Second Nature

 Second Nature 2003

• Director: Ben Bolt
• Seen by this director: Downton Abbey, a few episodes and some episodes in other series.
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Alec Baldwin, Louise Lombard, Philip Jackson, Powers Booth, Pip Torrens
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Alec Baldwin – A Star is Born, BlacKkKlansman, The Aviator, Glengarry Glen Ross, Miami Blues, Great Balls of Fire, Working Girl, Married to the Mob, Beetlejuice
• Louise Lombard – SGU Stargate Universe, Hidalgo
• Philip Jackson – My Week with Marilyn, Hustle, Little Britain, Little Voice, Brassed Off, Hamish Macbeth
• Pip Torrens – Star Wars the Force Awakens, The Hollow Crown, Hustle, My Week with Marilyn, Doctor Who, Shackleton, Longitude, Tomorrow Never Dies, Hamish Macbeth, The Remains of the Day, Jeeves & Wooster, A Handful of Dust
• Why? Gift from my friend HM
• Seen: 26 September 2021.      

       Paul Kane (Baldwin) loses his wife and two small daughters in a small plane crash. He survives and recovers but has gaps in his memory. Harriet Fellowes (Lombard) is his trauma psychiatrist. He’s instructed by a mysterious phone caller not to tell her certain things. It seems he’s an assassin. CIA?

       I’m not a great fan of spy stories but this might be a little different, and Alec Baldwin can be good.

       It is different and for a while it’s entertaining, but it gets itself into an unlikely tangle and resorts to a lame love story and a boring (as always) fist fight. 

2 * of 5

A Street Cat Named Bob

 A Street Cat Named Bob 2016

• Director: Roger Spottiswoode
• Seen by this director: Tomorrow Never Dies,  
• Based on the book by James Bowen
• Cast: Luke Treadaway, Bob the Cat, Ruta Gedmintas, Joanne Froggatt, Anthony Head, Darren Evans, Lorraine Ashbourne, Beth Goddard, Nina Wadia, Ruth Sheen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Luke Treadaway – Fortitude, The Hollow Crown, Vicious, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, Attack the Block, Heartless
• Joanne Froggatt – Downton Abbey, Filth
• Anthony Head – Dancing on the Edge, Merlin, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Sparkle, Little Britain, Doctor Who, Rose and Maloney, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Lorraine Ashbourne – Breathe, Unforgotten, Adult Life Skills, London Spy, Fever Pitch
• Beth Goddard – Queen of the Desert, Edge of Tomorrow, X-Men First Class
• Nina Wadia – Bend It Like Beckham, Curry Nam Nam, Doctor Who, White Teeth, Kiss Me Kate
• Ruth Sheen – Unforgotten, Mr Turner, Misfits, Another Years, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, Vera Drake, White Teeth, All or Nothing
• Why? Cat!
• Seen: 25 September 2021.      

       Finally! A film about a cat. I’m so tired of dogs in film. I am strictly a cat person.

       James (Treadaway) is a homeless busker trying to kick his heroin addiction and having a very rough time of it. When he comes very close to OD-ing his tough but sympathetic case worker Val (Froggatt) gets him into a flat.

       Then he meets Bob. A ginger cat who purrs very loudly. And won’t leave him alone.

       I won’t even tell you the story. I’m just going to sit here and love the film. 

5* of 5.

