The Greatest

 The Greatest 2009

• Director: Shana Feste
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Carey Mulligan, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Johnny Simmons, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Shannon
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Carey Mulligan – Suffragette, Far from the Madding Crown, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Great Gatsby, Never Let Me Go, Public Enemies, An Education, Doctor Who
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson – Tenet, Nowhere Boy
• Pierce Brosnan – Mamma Mia 1+2, A Long Way Down, The Love Punch, The World’s End, Remember Me, The Ghost Writer, Seraphim Falls, James Bond etc, Mars Attacks!
• Susan Sarandon – Cloud Atlas, Emotional Arithmetic, Romance and Cigarettes, The Exonerated, Alfie, Icebound, Moonlight Mile, Igby Goes Down, Anywhere but Here, Cradle Will Rock, Dead Man Walking, Little Women, The Client, Lorenzo’s Oil, Thelma and Louise, White Palace, Bull Durham, The Witches of Eastwick, Atlantic City, The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Johnny Simmons – The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Scott Pilgrim vs the World
• Jennifer Ehle – Contagion, The King’s Speech, The River King, Sunshine, Wilde
• Michael Shannon – Knives Out, The Shape of Water, Man of Steel, Take Shelter, The Runaways  
• Why? The cast
• Seen: 29 August 2022      

       Young Bennet (Taylor-Johnson) is killed in a car crash just after saying to his girlfriend Rose (Mulligan) that he’s been in love with her since –

       His parents Allen (Brosnan) and Grace (Sarandon) and brother Ryan (Simmons) struggle to deal with their grief. When Rose rings the doorbell and tells them she’s three months pregnant with Bennet’s child and has nowhere to go, Allan welcomes her, Grace doesn’t believe her and Ryan resents her and his idolised brother.

       The family was in trouble before Bennet’s death. Rich, white, privileged but Allan had an affair, Grace has been distant, and Ryan does drugs. Rose doesn’t want her baby to grow up in such an awful family.

       It could have been maudlin, and it is a little at the end but in kind of a quirky way. The acting is as good as one has the right to expect from this cast. And best of all SPOILER! – the baby is called Ruby. 

4* of 5   

 

 

Main Street

 Main Street 2010

• Director: John Doyle
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Colin Firth, Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson, Orlando Bloom, Amber Tamblyn, Margo Martindale
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Colin Firth – The Secret Garden, 1917, Mamma Mia 1+2, Genius, Before I Go to Sleep, The Railway Man, Tinker Tailor, The King’s Speech, Kick Ass Girls St Trinian’s 2, Genova, Then She Found Me, Love Actually, Girl with Pearl Earring, Shakespeare in Love, A Thousand Acres, The English Patient, Pride and Prejudice, Circle of Friends
• Ellen Burstyn – Walking across Egypt, Interstellar, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Requiem for a Dream, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, The King of Marvin Gardens, The Last Picture Show
• Patricia Clarkson – Maze Runner etc, The Bookshop, Learning to Drive, Shutter Island, Lars and the Real Girl Good Night and Good Luck, Six Feet Under, Dogville, Station Agent, Far from Heaven, The Green Mile
• Orlando Bloom – Pirates of the Caribbean etc, The Hobbit etc, Extras, Kingdom of Heaven, Ned Kelly, Wilde
• Margo Martindale – many films
• Why? The cast
• Seen: 28 August 2022      

       Durham, North Carolina, is dying. High unemployment, closed businesses, delayed building projects flagging interest in community activities.

       Enter wheelin’ dealin’ smooth-talkin’ Texan Gus Leroy (Firth), offering the town endless benefits if they’ll let him build a hazardous waste disposal plant.

       Those who hate the film object to Firth’s dreadful Texas accent (I have no opinion, all Southern US drawl sounds the same to me) and its ‘liberal’ message, which in Europe means right-wing but, in the US, practically means communist. They also seem to think that hazardous waste disposal is fake news.

       My objections are as follows: 1) The clichés. 2) Burstyn’s weepy/smiley aging southern belle. 3) The pointless side stories of young (and middle-aged) romance. 4) The film, despite its strong cast and still vitally important subject, is a weak attempt to deal with this ongoing environmental risk.

       A pity. 

