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a splendid vision
I don’t have as much time for reading as I’d like these days, which means I’m developing a hard-hearted attitude to books: if they don’t grip me I drop them. This is a severe departure in attitude from my halcyon days (when I was younger and had less commitments) where I would always struggle through to the end of a novel. It also means I’m innately suspicious of bigger books. If they just cut out the lard, I think, they’d slim down quickly. Some novels on the shelves could do with a editing regime from a personal trainer. So, when I picked up Un Lun Dun by China Miéville I…
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"His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him."
A few days ago I saw three films in a row I hadn’t seen before on different television channels. It was a lucky dip. First up was Miss Congeniality (2000), a comedy about Gracie Hart (Sandra Bollock) a FBI agent who goes undercover in a Miss USA contest to locate a killer. The story is one of those transformation comedies that is based upon the Pygmalion structure. Overall, what saves this predictable romp is some snappy dialogue, and likable performances by Bullock, and a heap of excellent supporting cast members: Michael Caine, William Shatner, Candice Bergen, and Ernie Hudson. The film doesn’t offer any surprises but it’s good-natured, and Bullock…
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establishing space
Over the years I’ve watched Alien (1979) many, many times. Every time it appears on television I am compelled to watch it again. I’m never bored because I’m always watching for something new in the film, and each time something comes to my attention. In my recent viewing I was struck at how Ridley Scott takes his time establishing the environment of the spaceship. A good four/five minutes pass until anyone speaks. Before that there are moody shots of the interior, with enough human touches in-between the technology and flashing buttons to suggest people before we ever see them. Goldsmith’s score is haunting. This is a film that sets an…
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Yokohama Future
Today is my first full day back in Ireland after my travels. So far I’m coping well with the shock of living in the past. This is only partly a joke, because there were moments during my stint in Japan where it felt like I was living in the future. In this post I’ll concentrate on my experiences at Worldcon in Yokohama. Warning: it’s a long entry. Martin and I arrived the day before the start of the convention, and resisted the tidal-pull of sleep, which was stronger due to the hot, muggy weather. Instead we navigated the subway system (not difficult), arrived at the Minato Mirai area, and from…
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dream narratives
Yesterday evening I watched Inland Empire, David Lynch’s latest masterpiece of the weird, with a friend. It was a film I wanted to see with a companion, because it struck me that we’d have plenty to discuss afterwards. That was not the case, because I stumbled out of the theatre, my head stuffed with images of disquiet, shell-shocked and inspired. There wasn’t much to say, because the film resists dissection, especially immediately after you’ve seen it. It requires time to ponder. While watching the film I was struck at how Lynch has mastered “dream narratives”. He has captured the haphazard stories of the unconscious and put them on the big…
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generic thinking
As I’ve noted before, I have difficulties reading and writing fantasy fiction for a variety of reasons. Yet, there are a couple of stories brewing in my head that insist on the genre. So be it. In a quest for inspiration on how to write good fantasy I turned to the master: Fritz Leiber. Luckily, I was able to snag the two volumes of collected Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales, so I’m currently embroiled in adventures across the dangerous smog-drenched streets of Lankhmar. Leiber, along with his peer, Robert E. Howard, trailblazed the modern notion of heroic fantasy. These chaps were churning out tales of adventurers abroad in strange…
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good men do nothing at Black Rock
Last night I watched Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) on TCM. Don McGuire and Millard Kaufman wrote the script, and it’s based on the Howard Breslin story “Bad Day At Hondo”. John Sturges helmed the film, a director that few people pay attention to any more even though he left a legacy of popular movies such as Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Old Man and the Sea, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Ice Station Zero, and The Eagle has Landed. Bad Day begins with the classic scenario beloved of Westerns: a stranger comes to town. In this case the stranger is John J. Macreedy (Spenser Tracy), a…
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all the world’s a play
On Monday night I attended the premier of The Walworth Farce by Irish playwright Edna Walsh. It’s a Druid Theatre production, directed by Mikel Murfi, and starring Syan Blake, Denis Conway, Garrett Lombard and Aaron Monaghan. The play reminds me of a quote by Shakespeare from his excellent comedy, As you Like It: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,” I’ll note upfront that I don’t attend the theatre regularly, although it is an art form that I enjoy. There is much to like about The Walworth Farce,…
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it could be bunnies
Finally, I got around to watching Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I had high expectations and I wasn’t let down; the film is utterly charming. I’ve been a big Wallace and Gromit fan since I saw The Wrong Trousers. I’ve always been entranced by Nick Park’s ability to convey emotion via plasticine models. The Penguin in The Wrong Trousers is evil, yet all it does is blink! Gromit can go from looking sad to scared with a subtle tweak of his unibrow. Park’s films are enchanting, entertaining and good natured even when there’s tension in the scenes. It’s a very British kind of humour: cups of tea,…
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dialogue is not uncinematic
Last night our screenwriting group watched the black and white classic 12 Angry Men (1957)–which was directed by Sidney Lumet, and written by Reginald Rose. Afterwards we had a great discussion about a variety of subjects, including what makes one project work for television but not for cinema, and vice versa. What’s lovely about our group is that when we don’t have material to assess we like to mix things up. So we can watch a film, or examine a topic of interest, or, as in the case of our next meeting, go to the theatre to see a play. As I’ve said before, being able to spend time in…
