Young Sherlock Holmes
Did Nicholas Rowe do anything twixt this and his turn as a stoned toff in Lock, Stock? Anyway, a pleasant enough junior retrotech/specfic/reboot take on Conan Doyle’s detective, efficiently imagined by box office musketeers Levinson (directing), Columbus (scripting) and Spielberg (producing).
Batman Returns
Burton overdoes the kooky gothic nonsense, which was just about forgivable in the first film, but come this, the sequel, well… Just about manages to overlook every canonical element of the Batman story, and squeezes in the Penguin and Catwoman as well as evil tycoon Max Schreck. Messy, mostly dull, not worth two hours of my life.
The Quiet American
A reasonably faithful adaptation of Graham Greene’s meditation on betrayal, loyalty and colonial wars. Michael Caine is Thomas Fowler, an amiable old British reporter bent into the ways of Indo-China, whilst dashing young American ‘advisor’ Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) tries his best to bend Vietnam into his own idea of democracy. Do Thi Hai Yen is spellbinding as Phoung, the woman they both love.
Director-for-hire Phillip Noyce (franchise crap like Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger as well as imaginative authored stuff such as Dead Calm and Rabbit-Proof Fence) keeps everything very tidy, coaxes good performances from everyone, and never lets the spectacle of action set-pieces overcome the meaning of the film.
The Comedians
More Greene adaptation, this time almost contemporaneous with the source material. Richard Burton is a cynical, weary hotelier trapped in Port-au-Prince during the reign of Papa Doc Duvalier and his Tonton Macoute; Liz Taylor is the diplomat’s wife with whom he is having a tawdry affair; Alec Guinness is a shady would-be arms dealer whose affability somehow inspires Brown to pick a side. Pretty decent, but with an almost predictably pale perspective. The ending is pointlessly upbeat.
The Molly Maguires
Martin Ritt’s impressive take on the industrial turmoil in the coalfields of Pennsylvania in the 1870s.
Sean Connery is powerful as a miner who leads a secret society sabotaging pits and assassinating bosses and cops when peaceful means don’t bring better conditions for the workers or their families, Richard Harris does well to give a rounded performance as the Pinkerton detective who infiltrates the Molly Maguires.
Posted in A Week In Film
Tagged Batman Returns, The Comedians, The Molly Maguires, The Quiet American
Batman Begins
Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan pull off the Batman reboot with aplomb. Bit long, bit meandering, but plenty to commend.
3.10 To Yuma (2007)
Decent stab at remaking the 1957 Elmore Leonard adaptation, with James Mangold directing a tale not dissimilar to his own 1997 Cop Land, about an unlikely man standing up to do the right thing.
Quiet rancher Christian Bale is determined to take murderous bandit Russell Crowe to the railroad and thence to gaol, despite his own son (Logan Lerman) having no faith in him. A well-made, old fashioned kind of Western, with good supporting performances from the likes of Ben Foster, Peter Fonda, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Gretchen Mol and Luke Wilson.
Hostage
Bruce Willis as a former big city police negotiator turned small town sheriff who finds himself embroiled in an armed kidnapping and siege. Some interesting bits (nods to Die Hard, for instance), but despite undoubted skill, French director Florent Emilio Siri, who so impressed with Nid De Guêpes, seems a little lost at sea here, certainly with the performances.
After The Sunset
Silly, not very engaging romantic comedy-thriller, with retired jewel thief Pierce Brosnan and paramour Salma Hayek pursued by FBI agent Woody Harrelson to the Bahamas.
30 Days Of Night
British music video director turned feature helmsman (his debut was the decent Hard Candy) has a crack at a vampire comic adaptation, where the action takes place in an Alaskan town just entering into its annual sunless season. An efficient ensemble cast (Josh Hartnett and Melissa George as estranged married couple forced back together by circumstances, local redneck Mark Boone Junior, Danny Huston as the lead vampire), but a meandering plot which doesn’t work the time angle very well. Nicely shot, though.
The Bourne Identity (1988)
Richard ‘Kildare’ Chamberlain and Jaclyn ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Smith in roles later played on the big screen by Matt Damon and Franka Potente in this eighties mini-series version of Robert Ludlum’s shonky spy novel. In places it works better than the Liman/Greengrass version, though overall it definitely shows its age and inferior budget, and too many of Ludlum’s crappy subplots and pointless characters survive the edit. Still, Anthony Quayle makes a fun appearance as a randy French general, and Denholm Elliott as a lush who cares for the amnesiac Bourne in the beginning.
Batman
Tim Burton’s take on the masked vigilante comic book character, though blatantly seen through the half-remembered filter of the 60s live action TV show. Jack Nicholson chews up scenery in an overpaid, puffed-up cameo, somewhat overshadowing Michael Keaton’s rather good lead. Kim Basinger gets in the way, and whilst blasphemously uncanonical, Sam Hamm’s script is fun.
