tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16791956689637128842024-03-04T23:20:47.737-08:00DVD DiscussionsDocumentaries, TV Series, and Miscellaneous Musingsneslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-43992132195063428472022-07-09T13:41:00.002-07:002022-07-09T13:44:13.239-07:00The Kennedys (2011)Director: Jon Cassar Writers: Stephen Kronish & Joel Surnow<br>
Film Score: Sean Callery Cinematography: David Moxness<br>
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes and Tom Wilkinson <p>
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I was able to resist this for an entire decade because it just looked as if it would be a disaster. But I finally purchased <b>The Kennedys</b> miniseries from 2011, and even now, as I write this, I’m not sure how I feel about it—which is never a good sign. My reluctance stemmed from the <i>tour de force</i> that was the film <b>Thirteen Days</b> from 2000, with Bruce Greenwood as John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both Greenwood and Steven Culp as Robert Kennedy were outstanding. While Greenwood’s attempt at the Massachusetts Kennedy dialect was subtle, Culp was so good with the accent and Bobby’s mannerisms that I couldn’t imagine any other actors even coming close to their performances. Initially I was pleasantly surprised by the performances of Greg Kinnear as JFK and Barry Pepper as RFK in the miniseries, primarily because of the accents. Both actors were able to do a tremendous job on them and were quite convincing. That said, however, there were some odd choices made by director Jon Cassar in terms of the two leads. Kinnear’s face gives the impression of Jack, and with the accent and a solid study of JFK’s mannerisms, his performance works. Yet, about halfway through the series it seemed as if he completely stopped doing the accent, especially when he was in scenes alone with Katie Holmes as Jackie. Barry Pepper’s problems, however, were on a whole other level. For one thing, they decided to go with a prosthetic nose, which looks strange every single time he’s on screen. But even worse, while his accent was spot on, he made absolutely no attempt to replicate Bobby’s mannerisms the way Culp had done so impressively in the earlier film.
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As for the production, it always looks like a TV movie, especially the further back the flashbacks go, but it’s not so annoying that it’s off-putting; it’s just the nature of the artform. The scenes in the White House are better because of the timeless quality of that particular setting, and the scenes in Hyannis Port, whether on the lawn or on the beach are very good as well, especially combined with the well-done period costumes. As for the story itself, screenwriters Stephen Kronish and Joel Surnow made the wise choice not to tell the tale chronologically. Instead, the frame of the story takes place between the 1960 presidential election and the terrible day in Dallas when JFK was assassinated. The eighth and final episode is a kind of strangely telescoped epilogue that ends with Bobby’s death and seems tacked on to justify the title. The first six episodes, however, are very good and quite interesting to watch—though the script has some groaners now and then, and the Cuban Missile Crisis never seems all that nerve-wracking. The great Tom Wilkinson plays the Kennedy patriarch Joe, while Diana Hardcastle is the matriarch Rose. The story frequently flashes back to earlier episodes that fill in the viewer on crucial Kennedy history, and while they can get tedious at times, it’s infinitely better than having the whole story unfold chronologically. Jon Cassar does a solid job of direction, and from a technical standpoint the whole production is about as good as one could expect.
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What nearly destroyed the whole experience for me, however, was the absolutely atrocious seventh episode. I had the same stupefied reaction to Stephen King’s idiotic <b>11/22/63</b>. How in the world, in the twenty-first century, with all that we now know—and continue to discover as the government doles out unredacted documents at maddeningly limited trickle—about what actually happened in Dallas ANYONE can, with a straight face, continue to claim that Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy is inconceivable. And yes, I DO know what that word means. That anyone still buys into the Warren Report is just impossible to believe. But set aside for the moment the thousands of books on the subject that try to figure out who was responsible, there is only one, unassailable, fact about the assassination that anyone needs to know. When the Dallas Police took Oswald into custody that day they performed a gunpowder residue test on his hands and cheek. While they found residue on his hands, which was from the gun he was carrying in the movie theater, they found NO residue on his cheek. That’s right, NONE. Which means that Oswald DID NOT fire a rifle that day and therefore, definitively, did not kill President Kennedy. Period. The fact that the Warren Commission came to the conclusion that not only did Oswald kill the president, but acted alone, tells you just as conclusively that there was a conspiracy. But that’s another story.
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The thing is, this was such a stupid way to go with the story. The effect it has on the viewer is like watching a story about Jimmy Hoffa and at the end Santa Claus comes down the chimney and kills him and then whisks the body away to the North Pole. It’s THAT ridiculous. But with access to the Zapruder film unavailable to the public for a decade, it gave the Warren Commission cover up a powerful opportunity for the lie to lodge in peoples’ brains and enable them to dismiss the truth when it was finally revealed. What’s so exasperating is that there was absolutely no need for the screenwriters to pick a side. President Kennedy was killed that day in Dallas, and that’s all the drama the series needed. Why saddle a huge project like this with the decision to show the killer—especially when scientific evidence proves that this particular decision was dead wrong? The best example of what should have been done is the film <b>Parkland</b>, a feature film that came out two years later. In that film there is absolutely no speculation about who did the killing, and the film is so much better for it. Had this miniseries done the same thing, it really would have been something to recommend, despite its flaws. But now . . . It’s difficult to judge how much that one episode poisons the entirety of the series. I still don’t know. I do know, however, that when I watch <b>The Kennedys</b> again I will absolutely skip the last two episodes, and I recommend you do the same.
neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-56370080385725290202016-12-30T11:16:00.004-08:002022-07-09T13:43:23.057-07:00Pride and Prejudice (1995)Director: Simon Langton Writers: Andrew Davies & Jane Austin<br>
Film Score: Carl Davis Cinematography: John Kenway<br>
Starring: Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, Benjamin Whitrow and Alison Steadman<p>
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Back in the late eighties, the A&E network actually lived up to its name, delivering artistic films and entertaining television shows that couldn’t be seen anywhere else, even on PBS. In fact, A&E had a relationship with the BBC at the time and it showed a lot of their content that PBS either didn’t have the time or the money to be able to air. So it makes sense that they would eventually combine to produce new content for both of their networks. That’s how <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Firth/dp/B00G6HO368/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1483125493&sr=1-4&keywords=pride+prejudice&linkCode=ll1&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=e94359f5e29dd1b4b79a41715039c98f"><u>Pride and Prejudice</u></a> was born. For many people this is the definitive screen version of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Annotated-Penguin-Classics-ebook/dp/B002RI9HCK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483125680&sr=1-8&keywords=pride+prejudice+penguin&linkCode=ll1&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=ff52aa3d9048b38514c3d4173fe966a9"><u>Jane Austen</u></a>’s classic novel for the simple reason that, in being able to film six fifty-minute episodes, it is so complete. Despite impressive, and successful, attempts to adapt the story for feature films, those adaptations necessarily leave much of the original novel out which results not only in a slightly different story but a much quicker pace. The one aspect of this mini-series that is so unique is that the slowed down pacing gives a real sense of the time period, with character sitting around and the camera content to linger on them as they walk or talk, or play cards or read a book, and allows the relationships to develop more naturally. The story is able to unfold in essentially the way that Austen intended it and for fans of the novel--as distinct from simply fans of the story--nothing else is going to come close.
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The story begins in the home of the Bennett family. Patriarch Benjamin Whitrow and his wife, Alison Steadman, are in the unfortunate circumstance of having five daughters and no sons, which means Whitrow’s estate will pass on to a cousin on his death and his wife and daughters will inherit nothing. Wealthy gentleman Crispin Bonham-Carter has recently rented a nearby estate and his friend Colin Firth is visiting. It’s during a local ball that Bonham-Carter falls in love with the eldest of the Bennet girls, Susannah Harker, and where Firth takes an instant dislike to her younger sister, Jennifer Ehle, who feels the same way about Firth. The rest of the story is a wonderful series of misunderstandings that prefigure the kind of romantic comedy tropes popular today. Ehle hears reports from unreliable sources, mainly Adrian Lukis, confirming her bad opinion of Firth. And when the two are together she can’t help but mock his serious, disapproving, and aristocratic manner. His pride at being a noble, combined with her prejudice in believing she knows everything about him, serves to keep them apart for most of the story. Meanwhile, Steadman is doing everything in her power to get her daughters married off, with both comic and tragic results. But, as always happens at in Austen’s novels, everything comes out as it should in the end.
<p>
The driving force behind the project was <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Making-Pride-Prejudice-BBC/dp/014025157X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483125680&sr=1-7&keywords=pride+prejudice+penguin&linkCode=ll1&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=104456876cf4bf4f7b06b5d7c2af1b37"><u>Sue Birtwistle</u></a>, who wanted to do a more modernized spin on the story while staying true to Austen’s words and story. To do this she hired Andrew Davies, who has made a career of adapting classic works for the screen. This was his first Austen adaptation and it shows the kind of touch that he would add to all the author’s works that he would turn into screenplays, trying to convey the real sexual tension beneath the mannered behaviors of the early nineteenth-century world of England. And to top it all off, the great <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Original-Soundtrack-Presentation/dp/B000002SJ5/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1483125815&sr=1-1&keywords=pride+prejudice+carl+davis&linkCode=ll1&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=386978bc24fa4261a40b52768bfb37a3"><u>Carl Davis</u></a>--who had unsuccessfully been working on a ballet of the novel for years--made himself available to score the project and did a tremendous job of enlivening the story for modern audiences emulating the most popular music of the day, namely Mozart. Jennifer Ehle is an interesting choice to play Elizabeth Bennett, as she had only done television work for a couple of years prior to this, but that anonymous quality works well. Colin Firth already had a successful film career, but this was the first of the kind of historical dramas that he would become known for. The rest of the cast, while not quite up to Hollywood standards, does a very convincing job and are quite enjoyable overall, especially the dry witted Benjamin Whitrow. For all of these reasons, this BBC and A&E co-production of <b>Pride and Prejudice</b> remains one of the best versions of the classic Jane Austen novel ever produced.
neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-82412730688995743632016-03-13T11:31:00.001-07:002016-03-16T10:09:02.868-07:00Persuasion (1995)Director: Roger Michell Writer: Nick Dear<br>
Film Score: Jeremy Sams Cinematography: John Daly<br>
Starring: Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, John Woodvine and Susan Fleetwood<p>
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There’s almost nothing to choose from in British productions of Jane Austen novels. In this case the production is by BBC television, but it is arguably the best adaptation of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00003JRCQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00003JRCQ&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=2N6AE2ZWQS7SLOUX"><u>Persuasion</u></a> whether on television or theatrical release. It was actress Amanda Root debut performance, and it’s a good one. The film was shot chronologically, allowing Root the luxury of her emotional arc as a character following the natural progression of the plot. If there’s a downside to the television production it’s the claustrophobia of the sets due to the lack of money. The initial scenes in the country come out fine and there’s a sense of the openness of the early nineteenth-century English countryside. But once in towns like Bath and Lyme, the film is suddenly confined to very tight and specific locations that actually give a sense of the limitations allowed for television versus a theatrical release. This is ironic, considering that the BBC actually partnered with Public Television station WGBH in Boston in order to finance the filming in Bath and Lyme. That said, however, the story itself and the production design are excellent, which genuinely attempted to replicate the period, from the lived-in look of the clothing to the lower standards of hygiene. Similarly impressive is the solid direction by Roger Michell, who would go on to film <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000023VTP/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000023VTP&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=PUAYON7PRL2LM622"><u>Notting Hill</u></a> a few years later. Nick Dear adapted Austen’s novel for the screenplay, electing to leave out the interior thoughts of Root’s character and have her convey those emotions visually.
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Amanda Root plays the Austen heroine Anne Elliot, the oldest daughter of British noble Corin Redgrave who has lost his wife and has spent all of his fortune. His dire financial circumstances have forced him to vacation in Bath so that he can rent his estate to navy admiral John Woodvine who he finds contemptibly beneath him in station. And yet Redgrave is quite demonstrably an ass, who ignores the creditors at his door and indulges his equally snooty oldest daughter Phoebe Nicholls as much as he neglects his younger daughter, Root. After Redgrave and Nicholls head for Bath, leaving Root behind, neighbor Susan Fleetwood reassures Root that she did the right thing in being persuaded to turn down the proposal of a young man who had no fortune several years before, Ciarán Hinds, the brother-in-law of Woodvine. She flees the house to stay with her hypochondriac younger sister, Sophie Thompson, though essentially ignored by everyone else, dismissed as being only fit to become an old maid. So when Hinds comes to visit his sister, Fiona Shaw, and her husband Woodvine, he is immediately accosted by all the eligible young girls in the village while simultaneously ignoring Root in the process. It’s not until a trip to Lyme, to see one of Hinds’ friends, that Hinds begins to really notice her again. At the same time Redgrave’s cousin, Samuel West, accidentally sees Root and becomes quite smitten with her. Unfortunately for West, Root has set her cap on Hinds.
