Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

TED on Tuesday: Curiosity, Cinema, and a Trek to the South Pole


Last week in my regular TED on Tuesday post, Ben Saunders -  Trek to The North Pole or Stay at Home? I featured two inspiring talks by Ben Saunders, an English adventurer who has pushed his body to the limits while trekking to both the North and South Poles. In that post I only included his TED Talk recounting his trek on skis to the North Pole. In todays post I have decided to include his talk recounting the extreme challenges he and his companion faced trekking to the South Pole

To the South Pole and Back [17.00]
This year, explorer Ben Saunders attempted his most ambitious trek yet. He set out to complete Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s failed 1912 polar expedition — a four-month, 1,800-mile round trip journey from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back. In the first talk given after his adventure, just five weeks after his return, Saunders offers a raw, honest look at this “hubris”-tinged mission that brought him to the most difficult decision of his life.


More Information

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TED on Tuesday: Curiosity and Cinema: The Story of “The Eagle Huntress”
The second talk is by Otto Bell, the film maker behind the highly successful documentary, The Eagle Huntress. My review of this film, At The Movies: The Eagle Huntress, has been quite popular since I first posted it, and I thought readers would be interested to learn the story behind the film from the director himself.

In this TEDx talk at Wake Forest University, Otto Bell explains just how curious he was about the Kazakh culture and why he felt the need to document the Kazakh way of life.

Bell is the director of more than 15 documentary films, which have taken him all over the world. Most recently, he directed “The Eagle Huntress,” a documentary about a 13-year-old Mongolian girl who challenges the male-dominated Kazakh tradition of male eagle hunters. This film, which won eight awards and 18 nominations, is being remade as an animated feature at 20th Century Fox, and was recently named to the Oscar documentary feature shortlist. Bell holds and maintains a Green Card for “Outstanding Contribution to American Arts and Media.” 



This talk was given at a TEDx event at Wake Forest University using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

The Big Apple: Summer In The City


With a little more than two weeks left before I depart for New York City, you can be sure that I am fully engaged in all aspects of planning for the summer that is currently getting underway.

One of the reasons I love New York City so much, is the amazing range of free events that take place right across the five boroughs every summer. Once flights, accommodation, and food is accounted for, I will spend very little on high-priced events and activities during my stay. Having said that, I have already booked a series of concerts that have caught my attention at the City Winery and Highline Ballroom, but apart from these, and maybe one or two others, most of my entertainment will come from low cost music venues or the incredible array of free events available to every visitor and New Yorker.

The official New York City visitors site, NYCgo should be at the top of everyone’s list of websites when researching things to do—not just over the summer, but all year round. Here is a sampling of some of the summer concerts, movies and theatre events on offer, the vast majority of which are completely free:

You can watch a free movie every night of the week somewhere across the five boroughs. More than 130 sessions are currently scheduled, but be quick, in some instances the free summer film series have already begun. What you can expect to see: La La Land, Life of Pi, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Lego Batman Movie, The Big Lebowski, Blazing Saddles, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Muppet Movie, Logan, The Secret Life of Pets, Finding Dory, Selma, and Hidden Figures, just to name a baker’s dozen from the extensive smorgasbord on offer.


If you don’t want to spend your evenings watching movies, you can always catch some live music.


The best things in life really are free, especially when it comes to NYC's summer concerts. Every May through August (Yes, the free summer concert season has also begun), you can hear live music of all kinds across the City without spending a dime. Whether it's punk on Staten Island, indie rock on the Manhattan waterfront, a classy night outdoors with the Metropolitan Opera or a diverse lineup of jazz and world music at SummerStage and Celebrate Brooklyn!, New York City's free open air performances are sure to please music lovers of all tastes. So what are you waiting for? Get out your digital calendars and start booking in your full summer concert schedule.

Other Free Concert Seasons
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I’m not sure what it is about Brookfield Place… that draws me in like a magnet whenever I find myself in Lower Manhattan. One of the attractions is definitely the relief from the city’s heat and humidity that the vast atrium provides. Other draws are the numerous food outlets on site, clean restrooms (Yay!), and the schedule of free events programmed over the summer, which include art installations and music events. While not as extensive as other free musical offerings around the city, the location of Brookfield Place by the Hudson River still makes it a fine spot to rest and recuperate while enjoying the live music on offer. 

