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chrismorrell Blog

  • That Sporting Life

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     This was one of Richard Harris's early films..I remember it as one of the "kitchen sink" /"class war"  British dramas of the early sixties It just reeks of it.. Harris is almost playing himself as a pro Rugby player.(That's "League" code,which always was professional).. it's scary and violent (bang go his front teeth!) in a malevolent ,"social class" divide type way...it's an essential!


  • Tetsuo

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    Iron Man  (2008)

    This blog went to redundant link previously...

    I've seen 1 and 2 i think..the "Super Furry Animals" namecheck two on "Rings around the world"..With all the current talk of "Iron Man" and the undeniably crazed Robert Downey,i am reminded of  these crazy black and white fantasies ,with a manic inventive style ,a high camp and extremely dark humour... Cross "Eraserhead",with "Scrapheap Challenge" in Japan,and you've got a visual start point...uses good old Ray Harryhausen "stop frame" animation...  These may have been director Shinya Tsukamoto's  first films,they do seem like student /art school work (and there's nothing wrong with that)..if you're in the mood they are just hilarious..fixated with the good old "man as machine"/"man becoming machine" metaphor,alongside very direct sexual references,all served up in the most literal style imaginable... Tetsuo!!! Hai!!


  • Now that's a good cup of coffee

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     Of course there is an odd chronology here.  I was a complete fan ,but i cant remember how many series of "Twin Peaks" there were. Three? or just two? Anyway,even though ,as a true Lynch fan i stuck it out,there's no denying that it degenerated,and became an object of ridicule for many.Lynch and Frost  dropped off the production and writing credits after a while ,and ,well it just got plain daft."Mulholland Drive" could have gone the same way,apparently ,with thirty plus hours "in the can",before whichever network it was,pulled the plug,and "Canal-plus" stepped in. David Lynch was forced to create a feature,or lose the whole thing...well done "the network" i say. .. "Fire Walk With Me"  ,is sort of  the same feature length distillation ,this time retrospectively of "Twin Peaks" and then some... I think it's fantastic.genuinely disturbing. If you havnt seen "Twin Peaks",and dont really feel the urge to,then dont bother..THIS is all the "Twin Peaks" you will ever need...


  • Hard Days Rut

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    The Rutles  (1978)

     Obviously i have loved this since 1978.. Neil Innes created such brilliant ,affectionate parodies/pastiches of the entire span of the Beatles catalogue. I'm prompted to add a few lines,after spotting a glaring error in the above review. .. To work properly ,each song has to be a slightly "off" version of the original.  So It's "Please please Hold MY Hand".. as opposed to "i wanna hold your hand".(It's certainly NOT "please please let me hold your hand" ).soppy inadequacy ,replacing assertive sassy presumption. All the Beatles totally approved of and loved "the Rutles" George Harrison appears adding a further layer of irony ,as he reports on the looting of "RutleCorp" ("Apple").. Some of the songs are  as good,i would contend as the "real" thing... from "Number One" to  "Get up and Go"  Neil ,singing "Cheese and Onion" on Saturday Night Live was ,apparently mistaken by many for John Lennon ...


  • "Todo Sobre Mi Madre"

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    RED RED RED ..red hair , transvestite male prostitutes, tragic loss of children Lesbian love, motherly love , and fatherly love , fathers with breasts, Bette Davis reference, Black hair ,Penelope Cruz speaking her own language and seeming like a totally different person, heartbreak, Divas , " A street car named desire" , crying, lots of crying..crying while you watch it..fantastic..!. 9 out of 10...
    I'm done for now... Chrissie J


  • Happy-Go-Lucky

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    Happy-Go-Lucky  (2008)

    No not the 1942 musical with Betty Hutton..but Mike Leigh's latest slice of life affirming life...As a dedicated  fan ,i went to see it when it started showing,in the U.K....I heard Leigh talking about it on the radio a week before and knew it would be right "up my street" ,Sally Hawkins,is fabulous and this is her first "leading role"(she was in "Vera Drake",loads of other things including good t.v. and radio ).. Her character may seem unbelievably positive, optimistic,and irritating , to some, but i know people like this,and she is credible as a primary school teacher... Leigh fans will not be dissapointed..the female/family banter is wonderfully funny and engaging,and these scenes, along with the "Flamenco" classes, are intelligent fun, going down a storm in the cinema.We know that there will be a strong counterpoint coming ,a rude awakening.. We get a totally unrealistic one that strikes a completely false note,manipulative and just a bit daft (reminicent of the excesses of "Naked")..but,leaving that aside,there is a "tour de force" of a performance from the superb Eddie Marsan ,as "Scott" the dysfunctional driving instructor..Breathing a sigh of relief ,,the key phrases ringing in your ears will be:Enra Ha!   "MySpace!"(no not that one) and something like "cheer up it might never 'appen"...


 

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