beautiful film, and I'm sure some of you will love the sceneries. Rarely do we see acerbic wit and emotion so close knit - a little masterpiece. thank you channel4! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Snow Cake which I mentioned in another thread (directed by Marc Evans, with Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver). A troubled English man travels to Canada and picks up a hitch-hiker, the story tells about his relationship with the small community in Wawa/Lake Superior, beautiful soundtrack and very modern feel. (QFT) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Three Times (Zui Hao de shi guang) Taiwanese/French film 2005 directed by Hsiao-Hsien Hou with Shu Qi ad Chang Chen. Three different love stories set in three different times of Taiwanese history (1966, 1911 and 2005) and starring the same lead actors in each story. Very well acted. Very subtle storytelling, the soundtrack of this film is well worth a listen. (QFT)

The film that I saw on BBC4 dates from 1935, it's called The Devil is a Woman and it is based on a novel by John Dos Passos, directed by Josef von Sternberg, music by Rimsky-Korsakoff. The lead role is played by Marlene Dietrich. The costumes in this film will bedazzle you as the backdrop of the story is set during the Spanish carnival, the characters in it include a frustrated mature man who if Marlene is one day going to love him, and a hot-headed revolutionary whose life hangs in the balance. You think it's one of these bodice-rippers? Wrong! Watch it, and admire it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: October 16, 2006 01:19AM I saw "And now for something completely different" with the charmingly daft and coy cast of Monty Python. If I was a bloke I could easily imagine myself as the character that Michael Palin plays in the Lion Tamer. And John Cleese is so funny. In fact, all of them are. The cartoons in between are totally weird. And if you get to see the film watch out for the documentary about the grannies' gang terrorising the street. The film is a daft anarchic mixture of satire, comedy and it's deliciously low-budget. :) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: October 23, 2006 11:31PM I saw "Anne Frank Remembered" on More4 - a documentary made by the Anne Frank institute in Amsterdam about her life and the story of her diary. The documentary dates from 1995. And according to one of the person interviewed on the programme: "Anne Frank's diary answers many questions by children about the war which parents and grandparents find difficult to talk about."

Date: November 05, 2006 01:25AM i watched "One Hour Photo" with Robin Williams on Film4 last week. I thought I had to because it's a film about photography. I thought I wouldn't really like it because Robin Williams has a Disney kind of acting which irritates me a bit and the trailer announcing that he plays some kind of creep who prys on a perfect family made me suspicious. Anyway, he plays a loner called Sy. Sy works in the photolab of a wallmart-style supermarket. The filming is excellent, you get a feel of the horrid neonlights and the staff wearing these uniforms and checking their smile before they start work. Sy wears his uniform and smiles nicely to a housewife+son who came to develop the photos of the boy's birthday party. Sy takes pride in his work and explains in an off-style commentary how the machine works and how he mixes the chemicals because photos are special, and he fantasises that he is like a good uncle to that family. What he has been doing is also to keep a second set of photographs for himself and now he has the wall of his living room plastered with them. He doesn't seem to do much in his life. He has no family and no personal photos, in fact his family photos are strangers on old photographs that he found in jumble sale. He also gives an insight about his other customers and the kind of photo they make. There is the insurance man who takes photos of damaged cars, the amateur pornographer who photographs his girlfriend naked, the old spinster who only takes pictures of her cats - but he doesn't collect these pictures. He only collects the pictures of his perfect family. One day his manager discovers a discrepancy and wonders where the wastage of photographic paper and chemicals comes from. Sy is instantly dismissed and the supermarket that had become his second home - he shopped, ate, worked and socialised there - is now closed for him. Worse, on his last day he discovers that his perfect family is not what it seems... I'm not going to reveal how the story unfolds further and ends. If you watch the film it's well worth spotting the twist. The script is excellent and the photography is very modern. It's a tale about family values well worth looking at. As I said, I don't usually like Robin Williams, but his disneystyle of acting works very well on here. I like the actor who plays the policeman, because he feels like a member of the audience watching the story and making his opinion at the end. Will you have a similar reaction as him?

I watched an early hours film called "The 25th hour" based on a book by Romanian author Constantin Virgil Gheorghu. It dates from 1967 and stars Anthony Quinn, Virna Lisi, Serge Reggiani, Marius Goering. Gheorghu is one of my favourite authors and I read three of his novels in the 1980s. They were called The Unknown of Heidelberg, The Second Chance and this one The 25th Hour. It's a heartbreaking story on the absurdity of systems - a man spend 8 years of his life being shifted from camp to camp and being told what identity he is by people who seem to know better than him. Gheorghu's writing is way beyond black humour, his stories are about the most despairing situations a human being can encounter, about the most absurd trials and tribulations. And yet, there is deep spirituality in his books, and it transpires onto the film, and that is why Anthony Quinn's and Virna Lisi's characters get through, but the despairing Serge Reggiani's character meets total tragedy. The 25th hour is the hour when everything happy has passed and the last hour is despair. the beautiful music is by George Delerue, and the film is a US-French collaboration. It was an absolute delight to see a film with Anthony Quinn again. I love this actor, and in fact his character Jan Moritz reminded me so much of Alexis Zorba (in Zorba the Greek) because of his earthiness and joie de vivre. And this makes it a fascinating film well worth staying up for. The title of the film inspired a programme of the same name by Jacques Perrin, whom some might know as the director of Winged Migration, but who also is well known for his outspoken opinions about humanitarian issues. Some people talk about songs that saved their life. I have to say, that Jacques Perrin's 25eme heure and books by Constantin Virgil Gheorghu saved mine. Knowing that reassures me a little bit, that some people care...

Date: November 12, 2006 07:09PM yesterday I watched a film called "Saraband" directed by Ingmar Bergman. The main actress was the always delightful Liv Ullman. It was in Swedish with english subtitles. I'm ashamed to say that I switched off after an hour. The problem is not the film but me. It was a slow-moving wordy mature film about a mature woman visiting the husband she divorced about 30 years before and by the same token getting embroiled in his family disputes. The old man lives on his own in a cottage by a lake, his son lives in the village with his daughter who is a promising cello player. The whole film was them talking about the past and their relationships, and the daughter's future. But yeah, it was nice to see Liv Ullman, to hear a bit of Bach played on cello, the Swedish scenery and to hear the sound of the language and I'm sure that the right audience will be fascinated by the film and love the music in it.

Date: November 19, 2006 02:16AM The last film that I saw was "Performance" with James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg directed by Donald Cammell and Nicholas Roeg. To be honest I watched it because I've heard it mentioned a few times by people on this forum incl. Brett. So I had to take this opportunity and see for myself what this is all about. Two things to keep in mind when watching this. 1) this is a film for grown-ups not for kids 2) if you can understand michael caine it helps. the story is in two half. London in the late sixties. first half a bunch of very nasty racketeers with connections to the establishment (=businessmen doing some dodgy business including scaring people and beating them up, that sort of thing) go on about their business, seal their deals in nightclubs, and Chas is a henchman who means what he says. One day, the dodgy businessmen think he is a liability so they want him dead. He manages to escape, gets to the train station with his savings, overhears a musician telling a family member about the digs he was at Powis Square. Chas goes there and see if he can rent a room. Anita Pallenberg says it's ok. Mick Jagger is not very happy about it. The other girl thinks it's fine by her. The place looks very psychadellic but you would expect that because Mick Jagger is a musician. Chas tries to fit in with the bohemian lifestyle... and I am not going to tell you more. If you are over 18, you can watch it. If you are not, wait until you are old enough. Interestingly, this summer I walked past Powis Square, because I went to buy a single at Rough Trade Shop on Talbot road, and it's almost opposite.