The stunning setting for the annual Lowdown Hudson Music Fest


The main events at Brookfield Place are the gigs at the annual Lowdown Hudson Music Fest:

Lowdown Hudson Music Fest Presents Common, and OK GO
Arts Brookfield’s annual summer music festival, the Lowdown Hudson Music Fest, returns to the heart of downtown New York for its seventh summer on July 18 and 19. Bringing fun, lively, world-class musical talent to the picturesque Waterfront Plaza at Brookfield Place, this year’s festival will be headlined by rapper and producer Common on Tuesday, July 18, and quirky veteran rockers OK GO on Wednesday, July 19. Both shows are free to attend and open to the public. In keeping with the summer festival vibe, shows are standing room only and will feature a festival bar. Event is rain or shine, except for extreme weather conditions.

Tuesday, July 18: COMMON
Wednesday, July 19: OK GO

Other events at Brookfield Place

These free theatre shows include performances of Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor, on the Bryant Park lawn; and the Bard’s Richard III at Carroll Park, Brooklyn. Children can enjoy live performances of Charlotte’s Web, and Madagascar at the Sobelsohn Playground in Forest Park, Queens; and Cinderella Samba, at Dry Harbor Playground also in Forest Park, Queens.

And as if all the above were not enough, visitors can also join one of the many free tours that take place across the city. These include tours arranged by Big Apple Greeter, Central Park Conservancy, Tours by Foot, Grand Central Partnership, the Greenwich Village Alliance, and many others.

You can be sure dear reader, that the above collection represents just a fraction of the hundreds of events and activities, many of which are free or low cost, that will be taking place across New York City this, and every summer. Personally, I can't wait to immerse myself in the cultural heart of the this amazing metropolis once again.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Ten Desert Island Films

If you had to spend a year on a desert island, and could only take 10 movies with you, what would they be? Here, in no particular order are ten of my favourite films (by genre), with brief explanations for why I chose them. 

Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece. There as so many great moments in this movie. Everyone's favourite moment is when Robert Duvall's character, Col. Kilgore utters the famous, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning..." line. But my favourite line, also spoken by Duvall/Kilgore comes soon after that napalm line: "Someday this war's gonna end." There is so much regret in his voice when he says this, that you know Kilgore, and many people like him are going to miss the war, and the positions of power and influence it gives them.

I actually prefer the original version. The longer Redux version has lots of extra footage but much of it just gets in the way of the storytelling. While it was nice to see the much talked about French Plantation scene, and the Playboy Bunnies scene, I don't think they add a lot to the main story. In fact, I think the French Plantation scene actually makes the movie look dated when viewed today.

As for Marlon Brando's performance as Colonel Kurtz - I think it is great. It's perfectly fitting that this man Kurtz, who is slowly going crazy in his lair, deep in the Cambodian jungle, spends most of his time sitting in the dark brooding over his actions, while waiting to 'suffer the consequences' of these actions.

Favourite Scene: This movie is full of great scenes, but for sheer heart thumping excitement you can't go past Wagner's Ride of The Valkeryies as the choppers sweep in to attack the Vietnamese village early in the morning. I can never hear that music now, without thinking about that particular scene.

Other Contenders: Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket; and the brilliant German film about life on a German submarine during the Second World War, Das Boot (The Boat). If you are going to look for Das Boot online, do yourself a favour and find the original German language version, not the dubbed into English one.


Sci-Fi: Blade Runner
Why do I like this film so much? It is a combination of great acting, stunning sets and cinematography, and a story line with something real and meaningful to say. Ridley Scott's sci-fi noir masterpiece stars Harrison Ford, as the Blade Runner of the title, and Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Daryl Hannah as replicants (life-like robots), trying to find their maker before their working life runs out and they 'die'.

This is another movie I never get tired of re-watching. Of course, you should make sure you get the Directors Cut, which is probably the only version you can get on DVD anyway.

Favourite Scene: Batty/Rutger Hauer's final speech. "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to die..."

Other Contenders: Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, is an obvious choice. Less well known is another of my favourite sci-fi movies, Dark Star, a precursor of sorts to Ridley Scott's obvious contender, Alien.


Drama: Brazil
Terry Gilliam's classic movie of a not too distant dystopian future where a huge monolithic bureaucracy (which seems remarkably close to the vision George Orwell created in his book, 1984), controls every aspect of daily life. Staring Jonathon Price, Michael Palin, and Robert DeNiro, is Brazil just a bizarre dream? A terrifying nightmare? A figment of Jonathon Price's over active imagination?