Stalingrad
Joseph Vilsmaier’s fine German war film, a grim depiction of life on the Eastern Front, with a factory battle that throws back to Peckinpah’s Cross Of Iron. A strong cast includes Thomas Kretschmann (latterly known for Der Untergang, U-571, Wanted, Valkyrie, King Kong, Transsiberian etc), Dominique Horwitz, Sebastian Rudolf and Sylvester Groth.
Dead Man’s Shoes
Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine cement their creative partnership with a perfect film, a Midlands-set Western that escaped the director’s grasp when he was given too much money to play with the previous attempt.
A redemption film skillfully camouflaged as a vengeance picture, full of believable characters and genuine shocks.
Of course, the private sector doesn’t have a monopoly on trying to whitewash Bristol – unaccountable regional policy wonks at the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) fancy trying their hand at it too!
As anyone who has been through the back streets to get to Temple Meads train station will know, much of the area is boxed off with big purple boards, adorned with flashy, laminated adverts promoting all the good works SWRDA is doing for the local area. These, if you have ever been so bored as to look closely, are illustrated with the smiling faces of various people which SWRDA, it seems, believes best represent inner city Bristol. So you’ve got the communications director of an organic Somerset farm, and the Stroud-based boss of an electricity company – both white.
There’s also the touching tale of a ‘romantic rambler’ and his bride-to-be, a rock collector from Bristol (“We chose the ring the next day – I found a beautiful antique jewel which had to be mine. We celebrated by the waterside with bubbly from a local vineyard; the perfect end to an unforgettable weekend”) – again, both white.
In addition there’s various random people populating more generic boards in which the fine work of SWRDA in ‘Temple Quarter’ (“a multi-phase regeneration programme which is reinvigorating the heart of one of Europe’s leading commercial and cultural cities”) is trumpeted to the accompaniment of photos of white-teethed catalogue model types enjoying al fresco lattes or cycling or just generally being busy doing Very Important Things on schematics in offices – and guess what? All white!
Makes you wonder exactly what SWRDA is planning for the much-awaited ‘multi-phase regeneration programme’ in the ‘Temple Quarter’…
Recession or no recession, there seems to be no let up in the breathlessly hyped world of property developments across our fair city. There’s hardly a plot of land not fenced in and surrounded by big glossy pictures of pretty models enjoying aspirational lifestyles – but just what sort of people are the developers trying to attract?
At Canon’s Marsh off Anchor Road, Crest Nicholson calls its development Harbourside. The advertising hoardings claim “inspiration from Bath’s classical Roman architectural history” (Eh? Do they realise where they are?) and promise “a new view of living”. Well, so long as you aren’t too dark skinned it would seem – all the models in its cosy scenes of hip urban dwelling are young and white.
Down on the Centre, at the foot of the refitted old Bristol & West tower, is the Broad Quay development, courtesy of property consultants Knight Frank and Lambert Smith Hampton. Here the slogan is “Be Close To Everything”; except – judging by the pale faces smiling out of the laminated boards – Black and Asian Bristolians.
Heading north we find ourselves on the outer edge of Montpelier at the old VW garage on the corner of Bath Buildings and Cheltenham Road. This is Essence, “an exciting collection of 1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments” being assembled (after a fashion – they appear to have run out of money) by Linden Homes. This 129 flat development celebrates its vibrant nature with hip names for its different sections, like ‘Vibe’, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Origin’ (I shit you not!); but again, some kind of unspoken colour bar prevents any non-caucasian faces from being featured enjoying life in the “distinctive and diverse” properties on offer.
Finally, let’s see what life in trendy young development-land has to offer south of the Centre… Wapping Wharf – tucked between Wapping Road and the new Museum of Bristol – is an Umberslade project, and is promoted with the tagline “Creating a thriving environment in a historic harbour setting”. Sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? And the pictures really reflect the Floating Harbour’s heritage, with anchor chains and cranes and ropes and… Ermm… No non-white people?
So, what do you reckon – are the developers trying to tell us something? Perhaps we ought to be telling them something straight back.
Well, after I just got caned over Zardoz, I figure just get back in the saddle. Answers below, please…
ETA:
No one even got a sniff near to this – it’s Michael Mann’s Heat practice run, LA Takedown…
Right – it’s back… Now, I don’t remember this from when I watched this film for the first and only time many moons ago, but it was there clear as anything when I spooled though it today. I reckon you’ll either instantly get it, or it’ll be another notch on the blog bedpost.
Place your bets, please!
ETA:
PhilC got this straight off the bat – it’s Zardoz.
Catch A Fire
Interesting subject matter – the bombing of the Secunda refinery by ANC soldier Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) – efficiently handled (director: Phillip Noyce; writer: Shawn Slovo). Tim Robbins does a wobbly Afrikaans accent as the cop hunting down the MK guerrillas in South Africa.
Back To The Future Part II
The dystopian future one! Hover boards FTW.
The Contract
Slight but not unwatchable thriller about a widower trying to bond with his son on a camping trip who instead is faced with a bunch of professional hitmen trying to recover an accomplice. John Cusack and Morgan Freeman on autopilot, directed by AUssie veteran Bruce Beresford (Breaker Morant, Driving Miss Daisy, Paradise Road).
