MIXED BAG THIS WEEK!

Well hello!

I posted my blog in such a darned hurry last week I couldn't even write my custommery editorial! Well, as you can see it's just an old school mixed batch of classics. But it also includes Fargo by the Coen brothers - by far in the top three of my favorite directors - and Saun of the dead by Edgar Wright who follows closely on their heels!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

have a good week,
Essie

MIXED BAG WEEK! : FARGO

This is actually the second time I watched this film. I thought it only fair seeing as I barely remembered anything at all about the first time. I was NOT drunk at the time, I was, however, very young. Far too young to understand the Coen Brothers’ very dark style. Having grown a little (and being over 25 yet under five feet tall I can safely add “not a lot though!”), I decided it was time to re-evaluate this one. It was, after all, the Coen brothers. So now, the film is officially one of my favorite films ever as opposed to some obscure little number in my past. No kidding and no exaggerating, this film makes my top 10, heck it makes the top 5. Not because I’m a violent person by nature you understand (my top five of films aren’t exactly David Attenborough documentaries if you get my drift) but… I dunno it’s a sort of dark humor to be found in directors like Tarantino and the Coen brothers that really REALLY get me… But more on that later, now Fargo; the story of the best made plans of mice and men and how they can go truly and terribly wrong… Oh and by the way… True story…
Jerry Lundegard (William H. Macy – don’t you just LOVE the guy?) is a man with problems. You wouldn’t think it to look at him, I mean sure, he IS a little too soft spoken and indecisive for a car salesman but he’s doing alright. He works in his father in law’s car showroom (which is already an embarrassment) but at least he has a loving wife and son. His wife’s family is very well off so they have nothing much to worry about but Jerry himself has money problems. His father in law neither respects nor likes him, so asking him for help is basically out / useless. So, in his “wisdom”, Jerry comes up with a plan. He’s going to have his wife kidnapped, just like in the movies. His father in law, fearing for his daughter’s life, will cough up the one million dollar ransom money (only Jerry’ll con the kidnappers it’s much less of course and take most of it himself), then Jerry will pay off the kidnappers, he’ll get his wife back – a little traumatized but otherwise OK –life will go on as usual and his problems will disappear, right? No. True, Shep Proudfoot a friendly mechanic has put him in touch with the right guy for the job (Steve Buscemi, another one of my favorites) but the thing is, he’s brought a friend along (Peter Stormare). You might class this as a minor detail, however no one, no not even his friend is able to fathom what a MASSIVE difference this one extra man is going to make…
First of all, I have to say on a serious note that I am flabbergasted that such an event actually took place. As you can imagine, it ends in loss of life and more than one life at that… It is a perfect, TEXTBOOK example of what happens when normal people like you and I try and apply tactics from films to real life. On the one hand you watch Jerry struggle. You watch the frustrations mount. You can imagine yourself thinking this would be the ideal way out if you were in his shoes, the thing is you may or may not be able to imagine yourself actually doing it…
I will not say the film mocks the events in any way. The “two headed director” (nick name for the brothers who are notorious for working very closely apparently) spares nothing in the portrayal of the shock and horror that unfurls as one man tries to find a quick fix for his money problems. And the other characters are brilliantly put forth too, there is Marge the sheriff for instance (Francis McDormand who won an Oscar® for her troubles) ; seven months pregnant, a sweet person with a loving marriage trying to figure out what in the world happened, as the bodies just keep piling up… And although what you are watching is horrific and you are gripping the arms of the chair with baited breath, there are moments where you just can’t help breaking out into partially nerve-induced laughter…