Whatever it is - you may never view the comic genius of Michael Palin in the same way again. But that's already telling you too much if you haven't yet seen the movie, which I urge you to do - not once, but many times. In fact, you will need to see it multiple times to pick up on all the things you missed the first and subsequent times you watched it.

Like all of the films on this list, I never tire of watching this movie, but I have to be in a certain frame of mind before I do so. It's not the sort of film that leaves you with a good feeling - however brilliant it undoubtedly is.

Favourite Scene: I'm not sure if it's possible to have a favourite scene in this movie. It is at times bizarre, hilarious, bleak, terrifying, hallucinogenic, and much more besides. In deed, Sam Lowry's (that is, Jonathon Price's) first day in Information Retrieval is probably all of those adjectives and more, so I will select that as my favourite, although every scene is a winner.

Other Contenders: Louis Malle's Days of Heaven; Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate.


I love musicals. I think this goes back to my childhood when I fell head over heels in love with Doris Day, after seeing her in the Western musical, Calamity Jane! In fact I was so besotted with her that my very first vinyl album (bought with the financial assistance of an older sister), was the soundtrack to that movie.

Little Shop Of Horrors is the musical version of the Roger Corman film of the same name which famously featured a cameo performance from a very young Jack Nicholson. This musical remake stars Rick Moranis, and Ellen Greene (who also starred in the original Broadway show). It also has cameo performances from Steve Martin, John Belushi, Bill Murray, and others.

I like it this movie so much I watch at least twice a year! Viewing it is guaranteed to brighten my day, and put me in a good mood if I'm feeling down, or put me in a super mood if I'm already feeling 'up' and looking to get really charged.

Favourite Scene: Bill Murray as the masochistic dental patient is an absolute scream, especially when pitted against Steve Martin as the sadistic dentist! Be warned. If you have a phobia about dentists, close your eyes and block your ears for the duration of this scene.

Other Contenders: The Rocky Horror Picture Show; and West Side Story.


The Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan, could have been represented on this list several times, and in several genre's, but I've settled on this gangster epic because I love everything about this movie. The performances, the cinematography, the plotting, and especially John Turturro's "Look into your heart..." speech.

Favourite Scene: Have I mentioned John Turturro's gut wrenching "Look into your heart..." speech, as he is about to be shot and left to rot in a forest? Classic stuff, this.

Other Contenders: Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas; the other Coen Brothers classic, Blood Simple; Coppola's The Godfather; and one of my all time favourites, Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America.

Which is a good lead in to Sergio Leone's western masterpiece...


Sergio Leone was the director that made Clint Eastwood famous after he cast Eastwood in his trilogy of 'Dollars' films: A Fistful of Dollars; A Few Dollars More; and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But as good as these films are, I think Leone was still working out what he really wanted to say about the American West and the people who populated it. For me, all this comes together perfectly in his epic masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in The West.

Right from the opening credits, you know you are in for an experience like no other. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, it's almost impossible to adequately describe the first ten minutes of the film as three gunmen wait for a train at an isolated railway station.

Then there are the film's four main actors; Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, and Jason Robards. What a great line-up of stars. Henry Fonda playing 'against type' as Frank, the cold blooded killer is a revelation. All this, and Ennio Morricone's brilliant score make it one of my all time favourite movies.

In fact, I've watched this film more times than I can remember, and every time I watch it, I discover something new in it. If you haven't seen the movie, you are the poorer for it.

Favourite Scene: So many scenes - so many favourites. However, my most favourite scene is when Jill/Claudia Cardinale first gets off the train, and begins her walk along the station platform, into the station office (where she pauses briefly to talk to one of the staff), then out through the front door of the station, and out onto the dusty street of the western town she has just arrived in. All this shot in one long gorgeous take, set to Ennio Morricone's wonderful theme written especially for her character (all the main characters have their own musical theme). I never get tired of watching this scene. Never.

Other Contenders: Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven; Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch; and Sergio Leone's already mentioned, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.


There are people around who can quote great tracts of dialogue verbatim from this film. I can't, but there is much to like about this movie and the motley crew of errant knights roaming the countryside in search of the Holy Grail.

