Play review – “The Boys” by Gordon Graham

A play that has been subsequently overshadowed somewhat by the film version, where writer Stephen Sewell made some key changes. This one, too, cuts back and forth between the events leading up to the crime and some time afterwards, but the “some time afterwards” focuses more on the women involved. In particular the character played by Toni Collette in the film has more to do. The down side is much of the play’s dialogue is “on the nose”, spelling out the “violence against women” a bit too obviously (surely it’s a bit more subconscious than this).

Book review – “The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood” by Joe Eszterhas

“By” Joe Eszterhas is a bit rich – it really should be “edited by”. Oh, OK, there is some original material, about a chapter’s worth, where Joe suggests what sort of routine to use to write a screenplay, and gives some advice about what to do. But most of this book consists of him quoting others, in particular others about Hollywood, especially screenwriting – William Goldman is quoted extensively, so is Robert McKee (who Eszterhas sometimes makes fun of, sometimes seems to approve what McKee says), also John Gregory Dunne’s Monster, the autobiographies of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Swifty Lazar, the books of William Froug, other books on screenwriting, Phil Noyce’s book. 

This is an irritatingly lazy book. Eszterhas already wrote a brilliantly entertaining memoir on his life and career, Hollywood Animal (material from which he re-hashes here). Why another one? It must have been the money. He hasn’t had a screenplay credit since he moved back to Cleveland, is what why? But his books have sold well.

Reading this you can’t shake the feeling that part of Eszterhas wishes he could wind the clock back to the early 90s, when he was still smoking and drinking and making millions with his spec scripts (many of which had basically the same plot: person falls in love with person so obviously guilty of murders that they must be innocent and they turn out to be guilty) and bragging about being a great family man by living in Marin County and commuting to Hollywood, rooting around on his wife pretty much non-stop, including with Sharon Stone, telling execs to get stuffed, writing blockbusters, making records. Since then he got re-married (he says he’s faithful), had a new family, quit smoking after a bout of cancer, moved from LA, returned to prose – but he keeps looking back at Old Joe with one suspects a touch of wistfulness.

Movie review – “50 First Dates” (2001) ***1/2

High concept rom com has problems – it sort of coughs and splutters in places, relies too often on old people saying something rude or cutting to an animal to get a laugh, goes on a bit. But I love it for one overall reason – the ending doesn’t cop out; Drew Barrymore doesn’t get magically better, but the filmmakers find a way to make it heart-warming. That is very hard to do, and very good filmmaking. There are other things in favour of the film as well: the charming Hawaiian settings, the chemistry of Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler (Barrymore is perhaps the best co-star in Hollywood of dorky men – she really makes them likeable and is believably attracted to them), the fact that the supporting characters operate in their own world of comedy, eg Sean Astin with a series of steroid gags, Dan Aykroyd with monologue lines that aren’t particularly funny, Rob Schneider going off and doing apparently whatever he feels like.

 (A note on re-watching this years late - the ending really got to me again, with Barrymore waking up to find herself on a yacht in the Arctic with a husband and little daughter plus her dad along... brought a tear to my eye. Maybe I'm getting old.)

Movie review - “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” (1999) ***

I remember being a little disappointed by this sequel when it came out – it had plenty of good moments but made some crucial errors and threw opportunities away. But its better on re-viewing because you just wait for the good moments to come around again and you don’t mind the lack of structure. The main error I think was killing off Elizabeth Hurley in the beginning and having Austin be happy because he was single – this cheapens the feelings the character had for Hurley and cheapens the film.
Plenty of bright moments, though: the emergence of a new star in Mini-Me, the stunning beauty of Heather Graham (backed by some sexy as hell outfits she is perhaps the most gorgerous heroine in 90s cinema – though her voice clangs a bit), Will Ferrell’s death scene, Dr Evil telling Austin he is his father, Dr Evil playing ‘God was One of Us’ on the piano for no reason (how will we explain that joke to future generations), the Alan Parsons Project, Austin finding his own clone incredibly sexy. Lots of fun.

Movie Review - "They Drive by Night" (1940) ***1/2

Fast paced Warners melo about truckers from the expert no-nonsense hand of director Raoul Walsh which marked something of a high water mark of George Raft's career at Warners. He's not too bad, Raft - he has a smooth charisma, being especially confident in scenes with women and when he rises in society; it's just that he's not as charismatic as Bogart, who plays his brother. 

 

Plenty of stuff happens in this film, although it seems like two movies - the first half about the battling brothers, the second half about Ida Lupino who is so in love with Raft she kills her husband. This change is a little abrupt - maybe there could have been a scene at the beginning where Lupino and Raft are going out and he doesn't know she's married or something. 

 

Marvellous slangy dialogue, especially among truckers and with hash waitress Ann Sheridan in a perfect role for her: tough, no-nonsense, but susceptible to the right kind of smile. Lupino is very good, too, in a showy role that really launched her (her English accent slips in at times); she has an effective "breakdown" sequence. 

 

Why no similar film about Aussie truckers? You could do one easy enough.

Book review – “Goldwyn” by A Scott Berg

Solid bio of the famous film producer, whose reputation has perhaps ebbed a bit these days – he was a legend in his life time, but the pinnacle film of his career, The Best Years of Their Lives, is not well remembered comparatively, especially for a film that was once the second biggest hit of all time. (Interestingly, it came out in 1946, a year that was Hollywood's most successful in terms of admissions and the high water mark of the classical system commercially - 1939 was the high water mark critically.)

The subtitle for this book really should have been “survivor” – Goldwyn just simply gusted it out, despite setbacks, despite being fired an amazing number of times. A refugee, he made a name as a salesman and arrived in Hollywood right at the beginning but took forever to really make a name (for a variety of reasons, one of which was his desire for independence). He eventually struck gold when he found William Wyler, the ideal director for him. 

Goldwyn was a risk taker, hard worker, and he made his own luck. He was also a major dag, very human. He married well (eventually) to actor Frances Howard, who seems to brought a lot to him but to have slightly resented him (she loved her gay best friend director George Cukor). Worth a read.

Book review – “Lindbergh” by A Scott Berg

Berg writes an excellent bio and this tome on the famous pilot does the man justice. The famous flight doesn’t even reach 200 pages, and there’s still a way to go. Fair enough: Lindy packed a lot into his life and Berg finds the pages mounting even without waffling. Lindbergh’s life falls into several natural acts: childhood, learning to fly, the flight, celebrity, kidnapping, America First, and post-America first. I was astonished at the reaction to the flight – it was a time when people were risking their lives flying all the time, but Lindberg’s really captured the public imagination: he was young, good looking, American, solo, did a thing that was easy to understand (breaking flying records seemed to fall into so many categories: first non stop flight, first solo, first single engine). They loved the romance of Lindy – and it was romantic, one man alone against the odds, in a single engine plane which he helped build himself. The flight is beautifully evoked – Lindbergh over the vast ocean, feeling God, seeing islands of fog. He was a good news story at a time when the papers were full of gloom and doom, part of America that seems to fall into the category of either absolute innocence or total corruption. That doesn’t forgive his bad behaviour during World War Two, though – helping keep the Yanks out of the war with all that misery which that caused.

The book is full of interesting info: Lindbergh’s grandfather was a Swedish politician who went to the States because of a sex scandal, Lindy crashed his planes a large number of times when an air mail pilot, the silly things America did in response to his fame (movie offers, etc).

It is impossible not to be swept away by the saga of the flight, or to feel devastated by the story of the kidnapping (Hauptmann here seems very guilty – I think there is such a big Hauptmann-is-innocent push because there is a segment of the population who think everyone charged with a crime is innocent especially if they’re an outsider, just like there’s a segment who think that everyone is guilty especially if they’re an outsider). It is also impossible not to feel fury at Lindbergh’s idiotic stance prior to the US’s entry in World War Two: his pompous ‘principled’ stands were just idiotic in my view, his refusal to see the Nazis as worse than other regimes and stance of the Jews beggars belief, even without hindsight (what about the purges of 1938, you idiot?) After reading about this, quite frankly this idiot deserved all the abuse he received. Lindbergh was a genius with planes, flying and gizmos – he was an idiot when it came to people and common sense politics. Did all that time in the air warp his brain, give him a lofty view? He forgot the world is made up of people. Lindbergh did redeem himself with his war service (which included shooting down some Japanese planes) and his environmental work after the war.

Berg’s biography enjoyed access to the Lindbergh family papers and is very thorough. Lindbergh comes across as a very real person, as does his wife Anne (she was a best selling author, and an idiot about isolationism, too, though not as part; their marriage was interspersed with long periods of separation and affairs by her and possibly him). For the most part it is enthralling – his background (grandad left Sweden due to a sex scandal, parents unhappy marriage, dad was a politician involved in shonky land deals, mum was a bit of a nutter, no friends), early flying career (lots of crashes and bailing out), the Atlantic crossing (very romantic, even now to read about it – one person in a simple plane going such a long way… no wonder the world was captivated), dealing with incredible fame (which he seemed to do very well), marriage to Anne, the kidnapping, leaving America, Europe, back in the US and America First, war service. The stuff after the war was probably the least interesting, though still quite striking. There are probably too many pages devoted to Lindbergh arranging his own funeral.

Movie review – “The Brides of Fu Manchu” (1966) ** ½

Sequel to The Face of Fu Machu is similarly pacey courtesy of some energetic Don Sharp direction and also starts with a wham – Fu Manchu and his sidekick daughter arrange for a hypnotized girl to girl drop a kidnap victim in a pool of snakes. 

Fu Manchu is back and looking for world domination, this time courtesy of a death ray. He’s kidnapping daughters of scientists to help him. 

I found it a bit confusing to be honest, with lots of different people chasing henchmen, and hechmen trying to kidnap people – heroes and villains tended to look alike (Fu Manchu spends most of his time in his cave, a different actor plays Neyland Smith). I lost track of who was who - the actors needed to wear different costumes or have different coloured hair or something. Flies along, spiffing climax.

Movie review – “The Blob” (1958) **1/2

50s sci fi film has become legendary due to a number of reasons: the title, the concept, a totally inappropriate jaunty theme song co-written by Burt Bacharach, Steve McQueen in the lead role, the creature (a big blob), the finale with the blob being dropped in the Arctic, the trailer for the film appearing in Grease, its Eisenhower era setting (complete with drive ins, hot rods, diners and the heroine’s bratty toy gun-toting kid brother who gets in peril at the end).
Camp factor aside, this is an entirely decent movie: the basic idea is effective, McQueen is charismatic in the lead, the townsfolk-not-believing-the-teenagers angle works well (and helped the film perform well at the box office over the years), the story’s structure is solid (hillbilly dies, then doctor, climaxing with final attack); there is even a touch of Rebel without a Cause in a McQueen run-in with some hot rodders.
There are problems: McQueen aside the performances range from the mediocre to the poor (the leading lady is especially bland but the adults are not much better), the tone is inconsistent, and the handling could have been more inspired (for instance the final attack with the blob closing in on McQueen could have been really special). But the film, like the Blob itself, is hard to attack – you can shoot at it, poor petrol on it, but it only gets bigger.

Book review – “Russell Crowe: A Life” by Gaynor Wylie

A form of the “new biography”, where the author writes its story in the form of a novel. It’s a little irritating – I mean, they have to make it up – but at least this has the virtue of being short. Takes it up to Rusty’s life in 2001 so misses his reunion and marriage to Danielle Spencer. Rusty had an interesting career but this book isn’t written with an awful lot of insight.

Book review – “United Artists: the Company the Changed the Film Industry” by Tino Balio

Brilliant book about the history of UA from 1950 onwards, the Krim-Benjamin era when UA went from near destruction to being one of the leaders in the industry. Written with great skill and research (though it is never dense), it covers the key moments in the studio’s history: the precursor at Eagle Lion, the growth of independent production companies, HHL, Edward Small, Kramer, the Bonds, the Mirisch Company, Woodfall, the 70s with its European influence, the departure of the big five, the debacle of Heaven’s Gate. A great company who’s time passed but which left lessons that can still be learned from today.