MIXED BAG WEEK! : SHAUN OF THE DEAD

Now, as some of you may actually know, your humble author has been on a bit of a sabbatical for a while now. And said author (me) is (am) using this opportunity to peg the massive holes in her (my) cinematographic general culture. I take the operation very seriously and try and watch a film a day at least. But sometimes, it all gets too much. When I settled down this morning, second cup of tea in hand, to figure out what to do with the rest of the day I A) wanted to get on and watch a film. B) wanted to do something not too taxing. After a barrel load of classics (including three days of “And Quiet Flowed The Don”) I somehow didn’t quite feel up to something heavy. Something light yet sustaining. Like chicken soup only not necessarily “good for you”. Fruit salad with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, I was looking for that kind of film – something you could seriously enjoy eating yet not get indigestion afterwards. I dug around in my “to watch” pile for about half an hour (no kidding – and yeah, what can I tell you, it’s a big pile!) when I stumbled across this yet again. I say “yet again” because it’s not the first time I’ve stumbled on this, only every other time I turned and chose something else at the last minute – until today…
Dear readers, I adore this film. But your reaction to it will vary depending largely on your reaction to British humor. If you love it (as I do) you’ll love it. If not, it may seem like a pointless waste of time. Bear in mind and read on…
Shaun (the BRILLIANT Simon Pegg) is your common or garden loser, living in the south of England. He shares a house with his straight-laced flat mate and his childhood friend Ed who is a prize slob. He works in retail and gets on with things. His girlfriend Liz however, would like slightly more. A change, an adventure, anything just as long as Shaun is shaken out of his torpor. Their relationship has almost reached crisis point when they notice something strange going on around them. A mysterious disease is turning the entire country into zombies. The disease is spreading, the panic is spreading and soon Shaun, Liz and a bunch of acquaintances are the only ones left “alive” in the neighborhood… But for how long?
The director of this timeless classic is Edgar Wright (who I wrote of in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World). And I swear I like the man’s work better every single time I watch it. The storyline of the film is, you may have noticed, the same as just about every other zombie film (funny or otherwise) out there. The story isn’t the point though. It’s a showcase of comic talent, that’s what it is. I mean, maybe at the outset it was meant to be a horror – comedy; for me it was just a comedy with zombies in it. I couldn’t begin to describe all the hilarious little details about the story and the characters (and wouldn’t dream of it either seeing as that would RUIN the film for you) or the MAGNIFICENT finale but I assure you, you will enjoy it. Even if you don’t like zombies. And so long as you like British humor. I can’t say that often enough actually; if you don’t like British humor do yourself a favor and steer clear of this one. Personally, though it just affirmed something I thought all along. The British are one of the funniest peoples on earth…

MIXED BAG WEEK! : THE USUAL SUSPECTS

As I watched this one I got to thinking, Good Heavens the 90’s sure was a decade for “hard ass” action gangster films. The action of the 50’s, only revved up a bit. Now, The Usual Suspects is just such a film. It is in many ways very much a “boy’s film”, however taken in context it would appeal to anyone who actually likes crime movies. You know, putting the clues together, reaching a surprising and bigger picture that sort of jazz. I was “sort of ok” with it until the end. I was even mentally debating whether or not I should put it in the blog or not – you know I only write about the films I actually enjoyed. There are plenty more “unwatched classics” in the pile… But then I hit the punch line – or rather the punch line hit me. Punched me, in fact. At the risk of sounding like an antique dealer, it has a beautiful finish, a true classic. Imitations of it were made for a reason…
Thrown together in a seemingly random line – up, five crooks are thrown into big business together. Mac Manus and Finster (Stephen Baldwin and Benicio Del Toro) two notorious partners in crime, Dean Kent, a dirty cop trying to “retire” onto the straight and narrow, Verbal Kent (Kevin Spacey) a crippled con artist and an explosives expert make a bizarre but effective gang. They are then offered what appears to be the opportunity of a lifetime. One job, highly dangerous. The odds of surviving are iffy. The money waiting at the end if you do, is enormous… Their “patron” is what can be called a legend of the underworld, and backing out is not an option… Make no mistake, our little gang is in “it” over their heads… The question is, in what exactly?
This is an intelligent movie. I loved its logic. The thing is, it’s basically an action movie, don’t expect it to change your life… Plus it’s an action movie from the 90’s so don’t expect it to contain flashy special effects either. It has nostalgia value though, on many levels. Then there’s Kevin Spacey the true master and star of the show. I loved Benicio Del Toro as well, but unfortunately we don’t see enough of him for my taste… It’s a classic for a reason as I like to say and the precursor of many “hard ass” bad guy movies to come… The thing is this one has a lot more intelligence and finesse than the said “hard ass” movies that were to come. I mean that punch line I mentioned. I have actually seen it “employed” before. Never so well though. A good one for a Saturday evening in…

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED WEEK

Hello there!

