I've always liked Meyer since reading an interview with him in a book of screenwriting interviews - he came across as smart and down to earth with a relatively high brow (for Hollywood) group of credits: the good Star Trek movies, Time After Time, Sommersby, The Seven Percent Solution, The Human Stain.
His rise was relatively rapid though like all Hollywood memoirists he's keen to pain himself as an underdog -he went to a midwest college, was a film critic, got a job working as publicity for Paramount, wrote a book about the making of Love Story which financed a move to Los Angeles, got his first screen credit with Invasion of the Bee Girls, did some TV movies, wrote a novel during the Writers Guild strike that became a best seller which was filmed, became a director with Time After Time, moved into Star Trek land and also directed the TV classic The Day After.
There's plenty of Star Trek stuff in here - Meyer's no dummy, he knows who the key audience is. The making of these movies was remarkably confrontational - Gene Rodenberry whinged from his death bed, Paramount politics, egos of Nimoy and Shatner, getting the tone and the story right while not being steeped in series lore. The lesser known Part 6 gets a guernsey which is good and he's nice about Star Trek The Motion Picture which is classy.
He doesn't neglect his other movies and books though - writing The Seven Percent Solution (leading to a little essay-ish bit on how to write a pastiche), writing and directing Time After Time, the difficulties of The Day After (a nightmare with a big personal pay off), directing Volunteers in Mexico and The Deceivers in India, his script doctoring of Fatal Attraction, the mess that was Company Business, writing Sommersby and The Human Stain (where he was rewritten by Robert Benton).
He is less forthcoming on the personal tragedies in his life - the death of his mother from ovarian cancer in her forties, the death of his wife from breast cancer just as young (which derailed his directing career) - though there is a marvelous anecdote of him and Pierce Brosnan having a widower lunch, both crying in grief, then being distracted by a large breasted woman walking past... that is a very male story.
There's interesting digressions on the nature of creativity, where ideas come from, and so on, as well as the general whingeing that Hollywood has gone to sh*t. Meyer is a fine writer and the book is a pleasure to read.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Book review - "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" by Eric Idle
My friends and I were Monty Python fanatics growing up - Eric Idle was always among everyone's top three of the group, along with Michael Palin and John Cleese (everyone recognised Terry Gilliam's directing skill and Graham Chapman's ability as a leading man but they weren't favourites and no one really was into Terry Jones). Idle was instantly likeable with his cockney (?) voice ("say no more, nudge nudge") and instantly funny face - he was a real strength in a group with few weaknesses. His specialty was song writing and he came up with classics notably "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".
Python was something of a pop group - complete with adoring fans, break ups, constant pressures to reunite - and Idle was the most pop star like of them: paying his guitar, having numerous famous friends (notably George Harrison and Lorne Michaels but also Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Billy Connolly, Mike Nichols), jetting around the world on various exotic trips (down the Nile on John Cleese's yacht with Peter Cook, Stephen Fry and William Goldman among others, attending the Tour de France with Williams and Michael J Fox), swapping Python quotes with Elvis Presley. It's fun to be a celebrity.
Idle's life began with great tragedy - his RAF father was killed hitchiking in an accident on leave, sending his mother to a nervous breakdown; she shunted Idle off to a boarding school for RAF orphans which he hated (I can imagine what it was like) but he was smart, and got a scholarship to Cambridge. He fell in love with writing and performing and in what seems alarming rapidity started writing for TV shows for David Frost and the like, eventually being part of Monty Python. Idle was something of a lone hand in the group - Graham Chapman and John Cleese were one writing team, Terry Jones and Michael Palin the other - but he still fitted in brilliantly and became one of their most recogniseable faces, helped by the singing.
It was Idle who went "American" biggest and most of all, who seemed the least temperamental, who was most keen to get the band back together - Cleese and Jones were more temperamental, Chapman's life was more chaotic, Palin more seemingly focused on England while Gilliam was focused on movies. Idle moved to the US first of all and seems to have the most US credits (though Cleese may match him by now) - mostly small/supporting roles, though he had the lead in The Rutles which has become a major cult, starred in Nuns on the Run, and made a studio comedy, Splitting Heirs, and had a role in Suddenly Susan he doesn't write about here. He regained a bit of status with the huge success of Spamalot - I'm surprised he wasn't used for more musicals because his songs are very catchy. No doubt he tried. For the last twenty years his main gig seems to have been touring and performing.
This is a highly entertaining book packed full of fun stories - hanging out with Harrison and the light that makes it seem to be fun to be famous. Idle quotes a lot from his speeches rather than his sketches and songs - speeches about John Cleese and so on. There's probably too much about concerts and different productions of Spamalot - they were successful, we get it. I would have liked to have read more about the less successful ventures like Splitting Heirs. Still a great romp.
Python was something of a pop group - complete with adoring fans, break ups, constant pressures to reunite - and Idle was the most pop star like of them: paying his guitar, having numerous famous friends (notably George Harrison and Lorne Michaels but also Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Billy Connolly, Mike Nichols), jetting around the world on various exotic trips (down the Nile on John Cleese's yacht with Peter Cook, Stephen Fry and William Goldman among others, attending the Tour de France with Williams and Michael J Fox), swapping Python quotes with Elvis Presley. It's fun to be a celebrity.
Idle's life began with great tragedy - his RAF father was killed hitchiking in an accident on leave, sending his mother to a nervous breakdown; she shunted Idle off to a boarding school for RAF orphans which he hated (I can imagine what it was like) but he was smart, and got a scholarship to Cambridge. He fell in love with writing and performing and in what seems alarming rapidity started writing for TV shows for David Frost and the like, eventually being part of Monty Python. Idle was something of a lone hand in the group - Graham Chapman and John Cleese were one writing team, Terry Jones and Michael Palin the other - but he still fitted in brilliantly and became one of their most recogniseable faces, helped by the singing.
It was Idle who went "American" biggest and most of all, who seemed the least temperamental, who was most keen to get the band back together - Cleese and Jones were more temperamental, Chapman's life was more chaotic, Palin more seemingly focused on England while Gilliam was focused on movies. Idle moved to the US first of all and seems to have the most US credits (though Cleese may match him by now) - mostly small/supporting roles, though he had the lead in The Rutles which has become a major cult, starred in Nuns on the Run, and made a studio comedy, Splitting Heirs, and had a role in Suddenly Susan he doesn't write about here. He regained a bit of status with the huge success of Spamalot - I'm surprised he wasn't used for more musicals because his songs are very catchy. No doubt he tried. For the last twenty years his main gig seems to have been touring and performing.
This is a highly entertaining book packed full of fun stories - hanging out with Harrison and the light that makes it seem to be fun to be famous. Idle quotes a lot from his speeches rather than his sketches and songs - speeches about John Cleese and so on. There's probably too much about concerts and different productions of Spamalot - they were successful, we get it. I would have liked to have read more about the less successful ventures like Splitting Heirs. Still a great romp.
Book review - "Roy Huggins: Creator of Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, the Fugitive and the Rockford Files" by Paul Green (2014)
Huggins is a legendary figure of US television - creator of Cheyenne, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive, The Rockford Files, Run for Your Life. He did not have a lot to do with the actual running of some of these shows but he was part of reviving Hunter, worked on the second part of Rod Taylor's series Hong Kong, worked on Alias Smith and Jones, did a bunch of TV movies and mini series.
