It'd been a while since we'd watched a movie as old as It Happened One Night, so we watched one, well 'it' on Saturday evening. It's one of 4 movies in a Frank Capra boxset, and the first one I've watched. The movie is a comedy starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert - she plays a spoilt heiress on the run from her father across country to her husband, he's a journalist who helps her evade capture along the way in return for her story. Of course, romance blooms.
This movie was the first (of 3, the others being One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Silence of the Lambs) to win the big 5 Oscars, that is best actress, actor, director, script and picture, and while it may be hard to spot why today, over 75 years later, it's still a very well put together picture. The stars are first rate and the direction's good, and the film as a whole is satisfying. It's not quite the 'screwball' comedy the box promised, not in the same way that Bringing Up Baby is, but it's still funny. It's always interesting to see what film could get away with back then. It Happened One Night was enjoyable and I hope that the other Frank Capra movies in the collection prove to be even better since they come later in his career.
I picked up this book after reading the first line of Chapter 1 that reads:
'In the year 1919, Edgar's grandfather, who was born with an extra share of whimsy, bought their land and all the buildings on it from a man he'd never met, a man named Schultz, who in his turn had walked away from a logging team half a decade earlier after seeing the chains on a fully loaded timber sled let go.'
As opening lines go, it's a doozy. 'An extra share of whimsy' is what sealed the deal for me. I thought that if the writing was going to be that good, I'd enjoy this book. Finishing the book last night, I can confirm that the writing is indeed top notch throughout, and the story itself (recommended by none other than Stephen King on the book's jacket) is involving. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle follows the titular character through his youth to adolescence and particularly follows events leading up to and following his father's untimely death. Edgar is not deaf, but he is dumb, and thus speaks through sign. His family live in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin and raise dogs that have particularly canny personalities. When Edgar's father dies, his uncle, Claude, becomes more friendly with Trudy, his mother, which leads to an unfortunate accident and Edgar running away from home with 3 of his dogs for several months.
After Spamalot on Monday, on Friday we bookended the week with Britain's Got Bhangra, another funny musical, this time at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. This musical followed the fortunes of Twinkle, an Indian immigrant to Britain, through the 1970's to the 2000's in the first act, and bringing it bang up to date in the second.
Twinkle was played by the immensely talented Shin, who's apparently a big deal on the bhangra scene, a scene I know very little about. What I knew going in to Britain's Got Bhangra was that I really enjoyed the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire! And that I have an open mind when it comes to the shows put on at the WYP. I was pleased to see a real mixed audience at the theatre for once, where we are normally the only ones under 50 in a sea of old, white faces. Here there was a 50/50 split between white and Asian faces, with numerous kids and young people, although still few young white faces. It's to be expected that an Asian musical would attract a like-minded crowd, but given the split in the audience it's a shame I don't see these different cultures at plays such as Hay Fever. Anyway, enough about the audience...
So Twinkle comes over to Britain to make his fortune, and falls into becoming a recording sensation in the bhangra charts, with the wonderfully diplicitous Shindie (played by Sophiya Haque, again another big Asian star) as his manager. The first act, spanning about 30 years, whizzes along with song after song, with humour and warmth, and some minor social comment. The references to events like Charles and Diana's engagament, wedding and separation mark the changes in time, and the music changed to reflect the bhangra styles of the periods (I assume, since I'm no expert!). The first act ended with Twinkle's fall from grace, where the second act picks up, spanning mere months, if that, but coming right up to date to 2010 with a reference to new PM 'Mr Cameron Clegg'.
The overarching plot is fairly simple and doesn't present any surprises, though the plot is a mere skeleton to hang on sumptuous dance numbers and incredibly catchy bhangra beats. Some of the songs were performed in Punjabi, understandably, and thus I felt a little left out when half the audience got the jokes and were laughing along... I suppose this is how some people might feel watching Shakespeare and not following all the language. Even though there was some Punjabi singing it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the songs since the style of the performance really puts across an emotional message.