Flying cows; the black knight and the black plague; witches and damsels in distress; Trojan rabbits; Knights who say, "Ni"; all this and much more, mixed together in a strange brew that only the Monty Python team would dare to concoct. If you don't find this film hilarious, you need a funny bone transplant.

Favourite Scene: Scene 4: Constitutional Peasants: wherein Michael Palin's peasant mud collector swaps some great lines with Graham Chapman's, King Arthur.
Palin: "Supreme executive power, derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
King Arthur: "Be quiet!"
Palin: "You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just cos some watery tart threw a sword at you."
Arthur: "Shut... up!"
Palin: "I mean, if I went round saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away."
Arthur, (grabbing hold of Palin): "Shut up! Will you shut up?"
Palin: "Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system."
Other Contenders: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring Steve Martin and Michael Cain is a delight; and the Monty Python team's other classic, The Life of Brian.


This would almost qualify as a musical itself if there were a few more songs in it being performed by the actors. There is so much to like about this film, I'm almost embarrassed to go on about it in case I look like I'm gushing!

Julia Roberts, Rupert Everett, Dermot Mulroney, and Cameron Diaz bring so much to this movie that it's hard to imagine anyone else taking their places in the film.

I love the way Julia Robert's character is frustrated at every turn by her own attempts to stop the impending wedding of her 'best friend', Dermot Mulroney to Cameron Diaz. I love how Cameron Diaz's hopelessly out of tune attempt at karaoke is turned into a triumph (it's so bad, it's good). Then there is Rupert Everett's restaurant scene when he starts to sing Dione Warwick's, Say a Little Pray For You, and all the other customers in the restaurant join in. Then there is the...

Well you get the picture - or if you haven't already got it - you should. One of my all time favourites.

Favourite Scene: Apart from those mentioned above, I love the way the film ends with the phone call between Rupert Everett and Julia Roberts, and their final dance together. What a great way to end the movie.

Other Contenders: yet another Coen Brothers classic, Raising Arizona, and of course,that perennial favourite, The Princess Bride.


The newest addition to this list, Martin Scorsese's three and a half hour documentary exploring Bob Dylan's formative years in New York City is a revelation in every sense of the word. Containing lots of previously unseen footage of the young Dylan, including many great performances and interviews old and new, this doco is a must have for all Dylan aficionados.

Viewed together with D. A. Pennebaker's 1965 documentary, Don't Look Back, both films paint an extraordinary portrait of the artist as a young man as he reshapes the musical landscape around him. Watching this film you get a sense of the enormous pressure Dylan was under to shoulder the burden of 'spokesman of a generation'. A role he didn't ask for or want, and which he is still trying to fight against.

Even today, 40 years after turning his back on folk music, I know people who still haven't forgiven him for 'selling out' the folk protest movement, and carving out his own unique musical path. Thank God, he did ignore all the carping and criticisms; the constant booing from unthinking fans, and the stupid inane questioning of media reps to follow his Muse wherever it chose to lead him.

Favourite Scene: I was blown away by the power of some of the early concert performances we get to see in this film, especially Only a Pawn in Their Game. Dylan sings with such focus, such power and conviction, that it is easy to see why he garnered so much attention and interest in those early years in New York.

Other Contenders: Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz; and Woodstock (the original movie), for which incredibly, Scorsese also filmed some concert footage.


Drama: The Mission
Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons both star in this stunning movie. The fact that the film also has a wonderful score composed by Ennio Morricone only adds to the pleasure one gets from viewing this beautifully photographed film.

Made when the concept of Liberation Theology was gaining much prominence among the established western churches in the late 1970s and early 1980s (especially in the Catholic church), the film focuses on a small group of 18th Century Spanish Jesuits - played by Irons and DeNiro - who go into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region. When Spain sells the colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they have built against Portugese slave traders.

The ending will not leave you feeling good, but thankfully the makers of the film stayed true to the story, and resisted the typical happy Hollywood ending.

Favourite Scene: It's almost impossible not to be knocked out by the scene where Robert DeNiro, as the character Mendoza, a former slave trader, does penance for his past sins by dragging a huge and heavy bundle of swords, armor, helmet, and clothing to the top of a high valley as water spumes and pours down around him every step of his weary way.

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This has been a real challenge, selecting ten of my favourite movies. As the alternative titles listed under Other Contenders indicate, for very movie chosen I could easily substitute several others in each category. Still, it was an interesting exercise. How about you, dear reader—what are your 10 most popular movies?

