Movies at Home: On the Waterfront, Steel Magnolias and Monolith

 

Directed by Elia Kazan, written by Budd Schulb and starring Marlon Brando, the 1954 film On the Waterfront won eight Academy Awards (including those above) and was nominated in the other four categories. I'm amazed I have never seen it before. Set in the dockyards of New Jersey, and filmed in black and white, it starts with someone being pushed off a high roof. Joey, played by Brando, was the "only longshoreman to talk to the investigators", and the dead man's sister Edie Doyle (the wonderful Eva Marie Saint, winning the Oscar for best supporting actress in her very first role) wants to know who was responsible. Her first conversation with Joey is outstanding. But it's all corrupt at the docks, except for Joey, who prefers his pigeons. (He was a top boxer but was forced to throw a fight.  With the immortal words "I could have been a contender". 

What I did like was the moving camera, especially the scenes at the docks. I also have to mention other members of the cast. Carl Malden is excellent as the priest Father Barry. I liked the ambiguity of the relationship between Joey and Edie. Is she just using him to find out about her brother? She is off to train as a teacher at a college way out of town. For me, that was the best thing about the film.

You could not get such a different film from the above as Steel Magnolias. A formidable cast of female stars are preparing for a wedding in small-town America. All these families in smart, colourful houses led by hairdresser Truvy Jones, played by the effervescent Dolly Parton. She has a brand new assistant, Annelle, an unrecognisable Daryl Hannah. What a brilliant piece of casting that was. But, for me, it's Sally Field who makes the movie, oozing class as the bride's mother. How she is torn between happy and sad. Her daughter Shelby is played by Julia Roberts in one of her early roles. 

Directed by Herbert Ross, the film's success is all down to writer Robert Harling, who adapted his successful play for the big screen. There is so much wonderful dialogue. I wonder how I had never seen the film before. It's now famous for the number of brilliant one-liners. "She's a troubled twisted soul; her life has been an experiment in fear. " Whoever made the cake explains she can do anything except snakes. "I don't have the counter space." In the end it's Dolly Parton who I will remember. The glue that holds the thing together.

Another completely different movie. Monolith has just one person on the screen. I thought back to films such as Buried with Ryan Reynolds and Tom Hardy's Locke. Also Searching (2018) and Missing (2022) are mainly characters and their computers. In this Australian science fiction drama, Lucy Sullivan plays a disgraced online journalist who is trying to gain fame for her podcast. The story of a strange black brick is brought to her attention, but is this fact or fiction? The whole film involves Lucy trying to find out the answer.

So a lot of the time we hear the people she interviews telling their strange stories. At first (obviously) Lucy (only known as the interviewer) does not believe a word, but gradually (obviously) she begins to believe in some truth. That seems to be when her mental health starts to crumble. I do like films with lots of dialogue, and this one (obviously) is one of those. Directed by Matt Vesely from a story by Lucy Campbell. Hmmm. 

The Odyssey in IMAX at Hemel Hempstead Cineworld

 

I had already posted a review of The Odyssey on 28th July 2026 when I was "underwhelmed" with its presentation. I wondered what I might have missed not seeing it in an IMAX theatre, so off I went to Cineworld in Hemel Hemstead on one of the hottest days in living memory. First of all, it did seem a lot better on this massive screen (everyone there was seated in the back two rows). However, there were only a couple of instances when I thought the film went into an almost 3D picture, although there is always that clarity of detail if that is what you like. I'm much more interested in the dialogue, although some of that was quite clunky, even if there are some one-liners that stood out.

And this time round I was hugely impressed by the presentation of the story; I just thought it was almost narrated by Odysseus (played by Matt Damon) when he is marooned on that island with Charlize Theron's super cool Calypso. (She is devastatingly in control, tough and polished). During the movie, those typically complicated cuts were now actually enjoyable, as they made so much more sense. Especially those first dozen minutes when I actually knew the backstory and motivations of all those characters we see for the very first time. 

I have to say that the American accents were far less obvious this second time round. I don't know why. They just seemed to blend into basic English after a while. And the sudden switching of time and place all seemed to make much more enjoyable sense, and the film went quicker and was better because of that. I also realised why Samantha Morton should at least be nominated for an Oscar for her role as Circe. And that Robert Pattinson, normally a hero in Nolan's pictures, was so ghastly as Antinous. 

So Christopher Nolan has done it again. He just wants you to see his films more than once, at the cinema or on TV, as I did for Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet and Oppenheimer. 

