Something That You Should Watch… 4. Blackball

Time to throw a bit of a curve ball (Bad pun gracefully intended!) into the mix of films to add to your Should Watch List (Hopefully you’ve been keeping a tab so far!) So here we are with number four… Blackball. A quirky British comedy directed by the late, great Mel Smith, and starring Paul Kaye, James Cromwell, Alice Evans, Bernard Cribbins, Johnny Vegas and Vince Vaughn.

Loosely based on real life bowler Griff Sanders, Paul Kaye plays Cliff Starkey, a talented young player who dislikes the hoigty toighty attitude of the local bowls club, particularly local legend Ray Speight (James Cromwell). After seeing that the unbeaten Doohan Brothers from Australia are heading to England, he wants to get the chance to play for his country, to do so he has to be champion of his county. So entering the regional championship, he proceeds to beat all comers, with some rather unorthodox behaviour along the way (Bowl finishing on a rizla anyone?) He then beats Speight in the final, ending his 23 year winning streak in the process. His celebration is short-lived however, when he is stripped of his title for  marking the scorecard “Mr Speight is a tosser”. As a result, due to the rules allowing the victim of any such abuse to choose the period of time the offender can be banned from playing from, he is banned for 15 years (Speight later advising his daughter Kerry (Alice Evans) that 15 years is only a 6th of a bowlers career) As a result, the media picks up the story, Bowls is being cancelled on TV due to lack of sponsors, and a new young face is needed to bring the game up to date as it were. American sports agent Rick Schwartz (Vaughn) picks up Cliff, and proceeds to hawk him around to get the money rolling. Using some underhand shifty agents moves (Tabloid pics, clouding the talents mind, turning him against friends etc) Cliff looses his edge, failing to pull off his legendary rizla trick before the media prior to The “Ashes” match, and learns that he is being paired with Speight to face the Doohans. (Who earlier was banned from bowls for uttering several choice swear words at a meeting!) the game starts terribly, with England trailing 17-0 at half time (Don’t you just love a terribly predictable 2nd half turn around sports fans!) leading to a half-time pep talk from Kerry, they proceed to come back to 17-16 coming to the final wood. Some underhand tactics from the ruffled Aussies lead to the game going to extra time (Thunder Bowl!!) a one off shoot out commences, the Aussies land their bowl on the jack, leaving Cliff to attempt the winning shot. Realizing the shot he actually needs, England proceed to win the game and everyone goes home happy. Cue some apologies to loved ones and a hero coming to terms that he’s been a bit of a numpty, that’s all you get!!

Now, I will admit, this is not a massively laugh out loud comedy, but it does have its great moments. Kaye and Cromwell lead well as  Starkey and Speight.  Bernard Cribbins as Mutley brings some comic timing, Vaughn hams it up as super agent, Johnny Vegas plays obnoxious and loud, and Alice Evans plays Kerry with a sweet charm (Easy on the eye too!) Throw some familiar faces from British TV in for good measure (Watch out for Hugo from Vicar of Dibley (James Fleet) sporting a spiffing pipe!) Some nice shots of Torquay provide good scenery (Several I can say that I’ve actually been to) and some great little references to other sports and several memorable past-times of English Sport (Norway 1981 for those keen Footy fans will spring up).

So take some time, appreciate some Mel Smith lead fun and enjoy the lovely bit of fun that is Blackball.

Something That You Should Watch… 3.Good Night, and Good Luck

In trying to mix up the films on this list, I thought I would indulge your attentions with one of my favourite drama’s, George Clooney’s 2005 masterpiece Good Night, and Good Luck. Starring a multitude of famous faces such as David Strathairn, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr, Frank Langella, Patricia Clarkson and Grant Heslov.

