What's on telly tonight ?

[spiney]

Sunday 10th Sept.

War of the Worlds, 3.40pm, Ch5.

George Pal's famous 1950s version, with special effects good for the time. Just like the interocitor, on This Island Earth, the strange Martian eyes seem to owe something to the CBS spinning wheel colour tv system, although this wasa never used, commerically, the RCA subcarrier system being far superior.

Also, like the famous Orson Welles radio version, this was more of a "monsterfest", whereas H G Wells' original novel is more philosophical, discussing alien biology (Wells was a pupil of T H Huxley, the evolutionary biologist, nicknamed "Darwin's Bulldog").

Short Circuit, 5.15pm. Ch5.

An advanced robot, being tested by USA military, gets an electric shock and suddenly becomes conscious, then has to try and avoid being dismantled ...... !
Sounds extremly silly, but in fact quite good fun, being done entirely for laughs. There's a catchphrase, "five is alive", which the robot keeps saying!

Evolution, film4, 7.05pm.

Reasonably entertaining - buy very daft - horror film. A crashed meteorite contains extraterrestrial microbes, and when released, they suddenly start turning into advanced animals, in a matter of hours!

The last Picture Show, 10pm, ITV3.

Not sci fi, in any way, but a superb masterpiece, so worth mentioning. A small Texas town is dying, and in it a group of bored young adolescents are broadening their horizons, growing up. The title refers to the last ever film show at a local cinema, before it closes down, because of tv, a sign of a changing world ..... "small town USA" is fast disappearing, multinational corporations are taking over!
Great director, great cast, wonderful music soundtrack, fine humour .... pretty much a perfect film!
Around the middle, there's a brief nude scene - for artistic reasons, you understand - hopefully left in by ITV, but blink and you'll miss it.

This is Spinal Tap, ITV4, 11.30pm.

Very famous "mockumentary" film, following a fictitious rock group on tour. Much fun poked at various rock music myths, also this type of film. For example, the drummers keep dying ..... and the music, well ...... and get those incredible sets!

This was very popular, and quickly became a cult film, and the fictional rock group in it re-formed, and actually went on tour!

The director, Bob Reiner, has a "sure touch", having made a long string of cult and light comedy highly successful films.

 

[spiney]

Monday 11th sept.

Explorers, 6.55pm, film4.

Really a childrens' sci fi film, though notable for cult actor River Phoenix.

LA Confidential, film4, 9pm.

Shown quite a bit, but worth seeing! Homage to 1940s "pulp" magazines, and films, in which sleazy private eye / cop stories appeared. Kim Basinger, up till then not taken too seriously as an actress ("a pair of legs with a pout on top", said one critic!), got an oscar (for her "Veronica Lake like" role).

Ping Pong, BBC4, 11pm.

I haven't seen this multi award winner, but might be worth a look, if anything like eariler Japanese film Tampopo, which was wonderful and hilarious.

Timecode, film4, 1.45am (Tues morning).

Haven't seen this either. Interesting idea, with 4 simultaneous frames on screen, it got huge coverage upon release, and provoked very mixed responses.
Timecode is the clock signal electronically written onto film and videotape, for picture and sound editing purposes.

Good range of different viewpoints here:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/timecode/ .

 

[Channel Hopper]

A few weeks before completing the third of the HellRaiser films, Mr Anthony Hickox unleashed this production onto the unsuspecting world.

Paying homage to more than a few cult horror films, this sequel to the original Waxwork adequately hides a pitifully low budget with decent special effects, and a reasonable cast / crew.

From the man that brought you Lobster Man from Mars......

You don't have to have known the original to enjoy this.

Canal18 - Hispasat - 9.30 UK time - 10.30 Europe

 

[spiney]

Tuesday, 12th Sept.

The long Good Friday, 9pm, film4.

Not sci fi, but v good so worth mentioning. A low budget indy Brit flik gangster story (owing something to the Krays), surprisingly one of the best films of 1980, a time when the few Brit fliks made were mostly utter crap.
Bob Hoskins was never better than here, where he plays an extremely violent gangster boss. Especially memorable is the scene where he rounds up suspected enemies, and hangs them upside down on meat hooks!
Shot around London, but not in the usual "tourist" locations, which makes it even more interesting.

Wiki says this can be seen as a parable about Thatchersim, or even as an Oedipal conflict. Hmmm, that's pushing it .... however, there's no doubting it's a good film!

Highlander, film4, 10pm.

"Immortals" Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert battle it out, with various different weapons, while time travelling up and down through the centuries. This entertaining fantasy was something a bit different, and very popular, and there were sequel films and a tv series, but this 1st film is the best of them.

Nice soundtrack from Queen, who eariler had provided the music for Flash Gordon (there's also a tribute to Freddy Mercury, 9.45pm, ITV1).