Book review – “In Good Company” by Lyn Wallis

Excellent short book on how to produce co-op theatre which makes the task seem a little wearying at times (especially if you want to be thorough) but is written with enthusiasm, passion and knowledge. The big advantage is it is very practical and offers guidelines for schedules and percentages, eg only expect 5% of actors from an open audition to be any good, budget for 40% capacity for most shows unless one man show in which case 30%, start planning your X by Y weeks out. Very good and I can vouch very true – although I don’t think the SMH listing is a necessity. It also read a bit funny having all the websites listed in the back when they could have fitted within the document as well.

Movie review – “A Letter to Three Wives” (1949) ***1/2

Classic film with that terrific premise. I have to put up my hand and say I don’t think it’s totally incredible, but its made with terrific skill and care. Celeste Holm has a voice to die for as Addie Ross – we never see her, presumably because not only would Holm’s appearance not be as sexy as her voice, but no one else’s would either.

The first segment is so-so – Jeanne Crain is a little irritating playing an irritating character, a girl who’s “just so in love” with her perfect rich husband – having said that, Crain does have a funny drunk-while-dancing scene, so maybe it was the character more than the performer (she strikes me as the sort of person a husband would cheat on – but not leave).

Much better is squabbling Ann Southern and Kirk Douglas – meant to be on struggle street but they have a maid for crying out loud; Douglas shows a definite flair for comedy here (not quite believable as a bookish school teacher but you go with it) and Southern matches him insult for insult. This episode gives those issues in gender relations stuff to argue about – is it sexist that Douglas puts Southern in her place?

The best episode is the last – tycoon Paul Douglas and his heated relationship with employee Linda Darnell; Douglas we expect to be good but Darnell is a revelation – she was having an affair with Joe Mankiewicz which probably helped him work on the character, but there’s no denying she is superb in the part.

Book review – “Ava Gardner: Love is Everything” by Lee Server

Lee Server’s biography on Bob Mitchum is perhaps the best movie star biography I have read; this is his follow up, in a way, and although I didn’t find it as good (I’m a bigger Mitchum fan than Ava Gardner fan) it was still pretty terrific. 

 

Gardner had much in common with Mitchum: legends of the screen, often underrated as actors and stars but rarely out of work, never the top rank stars of the time but they have gone on to overshadow most of them; both were favourites of Howard Hughes, both acted in a film (they had an affair), both had exhausting off screen appetites for drinking and members of the opposite sex, both would disparage their own considerable abilities while secretly caring. 

 

Most of all – and I think this was the big thing that attracted Server – both genuinely didn’t give a stuff. Off screen, I mean – Mitchum was genuinely cool, and so was Ava. Once she became a star she slowed her career down right away; she would kick off her shoes, go dancing, have a drink, break a heart. She didn’t care. Mitchum was like that, too – Mitchum had a major advantage over her in that he was married for most of his life, his wife giving him stability Ava never had; he also had children and perhaps a greater work ethic (no doubt partly caused by having children).

Ava Gardner’s life was an odd one – a North Carolina farm kid, the sixth in her family, she got her break by looks and looks alone: visiting her sister in New York, a photo was taken of her, which was seen by an MGM talent scout, who arranged to have her tested. Normally one would say the rest is history, but it wasn’t – she languished for years under contract, despite being one of the most stunning women on the planet (everyone remarks in the book how films never did justice to her), despite having relationships with three of the most famous men on the planet (Mickey Rooney, Howard Hughes, Artie Shaw).

Why wasn’t she promoted a star before The Killers? MGM probably had enough female talent at the time, and I supposed Ava was built for darker movies than the ones that studio made – if there was a suitable role, Lana Turner would nab it. Also, she lacked any confidence in her abilities and didn’t really shine in her early parts. It took Universal to make her a star – though, having said that, I think MGM gave her decent roles in the 1950s and tried to give her more (Sweet Bird of Youth is one she was offered and should have done). She might whinge about the studio, and certainly they tried to butt into her life at times especially during the Mickey Rooney days, but the studio trained her, and she managed to shake free of herself no worries.

What made Ava run? She obviously liked sex and alcohol – the former was something she seems to have been made for (she made every man who came into contact with her something of a nervous blabbering wreck, even Frank Sinatra - with the possible exception of Artie Shaw), the latter helped cover her insecurities, and then she simply got hooked. She was simply sex on legs, something her films convey but obviously was nothing compared to real life. My first impressions of her were from 70s disaster films, were she wasn’t much chop – but check her out in those late 40s films – she’s amazing.

Server has a great deal of affection for his subject, who seems like she was mad but a great deal of fun, especially after only a few drinks; he points out that she behaved very badly on set in the 60s (her professionalism seemed to vanish over night once she was free of a long term MGM contract). She was so crazy even the Spaniards got sick of her (she lived there for a time). She calmed down towards the end of the decade but still lived pretty hard towards the end.

Server is a skilled writer, and he is at home with this world of alcohol, tough attitudes and European exile. Rooney, Sinatra and the bullfighter come across pretty well, too (Rooney is exactly as you’d imagine he would be like – a sex-mad ball of energy); Shaw comes across as a prig, as does Joe Mankiewicz.

Interestingly, the most serious men in Ava’s life – Rooney, Shaw, Hughes, Sinatra, the bullfighter – were all legends in their own fields: maybe you needed to be famous to have the confidence to have a crack at Ava (though later in life it seemed to be enough to simply be young and handsome). I didn’t think Frank Sinatra was the great love of her life – I think she was the great passionate love of his, he was devoted, but she fobbed him off; she did like to think of him, but I think she enjoyed the emotion of suffering more than any real love (they had plenty of opportunities to get back together and never really used them – I think they enjoyed being ex’s too much).

Ava was a shy girl who, gradually, with the aid of alcohol and some innate thing in her character, learned to embrace her own legend and ended up living the life of Ava Gardner – which was, like a Tennessee Williams character, really, only in a Williams comedy rather than a tragedy.

