Friday May 25
THE VERY EXPRESSIVE FACE OF PAUL BETTANY
Priest [M-Net.22.30]
Chaos [e.tv.20.30]
Saturday May 26
Rango [M-Net.20.00]
THE TALENTED TRIO OF BURTON, BONHAM CARTER AND DEPP
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [SABC3.21.35]
Nacho Libre [e.tv.20.00]
Fracture [e.tv.21.55]
Sunday May 27
BOBBY AND BRAD IN LIMITLESS
Limitless [M-Net.20.05]
Grand Canyon [e.tv.21.55]
Monday May 28
The Greatest [M-Net.22.30]
Tuesday May 29
The Wronged Man [M-Net.09.30]
Rango [M-Net.00.00]
Wednesday May 30
Priest [M-Net.00.00]
Trust the Man [e.tv.22.35 and 02.10]
***
PETER PAN TAKES SHAPE-KATE WINSLET AND HER BOYS WATCH JOHNNY DEPP AS WRITER J.M.BARRIE
During his eventful career, he has cross dressed as filmmaker Ed Wood, traded bullets as doomed gangster John Dillinger in Public Enemies and, as playwright J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland, he was inspired to write Peter Pan. Nobody can accuse Johnny Depp of a lack of versatility or being shy of taking a chance.
DEAR MR GABLE
In the past, film heroes were pretty set in their ways, Bogart always sneered as Bogie; Wayne always walked as Duke while Gable always grinned with his ears wide open, always the King. As charismatic as these pioneer film actors might have been, they were stuck in the same character rut forever.
DON'T GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB...
These days actors have to stretch and tweak their talent; always on the lookout for extra nuance. Early in his career, Johnny Depp found director Tim Burton and formed a special bond; they have a way of feeding and trading on each other’s talent and imagination.
BURTON AND DEPP-STILL A DRIPPING
I have noticed the words freaky and weird bandied about, yes; their collaborations don’t always work, but just think how boring moving pictures would be without them.
DEPP AS TODD; HERE WITH HELENA BONHAM CARTER AS MRS LOVETT-SWEENEY TODD WON AN OSCAR FOR ART DIRECTION
In Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [SABC3.Saturday.21.35], Depp is once again teamed with Helena Bonham Carter who gives Sweeney’s partner in crime, Mrs Lovett, a wonderfully grisly edge. Sweeney Todd proves that gore slicks and never goes out of fashion; pies made out of people may sound very 21st century, but, The Demon Barber actually began life as a Victorian penny dreadful.
THREE FACES OF A PIE MAKER-ANGELA LANSBURY AND HELENA BONHAM CARTER FLANK PATTI LU PONE
Many years later, in 1979, he was transformed into a successful Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim, with Angela Lansbury as the luscious Mrs Lovett, the lady with a light touch for pie crust.
BURTON AND BONHAM CARTER- A COUPLE IN REAL LIFE; TOO
A real morsel of trivia; in cockney rhyming slang, The Flying Squad translates as Sweeney Todd, hence, The Sweeney. Sweeney Todd’s music is mellow and moody, without real show stoppers, as such but the content could have been written with Burton, Depp and Bonham Carter in mind and the trio certainly make a meal of it. Not for all tastes though.
NOT PRETTY, BUT PRETTY FABULOUS
Animation Oscar winner Rango [M-Net.Saturday.20.00 and Tuesday.00.00], with direction by Gore Verbinski and vocal input from Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin and Alfred Molina, is one of the original movies to come along in a good long while.
AMONG JOHN LOGAN'S WRITING CREDITS ARE GLADIATOR, AVIATOR, RANGO AND SWEENEY TODD
With visual help from Roger Deakin, writer John Logan creates a gun slinging lounge lizard that sounds like Johnny Depp and walks like John Wayne. Rango is an Adult Animated Western that is funny, witty and quirkily delightful.
A STRICKEN LANDSCAPE FROM PRIEST
There are more short titles with snappy ideas this week; Priest [M-Net.Friday.22.30 and Wednesday.00.00] is the second collaboration between director Scott Stewart and actor Paul Bettany; the first was Legion, released in 2010. Priest, based on a Korean graphic novel works much better; very modern of course, complete with alternate universes and disenfranchised vampires.
MR PLUMMER-MORE IN DEMAND THAN EVER
Look out for Christopher Plummer, in the thick of things, having the time of his life. Seriously, strip all the mod cons away, and underneath is a classic Western, in the tradition of The Searchers, with dark hints of The Oxbow Incident and soft shades of Cheyenne Autumn.