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One of the challenges to staging a Jane Austen novel is to cast a woman in the lead who is beautiful but can be made to look frumpy, and Amanda Root certainly fits the bill perfectly. By the same token, the lead male must be handsome but stoic, and Ciarán Hinds is terrific in the role. In fact, all of the actors are remarkably good, from the wicked step-sister-like Phoebe Nicholls and her cluelessly desperate father Corin Redgrave, to the early mother substitute Susan Fleetwood--who tragically died shortly after the production--and what would become Root’s role model in Woodvine’s wife, the lovely Fiona Shaw. The story is an interesting one, though seemingly not as intricate as her more popular works. There is less intrigue and emotional upheaval as the plot simply centers on Root’s character as she tries to figure out how to convey to her former suitor that she made a mistake and wishes him to reconsider--without being able to say a word of it to him directly. Nevertheless, the ending is as satisfying as all of Austen’s novels, even if the getting there is not quite as fun. Screenwriter Nick Dear saw in that distinction that <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553211374/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0553211374&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=2UBVXZDYUAYCOCL4"><u>Persuasion</u></a> was more of an adult novel, necessitating a less animated telling of the story, which did result in significant changes to the underlying themes of Austen’s work. Though shown on television in England, <b>Persuasion</b> was released theatrically in the U.S. and received generally positive reviews. While not the best Austen adaptation overall, it is certainly at the top for this particular work, and a must see for Amanda Root’s performance. neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-76807616723249497592016-02-07T10:59:00.000-08:002016-02-07T17:58:48.454-08:00The Beach Boys: An American Family (2000)Director: Jeff Bleckner Writer: Kirk Ellis<br>
Film Score: Gary Griffin Cinematography: Brian J. Reynolds<br>
Starring: Frederick Weller, Matt Letscher, Nick Stabile and Kevin Dunn<p>
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This ABC miniseries about the genesis of The Beach Boys is surprisingly one-dimensional, and yet it still manages to hold interest, which is probably more a function of the actors than anything intrinsic in the writing or direction. In fact, Brian Wilson, who was a consultant on the film and helped in producing the soundtrack, was unhappy with the final product and felt that far too many liberties were taken with his story. Nevertheless, <b>The Beach Boys: An American Family</b>, is worth a peek, just to see what all the fuss is about. Credit for the distortions, which have apparently been going on for decades, have been attributed to Mike Love who has been in court numerous times over the years to avenge his version of the truth over that of Brian’s. One of these happens in the beginning of the film when Mick Stabile as Dennis Wilson steals his dad’s T-Bird and heads to the beach with his surfboard. On the way he stops at a gas station where cousin Mike Love, played by Matt Letscher, closes shop and grabs his board to surf with his pal. From all non-fiction of accounts of the group, however, Dennis was the only one of the boys that ever surfed, and apparently Dennis and Mike never liked each other very much at all. Throughout, Love is portrayed as providing the impetus for getting and keeping the group together, and especially for harnessing Brian Wilson’s talent as well as providing the lyrics for every song that is shown being written in the film.
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At the same time Brian is portrayed as a tortured genius who needed guidance, first by his father and then by Love, and the second half of the film that deals with his mental breakdown seems incredibly phony. Dennis is made to look like a disturbed bad boy, immature and unable to control his rebellious streak, and while some of that may be true the aspect of his personality that shows him frightened all the time is certainly false, and again begs the question of whose perspective the story is being told from. Ironically, the character who comes out looking better than he really was--in addition to Love--is the boy’s father, Murray Wilson, played by Kevin Dunn. In the film he is shown as a middle-aged dreamer who wanted to live through the success of his sons, which certainly was the case, but according to the most thorough biography to date, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306806479/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0306806479&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=LXXDASM6YCXXGHXQ"><u>Heroes and Villains</u></a> by Steven Gaines, he was much more heavy-handed, intrusive, and controlling than in the film. But worse than his domineering personality, the Wilson’s father virtually stole the rights to the group’s music and sold it for a fraction of what it was eventually worth. There’s certainly an element of irony in the subtitle of the film: <i>an American Family</i>. But what there’s no denying is the intrinsic artistry of their songs today, especially the music written by Brian Wilson. And in that regard, there’s little to argue with in looking at the rather juvenile lyrics of Mike Love compared with the transcendent musical vision of Brian Wilson. And no one has ever thought Love had a good singing voice. The film certainly benefits from Wilson’s participation, despite the negative views he had about the film or its artistic failures.
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The film itself centers on Frederick Weller as Brian Wilson, who is unfortunately given very little to work with in Kirk Ellis’s screenplay. He comes off as innocent and indecisive, hating nearly every aspect of making music for the group, which just rings false even if you know nothing about the group. But Weller does about as well as anyone could do, especially given the circumstances. Matt Letscher, on the other hand, is riveting as Mike Love. He has the speech patterns down as well as the physical gestures, and his onstage movements are so good it’s eerie. Nick Stabile also does a very nice job as Dennis Wilson, especially in the scenes where he plays the drums. His movements are, again, so precise that it does conjure up the image of the first of the brother’s to die. The rest of the cast, unfortunately, is decidedly average. Ryan Northcott as Carl Wilson is a good actor but the screenplay barely touches on the brother with the angelic voice. The same goes for Ned Vaughn as Al Jardine, while Dublin James as neighbor Dave Marks simply comes off as an idiot. It’s interesting to see Alley Mills as the Wilson’s mother, especially after her iconic role as the mother in the Sixties comedy-drama <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L9OPFTC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00L9OPFTC&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=N65K3K72OBQZOJFX"><u>The Wonder Years</u></a>. Kevin Dunn as Murray Wilson, however, doesn’t seem to be a very good choice. He does as well as he can, but lacks the underlying menace that can be seen even in pictures of the man from the era. <b>The Beach Boys: An American Family</b> suffers from the same limitations as most TV movies: limited budget and lesser talent. It manages to hold interest, barely, but even the most cursory reading of the history of the band will reveal its weakness as genuine pop music history.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-85060356397378615342016-01-18T12:06:00.000-08:002016-01-18T12:18:52.873-08:00Salem Witch Trials (2002)Director: Joseph Sargent Writer: Maria Nation<br>
Film Score: Jonathan Goldsmith Cinematography: Pierre Gill<br>
Starring: Kirstie Alley, Jay O. Sanders, Rebecca De Mornay and Gloria Reuben<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Nnv-5SR4z2PwpwyCU6EkBMSxzE6eOwRok-Akxat3wlF2pig0iP-IE2rOaekOqkIkWQRcFva0Zp39sIef3jQYVI50j1BPww8rjjaVrf0ateMP1oDbGjIfXEEFZHuL6HXcadpERGWbmJg/s1600/switcht.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Nnv-5SR4z2PwpwyCU6EkBMSxzE6eOwRok-Akxat3wlF2pig0iP-IE2rOaekOqkIkWQRcFva0Zp39sIef3jQYVI50j1BPww8rjjaVrf0ateMP1oDbGjIfXEEFZHuL6HXcadpERGWbmJg/s320/switcht.jpg" /></a></div>
This is an interesting look at one of the signature moments in U.S. History. Produced just a few years after Arthur Miller was able to film <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00013F2S6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00013F2S6&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=NODL4GW63JHULPO4"><u>The Crucible</u></a>, his dramatic take on the event, CBS launched their own version as a two-part mini-series based on the historical record. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CFEBW0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001CFEBW0&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=PLBEQIFIGVFGPP46"><u>Salem Witch Trials</u></a> uses some B-list actors along with well-known names like Kirstie Alley, Rebecca De Mornay, and Gloria Reuben, and the venerable Peter Ustinov and Shirley MacLaine in supporting roles to give their story of colonial Massachusetts drawing power with television audiences. The film was written by Maria Nation, who had a strong background in writing for television, and the novelization of the screenplay was done by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074343143X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=074343143X&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=6S3W43R6G622JWEO"><u>Kathryn Wesley</u></a>. One of the smart decisions she makes is to stay away from the story of John Proctor and Abigail Williams, which Miller focused on in his play. Instead she takes as her viewpoint characters of the minister of Salem Village, Samuel Parris, and the much-aggrieved Thomas Putnam, to look at their part in creating and perpetuating the fear of witchcraft to further their own personal goals, through their implicit control over the girls--both of them had daughters--who cried out members of the community as followers of Satan.
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Part One of the mini-series begins in Salem Village in 1692 in the middle of the delusion, with children crying out in church and naming members of the church as witches. They are led by Katie Boland as the daughter of the Putnams, a wealthy family who had very little land. The narrative then flashes back ten months to a night time fire that burns down the barn of one of the villagers, and the stillborn death of Mrs. Putnam’s child. Kirstie Alley plays Mrs. Putnam and Jay O. Sanders her husband. While Alley becomes more and more convinced that the Devil is responsible for this, the third of her children lost, Sanders is intent on using this belief to rid the village of some of his enemies and get their land in the process. Meanwhile Boland falls increasingly under the sway of the religious fervor exhibited by the town’s minister, Henry Czerny. When Alley gets no satisfaction from Czerny as to the reason her babies are dying, she seeks the comfort of the village witch, Shannon Lawson. But Boland is watching. And when Boland sees the affection her father gives to their dog, she begins barking like one herself. In meantime Sanders’ step-brother Zachary Bennett, who owns most of the Putnam land, has decided to marry the daughter of Sanders’ enemy, Colin Fox, who has thrived as the owner of the port while Sanders has only seen his role in Salem diminish. It’s then that Sanders demands that Czerny use his power of the pulpit to pay him back for hiring him.
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Part Two opens on the prison, with Tituba and three other women who have been arrested. Tituba, on pain of a personal death threat by Parris, confessed in open court--still the church sanctuary at that point. The problem is, the church has no legal authority to arrest the women. It’s not until a new royal governor is appointed that judge Peter Ustinov is mandated with overseeing the prosecution and hangings of the accused. In addition to the girls, who were either deluded by their religious training or in the thrall of a toxin, according to scientist Lindda Caporael in a PBS documentary <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F0IPKG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001F0IPKG&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=W5OA7FQJFVZUJIJI"><u>The Witches Curse</u></a>, Kirstie Alley as Anne Putnam, as well as Kristin Booth, both exhibit psychotic behavior, and men in the village have erotic hallucinations that convinced them they are being bewitched. It’s not until Shirley MacLaine as Rebecca Nurse, one of the stalwarts of the village, is condemned that those in jail realize they have no chance at all of being saved other than their own false confessions . . . a lie that Puritans have been trained not to give. One of the best moments of the film is when the Kristin Booth confronts Henry Czerny with the truth: that as minister of Salem and the head of the witch-hunts, he is the most evil man in Salem Village.
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There is no way for the series to avoid comparisons with <b>The Crucible</b>, and in most respects it comes up short. The most obvious of the differences is in the production design. Where the earlier film had very believable sets and costume design, specifically in the unavoidable dirtiness they lived in, the TV movie comes off as too clean and modern, especially Gloria Reuben who looks as if she’s in a photo shoot most of the time. The acting also lags behind the feature, though the principals are certainly watchable. The girls in this one are actually the best part of the film, especially Katie Boland and Cara Pifko, though the latter gets precious little screen time. The technical aspects of the film, however, are one of the bright spots. The opening sequence uses special effects to turn the women accused of witchcraft into real witches. And the sound design is also quite good, focusing the audience on the heightened sense of hearing that Katie Boland has when going into her delusions. Finally, cinematographer Pierre Gill brings some interesting camerawork to the production. The major flaw of the film is the lack of a dramatic narrative from Maria Nation. She wanted to stick to the historical facts and where she could have made genuine villains out of Parris and Putnam, she refused, making Arthur Miller’s handling of the material all the more impressive. <b>Salem Witch Trials</b> is a bit overlong, but interesting primarily for those who are familiar with the story. For those still looking for an introduction, stick to <b>The Crucible</b>.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-6285040790738905212015-12-05T16:01:00.000-08:002015-12-06T10:50:43.129-08:00Racing Extinction (2015)Director: Louie Psihoyos Writer: Mark Monroe<br>
Music Score: J. Ralph Cinematography: John Behrens<br>
Starring: Louie Psihoyos, Shawn Heinrichs, Paul Hilton and Ady Gil<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3TAdKyAyUWNAqrG5eecdNs2c_qb_5mxobRlbSBmoc1RdEJc15yUdwGBWu8SIIv-IYIsVzVDzzdhqLzqtOC4hhdeebt_uM1zr-iJijnGJK5bobLLGTj_1p2XC6Bkhk7sYdj4ZCdFOUzE/s1600/racext.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3TAdKyAyUWNAqrG5eecdNs2c_qb_5mxobRlbSBmoc1RdEJc15yUdwGBWu8SIIv-IYIsVzVDzzdhqLzqtOC4hhdeebt_uM1zr-iJijnGJK5bobLLGTj_1p2XC6Bkhk7sYdj4ZCdFOUzE/s320/racext.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0184RE1TG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0184RE1TG&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=JJ5VVVEFCZUKNPOJ"><u>Racing Extinction</u></a> is a remarkable piece of work, not only for its ability to convey the immanent destruction of our planet in an objective, non-sensationalized way, but in the way that it calls upon humanity to do something about it before it’s too late while still being able to celebrate what remains. Director Louie Psihoyos is an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, and co-founder of the Oceanic Preservation Society. He won his Academy Award six years ago for his film, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PLMJ74/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002PLMJ74&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=U7XIPTMCVFNQBU74"><u>The Cove</u></a>, which documented the abuse and slaughter of dolphins in one particular Japanese cove. His new film brings together a host of important scientists and researchers, including Jane Goodall, and edits their contributions together in a way that shows a common thread running through all of them: that human life on Earth is actually dependent upon the rest of life on the planet. The main stories in the film are also woven together in a way that moves each of them forward chronologically but uses the ideas in each to reinforce each other as well. The photography is brilliant, especially the underwater sequences, and there are some cutting edge graphics that illuminate the statistics without dominating the narrative. Psihoyos should earn another Oscar nomination, and hopefully a victory, for his dire warning of the consequences of our poor stewardship of the Earth.
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The film opens with a photographer taking shots of a bird, an orange Dusky Sparrow, dead in a jar, the last of its kind, extinct as a species from the planet in the summer of 1987. Director Louie Psihoyos then relates the story of reading in the newspaper and seeing in a small article somewhere in the middle, that mankind may be causing a new mass extinction event. That’s the way humans are dealing with their own culpability in destroying other species, he says, by burying the information so that they don’t have to think about it. The beginning of the story starts with Psihoyos and his colleagues doing undercover work to expose the sale of endangered whale meat at a sushi restaurant. Ultimately it was activist Ady Gil, who camped out in front of the restaurant showing images of whales and telling customers that they were contributing to their deaths that finally closed the place down. From there Psihoyos moves backward to his work as a photojournalist for <i>National Geographic</i>, having done a total of four stories on extinction, primarily dinosaurs. Natural extinction occurs at the rate of about one in a million species ever year, but predictions for the next hundred years are as high as fifty percent of all species on earth lost by the next century. Then Psihoyos presents the thesis of his film, that we are living in a new age of extinction and yet we have the power to do something about it.