In 1953, during the McCarthy Communist Witch Hunts of America,  Edward Murrow (Strathairn) is the face of CBS newsroom, joined by Co-Producer Fred Friendly (Clooney, and yes, that is the characters real name!) and reporter Joseph Wershba (Downey Jr). In light of McCarthy’s actions and tactics to hammer home the Communist threat of the Cold War, they look to  discredit him through the use of broadcast journalism. Fighting against corporate and sponsor pressure, they start with a story regarding a pilot discharged from the U.S. Air Force due to links in his family to “Communist” ideals, in McCarthy’s eyes. Murrow defends Radulovich during the show,which goes down a storm with the crew. During the next show, we’re introduced to Don Hollenbeck, (Ray Wise), a fellow broadcaster at CBS who wishes him well. (We’ll be back to Don later), and then goes to meet Will Paley (Langella), who is the chief of CBS, who has received documents stating that Murrow has communist links. Paley demands that any members of his team should be cut off to avoid any further issues.

In response, Murrow and Friendly make the next show a direct attack on McCarthy. Whilst reading the early morning releases, most reviews are positive for the piece, except for O’Brien which is particularly scathing of the piece and in particular Hollenbeck for his promotion of Murrow on the following broadcast. It also slanders him for his past. Radulovich is re-instated into the U.S. air force as a result of Murrows piece. Don speaks of his worries to Murrow regarding the reviews and shots against his name. The next piece relates to the questioning of Annie Lee Moss (A landmark case which caused great damage to McCarthy’s quest to stop communism), and strikes a huge blow to his credibility. McCarthy accuses Murrow in a public boradcast, Murrow replies as he does best, with a public display clearing himself of any communist past. In a minor sub-plot (I din’t think much of including it, as it only crops up right at the end) Wershba (Downey Jr) and his wife (Clarkson) are revealed to be married, which they have had to hide, to save their jobs at CBS (Don’t date in the workplace!)

It is revealed during breaking news that the Senate will investigate McCarthy for using unjust force to obtain info, that Don has killed himself, being unable to bear with the shots taken at him in the press. Cuts of McCarthy being questioned during his hearing are interjected before Murrow and Friendly are called to Paley’s office regarding the future of the show, stating that he can’t keep taking risks with controversial stories. He changes his show to an hour long, and moves it to Sunday afternoon, for 5 more episodes, Murrow asks to be fired, but doesn’t get his wish. Friendly suggests to Murrow that they make their first show about the downfall of television. Closing the film, a speech from Murrow in 1958 (which opened the film, so a nice bookend) where he rather harshly admonishes the gathered people not to waste the potential of television in its use to educate and inform the general public.

So why does it deserve your eyes and ears. Well, firstly it is shot beautifully in black & white, the style of the era really shines through. Clooney’s direction gives the film a close intense feel, that draws you into the conversations between the actors. Strathairn and Clooney have wonderful chemistry as Murrow and Friendly, as if they were the real pair. Strathairn is superb in his role, deserving his resulting nominations for best actor at the Oscars, BAFTA’s and the Golden Globes, unfortunately not winning any. His portrayal of Murrow shows the strengths and weaknesses of the man as he fights to provide the truth to his audience. Clooney plays Friendly with effortless charm (Usual George there then!), handling the highs and the lows with the respect they deserve. It’s hard to really pick out other individual roles, given the main focus on Murrow and Friendly, but Downey Jr and Clarkson make for a good married couple, keeping it a secret form the work force. Frank Langella as alwaysturns in a good show, despite the limited screen time. The Soundtrack is superb, created by Dianne Reeves and a jazz quartet, that is sprinkled throughout the film, sweeping up images of the time and keeping everything in scene.

What more can I say? Nothing much apart from, if you like a good drama, not that long (it’s only 93 minutes long!), and some stand out performances, then I offer you this piece of film making gold. So……Good Night, and Good Luck.

Something That You Should Watch… 2. Passchendaele

Seeing as it a time of year where we cast our minds to the sacrifices of those brave souls who gave their lives in the great wars, I thought it fitting to write my next piece about a film set during this time, so I present to you…Passchendaele. A 2008 film starring Paul Gross, who also wrote and directed the movie. It tells the tale of a Canadian soldier sent home from the frontlines with shell shock, and returns to fight, vowing to protect the younger brother of the nurse he fell for whilst caring for him.

The film starts with a short intro about how 600,000 Canadian soldiers who went to fight in the 1st World War, and how only 1 in 10 would make it home alive. It soon moves to a bombed town with Michael Dunne (Paul Gross) pinned down by German troops. He has some back up arrive, but as they attempt to storm the German gun nest, all but one of his men are cut down. As he goes to surrender, uttering “Komrade”, his jittery companion pulls a grenade, leading the Germans to cut him down. Dunne, using the remains of his fallen comrade as cover, throws his grenade into the nest, killing all but one young German. As he offers his surrender, Dunne, no doubt overcome with the savagery of how his young squad mate was cut down, bayonets the soldier between the eyes. As he recoils, a bomb goes off sending him flying through the air and crashes to the ground, as he stares up into the sky, he sees a Kestrel flying above him, he then wakes to find himself in a hospital in Calgary being tended to by Nurse Sarah Mann (Played by Caroline Dhavernas). During this time he is diagnosed as a Neurasthenia patient (shell shock to you and I who does not know much in medical terms!) He is assigned to recruitment alongside Major Dobson-Hughes (as British as British could be, who else would use the phrase Sticky wicket!) David Mann (Joe Dinicol), Sarah’s younger brother, yearns to impress the father of his girlfriend, and sees the army as his ideal way of impressing him, but due to chronic asthma, he is not medically cleared to sign up. Dunne refuses to sign him up, despite pressure from Dobson to do so (Boo, nasty British bad guy!!) Michael and Sarah’s love grows, but it comes to attention, that her family is of German descent (uh-oh!!) and they are persona non-grata. She is dismissed from the nurses, and soon returns to shooting morphine to ease the horror of the wounded soldiers. The Father of David’s girlfriend falsifies some medical records for David to join up, leading Sarah to blame Dunne for this, which she later finds out was not the case. Dunne forces Dobson to sign him up as Private McCrae (his mothers maiden name) so that he may protect David. As Sarah rushes to Michael’s house (Where a tombstone with his name and death is already laid), she reads a letter, with the last line, “Don’t Die”.

3 months later, Dunne (McCrae) and Mann are in the trenches in Belgium, Dunne is called to the command bunker, where despite the Major’s protest (Boo!! Hiss!!) he is promoted as the commanding officer recalls his actions in a previous campaign. As he returns to his trench, a bomb goes off, injuring a fellow soldier. As he carries him to the medical tent, he finds Sarah, who has been following their regiments movements and been posted to help. Cue love scene, rain, bombs going off in the background, and a promise to return (which we all know in war movies, is a death sentence. Check out Punt & Dennis’ sketch about war movie lines, sums it up beautifully!). Dunne leads his men out onto the field to Passchendaele to set up trenches, David comes to realise that this is not what he signed up to do, during the assault, he goes into an asthma attack which Dunne calms down.

As Dunne’s battalion are sent in to back up the 10th division, they leave thinking they are being relived, which is not the case, leaving Dunne and his men dangerously outnumbered, after bombardment, the Germans advance towards the line, leading to close quarters fighting. During the commanding officer berating the 10th for pulling out, the Major advises they will be outnumbered, before being cut down by a shrapnel (Hooray, bad man gets some comeuppance!!)

It is brutal close quarters fighting, leaving many dead. As the Germans retreat, David runs after them (Tad stupid that me thinks!) He falls into the German trench, where as he is about to be shot by a German officer, a bomb hits, throwing him into the air and in effect crucifying him on boarding from the trenches (Dunne relates to a similar story whilst under medical evaluation earlier on, this also relates to stories from the actual war of similar scenarios). As Michael goes to retrieve David, he is wounded, but a ceasefire occurs, allowing him to carry David upon the cross back to triage. as he walks, he sees the Kestrel in the sky, giving him an added spur to continue.As they reach the lines, news come through that the Canadians have succeeded in holding the line, but with heavy casualties. As Sarah tends to the wounded, she is sent to assess a soldier, Michael, who knows he’s dying, but tells Sarah that David is safe, as he recites a story as in his letter about a river and a horse, he dies, with lots of tears all round. (But he kept his promise damn it!!!)

