Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)

To celebrate the return of classic cult TV series Twin Peaks to our screens, there was a showing of the film sequel Fire Walk With Me last weekend in Cardiff, which Matt and I attended.

For those who don't know, Twin Peaks is a seminal piece of 1990s TV. Based in the titular Washington town, a quirky FBI agent arrives to investigate the murder of Laura Palmer- the high school homecoming queen- whose body has been found wrapped in plastic by a river. As Agent Cooper investigates, he finds that the town and its people have more than their fair share of secrets... Twin Peaks ran for two seasons (one very good one and one not so good one) and finished in 1991, with Fire Walk With Me released in cinemas a year later. Famously booed when it was showed at the Cannes Film Festival, it went on to received very mixed critical reaction and fared badly at the US box office, although bizarrely found popularity in Japan.

Essentially a prequel to the TV show, Fire Walk With Me starts with a young woman- Teresa Banks- being found dead, wrapped in plastic. FBI agent Chester Desmond (Chris Isaak) travels to Deer Meadow to investigate her death. However, during the investigation, Desmond mysteriously disappears and it falls to FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) to continue the investigation. A year on from Teresa's murder, the action moves to Twin Peaks where we then see the last seven days  in Laura Palmer's life.

Now, I hadn't seen Fire Walk With Me since the mid-1990s, so in some ways it felt like I was watching the film for the first time (although things did start coming back to me as I watched). I basically had two thoughts in my head after the film finished. First one: wow, that was even more weird than I remembered. Second one: bloody hell, David Lynch really put Sheryl Lee through the wringer, didn't he?

On the first point, Lynch has always had an eye for the surreal as anyone who has seen his back catalogue (such as Eraserhead, Blue Velvet or Wild At Heart) can attest. I mean, there's a fair bit of weirdness in Twin Peaks itself- with characters such as the Log Lady and the Man From Another Place- but in Fire Walk With Me, it feels amped up to eleven. Starting off with Lil- who gives Desmond some clues to the case via interpretive dance- and ending with the weirdness of the Black Lodge, there's a lot of very strange shit going on.

But behind the strange visuals, there's a palpably tragic story being told which leads me on to the second point; Sheryl Lee's performance is just superb and absolutely heartbreaking. Laura is a beautiful, talented young woman who- from the outside- seems to have it all, but inside is suffering. As the story continues and we continue to slide to the inevitable ending, Laura becomes more and more lost. Lee must spend about 70% of the film crying, with the other 20% doing coke and the last 10% topless. It's a committed and very powerful performance. Lee was rightly nominated for Best Actress in the 1993 Independent Spirit Awards and Saturn Awards for her role. 

The rest of the cast all do very well, especially Moira Kelly who was cast as Laura's friend Donna Hayward after original cast member Lara Flynn Boyle was unavailable due to other filming commitments. Donna is ostensibly a good girl but tempted to follow Laura into some dark places. Ray Wise is also superb as Laura's father Leland, a man with a few secrets of his own. Wise has a gloriously expressive face and can change from caring and lovely to almost crazed in a moment. There's a lovely turn by Miguel Ferrer, as Agent Rosenfeld, adding a little brevity and lightness to proceedings (something which is in short supply in Fire Walk With Me) whilst Kiefer Sutherland is strangely fitting as Desmond's partner Sam Stanley. 

Kyle MacLachlan originally declined to appear in the film (due to a fear of being typecast) but later agreed to a small role, which is why Lynch and co-writer Robert Engels created the character of Chester Desmond for the first part of the film. Chris Isaak is perfectly fine in the role, but Desmond does come off as a poor facsimile for Cooper. Harry Dean Stanton gives a fine supporting turn as the irascible Carl Rodd, manager of the trailer park where Teresa lived, and gets a line which I think sums up Fire Walk With Me perfectly: 'Goddamn, these people are confusing.'

At the screening, they also showed The Missing Pieces, a selection of deleted and extended scenes from Fire Walk With Me. Clocking in at about 90 minutes, several scenes don't add much to the main storyline, although they include some of the characters from the TV show- such as Deputy Andy Brennan, dispatcher Lucy Moran and lumber mill owner Jocelyn Packard- and add some humour, but there are other scenes which really should have been added to the original film (especially a few at the very end which will prove important to the revived series). At least Lynch hasn't decided to go all Ridley Scott/George Lucas and keep re-releasing different versions of the film with these bits added.

Fire Walk With Me is a complete mindtrip. If you're at all unfamiliar with the world of Twin Peaks, don't use this as your way in. Even though it's a prequel to the events of the show, you need to have watched the show to understand a lot of what's happening, although that won't guarantee you'll understand everything; I still have no clue what the whole thing with David Bowie's Agent Jeffries is about! It's beautifully shot- kudos to cinematographer Ron Garcia- and Angelo Badalamenti's superb, sublime score is the cherry (pie) on top. It's bleak, unremitting, yet powerful and absorbing; very much a David Lynch film. 

Tez

Clue (1985)

If I was ever stranded on a desert island with a TV/DVD player and only eight movies, Clue would definitely be one of them. Recently celebrating its 30th anniversary (it was released in America on 13th December 1985), it's a raucous, endlessly quotable, comedy murder mystery. Clue was the first film to be based on a board-game. There have been others since, but Clue is the original and best. 

Directed and written by Jonathan Lynn (from a story by Lynn and John Landis), it takes the basis of the board-game as the jumping-off point. Six people- Mrs White, Mrs Peacock, Miss Scarlet, Mr Green, Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum- are invited to Hill House for dinner, where they meet the butler Wadsworth and the maid Yvette. Their host Mr Boddy arrives and announces he has been blackmailing them all. The six are given weapons and told to kill Wadsworth - however, it's not the butler who dies, but Mr Boddy. But who killed him, where, and with what? It's not too long before the body count starts to rise and the utter absurdity of the situation reaches boiling point. 

