Friday Five: Autumn Arts Part Two

Following on from last week's Friday Five, here are the rest of the questions from the Autumn Arts section of the quiz, with answers at the end.

5 more Autumn Arts questions:

1. Description of a painting from Wikipedia: “This painting captures the moody atmosphere of an autumn day on the Seine River, also known as La Seine. The sky is dark and cloudy, but there are spots where light shines through to illuminate the water and buildings that line its banks. There are a few trees on either side of the river that have not yet lost their leaves, while others have already turned brown and orange. It is a beautiful painting that captures the mood of a late September day in the region, with its changing light and gentle breezes. The river, which is usually so busy, becomes calm and reflective. The reflection of the trees and buildings on the water’s surface can be seen in full detail as well as their reflections in the windows of houses near by.” What is the name of the painting and the artist?
2. Dictionary definition of a word beginning with 's': “A rustle or soft, whispery sound, particularly of leaves in the wind” What is the word?
3. The publisher's blurb from the fourth book in a series: "What if you knew someone you loved was going to die? What if you thought you could save them? How much would you risk to try? How far will a woman travel to find a father, a lover a destiny? Across seas, across time – across the grave itself?” What is the name of the book, the series and the author?

4. Description of an English post-punk group formed in 1976 band by music critic, Simon Reynolds in the NME: "A kind of Northern English magic realism that mixed industrial grime with the unearthly and uncanny, voiced through a unique, one-note delivery somewhere between amphetamine-spiked rant and alcohol-addled yarn." What is the name of the band and the lead singer?
5. Description of a film from Wikipedia:  “A 1994 American epic Western film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond and Henry Thomas. Based on the 1979 novella of the same title by Jim Harrison, the film is about three brothers and their father living in the wilderness and plains of Montana in the early 20th century and how their lives are affected by nature, history, war, and love.” What is the name of the film and what Oscar did it win that year?



Answers: 1. Autumn on the Seine at Argenteuil by Claude Monet 2. Sussuration 3. Drums of Autumn from the series Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 4. Legends of the Fall; Best Cinematography (John Toll); 5. The Fall; Mark E. Smith

Friday Five: Autumn Arts Part One

We had a party to celebrate the autumn equinox, for which I wrote a quiz. One round was called 'Autumn Arts' in which I described a thing and the guests had to guess what it was. Here are five of them (with the answers at the end):

5 Autumn Arts questions:

1. Description of a painting on Wikipedia: "Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1856, it was described by the critic John Ruskin as 'the first instance of a perfectly painted twilight'. The painter's wife Effie wrote that he had intended to create a picture that was 'full of beauty and without a subject'. The picture depicts four girls in the twilight collecting and raking together fallen leaves in a garden. They are making a bonfire, but the fire itself is invisible, only smoke emerging from the between the leaves. The painting has been seen as one of the earliest influences on the development of the aesthetic movement." What is the name of the painting and the artist? 
2. Description of a TV series on IMDb: "The psychological thriller examines the lives of two hunters - one is a serial killer who prays on victims in and around Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the other is a female detective drafted from the London Metropolitan Police to catch him." What is the name of the TV series and the actors who play those characters?
3. The first lines from the translation of a novel: "May I monsieur, offer my services without running the risk of intruding? I fear you may not be able to make yourself understood by the worthy ape who resides over the fate of this establishment. In fact, he speaks nothing but Dutch." What is the name of the novel and the author?

4. Description of some music on Classic FM: "Like the other concertos [this] has three movements; the first is energetic and rhythmic, and depicts a harvest festival dance. The second is a slow movement that seems to usher the cool air and reflective crisp mornings well and truly in. And the third movement is a lively and jaunty affair, setting to music an autumn hunt taking place atop a layer of crispy settled leaves." What is the name of the concerto, the suite from which it is taken and the composer?
5. Description of a film by Variety film critic Emanuel Levy in 2000: "Utterly banal, Joan Chen's tediously sappy romance is a kind of modern-day Love Story (a better film!) with a 'twist': Richard Gere's suave lover is old enough to be Winona Ryder's father." What is the name of the film?

Answers: 1. Autumn Leaves by John Everett Millais 2. The Fall, Jamie Dornan and Gillian Anderson 3. The Fall (La Chute) by Albert Camus 4. Autumn from Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi 5. Autumn in New York

Friday Five (Ten): Films from the Second Half of the Year

Following on from a previous post, these are the top ten (bonus five) films that I saw in the second half of the year, in alphabetical order.

1. Downton Abbey - There's nothing here to scare the horses:the script is dreadful, the plots are ludicrous and the dialogue is execrable. It's absolute tosh. But I loved it. The design, direction, costumes and locations are stunning. And what fun those actors are having!
2. Fighting with My Family - Based on the true story of professional WWE wrestler Paige, Stephen Merchant's tribute is charming and delightful. Florence Pugh is excellent as the girl who fights back, and the supporting cast (including Nick Frost and Dwayne Johnson) are well drawn. Like the sport it represents, the film is energetic and relentlessly up-beat. 
3. Knives Out - It's a delicious and well-crafted modern whodunnit (written and directed by Rian Johnson) in the style of Agatha Christie (all filmed in the one set - a country house), packed with twists and turns and a star-studded cast. Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette et al have a jolly fine time, but Daniel Craig absolutely steals the show with his laconic mannerisms and 'southern gentleman's' accent.  
4. Make Us Dream - Stevie G is a legend. He was the best player Liverpool FC had when they were arguably at their worst. He was Liverpool F.C. and, though he could have made more money and won more trophies if he had gone elsewhere, he stayed on Merseyside and gave everything to his home town and team. Sam Blair's documentary is heart-wrenching and affirming, exposing the pressure we pile on our sporting heroes to succeed, when we should be encouraging their talent and ability.





