Film Blog

Film blog
These are films that I saw on TV or at the cinema.

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Casino Royale
the sad anecdote about Casino Royale is that Peter Sellers wasn't feeling
well at the time he filmed the scenes at the casino. As you know Orson
Welles plays in the film too, and one of his party tricks was to perform
magic tricks. If you've seen the movie "Fake" that Orson Welles did, then
you'll understand what kind of mind boggling person he is. Basically poor
Peter was totally freaked out by Mr Welles and refused to film with him in
the scenes at the casino. Nevertheless, both actors are amazing, plus David
Niven and Woody Allen. :)
I love Casino Royale because it's completely over the top and totally
funny. The bit you should look out for is when Peter Sellers' character
walks past the aquarium and that classic Dusty Springfield/Burt Bacharach
song "The Look of Love". This is what I call very sexy. That scene is pure
movie heaven. The script and the direction are a total mess.
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Date: July 02, 2006 12:01AM
saw a film called "American Gun" which was James Coburn's last film.
Co. star Barbara Bain and Virginia Marsden.
Told in flashbacks, this is the story of a man whose daughter has been shot
and he wants to pursue the enquiry after police closed the case. He
manages to trace back the gun to the owner as he does so he reminisces
about his daughter's life, his time as a soldier during the second Word War
where he saw many people around him being shot. His wife is against the
idea of him doing this enquiry.
There is a twist to this film which is very smart hence I won't reveal it.
Date: July 08, 2006 12:48PM
I saw a film called The Long Memory with John Mills.
1952 - produced by Rank - ealing studios
some stills from the film: [www.reelstreets.com]
mostly shot in Gravesend/Kent, this gritty film is about a guy called

Davidson who gets set for 12 years in prison for a murder he did not
commit on the basis of false testimonies, incl. from his own girlfriend.
Bitter and resentful, he wows himself to take revenge. Is revenge going to
destroy him completely?
Date: July 09, 2006 08:40PM

if I was a bloke, I would want to be James Stewart. He was one of the
nicest people ever to be on film. Not a bad bone in his body.
This afternoon ITV made a special effort to show two movies ahead of the
football world cup final.
which were:
Harvey (1950)
Starring: James Stewart, Josephine Hull
Director: Henry Koster
Synopsis: When a gentle, pleasant man tells his friends about his best pal,
an invisible six-foot-tall rabbit, his sister considers having him committed
to the funny farm.
Runtime: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Genres: Classic, Comedy, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Destry Rides Again (1939)
starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Brian Donlevy, Charles

Winninger
screenplay by Felix Jackson, Gertrude Purcell and Henry Mayers, based on
the novel by Max Brand
directed by George Marshall
Genres: Comedy, Western
Tagline: They make the fighting sinful west blaze into action before your
eyes!
An owner of a chain of movie houses published an advertisement in all

American newspapers: "The following actors and actresses are declared
undesirable at the box office" printed in bold letters were the names:
Garbo, Hepburn, Crawford, Dietrich, etc. That was a death sentence. The
studios at that time, it must be understood, pursued a strict business
policy: each time a distributor wanted a film for example, one with Garbo
or Dietrich, he was forced to buy six mediocre films (or even downright
bad films) as part of the deal. This public announcement shook the film
industry. Metro-Golwyn- Mayer remained loyal to its stars, and continued
to pay them, but it no longer wished to invest money in their films.
Paramount wasn't so generous; They fired me, and Columbia withdrew the
George Sand project.
During the course of the summer of 1939, I received a call from the
Hollywood producer Joe Pasternak. "In spite of everything, I'm taking the
risk of making a film with you," he said "Jimmy Stewart has already
agreed, and I would like to have you as his co-star in the western, Destry
Rides again," I answered, "Not for anything in the world". But Josef von
Sternberg advised me to accept the offer. So I left Antibes and set out for
Hollywood.
It was fun to make the film, and we were all delighted with its great
success. Joe Pasternak was especially happy, since he had challenged the
film industry and saw that his efforts had been rewarded."
from
pp207-209 Pan Books 1978

Seven Day to Noon
heartbreaking documentary-style film filmed on locations in London,

Photographer Gilbert Taylor
United Kingdom (1950) directed by John Boulting Writer James Bernard
starring Barry Jones , Andre Morrell , Hugh Cross , Sheila Manahan ,

Olive Sloane , Joan Hickson
Atomic scientist Barry Jones is horrified by the destructive power of the

weapon he's working on, so he steals one and demands nuclear
disarmament - or he'll blow London to smithereens! The authorities have
seven days to comply and start to evacuate the city as the hunt for the
renegade boffin begins. This tense and intelligent thriller is one of the
earliest movies to deal with people's fears over "the bomb"
Joan Hickson who plays a landlady in the film is better known as Miss
Marple from the later TV series.
Actors are all fantastic.
Date: July 24, 2006 08:50PM
i saw Amelie (le destin fabuleux d'amelie poulain).
this is a world i can relate to. nice to see La Foire du Trone, Montmartre,
Rue Mouffetard and the interior of a French bistrot. Even a painter (poor
soul has osteoporosis).
soundtrack by Yann Thiersen

starring the lovely Audrey Tautou
worth listening to the French version (that More4 showed) for the narration
by Andre Dussolier.
a modern classic.
charmingly weird film :)
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Date: July 27, 2006 12:05AM
I saw this strange film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
[www.screenonline.org.uk]
A Canterbury Tale
(1944)
a little classic of British cinema
and it's not a period drama about Geoffrey Chaucer book of the same title,
not even a modern remake of an old story but it takes the theme of going to
Canterbury...
Powell and Pressburger films are always well worth watching, very
intelligent, atmospheric and poetic.
Date: July 29, 2006 06:00PM
yesterday i watched Lost in Translation (2003) with Bill Murray and

Scarlett Johansson. For those who don't know it, it's set in a modern hotel
in Tokyo and two guests, one shooting a whiskey advert, the other
accompanying her photographer husband meet. Nothing much happening
in that film but it's very watchable and cool soundtrack.
www.lost-in-translation.com
i saw it on film four channel which is now free
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Boys Don't Cry
A film from 1999 based on the life Brandon Teena, a young person who
was facing a sexual identity crisis and coming to terms with it. Hoping to
get a sex-change operation in the near future, Teena lives out his identity as
a man. What happened to that person is a classic case of hate crime and
small town prejudice, yet also some kindness from a few people. Shocking
story...
this is a website about Brandon Teena
[songweaver.com]
link to the film with Hillary Swank and Chloe Sevigny
on bbc2
[www2.foxsearchlight.com]
I watched a film called Code 46 with Samantha Morton and Tim Robbins
directed by Michael Winterbottom
[www.code46movie.net]
It's a sci-fi film set in a globalised multicultural world. Tim Robbins plays
a guy whose company in Seattle asks him to investigate a fraud at one of
the companies in Shanghai. I'm not giving the plot away, but the themes in
the film are about memories being erased/kept, about pills that make you
read people's thoughts (= empathy virus) and pregnancies being regulated
by the authorities, and class barriers between those who benefit from cover
and those who live outside of it.
One realises that some of the themes exist in modern china and modern
USA. In China there is birth control, and in the USA there are people who
don't have medical cover.
strange film - soundtrack is trendy with the keyplayers of electronics of

2003 (David Holmes, etc)
The actors are excellent.
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Frantic by Roman Polanski with Harrison Ford and Emanuelle Seigner
Paris 1988 Harrison Ford and his wife arrive from Los Angeles to Paris
where they spent their honeymoon thirty years ago. As they arrive they
notice that they got the wrong suitcase and set out to sort that luggage
question. However, next thing is that the MRs gets kidnapped, and
Harrison is frantic to find her. The police is not really much help especially
as there is a language barrier. The US embassy says they can't do much
because it's not their jurisdiction. Harrison has another look at the suitcase
and opens it, inside he finds a phone number, he tracks the owner down but
when he arrives at the flat the guy lies dead. a young lady played by
Emanuelle Seigner who likes Grace Jones, chewing gum and cocaine
arrives and the scene. Both decide to join forces and find what's behind the
story... more than they bargained for.
Not spoiling the story.
This is a stylish film, and the actors are excellent. It's not the most cheerful
of films at all but as a thriller it works. It is certainly not one of these
romantic paris movies.
more:
[www.imdb.com]
THE IPCRESS FILE
with Michael Caine, Gordon Jackson
GB
Michael Caine plays Harry Palmer who works for British Intelligence. His
superiors are the major and Mr Ross. Harry likes the good things in life,
good food, women and he also wears NHS specs - nevertheless he is a
good shot. Anyway,his colleague Jock (played by Gordon Jackson) has
been collecting details about some device that drives eminent scientists
mad thus rendering them useless for further research project. As this story
is set during the Cold War, you won't be surprised that there are some evil
nasties who come from the cold East, but one of them speaks English very
well and resides in London. It dawns on Harry that perhaps someone in his
department is a double agent but who? Mr Ross? Jock? The Major? His
girlfriend? The path leads to the East End of London where nothing is as it
seems...
Watch it because the last line of the film is very existential.