Huggins was an interesting character - he was a communist who avoided blacklisting by naming names, his first wife was so similar to him that they got divorced and both remarried people who serviced their dreams, he liked skin diving, he could be prickly (not hard at a time when TV was dominated by idiots), he often clashed with his stars but they needed him, he was a tough task master but good stuff resulted, he worked at Columbia in the 50s making B movies and they liked him, he was the father in law of Frank Price.
The book benefits from access to Huggins' unpublished memoirs and extensive interviews with people close to him like Price. I did feel some of the quotes could have been edited more.
Huggins was an interesting character - he was a communist who avoided blacklisting by naming names, his first wife was so similar to him that they got divorced and both remarried people who serviced their dreams, he liked skin diving, he could be prickly (not hard at a time when TV was dominated by idiots), he often clashed with his stars but they needed him, he was a tough task master but good stuff resulted, he worked at Columbia in the 50s making B movies and they liked him, he was the father in law of Frank Price.
The book benefits from access to Huggins' unpublished memoirs and extensive interviews with people close to him like Price. I did feel some of the quotes could have been edited more.
Book review - " Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests" by James Andrew Miller & Tom Shales (revised edition 2015)
A revised edition which goes up to 2015 so includes people like Kirsten Wiig, Andy Saumberg, Bill Hader and Bobby Monyihan... but cuts out before the Trump presidency years when the show was reinvented and became central to the country's identity once more, in part because it was kind of like the voice of the opposition.
It's still a terrific read, full of bubbling personalities and funny stories - Bill Murray and Chevy Chase fighting backstage, clashes between Victoria Jackson and Jan Hooks how Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were the ones to really form a female power block, Chase's ability to annoy people. Jim Downey sounds like a bit of a misogynistic prick.
The book was perhaps over long - did we really need all the accounts of people deciding to leave (because when a show goes for over thirty years that happens a lot) and there was maybe too much on Lorne Michaels. Also there's lots of references to characters and sketches which will mean nothing to those in countries who don't get the show, like Australia. Still, this book is a classic.
It's still a terrific read, full of bubbling personalities and funny stories - Bill Murray and Chevy Chase fighting backstage, clashes between Victoria Jackson and Jan Hooks how Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were the ones to really form a female power block, Chase's ability to annoy people. Jim Downey sounds like a bit of a misogynistic prick.
The book was perhaps over long - did we really need all the accounts of people deciding to leave (because when a show goes for over thirty years that happens a lot) and there was maybe too much on Lorne Michaels. Also there's lots of references to characters and sketches which will mean nothing to those in countries who don't get the show, like Australia. Still, this book is a classic.
Book review - "Powerhouse: the Untold Story of CAA" by James Andrew Miller (2016)
Excellent oral history of CAA which succeeds in getting many key players on the record. Its big flaw is it becomes a lot less interesting once Ron Meyer and Mike Ovitz leave the agency - the ones who are left are super confident and all that but they aren't as colorful and their narrative arc isn't as interesting. I wasn't that fascinated with how CAA became involved in sports.
For me the gold stuff was in the ego clash between agents, leading to Ovtiz leaving, and how they helped films get made - Ovitz was particularly important in rejuvenating Martin Scorsese's career and did wonders for Tom Cruise and Barry Levinson in particularly. I didn't know Edgar Bronfman badly wanted CAA to run Universal (Ron Meyer was the one who ended up going).It was surprising and great to hear Bill Murray analyse CAA and his agents with such preciseness. Ron Meyer comes out of this very well but I think Ovitz comes out of it strongly too.
In hindsight you can see the seeds for the current WGA dispute - CAA gets bought out by TPG increasing the need to make money; also you can see why Me Too happened - these agencies are devoted to helping their clients you can imagine a little sexual harrassment getting swept under the carpet.
There's a lot of ego, hard work, dedication, personal narrative. There's occasionally some love for movies but I think everyone who worked at CAA just liked being part of the circus.
For me the gold stuff was in the ego clash between agents, leading to Ovtiz leaving, and how they helped films get made - Ovitz was particularly important in rejuvenating Martin Scorsese's career and did wonders for Tom Cruise and Barry Levinson in particularly. I didn't know Edgar Bronfman badly wanted CAA to run Universal (Ron Meyer was the one who ended up going).It was surprising and great to hear Bill Murray analyse CAA and his agents with such preciseness. Ron Meyer comes out of this very well but I think Ovitz comes out of it strongly too.
In hindsight you can see the seeds for the current WGA dispute - CAA gets bought out by TPG increasing the need to make money; also you can see why Me Too happened - these agencies are devoted to helping their clients you can imagine a little sexual harrassment getting swept under the carpet.
There's a lot of ego, hard work, dedication, personal narrative. There's occasionally some love for movies but I think everyone who worked at CAA just liked being part of the circus.
Book review - "Me" by Elton John (2019)
Cheerful, highly readable memoir from one of the world's most beloved pop stars. John's career is astonishing in its length and width - after thirty years at the game he was still turning out hits. Reading this can give you an idea why - he follows his passions, he always tries to be honest (which has gotten him into trouble but helps him survive long term), he's had one of the great collaborations in songwriting history with Bernie Taupin but is always open to collaborating with new artists (George Michael, Lady Ga Ga), he has a strong constitution and work ethic.
The book reads like it was from someone who went through a lot of therapy - his feelings about his RAF dad, and his mother (who turned on him increasingly as life went on), his various co workers. I admit I didn't find the stuff about his childhood that gripping but I loved it once he became famous which took about seven years though he started very young.
The most fun is the section on the seventies - all the cocaine, sex (to which John came to late in life but he made up for it; he used to lure men to his pool room and seduce them with coke but mostly participate as voyeur), extravagance, love (he was engaged to a woman, he would fall for straight men repeatedly), all his famous friends (Keith Moon, Ringo Starr). The eighties stuff is fun too - still more cocaine, reinventing himself as a musician, a disastrous love life (he married a woman... it lasted several years). He doesn't mention befriending the 1986-87 Ashes tourists but credits his ownership of a football club to helping him survive his cocaine addiction. He gets his act together in the nineties and the book is less fun though still interesting as he finds love, has kids, conquers Broadway etc.
Full of great anecdotes - Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone alpha-chesting over Princess Diana, the press didn't care when he came out as bisexual but was obsessed with his hair transplant (they only let up when he got a wig), he wet himself live on stage in a nappy while recovering from prostate cancer, he clashed with Tina Turner (too temperamental) and Billy Joel (too drunk). A grand read.
The book reads like it was from someone who went through a lot of therapy - his feelings about his RAF dad, and his mother (who turned on him increasingly as life went on), his various co workers. I admit I didn't find the stuff about his childhood that gripping but I loved it once he became famous which took about seven years though he started very young.
The most fun is the section on the seventies - all the cocaine, sex (to which John came to late in life but he made up for it; he used to lure men to his pool room and seduce them with coke but mostly participate as voyeur), extravagance, love (he was engaged to a woman, he would fall for straight men repeatedly), all his famous friends (Keith Moon, Ringo Starr). The eighties stuff is fun too - still more cocaine, reinventing himself as a musician, a disastrous love life (he married a woman... it lasted several years). He doesn't mention befriending the 1986-87 Ashes tourists but credits his ownership of a football club to helping him survive his cocaine addiction. He gets his act together in the nineties and the book is less fun though still interesting as he finds love, has kids, conquers Broadway etc.