In case you hadn't noticed I am back with this weeks reccomendations! Now, I've kept up the whole theme thing for another week and it's cartoons again. But ah... Not the kinda cartoons you were expecting. Now, what do you think of when I say the word "animation" or "cartoon"? I can't actually hear your answers but my educated guess would be something "Pixar-esque". Colorful, happy. Not so this lot. This lot is anything but that. Some are dark in content, some are dark - well... literally - as in black and white, and sometimes just plain different! Just wanted to show you the other face of animations this week fellas! I have three prime specimins below, scroll right down...

see you next week!
Essie

MORE CARTOONS ANYONE? TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED : "A SCANNER DARKLY"

Now, in telling its story, this film employs a rather original technique… Now, the whole thing is an animation, no doubt about that but the animated characters are real actors. Drawing of Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrellson and Winona Rider (she’s the epitome of the 90’s as far as I’m concerned, it was a bit of a surprise to see her acting in a 2006 film if you see what I mean… ) parade around the screen making one feel decidedly odd. But odd is good in this particular case and experimental. Almost a nice mid-way solution for those who don’t particularly like animations, a wonder we didn’t think of it before… Apart from a few sci-fi details the whole film is set within “real” boundaries too, no weird space creatures (well there is a creature from another dimension but in context it’s actually quite acceptable), no one flying through the air… Serious and sci-fi never the less. And very thought provoking…
In the future – but not the too distant future – the world has become a much more totalitarian place… Security cameras are everywhere recording our every move, undercover cops everywhere trying to uncover God knows what… The biggest problem is D, also known as Death. That by the way is not a bad joke but the name of a highly addictive drug; little red pills that first give you a massive high and then of course, by degrees, destroy you. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is one of the good detectives working on the gangs selling “D”. He is undercover, completely so because at his office he wears a “scrambler suit” preventing him from being recognized and is known as Agent Fred. He spends time as Bob Arctor with a bunch of small-time dealers and addicts, trying to get to the “bigger picture”. However as the operation deepens, Arctor has to take more and more D to keep “in” with the suspects. Plus when he (Agent Fred) is given the bizarre directive of keeping an especially close eye on Bob Arctor things start getting tricky… And schizophrenic… In more senses than one…
It doesn’t take long to realize this is a very “anti system” film. Not anarchist in any way but anti-totalitarianism, anti-big companies having their own agendas and controlling everything. It’s sci-fi of course, none of it is based on real events but the dedication at the end seems to imply it is in the memory of security service agents who were irretrievably harmed in the line of duty. It isn’t a “down with everything” type of message though. This is very clearly a dystopia, “look, this is what we could become. Let us do our best not to be so”. And this should be done by being anti-totalitarianism of all kinds. Not letting anyone get too strong for the common good. It’s a good film and a good moment to stop and reflect on what could happen without freedom. Something we should possibly do more often…

MORE CARTOONS ANYONE? TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED : "RENAISSANCE"

Ok, the next film on this week’s list is also a dystopia I’m afraid. Don’t worry, the next one is a touch more cheerful and you don’t have to watch them all at once if you are not that way inclined… Ok, this is a dystopia but it’s not actually as “farfetched” as “A Scanner Darkly”, not as “sci-fi”, but it’s futuristic and dark… It’s got a similar “m.o.” as A Scanner Darkly but not quite the same (Yeah, I know, no two works of art are the same, don’t get lippy on me!). The lines and the choice of style in that film are more realistic… I don’t quite know how to put it, it must have some computer “juice” in it as well, and it seems half real and half drawing in places… Renaissance is a “bona fide” cartoon, and I gather the characters are all based on actual actors; the style is by NO stretch of the imagination the same. Another thing is that it is a “black and white cartoon”. Yep, no colors AT all… (Doesn’t get further from Pixar studios does it really?)A little tough to watch in bits but one gets used to it, honest…
Our hero is Captain Karas. He lives in Paris of the future, but not the too distant future. Many things are different – glass pedestrian sidewalks above the ways for cars, computers are very high tech and so are weapons… But some things are the same… The underworld is still the underworld big corporations still rule… Well, pretty much everything. In this case we are talking about Avalon, experts and monopoly of beauty products everywhere… When one of their brilliant young researchers mysteriously vanishes, Karas is called into action. He realizes very quickly that the situation is a lot more complicated than it seems, and as Avalon is involved it’s bound to be dangerous too… But when Karas starts having a relationship with the lost girl’s sister, then the case gets personal… Not a good idea if one’s life is at stake…
Well, they class this one as a dystopia but actually I have seen worse. We all know how evil big corporations can actually be, we’ve all seen adventure stories with handsome cops, beautiful girls and high-speed chases… There is a little sci-fi thrown in but this will not throw you off the story, a story that is nail-bitingly exciting at that… Yes, people of an older generation might be slightly “jolted” by the fact that it’s a cartoon but don’t let it put you off. The style really adds to the dark and dangerous atmosphere and the film is really brilliant as perfect little whole. Who said French cinema sucked? They come up with some pretty good stuff as well – if they put their minds to it. It doesn’t even have Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu in it! :D

