Clearly Im on a MOVIE and LOVE kick. Don’t blame me, blame the weather. Its MOVIE season!!

Anyway this movies looks cute Check it out!

An American girl on vacation in Italy finds an unanswered “letter to Juliet” — one of thousands of missives left at the fictional lover’s Verona courtyard, which are typically answered by a the “secretaries of Juliet” — and she goes on a quest to find the lovers referenced in the letter.

Aww cute I’m definitely going to see this too!

STARS APPEAR AT CONCERT IN AID OF BEREAVED FAMILIES

A Christmas concert featuring performances and readings from actors Jeremy Irons and Vanessa Redgrave, TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh and Cameron Mackintosh’s Oliver! will be held in aid of bereaved families.

Welsh opera singer Natasha Marsh, Cantate Youth Choir and singer Eddi Reader will also be taking part in the event hosted by The Child Bereavement Charity at Holy Trinity Brompton in London on December 3.

Stage, screen and television actor Jeremy said: “Losing a child must cause the most unbearable pain. Pain that I have been lucky enough not to have had to face. “I am most happy to be able to help in a small way those that have.”

The event has been organised by Child Bereavement Charity patron Flappy Lane Fox, whose son Harry Sidebottom, died aged 24. She said: “The Child Bereavement Charity provides such an important service to bereaved families. “My son Harry had a fatal car accident just over 10 years ago, aged 24, and my step granddaughter Molly Lane Fox died of an inoperable brain tumour nearly 18 months ago, aged only five. “These two have remained my constant driving force, and have inspired me to help to ensure the continuance of this very special charity. “The money raised from this concert will ensure that children and families continue to have access to support when they need it most.”

The Child Bereavement Charity supports families and educates professionals both when a child dies and when a child is bereaved. Every year the charity trains around 5,000 professionals across health care, social care, education, the emergency services and the voluntary sector. It also provides a support and information service, resources, an interactive website with online forums and Buckinghamshire-based support groups.

The concert takes place at 6.45pm on December 3 at Holy Trinity Brompton, London SW7 1JA. Tickets are priced £50 and £75. To book call 01494 446648 or email: events@childbereavement.org.uk. For more information about the charity visit www.childbereavement.org.uk.

Aunque ha participado en unos cuantos proyectos más desde entonces, es Venus, de Roger Michell (2006), la última ocasión en que Peter O’Toole, actor de amplia y muy irregular filmografía (nos quedamos con lo mejor, Lawrence de Arabia, Becket, Lord Jim, La noche de los generales, El león en invierno, Adiós Mr. Chips o El último emperador), nos ha obsequiado una vez más con una interpretación memorable encarnando de nuevo a un personaje carismático y atormentado al estilo de los que le han dado fama y reconocimiento pero con tintes mucho más amables que de costumbre, gracias al cual obtuvo una nominación al Oscar. Esta vez da vida a Maurice, un actor en los últimos momentos de su carrera que todavía realiza pequeños papeles televisivos y cuyos momentos de ocio transcurren en compañía de sus camaradas Ian (Leslie Philips) y Donald (Richard Griffiths), actores jubilados como él. Los tres se reúnen diariamente en un bar para hablar del pasado y del presente, chincharse, lanzarse dardos irónicos y tomar una copa en un ambiente de camaradería y recuerdos. Al menos es así hasta que Ian manifiesta su preocupación por la llegada de Jessie (Jodie Whittaker), la hija adolescente de su sobrina, que viaja a Londres para atenderlo como enfermera las veinticuatro horas por la falta de alicientes y de posibilidades laborales en el campo. La chica modosita, tímida y apocada amante de la vida tranquila y de la música de Bach que él espera es una joven muy distinta, devota de la comida basura, sin experiencia como enfermera y con un gusto por las bebidas alcohólicas impropio para su edad.