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VARIAN's WAR
TVM USA
Starring: William Hurt, Julia Ormonde
In this true story, William Hurt plays the American academic Varian Fry
who after witnessing the antisemitic attacks of Reichskristallnacht in
Germany 1938, sets out to help Jewish artists escape from Nazi occupied
Europe. His project having met the approval of President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, he sets for Marseilles/ France - which is now under the rule of
the Vichy Government of Marechal Petain (a French collaborationist
regime). The film shows how the gestapo assists the French police, to
make matters worse, the local US consul is an admirer of former US
president Edgar Hoover (him of the bootleggers) hence not inclined
towards the liberal ideas of F.D. Roosevelt.
The assistant at the consulate however supports Varian Fry, and soon
enough, Varian has two associates to help him - his job is to get visa for
spain for the escaping artists. Some passports have to be forged because
the Gestapo has placed an order to deport famous names like Franz Werfel,
Heinrich Mann... Marc Chagall was aghast to learn that the French police
arrested him, however in this case, Varian intervened directly, and as the
USA in 1940 was still a neutral country, the French police did not want to
risk an altercation between a protege of the president and themselves.
Anyway, after that the artists (some undercover) plus Varian, Marc Chagall
+wife, and the two associates make their way to the Spanish border. The
police suspects something fishy but they have no proof. The artists are
across the border and Varian tells the police that he's lost. So they bring
him back to his hotel in Marseilles.
A year later, Varian was to be expelled from France.
I would recommend anyone to look up the biography of this extraordinary

man.
84 CHARING CROSS ROAD
with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins
produced by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks produced this charming film based on a true story. His wife
Anne Bancroft plays Helene Hanff, a New York writer who tries to source
antique books by English author for her library, she doesn't have much of a
budget so she writes to an address given in a magazine called "The Literary
Review". The address is the one in the title, and a Mr Frank Doel replies all
the way from London to tell her that his shop can accommodate her. This
film is about long distance friendship, transatlantic relationships and the
love of old books over a period of 20 years (from 1949 to 1969). This is a
lovely film because one will find lots of details in the film and it's so full of
life.
BIGGER THAN LIFE
directed by Nicholas Ray
produced by James Mason
with James Mason, Walter Matthau
James Mason plays a mild-mannered teacher who is happily married with

wife and he has one son, a small house, struggles a bit to make ends meet
so he works a few hours at a taxi place. His colleagues and pupils like him.
His best friend is the sports teacher played by Walter Matthau (an early
role for him) who comes round the house for a chat. James has lately been
feeling poorly but he goes on working until he passes out and has to be
rushed to hospital. There he gets a diagnosis that he has a very nasty form
of arthritis which is affecting his joints and heart muscles. The only
medication that is efficient is cortisone and he will have to take it
indefinitely as the disease in incurable. So he does what the doctor says
and after a while feels better, in fact he feels so much better that he decides
that a double dose will make him feel even better, so he starts forging
prescriptions. The problem is that after a while he starts to get totally
deluded and starts talking a lot of rubbish such as childhood is an illness
which needs to be cured, or that he is a great scientist who doesn't need
people. He even starts accusing Walter Matthau and his wife to have an
affair. His poor wife is totally shocked. Walter finds an article in the New
York Times that explains the side effects of cortisone - that gets him and
James' Mrs (she looks a bit like Diana Rigg by the way, but it's not her),
worried. Mrs asks her husband to stop taking the pills, he says that she and
Walter want him dead. Then after a visit at the Church, James reads about
Abraham's sacrificing his son, and he gets the idea to do the same with his
kid, Mrs says that Abraham didn't kill his son because God was against the
idea, however James says that God was wrong. Anyway, Walter comes on
time to knock him out, it's back to the hospital for James. The doctor says
that he'll get back to normal but from now on the cortisone intake will have
to be supervised. James is still baffled at what happened to him and his
family.
A film that I would like to recommend, it was on this morning at 6.30 am,
too early for me, however I saw it a while ago.... it's milestone of British
cinema which i have to get on DVD is:
The Citadel from 1938 with Robert Donat based on the book by A.J.
Cronin. I may have mentioned it somewhere that the film and the book
inspired the idea of the NHS founded in 1946 by Aneurin Bevan. A rare
occasion when a book/film having an influence on history - the book was
written by a doctor who had done very careful research on the state of
healthcare in the UK in the 1930s. A topical film indeed because the news
informed us yesterday that part of the NHS is going to be privatised as
private company DHL has been appointed to handle the daily purchases -
from paper clips to MRI scan.
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Date: September 10, 2006 12:47AM
I got the animation "Belleville Rendez Vous" (a freebie from The Times).
It's very charming and people in it speak English and French.
For anyone who likes bicycles, Pink Panther animations and Jacques Tati
films.
It's not really for kids even if there is a dog in it (he's called Bruno).
Anglo-Franco-Canadian-Latvian cooperation.
Anyone who is learning basic French at school will be able to understand

the soundbits in the film.
The characters look delightfully grotesque and disjointed. Some of them
are deformed by their jobs.
and it's macabrely funny too. :)

Date: September 13, 2006 12:42AM
To have and to have not
with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

1944
based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway
TCM afternoon movie

Date: September 27, 2006 05:32PM
I'm now off to watch a remake of a classic of British cinema called "The
39 Steps"
based on a novel by John Buchan.
the 39 steps was a later version with Kenneth More. Excellent story and
beautiful Scottish scenery.
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This afternoon I caught one of the most visually stunning English films -
it's the highly intelligent and heartwarming "A matter of Life and Death"
with "gentleman" David Niven. Even people who don't believe in the
afterlife will be charmed by this tale of a man whose numbers were
supposed to be up surviving and falling in love. The celestial authorities
want him to report upstairs and a trial has to sort out the matter. Bravo
Channel4! :)
October 06, 2006 01:04AM
the last film that I saw was The Barefoot Contessa with Ava Gardner and
Humphrey Bogart.
If I was a bloke, I would want to be Humphrey Bogart's character in that

film. An independent production, this film tells the tragic story of Maria
Vargas who grew up in poverty in Spain and is discovered by a financier
(who fancies himself as a film mogul) who takes her to Hollywood.
Humphrey Bogart plays the once-famous-now-obscure director who is
hired to make a best-selling independent movie with Maria. I think that
Ava Gardner was slightly too mature for the role but if the character is
meant to be her age then it makes the story even more touching, plus she is
so beautiful! I won't tell you the story because you have to discover it by
yourself. Humphrey Bogart as a brooding sarcastic man who befriends
Maria got a role that suited him very well. The director of the film is Mr
Mankiewicz. It's a beautiful film, and I'm sure some of you will love the
sceneries. Rarely do we see acerbic wit and emotion so close knit - a little
masterpiece.
thank you channel4!

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Snow Cake which I mentioned in another thread (directed by Marc Evans,
with Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver). A troubled English man
travels to Canada and picks up a hitch-hiker, the story tells about his
relationship with the small community in Wawa/Lake Superior, beautiful
soundtrack and very modern feel.
(QFT)
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Three Times (Zui Hao de shi guang) Taiwanese/French film 2005 directed
by Hsiao-Hsien Hou with Shu Qi ad Chang Chen. Three different love
stories set in three different times of Taiwanese history (1966, 1911 and
2005) and starring the same lead actors in each story. Very well acted.
Very subtle storytelling, the soundtrack of this film is well worth a listen.
(QFT)
The film that I saw on BBC4 dates from 1935, it's called The Devil is a
Woman and it is based on a novel by John Dos Passos, directed by Josef
von Sternberg, music by Rimsky-Korsakoff. The lead role is played by
Marlene Dietrich. The costumes in this film will bedazzle you as the
backdrop of the story is set during the Spanish carnival, the characters in it
include a frustrated mature man who if Marlene is one day going to love
him, and a hot-headed revolutionary whose life hangs in the balance. You
think it's one of these bodice-rippers? Wrong! Watch it, and admire it.
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Date: October 16, 2006 01:19AM
I saw "And now for something completely different" with the charmingly
daft and coy cast of Monty Python. If I was a bloke I could easily imagine
myself as the character that Michael Palin plays in the Lion Tamer. And
John Cleese is so funny. In fact, all of them are. The cartoons in between
are totally weird. And if you get to see the film watch out for the
documentary about the grannies' gang terrorising the street. The film is a
daft anarchic mixture of satire, comedy and it's deliciously low-budget. :)
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Date: October 23, 2006 11:31PM
I saw "Anne Frank Remembered" on More4 - a documentary made by the
Anne Frank institute in Amsterdam about her life and the story of her
diary. The documentary dates from 1995. And according to one of the
person interviewed on the programme: "Anne Frank's diary answers many
questions by children about the war which parents and grandparents find
difficult to talk about."
Date: November 05, 2006 01:25AM
i watched "One Hour Photo" with Robin Williams on Film4 last week. I
thought I had to because it's a film about photography. I thought I wouldn't
really like it because Robin Williams has a Disney kind of acting which
irritates me a bit and the trailer announcing that he plays some kind of
creep who prys on a perfect family made me suspicious.
Anyway, he plays a loner called Sy. Sy works in the photolab of a wall-

