28 Years Later, The Ballad of Wallis Island and Jurassic World: Rebirth

 

It was not what I expected from a Danny Boyle movie. The first half of Years Later was so boring, I wondered what it was all about. But then half way through something interesting happens and the last forty minutes when young Spike (an excellent Alfie Williams) and his mother are off on a mission. And so begins an exciting adventure, especially when Ralph Fiennes turns up. He's just to good for this film, I would have hoped that there was more from Jodie Comer's character, but no. I did like the shots of Holy Island and the causeway , all very familiar. See posts of 17th July 2013 and 28th September 2017. 

I very nearly missed The Ballad of Wallis Island. I had seen the trailer a couple of times and I just find Tim Key (star and co-writer) so annoying. And yes, he was. But the film is a delight. A low budget movie set on a (Hebridean?) island but actually filmed in Pembrokeshire and Ramsey Island. Arriving to play a gig (for a load of money) is famous folk singer Herb McGwyer played by Tom Basden, the other co-writer. Him and Tim Key are mediocre compared with the arrival of the superb Carey Mulligan. She and Tom have history. Based on a 2007 short film Herb McGwyer plays Wallis Island, we wait in vain for the audience to turn up. See highonfilms.com with some great photos. Dominic Maxwell in the Sunday Times loved it and Francesca Steele in June's Sight and Sound called it "an effecting comedy" and "this is simple but not simplistic film making: an exceedingly British comedy that steers just clear of mawkish".

The first part of Jurassic World: Rebirth is amazing. It's just a preamble about why anyone would want to visit the abandoned theme park that was Jurassic World. Especially as it is inhabited by all the creatures that those experiments of years ago went wrong. So they are all so ugly and not what anyone would like to see, But for us as viewers, they are something else. The set up is unlike anything we have seen before in this never ending series. All down to director Gareth Edwards. My view is that he has never matched his early film Monsters although Godzilla was OK. I can see why Scarlett Johansson was employed as lead actress following some super hero roles, but here she just seems out of her depth. Maybe that's because of the very ordinary script. As usual we then have two alternating stories to keep us interested. And of course, lots of horrible dinosaurs.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life at the Rex Berkhamsted

 

Written and directed by Laura Piani, this classic love triangle so beloved by Jane Austen is more of a drama than a traditional romcom. And all the better for it. It's all about Agathe (the excellent Camille Rutherford), single (of course) working in a bookshop in Paris (of course) living with her sister and her husband and young son. Her friend Felix has sent the start of a novel Agathe has written to a Jane Austen retreat and she is thereby invited to stay. Reluctantly she goes and is met at Dover by Oliver, a very distant descendent of Jane. 

At first they do not get on at all well. So far so predictable. But gradually their relationship thaws, especially when they share their own heartbreaks. A fabulous few minutes. I liked the story, it was witty and bright, I liked the other people staying at the retreat, a number of interesting characters. But then who should arrive but Felix who has decided Agathe is more than a friend. And so here is the main thread of the story as Agathe is torn between Felix and Oliver. It's only very, very late on that they discover who they are meant to be with. 

The lead actress Camille Rutherford has a French mother and British father, so her English at the retreat is perfect even though they want to speak to her In French. Camille appeared in Anatomy of a Fall and The Three Musketeers, Milady. Charles Anson who plays Oliver appeared in Downton Abbey as Larry Grey. Laura Piani I found had contributed to the story for the six episodes of Philharmonia (See post of 3rd August 2020).

One review says "a little different from from the normal Austen adaptations and spin offs and a little more intriguing". Most of the reviews are quite positive, but not that in Summer 1925's Sight and Sound Magazine. Catherine Wheatley calls it "not altogether successful" and finishes with "the pallor of all that's gone before". I thought it was lovely.

Precipice, Searching for Caleb and Gabriel's Moon

 

At the beginning there is an "Author's Note" about the letters in the text from the Prime Minister H H Asquith are actually authentic. What it didn't say was that they take up so much of this book, and that they were all written to the much, much younger posh Venetia Stanley. Cringe worthy is an understatement. The story is therefore constructed around these letters, how amateurish is that. Further more, many of the details of the lead up to and the early part of World War 1 that involve the Prime Minister are also public record. This seems to me a lazy way to construct a novel.

There is stuff about the conflict in Ireland, and the events in Europe that dragged us into war. I should have read a history book instead. We do, however, come across Detective Sergeant Paul Deemer, pulled in by the head of Special Branch to discover the affair. Did she really keep all of Prime's 560 letters in a hat box? Deemer's investigations are, perhaps, the best part of the book.

I might have enjoyed the book more if it had stuck to the political stuff, especially the conflict between the PM, members of his cabinet and those at the top of the armed forces. Their opposing views on how to run the conflict and the resulting war of attrition that obviously cost lives. The book ends suddenly in 1915 so we only hear about the disaster of the early years. Did the PM and or author run out of letters?