5. Mr. Jones - The way we tell stories is crucially important. This story is terrifying, but terrifically well presented. It focuses on the bravery (and foolishness) of  Gareth Jones, the Welsh journalist who broke the story of the horrific famines in the 1930s Soviet Union, placed within the narrative framework of Animal Farm. Every image; every expression; every word; every silence... it all amounts to a spectacular film.
6. Mrs. Lowry and Son - Fantastically-acted and tightly-directed claustrophobic drama about art and relationships. For most of the film we see only Vanessa Redgrave and Timothy Spall playing the titular characters - it could be stagey (it was originally a play, written by Martyn Hesford, who also wrote the screenplay) but the gravitas of these actors allows us to indulge them in their oppressive situations. When director Adrian Noble and cinematographer Josep M. Civit broaden the canvas to show us the life which led to this art, we are treated to a bright but bleak palette. 

7. The Nightingale - Revenge narratives told well can carry a great weight. When they are further imbued with a sense of identity and questions of nationality, community, humanity and morality, they can be truly mighty. It's a lot for The Nightingale to carry, but under Jennifer Kent's direction (she also wrote the screenplay) it does so fantastically. Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr and Sam Claflin all give excellently measured performances, and the Tasmanian bush setting is spectacular.
8. Official Secrets - 'We were lied into an illegal war.' An important and timely film about morality and legality and what happens when individuals stand up to governments on behalf of the people. Keira Knightley is excellent as the real-life whistle-blower Katharine Gun, ably supported by a cast including Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Greig and Shaun Dooley. My only quibble is that Rhys Ifans is completely over-the-top and appears to be acting in a different film. 
9. Ride Like a Girl - Charming Aussie drama about Michelle Payne, the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. There is no mention of the endemic corruption and seedy underbelly of the horse-racing industry (the 'no animals were harmed in the making of this film' disclaimer is moved to the opening credits). It's full of all the local favourites (Sam Neill; Magda Szubanski; Mick Molloy) with Stevie Payne playing himself, and the rousing soundtrack and girl-power mentality make this the feel-good film of the year.
10. Sorry We Missed You - I've been waiting for this since I, Daniel Blake. It doesn't disappoint in terms of film making (Director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty are an incredibly powerful duo), but it is devastating in its indictment on the heartless working conditions of modern society. It is brutally honest and angry, condemning the politicians who have allowed this zero-hours contract mentality, while it is heartfelt in its support of family relationships with a glimmer of hope. 

Friday Five: Films on a Plane

On the very long flights to and from the U.K., I tend to read, write, and watch TV - I am useless at sleeping. Him Outdoors bought me a great pair of noise cancelling headphones (in Liverpool red), which are comfy and practical; who says he's not romantic? This time round, I used up most of the hours by binge watching a couple of TV series - Chernobyl (bleak but essential viewing) and Line of Duty Season 5 (I love the drama but the ending is frustrating). So I didn't watch as many films as usual, but I did watch some, and I wanted something relatively mindless after those heavy hitters.

5 films watched on a plane:

1. Crawl - a classic giant beastie horror film, low on budget (eight actors and a dog) but big in heart. The apex-predator alligators provide suitable thrills in the rising flood waters amid sympathetic fears of drowning and claustrophobia, while the father/ daughter reconciliation scenes are surprisingly touching. Yes, it's utter tosh, but it is fun.
2. Fighting with My Family - Based on the true story of professional WWE wrestler Paige, Stephen Merchant's tribute is charming and delightful. Florence Pugh is excellent as the girl who fights back, and the supporting cast (including Nick Frost and Dwayne Johnson) are well drawn. Like the sport it represents, the film is energetic and relentlessly up-beat. 
3. Late Night - Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling star in Kaling's film about injecting some 'colour' into a tired late night TV show. It's fairly formulaic, as characters learn things about themselves through shared experiences that they really ought to have already known, but it is a light-hearted and easy-going approach to sexism and racism in the workplace, and that's a start. 
4. Old Boys - The Cyrano de Bergerac story is given an 1980s public school setting. The school's 'jock' Winchester (Jonah Hauer-King), requests assistance from the school 'nerd', Amberson (Alex Lawther) to woo the French Master's daughter, Agnes (Pauline Etienne) through a series of letters, mix tapes and scrappy video recordings. Director Toby MacDonald is probably more interested in the unlikely blossoming friendship between the boys than he is in the romance with the girl, but it's a chunk of nostalgia for correspondence in a pre-digital and self-branding age.
5. Yesterday - I suspect there is a direction correlation between one's enjoyment of this film and one's liking of The Beatles. I appreciate The Fab Four, but I've never been a fan. I'm not sure that if they came along now they would be as popular as they were then, as I believe their appeal lay in their difference rather than their talent. Written by Richard Curtis and directed by Danny Boyle, it seems a lot more of the former than the latter, but even the jokes aren't as funny as usual (the gag about there being no Oasis if there were no Beatles is about the sum of the laughs) and some of the dialogue is poor. The leads (Himesh Patel and Lily James) are perfectly fine, but there is absolutely no chemistry between them, and it's all just a bit ho hum until the end credits remind me just how much I dislike Hey Jude.

