Sorry about not being here on the 27th April, I'll be back on the 18th May with a summer movies preview! See ya' then!
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Sunday, 6 April 2008
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Retro Revival – the re-birth of cult favourites
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Our memories of film and television we enjoyed in years gone by are either crystal clear or decidedly muddled; sometimes both at once. As we get older, the latter eventuality becomes more common. However, the increase of websites which help celebrate all things retro have helped us to remember. Video and now DVD were what first aided our recollections of those old movies and TV programmes. The former type of home entertainment is all but obsolete, but its replacement has provided the ideal home for cinematic and televisual treats from the past. The format closely represents the set-up of a well-designed website. Just one touch of the ‘enter’ button on the DVD player’s remote control and you can access any particular scene, view the bonus material on offer, if there are any, and choose whether you want to hear the commentary track or not.
The other way that classic TV and cinema is being celebrated is by the re-vamping of old favourites. In the twenty-first century, three prime examples of this have emerged: ‘Battlestar Galactica’, ‘Flash Gordon’, and ‘The Bionic Woman’. The re-invention of these old shows challenge critics’ pre-conceptions of the validity of re-launching them, by telling these tales in a brand new way. At the head of the shows is ‘Doctor Who’, which came back to our TV screens in 2005. The familiar elements are still there, but Russell T. Davies, the man responsible for its return, has added new plot threads to it; the most important being that the planet of Gallifrey is no more. The changes have indeed made a huge difference to the show, as it is always high enough in the ratings for its future to be secure. Unfortunately, the same doesn’t appear to be true for ‘The Bionic Woman’. In spite of the best efforts of Michelle Ryan and her co-stars, as well as the creative team behind it, it doesn’t look like a second series will happen.
This, I have to say, is something of a shame. I’ve seen the opening episode, and the style and tone of it shows a good deal of promise, enough to warrant some dismay from myself that a second series hasn’t been approved. Then again, that’s the nature of US television.
Back here in the UK, ‘Doctor Who’ has not been the only example of the revival of home-grown science fiction. ‘The Quatermass Experiment’ was re-done, but as a live broadcast, just like the original, as was ‘A For Andromeda’, although that was pre-recorded effort. Neither of them, however, were as successful as the new set of adventures for the Time Lord.
The only loser in this resurgence of audience interest in sci-fi and fantasy is the adaptation of science fiction novels. The last endeavour to bring a tale in this literary genre to the small screen was ‘The Tripods’, based on the trilogy by John Christopher. Regrettably, only two-thirds of the entire series of novels was made. A decade before, Peter Dickinson’s three books, collectively called ‘The Changes’, were brought to TV, but the trilogy was condensed, and the third novel was largely absent from the adaptation as a whole. In spite of this, ‘The Changes’ is some-thing that I would really love to see re-made, but as a trilogy in the proper sense of the word, either on TV or as three movies. I feel there is an untapped well of material in these old programmes. In this area of drama, the past does fashion the future.
The other way that classic TV and cinema is being celebrated is by the re-vamping of old favourites. In the twenty-first century, three prime examples of this have emerged: ‘Battlestar Galactica’, ‘Flash Gordon’, and ‘The Bionic Woman’. The re-invention of these old shows challenge critics’ pre-conceptions of the validity of re-launching them, by telling these tales in a brand new way. At the head of the shows is ‘Doctor Who’, which came back to our TV screens in 2005. The familiar elements are still there, but Russell T. Davies, the man responsible for its return, has added new plot threads to it; the most important being that the planet of Gallifrey is no more. The changes have indeed made a huge difference to the show, as it is always high enough in the ratings for its future to be secure. Unfortunately, the same doesn’t appear to be true for ‘The Bionic Woman’. In spite of the best efforts of Michelle Ryan and her co-stars, as well as the creative team behind it, it doesn’t look like a second series will happen.
This, I have to say, is something of a shame. I’ve seen the opening episode, and the style and tone of it shows a good deal of promise, enough to warrant some dismay from myself that a second series hasn’t been approved. Then again, that’s the nature of US television.
Back here in the UK, ‘Doctor Who’ has not been the only example of the revival of home-grown science fiction. ‘The Quatermass Experiment’ was re-done, but as a live broadcast, just like the original, as was ‘A For Andromeda’, although that was pre-recorded effort. Neither of them, however, were as successful as the new set of adventures for the Time Lord.
The only loser in this resurgence of audience interest in sci-fi and fantasy is the adaptation of science fiction novels. The last endeavour to bring a tale in this literary genre to the small screen was ‘The Tripods’, based on the trilogy by John Christopher. Regrettably, only two-thirds of the entire series of novels was made. A decade before, Peter Dickinson’s three books, collectively called ‘The Changes’, were brought to TV, but the trilogy was condensed, and the third novel was largely absent from the adaptation as a whole. In spite of this, ‘The Changes’ is some-thing that I would really love to see re-made, but as a trilogy in the proper sense of the word, either on TV or as three movies. I feel there is an untapped well of material in these old programmes. In this area of drama, the past does fashion the future.