A point of clarification here: the film is based on the American version of the game, hence the name Clue (rather than Cluedo). It is for this reason that Michael McKean's character is Mr Green, not Reverend Green, the victim is Mr Boddy (rather than Dr. Black) and one of the weapons is the wrench and not the spanner. Incidentally, the house in the film is named after producer Debra Hill.

Clue plays like an Agatha Christie novel told through the filter of a 1940s screwball comedy. Performance-wise, it's solid across the board. For me, this is Tim Curry's second best film role (I'm sorry, but his performance in The Rocky Horror Picture Show will always be his best to me) and he is just superb as Wadsworth: dry, sarcastic, unflappable (at least to start with). It was very nearly a different story as both Leonard Rossiter (Rising Damp) and Rowan Atkinson were originally considered for the role before Lynn- who had known Curry for years- personally asked him on board. 

Eileen Brennan is great as Mrs Peacock, starting off as relatively normal and chatty before becoming more and more unhinged as the night goes on. Lesley Ann Warren (a late replacement for Carrie Fisher) vamps it up something rotten as the sultry Miss Scarlet, whilst Madeline Kahn threatens to add petty larceny to a possible murder charge with her performance as Mrs White almost stealing the entire show. Michael McKean's performance as Mr Green is hilarious; his cries of 'I didn't do it' getting more and more shrill as the bodies start to mount up. Martin Mull gives a dignified air to Colonel Mustard, even in the mounting absurdity around him, whilst Christopher Lloyd's thoughtful Professor Plum rounds the main cast off with style. 

Lynn's script absolutely crackles with hilarious one-liners and delicious non sequiturs. It has been known for a group of my friends to spend many an inebriated- and not so inebriated- night quoting from the film. I have too many favourites to list them all- and several of the best ones run the risk of spoiling main plot points- but it's a rare script where almost every line is a good one. Madeline Kahn gets some of the best lines and I do have to mention her sublime ad-lib of 'I hated her... so much... flames... flames on the side of my face...' There's also a lot of great visual comedy as well, some very black comedy involving a few of the dead bodies and- the coup de grace- the final fifteen minutes of the film where Wadsworth explains the solution which has the entire cast running from room to room. 

One of the things most people know about Clue is its ending. Or, rather, endings. Yep, the movie has three different endings. If you watch it on DVD, all three endings are played one after the other (with interstitial cards between). However, you also have the option of watching one of the endings picked at random. When shown in cinemas, one ending were randomly distributed so it wasn't ever sure exactly who was doing it (something that critics had a particular beef for). For my money, the third and final ending is a much more satisfying one (which actually makes sense). 

On first release, the film didn't get particularly good reviews- Roger Ebert said 'Fun... is in short supply' whilst New York Times critic Janet Maslin claimed the film had 'little genuine wit'. It makes me wonder what film they were watching. It didn't do well at the box office either (making $14.6 million on a budget of $15 million). Considered a bit of a flop, it was destined to be an embarrassing little blot on the copy books of all involved, good only for late-night TV reruns and home video. However, in these formats- and with all three endings together- the film started to garner some interest and, through word of mouth, it is now considered a bona fide cult classic.

Clue is a Marmite film. People either love it or hate it. Well, I love it. It's got a dream cast. It's fun, and it's funny. Very funny. I've seen the film twenty times or more and I smile every time. Peter Bogdanovich once said 'the only true test of a movie is time'. Well, Clue passes that test with flying colours. Thirty years after its release, it's still being quoted and enjoyed, and rightly so.

Tez

For more information about Clue, take a look at this brilliant Buzzfeed article by Adam B. Vary and also check out Cluedofan.com for all things Clue and Cluedo.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Forty years ago today saw the UK premiere of a film that is a bona fide cult classic. A film that revamped the midnight matinee. A film that has a very deep and personal meaning for me. That film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

A tribute to the sci-fi and horror B-movies of the 1940s and 1950s, the film sees newly-engaged, clean-cut, all-American couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss take a road trip to see a former tutor, only to suffer a blow-out on the way. In the pouring down rain, they trek to an old castle, home to the eccentric Dr Frank-n-Furter and his equally eccentric coterie of servants, groupies and conventionalists. It is a night Brad and Janet will remember for a very long time...

The Rocky Horror Show started life as a stage musical, written by Richard O'Brien and directed by Jim Sharman, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 19th June 1973. The original London cast included Julie Covington, Christopher Malcolm, Tim Curry, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, 'Little' Nell Campbell, Rayner Bourton and Jonathan Adams. American producer Lou Adler saw the show in the winter of 1973 and immediately purchased the U.S. theatrical rights, with the US premiere taking place at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles in 1974. The film deal followed shortly afterwards.

Sharman directed and Curry, O'Brien, Quinn and Campbell reprised their stage roles as Dr Frank n Furter, Riff-Raff, Magenta and Columbia. Jonathan Adams, who played the Narrator onstage in London, was cast as Dr Everett Scott whilst Meat Loaf (who'd been part of the Roxy cast) was cast in the role of Eddie the delivery boy. Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon took the roles of Brad and Janet and Charles Gray played the Narrator.

However, the film almost had a very different look to it with Mick Jagger playing Frank, Steve Martin playing Brad and- something that would have been utterly wonderful- Vincent Price as the Narrator! 

The film was shot at Bray Studios with location shooting at Oakley Court in Berkshire, an old country house that had been used in Hammer horror films such as The Brides Of Dracula and The Plague Of The Zombies (and which is now a luxury hotel). However, at the time, Oakley Court was a bit run down, leaking and damp. In an often-repeated story, Susan Sarandon caught pneumonia whilst filming there.

The film opens with 'Science Fiction Double Feature' which name-checks everything from King Kong to The Day The Earth Stood Still, Dana Andrews to Leo G. Carroll. On stage, the song is performed by an old-style cinema usherette (usually played by the same actress who plays Magenta). For the film, it is sung by a disembodied pair of bright red lips which have become one of the film's most iconic images (inspired by the surrealist artist Man Ray). The lips belong to Patricia Quinn, but the voice is that of Richard O'Brien.

