AS I ADDED PICS, EVERYTHING WENT OUT OF SYNC AND RED I HAVE TRIED, NO LUCK-WILL FIX LATER IN THE WEEK, IT'S ALL THERE:MIDDLE IS AT THE END.SORRY ABOUT THAT.K.
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SWEET HARMONY
Soul Men [M-Net.Saturday.20.00 and Tuesday.03.00] was the last film made by both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. Sadly, they died days apart, just before the film was released
MR CLARKE
The movie is not madly original or well plotted, but if you enjoy Soul and old fashioned R&B, the finished product is polished and professional, with Stanley Clarke taking care of the music.
BLACK MOSES
A final farewell to Mr. Hayes, I hope that hot, buttered soul is on the menu wherever you are. Thanks for Shaft and all the other shimmer.
IT IS RATHER HEAVENLY-FUNNY TOO
Spring will soon be in the air, and with Spring comes romance. Or so they tell me. A really pleasant romantic comedy is Just Like Heaven [e.tv.Thursday.20.00], which is sort of a hybrid of Laura and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Poignant romantic comedy is made really special by first rate performances from Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Warning: this one could make your popcorn soggy.
GOOD LOOKING ROMANCE
Will Smith is a very charming light comedian/ romantic lead. He proves this once again in Hitch [e.tv.Saturday.20.00], this time with the very lovely Eva Mendes in tow. Chekhov it ain’t, but who needs clouds of grey on a Saturday night.
GREAT GRAN-WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE
Another truism is that truth is stranger than fiction; true life romance can be more dramatic than any fiction writer’s fantasy. Young Victoria [M-Net.Monday.21.30], with a stand out performance from Emily Blunt as the young Queen.
ME TOO
This movie, produced by Sarah Ferguson with Victoria’s real life great, great, great, great granddaughter, Beatrice, in a small part, tells, quite sweetly, the tale of Victoria’s romance with her German Prince Albert.
Victoria was a fairly simple soul who gave her name to an Empire, an Era and a huge body of prose and poetry. She ruled England for sixty years (give a year or three) and her children helped to populate most of the Royal Houses of Europe.
THE WORLD HELD ITS BREATH...
Her great grandson, David, ruled England as Edward VIII for a mere 326 days, before giving up his throne, to marry the woman he loved, American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. Now, this was romance of the highest order. Millions of words have been written about The King and his beloved Wallis, the film Wallis and Edward [SABC3.Monday.02.15] tries to tell the story from Wallis’s point of view
HER FELLOW AMERICANS CALLED HER QUEEN WALLY
Joely Richardson gives a spirited performance as the American who bit off a great deal more than she ever wanted to chew, while Stephen Campbell Moore is tryingly sincere as the love sick monarch.
THIS PHOTO CAUSED A STIR
I often wonder how much both of them regretted the rash decision he made in the throws of thrall? Well, they had forty years to ponder the point; The Duke of Windsor (as David became) and his Duchess rattled around the world, not really belonging anywhere, until his death in 1977.
NO PLACE TO CALL HOME
A very ironic, very British, footnote. During the Constitutional Crisis, which culminated just before Christmas, in December, 1936, crowds in London took to chanting :
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,
Mrs. Simpson’s pinched Our King.
SO GREEN
If you enjoy that kind of British humour, you will love Death at a Funeral [M-Net.Monday.00.15], with its Ortonesque disregard for good taste and propriety. Joe Orton would have been very proud of Dean Craig’s irreverent, drug fuelled script, complete with misplaced corpses and sexual innuendo.
DREAMS AMELIA-DREAMS AND FALSE ALARMS
If, on the other hand, American humour is more to your taste, John Candy is Uncle Buck [SABC3.Friday.21.45], while Ben Stiller has his second Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian [M-Net.Sunday.20.05]. More statuesque fun and games with Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt, Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible and Amy Adams as a plucky Amelia Earhard. A knowledge of world history helps, but is not essential. This one was entertaining but I hope the producers don’t batter the franchise to death.