2 * of 5   

 

 

Dead Fish

 

Dead Fish 2005

• Director: Charlie Stadler
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Gary Oldman, Robert Carlyle, Elena Anaya, Andrew Lee Potts, Jimi Mistry, Frances Barber, Terence Stamp
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gary Oldman – The Space Between Us, Dark Knight etc, Tinker Tailor, Harry Potter etc, The Book of Eli, Friends, Lost in Space, The Fifth Element, Immortal Love, Léon, Romeo Is Bleeding, True Romance, Dracula, JFK, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Prick Up Your Ears, Sid and Nancy
• Robert Carlyle – Yesterday, 51^st State, T2 Trainspotting, Stargate Universe, Stone of Destiny, 28 Weeks Later, Flood, Hitler, Black and White, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, The World Is Not Enough, The Full Monty, Hamish Macbeth, Carla’s Song, Trainspotting, Go Now, Riff-Raff
• Elena Anaya – Wonder Woman
• Andrew Lee Potts – Primeval, 1408, Rose & Maloney
• Jimi Mistry – 2012, Blood Diamond, Ella Enchanted, The Guru, Born Romantic, East Is East, Hamlet
• Frances Barber – The Bookshop, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, Vicious, Doctor Who, Friday Night Dinner, King Lear, Hustle, Still Crazy, Twelfth Night, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid
• Terrence Stamp – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, A Song for Marion, Valkyria, Full Frontal, Star Wars, The Limey, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Superman, The Collector
• Why? The cast.
• Seen: 27 August 2022      

       Lynch (Oldman) is a cold-blooded hitman. Danny (Carlyle) is a foul-mouthed debt-collector. Abe (Potts) and Mimi (Anaya) are in love and pregnant, though not happily so. Through a mix-up Abe gets Lynch’s mobile and Lynch gets Abe’s. Lynch falls passionately in love with Mimi and sings about it to his S/M hooker (Barber).

       It’s even more absurd than it sounds.

       Some viewers hated the film. Come on, lighten up! How can you not love this nonsense? The cast is clearly having fun with it and so am I. It’s maybe not the best film ever made but it’s great entertainment for a Saturday evening. I will definitely be watching this several times.

 4* of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

Star Trek Insurrection

 

Star Trek Insurrection 1998

• Director: Jonathan Frakes
• Seen by this director: Several episodes of Roswell
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, F Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, Anthony Zerbe
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Patrick Stewart - The Hollow Crown Richard II, Hamlet, Extras, X Men First Class, Star Trek etc, Excalibur, Hamlet, I Claudius
• Jonathan Frakes – Third Rock from the Sun, Star Trek Generations etc
• Brent Spiner – Star Trek etc, The Aviator, I Am Sam, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Corrina Corrina, TV series
• F Murray Abraham – Inside Llewyn Davis, Amadeus
• Anthony Zerbe – this and that
• Why? Last attempt to become a Trekkie
• Seen: 26 August 2022      

       This is my last Star Trek film. I probably won’t become a Trekkie, but I hope to enjoy the film.

       Well, there a few enjoyable moments and a few interesting ideas. Unfortunately, the story is weak, the dialog banal, the moral questions iffy, the romance trite and the humour unamusing.   

       All this could be forgiven if it were interesting but it’s not.

       Sorry, Trekkies. I love you but I won’t be joining you.      

2* of 5   

 

 

 

Cirkus Columbia

 

Cirkus Columbia 2010

• Director: Danis Tanovic
• Based on the book by Ivica Djikic
• Cast: Predrag Manojlovik, Mira Furlan, Boris Ler, Jelena Stupljanin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Mira Furlan – Lost
• Why? Possibly interesting
• Seen: 24 August 2022     

             Divka (Manojlovik) returns to Bosnia after twenty years in Germany just as the war is about to break up and Yugoslavia is about to shatter. He’s now rich and thinks he can take over. He kicks his wife Lucija (Furlan) and son Martin (Ler) out of their house and moves in with his attractive young lover Azra (Stupljanin).

       The communists have been defeated and thugs now run the village. Divko is an uncouth tyrant and manipulative crook whose only redeeming quality is that he loves his cat. It’s an odd slow-moving film and the only thing that’s interesting is the mess the anti-communist thugs made of Yugoslavia. The sentimental ending loses it ½ *. 