One of the things everybody knows from The Rocky Horror Show (aside from the cross-dressing) is the Time Warp. Originally added to the stage show to pad out a modest running time of 40 minutes, the Time Warp has become something done at every school disco, birthday party or wedding reception. Even if people don't know it's originally from Rocky Horror, everybody knows the dance. 

In the film, it forms a brilliant prelude to Frank's first entrance and there's something really quite joyful in seeing Charles Gray's buttoned-up Narrator become more and more enthusiastic as it goes on:


And for added strangeness, here's the late, great Christopher Lee telling us how to do The Time Warp:

 

This was the first film for several cast members, including Tim Curry and, for a time, he became defined as Frank-n-Furter, something he wasn't entirely comfortable with. Despite an impressive filmography, including things such as Legend, Clue, IT and Muppet Treasure Island, for many people he will always be Frank. 

Quinn, O'Brien, Campbell and Gray also appeared together in Shock Treatment, the 1981 sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show which features Brad and Janet (now played by Cliff de Young and Jessica Harper) as contestants on a twisted game show. 

Whilst the original cinema run of The Rocky Horror Picture Show didn't do too well, it became a classic on the midnight matinee circuit with shadow casts performing along with the film, the encouragement of callbacks and the throwing of various items (toilet roll, rice, hotdogs). The first midnight showing was held on April Fools' Day 1976 at the Waverly Theatre in New York. It is a truly indescribable feeling to be sat in a cinema with a couple of hundred people- mostly dressed up- shouting various obscenities at the screen as the film trundles on.

In 2005, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was selected by the US Library of Congress for preservation in the US National Film Registry. This honour is given to films considered 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

* * *

I wrote at the start that The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a very deep and personal meaning for me. 

I first saw the film during the summer of 1995 at a time in my life when I was still figuring out who I was. Sitting in my friend's nan's front room one hot August day to watch the film is one of my abiding memories of that summer. The film was campy, frothy, funny and... dare I say it? sexy. And not just the rippling muscles of Peter Hinwood either; there is something achingly sexy about Tim Curry (maybe that's just me?) Anyway, it was a seminal moment for me. Things weren't rigid, defined in black and white. There could be shades of grey. You could be attracted to whoever you were attracted to and that was OK. You weren't wrong or broken or needing to be fixed. 

For someone with major body confidence issues and a crippling lack of self-esteem, the film and the stage show have been a real lifesaver. By going to see the show or going to a midnight matinee of the film, you enter a place where it doesn't matter what you are or what you look like; you can embrace yourself fully in whatever way that manifests itself and nobody else would criticise or belittle you for it. I'm a big lad and wouldn't ever dream of going out in just a pair of gold lame underwear but I have seen people bigger than me who have and there's been no bullying, no cat-calling, just support and friendship for those few hours. 

Ultimately, the film's central philosophy of 'don't dream it, be it' is not a bad way to live your life. However, sometimes it's easier said than done and it's something that I still struggle with. But I'm trying to live my life how I want to live it, trying to be it instead of just dreaming it. And I have this wonderfully eccentric, camp and glorious film to thank for showing me the way.

Tez


On Thursday September 17th 2015, there will be a live cinema broadcast of The Rocky Horror Show from London's Playhouse Theatre in aid of Amnesty International. David Bedella, Ben Forster and Haley Flaherty will take the roles of Frank, Brad and Janet respectively whilst Richard O'Brien, Stephen Fry, Emma Bunton and Mel Giedroyc will share the role of the Narrator. Tickets for this screening can be purchased here.

Withnail & I (1986)

I was deeply saddened at the death of Richard Griffiths, who sadly passed away at the end of March at the age of 65.

Griffiths was an accomplished stage actor, originating the role of Hector in Alan Bennett's The History Boys- for which he won an Olivier Award and a Tony for Best Actor- and appearing in The Sunshine Boys (opposite Danny DeVito) and Equus (with Daniel Radcliffe). On television, he appeared as Henry Crabbe in Pie In The Sky for five series and made guest appearances in The Vicar Of Dibley, Minder and Bergerac. On film, he took roles in films as diverse at The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Superman II (1980), The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell Of Fear (1991), Stage Beauty (2004) and the film adaptation of The History Boys (2006). However, I think it's fair to say that Griffiths' film career can be defined by two roles: that of the snobbish Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter franchise and as the lascivious Uncle Monty in Withnail & I.

Withnail & I is a true British cult classic. Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, it chronicles the misadventures of two dissolute actors (played by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann) as they 'go on holiday by mistake'. Fed up of London, Withnail (Grant) sweet-talks his Uncle Monty (Griffiths) into letting them stay at his holiday cottage in Penrith. However, they have to contend with randy bulls and belligerent poachers... not to mention a surprise visit from Uncle Monty.

This was Richard E. Grant's first film role. Withnail (as written) is a dream character to play- pompous, flighty, indignant, theatrical and larger-than-life- and Grant's performance is truly memorable, railing against life's injustices and ejecting the eminently quotable dialogue with utter panache. Indeed, it was Grant's performance of the line 'FORK IT' which got him the role. Withnail is one of cinema's greatest and best-known drinkers but, famously, Grant is teetotal- only drinking once at the behest of Robinson and McGann so he could get an idea of what it felt like. Unsurprisingly, not a pleasant experience. There is a drinking game that can be played, where you match the characters drink for drink, but it's probably not advised (especially the lighter fluid!)

When you have a character as outrageous as Withnail, you need a more introspective counterbalance to stop things from going too far. McGann is indeed that balance as the anxious 'I' (known as Marwood in the published script; his surname can be seen briefly on the telegram delivered to Crow Crag). He provides the grounding to Withnail's fancifulness, but is not a boring cipher of a character. Indeed, his progression from 'resting actor' to 'leading man' shows the shift of the film from comedy to something more deep. The final scenes in Regents Park with Withnail and Marwood, now hair cut and suit worn, have a delicate poignancy to them.