Curiosamente, y utilizando como metáfora de su relación la historia que rodea la pintura de Velázquez La Venus del espejo, será Maurice y no Ian quien conecte más fácilmente con la recién llegada, de manera que las cada vez más horas que comparten y que sirven a Ian para escapar de la perniciosa, para él, influencia de la joven, les ayudan a establecer un extraño vínculo que se mueve en el fino límite de la amistad, la relación paterno-filial, el nacimiento a la vida adulta, el último aliento de deseo carnal de un anciano, la necesidad de paliar sus respectivas soledades y, sí, también el amor, extraño, entre crepuscular, ingenuo y morboso, pero amor. Así, Jessie se abrirá a un mundo que desconoce (los teatros, los museos, las tiendas caras de la City) y Maurice sentirá nostalgia por un tiempo que ya hace mucho que pasó, volviendo a sentirse joven al internarse con una chica joven en la vida nocturna de Londres; sólo su trabajo y su mujer (Vanessa Redgrave), con la que ya no vive pero con la que sigue manteniendo el trato, pone un punto de sensatez en su vida.

La película está construida a la medida de O’Toole, existe por y para él. Tras más de veinte años en papeles menores o secundarios, incluso en producciones mediocres y malas, vuelve por todo lo alto para dar una lección de lo que significa interpretar, manejando su espléndida voz y su todavía mejor dicción a capricho (se recomienda encarecidamente más que nunca la versión original), y haciendo de su rostro un mapa de emociones. Consigue dotar a su personaje de una fuerza difícilmente igualable, quizá porque en cierto modo se interpreta a sí mismo y cede al personaje de Maurice buena parte de su propio bagaje para componer ese actor prácticamente acabado que lucha por ofrecer la mayor de las dignidades al menos una última vez, tanto en su carrera como en su vida personal.

Como complemento, un guión acertadísimo, tanto en los aspectos más dramáticos como con los toques de humor y sarcasmo, incluyendo fragmentos y réplicas desternillantes que explotan las manías, rarezas de los ancianos, y también sus carencias y remilgos a la hora de adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos, en el que la mayor virtud consiste en tratar temas espinosos, o que en otras manos daría lugar a aspectos morbosos, con elegancia y tacto, consiguiendo salir más que airoso. Con alguna que otra debilidad en el aspecto visual, predomina en la película la atención al texto del guión y a la caracterización de los personajes sobre cuestiones como el diseño de producción y la ambientación.

Bordeando, sin pringarse, aguas pantanosas como el morbo, saliendo indemne de los peligros del sentimentalismo o de la lágrima recurrente, la película es un acertado ejercicio de equilibrio entre drama y comedia en la que la ironía somardas y algunos momentos descacharrantes se alternan con una emotividad que en ningún caso es fácil ni gratuita, que conmueve sin apelar a lugares comunes o tópicos sentimentales, y cuya mayor expresión tiene lugar cuando Ian y Maurice visitan en una iglesia londinense, con nostalgia contenida, las lápidas de algunos de los más célebres actores británicos de todos los tiempos y se detienen ante los nombres de Boris Karloff, Laurence Harvey o Robert Shaw. Un homenaje más que merecido a la vida y obra de tantos actores y actrices que nos han hecho un regalo inmejorable: la oportunidad de disfrutarlos para siempre en la pantalla.

SAM WORTHINGTON stars in the LOUIS LETTERIER directed 'CLASH OF THE TITANS' remake

Directed by Louis Letterier and set for release on March 26, 2010, ‘CLASH OF THE TITANS’ will star; Sam Worthington (PERSEUS), Liam Neeson (ZEUS), Ralph Fiennes (HADES), Danny Huston (POSEIDON), Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, and Mads Mikkelsen.

