Alfie

 

Alfie (Michael Caine) 1966

• Director: Lewis Gilbert
• Seen by this director: Before You Go, Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita, Moonraker, The Spy Who Loved Me, Friends, You Only Live Twice
• Based on the play by Bill Naughton
• Cast: Michael Caine, Shelley Winters, Millicent Martin, Julia Foster, Jane Asher, Shirley Anne Field, Vivien Merchant, Eleanor Bron, Denholm Elliot, Murray Melvin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michael Caine – Tenet, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Harry Brown, Flawless, The Prestige, Children of Men, The Weatherman, Last Orders, Get Carter, The Cider House Rules, Little Voice, Mona Lisa, Educating Rita, Sleuth (both versions)
• Shelley Winters – Blume in Love, The Poseidon Adventure, A Patch of Blue, Odds Against Tomorrow
• Julia Foster – Doctor Who, Richard III, Henry VI 1,2,3, The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner
• Jane Asher – Dancing on the Edge, The Masque of the Red Death
• Eleanor Bron – Absolutely Fabulous, Women in Love, Help!
• Denholm Elliot – A Room with a View, Voyage of then Damned
• Murray Melvin – Phantom of the Opera, The Devils, A Taste of Honey
• Why? A Michael Caine classic. 
• Seen: Several times. Now 1 May 2023.      

       Why I should like a film about a smug macho womaniser might seem strange but I’ve liked it every time I’ve seen it.

       Alfie is a cocky Cockney, has one bird after another or at the same time, refers to them as ‘it’, gives breezy advice according to his twisted philosophy to his birds or to anyone who will listen, including us, directly into the camera. He has few scruples but loads of charm.

       A despicable sexist.

       But also a vulnerable, lost and damaged grown-up kid. Played to perfection by Michael Caine in this star-making role. The supporting cast is at least as strong: Foster as the mumsy Gilda, Asher as the heart-broken runaway slavishly helpful Annie, Merchant as the guilt-ridden Lily, Winters as the lusty Ruby (great name) , the only one to put Alfie in his place.

       What’s it all about, indeed? 

4 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mod Squad

 

The Mod Squad 1999

• Director: Scott Silver
• Seen by this director: Sweet and Lowdown, clips from many others
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps, Dennis Farina, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Claire Danes – Stardust, Terminator 3, The Hours, Igby Goes Down, Les Misérables, Romeo & Julia, Gillian on her 37th Birthday, Little Women
• Giovanni Ribisi – Selma, The Rum Diary, Public Enemies, The Dead Girl, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Cold Mountain, Friends, Lost in Translation, Saving Private Ryan, SubUrbia, The X Files
• Omar Epps – Alfie
• Dennis Farina – Saving Private Ryan, Get Shorty
• Josh Brolin – Dune, Hail Caesar, Everest, True Grit, Milk, No Country for Old Men, The Dead Girl
• Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water, Kong Skull Island, God’s Pocket, The Rum Diary, Burn After Reading, The Broken, The Visitor, Rumour Has It, North Country, Six Feet Under
• Why? The old TV series. 
• Seen: 30 April 2023      

       It’s probably a mistake to watch a film version of an old teen favourite but who knows? It might be good. 

Here modern teens, white junkie Julie Barnes (Danes), white robber Pete Cochrane (Ribisi), angry young black man Lincoln Hayes (Epps), all three heading for big trouble, are offered a chance to work undercover for the cops. Not all the real cops like the project. 

It was a good idea in the 60s. Can it translate into 1999, which already makes it old? 

Nope. The story is boring, the dialog is dreadful, the action is trite. And as good as these three actors are in other things, nobody can replace Peggy Lipton, Michael Cole and Clarence Williams III. 

Or maybe I’m just not sixteen anymore. 

But you know what? I like Ribisi. His deadpan dopiness saves the whole thing. Sort of.  

2 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flugten ( Escape)

 

Flugten 2009

• Director: Katherine Windfeld
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Iben Hjejle, Lars Mikkelsen, Faegh Zamani
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

·       Iben Hjeljle – Gustav IIIs äktenskap, High Fidelity

·       Lars Mikkelsen – Sherlock, Flamman och citronen

• Why? Might be interesting.
• Seen: 29 April 2023      

       Danish journalist Rikke Lyngvig (Hjejle) is kidnapped in Afghanistan by a group of Taliban. She tries to reason with young Nazir (Zamani).

       There is more than one escape in the film and it jumps from one scene to the next in a rapid chain of events. It doesn’t always work but it’s interesting and some good points are made on the questions of terrorism and refugees. It’s well worth seeing. 

3 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Les quatre cents coups

 

Les quatre cents coups 1959

• Director: Francois Truffaut
• Seen by this director: L’enfant sauvage, Fahrenheit 451, Jules et Jim
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

o   I didn’t recognize any of them.

• ·       Why? A classic 
• Seen: Once before (but I fell asleep). Now 28 April 2023      

       Beautifully filmed in black and white, it’s one of my least favourite genres – coming of age boys. It feels very cynical as though the director doesn’t like his characters. Nor do I, especially.

       This time I didn’t fall asleep but that’s because I could do Facebook while watching. I was, however, charmed by the cute kids at the puppet theatre, though it had nothing to do with the story.