Date: November 25, 2006 02:26AM I watched the heartbreaking "From Hell" with Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Holm, and many others. fantastic performances by all actors made this film compelling. It's a story based on the Jack The Ripper murders in Whitechapel/ London in the late 19th Century. It is a fiction - earlier on this week, Channel5 broadcasted a documentary about the case and what the forensic clues and testimonies can tell us about the case. It is highly unlikely that the scenario in the film happened for real. Knowing that, you get a film where an inspector addicted to absinthe and laudanum tries with his sensible side-kick to solve a series of gruesome murders and gets embroiled into a conspiration that goes far up the hierarchy. The details about masonic rituals, corruption within the authority, precarious living in Whitechapel, latent and open antisemitism, scientists and the cruel treatment of mental patients plus some outlandish medical theories, conditions in workhouses, escape to idyll - all contribute to take away the imagery of Victorian times being some kind of period to look back with nostalgic eyes. This film is not for the faint hearted as there are some very gory scenes, however, due to its outstanding acting goes way beyond the fare of the usual slasher and Gothic movies. It has a humane touch as the characters played by Johnny Depp, Robbie Coltrane and Heather Graham are salt of the earth and the viewer gets easily attached to them. Is the film preachy? I would say it doesn't need to be, it describes everything so well, that you make your own conclusions. If you want to know more about these times, you could do worse than reading some descriptions by Charles Dickens, or find a book called "The Professor and the Madman". I'm glad I watched it

This afternoon I watched High Hopes directed by Mike Leigh with Phil Davis and a lot of talented people. Dated 1988. Again, it's a film about London, again a film that depicts the life of ordinary people. and again the villains are nasty and you get attached to the good people in it. Sharon and Cyril in the story are the type of people one would like to have as friends (unless one doesn't share their ideas). The neighbours are a right pretentious bunch and that sister is an idiot. One feels like knowing that family and especially if one knows the area where the film was made "Kings Cross", the film becomes even more familiar. Some people say cinema should be about fantasy and escapism, and sometimes a viewer wants to escape their real life to find people they would like to meet and talk for real. Mike Leigh does that very well. The granny in the story is portrayed very well, she looks like an old bat and she's not much fun, but one understands what goes on with her, and possibly what could cheer her up. I'm revealing already too much of the film, watch it, it could be the story of some neighbours down the road. I have great affection for Mike Leigh ever since I saw a film called "Life is Sweet" with Timothy Spall ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------the last movies that I saw was Gaslight starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten and Angela Lansbury. i'm not wasting many words on it, it's simply perfect. It's a mystery set in Edwardian times. If you like Sherlock Holmes, I'm sure you'll love that. Shadow of a doubt is a film that I watched last week. Again, it's one of these perfect films. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Joseph Cotten. And again a mystery story. As the character played by Joseph Cotten visits his family, the question that the viewer keep on asking themselves during the whole film: is he a murderer or a man wrongly accused. Of course the naive family does not suspect anything wrong, until the daughter get more than a shadow of doubt. Both films beautifully filmed, stylish black and white. full of humanity and astute psychological observation.

Date: December 11, 2006 06:48PM watched Arabesque with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren, directed by Stanley Donen - On channel4. Anybody who likes Stanley Donen films with Audrey Hepburn will probably like that one too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: January 28, 2007 01:54AM The Maltese Falcon. directed by John Huston, Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre based on a Sam Spade detective novel by Dashiell Hammett a classic. great portrayal of characters driven by greed. gun violence. stylised black and white photography, fantastic script, memorable lines, and great ending. films like that have been my favourites since I've been a kid. I have probably Bogart and Sherlock Holmes to blame for wanting to become a private detective or at least a writer. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------if you want to check out intelligence without smartarse-ness, sharp wit at the service of common sense, flamboyance as a mark of personality, discussion about art without the academe talk. Do you like labyrinths, mysteries, halls of mirrors, appearances in the company of someone you can trust? look no further, you found it. F For Fake, by Orson Welles. this man must have been close friends with the Blarney stone, I can tell you.

Date: February 04, 2007 03:35PM i watched the most overhyped romance of the 1980s: The Blue Lagoon. Gosh that was awful! From the drunken paddy character played by Leo Kern (of course all Irish lads are ugly drunken paddies), and these two annoying kids who grow up to become parents themselves. I would describe the film between a magazine shot, a prissy sex education video, the plotline of Lost + beautiful scenery. What I learnt from that film is that a girl can give birth in a white dress without any blood stain, retain a perfect figure even when pregnant and after that, that you can live in the jungle without your clothes rotting and yourself looking... baked and rugged. However, that savages (usually black guys, and in this instance they were black) usually look baked, rugged, dirty and bloody. It's also the type of film where the characters are naked most of the time, yet they are so "pure" that it's like watching... I dunno... two birds (they don't wear clothes either) mating. If that's the sex education most of my contemporaries got back in 1980, I can understand why many got disappointed. ;) Before you ask, no I never saw this film before. I am not sure if nowadays someone could make a film like that without sinking six feet under in embarrassement or trying to explain that this film has absolutely no appeal to paedophiles.

Yesterday Jimmy Carr presented the countdown of the 100 tearjerkers as voted by the public on E4. Some of these were manipulative trash, others were genuinely touching. 6 faves from the lot were: Midnight Cowboy, It's a wonderful life, The pianist, Secrets and Lies, The Elephant Man, Cathy Come Home, Kes - genuinely touching stories. Perhaps the most touching moment of the programme was Peter Coyote commenting on the film "The Pianist" and saying that he lost his relatives in Auschwitz - he said that with dignity and instantly one could understand why that Roman Polanski film is one of his favourite and is bound to stir up emotions in him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------. Date: February 15, 2007 08:25PM "brief encounter" with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson. based on a novel by Graham Greene, a bit more than just a romantic story. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ladies' Room I saw a very daft movie. The genre is "europudding arthouse" - When "europudding arthouse" is good then it's very good : My Life as a Dog, Pelle Eroberen, Europa Europa, Three Colours Red, Senso, Chocolat, Time of the Gipsies, Paperclips, - Luchino Visconti, Vittorio de Sica, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Ingmar Bergman "arthouse europudding" is a derivative term for a film that is 1) either a European co-production 2) something on the schedules of ARTE TV 3) a film with actors from different nationalities filmed in Europe with usually a soundtrack between ambient and classical. 4) a film which has an arty subject in it. This one is called "Ladies Room" and if I had a label for it, I'd nickname it "chick-flick arthouse-europudding". On the downside it's pretentious and you have lots of ladies talking about relationship with men (and there is a lesbian who feels left out of the conversations), it's full of people you wouldn't want to meet in a ladies room anyway, or you wouldn't meet any of those because the only ladies room you go to is the toilet in pubs. And there is a moral tale too in the story because this one is a bit on the spiritual waffle style. Don't let any of that put you off. The characters are engaging to hilarious without being caricatures, the actors are very good, and after watching it you know that toilets at the opera may have 1) a framed picture of Arthur Rimbaud 2) a bowl of ferrero rocher 3) incredibly clean and spacious 4) free perfume and lipstick. And if you are the type of lady who don't know how to put make-up on, this is one for you. If you are a man and you wonder what some ladies talk about in the toilets (sorry at the ladies) then watch this. And like every chick-flick, it's a feel-good movie with the sistas doing it for themselves. Except that it's an arthouse europudding chick flick, so you weep to a classical soundtrack and if you stuff yourself with ferrero rochers.