The final scene shows David and Sarah at Michael’s grave, with a new date on it of 1917, and fades away to more info about the war.

Well that was quite a bit of description wasn’t it!! Well why does it merit your viewing. Well firstly, it’d beautifully shot, some of the scenery in the early parts of the film ,are wonderful. The action in the war scenes is shot impeccably, with some serious detail, you could believe you were there fighting in the trenches. Paul Gross is awesome in the main role. There’s a sense of grave and emotion that allows you to connect to him, and yes you know he’s going to bite the bullet later on, but you can’t help but want him to survive. Caroline Dhavernas gives Sarah a warmth that works well with Dunne in the budding romance. Joe Dinicol portrays David as you can imagine many a young man from the time, with a sense of panic and desperation towards the end when he realises the foolishness of his actions. The soundtrack is moving and sweeps along nicely, and the song on the credits, “After The War” is performed by Sarah Slean, is lovely, and was actually written by Paul Gross and released several years earlier on his album with David Keeley (Blimey, he is a tad talented isn’t he!)

So in summary, if you want a war film with a heart, and something that isn’t too long (and you enjoyed Due South), then why not give this one a try, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Something That You Should Watch… 1. Outland

After deliberating what to write next, I came upon the idea of trying to find the films that I have seen through my years, that some of you may have never seen, let alone heard of!!

So to start the ball rolling, I present…..Outland, a 1981 science fiction thriller starring Sean Connery. I stumbled across this a few years ago, whilst not being able to sleep and channel hopping, and proceeded to be engrossed and entertained by it. Imagine if you will, a Western in space. And before you start going ” Oh dear, a western” hear me out!

To sum it up simply, Connery plays William O’Niel, a Federal Marshal assigned for a tour of duty at a titanium ore mine of Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. The mine is owned  by Con Amalgamate 27, and run by manager Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle) and is experiencing a consistent run of success, breaking records along the way. But things are not all they seem, workers are killing themselves, the opening scene depicts a worker claiming to see spiders in his space suit, before ripping it open and dying as a result of decompression.

O’Niel then teams with Dr Lazarus (Frances Sternhagen) to find out why workers are killing themselves, leading to the discovery of a drug which is being distributed by Sheppard whilst other members of the mine police force turn a blind eye, notably O’Niel’s 2nd in command, Montone. O’Neil, who is left alone on the mine, after his wife and son leave for a ship home to Earth, takes it upon himself to bring the corruption down, despite the constant threats of Sheppard. After busting a shipment of drugs, O’Niel finds that Sheppard has hired hit men to take him out. O’Niel prepares for their arrival, against the backdrop of a running clock countdown. This leads to a cat and mouse game round the station as O’Neil fights off the hired guns, and a turncoat amongst his ranks. O’Niel survives, before confronting Sheppard in the station bar. After laying him out, he tenders his resignation, bids his goodbyes and departs for the shuttle for Earth.

Now to draw a conclusion why you should watch this film. Firstly, Sean Connery is superb as the battered hero, who’s had his wings clipped. You learn that he’s got an attitude towards authority and as a result, is pushed around the back waters of the marshal service. In his scenes with Sheppard (Again an equally impressive Peter Boyle), the tension is fraught, Connery’s hero trading verbal blows with Sheppard’s corrupt villain. The action scenes are frantic yet claustrophobic given the mining station setting. Tension builds throughout, with few twists and turns along the way, don’t want to spoil too much for you though!

If you want a film that will keep you on edge, gives you something different to your normal science thriller, then I highly recommend this classic which deserves to be brought to a wider audience. Now make like Mr Connery and run to get yourself a copy!

Striking A Chord Part 1

When it came to deciding what to write my first full piece about, after much deliberation and cups of coffee, I decided to start by writing the first in what will hopefully become part of a series of posts about albums that in some form have influenced the journey my life has so far taken.

