Adrift

Adrift 2018

• Director: Baltasar Kormákur
• Based on book by Tami Ashcraft and Susea McGearhart
• Cast: Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
• Sam Claflin – Their Finest, The Snow White Chronicles The Huntsman Winter’s War, The Hunger Games, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Pillars of the Earth
• Why? Possibly interesting
• Seen: 29 December 2019

             Young Tami (Woodley) wanders the world, surfing and sailing and going where the winds blow her. On Tahiti she meets Richard (Claflin), also a drifter. They go off together in a boat heading for the infinite horizon. After a few foolhardy adventures, during which they fall in love, they run into a hurricane. The boat is severely damaged, Richard is badly injured. Tami is not a good sailor. Somehow, they have to get to Hawaii.

       Day by day they survive. I’m sure it was dreadful for them (true story) but it makes for a rather boring film. The banal love story (zero chemistry) and shallow characters (despite their unhappy childhoods) don’t help.

       The surprise ending does though. A little.

      

2½ * of 5 (Hal says 3)

Inside I'm Dancing

Inside I’m Dancing 2004

• Director: Damien O’Donnell
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: James McAvoy, Steven Robertson, Romola Garai, Brenda Fricker, Ruth McCabe, Tom Hickey, Stanley Townsend
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• James McAvoy – X-Men etc, Victor Frankenstein, Filth, The Last Station, Wanted, Atonement, Becoming Jane, Starter for 10, The Last King of Scotland, Macbeth Re-Told, Bright Young Things
• Steven Robertson – Doctor Who, Bletchley Circle, The Tourist, Brighton Rock, Hustle, Elizabeth the Golden Age, Kingdom of Heaven
• Romola Garai – Suffragette, Glorious 39, King Lear, Atonement, Amazing Grace, As You Like It, Daniel Deronda
• Brenda Fricker – Stone of Destiny, Tara Road, Moll Flanders, My Left Foot, The Quatermass Conclusion
• Ruth McCabe – Victoria and Abdul, Philomena, Good Vibrations, Titanic Town, Circle of Friends, Takin’ over the Asylum, My Left Foot
• Tom Hickey – The Butcher Boy, Circle of Friends, My Left Foot
• Stanley Townsend – The Hollow Crown, Quirke, One Chance, Sherlock, Happy-Go-Lucky, Hustle, The Libertine, Moll Flanders, In the Name of the Father
• Why? It’s so good
• Seen: Once before. Now 28 December 2019      

       To a Special Home for Special People, most in wheelchairs, most unable to speak or care for themselves, comes Rory O’Shea (McAvoy), also in a wheelchair, with the use of two fingers and his mouth. He has a ring in his nose, spiky bleached hair, an aggressive and rebellious attitude and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

       He immediately causes severe havoc in the home, but he is the only one who can understand Michael (Robertson) who has severe cerebral palsy. They become friends. Rory gets Michael into pubs, discos and trouble.

       Through cleverness, cheek and emotional blackmail they attain Independent Living – their own flat, completely handicap friendly, and a full time assistant, the sceptical but feisty Siobhan (Garai).

       Are you now prepared for a string of clichés? Heart-warming, heart-breaking, laughter, tears, brilliant acting. Any comparison to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is gross libel. This is so much better.

       Do not miss this gem.

      

5 * of 5

Cry Freedom

Cry Freedom 1987

• Director: Richard Attenborough
• Based on book by Donald Woods
• Cast: Kevin Kline, Denzel Washington, Penelope Wilton, Josette Simon
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kevin Kline – My Old Lady, Hamlet, As You Like It, A Prairie Home Companion, Wild Wild West, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Ice Storm, Dave, Chaplin, The January Man, A Fish Called Wanda, Silverado, Sophie’s Choice
• Denzel Washington – The Book of Eli, The Great Debaters, Antwone Fisher, Besieged, Devil in a Blue Dress, The Pelican Brief, Philadelphia, Much Ado About Nothing, Malcolm X, Mississippi Masala, Mo’ Better Blues
• Penelope Wilton – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Downton Abbey, Hotel Marigold 1&2, South Riding, Doctor Who, Shaun of the Dead, The Calendar Girls, Clockwise, King Lear, Othello
• Josette Simon – Wonder Woman, Broadchurch, Merlin
• Why? History
• Seen: 27 December 2019

             History, yes. But remembered. Apartheid. Steve Biko. If you’re too young to remember, Google it.

