Thursday July 14
Rainbow Skellums [M-Net.00.30]
CATCH AS CATCH CAN
The Beach [e.tv.20.30]
Friday July 15
I Now Pronounce You Black and White [M-Net.21.30]
I RATHER LIKE THE ART WORK
The Men Who Stare At Goats [M-Net.00.00]
The Jackal [SABC1.22.00]
December Boys [SABC3.21.30]
Boyz N The Hood [e.tv.20.30]
Saturday July 16
The Black Cauldron [M-Net.18.00]
The Ghost Writer [M-Net.20.00]
The Karate Kid [M-Net.23.05]
Terminator Salvation [M-Net.03.00]
Drop Squad [SABC1.22.00]
Kicking and Screaming [SABC3.19.30]
Flicka [e.tv.20.30]
Sunday July 17
Grown Ups [M-Net.20.05]
Jozi [M-Net.22.45]
White Wedding [M-Net.02.05]
Cool Runnings [SABC3.19.30]
The Mask of Zorro [e.tv.20.00 and 01.15]
Eight Million Ways To Die [e.tv.22.50]
Monday July 18
Please Give [M-Net.22.30]
Tuesday July 19
Mama’s Boy [M-Net.09.00]
The Ghost Writer [M-Net.23.00]
THIS PICTURE SAYS IT ALL
The Men Who Stare At Goats [01.05]
Wednesday July 20
THEY MAKE A LOVELY COUPLE
Grown Ups [M-Net.22.30]
I Now Pronounce You Black and White [M-Net.00.40]
I was felled by a whole host of fresh germs last week; let’s hope that this time I’ve finally killed or at least subdued them all.
For no reason at all, I’ve decided to throw the spotlight onto directors; old, young, male, female—the only thing they have in common is an ability to paint with light.
ALEX GARLAND
When Danny Boyle made The Beach [e.tv.Thursday.20.30] back in 2000, his fans were expecting Trainspotting from a Shallow Grave, Leonardo Di Caprio fans were expecting a sight of their heartthrob’s torso and Alex Garland fans were expecting a suitably off beat version of their favourite cult novel. All were disappointed on one level or another and the film flopped.
LEO AS A BABY
Eleven years later, not much has changed; The Beach remains unfulfilling; the story is still uneven, the plot remains rocky and rather longwinded.
A MORE RECENT PHOTO OF DICAPRIO
In hindsight of course, it is interesting to see Danny Boyle flexing his directing muscles while Di Caprio shows what a good actor he always has been; as a young man, his beefcake image was almost a hindrance! Co star Tilda Swinton as Sal, reveals an intriguing talent that seven years later was to net her an Oscar.
BOYZ DIRECTOR JOHN SINGLETON
When John Singleton made Boyz in the Hood [e.tv.Friday.20.30], he was only 23, becoming the youngest director ever to be nominated for an Oscar; he was the first African American, too. What a debut!—and the performances from Lawrence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding. Jnr, and Ice Cube are exceptional.
BOYZ-WAITING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD
Although the film is 30 years old, the situations are fresh and this kind of urban anger will remain potent and explosive, for as long as poverty provides the powder keg and unemployment the flame.
BROSNAN AND EWAN MCGREGOR
Roman Polanski does a superb job, bringing Thomas Harris’ The Ghost Writer [M-Net.Saturday.20.00 and Tuesday.23.00] to the screen. Ewan McGregor is just jaded enough; in his role as a journalist ghost writing for a disgraced British politician, neatly played by Pierce Brosnan, who has mellowed nicely since he said goodbye to Bond.
FRENCH COMPOSER ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
The score by Alexandre Desplat (The Kings Speech, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows etc.), like all great film music captures Polanski’s mood and adds a menacing dimension to an already sinister story. The ending is gripping, scary and straight from the front page.
NICOLE HOLOFCENER
Nicole Holofcener has only made four feature films, all good, all starring Catherine Keener, and all dealing with everyday events that could happen to anybody. Please Give [M-Net.Monday.22.30] is her best so far; set in Manhattan, the movie deals with the sometimes sleazy world of second hand buying and selling.
FINE ACTING FROM KEENER AND OLIVER PLATT
It is heart wrenching to watch someone forced to sell something precious for financial reasons; even though as the dealer, you know a good profit is to be made. Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt play a couple who face this dilemma everyday. Holofcener’s has a strong feel for time and place; veteran character actress Ann Guilbert is brilliant in a performance that deftly sums up the misery of growing old in a big city.
JESSE DYLAN AS A BABY
Jesse Dylan has made his name creating off beat comedy; Kicking and Screaming [SABC3.Saturday.19.30] is quite a good one, with Will Ferrell and Robert Duvall playing father and son, one can’t help but wonder whether Dylan is reflecting, just slightly, his relationship with his own father?
NELSON AND JEANETTE
Comedy trends seem to come in waves; at the moment the buddy-buddy comedy is flavour of the week—the kindest thing that can be said about Grown Ups [M-Net.Sunday.20.05 and Wednesday.22.30] is that if Adam Sandler and Kevin James aren’t careful, they could turn into the Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy of this century.