I watched a film called Inherit The Wind (USA, dir. Stanley Kramer, w/ Spencer Tracey, Fredric March, Gene Kelly) 1960 details: [www.imdb.com] Synopsis: a small town teacher teaches Darwin Evolution of the Species in his class. The elders of the town are outraged because they are fundamentalist christians and want creationism be taught at school. The case ends up in court. Bible expert attorney Cl. Brady (Fredric March) leads the prosecution. A cynical liberal journalist (played by Gene Kelly) in Chicago gets hold of the story and gets his paper to hire Chicago lawyer Cll Drummond (Spencer Tracy) to defend the schoolteacher. What follows is a battle of arguments and the very prejudiced jury and the judge have to make up their mind. It is the age-old conflict of science vs religion. Yet in the film, the story is not as black and white as it first seems... it is based on a play about the so-called real-life "Monkey Trial" from 1925, where a young schoolteacher ended up in court because in biology classes, he was teaching Darwin's evolution theory instead of the then compulsory creationism. You see the press reporting about the trial, with the reporter being a modernist type who wants things to change, you also see an evangelical preacher arguing with the lawyer. Very powerful argumentation. Intelligent film but I guess what makes this film so powerful is its humanity. None of these characters are stereo-types, and you can see the ideas from their point of view and how their loved ones/colleagues react. Interestingly enough, the debate of creationism vs evolution theory is still raging on these days. And it probably will for a long time because this is the perennial issue of science versus religion + the views on education. I'm very happy that films like that get shown on Saturday afternoons because they are suitable for a large audience and because they are wellacted and beautiful visually, are as stimulating for the senses as stimulating for the mind. In view of the fact that some schools (usually run by churches) insist on teaching creationism in their biology classes makes this old black and white film still relevant nowadays. What the film doesn't tell us is that the character played by Spencer Tracy was also in favour of eugenics, and the reverend was against it.

Date: February 25, 2007 12:10AM i watched a film called Homicide directed by David Mamet staring Joe Mantegna [www.answers.com] difficult to watch but very interesting film: the story is dense, many people may be able to relate to the main character Bobby Gold - Joe Mantegna plays that ordinary cop entangled in a story of murder, racism, conspiracy, violence and having to face identity crisis. The film may leave some people feeling uneasy because deep down we want things to be clear cut and the good guys to be rewarded. David Mamet's film shows that in real life, it's not always like that. Nothing is clear cut. Who are the racists, who are the victims. The only evil ones we can be sure of their evil intentions are white supremacists. But in this film you see black guys making casual antisemitic remarks, Jewish guys making racist remarks, police brutality, murder on the street, and the main character who likes a smoke, occasionally manhandles suspects and uses swear-words, basically hardened up in his job as a policeman getting visibly unsettled. Brilliant film - it makes the point of individual people trying to be themselves vs nationalists of any kind who feel as ambassadors of their identity. Unsettling. Date: April 28, 2007 11:48PM oh groovy baby, I watched Austin Powers Man of Mystery. An documentary about a photographer shot in grainy black and white.... were the nineties really like that?! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Station Agent Directed by Thomas McCarthy 2003 I'm looking forward to see this film because I heard a lot of good about it. It is difficult these days to find something "heart-warming" that has substance and real charm. From what I have heard this film has. www.thestationagent.com

The Pledge (2001) based on a novel by Frederic Duerrenmatt, directed by Sean Penn, starring Jack Nicholson and Robin Penn Wright I think that Jack Nicholson gave his best ever performance in the Pledge. It's a compelling film based on an equally compelling book that has become a classic of modern literature. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: June 13, 2007 12:41AM The Devil and Daniel Webster (1943 William Dieterle) fantasy tale -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: June 16, 2007 01:51AM I watched a very sad film called Monsieur Klein in French with English subtitles on TG4 (Irish Language TV channel), starring Alain Delon and produced by him. It's directed by Joseph Losey. [en.wikipedia.org] It's a very chilling subject and a story full of suspense, and I recommend that you watch it to see how it ends. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I just saw this film (Title?) on five TV , very intriguing supernatural thriller. Denzel Washington is a very likeable and brilliant actor in many ways, Denzel Washington reminds me of Gregory Peck. He is a beautiful and thoughtful actor. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A man called Peter true-life story of a man called Peter Marshall who emigrated to the USA from Scotland, and became a Presbyterian minister first in Georgia and then in Washington. A likeable character played by a likeable actor, this straightlaced film tells about the relationship between politics and faith from the mid-thirties to the fifties. He is a footnote of US history as he preached in the church attended by Abraham Lincoln - and at one point F.D. Roosevelt gets mentioned. It's good to know the existence of such people who said that "God does not belong to one race, one nation"... Intelligent film based on the book of the man's widow.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: July 02, 2007 10:26PM Wong Kar Wai: In the Mood for Love (DVD) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: July 10, 2007 09:01PM I watched a TV Movie called The Nero Wolfe Mysteries on BBC2 this morning. A detective story (of course based on books by Rex Stout). I like Nero. [www.nerowolfe.org] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: July 14, 2007 11:46PM "Danielle Steel: The Ring" US TV-movie. Watchable because of the lovely Nastassja Kinsky. What a convoluted saga. A bit too sentimental too but it has its heart in the right place.

Date: November 06, 2007 12:14AM Let's mention it for the third time, I went to see Atonement at the cinema. Dublin Road, Belfast in honour of our host. What I like about cinemas is the ritual of the typical meal of oversize portion of popcorn plus almost bucket size cola, don't miss that part at the cinema sitting next to enormous cut-outs of Alvin and the Chipmunks and various trailers blaring one blockbuster after the other. Once the meal is finished, getting ready to see the film. I treat going to the cinema like going to a gig. Anyway, I'm glad I saw it. [www.atonementthemovie.co.uk] I think the story as seen via Briony is very interesting. There you have an artistic young girl in her world of fantasies, casting people around her in her plays - and her imagination causes the drama to unfold. So the story is about a miscarriage of justice, guilt and how to be a writer. The book and the film illustrate very well the idea of wishful thinking, how we in fiction as in real life would like happy endings.

