Thursday April 21
Sleepwalking [M-Net.03.00]
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [SABC1.23.00]
Prelude to a Kiss [e.tv.20.30]
Friday April 22
Celine [SABC3.20.30]
The Prince of Egypt [e.tv.14.30]
Saturday April 23
Mulan [M-Net.18.30]
For Your Eyes Only [e.tv.14.30]
Shrek 2 [e.tv.20.00]
The Squid and the Whale [e.tv.00.05]
Sunday April 24
MATT DAMON PLAYS RUGBY...
Invictus [M-Net.20.05]
Batman Begins [SABC1.20.00]
...AND GOLF THIS WEEK
The Legend of Bagger Vance [23.05]
Monday April 25
The Visitor [M-Net.22.30]
Quest for Camelot [SABC2. 06.00]
Tuesday April 26
GEORGE CLOONEY WITH ANNA KENDRICK
Up in the Air [M-Net.23.00]
Wednesday April 27
Invictus [ M-Net 22.30]
I am often told that there is nothing to watch on TV; there is always something to watch on TV, although the search often requires a compass and a couple of sniffer dogs; this week is no exception.
THE NOVEL
For starters, there was a brave attempt in 1998 to film Hunter S Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [SABC1.Thursday.23.00] : to give it its full 1972 title, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream.
THOMPSON ON THE COVER OF ROLLING STONE
Thompson was a brilliant, if often frustrated writer who, like many of the Beat Generation, had difficulty finding a medium best to express the full cadence of his prose, once described as ‘crackling like motorcycle exhaust.’ Music might have given his work an ideal edge; fortunately or unfortunately, Thompson, unlike many of his 60s progeny, did not blend his words with the odd boogie riff or two.
JOHNNY DEPP
Thompson invented Gonzo Journalism, which basically means you get to play the hero in your own story; so in Fear and Loathing he is played by Johnny Depp, with Benicio Del Toro as his attorney, sounding board and eager sidekick.
A TASTE OF COUNTERCULTURE WRITING
These astute commentators on the American Dream stocked up with enough booze and mind altering substances to subdue the entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir and set off on a journey to prove that life and especially life in America sucks.
ENOUGH DOPE TO SEND ALL OF THEM INTO DREAMLAND
Try filming that, if you dare. Tobey Maguire, Mark Harmon, Cameron Diaz and Christina Ricci give director Terry Gilliam as much help as they can, let’s face it; the proceedings seem to take forever; especially if you’re not stoned.
THOMPSON FLIRTED WITH MANY THINGS- DRUGS, GUNS, HELLS ANGELS...
In some quarters, the film has gained cult status so try to watch at least part of it or better still, find a copy of the book; I’m not sure if it is still in print, but I’ve seen second hand copies often. To put the Counterculture in perspective, in the year that Fear and Loathing was published, Jonathan Livingston Seagull and two novels by Frederick Forsyth topped the mainstream bestseller lists.
RICHARD JENKINS PICKS UP A BACKBEAT
A topnotch film from the director of The Station Agent Tom McCarthy, is The Visitor [M-Net.Monday.22.30], a fine film with a talented cast, headed by Richard Jenkins, as a man pushed out of his bubble wrapped existence by an encounter with an illegal immigrant and his family. Music, always the universal language, underpins the sad understated bonding that then takes place. The Visitor is a great piece of cinema.
THE FAMILY UNRAVELS
The same can be said of The Squid and the Whale [e.tv.Saturday.00.05], a strongly autobiographical piece from writer/ director Noah Bambach. The title takes its name from an exhibit at The American Museum of Natural History, Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney play a couple on the verge of a breakup, while William Baldwin and Anna Paquin play the new people in their lives.
FLOYD WAS BRIEFLY A QUINTET- BEFORE THE DEPARTURE OF SYD BARRETT~PICTURED HERE SECOND LEFT
This competent quartet’s grouping and regrouping provide the backdrop against which the reactions of the family’s sons, played by Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline, take place. This film might have slipped under your viewing radar; catch up with it now. There is also a marvelously telling use of the classic Pink Floyd song Hey, You.
BALE IN AND OUT OF COSTUME
Our Holiday heroes are still out there, stressing and saving the world. Christopher Nolan reinvents Batman with pleasing results in Batman Begins [SABC1.Sunday.20.00], with Christian Bale the best Batman of them all. Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman complete the Batcast.
KATIE CERTAINLY HAS HER HANDS FULL
As the female lead, Katie Holmes is extremely light weight; to be fair, one can’t help feeling sorry for the poor woman; it can’t be easy being the mother of … to quote the tabloids… ‘That Lovable Little Cutie’ Suri Cruise— that child is about as lovable as a blunt razor blade.
