Me and Orson Welles
Orson Welles (1915-1985) was a legendary American actor-writer-producer-director with stage and radio experience. He was to receive enduring fame when he burst onto the screen with his first movie, the ground breaking classic ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941). However, in that movie, Orson had the audacity to criticize William Randolph Hearst, a media mogul, and, for the times, one of the most powerful men in America. That put paid to Orson’s Hollywood career, and, he was to spend the rest of his life in Europe scrounging for money from dubious sources, to finance his extravagant lifestyle, and to produce a series of ambitious but much undisciplined films. This excellent new movie, ‘Me and Orson Welles’, directed by Richard Linklater, looks at Orson’s life just before he was to make his Hollywood debut. Orson is directing and starring in a free-form adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ for the Mercury Theatre, and a young student lands a small role in the production. The student is able to experience the ‘Orson Welles’ persona up-close, and at work. Christian McKay is superb as Orson Welles, and he magnificently captures the egotism and megalomania which we now accept as Welles’ very formidable character and personality.
Pope Joan
Whether true or not, there now seems to be enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that the myth of Pope Joan was in fact based on reality. The story of Pope John Anglicus is one of those Catholic Church legends shrouded in mystery, for, it is claimed that Pope John, who reigned from 855 to 857AD, was actually a woman: Pope Joan! This very lavish production, directed by Soenke Wortmann, follows Joan’s life from her miserable childhood, where she was to suffer at the hands of her puritanical father. Then, disguised as a boy at a monastery where she gained religious learning, for the girls of the times were denied education, the movie continues to charter her travels as a wandering male religious healer. Finally, arriving in Rome, she is ultimately to become a Cardinal, then eventually elected Pope. The movie is a gripping historical drama, and Johanna Wokalek is terrific in her transgender role.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
This Scandinavian co-production, brilliantly directed by Niels Arden Opley, is fantastic, but, it is another one of those movies which I don’t want to tell you too much about. Why spoil it for you? It is sufficient to say that after a member of a wealthy family disappeared some 40 years ago, a disgraced male journalist and a ‘punk’ female computer hacker are finally employed to investigate the case. They are to discover some rather shady dealings in the family’s past! The movie is stylish and sleek and extremely suspenseful. As the much pierced and tattooed ‘punk’, actress Noomi Rapace is outstanding.
A Single Man
Based on an autobiographical novel by Christopher Isherwood, this movie is all about a middle-aged ‘gay’ man who feels compelled to commit suicide following the death of his long-time companion. However, events intercede to prevent him from undertaking this act, and, they also re-enforce his desire to remain alive. Ok, the plot is a bit humdrum, but, the movie is of note as it marks the appearance of acclaimed international fashion designer Tom Ford as a cinema director. Ford makes a respectable first film. His movie is beautifully color coordinated, and elegantly staged and photographed. The movie is extremely pleasant to look at, though, a touch ‘cold’. Colin Firth presents a believable and moving interpretation of Christopher Isherwood’s alienated angst, while Julianne Moore does a stylish ‘fag hag’ rather well!
The Back-up Plan
When a woman of a ‘certain’ age feels that she will never meet the right man, marry, and have a baby, she decides to become artificially inseminated. Having done that, Mr. Right does come along, and she finds it awkward to tell him about her present ‘condition’. I wanted to hate Alan Poul’s comedy. I dislike everything it stands for, especially its sub-plot, which implies that women can only find fulfillment in marriage, a home, and a family. Even so, Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’loughlin are so delightful in the movie that you can’t help but be drawn into the mushy and slushy charm of the whole thing.
Alice in Wonderland
Director Tim Burton takes some rather outlandish liberties with Lewis Carroll’s much loved classic novel, yet, over all, he does create a rather interesting computer-manipulated, cartoonish, rendering of the story. Some of the scenes are a tad ‘gothic’, and not really suitable for the young and impressionable, still, his hallucinatory interpretation should keep the older members of the family amused. Helen Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp are very naughty. They steal the movie as the Red Queen and the Mad Hatter.
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
British ‘punk’ rocker Ian Dury was to put the phrase ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ into the English language in 1977, with his hit song of the same name. Director Mat Whitecross tries every Pop Art cinematic visual trick he can think up to throw some vitality into his bio-pic on the life of Ian Dury. But, let’s face it, his movie, and Ian Dury’s life, were both pretty dull. The movie is only saved from oblivion by a tremendous performance from rising new English star Andy Serkis, who gives a riveting portrayal of the rocker.
