stencil from Free Art Friday St. Petersburg

R.I.P. Mike Nichols

Obituary from The Guardian

Director of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Catch 22, Carnal Knowledge, The Birdcage (with Robin Williams) my favourite Werewolf film with Jack Nicholson in 'Wolf' …. and of course The Graduate -  several classic and favourite films. He also drected for the stage "Barefoot in the Park," ''The Odd Couple," ''Plaza Suite" and "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" and not forgetting 'Spamalot'!

WARHORSE

 

Of course one of the snags of not watching a film when it comes out but waiting for it's release to TV is that one misses the collective hullabaloo and fuss about it's release but this past weekend I watched Warhorse (2011) for the first time and there are a number of things I should add before getting to the grist for this particular mill. I am in awe not to say phobic of horses and I was in awe of my grandfather also, though not phobic about him (!) who was with the RFA in the First World War, a ‘driver’ in fact, so in charge of the horses. It I s this fact that caused me to want to watch it. I am also mindful that the terrestrial TV companies have shown Warhorse in the 100th anniversary year of the Great War, you know the one they called the War to End All Wars, so it is right and proper that due reverence and respect be paid to this context. 

However I cannot tell you quite how terribly disappointed I am in this cloying lachrymose sentimental pile of steaming tosh. It is a disaster of gargantuan proportions to me if only because of its manipulative schmaltz and sickly maudlin clumsiness and I tried to find a review that summarised my feelings to check whether I was so far out of kilter with everyone else especially by finding it quite so old fashioned. The only reviews I found that came close were from the Independent and the Guardian’s P Bradshaw, which is interesting if only because they are the two papers I am most given to read the rest being largely Murdoch, appropriated chip paper. Although I confess also to being somewhat surprised to find Kermode defending it in his DVD round up of the year. I admire him but disappointed to discover we do not always agree.

 

Firstly Spielberg has excelled himself in the vision of the piece and some have called it beautiful but to me it is overblown and Disneyfied to the point of almost seeming ersatz and sickly. I for one found it unnatural to the point of almost extreme surrealism and so fake throughout as to be almost like watching a cartoon. It is as if dipped in honey or butterscotch almost throughout, there seem the no greys or blues but an overriding hue of orange and golden browns the closing scene especially is hilarious if it weren't so clichéd and saccharine sweet. No English landscape ever looked like this, like Gone With The Wind under LSD!

 

The whole temperature of the film is fake; there is not one single landscape that doesn't strike one as false from the English farm chosen and the ploughing of the unploughable field with the laughable splitting of the rock to the carefully manicured landscapes of France. All strike me as false and fake and Hollywoodised and this takes some doing as they were apparently shot in authentic places. How DOES Spielberg do that? It is as if they have been sanitised and made acceptable to Disney standards. As if they have CGI’d the whole thing but apparently Spielberg in ‘not doing a war film’ apparently, felt especially proud that he hadn’t used ANY!? Some of that guilt must lie with the DoP Janusz Kaminski who claims to be unaware of the ending of Gone With The Wind ad it’s similarities which would worry me were I a producer. How can anyone NOT be aware of the coincidence and what the history of his subject looked like!? There are parallels with many old fashioned films like A Quiet Man for example but to not be aware of one of the all time standard classics stuck me as worrying!

 

Warhorse the closing clip

 

Gone With The Wind

Quite how Spielberg justified his thinking that he has doesn’t think he has made war film is almost beneath contempt if not extremely perverse and disingenuous. It is patently NOT merely a tale of love between a boy and his horse otherwise the points about the machine

the German deserter boys are discovered

gun ending the reign of the cavalry and especially the scenes shot in France from the sickly Grandfather and Emilie to the discreet shooting behind the windmill sail of the two under age deserters to the finale with Joey the horse in No-man’s Land. BTW who calls a horse ‘Joey’? That’ s a name perversely chosen to irritate, as everyone knows Budgerigars are called Joey and horses are called Ned (I'm joking here of course but it did strike me as amongst the most anodyne of names to choose for something as butch as a war-horse)

 

Joey jumps!

More there is the writing and we have a number on the team but quite why they thought they needed the light comic touch of Richard Curtis amongst others to join forces and make this even more trite and ersatz than it may have been from M Malpurgo's original book for 9 year olds, I won't know now as this film has certainly put me off ever reading it. Not enough jokes about pants, duck faced gals or big titties!? Ironically he worked on Blackadder, which had a far more potent point about the war than any here. There simply are so many lumps and bumps and errors and poorly written parts of this script that I almost do to know where to begin. The whole story is told in clumsy sections and not one cohesive whole but rather several distinct disappointing episodic chunks that clunk and bang against each other so that one could be forgiven for thinking we watched several different films!

