The Piano in a Factory was a sweet but unfocused tale of a working class man so desperate to hold on to his child after his messy divorce from his self absorbed wife that he asks his friends to help him make a piano so she can practice. Complete with non-sequitor musical sequences and shots that made little to no sense, panning away from the action mid sentence to focus on nothing in particular, not even anything beautiful, just nothing. But the film was very sweet, quite simple, lovely, but unfocused. An odd film for the beginning of the day that I found hard to pay attention to constantly, but at the heart of it the story was lovely.
I had a free space next so in the morning I booked in the Elvis/Ann-Margret 60s classic Viva Las Vegas as I have never seen the whole film start to finish and I really wanted to see some Ann-Margret big screen style. This film is a guilty pleasure of mine. OK, so I'm not even guilty about it, I LOVE THIS FILM! I love films with singing and dancing and gorgeous red heads outshining Elvis in his own film. If you haven't seen Viva Las Vegas, then shame on you. I haven't seen too many Elvis films but this one is great. Director George Sidney was already an old hand at musicals when he directed to two (secret) love birds in this rambunctious adventure, so you know you're in capable hands. Go and see this film. And fall in love with Ann-Margret. I dare you not to.
Next up I went an settled in for a double up at Kino, two doco's from the same era back to back, beginning with Bobby Fischer Against The World. Bobby Fischer became the undisputed king of chess after battling Russian and world champion Boris Spassky in Iceland. At the height of the Cold War this tournament was important for both the Russian's and the American's, and as stock footage of news updates showed, the outcome was so integral to the American people that the announcement of Bobby winning was the number one story on the news that day, even bigger than the Watergate scandal. The film was amazingly insightful and I had never heard of this guy before, but he was such a powerful figure of the 60s and 70s and the filmmakers had found so much footage. The latter part of the film focused on his eventual fall from grace and I found what they tried to fill the film with was inventive, as he was pretty underground and there was little footage to use. The world of chess baffles me and this film did wonders in explaining the mindset of people that excel in it.
I got a great middle back spot for Magic Trip and I absolutely loved it. The film was the result of Ken Kesey and his friends getting on a trippy looking bus, taking hallucinogenic drugs and driving across America to the World's Fair in New York in the 60s and film everything that happened along the way. Interviews with the people involved explaining, or trying to explain, what was happening on the screen gave a world of perspective to the experience. When they arrive in New York City they party with Allen Ginsberg; recordings of him reading his beat poetry give the film a real "things I love" vibe. I understand the Bono rolling into NY on a bus, ranting about freedom and acid and driving the cast of Across the Universe out to the mansion of weird, sterile, institutional East Coast acid heads and leaving some people behind now; that part of the film was meant to be these guys (although I don't see Bono as Ken, Kesey is much more charismatic and far less pretentious). I absolutely loved this film, including the insane ramblings of the real Dean Moriarty (I hated On The Road). If this gets a release I highly recommending seeing it, it is a fun filled journey and a great hour and a half of escapism.
Pick of the day
Magic Trip, it was just so much fun. In the notes I wrote right after the screening I wrote "love it love it love it".
Surprise of the day
Bobby Fischer Against The World was super surprising, I had no idea that someone who grows up in Brooklyn with a Jewish mother and a Jewish biological father could become such an anti-Semite.
Film total so far
21
No comments:
Post a Comment