Full of great anecdotes - Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone alpha-chesting over Princess Diana, the press didn't care when he came out as bisexual but was obsessed with his hair transplant (they only let up when he got a wig), he wet himself live on stage in a nappy while recovering from prostate cancer, he clashed with Tina Turner (too temperamental) and Billy Joel (too drunk). A grand read.
Movie review - "Hobbs and Shaw" (2019) **1/2
Big, loud and silly, but with two likeable stars, several enjoyable cameos that you wish were longer (Kevin Hart, Ryan Reynolds, Helen Mirren), an exciting new star (Vanessa Kirby), a decent villain (Idris Elba) and some excellent action scenes.
It's never as fun as I wanted it to be - they waste Kirby in particular, she's an excellent actor, but she has no character to play. Her "romance" with Dwayne Johnson is underwhelming especially as he only has eyes for Jason Statham.
It looks handsome, I love the third act going to Samoa, and there's some memorable OTT moments like Johnson pulling a helicopter with a chain, and a motorbike rider going under a truck. The Honest Trailers on this totally nailed it, by the way - it's like a Marvel movie.
It's never as fun as I wanted it to be - they waste Kirby in particular, she's an excellent actor, but she has no character to play. Her "romance" with Dwayne Johnson is underwhelming especially as he only has eyes for Jason Statham.
It looks handsome, I love the third act going to Samoa, and there's some memorable OTT moments like Johnson pulling a helicopter with a chain, and a motorbike rider going under a truck. The Honest Trailers on this totally nailed it, by the way - it's like a Marvel movie.
Movie review - "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) ****
I haven't read the novel but it feels like it was written from a novel - it has a strong array of characters who are well fleshed out. The driving force is only slight - man introduces girlfriend to family - but so was Jane Austen, which this reminded me of: what it's really about is a dissection of society, in this case upper class Singapore.
It is very upper class - I enjoyed the food and fashion porn to a degree but after a while I started wondering "gee there would be a lot of servants for all this probably being paid $50 a day if that" and I don't want to be woke about this truly but it dig bug me... because it's not just things it's events which need a lot of staff.
Anyway, that aside this was a lot of fun - director John Cho really nailed it. The script is good, well structured, lots of little things pay off eg mention of a private eye, and it seems (through my white Anglo eyes anyway) to capture the culture. The characterisations are vivid - the handsome prince hero, the modern day princess heroine (widowed mother, college professor), the gay BF, the wisecracking BF, the bitchy ex... actually writing all that out I'm going "these are tropes" but having them played by Asians and be Singapore characters (except for the American princess) gives it immense freshness. It looks gorgeous.
I loved all the Aussies in it too like Ronnie Cheung and Remy Hii. Constance Wu and Henry Golding deserve to become front-tier stars - actually so does Awkwafina. Great fun.
It is very upper class - I enjoyed the food and fashion porn to a degree but after a while I started wondering "gee there would be a lot of servants for all this probably being paid $50 a day if that" and I don't want to be woke about this truly but it dig bug me... because it's not just things it's events which need a lot of staff.
Anyway, that aside this was a lot of fun - director John Cho really nailed it. The script is good, well structured, lots of little things pay off eg mention of a private eye, and it seems (through my white Anglo eyes anyway) to capture the culture. The characterisations are vivid - the handsome prince hero, the modern day princess heroine (widowed mother, college professor), the gay BF, the wisecracking BF, the bitchy ex... actually writing all that out I'm going "these are tropes" but having them played by Asians and be Singapore characters (except for the American princess) gives it immense freshness. It looks gorgeous.
I loved all the Aussies in it too like Ronnie Cheung and Remy Hii. Constance Wu and Henry Golding deserve to become front-tier stars - actually so does Awkwafina. Great fun.
Friday, December 27, 2019
Movie review - "The Return of Captain Invincible" (1982) *1/2
I wanted to like this movie more than I did. I get the joke - a pastiche of comic books and spy films and superhero movies and all that. But it's not funny. Or charming. I didn't like it was a kid and I don't like it now.
It feels too adult, not as in grown up, just as in serious and depressing. It's darkly lit, lacks a sense of humour. I'm not sure Philippe Mora was a great comic director. He also fails to convey the underlying drama of the situation - in short hand it's a good story (alcoholic superhero makes comeback) but that isn't realised. In fairness it's a tricky production.
Alan Arkin is okay - I think a more obviously comic actor would have worked better. Kate Fitzpatrick feels miscast in a role that needed say Pamela Stephenson or Jackie Weaver - she doesn't seem to be having a good time. Michael Pate and Christopher Lee are excellent. When Lee sings "Name Your Poison" the film livens up and you get a sense of what this could have been. But it isn't. Indeed, it's a musical where you could easily cut away the musical numbers.
Various odd people pop up like Graham Kennedy, so there is that. And there is no film quite like it. I just wish it was more fun.
It feels too adult, not as in grown up, just as in serious and depressing. It's darkly lit, lacks a sense of humour. I'm not sure Philippe Mora was a great comic director. He also fails to convey the underlying drama of the situation - in short hand it's a good story (alcoholic superhero makes comeback) but that isn't realised. In fairness it's a tricky production.
Alan Arkin is okay - I think a more obviously comic actor would have worked better. Kate Fitzpatrick feels miscast in a role that needed say Pamela Stephenson or Jackie Weaver - she doesn't seem to be having a good time. Michael Pate and Christopher Lee are excellent. When Lee sings "Name Your Poison" the film livens up and you get a sense of what this could have been. But it isn't. Indeed, it's a musical where you could easily cut away the musical numbers.
Various odd people pop up like Graham Kennedy, so there is that. And there is no film quite like it. I just wish it was more fun.
Movie review - "That Lady from Peking" (1968) *1/2
Fascinating piece for those interested in Oz film - one of several movies we made here in the late 60s none of which connected with the public in any way, but they helped pave the way for the more successful revival of the 70s. This was made in 1969 but not released until 1975.
It's a spy movie, I guess, about an American writer (Carl Betz) chasing after the diary of a murdered diplomat which will expose the truth about Red China. It starts in Hong Hong and moves to Sydney, notably around Luna Park. Betz is helped out by his brother, a lounge singer played by Bobby Rydell, which is just one of the nutty things about this movie - Rydell sings a few tunes and goes along on the adventure; when he does the musical score goes wacky and he's accompanied by a wisecracking manager.
Nancy Kwan is a Chinese spy who can't resist Betz - actually he's catnip to most ladies in this one, including Sandy Gore who is topless in a bubble bath and makes eyes at him before she's killed and Eva Lynd as a leggy Russian who can't resist him (there's another blonde who wants him too, his secretary). Ruth Cracknell pops up as a psychic, Jack Thompson is a Russian henchman (billed as "flunky")and Tom Olivier and Graham Rouse are in there too. There's a scene where the Russians kidnap a monk and a final fight at a monastery.
It's very silly and awkwardly made. I guess it has a story at least - it moves along quite fast and there's action and kissing. And Bobbie Rydell fans will get something out of it because he sings a few songs and has a quite large role.
It's a spy movie, I guess, about an American writer (Carl Betz) chasing after the diary of a murdered diplomat which will expose the truth about Red China. It starts in Hong Hong and moves to Sydney, notably around Luna Park. Betz is helped out by his brother, a lounge singer played by Bobby Rydell, which is just one of the nutty things about this movie - Rydell sings a few tunes and goes along on the adventure; when he does the musical score goes wacky and he's accompanied by a wisecracking manager.
Nancy Kwan is a Chinese spy who can't resist Betz - actually he's catnip to most ladies in this one, including Sandy Gore who is topless in a bubble bath and makes eyes at him before she's killed and Eva Lynd as a leggy Russian who can't resist him (there's another blonde who wants him too, his secretary). Ruth Cracknell pops up as a psychic, Jack Thompson is a Russian henchman (billed as "flunky")and Tom Olivier and Graham Rouse are in there too. There's a scene where the Russians kidnap a monk and a final fight at a monastery.
It's very silly and awkwardly made. I guess it has a story at least - it moves along quite fast and there's action and kissing. And Bobbie Rydell fans will get something out of it because he sings a few songs and has a quite large role.
Movie review - "Backstage" (1988) *
Its heart is in those backstage musicals of the 1930s - all the gossipy theatre types and epigrammatic dialogue - and really should have gone all the way and copied that. But there's too much drama, and the star, Laura Branigan, can sing but can't act.
They could have had her going to appear in a musical - singing all the way through rehearsals and on opening night; the filmmakers could have still hit the points they wanted to make about cultural imperialism. But no, she's in a drama, an English drawing room comedy - and we have to sit through Branigan acting in slabs of it. Then we've got to see her audition for The Seagull and acting in slabs of that. The story would have worked just as well had she appeared in a Broadway musical. The poor girl can't act and they keep foisting her acting upon us. It means the second half is a real chore, while the first half was more watchable.
The dialogue is full of epigrammatic quips you'd routinely find in badly written eps of Australian TV - I remember Arcade was full of them - but at least you hear it from some decent actors. Aitkens' character is the son the best Australian playwright of the 1950s who only really had one hit - so I'm guessing he's Ray Lawler's son! (Or Richard Beynon?) He really is rude to Branigan in the opening press conference. Some critics complained that it wasn't realistic critics could teach someone to act but some theatre critics had been directors, eg Harold Clurman.
Movie review - "Ginger Meggs" (1982) **
No one says many nice things about this movie but I liked it when I saw it at the movies and it has charms which have survived the years. They took the decision to keep it in the style of the comic books and I really liked Larry Eastwood's production design - lots of bold, primary colours.
The setting is a problem - it seems to be post war 1940s but feels like the 1930s (Dad it out of work) and they slather on this rock soundtrack which just feels silly. It doesn't have the cohesiveness of Fatty Finn.
The plot is episodic - there are some longer strands, like Ginger's pursuit of a particularly dim girl, his missing monkey and some diamond thieves. It felt odd at the time and does now all this prominence was given to this guy Alex who Ginger meets towards the end of the film who works for the circus.
But those circus scenes are charming, the kids have been well cast (the one who plays Ginger is ideal), and the adults ham it up in a fun way - Gary McDonald and Drew Forsythe in particular were born to play cartoon villains.
The setting is a problem - it seems to be post war 1940s but feels like the 1930s (Dad it out of work) and they slather on this rock soundtrack which just feels silly. It doesn't have the cohesiveness of Fatty Finn.
The plot is episodic - there are some longer strands, like Ginger's pursuit of a particularly dim girl, his missing monkey and some diamond thieves. It felt odd at the time and does now all this prominence was given to this guy Alex who Ginger meets towards the end of the film who works for the circus.
But those circus scenes are charming, the kids have been well cast (the one who plays Ginger is ideal), and the adults ham it up in a fun way - Gary McDonald and Drew Forsythe in particular were born to play cartoon villains.
Movie review - "Venom" (2018) **1/2
Not a particularly strong Marvel movie - the first act feels achingly obvious set up, there's no real interesting character to hang on to, Tom Hardy's accent feels erratic, Michelle Williams looks uncomfortable, the villain is underwhelming and generic.
There is some decent action and special effects but the core relationship of the movie - between Hardy and Venom, who possesses him - is bland; this needed to be special and should have been - get in some great actor to do the voice - but it isn't.
Also I feel this is one of those movies, as Honest Trailers point out, that badly want to be rated R - Venom is a character who suits the R world but its downplayed.
Still, it moves, it's handsome and the Marvel brand was strong enough to help propel this to hit status.
There is some decent action and special effects but the core relationship of the movie - between Hardy and Venom, who possesses him - is bland; this needed to be special and should have been - get in some great actor to do the voice - but it isn't.
Also I feel this is one of those movies, as Honest Trailers point out, that badly want to be rated R - Venom is a character who suits the R world but its downplayed.
Still, it moves, it's handsome and the Marvel brand was strong enough to help propel this to hit status.
Movie review - "Demolition" (1979) **
One of a series of genre TV movies produced by Robert Bruning in the late 70s for Grundys. John Waters stars as an Australian sent home by British intelligence to track down a device that was created to help truckies stay awake longer.
I got confused by the story - it becomes a sort of film noir tale, dimly lit, with Waters being beaten up and knocked out a lot. In one scene he's tortured. But it also has shoot outs with assassins and a climax at a lion park safari running away from lions.
Belinda Giblin is the girl and the cast is full of familiar faces like Tony Barry and Vincent Ball. I wanted to like this more than I did but it was just too confusingly written.
I got confused by the story - it becomes a sort of film noir tale, dimly lit, with Waters being beaten up and knocked out a lot. In one scene he's tortured. But it also has shoot outs with assassins and a climax at a lion park safari running away from lions.
Belinda Giblin is the girl and the cast is full of familiar faces like Tony Barry and Vincent Ball. I wanted to like this more than I did but it was just too confusingly written.
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Book review - Smith#2 - "Dark of the Sun" by Wilbur Smith
The film version of this was remarkably faithful to the book - of course changes were made, notably in term of tone, but the guts of it are in Smith's novel: Bruce Curry, mercenary, on a mission to retrieve some hostages and diamond in the war torn Congo; they head out on a train with a crew including the black Ruffo, the cowardly Belgian Andre, the drunken doctor and a brutish soldier; the airplane attack; the shooting of two kids by the brutish soldier; arriving at the town; staying overnight; the doctor going to help a pregnant mother; General Moses and his troops arriving; the train almost getting away but one carriage rolling back, including the diamonds; Andre being tortured; rescuing the diamonds and some trucks; a final escape; the brutish soldier taking off and being killed.
There are lots of differences but nothing huge - this is set during the Baluba Rebellion not the Simba ones; the brutish soldier is a cockney here, not a German; Andre is gay here, sent in Belgium after his affair with a married man was revealed; they pick up the girl at the destination, not along the way; Ruffy isn't killed, the final pursuit is prompted by raping the girl; there's no subplot about the savagery of Curry and him going nuts; the final fight is a more cat and mouse stalk than a rampaging orgy of violence.
I think the film made decent changes - turning the villain into a German, making it the Simba period, making Andrea a "local", adding the time lock (so it isn't Curry making a mistake). In the book we never find out what happened to the doctor and there's a few action scenes after the retrieval of the diamonds including a truck crashing into the water and a few more attacks from the locals. Ruffo being killed packs more of a wallop than Claire being raped.
