Why I’ll always love Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Film of the week: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (on Dave, Sat 16.30)

Crouching Tiger is a film that personally had a huge impact on me. When I watched it as a teenager in 2001 I had never seen anything quite like it. My knowledge of Asian cinema was sketchy, if not non-existent, and Crouching Tiger simply blew my mind. These people could fly without any justification of superpowers?! A young skinny girl like Zhang Ziyi can kick that much ass you say? And you could do a serious story at the same time? Awesome.

I was in awe of the technical mastery on show and loved the superb balance between a drama of repressed emotion and spectacular action. The big, choreographed outbursts recalled Singin’ in the Rain which I had only discovered was ace about a year earlier. Crouching Tiger instilled a deep love of both musicals and Asian action films which has remained with me to this day.

While later films like Hero and House of Flying Daggers were arguably better, and others like Seven Swords hold a more culty appeal, Crouching Tiger was my first, and I’ll always look fondly upon it.

 

Also on: The Wizard of Oz (Five Sat 16.50); Enemy of the State (BBC1 Wed 13.15); Gone Baby Gone (BBC1 Thur 23.20); Youth in Revolt (BBC1 Fri 23.05).

Some thoughts on Serenity & Firefly

Film of the week: Serenity (on ITV1, Mon 22.45)

It’s hard to believe that The Avengers is only Joss Whedon’s second feature film as director and that his first, Serenity, was a box office flop.

But Serenity is pretty good film, a space opera in the vein of Star Wars with a full cast of brilliant characters. Of course those characters were developed on Whedon’s cancelled TV series Firefly, a thoroughly brilliant show that is more western than sci-fi, about the crew of a Firefly-class ship called Serenity and their frontier adventures in space.

When I first saw Serenity in 2005 I hadn’t seen Firefly, but it still worked for me as a fun standalone film. Only recently have I caught up with the tv show which I now adore. Shortly after finishing Firefly’s 14^th and final episode I went back to Serenity, hoping to continue the story, and while it does just that, it does it in a different way to the tv show. Watching the two back to back really highlights the differences in writing and filming for television as opposed to the cinema. Where Firefly was slow burning and full of deep developing characters, Serenity gets straight to the point, exaggerating each of the crew’s characteristics to easily convey their personalities. The dialogue is noticeably faster, and the action more frequent too.

Neither approach is really better or worse than the other, although when you spend so long in the tv show mode, jumping into cinema-land can come with a bit of a jolt. Regardless, I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t seen Serenity to check it out this Monday night, and if you still haven’t seen Firefly you probably owe yourself the DVD boxset.

 

I also wanted to put in a quick word on Red River (ITV4 Mon 14.20), which I haven’t seen in a long time but it’s a Howard Hawks western so magnificent it deserves a look this bank holiday. Perfect mid-afternoon viewing.

 

Also on: Beauty and the Beast (Five Sun 18.20); Out of the Past (BBC2 Mon 12.40); Monsters (Film4 Wed 21.00); Total Recall (ITV2 Wed 22.00).

Films on TV: Rear Window

Film of the week: Rear Window (Film4, Mon 16.40 & Fri 16.35)

Sticking with a Hitchcock theme after last week’s selection of ‘greatest film of all time’ Vertigo, this week sees my favourite Hitchcock film, Rear Window make an appearance on Film4.

It’s simply a perfectly crafted thriller that explores many of Hitchcock’s themes and obsessions. James Stewart’s character is confined to his apartment after breaking his leg. He passes the time by watching the courtyard outside his window and soon comes to suspect a murder.

If you need any more convincing of it’s brilliance, just take a look at this amazing fan-made time-lapse of everything Stewart sees from his window:

Also the greatest and most beautiful actress of all time is in it: Grace Kelly. Enough said.

 

Also on this week: Heat (Film4 Sat 23.15); Psycho (ITV3 Sun 21.00 & Fri 23.00); Meet Me in St Louis (Channel 4 Thu 12.55).

