Thursday 16 June 2011
Douglas Slocombe, an underappreciated master of the craft.
So, at work we're rereleasing some old Ealing titles on blu-ray, unsurprising seeing as we currently control the UK distribution rights to most of their catalogue (and they have a hell of a catalogue). I bring this up because one of the titles to be remastered and blessed with a short cinema run is Kind Hearts and Coronets, one of the darkest, most hilarious comedies Ealing ever released, a film which has influenced so many film makers (I'm looking at you Coen Bro's) and authors, its hardly surprising its getting such star studded treatment. To fill up the blu-ray, and make it a worthwhile release, we've been trying to source some new extras to treat those Ealingites (like israelites, but mad about British film). One such possibility is an interview recorded in 1988 with the main camera operator at Ealing: Douglas Slocombe, the man who shot Kind Hearts. The interview in question is from an amazing project started by BECTU (The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union) at least 30 years ago, set up to give professionals in the Media industry, who would normally remain relatively unknown to people outside the industry (and in many cases people inside the industry also) a chance to tell their life story, from birth to their retirement. Douglas was the main cameraman for Ealing during their Golden age (40's, 50's) and left such an impression on people who saw those films he went on to film more internationally known classics such as The Italian Job (60's version not Marky Marks) and the Indiana Jones series. Armed with a pretty bad stutter, which contributes to the 4-5 hours runtime of the interview, his life was such an adventure, from being the first Brit to get footage of the Nazi's just before the Second World War, to being tracked down personally by Steven Spielberg who was such a fan of the Ealing titles he made sure Douglas was director of photography in his Indiana Jones flicks. He is a character who is relatively unknown outside of the tightly knit circle of film cinematographers, but deserves a much greater spot light shone upon him. The interview in question availbe to listen to at the BFI library, however you must get in touch with BECTU beforehand to listen to it. Who knows what other stories have been recorded in that collection? Some absolute gems, I'm sure.
Monday 13 June 2011
Latest an greatest on the film front
Quite an interesting week as far as film watching goes, watched a couple of Sonny Chibas in Finsbury, The Street Fighter and The Killing Machine, with Stret Fighter being the better of the two despite both having some amazing choreography and Sonny, or Shinichi as he's known in Japan, being a serious rival to Bruce Lee as baddest muthafuker in 70's asian exploitation.
Series 10 of Family Guy was actually surprisingly funny, but probably because its the uncut version I watched. I never knew that Fox and BBC only air censored versions of the show, not just bleeping out swear words but changing whole jokes for less controversial (funny) material. Apparently on Adult Swim you can watch the uncensored episodes online, but I'm not sure if that US only.
Ended up watching Godfather part 2 on Sunday, due to long time to kill and the discovery that a mate of mine had never seen it. Everytime I watch it I loose a bit more certainty on what I think of it. Its either one of the most overrated films I've seen, or one of the best. For every masterfull scene, which flows with the greatest of ease, there seems to be a clunky, slightly forced feel to another. Regardless of whether its flawless or not, its still damn entertaining.
Larry Crowne was fucking tragic, I havent seen a film that bad in a long long time. I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if it stormed the razzies. Well, I wouldn't if didn't shamelessly shove such cliched American family values down your throat, till you choke on the cheesy suburban placidness of the whole affair. If I weren't attending the premier, I would have walked out when it tried showing how cool and film-savy it was with its Quadrophenia throwbacks. What a painfull pile of wank.
Quatermass 2! Yes! The very definition of WINNNING! An awesome oldschool Hammer title from the late fifties complete with gasmasks, conspiracies, aliens and blob monsters. Maybe not as good as the first, probably because theres no performance by Richard Wordsworth undergoing a metamorphosis, but still a classic piece of british horror from its golden age.
Series 10 of Family Guy was actually surprisingly funny, but probably because its the uncut version I watched. I never knew that Fox and BBC only air censored versions of the show, not just bleeping out swear words but changing whole jokes for less controversial (funny) material. Apparently on Adult Swim you can watch the uncensored episodes online, but I'm not sure if that US only.
