Thursday 11 August
The Way Home… [e.tv. 22.40]
Friday 12 August
Conan: The Barbarian [e.tv.20.30]
Gloria [e.tv.01.20]
Saturday 13 August
Diary of a Wimpy Kid [M-Net.18.00]
Killers [M-Net.20.05]
Bridget Jones’s Diary [SABC2.16.00]
Knocked Up [SABC3.21.30]
Like Father Like Son [e.tv.13.30]
Bicentennial Man [e.tv.20.00]
NO TRICKS-JUST GOOD ACTING
Separate Lives [e.tv.22.40]
Sunday 14 August
Tron: Legacy [M-Net.20.05]
Bicentennial Man [e.tv.12.00]
Man on Fire [e.tv.20.00]
Monday 15 August
JAMES MCAVOY WALKS WITH CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER IN THE LAST STATION
The Last Station [M-Net.22.30]
Tuesday 16 August
Killers [M-Net.23.30]
Land of the Lost [M-Net.03.10]
Wednesday 17 August
Diary of a Wimpy Kid [M-Net.09.30]
GARRETT HEDLUND
Tron: Legacy [M-Net.22.30]
***
…How does the song go…?
Just Slip on a Banana Peel...
And the World’s at Your Feet
Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Laugh, ‘Make Em Laugh
There are four very different variations on that theme this week. All appeal to some but some don’t appeal to all.
JOHN LENNON WAS A STAR GUEST STAR ON NOT ONLY... BUT ALSO
Measuring just five foot, two inches, Dudley Moore began his career with Peter Cook et al as part of Beyond the Fringe, and then as Dud to Peter Cook’s Pete in Not Only…But Also. Their revolutionary style of satire changed British comedy forever and paved the way for the likes of Monty Python and Not The Nine o’Clock News.
THE REMAKE MAKES ONE LONG FOR THIS ORIGINAL
Later, thanks to Foul Play, 10 and Arthur he become, for a while, a tiny, turbo charged sex symbol; a marvellous role model for middle aged menopausal men. Then, for some twenty years after his award winning performance in Arthur, he starred in a succession of flops.
MOORE WITH KIRK CAMERON
One of the worst was Like Father, Like Son [e.tv.Saturday.13.30]; another lame retake of Freaky Friday, with Moore pulling faces and contorting his upper body in a performance that has little to do with acting and/or humour.
DUD PLAYED PIANO WHILE DAME CLEO SANG
In 2002, the little actor died of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. For the record, Dudley Moore was a talented jazz pianist, working with both Cleo Laine and John Dankmore and was Derek, again with Peter Cook in that truly filthy, much banned series of albums made for Island Records, Derek and Clive.
WILL FARRELL LOOKING CONFUSED
I don’t find Will Farrell, fully clothed or in his underwear that funny. Obviously many people do; after all, he makes movie after excruciating movie; this week he plays a paleontologist trapped in an alternate universe in Land of the Lost [M-Net.Tuesday.03.10]
ROGEN AND HEIGL
Director Judd Apatow and comedian/writer Seth Rogen have been aiding and abetting each other for a while now; in 2007 they teamed up to make Knocked Up [SABC3.Saturday.21.30], which is surprisingly good. Katherine Heigl co stars and, despite some dodgy toilet tissue moments this is an insightful little movie about choices, growing up and accepting responsibility.
PRETTY AWFUL
Katherine Heigl who is very pretty, teams up with another pretty person, Ashton Kutcher in Killers [M-Net. Saturday.20.05 and Tuesday.23.30]; which is a load of rubbish!
ISAAC ASIMOV
Trashing Robin Williams is often easy; he can be so in your face and obviously unsubtle. But, in Bicentennial Man [e.tv.Saturday.20.00 and Sunday.12.00], he steps out of character and is rather splendid. He plays a robot with a Pinocchio Complex in this genuinely touching story written by prolific Sci Fi writer, Isaac Asimov.
CHRIS COLUMBUS WITH HIS YOUNG HARRY POTTER STARS
Director Chris Columbus, later of Harry Potter (Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets) fame, strikes just the right note; enhanced by neat performances from Embeth Davidtz and Sam Neill.
I ROBOT-HERE WITH SAM NEILL
When Bicentennial Man was released in 1999, robots were a rarity, nowadays everyone seems to be an alien, a humanoid or a clone. When Tron was first released in 1982, the concept of being trapped in a dangerous computer game was also highly innovative.
TRON IN THE 20TH CENTURY
This was the groundbreaking movie where Jeff Bridges becomes a pawn in his own game. Once in, never out. For good reason Tron has developed a strong cult following; this kind of sequel has, in fact, been long overdue.
TRON IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Thanks to the technological wizardry refined since the beginning of this century, Jeff Bridges looks fresh as daisy when Garrett Hedlund, as his son, enters the game; only to wind up impaled inside it too. Tron: Legacy [M-Net. Sunday.20.05 and Wednesday.22.30] is a glimpe at the future of movie making.
