Film Log 2008

Films I've watched in 2008 (with ratings out of 10, 10/10s in red)

First Blood (Ted Kotcheff, 1984) 8/10 - archetypal modern action movie, with a good set-up and nice suspense
Shane (George Stevens, 1952) 9/10 - involving western with an excellent supporting cast and an intriguing story and themes
Frankenstein Created Woman (Terence Fisher, 1966) 8/10 - fine addition to Hammer's Frankenstein cycle, with the expected strong performance from Peter Cushing and fascinating metaphysical themes
The Abominable Dr Phibes (Robert Fuest, 1971) 8/10 - Vincent Price is at his hammiest in this gloriously camp, absurd black comedy-horror, brilliantly designed in art deco style by Brian Eatwell
Melody (Waris Hussein, 1971) 8/10 - sweet, sincere tale of young love, enjoyably quirky and capturing nicely west London of the early 1970s
Our Man in Havana (Carol Reed, 1959) 8/10 - wry comedy thriller that makes good use of its Cuban setting
Son of Rambow (Garth Jennings, 2008) 7/10 - disappointing comedy that has its funny moments, but doesn't totally convince, and ends up rather trite and manipulative
Happy Go Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008) 9/10 - sterling performances, well-crafted drama and comedy, and intriguing characters I could watch for hours; everything I've come to expect of Leigh
The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935) 9/10 - hysterically camp, yet brilliantly moving horror, brimming with wit and imagination and full of fascinating images
Fury at Smuggler's Bay (John Gilling, 1959) 7/10 - 18th-century adventure starring Peter Cushing, slow in places but with a few nice moments of swashbuckling
Black Zoo (Robert Gordon, 1963) 5/10 - American shocker starring British horror stalwart Michael Gough, in the same vein as producer Herman Cohen's earlier Horrors of the Black Museum
Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959) 9/10 - formidable western with John Wayne and Dean Martin showing great strength in the leads, and one of Dmitri Tiomkin's most haunting scores
Cast Away (Robert Zemeckis, 2000) 8/10 - riveting drama with a great performance by Tom Hanks, who carries 2/3 of the film on his own, managing to override the director's often-oblique technique
Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V Lee, 1939) 8/10 - the last of the truly great entries in Universal's Frankenstein series, and the last to feature Boris Karloff as the Monster; some hammy moments, but it's great fun, and the expressionistic sets and lighting design are a wonder to behold
Twins of Evil (John Hough, 1971) 8/10 - one of the finest of the later Hammers, with a wonderfully gothic visual flair, a good pace, and good performances from Peter Cushing and a suitably camp Damien Thomas as Count Karnstein
Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (Brian Clemens, 1974) 8/10 - enjoyably tongue-in-cheek romp that updates vampire mythology and throws in a good dose of old-fashioned swashbuckling
Vampire Circus (Robert Young, 1972) 8/10 - visually captivating horror from Hammer's patchiest era; its pansexual overtones make it one of the studio's most adult films
All or Nothing (Mike Leigh, 2002) 10/10 - masterful drama from one of British cinema's greatest storytellers; as usual he elicits powerful performances from an excellent ensemble
Scary Movie (Keenen Ivory Wayans, 2000) 4/10 - hopelessly unfunny comedy sending up the teen horror genre, providing only sporadic entertainment
Dr Who and the Daleks (Gordon Flemyng, 1966) 6/10 - big screen adaptation of the BBC series that struggles to overcome its budget limitations; it has great kitsch value for fans of British horror and fantasy, however
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (Terence Fisher, 1974) 7/10 - a late addition to Hammer's Frankenstein series, not the best of the bunch, but far from being the worst
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (John Hughes, 1987) 8/10 - iconic '80s comedy with very funny performances from Steve Martin and John Candy
Winchester '73 (Anthony Mann, 1950) 8/10 - the first of the Mann-Stewart westerns, a fine film, although it lacks the intensity of their later collaborations; Rock Hudson seems out of place as an Indian chief
The Far Country (Anthony Mann, 1954) 9/10 - among the best of the Mann-Stewart psychological westerns, with excellent performances from James Stewart, Walter Brennan and the underrated John McIntire
Dead of Night (Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer, 1945) 10/10 - gripping ghost anthology that set the tone for British horror for years to come; sophisticated, chilling, quite ahead of its times
