Sunday, March 25, 2007

Mar 23rd
London Suite
aka: Neil Simon's London Suite
US TVM 1996. RHI. 88m.

Misdemeanours of assorted hoteliers at the Grosvenor in London.
Miscast and mostly overacted compendium with a heavily American-slanted tourist's view of Britain. Not its author's best work, unwisely integrating the various separate playlets into one, so that none of the stories really satisfies or gives the characters a proper story arc.

Written by: Neil Simon, from his play.
Producer: Greg Smith.
Director: Jay Sandrich.
Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Clarkson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julie Hagerty, Michael Richards, Madeleine Kahn, Richard Mulligan, William Franklyn, Jonathan Silverman (uncredited).
Photography: Denis Lewiston.
Music: Lee Holdridge.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Mar 19thThe Rocketeer** US 1991. Touchstone/Gordon Company. 108m. Panavision

In 1938 Los Angeles a rookie test pilot stumbles upon a Howard Hughes-designed rocket pack wanted by both the Nazis and the FBI.
Agreeable comic book heroics with echoes of Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Elementary in terms of script and special effects, but visually quite imaginative and with some nostalgic take-offs of familiar 1930s icons such as Errol Flynn, Bettie Page and Rondo Hatton.

Written by: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, William Dear, based on the comic book by Dave Stevens.
Producers: Lawrence Gordon, Charles Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Dave Stevens.
Director: Joe Johnston.
Starring: Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Timothy Dalton, Alan Arkin, Paul Sorvino, Terry O'Quinn (as Howard Hughes), Ed Lauter, James Handy, Tiny Ron, Jon Polito.
Photography: Hiro Narita.
Music: James Horner.
Production Design: Jim Bissell.

Preceded by:
The First Ninety Minutes**(GB TVM 1983. Pelicula Films. 40m.; Behind the scenes following Bobby Robson in his last season as manager of Ipswich Town.; p: Mike Alexander, Mark Littlewood; for Channel 4.)

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Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Mar 12th 
Existenz                                                      
 Canada 1999. Miramax/Alliance Atlantis/Serendipity Point/Natural Nylon. 97m.

The creator of an "enhanced reality" game is forced to go on the run with her bodyguard, and elements of the game start drifting into real life...
Obscurely told semi-futuristic thriller with the director's usual visceral elements, although the performances are rather off-key and actual "game world" is a surprisingly boring one. The twist in the tale deliberately leaves audiences as confused as those participants in the game.

Written and Directed: David Cronenberg.
Producers: Robert Lantos, Andras Hamori. David Cronenberg.
Starring: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Ian Holm, Don McKellar, Sarah Polley, Callum Keith Rennie, Willem Dafoe, Robert A. Silverman, Christopher Eccleston.
Photography: Peter Suschitzky.
Music: Howard Shore.
Production Design: Carol Spier.

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Friday, March 09, 2007

Mar 7th
The Admirable Crichton**
GB 1957. Columbia/Modern Screen Plays. 93m. Vistavision

In 1905 a resourceful butler is the only hope for an aristocratic family stranded on a remote island, and a certain amount of role reversal takes place.
A gentle piece of satirical whimsy on the stage that looks rather silly on film, especially when transposed into such holiday brochure locations (which are mostly studio bound) and elaborate island costumes, but the actors make of it as best they can, and the wider issues of class distinction just occasionally rise to the surface.

Written by: Vernon Harris, from the play by J.M. Barrie.
Producer: Ian Dalrymple.
Director: Lewis Gilbert.
Starring: Kenneth More, Cecil Parker, Diane Cilento, Sally Ann Howes, Martita Hunt, Jack Watling, Gerald Harper, Peter Graves, Eddie Byrne, Miles Malleson.
Photography: Wilkie Cooper.
Music: Douglas Gamley.
Production Design: William Kelner.

Preceded by:
Superman in
Destruction Inc.**
(US 1942. 8m.; My first sample of a now largely forgotten but surprisingly slick dramatic animation featuring the Man of Steel in one of his earliest incarnations, here helping Lois Lane to expose a group of saboteurs in an ammunition plant.; w: Jay Morton; d: Izzy Sparber; anim: Dave Tendlar, Tom Moore; for Paramount/Famous Artists.)
+ available on the Superman II DVD release

Preceded by:
Breakdowns of 1938**
(US 1938. Warner Bros. 12m. bw; Amusing and fascinating selection of outtakes from some of the Warner Studio's output of that year.; s: Basil Rathbone, Carole Lombard, Claude Rains, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Pat O'Brien, and others.)
+ to be found on Disc 2 of the extensive Adventures of Robin Hood DVD

Friday, March 02, 2007

Mar 1st
Hot Fuzz*
(Cineworld Ipswich)

A crack Metropolitan Police officer is "promoted" to a sleepy South West town, where all is not as it seems...
Snappy, dizzyingly edited and rather gory cop movie spoof by the boys who brought us Shaun of the Dead, with an excellent supporting cast of British comedy talent in the best tradition of ironic humour. A pity then, that the last hour of the film disappears into complete fantasy: all high-octane shoot-outs and no gentle satire.

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Edward Woodward, Billie Whitelaw, Stuart Wilson, Paul Freeman, Paddy Considine, Bill Bailey, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Steve Coogan.
(d: Edgar Wright)

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