The novel surprised me in some ways - even the most horrible villain (the cockney, General Moses) are given at least a page to explain why they are why they are (horrible parents, brutal treatment from the Belgians). It also has Curry reflecting on his busted marriage and why it went wrong - saying mean and cruel things when he should have been kinder; this is written with a sensitivity from Smith that wasn't present in his later novels - I assume he was thinking of his early marriages, and was still raw and sensitive from them having ended.
Very exciting action - some terrifying stuff like Andre meeting General Moses (Smith always had some sympathy for gay characters in his novels but they generally died horribly).
There are lots of differences but nothing huge - this is set during the Baluba Rebellion not the Simba ones; the brutish soldier is a cockney here, not a German; Andre is gay here, sent in Belgium after his affair with a married man was revealed; they pick up the girl at the destination, not along the way; Ruffy isn't killed, the final pursuit is prompted by raping the girl; there's no subplot about the savagery of Curry and him going nuts; the final fight is a more cat and mouse stalk than a rampaging orgy of violence.
I think the film made decent changes - turning the villain into a German, making it the Simba period, making Andrea a "local", adding the time lock (so it isn't Curry making a mistake). In the book we never find out what happened to the doctor and there's a few action scenes after the retrieval of the diamonds including a truck crashing into the water and a few more attacks from the locals. Ruffo being killed packs more of a wallop than Claire being raped.
The novel surprised me in some ways - even the most horrible villain (the cockney, General Moses) are given at least a page to explain why they are why they are (horrible parents, brutal treatment from the Belgians). It also has Curry reflecting on his busted marriage and why it went wrong - saying mean and cruel things when he should have been kinder; this is written with a sensitivity from Smith that wasn't present in his later novels - I assume he was thinking of his early marriages, and was still raw and sensitive from them having ended.
Very exciting action - some terrifying stuff like Andre meeting General Moses (Smith always had some sympathy for gay characters in his novels but they generally died horribly).
Script review - "Dolemite is My Name" by written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
Fun to read on top of seeing the movie - few changes were made. Some scenes that were cut. It's a well structured, tidy screenplay rather than a great one. Like the movie it doesn't get going until they start making the movie. And there's no Lugosi style character to give it extra weight. Still I'm glad the story is told.
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Movie review - "The Pirate Movie" (1982) **
I liked this when I was ten - the source material is strong, it has colour, and pirates, and sword fights and songs. If you're over ten it's less good unless you're a major major Chris Atkins fan. He's a handsome lad who tries but his voice is high pitched and he doesn't quite pull it off. Kristy McNichol is decent value in the lead. Ted Hamilton's performance as the lead operates on its own plane, and others play it in the right manner: Bill Kerr, Maggie Kirkpatrick.
The film is extremely silly, which is why I liked it as a ten year old. It's not one of director Ken Annakin's better efforts and doesn't quite work but it's not as atrocious as its reputation. I honestly think if you showed it to your eight year old daughter she might like it.
Richard Franklin was going to direct this at one stage! Ken Annakin took over instead.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Movie review - "Rise of Skywalker" (2019) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
I'm still processing. A friend told me "I'm just glad this is all over." And I agree. These films have become too stressful.
Some random thoughts - it's how I have to process this:
* it feels like a script that was replotted at directors meeting stage - scenes feel as though they end too early, there's still bits which feel as though they could be cut - and other stuff which feels abrupt (how did Chewie get captured again?, Adam Driver getting to the planet)
* when the film focuses on speed and just motoring along it's a lot better
* the failure to define the characters of Finn and Poe more strongly becomes strongly apparent in the banter scenes - compare them to the clearly defined Luke, Han and Leia the new trio are nowhere near as individual
*plotlines feel thrown away eg the reveal of the spy, why did they need to think Chewie was killed? why not have Finn tell Rey what he was going to say? why not use Rose? (they could have killed her off if they didn't like her but that death would have had more emotional impact - they could have used her in the romantic plot... so many ways...)
* nice nostalgia like the return of Wedge, Han, Luke and Lando - though Lando is under-used
*Rey being Palpatine's granddaughter is fantastic idea but should have been introduced in the previous film and played out (eg suspicion of the rebellion towards this character) - they should've kept at least one parent alive too to explain what happened - the concept of Palpatine being alive should have been built and is a failure of planning
* Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley are the best of the new people though it doesn't really progress from the last movie - I forgot he was Carrie Fisher's son
* why give so many close ups to Dominic Monaghan?
* some great visuals: the death star crashed into the water, the fight among the waves, the final battle, the worlds
* occasionally I was stirred: the appearance of the other ships, Han Solo coming back... but mostly I was bored. I don't want to be toxic, truly, but it wasn't very good.
Some random thoughts - it's how I have to process this:
* it feels like a script that was replotted at directors meeting stage - scenes feel as though they end too early, there's still bits which feel as though they could be cut - and other stuff which feels abrupt (how did Chewie get captured again?, Adam Driver getting to the planet)
* when the film focuses on speed and just motoring along it's a lot better
* the failure to define the characters of Finn and Poe more strongly becomes strongly apparent in the banter scenes - compare them to the clearly defined Luke, Han and Leia the new trio are nowhere near as individual
*plotlines feel thrown away eg the reveal of the spy, why did they need to think Chewie was killed? why not have Finn tell Rey what he was going to say? why not use Rose? (they could have killed her off if they didn't like her but that death would have had more emotional impact - they could have used her in the romantic plot... so many ways...)
* nice nostalgia like the return of Wedge, Han, Luke and Lando - though Lando is under-used
*Rey being Palpatine's granddaughter is fantastic idea but should have been introduced in the previous film and played out (eg suspicion of the rebellion towards this character) - they should've kept at least one parent alive too to explain what happened - the concept of Palpatine being alive should have been built and is a failure of planning
* Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley are the best of the new people though it doesn't really progress from the last movie - I forgot he was Carrie Fisher's son
* why give so many close ups to Dominic Monaghan?
* some great visuals: the death star crashed into the water, the fight among the waves, the final battle, the worlds
* occasionally I was stirred: the appearance of the other ships, Han Solo coming back... but mostly I was bored. I don't want to be toxic, truly, but it wasn't very good.
Monday, December 16, 2019
Book review - "Grant and I" by Robert Forster
The Go Betweens were a notable presence for me growing up - not huge, but a definite presence, this indie cred band who did pop songs and were from Brisbane of all places. As a Brisbane boy this had a lot of resonance for me - like Foster I went to Brisbane Grammar School, and loved cricket and went to UQ, although Forster was actually good at the game, and he studied arts. At uni he met another private school boy Grant McLennan and while both of them seemed to prefer film, they wound up forming the bands.
The Go Betweens had an interesting trajectory - most well known bands rise, plateau and fall, but they forever seemed to be in second gear. Everyone recognised their talent, especially as songwriters, but they could never break through to the broad public, have a hit or even become that famous. They didn't even have much of a local following in Brisbane. (This could be explained by the fact that once they formed they spent so much time in England and Sydney). I still find it remarkable that "Streets of Your Town" wasn't a hit - it only reached #68 in Australia!! This broke the band for a time, which is understandable - they decided to quit (rather the two boys did, annoying the two girls). They got back together, and started recording again, had some more cult albums - which actually rank among their best.
McLennan died quite young of a heart attack - he was a smoker and heavy drinker. It's interesting to wonder what sort of career they would have had if he had lived - still motoring along, I feel, though maybe selling out more vineyard. Their last performance together was at Andrew Upton's birthday party which feels entirely appropriate.