Friday Five (Ten): Films from the First Half of the Year

This post is very late, I know. I could say I'm busy, but that's not really an excuse, because, isn't everyone? So, as we're meant to focus on positives rather than constantly criticising ourselves and others, let me just say, thanks for your understanding.

These are the top ten (bonus five) films that I have seen this year, so far, in alphabetical order.

1. Aurora - somewhat formulaic but fun Finnish romantic drama for a Friday night.
2. Bauhaus Spirit: 100 Years of Bauhaus - an interesting documentary that explains that the Bauhaus spirit is 'art is the implementation of the harmony between people and matter'. It considers people not in terms of their spirituality but as spacial objects. The movement has had a massive influence on art, design, fashion, architecture and urban planning. One could even say it has become a part of the zeitgeist.
3. Ben is Back - excellent central performances (Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges) in a study of a mother's love for her son, no matter what.
4. Destroyer - I enjoyed it: the storytelling was good and the outcome was unexpected (by me, at least). Nicole Kidman does cold-dish-serving revenge very well. 





5. Free Solo - A documentary about a narcissistic free climber (bordering on psychopath), with a very unusual attitude to relationships, but a unarguable approach to risk vs reward. Shot by his friends (one wonders how he has any) with simply stunning scenery.
6. If Beale Street Could Talk - Quite simply beautiful; utterly life-affirming against all odds.
7. Mary Poppins Returns - This is odd. It's exactly the same as the original but the songs have different words. The story arc, the characters, the emotional manipulation and the scenes are almost identical, but with slight differences that make it feel like a dream. It's unsettling.
8. The Reports on Sarah and Saleem - "If the message of the film was “Having an affair is probably not a great idea”, its delivery could be perceived as being somewhat heavy-handed. It was bloody good though." - quoted from my CGB (Cinema-Going Buddy)
9. Rocketman - Excellent, moving, and honest depiction of addiction and loneliness despite fame and riches. I don't particularly like Elton John's music but it is spectacular in this film. The acting and direction is superb.
10. Us - Proper bonkers; gripping and good with stuff to think about and a few decent scares. 

FFF: Cultural Inappropriation

Last night I went to see a film at the Alliance Française French Film Festival. The film, The Trouble with You/ En Liberté was fine – it was a typically Gallic comedy/ thriller/ romance involving a corrupt cop, wrongful imprisonment, comedic crime capers, and slightly ditzy women who enjoy being subjugated.

The problems I had were not with the film itself, but with the audience and the screening experience. As a member of the Church of Wittertainment, I am a dedicated follower of the Code of Conduct with its strict guidelines on cinema-going etiquette (turn off all mobile phones; turn up on time; don’t talk during the film; do not eat or drink anything audible – soft rolls alone are permitted as nourishment etc.). These are broken way more often than I would like, but at this particular screening, the rules were broken more than they were observed.

To begin with, the lights were not extinguished until about 20 minutes into the film. I suspect the person in charge (I realise the days of projectionists are long gone, and now the head mech merely presses a button on a desk) forgot to run the trailer reel, as the film also finished about twenty minutes before the running time on the ticket. I could have gone and asked someone to dim the lights in the auditorium, but I would have had to find someone and, as there was a function going on in the cinema foyer, this would probably have proved difficult, and I would have missed a good ten minutes of the film.

Secondly, there was a lot of implied sex and violence in the film. Now, I appreciate that it was cartoon violence (indeed the title credits appear as ‘zap! kapow! comic-book graphics’), but people get shot, stabbed and punched; ears are bitten off; deep gashes are stitched back together; robberies are committed with gigantic sex toys and scenes are set in S&M brothels. There is also a mild-manner serial killer who keeps bringing bags of dismembered body parts into the police station only to be ignored by the love-struck inspector. Unsurprisingly, this is billed as a certified M film.

The M certification in Australia is defined as ‘not recommended for children under 15 years’. Two young girls (about six years old I’d guess) were running about in front of the screen. Their parents fed them huge buckets of exceptionally noisy popcorn and left them to it. At the end of the film one child commented, ‘I closed my eyes and covered my ears for some bits of it.’ Their parent laughed.

Indeed, there was a lot of laughter throughout the film – huge, raucous, bellyaching guffaws. It was a mildly amusing film, which would have just about passed the six laughs test, but it certainly didn’t justify this level of merriment and ribaldry. I had to wonder whether this excessive laughter at things that weren’t especially funny was an example of people attempting to prove that they are cosmopolitan because they can be amused by a film in French.