       It’s the visuals that make it worth watching, not the story or the characters. 

3* of 5    

PS Sources on IMDb inform us that ‘les quatres cents coups’ may literally translate as the 400 blows but it’s a French idiom meaning ‘raising hell.’ Now you know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doctor Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

 

Doctor Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964

• Director: Stanley Kubrick
• Seen by this director: Eyes Wide Shut, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, 2001, Spartacus, Paths of Glory
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Peter Sellers, George C Scott,
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

o   Peter Sellers – The Pink Panther mainly. Possibly others.

o   George C Scott – The Yellow Rolls Royce

·       Why? A classic 

• Seen: Twice before (I fell asleep the second time). Now 26 April 2023      

       This is such an iconic film that it’s going to be tricky to see it with 21^st century eyes. Will it be hopelessly dated or applicable to today?

       Both.

       The story: an insane American general orders nuclear bombs dropped on the Soviet Union. Others try to stop it. It’s a comedy about the outrageous insanity of war. Still valid. Otherwise, it doesn’t hold up. The humour is dated and often offensive, and mostly not at all funny. I don’t like it now. 

2* of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cassandra's Dream

 

Cassandra’s Dream

• Director: Woody Allen
• Seen by this director: Sweet and Lowdown, clips from many others
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Hayley Atwell, John Benfield, Claire Higgins, Ashley Madekwe, Sally Hawkins,
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

o   Ewan Macgregor – Doctor Sleep, Christopher Robin, Trainspotting 1&2, American PastoralOur Kind of Traitor, Star Wars etc, Mortdecai, August Osage CountyJack the Giant Slayer, The Impossible, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Perfect Sense, The Ghost Writer, The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Island, Big Fish, Down with Love, Moulin Rouge, Little Voice, A Life Less Ordinary, Velvet Goldmine, Night Watch, Brassed Off, Shallow Grave

o   Colin Farrell – The Gentlemen, Widows, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Winter’s Tale, Total Recall, Fright Night, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, In Bruges, Miami Vice, Intermission

o   Hayley Atwell – Blinded by the Light, Christopher Robin, Antman, Testament of Youth, The Pillars of the Earth

o   Claire Higgins - Ready Player One, Doctor Who, I Give It a Year, Being Human, The Golden Compass, The Libertine

o   Sally Hawkins – Maudie, The Shape of Water, The Hollow Crown, x + y, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, Made in Dagenham, Never Let Me Go, An Education, Happy-Go-Lucky, Little Britain, Twenty Thousand Streets under the Sky, Vera Drake

o   Tom Wilkinson – Selma, Snowden, The Lone Ranger, Hotel Marigold 1&2, The Conspirator, The Ghost Writer, Valkyria, Batman Begins, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mid, Girl with Pearl Earring, Before You Go, Shakespeare in Love, Wilde, The Full Monty, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Sense and Sensibility, Prince of Jutland, In the Name of the Father

o   Phil Davis – Poldark, Being Human, Merlin, Brighton Rock, Another Year, Doctor Who, Notes on a Scandal, Rose and Maloney, Twenty Thousand Streets under the Sky, Vera Drake, White Teeth, Still Crazy, In the Name of the Father, Alien 3

• ·       Why? The cast. 
• Seen: 25 April 2023

      

       A great cast, music by Philip Glass but alas! Written and directed by Woody Allen whose films I simply don’t like, what I’ve seen of them. I really do hope that this is the exception.

       Working class brothers Terry (Farrell) and Ian (MacGregor) win on betting and buy a used sailboat that they name Cassandra’s Dream. There are girlfriends, flash cars, dreams of the big time, angry dad, shady rich uncle, crime.

Put it all together and what do you get? A great cast, music by Philip Glass and an unpleasant film by Woody Allen, no better than his others.

       MacGregor and Farrell do what they can with these unlikeable characters but it’s not enough.

 

2* of 5   

 

Upside Down

 

Upside Down 2012

• • Director: Juan Solanas
  • Based on the book: no
  • Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kirstin Dunst, Timothy Spall, Blu Mankuma
  • Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

  o   Jim Sturgess – Cloud Atlas, Heartless, The Other Boleyn Girl, Across the Universe

  o   Kirsten Dunst – Hidden Figures, Melancholia, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Mona Lisa’s Smile, Levity, Virgin Suicides, Little Women

  o   Timothy Spall – The Party, Mr Turner, The Love Punch, Ginger & Rosa, Harry Potter, The King’s Speech, From Time to Time, Heartless, Sweeney Todd, All or Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Topsy-Turvy, Still Crazy, Our Mutual Friend, Hamlet, Secrets & Lies, Spender, Life Is Sweet

  o   Blu Mankuma – Fringe, 2012, Fierce People, Dead Like Me, The X Files

  ·       Why? Sci fi 

  • Seen: 24 April 2023

               A love story between Adam (Sturgess) who lives Down and Eden (Dunst) who lives Up. Contact between the worlds is forbidden. They find a way.

         It hovers between the ridiculous and the ingenious. The upside downness makes me a little seasick and the love story is banal. But the effects are amazing, it’s entertaining, and I like Jim Sturgess. 

  3* of 5