SHEENA (9 TO 5) EASTON
Bond is Bond is Bond; Roger Moore stars in For Your Eyes Only [e.tv.Saturday.13.30], with the supremely irritating Sheena Easton twittering the theme song.
PRESIDENT MANDELA WITH CAPTAIN PIENAAR
Meanwhile,a real hero still lives among us, Invictus meaning Unconquerable [M-Net.Sunday.20.05 and Wednesday. 22.30], tells the story of how canny, far thinking politician Nelson Mandala used the traditionally white sport of rugby to unite a badly scarred nation.
FREEMAN AND DAMON IN THE LEADING ROLES
There is a smattering of local talent, but this really is an American film, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman as Madiba and Matt Damon as the victorious World Cup captain, François Pienaar. As South Africans, we all lived through the time, but the events still touch the heart.
WILL SMITH IS BAGGER VANCE
Matt Damon also stars in another movie about sport; he plays a man damaged by his experiences during The First World War in The Legend of Bagger Vance [e.tv.Sunday.23.05] Bagger Vance, like Invictus,is directed by an actor who has found recognition as a director; this time Robert Redford.
DAMON AND SMITH FLANK CHARLISE THERON
The film has that dreamy, surrealistic feeling that seems to permeate all of Redford’s work; Will Smith is perfect in the title role and the sport is golf, but then this movie isn’t really about golf or sport at all, is it?
CHARLISE IS A LITTLE OLDER NOW
Charlize Theron plays the female lead in The Legend of Bagger Vance, she was really on a roll at the time, an Oscar followed just three years later. Since then, apart from North Country and In the Valley of Eliah, her career has gone off the boil; Sleepwalking [M-Net.Thursday.03.00] isvery melodramatic and muddled in the extreme, was Ons Eie really just a one hit wonde? I wonder.
CLOONEY WITH VERA FARMAIGA
Up in the Air [M-Net.Tuesday.23.00] was nominated in quite a few Oscar acting categories, George Clooney lost to Jeff Bridges, while both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick lost out to Mo’Nique.
CARY GRANT IN STYLISH MODE-WAS HE EVER ANYTHING ELSE?
The story, adapted from the novel by Walter Kirn is unlikely comedy fodder— the main character spends his working life firing people. But, remember, George Clooney is the only natural heir to Cary Grant, and like Grant, Clooney’s agility of touch and dexterity of style make anything possible.
FROM THE BIBLE TO THE POPULAR SONG
Disney and Oscar songs seem to go hand in hand in glove; Stephen Schwartz won in 1998 for When You Believe from The Prince of Egypt [e.tv.Friday.14.30] the story based on the tale of Biblical hero, Moses. Try to recognize the voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fienes, Michelle Pheiffer, Sandra Bullock, and Helen Mirren; they are all there. The story is the ever pleasing mix of action and sentiment, Disney at his pleasing best.
DISNEY ON A ROLE-ROLL
Also from Disney is the more serious Mulin [M-Net.Sunday.10.00], based this time on a Chinese legend, this movie is deeper and darker and tackles some important gender and social issues. This was the 36th Disney animated feature and was made at the height of the so called Disney Renaissance.
DAME JULIE AS THE QUEEN
Eddie Murphy is one of the voices; he is wonderful as Donkey in Shrek, shown last week, Shrek was one of the first films to take animation in a fresh direction; what a wonderful, ageless film it is. This week comes Shrek 2 [e.tv.Saturday.20.00] funny and fairly pithy, but not a patch on the original.
A NEW TWIST ON ARTHURIAN LEGEND
One of the voices in the animated Quest for Camelot [SABC2.06.00], a light Arthurian Legend romp is that of Celine Dion, who is the subject of a biopic called simply Celine [SABC3.Friday.22.30], no great shakes, it tells the story of the rise to fame of the popular Canadian songbird.
CELINE A WHILE AGO
This made for TV movie, conceived with her many fans in mind focuses on her early life, long before the advent of Nelson and Eddy; I’m surprised that with her shoe fetish, the twins didn’t end up as Jimmy and Choo.
A FATAL KISS
To end on a ‘fantastic’ note, Prelude to a Kiss [e.tv.Thursday.20.30], is more than just a Romantic Comedy, it poses a very real question— what do we really love?— the outer wrappings or the inner soul. There are strong performances from Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin, and an insightful core performance from Sidney Walker.
Enjoy your hot cross bunnies and chocolate eggs.
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CLOONEY AND FARMIGA
My pick is The Squid and the Whale [e.tv.Saturday.00.05]; I’ve always been a great Jeff Daniels fan, and because it’s Easter, I’ll choose Up in the Air [M-Net.Tuesday.23.00] as well.