Finally, the performance by Richard Griffiths as camp Uncle Monty is a pure delight from start to finish. Much like Grant's performance, Griffiths seems to delight in the dialogue, lines like 'as a youth, I used to weep in butchers' shops' dripping like honey from his mouth. Whilst Monty's attraction to Marwood is initially played for laughs, his unexpected gatecrashing of their holiday combined with an attempt to force himself on Marwood again switches the tone of the film from comedy to drama. There's an unexpected tenderness and sadness in Monty's plea for Marwood to 'give in' to his urges, reflecting the problems that gay men faced in the 1960s (homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1967). It's a truly bravura performance.

Withnail & I is a rarity in film in that every role is cast perfectly. Ralph Brown is hilarious as the philosophical Danny the Dealer and Michael Elphick is greatly menacing as Jake the poacher. Even minor roles- such as the belligerent Irishman who calls Marwood a 'ponce' or the uptight tea shop proprietor in Penrith- are brilliantly done. The tonal shift from broad comedy to drama is handled well; it's not a jarring turn from one to the other. From Monty's moving plea to Marwood, through to Danny's claim that 'the greatest decade in the history of mankind is over. And as Presuming Ed here has so consistently pointed out, we have failed to paint it black', the film ends with the feeling of an irrevocable change; Marwood has moved on from the shambolic life of Camden and things will not be the same again. It can easily be read as a metaphor for the fin-de-siecle feelings that accompanied the end of the 1960s.

If you've never seen this film, seek it out and watch it. If you have, it's certainly worth rewatching as a fitting tribute to the late, great Richard Griffiths who will be much missed.

Tez

Masters Of The Universe (1987)

Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. It can often lead to rose-tinting, to believing something is better than it is because of the emotional ties you have to it. A case in point: this evening, I sat down to watch Masters Of The Universe, a film I haven't seen for twenty years or more. As a child, I loved this film; I even had the Panini sticker album of it. I have a certain image in my head of the film as I remember it from childhood. Was it going to live up to it?

Well, yes and no.

Billy Barty (Gwildor)

Dolph Lundgren (He-Man)

Yes, because it's still the same, fun, knockaround, good-vs-evil smackdown I remember from childhood. There's no real point trying to dissect the film, to look for deeper themes and meaning; it is what it is. A movie based on action figures. If you can't accept it for this, you really won't get on with it. Luckily, I can, so I do. Dolph Lundgren looks like he's been carved out of mahogany (and gives a performance to match); Frank Langella's a wonderfully arch Skeletor, really thesp-ing it up; Billy Barty is great as Gwildor, the Thenorian locksmith whose Cosmic Key causes the fight for Eternia to end up on Earth (although there's still a part of me that wishes they could have found a way for Orko to work); Meg Foster gives a quietly sinister performance as Evil-Lyn. I'd even forgotten about Courteney Cox and Robert Duncan McNeill appearing in it; it's weird to see them both looking so young.

So, where does the no come in?

Frank Langella (Skeletor)

Meg Foster (Evil-Lyn)

Technically, it's very dated- very, very 80s (Kevin thinks the Cosmic Key is a new form of Japanese synthesiser)- and a lot of the film hasn't aged well. Some of the culture-shock comedy that ensues when the Eternians end up on Earth is quite hit and miss. The fight sequences lack punch (especially the final showdown between He-Man and Skeletor, which looks like it was just shot against a light which changes colour). Some of the visual effects really do show their age- Blade's electro-whip, for instance and Skeletor's transformation (complete with laser-firing eyes).  That said, there are a couple of the make-up jobs which really have stood up well: there's a real flexibility to the Skeletor make-up which means Langella can really emote and enunciate and it gets picked up beneath the latex. 

So, all in all, looking back on it from an adult perspective, the film is dated and a little cheap-looking (despite the $22m budget). But it's still a lot of fun- and that's what's important.

Tez 

The Movies Of John Waters

It's fair to say that there's no film maker quite like John Waters. Dubbed 'The Pope of Trash', Waters once stated that he would consider someone throwing up in one of his movies to be equivalent to a standing ovation and- given some of the outrageous acts in some of his movies- that seems quite likely. Waters' films shock, challenge and amuse in equal measures.

He began making films in his native Baltimore back in the 1960s, starting with shorts such as Hag In A Black Leather Jacket, Roman Candles and Eat Your Makeup, before trying out longer films- which he refers to as his 'atrocities'- with Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs. These early films feature a group of actors- amongst them Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Cookie Mueller, Channing Wilroy, Susan Lowe and drag actor Divine (the pseudonym of Harris Glenn Milstead)-  who would become known as the Dreamlanders and many of whom would appear in multiple Waters movies.

It is 1972's Pink Flamingos which made Waters' name. This really is a film that needs to be seen to be believed although, as far as I know, it's not commercially available in the UK (I saw it on an import copy). It's the story of the conflict between Babs Johnson (Divine) and her dysfunctional family- travelling companion Cotton (Mary Vivian Pearce), chicken-loving son Crackers (Danny Mills) and egg-obsessed Mama Edie (Edith Massey)- and Connie and Raymond Marble (Mink Stole and David Lochary) for the title of 'The Filthiest Person Alive'. Illegal baby-farming, a bowel movement sent through the mail and a singing anus all pale in comparison with the infamous final scene of Divine eating fresh dog faeces.

In 1974's Female Trouble, Divine plays tearaway teen Dawn Davenport who runs away from home one Christmas after not getting her cha-cha heels and falls pregnant. She raises her daughter Taffy (Mink Stole) in a dysfunctional manner and marries hairstylist Gator (Michael Potter), much to the disgust of his Aunt Ida (Edith Massey) who would rather he was gay. Gator's bosses- Donald and Donna Dasher (David Lochary and Mary Vivian Pearce)- believe that crime equals beauty and encourages Dawn in her criminality. This leads to murder, disfigurement and a grown woman confined in an oversized bird cage. It's a truly bizarre film but, if you just go with it, it's enjoyable (with Massey's hysterical performance a true delight). This would be David Lochary's last film with Waters- due to Lochary's spiralling drug use, he would not appear in Waters' next film and died in 1977.