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NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: Talk about yer star-studded evenings. Ann Blyth, Connie Stevens, Shirley Jones, Debbie Reynolds, Ruta Lee and Nancy Sinatra are among the sparklies set to honour indefatigable

REDGRAVE: Tennessee tribute

entertainer Mickey Rooney at the Thalians Gala this Sunday in Hollywood. (Did you know that Mickey, who married eight times, has been wed to his current missus Jan Chamberlin for more than 30 years? That’s gotta be a Tinsel Town record in itself!) … the late Patrick Swayze will be among the honorees at America Dances, the 24th Anniversary Jubilee of Career Transition for Dancers. Headliners for Monday night’s event at New York’s City Center include four-time Emmy Award winner Valerie Harper and Tony Award winner Ann Reinking. For all the details, including who’s hoofing, click here … and Eli Wallach & Anne Jackson, Vanessa Redgrave, Marian Seldes, John Guare, Olympia Dukakis and John Patrick Shanley are among the marquee names set to participate in an

KASH: Harvest time

evening of poetry, theater, and reminiscences in honor of the induction of Tennessee Williams into The Cathedral of St. John the Divine Poets’ Corner next Thursday in Manhattan.

TRICK OR TREAT: Only three more chances to see dynamic duo Linda Kash and Paul O’Sullivan play multiple roles in Harvest. The Ken Cameron comedy is set to close Saturday night at Showplace Peterborough … the two-day Zoomer Show is set for this weekend at the Direct Energy Centre at the CNE … and the Royal Cinema on College Street celebrates the scary season tonight with a 7 pm Halloween Double

STROMBO: with Anne tonight

Bill: Zombies: When the Dead Walk, and The Houdini Code, two intriguing documentaries produced by Donna Zuckerbrot.

TOGETHER AGAIN: Your boyfriend George Stoumboulopoulos welcomes Anne Murray back to his red chairs tonight on The Hour to talk about her new autobiography All Of Me …  and speaking of autobiographies, recently I mentioned that I thought comedian Kathy Griffin’s new autobiography has the catchiest title of the fall literary season (yes, she  really did call her book Official Book Club Selection.)

MANDEL: Touche-pas!

But some close runners-up are now looming. Obsessively compulsive Howie Mandel calls his book Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me. Paul Shaffer’s Letterman years memoir is called We’ll Be Here For The Rest Of Our Lives. Inside its pages, current headline-earner Andre Agassi is reportedly living up to the title of his tome, Open. And Don Cherry wants to make it as simple for us as possible, so he’s called his new collection of on-and-off-the-ice fables Don Cherry’s Hockey Stories And Stuff.

OUR TOWN: The 2009 International Diaspora Film Festival opens here Sunday with a wide range of unusual events. Highlights include David Amram’s

MURRAY: on The Hour tonight

evening of music and dance from the Middle East, At Home Around the World, on Tuesday 3 at Revival, and the Toronto premiere of filmmaker Teri McCluhan’s 2008 documentary on Badshah Khan, The Frontier Gandhi, on Wednesday at Innis Hall. For more info on Diaspora events, click here … dazzling dance demon Noam Gagnon returns to Toronto Nov. 6-7 in The Vision Impure, an evening of solos presented by DanceWorks as part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps series at the Enwave Theatre … and the seventh annual Weekend To End Breast Cancer saw 4,615 participants raise a staggering $11.6 million for Princess Margaret Hospital’s ongoing mission to conquer cancer in our lifetime. Organizers will broaden the base next year with The Weekend To End Women’s Cancers, giving walkers an option to designate whether the money they raise goes to breast cancer or gynecologic cancers research, treatment and care. Expect a HUGE turnout.

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Well, folks, welcome to another scare-tastic edition of HORROR MOVIES THAT ARE CURRENTLY ON MY HARD DRIVE (PROBABLY ILLEGALLY) THAT ARE VERY FITTING FOR THIS HALLOWEEN SEASON! Today is a movie that is unreasonably hard to find in America. Despite its power as a modern masterpiece of terror and suspense, because of its intense sexual nature it has been constantly ignored by many as a simple exploitation film and has been denied a mass-produced American DVD. But if you can find a copy, no matter the quality, you’re in for a real Halloween treat today, because The Devils, despite its ill repute, is a masterful film about religious fanaticism that is both awe-inspiring and down-right spooky. Ken Russell put much of his mind and soul into this film, and it shows in every gripping, gut-wrenching moment of this film.