The Silence of The Lambs, 10pm, ITV2.

" ....and I ate his liver, with a bottle of Chianti", says Hopkins, playing "cannibal" mad doctor Lecter.
Who hasn't seen this? Nevertheless, a nicely crafted film, well cast, and fine performances from Hopkins and Foster.
Personally, I much prefer Michael Mann's eariler Hannibal Lecter film, Manhunter.

 

[spiney]

Wed 13th Sept.

Ronin, BBC3, 9pm.

Not sci fi, but an excellent thriller, with a fine international cast, set on streets of Paris, with some nice car chases, one of which is - apparently - remarkably similar to that in which Princess Diana was killed.

Director John Frankenheimer was most famous in late 50's / early 60's, for films like Birdman of Alcatraz, 7 Days in May, The Manchurian Candidate, etc. His later films are still excellent, but not as famous. This was his last "major" work.

Scriptwriter David Mamet is a controversial USA playright/director - often highly critical and dismissive of actors generally - who became well known through plays like American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross.

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamet%2C_David .
http://www.instantcast.com/casting/become_an_actor.asp .
(it's worth looking at the summary of Mamet's controversial ideas about acting, in these 2 short articles!).

Double Jeopardy, ITV2, 9pm.

Again, not sci fi, but a fair thriller. A woman's husband has framed her, with the crime of attempting to kill him, and after finishing her jail term, because of double jeopardy - you can't be tried twice for the same crime - she can then kill him legally with no consequences (great storyline, but wouldn't work in real life!).
Cast includes excellent film actor Tommy Lee Jones, anything with him in is worth watching.
Highly topical because, last Monday, UK legal history was made when a person was first tried twice for the same offence, and convicted!

I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle, M+M, 10pm.

A dispatch rider gets a bike, and discovers it runs on blood.

This low budget recent Britflik comedy horror sounds as if it should be entertaining, sort of like Little Shop of Horrors (the original, non-musical), but in fact has had mixed reviews for bad taste:
http://www.britishhorrorfilms.co.uk/vampiremotorcycle.shtml .

Arthur, BBC1, 11.15pm.

This superb comedy is "film of the day". Dudley Moore is a rich spoiled obnoxious brat, whose life changes when he meets hooker Liza Minnelli, after which his family threatens to disown him .....

The real star of this is John Gielgud, hilariously playing the cynical world weary butler (and looking very fit, he was 77 at the time!), for which he very deservedly got an Oscar (Dudley Moore also got one).

After the "Pete and Dud" satire days ended, Peter Cook stayed in the uk, and relative obscurity, while Dudley Moore had a 2nd career in Hollywood, briefly, in a few films like 10, etc .....

 

[spiney]

Thur 14th Sept.

Death Hunt, 10.15pm, ITV4.

Nice action adventure, including some dynamite throwing, and a chase across the (cold!) Canadian wilderness.

Stars both Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin, two "tough" men who most certainly weren't "Shakespearian" actors (!), but nevertheless very good at what they did, and hence appeared in many films of this type.

Unbreakable, 11.10pm, ITV2.

Another "supernatural mess", from M Night Shyamaian, and again starring Bruce Willis.

A security guard seems strangely immune to injury and death, in fact just like comic superheroes, as a comic collector tries to persuade him .......

Reminds me of that tv yoghurt advert, you know, if you're having pleasure, it must be balanced by somebody else's pain. Trite stuff.

 

[spiney]

Friday 15th Sept.

Mysterious Island, 10.05am (mid-morning), CH4.

I've not seen this - in fact, not even heard of it - however, it apparently does include some prime examples of Ray Harryhausen's stop-frame animation, which just alone would make it "worth catching".

(you've probably seen quite a bit of Harryhausen, even if you didn't know it!).
http://lavender.fortunecity.com/judidench/584/harryhis.html .

The Hunt for Red October, 11.35pm, BBC1.

This has been frequently shown, recently, almost to the point of tedium! Nevertheless, it's an excellent "cold war" action thriller, with some sci fi elements. If you've not already seen this, then it's still very much a "don't miss"!

Stars Alec Baldwin, but the film is "made" by Sean Connery and Sam Neill, both excellent film actors (of course!). There's also a small but good performance by Tim Curry (Frank N Furter in Rocky Horror Film).

Videodrome, Ch4, 1.20am (Sat morning).

DO NOT MISS THIS BRILLIANT CULT HORROR FILM!

For sheer intelligence, this is one of my top ever personal faves! In which respect, it's at least equal to The Wicker Man.

James Woods (very much a cult film actor!) is investigating a particular illegal satellite tv station called Videodrome, purveying what seems to be horrific sickening mature content, plus snuff movies. Doing so, he gets drawn into a bizarre hallucinatory semi-real world ......

