Tuesday
10 Things I hate about you (1999) Sky Greats 8pm
In the same year American Pie got released and took over the
world, a similar, yet altogether different teen movie got released. Sure it had
all the same ingredients – beautiful teens, beautiful teen angst, beautiful
teens trying to get laid. Both were comedies and both were set at high school.
Yet both were verrrrrrrrry different. American Pie ushered in new era of gross
out comedy for the teen market. It took the baton off 80’s gross out teen
comedy, Porky’s, jazzed the genre up, made the characters more identifiable and
everyone loved it. It made people look at Apple Pie in an altogether different
light. It made people who went to band camp more attractive. It also added a
new phrase into popular lexicon, ‘milf’. The film became on iconic on the back
of shock humour and a classic was born.
BUT
A whole together different movie was released in the same
year. Undeniably it was less iconic, and that is one of the main reasons that
it got overshadowed at the time. While most people had never heard of Porky’s (accept
the naughty, weird and slightly smelly kids) most were familiar with Clueless.
As American Pie channelled the essence of a film that came out over 10 years
earlier, most were not prepared for what it bought. Clueless, the smart, satirical,
‘self-aware’ comedy, though, was still fresh in the mind for the majority.
American Pie was fun, new and naughty – a combination of three words that will
appeal to most teens. But time has been kind to this other film. And yes
everyone, that other movie is 10 Things I hate about you. Whereas American Pie (largely)
followed the losers of high school, this film followed kids higher up on the
social chain. Based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’, the kids
are smart, the dialogue is snappy and the observations of teen interaction are
spot on. It isn’t as laugh out loud funny as American Pie, but it's sharper, still offers
the same sweetness, and adds an extra dash of cool to boot. This film is one of my
comfort movies – the film I’ll put on when the rigors of reality get all a bit
too much. It’s a reminder that everything’s gonna be alright. Yet, there is clearly another reason why I
love this film dearly (and those who know me well will be able to guess), yes
ladies and gentlemen, in one word…
Heath.
Oh Heath, you were taken away from us way too early… Anyway,
this film announced Heath Ledger’s move to the big time and showcased what was
to come. The kid from Austrailia was cool, could be intimidating and he could be sweet. The guy
was that good he could be anything he wanted to be – the heart throb, the gay
cowboy, or the homicidal maniac clown. And in this film he was majestic. And yes,
I’m not ashamed to admit, his rendition of ‘You’re Just too Good to be True’
brings a tear to my eye… It's like he's just singing to me...
Sigh.
I'm not gay.
Anyway...
So enjoy one of my favourites. It might not be the most
iconic, but it’s certainly one of the more heart felt teen comedies around which still manages to be pretty cool at the same time.Sigh.
I'm not gay.
Anyway...
Oh and you get to see Joseph-Gordon Levitt before he got really famous.
Moneyball (2011) Sky Select 10pm
Brad Pitt stars in this smart and engrossing film about a
man who changed the face of baseball forever – through math! Yes, it does sound
like a story your teacher would tell you to make math seem more relevant while
you think ‘Bollocks it does’, but it’s actually a great watch – and this isn’t
me on my film geek pedestal, most of you will like it.
Friday
Evil Dead 2 (1987) 11.20pm
Big (1988) Sky Family 9.45pm
Talking of comfort films you can’t get more comforting than
this – Tom Hanks portrays the kid who wanted to grow up too fast and shows how
god damn cool that would be! Made so in touch with what makes childhood fun
that even now I am approaching 30 I still think ‘wow that would be such a cool
job’.
Just me? Awkward.
Wednesday
Carlito’s Way (1993) ITV4 10pm
I started writing a recommendation for this film and then
realised one simple thing: I don’t really remember that much about it. I know
it’s good, but that’s about it. I’m not gonna try and bullshit my way through
this, I’ll hold my hands up… but yeah, drawing a blank here. Oh well… Looking
at the reviews, they all give it top marks. Empire give it 5*s, one guy on IMDB
calls it ‘Scarface with feeling’, so everything’s certainly looking positive.
Al Pacino gets released from prison and decides to go it straight, but low and
behold it’s not as easy as he thought it would be as the old life
comes-a-knockin’. Al Pacio is meant to be wonderful, as is his co-star Sean
Penn. But, yeah, don’t know what else to say really. If I’m honest I’m kind of embarrassed.
