TV show - "Battlestar Galactica - Saga of a Star World" (1978) ***

I had been waiting for the DVD of this series to go on special and finally found a copy for $30! Saw the first three episodes last night - the ones that were later cut into a feature film. I know this is partly influenced by nostalgia, but I thought it holds up really well. At his best Glenn A Larson was a very good writer, and this three part pilot has a very strong structure - I mean Act I begins with the near annihiliation of the human race! Act II with the crew and humans fleeing is a bit choppier, but Act III on the creepy weird planet is strong. Yes there are cringy and laughable moments - the expression on that guy's face as Caprica is being destroyed, Boxey (Noah Hathaway) telling his mum "I wish he were my daddy", the scene between a near naked Athena and Starbuck (this is cut in a lot of the movie versions), the unexciting mine field scene, the repetive nature of a lot of the action. But a lot of it is very good - Apollo's brother getting wasted ("that, Mr President, was my son"), Lew Ayres as the weak president, Ray Milland as a villainous politician, the beauty of Jane Seymour, solid performances from the regulars (Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and Lorne Greene), the scene where Terry Carter as uptight Col Tigh is busted robbing uniforms and says the Commander is "gonna go crazy" - watch Carter suddenly go blaxploitation for that line, the humour of much of the film (a lot of it involving Benedict). Not all the subsequent episodes were of this quality but for me it still holds up today.

Movie review - "Son of Mask" (2002) *

Hideous film. It starts promisingly enough with a funny sequence involving Alan Cumming, who provides the film with the right tone, but then disintegrates. Jamie Kennedy is a capable performer in other movies but here seems tired and unsure. The plot is awful, dragged out over a long period of time. You don't care, the action is unexciting. The film is a mess.

Movie review - "The Pentagon Papers" (2003) ***

Solid account of the defense guy (James Spader) who leaked papers on the Vietnam War to the press and helped cause Nixon no end of grief. Quite gripping and all the more effective because it is clear at times Spader is a bit of a fanatic who to some degree has merely switched sides.

Moview review - "Man on Fire" (2003) ***

Tony Scott returns to Mexico for another Revenge type film about, well, revenge. Denzell Washington is a boozy former special ops soldier who becomes bodyguard for Dakota Fanning, then goes on to kick serious arse when she's kidnapped. The first half is bonding with Fanning, the second half is arse kicking. Tough guys, lots of smoking, interesting visuals, some nuns. Denzel isn't entirely well cast but Chris Walken and Mickey Rourke are in the support cast and they are spot on. 

There is always a worrying sort of aspect to these sort of films, with its superhuman hero who can bring down organised crime, but an undeniably appealing aspect to the myth as well. You know I didn't quite believe Denzel as an alkie (there's always something inherently decent about him as an actor). Tony Scott's flashy directing suits the story. I always find his films majorly flawed in some way but they always stick with me for along time afterwards. 

NB Apparently a romance sub plot between Denzel and Radha Mitchell was cut because audiences didn't like Denzel kissing a white woman - but I think the cut was a good one more on the grounds the real love story is between Denzel and Fanning, and throwing mom into the mix confuses it.

Movie review - "Ray" (2004) ***

I grew up knowing Ray Charles mostly as that cuddly very talented blind black man who would made cameos in movies and on tv - no one was more beloved - so it came as a bit of a shock to see this bio which highlights a long heroin addiction and constant infidelity. It doesn't deify him, but you do have sympathy because of the blind thing and because Jaime Foxx is so good in the lead role. Also good is the period detail and the acting. It is well done.

Movie review - "I Walk the Line" (2005) ***

Solid, entertaining bio which I made the mistake seeing the day after I saw Ray on video - both have singers from poor backgrounds, both had brothers who died, both suffered drug addictions, both only found fame after finding their own voice, both rooted aroud on the road. This one is more of a love story, between Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon - the film could have started with their characters meeting or be told from her point of view. 

Phoenix impresses in the most flashy role; he really looks like Cash at times. Witherspoon is OK as the chirpy southern gal - we don't really get to know her as well. Some good scenes like the opening one at Folsom prison. Like all bios it includes a few "you're mad to try it" scenes.

Movie review - "Alfred the Great" (1969) **1/2

One of a series of expensive flops that helped bring MGM to the brink of bankruptcy (others included The Appointment and Goodbye Mr Chips), this is a decent attempt at a "serious" epic, which execs no doubt thought would appeal to the then-attractive youth market, with its idealistic, "I'm-not-sure-if-I-want-to-be-king" hero. Alfred the Great deserved an epic film, the first official king of England, I guess, who placed a lot of emphasis on education and war. His life was film friendly, as it involved fighting off the Danes, having a spell in the wilderness (well, marshlands) then making a comeback. 

 David Hemmings has the lead - he was a film star for a short while in the late 60s, was Hemmings, before a series of flops reduced his box office standing. He was perfect casting and is quite good as the king, worried about the violent side of his nature.

There are plenty of battles and action and some interesting touches (emphasising all the soldiers puffing at the end of a battle, which is something most war films don't do) but the film doesn't quite work: it badly lacks humour and has way too many rapes in it. The Danes rape nuns then Alfred rapes his own wife (the beautiful Prunella Ransome), who then is taken as a hostage by the Danish kind (Michael York, in good form) who then is about to rape her but then she becomes willing, then she goes back to Alfred and... actually that whole plot is just off and the film would have been better without it. 

They hint at another love relationship between Alfred and the wife (Vivien Merchant) of one of his allies in the marshes (hubby is played by a very young Ian McKellen) but nothing seems to come of this. Actually come to think of it the film is a bit of a mess - Alfred's life could still produce a better film, though since he was a 9th century guy he is becoming less and less known.

Clive Donner talks about the film here in side 17. Interesting account of making of the film - Donner was pursued by the producer for months, Donner disliked the original script and had it redone.