 

preposterous and historically innacccurate

Emily Watson

The casting if superb features personal heroes like Peter Mullan, Tom Hiddleston, Emily Watson, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Thewlis, and Eddie Marsan and the rest of the company are almost entirely wasted here. Making it even more difficult to watch as so many great talents here are left to flounder. Anther hero actor in Liam Cunningham has a bit part that required such a faux posh accent it is positively hilarious even jarring. I can only assume he was given such little time to develop anything approaching a part that the stiff upper lip accent was left to struggle there. There is no time to build any character or human interaction other than cliché and parody. The drinker/alcoholic father so fat headed he over bids on a thoroughbred horse rather than a plough horse is hilarious were it not so pathetically clichéd and contrived. The stoic little woman begrudgingly putting up with the choices of her men folk is palpably laughable In this day and age for a character of two dimensions. As for accuracy of detail a Frenchman so in love with his now deceased daughter, Emilie, he traverses France to pay £100 for a horse which he then immediately gives away back to it’s owner without accepting the offer of any money in exchange is hilarious and would be funny if it hadn’t been such a saccharine sentimental cliché.

This is Spielberg making a film for Disney with all the worst implications of that unhealthy alliance. Vacuous facile clumsy and trite. This is nowhere near Spielberg’s best. I am thinking ‘Saving Private Ryan’ or even ‘ET’ here. It is patronising to children n in my opinion the very worst of assuming you know what children can and cannot cope with. I do so hope the same is not true of the book.

"HOWAAAAAAAAARHHHHHD!"

Mrs Wolowitz passes away!

Mrs Debbie Wolowitz' s first TV appearance

We have lost three actors this week

Sad to report, and I know I keep doing this but this week I was especially sad it seemed to me to note the passing of three character actors I admired. Not least Carol Ann Susi the voice actress who played Mrs Wolowitz, Howard's mother in The Big Bang Theory which I adore (since coming off my scooter last year I have probably watched every episode several times!) But I also noticed in the news that day that the glorious Warren Clarke from A Clockwork Orange and Dalziel and Pascoe fame passed away also after a sudden illness. I adored Warren and somehow always remembered the role he played in Clockwork Orange as particularly filled with studied pathos and supremely well acted. I would watch him in anything he did on the strength of that and loved his taciturn Dalziel and Pascoe role. Also sad to hear the lovely actor from Casualty, nurse Nina,  Rebekah Gibbs has died from cancer aged a mere 41. She was lovely and we felt a tremendous spirited actor. Our most sincere thoughts are with the families of these wonderful actors

Warren Clarke in A Clockwork Orange

In Dalziel and Pascoe

Mrs Wolowitz (actor Carol Ann Susi)

Warren Clarke

 Rebekah Gibbs

Sad loss, R.I.P. one and all

The Untold Story of Bob Dylan's 

'Basement Tapes'

Rolling Stone brings Garth Hudson back to Big Pink for the first time since 1968 for an exclusive documentary

Photo by Elliott Landy/LandyVision.com

Forty-six years after Rolling Stone first alerted the world to the existence of Bob Dylan's secret Basement Tapes sessions, the complete recordings are finally getting a commercial release — and we're commemorating the occasion with a cover story. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Browne traces the entire history of the tapes in our new issue (on stands Friday), from the 1966 motorcycle crash that preceded their creation to the secret recording sessions in the Saugerties, New York home known as Big Pink to the many bootlegs and partial releases that have come out over the years to the massive undertaking it took to prepare all 130 tracks for release on The Basement Tapes Complete box set.

As he retraced the long history of the Basement Tapes, Browne spoke to Roger McGuinn, Happy Traum, Jim James, Sally Grossman (the widow of Dylan's manager Albert Grossman) and Canadian producer Jan Haust, who played a pivotal role in preserving the tapes and readying their release. Browne also spent the day in Woodstock with Garth Hudson, the organist in the Band who ran the tape recorder during the Basement Tapes sessions. 

Rolling Stone even went a step further, bringing Hudson back to Big Pink for the first time since he moved out in 1968. As our cameras rolled, he spent hours walking around the grounds of the house, reminiscing and playing Dylan songs on the organ and piano. "It's way bigger than I thought," he said after stepping into the basement where the musicians crafted Dylan's secret masterpiece. "We'd be around, cleaning up or whatever, and Bob would come in. Bob didn't like to sing the same song over and over."

check it out here Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone - Garth Hudson returns to Big Pink

check out Garth's jacket!

Michael Payne has died aged 45

I am sorry and saddened to hear that the father of murdered little girl Sarah Payne,  Michael Payne, has been found dead at 45 and I note that BBC correspondent, Duncan Kennedy, has said that Payne was a father "crushed by agony". A parent "consumed by grief".

"When his eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted in July 2000 his world collapsed. She was found dead in West Sussex 17 days later, murdered by Roy Whiting - a paedophile now serving life in jail - but it was a term that gave Michael only temporary escape from his demons.

