www.list.co.uk/film COMEDY/MUSICAL THE MILLIONAIRESS (U) 87min (Arrow) ●●●●●
In this still very enjoyable 1960 comedy it’s ironic that Peter Sellers plays a humble Indian doctor who spurns the advances of Sophia Loren's richest woman in the world, given the then married Sellers was head-over-heels for the largely oblivious La Loren. It may be, however, that the off- screen shenanigans helped create the hilariously awkward on- screen pairing as the odd couple Epifania and Ahmed negotiate carnal and platonic relations via a series of bets that bridge the social divide between them.
No surprise that this class-based comedy is adapted from a play by George Bernard Shaw. Anthony Asquith, who directed the reminiscent 1938 film version of Pygmalion, does a good job here, too. The superb supporting cast includes Alistair Sim and Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica. The comic duet sung by Loren and Sellers, ‘Goodness Gracious Me’, became a worldwide hit. No extras. (Miles Fielder)
DRAMA BOOM! (PG) 112min (Second Sight) ●●●●●
Joseph Losey’s gloriously odd 1968 melodrama starring the then married Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor resurfaces after news of its demise were exaggerated (rumour had it that only one print of it existed in the world). Adapted from Tennessee Williams’ 1963 play The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore about a terminally ill woman who spends her dying hours flirting with a young male trespasser, Boom! really is something else
and a seminal work for lovers of the camp and bewildering. Williams’ unwell protagonist is now the more youthful Taylor, the mysterious Sissy who lives in a large mansion on a secluded island. Into her life wanders enigmatic stranger Burton (part gigolo, part angel of death). Noel Coward is hanging around as well as the ‘witch of Capri’. Plus John Barry, Johnny
Dankworth and Georgie Fame all work wonders on the soundtrack that just about keeps one’s jaw from touching the floor. Douglas Slocombe’s cinematography is beautiful. It’s amazing, no wonder that John Waters thinks it may just be one of the great forgotten cinema classics of the 20th century. Minimal extras. (Paul Dale) THRILLER GAMBIT (U) 109min (Second Sight) ●●●●●
Hot off the back of Alfie and The Ipcress File, Michael Caine made his Hollywood debut with this cleverly conceived 1966 crime caper. In it, Caine’s cat burglar hires Shirley MacLaine’s
Eurasian beauty to help him relieve Herbert Lom’s rich Arab of a priceless antique. Based on a story by
Sydney The Hustler Carroll as adapted by Hollywood veteran Alvin Sargent (Paper Moon, Straight Time) and given an English humour polish by Jack Davies
(Doctor at Sea, . . . in Trouble, . . . in Clover), it’s directed by David Lean’s former cinematographer Ronald Neame (Tunes of Glory, The Odessa File). So it’s smartly scripted, handsomely mounted and well played. A remake is in the works starring Colin Firth, Jennifer Aniston and Ben Kingsley. No extras. (Miles Fielder) DOCUMENTARY/MUSIC ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES (E) 83min (Warp Films) ●●●●●
It’s been ten years since All Tomorrow’s Parties (ATP) began their high concept underground music happenings at the Bowlie Weekender in
Camber Sands holiday camp. Since then the invited musicians of the calibre of Patti Smith, Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sonic Youth and Belle & Sebastian have curated each others gigs. Famously informal, chaotic and always entertaining, the ATP gatherings have now become legendary, threatening to turn ATP into a brand in itself. Fortunately for those of us who haven’t made it yet, the fans brought their cameras along and documented the mayhem. Drawn principally from
two of the earlier ATP events; filmmakers Jonathan Tarnation Caouette and Luke Morris have made a coherent whole from the endless hours of random Super 8, camcorder and mobile phone footage taken at the various gigs, jam sessions, parties and occasionally hilarious in- between moments of spontaneous stupidity. It’s a punchy, kinetic and engaging collage. Extras include over 50 minutes of performance footage and a booklet that
DVD Reviews Film FILM MAGAZINES
It’s time to drop into the wonderful world of film magazines. December is a crucial month for these cinephile glossies – it’s the time when readers decide whether to renew their loyalty for another year – so let’s have a look at what you are really getting for your money.
It’s become fashionable to inveigle some kind of kudos by labelling up significant issues. So December’s Empire becomes The Icons Issue with ten different covers featuring alleged icons which include Heath Ledger as the Joker, Matt Damon in Bourne mode and Uma Thurman with that samurai sword. We plumped for the one with Daniel Craig as Bond on the cover and at £3.99 we hope we made the right choice. Inside it’s business as usual – some excited previews, cute Q&As, reviews, some nice features including one on the currently omnipresent Spike Jonze and then we get to the money shot: the mighty 24 page Icons of the Decade in which we are told the backstory of the protagonists of the most popular films of the noughties (Maximus, Wolverine, Aragorn, Harry Potter). All good fun but Total Film has got one thing over it. A free gift.
The features and reviews cover more or less the same ground as its rival but Total Film has a free giant poster in it with the promo poster for Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland on one side and A Christmas Carol on the other. The writing is a little bit more irreverent here (risky in the favouritism-fuelled world of film publicity) and, on the strength of these issues alone, Total Film’s home entertainment section (entitled Lounge) offers a more considered sweep of what is out there at the moment. In their wisdom, Sight and Sound have made their December issue ‘The
Michael Haneke Issue’ with the bearded and brilliant codger looking out from the cover. There are no gifts but David Thomson’s article on Henri-Georges Clouzot’s L’Enfer is a peach and Tag Gallagher’s reappraisal of the work of Jean- Marie Straub does remind one what this publicly funded magazine is there for.
It’s blood, bods and bosoms all the way in Gorezone - ’the world’s most upmarket horror entertainment magazine’. The writing is terrible but this is a magazine that seems to work on the premise of giving their readership what they want, but that’s no bad thing, and there’s not a Jonze interview in sight. Although really a music magazine, Uncut still tries to keep up its limited end in the film coverage stakes. The writing is good, as you might expect, but the space given is simply not enough (five pages in a 146-page publication) and with a hefty cover price of £4.50 you may just want to go online, if you are not there already. (Paul Dale)
includes ten years of ATP artwork and programme introductions. (Dylan Matthew) DOCUDRAMA CHRISTIANE F (18) 120min (Arrow) ●●●●●
Uli Edel’s grimy, influential 1981 docudrama about one young girl’s descent into the drug scene of 70s Berlin has lost none of its fury. Edel, who went on to direct Last Exit to Brooklyn and The Baader Meinhof Complex, uses non-
professional actors and real locations to create a dynamic and believable sense of alternative lifestyle dystopia. Thirteen-year- old Christiane’s (played here by Natja Brunckhorst) downward trajectory is traced from her mother’s high-rise tower block flat through Berlin’s disco scene and into the world of underage prostitution and hardcore heroin addiction. It’s not a pretty watch but as an artifact of raw nihilism from the not too distant past it is fascinating.
Plus the soundtrack featuring among others Brian Eno and David Bowie (who also appears briefly in a concert scene) is amazing. Minimal extras. (Paul Dale)
19 Nov–3 Dec 2009 THE LIST 51