Also stars Debbie Harry, looking very lovely here, in a rare acting role.

There's much more to this film than ever "meets the eye", and all I can do is "scratch the surface", by providing just a few hints .....

The technical situation portrayed - decrypting an illegal satellite signal - reflects the USA/Canadian stuation at that time, where cable tv material - including strong mature content - was distributed via C band analogue satellite, often using primitive encryption, fairly easily broken ....

After a 1st viewing, Woods finds he is then addicted, and "inserts" the video cassette into himself ..... partly a comment on tv integrating so completely with - and taking over - our lives, almost becomming a bodily appendage .....

(the special effects are quite gory and nauseating - deliberately! - and were also very impressive at the time, although now maybe less so. However, that's not the point, as they're a metaphor .... since we might well fantasise, during any/all sexual activity, possibly using some remembered video images, then exactly where do we "put" the barrier between fantasy and the "real world"? ..... ).

Also, at that time, there was a huge debate about "video nasties", the lack of controlling legislation allowing all sorts of things ....

The bizarre deceased character Brian O'Blivion - still existing, but only on videotapes - and his daughter running the "cathode ray mission" (doss-house) - are a very slick comment on 1960s meida pundit Marshall McLuhan, who very famously said: " .... the medium IS the message ..." and described various "hot" and "cool" media.

Here's an excellent link, quickly and easily presenting the main ideas of McLuhan as a slideshow (very aptly!). Very cleverly presented, as printed "handwriting" on a ring-binder, thus encompassing McLuhan's 3 "stages", and showing the medium as the message!
To view slides, keep clicking on right single arrow:
http://www.usm.maine.edu/com/techdet/sld001.htm .

And, a very astute review of Videodrome:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1340vid.html .

 

[spiney]

Saturday 16th Sept.

Normally, I only cover free to air British tv! However, it's worth mentioning that this Sat/Sun TCM has a Kubrick Weekend, showing some of his best films, including all 3 sci fi ones. Also, two of them brilliantly star Peter Sellers (see below).

Otherwise, on FTA a Peter Sellers extravaganza, but I'm not quite sure why today, just coincidence?

(not sci fi, but MUST be mentioned!).

The Wrong Arm of the Law, film4, 3pm.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, BBC2, 9.50pm.
Being There, BBC2, 11.50pm.

In Wrong Arm, a bunch of clever new crooks start a series of robberies by impersonating police officers (IPCs). That's very bad news, both for established crooks, and for the real police, so they agree to co-operate, with a "temporary truce".
Sellers plays Pearly Gates (possibly a homosexual reference!), a sleazy East London crook with a deliberately fake French accent (shades of later Inspector Clouseau), whose "front" is a ladies' fashion salon. Lionel Jeffries is a manic overactive dyspepsic policeman (a role he repeated briliantly, in several films!). John Le Mesurier is the nose always in air but mustn't step in any dogshit Chief Constable, worried only about his pension.
Especially funny is the fairground scene, where cops and crooks negotiate, hammering out the terms of their truce whilst riding on roundabouts, big dippers, etc.
The script is by Galton and Simpson, famous for Hancock and Steptoe, so - of course - is very funny! Unfortunately, this film suffers - like so many other Britflicks from that period - from "trade union bashing" (the crooks supposedly representing unionists), which it would have been better without, nevertheless it's still a fine film, despite this problem, thanks to great cast and script.

I haven't seen Life and Death, so can't comment, but am looking forward to watching it. Geoffrey Rush is exactly the right actor, can't think of anyone else better, and the rest of the cast are also well known (and importantly, intelligent!) comedy actors, so should be a fine film.
No doubt there's the usual liberties, for dramatic effect! However, it's now 25 years since Sellers unexpectedly died (age 54!), which has allowed all the facts to come out meanwhile, so hopefully the story will have a "balanced perspective", showing lots of this amazing (troubled!) man's many facets, and not just a limited "slanted version"!

Finally, never mind this "Sellersfest", Being There - in any case - is Film of the Day!
Sellers plays "Chance" (approproiate nickname), a simple minded oldish man with no education at all, who nearly all his life has been a gardener in a particular house, and knows about nothing else whatsoever!
Suddenly, his employer dies, and he's thrust into the world outside the house, which he's never seen! Totally confused, all he can do is talk about gardening, but to other people this sounds like "pithy homely wisdom", and Chance ends up as nominated USA presidential candidate ........
There's an excellent scene where Chance leaves his house for the first time ever, to the accompaniment of Also Sprach Zarathustra (the famous music that begins 2001 A Space Odyssey).
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/8200/being.html .

Being There works on many levels, as a simple funny story, and also as criticism of politics, media, lifestyles, etc, but however .... ....