SO VERY SAD
Romance of a different kind can be found in Soldier’s Girl [e.tv.Thursday.22.30], a sad, true story of naked prejudice. The movie highlights once again, how little we as humans really understand or implement the principle of ‘live and let live’ There are fine performances from both Troy Garity and Lee Pace in this tightly paced drama.
THE ORIGINAL CLASSIC
The Sunday night festival on SABC3 continues to splutter rather than scintillate. This week, there is a very uneven remake of the classic Japanese movie, Rashomon. Clare Bloom does what she can in a thankless part, Laurence Harvey is even more wooden than usual and Paul Newman has one of his worst outings ever as a hammy Mexican bandit.
THAT'S PAUL NEWMAN DOING THE MEXICAN HAT DANCE
The movie as a whole is a bit of an Outrage [SABC3.Sunday.22.00]. So far this festival if it really is one hasn’t produced much, but at least two weeks ago, as I lay on my bed of pain, I did get to see my beloved Spencer Tracy in The Seventh Cross.
HERE'S HOPING...
And who knows what next week may bring…Adam’s Rib…, Ninotchka…, The Clock…. One can dream.
A SLICE OF LIFE
If you are a late owl, try to catch Winter Solstice [e.tv.Saturday.02.25]. It’s a strong family saga, very low keyed but with some terrific performances from Anthony LaPaglia and Allison Janney, so good as the stepmother in Juno.
IT WAS A FINE ROMANCE
My pick is Wallis and Edward [SABC3.Monday.02.15], not because it is a great movie, but because my mother was a great royalist, and helped me cut my romantic teeth on the events of December 1936. Also, Joely Richardson is wonderful, the most underrated Redgrave of them all.
HERE WE GO AGAIN...
SPACEK AT THE HEIGHT OF HER CAREER
Hardly a week goes by without at least one film relating to Vietnam and its effect on two generations of Americans. This week, we have two. Beyond the Call [e.tv.Wednesday.21.30 and 01.50] is a harrowing tale, with superb performances from both Sissy Spacek and David Strathairn. It is definitely not suitable late night viewing for those prone to nightmares.
JOHN MCCAIN ALL AMERICAN-ON HIS RELEASE IN 1973
Faith of my Fathers [SABC3.Friday.02.45] is more straight forward and is based on the memoirs of Presidential candidate, John McCain. McCain had a terrible time, he was a POW for more than half a decade, but this is a strong man, after all, he chose Sarah Palin as his Republican running mate.
MCCAIN WITH HIS RUNNING MATE- THE MOOSE MURDERER
Thank Heavens, the American people thought again and elected Barack Obama. The movie is much as you would expect gung-ho, with guns and flags at the ready.
CHARLISE BATTLES
Another movie that mixes fact with fiction is Battle in Seattle [M-Net.Friday.21.30], an interesting idea, who or what really runs our society? This movie poses questions, without providing any real answers. First time director Stuart Townsend is a little tentative while Charlise Theron continues to live in the shadow of Monster
AN IMPRESSIVE DEBUT FROM ALISON EASTWOOD
Better is Rails and Ties [SABC3.Saturday.21.30], from another first time director, this time one with a famous name, Alison Eastwood. She does a fine job, directing Kevin Bacon and the always reliable Marcia Gay Harden. Dad must be very proud!
GEORGE LAZENBY-ONLY BOND ONCE
As I was settling back, anticipating On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, one of my favourite Bond films, the first without Sean Connery but with a glorious performance from Diana Rigg and the best theme song of all, Louis Armstrong singing We Have All The Time in the World; bang, true to form the whole thing falls out of sync and up pops License To Kill [e.tv.Sunday.20.00], the second of Tim Dalton’s Bonds.
TIMOTHY DALTON HAD A SLIGHTLY LONGER CAREER BOND CAREER
Actually, I really like Timothy Dalton and he makes a fine 007. Now, of course, I wonder what next week will bring. Maybe, the first Casino Royale, with Bond played by both David Niven and Woody Allen and about ten other people. That might be fun.