Forster has written a lot of music reviews and you can kind of tell from this book, which lingers over descriptions of his and McLennan's songs, and songs from other artists that influenced him like Bruce Springsteen and Orange Juice.
He has a flair for description but isn't that great as a story teller (the film idea he and McLennan worked on - described in some detail - doesn't sound very good) or even an anecdote or someone who captures a character. The other members of the band feel sketchy - even McLennan doesn't leap off the page as a personality, but I get the impression that's what he's like. There are glimpses of a perhaps richer, more compelling book - going golfing with Lloyd Cole, for instance, or writing of McLellan's devastation post break up. Surely they knew more colourful characters? Forster's dabbling in heroin (which gave him Hep C) is dealt with in only a few lines.
On a personal level I really love some of their songs, though I'm not sure they were the best singers - I wonder how they might've done employing a female front person like the Black Eyed Peas. They definitely should have toured more in Australia - but I get that it cost them money.
For no real reason, my top five of their songs
1) Streets of Your Town
2) Part Company
3) Finding You
4) No Reason to Cry
5)Bachelor Kisses.
The Go Betweens had an interesting trajectory - most well known bands rise, plateau and fall, but they forever seemed to be in second gear. Everyone recognised their talent, especially as songwriters, but they could never break through to the broad public, have a hit or even become that famous. They didn't even have much of a local following in Brisbane. (This could be explained by the fact that once they formed they spent so much time in England and Sydney). I still find it remarkable that "Streets of Your Town" wasn't a hit - it only reached #68 in Australia!! This broke the band for a time, which is understandable - they decided to quit (rather the two boys did, annoying the two girls). They got back together, and started recording again, had some more cult albums - which actually rank among their best.
McLennan died quite young of a heart attack - he was a smoker and heavy drinker. It's interesting to wonder what sort of career they would have had if he had lived - still motoring along, I feel, though maybe selling out more vineyard. Their last performance together was at Andrew Upton's birthday party which feels entirely appropriate.
Forster has written a lot of music reviews and you can kind of tell from this book, which lingers over descriptions of his and McLennan's songs, and songs from other artists that influenced him like Bruce Springsteen and Orange Juice.
He has a flair for description but isn't that great as a story teller (the film idea he and McLennan worked on - described in some detail - doesn't sound very good) or even an anecdote or someone who captures a character. The other members of the band feel sketchy - even McLennan doesn't leap off the page as a personality, but I get the impression that's what he's like. There are glimpses of a perhaps richer, more compelling book - going golfing with Lloyd Cole, for instance, or writing of McLellan's devastation post break up. Surely they knew more colourful characters? Forster's dabbling in heroin (which gave him Hep C) is dealt with in only a few lines.
On a personal level I really love some of their songs, though I'm not sure they were the best singers - I wonder how they might've done employing a female front person like the Black Eyed Peas. They definitely should have toured more in Australia - but I get that it cost them money.
For no real reason, my top five of their songs
1) Streets of Your Town
2) Part Company
3) Finding You
4) No Reason to Cry
5)Bachelor Kisses.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Movie review - "Marriage Story" (2019) ****
Very good acting. Maybe Scarlett Johansson was outclassed by the others at times but she did pretty well. Intense scenes. Great supporting turns from Ray Liotta and Laura Dern especially - they felt like Hollywood agents as much as lawyers: bombastic, aggressive but not inaccurate Liotta, and nice but nasty Dern, taking her shoes off in the office and talking about her book.
Also strong were Julie Hegarty (so great to see her in a high profile movie), Alan Alda, Merrit Weaver, Wallace Shawn. The character of Driver's mistress was sketchy (she seemed to go from casual root to "I love you" quite quickly). Occasionally sometimes it felt "gag-y."
But it's strong. It's passionate. It's very specific but that gives it universality. Maybe don't watch it with your partner.
Also strong were Julie Hegarty (so great to see her in a high profile movie), Alan Alda, Merrit Weaver, Wallace Shawn. The character of Driver's mistress was sketchy (she seemed to go from casual root to "I love you" quite quickly). Occasionally sometimes it felt "gag-y."
But it's strong. It's passionate. It's very specific but that gives it universality. Maybe don't watch it with your partner.
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Book review - MacLean#1 - "HMS Ulysses" by Alistair MacLean
MacLean's first novel is a little different to what followed, not being about a mystery or a mission full of double cross but rather a regulation trip by a ship through hideous circumstances. There is a lot of suffering and death and it's extremely well described: sailors plunge into the seas, drenched in oil, or freeze to death, or are rammed by their own side or are shot down, or blow up, or kill themselves, or have bits blown off, or get mashed up.
It's gruelling stuff. I had trouble telling the characters apart and there were a lot of them - I lost track and had to re-read this. A useful guide is here.
Fascinatingly it also starts after a mutiny - that doesn't have a huge impact throughout the book as everyone is professional. The Germans are respected, tough adversaries. The story builds in power as it goes along and the death toll rises - the convoy becomes more disastrous and comes to a logical, tragic end.
I can see why this wasn't filmed it would cost a fortune. You'd have to do some character work on it. It's powerful.
It's gruelling stuff. I had trouble telling the characters apart and there were a lot of them - I lost track and had to re-read this. A useful guide is here.
Fascinatingly it also starts after a mutiny - that doesn't have a huge impact throughout the book as everyone is professional. The Germans are respected, tough adversaries. The story builds in power as it goes along and the death toll rises - the convoy becomes more disastrous and comes to a logical, tragic end.
I can see why this wasn't filmed it would cost a fortune. You'd have to do some character work on it. It's powerful.
Book review - MacLean #6 - "Fear is the Key" by Alistair MacLen (warning: spoilers)
The film version of this book was quite faithful - it gave more time to the girl, who here is very much "the girl" (she kind of was in the film too but had a little more to do). The girl has a boyfriend/chauffeur who loves her, Kennedy who helps out Talbot.
I always thought the best way to adapt this would be to tell the story from the POV of the girl and have Talbot as a mystery - get the girl more involved in the second half.
Maclean's gimmick was to tell the story from first person but have him hold stuff back from the reader - normally two things (a) he's a goodie and (b) he totally expected that thing that happened to happen. That happens here.
The plan of the guy is very complex when you think about it (and risky) but it's a well written story, hurtles along, very exciting. You feel the hero is up against it a lot . There's genuine emotion too especially at the end when Talbot describes what the death of his three year old must have been like. Solid climax at the bottom of the sea... though in an adaptation I'd have Talbot go down there to die and have the girl talk him around.
It felt true Talbot didn't get the girl and let the chauffeur have her. A solid ending.
I always thought the best way to adapt this would be to tell the story from the POV of the girl and have Talbot as a mystery - get the girl more involved in the second half.
Maclean's gimmick was to tell the story from first person but have him hold stuff back from the reader - normally two things (a) he's a goodie and (b) he totally expected that thing that happened to happen. That happens here.
The plan of the guy is very complex when you think about it (and risky) but it's a well written story, hurtles along, very exciting. You feel the hero is up against it a lot . There's genuine emotion too especially at the end when Talbot describes what the death of his three year old must have been like. Solid climax at the bottom of the sea... though in an adaptation I'd have Talbot go down there to die and have the girl talk him around.