Desert Island Discs - Seventy Years of Castaways: The 1990's and 2000's

 

The 1990s

Those personalities chosen for the 1990s seemed far less interesting than those for previous decades. Nicole Kidman, for example, is only mentioned in the introduction, so you have to go to BBC Sounds to hear her choices. We hear how Sue Lawley (now the regular presenter) does not meet the castaway until the recording. She has assistant Rosemary Edgerley to prepare the background. And despite most people at the BBC wanting to avoid politicians, the fiftieth anniversary in 1992 featured John Major, the only time a sitting prime minister did so. 

The introduction also describes many other politicians on the programme, but not as interesting as the visit to the USA to record three personalities. Except the third with Buzz Aldrin was postponed many times; on the last occasion when it was all set up, he ducked out.

John Major     26th January 1992

See above. His father was sixty-six when he was born. He had performed in music halls, but when a business venture went wrong, their lives became quite hard. So John left school at sixteen, had various jobs and became a self-made man. His luxury was a full-size Oval cricket ground together with a bowling machine. 

Other personalities included Bob Geldof (6 September 1992), Julie Andrews (18 October 1992), Stephen Hawking (25 December 1992). Tony Blair arrives after Gordon Brown. 

The 2000s and on

Sue Lawley vacated the chair in 2006, having hosted since 1988. Nearly eight hundred editions. There is a long list of the betting odds of who might take over. Well down the list was Kirsty Young, who became the new presenter. Some thought she was "too lowbrow", but look who is the seat now.

Advances in technology now mean the programmes are all available on iPlayer. This also gave the opportunity to count the most popular recordings. All are classical pieces. When the public were invited to choose theirs in Your Desert Island Discs, at the top was Lark Ascending, with Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb in fifth place. (48 Million views of their Live at Pompeii on YouTube). 

The seventieth anniversary programme (and the last in the book) on 29th January 2012 featured David Attenborough. His fourth appearance. I'm not at all sure why anyone should be invited more than once. 

JK Rowling     5th November 2000

'Why, JK?' she is asked. The publisher may have wanted to deflect it was a woman writing about Harry Potter. Rowling says she was so thrilled to be published "they could call my anything". This is a superb interview, especially the detail of how she started writing the first book.

None of the others in this section were worth noting. Especially that fourth appearance of David Attenborough. At the end of this very heavy volume are a list of THE COMPLETE CASTAWAYS and an index. There is an update of this book called The Definitive Desert Island Discs by Ian Gittins. It takes us through eighty years of castaways.

Sight and Sound Magazine - September 2026

 

Editorial

Mike Williams talks about the new Welsh language film from Marc Evans called Effi o Blaenau. It's based upon a Gary Owen play. For some reason Mike compares it with The Odyssey. Not sure why.

Opening Scenes

Tom Charity writes a long obituary of Tony Rayns, a film journalist. Apparently he was a promoter of Asian movies. Six Asian filmmakers pay tribute. They include Bong Joon Ho and John Woo.

Editor's Choice

Nothing of interest. Just that the Cinema Museum in Kennington needs funds.

In Production

Steven Sodderbergh's Ascenso is a Spanish/American war film. It has a finished script but as yet no funding.

News

In Brief. A planned £1 billion film studio in Kentish Town has received planning permission from Camden Council.

In Conversation

Thomas Flew talks to writer/director Matt Johnson about his new film, Tony, the "early mythology" of the soon-to-be-famous chef played by Dominic Sessa. It also stars Antonio Banderos and Leo Woodall and takes place over one summer in the 1970s. The location is Provincetown, Mass. (See post of the 8th June 2011). I have seen the trailer at the cinema, and it looks quite good.

Obituary

David Thomson writes about Sam Neil, who died on 13th July 2026. A run through of his films including so many as a supporting actor.

Festival

It's Bologna that hosts "Il Cinema Ritrovato". Rachel Pronger describes "this celebration of rediscovered and restored cinema" and its fortieth anniversary. Films I recognised included a late-night screening of Michael Mann's 1986 film Manhunter and an outdoor screening of Wild at Heart (1990). There are obviously lots of movies of which I had never heard.  

Mean Sheets

Posters of movies by Pedro Almodovar.

Reader's Letters

The following example is why I never include the letters here. One includes a reprimand for all those contributors who mistakenly name Marilyn Monroe's character in Some Like It Hot as Sugar Kane when it should be Sugar Cane.

The Long Take

Pamela Hutchinson talks about Rudolf Valentino, who died at the young age of thirty-one a hundred years ago this month. I had not realised he was a gay icon.