Films on TV

Here are some films that are on freeview this week:

Kaboom (pictured) – Gregg Araki’s sexy and slightly crazy bisexual sci fi. Saturday 10.50pm, Film4

Ponyo – Studio Ghibli’s take on the Little Mermaid fairytale. It’s aimed quite young, but still full of the studio’s usual magic and beauty. Monday 1.05pm, Film4

Dr. Strangelove – Kubrick’s classic cold war satire/farce. Still funny and still relevant today. Tuesday 11.05pm, Film4

Star Trek: First Contact – Just because I was watching TNG with some friends the other day and revered how good it is. This is one of the best Star Trek movies. Wednesday 8pm, E4

Casablanca – Perfect. Simply perfect. Friday 3.05pm, Film4

Red Cliff – John Woo’s historical Chinese epic. The devoted fans will have you believe the original Chinese two parter works better, but it’s still pretty good edited into one film for its International release. Friday 9pm, Film4

 

Films on TV

This week’s Films on TV features a western classic and Charlie Kaufman’s most underrated film:

Red River (pictured) – An absolutely sublime western from Howard Hawks and John Wayne. Trust me, they don’t get much better than this. Saturday 4.20pm and Sunday 2.20pm, ITV4

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – This seems to be regarded as a lesser effort in both the outputs of Charlie Kaufman as screenwriter and George Clooney as director, but I think it’s fantastic. Sam Rockwell plays a TV host with a double life as a secret agent. Saturday night / Sunday morning 1.55am, BBC3

A Clockwork Orange – You’ve all seen Kubrick’s ultra-violent classic right? Well it’s always good to know when films of the quality are on anyway. Monday 10pm, ITV4

The Ladykillers – This remake of the classic Ealing comedy is the only Coen brothers film I haven’t seen. Worth a watch? Well by all accounts it’s inferior to the original but it’s the Coens, so it can’t be that bad? Can it? Thursday night / Friday morning 2am, BBC3

Films on TV – Xmas Special!

Ok It’s Christmas, and that can only mean one thing: Loads of good films on the telebox. Here’s my (rather long) selection.

Hairspray – So I really need to explain how good this musical is? Very. Saturday (Xmas Eve), Channel 4 7.15pm

My Neighbour Totoro (pictured) – Totoro! Ending the Studio Ghibli Season in style. Saturday (Xmas Eve), Film4 5.15pm

Ashes of Time Redux – What better way to see in Xmas day than with a really confusing art-house kung fu film? (It’s one of my fave movies though). Saturday (Xmas Eve) night, Channel 4 2.10am

Rataouille – The only Pixar film I haven’t seen. Guess I don’t have an excuse now. Sunday (Xmas Day), BBC1 4.50pm

The Fountain – Darren Aranofsky’s bonkers arty trip through a relationship spanning history. Monday (Boxing Day) night, Film4 1.45am

In Burges – An Irish comedy so good, it’s like a fucking fairly tale. Tuesday, Film4 9pm

Son of Ranbow – Brit coming of age film that I probably should have seen by now. Wednesday, BBC3 8pm

Control – Anton Corbijn’s biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. Friday night/Saturday monring, Film4 1.40am

 

Films on TV (Studio Ghibli season edition)

It’s Studio Ghibli season on Film 4! And there’s still plenty of great non-Ghibli films on too.

Studio Ghibli Season – From this Saturday until Christmas Eve, Film 4 will be showing a classic Japanese animation every day. My picks for this week are the superb Ponyo (pictured, Saturday, 6.55pm) and the classic Princess Mononoke (Sunday, 4.40pm). Full listings for the season can be found here.

Some non-Ghibli highlights:

Vicky Cristina Barcelona – One of Woody Allen’s best films of recent years. Saturday, Channel 4 9pm

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut – It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I love this film. Five, Sunday 11.50pm

Heavenly Creatures – That Peter Jackson film with Kate Winslet that I probably should have seen by now. Tuesday, BBC1 11.40pm

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – Palme d’Or winning Romanian abortion drama. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Film4 1.20am

Singin’ in the Rain – Not just a great musical, but one of the best films ever made. Friday, Film4 3pm

 

Films on TV

I don’t know what Film4 have done this week, but I like it. Some amazing films on.