The longer the book goes on the more we hear about how badly the war was going, alongside the deterioration in the central relationship. Why does Venetia just ditch him and put him out of his pathetic misery? She is equally to blame, playing him as a fool. Only Margot, the PM's wife comes out well. As befits such an awful novel, the ending is not. Not an ending! Did Harris just get fed up or just ran out of letters.

The story is all about Justine, one of an extended family of Pecks. Nearly all of whom are living in, you've guessed it, Baltimore. But not Justine. Her childhood is in Philadelphia with just occasional visits to see the family: four imposing mansions sit together with uncles, aunts, cousins and a great grandmother who presides over it all. But when Justine's father Sam Mayhew goes off to the war, Justine and her mother stay in Baltimore.

There is quite a detailed history of the Peck clan. This includes one Caleb, a strange young man, no wife despite all the girls who liked him. "he toured the taverns, or went some place else, no one knew where". We have to guess. Could it be something to do with the sudden departure of Mary Rose (married to Caleb's brother Daniel) never to return. Her six children are forbidden to see her. In 1912, Caleb disappears.

Living in the family home is Duncan, and his relationship with cousin Justine is the main thread of the story. Duncan is the ultimate butterfly. Ditching university he takes himself off. But it's only a year later in 1953 that Duncan and Justine get married, a bombshell for the family. But Duncan can never settle, and he takes Justine (and now baby Meg) around the country on various whims. Always on one project or another. Justine and her grandfather tag along. But it's she who joins the now elderly Grandfather Peck on his search for his brother Caleb. A mission that becomes an obsession over the years.

I have to say, as a great fan of Anne Tyler's books, that this is not her best. One of her early novels from 1975, it would have been much better if at times it had not rambled on and on. I'm sure if she wrote the same story today, it would have been far more interesting. I'm looking forward to reading her latest novel "Three days in June".

Gabriel Dax is in the Congo in 1960, but what is a youngish travel writer doing interviewing the Prime Minister. His recording of The Lumumba Tapes form a backdrop to not only what comes next, but rear their ugly heads towards the end. He meets a woman on the plane home, one Faith Green (if that is her real name) who turns out to be MI6. Somehow Gabriel lets himself be employed to help in a straightforward mission on his travels. All so straightforward until a package he was asked to post in the UK looks suspicious.

He just wants to get on with the new book he is writing, but unbelievably he agrees to another trip to Cadiz, all seemingly straight forward, but is he just infatuated with Faith? His meeting with one Blanco reveals he may be in the middle of a spy thriller. However, his usefulness may be over and just over halfway it seems the story is over. Faith has told him go home and goodbye. But of course it's not all over as one big twist follows another, all very enjoyable. Even if towards the end another mission seems to be far more dangerous.

I liked how the author transforms an innocent young traveler into a person he himself does not recognise. Being a travel writer has it's own particular attractions to the security service. This is William Boyd on top form, the writing is spare but very readable. There are only a couple of his eighteen novels that I haven't read, and he seems to just get better and better. I might have a look at those I have missed.

Inside Cinema Shorts - Episodes 91 to 96

 

Here are the last six of the 96 episodes of Inside Cinema Shorts. Starting with No 91 Marilyn Monroe. Lucy Bolton looks at all the films made by this Hollywood icon. She calls her "a multi talented performer". It's true, you just cannot take your eyes off her. The clips of her films start with the films in black and white: Dangerous Years (1947) and As Young As You Feel (1951). Then in 1952 came Monkey Business, a major role for Marilyn starring alongside Cary Grant. Then Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) where she proved she could sing, and Some Like It Hot (1959). However, this episode just crams so much in it makes you dizzy. Just like Marilyn.

Episode 92 British Baddies is introduced by James King who asks why it is that so often in Hollywood movies the bad guy turns out to be British. Above is a case in point as Alan Rickman stars in Die Hard (1984), Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (1991) and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. James asks "what makes Brits so brilliantly beastly". Well, it all started in 1931 with Colin Clyde in Frankenstein and then so many Boris Karloff films. This started a trend all the way to Kenneth Branagh in Tenet (2020). We see just how many classy award winning actors were the bad guys including Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs (1991). 

What happens when films turn the camera on film making itself. Jamie Maisner investigates in Episode 93 Making Movies. We see clips from so many of these from Ed Wood (1994) to Sunset Boulevard (1950), Hail, Caesar (2016), Adaptation (2002 and Once upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and many more.

Episode 94 is called Breaking Up and it's Ann Lee who shows us those big screen break ups from the heartfelt Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) to the angry Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013) and the subtle Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Casablanca (1942). But why do we see so much of the very ordinary Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) and Swingers (1996)? But somehow I did like the very clever (500) Days of Summer (2009) and even Her (2013) and La La Land (2016).

We are nearly at the end with Episode 95 Jewels on Film. Nicole Davis asks "are diamonds truly a girl's best friend"? Maybe Kate Winslet above might not agree. Here she is in Titanic (1997). We start with jewels in black and white movies such as Gilda (1946) and work all the way to Kiera Knightley's Anna Karenina (2012) and, of course The Great Gatsby (2013) where the parties are crammed with women in jewels. Obviously we could not miss out on Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) as we rush through many more. That is until we suddenly alight on Emma Thomson finding that ring in Love Actually (2003).  Wow!