Date: November 18, 2007 11:25PM 21 Grams [www.imdb.com] a very sad film. compliments to channel4 TV to show it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: November 19, 2007 07:54PM [www.channel4.com] Campbell's Kingdom (1957) again on the brilliant channel4 with an icon of British cinema: Dirk Bogarde. :) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: November 21, 2007 08:54PM the last movie that I saw has not been released yet, they were filming it in my backyard and it stars Ben Kingsley [www.youtube.com] (released in 2009 as 50 Dead Men Walking) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It's only a TV movie but the Naval Treaty (Sherlock Holmes story) with the extremely handsome Jeremy Brett has to be in this section. This sadly departed actor had the most fascinating eyes on screen. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The song of Bernadette (starring Jennifer Jones) I know it's the story of St Bernadette in Lourdes, and the film found acclaim amongst the catholic community. It may interest you that the book was written by a man of Jewish faith for his Catholic wife Alma Mahler because on their way to exile from the Nazis via the Pyrenees the couple stopped there. I recommend the book for the reason that it may be interesting to know what happened to Bernadette after the miracle of Lourdes. I could tell you a lot more about the subject and the circumstances, but I won't. It's an amazing book by Franz Werfel, and I think I did buy a beautiful DVD.

Any nostalgic person who thinks Britain in the 1950s-1960s was a great place to live should watch "Victim" directed by Basil Dearden featuring the amazing Dirk Bogarde. Once you've seen that, you'll breathe a sigh of relief that it's 2007 not 1961. Synopsis A newly restored print of Basil Dearden’s ground-breaking thriller, first released in 1961. With its location shooting, noir lighting and doomed, trapped characters, the film was instrumental in paving the way for the legalisation of homosexuality in Britain. Dirk Bogarde, Britain’s revered matinee idol, risked his career to portray Melville Farr, a closeted gay lawyer at a time when homosexual acts were a crime. When his former lover Jack (Peter McEnery) is blackmailed, Farr — who is married — agrees to investigate. The case is complicated by his fear of exposure and a sudden mysterious death. Brilliant story, brilliant photography and great suspense - and what a leading actor, charisma galore! Five star review from me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: December 18, 2007 04:38PM I watched Pan Labyrinth yesterday on Film Four (channel four films) directed by Mexican director Guillermo del Toro. 2006 [www.panslabyrinth.com] It was very powerful, scary and very sad. Beautiful music. I think it was recommended by a few people from this site when it came out.

City of God, iis a Brazilian film based on a story by author Paulo Lins made in 2002. [www.pen.org] It's a story set in a housing project outside Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, which is a slum or Favela. The people living there are abjectly poor. The realism of gun culture in that film is almost unbearable to watch but anyone who thinks guns are cool should watch this. What made me sad was to see children being part and being victim of the violence. It seems that the author is telling a true story via the narrator who becomes a photographer. It's a great opportunity to get a CD with Brazilian music. This site has samples to listen to: [www.cduniverse.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: December 21, 2007 07:08PM the other day I watched the David Lean adaptation of Great Expectations.This is the perfect movie for Christmas. This is my favourite story by Charles Dickens with its theme of darkness and light. . Date: January 03, 2008 01:53AM I watched "A Clockwork Orange" on ITV4 this evening. First film of the year. Given what I read in "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein, this film made sense. I didn't know what was scarier, the regimental-sadistic prisons or the criminals on the street or the politics. On the positive side: cool interiors design. A bit like Fahrenheit 451 but in colour. And very violent. Based on a novel by Anthony Burgess.

Date: January 12, 2008 04:35PM I just watched The Early Bird with Norman Wisdom from 1965 on BBC2 slapstick comedy on the themes of big businesses ousting small shops - in this case a dairy. As always, Norman Wisdom is on the side of the underdogs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Voyage of the Damned (1976) director Stuart Rosenberg source book: written by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts. the tragedy of the S S St Louis [www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org] "Often described as "Ship of Fools with a conscience," Voyage of the Damned is based on a true story. In 1939, the Nazis ostentatiously loaded a luxury liner with hundred of Jewish refugees from all walks of life. The ship then tried to drop anchor in Havana, Cuba-only to have its passengers refused entry by the Cuban government, in keeping with its super-stringent immigration policies. This was exactly what the Nazis expected to happen, and indeed wanted to happen. By having the refugees turned away from Havana, the German government could "prove" that the Jews were indeed the most unwanted race on earth, thereby justifying Hitler's extermination policy...." review: (new york times) "a political game of chess which treats human beings as the victims ,its both affecting yet horrifying to watch and goes to show we still live in the same world with very little that has changed as asylum seekers are still turned away in their hour of need ,what a great pity as we can learn from past mistakes but you need to posess a human soul to do so which the global conscience lacks and the consequences are damaging for all not just the victims ,but then you need compassion to comrehend that ,whether you are a christian or a muslim or jewish"

The Matthew Shephard Story (2002) It's about a young gay man who was beaten and left to die nr Laramie/USA, and the subsequent court case against his attackers and how his family and friends remembered him. Worth watching. [www.matthewshepard.org] [www.imdb.com] directed by Roger Spottiswode, with Shane Meier as Matthew, Sam Waterston as his father, Stockard Channing as his mum, Kirsten Thomson as his friend Romaine Patterson. Shane Meier plays Matthew Shephard --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Spirited Away [www.imdb.com] A Japanese anime film about a young girl who wanders off in the woods and finds herself in a strange world. The theme reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, the story was full of anthropomorphisms, elements of Japanese folklore, dreams images. What I especially admire in animations are eyes and water. - the girl is very likeable. A treat to watch for children and people who are not children anymore.

Primo Primo Levi, Italian-Jewish writer and chemist, first gained fame with his autobiographical story SE QUESTOÈ UN UOMO (1947, If This is a Man) of survival in Nazi concentration camps. For the last forty years of his life Levi devoted himself to attempting to deal with the fact that he was not killed in Auschwitz "The worst survived, that is, the fittest; the best all died," he said. Levi also published poetry, science fiction, essays, and short stories. In 1987, at the age of 67, he killed himself. Italo Calvino called Levi"one of the most important and gifted writers of our time." When PRIMO opened in September 2004 it was instantly recognised as a major theatrical event; every performance was sold out. A work of astounding dramatic power, it brings to life Primo Levi’s great testament to his year in Auschwitz. Antony Sher’s towering performance is as controlled as Primo Levi’s own lucid prose. Beautifully directed by Richard Wilson and presented in Hildegard Bechtler’s magnificent, symbolist set, this is quite simply masterpiece theatre."At the end of this remarkable performance there was a silence unlike any other I have experienced in a theatre. Sher captures Levi’s unsparing depiction of his fellow inmates...with a tentative almost unbearable beauty." Daily Telegraph. "The presentation, from Antony Sher’s self-effacing performance to Hildegard Bechtler’s grey-walled design, shows it is possible for theatre to match the un-rhetorical honesty of one of the 20th Century’s great books." The Guardian. "This is acting of the purest kind, unadorned by self-pity or visible virtuosity. This is theatre at its most human, most moral and least indoctrinating. Richard Wilson's direction has the clarity and humility of great directors: Primo seems simply to happen, like an eclipse or an earthquake." Sunday Times. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: February 08, 2008 11:36PM One of the cutest Scottish films ever made is available via The Times tomorrow. It's of course Gregory's Girl from 1981.

