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

Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines 2018

• Director: Christian Rivers
• Based on novel by Philip Reeve
• Cast: Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Ronan Raferty, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, Colin Salmon, Regé-Jean Page
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Robert Sheehan - Fortitude
• Hugo Weaving – 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
• Patrick Malahide – Brideshead Revisited, Extras, Billy Elliot, The World Is Not Enough, Long Kiss Goodnight, Middlemarch
• Colin Salmon – Merlin, Doctor Who, Die Another Day, The World Is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies
• Why?  Curious
• Seen:  15 November 2019

 In the far future after the near destruction of the planet and humanity, predator cities have arisen. They eat smaller cities and towns. The city of London is powerful and ruthless in devouring everything in its path. It is run by Thaddeus Valentine (Weaving) and Magnus Crome (Malahide). Young apprentice historian Tom (Sheehan) is all for it. He’s in love with Valentine’s daughter Katherine (George) and then he meets Hester (Hilmar) when she tries to assassinate Valentine. With good reason.

The concept is bizarre and while reading the book this week I wondered how on earth they would film it.

Surprisingly successfully, it turns out. The city and flying things are astounding. The story is condensed but it retains the essence. The cast was well chosen, especially Sheehan and Hilmar.

The book’s unexpectedly grim ending bothered me. This ending isn’t quite so grim. Maybe a little too non-grim but I almost prefer it, sweetness notwithstanding.

4 * of 5

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

I Wanna Hold Your Hand 1978

• Director: Robert Zemeckis
• Based on novel: no
• Cast: Nancy Allen, Bobby Di Cicco, Marc McClure, Susan Kendall Newman, Theresa Saldana, Wendie Jo Sperber, Eddie Deezen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Nancy Allen – Robocop 1, 2 & 3
• Why?  Ex-Beatles maniac
• Seen:  10 November 2019

 February 1964. The Beatles live on the Ed Sullivan Show. Oh, how I remember! What a nostalgia trip. Well, I wasn’t in New York, so I didn’t have a chance to sneak into the Beatles’ hotel room, or get tickets to the show, like these girls.

It’s A Hard Day’s Night from the fans’ point of view. A clever idea. The only problem is that it doesn’t have the Beatles in it. Somewhat entertaining, it also has a nasty undertone with prostitution, blackmail, cocky male chauvinism and sadistic parents, all in noisy slapstick. It could have been so much better!

If you like the Beatles, see A Hard Day’s Night instead.

  

1 ½ * of 5