"Being There" is a literal translation of "dasein", a fake German word (da sein), coined by philospher Martin Heidegger in his monumental existentialist work Being and Time. It means "human being in contextual setting", ie, you can't separate a man at all from the surrounding environment, he's very much integrated into it. Going together with that is the concept Sorge (concern, sympathy), which in the film Shirley Maclean represents.
That much is quite clear. However, whether these major existentialist concepts are here being used seriously - or merely satirised - I've no idea!
Although the Heidegger connection is entirely overt and obvious, for some reason nearly all so-called film critics have missed it (maybe none is a philosopher!), I can only find a single Internet reference that specifically mentions this connection, and it's passworded!

For a bit on Heidegger, try:
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/heid.htm .
http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/heidegger.html .
(good luck with that 2nd link, then try the Wikipedia article on Being and Time, it's miles clearer!).

This film was a "different sort of part" for Sellers, had he lived a bit longer, he would have had a "whole new career" as a "more serious" - but always highly talented - actor!
When he died, he already had a heart pacemaker, and was due to have a heart operation the very next month, which would probably have saved him!
However, in a sense Sellers has never left us, leaving behind a large amount of often repeated highly popular work (including The Goon Show, being repeated on BBC7).

added. Sellers was fascinated by - let's say gullible about! - the occult, and frequently (so i understand) took advice from friend and expert Michael Bentine.
Bentine was also a Goon - for 2 years - then left, and started his own separate parallel but highly accomplished surrealist comedy career (if any of his stuff gets re-broadcast, watch it!).
Bentine wrote 2 books, The Door Marked Summer, and Doors of the Mind, in which he claimed to regularly have had occult experiences for his whole life, including seances, and otherwise ghosts just "continually following him around". A fascinating but strange man, like his friend Sellers.

 

[spiney]

Oops sorry, I almost forgot .....

The Wicker Man, Sat 10pm, ITV4.

In the last 30 years there's been 2 "intelligent" horror films. Videodrome was shown last night, and this is the other one!

Sexually repressed prebyterian cop Edward Woodward (representing law, state, church, authority) flies from Scottish mainland to a remote island, investigating a disappeared girl. There, he finds a bizarre artificially introduced paganism ("new age", though that phrase came later) comprising bits and pieces from Buddhism, Druidism, Wicca, Magik, etc. Also, worst, "free love" (The Pill had appeared, the "sexual revolution" was underway, and 1967 was the Hippy "summer of love").

At first, the islanders deny the girl exists, but there's many traces of her, then things turn very sinister ....... (the end of Wicker Man "echoes" that of the original 1931 Frankenstein film, but I've no idea what that signifies .....).

Integral to this film is the music and songs! If badly done, they would have been a disaster, but they're beautifully done. Important, because music is a major element of all religions, expressing the joyous aspect (condemnation is for sermons!). For example, Anglicanism has sublime choral evensong, evangelicals singing "I luv Jesus, he's my mate", and perhaps even charismatic "singing in tongues" (a very eerie sound) ....

Famously, Britt Eckland has a (lengthy) topless scene (double yum!), although when she's seen full length from rear it's a body double (was there a problem with Britt's butt?). Dance pioneer Lindsay Kemp also appears, bizarrely but very effectively, as the landlord! Perhaps most notoriously, Christopher Lee - as the island's Laird - ends up wearing a dress, and singing, which was apparently partly an in-joke (to make him sing, and get him into drag!).
There's also good performances from horror film cult actress Ingrid Pitt, and Diane Cilento (who?).

Many elements of the paganism shown appear to be from (Scotsman!) James Fraser's highly influential 19th century work The Golden Bough, about many different pagan religions' worship of "the corn God", one of these (claimed as!) being Christianity itself! The point being that, although the new age religion and Christianity seem diametrically opposed, perhaps it's not quite that simple ......

Robin Hardy's "other big film" is The Fantasist, comming nowhere near the huge achievement of Wicker Man but nevertheless very interesting! It got shown on horror channel, a few times, before rot set in .....
The 2006 Hollywood "remake" of wicker man has been slammed by critics, and condemned by both Hardy and Lee.

http://www.steve-p.org/wm/ .
http://www.nmpft.org.uk/fantastic/2006/filmdetail.asp?ida=6221 .
http://world.std.com/~raparker/exploring/thewasteland/exbough.html .

(The text of The Golden Bough - abridged and full - is available for free download from several websites, eg Project Gutenberg).

PS, screenwriter Anthony Schaffer also wrote other high profile plays and screenplays, perhaps most famously Sleuth.

 

[spiney]

Sunday, 17th Sept.

Cape Fear, ITV4, 9pm.