There was a lot of movement throughout the film, with people constantly coming and going, waving to each other, bringing in huge platters of cheese and cold meats, talking and refilling glasses throughout the entire session. I wondered whether the audience would behave this way if the film were in English. Did they not expect people to want to hear the words because it was in a foreign language? Or was it because the lights remained up for so long that it gave them the feeling that they were at a drive-through?

To be fair, when I lived in France and saw V.O. English films, I experienced similar lack of respect and breaking of the code. I could not hear the words and so had to read the French subtitles to understand what was being said in an English film. This intrigues me as being the reverse of people behaving badly abroad; are they are behaving badly in their own country because they are being presenting with an alternative cultural experience at home? Does a foreign language relive repression and encourage people to open up to more libertine behaviour? Or was this particular audience just in a state of advanced refreshment?

Oscar Predictions and Failures 2019, or Why I Don't Bet

Before the Oscar winners were announced I made my predictions based on some knowledge and a lot of guesswork. I picked twenty categories; I was right/ wrong in exactly half. Here are the results:

Best Documentary
My choice: Free Solo / Their choice: Free Solo 
I confess I haven't seen any of the documentaries nominated at the Oscars - they have such a short cinema release and are quite difficult to track down - but of all the trailers, this is the one that looks really gripping - that's sort of a pun because the climber must grip the lump of rock he's climbing in order not to fall off... never mind.

Best Foreign Language Film
My Choice: Roma / Their Choice: Roma 
It sort of had to be, really. It has won this category (or BAFTA equivalent 'Best Film not in the English Language') in all of the other award ceremonies this year. For some reason it has had a whole heap of publicity despite being released on Netflix and only released at the cinema for about a day and a half. I haven't got Netflix; I had to watch it at a friend's house. He had good wine, which helped. I'm not sure I could have sat through it without that.

Best Animated Feature
My Choice: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse / Their Choice: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
I haven't seen it. I don't like cartoons and I don't like super-hero films, but I know America does. The only animated feature nominee I've seen is Isle of Dogs, because I think director Wes Anderson is a genius. It was very good but too clever and too original to win an Oscar. People might even have to use their imaginations while watching it, and we know how well that goes down with Uncle Sam fans.

Achievement in Sound Mixing
My Choice: First Man / Their Choice: Bohemian Rhapsody
It seems I may not know much about these categories. I thought the mix of sound and silence in First Man was outstandingly atmospheric. Apparently the brief was  'to create sequences to be experimental and immersive.' I felt this. In that claustrophobic moon landing sequence (sorry if that's a spoiler for anyone), I was hypersensitive to every sound - the droning hum of air pressure; the metal clicks of belts; the muffled voices and radio static; the creaks and groans of the space capsule; the breathing of the astronauts - I was as close as I could be while being 50 years and 250,000 miles away. Bohemian Rhapsody won because it's about a band that were bloody good at music.

Achievement in Sound Editing
My Choice: A Quiet Place / Their Choice: Bohemian Rhapsody
Ditto above. A Quiet Place is a mastercalss of when to use sound and when to stay silent - the clue is in the title. The opening sequence that reveals the bags of crisps as the only food item left behind in the store sets the sonic tone of the film. Noise can kill you - it is used brilliantly and judiciously throughout as an audacious narrative element. Once dialogue is removed from a film, the power, richness and nuance of sound becomes crucial. Bohemian Rhapsody won because it's about a band that were bloody good at music.

Achievement in Visual Effects
My Choice: First Man / Their Choice: First Man
Ok, so I've not seen the other nominees in this category (Amblin/ Disney/ LucasFilm/ Marvel - it's all just going to be big and brash), but even without having sat through identikit fighting and schmaltz, I believe this is a worthy winner. The visuals are actually effecting and enhance the experience rather than simply padding it out with yet another battle scene or a travesty of my childhood friends. The team (J.D. Schwalm, Tristam Myles, Ian Hunter) used a unique combination of miniatures, archival footage, traditional digital effects, and massive LED screens to re-create the Apollo 11 mission and the events leading up to it. It is a highly impressive achievement.

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
My Choice: Vice / Their Choice: Vice

I suspected correctly that this might be the only category which Vice would win. I enjoyed the film and thought the attention to satirical and heightened detail was exceptional in all things, not least the hair and make-up. Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney did a great job of making Christian Bale look unrecognisable, and apparently that is a good thing because from American Hustle to Batman to The Machinist he's often found hiding behind a dodgy barnet, mask, or unfeasible body image. 

Achievement in Costume Design

My Choice: Mary Queen of Scots / Their Choice: Black Panther

If the judges had been British, Alexandra Byrne would have been taking home the gong for Mary Queen of Scots because we all love a good period costume (and I don't mean the red Handmaid's Tale garments). However, Black Panther was nominated in six categories, so it was bound to win a few. Ruth Carter's win for this eclectic collection of 'ethnic couture' made her the first woman of colour to win a costume design Oscar, and it was also the first ever Oscar winner for a Marvel movie, so that should keep the comic fans happy. In her acceptance speech, Carter announced, 'It's been my life's honour to create costumes. Thank you to the Academy,thank you for honouring African royalty and the empowered way women can look and lead on screen.' Fair enough. It may all have looked a bit Lion King but at least the costumes brightened up what was otherwise a rather dull film. 