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In discussing the precarious state of the blue whale, the director visits with Chris Clark, head of the bio-acoustic lab at Cornell University. Clark’s lab is the largest repository of animal sounds in the world, and in addition to listening to whale sounds he plays a tape of an extinct bird, the Hawaiian Oʻo. The lab contains many such examples of the only living sounds of such species. From there, Dr. Kirk Johnson calls this new age the Anthropocene, an epoch in which the human imprint upon the planet is so large that is able to actually alter the planet itself. The participation of Ady Gil to shut down the restaurant serving whale meat leads to a discussion of the dedication of thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to saving species--and some who have lost their lives doing this work. Shawn Heinrichs, of Boulder, Colorado, is one of those. Heinrichs helped turn a Mexican island that had hunted whale sharks to elimination in the area into a tourist destination, making the people there far more money than they were making fishing, and saving the sharks. Photojournalist Paul Hilton, from Australia, assists Heinrichs on his mission, and helps him get into black market wholesalers--primarily located in Asia--who are illegally selling endangered creatures in an attempt to shut them down. Sharks, for example, have been fished down to ten percent of their original numbers primarily to satisfy the Chinese desire for shark fin soup.
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Dr. Charlie Vernon explains that all of the extinction events on Earth prior to this one, have involved an increase in carbon dioxide but none of them as extreme as what is going on today. Another gas that doesn’t get as much attention is methane, a major waste product of livestock used for food production, as well as its release from melting polar ice, and yet it is twenty-two times more harmful than CO2. The emphasis on the destruction of sea life is actually part of a larger issue of the destruction of the ocean in general, not only in terms of species extinction but the heat of the water due to climate change, and the raising of acidity in the water that is wiping out shellfish and coral reefs. But the most damaging effect of ocean destruction is the way in which it is killing plankton. Dr. Boris Worm has done extensive studies on the effects of absorption of carbon dioxide into the oceans. Plankton account for half of all the oxygen produced on the planet, and yet plankton numbers have been reduced by forty percent in just the last fifty years. The end of oxygen production on Earth would certainly wipe out a majority of land-dwelling species, including most human life. <b>Racing Extinction</b> is a brilliant film. It is not just well filmed, but the message that it sends to us is that life matters, all life, not just human life. And without those other lives on Earth, it may just mean the end of our own.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-41296988566470863222015-10-18T09:23:00.000-07:002016-01-02T09:22:52.703-08:00Her Life as a Man (1984)Director: Robert Ellis Miller Writer: Joanna Crawford & Diane English<br>
Music Score: John Cacavas Cinematography: Kees Van Oostrum<br>
Starring: Robyn Douglass, Marc Singer, Robert Culp and Laraine Newman<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXwv9nzW7kkzgY16ythKLAzOYDuMGWgbAyuaMRzHPvvtnw-ya6ZaMGcYMbqtTu6l8mCy5C9sGlGSKIT9SVI3PB2b-1UkeZzDhs0x2YGB4Oct7TG2hmQFbsd04ql03JNTfB87_415vP9A/s1600/lifman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXwv9nzW7kkzgY16ythKLAzOYDuMGWgbAyuaMRzHPvvtnw-ya6ZaMGcYMbqtTu6l8mCy5C9sGlGSKIT9SVI3PB2b-1UkeZzDhs0x2YGB4Oct7TG2hmQFbsd04ql03JNTfB87_415vP9A/s320/lifman.jpg" /></a></div>
With the huge success of Dustin Hoffman’s gender-switching film <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ZM1MG4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000ZM1MG4&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=PVNNU5JKCP2M7PO6"><u>Tootsie</u></a>, producers began casting about for a suitable project that could copy the same formula and ride on the financial coattails of that film. They found it in writer Carol Lynn Mithers’ story of becoming a man after dark in Greenwich Village in order to experience what it would be like. Screenwriters Joanna Crawford and Diane English moved the story to Los Angeles, in order to facilitate the production, and had their protagonist donning the disguise in order to get a job at a magazine that didn’t want to hire women. The subsequent TV movie was called <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CFV4CG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000CFV4CG&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=GZBUJKAMV77HVNTE"><u>Her Life as a Man</u></a>, and is a criminally neglected entry in a genre that, because it has so few films, should be celebrating this well-acted and well-produced story. At a press conference prior to the film’s telecast Robyn Douglass attended wearing her male costume and fooled most of the reporters in attendance. The film was given decidedly mixed reviews when it was broadcast, with some reviewers feeling that it trivialized the feminist movement, especially after Douglass had appeared in <i>Hustler</i> and <i>Playboy</i>. But there were a few positive reviews that understood the intent of the picture and focused on the things that make it so charming.
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The film opens on a cover version of the Four Seasons’ “Walk Like a Man,” and shows Robyn Douglass besting her boyfriend, Marc Singer, on the racquetball court. When her car won’t start he fixes it, then she goes to work at a small Los Angeles newspaper, <i>The Southland Weekly</i>, and discovers that she has been laid off because of declining circulation. The friends at her farewell get-together at a bar include David Paymer, Liz Torres, Carol Potter, and Douglass’s best friend, Miriam Flynn. She doesn’t tell Singer until they get home from dinner with one of his clients, and to end her miserable day she also gets a rejection letter from <i>The Village Voice</i>. Her job search during the next few weeks is as fruitless as it is disappointing. Then she applies for an opening at Sports Life, and is interviewed by the editor, Robert Culp. But when she’s turned down this time she knows that it’s because she’s a woman and he’s simply not giving her a chance. So Douglass decides to get a fake beard and wig and tries it out on Flynn by meeting her at a bar, similar to the scene in <b>Tootsie</b> when Dustin Hoffman meets Sidney Pollack in the Russian Tea Room. But it’s Singer’s help she really needs, to get the mannerisms and the attitude right to be a convincing man. After his initial shock, he agrees, and the montage, again set to the Four Seasons’ music, makes for a terrific segue to the second act.
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Armed with a new identity, Douglass goes in to see Culp with a newfound confidence and this time lands the job. She’s so excited, though, that she meets Singer and his parents, Patricia Barry and Paul Napier, at the country club without changing first. Of course Singer thinks that’s the end of it, and he’s quite taken aback when he finds out Douglass plans to work at her new job as a man. She doesn’t think it’s enough just to get the job, now she wants to prove she can do the job. At the magazine she meets another writer, Laraine Newman, the token female who is forced into writing about gymnastics and women’s tennis. The two of them form a friendship and help each other with their writing. But the job has long hours and before long it’s interfering with Singer’s life, when Douglass goes away for the weekend for an interview--a very clever segment with Joan Collins pretending to seduce him/her--missing dinner engagements with clients, and in another parallel with <b>Tootsie</b>, missing a dinner he’s prepared. After Singer storms out in anger, he comes back a few days later to make up only to discover Douglass with Newman and again, like <b>Tootsie</b>, Newman thinks Douglass is gay. The ending, while pure Hollywood, is still incredibly uplifting and despite the negative criticism bespeaks a positive change for nearly all of the characters, not just the protagonist.
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There’s no doubt that this is a TV movie, but while the weakest aspect of the film is the screenplay it’s not all bad. The humor misses at times, but when it hits it’s very good. The parallels with <b>Tootsie</b> are unavoidable, mostly because they were by design. But it works. The story is light and fun, a commentary on society without being preachy. What really lifts the production to another level is the acting by all involved. Robyn Douglass is perfect for the role, though she was a relative newcomer at the time, appearing in a half a dozen films after her debut in <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009HLD0K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0009HLD0K&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=B27MOJ6GEGFE5DQ3"><u>Breaking Away</u></a> with Dennis Christopher. Marc Singer, is a great foil for her, surprised and disappointed in her at times, but never completely unsupportive in the way that a lot of similar characters are written. And though Laraine Newman isn’t quite believable as a writer, Robert Culp is given some incredibly bad stage directions, one of which is loading a shotgun during his interview with Douglass to show how macho his is. Finally, composer John Cacavas, who began his career at Hammer Studios in the early seventies, provides a catchy theme, which winds up becoming an integral part of the film. <b>Her Life as a Man</b>, while not quite up to the standards of Tootsie, is nevertheless a charming comedy that deserves a lot wider recognition.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-9099925422270794232015-01-04T21:44:00.001-08:002016-01-02T09:22:19.266-08:00Life Itself (2014)Director: Steve James Producer: Martin Scorsese<br>
Music Score: Joshua Abrams Cinematography: Dana Kupper<br>
Starring: Roger Ebert, Chaz Ebert, Gene Siskel and Marlene Siskel<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_XHGxgpXaw4gat3GAfFQ3XEsx2Po9MK40qrfH8w-OZlTLcGjNJWhzlHEHvnSB9ELZ9RG56GBPRQNqq0Z6pCNYoyXiyaM1D8zMBIfeOSYXHltJvsEUIGotJCKCRZkuGrKgZkr8m8Fi_U/s1600/lifeit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_XHGxgpXaw4gat3GAfFQ3XEsx2Po9MK40qrfH8w-OZlTLcGjNJWhzlHEHvnSB9ELZ9RG56GBPRQNqq0Z6pCNYoyXiyaM1D8zMBIfeOSYXHltJvsEUIGotJCKCRZkuGrKgZkr8m8Fi_U/s320/lifeit.jpg" /></a></div>
While I’ve said before that Roger Ebert was not my favorite film reviewer, there is no arguing with his profound influence, not only within the profession but on the public consciousness of film reviewing as a profession. Who really knew about film criticism as a popular art form in and of itself before <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MFTOGM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007MFTOGM&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=22STXFNGDMSDIS2V"><u>Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert</u></a> came on the scene? And as corny as the format seems today, it really was revolutionary to bring these two critics to television. But beyond that, Roger Ebert had a long-lasting impact on the film community simply in terms of his personality, going up against video games as art and his embracing of atheism that not only sparked a lot of controversy, but expanded even more his sphere of influence. But it was his final battle with cancer, a long and hard fought battle, that really showed the kind of heart that makes a film like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q599BJG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00Q599BJG&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=AP3TBJE6FQZBPEC2"><u>Life Itself</u></a> possible. The film begins with a quote by Ebert to the effect that for all of his life he was the star of his own movie. And that’s even how some of his friends describe him, not only as the star but as the director.
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The actual director of the film, Steve James, takes that as his conceit and uses footage from the last six months of Ebert’s life in the hospital and combines it with readings from his autobiography of the same name, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446584967/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0446584967&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=73SELAVSO2VSCDHF"><u>Life Itself</u></a>, to quickly move from his childhood to his job working for the Chicago Sun Times. But what really stands out is that, even at that point in his career, he was a really good writer. Six months after getting the job, the film critic retired and the job was Ebert’s. At the time he slipped easily into life of a reporter, including the drinking, and as he describes it he was lucky that the drinking played so much hell on him in the form of hangovers or it would have killed him. From there the film naturally moves on to the teaming of Ebert with Gene Siskel, but still keeping bits and pieces of his earlier life to interject onto the narrative. The two could not have been more different and yet, that’s what made the show so great. Roger, the fun-loving English major and one of the guys, while Gene was the serious philosophy major and a loner. Roger, who could pound out a fully-formed review in twenty minutes, and Gene, who agonized over every word.
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Then James moves on to talk to other film critics, who had both positive and negative things to say about the way that the show so severely limited real discourse about film, but at the same time popularized the notion of personal analysis as a way into the individualized understanding of a film. He also interviews filmmakers of small films that both Roger and Gene felt deserved the publicity that their unique platform in entertainment gave them to promote works that would otherwise have been ignored. But through it all, the love-hate relationship that made the show so successful was also a part of their personal relationship as well, one that they could never really overcome. They were such very different people that they were never going to be friends in the conventional sense, and yet as time went on they needed each other all the more. In many ways, Gene’s death in 1999 was a wake up call for Roger and much of what happened in the rest of his life was informed by the death of his friend.
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The last part of his story is meeting his wife, Chaz, and getting married, spending time with his new extended family and continuing his work without Gene. It was a transformative experience and, ironically, much like Gene’s death, his marriage to Chaz also made his ultimate death much more peaceful for him. By far the most hear-rending part of the story is Roger’s final stay in the rehabilitation center before his death. Watching him force himself through physical therapy or having his throat suctioned out is tough to watch, but it’s real, and it is one of the defining features of Ebert’s life, that he wanted to be real, one of the guys, one of the everyday people and contribute what he could to their lives. There’s nothing exceptionally artistic about Steve James film, but that’s really a tribute to his subject. <b>Life Itself</b> is simply the story of a remarkable man, Roger Ebert, someone who shared his love of art with all of us and made all of us the better for it. neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-51771668801102860702014-11-15T16:17:00.000-08:002016-01-02T09:21:48.642-08:00Manufacturing Consent (1992)Director: Mark Achbar Writer: Peter Wintonick<br>
Film Score: Carl Schultz Cinematography: Peter Wintonick<br>
Starring: Noam Chomsky, Bill Moyers, Paul Andrews and Mark Achbar<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqC2IzBckW6tTaL_ffOq4GHMaP0o_2QQkwrZ5aS0EQWLxC87icfjWp3dyndv2S7qEqNTvwPlpUQgh5j8ooBPkx_GSshBMn6JUVz7i5TC04fuXznRatvKf0MUbzijLmVMx2lGXs05lBKTo/s1600/manufct.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqC2IzBckW6tTaL_ffOq4GHMaP0o_2QQkwrZ5aS0EQWLxC87icfjWp3dyndv2S7qEqNTvwPlpUQgh5j8ooBPkx_GSshBMn6JUVz7i5TC04fuXznRatvKf0MUbzijLmVMx2lGXs05lBKTo/s320/manufct.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005Y726/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00005Y726&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=WO4ZMRQ4N74B6DWZ"><u>Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media</u></a> is one of the best documentaries every produced. Directors Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick made a crucial decision to stand out of the way and allow Chomsky, through a multitude of interviews and documentary footage, to speak for himself. The film’s title comes from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055PJ4R0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0055PJ4R0&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=VZ6KLZFXBVVZNAEX"><u>Chomsky’s book</u></a> of the same name, first published in 1988, a critical look at the corporate underpinnings of the media in American and the link between the media and politics in controlling U.S. cultural thought through propaganda. The film begins with Chomsky’s background as a professor of linguistics at M.I.T. and his subsequent philosophical writings about the nature of a free society. His view is that the more advanced a society becomes the more they need freedom from political and economic ties of the state and the ability to create on their own without coercion from a dominant governmental force, even if it is a democratic one. His study of human language and cognition has led him to advocate for an anarchic, socialistic society that seeks out authority and challenges the assumptions made by that authority, especially in respect to the subliminal control it exerts over society.