Flick Lit

Nicole Flattery reviews Rachel Cusk's new book Life of M. Is this actually a biography of Natalie Portman or some kind of fictionalised account? Nicole describes a scene from the book as a mature actress watches a film (Brady Corbet's Vox Lux) where she appears as a girl. Cusk has, apparently, taken the celebrity biography and "renovated it, transforming it into something stranger, more obtuse, and far more memorable". Nicole recalls actresses in films and wonders what constant performance does to a woman. She picks her favourite of these: May December.

TV Eye

Andrew Male drones on about a Netflix adaptation of Little House on the Prairie. Why not something original?

Epic Proportions – The Christopher Nolan Interview

Christopher Frayling introduces this "epic" article of fourteen pages dedicated to the making of The Oddyssey. The nearly three hundred-year-old epic poem by Homer. Filmed in ninety-one days on budget in multiple locations. Then onto the interview.

Nolan says, "It's got one of the most radical non-linear structures." So we can blame Homer and not Nolan. There is a discussion about the first ten minutes: "flashback and flashback within flashback". Nolan says, "I do like films you want to see more than once" ... "things that on subsequent viewing would be revealed". Or is it to add to the box office? They talk about how the book contains all these stories: fantasy, horror, thriller, and love story. "I do like films that have layers of presentation and meaning. " And his certainly do. 

Christopher discusses the director's influences, including Ran (see my posts of 18th October and 21st November 2023). Nolan says it's "an extraordinary piece of work, and when I look at our finished film, I see more of Ran's influence than I was expecting". (But Ran is King Lear. So it cannot be the plot? What else? Maybe the huge action sequences?) 

They go on to discuss the music and instrumentation. All quite original. Nolan talks about the difference between visual effects and special effects. He takes the "feelings I get from the poem" and not the text itself. They talk about the Tojan Horse being, at first, on its side, and a reference point seems to be from Plant of the Apes and the Statue of Liberty. (I can see that). 

When Nolan gets to the ending with Odysseus and Penelope, he has preserved what he thinks is an ambiguity in "one of the greatest scenes in literature". He refers to the 2024 movie The Return when this scene is a crucial part. They discuss why all the actors speak with an American accent so all the characters are consistent. (I thought it was a mistake, but maybe only because I'm British, like Nolan). The interview also contains a lot of technical stuff which is too much for this review.

A Mad Imax Saga

All about the challenges of shooting with the IMAX cameras. They were originally so noisy that they had to make a high-tech box to "flip the camera into". But they were quite clumsy. "A lot of experimentation, a lot of innovation." Is it really that an IMAX magazine only lasts three minutes? They had to use six different cameras.

I was very glad that I saw the film before I read this interview. But the next time I do, it will be interesting. 

New York State of Mind

A really strange article by Becca Voelcker, all about the influence of the city of New York on two particular movies: Chantal Ackerman's News From Home (if I read another word about this director, it will be too soon) and Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver. Becca is an American, talking about New York and how it was back in the days when these movies were made. But there was too much boring stuff: "Ackerman parked the camera in geometrical framings of the city's grubby eateries, sidewalks and transit systems. "On and on she drones. Then later, "New York in 2026 stands on foundations shaken by funding cuts, a cost of living crisis and glaring inequality. "She is "unsure when or whether to come back." Who decided to publish the worst article I have read in any edition of Sight and Sound?

Then seven films from the 1970s with "New York in Freefall". 

Effi's Odyssey

If the previous article was bad enough, here is Gary Owen telling us all about his new film, Effi a Blaenau. (See Editorial). Avoid at all costs. It began as a play, hosted by the National Theatre, among others. Owen congratulates himself on "captivating audiences". And now turning the play into a film. Is that from seventy minutes on stage to three hours on TV? All in the Welsh language!

Interview with a Vampire

Hurrah! Here is Pedro Almodovar. Maria Delgado (in translation) talking about the director's new film, Bitter Christmas, strangely released at the end of August. Maria then interviews Almodovar, and they discuss his earlier films and how he came to make his new one. Here, "the writer and director of this fictional movie is its villain. " Pedro says, "We writers can become dangerous for the people around us," and later, "I've clearly been inspired by things from my life, but I try not to hurt anyone." And so "I wanted to be hard on myself."

(I have to admit I rushed through those parts with too much detail about the plot in case I find somewhere to watch it. But as it's in Spanish, it might be difficult to find.) They go on to discuss the actress Barbara Lennie, who had a small part in Almodovar's brilliant The Skin I Live In. He's not sure if he will ever do another film in English after his The Room Next Door. even though his experience was "very positive". 