       White liberal journalist Donald Woods (Kline) publicly and wrongly accuses Steve Biko (Washington) of black racism. When confronted by Doctor Ramphele (Simon), he consents to meet with Biko, banned and hunted by the apartheid system. Woods is rich and proud of being a white liberal. Biko takes it upon himself to open his eyes to the brutal reality of 90 % of the South African population.

       It’s dangerous for both of them. We know how it ends for Biko.

       Woods learns. Liberals everywhere, still today, should learn. There are different kinds of apartheids still today.

       The film loses focus in the second half with the troubles of the white liberal (but radicalised) Woods family. It becomes a kind of drawn out thriller with too little about Biko. But still it’s a very strong film with strong performances by Washington, Kline and Wilton – all very young – and the rest of the cast.

       The violence, the killing of Apartheid continued for more than ten years.

       Amandla.

      

4½ * of 5

Cilveka berns (The Child of Man)

Cilveka berns (The Child of Man) 1991

• Director: Janis Streics
• Based on book: Jaanis Klidzejs
• Cast: Andrejs Rudzinskis, Signe Dundure, Agnese Latovska
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? Gift from our dear friend AZ
• Seen: 23 December 2019      

       Bonuks (Rudzinskis), about six years old, lives on a Latvian farm in the 30’s with his large family, including several unmarried aunts. He imagines himself a man and philosophises about love, death, friendship and God. He converses with Saint George for advice. Like everyone in the village he is very religious. He’s also a misogynist little dictator and a precocious little brat, spoilt rotten by the adults. Bonuks is an obnoxious little boy. He’s in love with Bigi (Dundure), about fifteen years older than he is and soon to be married.

       There isn’t much of a story, just daily life on the farm. Those who are nostalgic about rural idylls will find the film charming. Sorry to say I’m not one of them. Films about little boys growing up in the country make me feel claustrophobic.

       Nevertheless, the Latvian countryside is lovingly filmed and brings to mind the beautiful paintings of Vilhelms Purvitis. This is enough to make the film worth seeing. And even though Bonuks is annoying, the young actor Andrejs Rudzinskis is very good.

      

      

2 * of 5

Sing Street

Sing Street 2016

• Director: John Carney
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Ferdia Walsh-Peedo, Lucy Boynton, Jack Reynor, Mark McKenna, Ian Kenny, Percy Chamburuka, Ben Carolan, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Lucy Boynton – Murder on the Orient Express
• Jack Reynor – Macbeth
• Maria Doyle Kennedy – Orphan Black, Jupiter Ascending, Tara Road, The Commitments
• Aidan Gillen – The Maze Runner Scorch Trials & Death Cure, The Dark Knight Rises, The Wire, Some Mother’s Son, Circle of Friends
• Why? Music
• Seen: 21 December 2019

             1985, Dublin. An Irish couple, Penny (Doyle Kennedy) and Robert (Gillen) are having marital and financial troubles. They move their fifteen-year-old son Conor (Walsh-Peedo) to a Catholic school, infamous for its brutal teachers and bullying students. Life at the new school is hell for Conan. Until he meets Darren (Carolan). To impress the cool girl (Raphina) (Boynton) they form a band.

       Baby Commitments. Only they write their own songs and the film doesn’t have anywhere near the same bite.

       They’re sweet kids but it’s a cruel world.

       I would dearly love to give this film 5*. It’s got good music, a decent story, mostly an appealing cast but sadly Walsh-Peedo just isn’t convincing as Conor. He’s too rosy-cheeked, soft-lipped and wimpy, despite his tough guy pretence. The whole film has a bit of a cliché feeling.

       But it’s a nice film.

      

3 ½ * of 5

The Matrix Revolutions

The Matrix Revolutions 2003

• Director: Lana and Lilly Wachowski
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Harold Perrineau
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Keanu Reeves – John Wick, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lake House, A Scanner Darkly, The Matrix Trilogy, Sweet November, The Gift, Feeling Minnesota, Johnny Mnemonic, Speed, Much Ado about Nothing, My Own Private Idaho, Thumbsucker, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Carrie-Ann Moss – Humans, Matrix 2 and 3, Snow Cake, Chocolat
• Laurence Fishburne – Man of Steel, Contagion, Bobby, Akeelah and the Bee, Mystic River, Matrix 2 and 3, Othello, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Boyz n the Hood, Class Action, The Colour Purple, Rumble Fish, Apocalypse Now
• Hugo Weaving – Mortal Engines, Strangerland, The Hobbit etc, Cloud Atlas, V for Vendetta, Little Fish, Lord of the Rings etc, Matrix etc, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Harold Perrineau – 28 Weeks Later, The Matrix Revolutions, Romeo & Juliet, Smoke
• Why? Because
• Seen: Probably once before. Now 20 December 2019

             This has got to better than the second one, right? I’ve promised Hal that it would be, or he refuses to watch it. Me too, for that matter.