Set in the 17th century, we follow the tyrannical sweep of the fanatical Cardinal Richelieu throughout the frightened French countryside. He has convinced King Louis XIII to destroy the local defenses around the cities of France to prevent those damn Protestants from uprising and usurping the Catholics. Louis thinks it’s fine, but he tells the Cardinal he musn’t destroy the defenses of the city of Loudon, as he made a personal promise to the governor. Unfortunately for Loudon , the governor has recently perished, leaving it in the hands of Urbain Grandier, a well-regarded priest. He’s stirring up a lot of trouble in town among the ladies due to his highly sexy 17th century nature, and he’s making the rounds with a couple high-profile dames. One of whom, Madeline du Brou, he marries in a simple secret ceremony. This enrages a deformed nun named Sister Jeanne, a hunchback who has a deep lust for Grandier, and wants it really bad from him, going so far as to superimpose him on Jesus’ body in her sexual fantasies (!!!). When the government comes in and demands the fortifications be destroyed, Grandier has to keep his wits about him and do what he can to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, this turns out to be nigh impossible when it is revealed that Sister Jeanne has accused Grandier of witchcraft, as well as seduction of her convent, two devastating charges against him. The church begins to turn on the one man who can save the city, but when the church turns on you in the 17th century, there’s really no recovering. And when a mentally unstable inquisitor named Father Pierre Barre comes in to investigate, the entire sad state of affairs devolves into psychotic religious fervor that threatens the entire town of Loudon.

The Devils is an engrossing, terrifying film about power and control in a number of different aspects. Louis just wants to control absolutely without acting, the despotic Cardinal wants control over the Protestants, Sister Jeanne wants control over Grandier’s heart, and Father Barre just wants to the power over the life and death of men. And meanwhile, Grandier, played by a brilliant Oliver Reed in one of his finest performances, is having power constantly taken away from him by forces beyond his control. The world these characters live in is a brutish, fatalistic vision of the past that seeks to damn the audience while it simultaneously damns all of its main characters.

If you need any proof that this film is frightening, simply take into account the fact that this film is set in a time when the Catholic Church held all the lives of the Western world by the throat. If that thought doesn’t chill you to the bone, perhaps you haven’t reckoned that concept long enough. While there are a number of scenes in this film that over-exaggerate the fervor of the day (the ritualistic orgy outside an exorcism, a nun masturbating with the femur of a heretic (!!!)) it’s really, sadly, not all that far off. This is a film where people are punished for ALLEGED WITCHCRAFT with forced enemas and punished for “CONFIRMED” WITCHCRAFT by burning at the stake! It’s easy to look from our ivory tower of relative religious tolerance in 2009’s America and say that faith has a relevant, important place in today’s society, but if the God that speaks to Christians today is the same God that spoke to Christians back then, then maybe we should all take a look at our moral priorities while God gets a forced enema to shut his fucking mouth for a second.

Is that not scary enough for ya? How about some intense Grand Guignol action? This is not only a personal message film by madcap director Ken Russell, but it’s also a visually arresting one that brings back to mind the exotic imagery of his later film, Altered States. It’s a beautifully crafted horror with creepy imagery abounding. Sister Jeanne, played by Vanessa Redgrave in a breakout performance, is creepy all by herself, the way she flirts back and forth with her own twisted demons. The use of skulls and demonic faces, flickering and flashing on the screen, is also a nice touch in some of the transition shots. I love how they framed Father Barre in some of the interrogation scenes; he feels at times to be a demon from another world, a frothing lunatic with a sincere love for pain and death. Ken Russell designed this withe the idea to inflict some real fear, and I think he succeeds; he did with me at least.

