Canada/USA
Feature Film
Director: Michelle MacLaren
Writer: Michael Kingston
Cinematographer: Thomas Burstyn
Composer: Glenn Buhr
Cast: Jeremy Sisto, Fred Durst, Charlotte Sullivan, David Fox, R.H. Thomson, Frank Adamson, Peter Outerbridge, Reva Timbers, Arne McPherson
MacLaren’s feature debut often feels like an (overly) extended episode of The X Files, which isn’t really a surprise as the Canadian director formerly worked on the show. But unfortunately, little else about this production is particularly surprising either, which for a horror/mystery film is quite a handicap. Numerology, religious superstition, murder, ritual suicide, and non-consensual cranial surgery combine to form a rather predictable narrative that follows a census taker (Jeremy Sisto) who is assigned to the small town of Rockwell Falls, a town that has had the same population (436) for more than a hundred years. Needless to say, he finds more than he bargained for.
Travels with My Aunt (1969)
UK
Novel
Author: Graham Greene
Greene’s slight, light-hearted though fairly entertaining novel, a tale of unlikely adventure and unlikely adventurers, detrimentally lacks the inner conflict and emotional turmoil that afflicts the protagonists of his best work. Where the humour in say Our Man In Havana (1958) is grounded in reality, here it often drifts into whimsy and inconsequentiality. That’s not to say that the novel is necessarily a poor one. Novels about female septuagenarian smugglers who have had a string of lovers of all races, nationalities and creeds, amongst them war criminals and drug dealers, is inherently entertaining. Said old woman is the titular aunt, Augusta, an adventurous old woman with a chequered past. The requisite nephew, Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, is a much less exciting character. The travels of the title that Henry takes with Augusta lead them to France, Italy, Turkey, Argentina and Paraguay, and a number of adventures ensue along the way.
Novel
Author: Graham Greene
Greene’s slight, light-hearted though fairly entertaining novel, a tale of unlikely adventure and unlikely adventurers, detrimentally lacks the inner conflict and emotional turmoil that afflicts the protagonists of his best work. Where the humour in say Our Man In Havana (1958) is grounded in reality, here it often drifts into whimsy and inconsequentiality. That’s not to say that the novel is necessarily a poor one. Novels about female septuagenarian smugglers who have had a string of lovers of all races, nationalities and creeds, amongst them war criminals and drug dealers, is inherently entertaining. Said old woman is the titular aunt, Augusta, an adventurous old woman with a chequered past. The requisite nephew, Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, is a much less exciting character. The travels of the title that Henry takes with Augusta lead them to France, Italy, Turkey, Argentina and Paraguay, and a number of adventures ensue along the way.
Millions (2004)
UK
Feature Film
Director: Danny Boyle
Writer: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Cinematographer: Anthony Dod Mantle
Composer: John Murphy
Cast: Alex Etel, Lewis McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan, Christopher Fulford, Pearce Quigley, Jane Hogarth
Boyle’s first foray into family entertainment, much of it filmed in my home town, Widnes, often feels like a feature length advertisement for charitable organisations, which, as far as advertisements go, are amongst the most palatable. And as condescending as it sometimes feels, one must forgive the filmmakers, as the film’s anti-greed message is a most welcome antidote to the greed-is-good Hollywood films that are normally pushed onto our children. The film follows two young brothers who find a bag full of money just a few days before the UK’s conversion to the Euro. The kind hearted Damian (the excellent Alex Etel) wants to give the money to the poor, which isn’t as easy as he thinks. The more cynical Anthony (Lewis McGibbon) wants to spend the money on material pleasures. Saints, criminals, bureaucrats and other assorted adults do their best to prevent them from achieving their goals.
Feature Film
Director: Danny Boyle
Writer: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Cinematographer: Anthony Dod Mantle
Composer: John Murphy
Cast: Alex Etel, Lewis McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan, Christopher Fulford, Pearce Quigley, Jane Hogarth
Boyle’s first foray into family entertainment, much of it filmed in my home town, Widnes, often feels like a feature length advertisement for charitable organisations, which, as far as advertisements go, are amongst the most palatable. And as condescending as it sometimes feels, one must forgive the filmmakers, as the film’s anti-greed message is a most welcome antidote to the greed-is-good Hollywood films that are normally pushed onto our children. The film follows two young brothers who find a bag full of money just a few days before the UK’s conversion to the Euro. The kind hearted Damian (the excellent Alex Etel) wants to give the money to the poor, which isn’t as easy as he thinks. The more cynical Anthony (Lewis McGibbon) wants to spend the money on material pleasures. Saints, criminals, bureaucrats and other assorted adults do their best to prevent them from achieving their goals.