       It starts with a big question: is Neo (Reeves) in the Matrix or in a coma or what? Bigger question: are we going to care?

       Well, actually, yes.

       The battles are too long, as always, but amazingly exciting. I don’t even fall asleep. It seems very old-fashioned with all the clunky robot weaponry and despite the Kung Fu superman fanciness, a fist fight is still a fist fight (= boring).

       Otherwise it’s visually stunning with quite a lot of emotional moments and a story that makes more sense than the first two. Quite a satisfactory ending too, despite some loose threads, so luckily my promise to Hal was kept.

      

3½ * of 5

First Man

First Man 2018

• Director: Damien Chazelle
• Based on book by James R. Hansen
• Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Ciarán Hines, Olivia Hamilton, Lukas Haas
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Ryan Gosling – Blade Runner 2049, La La Land, Lars and the Real Girl, Half Nelson, The United States of Leland
• Claire Foy – Breathe, The Lady in the Van, Wolf Hall,
• Ciarán Hines – The Woman in Black, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, Life During Wartime, Margot at the Wedding, Hallam Foe, Amazing Grace, Calendar Girls, Road to Perdition, Titanic Town, Jane Eyre, Ivanhoe, Cold Lazarus, A Mother’s Son, Mary Reilly, Circle of Friends
• Olivia Hamilton – La La Land
• Lukas Haas – Transcendence, Inception, The Darwin Awards, Mars Attacks, Witness
• Why? Ryan Gosling and space travel
• Seen: 15 December 2019      

       How in the world – or should I say solar system or even Universe – did they ever get to the moon? With rockets like rusty tins, battered door hatches, no computers, stowaways in the form of flies, Swiss army knives, fires, dead astronauts. Jan Armstrong was right when she told the Nasa men, ‘You’re nothing but little boys playing with Tinker Toys,’ or something like that. It makes the original Doctor Who look positively professional and high-tech.

       For those of us old enough to have followed the moon program this is an eye opener. Neil Armstrong (Gosling) was evidently not the smiling hero we saw then and later in photographs, but after the death of his little daughter introverted to the point of autism, leaving almost all family raising to his wife Jan (Foy). Not unusual at the time of course but he was extreme in shutting out people. Even as he set out for the moon, he had to be forced by Jan to say good-bye to their sons and he only managed an impersonal peck on Jan’s cheek as he walked out the door.

       Foy and Hamilton as the waiting-at-home-and-worrying-while-leading-a-normal-life-for-the-kids wives are very good. Gosling is good. The rivalry amongst the astronauts is interesting. The background protests against the Vietnam War and the Space Program for spending billions when money was so desperately needed to fight poverty are also good. I was torn. I loved the Space Program, and I was in the streets protesting.

       Just one thing. Where are all the women whose research and mathematical genius made the Space Program possible?

       The film is very slow, very detailed, very dramatic and ultimately very gripping.

      

4 ½* of 5

The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute 2006

• Director: Kenneth Branagh
• Based on Mozart’s opera. Libretto by Stephen Fry.
• Cast: Joseph Kaiser, Amy Carson, Ben Davis, Silvia Moi, René Pape, Lyubov Petrova, Liz Smith
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Liz Smith – Keeping Mum, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Keep the Aspidistras Flying, Karaoke, Secrets and Lies, Takin’ Over the Asylum
• Why? Branagh
• Seen: Once before, the Swedish premiere at the cinema. Now 14 December 2019

             Try as we might we have never learnt to appreciate opera. There are exceptions. This is one.

       Not so much for the music, though some of it is pleasurable, despite its opera-ness. It is, after all, Mozart (though I prefer Beethoven). Not because of the story, which is silly, as they usually are.

       There are two things in this film that move me deeply. The World War I setting. And the visual beauty. In some of the scenes Branagh outdoes Branagh, they’re so brilliant.