There are a number of proclivities to The Devils that makes it a very special movie. It’s dark, it’s piercing, and it has that moral lucidity that can only come from a director who’s not afraid to point a finger and declare everyone to be wrong. And everybody IS wrong in The Devils. You might not even like its hero, Grandier, because Oliver Reed isn’t exactly known for his Downy softness. But you will think nonetheless, and when I think during an intense horror movie, I come up with some of my best ideas. So check it out if you can find it. It’s quite a disturbing film with a number of graphic scenes you won’t soon forget. I give The Devils 9 1/2 charred femur marital aids out of 10! A high recommendation! Click this link if you’re interested in purchasing The Devils on Amazon, one of this movie’s only (legal) outlets!

Gird your loins, everyone! I have The Others coming up tomorrow! Until then!

Eu sempre quis envelhecer e morrer na praia.

Quer dizer, até ver essa cena.

It’s an Interesting World: 2

My dahling friend James in Oz sent me this pic of  Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town, to which I replied: “I have no words,” to which he replied: “You have no idea how often I get that from chicks.”

A lovely picture of Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town, submitted to Australia's ABC News by Ann Young

Another thing that left me at a loss for words recently was a moment at St. John the Divine, a massive unfinished gothic cathedral on the Upper West Side. I love going there when I can, the gardens are beautiful (especially on stunning Fall days when the sun is shining and the air is crisp) and the cathedral is volumous and awe-inspiring. I was sitting in one of the pews thinking about my view on blessings and misfortune (which I think I have gotten reasonably close to formulating), and I looked up to see … none other than Vanessa Redgrave’s face broadcast on several large screens, which I had previously not seen in the darkness of the cathedral. Redgrave, an outstanding actress and matriach of a great acting family, was on a small wooden stage a few metres away, quietly rehearsing a scene from a Joan Didion play that would be performed in the coming week.

Yes, the cathedral is big enough for someone to rehease a play – and be a mega-celebrity in – without you noticing. It was completely random and as a result, absolutely wonderful!

Quote of the week:

“I do believe that you can achieve more if you’re willing to take risks,” Lars said in a recent phone interview. “There’s almost a total correlation between the amount of risk you’re willing to take and then the amount of stuff you then potentially can get done.”

- Lars Rasmussen, one of the brothers responsible for Google Maps and upcoming Google Wave (being hyped as a revolution in online communication) in an interview with CNN.

Video of the week: Barbed Wireless

An animation commissioned by Global Partners & Associates looking at how new technologies are affecting the way Human Rights and Freedom activists must approach rights and freedoms in the digital age.

Let the ethical debates begin: Womb transplants

“Ethicists, medics and feminists have long argued as to whether infertility is a disease or a cultural phenomenon born of a society where women feel they have no value if they cannot reproduce. But illness or otherwise, it is not a fatal disease, and the suggestion that women could undergo major transplant surgery to fulfil their desire for a child may prompt unease.”

Cross-cultural mishap of the week: chalk it down to not watching enough American TV as a child – or maybe the shows I was watching were too dated!

I recently had to write a report that mentioned cellphones a lot, and I got very confused – this may have had something to do with the fact that it was late in the afternoon! First, I used the word mobile phone, because when I was in London that’s all anyone ever used, and in Germany and Switzerland, people used “Mobile” too (or “Handy” which I loved) Then I realized (<– note the z, I’m so confused) that the U.S. uses “cellphone” so I started using that, only to see Microsoft Word annoyingly underline the word every time I used it. I had to turn around to my neighbor, hold up the thing that I talk into wirelessly and ask: “This is a ‘cellphone’ right?” “Yes,” she responded in the kindest way. I explained my dilemma and spelt it out for her. Turns out that in the U.S. they spell it as two words, not one: cell phone. How was I to know?

I think it’s a sign that all those cell [space] phone ads in the U.S. aren’t making their mark on my brain, which is good. In the 14 months I’ve been here I’ve xperienced a myriad of cross-cultural, lingual misunderstandings, much to the surprise of my ego; I had previously thought of myself as quite “worldly”. Sigh, what’s a girl to do?!