Keane (2004)
USA
Feature Film
Writer/Director: Lodge Kerrigan
Cinematographer: John Foster
Cast: Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan, Tina Holmes
The far from prolific Kerrigan’s third feature, a spare, harrowing and ultimately devastatingly moving portrayal of grief and/or mental illness, proves to be a brave and unapologetic exploration of difficult subject matter. The film opens with William Keane (a phenomenal Damian Lewis) frantically accosting commuters at a bus-station with a photograph of a young girl, (evidently, his daughter who was abducted at some earlier time.) His subsequent actions begin to cast doubt in our minds as to whether his daughter ever existed. He drinks heavily, takes drugs, has unprotected sex with a stranger (Tina Holmes), talks to himself and succumbs to paranoid rants. When he befriends a young mother (Amy Ryan) and her daughter (Abigail Breslin), we are forced to question his motives further. A difficult film, but a hugely rewarding one.
Feature Film
Writer/Director: Lodge Kerrigan
Cinematographer: John Foster
Cast: Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan, Tina Holmes
The far from prolific Kerrigan’s third feature, a spare, harrowing and ultimately devastatingly moving portrayal of grief and/or mental illness, proves to be a brave and unapologetic exploration of difficult subject matter. The film opens with William Keane (a phenomenal Damian Lewis) frantically accosting commuters at a bus-station with a photograph of a young girl, (evidently, his daughter who was abducted at some earlier time.) His subsequent actions begin to cast doubt in our minds as to whether his daughter ever existed. He drinks heavily, takes drugs, has unprotected sex with a stranger (Tina Holmes), talks to himself and succumbs to paranoid rants. When he befriends a young mother (Amy Ryan) and her daughter (Abigail Breslin), we are forced to question his motives further. A difficult film, but a hugely rewarding one.
Jake's Progress (1995)
UK
Television Mini-Series
Director: Robin Lefevre
Writer: Alan Bleasdale
Cinematographer: Arthur Smith
Composers: Richard Harvey, Elvis Costello
Cast: Robert Lindsay, Julie Walters, Barclay Wright, David Ryall, Dorothy Tutin, Amanda Mealing, David Ross, Andrew Schofield, Samantha Beckinsale
For once, political commentary takes a back seat to a more focused examination of the human condition. It’s still there, of course, after all this is Alan Bleasdale, but it’s definitely not the main focus. Not that he has ever allowed politics to overshadow the human drama anyway, but still… Jamie Diadoni (Robert Lindsay, excellent as ever) has been unemployed for a number of years, and has become something of a househusband whilst his wife Julie (the foul-mouthedly excellent Julie Walters) works as a care nurse. Everything changes when Julie falls pregnant again, much to the chagrin of everyone and in particular seven year-old Jake (the incredible Barclay Wright), who doesn’t fancy sharing his beloved daddy with anyone. Sacrifice and compromise follow, and, what with this being an Alan Bleasdale drama, a number of wickedly funny and outlandish plot developments unfold. Highly entertaining.
Television Mini-Series
Director: Robin Lefevre
Writer: Alan Bleasdale
Cinematographer: Arthur Smith
Composers: Richard Harvey, Elvis Costello
Cast: Robert Lindsay, Julie Walters, Barclay Wright, David Ryall, Dorothy Tutin, Amanda Mealing, David Ross, Andrew Schofield, Samantha Beckinsale
For once, political commentary takes a back seat to a more focused examination of the human condition. It’s still there, of course, after all this is Alan Bleasdale, but it’s definitely not the main focus. Not that he has ever allowed politics to overshadow the human drama anyway, but still… Jamie Diadoni (Robert Lindsay, excellent as ever) has been unemployed for a number of years, and has become something of a househusband whilst his wife Julie (the foul-mouthedly excellent Julie Walters) works as a care nurse. Everything changes when Julie falls pregnant again, much to the chagrin of everyone and in particular seven year-old Jake (the incredible Barclay Wright), who doesn’t fancy sharing his beloved daddy with anyone. Sacrifice and compromise follow, and, what with this being an Alan Bleasdale drama, a number of wickedly funny and outlandish plot developments unfold. Highly entertaining.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