Ended up watching Godfather part 2 on Sunday, due to long time to kill and the discovery that a mate of mine had never seen it. Everytime I watch it I loose a bit more certainty on what I think of it. Its either one of the most overrated films I've seen, or one of the best. For every masterfull scene, which flows with the greatest of ease, there seems to be a clunky, slightly forced feel to another. Regardless of whether its flawless or not, its still damn entertaining.
Larry Crowne was fucking tragic, I havent seen a film that bad in a long long time. I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if it stormed the razzies. Well, I wouldn't if didn't shamelessly shove such cliched American family values down your throat, till you choke on the cheesy suburban placidness of the whole affair. If I weren't attending the premier, I would have walked out when it tried showing how cool and film-savy it was with its Quadrophenia throwbacks. What a painfull pile of wank.
Quatermass 2! Yes! The very definition of WINNNING! An awesome oldschool Hammer title from the late fifties complete with gasmasks, conspiracies, aliens and blob monsters. Maybe not as good as the first, probably because theres no performance by Richard Wordsworth undergoing a metamorphosis, but still a classic piece of british horror from its golden age.
Friday 10 June 2011
Classic cases of negotiation in film.
Classic cases of negotiation in film.
In the Godfather part 1 goes to Don Corleone on the day of his daughters wedding and asks him to kill the man who raped his own daughter. As a Sicilian man can never refuse a favour on this special day, he agrees to make the rapist an offer he cannot refuse, but the man is now in the Dons debt. This is a classic case of negotiation in film.
In one of the versions of Apocalypse Now (I think it’s the redux version) after the crew of the army boat steal Lt. Bill Kilgore’s surfboard and hide under the cover of plants and trees on the shoreline, Kilgore flys back and forth in his helicopter attempting without success to negotiate the return of his board. This is one of the more famous cases of failed negotiation in film.
In Rear Window James Stewarts character is wheelchair bound, stuck in his apartment following a car accident, and during his daily visits from the Hospital appointed nurse she tries to convince him that he should stop spending so much time looking out his back window observing his neighbours, as people will start to think of him as a peeping tom. But hearing none of it he tries to convince her that there’s nothing else to do, it’s harmless and besides, he might have come across something a bit peculiar. Once again, a classic case of negotiation in film.
So negotiation is everywhere in film, because negotiation is everywhere. Any time there is a disagreement between two parties and an exchange of information concerning the conflict takes place, that’s negotiation. Whether its Obi-Wan using Jedi mind powers to convince Elan that he doesn’t really want to sell him death sticks, or Osgood Feeling telling Jerry at the end of Some Like It Hot that ‘Nobodys perfect’, there are so many examples it would be pretty much impossible to list them all.
In the Godfather part 1 goes to Don Corleone on the day of his daughters wedding and asks him to kill the man who raped his own daughter. As a Sicilian man can never refuse a favour on this special day, he agrees to make the rapist an offer he cannot refuse, but the man is now in the Dons debt. This is a classic case of negotiation in film.
In one of the versions of Apocalypse Now (I think it’s the redux version) after the crew of the army boat steal Lt. Bill Kilgore’s surfboard and hide under the cover of plants and trees on the shoreline, Kilgore flys back and forth in his helicopter attempting without success to negotiate the return of his board. This is one of the more famous cases of failed negotiation in film.
In Rear Window James Stewarts character is wheelchair bound, stuck in his apartment following a car accident, and during his daily visits from the Hospital appointed nurse she tries to convince him that he should stop spending so much time looking out his back window observing his neighbours, as people will start to think of him as a peeping tom. But hearing none of it he tries to convince her that there’s nothing else to do, it’s harmless and besides, he might have come across something a bit peculiar. Once again, a classic case of negotiation in film.
So negotiation is everywhere in film, because negotiation is everywhere. Any time there is a disagreement between two parties and an exchange of information concerning the conflict takes place, that’s negotiation. Whether its Obi-Wan using Jedi mind powers to convince Elan that he doesn’t really want to sell him death sticks, or Osgood Feeling telling Jerry at the end of Some Like It Hot that ‘Nobodys perfect’, there are so many examples it would be pretty much impossible to list them all.
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