The film is called A Conspiracy of Hearts and starred Austrian-born actress Lilli Palmer. She was a beautiful lady and the role she played suited her to a T. There was a scene with a child where one of the nuns asked the girl what's her name. And the traumatised child mumbled "they call me Jewdog". What makes the scene heartbreaking is that one knows that such insults were thrown at Jewish children by Nazis and Fascists. A Conspiracy of Hearts is an English-made film and was beautiful in its optimism.

Date: February 20, 2008 01:04AM Blue by Derek Jarman Thank you More4 for showing it! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: February 20, 2008 09:24PM I watched the Franco-American film The Diving Bell and The Butterfly at QFT Belfast this evening. I didn't know that Emmanuelle Seigner was in it nor that there was a song by Ultraorange in the film. It was in French with English subtitles. Another film about writing a book and again the subject of hospitals. Totally different from Atonement and totally different from Blue. I had my doubts about seeing a film made by Julian Schnabel, especially after reading the book by J.D. Bauby but I shouldn't have worried. Excellent and accessible. I liked the idea of filming from J.D.'s perspective. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: February 24, 2008 01:47PM for those in the UK, if you want to have a DVD of La Dolce Vita, it's free this sunday with The Observer.

The term paparazzi became wider use after this film. [en.wikipedia.org] Great insight into the life of the press in the sixties and the party lifestyle, in 1960s Rome. I like films with the original languages. Most of the characters speak Italian, some of them speak Italian with a mix of French or English. Nico in this clip speaks German.

Arlington Road directed by Mark Pellington and starring Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins. I first watched it at the cinema in 1999 and it is a bleak suspense thriller on the subject of terrorism. I read a few reviews on the net about it and they don't seem to "get" this film properly, in order to do so one has to follow this closely. I think it's because of the film poster which says: "How well do you know your neighbour?". If this had been a predictable film, this would be some sort of vigilante story about people moving next door in middle-class suburbia and the whole estate leaguing against the newcomers. Here it is not like this. The story starts with a recently bereaved university professor with connections with the FBI being befriended by a couple via his 10 year old son. After a while he finds the behaviour of his neighbours a bit weird, and decides to check up on them, the result of his investigations unsettles him... We soon realise that he is right but he has no proof and no idea what the criminal mastermind is up to. Tim Robbins' character is the most evil mastermind I've seen in the film alongside Harry Lime and Professor Moriarty. The most chilling scene has to be when he says "I leave nothing to chance". He is one of these cold, manipulators of emotions combined with great technical skills and warped ideas of justice. Jeff Bridges character Professor Michael Faraday looks more like confused Holly Martins from the Third Man than Sherlock Holmes - you don't really expect a recently bereaved university prof to be some kind of action hero but he does a lot of research. The film main story is that investigating things on your own can be very dangerous and it is also about the credibility of the lone investigator when he tries to communicate suspicion and the perception of personality.

Date: March 01, 2008 02:21AM the above reminded me of another film with Tim Robbins which I also saw at the cinema in 1992. if you find a DVD of this film, watch it. Pessimistic but funny satire about the political campaign of neoconservative politician Senator Bob Roberts who fancies himself also as a folk singer, an anti-Bob Dylan so to speak. Lots of cameo roles in there especially by "too-brainy-to win" Gore Vidal, James Spader, and co-starring depressed looking Alan Rickman as Bob's P.R. and Giancarlo Esposito as the muck-raking reporter Bugs Raplin. "A corrupt rightwing senator & folksinger runs a crooked election campaign while only one independent muck-raking reporter is trying to stop him." Directed by Tim Robbins in 1992,

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie based on novella by Muriel Spark. "Set in Edinburgh in the tempestuous political era of the 1930s, the story's universal theme of standing up against conventionality is still relevant and stirring nearly seventy years later." says Amazon about the book Muriel Spark's book and the film take care not to portray things in black and white. The artistic, anti-conventional Miss Brodie who teaches in a conservative school is a fiery woman who has dodgy political ideas and rather than keeping them to herself teaches them to her pupils. Miss Brodie reminds me a bit of Virginia Woolf who was known to be a great artist yet had some dodgy ideas about society. The film lets you guess whether Miss Brodie is politically naive or sinister. (1969) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ITV3 again. The Graduate (1967) directed by Mike Nichols with Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross - music by Simon and Garfunkel. If you have heard the song Mrs Robinson this is the film where it came from. "Recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock is trapped into an affair with Mrs. Robinson, who happens to be the wife of his father's business partner and then finds himself falling in love with her teenage daughter, Elaine." I didn't fully sympathise with Benjamin's predicament because he felt stupid to me. Either US colleges don't teach about standing for yourself or he must have missed that course. Benjamin was definitely not streetwise. The film felt like watching an episode of Desperate Housewives. Perhaps the series was inspired by Anne Bancroft's character. Solid acting and stylish looking film. And miles better than Desperate Housewives. If you like these seventies movies scripted by Neil Simon you may like this. Definitely a must for Simon and Garfunkel fans.

Date: March 08, 2008 06:39PM [www.imdb.com] Agatha Christie tale of 10 people invited to an isolated place only to find that an unseen person is killing them one by one. One of them? directed by French director Rene Clair, this is a US film based on Agatha Christie's book "And there were none" Dudley Nichols (screenplay) improved on the book, especially regarding Lombard. I like the way the Dudley Nichols took out the racist "N" word in the original title. It makes us realise that nursery rhymes (which Christie is fond of) are very cruel and racist - somehow this suits a B-movie mystery. It's a great time capsule on snobbery too - and all of them were amazing actors who didn't ham it up too much, my favourite was Richard Haydn who played the nervous servant of the house Dippy Dr Armstrong was played by Walter Huston, who is film director's John Huston's dad. The film stands out for me and is suitable for recommending because Rene Clair is a film legend of vintage cinema. His own "A nous la liberte" inspired Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times. I know him from French classics with the actor Gerard Philipe. "La Beaute du Diable" and "Les Grandes Manoeuvres". -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Green for Danger is a murder mystery set during the WWII in a hospital in Kent. A the post-office gets hit by an air bomb and a Mr Higgins ends up in hospital for emergency surgery. His behaviour is strange because he says "I've known you from somewhere" but the operation room is full of people and nobody has a clue who he's talking about. Anyway, he dies during the operation. A nervous nurse who has recently been jilted by the doctor suspects foul play and investigates on her own. Someone stabs her. This is now an official murder investigation and Inspector Cockrill is on the case. The only problems is that he is a bit out of his depth - the anaesthetist realises that when he wants to ring him and there is nobody answering the phone, soon someone else from the hospital staff is in mortal danger... Director: Sidney Gilliat 1946 with Trevor Howard and Alasdair Sims the book was written by Christianna Brand (1872-1973) and this is what IDMB writes about her fiction: Greatly respected Malaya-born British author, one of the pioneers of the medical thriller; her highly honored 1944 novel Green for Danger (1946) preceded by decades the popular works of Patricia Cornwell and Robin Cook. Green for Danger (1946) was honored as a 1987 Critic's Choice among H. R. F. Keating's 100 Best Crime & Mystery Books, and by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association's 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century, selected in the year 2000. She created the character of Inspector Cockrill of the Kent County Police, modeled on her father-inlaw, William Lewis, who was a doctor. She died in the arms of her husband of fifty years. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I watched a film called Jubal on BBC2 with Glen Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger and Valerie French (Delmer Dawes 1956 USA) [www.imdb.com] Loosely based on the Shakespeare Othello play, this is the story about a man called Jubal Troop played by Glenn Ford who is hired by as a farmhand by Shep Horgan. Mrs Horgan takes a shine to Jubal, and one of Shep's workers is jealous and set a tragic ball rolling. What I found interesting in this film are the settlers who are travelling with their waggons and stopping on Shep's lands. I don't watch westerns very often, but I always like to see Glenn Ford, and it felt more like a film noir set in the prairie than the usual cowboy stuff. Recommended.

