Category
Film
Various writing on films, most of which I’ve seen. Warning: may contain opinions.
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09.27.02Conspirators of PleasureI got a very dry roll with my soup today, and caught myself removing the inner soft bread, beyond the tough crust, and rolling it up to plop into the soup. This reminded me of this Jan Svankmajer film (now available on video), which we screened at the 051 arts cinema in Liverpool when I worked there in 1997. I remember watching it, mouth agape throughout. Very odd. Very good.If you ever get a chance to see it, do. It's thoroughly brilliant, in a deviant, Czech, kinky, surreal kind of way. Read the synopsis if you want to discover quite ...
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08.24.02GerrawayP: What are you watching? Me: The Lost World P: Ah right. Not the Jurassic Park one? Was Bob Hoskins in that? Me: No, this is the other one - made for TV. It's by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle P: Oh right Me: He wrote the Sherlock Holmes books P: [beat] ... Really? Gerraway. Me: Yeah P: [grinning] ...That reminds me - you must tell me more about this HTML you keep banging on about... Me: [blush]Sometimes I forget that P's got a bloody good education. Oops.* Talking about HTML like that is a sort of running joke in our household. It stems from a wedding I was at a ...
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08.01.02The CrackI remember the exact moment when the world cracked. We'd been drinking over at a friend's house in Cochabamba for a whole long, hot afternoon. Rum and orange juice on a rooftop, with the gentle hum of the market four stories below, an unrelenting sun, little shade and the ice melting quickly in our glasses. After a few hours, our heads started to throb with sun and rum, and we decided to seek shelter in the only air-conditioned place in town: the cinema.Walking through the town centre towards the cinema, the sun was hot on my head, and the paving ...
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04.29.02Dead Man WalkingSo the other night I was lying in bed at half two in the morning watching Weekend at Bernies II (as you do), when it suddenly occured to me that actor Terry Kiser must surely have the most bizarre career in movie history, given that his major starring roles to date have both involved him a) not speaking and b) playing a dead body. That reminds me; I've always wondered about the bit part actors on Casualty and ER and the like who sit in pumping head-wound silence, or quietly expire on a gurney. Do they get to put that on ...
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11.20.01Dream (v)I dreamt last night that I had paid for all of my friends to go and see Harry Potter with me, on the understanding that they would pay me back. When the projector broke, after the previews, we all got up and left, and they all refused to pay, because they hadn't seen the movie.A week later (in the dream) half of us went to see the movie, and again I bought the tickets, on the understanding that people would give me their share later. After the film, many of them decided not to pay, because they hadn't enjoyed it. ...
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10.13.01Ginger SpiceI've managed to solve my ginger problem. I thought that I was sunk after I discovered that Ginger Beer tasted like Old Lady Cat Wee that had been distilling for quite some time. But I swung by Sainsboggles this morning, on my way back to bed and remembered that Canada Dry is reputedly of ginger origin. Of course, you and I both know that it's never been near a bit of ginger in its life. In fact, the closest it's ever come is that the man who invented the beverage once saw a Ginger Rogers movie, or something.But I simply couldn't care ...
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08.18.01MoviesWent to see The Parole Officer (Starring Steve Coogan as...Steve Coogan), which was the cinematic equivalent of Smash instant mashed potato granules: Utterly bland, written by committee, and without even the originality to be bad. Sitting in the pub at lunchtime with his nibbs, a pint and a good book was far more entertaining and diverting. I wouldn't be at all surprised if I woke up tomorrow morning and forgot I went to the movies completely - except for the rather hefty £24-shaped hole in my wallet that it left behind. How the hell do they justify charging that for ...
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08.04.01WizardI'm still charging through the second Harry Potter book (it's for work, honestly), but a number of people have asked me my take on the first.... so here goes.It's going to make a great movie.It's written in the formulaic movie style that so much fiction relies on these days - we live an increasingly visual age, and it's no surprise that written words start to echo screen logic. Basically, narrative disappears almost entirely, relying instead on dialogue and action sequences (meticulously, almost scriptically described) to carry the story along. There is one piece of minor action per chapter and the ...
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03.11.01BeeeepCrack-tastic message on the answerphone this evening when I got in from Best in Show (which was completely excellent - I haven't laughed that much in ages) [official site]:Woman, twenties, sounding aggrieved:"So I take it you're married, then. What a bastard. Goodbye."What the...? Eh? A few points:a) I'm not marriedb) I'm not a manc) my answerphone says my name quite clearly.F'duh?
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03.05.01Happier, TexasFine. James reckons I've been a little harsh on Happy, Texas. OK, fair comment. I admit that I didn't expand on my criticism, and that may have left some readers in confusion about why I felt it was so bad, especially given the potential strength of the ensemble cast. Well, for the record, the main thing I found objectionable about it was that all the main players seemed, frankly, bored about being there. Steve Zahn was unintelligible. Jeremy Northam was accent-slippingly passionless. William H Macy was stock William H Macy, except this time without added spark. Ileanna Douglas looked like ...