 

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

 The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne 1987

• Director: Jack Clayton
• Seen by this director: Room at the Top
• Based on the novel by Brian Moore.
• Cast: Maggie Smith, Bob Hoskins, Wendy Hiller, Marie Keane, Ian McNiece, Rudi Davies, Prunella Scales, Sheila Reid
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey, The Lady in the Van, Hotel Marigold 1&2, My Old Lady, The Quartet, Harry Potter et al, From Time to Time, Becoming Jane, Keeping Mum, Ladies in Lavender, Gosford Park, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, David Copperfield, Tea with Mussolini, First Wives’ Club, Richard III, Sister Act 1&2, Hook, A Room with a View, Quartet (the earlier one), Love and Pain and the Whole Damned Thing, Oh What a Lovely War, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,
• Bob Hoskins – Made in Dagenham, Doomsday, Sparkle, Paris je t’aime, Mrs Henderson Presents, Last Orders, David Copperfield, Felicia’s Journey, Hook, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Brazil, Othello, Rock Follies
• Wendy Hiller – A Comedy of Error, The Elephant Man, Richard II, Voyage of the Damned, A Man for All Seasons, Pygmalion
• Marie Keane – Macbeth, The Girl with Green Eyes
• Ian McNiece – Doctor Who, Valkyria, From Hell, A Life Less Ordinary, An Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain, 84 Charing Cross Road
• Prunella Scales – Howards Inn, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Fawlty Towers
• Sheila Reid – Humans, Doctor Who, Case Histories, Bones, Felicia’s Journey, Still Crazy, The Winter Guest, The Dresser
• Why? Maggie Smith.
• Seen: 24 September 2021.

      Aging Judith Hearne (Smith) moves into a new bed-sit. She promises the photo of her dear aunt D’Arcy (Hiller) and picture of Jesus that this place will be better than the last. She meets the other boarders and the smiley, talkative but nasty landlady Mae (Keane), and her brother James (Hoskins), just returned from his years in New York. Judith is thrilled with the idea of NY.

       She gives private piano lessons but loses one client after another because of earlier scandals.

       She develops a passion for James. They’re both losers but they both have dreams. His don’t match hers and she finds no solace in her Aunt D’Arcy or Jesus. Only in the whisky bottles she hides in her cupboard.

       So depressing! But what dignity and integrity Judith Hearne possesses. And so beautifully performed by the incomparable Dame Maggie.      

5* of 5

 

Streets of Fire

 Streets of Fire

• Director: Walter Hill
• Seen by this director: Crossroads, 48 Hours
• Based on the novel: no.
• Cast: Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Willem Dafoe, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan, Deborah van Valkenburgh, Richard Lawson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michael Paré – probably something but I didn’t recognise him.
• Diane Lane – Man of Steel, Jumper, Under the Tuscan Sun, The Glass House, The Perfect Storm, Rumble Fish
• Willem Dafoe – Murder on the Orient Express, John Wick, Fireflies in the Garden, Paris je t’aime, American Dreamz, Manderlay, The Aviator, Once upon a Time in Mexico, American Psycho, eXistenZ, Lulu on the Bridge, The English Patient, Wild at Heart, Cry-Baby, Born on the Fourth of July, Mississippi Burning, The Last Temptation of Christ, Platoon
• Amy Madigan – Gone Baby Gone, Pollack, Crocodile Shoes, Field of Dreams
• Richard Lawson - Dead Like Me and other series
• Why? Rock music.
• Seen: Once before. Now 19 September 2021.      

       It opens with the text ‘A rock’n’roll fable. Another time, another place.’ Sounds promising.

       Ellen Aim (Lane) is a popular rock singer. She’s kidnapped right off the stage by biker bad guy Raven (Dafoe). Tom (Paré) is a macho badass troublemaker but cute and Ellen’s ex, an of course still in love with her. His sister Reva (van Valkenburgh) wants him to rescue Ellen and he reluctantly agrees, for a price. He partners up with badass chick soldier McCoy (Madigan) and off they go.

       With Ry Cooder’s music and Jimmy Iovine’s involvement it’s bound to have some musical class, which it does. The cars are classy too, if you’re into cars. The dialog is dreadful and the acting hammy, Dafoe’s and Lane’s included. This is not their most shining achievement.

       Either it’s really bad, or a cool spoof on r’n’r, bad bikers, he-men sharpshooters (male and female), street riots. Whatever. Maybe if I was in the mood, but I’m not. Some of music is good but the film?