The set, a street with 4 shops fronts in Southall, was used very well, with different rooms or a beaten up old van emerging from the shops, and the 11 strong cast, most playing multiple roles, were of strong voice and often very funny. The slightly larger actress, Rina Fatania, didn't fail to get a laugh from the crowd, whatever role she was in, and especially as Bibiji, Twinkle's deceased mother/grandmother, who appeared in a 'vision' of sorts, or I suppose more of a deus ex machina, to iron out the plot at the end.
All of the songs were varied and interesting, but my favourite was the incredibly enegetic modern routine, Britain's Got Bhangra, that came at the end of the show. I wanted to get out of my seat and dance! But no one else was doing, so I just clapped and moved my feet in my seat instead. I took a shot with this musical, and I was rewarded with a hit, a palpable hit. Now where's that Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack...
Dive was a 2 part drama shown on BBC2, a love story between teenagers Lindsey and Robert. It felt different to the usual television dramas - it wasn't based on a historical event or figure (like The Devil's Whore or Mo), or about an 'issue' (such as care homes in The Unloved), and there were no murders (most other one off dramas) - it was simply a love story, albeit one where the female lead gets pregnant. There was little flapping of hands or moralising about the teen pregnancy though, it just happened and the characters dealt with it.
How unusual to find a love story told in this way. Aisling Loftus and Jack O'Connell played the young leads, and both were touching and believable. I've not seen Loftus before, but I hope to again, she brought real warmth and honest teenage responses to Lindsey, and the diving scenes were terrific! I've since learned that a double may have been doing the dives - Lindsey is in training for 2012 Olympics when she meets Robert and gets pregnant, and ends up choosing her sport over a future spent babysitting - but I couldn't tell, and was very impressed with them all! The direction was great overall, though the filming of each dive was exquisite.
O'Connell played the decidely irritating Cook in Skins' 3rd and 4th series. I really did not care for Cook and much of series 3 of Skins, and I've made a conscious decision not to bother with series 4, currently repeating on Channel 4. I'll give the new intake a go come series 5 though. In Dive there were shades of Cook to the character of Robert, but as his relationship with Lindsey matured he showed off an emotional, caring side. Unfortunately to serve the story he got a bit more obnoxious towards the end, still it means I won't write off O'Connell just yet.
The young leads were ably served with a wider cast that included ever-dependable Eddie Marsan as Robert's Dad and the wonderful Gina McKee as Lindsey's Mum, both rounded characters rather than mere parental ciphers. I liked Dive. Some bits, such as the repetitive musical themes grated after a while, though on the whole it was a refreshingly simple, honest piece.
Last Monday we were back at The Grand for another comedy musical, after Hairspray earlier in the month. This time we saw Spamalot, 'A new musical lovingly ripped off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail', which starred Marcus Brigstocke as King Arthur and Todd Carty as Patsy, with Hayley Tamaddon as The Lady of the Lake (apparently she was in Emmerdale). It was a good job we had front row seats (cheaper than the ones in the Gods when we saw Hairspray, how's that work?) as there were sound problems during the first act, but from our position we didn't miss anything, it was just a bit annoying. Brigstocke ad libbed a couple of lines about it that got big laughs, and when we met him after the show he apologised.
Watching the Lethal Weapon series and reading about Mad Max (1979) in a recent issue of Empire, we decided to give the latter a spin and to find out why Mel Gibson hit big. I enjoyed the movie, it was clearly cheaply made but there's a lot of fun to be had and what action there is is well-directed and visceral. The violence is cartoonish but wince-inducing, especially when Max gets his arm run over by a motorbike. The Australian locations are gorgeously shot, and altogether the movie holds up as great fun.