       It’s the opera stuff I don’t like. Unfortunately, being an opera, there’s quite a lot of it.

      

4* of 5 (Hal gives it 5, opera and all!)

The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Reloaded 2003

• Director: Lana and Lilly Wachowski
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Harold Perrineau
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Keanu Reeves – John Wick, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lake House, A Scanner Darkly, The Matrix Trilogy, Sweet November, The Gift, Feeling Minnesota, Johnny Mnemonic, Speed, Much Ado about Nothing, My Own Private Idaho, Thumbsucker, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Carrie-Ann Moss – Humans, Matrix 2 and 3, Snow Cake, Chocolat
• Laurence Fishburne – Man of Steel, Contagion, Bobby, Akeelah and the Bee, Mystic River, Matrix 2 and 3, Othello, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Boyz n the Hood, Class Action, The Colour Purple, Rumble Fish, Apocalypse Now
• Hugo Weaving – Mortal Engines, Strangerland, The Hobbit etc, Cloud Atlas, V for Vendetta, Little Fish, Lord of the Rings etc, Matrix etc, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Harold Perrineau – 28 Weeks Later, The Matrix Revolutions, Romeo & Juliet, Smoke
• Why? Because
• Seen: Once or twice before. Now 13 December 2019      

       If the first one didn’t make a lot of sense this one probably makes even less but I’m not bothered. I’m just going to sit back, not think, and enjoy.

       Or not.

       It’s just endlessly boring.

       The only reason it doesn’t get 0* is that I’m sentimental about the first one (Reeves, Moss and Fishburne deserve so much better!). And Link (Perrineau) gets ½ * just because I like him.

      

1½ * of 5

Rachel Getting Married

Rachel Getting Married 2008

• Director: Jonathan Demme
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Anne Hathaway, Bill Irwin, Anna Deavere Smith, Rosemarie DeWitt, Anisa George, Mather Zickel, Tunde Adebimpe, Debra Winger
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Anne Hathaway – Interstellar, Song One, Les Misérables, The Dark Knight Rises, Alice in Wonderland, Becoming Jane, Brokeback Mountain, Ella Enchanted
• Bill Irwin – Across the Universe, Igby Goes Down, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Third Rock from the Sun
• Anna Deavere Smith – Nurse Jackie, The Human Stain, Philadelphia, Dave
• Rosemarie DeWitt – La La Land, Mad Men
• Debra Winger – Words of Endearment, Urban Cowboy
• Why? Remember liking it
• Seen: Once before. Now 8 December 2019      

       Kym (Hathaway) is released from rehab (for what we learn is repeated drug and alcohol abuse) to attend her sister Rachel’s (DeWitt) wedding. Her family welcomes her back enthusiastically and everyone pretends things are fine. Of course, they are not. Old conflicts flare up. Kym is touchy and volatile and carries old tragedies. Music, partying, family and friends, old memories, sweet speeches and laughter – it all makes Kym feel like an outsider, a pariah.

       Big bourgeois weddings really make me cringe. Family films are usually a chore. This one is very talky with a very long scene about how best and quickest to load a dishwasher. But even that is fraught with tragedy.

       I keep thinking that Christine Lahti should be playing Rachel, but DeWitt is good. Winger as the mother is good. Hathaway is very strong as always. The others are rather anonymous, their characters undeveloped.

       It is at times very dramatic, even gripping. The ending is very sugary though – must we see the entire wedding ceremony?  It’s far too long and there’s too much god and too much partying. I hate parties.

       Hathaway gets 5*. The film

      

3* of 5 but if it doesn’t end soon it will lose a star.

The Matrix

The Matrix 1999

• Director: Lana and Lilly Wachowski
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Keanu Reeves – John Wick, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lake House, A Scanner Darkly, The Matrix Trilogy, Sweet November, The Gift, Feeling Minnesota, Johnny Mnemonic, Speed, Much Ado about Nothing, My Own Private Idaho, Thumbsucker, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Carrie-Ann Moss – Humans, Matrix 2 and 3, Snow Cake, Chocolat
• Laurence Fishburne – Man of Steel, Contagion, Bobby, Akeelah and the Bee, Mystic River, Matrix 2 and 3, Othello, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Boyz n the Hood, Class Action, The Colour Purple, Rumble Fish, Apocalypse Now
• Hugo Weaving – Mortal Engines, Strangerland, The Hobbit etc, Cloud Atlas, V for Vendetta, Little Fish, Lord of the Rings etc, Matrix etc, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Why? Because
• Seen: Two or three times before. Now 6 December 2019      

       Have you ever figured out what this film is about? I haven’t. Virtual reality or computers and the Matrix is some kind of hidden computer network that steers over our lives.