mart-style supermarket. The filming is excellent, you get a feel of the
horrid neonlights and the staff wearing these uniforms and checking their
smile before they start work. Sy wears his uniform and smiles nicely to a
housewife+son who came to develop the photos of the boy's birthday
party. Sy takes pride in his work and explains in an off-style commentary
how the machine works and how he mixes the chemicals because photos
are special, and he fantasises that he is like a good uncle to that family.
What he has been doing is also to keep a second set of photographs for
himself and now he has the wall of his living room plastered with them. He
doesn't seem to do much in his life. He has no family and no personal
photos, in fact his family photos are strangers on old photographs that he
found in jumble sale. He also gives an insight about his other customers
and the kind of photo they make. There is the insurance man who takes
photos of damaged cars, the amateur pornographer who photographs his
girlfriend naked, the old spinster who only takes pictures of her cats - but
he doesn't collect these pictures. He only collects the pictures of his perfect
family. One day his manager discovers a discrepancy and wonders where
the wastage of photographic paper and chemicals comes from. Sy is
instantly dismissed and the supermarket that had become his second home
- he shopped, ate, worked and socialised there - is now closed for him.
Worse, on his last day he discovers that his perfect family is not what it
seems...
I'm not going to reveal how the story unfolds further and ends. If you
watch the film it's well worth spotting the twist. The script is excellent and
the photography is very modern. It's a tale about family values well worth
looking at. As I said, I don't usually like Robin Williams, but his disney-
style of acting works very well on here. I like the actor who plays the
policeman, because he feels like a member of the audience watching the
story and making his opinion at the end. Will you have a similar reaction
as him?
I watched an early hours film called "The 25th hour" based on a book by
Romanian author Constantin Virgil Gheorghu. It dates from 1967 and stars
Anthony Quinn, Virna Lisi, Serge Reggiani, Marius Goering. Gheorghu is
one of my favourite authors and I read three of his novels in the 1980s.
They were called The Unknown of Heidelberg, The Second Chance and
this one The 25th Hour.
It's a heartbreaking story on the absurdity of systems - a man spend 8 years

of his life being shifted from camp to camp and being told what identity he
is by people who seem to know better than him. Gheorghu's writing is way
beyond black humour, his stories are about the most despairing situations a
human being can encounter, about the most absurd trials and tribulations.
And yet, there is deep spirituality in his books, and it transpires onto the
film, and that is why Anthony Quinn's and Virna Lisi's characters get
through, but the despairing Serge Reggiani's character meets total tragedy.
The 25th hour is the hour when everything happy has passed and the last
hour is despair.
the beautiful music is by George Delerue, and the film is a US-French

collaboration. It was an absolute delight to see a film with Anthony Quinn
again. I love this actor, and in fact his character Jan Moritz reminded me so
much of Alexis Zorba (in Zorba the Greek) because of his earthiness and
joie de vivre. And this makes it a fascinating film well worth staying up
for.
The title of the film inspired a programme of the same name by Jacques
Perrin, whom some might know as the director of Winged Migration, but
who also is well known for his outspoken opinions about humanitarian
issues. Some people talk about songs that saved their life. I have to say,
that Jacques Perrin's 25eme heure and books by Constantin Virgil
Gheorghu saved mine.
Knowing that reassures me a little bit, that some people care...

Date: November 12, 2006 07:09PM
yesterday I watched a film called "Saraband" directed by Ingmar Bergman.
The main actress was the always delightful Liv Ullman.
It was in Swedish with english subtitles.
I'm ashamed to say that I switched off after an hour. The problem is not the
film but me. It was a slow-moving wordy mature film about a mature
woman visiting the husband she divorced about 30 years before and by the
same token getting embroiled in his family disputes. The old man lives on
his own in a cottage by a lake, his son lives in the village with his daughter
who is a promising cello player. The whole film was them talking about
the past and their relationships, and the daughter's future. But yeah, it was
nice to see Liv Ullman, to hear a bit of Bach played on cello, the Swedish
scenery and to hear the sound of the language and I'm sure that the right
audience will be fascinated by the film and love the music in it.
The last film that I saw was "Performance" with James Fox, Mick Jagger,
Anita Pallenberg directed by Donald Cammell and Nicholas Roeg.
To be honest I watched it because I've heard it mentioned a few times by

people on this forum incl. Brett. So I had to take this opportunity and see
for myself what this is all about. Two things to keep in mind when
watching this.
1) this is a film for grown-ups not for kids

2) if you can understand michael caine it helps.
the story is in two half. London in the late sixties. first half a bunch of very
nasty racketeers with connections to the establishment (=businessmen
doing some dodgy business including scaring people and beating them up,
that sort of thing) go on about their business, seal their deals in nightclubs,
and Chas is a henchman who means what he says. One day, the dodgy
businessmen think he is a liability so they want him dead. He manages to
escape, gets to the train station with his savings, overhears a musician
telling a family member about the digs he was at Powis Square. Chas goes
there and see if he can rent a room.
Anita Pallenberg says it's ok. Mick Jagger is not very happy about it. The
other girl thinks it's fine by her. The place looks very psychadellic but you
would expect that because Mick Jagger is a musician. Chas tries to fit in
with the bohemian lifestyle... and I am not going to tell you more. If you
are over 18, you can watch it. If you are not, wait until you are old enough.
Interestingly, this summer I walked past Powis Square, because I went to

buy a single at Rough Trade Shop on Talbot road, and it's almost opposite.
I watched the heartbreaking "From Hell" with Johnny Depp, Heather
Graham, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Holm, and many others.
fantastic performances by all actors made this film compelling. It's a story
based on the Jack The Ripper murders in Whitechapel/ London in the late
19th Century. It is a fiction - earlier on this week, Channel5 broadcasted a
documentary about the case and what the forensic clues and testimonies
can tell us about the case. It is highly unlikely that the scenario in the film
happened for real. Knowing that, you get a film where an inspector
addicted to absinthe and laudanum tries with his sensible side-kick to solve
a series of gruesome murders and gets embroiled into a conspiration that
goes far up the hierarchy. The details about masonic rituals, corruption
within the authority, precarious living in Whitechapel, latent and open
antisemitism, scientists and the cruel treatment of mental patients plus
some outlandish medical theories, conditions in workhouses, escape to
idyll - all contribute to take away the imagery of Victorian times being
some kind of period to look back with nostalgic eyes.
This film is not for the faint hearted as there are some very gory scenes,
however, due to its outstanding acting goes way beyond the fare of the
usual slasher and Gothic movies. It has a humane touch as the characters
played by Johnny Depp, Robbie Coltrane and Heather Graham are salt of
the earth and the viewer gets easily attached to them. Is the film preachy? I
would say it doesn't need to be, it describes everything so well, that you
make your own conclusions.
If you want to know more about these times, you could do worse than
reading some descriptions by Charles Dickens, or find a book called "The
Professor and the Madman".
I'm glad I watched it

This afternoon I watched High Hopes directed by Mike Leigh with Phil
Davis and a lot of talented people. Dated 1988. Again, it's a film about
London, again a film that depicts the life of ordinary people. and again the
villains are nasty and you get attached to the good people in it. Sharon and
Cyril in the story are the type of people one would like to have as friends
(unless one doesn't share their ideas). The neighbours are a right
pretentious bunch and that sister is an idiot. One feels like knowing that
family and especially if one knows the area where the film was made
"Kings Cross", the film becomes even more familiar. Some people say
cinema should be about fantasy and escapism, and sometimes a viewer
wants to escape their real life to find people they would like to meet and
talk for real. Mike Leigh does that very well. The granny in the story is
portrayed very well, she looks like an old bat and she's not much fun, but
one understands what goes on with her, and possibly what could cheer her
up. I'm revealing already too much of the film, watch it, it could be the
story of some neighbours down the road.
I have great affection for Mike Leigh ever since I saw a film called "Life is
Sweet" with Timothy Spall
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the last movies that I saw was Gaslight starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles
Boyer, Joseph Cotten and Angela Lansbury.
i'm not wasting many words on it, it's simply perfect. It's a mystery set in
Edwardian times. If you like Sherlock Holmes, I'm sure you'll love that.
Shadow of a doubt is a film that I watched last week. Again, it's one of
these perfect films. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Joseph
Cotten. And again a mystery story. As the character played by Joseph
Cotten visits his family, the question that the viewer keep on asking
themselves during the whole film: is he a murderer or a man wrongly
accused. Of course the naive family does not suspect anything wrong, until
the daughter get more than a shadow of doubt.
Both films beautifully filmed, stylish black and white. full of humanity and
astute psychological observation.
Date: December 11, 2006 06:48PM
watched Arabesque with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren, directed by

Stanley Donen - On channel4. Anybody who likes Stanley Donen films
with Audrey Hepburn will probably like that one too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: January 28, 2007 01:54AM
The Maltese Falcon.
directed by John Huston,
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre
based on a Sam Spade detective novel by Dashiell Hammett
a classic. great portrayal of characters driven by greed. gun violence.

stylised black and white photography, fantastic script, memorable lines,
and great ending.
films like that have been my favourites since I've been a kid. I have
probably Bogart and Sherlock Holmes to blame for wanting to become a
private detective or at least a writer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
if you want to check out intelligence without smartarse-ness, sharp wit at
the service of common sense, flamboyance as a mark of personality,
discussion about art without the academe talk. Do you like labyrinths,
mysteries, halls of mirrors, appearances in the company of someone you
can trust?
look no further, you found it.
F For Fake, by Orson Welles.
this man must have been close friends with the Blarney stone, I can tell
you.
Date: February 04, 2007 03:35PM
i watched the most overhyped romance of the 1980s: The Blue Lagoon.
Gosh that was awful! From the drunken paddy character played by Leo
Kern (of course all Irish lads are ugly drunken paddies), and these two
annoying kids who grow up to become parents themselves.
I would describe the film between a magazine shot, a prissy sex education
video, the plotline of Lost + beautiful scenery.
What I learnt from that film is that a girl can give birth in a white dress
without any blood stain, retain a perfect figure even when pregnant and
after that, that you can live in the jungle without your clothes rotting and
yourself looking... baked and rugged. However, that savages (usually black
guys, and in this instance they were black) usually look baked, rugged,
dirty and bloody.
It's also the type of film where the characters are naked most of the time,
yet they are so "pure" that it's like watching... I dunno... two birds (they
don't wear clothes either) mating.
If that's the sex education most of my contemporaries got back in 1980, I

can understand why many got disappointed. ;)
Before you ask, no I never saw this film before.
I am not sure if nowadays someone could make a film like that without
sinking six feet under in embarrassement or trying to explain that this film
has absolutely no appeal to paedophiles.
Yesterday Jimmy Carr presented the countdown of the 100 tearjerkers as
voted by the public on E4. Some of these were manipulative trash, others
were genuinely touching. 6 faves from the lot were: Midnight Cowboy, It's
a wonderful life, The pianist, Secrets and Lies, The Elephant Man, Cathy
Come Home, Kes - genuinely touching stories. Perhaps the most touching
moment of the programme was Peter Coyote commenting on the film "The
Pianist" and saying that he lost his relatives in Auschwitz - he said that
with dignity and instantly one could understand why that Roman Polanski
film is one of his favourite and is bound to stir up emotions in him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
"brief encounter" with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson.
based on a novel by Graham Greene, a bit more than just a romantic story.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ladies' Room
I saw a very daft movie. The genre is "europudding arthouse" - When
"europudding arthouse" is good then it's very good : My Life as a Dog,
Pelle Eroberen, Europa Europa, Three Colours Red, Senso, Chocolat, Time
of the Gipsies, Paperclips, - Luchino Visconti, Vittorio de Sica, Mike
Leigh, Ken Loach, Ingmar Bergman
"arthouse europudding" is a derivative term for a film that is 1) either a