For a break from Mel Gibson we watched The Graduate (1967), the movie that made Dustin Hoffman a household name, and another 'classic'. I really liked this - the characters, the actors, the witty script, and the excellent direction all add up to a movie that has quite rightly gone down as a gem of cinema history. Hoffman is a delight as the awkward Benjamin Braddock who stumbles on an affair with 'cougar' (as they'd call her nowadays) Mrs Robinson, played deliciously by Anne Bancroft. Mike Nichols directs the movie in a stylised way that doesn't distance you from the action, rather it adds commentary to the youthful timidity of Benjamin. Hoffman's performance is very funny, one of his best ever, up there with Rain Man, and I'd quite happily watch this again soon.
We finished off our run of Lethal Weapon movies with the final in the series, Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), which came several years after the last sequel and added Chris Rock and Jet Li to a cast that had already grown to encompass Joe Pesci and Rene Russo. Packed with memorable stunts (such as Riggs fight on a house-moving wagon) and more comedy than before, LW4 is another strong entry in a series that has no real weak link. The fights are just as bloody as in the first movie, and the script has the decency to point out that Gibson and Glover are indeed getting 'too old for this shit', and their storylines are advanced through Riggs' imminent fatherhood, and Murtaugh's grandfatherhood. Pesci is at his least annoying here, but then he is opposite Chris Rock, so maybe he's just less annoying by comparison. This is a fitting end to the series, and I hope they don't try to make any more, because the stars definitely would be too old - they couldn't pull it off like Bruce Willis did in the superb Die Hard 4.0.
Following the Lethal Weapon series we revisited National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) which parodies several films, but none more so than Lethal Weapon. There are direct references such as Emilio Estevez's Colt going for a walk to show off his naked butt, Colt's/Rigg's trailer getting shot up by the bad guys in helicopters (in a brilliant Bruce Willis cameo), and Samuel L. Jackson's Luger sitting on the toilet parodying the classic LW2 bomb scene - but this time the character is just taking a shit. Other send ups include Basic Instinct's 'gratuitous beaver shot', Silence of the Lambs, and Rambo, but it's the LW references that are funniest. While not quite as good as Hot Shots!, Loaded Weapon 1 is a good laugh, full of hilarious performances from Whoopi Goldberg, William Shatner, Denis Leary and Tim Curry.
I enjoyed all of the movies above over the last week or so, and they all had a lot to recommend them. Unfortunately I can't say the same for The Walker (2007), a movie in which Woody Harrelson plays gay as Carter Page, a companion of high society Washington women, including Lily Tomlin, Lauren Bacall and Kristin Scott Thomas. This might have worked as some sort of comedy, but it's far too serious and becomes a murder-mystery-thriller type affair when the lover of Scott Thomas' character is killed and Page attempts to keep her out of it and find out whodunnit. Harrelson tackles the role in much the same way as Heath Ledger handled gay in Brokeback Mountain, by mumbling almost incoherently the whole way through. It's hard to warm to Page, or any of the characters really, apart from Lauren Bacall's society woman who doesn't get enough screen time. As the movie wears on in a po-faced manner the answers to the mystery provide little revelation or interest and there's not much of a satisfying conclusion. For a film with an interesting premise, it all fell a little flat.
I first saw Noel Coward's Hay Fever at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester a couple of years ago, and Belinda Lang (from 2.4 Children) was heading the cast. I wasn't that into the play, and the characters left me a little cold, so it was with some doubt that I agreed to see the play again, at Andrew's request, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, of which I'm now a member.
This time around I found Hay Fever to be an utter delight from start to finish. The cast was scattered with familiar faces: Maggie Steed (Jam & Jerusalem), Philip Bretherton (As Time Goes By), Emma Amos (Goodnight Sweetheart), and, best of all, Michael Benz from CITV classic Mike & Angelo! The 9-strong cast was fantastic, and Benz and Alice Haig made the roles of Simon and Sorel Bliss likeable, or at least not unlikeable.
The play centres around a weekend at the Bliss family home, and the guests each of them invites to stay. There's really not much more plot than that, the joy revolves around the interactions between these off-the-wall characters and the wonderful words Coward gives them to utter. Maggie Steed was a superb Judith Bliss, an aging, retired actress with a penchant for moments of melodramatic over-the-top emotional outbursts.