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One of the most egregious areas of coercion in Chomsky’s view is private control over resources, but today that could be extended to include health care and insurance as well. Chomsky takes this idea in the direction of the media, where the Constitution defines the need for a free media that can act as a control on government and help voters make informed decisions. But the Constitution was written by men who believed that the masses were not capable of governing themselves and created a representative democracy that would remove them from the actual process of the law, placing the power in the hands of the elite. In order for the elite to control the masses, it then becomes necessary to indoctrinate them with propaganda, hence the need for control over the illusion of a free media. The key to Chomsky’s model of control hinges on the importance that there be a perception of liberal bias in the media. In this way the consumers of the news believe that there is an adversarial relationship between the media and the government and rest easy in the false confidence that their interests are being protected by media watchdogs. But the reality is that all of the major media in this country is owned by, and are subsidiaries of, major corporations that depend on advertising dollars from other major corporations to survive and therefor have no interest in subverting the dominant economic culture in this country by telling citizens the truth.
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What the film does well is to present the alternative to Chomsky’s view. In yet another interview with Bill Moyers, he talks to writer Tom Wolfe who condescendingly dismisses Chomsky and academia as the new clergy, who need something to be wrong so that they can be the keepers of knowledge and understanding. The close up on Moyers as he grins almost lecherously at the idea, is chilling. But at the time of the film there were still 23 corporations who owned over fifty percent of news media in the country. Today there are far fewer as a result of consolidation, and a mere six corporations own ninety percent, while Tom Wolfe has become irrelevant in the literary world. From there the film goes back to biography, with Chomsky risking his career to get involved in the movement against the war in Vietnam, and unconsciously updates this message. Today the media’s “liberal bias” can be seen as total absorption with the idea of embarrassing the government, and that shift has had extremely negative consequences because it only seems to apply to Democratic leadership. While the right-wing hammers away at Democratic leaders in Washington, the mainstream media seem powerless to resist and join in by reporting their sensationalist lies as truth. But when anyone criticizes republican leadership, the right-wing reacts violently with spurious accusations of anti-Americanism which, again, the mainstream media seems compelled to report as actual news.
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Anti-American accusations are closely linked with anti-war accusations. In the film, the first Iraq war had just concluded, and Chomsky makes mention of Bush Sr.’s illegal activities in the C.I.A. that are fleshed out in the documentary <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Q79WMM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002Q79WMM&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=FURJJOFJYT24X4MO"><u>Dark Legacy</u></a>, which even connects him to the JFK assassination. Clearly Bush Jr.’s illegal war in Iraq, in which he and his administration lied to Congress and lied to the world to achieve, fits right in with the media’s lack of criticism and utter lack of presenting alternative views to war, almost since the beginning of the Republic. The bulk of the middle section of the film is taken over by the example of the genocide in East Timor and the U.S. support of the Indonesian invasion that was completely suppressed in the media compared to the genocide in Cambodia that was reported widely in the U.S. New York Times editor Karl Meyer is interviewed refuting Chomsky’s claims, but it’s clear he doesn’t even realize how he is part of the system. A similar situation happened later with Rwanda. After failed U.S. military intervention in Somalia, the U.S. simply turned its back on Rwanda and the lack of anything like outrage in the U.S. media simply allowed it to continue.
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Our civilization has developed within a context of convenient myths, says Chomsky. The most insidious is that of individual material gain. This ultimately selfish outlook on life is, of course, supported and reflected by the government that runs it. In a way it’s endearing that people want to believe that their government is good, a righteous experiment devoted to the welfare of all its citizens. But that’s not what it is. The United States is an oligarchy, with the corporation at the head and in control. And in that sense it’s not much different than the film <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P0J0AQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000P0J0AQ&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=J23IC2SBLQFCGBO4"><u>The Matrix</u></a>. People are continuously fed lies and myths that support the things they want to believe, continually given diversions like technology and sports, and immersed in a consumer society in which news media is just one part, no different in their minds than the reality TV and Facebook feeds they numb themselves with. “The question is whether democracy and freedom are values to be preserved or threats to be avoided. In this, possibly terminal, phase of human existence democracy and freedom are more than values to be treasured, they may well be essential to survival.” Manufacturing Consent is a tremendous film that should be viewed and discussed by everyone in this country. It’s that important.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-14199155289239566572014-09-28T16:01:00.000-07:002016-01-02T09:21:06.101-08:00Forgotten Silver (1995)Directors: Peter Jackson & Costa Botes Writers: Peter Jackson & Costa Botes<br>
Music Score: Duncan Davidson Cinematography: Alun Bollinger<br>
Starring: Thomas Robins, Jeffrey Thomas, Beatrice Ashton and Peter Jackson<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0-kIfIP9QAPGclfHQToU2IxREOdpmY-68yLkjbUWPCmSNe6vjq_1ca-c0jPpM5S2bO6cMzqbQ_NFQd6UXiquzD607Qusn3I668rtpLa-aTeDFkndCmn6BOiyJ6c4bEOuErz9Z-zry_A/s1600/frgslv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0-kIfIP9QAPGclfHQToU2IxREOdpmY-68yLkjbUWPCmSNe6vjq_1ca-c0jPpM5S2bO6cMzqbQ_NFQd6UXiquzD607Qusn3I668rtpLa-aTeDFkndCmn6BOiyJ6c4bEOuErz9Z-zry_A/s320/frgslv.jpg" /></a></div>
One of the most impressive things in the special two-disc edition of the 1933 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00003CXAW/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00003CXAW&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=KCQDWC37MMMJDJ3Q"><u>King Kong</u></a> is the recreation of the spider pit scene by filmmaker Peter Jackson and his crew. The scene had been edited from the final theatrical print and was lost, but Jackson was able to put together a credible replacement that was almost as fascinating for how it was done as it was for the finished product. In reading about this reconstruction, however, I came across several references to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001ZX0JM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0001ZX0JM&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=WY4CVSPLGHSHPN6T"><u>Forgotten Silver</u></a>, a TV film that Jackson did on a fictitious filmmaker from New Zealand named Colin McKenzie. It was made for a series of one-hour dramas presented on New Zealand television and it’s a wonderfully fun piece of filmmaking by Jackson and Costa Botes, a painstaking mockumentary wherein the two attempted to achieve something like the buzz that Orson Welles created when he performed War of the Worlds on radio in 1938. And this they did. They had a reporter that they knew write a piece for the newspaper as if the documentary were real. Jackson assumed that the hoax would be revealed in the meantime and that everyone would be in on the joke when it aired. But so many people were fooled that angry calls and letters flooded into the network, almost as if by creating this historical genius of their own and then suddenly taking him away was a terrible slap in the face to New Zealand.
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The film begins with Peter Jackson being interviewed onscreen, telling how he lived only a few doors down from Beatrice Ashton as McKenzie's widow. It turns out she had a trunk in her garden shed containing films made by her late husband, Thomas Robins as the forgotten Colin McKenzie. The films turn out to be a treasure trove of cinematic firsts. By attaching the camera to a bicycle chain he was able to film the first moving camera shot. He also produced a sound film in the teens, but since all of the actors spoke Chinese it was a commercial failure. He and his brother then went to Tahiti to find a kind of berry that allowed him to film the first ever color sequences. But after a very funny trial for showing public lewdness, he embarked on a major production of the biblical tale of Salome. For this, he constructed a gigantic set in the New Zealand jungle that Jackson and his modern cohorts attempt to excavate. Once there, they discover the thousands of feet of film that the director produced for his film, and the documentary ends with the reconstruction of Salome and a screening that ends in a standing ovation.
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What makes the film so tremendous is the attention to detail that Jackson brought to his spider pit sequence from <b>King Kong</b>. Still photographs of Robins as McKenzie and have an aura about them that is incredibly realistic. And even though they had the ability to take as many stills as they wanted, they limited themselves in the same way a historian would, so you see the same shots over and over. Jackson’s knowledge of film history, the way aging films look, the way shots were framed, as well as the specific style of documentary filmmaking at the time, all add up to a supremely satisfying spoof. Another thing that he and Botes did well was to start with small lies before building up to the whoppers. Even so, when one of the earliest of the films shows a Kiwi as the first man to fly an airplane, the zoom in on the newspaper in the back of a man’s pants pocket is just as ridiculous as when they do it on cop shows. The other genius move was to enlist film historian Leonard Maltin as well as actor Sam Neill and producer Harvey Weinstein for interviews that add another layer of verisimilitude. <b>Forgotten Silver</b> is an incredibly entertaining bit of whimsy, especially for film lovers. And the fact that someone like Peter Jackson can spend the money and time to follow his muse for a lark like this, makes me appreciate him all the more.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-7104931537705010672014-08-25T17:00:00.000-07:002016-01-02T09:20:35.441-08:00The Compleat Beatles (1982)Director: Patrick Montgomery Writer: David Silver<br>
Starring: Malcolm McDowell (narrator), George Martin and Gerry Marsden<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasQsaTzco4hoiv2jUe5QPGZUPaSsL9b4nE4eG35la8XJNiAk3o51gy0Akjl40ry56q6YPy1MCMANcSRMswpDhy6OgUCfb1Z0KfBaaf1D4_xFs0PdmWsxxh3uyQgjEzX6yM1WSpUbdO2w/s1600/combea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasQsaTzco4hoiv2jUe5QPGZUPaSsL9b4nE4eG35la8XJNiAk3o51gy0Akjl40ry56q6YPy1MCMANcSRMswpDhy6OgUCfb1Z0KfBaaf1D4_xFs0PdmWsxxh3uyQgjEzX6yM1WSpUbdO2w/s320/combea.jpg" /></a></div>
In the preface to Philip Norman’s biography of the Beatles, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743235657/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0743235657&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=3JZ7LV5E2KJAFGHQ"><u>Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation</u></a>, he begins by saying that he would like to acknowledge the assistance of the four members of the band in writing the book . . . but he can’t, because they wouldn’t grant him any interviews. The same could be said of this documentary of the group. Made without any assistance from The Beatles, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6301966376/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=6301966376&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=3JRPF74DI547JLAN"><u>The Compleat Beatles</u></a> was, for a dozen years, the only real filmic biography of the group and, while supplanted by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008GKEG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00008GKEG&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=MDCO7OBTNMRXCFER"><u>The Beatles Anthology</u></a> which came out in 1995, it can never really be replaced. Though there are no modern interviews with the band, director Patrick Montgomery and his researchers came up with a treasure trove of previously recorded interviews with the group, as well as new interviews with musical peers like Gerry Marsden and Marianne Faithfull, music writers and, most significantly, extended interviews with the Beatles’ producer George Martin. While Martin also figures extensively in the Anthology, his comments here are actually more incisive and specific to the recordings than the Beatles’ own documentary on themselves.
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The segment of the film about the early years of the band also have a wealth of interviews by people who don’t appear in the <i>Anthology</i>. Bob Wooler, dj at the Cavern Club, Allan Williams, the Beatles’ first manager, Bill Harry, editor of <i>The Mersy Beat</i>, and Tony Sheridan, who the band backed on their first recording sessions in Germany. Since the Anthology contains no narration and only the observations of the band members and those in the inner circle, this film, in many respects, can be seen as a companion piece. While it’s only two hours long, it does a nice job of summing up the career arc of the band and includes a wealth of archival footage, not only of the band but of the related issues about them. For instance there is the backlash to John Lennon’s comments about the group being more popular than Jesus, or the reaction of the U.S. fans to their first visit. Local interviews with fans, especially in the United States, are prevalent, as are those with musicians like Bruce Johnson of the Beach Boys and Billy Preston who played on the “Get Back” sessions that would become the album <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DJZA5/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0000DJZA5&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=IWMJA64L5OGV5DT7"><u>Let It Be</u></a>, and music writers who were around at the time and talk about the impact that the music had back then.
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Today almost every bit of footage of the Beatles is available to fans, the concerts, the television appearances, and the interviews. But thirty years ago that was not the case. Montgomery was able to pay for the reproduction rights to all of their studio recordings, but also managed to find early recordings that don’t even appear in the <i>Anthology</i>. The director also had access to the concert footage from Washington D.C. on their first tour, the Shea Stadium concert, and especially the concert in Japan at the Budokan. On the other hand, very little footage from their feature films was available to the production. At the time this film came out the fledgling USA Network was doing a lot of music programming in the evenings, including all of the Beatle’s feature film and the entire <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZWIGZ0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00EZWIGZ0&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=A57VBOY75YWUW4ZI"><u>cartoon series</u></a>. But as far as biographical material about the band was concerned, this was it. And even though the bulk of the footage has become rather dated over the last few decades, as a unified whole it is still an extremely impressive documentary. <b>The Compleat Beatles</b> continues to stand on its own as a significant document of one of the most influential groups in pop music history.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-87567010764072479992014-07-08T15:01:00.002-07:002016-01-02T09:19:52.074-08:00West of Memphis (2012)Director: Amy Berg Writers: Amy Berg & Billy McMillin<br>
Producer: Peter Jackson Cinematography: Maryse Alberti<br>
Starring: Pam Hobbs, Damien Wayne Echols, Lorri Davis and John Douglas<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4VnC8RkjXAluPdSpMHm-wSY8AcG-D5gEXzIS1FGC0gFqwdk3hnCGwvqWbcS0O6BPD0xE1X62lCWNjwro5gB2ggHNLK7ai2IKdO-n0Z02AVlcb_lh-9QbSGxoDQr-ALWyvodRIBAylcY/s1600/wom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4VnC8RkjXAluPdSpMHm-wSY8AcG-D5gEXzIS1FGC0gFqwdk3hnCGwvqWbcS0O6BPD0xE1X62lCWNjwro5gB2ggHNLK7ai2IKdO-n0Z02AVlcb_lh-9QbSGxoDQr-ALWyvodRIBAylcY/s320/wom.jpg" /></a></div>
This is an incredible documentary in the tradition of The Thin Blue Line. But whereas the former film was a true exposé, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AIBZKFG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AIBZKFG&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=PZZJU7LEBSXICIST"><u>West of Memphis</u></a> is more a summation of the case and a portrait of a criminal justice system still very much in denial. In May of 1993, three eight-year-old boys rode off on their bikes after school and never came back. Parents were horrified and families hit the streets as night fell to see if they could be found. But it wasn’t until the next day that they were discovered. They were found dead in a swampy ditch, stripped naked, tied up, and mutilated with a knife. It was a horrendous tragedy and the people of the community naturally looked to the police to catch the murderers. Because of the mutilations of the boys, one of the detectives who had been involved studying Satanist groups suggested that teenager Damien Wayne Echols, a known Satanist, be picked up. Not only was he arrested, but two of his friends were as well, and one of them, Jessie Misskelley, confessed to everything. The trial was swift and predictable, and the three were convicted and Echols sentenced to death.
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What makes this film especially good is the way in which it unfolds, because initially it pulls the reader into the very conclusions that the police, the prosecutors and parents were making at the time. Juxtaposed, then, with the efforts of people to get the three convicted killers released from prison is almost maddening at first because it seems so unjustified. But then the facts begin to come to light. Lorri Davis began a relationship with Echols in prison and eventually married him. She assembled evidence and enlisted other people, famous people, to her cause and what they discovered was shocking. What the forensic pathologists who studied the evidence realized is that it was the turtles living in the water that caused the mutilations, not a knife. There was also a hair found in the ligature that was DNA matched to one of the boys’ stepfathers, someone who had not even been interviewed at the beginning of the case. Finally, it was clear that the police coerced the confession from Misskelley and did the same with other witnesses. In the end, there was absolutely no evidence, concrete or circumstantial, tying any of the three teenagers to the murder.
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As stated earlier, this is not an expose as such. The Devil’s Knot as well as two HBO documentaries, Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2, had been released earlier. But what makes this one definitive is the participation of Peter Jackson. As supporter of the cause and a producer on the project it makes for a very well done film. It also has the benefit over previous films by including the resolution of the case and the fates of the three convicted men. Amy Berg is a documentary filmmaker from Los Angeles who did a remarkable job telling this story, not only in her use of existing footage associated with the case but the way it is presented to viewers and the quality of the new interviews. It’s not an easy film to watch because of the recalcitrance of the police who, to this day, refuse to admit their wrongdoing, and the judge who backed them up all along the way. Even the resolution is bittersweet in allowing the legal system to be held blameless in the documented and proven wrongful incarceration of the three. <b>West of Memphis</b> is not the kind of story that I naturally gravitate to, as true crime is usually too sensational for me. But this is a very good documentary and comes highly recommended.
neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-63040728951692355882014-06-22T09:31:00.002-07:002016-01-02T09:19:19.498-08:00Birdsong (2012)Director: Philip Martin Writers: Sebastian Faulks & Abi Morgan<br>
Film Score: Nicholas Hooper Cinematography: Julian Court<br>
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Clémence Poésy, Joseph Mawle and Marie-Josée Croze<p>
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One of the common complaints about literature that is made into film, is that the filmmakers change too much, or leave things out, or otherwise tamper with the novel or story. I admit, I used to be one of those who complained. But at some point I realized that films are a completely different art form, and that filmmakers shouldn’t be bound by the constraints of their source material. Often times, when the opportunity arises to film a novel almost completely and emulate everything in the book, it doesn’t really work. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077PBPJ6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0077PBPJ6&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Birdsong</u></a> is an example of this. A best-selling novel by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679776818/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0679776818&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Sebastian Faulks</u></a>, the BBC series is overlong and as a result, dilutes its drama to the point that nothing in the picture seems dramatic. One of the things film does so well, in the same way as poetry, is compression of the story to give it maximum impact. By attempting to emulate the leisurely pace of fiction, Birdsong is utterly unable to control the narrative in a filmic sense.
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Film is an objective medium, which means that the only thing we can know is what the characters tell us, almost exclusively in dialogue. So, long sections of internal dialog where the character tells us what he thinks and feels in the book . . . become long, tedious sections of characters looking at each other and saying nothing. It just doesn’t work. If the screenwriter had made Redmayne keep a diary, or done some kind of minimal voiceover, we might have been able to approximate the novel. But no, it was Faulks himself who co-wrote the screenplay, guaranteeing those long sections of non-verbal staring at each other.
<p>
I enjoyed the book, and in many ways it bears a strong relationship to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013XZ6X4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0013XZ6X4&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Atonement</u></a>, based on the novel by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038572179X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=038572179X&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Ian McEwan</u></a>, both of which use World War I for the backdrop of their love stories and a multigenerational approach to the narrative. Unfortunately, even with all of that space in the mini-series, the author decided to ditch the modern section of the novel, much to the detriment of the film. Instead, we have even longer to linger over the two streams of narrative, one from before the war, and one during. Eddie Redmayne is an apprentice to a French manufacturer, learning about modern textile techniques. He falls in love with the man’s wife, Clémence Poésy, while staying in their home, and the two run away together. This is juxtaposed with Redmayne during the war, alternately guarding the tunnel diggers and going over the top into no man’s land.
<p>
This is a popular mini-series, no doubt due to the popularity of the novel. But on its own, it lacks the impact of a feature film, the compression that makes the drama so immediate and so powerful. The two leads, Redmayne and Poésy, are very good, as is the supporting cast. But floating as they are, awash in a bloated narrative in which very little seems to happen because of the immensity of the film’s length, it’s ultimately disappointing. For those who have read the novel, it no doubt will be enjoyable, the story familiar, the characters engaging. But for those who haven’t, it will probably come off as over long, which it really is. And that’s too bad, because <b>Birdsong</b> had the potential to be something great, but was simply overdone.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-78140736712631240422014-06-13T15:45:00.002-07:002016-01-02T09:18:36.677-08:00In The Shadow of the Moon (2007)Director: David Sington Presenter: Ron Howard<br>
Music Score: Philip Sheppard Cinematography: Clive North<br>
Starring: Buzz Aldrin, Gene Cernan, Michael Collins and Jim Lovell<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGioxEmOGiVVOOhwXflAjhQdpUQ7iAfS0rqZx3sqfY28fec5D98i4xX42TogKSqgNDjz-eIU45Pq7TRWNzsXAg4k9eHj3HtCe6gDkry5hfc8CzENhtreflg1kZVMH2rKUJwKcKUbA9SH4/s1600/itsotm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGioxEmOGiVVOOhwXflAjhQdpUQ7iAfS0rqZx3sqfY28fec5D98i4xX42TogKSqgNDjz-eIU45Pq7TRWNzsXAg4k9eHj3HtCe6gDkry5hfc8CzENhtreflg1kZVMH2rKUJwKcKUbA9SH4/s320/itsotm.jpg" /></a></div>
In the 1983 feature film <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000055ZF6/ref=
as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000055ZF6&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=NQ6OMUO6MCVFJXCK"><u>Terms of Endearment</u></a>, Jack Nicholson as astronaut Garrett Breedlove expresses some interesting thoughts about his experience in space. “There's a hundred and six
astronauts in the whole world and I’m one of them . . . Do you want to know what bothers me? None of us ever got together in one room, locked all the doors, and compared notes on the experience. I think we had to pretend it wasn’t the fun that it was.” This feature documentary, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XJ5TPE/ref=as_l
i_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000XJ5TPE&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=7H2Z63CUIJV5U7VK"><u>In the Shadow of the Moon</u></a>, tries to do exactly that. Unlike most histories of the U.S. space program in the sixties, this film doesn’t approach the subject chronologically by mission. It takes as its premise the experience of the astronauts themselves who
actually went to the moon and compares all of the aspects of space flight, from the preparation to the liftoff to the landing and exploration of the moon itself. As such, it’s the closest thing to Nicholson’s locked room that we’re likely to see, especially with the passing of so many astronauts.
<p>
Another aspect to this film that fits it into part of a larger movement was the success
of Ron Howard’s 1995 film <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0783225733/ref
=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0783225733&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=XO2IXZ3QTQKZ2A3M"><u>Apollo 13</u></a>. In
the wake of that film came a number of projects by Howard and the film’s star, Tom Hanks.
The most impressive is a dramatic reenactment of the entire Apollo program that the two
put together for HBO in 1998, the miniseries <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/pro
duct/B002O3Z4QQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002O3Z4QQ&lin
kCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=YOGGSQYDAAF5LCRH"><u>From the Earth
to the Moon</u></a>. That renewed interest in the space program inspired the
single most impressive documentary on the entire program, <a href="http://www.amaz
on.com/gp/product/B00004U2MS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B
00004U2MS&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=UUPJW7KPPEW4L2BV"><u>To
The Moon</u></a>, produced by NOVA in 1999. One other tremendous program
that was made that same year by The History Channel and dealt with the Soviet space
program is the lamentably out of print <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B
000E37222/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000E37222&linkCode=
as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=RX44QYE3HSAFYPCF"><u>Secrets of Soviet
Space Disasters</u></a>. All of these programs feature interviews with
surviving members of the space programs and delve into material previously only found in
books. The explosion of interviews and information conveyed in a visual medium created a
new interest and popularity of the original program that beat the Russians to the Moon.
<p>
The surviving astronauts in <b>Shadow</b> are Jim Lovell from Apollo 8, the
first men to orbit the moon, and Apollo 13, the successful failure that was almost the
greatest space tragedy in U.S. history, Dave Scott from Apollo 9 and 15, Gene Cernan from
Apollo 10 and 17, the last flight to the moon, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins from
Apollo 11, the flight that first landed on the moon, Alan Bean from the following flight
Apollo 12, and the only non-aviator to land on the Moon, scientist Jack Schmitt on Apollo
17. The film emphasizes the experience of space flight, like the interesting fact of the
way the rocket gimbals as it’s coming off the launch pad, and the way the packed schedule
of the astronauts allows very little time for introspection. Though Ron Howard wasn’t
directly involved in the film, he was brought onboard as the presenter to provide name
recognition and a link to his popular film about Jim Lovell, whose book <a href="h
ttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618619585/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&
creativeASIN=0618619585&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=6YNXA7NDBWJO76XD">
;<u>Lost Moon</u></a> provided the storyline for Howard’s film. Those
expecting a detailed telling of the Apollo program will not find it in <b>In the
Shadow of the Moon</b>. For that they should check out the NOVA program. But for
those interested in the human experience of traveling to another planet, it’s fascinating.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-86502012112676791662014-05-20T21:55:00.000-07:002016-01-02T09:17:09.734-08:00Vikings (2013-14)Directors: Ciaran Donnelly & Ken Girotti Writer/Creator: Michael Hirst<br>
Music Score: Trevor Morris Cinematography: Jack Atcheler<br>
Starring: Travis Fimmel, Clive Standen, Katheryn Winnick and Jessalyn Gilsig <p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCnIch7gGjpTDku2nn9SXMzAKv_A6TmN1-EYAAX25KiHbFwQ2XCfxSAa3D-k8jhRdjc5TNFz0k-idmkhPu2QxuIhvPwxHI_uT6YmUJzAvcEt_NuSdfsrTcyZ9hWGYySJMjHJsRF5_ikg/s1600/viking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCnIch7gGjpTDku2nn9SXMzAKv_A6TmN1-EYAAX25KiHbFwQ2XCfxSAa3D-k8jhRdjc5TNFz0k-idmkhPu2QxuIhvPwxHI_uT6YmUJzAvcEt_NuSdfsrTcyZ9hWGYySJMjHJsRF5_ikg/s320/viking.jpg" /></a></div>
The History Channel series <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CDTSFF8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CDTSFF8&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=2PVRC2FISOODFFF5"><u>Vikings</u></a> that was so tremendous last year has definitely suffered from the sophomore slump. But perhaps that was inevitable. The production values, the acting, and most especially the storyline were incredibly compelling in their inaugural season. This year they seem to have been far too influenced by the success of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CLI4N4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B008CLI4N4&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=LMNKJ7TNRLPJUQSW"><u>Game of Thrones</u></a> and completely given over to intrigue rather than character development. It’s too bad because, on it’s own last year, it was such a fascinating insight into a culture that has rarely reached the screen with anything like realism. And the potential for that to continue was something I had looked forward to with great anticipation. The first season also benefitted greatly from the short-term contract of the magnificent Gabriel Byrne as Earl Haraldson. His presence drew an audience in that might have been on the fence initially, and by the midpoint in the season they were actually hoping for his departure to make way for the ascension of Travis Fimmel as the famed Ragnar Lothbrok.
<p>
The real Lothbrok was a semi-mythological Viking warrior who is reputed to have led the invasions West that began the raids that would last for two hundred and fifty years. He is supposed to have had five sons who are actual historical Vikings. In the first season Fimmel is married to the breathtaking Katheryn Winnick. They are farmers as well as warriors and she supports him, giving him a son, young Irish actor Nathan O’Toole, and a daughter, Ruby O’Leary. But as Fimmel pushes Byrne to head West for new lands, Byrne’s conservatism takes hold and his fear that it will lead Fimmel to command the loyalty of the warriors causes him to deny his wishes. At the same time Fimmel’s brother, Clive Standen, becomes jealous of his brother’s success and causes Standen to betray him in looking for power for himself. The final battle between Fimmel and Byrne is realistic and riveting, and the raid on England is terrific in its surprise for the invaders. One of their captives is George Blagden who plays a monk who winds up converting to the Norse religion. He is actually one of the best parts of the second season. Two of the other standouts are Gustaf Skarsgård, son of the great Stellan Skarsgård, as the boat builder for Fimmel, and Jessalyn Gilsig as Byrne's widow and common law wife of Standen.
<p>
As stated above, the second season is primarily a story of shifting loyalties. This, of course, began at the end of season one with Winnick losing her baby and Fimmel being seduced by Alyssa Sutherland. Another interesting aspect of the second season is the leaps ahead in time. Winnick leaves Fimmel and when she returns a few years later their son is now played by the older Alexander Ludwig. Fimmel also has to broker a peace between the king, Donal Logue, and his rival Thorbjørn Harr who has taken on Standen as one of his warriors. But that’s just the beginning. More of the action takes place in England as the Viking royalty ban together to secure more fertile land to live on, and intrigue with the English princes is just as vicious. Ultimately, this isn’t nearly as interesting as the first season that was so focused on the characters. And as more of the action takes place in Britain it would appear that season three of the show will definitely be drifting more toward a <b>Game of Thrones</b> storyline, and that’s disappointing. It was the unique aspect of the show that made it so interesting, and copying something else makes it seem much less so. I just hope <b>Vikings</b> can get back to the character driven stories of the Norse people that were so compelling that first season. But time will tell.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-35372982595838176842014-05-07T18:45:00.000-07:002016-01-02T09:16:45.265-08:00JFK: A Presidency Revealed (2003)Writer: David C. Taylor Cinematography: Harrison Moore<br>
Film Score: David Cottrell Editor: Patrick J. Donnelly<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPI0V9wcMRuhS7s8GRJz8a-DhRfCKnVTijXmxzvRATNtpKKhltQXwzxbx_SwhdyBO8w0_ZNVsEf_sqLFE_Gnf11jQt72nsBva-PVO6JUGvrFLBrL_iPOLkdmq4WhqbY7ARU-w6wJdiMLs/s1600/jfkrev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPI0V9wcMRuhS7s8GRJz8a-DhRfCKnVTijXmxzvRATNtpKKhltQXwzxbx_SwhdyBO8w0_ZNVsEf_sqLFE_Gnf11jQt72nsBva-PVO6JUGvrFLBrL_iPOLkdmq4WhqbY7ARU-w6wJdiMLs/s320/jfkrev.jpg" /></a></div>
The History Channel has had a dubious reputation for producing documentaries because of their seeming right-wing agenda. They have, however, done some interesting work at times. One of the most impressive was their film on the Soviet space program, <b>History Undercover: Soviet Space Disasters</b>. As far as JFK goes, their program on the assassination was pure government propaganda in perpetuating the lone-gunman theory with Oswald as the killer. In fact, when they used the Zapruder film on that program they completely left out the headshot because it shows him being thrown backward by the gunshot from the grassy knoll. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DC11X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0000DC11X&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=YT3MZCFXJSQO5B34"><u>JKF: A Presidency Revealed</u></a> makes the same assertion and claims again that Oswald was the shooter, even though the FBI tests on him showed no gunshot residue on his face that would have been consistent with firing a rifle. But it’s only a minute of the show. As for the rest of the program, it’s a very good look at the presidency of one of our greatest presidents.
<p>
That’s a bold statement, but one that is borne out by the evidence. Had a man been in office who had less fortitude, Nixon for instance, it is almost a certainty that the world would have been plunged into a nuclear war of some magnitude. On at least three occasions John F. Kennedy defied his military advisors and refused to follow the belligerent, right wing, military-industrial complex party line in order to do what was best for the country and the world. But it wasn’t an easy road. Coming into the office he took some brutal hits and initially his inexperience threatened to overwhelm him. Ironically, however, the Bay of Pigs debacle is probably more responsible than anything for his ability to distrust what the military was convinced had to be done and instead do what his moral compass led him to do. At the same time the youth of he and Jackie and their young children was transforming the white house and the country’s image of the presidency.
<p>
There are some good interview subjects for the documentary as well. Robert McNamara gives commentary on Kennedy’s foreign policy, but Teddy Kennedy also makes some nice observations on his brother’s presidency. I could have done without Oleg Cassini’s interview about Jackie’s dresses, but I guess that was part of her mystique. There was also a considerable discussion of Kennedy’s physical problems and several mentions of his dalliances with women. The other aspect of his presidency that comes out is his reliance on brother Robert Kennedy and the real teamwork the two engaged in--though not personally. It was rather surprising to learn that RFK was never invited once up to the residence, but perhaps that’s understandable given the amount of time they worked together during the day and spend together with family. As a bonus, two of the A&E Biographies are included, one on President Kennedy and the other on his father Joe. <b>JKF: A Presidency Revealed</b> does not have a conservative bias and finally offers an objective view of a great president, one that in retrospect deserves to be considered among our greatest.
neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-15696051056956060442014-05-04T20:18:00.000-07:002016-01-02T09:16:19.187-08:00Stauffenberg (2004)Director: Jo Baier Writer: Jo Baier<br>
Film Score: Trevor Morris Cinematography: Jack Atcheler<br>
Starring: Sebastian Koch, Rainer Bock, Enrico Mutti and Nina Kunzendorf<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSW1Q8nnS7qHz0jufb0htOpRX3YTxplJxIBmmqktZytEGxJaNVd8i9D2MtQh9TITdmSLlzvgRhZWrLAAm6TuZS5miHSJNfPFzCLxvB9QIUnO8Jwr53w6NArjj2UvB-JriWFa9DPcj0Gc/s1600/stauff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSW1Q8nnS7qHz0jufb0htOpRX3YTxplJxIBmmqktZytEGxJaNVd8i9D2MtQh9TITdmSLlzvgRhZWrLAAm6TuZS5miHSJNfPFzCLxvB9QIUnO8Jwr53w6NArjj2UvB-JriWFa9DPcj0Gc/s320/stauff.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>Stauffenberg</b> is a German TV movie that was renamed <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F0TM2Q/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001F0TM2Q&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=6UEMHLTH5LQETVIK"><u>Operation Valkyrie</u></a> only after the American film <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TUZG4U/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001TUZG4U&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=3KPKHLZS6N4GXIDF"><u>Valkyrie</u></a> with Tom Cruise was released and to capitalize on the publicity surrounding that film. This is obvious from the fact that the name of the operation is barely mentioned in this film. Of course Claus von Stauffenberg led the most publicized attempt to assassinate Hitler, planting the bomb himself at the Wolf’s Lair, and coming within a hair’s breath of taking over the government and making peace with the Allies. There have been numerous films dealing with the failed assassination tangentially, from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008AOTO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00008AOTO&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=VDRGTGWKKZY3AO4Q"><u>The Desert Fox</u></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004IFYMXO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004IFYMXO&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20&linkId=KKELLYWZ3M7BSL3T"><u>Night of the Generals</u></a>, to the TV miniseries <b>Twist of Fate</b>, but this was the first to deal primarily with the architect of the plan and the aftermath for him and his comrades who were assassinated themselves before they could divulge any more of the people involved in the conspiracy.
<p>
The film begins with a lengthy montage, starting with Sebastian Koch as the young Stauffenberg, eager to do well in the army and idolizing Hitler. In 1939 in Poland he still exhibits the master race syndrome in his attitude toward the conquered peoples, but by 1942 in Russia, hearing of the atrocities perpetrated by the SS, he begins to question the real purpose behind the war. From there the film jolts along in large chunks, first to Africa where he loses an eye and one of his hands, then to 1943 in the midst of planning the assassination, to 1944 when he leaves for Berlin to carry out the plan. The story to this point is very elliptical, probably relying on the German familiarity with the story, though it does leave quite a bit out. Once Koch has carried out the bombing he makes a narrow escape back to Berlin. Though the operation known as Valkyrie was supposed to have been set in motion, nothing actually happens until he gets back. Rainer Bock, second in command, lacks the spine to order the military occupation of Berlin in time which allows Enrico Mutti, head of the German Guard, to have his orders rescinded. With predictable consequences for the conspirators.
<p>
Ultimately the film is not as good as the American version. To be fair, however, they did have slightly different purposes. As the original German title shows, this film was more about the man than the operation. What is difficult to ascertain without further reading is exactly how much leadership Stauffenberg was given. Here it seems as if he is the leader of the conspiracy and running things to his specifications. In the Tom Cruise film from four years later it was clear he was simply running the assassination and that others higher up were in charge of Valkyrie. The production values are good for a television film, especially the scenes in Africa, and many of the building interiors would be the same ones used four years later in the American version. German writer-director Jo Baier has done primarily television films and does a decent job here directing, but his script leaves so much out that not only is the audience left out of the operational planning, but doesn’t really get a sense of the man either. Nevertheless, the film was given a German Television Award. <b>Operation Valkyrie</b> is an interesting take on the subject, but I would definitely recommend the American version over it. neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-19813731290787792152014-03-19T14:31:00.000-07:002016-01-02T09:15:33.325-08:00Race for the Double Helix (1987)Director: Mick Jackson Writer: William Nicholson<br>
Film Score: Peter Howell Cinematography: Andrew Dunn<br>
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Tim Pigott-Smith, Alan Howard and Juliet Stevenson<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" height="202" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6UjBrn2BhvrINkDuuQmGbU3CFZFvwsBLpwbYuVcXJP6voWUgO-dcNWyHOk90tOjulb3pSTa9LbPrW4gldIpUJ9ZWxI6Scaam2MtTixC1NBgeOYm2NpekDDx8XNMms-dUosdo4hh8aPCd/s320/dhelix.jpg" /></a></div>
The phrase “TV Movie” has been a pejorative description ever since those programs first appeared. Low budgets, lesser talent, and weak production values make for films that will never be able to compete, in terms of quality, with feature films produced by a major studio. One of the delights, however, in any generalization is the exception to the rule. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6303247911/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=6303247911&linkCode=as2&tag=thehardbophomepa"><u>Race for the Double Helix</u></a>, a BBC production from 1987, is a magnificent piece of work that can hold its own with any feature film, and has been one of my favorite films of all time since I first saw it on the A&E Network.
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Nominally based on James Watson’s book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006NUHVV2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006NUHVV2&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Double Helix</u></a>, (the “Race” was added to the title of the film for American audiences) the film concerns the discovery of the structure of DNA, the genetic material that is responsible for the reproduction of life on earth. Watson had been doing research in molecular biology in Europe and eventually made his way to London, working at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465091385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0465091385&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Francis Crick</u></a>. The two of them struck up a friendship based on their interest in “genes,” at the time an imaginary structure that was responsible for replication of biological organisms. By using guile and taking daring guesses, they were able to deduce the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. The two of them, along with Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 and would have been joined by Rosalind Franklin had she not died in the interim.
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I call the film “Rocky for Geeks.” Not only is it highly inspirational, but the film itself, from its construction, to the script, to the acting, is incredibly intellectual. Director Mick Jackson works primarily in television, but has done some feature films like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BZ58RQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003BZ58RQ&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>L.A. Story</u></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006N2EZ0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0006N2EZ0&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The Bodyguard</u></a>. But it’s William Nicholson’s script that almost leaps off the screen. Of course, he has been responsible for some major blockbusters, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00003CXE7/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00003CXE7&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Gladiator</u></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RF7XYO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000RF7XYO&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Elizabeth</u></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005S9EK5Y/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005S9EK5Y&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Les Miserables</u></a> among them. He turned the story into something akin to a musical piece, with separate movements named for phrases in the script that guide our understanding of the story. It really is a beautiful piece of work, with subtle humor and understated drama that is absolutely enthralling.
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The big coup at the time was getting Jeff Goldblum to play Watson, thereby enhancing the credentials of the production. But the rest of the British actors are just as good. Tim Pigott-Smith as Crick is a vastly underrated actor who has been fantastic in everything he’s been in. Alan Howard as Wilkins falls into the same category, stunning in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000059LGL/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000059LGL&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover</u></a> but unfortunately limited to television work thereafter. Juliet Stevenson is the real star of the show as Rosalind “Rosie” Franklin. And even though her biographer, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060985089/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060985089&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Brenda Maddox</u></a>, took issue with the way that she was portrayed, she is still a captivating character and her unsung role in the discovery is amply demonstrated.
