The reason I preface most of these pieces with a public transport moan is a lot to do with the "so whatness" resigned attitude of a lot of people.
Metronet considers review on Tube overspend you'll have to pay to read this article but it's quite revealing as to the 'follow the money' adage and who exactly might be to blame. Because someone sure as hell is!
There was a peak hour fire alert at one of the west end Piccadilly line stations the other night.
And about 11am this morning, another fire, this time for real with about 700 train services expected to be axed this evening. Difficult to have an emergency infrastructure when there's not a normal one.
Chaos at Victoria station
I went to the Cineworld Chelsea cinema to catch up on a movie and the right side of the screen was out of focus for some reason - all through the trailers and on into the feature. (Not the first time I've had bad experiences with their screenings). Sorry, but it's true. If you read this blog some time ago you'll recall that the screening theatre of the National Portrait Gallery was even worse! (It's since been fixed, but the problem went on for a very long time) Some things are surmountable and some not. But the prevalence of carelessness in this city is very worrying.
I was reminded of this watching Alpha Dog. Written and directed by Nick Cassavetes (son of indie godfather John Cassavetes), it's the story of one of the youngest ever FBI's most-wanted , fugitive Jesse James Hollywood finally captured in Brazil in 2005, for the abduction and murder of San Fernando Valley teenager Nicholas Markowitz. Hollywood was still at large as production began. When Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster) can't pay his debt, 20 year old Hollywood - Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) in the film - has his mates kidnap Jake's younger half brother 15-year-old Zack (Anton Yelchin). Sharon Stone is Zack's mum, and Bruce Willis Johnny's drug czar dad. Doing Johnny's dirty work is Frankie (Justin Timberlake in a truly fantastic performance) who forms a bond with Zack in Palm Springs (Santa Barbara in the real story) where the kid loses his virginity to two girls in a swimming pool. What is scary about the film is its tone of 'everything will be alright': rich kids doin' what they do; only someone actually dies in the end. Which is how life usually is and not just for that class of kids. The expansive cinematography of Robert Fraisse evokes that illusory oasis of calm.
Out on DVD is the Australian film Candy, directed by Neil Armfield (the Richard Eyre of theatre in Oz over the years ). Candy (Abbie Cornish) and her boyfriend Dan (Heath Ledger) are middle class smack heads. "We lived on sunlight and candy bars," says Dan. Based on Luke Davies' novel, it also stars Geoffrey Rush as Casper, a college teacher and very dubious surrogate role model. But the film suffers the same problems as a lot of other Oz films. It's not that the clichés aren't true, beautifully acted or directed. It's just that you're never really surprised by anything. There's none of that eerie passive River's Edge feel that permeates Nick Cassavetes film. A shame because both Ledger and Cornish give really detailed performances, thanks to Armfield's theatre experience no doubt. Comprehensive interview extras on the DVD too. Check out Look Both Ways for a film that really shows Oz quintessential quirkiness.
If you're a little tired of well-meaning issue films about old age, Sarah Polley's feature writing/directing debut Away From Her, will restore your faith in the power of film to heal and console. An Alice Munro story adaptation (The Bear Came Over the Mountain), it deals with the onslaught of Alzheimer's on Fiona (Julie Christie) who after 44 years of marriage to Grant (Gordon Pinsent) has to be sent to a care home. Olympia Dukakis plays the wife of Fiona's new friend Aubrey (Michael Murphy) who enters into a bond with Grant. Not that Oscars interest Julie Christie (she's won one in the past, nominated for another), but her performance here is so magnificent she ought to be nominated again. She has those Vanessa Redgrave eyes, or is it the other way round, that illuminate the canvas of the camera with an entire lifetime's experience of character. Beautiful understated photography of Luc Montpellier (Guy Madden's The Saddest Music in the World) too. Made me think of Peter Sellers and Being There where every season has its beauty and its pain of death.
Grey Gardens looks at the lives of little Edie (56) and her mother big Edie Beale (79), members of the Bouvier family and cousins of former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Jackie O.) Their 28 room East Hamptons mansion fell into total neglect with cats, racoons and rubbish piled high around their ears. Directed by the Maysles brothers (Albert - camera, David- audio) in 1975 it gets a UK DVD release. So does their 1968 Salesman about Boston $49.95 illustrated bible hawkers. The first ever feature-length documentary to get a theatrical release in the States. (The Maysles are most famous for their 1970 Gimme Shelter doco about the Rolling Stones '69 tour.) The movie was included in the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1993, but it took 30 years to be shown on television (PBS) because of its controversial subject. The great shame about these Eureka single disc releases is that neither have the extras of their American label Criterion, particularly the audio commentary. And so far the publicists have been a bit sheepish in telling me why. They are such incredible documentaries, though. I remember theatre director Deborah Warner made Grey Gardens required viewing for her Royal National Theatre cast of King Lear. Salesman is all hand/shoulder held B/W camera - film NOT video, no lights. Grey Gardens colour 16mm. You never see this kind of filmmaking on YouTube or My Space.
I just caught a free (could only happen in London) third full (better than a lot of others I've been to!) concert of David Sawer's music. The NMC label has some downloads. Performed by members of the Philharmonia Orchestra and conducted by Edward Gardner (new Music Director Designate of the English National Opera) his music is some of the more 'accessible' modern music. His doesn't squeak so much as purr, tickle and creep up on you. He composed a soundtrack for that great short of the silent era, one the first American avant garde films The Life and Death of 9413-a Hollywood Extra (1928) which was screened this evening. With a budget of less than $100, most of the film was shot in Vorkapich's kitchen. Cinematographer was a certain Greg Toland. Now does that name ring a bell to anyone?
Slavoj Žižek! pronounced [jeejek] is so eccentric that he keeps his clothes in his kitchen cupboards and drawers. He's an academic rock star and self-proclaimed narcissist. But you might actually learn something about the world if you join him in staring into the water's reflection. I'd certainly much rather have dinner with him than a lot of other boring philo/pych types I can think of. Astra Taylor's short doco opens end next week at the ICA. It's more like a home video about her new passion Slavoj Žižek than an objective exploration. Nonetheless, she sure spreads the Žižek virus of philosophy to you. And that ain't no bad thing. Žižek quotes Robespierre's 'we want revolution without revolution'. And he seems to be in the same predicament.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment