May 25th
Junior Bonner*
US 1972. ABC/Booth-Gardner/Solar. 105m. Todd AO-35

A struggling rodeo cowboy rides again to save himself and his fractured family.
Downbeat but agreeable star vehicle with a certain amount of unusual sentiment for the rodeo community by Peckinpah, interspersed with his usual flair for stylised violence.

Written by: Jeb Rosebrook.
Producer: Joe Wizan.
Director: Sam Peckinpah.
Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Joe Don Baker, Ben Johnson, William McInney, Barbara Leigh, Dub Taylor.
Photography: Lucien Ballard.
Music: Jeb Fielding.

May 17th
The Witches of Eastwick**
US 1987. Warner Bros/Guber-Peters/Kennedy Miller. 118m. Panavision

Three frustrated single women conjure the Devil into their home town.
Impish supernatural battle of the sexes, quite glossily made with its enjoyable elements and a rollicking climax.

Written by: Michael Cristofer, based (loosely) on the novel by John Updike.
Producers: Peter Guber, Jon Peters, Neil Canton.
Director: George Miller.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Veronica Cartwright, Richard Jenkins, Keith Jochim, Carel Struycken.
Photography: Vilmos Zsigmond.
Music: John Williams.
Production Design: Polly Platt.
Editing: Hubert C. de la Bouillerie.

May 15th
Bonnie Scotland* (U)
Manifest Theatre, Manningtree

US 1935. MGM/Hal Roach. 80m. bw

Stan and Ollie travel to Scotland to inherit the McLaurel estate, then join the army to India where they overwhelm a tribal uprising.
Rough-and-ready Laurel & Hardy feature with some attractive moments, a mixed bag of jokes and sub-plots including an insubstantial romance that is not resolved come the conclusion.

Written by: Frank Butler, Jeff Moffitt.
Producer: Hal Roach.
Director: James Horne.
Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, William Janney, June Lang, James Finlayson, Daphne Pollard, Anne Grey, Vernon Steel, David Torrence.
Photography: Art Lloyd, Walter Lundin.
Music: Marvin Hatley (who also appears playing the accordion).

Preceded by:
Liberty**
(US 1929. 20m. bw. silent; Stan and Ollie jailbreak but escape onto a high-rise building site!; d: Leo McCarey; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Tom Kennedy, Jean Harlow.)

Chickens Come Home**
(US 1931. 30m. bw; Ollie is blackmailed by an old flame on the eve of his election for Mayor; w: H.M. Walker; d: James W. Horne; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mae Busch, Thelma Todd, James Finlayson, Norma Drew.; GB title: Chicken Come Home)

May 5th
Left, Right and Centre**
GB 1959. British Lion. 95m. bw

A TV star contesting a by-election falls in love with his opponent.
Relatively lightweight political satire with a contrived Romeo & Juliet set-up, but carried along cheerfully by Launder & Gilliat and a mostly reliable bunch of British comedy talents.

Written by: Sidney Gilliat, Val Valentine.
Producers: Frank Launder, Sidney Gilliat.
Director: Sidney Gilliat.
Starring: Ian Carmichael, Patricia Bredin, Alastair Sim, Richard Wattis, Eric Barker, Moyra Fraser, Jack Hedley, Gordon Harker, Eamonn Andrews, Gilbert Harding.
Photography: Gerald Gibbs.
Music: Humphrey Searle.

May 3rd
Revenge of the Sith**
aka: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
US 2005. Twentieth Century Fox/Lucasfilm. 139m. ws

The end of the Clone War leads to galactic civil war, and Anakin Skywalker submits to the Dark Side of the Force in order to save his pregnant wife from dying in childbirth.
The culmination of the Star Wars saga, and while reputed to be the darkest of the series (though both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi had their share of greater jolts) with a welter of action, plot and special effects, it still lacks the original's sense of engaging characters. Some of the older actors help to maintain some gravitas, and Lucas saves the best set pieces for last such as the Jedi massacre and climactic tussle between good and evil.

Written and Directed by: George Lucas.
Producer: Rick McCallum.
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Peter Mayhew, James Earl Jones (voice).
Photography: David Tattersall (and David Franco, Ron Fricke, Giles Nuttgens).
Music: John Williams.
Editing: Roger Barton, Ben Burtt.
Visual Effects Supervision: John Knoll, Roger Guyett.
Animation Director: Rob Coleman.

+ Tom Stoppard is said to have contributed to the script, and the climactic lightsabre duel was "directed" in part by Steven Spielberg.

For Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, see Return of the Jedi, see Star Wars trilogy day

REVENGE OF THE SITH. Action Yoda!

May 2nd
Attack of the Clones*
aka: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
US 2002. Twentieth Century Fox/Lucasfilm. 142m. Panavision Digital

Division within the Galactic Republic leads to the formation of a clone army, and young Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker takes his first dangerous steps towards the Dark Side after falling in love with Senator Amidala.
Tedious digital-laden romantic instalment of the Star Wars saga with some interesting moments, which eventually works up to a busy climax that the director has more fun with than telling the love story, which is sadly redundant save for the fact that the young lovers will become the future parents of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

Written by: George Lucas, Jonathan Hales.
Producer: Rick McCallum.
Director: George Lucas.
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Lee (as Count Dooku), Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Ahmed Best, Pernilla August, Temuera Morrison, Jimmy Smits.
Photography: David Tattersall.
Music: John Williams.
Production Design: Gavin Bocquet.

Star Wars/election week

By way of brief introduction, in 1997 when Labour won the UK General Election I watched the original Star Wars trilogy (Special Editions), so this year, when the reverse may well happen, we will be covering all six of the Star Wars saga, in chronological order, beginning with the over-lambasted first prequel.

May 1st
The Phantom Menace**
aka: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
US 1999. Twentieth Century Fox/Lucasfilm. 132m. Panavision

A small boy helps two Jedi knights and Queen Amidala to fight the Trade Federation.
Exciting and eagerly awaited prequel set approximately 30 years before Star Wars, utilising near seamless state-of-the-art special effects and capturing some of the original saga's boyish charms, but less of its oeuvre, with a rather vague plot and some disappointing characterisation.

Written and Directed by: George Lucas.
Producer: Rick McCallum.
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Ahmed Best (voice of Jar Jar Binks), Ray Park (as Darth Maul), Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, Brian Blessed (voice of Boss Nass), Pernilla August, Terence Stamp, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz.
Photography: David Tattersall.
Music: John Williams.
Production Design: Gavin Bocquet.
Visual Effects Supervisors: John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Scott Squires.
Animation Director: Rob Coleman.

100 Favourite Films: The Phantom Menace