European co-production 2) something on the schedules of ARTE TV 3) a
film with actors from different nationalities filmed in Europe with usually
a soundtrack between ambient and classical. 4) a film which has an arty
subject in it.
This one is called "Ladies Room" and if I had a label for it, I'd nickname it
"chick-flick arthouse-europudding". On the downside it's pretentious and
you have lots of ladies talking about relationship with men (and there is a
lesbian who feels left out of the conversations), it's full of people you
wouldn't want to meet in a ladies room anyway, or you wouldn't meet any
of those because the only ladies room you go to is the toilet in pubs. And
there is a moral tale too in the story because this one is a bit on the spiritual
waffle style.
Don't let any of that put you off.
The characters are engaging to hilarious without being caricatures, the

actors are very good, and after watching it you know that toilets at the
opera may have 1) a framed picture of Arthur Rimbaud 2) a bowl of ferrero
rocher 3) incredibly clean and spacious 4) free perfume and lipstick. And if
you are the type of lady who don't know how to put make-up on, this is one
for you. If you are a man and you wonder what some ladies talk about in
the toilets (sorry at the ladies) then watch this.
And like every chick-flick, it's a feel-good movie with the sistas doing it
for themselves. Except that it's an arthouse europudding chick flick, so you
weep to a classical soundtrack and if you stuff yourself with ferrero
rochers.
I watched a film called Inherit The Wind (USA, dir. Stanley Kramer, w/
Spencer Tracey, Fredric March, Gene Kelly) 1960
details:
[www.imdb.com]
Synopsis: a small town teacher teaches Darwin Evolution of the Species in
his class. The elders of the town are outraged because they are
fundamentalist christians and want creationism be taught at school. The
case ends up in court. Bible expert attorney Cl. Brady (Fredric March)
leads the prosecution. A cynical liberal journalist (played by Gene Kelly)
in Chicago gets hold of the story and gets his paper to hire Chicago lawyer
Cll Drummond (Spencer Tracy) to defend the schoolteacher. What follows
is a battle of arguments and the very prejudiced jury and the judge have to
make up their mind. It is the age-old conflict of science vs religion. Yet in
the film, the story is not as black and white as it first seems...
it is based on a play about the so-called real-life "Monkey Trial" from

1925, where a young schoolteacher ended up in court because in biology
classes, he was teaching Darwin's evolution theory instead of the then
compulsory creationism. You see the press reporting about the trial, with
the reporter being a modernist type who wants things to change, you also
see an evangelical preacher arguing with the lawyer. Very powerful
argumentation. Intelligent film but I guess what makes this film so
powerful is its humanity. None of these characters are stereo-types, and
you can see the ideas from their point of view and how their loved
ones/colleagues react.
Interestingly enough, the debate of creationism vs evolution theory is still

raging on these days. And it probably will for a long time because this is
the perennial issue of science versus religion + the views on education.
I'm very happy that films like that get shown on Saturday afternoons
because they are suitable for a large audience and because they are well-
acted and beautiful visually, are as stimulating for the senses as stimulating
for the mind.
In view of the fact that some schools (usually run by churches) insist on
teaching creationism in their biology classes makes this old black and
white film still relevant nowadays.
What the film doesn't tell us is that the character played by Spencer Tracy
was also in favour of eugenics, and the reverend was against it.
Date: February 25, 2007 12:10AM
i watched a film called Homicide directed by David Mamet staring Joe
Mantegna
[www.answers.com]
difficult to watch but very interesting film: the story is dense, many people
may be able to relate to the main character Bobby Gold - Joe Mantegna
plays that ordinary cop entangled in a story of murder, racism, conspiracy,
violence and having to face identity crisis. The film may leave some
people feeling uneasy because deep down we want things to be clear cut
and the good guys to be rewarded. David Mamet's film shows that in real
life, it's not always like that. Nothing is clear cut. Who are the racists, who
are the victims. The only evil ones we can be sure of their evil intentions
are white supremacists. But in this film you see black guys making casual
antisemitic remarks, Jewish guys making racist remarks, police brutality,
murder on the street, and the main character who likes a smoke,
occasionally manhandles suspects and uses swear-words, basically
hardened up in his job as a policeman getting visibly unsettled.
Brilliant film - it makes the point of individual people trying to be

themselves vs nationalists of any kind who feel as ambassadors of their
identity.
Unsettling.
Date: April 28, 2007 11:48PM
oh groovy baby, I watched Austin Powers Man of Mystery. An
documentary about a photographer shot in grainy black and white.... were
the nineties really like that?!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Station Agent Directed by Thomas McCarthy 2003
I'm looking forward to see this film because I heard a lot of good about it.
It is difficult these days to find something "heart-warming" that has
substance and real charm. From what I have heard this film has.
www.thestationagent.com
The Pledge (2001)
based on a novel by Frederic Duerrenmatt, directed by Sean Penn, starring
Jack Nicholson and Robin Penn Wright
I think that Jack Nicholson gave his best ever performance in the Pledge.
It's a compelling film based on an equally compelling book that has
become a classic of modern literature.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: June 13, 2007 12:41AM
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1943 William Dieterle) fantasy tale
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: June 16, 2007 01:51AM
I watched a very sad film called Monsieur Klein in French with English
subtitles on TG4 (Irish Language TV channel), starring Alain Delon and
produced by him. It's directed by Joseph Losey.
[en.wikipedia.org]
It's a very chilling subject and a story full of suspense, and I recommend
that you watch it to see how it ends.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I just saw this film (Title?) on five TV , very intriguing supernatural
thriller. Denzel Washington is a very likeable and brilliant actor
in many ways, Denzel Washington reminds me of Gregory Peck. He is a
beautiful and thoughtful actor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A man called Peter
true-life story of a man called Peter Marshall who emigrated to the USA
from Scotland, and became a Presbyterian minister first in Georgia and
then in Washington. A likeable character played by a likeable actor, this
straightlaced film tells about the relationship between politics and faith
from the mid-thirties to the fifties. He is a footnote of US history as he
preached in the church attended by Abraham Lincoln - and at one point
F.D. Roosevelt gets mentioned. It's good to know the existence of such
people who said that "God does not belong to one race, one nation"...
Intelligent film based on the book of the man's widow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: July 02, 2007 10:26PM
Wong Kar Wai: In the Mood for Love (DVD)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: July 10, 2007 09:01PM
I watched a TV Movie called The Nero Wolfe Mysteries on BBC2 this
morning. A detective story (of course based on books by Rex Stout). I like
Nero.
[www.nerowolfe.org]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: July 14, 2007 11:46PM
"Danielle Steel: The Ring" US TV-movie. Watchable because of the lovely
Nastassja Kinsky. What a convoluted saga. A bit too sentimental too but it
has its heart in the right place.
Let's mention it for the third time, I went to see Atonement at the cinema.
Dublin Road, Belfast in honour of our host. What I like about cinemas is
the ritual of the typical meal of oversize portion of popcorn plus almost
bucket size cola, don't miss that part at the cinema sitting next to enormous
cut-outs of Alvin and the Chipmunks and various trailers blaring one
blockbuster after the other. Once the meal is finished, getting ready to see
the film. I treat going to the cinema like going to a gig. Anyway, I'm glad I
saw it. [www.atonementthemovie.co.uk]
I think the story as seen via Briony is very interesting. There you have an
artistic young girl in her world of fantasies, casting people around her in
her plays - and her imagination causes the drama to unfold. So the story is
about a miscarriage of justice, guilt and how to be a writer. The book and
the film illustrate very well the idea of wishful thinking, how we in fiction
as in real life would like happy endings.
21 Grams
[www.imdb.com]
a very sad film. compliments to channel4 TV to show it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[www.channel4.com]
Campbell's Kingdom (1957) again on the brilliant channel4
with an icon of British cinema: Dirk Bogarde. :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the last movie that I saw has not been released yet, they were filming it in
my backyard and it stars Ben Kingsley
[www.youtube.com]
(released in 2009 as 50 Dead Men Walking)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's only a TV movie but the Naval Treaty (Sherlock Holmes story) with
the extremely handsome Jeremy Brett has to be in this section. This sadly
departed actor had the most fascinating eyes on screen.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The song of Bernadette (starring Jennifer Jones)
I know it's the story of St Bernadette in Lourdes, and the film found
acclaim amongst the catholic community. It may interest you that the book
was written by a man of Jewish faith for his Catholic wife Alma Mahler
because on their way to exile from the Nazis via the Pyrenees the couple
stopped there. I recommend the book for the reason that it may be
interesting to know what happened to Bernadette after the miracle of
Lourdes. I could tell you a lot more about the subject and the
circumstances, but I won't.
It's an amazing book by Franz Werfel, and I think I did buy a beautiful
DVD.
Any nostalgic person who thinks Britain in the 1950s-1960s was a great
place to live should watch "Victim" directed by Basil Dearden featuring
the amazing Dirk Bogarde. Once you've seen that, you'll breathe a sigh of
relief that it's 2007 not 1961.
Synopsis
A newly restored print of Basil Dearden’s ground-breaking thriller, first

