more pics and things later. K
Thursday Feb 24 Zip
Friday Feb 25 Havana [SABC3.22.30]
Five Days One Summer [SABC3.00.30]
Shopgirl [SABC3.02.30]
Saturday Feb 26 Along Came Polly [SABC3.19.30]
Rumor has it… [SABC3.21.30]
Trudeau 2: Maverick in the Making [SABC3.00.30]
The Last Song [M-Net.19.00]
Sunday Feb 27 True Lies [e.tv.20.00]
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER DRAMA
Postcards from the Edge [e.tv.22.50 and 02.45]
Malcolm X [SABC1.22.00]
Mrs Soffel [SABC3.22.00]
Avatar [M-Net.20.05]
Monday Feb 28
Zip
Tuesday March 1
Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss [e.tv.22.30]
Alaska [SABC3.15.00]
Ulzana’s Raid [SABC3.01.30]
Alien [M-Net.03.00]
Wednesday March 2
The Last Song [M-Net.11.00]
THE SKY'S THE LIMIT!
In the 50s, man saw the opportunity to straddle worlds beyond our own; by that stage, Homo sapiens had conquered and systematically abused most of what our own planet had to offer. As the space race began, Moviemakers were quick to jump onto the rocket fuelled bandwagon; and films about distant planets and invasions by creatures that were small and green began to fill the screens.
SOMEONE STOLE MY HUBCAPS
Some were strictly Grade Z affairs, with cardboard cutouts and space ships that looked like flying hubcaps; in the case of Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space, they were flying hubcaps. Others were intellectual examinations of man’s destiny; The Incredible Shrinking Man being a fine example. For the most part, the genre was a not so subtle combination of the two; The Invasion of the Body Snatchers etc., etc.
ALIEN THEN...
Towards the end of the decade, came It, the Terror from Beyond Space, a snappy invasion story, but, by then, the craze for extraterrestrial activity was almost over and the next fifteen years, sexual liberation, politics and individual freedoms became standard and sometimes standout box office fare.
AND TWO DECADES LATER
Come the 70s and the emergence of bright, young filmmakers, the likes of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and the pendulum began to swing again. Ridley Scott, also young at the time, remade It, the Terror from Beyond Space as Alien [M-Net. Tuesday.03.00] in 1979. The movie turned out to be a terrific piece of cinema; tense, scary and quite, quite believable.
JIMMY DIRECTED ARNIE AND JAMIE IN TRUE LIES
A new wave of sci fi movie making began, Alien spawned sequels; one, in fact directed by James Cameron. Cameron pushed another kind of plough for a while; directing films like True Lies [e.tv.Sunday.20.00]. Then he broke box office records with Titanic, before returning to his Alien roots.
AND SALDANA AND WORTHINGTON IN AVATAR
Avatar [M-Net.Sunday.20.05] is a smooth, finely honed film experience, using all the expertise that modern technology has to offer; the movie won three Oscars and is dramatically fascinating on all sorts of levels, but somehow the finished product is too glib and I, for one, found myself longing for the simple, yet riveting energy of, say, the 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Avatar is not a bad film; just, no … boring is too strong a word…somehow, somewhere we’ve seen it all before.
NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE-ROB THE RED
Some well known actors never take home an acting Oscar, but six of them have nailed a directing award; there’s a neat one for the statisticians. Woody Allen, Warren Beatty and Clint Eastwood are probably the most famous and then there were, well, let’s start with Robert Redford, who took home gold in 1981 for Ordinary People. This week he is in front of the camera in Havana [SABC3.Friday.22.30], which bombed at the time but stands the test of time as a pretty well.
COMRADE CASTRO
Set in pre revolutionary Cuba, at that nervous time, just as Batiste was about to be overthrown by Fidel Castro, Redford plays a gambler with the sands of Havana trickling slowly from his shoes; there he is joined by Lena Olin and Alan Arkin. Yes, there is a smack of Casablanca about the whole affair, but Sidney Pollack was a great director, never more so than here.
AM I BLUE?
At one stage, Mel Gibson could literally do no wrong; in 1995, Braveheart swept all before it to win five Academy Awards, Gibson scooping that of Best Director. He took a while to slip from cool to fool and today his antics are borderline laughing stock, both off and on the screen. Some critics say that Edge of Darkness will change all that; we’ll see.
LOVE THROUGH THE BARS
Mrs Soffel [SABC3.Sunday.22.00] dates back to 1984, and I think Gillian Armstrong did a superb job, restraining both Gibson and Diane Keaton, both notorious scenery nibblers. Somehow, Armstrong manages to extract balanced performances from both of them, in a ‘true’ story, set in 1906, of a woman falling in love with a convicted killer. Now, why does that sound vaguely familiar?