MORE CARTOONS ANYONE? TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED : "SPIRITED AWAY"

I want to give a shout to all my fellow “otaku” s out there! Now, for those of you who aren’t in the “know”, Otaku is a term used for an “anime” fan. Animes as you may or may not know are Japanese animated films and series. They follow a certain style have zillions of sub-categories and trillions of fans… Well not trillions but a goodly number, anyway. The only thing is that liking anime is considered the height of “nerdliness” in polite society and “otaku”s, the hardcore fans are at the top of the pyramid or lowest on the food chain depending on which angle you look at it from. Now, my knowledge of “anime” ain’t what it should be but I am a fan. Ooh yes. And there are some films that deserve world acclaim whether you’re an otaku or not… Among these gems (not little ones; think diamonds the size of your head) are the works of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. His drawings are truly magnificent, the stories imaginative and magical… He founded Gibli Studios and along with other brilliant artists they continue to churn out one work of art after the other) Not all of these reach a wider audience of course but “Spirited Away” most certainly did, winning awards all the world round and alerting quite a slice of the population to the existence of the genre… It’s a classic by a classic director, and I reckon if we’re doing “extraordinary cartoons” it sure deserves its place in the archives. And besides, if you’re looking for an introduction to anime, you won’t get a better one than this…
Chihiro is a little girl, and she is NOT happy. She and her parents are moving to a new city and she is not looking forward to getting used to a new school there. What starts off as an innocent stop on the way at a seemingly abandoned fairground turns dangerous however when they come across an open but unattended food store. Her parents tuck in at once and… Turn into pigs! Chihiro is terrified, because the sun goes down and the whole place comes to life exposing a magic bathhouse (remember, Japan is full of public bathhouses, going to one is considered quite everyday and normal) run by an evil witch and other magical creatures. The bathhouses are for the various spirits and gods (remember that spirits of rivers and forests along with various other gods are common in Japan too) and the only way to survive in this magical world (unless you have eaten some of the magic food and turned into a pig – in which case you get eaten incidentally) without disappearing (literally) is to find work in the bathhouse and “legitimize” your existence there if you will… Luckily a mysterious boy named Haku shows her the ropes and she starts work in the bathhouse, however she is determined this is not the end of matters. She will find a way of getting the better of the owner of the bathhouse, save her parents and return to her own world no matter what it takes…
Now, I don’t need to spell this out to you but this is pure, unadulterated escapism. And the great thing about animes is… They’re Japanese! As in they are not the Western stuff we enjoy, but are quite used to. Think of it as having a curry or sushi. You crave a change. You like eating exotic food. OK, you don’t eat it the whole time, but oh boy, do you love it when it comes along. These, I always find, are a double dose of escapism. Firstly you are swept up into a magical world, far, far away from all your daily strife… And secondly, although the world you step into has some “footholds” from the real world (they have to if you think about it) well, they’re from a culture you hardly know! I mean maybe you know a lot about Japan but even so it’s a culture you don’t live in (I’m assuming you’re a “Westener”) and don’t experience every day. The end result is you feel as if you ‘re catapulted to another planet for hours, you enjoy yourself thoroughly then come back to earth refreshed and renewed. All for the price of movie ticket /DVD. Don’t be shy now, step right in… You surely don’t have to be cool the WHOLE time… =)

ANIMATED EXTRAVAGAZA WEEK!

Howdy folks!

We have hit that time in my programme of "a film a day" when I have watched one sad and serious film too many - and I want to let my hair down! So I have gone for animations... Now don't scoff, as usual only the top quality stuff gets in - stuff you have DEFINATELY heard of if not already watched. Intrigued? Scroll down!
This has given me a bit of an idea actually... There are quite a few animated movies that are by no means "kids movies" out there... Hmm, I feel another theme coming on... =)
happy viewing - and see you all next week!
Essie

ANIMATED EXTRAVAGANZA 1 : OK LET'S START WITH A FUTURE CLASSIC - "WALL-E"!

