Thursday January 12
Flipped [M-Net.00.30]
ANNETTE BENING DANCES WITH PRESIDENT DOUGLAS
The American President [M-Net.02.35]
High Crimes [e.tv.20.30]
DIRECTOR DEBBIE ISITT IN ACTION
Confetti [e.tv.22.55 and 02.20]
Friday January 13, 2012
Drive Angry [M-Net.21.30]
Hot Fuzz [SABC1.22.00]
The Adventures of Pinocchio [SABC3.00.00]
Saturday January 14
Stoute Boudjies [M-Net.20.30]
The Con Artist [M-Net.02.05]
Winnie The Pooh [M-Net.03.35]
I'LL CALL THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD
Stranger Than Fiction [e.tv.22.10]
Sunday January 15
THE BOOK IS WORTH SEEKING OUT
The Tale of Despereaux [SABC3.19.30]
Stranger Than Fiction [e.tv.13.30]
Monday January 16
SUSAN SARANDON IS EFFECTIVE IN A SMALL PART
Solitary Man [M-Net.22.30]
Silence of the Forest [SABC3.01.00]
Tuesday January 17
Stoute Boudjies [M-Net 01.30]
Abouna [SABC3.01.00]
Drive Angry [M-Net.01.55]
Andanggaman [SABC3.01.00]
***
To quote the most quoted writer of all time
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet
Or would it?
ADRIEN BRODY AS SALVIDORE DALI-ONE OF THE FAMOUS NAMES ENCOUNTERED BY OWEN WILSON IN MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
What caught my interest this week is names. Let me try to explain, when I saw Midnight in Paris last Sunday, I realized that different names pull different triggers in a viewer’s minds eye. So… just for fun I had another look at what is on show this week.
THE FACE OF HELL THEN
In Drive Angry [M-Net.Friday.21.30 and Wednesday.01.55], Nicholas Cage plays a man sent from hell to save his granddaughter from the machinations of a salem of Satanists. His character is named John Milton, who I know as an English poet who wrote Paradise Lost; is that connection too incredible?
THE FACE OF HELL NOW
Probably; after all, Spud in Spud is also named John Milton. One thing that really is incredible, not to mention far-fetched— is the plot of Drive Angry; the good news is that Nicky’s hair behaves quite well.
THE ORIGINAL MADELEINE CARROLL-HERE WITH ROBERT DONAT IN THE 39 STEPS
Staying with fanciful connections, In Flipped [M-Net.Thursday.00.30] the young female lead is played by someone called Madeleine Carroll. To an elderly film fan like me, Madeleine Carroll was a wonderful British actress, very popular in the 30s and 40s, most famous for being Hitchcock’s first Iced Blonde and for appearing in his definitive version of The 39 Steps. A small quiz question: There is a link between Dali and Alfred Hitchcock, what is it?
21ST CENTURY MADELEINE CARROLL-HERE WITH CALLAN MCAULIFFE
The young American Madeleine Carroll is pretty okay too. In Flipped, she is teamed with Callan McAuliffe, they act and interact ; accompanied by some scrumptious doo-wop/rhythm and blues music from the late 50s and early 60s.
THE CHIFFONS
There are songs from that perfect girlie group The Chiffons; as well as Curtis Lee, The Drifters and the masterful Smokey Robinson and his Miracles, who warble their way through You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me, a classic from 1962.
THAT BAND FROM LIVERPOOL
If the song sounds vaguely familiar, it was famously covered in 1963 by a band from the Sea Port of Liverpool. A final flip on Flipped— director Rob Reiner is wonderful at directing schmaltz without overdoing the sentiment; after all, he made both When Harry Met Sally… and The Bucket List.
SUTHERLAND AND SON
Did you know that all Donald Sutherland’s sons are named after film directors? So, we have Kiefer after Warren Kiefer, Roeg after Nicolas Roeg, Angus Robert after Robert Redford and Rossif after Frederic Rossif. Rossif Sutherland is the real star of The Con Artist [M-Net. Saturday.02.05], with dad merely doing much needed backup. The movie is Canadian, very low key and extremely predictable.
ANOTHER FATHER AND SON- HERE KIRK IS UP TO NO GOOD IN ACE IN THE HOLE
Actors play American Presidents, real and imaginary, all the time. Michael Douglas had his white house moment in The American President [M-Net.Thursday.02.35] with Annette Bening, a film I reviewed many moons ago. Like his father Kirk (remember him as the odious reporter in Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole), Michael does a great job playing heartless cads.