The opening ten minutes of Desperate Living (1977) is undoubtedly one of the most insane starts to a film. Seeing Mink Stole's hysteria rising to a neurotic crescendo in an eminently-quotable frenzy is just brilliant. Housewife Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) and her maid Grizelda (Jean Hill) run away after Peggy's husband is killed by Grizelda sitting on him. An encounter with a perverted policeman leads the two criminals to Mortville, a shantytown for criminals and undesirables, ruled by the evil Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey) and her daughter Princess Coo-Coo (Mary Vivian Pearce). The inhabitants of the town conspire to overthrow Carlotta but don't count on Peggy switching sides. In my opinion, the rest of the film doesn't quite match the brilliance of the first ten minutes but it's still got some marvellous parts to it. Divine was unavailable due to touring commitments.

Not only is Polyester (1981) an elegant parody of the 'women's pictures' popularised by Douglas Sirk, it also has a gimmick worthy of William Castle's B-movies: Odorama. Scratch-and-sniff cards were distributed to the audience and a number would flash on screen to indicate which panel to scratch next. Downtrodden housewife Francine Fishpaw (Divine) has a keen sense of smell and a troubled life- her husband is having an affair with his secretary (Mink Stole); her children are delinquents and her mother is robbing her blind. Francine's only support comes from her friend Cuddles (Edith Massey). Various tragedies befall Francine- she divorces Elmer and falls into alcoholism, her son is arrested and her daughter taken to a Catholic home for unwed mothers. Into this darkness comes a ray of light- Todd Tomorrow (former teen idol Tab Hunter). But can he be trusted? The final twenty minutes or so fall into absolute mayhem with a body count worthy of a Tarantino movie. This was the first Waters film to get an R rating by the MPAA and was the last film to feature Edith Massey who died in 1984.

Hairspray (1988) is probably Waters' most main-stream and 'commercial' film but there's still a cheerfully anarchic streak to it with its overarching theme of racial integration and equality in the 1960s. Pleasantly plump teenager Tracey Turnblad (Ricki Lake) wants to dance on The Corny Collins Show and fulfils her dream. The show is racially segregated and Tracey, along with her friends, seeks to break down those barriers. This is Divine's last film for Waters as he sadly passed away in 1988. Waters' next film Cry-Baby (1990) is a send-up of teen musicals such as Grease. Set in the 1950s, it tells the story of delinquent teen Wade Walker (Johnny Depp) and good girl Allison Vernon-Williams (Amy Locane) as they fall in love. This is the first of Waters' films in which he cast Patricia Hearst, who would go on to be a regular collaborator.

Serial Mom (1994) is probably my favourite of Waters' films. Beverley Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) is a perfect housewife and mother... who also has a penchant for making obscene phonecalls and killing anyone who upsets or inconveniences her family in any way. Critical teachers, unfaithful boyfriends and complaining dental patients all face Beverley's wrath. It's a delicious and extremely black comedy and Turner absolutely plays it to the hilt. Mink Stole almost steals the show as harassed neighbour Dottie Hinkle, the target of Beverley's phonecalls. There is some real inventiveness to some of the death scenes- seeing a woman getting battered to death by a cooked leg of lamb to the overture from Annie is a particular highlight.

Waters' next two films both use various art-forms as their starting-point: Pecker (1998) tells the story of a Baltimore sandwich shop employee (Edward Furlong) who becomes the next big thing in the art world when his photographs of his weird family becomes famous and Cecil B. Demented (2000) features Stephen Dorff as a crazy film director who kidnaps A-list Hollywood actress Honey Whitlock (Melanie Griffith) to appear in his underground film.

Waters' most recent film is 2004's A Dirty Shame, an eye-watering catalogue of sexual perversity. Repressed housewife Sylvia Stickles (Tracey Ullmann) gets a knock on the head which untaps a voracious sexual appetite. She meets Ray-Ray (Johnny Knoxville) who initiates her into the secret fetish cult that lies beneath the pristine lawns of her neighbourhood, much to the disgust of her mother Big Ethel (Suzanne Sullivan) and Ethel's friend Marge (Mink Stole). Despite being a mainstream film, it has the same outsider feel as his early work and is certainly not one for the faint-hearted.

After all this, where next for Waters? Well, he has had long-gestating plans to make a Christmas movie for kids under the working title Fruitcake. Having read this article, you could have major misgivings about a John Waters kids’ movie but- if it does get made- you can bet I’ll be in line to see it.

Tez

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962)

Currently on tour around the country is a wonderful play called Bette And Joan, which shows the intense rivalry between screen greats Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as they filmed the 1962 classic horror-thriller What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? which was the only time the two screen legends worked together. Infamous for the backstage tricks the two actresses played on each other, the film is a brilliant, campy concoction, full of eminently quotable lines and brimful of great performances. 

The plot is straightforward: former child star 'Baby' Jane Hudson (Davis) and her actress sister Blanche (Crawford)  live together in a decaying Hollywood mansion. Blanche is wheelchair-bound after a drunken car accident seemingly caused by Jane  left her crippled. Jane is firmly in control and takes delight in mentally torturing Blanche, whilst planning a comeback of her own. Into the picture comes mamma's boy pianist Edwin Flagg (Victor Buono) who sees Jane's comeback as a way to make himself rich. But when Elvira the domestic help (Maidie Norman) starts to get too close to the dark truth of the Hudson house, Jane takes an extreme course of action which leads to tragedy...

The screenplay, adapted by Lukas Heller from the novel by Henry Farrell, seems to be a pretty straightforward potboiler. However, the spark and verve from the two performances by Davis and Crawford- along with assured direction from Robert Aldrich- really elevate this film from mediocre schlock to a campy cult classic- in no small part thanks to the utterly enjoyable over-the-top performance by Bette Davis.