Huh. Anyway, here’s EmpireOnline to confirm what I can take a mildly strong
guess at…
I need a lie down clearly.
Erm… there’s not much else on!! Well certainly not much that
I haven’t reviewed recently…
Huh.
Guess you could go for…
300 (2006) TCM 9pm
If you like male homo eroticism.
Shrooms (2007) 5* 9pm
If you like dumb horror films…
WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Stop the Press!!! There’s a classic on! Tucked away! I can’t
believe I nearly missed it!!!! Let’s waste no more time and let you know what
it is!!!
A History of Violence (2005) MORE4 10pm
What a film! I haven’t seen this in a while either, but I
more than remember this little gem (sorry Pacino). David Cronenberg returns
from the dead to direct Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn to a lot of people) in this
film about a simple man who sticks up to two hoodlums and becomes a local hero…
but is he as simple as he seems? This film is full of great performances,
including the lead, but it’s the tension that really sets this film apart. Even
the cast seem to feel this ever engulfing tension which is brilliantly realised
in an impromptu sex scene that resulted in Viggo Mortensen sustaining injuries in
real life that far outweighed those he picked up in the fight scenes.. and violence there is-a-plenty. Sexy.
Anyway, tonight has been rescued, huzzah! Wow, was really fearing the worst at
one point... Right go and enjoy it!
Thursday
Woaaaaaah momma this week is a struggle…
Phone Booth (2002) TCM 9pm
Very tidy and clever little film starring Colin Farrell
about a man who wished he never picked up a phone… Quite literally a little
film as well cause it was filmed over 12 days. Good concept, Colin plays a
sleazy, fast talking, morally ambiguous agent whose dirty deeds catch up with
him when a lone psychopath decides to hold him accountable for his crimes… by
having Colin enter a phone booth to answer a ringing phone then training a
highly powered rifle on him until he admits and repents his sins. Mr Farrell
does sleazy very well (shock) and the concept never gets dull and/or boring, even though the majority of the movie
takes place with Colin in the aforementioned phone booth. Very decent watch.
American History X (1998) ITV4 10.30pm
Very good film that is prone to have the odd shocking moment
or two. One of the shocks is due to a scene that will have you clenching,
rubbing your jaw and making your teeth feel all fuzzy as Ed Norton decides to
dish out justice in a particularly radical style with the help of a street curb
(the literal version of radical, not Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle’s radical – he doesn’t
make them eat pizza or anything).The second, and perhaps main reason the shocks
occur is due to the fact the film follows the trial and tribulations of those
wacky little ragamuffins known as the Neo-Nazis - the little buggers with all
their racism and hatred. You get the distinct feeling that the behaviour showcased
here does still go on in the good ol’ USA, so you feel quite uncomfortable
watching the film throughout. That said, it’s a well-made film with a powerhouse
performance from Ed Norton that occasionally gets stuck up its own arse, but is
very powerful nonetheless.
Now, I’m not sure what else to watch recommend here.
You have House of Flying Daggers (2004) Sky Select 10pm
which is an extremely beautiful action film from Hong Kong, but I recommended
it a couple of weeks back.
Or we have Super 8 (2011) Sky Action 8pm from Steven
Spielberg and JJ Abrams which is an old school adventure following some kids
who have a close encounter with the third kind.
But I’ll be watching this…A Young Doctor’s Notebook on 10pm
at Pick TV. Not a film, but still with film like qualities - it follows a young
doctor played by Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) who is haunted by his future
self, played by Jon Hamm (Mad Men’s Dom Draper). It garnered rave reviews on
its original release and is described as having an ‘extraordinary blend of
comedy and medical horrors’. Interesting! Make sure you catch it too!
Friday
Evil Dead 2 (1987) 11.20pm
Is it sequel? Is it a remake? Is it a comedy? Is it a
horror? It’s a bit of all of those... but who cares because this is a
cuh-lassic (classic), which is even more relevant with the reboot of the Evil
Dead franchise around the corner (which, by the way, is getting tremendous
reviews). The first film followed a group of friends staying in a log cabin
that got attacked by an evil ‘presence’ (of some sort) which turned them one by
one into demons – except for the lone survivor Ash. For some reason Ash returns
to the log cabin (we’ll put it down to morbid fascination) with his girlfriend
(?!) and decided to play an incantation chant on a tape recorder which then
releases the aforementioned evil ‘presence’ into his poor unsuspecting missus...