Greenlighted – Movies & TV Shows In Production
Movies
Frankie Machine – Robert De Niro
Mary, Queen Of Scots – Scarlett Johansson
Ye Olde Times – Lindsay Lohan, Cary Elwes
Bob Funk – Rachael Leigh Cook, Lucy Davis, Stephen Root
Spring Breakdown – Amber Tamblyn, Will Arnett, Mae Whitman
TV Shows
My Spy Family – Alice O’Connor, Milo Towney
Skellig – No cast listings at present
Tess Of The D’Urbivilles – Gemma Arterton, Ruth Jones, Hans Matheson
Frankie Machine – Robert De Niro
Mary, Queen Of Scots – Scarlett Johansson
Ye Olde Times – Lindsay Lohan, Cary Elwes
Bob Funk – Rachael Leigh Cook, Lucy Davis, Stephen Root
Spring Breakdown – Amber Tamblyn, Will Arnett, Mae Whitman
TV Shows
My Spy Family – Alice O’Connor, Milo Towney
Skellig – No cast listings at present
Tess Of The D’Urbivilles – Gemma Arterton, Ruth Jones, Hans Matheson
The Gossip Pot
The lights went down early in a play that Ralph Fiennes was starring in. Emergency lighting was fortunately employed so that the performance could carry on….Fourty-four years after
The Rolling Stones were banned from Blackpool, Mick and the boys have been allowed to return to the seaside resort, but it’s not yet clear whether they will or not…After twenty-one years, a British female singer has topped the US chart. Leona Lewis, ‘X-Factor’ winner, has scored her first American number one. The last woman to do that was Kim Wilde with a cover version of
The Supremes hit, ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’……..
MORE NEXT WEEK
The Rolling Stones were banned from Blackpool, Mick and the boys have been allowed to return to the seaside resort, but it’s not yet clear whether they will or not…After twenty-one years, a British female singer has topped the US chart. Leona Lewis, ‘X-Factor’ winner, has scored her first American number one. The last woman to do that was Kim Wilde with a cover version of
The Supremes hit, ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’……..
MORE NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Anthony Minghella - A Retrospective (1954 - 2008)
Before Minghella could start work on his newest film project as writer and director, 'The Ninth Life Of Louis Drake', he died, whilst undergoing surgery. In spite of it being documented that he first made a name for himself with 'Truly Madly Deeply', Minghella's career actually hit its stride with 'The English Patient', a film that the quality within it can be felt by any cinemagoer, whether they have or haven't seen it.
Collecting nine Oscars at the 1997 Academy Awards, the cinematic tale of a disfigured man who falls in love placed Minghella firmly on the international movie scene. In spite of his acknowledgement as a top-quality director and screenwriter, he only made three other feature films between 1999 and 2006; 'The Talented Mr Ripley', 'Cold Mountain' and 'Breaking & Entering'. Well on its way to becoming a classic of modern cinema, 'The English Patient' seems to be the high-point of his overall career, which began when he was the script editor of 'Grange Hill'. Acclaimed as he was, he never really fitted the mould of the current crop of Hollywood directors. Some may that's a good thing, others might see it differently. As for me, I viewed him as being a film-maker that made the best use of the Hollywood system, embracing the quality-driven aspects of Tinseltown. His adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel was a Hollywood production, but he steered it away from being part of the 'conveyor-belt' mentality that some movie producers find hard to let go of. His directorial style seemed to get the best performances of the actors in his movies, regardless of whether they were A-List stars or not. He didn't seem to be a director that let celebrity status determine who was right for a particular role, and who wasn't.
Now he has passed away, we can only speculate on whether he had it in him to make another modern movie classic. Had he lived, I feel sure tha his talent would have enabled him to write and direct something that could be every bit as good as his 1996 romantic epic.
I'LL BE BACK THIS SUNDAY....
Collecting nine Oscars at the 1997 Academy Awards, the cinematic tale of a disfigured man who falls in love placed Minghella firmly on the international movie scene. In spite of his acknowledgement as a top-quality director and screenwriter, he only made three other feature films between 1999 and 2006; 'The Talented Mr Ripley', 'Cold Mountain' and 'Breaking & Entering'. Well on its way to becoming a classic of modern cinema, 'The English Patient' seems to be the high-point of his overall career, which began when he was the script editor of 'Grange Hill'. Acclaimed as he was, he never really fitted the mould of the current crop of Hollywood directors. Some may that's a good thing, others might see it differently. As for me, I viewed him as being a film-maker that made the best use of the Hollywood system, embracing the quality-driven aspects of Tinseltown. His adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel was a Hollywood production, but he steered it away from being part of the 'conveyor-belt' mentality that some movie producers find hard to let go of. His directorial style seemed to get the best performances of the actors in his movies, regardless of whether they were A-List stars or not. He didn't seem to be a director that let celebrity status determine who was right for a particular role, and who wasn't.
Now he has passed away, we can only speculate on whether he had it in him to make another modern movie classic. Had he lived, I feel sure tha his talent would have enabled him to write and direct something that could be every bit as good as his 1996 romantic epic.
I'LL BE BACK THIS SUNDAY....
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