Achievement in Production Design

My Choice: Black Panther / Their Choice: Black Panther

For all of the reasons above and then some. Hannah Beachler had already made history by being the fist African American to be nominated in this category; she smashed that by also winning it. In her acceptance speech she quoted 'this piece of advice I got from a very wise woman: I did my best and my best is good enough.' Yes it is. 

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

My Choice: Shallow - A Star is Born / Their Choice: Shallow - A Star is Born

This may have been the most obvious choice of the entire shebang, even if I have never seen the film, and have no intention of doing so. The star-quality-combination of Lady Gaga and Mark Ronson is simply too much for audiences to overlook. If she did the Superbowl; she's going to win an Oscar. The song is exactly the sort of formulaic eighties power ballad with added country croak that they love in the good ol' U.S. of A. Expect it to be sung at every karaoke bar you have the misfortune to be caught in for the next twenty years.

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

My Choice: Mary Poppins Returns / Their Choice: Black Panther

This one was tough to call. I do like the African drums, rhythms, call and response chants and use of 'world music' instruments on the soundtrack of Black Panther. I have learned what a tambin is (it's a 'diagonal diatonic flute without a bell, made from a conical vine, with three finger-holes and a rectangular embouchere with two wings on either side' if that helps) and heard many other instruments that are rarely played any more. I liked the songs in MPR and I loved the lazy, emollient and seductive jazz tones of If Beale Street Could Talk, but this reminds me of the way I was introduced to new and exciting sounds by Andy Kershaw on Radio 1 back in the mid-eighties, so I'm happy with that.

Achievement in Cinematography

My Choice: Roma / Their Choice: Roma

I'll admit the cinematography was the best thing in this film with carefully staged tableaux intended to recall works of art. Personally I much preferred the brave and dynamic choices in The Favourite with its use of panning shots, challenging angles and fish-eye lens, but everyone knows that black and white is arty, right? 

Achievement in Film Editing

My Choice: Vice / Their Choice: Bohemian Rhapsody

Much of the criticism I have seen levelled at Vice is due to the stylistic decisions made by the director to inter-cut the narrative with explanatory devices which highlight the ambiguity of power and the pursuit thereof. Editor Hank Corwin treats the tale like a Shakespearean history with provocative vignettes and surreal farce. Of course it isn't true - if you want to know the truth read a book or watch a documentary - but it is entertaining. The fourth-wall breaking, non-linear structure, fading to black absence of images while sound still resonates, and introduction of a false ending, give the film a unique dramatic flow. It is solidly edited (and quite brutally - an entire song and dance number set in a congress cafe and overseen by the choreographer from Hamilton no less was left on the cutting room floor). I suppose Bohemian Rhapsody messed with the time-line too, but in a narrative rather than an editing manner. From what I can tell, the editing seems to consist of 'how many cuts can we get into a scene?' and 'If in doubt, cut to Freddie!' The editor (and composer - let's just say he's better at that) said in an interview, "Filmmaking is not just filmmaking. It's all the politics and just praying to God that some things will survive a shotgun blast." Ah, the power of prayer...

Original Screenplay

My Choice: The Favourite / Their Choice: Green Book

I wanted The Favourite to win. It is the best screenplay on this list, full of humour and wit and superb quotable dialogue. I knew American audiences would balk at the colourful language - extreme mysogynistic violence is acceptable, but be shocked by the word c*^t and claim it is anachronistic, despite it being oft used by Chaucer before prudish society made any reference to a woman's parts a heinous profanity. (Tony McNamara's The Great is further evidence of his brilliant writing - it has just been picked up by an American streaming service, so we'll see how they butcher that.) I also thought First Reformed was an excellent choice; it is sparsely and emotionally written as you would expect from the writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Also Vice and Roma were in this category. In fact, of all the nominations, Green Book was clearly the worst. It is a very obvious (borderline offensive) narrative with dialogue-by-numbers and ludicrously-drawn characters. We're talking about a film written by the man (Peter Farrelly) who brought you Shallow Hal, Stuck on You, and Dumb and Dumber. And it shows.

Adapted Screenplay

My Choice: A Star is Born / Their Choice: BlacKkKlansman

I thought that A Star is Born would probably win as it's a none-too-challenging piece that fools with superficial depth. However, If Beale Street Could Talk and BlacKkKlansman are both outstanding. I felt that If Beale Street Could Talk was beautiful, gentle and generous. Obviously there are significant horrors and atrocities in the lives of these people but (apart from the ex-convict who agreed with Malcolm X that 'white people are the devil') they choose not to dwell on them and instead highlight the positive aspects of humanity, love and relationships. All of the main characters have patience, dignity and great strength - it's so much in keeping with James Baldwin's writing aesthetic it made me weep. I haven't read the source material from which Spike Lee adapted BlacKkKlansman (Ron Stallworth's memoir, Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime) but I thought the film was well paced and well written, and I'm glad to see Spike Lee finally getting his Oscar.

