56:A Tribute to Dennis Hopper.Fresh Pics

THE COMIC HAD STYLE
Saturday. June 5

Finding Nemo [M-Net.17.30]
Excalibar [SABC3.22.10]
How Make an American Quilt [e.tv. 13.30]
Suspect [e.tv. 22.10 and 02.30]
Premonition [M-Net. 23.00]
The Big Store [SABC3.02.00]

Sunday. June 6

The Hurricane [SABC1. 20.00]
Twilight [M-Net.20.05]
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan [SABC3.22.00]
Stardust [M-Net. 00.10]
Tarzan the Ape Man [SABC3. 02.00]

Monday. June 7

Vicky Cristina Barcelona [M-Net.21.30].
Nobody's Fool [SABC3. 00.30] 

BARDEM PLAYING WITH FIRE

Penelope Cruz won a well-deserved Oscar last year, for playing the ex wife from hell in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona [M-Net.Monday.21.30]. Cruz is dazzling—mesmerizing her audience like a flickering, coiled snake. Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall dance around her, giving her just enough space to vent and smolder. 

A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS-WOODY ALLEN AND HIS TALENTED STARS

Woody Allen is not really that versatile, but he always has enough variation to amuse and tantalize. His writing and direction are spot on here; somehow, a fresh arrangement of a well loved, familiar tune.

GEOFFREY RUSH AND HIS ALTER EGO

People often say that there is only rubbish on TV; too true, some of the time. But, just for fun, I did a headcount;  there are 28 Academy Award winning actors and directors on show this week, ranging from the voice of Geoffrey Rush in Finding Nemo [M-Net.Saturday.17.30] to Rod Steiger, playing a small part in The Hurricane [SABC1.Sunday.20.00].

THE EXPESSIVE FACE OF TOM HANKS

Among this talented mob, there are three who have each won two awards. Tom Hanks won back-to-back awards in the early 90s and is one of the most likable film actors around; he and the camera have had a 30 year love affair.

Hanks is at his most pleasing and poignant in The Terminal [e.tv.Thursday.20.00], directed by Stephen Spielberg and co-starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Stanley Tucci. 

HANKS AND ZETA JONES WITH SPIELBERG

He is perfect as the hapless Eastern European, stuck in an airport terminal. The film reads like an old fashioned fable or a 1940s movie from M.G.M. No senseless violence or mindless bloodletting here; for want of a better word, The Terminal is a really a heartwarming film, one to savor and enjoy. For Avitar fans, there is a glimpse of Zoe Saldana

REUBEN CARTER-AN INNOCENT MAN IN A LIVING HELL

Denzel Washington plays Reuben (Hurricane) Carter in The Hurricane, a prizefighter, sent to prison for a crime he did not commit; I remember, Dylan wrote a song about Hurricane’s plight in the 70s.

DOUBLE AWARD WINNING DENZEL

 Carter’s story is harrowing, but the movie is quite heavy handed and most of the action remains one-dimensional. Despite that, Washington, the first black actor to win two Academy Awards, is, as usual, very good indeed.

Double winner, Robert De Niro is in two very different movies this week. He sends his ‘macho man’ posturing sky high in Midnight Run [SABC1.Thursday.22.30],with twitchy support from the very underrated Charles Grodin.

DE NIRO AND CHARLES GRODIN MAKE AN INTERESTING PAIR
 
Mr. D also has a great deal of fun with Claire Danes and Michelle Pfeiffer in an adaptation of Neil Gaimen’s fantasy novel, Stardust [M-Net.Sunday.00.10]. 

PETER O' TOOLE-ALWAYS A PLEASURE

Peter o’ Toole meanders down the cast list, looking wrecked, but still so damn adept. The movie is long, but so full of energy that it doesn’t seem to matter that much.

QUEEN IN THE EARLY 80S

Fantasy, in all its celluloid guises, is a staple these days, and there are lots more in store this week. Flash Gordon [SABC3.Friday.23.35], based on the comic strip of the same name, and was a bit of a non-starter, made back in the early 80s. Probably the best thing about it is Queen's pulsating theme song and Timothy Dalton, long before he became James Bond.

CARREY IN FULL STRIDE

Jim Carrey gives one of his better performances, still mannered but this time quite funny in another comic book come to life, The Mask [SABC3.Friday.19.30], The plot reworks the old chestnut, an inanimate object imbues its owner with magical power and strength. I’ve seen cars, caps, shoes and guitars do the same thing over the years. Corny it might be, but  The Mask is one of those movies where you just can't help smiling.

RATHER YOUNG AND INNOCENT BACK THEN

Excalibar [SABC3.Saturday.22.10], made by John Boorman, is a very tasteful interpretation of the Arthurian Legend, with a fabulous cast including Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren and Nicol Williamson. 

NICOL WILLIAMSON-NOT A FAVOURITE OF DAME HELEN

Williamson really was the angry young man of the late 60s and early 70's, apparently Helen Mirren detested him but Williamson was interesting, he gave an intriguing reading of Hamlet in the movie made by Tony Richardson in 1969.

