Thursday September 29
The Eastwood Factor [M-Net. 02.40]
Find Me Guilty [e.tv. 23.10]
Friday September 30
Chloe [M-Net.00.20]
Mother and Child [M-Net.02.30]
A Thousand Acres [SABC3.21.30]
CHRISTIAN BALE REACHES FOR THE SKY
Rescue Dawn [e.tv.20.30 and 01.00]
Saturday October 1
Star Trek [M-Net.07.00]
BARDEM AND ROBERTS MAKE A LOVELY COUPLE
Eat Pray Love [M-Net.23.45]
Babe [SABC2.16.00]
The Babe [SABC3.01.00]
Sunday October 2
Tangled [M-Net.20.05]
The Fourth Kind [M-Net.22.45]
Monday October 3
COLOMBIAN DIRECTOR RODRIGO GARCIA IS THE SON OF WRITER GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
Mother and Child [M-Net.01.20]
Tuesday 0ctober 4
Transporter 3 [M-Net.09.30]
Chloe [M-Net. 03.15]
The Libertine [e.tv.22.30 and 02.40]
Wednesday October 5
Tangled [M-Net.22.30]
***
If both my computer and I can stay functioning for the next couple of days, we may, with luck, produce some kind of film guide this week. Update. I am fine, the computer is fine, but a car when into the electricity pole on the main road, no power since Thursday afternoon. But, here goes anyway.
AMERICAN DIRECTOR SIDNEY LUMET
On show we have some powerhouse acting, three brilliant directors; with very different techniques, number three of a franchise, a Disney Fairytale, some obligatory aliens, a drunken poet, a lucky cowboy, a baseball legend and a pig.
STAR TREK-THEN AND NOW
But first, from a galaxy, far, far away, comes the Star Trek [M-Net.Saturday.07.00] prequel; the prequel or reboot is the fairly new way to please fans… and to make more money. In the case of Star Trek, how did the whole enterprise start?
J J ABRAMS' DIRECTION HAS PAID HOMAGE TO THOSE WHO WENT BEFORE
Amazingly, this is the eleventh screen Star Trek endeavour, this one, made in 2009; it is pretty terrific and deservedly won an Oscar that year for Best Makeup.
GENE RODDENBERRY FAR LEFT-HIS ASHES ARE SCATTERED IN DEEP SPACE
The characters continue to fascinate, ever wondered just how Kirk and Spock became so close? Star Trek will tell you. There is never a dull moment, Star Trek in all its guises continues to please, I think Gene Roddenberry would be a happy man.
THE NOVEL IS LOVELY
And now…to begin at the end, as it were. Babe [SABC2.Saturday.16.00], based on the novel by The Sheep-Pig by Dick King Smith became a smash hit, Oscar winning movie in 1985. It was a shot in the arm for the US/Australian film making and a slap in the chops for the pork industry.
OH BABE
In the 25 odd years since the movie’s release, technology has made rapid progress, but the film has dated very well; after all, hope and joy never goes out of fashion.
THE OTHER BABE IN ACTION
Just to confuse everyone, both Babe and The Babe [SABC3.Saturday.01.00] are around this week. The Babe is a biopic of legendary baseball star, Babe Ruth. Americans often think that everyone is as obsessed with their nation sport as they are. Not true.
JOHN GOODMAN AS BABE RUTH
Ruth could sure slug the ball pretty hard, but his life off the field was hardly eventful. The movie is okay, big on sentiment and it does give John Goodman the part of a lifetime.
PERFECT FOR THE TIMES
There is a documentary about another American icon, actor Clint Eastwood, who has played the same part, the loner with a heart, over and over again since Rawhide on American TV in the late 50s/early 60s.and the movie series that catapulted him to fame-playing The Man With No Name in Sergio Leonie’s trio of Spaghetti Westerns in the mid 60s.
EVEN BETTER
His luck and good choice of roles, Coogan’s Bluff etc., served him well, and when he took himself behind the camera, he became not only famous and rich, but respected. Two Oscars for directing followed; he also has talented children and composes, in his copious spare time, fairly pleasant jazz music.
DIRTY HARRY-LUCKY CLINT
Do I sound underwhelmed? Actually, I rather like his outsider with inside knowledge; but I do find his directing style a little cold. Anyway, as doccies go; The Eastwood Factor [M-Net.Thursday.02.40] this is an interesting exercise, but remember I find documentaries irresistible.