So, to kick it off, I shall opt for an album that whilst not considered it’s creators greatest work, hits all the right notes (Sorry, Bad Pun Number 1 there!!). I therefore present “Glass Houses” by Billy Joel.

Released on March 10th, 1980, it was Billy’s 7th studio album. Looking for a change of tone after his success on the back of The Stranger and 52nd Street,  he decided rock out as it were (Not Head banging, Air Guitar ways that some might) by adding more guitars and moving slightly away from the balladeer songs he was becoming renowned for. Back on producing duty was Phil Ramone.

Opening the album with breaking glass is track 1 “You May Be Right”. Boasting a rip-roaring guitar line and snarling vocals, it’s a great way to introduce the rock element to prove his “Soft Rocker” critics wrong. One guitar and Sax solo apiece, turns this little number into a great foot tapper.

Following quickly on, track 2 “Sometimes A Fantasy” leads off with  a palm muted guitar stabbing away before the chorus hits you fast with the first true blast of synth/keys on the album. It’s a great little one-two to keep the momentum moving in the right way.

Track 3 “Don’t Ask Me Why” goes off tangent somewhat after the first two rocky numbers. The acoustic guitar and piano sashay along with the melody, more old school as it were. Some fine piano work though I must admit, a kind of breather to what comes next…

The next track is one of my favourite “Joel” tracks of all time. Short, sharp, catchy, witty, nodding to the music scene that was emerging (New Wave and Punk were burning up the airwaves and get references here) “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me” was a nod to 50’s/60’s rock, Sax soloing and a hard hitting bass line. It would go on to provide him with his first Billboard Number 1.

(Yeah that’s right, check out my awesome red jacket!)

Following on, and again up there in my “Joel” tracks, “All For Leyna” was a piano/keys driven track that tells the tale of laying it on the line for the titular Leyna. I remember watching the video for the first time, and thinking he might have been a bit mad, but then again, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of madness!

(Guys!! I’ve had a bit of an accident!)

Moving on, Track 6 “I Don’t Want To Be Alone” slows it down, indulging in a nice, soulful groove before kicking into the chorus, it’s a nice way to kick off the second half of the album.

The next track is something I know a lot of people can relate to (Particularly my old man!) “Sleeping With The Television On” act’s like a proverbial alarm clock beginning with a late night TV sign off, before the piano launches in. The bass takes the lead here, beautifully dovetailing with the piano to really drive it along, some of Doug Stegmeyer’s finest work. A neat synth solo in there too!

Track 8 “C’était Toi (You Were The One)” slows it down again, going with the name, there is a rather french flair to this track, some nice accordion accompaniment and a french sung second verse/chorus showcase Billy’s many talents.

The Penultimate track “Close To The Borderline” goes back to the rock roots that opened the album, has a nice southern rock groove that just keeps digging at your ears to find a nesting place and make you want to hit the repeat button.

To close the album, it goes a bit Beatle-esque with “Through The Long Night”. Introducing multiple vocal harmonies (Very Lennon/McCartney), it’s a nice little lullaby to bring it all to close.

I would say when I first got this album, it got more plays than some of its “Joel” counterparts based purely on “Leyna” and “It’s Still” but over time, the whole just works so well. It was Billy’s way of saying this is me rocking  out and I don’t care what you may think. He wanted to change some peoples opinions of him, and I would say he did so rather well. I remember picking up my bass guitar and starting to learn “It’s Still…” and just being blown away by how something which is so simple, can be part of something so great. Also, the lyrical stories told in these songs, would inspire me to start writing my own tunes, which over time, whilst nowhere near what you would hear on here, tell their own story in my own special way.

I hope you enjoyed Part 1, now to dig through the collection and find what to entertain you with next!

Dan

Well here we go…

Welcome to my blog!!

Seeing as I usually am talking about films and music, I thought I would share some of these thoughts with the world. Covering all sorts from the classics to films/albums that you may not have considered giving a try, I intend to give you some new items for your audio and visual pleasure.

Let’s see what the blog brings!!

Dan