       Or something.

       Never mind.

       Reeves (so young!), Moss, Fishburne, Weaving (can he possibly) be the same guy as in Priscilla?) are so cool, and it’s exciting and pretty to look at. And it seems to be profound. Or something.

       It was super cutting edge when it came out in 1999. Is it hopelessly old-fashioned now (dial phones? Phone booths?) Who knows? Who cares?

       I don’t like Messiah stories or conspiracy stories or romantic love endings but who cares?

       Very probably I should not like this film at all. It’s pretentious, politically iffy and generally unlikely. Kung Fu fistfights are so booooooooring! And all that shooting? C’mon!

       But who cares? It’s stylish. It’s fun. I mean those boots. They’re worth half a * all by themselves.

      

3 ½ * of 5 (H says 1 ½ but 4* for absurdity)

Desperately Seeking Susan

Desperately Seeking Susan

• Director: Susan Seidelman
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Roseanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, Mark Blum, Robert Joy, Laurie Metcalf, John Turturro
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Roseanna Arquette – Homicide Life on the Street, Pulp Fiction, Le Grande Bleu, After Hours, Silverado, The Aviator
• Madonna – Evita, A League if Their Own, Dick Tracy, Who’s That Girl?, Shanghai Surprise
• Aidan Quinn – Elle s’appelait Sarah, The Exonerated, Nine Lives, Practical Magic, Michael Collins, The Stars Fell on Henrietta, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Benny & Joon
• Laurie Metcalf – The Big Bang Theory, Absolutely Fabulous, The Norm Show, Third Rock from the Sun, Dharma and Greg, JFK
• John Turturro – The Miracle at St Ana, Margot at the Wedding, Romance & Cigarettes, Secret Window, The Man Who Cried, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Cradle Will Rock, The Big Lebowskie, Clockers, Quiz Show, Barton Fink, Jungle Fever, Miller’s Crossing. Mo’ Better Blues, Do the Right Thing
• Why? Like it
• Seen: Two or three times before. Now 1 December 2019

             Having just watched two mediocre films that both happened to be from 1984 we thought we’d give the 80’s one more try with a film we know we like. And besides, we’ve recently listened to several Madonna CDs.

       Roberta (Arquette), a naïve young romantic, is fascinated by personal ads and has been keeping track of those signed ‘Jim’ with the heading ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’. She’s bored and married and when an ad appears calling Susan to New York she decides to go witness the meeting.

       Susan (Madonna), looking and dressing and acting remarkably like Madonna, is a con artist and a moocher.

       Roberta sees Susan meeting Jim (Joy) then things get complicated, with suspected murder, stolen treasures, handsome reluctant boy scout Dez (Quinn), amnesia, mistaken identities, villains.

       Finally, an 80’s film that is thoroughly enjoyable.

      

4 ½ * of 5

PS I know, I know, there are loads of good 80’s films. I’ve reviewed many.

Footloose

Footloose 1984

• Director: Herbert Ross
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Diane Wiest, Chris Penn, Sarah Jessica Parker
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kevin Bacon – X Men First Class, Frost/Nixon, Mystic River, JFK, Tremors,
• John Lithgow – Interstellar, Dreamgirls, Twelfth Night, Third Rock from the Sun, The Pelican File, Terms of Endearment, The World According to Garp,
• Diane Wiest – Rabbit Hole, Dan in Real Life, I Am Sam, Practical Magic, The Bird Cage, Little Man Tate, Edward Scissorhands
• Chris Penn – The Darwin Awards, True Romance, Reservoir Dogs, Rumble Fish
• Sarah Jessica Parker – Smart People, Mars Attacks!, The First Wives Club, Ed Wood
• Why? Music and dance
• Seen: Once before. Now 30 November 2019

             Fanatic Christian preacher Shaw (Lithgow) hates rock and roll music. The adults of the small town agree with him. New student Ren (Bacon) and Shaw’s daughter Ariel (Singer) have other ideas. In this town dancing is illegal. Cassette tapes are confiscated by the police (not the Police).