The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938) 9/10 - delightful comedy thriller that delays the main plot a little too long, but is wickedly funny and entertaining nonetheless, with a sharp satirical edge
It Always Rains on Sunday (Robert Hamer, 1947) 9/10 - intriguing portrait of post-war life in London's east end, with a number of intertwining stories told against a suitably bleak and haunting backdrop
Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948) 9/10 - one of the all-time great westerns, a riveting drama played out convincingly by its two leads, aided by a really excellent supporting cast
Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999) 10/10 - finely crafted drama with wonderful characterization, first-rate performances from its vast ensemble cast and a genuinely human sensibility
The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953) 10/10 - glorious musical from Hollywood's 'Golden Age' that succeeds in every area, from the quirky characters and light comedy to the exquisitely staged songs and dance numbers
Easter Parade (Charles Walters, 1948) 8/10 - musical with a weak storyline and patchy songs, but the three leads (Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Ann Miller) are excellent, and the dance numbers stunning
Mysterious Island (Cy Endfield, 1961) 7/10 - entertaining fantasy-adventure after Jules Verne, featuring fun with the usual creatures from Ray Harryhausen
The Railway Children (Lionel Jeffries, 1970) 9/10 - charming family drama that never fails to move, and makes the best of its beautiful Yorkshire locations
Fargo (Joel & Ethan Cohen, 1996) 8/10 - dark, often funny crime drama, though I confess this critically acclaimed movie never quite engaged me apart from the scenes with Oscar winner Frances McDormand
The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, 1999) 7/10 - tense and genuinely scary faux documentary whose script seems rather lazy, since the absence of any explanation for the events justifies a fairly arbitrary and incoherent storyline; neveretheless, it's fun to speculate on what the hell was happening
Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2003) 9/10 - pitch-perfect blend of quirky comedy, drama and horror that, along with 2007 companion piece Hot Fuzz, gives hope for contemporary British cinema
Goodbye, Mr Chips (Sam Wood, 1939) 9/10 -heartrending tale from one of Hollywood's finest ever years, with Robert Donat on marvellous form in the title role
Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton, 2007) 8/10 - pleasing adaptation of the ingenious Sondheim musical; considering the potential for disaster, this was a good shot, despite the inevitable abridgements
9 Dead Gay Guys (Lab Ky Mo, 2002) 7/10 - trendy gay comedy that provides amusement
The Sleeping Tiger (Joseph Losey, 1954) 7/10 - unconvincing, but interesting and entertaining drama in which pyschiatrist Alexander Knox invites criminal Dirk Bogarde to live in his home as a means of reformation
Hysteria (Freddie Francis, 1965) 6/10 - rather tired pseudo-Hitchockian thriller from Hammer, enlivened by Don Banks's jazzy score
Gregory's Girl (Bill Forsyth, 1981) 8/10 - funny, unpretentious comedy with sweet, charming supporting characters and a delightful sense of time and place
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960) 9/10 - dark and disturbing thriller that amounts to a confession by its director; almost flawlessly executed in every aspect
Bonjour tristesse (Otto Preminger, 1958) 7/10 - adaptation of the Francoise Sagan novel that never quite takes off, remaining unengaging for the most part, despite a fine cast
Nosferatu (FW Murnau, 1922) 9/10 - a captivating version of the Dracula story that remains true to the spirit of its source, if not the letter, presenting a haunting portrait of the dark side of nature in Max Schreck's title character
I Heart Huckabees (David O Russell, 2004) 8/10 - amusing and engaging philosophical comedy with a very funny cast and a memorable score by Jon Brion, which elements survive the occasionally scrappy plot and script
The Browning Version (Mike Figgis, 1994) 7/10 - this adaptation of the classic Terence Rattigan play teeters on sentimentalism and suffers from the confusing mixing of two eras, but benefits enormously from Albert Finney's performance in a role already played brilliantly by Michael Redgrave in the superior 1951 original
All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955) 9/10 - archetypal "woman's picture", an immaculate-looking melodrama, photographed in mesmerizingly broad colours, much like its characters