I’m now going to let you in on a little secret. I am a very VERY big softie indeed, so much so that I was slightly nervous about watching Wall-e. No, I can explain. I just skimmed the beginning of the synopsis you see. Dead planet. Cute little robot all by himself. He doesn’t know where anyone else is. I shuddered long and hard, decided it would probably make me cry, pushed it way back to the bottom of my “to watch” pile and actively ignored it, if you see what I mean. My friends ranted and raved about it, it won an Oscar ®, heck it won a whole host of awards, I still didn’t care. Well “Requiem For A Dream” is also a brilliant movie but you may well need a course of anti-depressants or a few sessions of counseling after watching it. So there I was, happily pretending “Wall-e” never happened when this years’ Oscar® nominations were announced. I had stumbled across Wall-e a couple of days earlier. I stuffed it back to the bottom of the pile of course but the argument that the fact that you might need counseling or anti-depressants is NOT a valid argument for not watching Requiem For A Dream had occurred to me. And I was sadly behind on watching this year’s nominations, so there really didn’t seem to be much of an excuse anymore… I sighed deeply, armed myself with a mug of tea (the British cure for shock) and plenty of tissues and hunkered down in front of the television set. Feel free to call me an idiot. What can I tell you, I should have trusted Pixar Studios.
Now, let’s get our story straight. Wall-e is indeed a cute little robot living on a dead planet earth. He lives on Planet Earth, 800 years from now. He has a happy if rather monotonous existence; his only friend is a little beetle and Wall-e goes around by himself tidying up New York City. Well there is a lot of city to tidy up, mountains of trash and discarded objects everywhere but at least all the human beings have left (all though God only knows where to and how). Wall-e trundles around collecting objects that seem interesting to him and watching old musicals (Hello Dolly to be exact) when he is off duty. Wall-e would like to fall in love, just like in the movie but he is all alone (except the beetle) so that is very much that. Until… One day a loud, noisy and rather scary spaceship leaves behind another robot. She is called EVE, she is white and she is nothing like anything Wall-e has ever seen… It’s love at first sight for Wall-e, Eve is slightly more dubious but it seems to be going well, until… Eve is stricken by a mysterious disease, shuts down and is taken back by the giant spaceship. Now, having found true love, wall-e is darned if he’s going to lose it that quickly so he stows away on the spaceship to “save” Eve. He soon finds himself in the middle of something quite epic. The future of mankind depends on Wall-e and Eve; they must save the humans from what probably is their most dangerous enemy. Themselves…
You probably know or have guessed that the undertones of the film (none too subtle at that…) the environment, saving the planet and being pro-active about it. As in getting off your backside and actually doing something (you’ll see EXACTLY what I mean when you watch the film). There have been many films of many different genres on the topic. Indeed it is a topic that cannot grow old or stale until we actually DO something to save our poor planet but that is beside the point. The point is, there have been VERY few films as good as Wall-e. The characters are sweet to “t”. The new worlds created… Well, it’s Pixar, vintage Pixar… I always admired that corporation now I know why some people are out and out fans of it. I SHOULD know I’m now officially one of those fans! It will stretch your imagination to the limits and it will make you think about what we very well may become in 800 years if we go on like this. Heck, it might even push you into trying and doing something to stop it. Personally I would much prefer this to be forever thought of as a wonderful tribute to human imagination as opposed to a film “full of foresight”… If you see what I mean…

ANIMATED EXTRAVAGANZA 2 : UP!

