Harold and Maude: A Special Screening in honour of its greatest fan.

It’s hard to believe that the black comedy Harold and Maude was released the same year that Darren Conner was born, 1971. Last nights special screening of Darren’s favourite movie was organised by the staff of the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre in his honour and to raise money for his favourite charities. I really can’t imagine that any other film theatre staff would arrange something so delightfully perfect to honour a friend and colleague. Very many of Darren’s film friends came to share this meaningful evening with the staff, Claire and her boys.

Hal Ashby, who did an equally good job directing Jack Nicholson in the 1973 comedy drama The Last Detail, directs a film which is the complete reverse of the normal youth culture type film, the free spirited individual this time is a 79 year old women Marjorie ‘Maude’ Chardin, played by the 75 year old Ruth Gordon. Maude befriends the 20ish Harold Chasen (Bud Cort) who is obsessed with death, drives a hearse, attends funerals of people he does not know and stages elaborate hoax suicides to gain the attention of his rich snooty controlling mother, wearily portrayed by the wonderful English actress Vivian Pickles. 

Harold and Maude’s love affair with its sexual liaison challenged the taboos of youth, aging, sex and even death. Which was probably the reason it was not particularly successful at the time of its release: it later gained international cult status in the true sense of the word and now is acclaimed as an American film classic.

I first watched this film with Darren some years ago, but last nights showing was quite meaningful in that I now realize why Darren loved this film so much. Maude’s mantra was much the same as his own, imparting kindness, understanding others, living for today and most of all having fun. As Maude demonstrated death is ultimately what gives life meaning.

Harold: You sure have away with people.

Maude: Well, they’re my species!

Cold Souls.

If you’re an admirer of the Michel Gondry/Charlie Kaufman surrealist school of film making ( Being John Malkovich 1999, External Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 or maybe The Science of Sleep 2006) then your going to love Cold Souls (2009) The French born writer and director Sophie Barthes debut feature film has a very bizarre story line.  After intense rehearsals for the Chekhov's play “Uncle Vanya,” Paul is emotionally drained. He stumbles upon an advert in a magazine for a ‘Soul Storage’ clinic, a private lab offering relief from the burden of your soul. Paul decides to get his soul extracted, only to discover that it has the shape and size of a chickpea. After a failed attempt to live and act without his soul, he rents one from an alleged Russian poet that guides him into a strange dreamlike world. Things take an unexpected turn when he decides to get his original soul back and he meets Nina, a Russian who illegally transports souls from her homeland to America.

It get’s even weirder when you discover that Paul Giamatti (Win Win 2011) is playing himself!! Also involved in this oddball story are David Strathairn as Doctor Flinstein who runs the ‘Soul Storage’ clinic, Emily Watson (Oranges and Sunshine 2010) plays Pauls despairing wife Claire, and the lovely Russian actress Dina Korzun, who came to my notice in the Pawel Pawlikowski asylum drama Last Resort (2000), plays the soul mule Nina.

Russian actress Dina Korzun. 

Quite wrongly the film projects itself as a laugh out loud comedy, which unquestionably it is not. The humour, when it occurs, I would describe as unconventional and dark, more intriguing than entertaining. One for the Kaufman enthusiasts I think?

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

Warmest thanks to Julie Russell for allowing a Film Club In House evening to take place in her, and daughter Megan’s home along with a big thank you for some fine food and drink. The evening started with a re-showing of the tribute film for Darren Conner that Alec Barclay produced for the final film of the last session of the RBC film club on Monday 27^th June. Following some refreshment’s we started the main feature. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007) the last directorial duty of Sidney Lumet’s before he died in 2011. This crime drama was written by Kelly Masterson, a former Franciscan Brother who left the seminary just short of his ordination in order to pursue a career in the theatre. The movie features a highly proficient cast including such well-known names as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Morisa Tomei, Amy Ryan and Spider-Mans mum Rosemary Harris.