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Now the bad news. This is one of those films, especially TV movies, that has yet to make an appearance on DVD, and there’s no telling when or if it will happen at all. With relatively few original VHS copies out on the market, those that are for sale are ridiculously overpriced. My copy was taken off of the television, minus the commercials, on VHS and then subsequently converted to MP4 so that I could watch it on TV from my iPod. The picture lags, but the soundtrack is fine. I can upload it to one of my websites if anyone is interested. <b>Race for the Double Helix</b> is not just great science, but great filmmaking, inspirational and artistic, a brilliant film in almost every respect.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-61415906212442149702014-02-23T18:33:00.001-08:002014-02-23T18:37:11.328-08:00Carmen (2013)Director: Yves Beaunesne Composer: Geroges Bizet<br>
Conductor: Philippe Jordan Libretto: Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy<br>
Starring: Anna Caterina Antonacci, Nikolai Schukoff, Genia Kühmeier and Ludovic Tézier<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5KOPAGcMTojyhqHX2NXx7BKg5HpPXICPDr_c3t3EEYMcDMC7FgiV7oX5U5hOs63zWYNcLFuB0dfgngfwfFWUN8La-3S1hBD_oip3UQPk2JUjhem9hXAYhyFaSgrMNXRbRdwIH1wDPNo/s1600/carmen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5KOPAGcMTojyhqHX2NXx7BKg5HpPXICPDr_c3t3EEYMcDMC7FgiV7oX5U5hOs63zWYNcLFuB0dfgngfwfFWUN8La-3S1hBD_oip3UQPk2JUjhem9hXAYhyFaSgrMNXRbRdwIH1wDPNo/s320/carmen.jpg" /></a></div>
After seeing the advertisements for live operas at the movie theater for years, I finally had my first chance to experience one this afternoon at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia. I had originally bought my tickets to the performance of Bizet’s <b>Carmen</b> thinking it would be a local production, but was delighted to find it was a filmed version from Paris two years ago. The last time I had seen <b>Carmen</b> was twenty years ago at the Seattle Opera House. That production was set in Spain during the fifties during Franco’s fascist regime, complete with trench coats, fedoras and the ultimate femme fatale. I remember enjoying it immensely, though apparently there was some pushback by the patrons who felt the story was a little too risqué. But that certainly wasn’t the fault of the setting, it’s in the original and the story was just as controversial in 1875 when in premiered. That fifties version, however, is nothing compared to Yves Beaunesne’s 2012 production, set in the seventies after Franco’s death.
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The story of <b>Carmen</b> is something right out of film noir. Soldier Don José has decided to marry his girlfriend Micaëla, but the alluring Carmen seems to have her eye on him. When she is arrested for pulling a knife on one of the women in the factory, José succumbs to her charms and lets her go while he is arrested for dereliction of duty. A month later Carmen is delighted to learn of José’s release, and thus when the bullfighter Escamillo sets his sights on Carmen she spurns him. José at last is reunited with Carmen, but when he wants to return to the barracks she taunts him into abandoning the army altogether and participating in the criminal activities of her friends. Inevitably, Carmen becomes bored with José, but when Micaëla comes to get him he is so blind with jealousy over Escamillo’s declaration of love for Carmen that he doesn’t want to go. When she tells him his mother is dying, however, he reluctantly leaves. Then José shows up at the bullfight to win back his obsession, but Carmen utterly dismisses him and tragedy ensues.
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One of the biggest knocks against the production when it premiered two years ago was the costuming. When one thinks of altering the setting of an opera the hope is that it will be with the idea of enhancing the public’s enjoyment of the music, something most of them are already familiar with. The problem with the “disco” version of <b>Carmen</b> staged by Yves Beaunesne is that the updated setting becomes a distraction. And it’s not even the setting, per se. The actual sets look like they could have been anytime from the original eighteen twenties version right on up to the nineteen thirties. Given that, then, the go-go boots and leisure suits are so incongruous that they literally are a distraction. Carmen wears a blonde Marilyn Monroe wig and black sequined dress while José in his army uniform looks normal. Add to that the six foot four transvestite prancing around with exposed plastic breasts and that part of the opera is very disappointing.
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The one indisputable high point, however, is the music. Conductor Philippe Jordan and the Orchestra of the National Opera of Paris were both outstanding. The principal leads were less so. Anna Caterina Antonacci as Carmen did a solid job, but little more. The blonde wig only accentuated her age, fifty at the time, and that tended to diminish the up close shots in the film. Her voice was good, but the real star vocally was Genia Kühmeier as Micaëla. She lit up the stage with her singing and received by far the biggest ovation at the close of the performance. Likewise, tenor Nikolai Schukoff was solid as Don José but he paled in comparison to Alexandre Duhame who, in a small role as a corporal in the first act, was missed sorely by his absence the rest of the performance. Baritone Ludovic Tézier as the toreador Escamillo was the other solid performer, though he looked like fat Elvis in his white leisure suit in the second act. In all, filmed opera is a terrific experience. Being able to see <b>Carmen</b> at the Paris Opera “live” without going there was a real treat and I’m looking forward to doing it again. neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-35494722615476167672014-02-17T14:44:00.002-08:002016-01-02T09:13:48.259-08:00The World at War (1973-74)Directors: Hugh Raggett & John Pett Writers: Neal Ascherson & Peter Blatty<br>
Music Score: Carl Davis Cinematography: Peter Lang<br>
Narration: Laurence Olivier Editing: Beryl Wilkins & Alan Afriat<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97o4zI-Ypm3mMf_Y0U-QI1mJEtqE124rXCAnArAWIayYKmw86KcMZMwLYtBE2andh3w6aE408mphMX2t6QnAgO-wjUmONfKo9RX4O6iouZllVqSeYet_Bo7I_Sn9dUzcqXfQz9_FkdrM/s1600/watw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97o4zI-Ypm3mMf_Y0U-QI1mJEtqE124rXCAnArAWIayYKmw86KcMZMwLYtBE2andh3w6aE408mphMX2t6QnAgO-wjUmONfKo9RX4O6iouZllVqSeYet_Bo7I_Sn9dUzcqXfQz9_FkdrM/s320/watw.jpg" /></a></div>
One of the most haunting melodies ever written was by composer Carl Davis for the BBC series <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002F6AH0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0002F6AH0&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The World at War</u></a>. The music was made even more dramatic by the opening montage of black and white images of faces associated with the war that burned and blistered into each other as the flames rose in front of them. Forty years after its first airing it is still the best documentary series on World War II ever produced. Likely it always will be. Even Ken Burns wound up bottoming out when he reached World War II and his series <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000R7NBMK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000R7NBMK&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The War</u></a> wound up being one of his least successful. Whatever technical advances in film and documentary work that have taken place since, most of the people who were in the war are now gone. The thing that makes this such a riveting piece of work is the interviews with people like Abert Speer and Kay Summersby and the immediacy that they bring. In addition a host of other lesser subjects, both military and civilian, take part in bringing the history alive.
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Another aspect that is missed so greatly in recent documentaries is the gravity with which the material is presented. To a large degree the credit for that must go to the narrator of the series, Laurence Olivier. He has exactly the right tone, both grave and ironic at times, but always with a sense of the reverence for the material. The writing is also incredibly good because it’s not compelled to fill every empty space. This is a visual medium and most of the time the images speak for themselves. And the directors of the series do a nice job of letting them. The other problem with covering World War II is deciding how much to cover. With two major theaters of war and a half dozen other minor theaters it is vastly complex and takes place over a six-year period--even more when attempting to explain the events leading up to the war. The producers wisely chose a geographical approach.
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After an opening episode looking at the beginnings, there are shows that look at each of the major countries as they enter the war. France is first, the victim of Blitzkrieg and suddenly out of the war. Britain is focused on prior to America’s entry and how they were left to fight the Germans alone. There are episodes on Barbarosa, Hitler’s invasion of Russia, the Japanese threat in Asia, U.S. isolationism, and the African campaign. Episodes on Russia, Nazi Germany, Japan, D-Day, The Holocaust, and the Atomic bomb followed the next year. In addition to the episodes that aired in the seventies, several shorter episodes have been put together with existing footage on Hitler’s secretary (a great German film that features her is called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009RCPUC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0009RCPUC&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Downfall</u></a> with Bruno Ganz), the soldiers who fought on all sides, two expanded episodes on Nazi Germany as well as two on The Holocaust and the end of the war. <b>The World at War</b> is still the best series ever produced on World War II, and arguably one of the greatest documentaries of all time, regardless of subject.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-58374115407511520272013-12-27T12:42:00.000-08:002016-01-02T09:13:16.066-08:00The Big C (2010-2013)Director: Michael Engler Writer: Darlene Hunt & Jenny Bicks<br>
Music: Marcello Zarvos Cinematography: John Thomas<br>
Starring: Laura Linney, Oliver Platt, Gabriel Basso and John Benjamin Hickey<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzyVbJZHRwcHSZF8KoqPBZzIug5RYH75rUsxQXvJjByR9eyaw0M5IGc3ATHiqPQiWcxBUaarqNctLgJ5ZCuqAbTtkTt0BFuqDkyrQTRNtvqPtfEmTG12hM_-G_mOLkrne6dCCw9WWW7W8/s1600/thebigc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzyVbJZHRwcHSZF8KoqPBZzIug5RYH75rUsxQXvJjByR9eyaw0M5IGc3ATHiqPQiWcxBUaarqNctLgJ5ZCuqAbTtkTt0BFuqDkyrQTRNtvqPtfEmTG12hM_-G_mOLkrne6dCCw9WWW7W8/s320/thebigc.jpg" /></a></div>
This Showtime series was like a breath of fresh air when it premiered three years ago. Laura Linney, one of my absolute favorite actresses, was perfect for the role, especially after having already died of cancer twice in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002NTDXQ4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002NTDXQ4&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The Other Man</u></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JLZN/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00005JLZN&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The Life of David Gale</u></a>. She has a sense of humor and a natural quality that made <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003R4ZMS6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003R4ZMS6&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The Big C</u></a> one of the best series I’ve ever seen. Produced as it was, by Showtime, it also didn’t have to operate under the constrictions of network television censors and could deal with the topic in a realistic way. There were ups and downs during the seasons that left some fans disappointed, but taken as a whole it is a tremendously successful program that benefited from great writing and direction, and wonderful acting. The series begins with Linney learning that she has stage four cancer and her first major decision is that she doesn’t want anyone to know, primarily because she doesn’t want to be burdened with everyone else’s reactions.
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The first season introduces the audience to Linney’s husband, Oliver Platt, who plays an impulsive man that she has had to shepherd along her entire marriage. With her diagnosis she has no time for his juvenile behavior now and promptly kicks him out of the house. This, of course, angers her son, Gabriel Basso, who blames her for the breakup. Linney plays a high school history teacher who is in the middle of summer school and takes on a rebellious teen in her class, Gabourey Sidibe, and attempts to help her straighten her life out. At the same time she is dealing with cranky neighbor Phyllis Somerville and school custodian, Idris Elba, whom she has an affair with, prompting her to make a bucket list. Through it all her only confidant is her young oncologist, Reid Scott, who winds up learning along with her. One of the unexpected benefits of Linney in the lead role was undoubtedly her ability to get Liam Neeson to guest star in one program, leading to other big stars appearing in the series.
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058YPO9A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0058YPO9A&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Season two</u></a> has Linney now deciding to undergo treatment, something she wasn’t going to do during the first season. A new clinical trial is being run by Alan Alda, a cancer specialist who does a nice job appearing at various times during the last three seasons. At the trials she meets Hugh Dancy, and develops a heart-breaking relationship with him. One of the highlights of the show is also the work of John Benjamin Hickey, who is brilliant as Linney’s homeless brother. Subplots expand exponentially this season with Sidibe being proposed to by Boyd Holbrook, Hickey falling in love with Cynthia Nixon, and Basso befriending Parker Posey. This is perhaps the darkest season, with several threads in the subplots dealing with death and keeping Linney’s mortality front and center for her, especially in the finale.
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BMEF7TC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BMEF7TC&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Season three</u></a> has been the most disappointing for fans, primarily because it seems to be all over the place. But despite the emphasis on Platt’s character, who becomes so obsessed with his own ego that it threatens to tear the family apart, there is still a lot to recommend it, especially on repeat viewings. To replace the emptiness that she feels with Platt’s emotional absence, Linney decides to adopt a baby and finds the going extremely rough. But the grim resolution to that subplot is incredibly satisfying. Basso finds Jesus and an unexpected sexual bonanza in the process, while Hickey takes things to another level by becoming a gay, phone sex operator. Meanwhile Platt’s blog has brought him to the attention of self-help guru Susan Sarandon, which ultimately brings the whole family to Puerto Rico and the worst possible news to Linney.
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GGMKSGM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00GGMKSGM&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Season four</u></a>, while only four episodes, is actually on par with the rest of the seasons. The first three seasons were comprised of half hour episodes, with more of an emphasis on the comedy. But the final season focuses on the drama, expanding all four episodes to an hour. It’s an extremely moving final season, with special guest appearances by none other than Isaac Mizrahi. For fans of Laura Linney this is a must see program, but there is so much more to enjoy. Platt’s character is infuriating through most of the series, as is Basso’s, but that’s intentional. It’s difficult to imagine a less humorous subject matter for a situation comedy, but series creator and chief writer Darlene Hunt is masterful and her balance between humor and pathos is perfect. <b>The Big C</b> is over now, but everyone who enjoys intelligent and entertaining television should definitely pick this up on DVD. It’s that good.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-12292119898357968292013-12-09T13:22:00.001-08:002016-01-02T09:12:20.074-08:00Mildred Pierce (2011)Directors: Todd Haynes Writer: Todd Haynes & Jon Raymond<br>
Film Score: Carter Burwell Cinematography: Edward Lachman<br>
Starring: Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, Mare Winningham and Morgan Turner<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu32QtWrYrimtjjgoFpQntskSQfeJbk3Q01QB64ZMJd5vo5X_HCFs3Cax-j36rL_ps2TTyf_hKlOfMFBbnJyqi1r2vJiDSEkHbEMqecB0_Xh9C8vQfT38SYbgzGthm3Ql8ulWqtA3_yLw/s1600/mildredp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu32QtWrYrimtjjgoFpQntskSQfeJbk3Q01QB64ZMJd5vo5X_HCFs3Cax-j36rL_ps2TTyf_hKlOfMFBbnJyqi1r2vJiDSEkHbEMqecB0_Xh9C8vQfT38SYbgzGthm3Ql8ulWqtA3_yLw/s320/mildredp.jpg" /></a></div>
HBO has done some incredible work over the last decade in producing films, but one of their greatest undertakings has been a new kind of miniseries. One of the most powerful is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008OP0H/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00008OP0H&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Band of Brothers</u></a>, based on the book by Steven Ambrose that follows one company of the 101st Airborne from D-Day through VE Day. It was co-produced by Tom Hanks who also co-produced another great series, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002O3Z4QQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002O3Z4QQ&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>From Earth to the Moon</u></a>, chronicling the space race. Arguably their most popular success has been <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WGWQG8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000WGWQG8&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>John Adams</u></a> which featured Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. But besides fascinating non-fiction, HBO has now begun filming classic novels in the same way that the BBC has been doing for decades. One of the first is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041KKZHI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0041KKZHI&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Mildred Pierce</u></a> from acclaimed American novelist <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679723218/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0679723218&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>James M. Cain</u></a>.