With his wife Sara, Michael found brief solace and purpose in campaigning for Sarah's Law, giving people greater information about sex offenders, but he began drinking heavily and the marriage collapsed. He later said he had failed to protect his own daughter. He had tried to come to terms with his suffocating loss, but in the end he was consumed."

Sarah Payne aged 8 in 2000

The parents of little Sarah who so took the public's heartfelt sorrow and pain to their hearts were often in our thoughts and prayers but I often wondered who and what services offered themselves and how do we ensure this takes place. Do the authorities underline the value of therapy in such overwhelming circumstances? I would have expected so.

Sarah Payne's mother, Sara, later spoke, eloquently I thought, of how the extent of her husband’s pain may have been sidelined, with support systems not oriented towards helping fathers. “I feel sympathy for any man in the situation. It’s not geared to dads. It doesn’t take into account their emotions. They have no one to turn to.” Sara herself was able to throw her energies into the work around Sarah's Law and advocating for victims of such crime with the support of wonderful people like Shy Keenan who's book 'Broken' I read after hearing about her in the contexts of supporting Sara Payne. It is a towering read if one needs insight to what it is to be the survivor of horrendous levels of childhood abuse but has been withdrawn for 'legal reasons' which suggests someone mentioned in it has taken action against her which would be a shame not to say crime?

Michael Payne struggled in the way so many men do by drowning his sorrows with alcohol, or trying to, and he was jailed for 16 months in December 2011 after pleading guilty to attacking his brother after they had drunk large amounts of alcohol. His defence counsel said when he was charged  Referring to the murder of his daughter, at the time: “The assorted aftermath had a life-changing effect on him . . . It’s desperately sad. He never sought nor was offered assistance with bereavement counselling. In a nutshell, he suffered the kind of experience that is every parent’s enduring nightmare.” That must have felt never ending.
As a professional counsellor I reflect today on how much my vocation may or may not have let Michael Payne down but it feels like it. Men tend not to ask for help and male counsellors especially have a duty to offer and continue to offer help to people who have tried to come to terms with such a terrible loss.

I was especially moved by reading that his daughter and Sarah's sister, Charlotte, posted a picture of her father on Facebook alongside a message saying she was "heartbroken".

"No matter what happened and how many mistakes we all made you will always be my daddy," she wrote. She later added: "I'm sorry I couldn't save you dad. I hope you have finally found your peace and happiness." Counsellors and specially trained abuse therapists like myself may have cause to pause and reflect that she shouldn't really have had to end up feeling it was her responsibility to 'save' her dad when the support professions didn't.

CLAPTON'S NEW SONG FOR JACK BRUCE

Eric Clapton has released a new song, written in tribute to his former Cream bandmate Jack Bruce, who died on October 25, 2014, aged 71. Clapton had earlier paid tribute to Bruce, writing on his Facebook page, "He was a great musician and composer, and a tremendous inspiration to me." Clapton has now put up a new song, "For Jack", which he posted on October 26 on Facebook, reports Rolling Stone.

Click here to listen to the (instrumental) track.

'The Basement Tapes Complete: 

The Bootleg Series Vol. 11'

The Basement Tapes Complete will be released on November 4. As a curtain raiser, The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 is now streaming via NPR.
The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 is a six-disc set which will feature 138 songs. There is also a special two-disc edition - The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11, featuring 38 songs. The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 will also be released as a three-album set on 180-gram vinyl. - Uncut

These are the 12 tracks being streamed at NPR:

Edge Of The Ocean (Disc 1, Track 1)
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 1) (Disc 3, Track 17)
I Shall Be Released (Take 1) (Disc 3, Track 19)
Quinn The Eskimo (Take 1) (Disc 4, Track 4)
This Wheel’s On Fire (Disc 3, Track 21)
Johnny Todd (Disc 2, Track 1)
Don’t Ya Tell Henry (Disc 4, Track 21)
I Don’t Hurt Anymore (Disc 2, Track 19)
Silent Weekend (Disc 5, Track 12)
Crash On The Levee (Take 1) (Disc 3, Track 10)
One Too Many Mornings (Disc 5, Track 2)
I’m Your Teenage Prayer [Disc 2, Track 8]

The Basement Tapes COMPLETE streaming sampler at NPR

sad to report the death of  

Jack Bruce

 JACK BRUCE R.I.P. 1943-2014

Big O have three boots available of concerts not available anywhere else and had this report

Jack Bruce, best known as one-third of Cream, died on October 25, 2014 of liver disease at his home in Suffolk. He was 71. In a statement issued by his family on Saturday, his family said: “It is with great sadness that we, Jack’s family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend. The world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts.”