This remake with DeNiro is nowhere near as good as the original with Robert Mitchum, but it's "watchable".

American Graffiti, ITV3, 10pm.

Hugely entertaining and enjoyable, multi-coloured and with a fine cast and great 1950s (early 60s?) soundtrack, this was Lucas' "big film" prior to Star Wars.
A group of (oldish!) teenagers drive around a small USA town, in their - sometimes kooky - cars, while learning lessons about life and growing up ....... early appearences by Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford, also Ron Howard (director Apollo 13).
The real stars of this film are the cars, they positively gleam. The film is mostly shot at night, with lots of neon signs reflecting off the shiny cars, the colours on black giving a wonderful chiaroscoro effect! I suspect George Lucas had in mind the masterpiece film Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and was trying for a similar thing .....

http://kathyschrock.net/graffiti/ .

A Beautiful Mind, BBC1, 10.15pm .

Very cleverly made - and engrossing - biopic about schizophrenic maths genius John Nash. We see him entering Princeton, making a special friend, getting married, and being recruited by the government to decode Soviet spy secret messages, sent via magazine small ads (due to his mathematical ability). It's not until some way into the film, that we realise things are not quite as they seem .....

As to what Nash accomplished - including his Nobel Prize winning results in game theory - that's so esoteric that even Spiney doesn't understand it! However, follow the links ....

Schizophrenia is still not understood at all (what is "the mind"?), although nowadays symptoms can often be controlled, partly by drugs.
I had a schizophrenic friend, who used to receive personal messages, just for him, which had been deliberately inserted - by someone unknown - into billboard ads ...... in more serious cases, sufferers see and converse with people who aren't really there .....

A very interesting insight into serious schizophrenia is given by the book Operators And Things, which reads like a sci fi novel, but is a true story. My paperback copy is years old, but amazingly it's still in print! It's also been argued that Swedenborg - who regularly talked to angels, and decribed their eating habits in detail - was schizophrenic.

http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/nash.htm .
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cu.../002-7223169-2251246?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books .
http://swedenborg.newearth.org/hh/hh00toc.html .

 

[spiney]

(DISCLAIMER. To forums admin: I am solely responsible for the following remarks, in this post. But – of course – delete them entirely if you prefer).

GENERAL APOLOGY.

In above post, I suggested watching the film Life and Death of Peter Sellers, not having seen it, but assuming it would at least be reasonable. Amazingly, it was the worst film I’ve seen in my life (including some by Warhol). After just 2 mins my jaw hit the floor, and stayed there the next 2 hours!

It started with a far too manic Goons “recreation”, then we plunged straight into “The League of Gentlemen”. Sellers’ time in small Brit films – a third of his career – wasn’t even mentioned. Then, a “portrayal” of Loren, by somebody not even remotely like her (an Italian accent would at least have helped!). We saw Sellers doing his Clouseau accent for Pink Panther (it didn’t exist before Shot in The Dark), followed by a very nasty on-set speech he never made (if he had, he’d never have worked with Edwards again, instead of doing 4 more films) …….

Except for sound, all production aspects of this film were poor (some inept). Also, all the events portrayed were at least badly wrong, with a number of them being entirely made up (hence, the unusually long and complete legal disclaimer at the end, which was entirely necessary!). Blimey! In my rulebook, if you want to do a “demolition job” on a real person, the actual facts are quite useful …..

The whole thing was curiously uneven, mostly shot like a BBC4 prog on low budget, but at the end was a huge credits list, worthy of a major Hollywood Blockbuster! At a guess – and it’s only a guess – I’d say something went badly wrong during filming, so what started as big budget got finished as small budget, the end result being what was salvaged after a “rescue job”. Otherwise, I can’t explain it.

Whatever, this was way below the minimum standard normally required for mainstream television, and should not have been shown (as for the portrayal of Sellers, that was utterly beneath contempt! Not only was it not a "warts and all" portrait, it wasn't even about just the warts).

(I've just looked at a few Internet reviews of this, can't believe they're describing the same film!).

 

[spiney]

Monday, 18th Sept.

The 39 Steps, 6pm, Open Access 2 (Sky Ch 173).

Hitchcock's great classic! Previously, above, I wrongly said this would be on Zone Horror, but never mind cos here it is again (repeated sooner than expected!).
Following on from my above remarks - about Hitchcock "playing" with the censorship rules - just watch Donat's wrist action as he tries to remove the handcuffs, talk about being extremely naughty ......

(39 steps is followed by another Hitchcock, his very early Number Seventeen, which I haven't seen, but probably isn't that remarkable!).

Pacific Heights, film4, 10.55pm .

Unremarkable but good thriller, Micheal Keaton is excellent as the psychopath.

Capricorn One, BBC1, 11.45pm.