MONKEY SUITS IN 1968
Of course, computer edged technology reigns supreme these days; those reconstituted apes in Rise of the Planet of the Apes are so human that they are a little frightening. Give my good old fashioned monkey suits with an audible click, pop and echo. But, ignore me, I’m an old Luddite.
ARNIE IN FULL CRY
If you still enjoy your action heroes sweaty and testosterone charged there is always Conan: The Barbarian [e.tv.Friday.20.30, starring Arnold Strong, son of Gendarmeriekommandant Gustav Schwarzenegger.
ROBERT HOWARD WHO CREATED THE SWORD AND SORCERY SUB GENRE DIED IN 1936 AGED JUST 30
Conan comes from the pen of pulp writer Robert E. Howard, and was first published in a magazine entitled Weird Tales. Oliver Stone has a hand in the screenplay, which certainly gives the movie an extra reputation. Sure as nuts are legumes; Conan: The Destroyer waits in the wings.
VIOLENCE FOR ITS OWN SAKE
While rewatching Elizabeth: The Golden Age on Saturday, I realized just how blunted we are to violence; this is my major problem with Man on Fire [e.tv.Sunday.20.00], Denzel Washington is always interesting but Tony Scott’s staccato jump kick direction becomes tiresome after (quite a short) while
SHARON STONE
When all else fails, do the same thing all over again—Gloria 1999 [e.tv.Friday.01.20] starring Sharon Stone is a remake of Gloria 1980, which starred Gina Rowland. The plots are almost identical; the tribulations of a gangstress with a heart. Gloria 1999 was the last screen appearance of George C Scott a shouty American actor much admired in some quarters.
AN UNLIKELY LEADING MAN
Scott had a huge career boost in the 70s, when craggy became another word for sexy. He topped the bill and got to kiss some beautiful co stars including Julie Christie and Faye Dunaway. Personally, I’ve always found him overbearing and overrated. Son Campbell is a much more intuitive actor; chip off the old block in the looks department though.
THE TITLE WORKS BETTER IN CARTOON FORM
Does anyone really keep a diary? Actually, I did briefly, until I realized that what wasn’t libelous was boring. I stopped. Diary of a Wimpy Kid [M-Net.Saturday.18.00 and Wednesday 09.30] is sugarcoated version of the much darker children’s tale by Jeff Kinney; the movie is not as awful as the idiotic title would imply.
DEAR DIARY
Bridget Jones’s Diary [SABC2.Saturday.16.00] both book and film are greatly admired by many people; some of them close to me. I’ve tried, I truly have, to enjoy her but she remains a needy whiner; there is a vast difference between self depreciating and masochism.
FIRTH FOR HIS FANS
But, I’m outnumbered I’m sure by admirers of Hugh Grant and the huge army of Colin Firth fans. To be fair, Renee Zellweger’s accent is pretty good and the movie is infinitely better than the sequel.
HOPE YOU CAUGHT IT
Am I going to moan about everything this week? Stick around…The Way Home… [e.tv.Thursday.22.40] is a lovely movie; it is a film from South Korea, gently blending the new fast paced takeaway society with the older order. Critic Leonard Maltin said of it ‘Simple never simplistic, (it is a) tale of generational bonding (that) exudes warmth and compassion without ever wallowing in sentimentality.’
A FASCINATING STILL
Separate Lies [e.tv.Saturday.22.40] was adapted from A Way through the Woods by Nigel Balchin, a writer much feted in the 1950s. The film, made in 2005, stars Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Rupert Everett and a cast of mainly British stalwarts. The movie has all that good cinema should have; fine acting, a plausible plot and a thoughtful directing debut from award winning writer Julian Fellowes.
JOHN NEVILLE
I noticed, down the cast list, a rare screen showing from John Neville, doyen of Stratford and long ago drinking companion of Richard Burton. An apocryphal story tells of the two having a liquid lunch during a run of Othello, where traditionally the two leads alternate the roles of Othello and Iago. During the early performance, both actors played Othello and hardly anyone in the audience noticed.
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER AS TOLSTOY AND HELEN MIRREN AS SOPHIA TOLSTAYA
You don’t have to have read Anna Karenina or War and Peace to enjoy The Last Station [M-Net.Monday.22.30], a German/ Russian/British production which was acclaimed all over the world. The movie is beautifully directed by Michael Hoffman and the acting is superb. Enjoy Helen Mirren, James McEvoy, Christopher Plummer and Paul Giamatti as they enact the last days of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy.
TERRIFIC PERFORMANCES FROM BOTH PAUL GIAMATTI AND JAMES MCAVOY
I was sorely tempted by Conan: The Barbarian but, after careful consideration, I finally chose The Last Station [M-Net.Monday.22.30] as my pick of the week.