TRY TO SPOT THE BAD GUY
The movie Chaos [e.tv.Friday.20.30] is much more grounded; a cop story cleverly put together, where nothing seems what it is; the roles of hero and villain blur and become confused, and although the plot getting a little strung out at times, the acting from Jason Stratham, Ryan Phillippe and Wesley Snipes is just right for this sort of caper.
MUGSHOT OF A STAR
On that note, it is good to remember that life is not a movie; as we speak, Wesley Snipes so good at playing bad boys, is still in prison; Snipes went to jail for tax evasion in 2010; no ear popping jailbreak for Wes; he only gets out in 2013.
CAREY MULLIGAN IN A TENDER MOMENT FROM THE GREATEST
The Greatest [M-Net.Monday.22.30] is a moving story about an extended family bewildered by the loss of a person they all cared for deeply. The movie sees fine performances from Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan and Piece Brosnan, who has really has matured as an actor.
BROSNAN AND SARANDON IN THE GREATEST
The Irish born Brosnan has been touched by tragedy in real life too; sadly his first wife, Australian actress Cassandra Harris died of cancer in 1991. The Greatest examines coping mechanisms and shows that in the midst of death we are in life.
A REMARKABLE DEBUT NOVEL
Limitless [M-Net.Sunday.20.05], based on the novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn has at its core a very seductive premise, a drug that makes inaccessible parts of the brain not only accessible but potent too. A time will come in our lifetimes when this kind of drug will actually exist; it probably does already; but, like any drug, there are always side effects.
THE MOST COMPLEX PART OF THE HUMAN ANATOMY IS THE PART WE CAN'T SEE-THE MIND
The film however, remains compelling, especially if you bear in mind that today’s fiction is often tomorrow’s fact. Anna Friel, Robert de Niro and Abbie Cornish support Bradley Cooper to ensure that the story remains believable from beginning to gripping end.
I WAS REMINDED OF PORTRAIT OF JENNIE
Fracture [e.tv.Saturday.21.55] is a clever old fashioned thriller, one that Hitchcock would not have been ashamed of, and certainly something that John Grisham would like to have written.
THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM-DAVIDTZ AND HOPKINS
In the lead is Sir Anthony Hopkins, as a man who plans to get away with murder, with Embeth Davidtz as his wife/victim and the very talented Ryan Gosling as the DA trying to trap the smelly rat. An intelligent movie made for intelligent movie goers
THE REVEREND MR BLACK
Just for a laugh comes Nancho Libre [e.tv.Saturday.20.00], a vehicle for Jack Black who can, on a good day be hugely amusing. This fluff, based on a trifle of truth tells of a priest who covers his face and moonlights as a wrestler, to help finance his orphanage. Well, as they say, truth can be stranger than fiction.
JULIA ORMOND AS VIVIEN LEIGH
Julia Osmond, so good in My Week With Marilyn as Vivien Leigh that tragic English actress who was married to Lawrence Olivier, gives another fine performance as a troubled paralegal driven to support a man accused of rape in a solid made for TV movie The Wronged Man [M-Net.Tuesday.09.30].
FOURPLAY IN TRUST THE MAN
Remember the old fashioned sex comedy, so popular in the 60s? There is an updated 2005 version, with the usual mix of droll comedy and high drama, starring David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup and Maggie Gyllenhaal as a pair of mixed doubles. [e.tv.Wednesday.22.35 and 02.10], which is a bit of a curate’s egg, sees Julianne Moore’s husband in real life Bart Freundlich behind the camera and their children, Caleb and Liv in small parts.
THE FREUNDLICH FAMILY FROLIC ON THE BEACH
Trust the Man
THE GRAND CHILL OR SHOUD THAT READ THE BIG CANYON
Grand Canyon [e.tv.Sunday.21.55], directed by Lawrence Kasdan and written by Kasdan and his wife Meg, was billed as The Big Chill of the 90s, because of Kasdan, Kevin Kline and a Big Cast, I guess.
THE WELL PRESERVED WRITING DUO OF MEG AND LAWRENCE KASDAN
The Big Chill it is not; that doesn’t mean that Grand Canyon is a bad movie; it certainly has its moments, focusing, as it does, on lives, some linked forever and some for awhile. The cast is fulsome, including Kline, Danny Glover, Mary McDonnell, Mary Louise Parker, Steve Martin and Alfre Woodard.
RYAN GOSLING GETS BETTER AND BETTER
Fracture [e.tv.Saturday.21.55] really gripped my imagination, enjoy.