This Blog is for J.J., gone to his rest in That Great Commentary Box in the Sky.
The JLo Festival continues on Thursday. This week it’s
Monster-in-Law [e.tv.Thursday.20.00.] Before anyone casts the first derogatory stone; Jennifer Lopez may not be Kate Winslet, but she has presence, likeability, and shows quite a deal of on- screen empathy.
LIKE HALLE AND CHARLISE, HER HOUR MAY COME
Also, her film output, on the whole, has not been bad at all. Actually, its quite interesting to compare her screen activity with co-star, Jane Fonda's early work.
The only daughter of screen icon, Henry Fonda, Jane was born with a Hollywood spoon in her well-proportioned mouth. She began her career as a (not very good) light comedienne; before going to France, where husband of the decade, Roger Vadim turned her into super pin up Barbarella.
JANE FONDA IN HER PIN-UP DAYS
An intense political awaking led to Anti Vietnam war activism and the nickname Hanoi Jane. On return to America, she suddenly blossomed as an actress; she notched up two quick Oscar wins and countless nominations.
Many leg stretches later, Fonda was enticed back to the screen to play this juicy title role.
SPARKS FLY IN MONSTER-IN-LAW
The film is a bit slick and obvious but she and Lopez spark nicely off one another. So stick around Jenny, given enough practice and the right part, your award winning role might well come along someday. If not, you can always sing for your supper.
Fonda, who had been in semi retirement for fifteen years, made her last film, Stanley and Iris, in 1990, which co- starred Bobby De Niro. De Niro zooms by in Ronin [e.tv.Friday.20.00,] predictable espionage stuff, with loads of gear changing, direction by John Frankenheimer and a script in which David Mamet had a hand.
YOU CAN CALL ME AL
It seems a long time since De Niro and Al Pacino both became stars. Thanks, to a large extent, to The Godfather. Pacino, who has become very predictable over the years, turns up with Keanu Reeves in a snappy law firm double dealer, The Devil’s Advocate [SABC2.Monday.22.00;] which might have been written by John Grisham, but wasn’t. Charlize Theron, in an early role, is sweet as Reeves’ wife.
COPPOLA CALLS THE SHOT
The man who directed The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, made Bram Stoker’s Dracula [e.tv.Sunday.22.35 and 02.30,] long before the current brouhaha about vampires began again; but one can hardly compare Stephanie Meyer to Bram Stoker— she’s more Anne Rice, if anything at all.
This is a serious look at the Count, and the fable from which Stoker drew his inspiration. The movie is thoughtfully made with a superb cast, headed by Gary Oldman, now a Harry Potter participant. Once, so brilliant as Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears.
IMAGINE MEETING HIM IN A DARK ALLEY
Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins and Keanu Reeves are all there, as is Tom Waits, who shuffles down the cast list, as he often does in Coppola movies. The film won three Oscars, for makeup, sound effects editing and costume design.
The script is sensuous, the music stylish, but somehow it lacks the taunt horrific fun of Tod Browning’s original. And regular readers know how I feel about Bela Lugosi.
The Man In The Iron Mask is an almost perfect story by Alexandre Dumas (pere.) The plot dances around hidden identity, political duplicity, betrayal, revenge and dexterous swordplay.
The 1998 version of The Man in the Iron Mask [e.tv.Saturday.20.00] does the story spirited justice and the cast, which includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne, all have a gleeful, swashbuckling time.
I don’t know if Dumas’ The Man in the Iron Mask Man changed lives when it was first published, but Louis de Bernieres’ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin [SABC3.Friday.22.30] certainly did. The film was awaited with great expectation, and it doesn’t disappoint, well, not too much.
CRUZ IS COMPELLING
Nicolas Cage, nee Coppola, plays the title role. He is Francis Ford’s nephew, and has starred in three films made by Uncle Frankie, The Cotton Club being the most famous, for all sorts of reasons, over and above its cinematic content.