released in 1961. With its location shooting, noir lighting and doomed,
trapped characters, the film was instrumental in paving the way for the
legalisation of homosexuality in Britain.
Dirk Bogarde, Britain’s revered matinee idol, risked his career to portray
Melville Farr, a closeted gay lawyer at a time when homosexual acts were
a crime. When his former lover Jack (Peter McEnery) is blackmailed, Farr
— who is married — agrees to investigate. The case is complicated by his
fear of exposure and a sudden mysterious death.
Brilliant story, brilliant photography and great suspense - and what a

leading actor, charisma galore! Five star review from me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I watched Pan Labyrinth yesterday on Film Four (channel four films)
directed by Mexican director Guillermo del Toro. 2006
[www.panslabyrinth.com]
It was very powerful, scary and very sad. Beautiful music. I think it was
recommended by a few people from this site when it came out.
City of God, iis a Brazilian film based on a story by author Paulo Lins
made in 2002.
[www.pen.org]
It's a story set in a housing project outside Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, which is
a slum or Favela. The people living there are abjectly poor.
The realism of gun culture in that film is almost unbearable to watch but
anyone who thinks guns are cool should watch this. What made me sad
was to see children being part and being victim of the violence. It seems
that the author is telling a true story via the narrator who becomes a
photographer.
It's a great opportunity to get a CD with Brazilian music.

This site has samples to listen to:
[www.cduniverse.com]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the other day I watched the David Lean adaptation of Great
Expectations.This is the perfect movie for Christmas. This is my favourite
story by Charles Dickens with its theme of darkness and light.
Date: January 03, 2008 01:53AM

I watched "A Clockwork Orange" on ITV4 this evening. First film of the
year. Given what I read in "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein, this film
made sense. I didn't know what was scarier, the regimental-sadistic prisons
or the criminals on the street or the politics. On the positive side: cool
interiors design. A bit like Fahrenheit 451 but in colour. And very violent.
Based on a novel by Anthony Burgess.
Date: January 12, 2008 04:35PM
I just watched The Early Bird with Norman Wisdom from 1965 on BBC2
slapstick comedy on the themes of big businesses ousting small shops - in

this case a dairy. As always, Norman Wisdom is on the side of the
underdogs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voyage of the Damned (1976)

director Stuart Rosenberg source book: written by Gordon Thomas and
Max Morgan-Witts. the tragedy of the S S St Louis -
[www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org]
"Often described as "Ship of Fools with a conscience," Voyage of the

Damned is based on a true story. In 1939, the Nazis ostentatiously loaded a
luxury liner with hundred of Jewish refugees from all walks of life. The
ship then tried to drop anchor in Havana, Cuba-only to have its passengers
refused entry by the Cuban government, in keeping with its super-stringent
immigration policies. This was exactly what the Nazis expected to happen,
and indeed wanted to happen. By having the refugees turned away from
Havana, the German government could "prove" that the Jews were indeed
the most unwanted race on earth, thereby justifying Hitler's extermination
policy...."
review: (new york times) "a political game of chess which treats human
beings as the victims ,its both affecting yet horrifying to watch and goes to
show we still live in the same world with very little that has changed as
asylum seekers are still turned away in their hour of need ,what a great pity
as we can learn from past mistakes but you need to posess a human soul to
do so which the global conscience lacks and the consequences are
damaging for all not just the victims ,but then you need compassion to
comrehend that ,whether you are a christian or a muslim or jewish"
The Matthew Shephard Story (2002)
It's about a young gay man who was beaten and left to die nr
Laramie/USA, and the subsequent court case against his attackers and how
his family and friends remembered him. Worth watching.
[www.matthewshepard.org]
[www.imdb.com]
directed by Roger Spottiswode, with Shane Meier as Matthew, Sam
Waterston as his father, Stockard Channing as his mum, Kirsten Thomson
as his friend Romaine Patterson.
Shane Meier plays Matthew Shephard

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spirited Away
[www.imdb.com]
A Japanese anime film about a young girl who wanders off in the woods
and finds herself in a strange world. The theme reminded me of Alice in
Wonderland, the story was full of anthropomorphisms, elements of
Japanese folklore, dreams images. What I especially admire in animations
are eyes and water. - the girl is very likeable.
A treat to watch for children and people who are not children anymore.
Primo
Primo Levi, Italian-Jewish writer and chemist, first gained fame with his
autobiographical story SE QUESTOÈ UN UOMO (1947, If This is a Man)
of survival in Nazi concentration camps. For the last forty years of his life
Levi devoted himself to attempting to deal with the fact that he was not
killed in Auschwitz "The worst survived, that is, the fittest; the best all
died," he said. Levi also published poetry, science fiction, essays, and
short stories. In 1987, at the age of 67, he killed himself. Italo Calvino
called Levi"one of the most important and gifted writers of our time."
When PRIMO opened in September 2004 it was instantly recognised as a
major theatrical event; every performance was sold out. A work of
astounding dramatic power, it brings to life Primo Levi’s great testament
to his year in Auschwitz. Antony Sher’s towering performance is as
controlled as Primo Levi’s own lucid prose. Beautifully directed by
Richard Wilson and presented in Hildegard Bechtler’s magnificent,
symbolist set, this is quite simply masterpiece theatre."At the end of this
remarkable performance there was a silence unlike any other I have
experienced in a theatre. Sher captures Levi’s unsparing depiction of his
fellow inmates...with a tentative almost unbearable beauty." Daily
Telegraph. "The presentation, from Antony Sher’s self-effacing
performance to Hildegard Bechtler’s grey-walled design, shows it is
possible for theatre to match the un-rhetorical honesty of one of the 20th
Century’s great books." The Guardian. "This is acting of the purest kind,
unadorned by self-pity or visible virtuosity. This is theatre at its most
human, most moral and least indoctrinating. Richard Wilson's direction
has the clarity and humility of great directors: Primo seems simply to
happen, like an eclipse or an earthquake." Sunday Times.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the cutest Scottish films ever made is available via The Times
tomorrow. It's of course Gregory's Girl from 1981.
The film is called A Conspiracy of Hearts and starred Austrian-born
actress Lilli Palmer. She was a beautiful lady and the role she played suited
her to a T. There was a scene with a child where one of the nuns asked the
girl what's her name. And the traumatised child mumbled "they call me
Jewdog". What makes the scene heartbreaking is that one knows that such
insults were thrown at Jewish children by Nazis and Fascists. A
Conspiracy of Hearts is an English-made film and was beautiful in its
optimism.
Date: February 20, 2008 01:04AM
Blue by Derek Jarman
Thank you More4 for showing it!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I watched the Franco-American film The Diving Bell and The Butterfly at
QFT Belfast this evening. I didn't know that Emmanuelle Seigner was in it
nor that there was a song by Ultraorange in the film. It was in French with
English subtitles.
Another film about writing a book and again the subject of hospitals.
Totally different from Atonement and totally different from Blue. I had my
doubts about seeing a film made by Julian Schnabel, especially after
reading the book by J.D. Bauby but I shouldn't have worried. Excellent and
accessible. I liked the idea of filming from J.D.'s perspective.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
for those in the UK, if you want to have a DVD of La Dolce Vita, it's free
this sunday with The Observer.
The term paparazzi became wider use after this film.

[en.wikipedia.org]
Great insight into the life of the press in the sixties and the party lifestyle,
in 1960s Rome.
I like films with the original languages. Most of the characters speak
Italian, some of them speak Italian with a mix of French or English. Nico
in this clip speaks German.
Arlington Road directed by Mark Pellington and starring Jeff Bridges and
Tim Robbins. I first watched it at the cinema in 1999 and it is a bleak
suspense thriller on the subject of terrorism. I read a few reviews on the net
about it and they don't seem to "get" this film properly, in order to do so
one has to follow this closely. I think it's because of the film poster which
says: "How well do you know your neighbour?".
If this had been a predictable film, this would be some sort of vigilante
story about people moving next door in middle-class suburbia and the
whole estate leaguing against the newcomers. Here it is not like this. The
story starts with a recently bereaved university professor with connections
with the FBI being befriended by a couple via his 10 year old son. After a
while he finds the behaviour of his neighbours a bit weird, and decides to
check up on them, the result of his investigations unsettles him... We soon
realise that he is right but he has no proof and no idea what the criminal
mastermind is up to.
Tim Robbins' character is the most evil mastermind I've seen in the film
alongside Harry Lime and Professor Moriarty. The most chilling scene has
to be when he says "I leave nothing to chance". He is one of these cold,
manipulators of emotions combined with great technical skills and warped
ideas of justice. Jeff Bridges character Professor Michael Faraday looks
more like confused Holly Martins from the Third Man than Sherlock
Holmes - you don't really expect a recently bereaved university prof to be
some kind of action hero but he does a lot of research. The film main story
is that investigating things on your own can be very dangerous and it is
also about the credibility of the lone investigator when he tries to
communicate suspicion and the perception of personality.
Date: March 01, 2008 02:21AM
the above reminded me of another film with Tim Robbins which I also saw
at the cinema in 1992.
if you find a DVD of this film, watch it. Pessimistic but funny satire about
the political campaign of neoconservative politician Senator Bob Roberts
who fancies himself also as a folk singer, an anti-Bob Dylan so to speak.
Lots of cameo roles in there especially by "too-brainy-to win" Gore Vidal,
James Spader, and co-starring depressed looking Alan Rickman as Bob's
P.R. and Giancarlo Esposito as the muck-raking reporter Bugs Raplin.
"A corrupt rightwing senator & folksinger runs a crooked election

campaign while only one independent muck-raking reporter is trying to
stop him."
Directed by Tim Robbins in 1992,