 

2* of 5. (Hal says 3 ½*, saying it’s film history. Sure it is, but not everything in history is cool).

 

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

 X-Men Origins – Wolverine 2009

• Director: Gavin Hood
• Seen by this director: Eye in the Sky, Ender’s Game, Tsotsi
• Based on the Marvel comic
• Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Danny Huston, Will.i.am, Lynn Collins, Julia Blake, Max Cullen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Hugh Jackman – The Greatest Showman, X-Men etc, Chappie, Les Misérables, Australia, The Fountain, Kate & Leopold
• Liev Schreiber – The Fifth Wave, The Butler, Mental, Every Day, Repo Men Taking Woodstock, Defiance, Taking Woodstock, Hamlet
• Ryan Reynolds – Life, Woman in Gold, Fireflies in the Garden, Life during Wartime
• Danny Huston – Wonder Woman, Robin Hood, Children of Men, The Constant Gardener, The Aviator, 21 Grams
• Will.i.am – Be Cool
• Lynn Collins – Angels Crest, The Lake House, The Merchant of Venice
• Max Cullen – The Great Gatsby, Australia, December Boys, Jindabyne, Running on Empty
• Why? The X-Men, of course
• Seen: 18 September 2021.      

       Two brothers, Jimmy (Jackman) and Victor (Schreiber) are killed in every American war since the Civil War. But they never die. They come back. Again and again.

       They are finally recruited by the Special Forces. As in special powers. Jimmy is sickened by their violence and Victor’s increasing sadism and walks away.

       He lives with his love, schoolteacher Kayla (Collins), in a mountain retreat and works as a lumberjack in Canada

       Victor finds them. Jimmy Logan becomes Wolverine.

       I’ve always had a soft spot for Logan. Now you might have to say that I’m in love with him. Don’t tell my husband.

       So maybe my judgement is slightly cloudy. Reason tells me this isn’t a 5* film. And oh yeah. One thing. It’s way to macho. And just a tad too violent. So only

 

4* of 5. (Hal says 2* but he’s probably just jealous.)

 

Midnight Express

 Midnight Express

• Director: Alan Parker
• Seen by this director: The Life of David Gale, Evita, The Commitments, Mississippi Burning, Fame
• Based on the book by William Hayes
• Cast: Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert Weisser, John Hurt, Mike Kellin, Franco Diogene
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• I’ve seen films with many of these actors but the only one I recognised here (and almost didn’t) is
• John Hurt – Doctor Who, Snowpiercer, Only Lovers Left Alive, Merlin, The Hollow Crown, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, Melancholia, Brighton Rock, V for Vendetta, Manderlay, Dogville, Dead Man, Rob Roy, The Elephant Man, King Lear, I Claudius
• Why? Curious about why so many recommend it. And it’s directed by Alan Parker.
• Seen: 17 September 2021.      

       Billy (Davis) is caught smuggling hash in the Istanbul airport. He claims it was for personal use. The charge is drug dealing.

       The prison in Turkey is portrayed as pure hell with sadistic guards. Billy makes friends (Quaid and Hurt) who tell him about the Midnight Express, which means simply ‘escape.’ But things have to get really desperate before Billy attempts it.

       It’s grim and close to racist. A decent Turk or two would have improved the film. It’s supposedly based on a true story, though according to many reviewers, inaccurately.

       It’s well made but I don’t like it. A reluctant

 3* of 5.