Don’t even get me started on when punctuation marks (PERIODS AND COMMAS) go INSIDE quotation marks. I actually have a lengthy Google doc entitled “Grammar” which I’m still trying to get through. I do so wish I’d paid more attention to the more complex titles of grammar at school – God help me if I’m ever asked to differentiate between prepositional phrases, appositive phrases, participial phrases, infinitive phrases, and absolute phrases.

I’m not sure I could do this: The New York Times presents a story on one of the few reporters left to cover executions. What a macabre beat to have! One Reporter’s Lonely Beat, Witnessing Executions

And that’s it for this week’s update. 54 days until I see home again!!

After spending most of the morning checking out VF’s Best Dressed, I began to wander around the site only to find so many more amazing pictures of great fashion, great actors, and great inspirations.

I love this view of Hollywood, don’t you?

Nicole Kidman, Catherine Deneuve, Meryl Streep, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Vanessa Redgrave, Chloë Sevigny, Sophia Loren, and Penélope Cruz, photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the cover of the April 2001 Hollywood Issue.

Sischy writes, “Cruz isn’t cookie-cutter pretty—she even has a bit of a schnoz—but her unusual features come together in a memorable aria of real beauty.” Photographed in Segovia, Spain, by Annie Leibovitz for the September 2001 issue.

Photographed in Segovia, Spain, by Annie Leibovitz for the September 2001 issue.

Shakira

Selma Blair, photographed by Norman Jean Roy at the El Mirage Dry Lake Bed, near Los Angeles, for the October 2008 issue. Read “Letting Herself Go,” by Jim Windolf. Styled by Jessica Diehl.

Jessica Biel, photographed by Norman Jean Roy in Beverly Hills for the September 2006 issue. Styled by Deda Coben.

Scarlett Johansson, photographed by Annie Leibovitz at Pfeiffer Beach, in Big Sur, California, for the August 2005 issue. Styled by Lori Goldstein.

Isabel Lucas, VF June 2009

Star Trek star Chris Pine, photographed by Mark Seliger at Hinano Cafe, in Venice Beach, California, for the May 2009 issue. Read “To Boldly Star,” by Krista Smith. Styled by David Thomas.

James Franco, photographed by Doug Inglish for the December 2008 issue. Read “Franco cum Laude,” by David Kamp. Styled by Sam Broekema.

Tony Bennett and friends, photographed by Annie Leibovitz at the Loew’s Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey, for the August 2006 issue. Styled by Wendy Schecter.

APRIL 1995: “HOLLYWOOD HIGHEST—THE CLASS OF 2000” Jennifer Jason Leigh, Uma Thurman, Nicole Kidman, Patricia Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julianne Moore, Angela Bassett, and Sandra Bullock.

APRIL 1996: “BOYS’ TOWN” Tim Roth, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Rapaport, Stephen Dorff, Johnathon Schaech, David Arquette, Will Smith, and Skeet Ulrich.

APRIL 1997: “THE NEXT WAVE” Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Claire Danes, Renée Zellweger, Minnie Driver, Alison Elliott, Jada Pinkett, Jennifer Lopez, Charlize Theron, and Fairuza Balk.

APRIL 1998: “THE HOT NEXT WAVE” Joaquin Phoenix, Vince Vaughn, Natalie Portman, Djimon Hounsou, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Claire Forlani, Gretchen Mol, Christina Ricci, Ed Furlong, and Rufus Sewell.

APRIL 1999: “NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK” Adrien Brody, Thandie Newton, Monica Potter, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Stiles, Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Polley, Norman Reedus, Anna Friel, Omar Epps, Kate Hudson, Vinessa Shaw, and Barry Pepper.

APRIL 2003: “ALPHA LIST” Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Ewan McGregor, and Matt Damon.