       I am seriously allergic to small towns, American high school films, religious fanatics (well, religion generally), and clichéd troubled teens. The whole film is one big cliché filled with tough guy/frilly flirty girl stereotypes.

       But young Bacon is a very good dancer, young Lithgow is a suitably zealous preacher (though he was much better as the nerdy alien in Third Rock from the Sun and pompously pathetic Malvolio in Twelfth Night) and it’s enjoyable at times. It’s hard to believe that dance-deprived kids can suddenly dance like MTV pros but it’s always fun to watch dancing and the shoes were cool.

      

2 * of 5

Dune

Dune 1984

• Director: David Lynch
• Based on book by Frank Herbert
• Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Siân Philipps, Sting, Max Von Sydow, Patrick Stewart, Sean Young and many more
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kyle MacLachlan – Hamlet, The Trial, Twin Peaks, The Doors
• Siân Phillips – Ivanhoe, I Claudius, Shoulder to Shoulder
• Sting – Life’s Too Short, Stormy Monday, Quadrophenia
• Max Von Sydow – Star Wars the Force Awakens, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Shutter Island, Robin Hood, Awakenings, Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd, Voyage of the Damned, The Exorcist, Utvandrarna, Invandrarna, Nybyggarna, Vargtimmen
• Patrick Stewart – The Hollow Crown Richard II, Hamlet, Extras, X Men etc, Star Trek (one of them, I don’t remember which), Excalibur, Hamlet, I Claudius
• Sean Young – Blade Runner 2049, Blade Runner
• Why?  Classic sci fi novel
• Seen:  29 November 2019

 Thousands of years in the future, time travel and life lengthening are made possible by a spice which only exists on the planet Dune. Young warrior Paul (MacLachlan) is sent to Dune to secure the trade in this spice. His life is in grave danger from assassins and royal intrigues. Wars abound.

Lynch clearly had fun with all the sci fi toys, space travel, aliens and weird planets. It makes me want to watch Doctor Who again.

There are many problems with the film. MacLachlan is very young and amateurish, light years away from his sophisticated Dale Cooper of Twin Peaks. This DVD has no subtitles so it’s hard to catch all the dialog but that doesn’t matter because it seems quite awful. I really don’t like imperial royal etc dramas. I now have two hours left to decide if the film has any merits.

Yes, and here they are:

• It’s visually sensational.
• It’s almost Shakespearean in its grand incomprehensibility.
• The worms – they’re the only thing I remember from the book.
• Siân Phillips is always good and it’s fun to see Sting as a villain.
• It’s entertaining once in a while.

   The visual effects get 5*. The few good moments give it 2*. But it’s a hopeless muddle, which takes away 1*. The pretentiousness takes another. The silly story loses it 1*. It’s overlength and boring bits lose it another. The religious nonsense winds it down another notch. If my math is right: +7 – (-5) =

2 * of 5

Robin Hood

Robin Hood 2010

• Director: Ridley Scott
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Russel Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, Max Von Sydow, Oscar Isaac, Mark Strong, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins, Mark Addy, Matthew Macfadyen, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand, Léa Seydoux
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Russell Crowe – Winter’s Tale, Man of Steel, Les Misérables, A Good Year, A Beautiful Mind, Gladiator
• Cate Blanchett – Cinderella, The Hobbit etc, Hanna, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Elizabeth the Golden Age, I’m Not There, Hot Fuzz, Notes on a Scandal, Babel, Little Fish, The Aviator, Coffee & Cigarettes, The Shipping News, The Gift, The Man Who Cried, Elizabeth
• William Hurt – Humans, Winter’s Tale, Into the Wild, A History of Violence, Sunshine, Smoke, The Accidental Tourist
• Max Von Sydow – Star Wars the Force Awakens, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Shutter Island, Awakenings, Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd, Voyage of the Damned, The Exorcist, Utvandrarna, Invandrarna, Nybyggarna, Vargtimmen
• Oscar Isaac – Star Wars the Last Jedi, X Men Apocalypse, Star Wars the Force Awakens, Ex Machina, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Mark Strong – Before I Go to Sleep, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Sherlock Holmes, Young Victoria, Stardust, Sunshine, Sunshine (the other one), Fever Pitch
• Danny Huston - Wonder Woman, Children of Men, The Constant Gardener, The Aviator, 21 Grams
• Eileen Atkins – Vicious, Beautiful Creatures, Last Chance Harvey, Cold Mountain, The Hours, Gosford Park, David Copperfield, Titus Andronicus, The Dresser
• Mark Addy - Doctor Who, A Knight’s Tale, The Full Monty
• Matthew Macfadyen – The Pillars of the Earth, Frost/Nixon, Pride and Prejudice
• Léa Seydoux - Spectre
• Why?  Came in a box with Gladiator
• Seen:  Once before. Now 24 November 2019 

Robin Hood before he was Robin Hood. Good idea. It should have been a good film with that director and that cast. Frankly, it’s boring. It’s all muddled with lots of intrigues and nasty villains. I am really not entertained by long and bloody battle scenes. The good parts are few and far between in this far too long film. Shorter would have helped.