Its non-linear plot starts with a nerve-racking robbery at a family run suburban jewellery store, which goes disastrously wrong.  What follows is an investigation into how close family members are affected by this crime. The film is more intriguing than your average crime drama due to it’s strong story line and how it goes back and forth in time allowing us an insight into the reasons for the robbery and demonstrating the pressures and frustrations that affect each member of the family.  A fine evenings entertainment coupled with some great conversation that ended with a discussion on the films of Doris Day!!!

Radio Days.

Excluding Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) there’s never been a Woody Allen film I can honestly say I particularly enjoyed. Most film fans I converse with are quite aware of my feelings but also know that I have made every effort to try and see what all the fuss is about. During one of these conversations with the head projectionist at my local cinema he insisted that there was a film directed by Allen that he had no doubt, I would enjoy. So to cut a long discussion short I promised that I would watch it at my earliest convenience. Being a man of my word I duly added it to my Love Film rental list and low and behold Radio Days (1986) dropped on the mat at the end of last week.

The Family.

Ok Mr Head Projectionist, I admit it, you were right!! This particular film from our Brooklyn born director is a very entertainingly funny movie. The film is about growing up in 1940’s Brooklyn, New York City during the golden age of radio broadcasting. It’s centred on a close-knit working class Jewish family with Allan narrating the story through the youngest member of the family, Joe (Seth Green). Each member of this extended family has their own take on the radio programmes they continually play as a soundtrack to their lives. The narrative is formed from a series of connecting vignettes. It boasts a great 1930 and 40’s soundtrack again mainly heard through the medium of radio programs.

Allen regular's Tony Roberts and Dianne Wiest.

The film stars some of Woody Allen’s regular cast members including two of his muses Mia Farrow and Diane Keaton and the wonderful Dianne Wiest who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in two of Allen’s films Hannah and Her Sisters (1987) and Bullets Over Broadway (1995) also appearing in his The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and September (1987) in her latest release she play’s Nicole Kidman’s mother in The Rabbit Hole (2010).

I would suspect as Allen wrote this movie that it was based on episodes from his own childhood. The film is told with Allan’s normal satirical take on Jewish life and displays a marvellous feel for the period. Yes ok I really liked the film and yes ok I would recommend it to Woody Allen sceptics like myself, and just remember sceptics Mr Allen does not actually appear on screen!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Bellatrix Lestrange (my favourite character)

Seven books and eight films later and they still can’t tell the difference between Kings Cross and St Pancras railway stations? A great deal of British actors have now collected their P 45s with the completion of one off the most famous and lucrative film franchises of all time. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the final time we be able to sample new adventures of Hogwarts most famous pupil.

This final outing is the usual story of good verses evil and as usual the result was never in doubt. As I have commented previously it’s great entertainment, but instantly forgettable. But I’m sure there are an awful lot of people of all ages that will miss these stories, but with obvious advantage of DVD’s and Blu-ray there’s no reason to go without a regular Potter infusion. Maybe when my grandchildren get to an age where they are old enough to appreciate the magic of cinema then perhaps it will be time to set aside the required twenty hours to revisit this successful saga. I’ve got a better idea; perhaps I’ll ask grandma to show them, who really did enjoy the films.  

Clubbed.

Geoff Thompson is a self-defence expert who has written several books on the subject. He also wrote the novel Watch My Back about his early years and how he became a nightclub doorman in Coventry. Thompson was approached by producer Martin Carr and playwright Jim Cartwright to ask if he would prepare a screenplay to allow his book to be turned into a feature film. Fifteen years and two million pound of self-financing later, in January 2009, Clubbed was released.

Set in Birmingham at some point in the 1980’s it tells the story of Danny (Mel Raido) who has a dead end job in a factory, he’s separated from his wife Angela (Maxine Peake) and only get to see’s his two young girls at the weekend. He lives in a flat in a high-rise council block and teeters on the edge of a mental breakdown. One weekend he gets beaten up by a thug who works for the local crime lord, a low life called Billy Hennessy (Ronnie Fox). Deciding to fight back he joins the local boxing gym and befriends Louis (Colin Salmon) who offers him a job as a bouncer at a local night club along side two other member s of Louis’s  team Rob (Shaun Parkes) and Sparky (Scot Williams). At last feeling part of something, he gains the strength to stand on his own two feet, but eventually he has to face up to Hennessy which leads to some shockingly brutal consequences.