GOD BLESS YOU PLEASE, MRS ROBINSON
Kevin Costner, with or without his directing Oscar for Dances With Wolves remains a reliable, likeable actor. Rumor has it… [SABC3.Saturday.21.30] is a great idea that doesn’t really come off. What if the protagonists featured in The Graduate were not only real, but members of your own family.
ME, NEVER!!
In the context of the plot, Jennifer Aniston is very sold on this idea, while Shirley MacLaine and Kevin try hard to disabuse her of the notion. As I say, a bit of a misfire; but the movie remains fun, full of holes, but fun.
MERYL AND SHIRLEY
Mike Nichols set the tone for the rest of his career when he directed The Graduate, back in 1967; over twenty years later, he made Postcards from the Edge [e.tv.Sunday.22.50 and 02.45], which I’ve reviewed before. Whenever I can, I always rewatch Shirl and Meryl Streep, as they deftly transform themselves into Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher.
NOT CAPRA; BUT NOT BAD
Maybe some people enjoy Ben Stiller in the same way; actually, when no one is looking, I like him too. What you see is what you get; laughs without an agenda. He teams up with Jennifer ‘Try and Try Again’ Aniston in Along Came Polly [SABC3.Saturday.19.30.]
SEYMOUR HOFFMAN WITH ALEC BALDWIN
It's not classic screw ball stuff; but the chuckle machine is gently turning over; cranked up by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing and Alec Baldwin.
DANES MAKES THE DAY; SUCH AS IT IS!
Steve Martin wrote the novella on which Shopgirl [SABC3.Friday.02.30] is based; he also stars in this laugh- by- numbers epic. Claire Danes, in the title role, is rather fabulous but the film as a whole is low on laughs and instantly forgettable.
LANCASTER AND HESTON WITH HARRY BELAFONTE AT THE TIME OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON
Burt Lancaster and Charlton Heston were among the very last crop of traditional he man movie star idols. Both hammed it up and won Oscars, when that kind of teeth grinding was considered acting of the highest calibre. Later in life, both became fairly competent and versatile character actors.
FRASER HESTON AS LITTLE BOY, SITTING ON HIS DAD'S LAP
This week, Charlton Heston plays a bad guy in Alaska [SABC3.Tuesday.15.00], a teen drama complete with stacks of snow and a polar bear. The film was directed by Heston’s son Fraser and stars a few juveniles who are now probably in their late 20s; also to be seen is Dick Benedict, Face from the TV series, The A-Team.
A GRIZZLED BURT LANCASTER
The Burt Lancaster movie is a really good Western from the 70s called Ulzana’s Raid [SABC3.Tuesday.01.30]; it contains classic Western situations with a strong storyline and the kind of violence that John Ford wouldn’t have sanctioned but that Sam Peckinpah would endorse completely. Needless to say, the violence is tame by today’s standards.
SEAN CONNERY-SEXY AS EVER
Sean Connery started out as a hunk, but he was never stereotyped or hemmed in by his James Bond persona and has turned in some wonderful performances over the years.
ZINNEMANN, MORE OR LESS AT THE TIME OF FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
Five Days One Summer [SABC3.Friday.00.30] was the last film made by veteran director Fred Zinnemann, the action harks back to that fascinating period of early European cinema when the story was told against a backdrop of mountains and mountain climbing. Unfortunately, in Five Days of Summer, the pace and plot falter in the foothills. Connery is as good as ever though.
TRUDEAU WITH JOHN AND WHATSHERNAME?
There are two made for TV biopics to while away the hours between
innings. Trudeau 2: Maverick in the Making [SABC3.Saturday.00.30], examines the early years of future Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, remembered today for befriending pop stars and having a sexy wife.
BUT I DON'T HAVE A DIME!
Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss [e.tv.Tuesday.22.30], tells the story of a girl who financed her lifestyle by being ‘gentle’ with the gentlemen, it’s the usual rubbish, featuring women complete with boots, whips and chains.
A POWERFUL PERFORMANCE
For a real strong slice of true life drama, made well and starring real actors, watch Malcolm X [SABC1.Sunday.22.00], directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, recently filming in Cape Town, I did a full review of the movie about eighteen months ago. Just search on the site for Malcolm X; this applies to all the films I have reviewed; they are there, just a click away.
QUICK, BEFORE SHE MELTS!!
Catch The Last Song [M-Net.Saturday.19.00 and Wednesday.11.00], before it's sell by date expires. I fear that Miley Cyrus, like milk left out of the fridge, is about to go off; which is sad, she is a sweet child and the film innocuous enough for most palates.
BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID
My pick; there was a toss up between Ulzana’s Raid [SABC3.Tuesday.01.30] and Alien [M-Net. Tuesday.03.00].After deliberation, Alien has a definite edge.