Actor in a Supporting Role
My Choice: Mahershala Ali - Green Book / Their Choice: Mahershala Ali - Green Book
Again, this was an obvious choice, and it has been the same for every major awards event this season. For all my misgivings about the film (and I have many), the acting is very good. Indeed, if Mahershala Ali can bring this much heft to a thinly-written stereotype, he clearly has talent.

Actress in a Supporting Role
My Choice: Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk / Their Choice: Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk 
Why do they present the best supporting female actor so far away from the other acting awards? Is it because they don't value it in the same way? Or is it to whet the appetite for what is to come? Either way it is peculiar. I would have liked to see Rachel Weiss win for The Favourite, but she wasn't going to, because that would have been unfair to Emma Stone and she is America's sweetheart. I would have liked to see Emily Blunt win for A Quiet Place, but she wasn't nominated. Having said that, Regina King puts in a powerful performance in If Beale Street Could Talk, and it seems that this year the Academy are desperate to prove they are #oscarsnotwhite. This is a highly contested category and it went to a worthy winner.

Actor in a Leading Role
My Choice: Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody / Their Choice: Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
No surprises here - Rami Malek and his prosthetics were bound to clean up. The expression, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...' is well-known. Less so, is the rest of that other Oscar's quote, '...that mediocrity can pay to greatness.' Christian Bale and his prosthetics probably deserved it more, but we're all busy trying to pretend we're not partisan. Anyway, Malek seems like a nice chap, and he is a self-identified first-generation American immigrant growing up in an Egyptian family, so if you're playing Academy Bingo, you've got yourself a full house! 

Actress in a Leading Role
My Choice: Glenn Close - The Wife / Their Choice: Olivia Colman - The Favourite
Big surprise. Big, beautiful, brilliant surprise. She's my favourite too (and the film was my favourite of 2018) but she's British and the others are not. I feel a little sorry for Glenn Close who holds the record for the female actor with the most nominations without winning and is the living actor with the most nominations without a win. She is remarkable in The Wife and in any other year I would have expected her to win. In fact, even this year I expected her to win, because the part of Queen Anne is so challenging and bonkers and bizarre that I am amazed the Academy went with it. I'm sorry Glenn, but I've rarely been happier to have been proved wrong. Blowing a raspberry to the time-to-wrap-it-up folk during her speech and holding the golden statuette aloft, Olivia Colman hoped her children were watching because 'this is not going to happen again'. Now, I'm not one for predictions (evidently) but I suspect it is. She's been a national treasure for some time now in Britain; she is now an international one - get ready for Colliemania.

Directing
My Choice: Spike Lee - BlacKkKlansan / Their Choice: Alfonso Cuaron - Roma
Roma is long and slow and arty. It's black and white and has has intense scenes without dialogue so it's arty. It has beautiful tableaux situations and surreal scenes so it's arty. Did I mention it was arty? I've been trying to rationalise my dislike for Roma  ever since I saw it, and it finally came to me at the weekend as I was doing the hoovering. We have known for ever that a woman's lot can be full of mind-numbing domestic chores and thankless child-rearing while pandering to a male ego, supporting their career and soothing their inner angst. Apparently we only notice this when it is brought to our attention by an arty piece of pretentious film-making written and directed by a man. The life of a woman can be shit? Please mansplain that to me some more.

Best Picture:
My Choice - A Star is Born / Their Choice - Green Book
Even though there was clearly a best picture in here - The Favourite in case you're in any doubt - I knew it wouldn't win the top honours and so thought A Star is Born would cash in on its musical popularity, and I wouldn't have been surprised if any of the others (except Vice, which is also too good to win) got the nod. However, when Green Book was announced as the winner of best picture, I seriously thought this was another envelope malfunction. Really? Best Picture? What were they looking at? Remember all that stuff I wrote about inclusion and diversity? Scrap that. This is a total throwback to 1980s buddy movies with no stereotype left unturned. 

Yes, the acting is good, and the production values are slick to the point of banality, but the entire product is reactionary. It would be utterly disposable if it weren't so derogatory. In 1988 the KLF wrote a manual about how to achieve a number one record. (The actual product was Doctorin' the Tardis, which hit the top spot proving they knew exactly what they were doing.) They called this manual 'The Manual', told their audience that it was going to expose how they were being insulted, and acknowledged that it was destined to become an 'obsolete artefact' within twelve months. They wrote,

'In parts of this manual we will patronise you. In others we will cheat you. We will lie to you but we will lie to ourselves as well. You will, however, see through our lies and grasp the shining truth within. We will trap ourselves in our own pretensions. Our insights will be shot through with distort rays and we will revel in our own inconsistencies. If parts get too boring just fast forward - all the way to the end if need be.'

I get the feeling the makers of Green Book took this to heart. If you were to apply this advice and fast forward to the end of the film, you would be 'treated' to a scene worthy of a mid-80s rom-com: Moonstruck, say. This is a retrogressive decision that indicates nothing has been learned from those who speak up about inclusion and diversity no matter what the bigwigs say. At least it was presented by the devastatingly beautiful Julia Roberts. If you care about these things, it's sad. If not, as you were. 

