UK, 1983. Directed by Pete Walker. Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, John Carradine, Richard Todd, Desi Arnaz jr., Sheila Keith, Julie Peasgood.
This reworking of an oft-filmed story provided an opportunity for a number of ageing horror icons to work together. You have to wait half an hour or so, but when they finally appear Price, Lee and Cushing are all given theatrical entrances as befits their stature. They, together with Carradine, Keith and Todd, all have generous amounts of screen time and all are enjoyable to watch. One suspects Peter Cushing in particular enjoyed his role. Sadly the film itself is not up to much, suffering as it does from a creaky plot and a triple-twist ending which falls flat. A tongue-in-cheek, PG-rated horror which is disappointing but enjoyable for those interested in seeing all those actors together in the same room.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Hard Eight
USA, 1996. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffmann.
An early film from this talented writer-director (made in his mid-twenties) and a hint at the riches to come. A character study wrapped up as a thriller of sorts, this boasts excellent performances from all concerned, particularly Philip Baker Hall in the pivotal role of Sydney. With his superb dialogue and the understated performances he draws from his actors, Anderson has created a compelling drama which is never predictable, always believable and continually fascinating to watch. Highly recommended.
An early film from this talented writer-director (made in his mid-twenties) and a hint at the riches to come. A character study wrapped up as a thriller of sorts, this boasts excellent performances from all concerned, particularly Philip Baker Hall in the pivotal role of Sydney. With his superb dialogue and the understated performances he draws from his actors, Anderson has created a compelling drama which is never predictable, always believable and continually fascinating to watch. Highly recommended.
Confessions
Japan, 2010. Directed by Tetsuya
Nakashima. Takako Matsu, Yoshino Kimura,
Masaki Okada, Yukito Nishii, Kaoru Fujiwara, Ai Hashimoto.
A disturbing and dreamlike psychological thriller which
starts quietly but builds its tension well and remains very watchable
throughout. It follows the Japanese
trend in movies in its obsession with schoolchildren and violence. Made in a theatrical, flamboyant style with a
great deal of flair, it tells its story through a number of viewpoints, using
voice-overs of the relevant characters.
Well worth a look.
Petticoat Pirates
UK, 1961. Directed by David
MacDonald. Charlie Drake, Anne Heywood,
Cecil Parker, John Turner, Thorley Walters, Maxine Audley, Eleanor Summerfield,
Victor Maddern, Lionel Murton, Barbara Hicks, Dilys Laye, Michael Ripper, Anton
Rodgers.
A rather lame British comedy conceived as a star vehicle for
Charlie Drake. Packed with the usual
character actors of the period, everyone does their best, but no-one can save
it from being tiresome. Anne Heywood
looks as if she knows she deserves better than this but grits her teeth and
gets on with it. Perhaps mercifully, our
Charlie isn’t in every scene and seems superfluous to the plot, but pops up
every so often to do a (not terribly funny) routine and then disappear
again. I rather got the impression that someone had an old script
lying around and decided to rewrite it around him.
Just William
UK, 1940. Directed by Graham Cutts. Dicky Lupino, Fred Emney, Basil Radford, Amy Veness, Roddy McDowall, Iris Hoey, Simon Lack.
Though looking very creaky now, and despite the fact that Dicky Lupino makes a somewhat chubbier version of William than rests in most people’s imaginations, this is an entertaining little film which succeeds in capturing some of the flavour of Richmal Crompton’s characters. Interesting to see a comparatively young Fred Emney as William’s father and future international star Roddy McDowall in one of his earliest roles before moving to Hollywood.
Though looking very creaky now, and despite the fact that Dicky Lupino makes a somewhat chubbier version of William than rests in most people’s imaginations, this is an entertaining little film which succeeds in capturing some of the flavour of Richmal Crompton’s characters. Interesting to see a comparatively young Fred Emney as William’s father and future international star Roddy McDowall in one of his earliest roles before moving to Hollywood.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Casino Royale
USA / UK / Germany / Czech Republic, 2006. Directed by Martin Campbell. Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino, Simon Abkarian.
In this film the arrival of Daniel Craig as James Bond signals not only a change of actor in the lead role but also a complete reinvention of the Bond franchise. Gone is the jokey approach; there’s no Miss Moneypenny or Q, no gadgets, no long car chases and no master criminal about to take over the world from a secret hideaway full of countless minions to be summarily despatched by our hero in the final 20 minutes. And for this reinvention the producers have, appropriately enough, adapted the very first Bond novel by Ian Fleming so this really is a new beginning for 007 in every respect. Now, I have to admit that I haven’t taken a great deal of interest in the Bond films over the years – after the early Sean Connery ones they became little more than glossy spectacle, all style and minimal content. With this film being heralded as a new approach I was keen to see what they’d do.
I’m not sure the plot was any more important than the earlier glossy movies – though it’s a complicated affair, centred around Bond playing a long, high-stakes poker game with, amongst others, Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen), a banker to terrorist groups throughout the world who is himself at risk from his customers. What I found more interesting was the redefining of Bond himself as a ruthless but fallible hero. This Bond bleeds when he’s beaten up and screams when he’s stripped and tortured. Craig plays the role as a combination of toughness and vulnerability and we have a sense of a complex psychology working beneath the brutal exterior. The pace is fast-moving and the action gripping throughout, although I felt a couple of the set pieces went on just a little too long. But the final shoot-out in a building in Venice undergoing renovation made for an exciting climax. The acting is polished without being remarkable, and Eva Green performs well as Bond’s lover Vesper, but it’s Daniel Craig’s film and he carries the mantle well. James Bond has now truly arrived in the twenty-first century.