Date: March 24, 2008 05:41PM I saw "The Number 1 Lady's Detective Agency" on TV yesterday. It's more a TV movie than a film but it was Anthony Minghella's last film. It was an English/Botswhanan co-production and has a cast of mostly unknown black actors. The main role was played by singer Jill Scott. It's great to see films set in Africa that do not have a colonial theme. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Yesterday, I watched Peter Pan. Not the Disney nor Dustin Hoffman version but this most charming one - the boy playing Peter was very mischievously charming yet vulnerable like the character in the book. Thank you ITV2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Forgotten (USA 2004) sci-fi film about a suburban mother - played by Julianne Moore - whose sanity and bond to her 9-yr old son are severely tested. It got mixed reviews, but is quite watchable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The other day, I saw Murder at the Gallop with British national treasures Margaret Rutherford and Robert Morley. I love the poster - check it out! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Damcer in the Dark is a devastating film because it's a hopeless situation. This is the story - set in 1960s USA, of a vulnerable single migrant mother who lives in a trailer on a property shared by a couple. Due to a genetic condition, the mother is going blind and she is saving money for her son to have an eye operation. You witness how she is working hard (double shifts at a factory and doing extra crafts at home) to save money. She daydreams about musicals, because "in musicals nothing ever bad happens". She has kind friends but you feel from the onset of the film that her hopes are going to be cruelly dashed... The realism of the film contrasts with the fantasy scenes. I'm not a fan of musicals and certainly not "The Sound of Music", yet I can understand their magic seeing it through the eyes of the character. In real life, Bjork herself looks like a vulnerable childish bird of paradise when she performs, especially on the video of her song "It's Oh so quiet". And she has a unique voice which "Dancer in the Dark" uses to great effect. The soundtrack to the film is called "Selma songs". -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: April 28, 2008 11:55PM I watched "Rear Window" with Christopher Reeve on Sunday. A lot of people say it is not on par with the original directed by Alfred Hitchcock with James Stewart, but I think it's more poignant. There are not many parts for profoundly disabled actors, and this film gave Christopher Reeve the opportunity to give an insight into his life via the character he portrays. I think it should be compared to "Children of a lesser god" with deaf actress Marlee Matlin. In those two films you see disabled people in charge of their lives rather than the sentimental fare "issue" films give us. This role marks the return of Christopher Reeve, for the first time since his 1995 Memorial Day accident, as the leading man. The film is also groundbreaking in the way that this is the first time a severely disabled person is given the starring part. "What is unique is to take somebody who is severely disabled," Reeve said, "and show them in a very positive light and actually cast them as the hero of the piece." Reeve added, "I think that's the message, to see how much somebody in my condition can do both in the use of their wits and the use of all the latest assisted technology." It is certainly in my all time top 20 films.

Date: May 24, 2008 12:17AM I watched "Jacob's Ladder" and it was a fascinating film. Tim Robbins as usual absolutely brilliant. I like that guy and the films he's been involved with a lot. What I liked about the film too was its grubby realism. The production wasn't polished and the actors looked natural. I could relate to the film, especially with him being tortured by nightmares and flashbacks because I once had a very bad time where my life felt between dream and reality. Like in the film this was linked to heavy medication and fever. The scene where he is wheeled on the trolley between the ward and he is scared at what he seems to perceive hit very close to home. The subject matter of the film where the soldiers in war were subjected to hallucinogenic drugs may have some truth in it, because the fact that this happened during the First World War. Apparently to raise their stamina and make them numb to what's around them. Finally, Jacob's Ladder worked well because it was a surreal story, despite the fantasy it was coherent because we never lose the thread that the story is about a horrified young man who is afraid of dying. I watched a fairly good thriller with Sandra Bullock. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a typical Sandra Bullock movie in which she plays a mousy (but profane) woman who is in trouble but finds a way to survive and be the hero. Sound familiar? There are plenty of holes in this story. Things just don't add up and some of the suspense is a little corny. But - that suspense is very good. There is a lot of tension in this story which has strong paranoia running through it. The story starts off slow but kicks in pretty soon and stays that way, making it an involving movie for the viewer. That's why I give it a pretty good rating - the movie gets you involved in it. Bullock is more cute than annoying, which she normally is to me, so this is my highest-rated movie with her in it. (ccthemovieman-1) I agree with this review. Quite far-fetched story but watchable, and Sandra Bullock is likeable rather than annoying. Most cop shows that I watch have far fetched plots too so that's not a problem for me. What I liked about it are the computers and how the internet, email were in the nineties. A film about a diskette is so retro now. The idea that you can be geeky and yet look fabulous, and the theme of the film which is "how safe are computer databases?" Sandra makes a speech that all our info in all aspects of life are inside computers, so what happens if some malevolent people get access to them? Trojans etc. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: June 03, 2008 09:53PM "Funny Games" - which is not really a funny film and it's directed by Michael Hanneke. I saw the 1998 original version with Ulrich Muhe at the same venue - the Belfast Queen's Film Theatre. Not easy on the eye at all because it an indictment against films like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and similar. I shall certainly not combine this with a meal at the restaurant. I'm glad that independent films still manage to be shown at cinemas. With that one, I was never sure if it would come to Belfast. It was brilliantly acted and directed. As efficient as the original film by the same writer/director. Still the creepy, smug and cruel villains who want us the viewers to be on their side. And like in the first film you as a viewer you are definitely on the side of the woman's family. Even if the family are that boring far too rich middle-class family with whining child and daft labrador, hapless husband and panicky housewife - which everyone loves to despise. What I also liked about it is that it felt like an independent movie, very few actors, and the movie titles at the end were very short.