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

At The Movies: The Eagle Huntress

Photo: Asher Svidensky

This spellbinding documentary follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old nomadic Mongolian girl who is fighting to become the first female eagle hunter in twelve generations of her Kazakh family. Through breathtaking aerial cinematography and intimate verite footage, the film captures her personal journey while also addressing universal themes like female empowerment, the natural world, coming of age and the onset of modernity.

The above synopsis comes from the Internet Movie Database entry for this film. 

Immediately after watching The Eagle Huntress, I had my doubts as to whether the film was an authentic documentary, or merely a reconstruction of events that had already taken place earlier in the life Aisholpan Nurgaiv, a young girl who dreamed of becoming a hunter and trainer of eagles, a role that has traditionally been reserved for boys and men on the chilly, windswept steppes (large areas of flat, unforested grasslands in South East Europe or Siberia), in a remote corner of Mongolia. However, after a couple of hours searching for, and watching interviews with Otto Bell, the director, I am more than satisfied that the events depicted in the film are captured pretty much as they happened.

Otto had seen a series of photographs on the BBC website by the Israeli photographer, Asher Svidensky which immediately sparked his interest in Aisholpan’s life. He was also quick to see the cinematic possibilities of telling her story and bringing this to a wider world, and I’m very happy he did because the film is definitely worth seeing. 

The remote setting and natural scenery (the towering Altai mountain ranges of Western Mongolia, and steppes stretching off to the far horizons) are simply stunning. The rituals and routines of daily life, and the work of herding, milking, and hunting seem hard—but not so hard as to make one grateful they don’t live in that environment. Scenes of family life are generally presented as tough, but they also come across as romantic and wholesome. Here is a family that works hard and plays hard. Their material possessions are reduced to the basic and essential. We don’t see a television anywhere, although we do see several portable radios. There are also motorbikes, vehicles of various types, a portable solar panel or two—and horses. Lots of horses.

Oh, and of course, eagles. A lot of eagles as well.

I was very impressed with Aisholpan’s ability to work with and relate to the young Golden Eagle she caught with the help of her father, Rys. These magnificent creatures are not like the pigeons and doves that flap gently about our city streets. These are large, heavy birds that weigh up to seven kilograms (15 pounds), and grow to have 7-8 foot wingspans. The trainers and hunters must be able to bear the weight of these birds as they sweep in and land on their outstretched arms with a force that I suspect would knock pasty-faced city boys like myself flying off their feet. But Aisholpan handles these flying missiles with a wide smile and nary a quiver. That she was able to do this at just 13 years of age is an even greater achievement in my opinion. Clearly, they are brought up tough on the Mongolian steppes.

The eagle hunters capture the young birds just before they are able to leave their aeries, and according to tradition, will release them back into the wild after a number of years of captivity. In fact, the film begins with a scene in which Rys, Aisholpan’s father is depicted as doing exactly this.

There are scenes in this film that may distress some viewers. Hollywood movies involving animals usually have a sentence buried in the end titles that say something to the effect that,’no animals were harmed during the making of this film.’ The Eagle Huntress carries no such note. After all, the eagles are trained specifically to hunt. Rabbits mostly, but also foxes and other small game. They also have the ability to hunt animals as large as wolves, which I have to say amazes me no end.

Here's the official movie trailer for the film

I went looking on YouTube for more clips about the film and about Aisholpan in particular, and was pleased to find several very good videos that included interviews with her and her father. These took place during their visit to the Sundance Film Festival where the film was receiving its premier screening. The Eagle Huntress is beautifully shot, and Aisholpan, her father, and her family are all natural actors who are proud to share their culture and traditions with the wider world.

The Eagle Huntress Featurette - Documentary (2016)
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If you have a chance to see the film at your local cinema, or streaming on Netflix or another online streaming service, do so. You won’t be disappointed.


Updated: May 17, 2017
Just after uploading this post, I went looking for the original 2014 BBC News story that featured Asher Svidensky’s photographs of the young eagle huntress, which you can read here

I also happened upon a more recent article about the film that mirrored my opening paragraph doubts about the authenticity of the film with regard to it being a true documentary. This article, Is the Eagle Huntress really a documentary?, also on the BBC News website raises genuine questions about this issue, but again as I indicated above, I am still “…satisfied that the events depicted in the film are captured pretty much as they happened.”