Thirst – Park Chan-wook’s odd Korean vampire movie. Part horror, part romance, part farce and part black comedy. It’s an unusal mix but still very watchable. Saturday night/Sunday morning, Channel 4 1.40am

The Conversation – A classic 1970s surveillance thriller with Gene Hackman, and one of Francis Ford Coppola’s best films, which is saying something considering he made The Godfather and Apocalypse now. Also, sound design nerds (if such a thing exists), you really need to watch this – Hackman’s play back of overlapping tapes of surveillance dialogue is simply genius. Monday, Film4 11.15pm

Bronson – Tom Hardy? Nicolas Winding Refn? Yes please. I’ve never actually seen this but hear very good things. It’s about Charles Bronson, obvs. Tuesday, Film 11pm

Hunger – If you read this blog regularly you may know how much I love this film. It’s appeared on Films on TV before so won’t go into details, but just thought I’d remind y’all it’s on again. Wednesday, Film4 11.10pm

Monsters – A stunning low budget sci-fi road movie. A journalist escorts a woman through an ‘Infected Zone’ in South America, trying to get back to the USA. The zone is infected, obviously, by huge alien monsters. But it’s a film more about the journey than the Monsters – a Latin American travelogue with aliens in the background. Thursday, Film4 9pm

Hellboy II – Guillermo Del Toro goes in a more fantasy driven direction in his follow up to surprise hit Hellboy. It’s a solid comic book romp, with lots of nice fantasy touches and a likeable performance from Ron Perlman as the heroic demon. Friday, ITV1 10.35

 

Films on TV

Maybe a little heavy on the comedy this week, but there’s some solid stuff on British TV:

17 Again – Ok so it’s just a ‘body change’ comedy but by all accounts it’s a fairly good one. Plus it has Zac Efron who I think (though many will disagree) is always a joy to watch and full of charisma. Sunday, Channel 4 5.35pm

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery – Like me, you might have had the misfortune of watching Johnny English Reborn recently. Rectify that by watching the best James Bond spoof – the original Austin Powers movie. Sunday, Channel 5 10pm

Garden State – Other than Scrubs, Zach Braff is best known for this offbeat indie comedy which he stars in and directs. It seems to have acquired a cult status with as many dedicated fans as there are detractors. Wednesday, Film4 11.20pm

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (pictured) – Wes Anderson’s characteristically odd comedy about an oceanographer (played by Bill Murray) and his crew. Not quite as good as The Royal Tenenbaums but still fun. Wednesday, BBC1 midnight

Pearl Jam Twenty – A good rock documentsary is always worth it, and while I’m no huge fan of Pearl Jam I hear good things about this, a very personal look by Cameron Crowe at the band’s history and his relationship with their music as they celebrate twenty as one of the world’s biggest rock acts. Friday, BBC4 9pm

 

Films on TV

Last week there were too many films to choose from, this week I struggled to come up with five. But anyway, here are some films on TV worth watching this week:

Halloween – What better way to celebrate Halloween weekend than watching Halloween? Saturday night / Sunday morning, BBC1 12.25am

Batman Returns – My favourite Batman movie as a kid. It doesn’t quite hold up as well as I remember it today, but it’s still full of gothic Tim Burton style and great performances from Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken, Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer. Tuesday, ITV2 11.45pm

Unforgiven – Clint Eastwood’s 1992 revision of the western about a retired gunslinger taking one last job. Dark, thoughtful, and well directed. Wednesday, ITV4 midnight

The Last King of Scotland – James McAvoy plays a Scottish doctor taken under the wing of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Forest Whitaker won an Oscar for his performance as the dictator. Thursday, Film4 9pm

Far From Heaven (pictured) – Julianne Moore plays a 1950s housewife who controversially falls for black man whilst her husband is struggling with his sexuality. Made in the style of ’50s melodramas but broaching issues that would have been taboo then, Todd Haynes’ film is pretty good stuff. Friday, Film4 6.55pm