Movie review – “The Departed” (2006) ***1/2

I would count this as maybe 70% masterpiece – Scorsese in fine flourishing form, cranking up the Rolling Stones on the soundtrack as he tackles gangsters again. There’s extra energy this time in that the action takes place in Boston, not New York/Las Vegas, and the characters as Irish, not Italian. Everyone talks like a Kennedy (or I should say “tawks”), and it gives it all freshness – I can’t recall a crime piece set in Boston, it seems a violent crime riddled place. (I picked up on the class stuff from my short time in Boston – outside the beautiful marble halls and manicured lawns of Harvard there were scores, literally scores, of homeless beggars on street corners – and what’s more articulate homeless beggars).

The Boston setting seems to have acted as a tonic for two locals, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg, both better than in anything else I have seen them. Damon is an actor of limited resource, but does well in parts which require him to play someone who tries really, really hard (eg Ripley, Jason Bourne) – so he suits playing a cop who is in the pocket of Jack Nicholson; getting to act in a Boston accent may explain why he is so relaxed and energetic. 

Wahlberg is sensational as the incredibly rude and insensitive undercover cop – indeed, such a strong character that his absence is keenly felt in the last 20 minutes or so of the film (I didn’t believe he would be absent for so long – he might make an ideal sequel, though).

Martin Sheen adds some cuddly, kindly President Bartlett-type gravitas as a kindly cop; Alec Baldwin is brilliant as a bad-joke-cracking cop. Also very good is the girl, very sexy and engaging (though the fact she is linked to both Damon and di Caprio is a little bit of a stretch). Leo di Caprio at first is a bit irritating to be honest – he doesn’t look at all like a cop – but as his character goes progressively bonkers he gets better.

Jack Nicholson strides through the film like, well, Jack Nicholson – he may have been a bit more effective on a tighter leash, I didn’t quite buy him as a crime lord for some reason (he just seemed to be Jack Nicholson), but for all that he remains a charismatic performer, and the film is less strong without him in it.

The script has plenty of twists and turns and terrific dialogue; it also has some genuine surprises, although there were some deserved titters from the audience towards the end. It does go on for a bit – some scenes seem to be put in just for scenes – and there is another 20 minutes after the big climax. I never saw Internal Affairs but it seems like it comes from Hong Kong cinema, with that high body count, operatic feel and doses of sappiness. 

The most vivid thing I took away from the film: the Howard Shore music, particularly the thumping sound of beats in the background during dialogue scenes.

Movie review – “The First Men in the Moon” (1964) **1/2

Films which imagined the moon landing before it happened seem to have become a bit obscure, eg Countdown, this one. It starts with a UN mission landing on the moon – where they discover to their surprise a Union Jack. It turns out a trio of Britons made the journey in 1899. 

It is a bright idea and in the film is hard to dislike, with its Victorian era setting and Ray Harryhausen special effects, not to mention fact that it is a medium budget 60s English sci fi film with an American lead female actor (what can I say? I like the genre).

Lionel Jeffries’ mad scientist character is a little over the top at times, and I didn’t quite warm to Edward Judd’s hero – a bit of a thug, which is true to Wells’ original intentions but doesn’t really make him sympathetic.. I kind of wish they’d had a different ending, which didn’t imply the humans wiped out the aliens with their cold. The script seemed to need a sub plot when they arrive on the moon – another character, a love triangle, or something. It sort of goes interesting-encounter-then-another-interesting-encounter-then-another-interesting-encounter. The special effects are charming. 

Peter Finch has a cameo as the bailiff – I didn’t recognize him first time I saw the film.

Movie review – “Cannonball” (1976) **

Cross-country races were a highly popular genre in the 1970s; this is one of the poorer entries, despite coming from the director of Death Race 2000. The main problem is the central story: its about a bunch of drivers racing across the US to New York. And that’s all.

Too many story holes: if its illegal surely they’d be able to shut it down easily by using roadblocks and the phone? How can a van compete with a race car? The film would have been better off being set in the future or something. It lacks some sort of consistent subplot to keep things involving outside of the car, such as the assassination subplot in Death Race 2000 – the film is mostly people sitting in cars driving, which gets a bit boring after time. And there’s not enough sex.

There are a bunch of good things about the film: some solid stunts, charismatic David Carradine in the lead as the tortured hero, the stunning Veronica Hamel as the love interest, portly Carl Gottleib as a racer who cheats by flying the way, Robert Carradine as a surfer, Mary Woronov and her two female sex pot co-drivers, Pau Bartel (director and co-writer) as a signing crook.

But so much of it is undeveloped: the relationship of Carradine and his idiot mate (who is hardly worth suffering for), the relationship of Carradine and his traitorous brother Dick Miller (Carradine’s final action to not stamp his ticket makes no sense – it seems like try-hard 70s hipness), Carradine and his on-road rival. The film is a bit of a mess, and a disappointment considering the talent involved.

There are delights for film buffs: small roles played by Roger Corman, Jonathan Kaplan and Martin Scorsese, Joe Dante (before he became a director, when he was a New World editor) as a nerdy car fan, a cameo from Sly Stallone, biographers Joe McBride and Todd McCarthy as reporters at the end, small role from legendary producer-to-be Don Simpson (who also co wrote the film). Director-to-be Chuck Russell worked on second unit.

Movie review – “Elizabethtown” (2005) **

I really like Cameron Crowe movies, he seems like a nice guy and I’m really sorry his father died. That’s not enough reason to make a movie out of it – Billy Wilder was able to be prolific because he mostly did adaptations. Orlando Bloom is weak as the young man who has caused a firm to lose billions (didn’t quite believe that – you have to be a messiah to make that happen, but I went with it and it’s the most potent part of the film) – his acting on screen is so-so but is narration is woeful. Kirsten Dunst is terrific as the love interest. Capable actors fill out key support roles, but when Bloom visits the south, it doesn’t seem like a real family – just a bunch of actors in a room trying to be colourful. No story, it sort of drifts along, with some occasionally tasty dialogue, and a hackneyed climax. Who cares if mom tap dances? This should have been a book, if anything. Good soundtrack, but so what?