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie based on novella by Muriel Spark.
"Set in Edinburgh in the tempestuous political era of the 1930s, the story's
universal theme of standing up against conventionality is still relevant and
stirring nearly seventy years later." says Amazon about the book
Muriel Spark's book and the film take care not to portray things in black
and white. The artistic, anti-conventional Miss Brodie who teaches in a
conservative school is a fiery woman who has dodgy political ideas and
rather than keeping them to herself teaches them to her pupils. Miss Brodie
reminds me a bit of Virginia Woolf who was known to be a great artist yet
had some dodgy ideas about society. The film lets you guess whether Miss
Brodie is politically naive or sinister.
(1969)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ITV3 again.
The Graduate (1967) directed by Mike Nichols with Dustin Hoffman,
Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross - music by Simon and Garfunkel. If you
have heard the song Mrs Robinson this is the film where it came from.
"Recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock is trapped into an affair with

Mrs. Robinson, who happens to be the wife of his father's business partner
and then finds himself falling in love with her teenage daughter, Elaine."
I didn't fully sympathise with Benjamin's predicament because he felt

stupid to me. Either US colleges don't teach about standing for yourself or
he must have missed that course. Benjamin was definitely not streetwise.
The film felt like watching an episode of Desperate Housewives. Perhaps
the series was inspired by Anne Bancroft's character.
Solid acting and stylish looking film. And miles better than Desperate
Housewives. If you like these seventies movies scripted by Neil Simon you
may like this. Definitely a must for Simon and Garfunkel fans.
Date: March 08, 2008 06:39PM
[www.imdb.com]
Agatha Christie tale of 10 people invited to an isolated place only to find
that an unseen person is killing them one by one. One of them?
directed by French director Rene Clair, this is a US film based on Agatha

Christie's book "And there were none"
Dudley Nichols (screenplay) improved on the book, especially regarding
Lombard.
I like the way the Dudley Nichols took out the racist "N" word in the
original title. It makes us realise that nursery rhymes (which Christie is
fond of) are very cruel and racist - somehow this suits a B-movie mystery.
It's a great time capsule on snobbery too - and all of them were amazing
actors who didn't ham it up too much, my favourite was Richard Haydn
who played the nervous servant of the house Dippy Dr Armstrong was
played by Walter Huston, who is film director's John Huston's dad.
The film stands out for me and is suitable for recommending because Rene
Clair is a film legend of vintage cinema. His own "A nous la liberte"
inspired Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times. I know him from French classics
with the actor Gerard Philipe. "La Beaute du Diable" and "Les Grandes
Manoeuvres".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Green for Danger is a murder mystery set during the WWII in a hospital in
Kent. A the post-office gets hit by an air bomb and a Mr Higgins ends up
in hospital for emergency surgery. His behaviour is strange because he
says "I've known you from somewhere" but the operation room is full of
people and nobody has a clue who he's talking about. Anyway, he dies
during the operation. A nervous nurse who has recently been jilted by the
doctor suspects foul play and investigates on her own. Someone stabs her.
This is now an official murder investigation and Inspector Cockrill is on
the case. The only problems is that he is a bit out of his depth - the
anaesthetist realises that when he wants to ring him and there is nobody
answering the phone, soon someone else from the hospital staff is in mortal
danger...
Director: Sidney Gilliat 1946 with Trevor Howard and Alasdair Sims
the book was written by Christianna Brand (1872-1973) and this is what
IDMB writes about her fiction:
Greatly respected Malaya-born British author, one of the pioneers of the

medical thriller; her highly honored 1944 novel Green for Danger (1946)
preceded by decades the popular works of Patricia Cornwell and Robin
Cook. Green for Danger (1946) was honored as a 1987 Critic's Choice
among H. R. F. Keating's 100 Best Crime & Mystery Books, and by the
Independent Mystery Booksellers Association's 100 Favorite Mysteries of
the Century, selected in the year 2000. She created the character of
Inspector Cockrill of the Kent County Police, modeled on her father-in-
law, William Lewis, who was a doctor. She died in the arms of her
husband of fifty years.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I watched a film called Jubal on BBC2 with Glen Ford, Ernest Borgnine,
Rod Steiger and Valerie French (Delmer Dawes 1956 USA)
[www.imdb.com]
Loosely based on the Shakespeare Othello play, this is the story about a
man called Jubal Troop played by Glenn Ford who is hired by as a
farmhand by Shep Horgan. Mrs Horgan takes a shine to Jubal, and one of
Shep's workers is jealous and set a tragic ball rolling. What I found
interesting in this film are the settlers who are travelling with their
waggons and stopping on Shep's lands. I don't watch westerns very often,
but I always like to see Glenn Ford, and it felt more like a film noir set in
the prairie than the usual cowboy stuff. Recommended.
Date: March 24, 2008 05:41PM
I saw "The Number 1 Lady's Detective Agency" on TV yesterday. It's
more a TV movie than a film but it was Anthony Minghella's last film. It
was an English/Botswhanan co-production and has a cast of mostly
unknown black actors. The main role was played by singer Jill Scott.
It's great to see films set in Africa that do not have a colonial theme.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday, I watched Peter Pan. Not the Disney nor Dustin Hoffman
version but this most charming one - the boy playing Peter was very
mischievously charming yet vulnerable like the character in the book.
Thank you ITV2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Forgotten (USA 2004) sci-fi film about a suburban mother - played by
Julianne Moore - whose sanity and bond to her 9-yr old son are severely
tested. It got mixed reviews, but is quite watchable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other day, I saw Murder at the Gallop with British national treasures
Margaret Rutherford and Robert Morley.
I love the poster - check it out!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damcer in the Dark is a devastating film because it's a hopeless situation.
This is the story - set in 1960s USA, of a vulnerable single migrant mother
who lives in a trailer on a property shared by a couple. Due to a genetic
condition, the mother is going blind and she is saving money for her son to
have an eye operation. You witness how she is working hard (double shifts
at a factory and doing extra crafts at home) to save money. She daydreams
about musicals, because "in musicals nothing ever bad happens". She has
kind friends but you feel from the onset of the film that her hopes are going
to be cruelly dashed... The realism of the film contrasts with the fantasy
scenes.
I'm not a fan of musicals and certainly not "The Sound of Music", yet I can
understand their magic seeing it through the eyes of the character.
In real life, Bjork herself looks like a vulnerable childish bird of paradise
when she performs, especially on the video of her song "It's Oh so quiet".
And she has a unique voice which "Dancer in the Dark" uses to great
effect. The soundtrack to the film is called "Selma songs".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: April 28, 2008 11:55PM
I watched "Rear Window" with Christopher Reeve on Sunday. A lot of
people say it is not on par with the original directed by Alfred Hitchcock
with James Stewart, but I think it's more poignant. There are not many
parts for profoundly disabled actors, and this film gave Christopher Reeve
the opportunity to give an insight into his life via the character he portrays.
I think it should be compared to "Children of a lesser god" with deaf
actress Marlee Matlin. In those two films you see disabled people in charge
of their lives rather than the sentimental fare "issue" films give us.
This role marks the return of Christopher Reeve, for the first time since his
1995 Memorial Day accident, as the leading man. The film is also
groundbreaking in the way that this is the first time a severely disabled
person is given the starring part. "What is unique is to take somebody who
is severely disabled," Reeve said, "and show them in a very positive light
and actually cast them as the hero of the piece." Reeve added, "I think
that's the message, to see how much somebody in my condition can do both
in the use of their wits and the use of all the latest assisted technology."
It is certainly in my all time top 20 films.