It felt true Talbot didn't get the girl and let the chauffeur have her. A solid ending.
Movie review - "6 Underground" (2019) **1/2
The opening car chase is thrilling and Ryan Reynolds is likeable as always - indeed, the acting is strong (as it so often tends to be in Michael Bay films). There's some funny lines and Bay's direction is energetic as always.
But it's not much of a story -the premise could possibly have been turned into something interesting but there's no real character work. They don't do anything interesting with the idea of someone being dead to do good deeds. The plot - to overthrow a corrupt dictator - is way too simple with no twists or complications. It's also very easy for the heroes to do it all.
Production values are first rate. Character work is awful.
But it's not much of a story -the premise could possibly have been turned into something interesting but there's no real character work. They don't do anything interesting with the idea of someone being dead to do good deeds. The plot - to overthrow a corrupt dictator - is way too simple with no twists or complications. It's also very easy for the heroes to do it all.
Production values are first rate. Character work is awful.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Movie review - "The Adventures of Don Juan" (1948) ****1/2 (re-viewing)
This film makes me smile. It's bright and colourful and very witty. The women have agency - they chase after Errol Flynn more than the other way around, it's less rapey.
The sets are spectacular as is the color. Don Juan's journey to responsibility is well done. Decent action. Strong support cast- Alan Hale, Ann Rutherford being heaps of fun. Robert Douglas is a terrific villain.
Viveca Lindfors is poor as the female lead. I miss Olivia de Havilland. If they couldn't get her then it's a shame they couldn't have, I don't know, borrowed Maureen O'Hara or someone. Eleanor Parker would've been amazing.
Jaunty music. Great fun. This movie isn't as well known as The Sea Hawk but it's as good.
The sets are spectacular as is the color. Don Juan's journey to responsibility is well done. Decent action. Strong support cast- Alan Hale, Ann Rutherford being heaps of fun. Robert Douglas is a terrific villain.
Viveca Lindfors is poor as the female lead. I miss Olivia de Havilland. If they couldn't get her then it's a shame they couldn't have, I don't know, borrowed Maureen O'Hara or someone. Eleanor Parker would've been amazing.
Jaunty music. Great fun. This movie isn't as well known as The Sea Hawk but it's as good.
Book review - MacLean#10 - "Ice Station Zebra" by Alistair MacLean (warning: spoilers)
Classic MacLean adventure - one of the best adventure titles ever, surely. Different from the movie. The first third is slightly reminiscent - a sub journey to the base. The second two thirds is more Agatha Christie. I didn't guess the killer but then MacLean characters were never that vivid - it's hard to tell them apart, everyone is tough, taciturn and professional.
It's a first person narrative - the Patrick McGoohan character. The ship character isn't very heroic. I kept thinking the sub should have sunk... that would've really upped the stakes. Gritty description of the snow - MacLean was good at this. The film adaptation should have been closer. I would've kept the mystery of the agent (s), only sunk the sub, had the Russians on the way and set the last bit on a Russian sub. It did kind of feel a cheat that the hero was totally across everything at the end... there would be more suspense from him being surprised.
Still, a very strong adventure book. He's done his research.
It's a first person narrative - the Patrick McGoohan character. The ship character isn't very heroic. I kept thinking the sub should have sunk... that would've really upped the stakes. Gritty description of the snow - MacLean was good at this. The film adaptation should have been closer. I would've kept the mystery of the agent (s), only sunk the sub, had the Russians on the way and set the last bit on a Russian sub. It did kind of feel a cheat that the hero was totally across everything at the end... there would be more suspense from him being surprised.
Still, a very strong adventure book. He's done his research.
Movie review - "Ten Little Indians" (1965) ***
There's not a lot of love for this adaptation but I liked it - alpine setting, solid cast of B listers, crisp script (Peter Yeldham co wrote it), some decent atmosphere, competent handling by George Pollock who did the Margaret Rutherford Marples.
The basic source material is excellent of course and I enjoyed seeing random people like Dennis Price, Shirley Eaton, Wilfred Hyde White, Fabian and Hugh O'Brien wait to be killed off one by one. Fabian plays a pop star and sings a song - the title nursery rhyme- then dies first; he does solid work. His performance was bagged but he's absolutely fine - critics were so bigoted about Fabian.
There's a random fist fight scene. Some of the alpine stuff is iffy. The story is very strong. I really liked Shirley Eaton - she was great value, very sexy but also ambiguous... you buy that she could be a killer. Hugh O'Brien is too obviously heroic though - I reckon they should have killed him off it would've been a shock. I like Pollock's work.
The basic source material is excellent of course and I enjoyed seeing random people like Dennis Price, Shirley Eaton, Wilfred Hyde White, Fabian and Hugh O'Brien wait to be killed off one by one. Fabian plays a pop star and sings a song - the title nursery rhyme- then dies first; he does solid work. His performance was bagged but he's absolutely fine - critics were so bigoted about Fabian.
There's a random fist fight scene. Some of the alpine stuff is iffy. The story is very strong. I really liked Shirley Eaton - she was great value, very sexy but also ambiguous... you buy that she could be a killer. Hugh O'Brien is too obviously heroic though - I reckon they should have killed him off it would've been a shock. I like Pollock's work.
Friday, December 06, 2019
Movie review - "The Irishman" (2019) ***
The trailer didn't look great but I allowed myself to be caught up in the hype of people in twitter. It's not a bad movie, of course... but when it starts with a tracking shot through a nursing home with some 50s pop tune I couldn't help thinking "haven't we seen this already?"
And yeah we kind of have.
There's a lot of loving period detail, an excellent actors and moments of people being shot. But a lot of the time I was going "so what?" He was a war veteran and takes that attitude into working for the mob... Jimmy Hoffa is corrupt... his kids didn't like him...
The de-aging technology is interesting. It's very well acted and directed. The killings are effective, particularly the death of Hoffa. It gets better as it goes on and focuses on the leads being old men. Nice to see Joe Pesci being still. The movie is absolutely fine. Maybe it'll stay with me.
Wednesday, December 04, 2019
Book review - Maclean#12 - "Where Eagles Dare" by Alistair MacLean
The script came before the book so unsurprisingly it's faithful. It reads like a novelisation of a script - there's little internal stuff although a descent down a mountain early on has a Navarone vibe. The relationship between the women and Smith and Schaeffer is more fleshed out. So too are the characterisations of the traitorous soldiers (they also die differently and have different names).
It remains a cracking yarn but it is a novelisation more than a novel.
It remains a cracking yarn but it is a novelisation more than a novel.
Monday, December 02, 2019
Movie review - "Run of the Arrow" (1957) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
Method actor Rod Steiger wasn't famous for his westerns but this is an interesting cult flick from Sam Fuller. It has a strong central idea - Steiger is a Confederate who won't recognise that his side lost and heads out west.
It is weird to see Steiger as a cowboy hero - he's too fat and looks awkward on a horse. The Irish accent does not help (Fuller was a tough guy but evidently even he could not stop Steiger doing accent acting). I wish the lead had been played by Brian Keith, who is a kindly Union soldier here. Ralph Meeker is a racist.
The more Fuller movies I watch the more I noticed how often baby boomer directors ripped them off - this has a savage kid who can't talk given a harmonica (Mad Max 2), and a man being burned alive by the Indians and the white hero living with the Indians shooting him dead to spare him more pain (The Last of the Mohicans).