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Of course <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008ENIAC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0008ENIAC&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Mildred Pierce</u></a> was filmed by Warner Brothers in 1945 by Michael Curtiz and won an Academy Award for Joan Crawford in the title role. But they turned Cain’s novel into more of a film noir. Writer-director Todd Haynes wanted to keep true to the original story and his five-part series does an excellent job of capturing the style of the book as well as the era. The Warner Brothers film was also set in the present, while the HBO series restores it to it’s Depression era milieu and did a tremendous job of recreating Los Angeles of the nineteen thirties. Kate Winslet was a terrific choice as the title character. She plays a housewife who has finally had enough of her husband’s cheating and kicks him out of the house. She also has two daughters, the youngest played by Quinn McColgan and the eldest played by Morgan Turner.
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It turns out that giving her husband the boot is about the only time Mildred Pierce was able to do something positive for herself when it came to the people in her life. The worst abuser is her oldest daughter Vida. She is a snob and a brat and isn’t shy about letting her mother know how much she hates living in Glendale. But Mildred needs to make a living and works her way up from making pies to owning her own restaurant. This didn’t come without a price, however, as sleeping with one of her husband’s best friends is part of the deal. Later, when she falls in love with a down on his luck playboy she winds up syphoning money from her business to keep him, as well as her snooty daughter, in style. But Mildred trudges on, refusing to see how these people are using her and, even when she does realize it, not really caring.
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Those expecting the same kind of noir sensibilities--and sensationalism--as the Warners film, will be disappointed. It’s a luxurious and unhurried series that captures not only the drama in her life, but the atmosphere as well. The scenes on the city streets feel a little cramped because of the necessity to avoid modern buildings, but the scenes in Santa Barbara and Laguna Beach are wonderfully open and pristine. Whether through specific locations or CGI it feels very authentic. Haynes has a nice, naturalistic style that lets the Cain’s characters reveal themselves rather than through camera manipulation. Carter Burwell is not my favorite composer, but he does an adequate job here. Mainly, however, it’s the actors. Guy Pearce is terrific as the gigolo, and the two actresses playing Vida are perfectly evil. The rest of the supporting cast is equally good. <b>Mildred Pierce</b> is not for everyone, but it’s a very nice piece of filmmaking that I enjoyed tremendously. neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-76069438661770708972013-11-20T18:13:00.000-08:002016-01-02T09:11:26.412-08:00The Challenger Disaster (2013)Director: James Hawes Writer: Kate Gartside<br>
Film Score: Chris Letcher Cinematography: Lukas Strebel<br>
Starring: William Hurt, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Dennehy and Eve Best<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTmWSyoAxQP9hWOsiuwcMPGze0iLrd1xKSKZ0-aOpp0dTs1k2hYTvZ8kWf7ScjZ11RKJhuPHj3qCnNV1_2LvVU9SFBSAXW6pvU8YgWSccuNGIIuSSgCHKeGC2odv_fgSZ2W-vYiez7SEv/s1600/challenge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTmWSyoAxQP9hWOsiuwcMPGze0iLrd1xKSKZ0-aOpp0dTs1k2hYTvZ8kWf7ScjZ11RKJhuPHj3qCnNV1_2LvVU9SFBSAXW6pvU8YgWSccuNGIIuSSgCHKeGC2odv_fgSZ2W-vYiez7SEv/s320/challenge.JPG" /></a></div>
I can remember exactly where I was when I heard about the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. I was in college and had a chemistry class that morning. My professor was devastated and proceeded to give us a lecture on the nature of liquid hydrogen. It was a sobering day as I also remember watching most of the news footage on the television. What I don’t remember is exactly how long it took for the information about the O-rings to come out. That, as it turns out, was discovered by the Rogers Commission, which investigated the disaster. I learned about Richard Feynman after his death, when his books became extremely popular, but I didn’t know about his participation on the commission until watching <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GR5MSYI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00GR5MSYI&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The Challenger Disaster</u></a> on the Science channel the other night.
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Though seemingly sedate in terms of visuals, this is an incredible film produced by the BBC. It’s based on Richard Feynman’s last book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393320928/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0393320928&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>What Do You Care What Other People Think?</u></a> and deals with his participation on the Rogers Commission. Feynman was sick with cancer at the time, but went to Washington at the request of a former student who was now the head of NASA. Though reluctant to go, he made the trip and immediately found himself embroiled on a panel that seemed to want the findings to be unable to be determined. Rogers himself clearly wanted to support NASA and hold them blameless. Well, this went against everything Feynman was about, which was about finding the truth. As soon as he joins the commission he begins rubbing people the wrong way, especially Rogers, who wants to run the commission his way and feels as if Feynman is a loose cannon.
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William Hurt plays Feynman and does a fantastic job. Hurt has sort of reemerged in the past few years as a character actor, after he became too old for romantic leads, in films like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012QCZ5O/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0012QCZ5O&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Vantage Point</u></a> and Ridley Scott’s version of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003U0AHBO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003U0AHBO&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Robin Hood</u></a>. He’s tremendous here, as the tired professor, completely in command as a lecturer at Caltech, but utterly out of his element in Washington D.C. Which doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what’s going on. This is made clear by the teasing he gives the other physicist on the commission who tells him he’s been in Washington for years and Hurt responds, “How is your integrity?” The other scientist is completely offended, even after Hurt tries to tell him it’s a joke. But as someone who believes in finding the truth, he ultimately doesn’t care about other people’s problems with him.
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Brian Dennehy has lost much of his strength onscreen and looks old and fragile. Still, he has a certain commanding presence and makes a good former Secretary of State William P. Rogers. British actress Eve Best, who was fairly commanding herself in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UESJH4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003UESJH4&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The King’s Speech</u></a>, is great here as Sally Ride. But the other standout performer has to be the great Bruce Greenwood as Air Force General Donald Kutyna, and the relationship he develops with Hurt as Feynman is one of the great aspects of the film. All the while Feynman was on the commission he was suffering from the final stages of his cancer, but the search for truth is something he refused to relinquish. In the end, this is not so much a film about the Challenger disaster as it is a film about Richard Feynman, and that’s a tremendous story that has needed to be told. <b>The Challenger Disaster</b> tells in wonderfully. neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-76247658585722327452013-09-07T18:46:00.000-07:002016-01-02T09:10:33.377-08:00Let the Music Play (2012)<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY05V0gsgFh4CmzFWURfQmQWbaHoMEqCyFJ1lbfQRRJJwLzdrBCU3pPg470R6N3uQMIaDG741-0b4E2Q6u87Lhz0BZgkKSTK6CCmgdXX4lk-hiadQFYd4zaOD9fQySbK01PwlhBe5XqqA/s1600/doobies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY05V0gsgFh4CmzFWURfQmQWbaHoMEqCyFJ1lbfQRRJJwLzdrBCU3pPg470R6N3uQMIaDG741-0b4E2Q6u87Lhz0BZgkKSTK6CCmgdXX4lk-hiadQFYd4zaOD9fQySbK01PwlhBe5XqqA/s320/doobies.jpg" /></a></div>
The Doobie Brothers have been always been one of my favorite bands. Like most people my age, my first exposure to them was on the radio back in the seventies. Recently I had been reading a lot of rock biographies and was very disappointed to learn that no one had taken it upon themselves to write the fascinating story of one of the most successful rock bands ever. I had to settle for a VHS copy of a documentary called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6301412737/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=6301412737&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Listen to the Music</u></a>, which had been produced in 1989 after the group’s reformation with Tom Johnston. In actuality it’s a very good documentary with lengthy performances of their hit songs, something that most music documentaries inexplicably tend to slight, preferring narration over the music. That, in combination with the absolutely stunning concert from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00064AEHY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00064AEHY&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Wolf Trap</u></a> would have to suffice. That is, until now.
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The recently released <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009410JOI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009410JOI&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Let the Music Play: The Story of the Doobie Brothers</u></a> is a wonderful new documentary that is now the most complete history of the band until a book comes along. It has new interviews with surviving members Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, Tiran Porter, John McFee and Michael McDonald, as well as manager Bruce Cohn, producer Ted Templeman, and rock critic Joel Selvin. And while some of the music performances are truncated in the film, there is a nice bonus section of live performances of songs in their entirety. The new film takes the story beyond where the earlier film left off at the first reunion and new album after the Michael McDonald years, and brings the story of the band up to the present. It also has a fascinating section near the end that talks to family members of the band and what their experiences were like growing up with famous fathers and spouses and what a great atmosphere the band provided, unlike than some of the negative images of rock musicians from the seventies.
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Of course, The Doobie Brothers were also heavily into charity, not only gathering at the Ronald McDonald House and the Stanford Children’s Hospital every Christmas, but the many shows and tours that they performed in their career, including the one for Vietnam veterans spearheaded by Keith Knudsen that brought the band back together with Tom Johnston and has continued to the present day. The Doobies are a class act, not only one of the most successful groups in rock history, but full of excellent musicians and an ethos that allows for change, progress, a return to roots and, most important of all, a genuine love for the music that has resulted in an appreciative and dedicated fan base. <b>Let the Music Play: The Story of the Doobie Brothers</b> is a testament to one of the greatest bands of all time and comes highly recommended to anyone who wants to know more about them.neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679195668963712884.post-30345859786499215992013-09-01T15:18:00.001-07:002016-01-02T09:10:01.063-08:00The Bridge (2013)Director: Alex Zakrzewski Writer: Elwood Reid<br>
Music: Shawn Pierce Cinematography: Attila Szalay<br>
Starring: Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Ted Levine and Matthew Lillard<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3x9UFh2pAWIEdtxInYzXso9jl6DFzRIcfTa8msjblUNWN44bHJdMd_wRuLnxz6e-nPhl2ST80Yzin2PlrhbTgwOPPbfEShxgQy-RJa8JhyphenhyphenC1r8NeSyOSo-aI6UXNq2w8Oq3lMrlApZoI/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3x9UFh2pAWIEdtxInYzXso9jl6DFzRIcfTa8msjblUNWN44bHJdMd_wRuLnxz6e-nPhl2ST80Yzin2PlrhbTgwOPPbfEShxgQy-RJa8JhyphenhyphenC1r8NeSyOSo-aI6UXNq2w8Oq3lMrlApZoI/s320/bridge.jpg" /></a></div>
Fox’s new crime drama, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DVFRSB0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00DVFRSB0&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>The Bridge</u></a>, started out with a very unique twist on the genre, but seems destined to devolve into a standard, hour-long, police soap opera. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, however. The show still retains a lot of the ideas and situations that made the early shows so interesting. What drew me in, primarily, was the presence of Diane Kruger who had been so effective in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JN5E/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00005JN5E&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>National Treasure</u></a> films with Nicolas Cage. In the series she plays something of a sociopathic homicide detective who has no social filters, no compassion for other, and no ability to form personal relationships. Yet, instead of becoming a serial killer herself, she became a cop. The other major star in the series is the brilliant Ted Levine, minus his cheesy moustache from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001KL5IU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0001KL5IU&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Monk</u></a> and sporting a cowboy hat instead. He is the captain of the homicide squad as well as a father figure and confessor for Kruger, guiding her and helping with her personal issues.
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The series is based on a joint <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HQSOW0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B008HQSOW0&linkCode=as2&tag=theliclfire-20"><u>Danish/Swedish</u></a> television series of the same name that first began a couple of years ago. This time, however, instead of the bridge connecting the two Scandinavian countries, it’s the bridge across the Rio Grande connecting El Paso, Texas with Juárez, Mexico. That’s the real genius of the show. Even though it is derivative of its source material, it’s as though it was made for the U.S., the “unguarded” border with Mexico being a problem area for U.S. policy for decades. Both the Mexican and Texas authorities are called in when a woman is found lying across the borderline that separates the two countries on the bridge. Since the victim is from the U.S. Kruger claims the case for herself. But when the body is discovered cut in half, and the bottom half is from a Mexican victim, Mexican homicide detective Demián Bichir who was on the bridge that night teams up with Kruger as a two-person task force working both sides of the border. Much of the dialog in Juárez and with the Mexican actors is in Spanish, which gives the show a lot of realism as well as widening the audience base.
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Bichir is a real find. Working mostly in Mexican films and television series, he’s a natural, a great actor, and the perfect foil for Kruger. Little known Johnny Dowers is also part of the El Paso homicide squad. A bit of a dandy on the show, one hopes that he’ll settle into a more well-rounded character as the season progresses. And finally, a serious, straight role for Matthew Lillard as a newspaper reporter. One of the great aspects of the show is how, in their chase to catch the killer, the police keep uncovering homicides that may or may not be him. Initially they attributed every killing to the unknown murderer, but well into the first season in becomes clear that these aren’t just some random killings and, even more frightening, the principals involved may be linked to the killer in a number of unrealized ways. Plus there are interesting sub-plots, with red herring killers, illegal immigration, gunrunning and drug trafficking. <b>The Bridge</b> is a great new show, a police procedural with real substance and, hopefully, one that will be around for a while. neslowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00770074282979851121noreply@blogger.com0