 

Bend It Like Beckham

 Bend It Like Beckham 2002

• Director: Gurinder Chadha
• Seen by this director: Paris je t’aime
• Based on the novel: no.
• Cast: Parminder Nagra, Kiera Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher, Archie Pinjabi, Shaznay Lewis, Frank Harper, Juliet Stevenson, Shaheen Khan, Ameet Chana
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Parminder Nagra – Fortitude, Ella Enchanted, Curry Nam Nam
• Kiera Knightly – Pirates of the Caribbean etc, The Imitation Game, Never Let Me Go, Atonement, Love Actually, Star Wars Episode I
• Jonathan Rhys Meyes – Titus, Velvet Goldmine, Michael Collins
• Anupam Kher – Hotel Mumbai, Silver Linings Playbook
• Archie Pinjabi – The Fall, A Good Year, The Constant Gardener, White Teeth
• Frank Harper – This Is England, In the Name of the Father
• Juliet Stevenson – Breaking and Entering, Being Julia, Mona Lisa’s Smile
• Shaheen Khan – Doctor Who
• Why? I liked it the first time.
• Seen: Once before. Now 12 September 2021.      

       Girls. Football (soccer to you Yanks). Sister’s wedding plans. Cultural and generational collisions. Traditional gender mums – English born and Punjabi born.

       Jess (Nagra) talks to her poster of David Beckham and dreams. Jules (Knightley) watches Jess play football with the lads and asks her to join the girls football club. Girl power has many enemies and scoffers, but it prevails!

       Yes, it’s feel-good. Yes, there’s an unnecessary love triangle. Yes, I hate big family dos off all kinds.

       But I love this film.      

 4 * of 5

 

Purple Rain

 Purple Rain 1984

• Director: Albert Magnoli
• Based on the novel: no.
• Cast: Prince, Appolonia Kotero, Morris Day, Clarence Williams III, Lisa and Wendy etc.
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Prince – possibly Under the Cherry Moon. And I’ve seen him live in concert in Stockholm.
• Clarence Williams III – The Butler, The Brave, The Mod Squad
• Why? The title. The song. Prince.
• Seen: Once before. Now 11 September 2021.      

       If I remember right, this isn’t the world’s best film, but we’re sort of on a Prince kick. I saw Prince live once so the concert bits here are fun and bring back memories.

       Sadly, the story is pathetically clichéd, the acting, except for Williams as Prince’s dad, is embarrassingly bad even though they’re mostly playing themselves, the love story is lame, the characters are unlikeable and sexist…

       I’ve never been Prince’s greatest fan. No question about it, he was a musical phenomenon, but this film is not his greatest achievement. Much of it is cringe-worthily bad. It tries hard to be serious and at times it almost succeeds. But just when I start thinking that it’s pretty good, it loses it again.

       What a jumble. The bad is so bad. The good is so good. Somewhere between ½ * and 4* so I suppose I’ll have to say 

2* of 5, maybe 2 ½ or maybe 3* because Lisa and Wendy’s song and Prince’s performance of it are a clear 5* Why didn’t it end there? 

Well, OK. 3* of 5.

 

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962

• Director: John
• Seen by this director: The Grapes of Wrath and probably others whose titles I don’t remember
• Based on the story by Dorothy M Johnson
• Cast: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O’Brien, Andy Devine, Jeanette Nolan, Woody Strode
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• James Stewart – Shenandoah, Bell Book and Candle, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Harvey, Rear Window, maybe others
• John Wayne – The Longest Day, The Alamo, probably others
• Vera Miles – Psycho and many, many TV series, including The Twilight Zone
• Lee Marvin – Cat Ballou, Paint Your Wagon, many TV series, including The Twilight Zone
• Edmond O’Brien – Seven Days in May, The Longest Day, Julius Caesar
• Andy Devine - many TV series, including The Twilight Zone
• Jeanette Nolan - many TV series, including The Twilight Zone
• Woody Strode – Spartacus
• Why? Nostalgia.
• Seen: Once, as a child. Now 10 September 2021.      

       Do I dare watch this again? I loved it as a kid, I love James Stewart, I love Gene Pitney’s song, I love black and white films. But I don’t like John Wayne, I don’t like westerns and I don’t like stories about pacifists who try but the gunman solves the problem.

       But wow. This could be about today. Big business in cahoots with armed villains. The free press under threat of violence. Voters stopped by big business and bad guys. The law of the land vs guns.