At the Royal Exchange, a strange circular theatre, we were sat at the top looking down onto the performance, and I think this affected my enjoyment previously too - this time we were right at the front, practically on the well-decorated and detailed living room set that sat slightly elevated. There was plenty of chance for eye-contact with the cast and being so close really drew me in to the drama. Yet again only a handful of the audience were under 50... and when the theatre is this good, I feel priviledged to be among the few young people who bother to go to the theatre.
Appetite whetted by the original Lethal Weapon, we watched the first two sequels in quick succession, and for my money they're as much fun as the first, and because there's no setting up of the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh they get straight into the action and comedy.
In LW3, Murtaugh is determined to retire from being a cop - he's too old for this shit - and thankfully, in the avoidance of the usual cliché that spins out from these kind of plots, he lives to kill another day. Leo Getz is back again, and is used sparingly enough that he's effective and not superflous. Riggs gets a love interest this time round, who survives, in the form of Rene Russo's Lorna Cole, a female mirror image of him in terms of scars and fighting technique. She's the Batgirl to his Batman. Or something. Either way, she's a good addition to the growing cast, and she's back for the next instalment. It's interesting to note that there was no love story in LW, and the one in LW2 ended tragically, you'd think that Riggs would see more action. The fact that he's a grieving widower in LW and his lonely life is contrasted with Murtaugh's happy family kept him single then, and the death of Kensit's character in LW2 spurred him on to revenge, so it's nice to see Riggs have a little happiness this time around.
After a break to explore some other movies, we shall return to the franchise, and hopefully give Loaded Weapon 1 a go again too.
Last Saturday I saw Hairspray at the theatre for the second time, last time was a year ago in London, when Michael Ball was playing Edna Turnblad. This time I went with 13 friends and relatives to the touring version in Leeds, with Brian Conley as Edna, and Nigel Planer as Wilbur (who may have been in the London version too).
There turned out not to be much to pick between Ball or Conley's Ednas, except of course Conley doesn't have the voice that Ball has, and he needed more padding. Either way, this second viewing was just as good as the first, if not better! Laurie Scarth was a phenomenal Tracy Turnblad, and Liam Doyle's Link Larkin looked mighty fine from where I was sitting. Gillian Kirkpatrick's Velma Von Tussle was better in Leeds than in London, she seemed to make a more delicious baddy.
As a bonus for this trip to Hairspray, after the show I had my photo taken with Brian Conley himself! Plus my friend Sandra got my programme signed by Nigel Planer, Conley and Laurie Scarth, who she got to put a personalised message on there. It was the cherry on the top of a highly enjoyable, toe-tapping, hilarious night at the theatre.
It's a couple of weeks since the Doctor Who finale, and there's a gaping hole in the Saturday night TV schedule. This series seemed to pass fairly quickly. My verdict on the new Doctor and his show then...
Matt Smith has been great as the new Doctor, initially there was more than a hint of David Tennant in his portrayal, but as the series has gone on he made the role his own, with flashes on anger and panic that never troubled the previous incarnation. I've enjoyed the numerous references to his old faces too, and Steven Moffat, the new show runner, has done an excellent job in making the series feel fresh yet familiar.
There have been some really strong episodes, mostly towards the latter half of the series, including the one with Vincent Van Gogh, 'Amy's Choice' and the two-part finale - the first half of which was among the best TV I've seen. Rory, the new semi-companion, was good fun, and the way all of the adventures tied together at the end was great. There were also a few ho-hum episodes such as the obligatory Dalek one and the drawn out two parter with the Silurians.
I've not been convinced by the new companion Amy Pond though. She seems permanently set to shout mode, and doesn't have a great range of expression. I'm sick of the sight of her legs too - why are they trying to sex up Doctor Who? I must add a caveat actually - adult Amy Pond as played by Karen Gillan I find a little annoying, young Amelia Pond as played by Caitlin Blackwood in the cracking season opener and finale was a joy to behold. I and others I know would much rather watch young Amelia than Amy. But towards the end of the season Amy got a little less annoying, though she never became as good as Donna Noble.