La La Land: a note to follow So-So Land

It starts with a traffic jam: suddenly someone gets out of their car and starts singing and everyone else joins in and dances through the stationary cars to music which is being played by the token illegal immigrants hidden in the back of a lorry. Then they all get back in their cars and the blockage mysteriously clears and they all drive off except ditzy Emma Stone who is looking at a map to tell her how the hell to get out of this mess before it's all too late. The bloke in the car behind her (Ryan Gosling) blares his horn and overtakes her in a disgruntled manner which is highly understandable being as he's had to sit through a West Coast version of Fame for the last ten minutes.

Emma Stone goes to a coffee shop in a film studio where she works, and stars swan in and out and people spill coffee on her. She goes to auditions where people are rude to her, and when she doesn't get the part it is the end of the world. She lives with three other models in primary-coloured dresses who go to parties, but she feels out of place there because it's oh-so-hard to be beautiful and misunderstood. They dance around like The Wiggles or The Spice Girls Minus One (Probably Mel C; the one with the talent) - 26 seems a bit old to still be going through this adolescent angst, but she does it with a very pretty pout.

The Bland Girls

After ten tedious minutes of her story, we return to the traffic jam (we really are getting nowhere fast) and take it up from the point of view of the hornblower (Ryan). He talks to his sister in a scene in his flat which is meant to indicate how poor he is because there is a stain on the wall and he's got no furniture. They swap lines like 'Unpaid bills are not romantic' and 'I want to be on the ropes. I'm letting life hit me until it gets tired and then I'm going to hit back', but don't worry about getting to know the sister because once she has set up the exposition, she disappears never to be seen again.

Ryan Gosling gets fired from his job as a pianist in a restaurant for blatantly disobeying his boss's directions to only play the set-list. He is so upset that he rudely barges past Emma Stone who was coming to tell him how much she had enjoyed his playing. Time passes (we know because the titles helpfully tell us that we have moved through the seasons) and Emma Stone indulges in more bad auditions and pool parties - poor love.

Play something we know!

She meets Ryan again at a party where he is playing keyboards in an 80's tribute band. To get her own back for his previous rudeness, she requests the band play 'I Ran', which he later tells her is an insult to a serious musician (36 is definitely too old to be having adolescent pretensions). He should be so lucky; it's the best piece of music in the whole film. As they walk back to their cars they have a 'moment', which provides the opportunity for the typical teen I-Hate-You-But-I-Love-You routine. Cue for a song about a Waste of a Lovely Night, which has some decent lyrics and choreography, like something out of a Doris Day film, but only if you couldn't care less about Doris, and she couldn't sing or dance.

Ryan then pops to the coffee shop where Emma works (drawn, one supposes by her looks, because there is nothing attractive or even apparent about her personality) and she tells him how much she loves it there and dreams of being an actor. He reciprocates by explaining that he dreams of being a musician and having his own club. Things look up briefly when she says she doesn't like jazz, but plummet rapidly when he attempts to justify how great it is and we have to endure some random musical noise.

Although she wants to be an actor she has never seen Rebel Without a Cause, which shocking oversight can only be explained by her utter self-absorption. Ryan, who is slightly more aware that there may be other players in the entertainment field, says he'll take her to the pictures 'for research' and then walks along a pier into a beautiful sunset, singing a merry song and nicking an old bloke's hat.

Where did you get that hat?

Next day Emma gets a callback which is supposedly brutal (but actually realistic) and looks forward to going out with Ryan until her boyfriend turns up and takes her out to a meal about which she had forgotten - both the meal and the boyfriend it seems. You needn't get attached to him either because, after hearing some piano music that reminds her of Ryan, Emma ditches the dinner and the boyfriend, and runs to the cinema. She selfishly stands in front of the projected image at the front of the screen (thus blocking the view of all the other patrons - but since when did she care about anyone else?). Just as Emma and Ryan are about to snog in the cinema, the projector burns through the screen and she still never gets to see how to make a decent film.

Serious code violation

Instead, the couple continue their date at Griffith Observatory where the fight scene from Rebel Without a Cause was filmed (see how multi-layered this thing is?). Apparently it is a gravity-free zone and they are soon floating around among the stars like a cross between E.T. and Mary Poppins, and they finally get to kiss. This is clearly inspirational as Emma Stone then writes a play (as you do) and her model chums pop up for one more scene to be told that it is a one-woman play and they are soon to be left on the cutting-room floor.

ET meets Mary Poppins

More seasons pass (we are helpfully told by the addition of inter-titles, such as are used in silent films - if only...) and there is a montage of Emma and Ryan visiting things, going to parties, laughing youthfully, riding cable cars and walking had-in-hand. He plays pianos in bars while she dances unselfconsciously in the middle of the pub. They are in love. And, presumably, living together.

Look at me, everybody!

Some bloke in a tight yellow polo-neck offers Ryan a job but he says he'll Never Work With Him. In the next scene Ryan Works With Polo-Neck Bloke and takes the gig (partly because Emma has pointed out that he might actually earn some money). The band they play for lays dub and techno over trad jazz - which is apparently what the young people want, because no one is interested in old jazz anymore and all the innovators are dead. Emma goes to see the band, but they are popular, which disappoints her and she looks like someone has strangled a puppy because success is so vulgar. He goes on tour with this band and is highly successful and makes lots of money but is Away A Lot and doesn't call every day.