And finally, both articles above carry discrepancies with regard to the spelling of Kazakh names. In the first article, the young girls name is spelt Ashol-pan, not Aisholpan, though the second version is used in the second of these articles. Also the IMDB gives her father’s name as Rys, while the second article on the BBC News site gives his name as Agalai. For now I have chosen to use the same spelling as that used on the IMDB site.

Friday, April 18, 2014

British Pathé Newsreel Library Online

Seriously, how can anyone not love the Internet? It won't be too long before all human culture and knowledge; the arts, films, books, music, and languages, you name it, will all be available somewhere online.

Take for example the entire newsreel library of the British Pathé archive. Their entire collection of more than 85,000 newsreel films is now available for your viewing pleasure at YouTube. If you are too young to know what newsreel film is, ask your parents, or better still, your grandparents. They will certainly remember their trips to the cinema when the main feature was always preceded by a cartoon or two and fifteen minutes of news footage from around the world.

This from their YouTube page…
The world's finest news and entertainment video film archive. Since the invention of the moving image in the 1890's, British Pathé began recording every aspect of global culture and news, for the cinema. With their unique combination of information and entertainment, British Pathé's documentaries, newsreels, serials and films changed the way the world saw itself forever.
With it's unparalleled collection of historical events and vast catalogue of changing social activity, British Pathé encompasses one of the world's most prodigious and fascinating documents of the modern age. From fashion to warfare and sport to travel, British Pathé is the definitive source for the 20th century in moving images.
All 85,000 newsreels are now searchable and viewable on YouTube. This equates to 3,500 hours of filmed history. 
The range and scope of this collection is nothing short of mind-blowing. Imagine finding a treasure trove of film covering an eighty year span of history from say, 1790 to 1870, or even earlier; 1590 to 1670. While it may seem like nothing more than a curiosity now, in another one or two hundred years this collection of films will indeed be regarded as a unique window into our lives, as documented during one of the most interesting and turbulent periods in human history.

Pathé eventually stopped producing the cinema newsreel in February 1970, as they could no longer compete with television, but the legacy the organisation has left to future generations will live on long after you and I, dear reader, are gone.



More Information

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

August: Osage County


At the end of each year it has become the fashion for movie critics to list their top ten best movies of the year, and to also rate their top ten worst films of the year. It says something about August: Osage County, that the film has probably made it on to as many best lists as it has on to lists of the worst films.

I think I can understand why. This is not a film that you can ‘enjoy’ in the accepted sense of the word. Watching the dysfunctional family at the centre of August: Osage County, implode in spectacular fashion is not fun – even though the film is classed as a comedy/drama. As family secrets are painfully revealed during the course of the film, characters are sucked deeper and deeper in a mire of their own making.

Meryl Streep heads an ensemble cast that also features Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Benedict Cumberbatch and several others in this film adaptation of the Tracy Letts Pulitzer Prize winning stage show. Letts also wrote the screenplay for the movie.

A digression. Many years ago, when I was fantasizing about being a writer, I used to buy a magazine for aspiring writers called appropriately enough, The Writer. Of the hundreds of articles I read in the magazine over a period of several years, only one has stuck in my mind, and of that article only the general theme remains with me. The article was headed, Where’s The Magic? The author of that piece, whose name of course I’ve long forgotten, suggested that every piece of writing had to have at least one moment of ‘magic’ in it. Not the abracadabra kind of magic, but the kind that would make a scene, or piece of dialogue, or action sequence really jump off the page. It was, and still remains great advice that can be applied across a wide range of artistic and creative endeavours.

August: Osage County, has magic by the truck load. And most of it is delivered by Meryl Streep. There are moments in the film when you watch Streep in action and you say to yourself, “There goes the Oscar for Best Actress again!”

A brief synopsis (minus spoilers) courtesy of Wikipedia follows:

Sisters Barbara, Karen, and Ivy Weston (Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, and Julianne Nicholson) are called back home when their father, Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard), goes missing. They have kept their distance from their mother Violet (Meryl Streep) because she has become addicted to pills and loaded up on prescriptions after getting mouth cancer. The entire family gather for an awkward dinner, led by the high and brutally honest Violet. Barbara, the favourite daughter, hunts down all of Violet's pills and gets rid of them in an attempt to force her to sober up. Eventually, we learn of the sisters' back-stories…

The pivotal dinner scene is about to get underway
We also earn much about the lives of the other characters, and it is during these revealing moments that the real action takes place and the magic happens. As we have come to expect, Meryl Street is on top of her game as the matriarch who wields such profound power and influence over her brood, and other extended family members. Julia Roberts has never been better as the only person who seems able to push back against her mother’s “truth telling” and controlling behaviour.