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956) 8/10 - thriller with several excellent setpieces in the director's best style (notably the perfectly conceived Royal Albert Hall sequence), although it misses too many opportunities for suspense, and suffers from a slow start
Spider-Man (Sam Raimi, 2002) 8/10 - fabulously conceived action movie that skillfully captures the look and feel of a comic-strip with an excellent combination of effects, photography, editing and animation
Georgy Girl (Silvio Narizzano, 1966) 7/10 - pleasingly eccentric comedy with plenty of laughs and a very touching character at its centre (Lynn Redgrave), although admittedly a messy affair over all
Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004) 9/10 - witty and moving comedy-drama, mounted with beauty and precision by its director, and with a brilliantly nuanced performance from Paul Giamatti as a middle-aged schoolteacher on the verge of a breakdown
The Spanish Gardener (Philip Leacock, 1957) 8/10 - affecting drama with a trio of moving performances from Michael Hordern, Dirk Bogarde, and child actor Jon Whiteley, as well as a particularly slimy turn from an excellent Cyril Cusack
Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1995) 9/10 - funny, dramatic, disturbing depiction of drug addiction on the council estates of Edinburgh, delivered as a heady concoction of social realism and surrealism
The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956) 8/10 - unusual Hitchcock thriller in documentary style; not terribly suspenseful, but as a psychological portrait of a falsely accused man, quite effective
The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971) 9/10 - seminal cop thriller; gritty, tense, exciting, first-class editing and direction
Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931) 8/10 - extremely dated horror that becomes hideously theatrical in the second half, but remains unforgettable for its star, Bela Lugosi, and its many striking images
The Mummy (Karl Freund, 1932) 8/10 - glorious-looking horror that benefits from stylish cinematography, a great Jack Pierce makeup and a chilling star turn from Boris Karloff
Possessed (Curtis Bernhardt, 1947) 8/10 - noirish thriller of murder and mental breakdown; the expected strong performance from Joan Crawford, but the tone all gets a bit didactic towards the end
Frenzy (Alfred Hitchcock, 1972) 8/10 - late Hitchcock thriller with splendid London locations; shows evidence of the director's usual flair, although it dwells too long on the sexual violence
Scars of Dracula (Roy Ward Baker, 1970) 4/10 - ultra-cheap, embarrassingly shoddy entry in the Hammer Dracula series; its only virtue is the occasional gothic element taken from Stoker
The Letter (William Wyler, 1940) 9/10 - very effective drama from a story by William Somerset Maugham, with a fine cast, beautiful cinematography and one of Max Steiner's best scores
Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945) 9/10 - splendid melodrama with a brilliantly conflicted performance by Joan Crawford, marred only by the unnecessary murder-mystery elements
42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933) 8/10 - enjoyable comedy with music and dance, a seminal contribution to the development of the Hollywood musical, with a charming cast
Green for Danger (Sidney Gilliat, 1946) 8/10 - vintage British comedy thriller with a charming turn by Alastair Sim and good suspense sequences
Ken Park (Larry Clark, 2002) 6/10 - dramatic elements are well done, but overall I found the tone unnecessarily cynical
The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945) 9/10 - very deftly executed and suitably tense tale of alcoholism with great performance by Ray Milland; the only false note was the dancing jackets
Popeye (Robert Altman, 1980) 6/10 - sumptuous-looking, an intriguing failure and a childhood favourite
The Servant (Joseph Losey, 1963) 10/10 - sterling performances from Dirk Bogarde and James Fox, excellent camerawork from Douglas Slocombe, tense drama of power and conflict with curious homoerotic undertones
Hunted (Charles Crichton, 1952) 8/10 - smart thriller with a surprisingly good performance from a 7-year-old
Salesman (David & Albert Maysles, 1968) 9/10 - pioneering fly-on-the-wall documentary following American Bible salesmen in the 1960s
Victim (Basil Dearden, 1961) 8/10 - great British cast in an involving social-realist drama that just occasionally lets it political message overtake story and character
The History Boys (Nicholas Hytner, 2006) 8/10 - a great play that doesn't always translate brilliantly to the big screen, but the original dialogue and cast are mostly intact