I watched a nice British comedy this morning, Grow Your Own, about a group of people in an allotment. It was a rather gentle comedy that was well played and made some well crafted points about immigration and integration, with a cast populated by well known TV character actors such as Benedict Wong, Eddie Marsan and Olivia Coleman, plus Omid Djalili.
The lead story, if there was one as this was very much an ensemble piece, featured Benedict Wong's mute father, who is placed at an allotment to try to get him to open up. When we find out why he has been struck dumb, the revelation is fairly shocking in both the grim reality of the situation and the mundane nature of the character's finally opening up - to an extra. His children's attempts to get him to speak and interact with the world/allotment are sweet and touching, while the other characters provide much humour and warmth. There are sour notes when Omid Djalili's doctor and his family are forcibly removed by immigration officers, but there is an inevitable happy ending... for everyone else - Djalili's family remain deported.
Grow Your Own is a very British film with a large optimistic streak that can be a bit hard to swallow, but ultimately it's fun and a good watch.
The one drama I watched from the BBC's recent mini 80's season (aside from Ashes to Ashes) was the 2 part comedy-drama Money, starring Nick Frost, and adapted from Martin Amis' novel. It was a strange show really. Frost was good, although I'm not sure that he should be doing starring roles, his humour and style works better against a partner, i.e. Simon Pegg. He did have excellent support from the tasty Vincent Kartheiser, of Mad Men and Angel fame as a dodgy producer though. Frost played John Self, an ad director in the 80's who gets the chance to make a big budget movie in the US, with Kartheiser's producer helping him along the way.
The latest series of The Graham Norton Show has come to an end, and I'll miss it! I used to watch So Graham Norton way back when it was on Channel 4 and enjoyed it muchly, but then it turned into 5 nights a week V Graham Norton and the format was stretched too thin, and the humour got a bit wearing. Since the chatshow moved to BBC2 and now BBC1 it has improved greatly.
At my childhood home last weekend I was updating my parent's computer and waiting for installations when I picked a book at random from the shelf from a hardback collection I had not taken when I moved out. This Classic Adventures series was a fortnightly collection that I got when I was 10 years old, according to the date I've written in the 'This book belongs to...' section at the front. I remember reading Little Women and The Prisoner of Zenda, but none of the other 20 or so books. All are considered classics, and I think I'll appreciate them more as an adult reader, as I've brought them all back to my flat with me.
I polished off Twenty Thousand Leagues... within a week as I found it really enthralling, at least for the most part. I don't know how the French original reads, but the translation (in this abridged version, though how abridged I've no idea) is witty and uses some wonderful language. The book follows M. Arronax, his man Conseil, and Canadian harpooner Ned Land as they are taken aboard Captain Nemo's Nautilus submarine and travel 20,000 leagues around the world - not 20,000 leagues beneath the sea as the title implies.
Those are pretty much the only characters found in the bulk of the book, although the first several chapters explain how Arronax and co end up on Nautilus when they are washed overboard the ship that is tracking a mysterious leviathan... which turns out to be Captain Nemo's submarine. The novel is then set almost entirely aboard Nautilus and follows in a rather episodic manner, the adventures of the ship and the wonderment that Arronax experiences along the way. There are encounters with unusual sea creatures, explorations of shipwrecks, a visit to Atlantis, and a gripping sequence when the vessel finds itself trapped under the Antarctic ice.
The enigmatic Captain Nemo and his mute, nameless crew are a mystery to Arronax and his reader, and I liked that there was no easy (or any!) explanation as to Nemo's background or why he has chosen to renounce the physical world for a life under the seas. I enjoyed the Nautilus' adventures, and found the descriptions of life under the waves fascinating, in much the same way as Moby Dick was interesting in it's depiction of the life and times of whales. A pleasure to read then, and a cracking adventure. I look forward to more of the Classic Adventures series.