Movie review - "North to Alaska" (1960) ***

Rio Bravo set a template for John Wayne vehicles which he followed for the next decade: tough role for the Duke, a male co star to play his buddy, a young male juvenile who would usually be played by a ten idol, a feisty female co-star for the Duke to put over his knee and spank, a rapscallion for him to conquer, some gags, flags and gunfire, and glorious colour photography.

This movie is very much in that vein, with the added bonus of a fresh setting, the 1900 Alaskan Gold Rush. Stewart Granger plays Duke's buddy, though it isn't much of a role; Capucine is great fun as the prostitute Wayne takes back to Alaska to console Granger (I heard that producer Charles Feldman foisted Capucine on 20th Century Fox because she was his mistress, but she's terrific and a gifted comic actor, something she later confirmed in The Pink Panther); Fabian plays Granger's lecherous younger brother (he's pretty decent, too - sings a song, gets thrown in the water twice by Wayne, and has a funny scene where he drunkenly tries to seduce Capucine); Ernie Kovacs plays a conman.

The production of this film was erratic due to strikes and an uncompleted script, but it works, helped by some sumptuous locations and on-form cast. It bogs down in the second half with everyone panting after Capucine but there are memorable moments: the brawls, the jaunty theme song, Wayne Capucine meeting and first date to a lumberjack picnic (a touching romance, and it really works).

Book review - "Tom Cruise" by Robert Sellars

Despite only going up to the mid 90s this is a pretty good look at the star's career, containing some spot-on analysis of his appeal and persona. Most of the information is taken from press clippings - there doesn't seem to be any primary research, and Sellars often falls into hyperbole and sweeping generalisations. He is hard on The Firm but likes Interview with a Vampire. What would have been a really strong magazine piece maybe is probably stretched out a bit too long but at least has some intelligence behind it.

Movie review - "The Sons of Katie Elder" (1965) ***

I'm partial to 60s John Wayne films, which tend to be beautifully shot, pay due reference to the star's iconic status, but generally try to be something different (his 70s films could be a bit tired at times).
This one has great colour, a terrific title and concept, plus a great John Wayne entrance - his mother's funeral, he stands in the distance amongst some boulders. Right on, Duke!
It's good to see Dean Martin as his brother and George Kennedy as a hired gun (all hired guns look as though they will wimp out against the Duke and so does Kennedy but he's an enjoyable presence).
I enjoyed this, but it had a surprising amount of flaws - it goes on a bit (almost two hours), saves most of its action until the end, the youngest elder (Mike Anderson Jnr in a role meant for Tommy Kirk before he was sacked for being on drugs) is a little cliched "why can't I be a gunfighter", the fourth brother (Earl Holliman) isn't given any character so when he dies you feel nothing, there isn't quite enough story to sustain the running time, the female lead is negligible.
But it is such a terrific idea with the added bonus that all the sons are guilty about neglecting mum, and Wayne is in fine form. Dennis Hopper strikes sparks, too, as a coward.

Movie review - "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997) ****

Top notch Pierce Brosnan Bond which has several of the most memorable moments of the Brosnan era: M's comeback about "balls", the motorcycle going under the helicopter, and the kiss at the end. There are many other enjoyable bits too: deserted South East Asian islands, tearing up Saigon, the remote control car, Jullian Fellowes as a camp seeming Minister of Defence, the final Rupert Maxwell reference.

Pleasantly non-American in flavour, with an enjoyable imperial throwback as Bond tries to stop a war between China and Britain over Hong Kong (ever notice how captains of ships that sink in the opening reel are always played by the same sort of dashing middle aged actor?), a crack at Americans not being up on intelligence.

Pierce is in decent form, as the mission is serious business - I don't think he's as interested in nookie as other Bonds, but its an attitude that suits here. For instance, I believe he and Michelle Yeoh have an attraction for each other, and a great deal of respect, but you kind of get the impression they only go to bed together (or seem to be about to) out of convention. Yeoh is a star, Terri Hatcher fine, the evil German henchman Gotto Otz suitably nasty (perhaps too nasty - I wished he had more of a come uppance).

I wasn't quite in love with Jonathan Pryce's villain - I love him as an actor, he seems to be hitting all the right buttons, but it's not quite there. Don't know why - maybe he's physically a bit too small, he needed something else - a steel claw, a natty outfit, something. Ricky Jay's computer genius is too cuddly for a baddy. Dud theme song - really awful, wrecks some very fine credits. But it was sweep, excitement, romance, intrigue - a superior Bond.

Book review - "Rowan Atkinson" by Bruce Dessau

Probably the best biography that could have been written on Atkinson, considering the constraints - it was written in 1999 and has been done without the co-operation of its subject. Actually, come to think of it, one gets the feelings maybe a there could have been a bit less reliance on press clippings.
But it offers a solid concise analysis of Atkinson's life and career: well-off rural upbringing, decent school, three years at uni in the north, then Oxford and stardom very quickly. Atkinson's face has been his fortune but he also worked very hard and was fortunate in his collaborators (esp Richard Curtis).
I remember first seeing him in Never Say Never Again - he was obviously a star. I also remember seeing him in a short film A Moment in Time which ran at some cinemas. They were planning vehicles for Atkinson on tv out of uni - how different had he been Australian.
Little of the real Atkinson comes through - he's shy, retiring, serious, likes to break things down economically like the engineer he is. Some useful reminders, like the fact that the first Blackadder was a bit of a flop and he flopped on Broadway.

Movie review - Bond#13 - "Octopussy" (1983) ****1/2

Perhaps the most confident Roger Moore James Bond - certainly the one where I had the best time at the cinema. It seems to know exactly what it wants to do and do it. John Glenn is a lot more at home in the director's chair here than in his previous effort.