2* of 5   

 

 

 

 

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

 

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958

• Director: Richard Brooks
• Seen by this director: Looking for Mr Goodbar, In Cold Blood, Lord Jim, Elmer Gantry, Blackboard Jungle
• Based on the play by Tennessee Williams
• Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Elizabeth Taylor – Crack’d Mirror, Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Taming of the Shrew, Cleopatra, Suddenly Last Summer, Raintree County, Giant
• Paul Newman – Road to Perdition, The Towering Inferno, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Torn Curtain, Harper, Exodus, probably others
• Burl Ives – mostly I know him from my favourite record as a child ‘The Little White Duck’.
• Why? A classic
• Seen: Once before. Now 23 August 2022      

       A southern patriarchal family. Big Daddy (Ives) is a self-satisfied wealthy tyrant who’s dying. He treats his silly devoted wife Ida (Anderson) like dirt. Their son Goober (Carson) is married to Sister Woman (Sherwood) and has six horrible children. Their other son Brick (Newman) is a has-been athletic star and now a determined alcoholic who hates his wife Maggie (Taylor) and Big Daddy, and mendacity, all the lies the family perpetuates. Maggie is in despair because Brick refuses to touch her and all she wants is for him to love her.

       Powerful performances by the whole cast make us care about these deeply flawed, selfish and self-delusionary people.

       Now I’ll have to read the play, which is said to be even better. 

4* of 5   

 

 

Cemetery Junction

 Cemetery Junction 2010

• Director: Rickie Gervais and Stephen Merchant
• Seen by these directors: Gervais: Derek, Life’s Too Short, The Invention of Lying, Extras, The Office.  Merchant: Fighting with My Family, Life’s Too Short, Extras, The Office
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Christian Cooke, Felicity Jones, Tom Hughes, Jack Doolan, Ricky Gervais, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Goode, Steve Speirs, Burn Gorman, Anne Reid, Julie Davis, Emily Watson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Christian Cook – Doctor Who
• Felicity Jones – On the Basis of Sex, Rogue One, The Theory of Everything, The Invisible Woman, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, Hysteria, Like Crazy, The Tempest, Doctor Who
• Tom Hughes – Red Joan, Derek, About Time, Dancing on the Edge, The Hollow Crown
• Jack Doolan – Cockneys vs Zombies
• Ricky Gervais - Derek, Life’s Too Short, The Invention of Lying, Extras, The Office.
• Ralph Fiennes – Hail Caesar, Spectre, Harry Potter, The Invisible Woman, Skyfall, Coriolanus, The Reader, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Sunshine, The English Patient, Strange Days, Schindler’s List, Wuthering Heights
• Matthew Goode – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Downton Abbey, The Imitation Game, Dancing on the Edge, Copying Beethoven
• Steve Spiers – Pirates of the Caribbean, Extras, Doctor Who, Topsy-Turvey, Star Wars, Keeping Mum, Cold Lazarus
• Burn Gorman – Imperium, Pacific Rim, The Dark Knight Rises, Johnny English Reborn, Bonekickers, Colour Me Kubrick
• Anne Reid – Last Tango in Halifax, Years and Years, The Snowman, A Song for Marion, Marchland, Doctor Who, Hot Fuzz, Rose & Maloney
• Julie Davis – Fighting with My Family, Little Britain, Love Actually
• Emily Watson – Testament of Youth, The Theory of Everything, The Book Thief, The Politician’s Husband, Fireflies in the Garden, Wah-Wah, Gosford Park, Equilibrium, Cradle Will Rock, Hilary & Jackie, The Boxer, Breaking the Waves
• Why? Gervais and Merchant
• Seen: 22 August 2022      

       Instead of listening to music by poofs, Bruce (Hughes) tells his friends Freddie (Cooke) and Snork (Doolan) to listen to Elton John. That’s the kind of sly humour we can expect from Gervais and Merchant and that’s what we get.

       Bruce gets into fights, hates his dad, works at the factory and is arrogant in his juvenile male chauvinism. Freddie aspires to a white-collar job and tries to sell insurance. He’s in love with the boss’s (Fiennes) daughter Julie (Jones) who longs to travel the world and become a photographer for The National Geographic.

       Snork is a chubby dork, offensive to women, and longs for sex and even love.

       Like all of Gervais’s and Merchant’s material, this is as cringeworthy as it is humorous, as tragic as it is funny. I’m slowly falling in love with it.

       Class, gender, ethnicity – three key words by which I judge films (and books and everything). This gets points for all three. Not to mention strong supporting roles by Watson and Reid.

4* of 5