I contend that Baby Jane Hudson is Davis' second best performance on film (her first being the exquisite Margo Channing in All About Eve). Jane is a slovenly, sarcastic, bitter and downright cruel character and Davis plays her to the hilt. Face slathered with thick make-up, she slouches round the house spitting barbs to her sainted sister. With Edwin, she is coquettish and flirty (a deeply discomfiting sight). But there are moments of genuine class too; rehearsing one of her childhood vaudeville numbers, she catches sight of herself, haggard and old, in the mirror and breaks down. It's a performance full of fire and it's an absolute crying shame she didn't get her third (or fourth) Oscar for this performance.

I've never much been a fan of Joan Crawford or her movies, but I have to admit she is a perfect foil for Davis' borderline-hysterical turn. She suffers like a true martyr in a series of bizarrely sumptuous nightgowns and takes the barbs and dead animals from Davis like a pro. Towards the end, there's a rather beautiful scene where Blanche makes a long-kept confession and Crawford does play the scene extremely well. The other main performance of the film is that of Victor Buono, an actor who would later go on to be perhaps best known for playing King Tut in the 1960s series of Batman. This was his first film role and garnered a Best Supporting Actor nod for his troubles. He took over the role from Peter Lawford and is wonderful as the scheming little milquetoast, unaware that this gig won't make him rich at all.

The story on-screen is a torrid tale of rivalry, but the backstage story is no less tantalising. Despite various protestations from both actresses, Davis and Crawford couldn't stand one another. Their professional rivalry stretched back to the start of their careers. They were roughly the same age (although Crawford was actually older) and were up for the same kind of parts. The rivalry really seemed to kick off when Davis made a crack that Crawford had slept with every male star on the MGM set apart from Lassie! It seemed unlikely that the two would ever work together, but the deal was struck and the two divas faced one another. 

The filming of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? was beset by little tricks played by the actresses on each other. Crawford was the widow of Alfred Steele, CEO of Pepsi-Cola, so Davis arranged to have a Coca-Cola machine installed on set. In a scene where Jane has to haul Blanche out of bed, Crawford wore a weighted belt and Davis subsequently strained her back when she lifted the near-lifeless Crawford. In a scene where Jane viciously attacks Blanche, kicking her repeatedly, Davis made contact with Crawford's head, resulting in a deep wound which required stitches. You could hardly imagine anything like this happening on a movie set these days.

When the film was released, it was a smash, grossing nine million dollars. It was nominated for five Oscars, winning for Best Costume Design. As such, another horror-thriller starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford was announced - Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. However, due to either a craven act of cowardice on Crawford's part or Davis' manipulations being too much (depending on whose story you believe), Crawford withdrew from the picture and was replaced by Olivia de Havilland. 

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? remains one of my favourite films of all time and is well worth a look. And if the film piques your interest about these two leading ladies and their feud (as well as the filming of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?) I would highly recommend Bette And Joan: The Divine Feud by Shaun Considine, which is an eminently well-researched and even-handed book about these two complex women.

Revisiting A Classic: The Star Wars Saga (Part Two, Episodes IV – VI.

And so we begin where we left off – munchies at the ready and time to begin….

 Episode IV: A New Hope

Not seen this in about two years! So, hairs on the back of neck already, the music fanfares us into what is the original Star Wars. The iconic massive starship flies over the screen and were aboard Princess Leia’s ship. The opening scenes with Vader are very different now after watching his back-story; you see he’s not just an ‘evil’ man, but a man who has chosen the wrong side, the side who happen to be in power. As with any dictatorship, Vader is a victim of his own choices?

The cut I’m viewing is the 2003 DVD Special Edition – and the picture quality is outstanding; you’d think it was shot a few years back, not thirty-four! Already though, the dialogue and actors involved are a class above the prequel trilogy – the words just seem to flow and are not forced.

What’s brilliant is how, in Episode III, Lucas built the Droids’ relationship up, so now when we meet the some twenty years later in Episode IV and they are bickering on the sand planet, Tatooine – they’re like the ultimate bromance! I feel already that with watching the prequels and now pretty much straight into this one- the back-story is heavily there and it influences you while watching the original trilogy in ways I hadn’t thought of or would expect myself to feel (like how the droids are a lot more rounded out by this point and how I know what’s behind Vader’s mask and he’s not a mysterious black knight as when I watched these as child). Lucas truly has given these films a new lease of life and viewing enjoyment – I heartily encourage fans to try this marathon – I would be interested in what others notice now watching these again with all the blanks filled in of Episodes I-III?

And we also have to give the film licence (or suspend our disbelief!) The droids arrive by chance at the Lars moisture farm, where a 3PO with a wiped memory was, many years before, with Anakin and Padme. Then of course, R2 knows exactly where he is and who Luke is! How convenient!

‘Ben’ Kenobi enters the film and Alec Guinness has such a presence to him, it’s uncanny and the transfer from Ewan McGregor to him is awe inspiring (a credit to McGregor’s performance in Episode III). What’s clever is how Obi-Wan recognises R2 when Luke’s unconscious and then makes out he doesn’t when Luke’s awake. The scene where Obi-Wan informs Luke of the half-truth of his father has much greater weight to it now we the viewer know the complete truth, also in Obi- Wan wanting Luke to study the force and train to be a Jedi (with the knowledge that Luke is the son of the chosen one).

“I find your lack of faith disturbing”… A classic line and still haunting to this day. Peter Cushing is fantastic as the Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of the Death Star. Cushing brings a gravitas to the role that brings the villains heads above the dangers of been cartoony or unbelievable. His performance brings a sincere sinister edge to a dark man.

The Cantina scene is a classis western saloon in space. What’s nicely woven across Episodes III and IV is Chewbacca and how Obi-Wan approaches him to get safe passage across the universe. Chewbacca is a trusted ally of Yoda. Then it’s ruined by Greedo shooting first – yes, the old debate. But my stand point is that Han Solo is a space pirate, a rogue; he would shoot first in this scene showing he’s the gunslinger. His story is he redeems his past by becoming a rebel fighter- he shouldn’t be a hero from the get go, that’s the whole point of him, yes?