In this film the arrival of Daniel Craig as James Bond signals not only a change of actor in the lead role but also a complete reinvention of the Bond franchise. Gone is the jokey approach; there’s no Miss Moneypenny or Q, no gadgets, no long car chases and no master criminal about to take over the world from a secret hideaway full of countless minions to be summarily despatched by our hero in the final 20 minutes. And for this reinvention the producers have, appropriately enough, adapted the very first Bond novel by Ian Fleming so this really is a new beginning for 007 in every respect. Now, I have to admit that I haven’t taken a great deal of interest in the Bond films over the years – after the early Sean Connery ones they became little more than glossy spectacle, all style and minimal content. With this film being heralded as a new approach I was keen to see what they’d do.
I’m not sure the plot was any more important than the earlier glossy movies – though it’s a complicated affair, centred around Bond playing a long, high-stakes poker game with, amongst others, Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen), a banker to terrorist groups throughout the world who is himself at risk from his customers. What I found more interesting was the redefining of Bond himself as a ruthless but fallible hero. This Bond bleeds when he’s beaten up and screams when he’s stripped and tortured. Craig plays the role as a combination of toughness and vulnerability and we have a sense of a complex psychology working beneath the brutal exterior. The pace is fast-moving and the action gripping throughout, although I felt a couple of the set pieces went on just a little too long. But the final shoot-out in a building in Venice undergoing renovation made for an exciting climax. The acting is polished without being remarkable, and Eva Green performs well as Bond’s lover Vesper, but it’s Daniel Craig’s film and he carries the mantle well. James Bond has now truly arrived in the twenty-first century.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Atonement
UK / France, 2007. Directed by Joe Wright. James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan, Vanessa Redgrave, Brenda Blethyn.
Between the two world wars, in a grand house in the English countryside, 13-year-old Briony (Ronan) is running around using her fertile imagination to create plays and stories, inspired in part by what she sees going on around her. She has plans to be a writer when she’s older. Robbie (McAvoy), an Oxford graduate, is the son of the housekeeper and attracted to Briony’s older sister, Cecilia (Knightley). The attraction is mutual and in an erotically charged sequence we see them flirt with each other at the fountain in the garden on a balmy summer’s day. Briony herself has a bit of a crush on Robbie and watches the pair from an upstairs window. Later, Robbie gives her a note to take to Cecilia, which she reads before passing it on to her sister. Later still, she interrupts them while they are in the middle of an intimate embrace. The film repeats these events, allowing us to see them from different points of view. This is crucial for, as we come to understand, they lead to Briony telling a lie which has devastating consequences for all three of them… The story then jumps to wartime, with Romola Garai taking over as the 18-year-old Briony – she is training to become a nurse, her sister is already one, and Robbie is in the army. The final sequence has Vanessa Redgrave appear as the elderly Briony, now a famous writer taking stock of these momentous incidents from her past.
This film, based on the book by Ian McEwan, works on a number of different levels and is superbly crafted from start to finish. The opening act at the family home contrasts strongly with the second, which takes place during the war – there is a memorable sequence comprising a long, unbroken take of the beach at Dunkirk which stays in the mind long after the film is over. And I was several times reminded of Joseph Losey’s film of The Go-Between, which it resembles in part. They share some similar themes and both have a Redgrave (Vanessa’s father, Michael, in Losey’s film) turn up towards the end. Very moving and unmissable.
Between the two world wars, in a grand house in the English countryside, 13-year-old Briony (Ronan) is running around using her fertile imagination to create plays and stories, inspired in part by what she sees going on around her. She has plans to be a writer when she’s older. Robbie (McAvoy), an Oxford graduate, is the son of the housekeeper and attracted to Briony’s older sister, Cecilia (Knightley). The attraction is mutual and in an erotically charged sequence we see them flirt with each other at the fountain in the garden on a balmy summer’s day. Briony herself has a bit of a crush on Robbie and watches the pair from an upstairs window. Later, Robbie gives her a note to take to Cecilia, which she reads before passing it on to her sister. Later still, she interrupts them while they are in the middle of an intimate embrace. The film repeats these events, allowing us to see them from different points of view. This is crucial for, as we come to understand, they lead to Briony telling a lie which has devastating consequences for all three of them… The story then jumps to wartime, with Romola Garai taking over as the 18-year-old Briony – she is training to become a nurse, her sister is already one, and Robbie is in the army. The final sequence has Vanessa Redgrave appear as the elderly Briony, now a famous writer taking stock of these momentous incidents from her past.
This film, based on the book by Ian McEwan, works on a number of different levels and is superbly crafted from start to finish. The opening act at the family home contrasts strongly with the second, which takes place during the war – there is a memorable sequence comprising a long, unbroken take of the beach at Dunkirk which stays in the mind long after the film is over. And I was several times reminded of Joseph Losey’s film of The Go-Between, which it resembles in part. They share some similar themes and both have a Redgrave (Vanessa’s father, Michael, in Losey’s film) turn up towards the end. Very moving and unmissable.
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