Cult Heaven and Hell

Inspired by a conversation during the film Bitter Christmas, here are some cult films for consideration. They include Arrebato (1979), Eraserhead (1977), Suspiria (1995), and Wanda (1970). But the best might be Opening Night (1977) with Gena Rowlands.

A Womb of One's Own

The Chilean director Maite Alberdi talks about her new film, A Child of My Own. Thank goodness it's on Netflix, as it's not really for me.

REVIEWS

Late Fame. Kent Jones directs Willem Dafoe as an ex-poet (how does that work?) maybe being rediscovered by a bunch of wannabe literary guys from The Enthusiasm Society. The screenplay is by Samy Burch (May December (2023) only on Netflix) from the novel by Arthur Schnitzler.

& Sons. Co-written by Sarah Polley, who won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for Women Talking (2022). Apparently this new movie has a "big narrative twist", which we have to wait and see. However, reviewer Adam Nayman thinks that Bill Nighy (a recluse and brilliant novelist, who else?) might be acting on autopilot. But "the longer the film goes, the more of a drag it becomes". 

Disclosure Day

See my review. Kate Stables talks about "the alternating taut, masterly action sequences with baggy sentimental excursions". And later, "There's two-thirds of a fine movie here." Dead right.

Bitter Christmas

Jessica Kiang reviews the latest film from Pedro Almodovar. It's all about Raul, a successful filmmaker (who else) played by Leonardo Sbaraglia. It's the story of the departure of Raul's long-time assistant that he uses for his next movie. But it's "not particularly bitter, nor very Christmassy". The pompous director takes his characters to Lanzarote, of all places. "An already tenuous movie starts to feel borderline abstract." It all sounds like the growing pains of a script for his new film. 

There is a side column where three fictional screenwriters are writing autofiction. One of them is Art Museum by the Zoo, which might be interesting.

The Death of Robin Hood

Not the most obvious movie to be chosen by Sophia Satchell-Baeza to review, but this might be the finest writing I have come across for a very long time. Especially the last three sentences. The film is written and directed by Michael Sarnoski, "a stark retelling" with an ultra-violent beginning as elderly Robin (Hugh Jackman) goes haywire. When he ends up recuperating in priory, the film settles down where "he finds in nature a kind of healing". Sister Brigid, played by Jodie Comer (hurrah), and Little Margaret show him what he has been missing all his life. "Jackman brings a subtle poignancy (who would have thought) to his portrayal of a man desensitised by a brutal life of crime." The trailer looks OK.

There follows a Q & A with the director about his source material.

Pressure

Henry K. Miller reviews David Haig's play about weather forecasters for the invasion of 6th June 1944 that Haig has adapted for the big screen. But without a mention for the writer! It stars Andrew Scott as weatherman James Stagg, and the film is produced by Working Title (hurrah). However, Miller is less convinced by "Stagg's clashes with an American meteorologist, Irving Crick, played by Chris Messina, which is dismayingly crude in substance and execution". But then "buried under the historically dubious theatrics - too many to list - is a more interesting film about the philosophy of weather. "Thank goodness.

The Odyssey

Catherine Wheatley's long review of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is far superior to that by Tom Shone in The Sunday Times. Although she says at the end that "it's a shame that in order to save cinema, Nolan has sacrificed storytelling." Exactly how I felt first time round. Catherine mentions the "clunky anachronistic dialogue". (I thought that too). Also that "Nolan is more interested in his medium than his material. " (A little harsh). And then "squeezing twenty years into three hours was never going to be easy." She uses Circe as an example: "Odysseus spends a year with her and fathers two sons." (Maybe it helped that I didn't know all this). Catherine thinks we don't get enough time with Robert Pattinson's "campy Antinous". (I thought we got too much). She also thinks that Memento and Inception are a "fitting match to Homer's poem". But Catherine does finally admit it's a "tour de force" and one "that should be watched and appreciated in film theatres". (And like me, she has seen all Christopher Nolan films).

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Blake Simons reviews this film written and directed by Jane Shoenbrun (I saw the TV glow) about a film within a film. This time is based on the fictional "cult horror" franchise Camp Miasma. It is reawakened by a new filmmaker, Kris (an endearingly bashful Hannah Einbinder), who tracks down the original star, Billy Pressley, played by ....... Gillian Anderson no less. Sounds interesting.

DVD and Blu-Ray

The Outfit is a 1973 reissue starring Robert Duval. Reviewer Sam Wigley concludes, "There are so many moments that impress in their visual conviction and lived-in authenticity."

