POP AND GAYLORD FOCKER-HOFFMAN AND STILLER
The actor, the one whose name I always battle to spell, outdoes himself this week; he is in a sequel, a remake and an adaptation of a classic novel. In Meet the Fockers [e.tv.Saturday.20.00], he is seriously upstaged by the likes Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand and Blythe Danner.
BABS SHOWS BLYTHE DANNER HOW TO DO IT
Actually, the film is quite funny, if you enjoy your comedy serving tossed and mixed. Ben Stiller seems not to mind playing second fiddle to the antics of the laws and the in-laws, maybe he could see the $ signs in the whites of their eyes.
MITCHUM CONFRONTS GREG PECK IN THE ORIGINAL
The remake of Cape Fear [SABC3.Friday.21.30] is something else again; the original was a tight little drama, based on a thriller by John D MacDonald, first filmed in 1961. It starred Robert Mitchum, who could be extremely sinister when he tried, and Greg Peck, who had, in his acting repertoire, a handy range of beleaguered good guys.
BOB IN THE REMAKE
When Martin Scorsese remade it thirty years later, the result was a lesson in the macabre, so appalling that you stay mesmerized, too scared to look away, for even a second. Mr. D sets new standards in villainy while Nick Nolte and Jessica Lang look alternately battered and shell-shocked, as they wait for the next ghastly ministration of evil. This movie is not recommended for anyone with anxiety problems.
FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER THEN AND NOW
Kenneth Branagh set out to make an authentic, faithful version of Mary Shelley’s ingenious tale of horror; Boris Karloff et al had muddied the monster’s waters for too long.
MARY SHELLEY'S GOTHIC NOVEL HAS NEVER BEEN BETTERED
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein [e.tv. Sunday.21.50 and 02.05], at last, we have, the Monster, as Mary Shelley really wrote him, susceptible, striking out in pain, frustration and confusion.
BRANAGH AND BONHAM CARTER
De Niro plays the monster with realism, truth and very little stage makeup, the supporting cast is exceptional and includes Branagh himself, Tom Hulce and Helena Bonham Carter; only one snag, the movie is dead boring. Come back Boris, all is forgiven.
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
Christopher Nolan is one of the most exciting of a new breed of filmmakers; he is a marvel at directorial slight of hand, what you see is rarely what you get. His latest movie, Inception is quite outstanding.
MAGIC IS AS MAGIC DOES
The Prestige[SABC3.Friday.19.30] deals, on the surface, with magic and magicians, but there is a hell of a lot more going on, just below the surface- jealousy, perception and self deception, many of the elements that recur in The Dark Knight.
MICHAEL CAINE IS PERFECT AS USUAL
The Prestige views like a work in progress, Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine entice in a plot that crosses and counter crosses, Nolan has a lot to say, but he is letting his creative tap drip rather than pour. It is always nice to see David Bowie, in an all too rare film appearance.
STANLEY TUCCI PLAYS JULIA'S HUSBAND
Meryl Streep is a superb actress; she proves it yet again in Julie and Julia [M-Net.Saturday.21.00 and Wednesday.11.00], where she embodies the joy of cooking, playing the queen of the celebrity kitchen, Julia Child.
AMY ADAMS
Amy Adams costars in the modern story, which counterpoints Mrs. Child cookery opus, both stories are centered on sharing, food and love.
WRITER/DIRECTOR NORA EPHRON
The film is directed by Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail) ;once long ago, Streep actually played Nora Ephron in Heartburn, the writer/director’s blistering account of her marriage to Watergate investigator, Carl Bernstein.
MERYL IN FULL FLIGHT
In years to come, critics will wonder why Meryl Streep lost out to Sandra Bullock in the Oscar race of 2009. As I’ve said before, often the award is more about sentiment than ability.
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
John Malkovich almost gets the accent right in Steve Jacobs’ adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s Booker award winning novel, Disgrace [M-Net.Monday.21.30] The movie is a little uneven, but does touch a nerve felt by many in post apartheid South Africa.
DR COETZEE-AS A GENERATION OF UCT STUDENTS REMEMBER HIM
The male menopause meanderings work less well, but as a creative unit the film does take a moment to make the audience observe and ponder.
