Film Recommendations

[El Gordo]

A rare visit to the cinema today, on the occasion of M's absence.

I spoiled myself. And indeed, almost soiled myself.

11 a.m., while most party people were still a-bed, I was gazing up at the huge surround-sound screen tucking into Walk The Line, the Johnny Cash biopic. I'd forgotten just how thrilling a trip to the pictures is. The opening scenes are thunderingly good. I could feel myself throbbing with expectation.

Perhaps the remaining 95% never quite catches up, but still, it's a great movie, with Oscar-contending performances from Reese Witherspoon as the grounded, engaging June Carter and Joaquin Phoenix as the flakey, enigmatic Cash. It helps to like the music, but isn't essential.

I emerged at 2pm, wondering what to do. Looked at my watch. M wasn't due to return from Glasgow for 3 or 4 hours yet. Damn it. How about another movie?

So I turned round and went in again, this time for George Clooney's Good Night, And Good Luck.

It's a different animal from Walk The Line, but no less impressive. A truly superb piece of work. Shot in black and white, and extremely intense, this is perhaps the most convincing period movie I have seen. It centres on Ed Murrow, the legendary American TV presenter and journalist, and his confrontation with McCarthyism. The movie creates an oppressive, intimate atmosphere, and along with the superb script and performances, is another film certain to feature heavily in the Oscar shortlists.

Clooney is a man I must reassess. I saw him last night being interviewed by the equally lovely (for men of a certain age) Kirsty Wark, on the BBC, and he struck me as a hugely impressive man. Articulate and enlightened, and a man of true integrity. And with looks like his, Christ I hate him even more.

Seriously, this man is talented.

Two quite different films, even if both deal with 50s America, but both are highly recommended. Fabulous pieces of cinema.

[glaconman]

That's great advise Andy. We've only been to the cinema once since being in India and that was for the boy's benefit (Chicken Little ... not great either). Luckily we have Jungle Book on the hard-drive here now. Just the greatest Disney cartoon, and having spent so much time in the jungle recently...

Unless of course you count the couple of films 'forced' on us whilst sat in buses (although Coolie starring Ambitah Birchan was a good laugh).

I would recommend Team America to anybody who thinks actors are always worthy of being potent social activists.

HAVING SAID THAT if people in the film industry stick to what they know and try and make films that are intellectually stimulating and speak about issues that desparately need to enter the public domain, then I'm very much for this as I believe there is great power in this.

And people like Clooney are trying to do this; get past his looks and there's a man to be taken seriously alright.

Constant Gardener has had much press recently, but it's worth the praise. I came out of the cinema feeling that the style, content and experience of the film meant that it instantly went into my top ten. I was very moved by it. And the director, Morelles is a genius already in my book, and with only 2 films to his name (City of God).

[Sweder]

I agree about Clooney. He was always that bloke in ER who my wife drooled over every Thursday night, and like Andy I cursed him for being a ‘lucky looker’ and little else. How wrong we were. My conversion to Clooney as a serious entity started when I saw Oh Brother Where Art Thou , a hugely entertaining and well presented piece about, er, a period of American history. Recently I had the pleasure of watching Solaris, a thoughtful SciFi flick which Clooney directed and starred in. He has, it appears, talent in abundance to go along with a healthy appetite for tackling difficult subjects and a wonderful disregard for the establishment.

Now, let’s take this down a notch or two.
I do most of my movie-watching on aircraft. I can't sleep on the bloody things and my first action on boarding is to grab the in-flight rag and plot my route via the cinema. I take Andy's point about the wonder of the full cinematic experience, but I can't read on flights so this is my lot. The reading on flights thing is most upsetting. A ten hour plus journey is an excellent opportunity to get stuck into a book, yet I seem to have been fitted with an inhibitor chip that, ten minutes after I start reading, invokes shut down. I don't sleep (see above), rather I get the 'noddies', drifting around on the edges of consciousness unable to focus on the page.

On Friday I faced a stark choice. There was no way on earth - or above it - that I was going to sacrifice 2 hours of my day to Antonio Banderas sleep-walking through another awful Zorro movie, so it was a straight shoot-out between The Weather Man, North County, The Island and The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Having scanned the summaries I immediately de-selected The Weather Man. I enjoy Nicholas Cage's early work, Wild at Heart being a long time favourite (Laura Dern! That leather skirt!!), Raising Arizona another sometime top twenty performer. However, the subject matter, that of a successful TV weather man enjoying a meteoric career ascension whilst his family life falls into ruin and despair, didn't float my boat. It is wise to avoid back to back heartbreakers, and there was no way I was going to miss out on Charlese Theron's stellar performance in North County. Having watched the BAFTAs, Stephen Fry disappointingly phoning in his performance as MC, I knew this to be a hard-hitting drama based on real-life events in a northern US mining town. More American historical drama, vicar?