I saw The Stepford Wives (1975) on ITV3 It's a sci-fi horror thriller with intelligent suspense rather than gore. The novel was written by Ira Levin and is about the so-called perfect woman and how some men like their women to be like dolls. In fact, the expression dolls meaning women was used decades ago. A Stepford Wife has become part of modern vocabulary and means: [i]the label "Stepford wife" is usually applied to a woman who seems to conform blindly to an old-fashioned subservient role in relationship to her husband, compared to other, presumably more independent and vivacious women. It can also be used to criticise any person, male or female, who submits meekly to authority and/or abuse; or even to describe someone who lives in a robotic, conformist manner without giving offense to anyone. The word "Stepford" can also be used as an adjective denoting servility or blind conformity (e.g. "He's a real Stepford employee") or a noun ("My home town is so Stepford") //Like The Graduate, The Stepford Wives has dated but it works perfectly as a film to represent its time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The last film I saw was The Dark Corner, directed by Henry Hatthaway. A film noir from 1946. If you like Laura by Otto Preminger, this is in a similar style. Here it is a Los Angeles decadent art collector who bumps off a love rival and frames a private detective. The private detective and his feisty secretary are on the case and on the run. Clifton Webb plays the cynical art collector with a trophy wife half his age. Lucille Ball was brilliant. She played a strong, astute protective, heartwarming character. In many stories, the ladies are damsel in distress, but in this film it's quite the opposite. The private detective was lucky to have her because the art collector was a dastardly man. What I like about these films is that they are lean and mean, there is not extra ballast on them. Fantastic photography too.

All About Eve (USA 1950 b/w) is the story of a young ambitious aspiring actress (Anne Baxter) who ruthlessly forges her career. From being an understudy to acclaimed 40 yr old theatre-star Margot (Played by Bette Davis) to her move to Hollywood. The ensemble cast is very strong, and the narration is told from the various perspectives of Margot's friends. The film also gives information about the world of theatre itself as you see over the shoulder of all the characters and the jobs they do, from the director, to the producer, to the main actress, the understudy, the playwright, the playwright's wife, the arts (+ gossip) journalist and the restaurants they frequent, what goes on backstage, on auditions, during rehearsals and after the play. Marilyn Monroe has a small role and also plays an aspiring actress who auditions for TV. The small cameo played by Barbara Bates is fantastic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anatomy of a Murder (USA, b/w 1959) directed by Austrian expat Otto Preminger, this is a court-room drama. James Stewart plays rural lawyer Paul Biegler who is defending a Korea war veteran Lt Frederick Manion (played by Ben Gazzara). The latter is accused of first degree murder while the defense goes for mitigating circumstance due to mental stress. The soldier's wife, Laura Manion played by newcomer Lee Remick, was alledgedly raped by the murder victim shortly before. The prosecuting council George C. Asst. State Attorney. General Claude Dancer (played by George C Scott) refutes this by dissecting the reputation of the wife and depicting her as a floozie and her husband as a drunk with a temper. The film was filmed on location Marquette County Courthouse, Michigan, USA. As the site says: "Joseph Welch as the judge. Welch was an experienced and renowned lawyer in real life." John D. Voelker wrote the novel, and Wendell Mayes wrote the screenplay. Because Lee Remick character looks ambiguous, James Stewart's character looks gullible and not experienced, Ben Gazzara's character is difficult to assess - we as an audience are not sure about our own verdict and this places us in the same situation as the deliberating jury. This is the point that the character played by Arthur O' Connell makes: in a courtroom people with different minds and opinion have to agree on a verdict. This film also shows Otto Preminger's obsession with fallen angels and faith. Is Laura genuine or a manipulative femme fatale? The name of this character reminds me of his well-known film "Laura" also a classic crimedrama. Laura's testimony rests on whether an excommunicated Catholic (because she is a divorced woman) can still swear on a symbol like a Rosary to her husband that she was raped, and on the Bible in the courtroom that her testimony is genuine. After all, some people commit perjury and lie. Otto Preminger is one of my favourite all-time director. His film "The Cardinal" is a masterpiece essay on religion and "Laura" defined the b-movie as much as "Anatomy of a murder" is a milestone in courtroom drama. Carmen Jones which he also directed well worth watching for the tension of jealousy and seduction. Otto Preminger films tend to be long (except Laura), but he crams a lot of compelling details. I just bought the book by John D. Voelker online, because "Anatomy of A Murder" is a based on a true story and the author was the defending lawyer. It's an important subject matter.

Cover Girl Killer (1959) is a little-known British b-movie directed by Terry Bishop. It is set in London. It's the story of the Cover Girl Killer (played by Harry H Corbett), a serial killer who frequents the Kasbah a variety theatre in London and targets his next victims from a glamour magazine called "Wow", you see he has this thing about pin-ups being photographed semi-naked and wants to turn the clock back to wholesome times. Actress and Wow cover star, Gloria is found dead by the Serpentine River. June Rawson (played by Felicity Young) who shared her dressing room at the Kasbah, and her boyfriend John Mason who publishes Wow! decides to find out the killer with June's help. Inspector Brunner (played by Victor Brooks) leads the investigation The killer cuts an iconic picture with his mac, his toupet and his jam-jar glasses - in fact this is a disguise and in reality he is a stuck-up suave man who thinks of himself as very smart. Whereas "All About Eve" depicted the high-end of the theatre world and journalism, "The Cover Girl Killer" depicts life at the bottom of the ladder. From anonymous shabby photographic studios rented by the hour, to incompetent actors and theatre agents, the world of glamour modelling up to London in the late 1950s. Films like this don't make you feel nostalgic. As critic Matthew Sweet explained in the programme that followed the film, British B-Movies were cheaply made on location because those directors did not have much money, and the actors come from the world of theatre. The film is only one hour long and was originally intended to be a flick that precedes the feature film back in the days when cinema tickets were still cheap and owning a television set was a social privilege. The film sends ambiguous messages, somehow we feel that the screenwriter is stuck in the seedy world of cheap flicks and resents the situation. June is not proud of her job, the girl from Torquay realises what glamour modelling means, John Mason doesn't boast about owning the magazine and Inspector Brunner is jaded too, he's has been to a few crime scenes what separates them from the nameless killer is that all of them have a sense of justice: the murderer has to be caught before he kills more people. I think it's the quest for justice that stops this film from making us uncomfortable. We may not like that world, but not even the most prudish of us would not contemplate killing immorality by killing immoral people

Laura by Otto Preminger - USA, 1944, b/w) Gay or not, The character of Waldo Lydecker reminds me of some people I come across from time to time. All of the central performances in this film are faultless, but the one that stands out is Clifton Webb’s. His Waldo Lydecker exudes the mix of suave velvet campness and intellectual pomposity that you only ever find in the senior common rooms of the older Oxford colleges, yet he delivers venomous put-down one-liners with the precision and force of an Olympic javelin thrower.The obviously gay Lydecker wants a woman he can possess like a rare ornament, to be admired for its aesthetic and spiritual qualities. This was one of the first film by Vincent Price - I like watching films with him. The character he plays is psychologically interesting. In fact, as a reflection on relationships, crime drama and psychological portrayal, Laura is at the very top of cinema. It is always great to see films which portray strong women rather than using them as damsels in distress. This is why only the decor has dated, the character have not. I like these films because of the stylish black and white photography, the way they play with darkness and light. At roughly 90 mn it is a classic length for a film.