“That’s no moon!” The Death Star is introduced in such a grand way – shot after shot to give it the scale it deserves. The space station is a character in the film by itself- you could argue that the Death Star is the villain of A New Hope. What does come to mind though – at the end of Episode III, we saw the Death Star being built and now it’s only been completed some twenty years later, but in Return Of The Jedi a new Death Star is nearly built in less than six years? Come now – this is a major flaw?

“Boring conversation anyway!” The cell-block escape, which leads to the trash compactor scene (a scene that, every time I watch the film, I find it unnecessary and a little too pantomime for my liking). Then, of course, the great running-around-Death-Star-corridors and the iconic swing across by Luke and Leia, which leads us to the rematch between Anakin and Obi-Wan, which feels very underwhelming after the prequel duels. What is heightened though is Obi-Wan transcending into the Force as Vader kills him and the knowing smile that his sacrifice will fuel Luke onto become the new hope for the Jedi.

The finale- the Trench, the X wings and the Tie Fighters! What makes this a fantastic sequence is it is made so simply. It takes moments from classic war movies- it treats the space battle as a fantastical dogfight. We are introduced to the pilots – Red 2, Red 3, Red 4 etc- we see them all, we know their faces and when they die, we do care. The trench runs- three in total- give us a great pace for the battle, also using that great rule of thumb in movies- great things come in threes! Vader being shot, rolling into space at the last moment, by Han Solo sets up Luke- and the Death Star is no more! Awards and credits!

This film is a classic – no one can say anything else to argue the fact. It is the original blockbuster – nothing comes close for its originality, its use of mythology to engage us within the characters and the universe. This film is as fresh now as it was thirty-five years ago. Let the Hollywood suits never dare to remake this film. This is the film I will show my kids and it will be the film I will watch and own until I die. Just perfection.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

The film opens with Luke trapped out on the Ice Planet of Hoth. Solo rescues him and then he is in the medical bay being repaired (which is because Mark Hamill had his face reconstructed after a car accident!) What follows this is the gut-churning, most horrific thing of the entire saga- the kiss. The incestuous kiss between Luke and Leia. Everytime I see it, I say to myself “No tongue, it’s all good, there was no tongue – was there tongue? Was there? NO, surely NOOOOO!!!!” So moving swiftly on… Of course there’s no tongue because Lucas had this al mapped out down to the final details when he wrote the original trilogy…right?

The battle on Hoth is by far one of the greatest of all the battle scenes in the saga- what I love is the Empire have the upper hand and the rebels are buying time for everyone to evacuate and re-group. The AT-AT walkers are a great piece of cinema and effect work for the time, hand-animated (using stop-motion) and they look great; the jerkiness of this animation actually lends some realism to the mass and size of the walkers, which sells their believability.

Our heroes on the Falcon escape and are under pursuit by TIE fighters- they end up flying through an asteroid field. John Williams’ score here latterly invokes a classic 

Hollywood feel, giving the sequence a romantic feel of adventure which brilliantly compliments the whole idea of a modern version of old cinema serial sci-fi adventures (like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers). Harrison Ford embodies Han Solo; he is perfect as the rogue smuggler and the blossoming romance between Leia and Han is superbly handled- delicately done and brilliantly intimate when needs to be.

The introduction (or now, should I say, re-introduction) of Yoda is genius, Yoda makes out he’s some eccentric recluse and then the character sweeps back into the Jedi Master. As the viewer, you forget you’re watching a puppet- Frank Oz brings an amazing life to this puppet; we look right into the puppet’s eyes and are completely immersed into the character and don’t doubt it for a second.

“This is no cave!” Yeah, that never gets old. The Falcon was hidden inside a giant cave-dwelling creature- they had landed inside its belly and then managed to fly out of its mouth! Right! A step too far, you say? No. Never. Never! Why? This is Star Wars; this is the Holy Trinity of cinema. We do not question the Holy Trinity. It just is; it just is right. Well, that’s how I rationalise this (it’s also how I rationalise Jake Lloyd and Jar Jar Binks!).

Now, meanwhile on Dagobah, Luke enters another cave! He enters a cave, Darth 

Vader walks towards him in this dark-side-of-the-Force cave and Luke slices his head off, Vader’s mask explodes to reveal Luke’s severed head within the mask! (Did I mention it’s all in slow motion?) OK? To this day I have no idea what this is about – answers on a postcard please (or email us at thewatchersfilmshow@gmail.com)!

The training on Dagaobah has a nice slow pace, without falling for the training montage technique; instead we see Luke’s powers grow – lifting rocks while hand standing to lifting his X-wing (a little)! We also see Luke use the Force to see across the galaxy that his friends will soon be in danger and he cuts his training short – which leads us to discover that there is another new hope for the Jedi (but we already know that – now this is a six-part saga!)

Across the galaxy our heroes have found refuge on Cloud City and we are introduced 

to Lando – the token black guy in the universe. No, I’m not joking; this is pretty much why Lando is played a black actor – the studio received complaints about the fact that there were only white actors in the cast. Yeah, Star Wars is racist– never mind the green, the blue, the Wookies and all the other races in the galaxy who live as one large universe!

But, of course the refuge is shattered as Lando has made a deal with the Empire (now that’s something for those playing the racist card- the only black guy in the universe is a criminal!) Moving swiftly on! The film starts its way to the end and, as the viewer, you do recognise the signs of middle-act syndrome (where a trilogy of films has the second film as the middle act), or ‘we put our heroes in the darkest, most hopeless of escape places’. But this was the first trilogy of blockbusters, remember, and they are the blueprint!

So, the carbonite – by far, the most heart wrenching scene in the original saga. Brilliantly handled by the cast and by John Williams’ score. “I love you’; ‘I know”. Everything about this scene is handled with real passion for the story – the doom and the tragedy that Leia realising she loves Han at this moment.  Leia a small week figure surrounded in Chewbacca’s arms. He’s alive! “Skywalker has landed, my lord”; a report that things are going to just get worse as the film reaches its climax!

