Saturday March 3
Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows: Part 1 [M-Net.23.30]
STREEP LONG BEFORE MAMMA MIA!
Mamma Mia! [SABC2.16.00]
The Prince and the Pauper [SABC3.14.00]
We Are Marshall [SABC3.19.30]
A BEST SELLER IN 1995
The Love Letter [e.tv.14.00]
Sunday March 4
Red [M-Net.20.00]
The Bounty Hunter [M-Net.0035]
No Reservations [SABC1.20.00]
Baby Mama [SABC1.22.00]
Chaos Theory [SABC3.19.30]
Revenge of the Nerds [e.tv.22.25]
Monday March 5
BLACK SWAN IS A RATHER TYPICAL PIECE FROM DARREN (THE WRESTLER) ARONOFSKY
Black Swan [M-Net.01.10]
Tuesday March 6
Crazy Heart [M-Net.09.30]
***
IN THE BEGINNING...SHE MADE EVERY GESTURE COUNT IN JULIA
I’m afraid that this week might be a bit of a ramble; I have finally shallowed the last of the antibiotics— so here goes. Seen as Mary Louise Streep has finally bagged her third Oscar, I thought I’d dedicate this scribble to her.
SHE CAN SING AND DANCE, TOO
Streep appears in Mamma Mia! [SABC2.Saturday.16.00], which is always worth another look. The plot is simplicity itself; on a Grecian Isle, Abba dabbles with a tin of (Buona Sierra Mrs.) Campbell’s Soup.
COLIN FIRTH-THIRD FROM RIGHT
What the hell; everybody, especially the audience, has a wonderful time. This is also a chance to see just how good Colin Firth is; his performance in The King’s Speech will linger a long time.
JEFF BRIDGES AS WILLIE/KRIS
I wonder how Jean Dujardin’s American career will go on from here, thumbs up, thumbs down, or thumbing a lift home to France; time will tell. Catch another Oscar winner, Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart [M-Net.09.30].
FIRTH AS A SINGLE MAN
When Bridges won the award in 2009 he was up against Firth in A Single Man; maybe Woody Allen is not wrong when he said that comparisons are both odious and pointless.
IRONICALLY, IN CALIFORNIA SUITE, MAGGIE SMITH PLAYED AN OSCAR LOOSING NOMINEE. MICHAEL CAINE WAS SUPERB AS HER GAY HUSBAND-QUITE A TALKING POINT IN 1978
Back to Mary Louise, she began her ‘loosing’ career in style, first she lost to Dame Maggie Smith and then to Katherine Hepburn. In her win/lose meanderings, she beat Dame Julie Andrews one year and was beaten by Dame Helen Mirren in another.
THIS STILL SAYS IT ALL
Dame Helen appears on screen this week in RED [M-Net.Sunday.20.00] with Bruce Willis, (another Streep costar, remembers Death Becomes Her, which goes to show that even MS makes the odd mistake.)
BRUCE WILLIS AND MARY LOUISE PARKER
RED— meaning Retired, Extremely Dangerous also stars Mary Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman and Karl Urban and is based on comic book antics created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner.
STILL DEADLY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
The movie is slick and big on action; imagine an elderly Magnificent Seven, with plenty of bang to the buck and a good dollop of humour. Action aplenty, with artful performances all round. Will there be a sequel? I do hope so.
ZETA-JONES, BRESLIN AND ECKHART
Catherine Zeta -Jones was another Brit to Oscar Meryl out of the picture, when she won The Best Supporting Award for Chicago, back in 2002; Zeta -Jones along with Aaron Eckhart appears in the Americanization of that delightful German film, Mostly Martha.
ABIGAIL BRESLIN IN 2007
Actually, No Reservations [SABC1.20.00] is not a bad movie, just not in the same class as the original. But, it is a chance to see Abigail Breslin.
A FLUTTER OF FEATHER
An Oscar winner from last year that has nothing to do with Meryl Streep, is Natalie Portman, who stars in Black Swan [M-Net.Monday.01.10], in which she gives a marvelous performance in a strangely uneven movie.
EN POINTE
As mad ballerinas go, Portman is superb; ballerinas are an odd group altogether, they seriously compromise their toes from an early age, live on fresh air and dance in a style perfected by a couple of (mainly) misogynistic Russian men.
HERSHEY AND CARRADINE ON THE HIPPIE TRAIL
Nice to see Winona Ryder back in action, and Barbara Hershey is a fittingly ghastly Mrs. Worthington; Hershey has an interesting background, she once styled herself as Barbara Seagull and did lots of hippie things with David Carradine
TINA AND AMY-EQUALLY GOOD AS POTENTIAL MOTHERS AND
POTENTIAL PRESIDENTS
Hershey/Seagull also starred in a film called The Baby Maker, a pioneer film about the then unheard of practice of surrogate parenting, this was 1970, remember. In Baby Mama [ SABC1.Sunday.22.00] ,an examination of surrogating forty odd years down the line, Tina Fey and her SNL mate Amy Poehler trade babies and banter with a fair amount wry aplomb.
TRADITIONAL NERD GEAR
The youngest Carradine brother, Robert, together with Anthony Edwards struck a huge blow for all of us who wear specs secured by superglue and shoes with mismatched laces. The Revenge of the Nerds [e.tv.Sunday.22.25] has dated, but quite sweetly.
ELLEN
The Love Letter [e.tv.Saturday.14.00] is about unrequited love, a misplaced letter, small town boredom and a lost time called the 90s. The movie is based on a rather nice novel by Cathleen Schine, and stars Blythe Danner, Kate Capshaw and Gloria Stuart. Plot Clue; with Ellen De Generes in the cast, there is sure to be a lesbian subplot, lurking close at hand.
FANS MAY ENJOY IT
Ryan Reynolds is not that funny in Chaos Theory [SABC3.Sunday.19.30], he and it are laboured, silly and very predictable.
JEN AND GERARD
In The Bounty Hunter [M-Net.Sunday.00.35], Jennifer Aniston simpers, Gerard Butler pouts and the result grates, I always give Anniston 10 out of 10 for trying, this time, it’s 10 out of 10 for trying my patience. Shame, can’t someone break it to her gently that she never is going to morph into Doris Day.
I JUST HAD TO USE THIS SHOT OF 'IN LIKE FLYNN'
The Prince and The Pauper [SABC3.Saturday.14.00] is a retake on the Mark Twain double take classic, with a late career performance by Alan Bates as Henry V111 and some nifty footwork from Aidan Quinn, in the role once played by Errol Flynn.
SOME 60 YEARS LATER
This British made for TV movie is tailor made for a Saturday matinee. A word on Aidan Quinn; not only has he played Paul McCartney on television, he has also starred with Meryl Streep-twice.
THEN...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [M-Net. Saturday.23.30] almost like waving goodbye to a group of friends on graduation day.
...AND NOW
Even though Part 2 is still to come, there is a feeling of ‘ the last week of term’ about most of the movie.
A WELL MADE 'SPORT AS A METAPHOR FOR LIFE' MOVIE
To end on a serious note, We Are Marshall [SABC3.Saturday.19.30], based on a sad true story tells of a University Football Team rebuilding itself after a fatal air crash. The film could so easily have descended into mawkish posturings; as it is; fine performances from Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox and David Strathairn and a succinct screenplay by Jamie Linden give the movie a satisfying feeling of survival and rebirth.
DAME HELEN AGAIN; HERE WITH JOHN MALKOVICH
My pick is RED [M-Net. Sunday.20.00]