Ash deserves everything he gets in my book for such reckless behaviour, but,
ropey set ups aside, this film really does unleash you on one hell of a
journey. The horror/action comes thick and fast, and is always wrapped up in a
black humour of the blackest and goriest kind – this has the interesting effect
of providing tremendous scares but is able to defuse the tension with some gory
laughs - so what you get is very much a rollercoaster effect and you have no
idea what the film is going to do next. Even by today’s standards there is not
much that can touch it’s originality so do yourself and make sure you catch it,
yeah? Groovy, baby.
That’s relevant to the film(s), it’s not just a random
Austin Power’s quote for the sake of it…
Don’t you just hate it when people do that? Bring up
catchphrases from like 3 years ago? Parents love doing it…
I mean they do it even when it’s not relevant. Ask an
innocent question to the response ‘computer says no’, when there’s not even a
computer in sight, let alone one that could be used, or one that could be used
to successfully answer the question ‘what are we having for dinner tonight’…
Anyway…
The Thing (1982) ITV4 12am
It was quite ambiguous what the last film on this list of
recommendations was, but this is slightly clearer cut. Slightly. John
Carpenter’s remake of the 1951 film ‘The Thing from Another World’ which itself
is an adaptation of the book “Who Goes There” by John W. Campbell published in
1938. It is part sci-fi and it is part horror. What shouldn’t be under any
amount of confusion though is that whichever genre it belongs to, it is seen as
one of the greats. In fact, sci-fi and horror should fight it out to see who
claims this badboy, because it excels in just about every single gore ridden
department. From the very start, we as an audience are under no illusions that
we are witnessing something very special. The first thing the film asks us to
witness is nothing visual, but instead the foreboding theme tune which starts
of as a collection of electric synthesisers and descends into a rhythm which is
reminiscent of a slowly beating heart. In music that’s reminiscent of the classic
Jaws theme tune for simplicity and impending sense of audio dread, we know
something is about to go down - it ain’t gonna be pretty and it sure as hell
ain’t gonna be happy. We then see an alien ship crash land into earth with no
hysterics and ingenious title reveal. The beginning is the most subtle part of
the whole film (an alien ship crash landing is the most subtle bit?!), and this
sets us up perfectly for what we about to see... that eerie calm you get before
the storm – you know something bad is going to happen despite the relative
tranquillity around you. We then witness a dog running across the Antarctic
with a helicopter chasing after it with the prime directive of killing this
adorable looking dog. The pup finally manages to escape by finding refuge at an
American research outpost and we as an audience rejoice. However, 30 minutes or
so later we wish that helicopter had blown that husky to bits as we realise it
is not from this planet, and it certainly is not friendly... The members of the
outpost, led by the King of ‘I don’t give a fuck, Kurt Russell’s MacReady, take
in the dog and before we know it, amongst a lot of tentacles, slime, and
viscera, we are left wondering if everything is as it seems – is everyone still
who they say they are? I’m being purposefully vague because (like most films)
the less you know the better, but I will say that - like the last film on this
list - you will of never seen anything like it before, and probably never will
again.
Mean Streets (1973) BBC2 12.10 am
Messrs Keitel, De Niro and Scorsese are all at the top of
their game here, and quite appropriately as well as this is the film that would
fire them all into collective focus of audiences everywhere. This is the film
that would lead Scorsese & De Niro to Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, King of Comedy,
Goodfellas… So you could say it’s a pretty important film. Harvey Keitel plays
Charlie, a small time hood struggling to stay afloat upon a sea of intimidation
and corruption. Possibly too nice to make it big in this world, he isn’t helped
by the fact he is having to clean up messes cause accompanied by his friend - the border line
psychopath Johnny-Boy, played with vigour by a very young Bobby De Niro. The film
is raw and gritty and this isn’t just what we see as an audience either – the whole
film was shot on a hand held camera by a young Scorsese learning his trade –
and it shows and adds to a very in your face experience. While it is a great
film one of the most fascinating aspects of watching it is seeing all the
pieces coming together – as I’m guessing most are not familiar with this film,
it’s almost like watching a prequel to the fascinating careers of 3 iconic contributors
to the world of movies. This is (arguably) where it all began, and definitely
showcased what was to come… fascinating.
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