I'm avoiding Hairspray (1988), The Pornographers (Japan 1966) and Les Magiciennes (1974), as well as lots of others of which I had never heard.

Wider Screen

Another long article, this time all about William Greaves and a run down of his top ten films. All small unknown movies.

Books

The Machine that kills bad people: Notes on a Film Club. Various contributors. Philip Concannon talks about a group showing more obscure films at bi-monthly intervals at the ICA in London from 2018 to June this year.

There is also a new biography of director Richard Fleisher. 

From the Archive

The Discreet Murderer of the Bourgoursie. 

From Sight and Sound's Winter Edition 1970/71 is a six-page interview of the French New Wave director Claude Chabrol. Rui Nogueira and Nicoletta Zulaff ask the questions. Chabrol talks about his influences and his time as a projectionist. He also contributed to the English films in a book about Alfred Hitchcock. Then his film Les Biches was the turning point in his career. There is a great large photo of his second wife, Stephane Andrau, in La Femme Infidele. He is asked why all his heroines are called Helene. Because most countries would recognise the name. Films later in his career featured one of my favourite actresses, Isabelle Hupert. Will check these out. They include La Ceremonie and Madame Bovery.

This month in ..... 1971

On the cover is a "vibrant orange" picture from A Clockwork Orange. Reviews include those for Klute and Carnal Knowledge. There is also an interview with documentary makers Albert and David Maysles, their latest feature being the now iconic Gimme Shelter: the last weeks of the Rolling Stones tour of the USA in 1969 and that infamous Altamont free concert. 

Garden in August

 

Although the Antirynums in the bedding border look fine in the photo above, they have been the least successful of all time. Straggly, falling over (now supported by props) and far too tall. Despite the fact that I gave them a chop over a month ago. Yes, they are colourful, thank goodness. But next year I think we might be back to dahlias.

The only colour in the main border is this delphinium "sky blue and white". I would have preferred a deeper colour, but at least it's flowering. 

The cosmos I grew from seed are nearly all tiny and white and not worth a photo. All except this maroon one in that tiny border next to the conservatory. Maybe it's sheltered and gets warmth from the wall? Try some more next year.

Next is the hydrangea macrophila that was given to Alison. On the plus side, it loves it in the sheltered spot next to the roses. (I thought hydrangeas were difficult to grow). The downside is that it is tucked away and difficult to see. Hey ho. 

Maybe the most extraordinary feature is this flower on the spring-flowering clematis montana. Just one flower.

The dianthus in pots seem to like the hot weather.

Next to the side patio, the echinacea and the verbena "lollipop" have survived.

At least a shrub in the main border is late flowering. This hibiscus is years old.

The achillea in the far round border has survived without any watering. I found advice that they can be less tall by pruning in spring.

Below is a buddleia growing wild at the very far end of the long border. I thought it only had na couple of flowers, but I had to deadhead over twenty, and there are more to come.

In the same border as the achillea above, one of the two huge poppies is sprouting after it was pruned. No sign on the other one.  

There is only one flower of note in the wildflower border, and that is the centaurea scabiosa, or greater knapweed. A wildflower I planted many years ago. I do not water, and it loves the sun. There is even no sign of a cornflower.

But the best flowers of all are the roses. As advised, they never get any water, and some are flowering on repeat.

The Lawn in August

 

The picture above was how the lawn looked in June. Then below is how it is today.

But it's not just our lawn. Even those large, immaculate front lawns at the end of Worlds End Lane are the same. We had a lot of rain at the beginning of June; my records show there was rain all morning on the 11th. But since then, only a very short shower on the 20th and a few spots one day in August that I didn't even bother to record. So basically two months without rain. There could be some next week, but I'm not holding my breath.

Piano recital at Tring Parish Church

 

Every month, on a Sunday afternoon, Tring Parish Church hosts a concert. Monika (who loves in Tring) joined Alison and me to listen to a selection of classical music performed by Alan Dorn. As you can see from the programme below, this is quite a selection of pieces with a theme of bells. Alan is a talented musician and teacher, and his performance was excellent. The grand piano was donated to the church some years ago and is a fine instrument.

Afterwards Alison and Monika stayed for a cup of tea while I had a tour of the church. I actually bumped into Alan Dorn, and we had a lovely conversation about the music. It turns out that his daughter is a film buff (especially old movies!). So that was nice.

A last note about the weather. Hot (31C) and sunny, and Alison said afterwards we should have gone in the car instead of a mile walk there and back from Monika's house. We will know next time.