The film does get points for having the Indians win the battle at the end. It loses them for having a female lead who is just a stock smiling hot native woman (voice dubbed by Angie Dickinson). It gets them for having a snarling protagonist - that is different even if the guy is a prick.
It is weird to see Steiger as a cowboy hero - he's too fat and looks awkward on a horse. The Irish accent does not help (Fuller was a tough guy but evidently even he could not stop Steiger doing accent acting). I wish the lead had been played by Brian Keith, who is a kindly Union soldier here. Ralph Meeker is a racist.
The more Fuller movies I watch the more I noticed how often baby boomer directors ripped them off - this has a savage kid who can't talk given a harmonica (Mad Max 2), and a man being burned alive by the Indians and the white hero living with the Indians shooting him dead to spare him more pain (The Last of the Mohicans).
The film does get points for having the Indians win the battle at the end. It loses them for having a female lead who is just a stock smiling hot native woman (voice dubbed by Angie Dickinson). It gets them for having a snarling protagonist - that is different even if the guy is a prick.
Movie review - "Frozen 2" (2019) **1/2
The voice acting is high quality, the animation is stunning, there are tremendous sequences, good moments. But story wise it's a mess. There's this river... the town's in danger... so Anna decides to flood it, is that right? You keep waiting for it to start, the "Indians" are caricatures, things like the girls being half Indian feel really undercooked, there's no twists, no villains, no logic. "Oh it's magic" seems to be the reason to get away with the shoddy plotting. There's no development between Anna and her guy, no memorable new characters, no effective narrative build.
For all Disney's money and having Pixar people on call, the writing is astonishingly inept. The songs are fine but there are too many of them - they are just shoved in there.
Great moments like Elsa on an ice horse, and running over the sea, some funny lines from Olaf. But it has no real heart.
For all Disney's money and having Pixar people on call, the writing is astonishingly inept. The songs are fine but there are too many of them - they are just shoved in there.
Great moments like Elsa on an ice horse, and running over the sea, some funny lines from Olaf. But it has no real heart.
Movie review - "Assault on Precinct 13" (1976) ***1/2
As an action film this is actually kind of clunky - the gang members lumber at the station like zombies (apparently George Romero was an influence) with the heroes blasting away from them.
But it has a wonderfully creepy mood helped by Carpenter's classic score, the nihilistic feel (the faceless gangs swarming, the ice truck man randomly killed - as well as the girl... this is scarier than the corrupt cops in the remake), the visuals of the empty streets and broken down buildings, glass on the floor.
The acting is erratic in places but effective -Austin Stoker as the taciturn cop just trying to do his job, Darwin Joston in the showiest role as the death row prisoner who becomes a hero, Laurie Zimmer as the sweater wearing receptionist who kills as many as any of the guys (Carpenter seems to accentuate her chest).
Tony Burton went on to be Apollo's trainer in the Rocky movies.
But it has a wonderfully creepy mood helped by Carpenter's classic score, the nihilistic feel (the faceless gangs swarming, the ice truck man randomly killed - as well as the girl... this is scarier than the corrupt cops in the remake), the visuals of the empty streets and broken down buildings, glass on the floor.
The acting is erratic in places but effective -Austin Stoker as the taciturn cop just trying to do his job, Darwin Joston in the showiest role as the death row prisoner who becomes a hero, Laurie Zimmer as the sweater wearing receptionist who kills as many as any of the guys (Carpenter seems to accentuate her chest).
Tony Burton went on to be Apollo's trainer in the Rocky movies.
Book review - Maclean#2 - "Guns of Navarone" by Alistair MacLean
MacLean later became something of a caricature of himself but this is a superb adventure novel - fantastic idea, excitingly paced, excellent descriptions. There's lots of pain and agony and endurance as a team of Allied operatives arrive on Navarone to blow up guns.
It's extremely well written particularly the action stuff - an opening storm sequence, climbing the cliffs, clambering through the scrub. New Zealanders will get a get out of the fact the main man, Mallory, is a Kiwi. The lead characters get along better than they did in the film version, and the local Greeks are men here instead of women, but the structure is basically the same. And why not? The book is terrific.
It has some stronger characters too - Mallory grappling his fear, the scared kid, Andeas the cheerful but deadly Greek.
It's extremely well written particularly the action stuff - an opening storm sequence, climbing the cliffs, clambering through the scrub. New Zealanders will get a get out of the fact the main man, Mallory, is a Kiwi. The lead characters get along better than they did in the film version, and the local Greeks are men here instead of women, but the structure is basically the same. And why not? The book is terrific.
It has some stronger characters too - Mallory grappling his fear, the scared kid, Andeas the cheerful but deadly Greek.
Movie review - "Sweeney!" (1977) ***
I'm not that familiar with the classic 70s British cop show but can get some idea from this movie - lots of brown jackets, big ties, tousled hair, men yelling at each other, women with bobs. At the time people took this sort of stuff for granted but it has extra interest now because cop shows are so different.
John Thaw and Denis Waterman are great value as the yelly cops. Thaw falls for a woman who is a whore - I think he smacks her around. Barry Foster is a slimy type, Colin Welland plays a journalist. There's some violence and nudity which presumably you couldn't show on TV at the time.
But it's tough and fast and zips along. The plot isn't overly complicated which I think is the right idea. A shame they couldn't have gotten some Arab actors to play Arabs.
John Thaw and Denis Waterman are great value as the yelly cops. Thaw falls for a woman who is a whore - I think he smacks her around. Barry Foster is a slimy type, Colin Welland plays a journalist. There's some violence and nudity which presumably you couldn't show on TV at the time.
But it's tough and fast and zips along. The plot isn't overly complicated which I think is the right idea. A shame they couldn't have gotten some Arab actors to play Arabs.
Movie review - "China Gate" (1957) *** (warning: spoilers)
Sam Fuller takes on the Vietnam War - not the American one but the French one (its set before 1954) only with American troops in the French Foreign Legion: Gene Barry and Nat King Cole. Barry is a tormented war lover whose racism is so powerful it means he rejects brave, smart Eurasian Angie Dickinson (whose legs get the Cinema Scope treatment) and their child. Which makes me not give a stuff about Barry as they go on a mission into enemy territory to exploit Dickinson's relationship with commie leader Lee Van Cleef... and downright annoyed as Dickinson dies and Barry lives. Barry should have sacrificed himself
Dickinson is doing it to get her son a new life in America - a clean, understandable emotion that helps the piece age well. It's anti Communist but Lee Van Cleef is given a strong character to play - it's quite chatty his scenes. I did feel it was a shame he and Barry never faced off.
Nat King Cole is a fellow legionnaire - there's a scene where he sings through a rubble strewn town. Some decent suspense on the trip, notably a night attack. It's not major Fuller but is always interesting. It's a strong chance for Dickinson who takes it.
Dickinson is doing it to get her son a new life in America - a clean, understandable emotion that helps the piece age well. It's anti Communist but Lee Van Cleef is given a strong character to play - it's quite chatty his scenes. I did feel it was a shame he and Barry never faced off.
Nat King Cole is a fellow legionnaire - there's a scene where he sings through a rubble strewn town. Some decent suspense on the trip, notably a night attack. It's not major Fuller but is always interesting. It's a strong chance for Dickinson who takes it.
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