Well, we started this week off with Pixar studios I don’t see why we shouldn’t go on with them =) No interesting story as to why I never watched this though. Nope, sheer negligence I’m afraid. But, it was the day after I watched Wall-e, and I was searching for something to watch for the day (during my sabbatical, I have adopted a “one film a day” policy. Unless something very exceptional happens, I try and definitely watch one film every day). And now since I’m hot on my new “themes” line, Up literally bounced out at me (for those of you who watched it, it was a bit like Russell “me, me, me!” =) ). It made me laugh, it made me cry… A beautiful film. Just goes to show there is a lot more to cartoons than meets the eye. So much so, I’m actually planning on doing a second week of them, studying the more unusual ones, but more on that later. It won’t be next week anyway ;)
Now, Up. Unless you moved to the moon recently, even if you don’t know the full story of the film, you will know that Up is about a flying house. Yes, an old man who ties tons of balloons to the flying house and makes it fly. It’s all over the posters and the teaser shown in cinemas. Now, let’s put that into context shall we? The old man is Carl Frederickson. He is one of the lucky ones who was blessed with true love. His wife Ellie and he were childhood sweethearts. They never had kids – not for lack of trying – but they truly loved each other and were happy. They had many things that united them and one of them was a childhood hero; the great explorer Charles Munson. When she was a child, Ellie wanted to move her house to Paradise Falls in Venezuela. Once grown up, the dream seemed slightly more improbable of course but they do their darndest to get there. They don’t manage however, and then Ellie passes away leaving Carl on his own and completely lacking in… Well many things, but above all a meaning to his existence. Then he remembers something: the promise he made to Ellie all those years ago. He was going to take her to Paradise Falls, and the house with them. As he is facing eviction and a forced trip to the retirement village, Carl decides the only sensible thing to do is to tie balloons to the house and make off. So he does just that. However, nothing in life is straightforward and the best made plans come unstitched at the seams. Carl’s begin when he realizes he has inadvertently brought someone with him on his porch… Then a pack of talking dogs, a strange bird and Charles Munson get mixed up in the whole thing. At the age of eighty-something, Carl is about to embark on one of the greatest adventured of his life…
I was once again struck by the power of animation as I watched this film. And the distance it has come since “Steamboat Willy” (that, in case you didn’t know, was the first name of the character we now know as “Mickey Mouse”). Cartoons were seen merely as children’s entertainment before whereas now, they can be used both to create new and wonderful worlds and characters and to convey very complicated sentiments. Take Up for instance. Without and dialogue and with the use of a very neat yet deep and meaningful sequence, we learn that Ellie has a miscarriage and thus Carl and Ellie are unable to have children. Ellie is heartbroken but Carl nurses her back to life, and reminds her of their dream of going to Paradise Falls, giving her a new lease of life. All this in a couple of minutes, touchingly put with all the appropriate sentiment. Then of course there’s the comedy factor. I mean not every actor in show bizz is good at mimics and accents; everyone has their own specific talent. With animation however, a host of caricatures and features become real – well pretty close to real anyway! This doesn’t mean serious topics cannot be undertaken, I mean I was so touched at one point I actually burst into tears and they were by NO means tears of joy or laughter… Love in its many forms is ever present in the film as is an INCREDIBLE adventure… Not to be missed…

ANIMATED EXTRAVAGANZA 3 : DICK TRACY!

Ok, ok I know. Technically, this is NOT an animated film. But even if it’s not actually a cartoon, it was part of a cartoon strip. Heck, it was adapted from a cartoon strip! Come on be honest, anyone who was familiar with Dick Tracy before Warren Beatty brought him to life knew him in cartoon form. (I should have specified of course, out of the many incarnations of the cartoon detective, we are interested today in the 1990 incarnation vie Warren Beatty – another example of someone directing a film and playing the lead in it… However, since this is Dick Tracy we’re talking about, he naturally gets the limelight so there’s nothing much to complain about… Humph… ). And besides, have you actually seen the movie? Remember all the villains? Big Boy, Mumbles and the rest of the mob? They were all made up to look like cartoons for crying out loud, the films won an Oscar® for its’ art direction! By the way ,if you watch this one, please note how sometimes the shots of the town look like cutouts or drawings… The brightly colored costumes too… I loved it, LOVED it… But less of my rambling on and on, you want to hear about the film.
Dick Tracy… You all know him, out on the streets, fearlessly fighting the bad guys, saving the day, putting the mobsters in jail… Well, things turn a bit nasty for him when the notorious Big Boy Spaldoni (played by a very made up and superbly “over acting” Al Pacino) takes over the underworld making himself the boss of a very powerful, dark empire. He is preparing to hold the entire city to ransom and Tracy is the only one who can stop him! Tracy has problems however. His long term girl friend Tess Trueheart wants to settle down and for him to take a nice, safe desk job. There’s “the kid” a nameless orphan he has rescued from the street but who he can’t seem to get rid of. Then there’s a rather stunning gangster’s Moll (played by an equally stunning Madonna) who is desperately trying to get him… Not in the “gangster” sense though. Will Tracy save the day? Or has he finally met his match in Big Boy Spaldoni?
You can take this movie in a number of ways and one of them is almost definitely a spoof gangster film. I mean yes, it has all the classic marks of Dick Tracy, heck, Warren Beatty is a pretty good choice for Tracy; he even looks like him. But one can’t help seeing the irony in Al Pacino playing Big Boy Spaldoni. He splutters, he is bad tempered he is one of the funniest mafia bosses ever to hit the screen and all this portrayed by the guy who played Toni Montana and Michael Corleone… I roared with laughter. Dustin Hoffmann has a nice little part as Mumbles – caricature of another kind of gangster, you will see what I mean when you watch it. As for Madonna and the songs well… Combine her voice and the talent of the famous score writer Dany Elfman small wonder the film won the Oscar ® for best song… What else can I tell you? Good guys vs bad guys, car chases, beautiful dames, big guns… The 50’s, best of the 50’s… You will LOVE it…