Gabriel Byrne and Liam Neeson are there as young men, as is Nicolas Clay, who was famous for a minute and a half when he was cast as Lady Chatterley's Lover.

SIR RALPH
Tarzan rears his bushy head twice this week, once in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan [SABC3.Sunday.22.00], which takes itself far too seriously. The best thing about it is Ralph Richardson, near the end of his career, and no, he is not related to the Redgraves or Richardsons, but he and Michael Redgrave (father of Vanessa, Corin and Lynn and grandfather of Natasha Richardson) were two of the most famous Shakespearian actors of the last century.

ONLY THE HAIRDO REMAINS

Approach the other Tarzan—Tarzan the Ape Man— [SABC3.Sunday.02.00] at your peril or better still not at all. The movie stars, for want of a better word, Bo Derek, the braided beauty that was everybody’s lush dream about 30 years ago. I wonder what happened to her.

That is a problem with the whole showbiz thing, nobody really knows what is going to last and what will be forgotten by next Tuesday. Of course, Twilight [M-Net.Sunday.20.05] had to make it to the small screen at some stage, I'm sure fans will be delighted. 

A TEENAGE DREAM

The film does have a certain something, if only a hormone overload. Robert Pattinson made that old joke come to life— ‘I was a teenage vampire, true romance in pictures’ But will the series be a watershed or merely a pit stop? Like with so many fads, only time will tell.

MAKING EYE CONTACT

Since Mickey Mouse started his career back in 1928, animation has always been part of our entertainment fabric. Finding Nemo is a wonderful movie, with a clownfish battling the odds to find his child. 

 

CLASSIC CARS

Cars [M-Net.Sunday.10.00] with Paul Newman as the voice of a superior model, is really animation for grownups, all the emotions are very adult ones. It is fitting that Paul Newman is a racing car, in private life, Newman was a great motor sport fan.
Newman also heads a big cast in Nobody's Fool [SABC3.Monday.00.30], a terrific movie made by Robert Benton, who won an Oscar for directing Kramer vs. Kramer in the late 70s. 

PAUL NEWMAN WITH JESSICA TANDY

 Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith and Jessica Tandy costar in this tight human drama,studded with high comedic moments, based on the novel by Richard Russo. Catch Philip Seymour Hoffman as a young man, you can almost smell the talent.

THERE ARE SOME LOVELY MOMENTS HERE TOO........

Not as quick witted or well paced, but also with a first rate cast is How to Make an American Quilt [e.tv.Saturday.13.30], a story of melding generations, with standout performances from Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn and Winona Ryder. Claire Danes, at the beginning of her career, is in a small but telling role.

CHER GETS GOOD SUPPORT FROM DENNIS QUAID

Cher gives a fabulous performance in Suspect [e.tv.Saturday.22.10 and 02.30], it is at times like these that one becomes very aware that under the hair and cosmetic surgery, there is a great acting talent. Suspect is a tight courtroom drama with Dennis Quaid—- I do like him— in fine support.

SANDY WAKING UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE WEEK

Sandra Bullock is in a silly one called Premonition [M-Net.Saturday.23.00],actually, the idea is quite good, small shifts in time, she lives a week of her life out of sync, but the plot don't really come together, let alone jell.

The Marx Brothers didn't set new standards in American comedy; they invented it. The only problem is that they haven't dated very well, even the good ones look a little creaky today. But, watch The Big Store [SABC3.Saturday.02.00] just to get a feel of grinning Groucho, tinkling Chico and their silent, harp playing brother.

THE BROTHERS WATCHING DEVELOPMENTS

Margaret Dumont is there in all her glory; but, by 1941, it was really all over. Truth be told, the cream of the Brothers output ended with the 30s. 

MARGARET DUMONT WITH GROUCHO AND A GLEEFUL HARPO;UP TO NO GOOD BEHIND HER

Remember, someone else supervised the dialogue, but the visual humour is all Marxian. And when all is said and done, the Marx Brothers never had to resort to bodily functions to raise a laugh.

THE BALLAD OF EASY RIDER-ALL HE WANTED WAS TO BE FREE

Dennis Hopper who died over the weekend is probably most famous for directing and acting in Easy Rider, which changed forever the way that American movies are made. Hopper really began his career as one of the punks in Rebel Without a Cause and was also with Jimmy Dean in Giant.

HOPPER IN JIMMY DEAN MODE

 He carried the spirit of Dean with him, the quintessential, dysfunctional, drifting loner, searching for something that is nothing at all. Easy Rider spoke to a whole generation, sick to death of the American Dream. Saying that, Hopper also made a lot of mediocre rubbish, to keep pace with his—shall we say—hedonistic lifestyle and numerous ex wives. Unfortunately, Boiling Point [e.tv.Friday.20.00] is a good example of Hopper at his potboiling best. Wesley Snipes costars

PENELOPE CRUZ

My pick is Vicky Christina Barcelona [M-Net.Monday.21.30]; somehow, I think Groucho would have approved.

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