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Sunday 21 January 2018

The End of the Road...Maybe

They say that all good things come to an end...and so this may be my last blog entry. Or perhaps it will prove to be a rest stop on a continuing long journey.

After many years of robust health it seems I am not as well as I might have hoped and must now embark on a series of procedures which may sap my usual strength and enthusiasm. I shall of course continue to watch as many films as time and inclination allow. They will remain my beacons of hope that one day I can continue their celebration.

For now, bless us all...

Sunday 14 January 2018

Fallen by the Wayside

Sky Cinema does screen a lot of rubbish in its mission to provide a "new" premiere every day (that's redundant since 'premiere' means showing for the first time anyhow), but occasionally -- apart from their showcase movies on a Friday -- they unearth some well-made and interesting films that never made it 'big'. Some of these never received a UK release or just disappeared from the cinemas after a so-so weekend -- and sometimes they are more interesting than their blockbuster cousins.

I watched two such films in the last week. First up was "The Book of Henry" (2017) which I've learned was a major flop in the U.S. and which probably never made it to this country. It was an involving and ultimately very moving gem. Single mum Naomi Watts has two sons. The elder, pre-teen Henry, is an out-and-out genius who quietly provides for his mother by brilliantly dabbling in the stock market and who regularly offers her sage advice; the younger is just an ordinary little boy, who deeply loves his mother and his brother. Unfortunately Henry soon succumbs to a brain  tumour. He is played by Jaeden Lieberher, who subsequently played Stuttering Bill in the recent horror hit of Stephen King's "It". The youngster is Jacob Tremblay, previously Brie Larsen's locked-up son Jack in "The Room" (2015) and now playing Julia Roberts' facially-deformed son in "The Wonder". Both are consummate little actors.

But the real stand-out is Watts -- an excellent actress who is so often overlooked when the kudos are handed out. Ironically she is a close friend of Nicole Kidman and originally came to the States as a nanny to Kidman's adopted children, prior to breaking out in "Mulholland Drive" (2001). The further irony is that I think she's a better actress than Kidman, who while certainly adept too often comes across as full of herself and self-promoting. This possibly explains Kidman's all-star persona and her award-grabbing status, leaving the talented Watts in her shadow. Watts is supported in this film by a bravely trashed-down Sarah Silverman as her best friend and villain du jour Dean Norris as her next-door neighbour, who Henry suspects of abusing his daughter and for whose murder he has left his mother detailed instructions after his own untimely death. It's all quite a ride!

The second movie of note was "Rules Don't Apply" ostensibly a biopic of Howard Hughes and obviously a pet project for Warren Beatty, who wrote and directed the movie and took the leading role as well. However this film is far from a vanity project, since it is well-researched, well-acted by its large and relatively starry cast, and Beatty does an excellent job of getting into the persona of the eccentric billionaire. By coincidence I recently watched another Hughes biopic the 1977 TVM "The Amazing Howard Hughes" with a young Tommy Lee Jones in the lead. Now Jones was probably too young for filling the shoes of the older Hughes and Beatty was probably too old to believably play the younger Hughes, but both actors made a good fist of their roles.

The focus of the 2016 bio is however slanted to a subplot, the on-off relationship between Lily Collins as one of Hughes' 'kept' starlets, all on the payroll and promised movie stardom in never-to-be made flicks, and Alden Ehrenreich (first noticed in the Coens' "Hail Caesar!" and soon to be thrust into mega-stardom as the new Han Solo) as her chauffeur and later Hughes' confidant. The film suffers a little from its length and inclusiveness but with a supporting cast of Annette Benning, Candice Bergen, Matthew Broderick, Oliver Platt and Martin Sheen, it remains more than a good watch. It also serves to remind us that erstwhile A-list movie stars age just like the rest of us. I doubt that this movie made any dents in the US Box Office, but it's really rather well done.

Sunday 7 January 2018

The Rest of the 'big' Holiday Premieres

Since I highlighted Sky's 'big' premieres (all 2017 releases) over the New Year's weekend, I feel obliged to make a few comments about their worthiness. I assure you, these will be brief -- since while all three passed the time relatively painlessly, I very much doubt that I would choose to watch any of them a second time.

First up is the animated "Boss Baby" where the new arrival puts a spanner in the works of the cosseted 7-year old narrator and his previously doting parents. Arrived dressed in a dark grey business suit and complete with attache case, the baby knowingly voiced by Alec Baldwin is the new focus of attention. He's a baby with a mission out to stop the takeover plans of tycoon Steve Buscemi; and without his magic milk he just might be returned to the baby factory as yet another ordinary child. All pretty high-concept and pretty silly with the would-be humour pitched to the adults in the audience -- not really a kiddie's flick at all.

"The Zookeeper's Wife" is one of those worthy films about 'just' gentiles saving the lives of a  number of local Jews during World War II, the latest in a long line of such 'true' stories. Set in Poland (but for some reason filmed in Czechoslovakia) it stars Jessica Chastain as the wife of (yes) the Warsaw Zoo's boss. She does her usual top-class job (complete with a suitable accent) of bringing the character to life and is rapidly becoming the Meryl Streep of her generation.
She's surrounded by a little-known cast of foreign actors led by Johan Heldenbergh as her heroic husband, with only Daniel Bruhl (playing Hitler's pet zoologist and the villain of the piece) being a familiar face. Worthy, but marginally depressing viewing.

New Year's Day marked the premiere of "Kong - Skull Island" which features on a number of lists as among the worst releases of 2017. I wouldn't go that far since, as a popcorn picture, it was an effortless watch even if the world doesn't really need any more Kong movies. This Kong is HUGE and actually a goody ape, intent on protecting the natives on his island against the more terrifying underground creatures. However he is a 'weapon of mass destruction' when his turf is bombed by Samuel L Jackson and his military troops. I have one question: if this was an unknown, isolated, and supposedly uncharted island where did the natives come from? Jackson is after vengeance for the slaughter of his men and ultimately reaps his just desserts along with the other 'villain' John Goodman who begot the mission. Tom Hiddleston (ugh) and the normally competent Brie Larsen are the somewhat wasted romantic leads and only John C Reilly as a leftover World War II soldier stranded on the island with his now dead Japanese counterpart helps to make the nonsense more watchable. 

I did in the end find two full-length documentaries which I had not noted previously, buried in the schedules and both proved rewarding. "Leslie Howard - The Man who Gave a Damn"  (2016) was a biography of the 30's heartthrob whose plane was mysteriously shot down over Portugal in 1943, having returned from Hollywood before "Gone with the Wind" was premiered in Atlanta to help with the British war effort. I have other programmes about the actor but what made this one particularly interesting is that it was put together by the now grown man, who as a child was forced to give up his seat on the doomed flight for a VIP passenger -- thus saving his life. 

The other doc of interest was thrown into the afternoon schedules on Sky Atlantic together with a number of other movie related documentaries which had previously been shown on Sky Arts. However "Drew -- the Man behind the Poster" (2013) was in fact an unheralded premiere. It's the fascinating life history of the very likeable Drew Struzan (and I freely admit that I did not know his name previously) who created some of the most memorable movie posters of all time. He's a brilliant artist -- painting in a hyper-realistic style -- rather than an imaginative draughtsman like Saul Bass. We've all seen dozens of his fantastic works and they have stuck in our collective memory, without knowing anything about the man behind them. He has now retired since the growth of photo-shopped posters have taken over the field -- far less expensive and certainly less memorable than hand-painted ones -- but he is still painting and turning out wonderfully crafted artworks. Bless him!