BOY WONDER IN THE 70S
Peter Bogdanovich was the boy most likely in the early 70s; he began well, The Last Picture Show, made in 1971, won awards and earned huge esteem.
BEN GAZZARA
I loved him, unfortunately, after the success of What’s Up Doc? he went off the creative boil quite quickly; Saint Jack [SABC3.Tuesday.00.30] dates from 1979, and stars the highly underrated Ben Gazzara as a rogue with a heart of sand. Told in shades of grey, the movie works well as an absorbing study of treachery with a smiling, innocuous face.
A HINT OF CRUZ
Angela [SABC3.Monday.00.15] starring Sophia Loren is pretty turgid, but it does give a glimpse of Loren’s very special acting ability, she isn’t just a body and beautiful face, like Penelope Cruz there is grit and guts under the perfect visage.
VETERAN RAOUL WALSH
Hollywood old timer Raoul Walsh directed two movies on show this week. The Roaring Twenties [SABC3.Tuesday.02.30], a serious take on the aftermath of the First World War and the implications of the 18th Amendment—better known as Prohibition.
BOGIE WITH JIMMY CAGNEY
This was the last time Bogart and Jimmy Cagney acted together; they had such different styles, Bogart cooler as ice cubes, Cagney, an old ham if ever there was one. A must see for buffs and anyone interested in cinema history.
THAT'S KIRK DOUGLAS-FAR RIGHT
Walsh, like his contemporary John Ford, was one of those American directors very much at home in that most American of genres, The Western. Along the Great Divide [SABC3.Sunday.22.00] is a 1951 'B' movie in 'A' movie clothing, Kirk Douglas stars, he and the film are not bad , sexist and indelicate perhaps, but all in the cause of justice and fair play. Virginia Mayo does much eyelash fluttering in the female lead.
CLINT
Talking of Westerns, Morgan Freeman narrates a documentary about Clint Eastwood, The Eastwood Factor [M-Net.Wednesday.22.30] which is both well researched and informative about Clint as an actor, director and composer.
PLAY MISTY FOR ME...
I’m not a great devotee, but Eastwood has had his moments. After all, Play Misty for Me is one of my favourite films of the 70s.
CHICO,HARPO AND GROUCHO ABOUT TO GO WEST
Go West [SABC3.Wednesday.02.30] isn’t a Western at all; it’s the Marx Bros in cowboy hats, tethered by a weak script, and no Margaret Dumont. Maybe, one day, Horse Feathers or Night at the Opera will turn up and show just how good the Brothers could be.
MEN WITH BADGES
For old style cops and robbers, there is Hollywood Homicide [SABC1.Friday.22.00], with Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett as the buddy cops, joined at the hip. Indeed, a very yawn inducing experience.
BRUCE ON THE JOB
Bruce Willis stars in a new type of cop saga, we find him floundering around in virtual reality, not clones or robots this time, but Surrogates [M-Net.Sunday.20.05], a movie that embraces innovative technology with open arms. This kind of film is a whiff of the future, except more of the same.
BE AFRAID-BE VERY AFRAID
In The Skeleton Key [SABC3.Saturday.20.05], Kate Hudson, John Hurt and Gina Rowlands dabble with secret doors, hoodoo and mind control with strange body and soul flipping results. The final outcome is confusing rather than constructive or credible.
NOMINEE # ONE
The Darwin Awards are a tongue in cheek citation that exists; they are given to people, who for example, light a match to check the petrol level or peer down the barrel of a loaded gun.
NOMINEE# TWO
My nominations for the cinematic version of The Darwin Awards are The Darwin Awards [M-Net.Tuesday.11.00], starring Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes and in close second place, Because I Said So [e.tv.Thursday.20.30], starring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore. Please guys, get out of the gene pool, dry off and go away.
BOY BAND a-ha
I feel like I have been writing about James Bond for the better part of my adult life, this week Tim Dalton struts around in his first outing as 007, The Living Daylights [e.tv.Friday.20.30] and very scrumptious he is too. The band, a-ha, were the first non English speakers to warble the theme song; for the record, they are Norwegian or Danish, I can never remember which.
JULIA CHILD
My pick is Julie and Julia [M-Net.Saturday.21.00 and Wednesday. 11.00].No prizes for guessing why.