The film has everything: a spectacular and funny opening credit sequence (set in Cuba - it doesn't really connect to the main action); a plot which involves nuclear war and smuggling; exotic locations (the first set in India, leading to some tremendous production value); an engaging sidekick for Bond (Vijay Armitaj, who seems like a nice bloke and whose death really upset me); a beautiful Bond girl "appetizer" for Bond to bed before heading for the main course (Kristina Wayborn); an all female island of Amazons led by a beautiful thief (Maude Adams); some terrific henchmen (the twin knife throwers and Kabir Bedi); a nasty, clever, suave villain (Louis Jourdan, who was at his best playing villains); some neat gadgets; Q getting involved by going on location; a nasty Russian (Steven Berkoff) to counterbalance the nice ones; chases on planes, trains and automobiles; a lush John Barry score; a lovely Rita Coolidge theme song; some actual James Bond stories from Fleming are incorporated quite cleverly; a dead double O agent.

They really get it right for featuring Roger Moore, playing to his strengths: jokes, romance, a leading lady whose age suits him, British aplomb (he felt a bit more "Raj" than Sean Connery so he suits India).

Movie review - "A Man's Gotta Do" (2003) *

So much going for it, this could have been a massive local hit: terrific idea - Neddy Smith with a teenage daughter. Shot in a fresh location - Shellhaven. John Howard in the lead - awesome. Rebecca Firth as the wife, Gyton Gantley as the juvenile lead - wonderful. Alyssa McClelland as the daughter... not so good, she's miscast (too pretty, too private school), but it doesn't wreck the film. Where does it go wrong? Not using the central concept - there's no subplot arising out of the Neddy Smith stuff; no other gangsters, no look at the underworld, no payoff, no threat - you could use cops, rivals, press, whatever. A terrific idea and they fail to use it. The script stops and starts, there is no flow, there are too many jokes about getting vascetomies, it needed more characters (or using the ones it had better). A great, great shame.

Movie review - "Waiting for Guffman" (1996) ***

Skilful mockumentary from Chris Guest and friends which takes on an admittedly easy target - community theatre - but does it will skill, insight and deftness. For some reason I enjoy these films more on seeing them again than the first time - you can enjoy the acting even more, the subtle touches.
Many cute moments: I particularly loved Corky St Clair's shop at the end. The stakes are a little frustrating: unlike Spinal Tap where the stakes were real, and Best in Show where they were actually going to win the competition, here the dreams are too silly: there is no chance they will ever go to Broadway, when they are disappointing its more irritating than anything else (if only it had been something they had a real chance of achieving... a grant or something).

Movie review - "Tiger Bay" (1959) ***

Director J Lee Thompson became known in the 70s and 80s for a series of crappy action films but his reputation in the 50s and 60s used to be very high - this is a well renowned thriller from the era, with a relatively simple plot (young girl witnesses a murder), boosted by some evocative depiction of the harbour town (multi-racial, tawdry halls, blaring radio) and excellent performances, particularly Hayley Mills as the feisty young girl who knows Horst Bucholz is a killer but still defends him - only to put her foot in it a la the kid in The Fallen Idol.

It's a little wonder Mills became a star and was put under contract to Disney; few films have better conveyed the lack of, well, morality amongst children - this character would have fitted in just fine with the Lord of the Flies gang. 

The fact that the Poles are so hotheaded and emotional is a little debit. John Mills is in it too.

Movie review - "The Break Up" (2006) ***

This film was propelled to a hit gross mostly I'm guessing on the basis of its "elements': real life Hollywood couple Vince Vaughan and Jen Aniston, a title and topic referring to Jen's recent break up with Brad. It still gets marks for being an unconventional rom com - its more of a dramedy. And they actually break up.

It starts off strongly, with some inter-couple arguments that really struck close to home. Around 30 minutes in, though, you felt the lack of some sort of story apart from the break up - it needed a "coat hanger" plot like the Pigeon sisters in the Odd Couple. But at the end it gets triple points for not selling out.

The alternate ending indicates that test audiences must have wanted some hope that they'd get back together, dumping the new partners - it must have hurt director Peyton Reed though to drop the acapella version of 'Over the Rainbow'. Some familiar faces in the support cast (the guy who plays Vaughan's younger brother is undercast) and loving views of Chicago.

Book review - "Sean Penn" by Richard T Kelly

Oral biographies about people still in the prime of their life I think need to be taken with a grain of salt - they're still powerful so of course people are going to say nice things. Oh, I know that Sean Penn has obviously inspired a great deal of respect and loyalty over the years (the credits on his films indicates that), but one can't helping wishing at times this book weren't a bit more critical. It does indicate Sean was a sulky prat during his 80s Madonna heyday (for an account of a hostile view read the book on Handmade Films) but generally its praise, praise, praise.

Having said that, I think Penn's career deserves a book. He proves that if you have talent and taste and work hard, you don't need hits to survive as an in-demand actor - indeed, Penn has retained his street cred (yet to sell out yet) - if he did he would enjoy a massive pay cheque. Penn was born into a Hollywood family - yet he found he had to move to New York to get his career going (he couldn't get arrested as they say in LA despite his dad being a top TV director, but once he moved to New York he scored a juicy role in a showy play which got him Taps).

He became one of the leaders of the Brat Pack, becoming immortal with Fast Times at Ridgemount High (Penn talked about this in a retrospective doco on the film which gives him a lot of points in my book); he then starred in a series of films which all seemed to flop but which earned him good reviews. Marriage to Madonna kicked him up into the fame stratosphere, as did his tendency to beat up photographers.

His temper, habit of fighting with directors and poor box office standing almost got him blacklisted, but he had his fans such as Mike Medavoy at Orion (who put him in Colours, a big hit). Penn divorced Madonna and had a high profile relationship with Robin Wright. He quit acting to direct, but returned to acting and is enjoying a high profile run - although something like The Interpreter shows why he'll never be a big star: when he shows pain he shows real pain, not Hollywood film star light pain. It also shows why he'll always have a career: so many people want to work with him and he's really talented. Penn is a wanker - but a sincere, talented wanker.