So and so sci fi thriller, watchable, of interest mainly because it does what some people claim really happened (a fake space mission).
A trip to Mars is faked, in a tv studio, the astronauts reluctantly co-operate, then run for it on learning they'll be killed ..... meanwhile reporter Elliot Gould (a big star at the time) smells a rat ......
Unfortunately, this film is completely wrecked - in fact, made incoherent - by utter ignorance of very basic science! A manned mars trip would take at least 18 months (each way), and require many people, so couldn't be done in an Apollo capsule (absolute maximum, 3 men 3 weeks), and anything remotely like a Lunar Module couldn't land on Mars (it would crash). Also, even at closest approach, radio waves take 20 mins between earth and mars - 40 mins round trip - so normal conversation is obviously impossible. If attempted, such a "deceit" would fool nobody!

Hannibal, ITV2, midnight.

A poor successor to silence of the lambs. Unfortunately, Moore is not up to the standard set by Foster, and the final scene is just sickening (and anatomically impossible!) without achieving much else.

The Bird With Crystal Plumage, film4, 00.50am (Tues Morning).

I haven't seen this one either (see above) but ......

This was 1st film by horror "maestro" Argento, and although not actually a horror film, is usually described as a "very superior thriller", most often compared to Hitchcock. Made in Italian, I've no idea if this version is subtitled or dubbed.
(A couple of Argentos have recently been shown on Zone Horror, despite that channel's unfortunate descent into low quality fare, so look out for more ....).

 

[Channel Hopper]

Capricorn One, BBC1, 11.45pm.

So and so sci fi thriller, watchable, of interest mainly because it does what some people claim really happened (a fake space mission).
A trip to Mars is faked, in a tv studio, the astronauts reluctantly co-operate, then run for it on learning they'll be killed ..... meanwhile reporter Elliot Gould (a big star at the time) smells a rat ......
Unfortunately, this film is completely wrecked - in fact, made incoherent - by utter ignorance of very basic science! A manned mars trip would take at least 18 months (each way), and require many people, so couldn't be done in an Apollo capsule (absolute maximum, 3 men 3 weeks), and anything remotely like a Lunar Module couldn't land on Mars (it would crash). Also, even at closest approach, radio waves take 20 mins between earth and mars - 40 mins round trip - so normal conversation is obviously impossible. If attempted, such a "deceit" would fool nobody!

Ooops.. Well I'm staying up for it, a plot that really embraces the thread of conspiracy throughout that neatly dispels the (very) secondary scienctific element into a cocked hat (much like a Bond film), and Savalas shouting obscenities from a biplane (much like a Bond film)

 

[spiney]

Ooops ...... yes, Ch Hopper ...... I watched Capricorn One too, and I was wrong! In fact, they DID have the 20 mins radio delay. I was remembering the space trip's end, where in fact they're near earth (however, my remarks about the silly spacecraft still apply!). Had also forgotten Telly Savalas " ...I don't like your haircut, so you're a pervert ...."; in many films, and he WAS Kojak, much missed!

(If somebody wants to, they can have a great time listing my mistakes! However, I do take some care where a remark might be defamatroy ....)

Tuesday 19th Sept.

Big film today .. Full Metal Jacket, ITV4, 10pm.

(Hmmm .... Kubrick films everywhere, FTA channels and TCM, is there some sort of anniversary? Not as far as I know ....).

This is basically a film about human brutality, what war - and deliberate training to fight war - does to people, ALL people (if you haven't seen this, the ending is a "surprise").
Though excellent (it's Kubrick!), this had less impact on release than it might have. Partly because, it's set in Vietnam - then the USA's recent memorable war - and, by this time.,everyone else had already done their Vietnam movie, so cinemagoers were getting a bit fed up! Also, the theme of brutal training methods - and a nasty training sergeant - had already been covered in a similar way in earlier film An Officer and A Gentleman, so the impact was diminished, although - of course - Kubricks' method and message are original and entirely his own, owing nothing to anyone else.

The soundtrack music is entirely stuff serving soldiers of the time would have heard, including a passing reference to Adrian Cronauer, about who film "Good Morning Vietnam" was made (curiously, released the same year!). Some locations are mentioned in the Wiki article, (of course, Kubrick shot entirely within the UK!), although I seem to remember that London's Docklands - at that time still mostly a derilict area - stood in for Vietnam!
http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/full_metal_jacket/ .

Also worth mentioning .....

Love Story, 10pm, BBC4. Made Ryan O'Neal a star (but what happened to Ali Macgraw?). A weepy goofest, needs at least 3 boxes of Kleenex (man sized!) ...