Meanwhile Emma quits her day job (despite all the obvious advice) at the cafe by symbolically handing in her apron, and she becomes a writer, by shaking hands with people and scattering pieces of paper all over the floor - it really is that easy it seems! Once more we move through the seasons until we hit Fall, which is a METAPHOR!

Ryan comes home for a surprise visit and cooks a giant chicken or a fatted calf or some enormous hunk o' meat. He tells her he is going to stay in the band for a few more years and keep touring and making money. They fight because this may be The Dream but it is not His Dream and he has sold his soul to the Electrical Keyboard Devil. Then Ryan sets the kitchen on fire and the smoke alarm takes over the high-pitched whining, and Emma runs away (her penchant for escaping mid-meal is clearly the latest in Hollywood dieting chic).

Emma books a theatre to perform her play, which only about half a dozen people attend, which isn't surprising as Ryan has told her to 'write something as interesting as you are.' The performance clashed with a photo shoot for his band so Ryan didn't make it, which is a deal breaker and she goes home to Middle of Nowhere Land to give up on her dreams. But, a casting director was at her play and really liked it and phones Ryan to ask Emma to audition for a thing in Paris. He goes to find her (by parking in suburban streets and blaring his horn) and passes on the message - she has a needy, whiny 'I'm not good enough' moment, but he is all supportive and they drive back to Hollywood to Make It Happen.

Self referential audition 'song' about how hard it is to be an actor

At the audition she is asked to tell a story and, displaying a gross ineptitude at following directions, she sings a song instead - perhaps the film has suddenly remembered it is meant to be a musical? Of course she gets the part because this is all unbelievable nonsense. Fast forward five years and she is a big star, married to Someone Else, and buying her coffee from the cafe where she used to work.

Emma and Someone Else go out to dinner and stumble into a basement bar which would you Adam and Eve it, of all the jazz joints, in all the towns, of all the world... Ryan is also living his dream and their eyes meet and there is a dance number montage of how life could have been if they had stayed together. If only the whole film had been like this without the tedious bits in the middle, it would have been quite good.  But it wasn't. And it isn't. The End.

Fishing for Compliments

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

(Bantam Press)

Pp. 251

This book was published shortly before Carrie Fisher died, which gives much of it added poignancy. It is mainly about her experience filming Star Wars; her youth and her inability to deal with unanticipated fame; her affair with Harrison Ford; her reaction to the conventions; and her irritation at being expected to still look the same now as she did then. The book is not particularly well-written, but it is honest and candid – the inclusion of her diaries and poetry written during the filming of Star Wars is a brave move – and ultimately very readable.

No one was prepared for the reception that Star Wars would receive. Her life was changed forever by the film refused to remain on screen. She was defined by one character with whom she has a love/hate relationship. “I had never been Princess Leia before and now I would be her forever. I would never not be Princess Leia. I had no idea how profoundly true that was and how long forever was.”

She writes with attempted nonchalance and sangfroid and is candid about her own drug addiction. Her style is deliberately self-effacing and jocular in tone, and although she presents her thoughts as raw and elemental, she has clearly polished the words into something she imagines is witty. There are a few insights into the behind-the-scenes goings-on during filming (such as the fact that due to her grimacing each time she fired the laser gun, she had to take shooting lessons from the man who prepared Robert De Niro for his role in Taxi Driver), but film geeks will probably know all of these already.

Her renowned advocacy for gender equality is evident and she had crippling anxiety about her looks, relating that she got the part in Star Wars on the proviso that she would lose ten pounds. But she also confesses she enjoyed the one-sided nature of the film, and to loving the male attention that came from being “the only girl in an all-boy fantasy.”

The main thing to emerge from this book, however, is her affair with Harrison Ford. She mockingly refers to their relationship as ‘Carrison’ and, although it comprises over half of the book, she pretends to dismiss it; forty years afterwards, she still tries to downplay it, which conversely gives it excessive importance. Obviously, this is one-sided account, but Harrison Ford doesn’t present very favourably. He seems like a predator from the first time he takes her home drunk from a cast and crew party. She was young and naïve, and he was careless of her sensitivities and her desperate neediness. She fixated on him like a smitten teenager.

He doesn’t talk to her, make her happy or feel good about herself, and he exacerbates her insecurities and anxiety. It seems that he is cold towards her, but perhaps that is just his nature? She records in her diary, “I act like someone in a bomb shelter trying to raise everyone’s spirits.” While it is brave to include the diaries and gauche poems, they are excruciatingly painful to read. Every teenage girl has written self-indulgent nonsense like this, but not always about Harrison Ford. One could argue that she knew the situation – he was married – but she tries to manipulate the reader into feeling sympathy for her.

She concludes with her feelings towards the fans at Star Wars conventions, and it is clear that she is not comfortable with the entire charade. It’s fair to say that Carrie Fisher’s relationship with Princess Leia and Star Wars in general, is both complex and unresolved, which is distressing as it will now forever remain that way.