There is probably a bit too much in this book from actors about acting - actors tend to flatter their colleagues in interviews. While it is interesting to hear how Penn attacks a role, we hear a bit too much of it. And did we need to hear so much from Bono? Would have liked to have heard what he thought about being in Team America.

Book review - "Rex Harrison: Fatal Charm" by Alexander Walker

Typically thorough and well-written bio from Walker, this one about the famous dashing debonair prick Rex Harrison, who often pops up in cameos in other people's memoirs or biographies, usually saying something insensitive.

From Walker's longer picture it seems this was entirely accurate - he gave full reign to his nastiness, something inherent in most stars but which Harrison seemed to let flourish in himself because it was entirely consistent with his star persona.

I would argue Rex was never really a film star - maybe in the post war period briefly, where he was under contract to Fox and made films like Anna and The King, but even in his 1960s post My Fair Lady hey day all his films flopped (Agony and the Ecstasy, Dr Doolittle, Staircase, etc) - it's interesting that most of these films were made for Fox, too, under the Zanuck II regime; the Zanucks lost a lot of dough under Harrison.

On stage it was a different story; Harrison was a star, one of the biggest. I was unaware he turned his career around after the Carole Landis story with a stage hit, Anne of a Thousand Days, and he continued to return to the stage throughout his career.

A notable feature of Rex's life was his love life and Walker divides up the book into sections according to wives a la Henry VIII - his wives ranged from casual (1st wife Constance), to the no-nonsense but long-suffering (2nd wife Lili Palmer), to the madcap (3rd Kay Kendall) and the simply mad (4th Rachel Roberts), to the suspiciously nice probably because she co operated with the biographer (5th Elizabeth Harris) to the murky because she didn't (6th wife Marcia).

The dramas of Rex's career, particularly with Kay, Rachel and Carole, make this an engrossing read, with mean, miserly yet still suffering Rex at the centre a worthy protagonist. Idea for a play: set at Rex's Italian villa - follow the path of several wives, Lili, Kay, Rachel and Elizabeth (he had to leave it during the latter's time because the servants got all communist and bolshie and started demanding more money.)

TV series review - "Entourage: Season 2" ****

Second season of the hot new HBO show gets of to a slightly wonky start with a first ep that spends a bit of time straining to get there, and falling into some erratic conversations about rooting girls on their period, but soon gets into stride. Some signs that it is the second season: the scripts are slightly more formulaic (Turtle and Johnny become firmly ensconsced as C plotters), the support actors have been given a beauty treatment (Johnny a bit more buff, Turtle's hair has been done), more cameos. But still some strong moments, and it retains its soul; this series is such a great guy fantasy, its Sex in the City for Blokes - you get to live in a big house with your mates by the beach, have sex with women, fly around the country with a plane, known famous people, actually do decent service (not just sponge off your famous mate but actually help him), buy nice things if you want them; I would say it was more "achievement" orientated than Sex in the City (i.e. the latter was about relationships and love, this is about Making a Movie, Making a Deal, Buying a House). The choice of music is particularly fine (there is a homage to Goodfellas with Ari driving around frantically to 'Monkey Man').
I like how Ari continually reminds E he bought the lottery ticket - which he did, and its good the show recognises it. It's also good how the show pokes fun of the movie industry, but affectionately - like The Devil Wears Prada does with the fashion industry. Holly Valance has a sexy-as role in episode 2. Mandy Moore is a good sport again in a not particularly flattering role as herself. Love Richard Schiff's bit, too. Being in an entourage must be so much fun!!

Book review - "Natasha" by Gavin Lambert

Natalie Wood's life was full of drama: exotic Russian background, child star adventures, teen star (her looks helped her become one), then an adult star, marriage to another movie star, cliched star unhappiness including dud love affairs and a suicide attempt and pioneer faghag, happiness in the 70s with re-marriage, then a tragic death.

It's all there - there is an excellent short bio called Natalie and RJ which has many of the basics that are here (including the account of Robert Wagner pulling over crying after seeing Natalie two years or so after their separation) but Lambert, who knew Wood, adds fresh insights: he argues (convincingly) Natalie's boozy dad wasn't her real dad, and also amazingly gets Warren Beatty to go on the record (not that it's much - he just ducks responsibility for her suicide attempt, which is what you'd expect); he also had Wagner's co operation, so the book doesn't follow the Robert-Wagner-killed-her argument (which I always thought was a bit silly and mean anyway).

It gets stuck into Lana Wood, who sounds like a money grabbing pain. Natalie Wood was blessed with many things in her life: stunning looks, talent (when used properly), a capacity for hard work, a love of her life in Robert Wagner (one of Hollywood's great love stories) - but she was punished, too - mum never happy, fear of drowning, dumped by Warren Beatty. A princess, to be sure, but one capable of great acting. I wonder how she would have done in the 1980s - my guess is she would have continued in TV. 

 

I enjoyed reading about her troublesome experiences under Warners - she was tied to that studio for a long time in the 1950s and early 1960s. Lambert's prose feels occasionally a bit too voyeuristic, listing of the names of Natalie's lovers (Nick Ray who took Natalie's virginity at 16 - and who also slept with Lambert!, Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom, Steve McQueen, John Ireland) - it feels a bit too far when he talks about her periods, I dunno that just crossed the line for me.

Thoughts on Jersey Girl

Kevin Smith's party line on why Jersey Girl flopped at the box office is that it was due to the casting of Ben Affleck and J Lo. I believe they've got nothing to do with it, the reason for the film's failure were other things: Affleck acting like a wanker when his wife is dying (even trying to stop the doctor from operating on her!!!), non believable plot twists (would he really be exorcised from the PR community for one brain melt down just after his wife died? Even so weren't his skills transferrable to other areas? Surely he could get something a step up from construction worker?), lack of personal feeling of the topic (the daughter character in the film was several years older than his one in real life), the selfishness of all the characters. 

The failure of the film lies with Smith. But one can blame him for shifting the blame - repeat something enough and it gets believed and he's got to raise money for his films somehow.