WATCH MAMA'S BOY-IF ONLY FOR JEFF DANIELS
Another misfire is Mama’s Boy [M-Net.Tuesday.09.00] where Diane Keaton has a son, aged thirty, still attached by the umbilical cord. Enter Jeff Daniels as her motivational speaker/suitor. Some damp sparks fly, Keaton is shrill, Jon Heder, as the son, looks grubby while Jeff Daniels is a very real talent wasted.
ERIC LA SALLE IN A MORE FIMILIAR ROLE
Drop Squad [SABC1.Saturday.22.00], produced by Spike Lee is a satire that tries to be serious and politically correct, problem is that good satire, by its very nature, cannot be serious or politically correct.
THE NOVELS ARE MARVELLOUSLY SLEEZY
Eight Million Ways to Die [e.tv.Sunday.22.50] must have sounded like a good idea at the time, Jeff Bridges and Rosanna Arquette starring in an adaptation by Oliver Stone of a really good novel by Lawrence Block. Unfortunately, the result is shallow and the characters distasteful.
ONCE UPON A TIME, WE ALL LOOKED A LITTLE LIKE THIS
Jeff Bridges is much better in the more recent The Men Who Stare at Goats [M-Net.Tuesday.01.05] based on a piece of whimsical non fiction by Jon Hanson.
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?
Kevin Spacey, George Clooney and Ewan McGregor complete the cast and the result is original, witty and well-timed; men with paranormal powers recruited by the US Military? As someone penned almost four hundred years ago
There Are More Things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio
Than Are Dreamt of in Your Philosophy.
THE CRONICLES ARE QUITE DARK
The Black Cauldron [M-Net.Saturday.18.00] was that Disney rarity, a flop. The movie, made in 1985, is one that tried to milk audience preoccupation with myth and legend; in this case, The Chronicles of Prydaion by Lloyd Alexander.
GETTING THE DISNEY TREATMENT
Actually, this animated feature is not bad at all; there is early, eager use of CGI and a strong score by Elmer Bernstein. For history buffs, The Black Cauldron was the last film made at the old Buena Vista Studios.
HEY, MON
Cool Runnings [SABC3.Sunday.19.30] is Disney of a different kind, a bunch of bobsledders go for Winter Olympic glory; the catch is that the athletes are Jamaican and not one of them has ever seen snow. Crazy idea? This delightful movie is based on a true story!
THIS PROMO PIC IS THE BEST THING ABOUT THE MOVIE
There are no less than four films from South Africa on show this week, I Now Pronounce You Black and White [M-Net.Friday.21.30 and Wednesday.00.40], Jozi [M-Net.Sunday.22.45], White Wedding [M-Net.Sunday.02.05] and Rainbow Skellums [M-Net. Thursday.00.30]; a mixed bag if ever was, but all with the overriding SA themes of colour permutations and candid camera.
ONE OF THE DECEMBER BOYS
In stark relief is an Australian movie based on a 1963 novel by Michael Noonan; December Boys [SABC3.Friday.21.30] comes sweetly and smoothly to the screen and clearly shows that Harry Potter is a beginning rather than an end for Daniel Radcliffe.
CHRISTIAN BALE
Terminator Salvation [M-Net. Saturday.03.00] is a ‘son of’ rather than a straight sequel and has Christian Bale and Sam Worthington fighting the machines in a deadly game of good vs bad; there is action aplenty to entertain both old fans and new converts.
THIS FRAME AROUND, FLICKA'S OWNER IS A GIRL
My Friend Flicka as film and book were firm favourites from my childhood. The remake, entitled Flicka [e.tv.Saturday.20.30] is beautiful; a tale simply told; sentimental without a trace of mawkishness.
TYRONE POWER IN 1940
Zorro has had a long and colourful film life; he was first brought to the screen by silent superstar Douglas Fairbanks as long ago as 1920, while 40s hunk Tyrone Power did similar duty some twenty years later.
JOHNSON MCCULLEY CREATED ZORRO IN 1919
In 1998, two Zorros flashed across the screen, Anthony Hopkins was Zorro the elder and Antonio Banderas Zorro the younger in The Mask of Zorro [e.tv.Sunday.20.00 and 01.15]; the participation of Catherine Zeta-Jones is a bit of an added bonus. Even if you have seen it before, Zorro remains a sword and horseflesh classic.
GERE AND WILLIS
The Jackal [SABC1.Friday.22.00] is more Jack Higgins than Frederick Forsythe, I’ve always had a soft spot for Higgins’ Irish soldier/scholar heroes and that is almost what we get in this movie; with a great cast, including Richard Gere, Bruce Willis and Sidney Poitier. Watch out for Jack Black; he was thinner and had a little more hair all those (thirteen) years ago.
JADEN SMITH WITH HIS EARTHLING FATHER
The Karate Kid [M-Net.Saturday.23.05] stars Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith in the old Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio roles. This rather pointless remake is a showcase for young Smith, bankrolled by Dad. Personally, I swear those Smith children are aliens.
A SIMPLE TALE OF MAN AND GOAT
Talking of things beyond our ken, The Men Who Stare At Goats [M-Net. Friday.00.00 and Tuesday.01.05] is one of the most original movies to come along in many a year.