The Sting, 11.05pm, BBC1. In Butch Cassidy, director George Roy Hill took 2 top stars - Newman and Redford - and made a multi Oscar winner. 4 years later, he took the same actors, and did it again!
Also stars Robert Shaw, a low profile but excellent Brit actor, who was in several big Hollywood movies (he was the captain in Jaws).
The Sting is also famous for Scott Joplin's "ragtime music" on the soundtrack.

Wed 20th Sept.

Ocean's 11, 9pm, ITV2.

Much shown recently, neverthless an excellent recent (rare example of a) "heist movie", staring Georg Clooney.
Remake of the original version, which starred "the rat pack" (Sinatra, Dino, Sam Davis Jnr, etc). And - in my opinion - also much better, a very rare case of the remake being an improvement!

Dead Ringers, 11.05pm, ITV4 (film of the day).

Extremely weird, very strange and disturbing indeed, so be warned!

Jeremy Irons - often appearing on screen in 2 places - plays twin gynecologists, but one good and one bad (sorta Jeckyl and Hyde of specialist womens' medicine!). The bad one starts "inventing" ever stranger gynecological surgical instruments ........

This is a complete "sea change" from director Cronenberg's earlier horror films, including his masterpiece Videodrome, instead being more psychological and suggestive, although there's still much reference to some of the "yuckier" aspects of the human (in this case, female) body .......

(I once watched this with a young lady, who happened to be pregnant, and she had to leave the room after a few minutes, so bear that in mind!).

The idea of "womens' plumbing" can be a disturbing one, and Cronenberg plays on that, although he's not being misogynistic (sorry ladies, but no intended sexism, obviously we men have our own different plumbing!).

http://www.jeremy-irons.com/press/archive/27.html .
http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id177/pg1/ .

 

[spiney]

Thur 21 Sept .

Winchester 73, Ch5, 1.35pm.

Landmark western, in which director Mann changed the genre, from "goodies and baddies" into something more subtle (later still, Leone gave us the Spaghetti Western - pizza nonsense, pasta joke - then Pekinpah added "realistic" violence).

Anyway, a "1 in 1000" Winchester rifle is offered as prize in a shooting competition ...... stars James Stewart.

Sinbad and Eye of the Tiger, film4, 6.55pm.

Last - and not best! - of the Sinbad films (get those 1970s hairstyles). However, has much of Ray Harryhausen's stop frame animation, and by this time he was extremely experienced, so the actors/ models interaction is most convincing. Very impressive, when you consder it's all stop frame like Wallace and Grommit, not a computer in sight ...... a bit wobbly maybe, but I still prefer it to cgi.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? , film4, 9pm.

A timely showing, as we were discussing this above (Critics' corner).

The Coens' films often refer back to a particular genre, sometimes a particular film, in this case it's Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels. Also, the escape from a chain gang refers back to "I am a fugitive from a chain gang", that great depression era social conscience film. Also, the main character is named Ulysses, and his wanderings are then based on Homer's Odyssey ..... this complicated enough for you?

Anyway, 3 men wander across depression era southern USA, as hobos, having many adventures .... the folk music being from a "fake" band. After the film, like Spinal Tap, they became real, releasing an album and going on tour .....

Personally, I don't like this, finding it much too pretentious and unstructured, after the Coen's much tighter earlier films. Their dire remake of Ladykillers, in particular, has been a box office and critical flop.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Sinbad and Eye of the Tiger, film4, 6.55pm.

Last - and not best! - of the Sinbad films (get those 1970s hairstyles). However, has much of Ray Harryhausen's stop frame animation, and by this time he was extremely experienced, so the actors/ models interaction is most convincing. Very impressive, when you consder it's all stop frame like Wallace and Grommit, not a computer in sight ...... a bit wobbly maybe, but I still prefer it to cgi.

I think that's the one where Jane Seymore shows off a bit more than she was supposed to. Patrick Troughton stars, as do the various Harryhausen creations. I liked it.

 

[spiney]

I think that's the one where Jane Seymore shows off a bit more than she was supposed to. Patrick Troughton stars, as do the various Harryhausen creations. I liked it.

Bit like Dr Who, then, but bigger budget!

Friday 22 Sept.

The Amytiville Horror, 10pm, ITV4.

"Fair" ghost story, made to cash in on the success of Exorcist and Omen. Tension builds up nicely, well handled, with some good moments (especially the rocking chair, and floating eyes), unfortunately the end gets a bit daft. Also, giving the house itself a "face and eyes" is a bit silly!
Then, there was Amityville2, and Amytiville3D (there was a brief early 80s fad for polariod 3D films, which quickly died out).

Sadly, there's been an "inevitable" recent remake, sigh .....

The "true story!" behind this was gruesome, with a paperback best seller "sexing up" claimed occult aspects, and the film then expanded on that. Quite rightly, this was criticised as being done just for money, playing on a credulous public craving for "all things occult" ........
http://www.csicop.org/si/2003-01/amityville.html .

