Yay

I’ve had Sky UHF for years. Well, in October Sky are going to close that service down. So they offered me a deal to get Sky Digital installed. Free installation, and the old price for twelve months. I said yes.
So now I’ve got 4 movie channels, three news channels, Comedy Central, UK TV, Documentary, History and a bunch of others. Its pretty cool.

Now there is always something to watch.
For instance, Angels with Dirty Faces is starting on TCM in half an hour

definately maybe

i watched this because it was recommended-i had planned to give it a miss because of the oasis reference.

its basically a fairly bog-standard rom com. nothing spectacular, but a pleasant enough way to waste a couple of hours on a post dialysis sunday

lost in the supermarket

they've changed the layout of my local supermarket. its like exploring a brand new store with all the exasperation of trying to find somwething that you need

it was very confusing to someone still suffering the after effects of dialysis, and what's worse when i was in there on sunday, i felt mayself starting to go flat and had to cut my shopping early so that i could go and lie down before i fainted

so i collapsed in front of sky movies and saw shine a light, the rolling stones film. i was never a fan of the rolling stones and still aren't, but i was amazed that these guys in their sixties still
a) have extremely bushy heads of hair, and
2) are so energetic

an hour of watching them run around made me even more tired, and so i also watched the house bunny, which....no. just no.

stupid supermarket

john hughes is dead

sixteen candles, pretty in pink, some kind of wonderful,weird science, planes, trains and automobiles. these films are the cinematic equivilant of a big mac and fries, but they were kind of appealing. ok they were basically standard teenage romcoms, but the differnce was that hughes didn't assume that teenagers were a homogenous bunch, but that there were a large group of sub-cultures in theage group. he got a fair bit of praise for this, and his view of teenagers has informed teenage cinema since (see 10 things i hate about you, for instance)

nontheless they're not bad films and ok for a mindless 90 minutes

the two films he will be best remembered for (at least according to the media) were ferris buellers day off and the breakfast club.. both of them screened on tv last year. ferris bueller held up pretty well, but i was surprised how much the breakfast club irritated me.
when i first saw it in the mid eighties, i actually liked it a lot as an attempt to take young people seriously. i did notice that hughes seemed to be indulging in SIGNIFICANT WRITING, but the performances managed to overcome this and actually make a quiet and effecting film.
however, when i saw it last year, the characters all seemed to be a bunch of selfish whining brats and i couldn't help muttering "wait till you get out into the real world, you little snots"
i guess its a movie you should see when you're fifteen and then never see again.

if hughes was one of the giants of eighties cinema, then we must remember the duff films. john hughes, you are accused of making:
uncle buck
home alone
home alone 2
101 and 102 dalmations
(most of these have the same plot)

he hadn't make a film in some years, but his films (and their soundtracks) still strike a chord in the teemagers of the eighties

ambience

out of the blue is a beautiful terrifying film. it depicts the 24 spree killing undertaken by david grey in aramoana in 1998. i remember seeing the events on television, especially, the asinine tvnz reporter asking one of the residents, whose partner had been killed by grey "who do you feel?

the film is srongley effective, focusing more on the residents, than the killer. there is no music on the soundtrack for the bulk of the film, which helps draw you into the whole atmosphere. the first time i saw it on tv last year, i deeply resented the commercial breaks which pretty much destroyed the flow and feel of the film

the place not to watch it is a crowded dialysis ward

iron man

i was going to give this one a miss. my tolerance for huge cgi movies based on comic books is lessening these days, but i was convinced to give it a look

its not going to go on my top ten movies. overall its pretty much what you would expect. when, early in the picture, it was said that jeff bridges character was looking after the hero's father's estate until the hero came of age, my brain flashed up "villian alert" and (sigh) i was right.
and yes, there were a lot of effects. and yes, the story was unoriginal and predictable.
but what made it worth watching were the performances of robert downey jnr and jeff bridges.
bridges is, of course, one of the most underated actors in the business, and i don't think i've seen downey give a bad performance in anything (ally mcbeal accepted)

best of all, the movie is not too long.