CAGE IN EMOTIONAL MODE
Nicky does his obligatory paint- by- numbers acting, but Penelope Cruz more than compensates, and the story remains insightful and charming. The only actor who sounds Greek is Irene Papas; not all that surprising, she is Greek.
Cruz is also in Head in the Clouds [M-Net.Wednesday.22.30 and 02.10,] embroiled in a strange triangle with Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend. Although not bad, the movie stretches time and plot, trying to pack in too much history and human interaction.
CRUZ AND THERON IN A PLAYFUL MOOD
Both Cruz and Theron score well and freely in the acting department. Although sometimes, one wonders if it was only her accent that Charlize learned from American daytime soap operas; her gestures can look very ‘Days of our Lives’ on occasions.
Sexual interactions abound in Rent [e.tv.Tuesday.22.30 and 02.35] directed by Chris Columbus, of Harry Potter fame. It’s a film of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical play.
ONE OF THE BETTER SONGS FROM RENT
Unfortunately, the movie can’t decide whether it’s a filmed play or a film in the true sense of the word. However, it does have an odd kind of buoyancy as it explores a world where the helpless doggedly cling to the bewildered. The music keeps sounding like outtakes from Hair; without Hair’s sense of outrageous impudence.
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
Fairly impudent too, is Connie and Carla [M-Net.Tuesday.23.00] a feminine update of Some Like It Hot, it works fairly well and the music is well timed and bang on song.
ALL A BIT SILLY
Poor Goldie Hawn suffers again in Housesitter [SABC3.Sunday.02.00,] her comic style hasn’t dated that well, the dippy hippy tagline stopped working years ago. Co-star, Steve Martin, is about as funny as a mass grave.
On the other hand, Steve Carrell is lovely and Juliette Binoche shows surprising comic timing in a truly touching romantic comedy, Dan in Real Life [M-Net.Sunday.20.05.]
A FINE ROMANTIC TEAMING
If you enjoyed Mike Myers camping it up as Austin Powers, you might find The Love Guru [M-Net.Saturday.20.00] worth staying home for, otherwise it’s a bit of a waste of time, space and energy.
Borat or to give its full title, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan [M-Net.Friday.23.55] is a gloriously comic look at America and how ridiculously unfathomable The New World can be to the uninitiated.
OH, SAY YOU SEE BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT
On release, Death Wish [e.tv.Friday.22.40 and 02.20] did carry a message of sorts, vigilantism does have a certain grim, if simplistic appeal; making sure, as it does, that the bad guys get what’s coming to them.
That said, Death Wish is cinematically assaulting, noisy and violent, with Charles Bronson using his two expressions, puckered hostility and bemused anxiety.
A PENSIVE HERBIE HANCOCK
The music, by jazz great, Herbie Hancock, is superb and is the best about this sorry piece, which for some reason (money at the box office?) spawned four sequels.
A few years ago, somebody made a documentary about Jackie Kennedy’s auntie and cousin living, in squalid isolation, in a twenty-eight-room mansion that had been condemned by the health board. Both ladies obviously were mentally frail, and the whole thing was depressing as all hell.
JACKIE KENNEDY'S SAD RELATIONS
A while ago, I noticed that their story had been made into a musical. Now a made-for-TV film has popped up of Grey Gardens [M-Net.Monday.21.30] starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore. Be assured of fine performances, but watching human suffering and degradation is draining and not my idea of a fulfilling time.
When my friend Moefeeda and I were channel surfing on Saturday afternoon, we found Finding Neverland making an unscheduled appearance. Wasn’t it FANTASTIC, the kind of movie that reminds me why I fell in love with the cinema, all those years ago. Now that they have found it, lets hope The SABC screens it again!
THE WONDERFUL CAST OF FINDING NEVERLAND
My pick, in spite of its flaws and Nicolas Cage (Ag, Shame, he's not soo bad) is Captain Corelli’s Mandolin [SABC3.Friday.22.30.]
THE THREE HANKIE MANDOLIN.