JOHNNY DEPP AND A HEAD OF 80S HAIR
No one could ever accuse Johnny Depp of playing the same part over and over again, but he does bring a certain wild eyed intensity to many of his roles, like Clint, he first came to fame via TV; remember 21 Jump Street?
DEPP AS JOHN WILMOT
Today, of course, Depp is, among other things, the most profitable pirate at sail. In The Libertine [e.tv.Tuesday.22.30 and 02.40], he plays an English poet that I have never heard of; one John Wilmot, who drank to excess and annoyed everyone including Charles II, King of England. In spite of grandiose performances from both Depp and John Malkovich as Charles, the movie is a bit of a yawn.
STAR OF THE FOURTH KIND, MILLA JOVOVICH, WAS BORN BACK IN THE USSR
The Fourth Kind [M-Net.Sunday.22.45] is all about aliens in Nome, Alaska; now we know where Sarah Palin and her family went on their vacation.
IS TANGLED THE END OF AN ERA?
Tangled [M-Net.Sunday.20.05 and Wednesday.22.30] is the tonsorial tale of Rapunzel; let down your hair for maybe the last time in this time honoured way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Tangled, but times, tastes and technology change almost everything.
IT MAY LOOK LIKE BALLET-BUT GUNS TEND TO BE FATAL
If you enjoy familiarity, Transporter 3 [M-Net.Tuesday.09.30] is just like Transporter 2, while not being quite as good as Transporter 1. Jason Statham once again plays the title character rather well.
DIRECTOR AND ACTOR-HERZOG AND BALE
Werner Herzog as a director is not to everyone’s taste; but there are always moments of brilliance. Where e.tv found Rescue Dawn [e.tv.Friday.20.30] is anyone’s guess, but it is one of Herzog’s most accessible works. Based on a true story, Christian Bale stars as Dieter Dengler, a German born American, obsessed with flight.
CHRISTIAN BALE PLAYS DIETER DENGLER
Herzog tells this POW (with punch) tale with a very different angle on both conflict during the dying days of the Second World War and the early days of the Vietnam War. Rescue Dawn is a film with insight and a great deal of flair.
FIND ME GUILTY-IF YOU DARE
Sidney Lumet began his directing career making one of the finest courtroom dramas of all time, Twelve Angry Men and during his long and varied career made The Verdict. Find Me Guilty [e.tv.23.10] made towards the end of Lumet’s life, is a legal drama set against the shadowy spectre of organized crime. Find Me Guilty is a long sit , but a worthwhile one.
A LATTER DAY GONERIL, REGAN AND CORDELIA
A Thousand Acres [SABC3.Friday.21.30] is a King Lear like story, based on a novel by Jane Smiley. The cast is quite magnificent; Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jennifer Jason Leigh all act their heads off; while Colin Firth and Michelle Lee, not so well known in 1997 appear below the credits in minor roles.
JASON ROBARDS
The best part is a chance to see Jason Robards as a man with the family from hell. Robards was probably one of the finest actors of his generation; watch A Thousand Acres and see a great artist at work.
ANNETTE BENING DELIVERS ANOTHER FINE PERFORMANCE
Rodrigo Garcia wrote and directed Mother and Child [M-Net. Friday 02.30 and Monday.01.20]; a telling account of women and their strong maternal instincts. Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington are all marvelous in this story of the profound bond that exists between women and children.
A RATHER DEMURE LOOKING ERIN CRESSIDA WILSON
Chloe [M-Net. Friday.00.20 and Tuesday.03.15] is based on a 2004 French film, Nathalie with a screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson, she of Secretary fame, or should that read infamy.
SHIFTING TENSIONS IN CHLOE
This time around, the strange ménage a trois are played by Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried—who seems everywhere at the moment. The plot premise doesn’t make much sense and the characters act in an extremely immature way. There is plenty of flesh on offer for those so inclined.
ELIZABETH GILBERT SEEMS PLEASED WITH HERSELF
Elizabeth Gilbert wrote the fad book of 2006; everybody was talking about and presumably reading Eat Pray Love [M-Net.Saturday.23.45]. A movie was, of course, inevitable.
DITTO JULIA ROBERTS
Billy Crudup, James Franco, Richard Jenkins and Javier Bardem were chosen to surround Julia Roberts, Ryan Murphy directed. Poor Julia Roberts, she has suddenly gone right out of fashion, don’t know why, she is exactly like she has always been, just older. Now to make a few enemies,I found the book silly and predictable; the movie even more so.
SPOCK AND KIRK WHEN YOUNG
Once a Trekkie, always a Trekkie, Star Wars [M-Net.Saturday.07.00] is my pick.