Danny gets some kind words from his ex.  

This is the debut feature film of director Neil Thompson whose main claim to fame is directing music videos and television commercials, although he has directed two award winning short films 1997’s My Stigmata Hurts and Taxi! in 2001.

The rawness of this violent movie underlines its reality. It brought to mind Nick Moran’s The Kid (2010) another film that dealt with the life of a writer, whose early life was shrouded in violence. Clubbed is not your standard British gangster movie, it has well written characters you actually care about, an underlying story that deals with the struggles of family life and the effect fear can have on a persons mental stability. For a low budget movie it’s a well made and has some convincing performances, a great 1980’s soundtrack and some good incidental music that underlines the emotions of the story. A lot of viewers will be put off by the violent content, which is a shame because you will be missing a good solid British thriller.

Red.

Frank Moses.

When I blogged A-Team (2010) I said, amongst other things, that it was good Saturday night viewing being both amusing and entertaining. Well it’s much the same for German director Robert Schwentke action comedy Red (2010) that is based on a short graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. It’s the type of film that you know you shouldn’t admit to enjoying, but to hell with it, it’s a cracker.

Red stands for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous’ and describes the Bruce Willis character Frank Moses. Frank has retired as a CIA agent; he now lives a quiet suburban life the highlight of which is his regular telephone chats with Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) who deals with Franks pension payments. Our brave CIA agent eventually askes her out for a date. But in the mean time Franks house is shot to pieces by a band of hi-tech assassins and it does not take Frank long to realise that someone has made him a target. To find out the reason for this intrusion he visits an old peoples home where another retired agent resides, the ex intelligence expert Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman). They discover that a reporter has been murdered because of a list of names that she has been compiling. Our intrepid duo decide that they need help to get to the bottom of the mystery and recruit two other retired agents one of which is Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) who lives on the edge of a swamp and has had his brain fried by eleven years of CIA LSD experiments. The final retiree is the still beautiful Victoria Winslow (Helen Mirren) a valued member of the local women’s institute and occasional assassin, well she’s got to keep her hand in!!  Along with Sarah, who has fallen for Frank and the excitement of the chase, they all set about shooting and blowing up things.

Victoria Winslow.

The film is not designed to be looked into, but to be looked at. It never misses a beat, has great action scenes, it’s extremely funny at times, has a cast to die for who seem to be enjoying themselves. As I said before it’s a cracking light hearted action adventure that fun and entertaining. Treat yourself.

Marvin Boggs and Joe Matheson.

Female Perversions.

I don’t normally write ‘disappointing’ and ‘Tilda Swinton’ in the same sentence, but with the 1996 movie Female Perversions unusually Tilda has backed the wrong horse. Although to be fair to this talented actress she worked really hard to put some life into a diabolical script and wasn’t helped by some under achieving direction by one Susan Streitfeld. The film has that ‘made for television’ look about it, you know the sort of thing, style over substance.

Inspired by a great story from Louise Kaplan, from her book of the same name, involving a high-powered attorney Eve Stephens (Swinton) who is in the running for an appointment as a judge. But Eve is not all she seems being driven by bizarre visions, wild sexual fantasies and an insatiable carnal desire. Her male lover does not satisfy her sexual longings so she seduces the female psychiatrist who has recently moved in to her office building. Adding to Eve’s anxiety is her replacement who turns out to be a very attractive women who she sees as a threat to both her power and her beauty.

I can’t help but think how much better it could have been if directed by a European director with the skills to take what should be an erotic story and give it the consideration it deserved, perhaps someone of calibre of Christophe Honore (Ma Mere 2003), Michael Haneke (Piano Teacher 2002), Francois Ozon (Water Drops on Burning Rocks 2000) or it you want something really special Catherine Breillet (Anatomy of Hell 2004).