Behind Enemy Lines
Navy aviator Owen Wilson is shot down by dastardly Bosnian Serbs hiding evidence of war crimes in war-torn former Yugoslavia, and is forced on the run to escape his pursuers. Not great, but watchable. Director John Moore was the prick responsible for the Omen remake, though, so watch your rage levels.
Back To The Future Part III
The cowboy past one! Steam punk FTW.
Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis Of Evil
A sequel with no connection to its predecessor, with an elite team of Navy SEALs (yawn…) parachuting into North Korea on some boring mission or other, ending up getting captured, tortured, blah blah blarrrrgh! Why did I watch this?
Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia
Very silly second sequel which follows the first sequel into exactly the same plothole minefields, only on a different continent. Still, actor Tim Matheson (the Veep in The West Wing amongst other things) directs efficiently on behalf of producer WWE (yes, as in the wrestling) Films, which in turn provides ring meat Mr Kennedy as a supporting character. In terms of plot, narcoterrorists in Colombia, blah, Navy SEALs sent down there, blah, double cross, blah blah blah… Steven Scarface Bauer and Yancey Kingpin Arias are amongst the more familiar faces.
Freedomland
Reminded me a bit of Gone, Baby, Gone – an effective little thriller which falls apart at the end with a silly twist that undermines all preceding it. Still, Samuel L Jackson is effective as a tired, asthmatic cop tasked with finding Julianne Moore’s daughter, kidnapped in the local housing projects. Joe Roth (not someone I’d heard of before) directs well, Richard Price adapts his own novel into the script.
The Good German
Steven Soderbergh has a crack at directing a The Third Man-style post-war noir, with George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire running around Berlin immediately after the war. Not bad, though with all the attention to period detail I wish someone had come up with a more convincing 40s-style title screen than the 70s telemovie one they ended up with.
Tigerland
Joel Schumacher in ‘directs quite good film’ shocker. Colin Farrell is a barrack room lawyer not making friends amongst the instructors at a ‘Nam-era Marine camp.
Today is the first anniversary of the killing of fifteen year old Greek boy Alexandros Grigoropoulos at the hands of the police. A series of protests are planned. It’s likely to get very hairy over in Hellas in December.
If you are on Twitter the hashtag #griots seems to be back in use. If you are not, here’s some useful online resources:
Updated: 6/12/09 @ 2329 GM
Posted in Activista, Ἑλλάς, Big A, Little A, Cops & Crims, Dead Pool, NewsBurst, Policing Space
Tagged #griots, Agios Dimitrios, Alexandros, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, Alexis, Alexis Grigoropoulos, anarchists, Athens, Athens Polytechnic, Athens School of Economics, Carlo Guiliani, civil war, counter gangs, Day of International Actions Against State Murders, Epaminondas Korkoneas, Exarcheia, Greece, Greek riots, Hellenic Republic, Honest Cops & Flying Pigs, insurrection, killer cops, MAT, no warning shots, On The Greek Riots, parastate, riot, uprising, Vassilis Saraliotis, You Call That A Warning Shot?
Spotted this on Saoirse32, an Irish republican* website:
Those of you who host or visit republican groups on Yahoo might want to read a leaked copy of Yahoo’s law enforcement compliance guidelines found currently on cryptome.org. The level to which Yahoo is willingly ready to turn over any and all information concerning personal information, group moderator info, files uploaded, friends lists etc is a bit chilling, and it does not appear that it takes much of a request for them to do so.
The offending PDF is still available on the Cryptome website, as are copies of the correspondence into the matter between Yahoo and Cryptome. The matter does not yet seemed to have surfaced on Wikileaks, but all in good time, I’m sure.
Yahoo seems not to like the idea of its service users finding out exactly how unprivate their private messages are, something outlined on page six of the document:
This compliance guide is designed to assist law enforcement in understanding Yahoo!’s policies and practices with regard to retention and disclosure of electronic information and to provide answers to frequently asked questions related to subpoenas and other legal process. The policies and procedures in this guide are subject to change without notice, and this document is not meant to be distributed to individuals or organizations that are not law enforcement entities, including Yahoo! customers, consumers, or civil litigants.
It is rather interesting to see Yahoo’s sliding scale of charges levied for passing on users’ information and data on to ‘law enforcement’ (page twelve), though heartwarmingly it is at pains to point out that it “maintains an exception to this policy for cases involving the abduction or exploitation of children”.
As ever, it is good to be reminded that the internet is not necessarily the secure place for free and frank discussion that some might suggest that it was.
Jonathan Ogner (Andrew McCarthy) fails to hold his liquor in Class.
Marie (Franka Potente) has a little panic puke after Castel ambushes her and Jason in Paris during The Bourne Identity.
One of the cops on the tail of Travis W Redfish (Meatloaf) in Roadie discovers that mistaking washing detergent for coke does more than tickle the tastebuds.
Will Ferrell’s vanity basketball team find circuit training a little too much to handle in Semi-Pro.
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