The light-sabre battle between father and son is visually exciting – I love the way they fight in a very dimly lit room that happens to add the visual presence of the sabres!  The fight is of course fantastic- but what makes it a step above is the underlining issues involved. Vader wants to bring out the fear, the anger within his son as they fight, leading him to the dark side. This culminates in Luke losing his hand in the fight and discovering he is facing his father. Vader wants to rule the galaxy as father and son and destroy the Emperor – this gives us a whole new dynamic to the saga. Luke leaps into the abyss of the inner workings of the city rather than take his father’s offer. Our other heroes have escaped capture – but failed to rescue Han at the hands of Boba Fett. They save Luke and we have probably the bleakest ending to a film ever (well, maybe second bleakest – anyone seen The Mist?)

The Empire Strikes Back is, by far, the perfect example of a sequel and a perfect example of a middle act of a three-act play/trilogy. Nothing compares to this film. Every time I go to see a sequel, this is the bar that I have set for the films. I can make a long list of sequels that has failed- The Matrix Reloaded to name one excellent example of a sequel FAIL! This film ticks so many boxes – you end up running out of boxes to tick. Again, just perfect – literally nothing wrong with this in any way.

Rating: 5 out 5

Right, watched them as a double bill, no break- so need a break now. After a coffee, I’m ready for more!

Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi

And so we face the final curtain! Once more into the breach my friends, and so on. We start the film at a much slower pace than Empire – we’re back to New Hope pace, building the tension at very nice ease –brining us the viewer back into the universe, as the droids are sent into Jabba The Hutt’s to see what happened to Chewbacca and Lando. We discover that Han Solo is still frozen in carbonite. Jabba’s palace is a dismal, dreary castle – a far cry from the imperial designs of the Death Star and star destroyers. 

And then- oh dear God, NO! I had forgotten about the travesty that is the sudden music number at the palace in the Special Edition cut- three letters to sum this appalling sight– WTF! What’s even worse about that godawful new CGI music scen is that budget could have gone on the next scene: Luke in the Jabba Banther pit. This creature effect has not stood the test of time- it’s blatantly a hand puppet meant to be a giant beast and if I’m honest, it’s laughable by today’s standards and even more laughable by the rest of the film’s superb standard of effect work. This is where the special edition money should of been spent!

What is still great today as it was then is the escape from Jabba over the desert sands. The heroes literally being forced to walk the plank is sweet nostalgia mixed seamlessly into a sci-fi setting. Luke shows in this opening action scene just how powerful he has become since we last saw him (three years ago on a cinema screen, of course!).

The Emperor arrives on the new Death Star greeted by Vader. What is great about this scene is the dialogue between the two of them has such a different slant now with the information we have from the first three films now in place in the saga. Just superb – you really see here how well written Episode III was?

“Do not… do not underestimate the power of the dark side…” Even at thirty-four, I still get a lump in my throat when Luke and Yoda talk of the truth of Luke’s father and Yoda passes away. “There is another Skywalker”

The speeder bike chase is a great bit of cinema – well paced, excellently edited and just a fab action sequence. Love it – never gets old and the effects do not look nearly thirty years old!

The Moon of Endor means Ewoks. Now, the Ewoks have split debate just as much as Jar Jar Binks does. Love them or hate them, they’re here and they’re here to stay for the rest of the movie. Personally I’ve always liked the Ewoks. They’re a great tribal edition to the already massive Star Wars universe. I love the fact that these little creatures beat the Empire using bows and arrows – it’s a great juxtaposed message.

Father and son together again. Luke gives himself up so he can see his father – in a amazingly well written and performed scene – which is surprising as one of them wears a mask. Poignant even more so now we finally know who really is under the mask.

“It’s a trap!” The finale of finales – a three way split. The attack on the shield generator on the planet below, the battle between the space armadas above and Vader against Luke on the Death Star. The mind games from the Emperor with Luke is fascinating – this is where the dialogue becomes more powerful than any blaster or light sabre could ever be: “Give into your anger”.

The battle rages on below- what makes this finale so much fun to watch, is it is so well made. The timing between battles- when the filmmakers choose to switch settings, the tragedy of Ewok Wicket dying, the dog fights – everything is just perfectly organised. So many blockbusters since this film have copied and even cloned the structure of final battle scenes.

“I am a Jedi, like my father before me”. The shield is destroyed and the second act of this finale begins.  To this day, I’m amazed that a mask can show so much emotion as the Emperor is about to kill Luke – you can actual see the conflict within Anakin.  But, what’s really well made is Anakin faces the same choice as he did in Episode III when Mace Windu was about to die – which does he save, the Emperor or his friend (and now his son)? Well, blood is thicker than water. We cut into the new trenches and the effect work here is just outstanding for the time the film was made. Ships weave in and out of construction pipes – explosions and small victories leading all the way.

“Tell your sister you were right about me”. The death of Anakin has never been more powerful now all the pieces of the jigsaw are in place – the tragedy, the corruption and finally the redemption. And so the Death Star is destroyed, with the Emperor dead, freedom once again comes to this galaxy far far away. Everything is great… until we remember that Lucas added Hayden Christensen as Anakin’s ghost at the end of this version! Oh well!

Jedi is a great swansong to the saga – serious, scary and villainous when needs be. Tongue in cheek, humorous and loving when it also needs to be. In all, a very well balanced masterpiece – this is the blue print for a blockbuster and has been cloned many times since.

Rating: 5 out 5

So this brings me to an end, after two six hour sittings, twelve hours of re-watching one of my (if not the) favourite movie franchises I have ever seen.

My inner child and fond memories of watching my VHS copies as a child has not been ruined by the tweaks and the changes by Lucas. These films have lived with my generation and they’re not going away. I will have my children on my knee watching these films and I’m sure grandchildren too. With the soon-to-be-seen television series (Star Wars: Underworld) which charts the time between Episodes III and IV, I don’t doubt we will see the rise of the rebellion and who knows when Lucas needs a retirement plan, we might even see Episodes VII, VIII and IX.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

Rhys