The Crying Game, film4, 10.55pm.

A remarkable film - if you haven't seen it - built entirely around the the amazing ability of (then a non actor!) Jaye Davidson.
PS, if you have seen it, then don't give away the "plot twist" (whaddya mean, "everyone already knows"?).

 

[JTA]

for those of you who haven't seen firefly yet :
SciFi is repeating the series starting 9pm tonight.
one of the better sci-fi series of the past few years !

 

[spiney]

also Friday (oops I almost forgot!) .......

Last Night, 2.45 am (Sat morning), Ch4.

I haven't seen - so can't comment on - this Canadian horror film (not made by Cronenberg, 'cos this time he's in it instead!). About the end of the world, in Toronto (yeah, well ....). Tag line: "It's not the end of the world ..... there's still 6 hours left" !!!!

It did get lots of awards - mostly in Canada! - although also one from Cannes festival.

(Also, tonight - Friday - Arte are showing Cronenberg's The Dead Zone, the French version might possibly have the original English soundtrack, dunno, i can't decypher those funny symbols on tvtv listings!).

Saturday 23rd Sept.

Men In Black, BBC1, 5.50pm.

Based on the idea of the supposed "men in black" - bizarrely inept UFO investigators, who (in UFO folklore) are supposed to turn up and interview people who've had a "close encounter" and ask them silly questions - this is a comedy horror sci fi. Featuring some bizarre and unlikely aliens! Both T L Jones (of course!) and Will Smith are good, and I like that hypnosis gadget that makes people forget everything, would be very useful!

Read more on the actual (not this film!) MIBs here, note that I haven't a clue what it all means, or whether UFOs exist ......
http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1715.htm .

The Fabulous Baker Boys, BBC4, 9.20pm.

This is an excellent film! About 2 "hotel lounge" pianists, whose stage act is withering, until they hire a singer, who saves their act, but then threatens their longstanding relationship ........
The 2 fictitious brothers are real life brothers Beau and Jeff Bridges (who look very different!), who both play the piano very well. The singer is Michelle Pfieffer, who can sing, and is ......... delicious.
There's a very funny bit at the beginning, where they'e auditioning various singers, although it's maybe copied from eariler film The Commitments.
http://fabulousbakers.tripod.com/ab/bakerboys/entry.html .

The Grinch, ITV2, 9.20pm.

A well regarded computer graphics childrens' film, but what's it doing on at this time of night?

The Shining, 10.30pm, BBC2 (film of the day).

A flawed film, but Kubrick's ghost story is still miles better than most others! A family - dad, mum, small boy - agree to spend the winter in an isolated desserted hotel, as caretakers, to keep the boilers going and do emergency repairs, etc. As winter arrives - and the hotel is cut off by huge snowdrifts - it slowly "becomes alive" with occult activity. Turns out that the boy has an amazing psychic gift (shining), and the hotel wants to add him to its collection of "ghostly presences" .......

(In Stephen King's original novel, Jack Torrence is a recovering ex alcoholic, who deliberately isolates himself in the "dry" hotel to work on a novel. This isn't made too clear in the film - though there's references - but otherwise it's fairly faithful to the original. Except for some things that were unfilmable, eg the "moving" hedges!).

As always, Kubrick the Master Film Technician uses cinematography to "deliver" his story, with clever use of handheld camera, lens, exposure, colour, etc ...... especially notice the famous opening sequence. This film was "landmark" for its early use of steadicam (click on "steadicam", top of page):
http://www.archiviokubrick.it/english/movies/ts/making/index.html?main=arbus .

(Jack Nicolson was heavily criticised for "going over the top", but all the same his "descent into madness (demonic posession?) is an accomplished first rate performance. Shelly Duval is good as the nervous fraught mother, and Scatman Crowthers deserves a mention (and of course, Danny Lloyd as the boy)).

Kubrick's daughter Vivian (the little girl in 2001!) was by then 17, and the BBC arena programme comissioned her to film The Shining, (clever, since Kubrick was notoriously secret, with closed sets etc). The resulting film was a rare portrait of Kubrick at work, worth seeing if you get the chance.

Kubrick was a perfectionist, and this film apparently holds the record for most ever takes of one scene (127!).

 

[spiney]

Sunday 24th Sept.

Narrow Margin, ITV4, 10pm.

I'm not a fan of director Hyams, but this is a good remade thriller, better than the original (above, critics' corner, I said there were no better remakes, but I've listed 2 since!). Gene Hackman gives a truly excellent performance.

Croupier, 10.10pm, more4.

I've not seen this, but a supposedly good film from Mike Hodges (Get Carter, Flah Gordon).