on the meal scale, i would rate this as a half-cold ham and pineapple pizza

i am legend

the third version of richard matheson's novel, and no.
sorry, wasn't impressed. the will smith alone in new york isn't a patch on vencent price in the last man on earth and is way short of bruno lawrence in a similar situation in the quiet earth. i just didn't feel it, you know what i mean?

as for the third act, let us not speak.

don't bother

across the universe redux

ok, i said i needed to see this film again and i did (thank you sky), after all its a rare film that earworms me for days on end.)
i was more alert this time and it turns out, i really really like it

its a story about the 1960s, more or less and concerns six people; jude, lucy, maxwell, prudence, sadie and jojo ( i can hear you groaning from here). there is a plot of sorts, but its more an impression of the times, rather than a history.

the essential problem with these kinds of films is that they are trying to write a story around a group of already exisiting songs, but this fil does it much better than, say mama mia. in that film, the moviemakers pretty much stuck to abba's arrangements, in across the universe, musical director elliott rosenthal has often rearranged the songs, sped some up (falling) slowed some down ( i want to hold your hand) which has given a new perspective on the songs. take it won't be long, sung here by the female lead and very well done too.

joe cocker's version of come together is so good you wonder why he hadn't done it before.

other highlights are i want you (she's so heavy) and happiness is a warm gun

as i said before, it's visually stunning, and the choreography isn't bad either. my one quibble is that tv carpio, who has a great voice, as well as being heartbreakingly gorgeous, doesn't get enough screen time (and only one solo)

i will definatly be picking up the dvd once it hits the cheapie bins (that will be in a couple of months, i reckon)

i also need to get a new copy of the white album as i seem to have misplaced mine

across the universe

on paper, this sounds like a bad idea. a musical based on the songs of the beatles? i mean it's been done before-i've always wanted to see sgt peppers lonely hearts club band, generally regarded as one the worst movies ever made wherein peter frampton and the bee gees save the world from (if memory serves) aerosmith

but i'd heard some good things about across the universe so on a damp sunday, i tuned in and....

well, visually its stunning. julie taymor is an underated director. i remember seeing her version of titus (andronicus) a few years back and being knocked out by it

i was surprised to see that the screenplay was by dick clement and ian la frenais. it didn't seem to have any of there ususal with or warmth

and the beatles knew how to write a good tune or two (i still prefer ray davies though)

but bono is not an actor (worst cameo ever?)

after about half an hour, i stopped trying to make sense of it all and just let the film wash over me, enjoying the tunes and spotting the beatles references.

all in all, not a bad film for a low blood pressure post-dialysis wet sunday afternoon

and i think i'd like to see it again at some point

juno

i have noticed a depressing tendency for "independent" films to become somewhat homgenous:
1. a coming of age story ehere the protaginist' intellegence and/or artistic sensitivity is brutalised/ignored
2. a quirky or repressive family
3. a soundtrack featuring songs by obscure alt-rock/folk bands
4. a vaguely episodic plot structure
5. pacing based on thne speed that paint dries

gone are the people who have their own vision like lynch or who can put a new spin on an old genre like the cohens. where are the dazed and confuseds, the pis, the happinessess? the films that have an edge.

these days it seems like the back stories of the fimmakers are more important than the film itself

for instance, late last year i saw waitress. a pleasant enough film which i enjoyed at the time, but which i would have to go back to imdb to remind me of the best lines. i think that much of its critical success was because the writer-director adrienne shelley was murdered just before the film's release.

similarly with juno. arguabbly the first thing that anyone knows about this is that it was written by an (ex) stripper, diablo cody. are we taliking about the susan boyle effect here?

ok, i have to admit that she wrote some good lines and the cast, especially lead ellen page (who was so much better in hard candy) delivered them well. and there was a good solid support cast. but its not all good. rainn wilson's cameo was trying too hard to be hip and the film was trying too hard to be wryly funny.