TV series - "Entourage" - Season 1 ****

I thought I would hate this series picturing it as a smug piece full of in jokes with celebs desperate to do cameos for their street cred, and slouch-featured Adam Greiner. But I loved it - it has real soul, because the entourage people are genuine mates, Adam Greiner is really likeable (he plays against his looks, and is a dopey trusting star); the lead guy E (Kevin Connolly) is trying to do the right thing, give his mate good advice - but they don't deify him, he makes mistakes and at the end of the day he's as big a parasite as anyone else; the agent (Jeremy Piven) is a prick but very smart, a worthy adversity, tries to do his best for his client in his own way; the brother (Kevin Dillon) is an unemployed actor, the desperate face of Hollywood (I kept thinking of Scott Coffey or someone like that); Turtle is useful comic relief. Its terrific with some really really stunning women - the Britney type (who promises Greiner her virginity but he has to work for it - he replies he became a film star so she wouldn't have to work - then she says she would have given him the best head he ever got); the vegan; the girl who turns down Turtle because she's hoping ot bang Greiner; Jessica Alba. Great exchanges eg Ari to E after E says he reads the NY Times - Ari asks if he reads the New Republic, E says no, so Ari quotes the new republic; Ari extolling his assistant to fight on the beaches at Malibu. Funny scripts, good heart, short episodes. No phoney Hollywood morality about Hollywood - being in an entourage looks like a lot of fun.

Movie review - "Bounce" (2001) **

Bounce was a Don Roos film, a follow up to The Opposite of Sex. Classic third act problem: first act, Ben Affleck gives up his seat on a plane to a guy - the plane crashes. Act two - Ben feels bad about the guy's wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) being widowed, so he arranges her to act as an agent for a sale of a building - only she likes him and asks him out; they fall in love. Third act - well, the secret's going to come out. He gave him his seat for her husband. And there it is - OH MY GOD HE GAVE UP HIS SEAT! That's not enough. OK he liked OK it's a bit creepy, but it's not enough for a third act. Some lovely acting and dialogue and all that, full of charm, but it was two thirds of a film.

Book review - "All Things Must Pass" by Marc Shapiro

Decent bio of George Harrison, in many ways the most human Beatle. While all of the Fab Four wore their hearts on their sleeve, John and Paul were geniuses, Ringo a comic freak - George was perhaps the most identifiable, if only because average Joe Blow in the street had a chance of being him. The others were ordained at birth, but George got there through hard work - he practised hard at his guitar playing to become one of the best in the group, ditto his singing and song writing (his two songs an album started as tokens but by the time of Abbey Road the two were Something and Good Day Sunshine); he acted as a counter point to the dynamic duo and also helped revitalise the Beatles in the second half of the 60s by pushing them into India spirituality. He also seemed to be able to form alliances with other famous singers the most easily out of any Beatles - Clapton, Dylan, etc

Harrison's 70s career continued his rise - he wasn't really as big as Lennon McCartney, but he had the biggest success in comparison with what he'd done with the Beatles. His out put tended to be erratic - a few good albums followed by a dud or two. But he always managed to turn things around eg in the late 80s with the Jeff Lynn collaboration. He also seemed to be the Beatle who broke the mould most often in his solo career - becoming a genuine Hare Krishna (i.e. sticking at it), becoming a movie mogul, forming super groups, raising money via concerts over a decade before Live Aid.

I had the impression Harrison was one of the more stable Beatles, he always seemed so dry and down to earth with his taste in Monty Python (I figured he got his weirdness out of his system by being into gurus) - but this book reveals he was prone to drugs and groupies with the best of them, especially in the early 70s and mid 80s. He even rooted Maureen Starr when she was married to Ringo. Harrison comes across here as a paradox: a generally hard worker who however had his head in the clouds when it came to business matters, and could be gripped with apathy on occasion (eg when his wife was falling for Eric Clapton); a good friend who slept with his friend's wives (eg Ringo); an honest man who ripped off "My Sweet Lord" - not just unintentionally as the famous case states, but intentionally, from a session musician which this book claims.

Harrison's life was so rich and varied this book seems a bit "skim deep" at best - it really flies through, and constantly feels underdone. It can be read in something like an hour and a half and feels a little under researched, with a lot of reliance on reporting of rumours. Harrison's live keeps it lively though and it will do til a better one comes along.

Play review - "Cause Celebre" by Terence Rattigan

The final from Terry Rattigan is an enjoyable court room drama though a little odd - you know who dunnit and why dunnit, so there are no surprises except whether the guilty will hang or not. Based on a true story (older writers should often write period pieces - they know what they are talking about with more accuracy - something one wishes Woody Allen would do when he writes about young people.) It deals with solid Rattigan themes such as lust and hypocrisy and young bucks. Not top Rattigan but worthy enough.

Movie review - "Kenny" (2006) ***1/2

A deserved hit this would have gone through the roof if it had had more of a story - your basic "has to raise $X in X days" would have sufficied, anything to tie it together a bit more, for the rest is wonderful: the world of the film (its interesting alone as a straight doco), the performances (once you get used to Kenny's voice the performance is excellent), the production values (Melbourne Cups, etc), the dialogue (some wonderful ways with words), the overall warmth. Kenny's wife is a bit of a one dimensional bitch and you fear maybe the Jacobsen's are flirting a bit too closely to Jerry Lewis "I want everyone to love me" Chaplinesque stuff. It goes on a little long without that story, but the final bit is helped by having a believable romance sub plot and strong emotional family stuff. The film really hates yuppies.

Movie review - "Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" (2006) ***1/2

Will Ferrell takes on the racing cricuit and the result is marvellous fun, especially when Ferrel flies off into those wonderful and weird turns. Sacha Cohen also impresses as his French rival (guess we can have gay villains again - though he's not really a villain) - actually the whole cast is good.
Now and then the film seemed to jar - John C Reilly seemed to take over Ferrell's life a bit quickly, and I didn't believe Ferrell would be a pit mechanic without having thought of being a racing car driver. Funniest bits for me were one offs: the names of the kids (who incidentally have a few too many lines), Ferrell's birth, the cougar.