APRIL 2004: “SEND IN THE GOWNS” Julianne Moore, Jennifer Connelly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts, Salma Hayek, Jennifer Aniston, Kirsten Dunst, Diane Lane, Lucy Liu, Hilary Swank, Alison Lohman, Scarlett Johansson, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

MARCH 2005: “NOT SO DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES” Uma Thurman, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Claire Danes, Scarlett Johansson, Rosario Dawson, Ziyi Zhang, Kerry Washington, Kate Bosworth, and Sienna Miller.

// Israel/Palestine: Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle of the direct actions of the AAtW and Palestinians escalate. Uri Gordon’s Anarchy Alive on video. (Plus ZMag review.) Another friend for the Palestinian cause: Hungary’s fascist Jobbik party. The first “anti-Zionist” anti-war movement.

// Boycott news (for @ndy): Ken Loach vs Israeli film. Will they boycott antibiotics? Vanessa Redgrave won’t stand for the anti-Israel boycott. It is hard to believe that someone as bright as Naomi Klein gets it wrong so many times. Whom does this boycott help?

// Germany: The DDR’s Nazi heritage. The “Jamaica coalition”: the Greens align with the Right in Saarland. Nazi garden gnome “art”. Porsche’s slave labourers. Momo and the grey men: structural antisemitism in children’s books?

// Baader-Meinhof: On Hitchens and Baader-Meinhof: Red or brown? Who cares. (More from Terry Glavin, linking to J Carter Wood, who links to Andrew Hammel, who links to Paul Hockenos).

// US: Alison Weir of CounterPunch continues to promote blood libel. Lyndon LaRouche zombies sing.

// UK: Remember Johanna Kaschka? The ex-Baader Meinhof fellow traveller, later connected to George Galloway and now a Tory and embroiled in a libel case against Labour bloggers? Oh, and also a theorist of bizarre conspiracies involving Masons and the New World Order? Read Dave Osler and Lucy Lips for an update. Also: The International Marxist Group and the morality of the Brighton bombing. Ken and Hamas.

// Austria: Praising Haider.

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) UK, dir. Tony Richardson. Color/35mm/Panavision.

I recently saw this film because it features the two stars of my favorite film Blow-Up, David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.  Furthermore, it has animated sequences by the incredible Richard Williams, who I’m a big fan of.  I was not disappointed.  It’s a solid war film and satire with some great animation and acting.    I’m mostly going to discuss these aspects rather than going for my usual full review.

The visuals are great.  This is a nicely-shot film, making full epic use of the widescreen frame in many shots.  Secondly, the animated visuals are fantastic.  They make up the opening credits as well as several transitional scenes, all done entirely in the style of 1800s political cartoons and engravings.  It’s really something special.  Here’s some images to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

View all the images in an album here: http://img205.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=brig6.jpg

See what I mean? Pretty cool, eh?

As for the close-ups in that image set, those are just there to show you how different Redgrave and Hemmings look from their roles in other films. That just goes to show the power of good costuming and make-up, I suppose.
It’s not that great a film to be honest, but the animation segments and visuals do make it worth watching at least once. The film is rather long and jumps around – it can’t really decide on its tone. Yes, I don’t have much to say here. Nothing constructive, anyway. I just wanted to share some amazing images from this film, mostly.

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFIkxAQCIM0 (it’s a pretty lame trailer, and it’s way too long. It barely shows any of the animated sequences!)
To make up for the trailer’s lack of awesome animation, here’s the opening credits of the film:

OUR TOWN: Currently on screen as Graham Abbey’s ex in the crackerjack CBC thriller The Border, Julie Stewart has made some interesting choices since