Movie meme

Found this here. Thought it looked like fun.

1. One movie that made you laugh
Young Frankenstein

2. One movie that made you cry
ET: The Extra-Terrestrial

3. One movie you loved when you were a child
Popeye

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once
It's a Wonderful Life

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it
Superbad

6. One movie you hated
Love Actually

7. One movie that scared you
Arachnophobia

8. One movie that bored you
The Man from London

9. One movie that made you happy
I Heart Huckabees

10. One movie that made you miserable
Let Him Have It

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see
Frankly, I'll watch anything

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with
Gordie (Wil Wheaton) in Stand by Me (when I was 12)

13. The last movie you saw
The Bride of Frankenstein

14. The next movie you hope to see
Late Spring

15. Now tag five people: Do I even have five readers?

Disgusting

This is religious manipulation at its worst. The kind I was once part of. Thank God I got away from it.



Key words: hell video manipulation spiritual abuse control fundamentalism letter zack josh letter from hell godtube

Bishop Michael Reid's glass house

I am fuming over the news that Bishop Michael Reid of the notorious Peniel Pentecostal Church, and the right-wing pressure group Christian Congress for Traditional Values (CCTV), has resigned after admitting to adultery.

I am livid that he has spearheaded ugly, hateful political attempts to paint gays as a threat, using lies and fabrications to further his anti-gay cause, and has now been exposed as one who lived in a glass house of his own while throwing bricks. I am so fucking mad that a man like this spreads slander about people like me, portraying me as a menace, and my "lifestyle" as destructive to families, all the while waltzing round behind the scenes destroying his own family (and doubtlessly others') through sexual immorality.

From all I know of Reid, it is not going to surprise me one bit if a whole load of shit hits the fan now.

Captain Kronos reunion: pictures

On Saturday 29 March 2008, the cast of the classic Hammer horror Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter were reunited at the Cine Lumiere, Kensington, London. (See my previous post for more details.)

Here are a few snaps, top to bottom: Brian Clemens (writer-director); Horst Janson, Caroline Munro, John Cater, Lois Daine, Lisa Collings. Stuntman/actor William Hobbs was also there, but unfortunately my picture didn't turn out!

London: film locations, Hammer horror

So I've been in London since last Thursday, and it's been a blast. I've been staying with my old college pal, Steve, and we've managed to catch a few hours here and there to chat, although he's working all week.

London film locations

Friday I took the bus into central London and visited a few locations from my favourite movies. I began at Chalk Farm Road, just north-west of the West End, and saw some streets from the wonderful It Always Rains on Sunday, the 1947 Ealing drama starring Googie Withers.

From there I walked through Camden (a colourful place, Camden High Street) and to Chester Terrace, on the east side of Regents Park. This very distinctive terrace has surely been used many times in films, but the two most memorable for me were The End of the Affair (1955), in which it was the address of Deborah Kerr and Peter Cushing's house, and Hammer's The Nanny (1965), in which it was the Fanes' apartment (Bette Davis was the sinister title character). Looking extremely suspicious, I walked right round the back, snapping away, and was disappointed to find that the back of the Nanny apartment was evidently shot in a different location.