i didn't hate it (but then i'm still suffering post traumatic stress disorder from seeing meet the spartans; any film looks good after that) and i'd say that it is worth a look, but its never going to make my top ten

the smartest guys in the room

just saw this documentary
it was made in 2006 before the current erecssion, and its interesting to watch in light of recent events. the behaviour demonstrated by lay and skilling is not dissimilar to the hubris and arrogance demonstrated by the executives of merryl lynch, leamen brothers and so on
in fact, the list of those banks who suppported and acted as cheerleaders for enron sound awfully familiar (citibank etc)-the same ones who have either gone under or required bailouts

as ever, the executives came out of the exercise with millions of dollars while the rank and file lost everything

some things to note. skilling was big fam of richard dawkins book the selfish gene and had applied the evolutionary theory to business. essentially selfishness was the order of the day, most notably when they exploited (and to a large extent caused) the california energy crisis

it was also interesting to note that at the height of their crisis enron were insisting that their grred was not the problem, but that their market was too regulated.

i noted that several right wing blogs have claimed that the current recession was not caused by greed, but by (left-wing) governements and agencies forcing banks and financial institutions to loan money to people who couldn't afford to repay.

at the time, there were suggestions that enron's behaviour was an aberration.

apparently not

definatly a filem worth checking out

vantage point

i like "clever" movies-it can be quite fun trying to figure out falshbacks and flash forwards and fanatasy sequences, especially when they all come together

one of my favourite films of the last few years was run lola run. i've lent it out at the moment but i really must watch it again. (also momento, now that i come to think about it)

when done well, they can be a quite staidfying watch, although there is an alternate point of view that they are just gimmicky (what? even rashoman?)

which brings me to vantage point. here's the scenario. the president of the united states is in spain announcing a summit on anti-terrorist action, when he is shot and building explodes.

these events are told from eight different point of view-a television producer ccoverinng the event, a seccret service agent, a tourist with a video camera, a couple of the terrorists and so on. a vantage point of the events is shown, then the film returns to 11.59am, just before the president makes his speech

the last third of the film continues on the events as the characters begin to interact.

so far, so clever, but for all the visual flair, and the strong underlying concept, trying to deal with so many characters in a short space of time (the film only lasts for 90 minutes) means that many of the characters come across as underwritten. b ack stories are hinted, or ignored completely, as are motivations-why is the tv producer so determined not to mention the protestors, what are the terrorists trying to achieve (duh, they're terrorists)

i liked the jigsaw concept, but unbfortunatly like a jigsaw, once you've put it all together, its falt and two dimensional

with extra cheese

everyone has a secret shame when it comes to music-some band or singer who they secretly like, but will never admit to in public.

for many people, that band is ABBA. they were once very popular (yes, i admit i had one of their records-i was 11 at the time) then punk came along. and then, it was kind of ok to like them again, so long as it was, you know, ironically. eventually the ironic part faded away and you has all these people noting what skilfull writers benny and bjorn were. several music critics even consider "dancing queen" the greatest pop song of all time. (i disagree; i find it lyrically awkward)

i'm not a diehard abba fan; i could go the rest of my life without hearing fernando again, but i have to admit that they do have some catchy songs

last night, sky screened "mama mia", the film based on the musical based on abba songs.

firstly, the scenary was terrific. there is nothing like sitting in a warm room while there is a full thunderstorm going on outside to make you appreciate summer in the greek islands.

however, the problem with trying to write a story around of unconnected songs, is that the ultimate story is less than it could be. in the end, mama mia is a series of disconnected sub plots, some havr a begiining, some have an end, a number of the ends seem to come out of nowhere. but that's not the point, is it. the point is to get to the next song. (i beleive that the dvd has a karioke version of the film)

other bad points? well, pierce brosnan can't sing, julie walters looked really frumpy, there were too many slow songs.

the best singer was amanda seyfried, who played the daughter. the best performance was (naturally) meryl streep, who seemed relish that she was getting paid to spend several weeks in the greek islands. the exception was her performance of "the winner takes it all". her singing was ok, but she was flailing her arms around like marcel nmarceau on speed. musical highlight, for me, was christine baranski's performamce of "does your mother know"

i won't be buying the dvd, or the soundtrack, but i may pick up a copy of abba's greatest hits. if i find it in a bargin bin

i've been cinematically violated

i intended to note the death of don deluise, largely becasue of his work as one of mel brooks' stock company in the seventies, although it seems that most of the tributes focused on his performance in "cannonball run"

however, i discussing his death with rob, i remebered that he had appeared in a truly horrendous film called "the silence of the hams". yes, its a parody film and for a long time, i considered up there wikth sister act 2 as one of the worst films ever made.

