There's a certain amount of false advertising in the trailers for Leatherheads, the new George Clooney/Renée Zellweger movie set in the early days of professional American football. The trailers suggest it's a rom-com. Yet there's not much romance and there's not much comedy.
It has its moments, don't get me wrong, but ultimately this is a drama, with a touch of comedy and a touch of romance. And it's a reasonably worthwhile drama, because even if the subject matter isn't all that interesting, especially for a UK audience, the style of the film and its 'homage-matter' will appeal to anyone who's ever watched an old black and white movie.
I started "Movies You Should Buy" (now called "Movies You Should Own" because I belatedly realise it rhymes with Alex Cox's old BBC2 film strand, Moviedrome) with The Satan Bug. Lovely "killer virus" movie that – probably the first.
But there was a bigger and better "killer virus" film to come, one that marked the end of many of the trends The Satan Bug seemed to start – or at least coincide with.
The title of this movie, which you should definitely own, is now used by virus researchers whenever they want to put a name to their worst nightmare: a virus that they can't cure but is utterly contagious and can kill anything in a frighteningly short space of time.
It's The Andromeda Strain and it's probably the best, clever-stupid "killer virus" movie ever made.
Here's the title sequence, complete with scary arse theme tune.
From the 17th March, Film4 are going to have a new range of budget DVD titles. The RRP is £6.99 and the films being released are:
The Yards
My Beautiful Launderette
She’s All That
Bostonians
Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel & Laurence
Raining Stones
Another Country
Maurice
Monsoon Wedding
Life is Sweet
Sexy Beast
Bread and Roses
Dogma
Buffalo Soldiers
My Name is Joe
Riff Raff
Heat and Dust
Europeans
Blue Juice
Gangster No. 1
I've just checked Amazon and they're listing them at £15.99 discounted to £11.99, so I'd advise buying them in shops while the initial discount campaign is running at least.
Anyway, since I'm very partial to Monica Potter, Rufus Sewell and Ray Winstone, and don't mind Tom Hollander (shame about Joseph Fiennes though), I ordered up a nice review copy of Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel & Laurence as a sample of the range.
Posted on February 28, 2008 at 13:26 | 5 comments |
One of my favourite genres is the “killer virus” milieu. Let's face it, there's nothing quite as scary as a disease that kills lots and lots of people, even if it can be stopped by Dustin Hoffman (Outbreak), immunity among the upper middle classes (Survivors) or talking to it (The Burning Zone).
Just have a think about their close cousin, the zombie movie, even the funny ones (Shaun of the Dead, Zombi Holocaust), and it won't be long before the idea of some tiny little thing inside you that you can't do anything to stop from killing you really does start to get upsetting.
So, for this and because it's going to take me a while to scribble up lots and lots about Manhunter, I'm starting the long-promised “movies you should own” (aka “I've got it on DVD and you should to”) feature of this 'ere blog with a shortish chat about The Satan Bug, probably the first proper entry in the killer virus canon.
Posted on November 20, 2006 at 12:36 | 1 comment |
So in a fit of Daniel Craig-inspired self-loathing, I spent a few hours down the gym on Saturday. Now my normal Daniel Craig-esque physique is restored. Phew. But since my wife wanted me out the house for a while more - she works hard, she does, and I'm somewhat distracting, thanks to my aforementioned Daniel Craig-esque physique - I went to see The Prestige, a tale of two Victorian conjurors trying to kill each other.
The trouble with The Prestige is that it revolves around a single magic trick, done in three different ways. If you can guess two of them, it's not a great movie but it's still very interesting and fun; if you can't, you'll feel cheated when you hear how they're done, but it'll have been worth watching.
Posted on November 17, 2006 at 15:31 | 10 comments |
Best. Bond. Ever. No, I'm not talking about Casino Royale itself, although that's certainly in the top five Bond films*. I'm talking about Daniel Craig. Throw Sean Connery to one side (if you can): there's a newer, better Bond in town.
Read more on David Tennant on Derren Brown tonight