STEWART: on stage tonight

her CTV Cold Squad series was detoured by CBS. She’s currently on stage here at the Factory Theatre starring in Brad Fraser’s rave-winning new comedy True Love Lies. Be warned: Fraser’s new eyebrow-raiser closes in two weeks, so order those tickets now … writer-actor-vintner Dan Aykroyd and his pop Peter Aykroyd, a father-and-son duo to celebrate, sit down with Indigo chief Heather Reissman tonight at 7 pm at the Manulife store to discuss Aykroyd Sr.’s new book, A History Of Ghosts. Sounds like a sensational gift for Hallo’een … and director Ruba Nadda told audiences at the opening of Cairo Time here

AYKROYD: at Indigo tonight

last weekend that shooting the romantic drama in Egypt was a logistical nightmare, made even more excruciating by the extreme heat. “Much of the time when we were shooting,” she recalled with a grimace, “it was 50C.”  However, she added, while the rest of the cast sweltered under a relentless sun, the film’s star Patricia Clarkson continued to remain calm, collected and, well, almost cool. “Patricia is a southerner, born in New Orleans,” Ms Nadda explained admiringly. “The woman doesn’t perspire!”

PRIVACY POLICY: During her visit to T.O. last week Meryl Streep said she has always strived to keep her private life private. “I just have never been

CLARKSON: no sweat

comfortable using my children as little props to make me interesting or darling or whatever I’m supposed to be,” she told interviewer Johanna Schneller. Streep, who is married to sculptor Don Gummer, said she’s unhappy when journalists ask her to talk about him. “Don doesn’t want me to talk about him in a ladies magazine, you know. He’s a serious artist who has a life that doesn’t deserve to be reduced to a caption.”

La Streep is en route to Rome where she will be awarded the Marcus Aurelius award for lifetime achievement at the fourth annual Rome Film Festival. She’ll

STREEP: off to Rome

participate in an onstage conversation about her career spanning back to her very first film, 1977’s Julia. Jane Fonda was already cast as Lillian Hellman when legendary director Fred Zinneman flew Streep to London to test for the title role. When he gave it to Vanessa Redgrave instead, he asked Streep if she would be willing to play one of the smaller roles. “And of course I would have been willing to do their laundry!” And the rest, as they say, is history.  Previous recipients of the Marcus Aurelius award include Al Pacino and Sean Connery, and Czech director Milos Forman is president of the six-member jury. The festival, also known as the Rome Film Feast, opens tonight.

IT’S NOT ALL THAT FUNNY TO HIM: Monty Python alumnus-cum-laude John Cleese, back on the boards in a blatantly autobiographical one-man show,

CLEESE: on tour

calls his new theatrical venture his “How to Finance Your Divorce Tour.” He says he needs money because of the expensive divorce settlement with Alyce Eichelberger – but is he bitter? Well, okay, maybe a little. “I’m paying $20 million to a woman I believe is the love child of Bernie Madoff and Heather Mills!” snorts the 70-year-old funnyman. “Imagine how much I would have had to pay if Alyce had contributed anything to the relationship – such as children or a conversation!”

Ouch!

TOMORROW:

Roseanne’s TV sibling returns to the Great White Way.

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This week on An Alan Smithee Podcast, we witness Antonioni’s jaunt through hipster London of the swingin’ 60s for a day in the life of a man turning obsessive in Blowup. So much is seen and not heard in this film about photography that a roving car of mimes – easily the scariest image in any movie we’ve seen yet – bookends the story. Look for The Yardbirds amidst dolly birds like Vanessa Redgrave and you’ll have to bring your own meaning to this dreamlike tale of ennui and paranoia.

Then for a taste of bad we sup runoff from the 80s buddy comedy action movie boom, with a near-future chaser. Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man was in no way endorsed by either property, but nobody tells Harley Davidson and Marlboro what they name themselves! The homosexual chemistry is offset a bit by the encroaching political correctness of the 90s, fortunately the script is dumb enough to compensate. Besides, you’re watching a cowboy and a biker. Don Johnson stars as Marlboro and Mickey Rourke as Harley, in the role which kicked off his self-identified period of extreme self loathing!

NEXT WEEK: NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957, JACQUES TOURNEUR) & A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE (1985, JACK SHOLDER)