Not all the members of this large cast get a chance to shine in the film. Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, and Benedict Cumberbach have small but important roles, but are overshadowed by the numerous female performances. In fact, the females in August: Osage County, pretty much steal the show.

By the way, is Tracy Letts working some type of ‘in joke’ on us here? While most people would consider Tracy to be a female name, Letts is a male writer, and I find it interesting that one of the male characters in the film also sports what many would consider to be a ‘female’ name, Beverly. I can find no reason to prove Letts is trying to slip one past us, but the thought has occurred to me. But I digress, again.

August: Osage County, was (mostly) filmed in Bartlesville and Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and the backdrops utilizing wide open plains and small town locations, add to the sense of isolation and alienation the characters in the film are experiencing.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the trailer for the movie.


Monday, January 23, 2012

Monday Movies - Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut


Screen grab from Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut
Just one movie for you today, and it’s great as it is bizarre, surreal, and funny.
In 2009, Vimeo developer Casey Pugh had a dream: to create an entire remake of the original Star Wars: A New Hope using only 15 second fan-made clips; they could recreate the scenes whichever way they wanted, whether using action figures, beer bottles, animation or dogs. Now, a 2010 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media later, the entire crowd-sourced project has been completed.


You can see the completed fan-made Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut, below. The two hour film includes animation, live action, puppets, Lego figures, and the weirdest collection of 15 second clips ever assembled into one delightful pastiche that pays tribute to George Lucas’s groundbreaking film.


Thanks to Gothamist for bringing this to my attention.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

In Review: Midnight in Paris

I have a terrible admission to make.

Until I saw Woody Allen’s latest flick, Midnight in Paris last night, I can’t remember going to see a Woody Allen movie in over 20 years. Twenty years! Why? What happened? Even I don’t rightly know.

I always enjoyed his early career as a writer, actor and film director, but for some reason I can no longer remember, I lost interest. Or maybe I just became more interested in the work of directors like Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, the Coen Brothers, David Lynch, and one or two others.

I’m kicking myself now. Kicking myself, because I thoroughly enjoyed Midnight in Paris right from the opening montage of images that showed the ‘city of lights’ in all its stunning beauty. And kicking myself because I am sure I have missed any number of other excellent Woody Allen films over the past 20 years or so.

Still, there’s no point berating myself too much. Looking on the bright side, I’ve got at least two decades of catching up to do, as I program my personal Woody Allen retrospective in the coming months, and uncover more ‘lost’ gems from his film making oeuvre. But enough of the self abuse – on to Allen’s latest offering.

Part romantic comedy, and part fantasy, Midnight in Paris tells the story of Gil (Owen Wilson), a successful Hollywood screenwriter who is having problems finishing off his first novel. With his fiancée, Inez (Rachel McAdams), he travels to Paris with Inez’s rich, conservative parents, and understandably falls in love with the city. Unfortunately, Inez and her parents are less than enthusiastic, especially when Gil declares that he would love to live and work in Paris. Inez on the other hand, is apparently looking forward to married life in Malibu!

Gil believes that Paris’s golden age was the 1920s. An era that saw some of the greatest writers and painters of the twentieth century (both American and European), make Paris their home. At the end of a drunken night out with Inez, her ex-boyfriend Paul (Michael Sheen), and his wife Carol (Nina Arianda), Gil decides to walk the streets of Paris to clear his head. As a clock chimes the midnight hour, Gil is literally transported back in time to a party set in 1920s Paris, at which a host of famous writers and artists from that period are present.

Over a period of four or five nights, Gil meets Cole Porter, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dali, Hemingway, and many more writers, painters, dancers, artist’s models, as well as other luminaries of the age.

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I could write a lot more about the plot, but if you have yet to see the film, I don’t want to spoil the enjoyment I am sure you will get from it, by giving away too many plot points or quoting directly from the script.

As you might expect, Woody Allen has great eye for settings, and it has been years since I have seen Paris shown off to such great advantage in a movie. I was in Paris myself just over a year ago, and it was a delight to see scenes set in many of the places I myself visited during my stay. Places like the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, the Musée de l’Orangerie (for a lovely scene involving Monet’s Water Lilies), Notre-Dame Cathedral, the famed Shakespeare and Company bookshop, the River Seine, and many others.