Bruce played bass, sang and was the principal songwriter in Cream. The group sold 35 million albums in just over two years and were given the first ever platinum disc for Wheels of Fire Bruce wrote and sang most of the songs, including “I Feel Free” and “Sunshine Of Your Love”. But even leaving aside that group, in which he played with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, his CV reads like a comprehensive guide to the British blues boom, with spells in Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc, the Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Manfred Mann. Bruce’s life had been marked by health and financial troubles. In the late 1970s he struggled with drug addiction, and worked as a session musician to make money. In 2003 he was diagnosed with liver cancer, and that September he underwent a transplant. His body initially rejected the new liver, and Bruce almost died, but he recovered well enough to return to performance in 2004. - The Guardian and BBC

Jack was a hero, a feisty Scot and bass virtuoso, song writer and singer we loved and of course we adored Cream when they came out and still recall the affect of the Farewell Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1968 (we were bereft until we got blown away!) of which Tony Palmer's excellent film is still available on youtube and in two formats the original one from Tony Palmer Films which is superb quality but sadly doesn't have the voice over of the original. I also bought 'Songs For a Tailor' when it came out and loved it's unique style and substance (still!) He had a new album out this year 'Silver Rails' so I recommend you go out and buy them!

 

 Cream - Farewell Concert Royal Albert Hall 1968 (Tony Palmer Films)

Rest In Peace

The Detectorists

Well those who know me are familiar with my abiding notion that I hold that there is no real point in getting a huge HD screen for your tele as there is nothing on the ruddy thing anymore and yet I discover new bands (Wilful Missing) from watching such drivel (Waterloo Road since you ask) all the time but I have a new favourite show and this is a prime example of what we Brits do best I feel and why I still feel like owning a tele. I adore these gentle clever comedies we produce without so much as a bell, whistle or a flag [sometimes too quietly I feel] so we'll I'll give it a plug here.

My new delight is 'The Detectorists' written and directed by the wonderful Mackenzie Crook and starring both he and another hero of mine, Toby Jones (son of, IMHO, our greatest character actor, Freddie Jones, and who, after playing Truman Capote and other roles of late where hasn't put a foot wrong, is giving his Dad a run for his money!) after his recent success in the simply divine 'MARVELLOUS' earlier this month, this is Toby at his best in an understated tour de force as they both play nerds of the highest calibre, men in love with their metal detectors. Of course!

Toby Jones as Neil Baldwin in 'Marvellous'

The theme song featured this week in the story lining as the boys, Andy (Mackenzie) and Lance (Toby) do Lance's plaintive love song inspired by his wife (ex!) at an open mic night down the pub
It is delicious and made me check out the singer guitarist Johnny Flynn who has done some lovely work here and elsewhere (not least also with the peerless Laura Marling - see below)
get the single here
 The Detectorists theme (removed . . and hey! put back up again . . . . )

Mackenzie can also have some perks in the writing presumably as they have cast his partner with the delicious Rachael Stirling who catches him flirting inadvertently with a much younger student Sophie played by Aimee-Ffion Edwards and if you are going to be working with such story lines then I guess it is a perk to have actors as beautiful and clever as this [lucky dawgs!]

It also features Lance's ex-wife Maggie [played by Lucy Benjamin] who runs a 'head shop' or alternative life style crystal shop and the rest of the casting is sheer genius also as witnessed by the rival detectorists leader the 'Antiquisearchers' with the excellent Simon Farnaby (Mighty Boosh, the excellent Man v Weird etc) the head of their own group being played by the brilliant Gerard Horan and his wife played by a favourite actor of mine Sophie Thompson (google her it's worth it!)

All in all it had me laughing out loud and squirming with embarrassment (cue the song which actually is surprisingly good! watch out for Johnny who goes on the open mic night first much to the chagrin of our heroes) I could watch this over and over and probably will until the DVD comes out it is in short sheer genius (you can tell I like it can't you?)
It is by turn pathetic, bathetic, hilarious and I found myself revealed in several characters!
Enjoy! I will

and meanwhile in addition here's Johnny Flynn with Laura Marling . . . . . . The Water

 Alicia, David and Bob!

I note with interest after much heralded hullabaloo about David Byrne's musical extravaganza Here Lies Love about Imelda Marcos today that Billboard exclusively reports that Alicia Keys will take the stage with "rock legend" (sic!?) Byrne at 'Keep a Child Alive''s 11th Annual Black Ball event, a yearly gala offering first-time musical collaborations.
It crossed my mind as I checked the picture of her, that Bob Dylan wrote about her in a song (Thunder On The Mountain) and sometimes we can pause for a moment and truly understand why the muse may take us!

"I was thinking about Alicia Keys, couldn't keep from crying
When she was born in Hell's Kitchen, I was living down the line
I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be
I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee"

This year's Black Ball will take place on Oct. 30 at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.