The very last of these shorts  concentrates (obviously) on Famous Last Words that is Episode 96. Michael Leader shows us those final lines from some iconic movies. Starting with "I think this is the beginning of a  beautiful friendship" from Casablanca (1942). My favourites of all those we see are "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads" and "I've got a great idea". Guess the films.

Elaeagnus ebbingei compacta

 

When the overgrown hawthorn was removed from the corner of the very far end of the garden, this shrub was now unsupported and has partly collapsed. I had no idea what it was, but I found the website Pl@ntnet that identifies any leaf for free. It turns out to be Elaeagnus ebbingei compacta or silverberry. It has now been pruned and hopefully will enjoy it's new freedom.

Classic Movies on Sky Arts - Series 3 Episode 6 - Billy Liar

 

Based on the 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse, Billy Liar is now a John Schlesinger classic movie from 1963. It is one of the "British New Wave" films of the 1960's, all in black and white. It seems an awfully long time since I saw this film, maybe even when it was first released.

Ian Nathan introduces the programme as usual. But he calls these young people "the disillusioned generation". This is rubbish. That was not me or anyone I knew. And Billy is not disillusioned, just a fantasist. We hear all about Keith Waterhouse, first as a reporter, but first and foremost just wanting to write. All the time he was at the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail, he was writing in his spare time, short stories, plays, anything. His parents were "impossibly poor", but that would not be how they felt at the time. As maybe our parents came into that category in the 1950's. 

Christina Newland tells us that when the book was first published, the country was still in the age of austerity. Steven Armstrong talked about the beginnings of the consumer society and Neil Norman about the theatre of the 1950's with plays from "angry young men" such as Look Back in Anger by John Osborne. In fact the first adaptation of the Billy Liar book was actually a stage play, first starring Albert Finney and then Tom Courtney when he took over. Christina tells us about the choice of actor for the film, and all the team agree that Tom Courtney was perfect for the role of Billy.

Ian Nathan tells us about the director John Schlesinger. How he used his camera out in the real world. We see Julie Christie out walking with real people watching her.  Ian explains how we enter Billy's dreams of "self delusion". Christina added that these sequences often were cut so abruptly in the editing. Neil Norman liked the double act of Billy and Arthur (an early role for Rodney Bewes before his long time in The Likely Lads. We see a clip of them in the funeral parlour. And then who arrives to tell them off but their boss played by ... Leonard Rossiter!

Ian thought the entire cast were great. These included the one and only Wilfred Pickles. Now I remember his radio show Have a Go that ran from 1946 to 1967, it was always on at home. Christina describes the "generational divide" between the older generation and the new. Whilst on the cast, there is a part about the heavenly Julie Christie. Here she is on one of her walks, going past one of the London bomb sites that were still there in the early sixties. Her next film was Darling. 

I think that it was Steven who told us much of the filming took place in Bradford. Ian goes back to the director and how the film elevated the docudrama. One clip we see is the opening of a huge brand new supermarket with a celebrity, a band and large crowds. I can remember my father around this time being given the task to convert some of his firm's grocery stores to supermarkets. Ian and Christina talk about the fantasy element of the film, and Chekov is mentioned. Neil Norman sums up the movie as a "bittersweet comedy but with underlying tragedy". Although there is a spark of hope for Billy at the Locarno ballroom. A song that he composed with Arthur is played there. Steven's final thoughts were on all those sitcoms that came in the future when Billy Liar had paved the way.

Archive Close, Aston Clinton

 

In my post of the 30th June, I included this note from the latest Sight and Sound magazine.

How to build an archive by Pamela Hutchinson.

A review of the BFI National Film Library now called The National Archive. Starting with it's being established in 1935 (with its first curator Ernest Lingren) up to 1945. The beginnings of how films were collected and the appeal that by 1936 there were seven hundred films including precious Chaplin and Hitchcock titles. In the early part of the second world war, the collection found "a permanent location (just down the road) in Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire", "to live in a temperature controlled environment".

Despite exhaustive searches on the internet, I have failed to determine the exact address. It's possible that this was Aston Clinton House (now demolished) on the grounds of what is now the Green Park Centre. In the History of the Archive for the BFI, we find "In 1940 the BFI opened it's first state of the art film archive  at Aston Clinton"

I then filled in a contact form for the BFI to see if anyone there knew the answer. I was amazed that two hours later I received this reply:

Dear David Roberts 

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

The National Film Archive was originally situated on Green End Street, roughly equidistant between the Oak & The Partridge Arms pubs in Aston Clinton. The Archive building was knocked down, and a small housing estate was built on the former location, now called Archive Close. There is a plaque commerating the Archive on the street sign which reads: "The National Archive was on this site from 1939 to 1987." 

 We hope this is of assistance. 

Best wishes, 

Archive Access

BFI National Archive

So this morning I took the very short journey to Archive Close, only a hundred meters from the Oak pub where we have had the occasional dinner. And, of course, took the above photo. Now I know.