ESSIESPICS GOES BACK IN TIME!

Well Hello!

I hope you're all doing well since last week! You may have noticed I rather like this theme idea. And none of you have exactly complained about it so I'm carrying right on with it. This week's theme is "time travel". Not necessarily sci-fi movies but movies that are real period pieces. You know, the ones that transport us back to a certain era in some way (allthough I naturally HAD to throw in Back to the Future, that's a given =)) And well there's a bit of a family connection in one of the posts too, see what you make of it =)

see you next week - happy watching!
Essie

BACK IN TIME - THE 1910'S - "AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON"

I am happy to report that after much effort, I am beginning to stem my “wholesale” film watching tendencies. Take this little gem for instance. Well the point is, it is NOT a little gem; at 330 minutes long it is divided into three parts. I watched it in three days despite the temptation and am happy to say it was the RIGHT choice. Each part is about 100 minutes long, the length of a decent film and besides, so much is going on that you need the time to “digest” it all so to speak. Having shared this little personal triumph with you, I will now get on with the film.
Now, this is an adaptation from the Nobel winning novel of the same name by the Russian writer Sholokhov. I am not too worried about it being an adaptation though. It is a Russian adaptation and it was shot in 1957 and 1958; not long after the events that were depicted so we can imagine that between the book and the film we have before us quite a realistic picture of life in rural Russia at the beginning of the century. The story is set in a little Cossack village. Traditions are strong and ways of life have been handed down for generations unchanged. The year is 1914; the First World War hasn’t begun yet. Scandal hits when married woman Akseniya openly starts having an affair with Grigory a hot headed young Cossack known for his emotions and temper. Before they can think how to put their lives in order though, the war strikes and shortly afterwards, the Soviet revolution. The Great War, the internal struggles that continue long into 1919 throw our heroes and their fates around like toys; death is everywhere as neighbors are set against each other along the lines of “white” and “red”. As the entire village struggles to find its place in the new order ,can true love triumph over it all? Or is there no place for such emotions in the new world order?...
This film touched me on many levels. First of all, to restate what I said in the introduction, it was shot merely 40 years after the events described. So the whole thing was pretty much part of living memory at the time. There is one scene, for instance, of the Cossack battalion charging across the plains. Now in case you didn’t know, the Cossacks have great renown as warriors and horsemen. They charged, on horseback issuing war cries and wielding long swords. Such a sight is part of period drama for us now, but at the time, they actually remembered what this looked like. It’s as close as we will ever get to seeing such things and I think this is very sad.
The story also describes wonderfully how the common people are tossed about in turmoil, lives are ruined and destroyed as great men argue with great words… The chaos brought by the revolution is concretely Russian here but the emotion can be transposed to any country in the world and any time of political turmoil… I cried desperately on more than one occasion during the film.
I have to say though; there is a slightly more personal reason too for my liking this film. My great grandfather was Russian. At the time of the communist revolution of 1917, he and his family were what is called “kulags” ; they were landowners; the owners of a big farm with many workers on it. The communists didn’t like the idea as you can well imagine. My great grandfather and one of his brothers escaped to Turkey to save themselves. They were a large family (9 siblings in total) but my great grandfather never saw his parents or his other brothers and sisters again. Some years later, he fell out with his brother too and they didn’t speak to each other for the rest of their lives. However, the story doesn’t end that sadly. He fell in love you see, the real deal too, converted to Islam and got married. They had a son (my grandfather) who in turn had children of his own and Ayza (we think this is how his name would be spelt in the Latin alphabet) spent his twighlight years playing with his grandchildren and telling them stories of the big farm in Crimea.
Unfortunately, no one in the family remembers Ayza (later Ali Rıza Efendi)’s Russian patronymic or surname, but we do have a picture of him and his young wife in the sitting room. I thought of him a lot as I watched this film, hence the short biography. This post is dedicated to his memory…