Not Ridley Scott’s finest, nor the cast’s.

2 * of 5

PS If you’re interested in King John, read Shakespeare’s version. If you have the impression that Richard Lionheart was an admirable king, read The Wrathful Traveller – The Merlin Chronicles Volume 2 by Rhuddem Gwelin https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wrathful-Traveller-Merlin-Chronicles/dp/9188713369/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+wrathful+traveller&qid=1574689337&s=books&sr=1-1. You might change your mind.

The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert 1994

• Director: Stephen Elliot
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp, Bill Hunter
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Hugo Weaving – Mortal Engines, Strangerland, The Hobbit etc, Cloud Atlas, V for Vendetta, Little Fish, Lord of the Rings etc, Matrix etc, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Guy Pearce – Genius, Prometheus, The King’s Speech, The Road, Factory Girl, A Slipping-Down Life
• Terence Stamp – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Song for Marion, Valkyria, Wanted, Full Frontal, Star Wars, The Limey, Superman, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Collector, Billy Bud
• Bill Hunter – Australia, Muriel’s Wedding, Strictly Ballroom, Gallipoli, Ned Kelly
• Why?  Liked it the first time
• Seen:  Once before. Now 17 November 2019

 Bernadette (Stamp), an aging transsexual grieving the death of a young husband, Tick/Mitzi (Weaving), upset by hostile audiences in the drag queen venue where he performs, and Adam/Felicia (Pearce), young and full of himself, head off for a lucrative gig in Alice Springs in a used bus they call Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Is the Outback really ready for these three drag/drama queens? No. They laugh off the hostility, ridicule and violence but it still hurts. Together in the bus they bitch bitterly, laugh hysterically at vulgar jokes and get lost in the middle of nowhere. And Nowhere in Australia is very big.

The story is sweet, the three leads leave me speechless with admiration – can that really be Hugo Weaving?! (it’s just a coincidence that we just watched Mortal Engines with a much older Weaving on Friday) – and the costumes, each one more dreadful than the next, are hilarious and deserve their Oscar. And has there ever been a better scene than the one with these three ultra-disco-clad drag queens doing ‘I Will Survive’ in the Australian desert night accompanied by digeridoo and applauding (if sceptical) Indigenous fans? 

4 ½ * of 5

Joe Strummer - the Future Is Unwritten

Joe Strummer – The Future is Unwrittem

• Director: Julien Temple
• Based on novel: no
• Cast: no cast as such, just a lot of interviews
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• See above
• Why?  The Clash
• Seen:  16 November 2019

 It starts with news reports of Joe Strummer’s death in 2002 (how can it be so long ago?). Then back to his childhood. He was born in Turkey and moved around the globe with his diplomat father, mother and brother. When he grew older, he was sent to school in Britain (clips of the film If to show what it was like.) He visited his parents in various African countries on holidays. News clips of the 60’s form the background. A lot of it is narrated by Strummer himself, but also friends, now and then, who all make it clear that he was wild, adventurous, talented and impossible to live with. There’s a lot of music (well, duh) and 70’s history and politics (well, duh).

Punk arrives. The Clash is created. Joe Strummer abandons his old life and his old friends.

London Calling. The Clash go global and start falling apart. Drugs, conflicts, ego trips, same old, same old. Exit the Clash. Ten years pass before Joe Strummer has reinvented himself and got that new self together.

It seems to be an honest portrait, not shying away from Strummer’s darker, less admirable sides, while showing his genius and importance to music with a good measure of respect and affection.

Unfortunately, it’s like most celebrity documentaries – chaotic with jumps back and forth in time, short clips of interviews with all and sundry (even Johnny Depp) but it is very interesting. We listened to the first half of London Calling today. The second half awaits us tomorrow.

4 * of 5