       Trump and the storming of the capitol come to mind.

       No, I don’t like John Wayne nor his obnoxious macho gun-slinging character, nor westerns, and the politics of the good guys are a bit gung-ho patriotic, and Gene Pitney’s song isn’t included.

       That said, it’s a great film. I still love it, not completely but almost. 

4* of 5.

 

Warm Bodies

 Warm Bodies 2013

• Director: Jonathan Levine
• Based on the novel by Isaac Marion
• Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Lio Tipton, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Nicholas Hoult – X- Men Dark Phoenix etc, The Favourite, Mad Max Fury Road, Jack the Giant Slayer, Wah-Wah, About a Boy, Intimate Relations
• Teresa Palmer – I Am Number Four, December Boys
• John Malkovich – Burn After Reading, Colour Me Kubrick, The Libertine, Johnny English, Being John Malkovich, Mary Reilly, Of Mice and Men
• Lio Tipton – Lucy
• Why? Zombies are cool
• Seen: 5 September 2021.      

       R (Hoult) is dead but so is everyone around him. He doesn’t remember his name or how it all happened or how to feel or communicate or why they’re all in an airport. He doesn’t want to be this way. He’s lonely.

       He’s a zombie. They all are.

       Julie (Palmer) is one of the volunteers who venture out into the ruins from the besieged walled city where the only survivors of the plague reside.

       They meet in a battle in which R eats her boyfriend Perry’s (Franco) brain, getting his memories and feelings. R saves Julie from the other zombies to take her back to the airport with him.

       Love stories are not my favourite genre, but I must confess, this one is … different.

       Oh wow! Romeo and Juliet!

       Does that mean it’s going to end tragically?

       See the film. 

4 * of 5

 

 

 

Faubourg 36

 Faubourg 36 (2008)

• Director: Christophe Barratier
• Based on the novel: no.
• Cast: Gérard Jugnot, Clovis Cornillac, Kad Mirad, Nora Arnezeder, Pierre Richard, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Maxence Perrin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• I didn’t recognise any of them.
• Why? Paris. 1936. Music.
• Seen: 3 September 2021.      

       A troupe of theatrical players take over their theatre when it’s shut down by new owners. The political situation in Paris in 1936 is heating up.

       The film has potential. It has the right ingredients but sadly, it doesn’t ever lift. It’s trite, shallow, and boring.

       The red flags and union activists raise it ½ * to 

2 ½ * of 5

 

The Greatest Show on Earth

 The Greatest Show on Earth 1952

• Director: Cecil B DeMille
• Seen by this director: The Ten Commandments
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, James Stewart, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame. Cameos by Bob Hope, Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd), and others I recognised but don’t remember their names
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Charlton Heston – Hamlet, Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, El Cid, Ben Hur, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, The Ten Commandments
• James Stewart – Shenandoah, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Bell Book and Candle, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Harvey, Rear Window, maybe others
• Dorothy Lamour – TV series
• Gloria Grahame –TV series, Oklahoma
• Why? Nostalgia.
• Seen: Once, as a child. Now 4 September 2021.      

       Don’t all kids love circuses? I did, even the tiny fleabag circus that came to our North Woods fleabag town. And I loved this film.   

       Behind the scenes of the Greatest Show on Earth. Romance, endless hard work, financial pressures, egos, jealousy, bitter rivalry, danger, secret pasts.

       And animals. I love the animals but I’m so glad circuses no longer exploit them.

       The documentary aspects of the film are fascinating. The show itself is spectacular. The characters are engaging enough if hammily acted by some. Hutton is awful, which is a shame because her character is the most interesting and complex. Jimmy Stewart is just as good as I remember him, and I like Gloria Grahame.

       It’s a pity that it just goes on and on. All those lavish costumes look tawdry and boring after the thousandth one parades by, and there are too many intrigues. It’s losing stars… 

3* of 5. Hal says 2*.