Date: May 24, 2008 12:17AM
I watched "Jacob's Ladder" and it was a fascinating film. Tim Robbins as
usual absolutely brilliant. I like that guy and the films he's been involved
with a lot.
What I liked about the film too was its grubby realism. The production
wasn't polished and the actors looked natural. I could relate to the film,
especially with him being tortured by nightmares and flashbacks because I
once had a very bad time where my life felt between dream and reality.
Like in the film this was linked to heavy medication and fever. The scene
where he is wheeled on the trolley between the ward and he is scared at
what he seems to perceive hit very close to home.
The subject matter of the film where the soldiers in war were subjected to
hallucinogenic drugs may have some truth in it, because the fact that this
happened during the First World War. Apparently to raise their stamina
and make them numb to what's around them.
Finally, Jacob's Ladder worked well because it was a surreal story, despite
the fantasy it was coherent because we never lose the thread that the story
is about a horrified young man who is afraid of dying.
I watched a fairly good thriller with Sandra Bullock.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a typical Sandra Bullock movie in which she plays a mousy (but
profane) woman who is in trouble but finds a way to survive and be the
hero. Sound familiar?
There are plenty of holes in this story. Things just don't add up and some
of the suspense is a little corny. But - that suspense is very good. There is a
lot of tension in this story which has strong paranoia running through it.
The story starts off slow but kicks in pretty soon and stays that way,
making it an involving movie for the viewer. That's why I give it a pretty
good rating - the movie gets you involved in it. Bullock is more cute than
annoying, which she normally is to me, so this is my highest-rated movie
with her in it. (ccthemovieman-1)
I agree with this review. Quite far-fetched story but watchable, and Sandra
Bullock is likeable rather than annoying. Most cop shows that I watch have
far fetched plots too so that's not a problem for me.
What I liked about it are the computers and how the internet, email were in
the nineties. A film about a diskette is so retro now. The idea that you can
be geeky and yet look fabulous, and the theme of the film which is "how
safe are computer databases?" Sandra makes a speech that all our info in
all aspects of life are inside computers, so what happens if some
malevolent people get access to them? Trojans etc.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: June 03, 2008 09:53PM
"Funny Games" - which is not really a funny film and it's directed by
Michael Hanneke. I saw the 1998 original version with Ulrich Muhe at the
same venue - the Belfast Queen's Film Theatre. Not easy on the eye at all
because it an indictment against films like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and
similar. I shall certainly not combine this with a meal at the restaurant.
I'm glad that independent films still manage to be shown at cinemas. With
that one, I was never sure if it would come to Belfast.
It was brilliantly acted and directed. As efficient as the original film by the
same writer/director. Still the creepy, smug and cruel villains who want us
the viewers to be on their side. And like in the first film you as a viewer
you are definitely on the side of the woman's family. Even if the family are
that boring far too rich middle-class family with whining child and daft
labrador, hapless husband and panicky housewife - which everyone loves
to despise.
What I also liked about it is that it felt like an independent movie, very few
actors, and the movie titles at the end were very short.
I saw The Stepford Wives (1975) on ITV3
It's a sci-fi horror thriller with intelligent suspense rather than gore. The
novel was written by Ira Levin and is about the so-called perfect woman
and how some men like their women to be like dolls. In fact, the
expression dolls meaning women was used decades ago.
A Stepford Wife has become part of modern vocabulary and means:
[i]the label "Stepford wife" is usually applied to a woman who seems to
conform blindly to an old-fashioned subservient role in relationship to her
husband, compared to other, presumably more independent and vivacious
women. It can also be used to criticise any person, male or female, who
submits meekly to authority and/or abuse; or even to describe someone
who lives in a robotic, conformist manner without giving offense to
anyone. The word "Stepford" can also be used as an adjective denoting
servility or blind conformity (e.g. "He's a real Stepford employee") or a
noun ("My home town is so Stepford") //Like The Graduate, The Stepford
Wives has dated but it works perfectly as a film to represent its time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last film I saw was The Dark Corner, directed by Henry Hatthaway. A
film noir from 1946. If you like Laura by Otto Preminger, this is in a
similar style. Here it is a Los Angeles decadent art collector who bumps off
a love rival and frames a private detective. The private detective and his
feisty secretary are on the case and on the run.
Clifton Webb plays the cynical art collector with a trophy wife half his age.
Lucille Ball was brilliant. She played a strong, astute protective, heart-
warming character. In many stories, the ladies are damsel in distress, but in
this film it's quite the opposite. The private detective was lucky to have her
because the art collector was a dastardly man.
What I like about these films is that they are lean and mean, there is not
extra ballast on them. Fantastic photography too.
All About Eve (USA 1950 b/w) is the story of a young ambitious aspiring
actress (Anne Baxter) who ruthlessly forges her career. From being an
understudy to acclaimed 40 yr old theatre-star Margot (Played by Bette
Davis) to her move to Hollywood. The ensemble cast is very strong, and
the narration is told from the various perspectives of Margot's friends. The
film also gives information about the world of theatre itself as you see over
the shoulder of all the characters and the jobs they do, from the director, to
the producer, to the main actress, the understudy, the playwright, the
playwright's wife, the arts (+ gossip) journalist and the restaurants they
frequent, what goes on backstage, on auditions, during rehearsals and after
the play. Marilyn Monroe has a small role and also plays an aspiring
actress who auditions for TV. The small cameo played by Barbara Bates is
fantastic.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anatomy of a Murder (USA, b/w 1959)
directed by Austrian expat Otto Preminger, this is a court-room drama.
James Stewart plays rural lawyer Paul Biegler who is defending a Korea
war veteran Lt Frederick Manion (played by Ben Gazzara). The latter is
accused of first degree murder while the defense goes for mitigating
circumstance due to mental stress. The soldier's wife, Laura Manion played
by newcomer Lee Remick, was alledgedly raped by the murder victim
shortly before. The prosecuting council George C. Asst. State Attorney.
General Claude Dancer (played by George C Scott) refutes this by
dissecting the reputation of the wife and depicting her as a floozie and her
husband as a drunk with a temper. The film was filmed on location
Marquette County Courthouse, Michigan, USA. As the site says: "Joseph
Welch as the judge. Welch was an experienced and renowned lawyer in
real life."
John D. Voelker wrote the novel, and Wendell Mayes wrote the
screenplay.
Because Lee Remick character looks ambiguous, James Stewart's character
looks gullible and not experienced, Ben Gazzara's character is difficult to
assess - we as an audience are not sure about our own verdict and this
places us in the same situation as the deliberating jury. This is the point
that the character played by Arthur O' Connell makes: in a courtroom
people with different minds and opinion have to agree on a verdict.
This film also shows Otto Preminger's obsession with fallen angels and
faith. Is Laura genuine or a manipulative femme fatale? The name of this
character reminds me of his well-known film "Laura" also a classic crime-
drama. Laura's testimony rests on whether an excommunicated Catholic
(because she is a divorced woman) can still swear on a symbol like a
Rosary to her husband that she was raped, and on the Bible in the
courtroom that her testimony is genuine. After all, some people commit
perjury and lie. Otto Preminger is one of my favourite all-time director. His
film "The Cardinal" is a masterpiece essay on religion and "Laura" defined
the b-movie as much as "Anatomy of a murder" is a milestone in
courtroom drama. Carmen Jones which he also directed well worth
watching for the tension of jealousy and seduction. Otto Preminger films
tend to be long (except Laura), but he crams a lot of compelling details.
I just bought the book by John D. Voelker online, because "Anatomy of A
Murder" is a based on a true story and the author was the defending
lawyer. It's an important subject matter.
Cover Girl Killer (1959)
is a little-known British b-movie directed by Terry Bishop. It is set in
London. It's the story of the Cover Girl Killer (played by Harry H Corbett),
a serial killer who frequents the Kasbah a variety theatre in London and
targets his next victims from a glamour magazine called "Wow", you see
he has this thing about pin-ups being photographed semi-naked and wants
to turn the clock back to wholesome times. Actress and Wow cover star,
Gloria is found dead by the Serpentine River. June Rawson (played by
Felicity Young) who shared her dressing room at the Kasbah, and her
boyfriend John Mason who publishes Wow! decides to find out the killer
with June's help. Inspector Brunner (played by Victor Brooks) leads the
investigation
The killer cuts an iconic picture with his mac, his toupet and his jam-jar
glasses - in fact this is a disguise and in reality he is a stuck-up suave man
who thinks of himself as very smart.
Whereas "All About Eve" depicted the high-end of the theatre world and
journalism, "The Cover Girl Killer" depicts life at the bottom of the ladder.
From anonymous shabby photographic studios rented by the hour, to
incompetent actors and theatre agents, the world of glamour modelling up
to London in the late 1950s. Films like this don't make you feel nostalgic.
As critic Matthew Sweet explained in the programme that followed the
film, British B-Movies were cheaply made on location because those
directors did not have much money, and the actors come from the world of
theatre. The film is only one hour long and was originally intended to be a
flick that precedes the feature film back in the days when cinema tickets
were still cheap and owning a television set was a social privilege. The
film sends ambiguous messages, somehow we feel that the screenwriter is
stuck in the seedy world of cheap flicks and resents the situation. June is
not proud of her job, the girl from Torquay realises what glamour
modelling means, John Mason doesn't boast about owning the magazine
and Inspector Brunner is jaded too, he's has been to a few crime scenes -
what separates them from the nameless killer is that all of them have a
sense of justice: the murderer has to be caught before he kills more people.
I think it's the quest for justice that stops this film from making us
uncomfortable. We may not like that world, but not even the most prudish
of us would not contemplate killing immorality by killing immoral people
Laura by Otto Preminger - USA, 1944, b/w)
Gay or not, The character of Waldo Lydecker reminds me of some people I

come across from time to time.
All of the central performances in this film are faultless, but the one that
stands out is Clifton Webb’s. His Waldo Lydecker exudes the mix of suave
velvet campness and intellectual pomposity that you only ever find in the
senior common rooms of the older Oxford colleges, yet he delivers
venomous put-down one-liners with the precision and force of an Olympic
javelin thrower.The obviously gay Lydecker wants a woman he can
possess like a rare ornament, to be admired for its aesthetic and spiritual
qualities.
This was one of the first film by Vincent Price - I like watching films with
him. The character he plays is psychologically interesting.
In fact, as a reflection on relationships, crime drama and psychological

portrayal, Laura is at the very top of cinema. It is always great to see films
which portray strong women rather than using them as damsels in distress.
This is why only the decor has dated, the character have not. I like these
films because of the stylish black and white photography, the way they
play with darkness and light. At roughly 90 mn it is a classic length for a
film.
I watched a b/w British B-Movie from 1953. It's called Marilyn.
Marilyn (1953, b/w)

Marlyn is definitely an interesting character to watch. The trophy high-
maintenance pin-up wife of hard-working penny-pincher George Saunders.
George thinks that Marilyn should be glad to have gas fires and electric
lights "in every room", however, she is not very happy about her life, the
couple run a petrol station with low-end cafe in the middle of nowhere
England. Marilyn likes French perfume and US music and dreams to own a
cocktail bar like she sees in the movies. George thinks this is frivolous.
Onto the scene comes Tom who is looking for a job. George gives him one
cleaning cars and odds jobs around the house, pays him below the national
average and houses him in a drab room above the garage. Marylin and
Tom fall are attracted to each other and you realise that no good is going to
come out of this story. There is an interesting angle of Marilyn's friendship
to her devoted nice-but-dim employee Rosie.
Although I am not too much of a materialist myself, I could partly

sympathise with Marilyn's situation. The film never tells us how come she
married dowdy George, so I figure that her situation before meeting him
must have been even more drab. Like Matthew Sweet said yesterday, a
film like that can tell you a lot about its times.
It's not a masterpiece, but it was an appealing film.