then yesterday, i saw the first 40 minutes of "meet the spartans" ( idin't see the rest as i had to go to dialysis".

yes, i get the joke, the spartans were repressed homosexuals, homosexuality is funny, reality tv shows are funny, celebreties are funny, farting is funny, ripping off other people is funny.

i disagree. i did not laugh once. i almost vomited, but i did not laugh once.

compared to eatching this film, having two ten inch needles shoved into my arm came as an absolute delight.

the saddest thing about this fil? accoring to wikipedia, it grossed $84 million dollars.

rainy sunday in front of sky movies part two

second hand wedding

whereas there will be blood was quite heavy going, second hand wedding was a light easy watch. set in a new zealand suburbia of garage sales, fiances called darren,garden sheds and times when a cup of tea really is the solution to all problems, there is an easy connection to its audience. not even remotely ironic (not even the john rowles cameo) its a warm hearted watch

there is anice little sting at the end, though

actually, an ideal movie for a wet post-dialysis sunday afternoon

rainy sunday in front of sky movies part one

there will be blood

hmmm, a linear narrative from paul thomas anderson? well, not quite.

there is daniel day-lewis and some other people, but you really only notice day-lewis.

an impressive performance, but not an engaging one. i felt curiously uninvolved

school for scoundrels

checked out the remake of school for scoundrels today. don't bother

the original, made in 1960 and starring ian carmicheal, terry thomas and alistar sim was actually quite funny (and i think i've still got it on vhs somewhere)

the new version stars billy bob thornton and jon heder and was made by people who have no idea how comedy works.

the original was based on the lifemanship books by stephen potter. it seems that the new version had never heard of stephen potter.

after it was over, i thought that there should have been a way to remake it well. with the profusion of management and self-help books, there was an opportunity to make a clever satire on corporate culture. instaed they settled for an insipid love story with random bits thrown in.

file under "dimension films owes me 90 minutes of my life back"

bubba hotep

elvis presley (bruce campbell), who has cancer of the penis and john f kennedy (ossie davis) who has been died black, are seeing out the end of their days in an east texas rest home, when they realise that an egyptian mummy is stealing the souls of their fellow residents.

oh, come on, with a set up like that, you've just got to check out the movie to see what happens

well. its pretty much what you would expect. its low budget, so the effects are strictly old school-all model work and make up instead of cgi, which is no bad thing.
director don conscorelli makes muach of the inherent black humor in the premise, hinting that the supernatural plans of an ancient cursed enemy is not nearly as bad as growing old and neglected

one to rent, rather than keep

filling an empty life

i'm on a holiday at the moment-using up some long service leave

as i can't do anything more than day trips, i can't eat or drink, and dialysis wears me out three days out of every seven, I'm using the time to catch up on DVDs and sky movies I've missed:

The Mist

This is the third film that Frank Darabont has made based on wworks By Stephen King. Whereas "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile" suited Darabont's carefully paced style, the story of The Mist was always meant as a cheesy B Movie. The casting of Thomas Jane as a kind of poor mans Viggo Mortenson is a step in the right direction, but ultimately, the film was too slow moving.

Superbad

meh

THEM!

in the new mexico desert, police find two crime scenes-a family on holiday and a local resident are both found dead. all their money is intact but the sugar bowls have been emptied. the sole survivor is a little girl, now catatonic. when released from this state she screams "THEM! THEM! THEM!
they take a cast of an unusual track and send it to the FBI
Soon an FBI agent appears and then a scientest with an almost english accent from the Depaartment of Agriculture with his beautiful daughter.
They have a theory but won't tell the cops until they find the truth
The atomic bombs tested in the forties have resulted in MUTANT GIANT ANTS.

ok, the giant ants look terrible, and there are enough cliches to justify a full on drinking game, but all in all i enjoyed this movie. just the thing for a wet afternoon.

it is briskly paced and manages to squeeze in some oddball characters-a pre davey crockett fess parker as a pilot and an alcoholic (make me a sargent, give me the booze)

unlike todays films, the ending isn't dragged out.

they don't make 'em like that anymore (or so i thought until i saw a bit of alien v predator on sky last night)