I thought every performance in Midnight in Paris, was spot on. Even from those actors with not much more than walk on parts. The dialog was sharp, witty, insightful, and the transitions between the present and the 1920s seamless. I spent the whole 90 minutes with a big smile on my face, and I left the cinema wishing that Woody Allen could have added another 30 minutes to the overall length of the film.

If you are into classic literature, art and cinema, there is much to delight and entertain you in Midnight in Paris. Apart from the great settings, and the excellent acting, you should have fun picking up the numerous artistic and cultural references Woody Allen sneaks in to his film.

My highest accolade? I enjoyed Midnight in Paris so much I intend to go back and see it again, before it disappears from the big screen. Not only that, but this is one movie I will definitely buy when it is released here on DVD – and for me that is always my biggest stamp of approval.

Highly recommended.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Viewing List 3

Another in our weekly selection of slide shows and video’s that have caught our attention and interest while trawling across the far reaches of the Internet. Enjoy…

The 20 best NYC movies of all time
Starting with Spike Lee's 1989 offering, Do The Right Thing, and ending with Super Fly (1972), Melissa Anderson, David Fear and Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out online take on the all but impossible task of selecting the 20 Best NYC Movies of All Time.

Of course you will find Martin Scorsese's searing Taxi Driver, and Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon here, as well as the original Taking of Pelham 123 and Woody Allen's Manhattan. Both Scorsese and Woody Allen score two films in Time Out's top 20 with the inclusion of Scorsese's 1985 flick, After Hours, and Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).

You will also find some less known films on the list, including the 1953 film Little Fugitive (see image above), John Cassavetes’s debut 1959 film, Shadows (1959), and 1957s Sweet Smell Of Success. See the full slide show here…
Unfortunately, my favourite New York film, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America is not listed among the top 20, which only goes to show that even Time Out can’t always get it right ;- ).

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Dennis Hopper Reads Rudyard Kipling on Johnny Cash Show
The poem is “If” by Rudyard Kipling (1899). The scene is The Johnny Cash Show, 1970. The reader is the great Dennis Hopper. Hard to beat this…


Thanks to Open Culture for the heads up on this. Follow them on Twitter at @openculture

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Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Viewing List 2

Another selection of slide shows and video’s that have caught our attention and interest while trawling across the far reaches of the Internet over the past week. Enjoy…

George Harrison Documentary Premieres at Telluride
Charley Rogulewski, writing for Rolling Stone magazine reports on the new Martin Scorsese documentary on George Harrison called George Harrison: Living In a Material World.

If it is anything like Scorsese’s brilliant 2005 doco, Bob Dylan: No Direction Home, the 210 minute (3 1/2 hour) two-part documentary will be pretty much everything a George Harrison fan could wish for.

The film, which was five-years-in-the-making, premiered over American Labor Day weekend at the Telluride Film Festival, and coincides with the 10-year anniversary of Harrison's death in 2001 from lung cancer. The documentary, which will begin airing on HBO starting October 5th, was made with the full support and cooperation of Harrison’s widow, Olivia, and son Dhani, and includes interviews with her, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Klaus Voormann, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Eric Clapton, among others.

Below you can see the official trailer for George Harrison: Living in the Material World.
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Read the full Rolling Stone article here…

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Highlights of Harlem (slide show)
Starting with the City College of New York, and ending with the Harlem Market, the Travel Channel has put together a 17 stop slide show of the some of the best landmarks that Harlem has to offer. In between you get the iconic Apollo Theater, the Hue-Man Bookstore (said to be the largest African-American bookstore in the country), a selection of restaurants and eating establishments (Make My Cake, Chill Berry, and Food for Life Supreme), and arts and cultural institutions (the Studio Museum in Harlem, Lenox Lounge, and the Maysles Cinema).

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The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art
Recently I wrote about the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art on Staten Island, New York. Although the video below was broadcast on the Time Warner Cable program On The Beat, and talks in part about a now concluded 60th anniversary exhibition, it provides a great introduction to the museum.

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Concert for George Concert for Bangladesh George Harrison - Dark Horse Years 1976-1992
Bob Dylan - No Direction Home Chronicles: Volume One Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back (1965 Tour Deluxe Edition)
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