I watched a b/w British B-Movie from 1953. It's called Marilyn. Marilyn (1953, b/w) Marlyn is definitely an interesting character to watch. The trophy highmaintenance pin-up wife of hard-working penny-pincher George Saunders. George thinks that Marilyn should be glad to have gas fires and electric lights "in every room", however, she is not very happy about her life, the couple run a petrol station with low-end cafe in the middle of nowhere England. Marilyn likes French perfume and US music and dreams to own a cocktail bar like she sees in the movies. George thinks this is frivolous. Onto the scene comes Tom who is looking for a job. George gives him one cleaning cars and odds jobs around the house, pays him below the national average and houses him in a drab room above the garage. Marylin and Tom fall are attracted to each other and you realise that no good is going to come out of this story. There is an interesting angle of Marilyn's friendship to her devoted nice-but-dim employee Rosie. Although I am not too much of a materialist myself, I could partly sympathise with Marilyn's situation. The film never tells us how come she married dowdy George, so I figure that her situation before meeting him must have been even more drab. Like Matthew Sweet said yesterday, a film like that can tell you a lot about its times. It's not a masterpiece, but it was an appealing film.

Date: July 01, 2008 03:47PM Yesterday, I watched "The Verdict" with Paul Newman directed by Sidney Lumet and scripted by David Mamet (USA, colour 1982) This is the first court drama film to feature a civil action. You may have seen civil actions in TV series like Quincy which often dealt with negligence leading to the death of someone. This unsentimental film takes place in Boston Massachussets/USA. A drained and grizzled Frank Galvin (played by Paul Newman) used to be a promising lawyer but that was a long time ago and now he is an alcoholic with an ailing practice. His wife divorced him a long time ago. He lost his last four courtcases. Yet, a couple consult him. They do not have much money and tell him the story of the sister who went to St Catherine Laboure hospital for an operation and ended up in a coma after anaesthetics. Frank Galvin and his mentor Mickey Morrissey (played by Jack Warner who also starred in Twelve Angry Men) take up the case. Frank is glad of this new chance and when he meets Laura Fisher (played by Charlotte Rampling) at his usual boozer where he usually drinks Bushmills, it looks like his love life is perking up too. Much to Frank and Mickey's surprise the lawyers of St Catherine L hospital represented by Ed Cocannon (played by James Mason in one of his last roles) want to settle out of court. Frank is tempted to take the money but after visiting the comatose patient and talking to an idealistic doctor who is angry at his incompetent colleagues, he decides to take the case to court. Ed Cocannon and his redoubtable team set out to destroy the case. And things start to look bad for Frank when his witness seem to become out of reach and the judge (played by Milo O'Shea) seems pretty hostile too. Frank's clients are angry too because they thought he should have taken the settlement sum rather than staking it all on a court-case. In fact, he even gets accused of trying to redeem his soul by being a righteous lawyer... What follows is a fascinating court case and the race against time for Frank who tries to locate his witnesses. I recommend the film because of his final speech and the ending. The film also gets full points from me for depicting low-budget hospital care - that hospital is far from looking clinical. Sidney Lumet also directed 12 Angry Men. And David Mamet wrote "The Untouchable". I was impressed by David Mamet's script because of all the religious references in it - "Praying that justice will be done" is probably the theme of the film. This is certainly Paul Newman's best film

Harriet Craig (USA b/w 1950) Based on the play "Craig's Wife" by George Kelly, this is the story of a selfish housewife (played by Joan Crawford) who prizes her house and possessions above anything else. She sees matrimony as security and bullies everyone in her household. From the housekeeper, to her poorer cousin who is treated like a servant to her husband (Wendell Corey) whose business opportunities she spoils. Thanks to a complicated web of lies, her victims think that she cares for them. Troubled Joan Crawford plays this role to perfection. And the well-written script explain her complex psychology which leads her character to do what she did. The story is still relevant in this day and age when materialism (a show-off home) and possessive feelings still ruin families financially and emotionally. It's great that Film4 is showing these old classics and the afternoon is probably the best time - it feels like a matinee.

"Julia" (USA 1977 Colour Director: Fred Zinneman) based on the book by Lilian Hellman, script by Alvin Sargent Julia is the story of the friendship between aspiring playwright Lilian (played by Jane Fonda) and Julia (played by Vanessa Redgrave). The story is told as a flashback. In 1934, Julia whose left-wing ideology lead her to study medicine to allievate illness in the world is based in Vienna. She and some fellow students are severely beaten up by Austro-Nazis who at the time were trying to seize power. Lilian travels from the US to Vienna to visit her however shortly afterwards Julia disappears. Lilian learns that her activist friends have hidden her friend and she wonders if she is ever going to see her again. Back in the USA, Lilian's play is successful and she is invited to Paris and Moscow to promote her writing. In Paris, she meets a mysterious Mr Johann (played by Austrian actor Maximillian Schell) who proposes a very dangerous mission to her on behalf of Julia. This film is about how far you would go to help your friends. It's always great to see a film about friends, - a subject that is often neglected - and memories. The story is captivating and poignant, especially realising that this is a true story. The performances by everyone are fantastic. This film shows what a great actress Vanessa Redgrave is, her idealism is believable because this is how she is in real life too. Jane Fonda is the ideal heroine. The film was shot in France and the UK - yet the film takes us all over Europe and the US: Paris, Vienna, Warsaw, Moscow and New York. The period detail is spot on.

"In the Heat of the Night" with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. USA 1967 colour. Novel: John Ball synopsis: A murder was committed in the US Deep South town of Sparta. Patrolling Officer Sam Wood (played by Warren Oates) find the dead body of factory owner Mr Colbert. Soon the racist policeman spots a potential suspect and brings him to the station where he is questioned by Police Chief Bill Gillespie (played by Rod Steiger). The black guy is in fact Homicide Det. Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) from Chicago who was passing. Virgil is more or less roped into the investigation, well aware that Sparta is not the kind of place to feel safe. There are a few suspects, including Sam Wood... question is, will Virgil catch his train home? This is undoubtedly one of the best films ever made and kudos to ITV3 to show it on prime time. Not only does it benefit from splendid photography bringing the Mississipi region alive, but the cast is fantastic, the script is well-written and the score is by Quincy Jones with the title track by Ray Charles. I like Sidney Poitier as an actor, and this certainly was a great role for him - his character is dignified and competent. Fans of the CSI and Law and Order series may enjoy the film too because of the forensics and they will realise how much US police work has changed in the past forty years. Rod Steiger's role is fascinating as well. I also like the crowd scene towards the end of the film - it gives hope. It's a worthy film and yet it doesn't feel preachy: as the audience we follow the investigators doing their job and dealing with the public of a small town.