Theron delivers in spades, playing an abused, down trodden single mother fighting for her right to work in a man's world. The film is truly gritty; I felt the need to wash thoroughly afterwards so pervasive was the atmosphere. It's hard to say which stains were harder to remove; the perpetual choking grime of the coal mine or the equally debilitating and offensive filth dished out by the mining misogynists and their moral-free employers. I suspect Ms Theron may have attracted the attention of the Academy, as may the evergreen Frances McDormand in the Best Supporting Actress category. A moving experience.

I was also moved to the washroom by my next selection, although washing my hands was a secondary requirement. The Island is appalling, trashy nonsense. I knew this from the outset, yet I couldn't resist some light relief after 2 hours down t'pit. Critics have been wrong before; sadly not in this case. The film and all who had a part in making it should be despatched to a most unpleasant and distant part of the galaxy.

And speaking of films not expected to trouble the Academy, we come (no Fry-esque pun intended) to The 40 Year Old Virgin. You don't have to be Barry Norman to see what's coming [smug public school voice]gosh, I am sorry[/smug public school voice] with this one. But following a positive experience with the Wedding Crashers I did not let fear of the inevitable stifle my curiosity. This was good, ribald entertainment, rich with pathos and warmth as well as excellent gags and real laugh-out-loud moments. The characters are well drawn, the script is witty and, schmaltzy ending aside, I was pleased I'd managed to overcome my prejudices and bothered to watch it.

Right, that's enough film talk. I'm off to write my 10k report.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Jeez Andy, you sound like my wife

Solaris was a good movie, and was probably an excellent platform for Clooney; but he fails totally to grab me as Batman (Batman & Robin) or as a fishing boat skipper (Perfect Storm), and as for Oceans 11 & 12... spare me.

To be honest I think his best (i.e. most tolerable) work was in ER.

But I agree he does well on the chat shows. Witty and articulate...

... he just can't act :p

[El Gordo]

To be honest I think his best (i.e. most tolerable) work was in ER. But I agree he does well on the chat shows. Witty and articulate...

... he just can't act :p

Miaow!

I've not seen the things you mention, MLCM, so can't comment.

I have to believe what I saw on screen yesterday, that he wrote and directed Goodnight, And Good Luck. If this is so, he is a man of talent.

His acting in it was good to excellent.

Perhaps like me, you should reassess the guy. But see this film first. Truly marvellous.

[Sweder]

Being a saddo I was one of the few bothered to sit up for the 'live' revelations from the Kodak Theatre last night. Frankly the whole shebang is a gross waste of time & money, yet I find myself drawn to the spectacle of celluloid celebs getting up themselves.

Clooney watch: Gorgeous George waltzed off with Best Supporting Actor and made possibly the best (unscripted) speech of the night. Worth watching the lowlights tonight for that alone, I'd say. I'm firmly in the thumbs up for Clooney camp (enough already), and he did nothing to dissuade me despite being the butt of a good deal of the jokes for the night. His award was a weak Academy sweetner for the inevitable snub to Good Night & Good Luck, deemed by those in the know to carry far too much political weight to scoop any major awards.

Yet Crash, a difficult, (relatively) low budget movie dealing with racial conflicts in Los Angeles, stole the Big One, much to the dismay of thousands of Cowboys twirling their pink neckerchiefs outside. This has been a pretty good year for 'thoughtful' films in the mainstream, yet the only nailed-on shoe-ins for a gong had to be Nick Park (Wallace & Gromit), winning for the first time in the full animated feature slot, and the wonderful March of the Penguins (Documentary), the heart rending story of Emperor Penguins fighting brutal weather conditions simply to continue the species.

Best gag of the night?
The host (Jon Stewart, mostly unknown this side of the pond):
"Bjork could not be here - she was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her."

Best acceptance speech (possibly not of the entire night - I bailed at 3 am) apart from GC?
March of the Penguins film-maker Yves Darondeau, accepting his best documentary feature award:
"Looking out on these tuxedos tonight, it's like seeing the movie again. Thank you for this homage."

I'm off for some Optrex.

[glaconman]

Went to see Crash this morning. It was beautifully shot, thoughtful, intricate, moving, funny .... reminded me of Lantana, but even better. A truly exceptional film with moments of cinematic magic. Andy, you'll cry your eyes out

[El Gordo]

Andy, you'll cry your eyes out

I thought you said it was good?

It's on my list of course, just like it's on everyone else's I suspect. Haven't actually seen it available to see anywhere yet though, such is the state of film distribution in the UK. Has it actually opened here? Or has it been and gone?