BACK IN TIME - THE '50S - "CINEMA PARADISO"

Now, this film warmed me to the cockles of my heart. It’s a story about growing up and discovering; discovering life, discovering oneself and generally growing up. The year it was released, in 1988, it cleared the table, Oscars®, Cannes, César Awards, the David Di Donatella awards and many besides… When you look at the subject matter, you might think that it is a classic case of the cinema honoring itself – it is the story of the discovery of the cinema too (and possibly one of the reasons I felt so close to it) but it is A LOT more than that. It is a tribute to another era, the era of classical cinema…
Salvatore Di Vito is one of the most successful directors in Italy. He lives in Rome and spares little thought for his hometown; a tiny village he hasn’t visited for 30 years… A telephone call he receives one day will jerk him back there however. A very old friend has died. Salvatore is swept up by memories and we follow him back to the 1940’s, an era where the cinema was the only form of entertainment for a small village. Films were in black and white, sound was a novelty and Salvatore – Toto back then - was a very naughty little boy forever getting into trouble and forever pestering Alfredo, the long suffering fellow working the projector in the local cinema. Toto wants to learn how to operate the machine, Toto wants the old scraps of film lying around and Toto is forever under Alfredo’s feet. In time, the two will become fast friends and Alfredo will guide Toto, as he grows up, through some of the most difficult decisions of his life…
We have all watched “coming of age” movies of course. But this one IS special. We see Toto portrayed by various actors at various stages in his life, but the little 7 year-old Toto is by far the SWEETEST little kid I have seen in a long time… The story is naïve and touching in one way, and in another very poignant, even today. It’s all about what to do with one’s life, difficult and life changing decisions and all the things that shape and mold us as we grew up.
Besides, again, it reminds us of a different era, no? Before home entertainment systems and DVDs, the cinema ruled. Like the opera of the 19th century people went there to see and be seen. Movie stars were huge. In small villages like this one, people centered their lives round the cinema; there is one scene where people almost break the door down clamoring for another showing – can you imagine that happening today at any cinema? You’d just put the DVD back on, right? A worthy tribute to the past of a great medium and a must-watch for any cinephile…

ENOUGH OF THE PAST! LET'S GO "BACK TO THE FUTURE!"

OK, so I’m ashamed I even have to mention this one as one of the films I have recently watched but what can I tell you… Some of the holes in my film knowledge are truly massive. Well I’m glad I watched it. Quite apart from the fact that the film is HILARIOUS, it is the granddaddy of all time travel films and a BRILLIANT 80’s time capsule to boot!
Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox – sad to think the poor guy caught Parkinson’s disease later on in life, such a brilliant Hollywood actor!) is a teenager living in the USA, in the 80’s, in a small town. He rides his skateboard, likes rock music, and plays in a band… Oh HE is the good friend of the local eccentric, a mad scientist under the name of Prof. Emmet Brown. Now, Prof. Brown is well known for his failed inventions, but one fateful night, he actually succeeds. He succeeds in building nothing less than a time machine (we all know what THAT looks like right? Come on, even I knew about the old Delorian…). However, as things do, things do not go according to plan. Marty inadvertently finds himself all alone in 1955. The time machine’s fuel is left back in the present (read 1985) as is the professor. When, on top of all this, Marty inadvertently prevents his mother and father meeting, he has a far more serious problem on his hands… Now, apart from fixing the time machine and getting back to the future, he also has to make sure he has a future to get back to…
It is all we expect a Hollywood film to be. Steven Spielberg, good actors, a Hollywood ending… I can see why it became… Well, it’s almost a franchise isn’t it? And it sprung so many archetypes in the years that followed. Time travel. Flying cars. Mad scientists (not exactly a new theme but you have to admit a lot of mad scientists in movies today seem to be distant cousins of Prof. Brown.)It was the first time many things were done, and done brilliantly. A typical example of good old fashioned family entertainment.
And although the film is suitable for the younger members of the family as well, the older members will find it especially nostalgic, because first of all the film is set in 1985 (and that brings back a flood of memories to anyone who was alive in the 80’s, even the tail end of it like me) and then of course in 1955, fun to watch whether you like films from that period or it brings back memories to you as well… You’ll like this one. Don’t wait as long as I did to watch it.