CARRYING ON A GRAND TRADITION
He is very effective in Solitary Man [M-Net.Monday.22.30], where he plays havoc with the hearts and lives of Marie-Louise Parker, Susan Sarandon and by extension Jesse Eisenberg. The film is realistic from beginning… to its gritty, downbeat ending. But, remember, realism is not a synonym for likeable.
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FREEMAN AND ASHLEY JUDD IN HIGH CRIMES
Morgan Freeman has also worn a Presidential Seal on more than one occasion. He and Ashley Judd spark well together in High Crimes [e.tv.Thursday.20.30], a movie with a relentlessly believable plot.
JIM CAVIEZEL WAS LATER TO PLAY CHRIST
During times of war, whole armies have been known to lose their collective moral compass. This honest and thought provoking film examines the aftermath of such a lapse and the effects it can have on an individual, or in this case, a married couple.
AN IMPORTANT TALENT-ZACH HELM
Stranger Than Fiction [e.tv.Saturday.22.10] is a really fine film from versatile German born director Marc Foster. Will Ferrell who fits into the American Presidential mould thanks to his wonderful work on TV as George Double U U Bush, is cast as a man living his own biographical novel; a really innovative idea from that talented writer Zach Helm.
EMMA THOMPSON WITH TERMINAL WRITER'S BLOCK
Maggie Gyllenhaal is superb, as is Emma Thompson as the faltering narrating voice, who faces the impossible task of pressing the full stop key. Dustin Hoffman is such a resourceful, canny actor, in Stranger Than Fiction, he is expertly cast as a wryly thoughtful academic. The film feels like a much needed gasp of fresh air; I wish there were more like it.
TALENTED TEAM-NICK FROST AND SIMON PEGG
Hot Fuzz [SABC1.Friday.22.00] is a film from Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg who helped to create the darkly effective script. Nick Frost costars together with many British stalwarts, look out for Bill Nighy, Bill Bailey, Kenneth Cranham etc. etc.
THE ORIGINAL STEPFORD WIVES WAS A TRULY FRIGHTENING FILM
The plot that isn’t that innovative, there are distinct shades of The Stepford Wives and early Stephen King, but the action is both clearly defined and well constructed, a very satisfying piece of cinema.
FIRST SERVE
Confetti [e.tv.Thursday.22.55 and 02.20] is the brain child of British filmmaker Debbie Isitt, a mockumentary with distinct masochistic overtones. Three couples go for the title of the most original bridal concept; this is reality TV gone completely crazy, a deliciously impromptu script allows for mayhem on all possible levels.
ALL EARS
Dustin Hoffman seems to be popping up all over the place at the moment, he provides voice over, together with a cast of 1000s, in an adaptation of Kate (Because of Winn Dixie) Di Camillio’s The Tale of Despereaux [SABC3.Sunday.19.30], a perfectly respectable piece of animation, but truth be told; a little goes a long way.
WINNIE-THE-POOH BACK THEN
More animation- this time, Winnie the Pooh [M-Net.Saturday.03.35], a fair introduction to Christopher Robin all those who inhabit the house at Pooh Corner.
THE LATE NINO MANFREDI
Another children’s favourite is Pinocchio, he features in The Adventures of Pinocchio [SABC3.Friday.00.00], an Italian made for TV mini series, dating back to 1972. The series was very well received at the time, starring as it did, Nino Manfredi and Gina Lollobrigida as the fairy with the turquoise hair.
LA LOLLO HAD A SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTION-SHE ONCE DATED CHRIS BARNARD
Only snag, the whole bangshoot is being shown in one very long sit. Some 300 minutes is pretty bum numbing at the best of times; a treat however for preteen insomniacs and Lollobrigida fanatics.
ERIQ EBOUANEY STARS IN SILENCE OF THE FOREST
We have no fewer than four movies from the African Continent this week. In no particular order they are Andanggaman [SABC3.Wednesday.01.00], from Burkina Faso, which recounts a slice of violent history from the 17th century, Silence of the Forest [SABC3.Monday.01.00], a film from The Central African Republic, which highlights the difference between traditional and cultural values.
A LONG SAD ROAD
From Chad, a sadly poignant, award winning movie by Mahamat Saleh Horoun called Abouna aka Our Father [SABC3.Tuesday.01.00] a tale of search, discovery and loss. And finally, a film from South Africa, a movie called Stoute Boudjies [M-Net.Saturday.20.30 and Tuesday.01.30] an attempt at indigenous comedy; told in a couple of our official languages. Ag sies, man!
WILL FERRELL VENTING
My pick is Stranger Than Fiction [e.tv.Saturday.22.10 and Sunday. 13.30], with Hot Fuzz [SABC1.Friday.22.00] a close second.
THE MULTI TALENTED SIMON PEGG