Date: July 01, 2008 03:47PM
Yesterday, I watched "The Verdict" with Paul Newman directed by Sidney
Lumet and scripted by David Mamet (USA, colour 1982)
This is the first court drama film to feature a civil action. You may have
seen civil actions in TV series like Quincy which often dealt with
negligence leading to the death of someone. This unsentimental film takes
place in Boston Massachussets/USA. A drained and grizzled Frank Galvin
(played by Paul Newman) used to be a promising lawyer but that was a
long time ago and now he is an alcoholic with an ailing practice. His wife
divorced him a long time ago. He lost his last four courtcases. Yet, a
couple consult him. They do not have much money and tell him the story
of the sister who went to St Catherine Laboure hospital for an operation
and ended up in a coma after anaesthetics. Frank Galvin and his mentor
Mickey Morrissey (played by Jack Warner who also starred in Twelve
Angry Men) take up the case. Frank is glad of this new chance and when
he meets Laura Fisher (played by Charlotte Rampling) at his usual boozer
where he usually drinks Bushmills, it looks like his love life is perking up
too.
Much to Frank and Mickey's surprise the lawyers of St Catherine L
hospital represented by Ed Cocannon (played by James Mason in one of
his last roles) want to settle out of court. Frank is tempted to take the
money but after visiting the comatose patient and talking to an idealistic
doctor who is angry at his incompetent colleagues, he decides to take the
case to court. Ed Cocannon and his redoubtable team set out to destroy the
case. And things start to look bad for Frank when his witness seem to
become out of reach and the judge (played by Milo O'Shea) seems pretty
hostile too. Frank's clients are angry too because they thought he should
have taken the settlement sum rather than staking it all on a court-case. In
fact, he even gets accused of trying to redeem his soul by being a righteous
lawyer...
What follows is a fascinating court case and the race against time for Frank
who tries to locate his witnesses. I recommend the film because of his final
speech and the ending. The film also gets full points from me for depicting
low-budget hospital care - that hospital is far from looking clinical.
Sidney Lumet also directed 12 Angry Men. And David Mamet wrote "The
Untouchable". I was impressed by David Mamet's script because of all the
religious references in it - "Praying that justice will be done" is probably
the theme of the film. This is certainly Paul Newman's best film
Harriet Craig (USA b/w 1950)
Based on the play "Craig's Wife" by George Kelly, this is the story of a
selfish housewife (played by Joan Crawford) who prizes her house and
possessions above anything else. She sees matrimony as security and
bullies everyone in her household. From the housekeeper, to her poorer
cousin who is treated like a servant to her husband (Wendell Corey) whose
business opportunities she spoils. Thanks to a complicated web of lies, her
victims think that she cares for them.
Troubled Joan Crawford plays this role to perfection. And the well-written
script explain her complex psychology which leads her character to do
what she did. The story is still relevant in this day and age when
materialism (a show-off home) and possessive feelings still ruin families
financially and emotionally.
It's great that Film4 is showing these old classics and the afternoon is
probably the best time - it feels like a matinee.
"Julia" (USA 1977 Colour Director: Fred Zinneman)
based on the book by Lilian Hellman, script by Alvin Sargent
Julia is the story of the friendship between aspiring playwright Lilian

(played by Jane Fonda) and Julia (played by Vanessa Redgrave). The story
is told as a flashback. In 1934, Julia whose left-wing ideology lead her to
study medicine to allievate illness in the world is based in Vienna. She and
some fellow students are severely beaten up by Austro-Nazis who at the
time were trying to seize power. Lilian travels from the US to Vienna to
visit her however shortly afterwards Julia disappears. Lilian learns that her
activist friends have hidden her friend and she wonders if she is ever going
to see her again.
Back in the USA, Lilian's play is successful and she is invited to Paris and
Moscow to promote her writing. In Paris, she meets a mysterious Mr
Johann (played by Austrian actor Maximillian Schell) who proposes a very
dangerous mission to her on behalf of Julia.
This film is about how far you would go to help your friends. It's always
great to see a film about friends, - a subject that is often neglected - and
memories. The story is captivating and poignant, especially realising that
this is a true story.
The performances by everyone are fantastic. This film shows what a great
actress Vanessa Redgrave is, her idealism is believable because this is how
she is in real life too. Jane Fonda is the ideal heroine. The film was shot in
France and the UK - yet the film takes us all over Europe and the US:
Paris, Vienna, Warsaw, Moscow and New York. The period detail is spot
on.
"In the Heat of the Night" with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. USA 1967
colour. Novel: John Ball
synopsis: A murder was committed in the US Deep South town of Sparta.

Patrolling Officer Sam Wood (played by Warren Oates) find the dead body
of factory owner Mr Colbert. Soon the racist policeman spots a potential
suspect and brings him to the station where he is questioned by Police
Chief Bill Gillespie (played by Rod Steiger). The black guy is in fact
Homicide Det. Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) from Chicago who was
passing. Virgil is more or less roped into the investigation, well aware that
Sparta is not the kind of place to feel safe. There are a few suspects,
including Sam Wood... question is, will Virgil catch his train home?
This is undoubtedly one of the best films ever made and kudos to ITV3 to
show it on prime time. Not only does it benefit from splendid photography
bringing the Mississipi region alive, but the cast is fantastic, the script is
well-written and the score is by Quincy Jones with the title track by Ray
Charles. I like Sidney Poitier as an actor, and this certainly was a great role
for him - his character is dignified and competent. Fans of the CSI and
Law and Order series may enjoy the film too because of the forensics and
they will realise how much US police work has changed in the past forty
years. Rod Steiger's role is fascinating as well. I also like the crowd scene
towards the end of the film - it gives hope. It's a worthy film and yet it
doesn't feel preachy: as the audience we follow the investigators doing
their job and dealing with the public of a small town.

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Film blog

These are films that I saw on TV or at the cinema.

I saw a film called The Long Memory with John Mills.

1952 - produced by Rank - ealing studios

some stills from the film: [www.reelstreets.com]

mostly shot in Gravesend/Kent, this gritty film is about a guy called

Date: July 09, 2006 08:40PM

starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Brian Donlevy, Charles

An owner of a chain of movie houses published an advertisement in all

pp207-209 Pan Books 1978

heartbreaking documentary-style film filmed on locations in London,

United Kingdom (1950) directed by John Boulting Writer James Bernard

starring Barry Jones , Andre Morrell , Hugh Cross , Sheila Manahan ,

Atomic scientist Barry Jones is horrified by the destructive power of the

soundtrack by Yann Thiersen

a little classic of British cinema

yesterday i watched Lost in Translation (2003) with Bill Murray and

strange film - soundtrack is trendy with the keyplayers of electronics of

Watch it because the last line of the film is very existential.

I would recommend anyone to look up the biography of this extraordinary

James Mason plays a mild-mannered teacher who is happily married with

Anyone who is learning basic French at school will be able to understand

and it's macabrely funny too. :)

with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

TCM afternoon movie

If I was a bloke, I would want to be Humphrey Bogart's character in that

thank you channel4!

Anyway, he plays a loner called Sy. Sy works in the photolab of a wall-

It's a heartbreaking story on the absurdity of systems - a man spend 8 years

the beautiful music is by George Delerue, and the film is a US-French

Knowing that reassures me a little bit, that some people care...

It was in Swedish with english subtitles.

To be honest I watched it because I've heard it mentioned a few times by

1) this is a film for grown-ups not for kids

Interestingly, this summer I walked past Powis Square, because I went to

I'm glad I watched it

watched Arabesque with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren, directed by

a classic. great portrayal of characters driven by greed. gun violence.

look no further, you found it.

F For Fake, by Orson Welles.

If that's the sex education most of my contemporaries got back in 1980, I

Before you ask, no I never saw this film before.

"arthouse europudding" is a derivative term for a film that is 1) either a

Don't let any of that put you off.

The characters are engaging to hilarious without being caricatures, the

it is based on a play about the so-called real-life "Monkey Trial" from

Interestingly enough, the debate of creationism vs evolution theory is still

Brilliant film - it makes the point of individual people trying to be

a very sad film. compliments to channel4 TV to show it.

A newly restored print of Basil Dearden’s ground-breaking thriller, first

Brilliant story, brilliant photography and great suspense - and what a

It's a great opportunity to get a CD with Brazilian music.

Date: January 03, 2008 01:53AM

slapstick comedy on the themes of big businesses ousting small shops - in

Voyage of the Damned (1976)

"Often described as "Ship of Fools with a conscience," Voyage of the

Shane Meier plays Matthew Shephard

Thank you More4 for showing it!

The term paparazzi became wider use after this film.

"A corrupt rightwing senator & folksinger runs a crooked election

Directed by Tim Robbins in 1992,

"Recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock is trapped into an affair with

I didn't fully sympathise with Benjamin's predicament because he felt