Next stop was the West End, where I first took in Rathbone Street, the Newman Arms pub and the short alley, Newman Passage, next to it, all used in the opening scenes of Michael Powell's controversial 1960 thriller Peeping Tom. (Interestingly, the night scenes were shot in a studio mock-up, with the next morning's scenes shot at the real location.)

My final stop was the Covent Garden area, used extensively in Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972): The Covent Garden market itself (now a tourist attraction), necktie murderer Bob Ruskin's flat at Henrietta Place, and The Globe, on Bow Street, the pub from which Jon Finch is unceremoniously fired at the beginning of the movie. I had a pint in The Globe, where the landlord assured me the interior scenes were filmed, too. This later turned out to be (mac)guff(in).

Hammer horror: Captain Kronos Reunion

On Saturday, I was off to the Cine Lumiere in South Kensington, where Don Fearney had organized a cast reunion for the classic 1974 Hammer horror Captain Kronos, Vampire Killer. The film was shown on a double bill with Vampire Circus (I was surprised to find this was by far the most thematically adult film Hammer ever made). Then there were signings with stars Horst Janson, John Cater, Caroline Munro, Lisa Collings, Lois Daine and William Hobbs, as well as writer-director Brian Clemens (the creative behind The Avengers). They were all thoroughly pleasant, laid-back, and willing to chat. For the sake of full disclosure, I feel obliged to report I am now utterly and irredeemably infatuated with the lovely Caroline Munro.

Finally, there was a screening of a documentary by Don Fearney: The Legend of Hammer: Vampires. It was an entertaining journey through all of Hammer's vampire films, with exclusive interviews that managed to cover new ground, rather than simply trotting out the same old anecdotes that Hammer fans have heard a dozen times.

I do have some shots from that event, which will be posted as soon as I can upload them.

Confessions of a Church of England skeptic

I'm a skeptic. I'm agnostic about miracles and a traditional God, bordering on not believing in the supernatural at all. I'm convinced by the arguments for atheism.

But I just can't shake off Jesus. Nor can I shake off religion. Not in a scared, inhibited, intimidated sense, but in the sense that I know the power and meaning of religion in my own life, and reinterpreting all the Christian themes I still cherish - the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Death and Resurrection of Christ - doesn't lessen that power for me.

And I am still fascinated with the figure of Jesus, what he did and said, what he stood for, and what he still seems to be doing in the world today.

What to call myself? An atheist? A Christian atheist? A Christian agnostic? A secular Christian? A non-supernaturalist? A skeptic?

I'm in a place that a few years ago I would have considered contradictory, even heretical. Back then I couldn't understand how anyone could forsake traditional theism and still want to hold onto religion, much less still find it meaningful, powerful and an expression of something REAL and TRUE. But things look so different from the other side.

I'm ruthlessly honest with myself, in that I can never kid myself for long without being weighed down by my conscience. Earlier this year, I was at the point where I looked at what I believed - or rather no longer believed - and what I was practising (prayer, worship, church, religion), and seriously questioned whether it was all just one big contradiction, and I would have to choose one over the other. After all, I was in a place where I couldn't figure out why, if I more or less agreed with the major intellectual arguments I heard from skeptics and atheists, I was still a Christian.

But it is no contradiction. My faith is still a part of me. The liturgy still expresses something deep within me in a unique way that nothing else does. Of all the things I've heard from atheists, the one thing I don't buy is that we "don't need religion", or more strongly, that religion is evil. The former might be true, but as an objection it mistakenly assumes that because we don't "need" religion, it is redundant. We don't need a beautiful sunset, orchestras, paintings, home-cooked meals with family, or evenings spent in the company of friends. But why should that lessen their value, or make them any less pivotal in shaping who and what we are?

Now, in some strange way that I never thought imaginable, being a worshipping, practising Christian in my local parish is more important to me than it has ever been.

I'm shutting up because I'm just rambling now. It's late, and I'm going away tomorrow. These are just some last-minute thoughts I felt compelled to write down before I go. They're words that have been itching to get out of my fingertips and onto the keyboard for ages.