tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57462339303247749882024-09-07T03:37:31.255+10:00Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-51731358153416575582012-04-24T19:52:00.000+10:002012-04-24T20:09:03.939+10:00

And Lo, there came amongst us another great English film with a wondrous British cast. 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' was a film I heard great things of but what clinched it for me was the thought of another performance by Judy Dench. As most Baby Boomers with parents, I have watched hours of 'As Time Goes By' and come to love the Judy Dench persona but the 'J.Edgar' Dench was a different

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-74367281793495490092012-02-28T17:09:00.000+11:002012-03-06T16:45:45.774+11:00

Looking about for a cheering film for a friend in trouble, I came upon a boxed set of Alec Guiness' films which included 'The Ladykillers'. Shot barely ten years after the end of WW2, the film centres around an old lady living in a charming but bomb damaged house near a railway tunnel. The fifties produced a flowering of british films which sprang up despite the drabness still shrouding

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-90797044728408562212012-01-26T19:54:00.000+11:002012-01-26T20:02:32.191+11:00

I had no idea how this was going to turn out, cherishing a long love of Alec Guinness work. My memory of his 'Smiley' seemed  unassailable and Gary Oldman a bit of an odd choice but if ever there was an actor who grabbed a role and ran with it, it is Oldman in this. He is surrounded by a stellar cast of English actors, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy  and many

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-39380305227153595462011-12-27T14:52:00.000+11:002012-01-01T20:23:14.658+11:00

My father is a cavalry man. I was raised with horses and learnt to ride in a rigorous school which had us jumping over obstacles with our hands held out horizontally. It taught you balance - it taught you how to get off too when you found yourself going round the arena underneath the horse. I will never forget the wonder I felt when he got on my unruly pony and took her round the field

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-21819213752703112382011-11-13T14:48:00.001+11:002011-11-14T22:09:29.337+11:00

This is a case where the trailer for BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK gives you the insight you need to wet your appetite for it. Still, I was initially worried that the doco would skate along the surface of the fashion world in way that would not be very satisfying but when I realised that Bill Cunningham was in his eighties and following his obsession and profession on a BICYCLE, I began to focus.

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-20228489238369300072011-10-18T20:46:00.000+11:002011-10-19T22:17:25.123+11:00

Again with the sorrowful footage. Once more we see the sad film of the last Tasmanian Tiger in captivity, pacing its lonely cell and trying to escape the fate we had brought it to. The animal is so familiar to us, half dingo, half devil. What went wrong? Well nothing, for Willem Dafoe who slips as naturally into this role as a second skin. What isn't there to like for him? He is a sure thing

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-42866314150128141092011-09-26T10:43:00.012+10:002011-09-26T15:50:20.829+10:00

I first saw the trailer for 'The Help' waiting for another movie to start... of course. It immediately woke me up to the sixties again and the incredible neatness and weirdness of that world. Who would have thought you could 'back comb' your hair to a 'bee hive', spray it into submission and walk around like that?Well, here it is again. Not as bouncy as 'Happy Days' but initially, clean cut and

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-44691487071656975052011-08-27T13:39:00.015+10:002011-08-28T09:48:03.544+10:00

There is of course one leading lady in Jane Eyre and Oh boy, does she do just that. Mia Wasikowska is a young Australian who began her acting career after an initial ballet fascination waned. When she first appears, it seems as if this creature from the New World has been an inhabitant of the old for centuries. Her face is very like Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' or any number of classic

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-11272202417072657762011-08-13T14:16:00.009+10:002011-08-13T19:55:52.079+10:00

We have a lot to be grateful to Robert Redford for. In setting up Sundance Film Festival, he gave Indie movies a launching point in America which set a fire under the audience that first watched 'Shine'. It led to world wide success and an Oscar for Geoffrey Rush. 'The Conspirator' has the most come hither poster with its title over the poignant face of Abraham Lincoln. It opens with his

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-70248735312355733192011-07-07T18:27:00.007+10:002011-07-07T20:19:38.085+10:00

After the phenomenal numbers that watched 'Downton Abbey' it was wonderful to see a new Julian Fellowes work, 'From Time to Time' come on at my local. He has adapted and directed this WW2 ghost story but, as my father dryly pointed out, its territory that has been gone over before and to great effect.Of course, in such hands it doesn't let you down. The stunning cast includes Maggie Smith and

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-19979800861496497682011-06-20T13:10:00.009+10:002011-06-20T17:36:38.632+10:00

I know the 'Mao's Last Dancer' producers spent a great deal of money getting the best person available to make their trailer. Its a good investment but I am not sure what I would have done to change the trailer for 'Get Low'. Suffice to say that I did not want to see the movie. Looking back on it, I am not sure what they COULD have done but once I got there, all was well.It was one of those times

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-89652290863290987442011-06-07T12:51:00.015+10:002011-06-08T11:59:12.776+10:00

Turning up late to see a preview of 'Sunshine and Oranges', I found I could only get a seat a row from the screen. Urged on by a friend, I took it and sat through the movie with the action going on right up my nose so to speak. But I did it and I would do it again.This is a film you SHOULD see, not only because it will give you insight into a sorrowful time in our history but because you will

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-79853869634764664102011-05-17T13:14:00.011+10:002011-05-23T16:57:00.764+10:00

Last night I dreamt I went to school again. Not a very good idea at the best of times but it is one of the fascinations of this beautiful documentary that you can compare schoolgirls now and then. There is probably not much to choose between us but it did surprise me how unkempt 'Mrs Carey's' lot were considering the amount of money their parents must be paying and the loving attention of the

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-83151858274837396792011-05-09T17:41:00.027+10:002011-05-18T12:45:49.597+10:00

I saw this film in boarding school, projected on to a canvas screen decades after it was made. It had me from the title and still does. Looking at it now with its evocative music and astonishing opening scene shot in what appears to be Lilliput but is in effect an 'aerial' shot of a model village...and a pretty creaky one at that, I feel again the sense of pride and anticipation I always feel at

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-13658308841061881242011-04-25T13:17:00.017+10:002011-05-05T08:05:48.198+10:00

Gérard Depardieu is one of my favourite actors and I always thought it was because he was so attractive. Well, he is but there is a lot more of him than there was in say 'Cyrano de Bergerac', and still he shines. For one thing, he allows his ample person to be put into overalls which for a large man is a bit of a sretch. Another thing...he fills the screen. He is on for the entire movie and he

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-22752578974681663032011-03-28T17:29:00.019+11:002011-04-05T16:40:40.472+10:00

Well, she's gone. She had been ill so long that we were used to hearing almost weekly about her trials but she seemed immortal and I will miss her. In the last years of her life she did not present a great or a very admirable figure but the sum of her achievements is huge.Many images of her near perfection bombarded us through the sixties and seventies. Her private life, fabulous jewels and love

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-5660641410737990322011-02-24T10:06:00.028+11:002011-03-28T13:37:54.764+11:00

I met a man who stonewalled me about 'True Grit'. He refused to think that the latest Coen Brothers movie was better than the John Wayne original. Oh Lord, where to start?First, the introduction we get to the American West through the marvelous set direction and costuming of this latest Jeff Bridges version, is stunning. The bleakness of the local town,with its no frills living and basic justice

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-59502224277882197382011-02-20T19:39:00.015+11:002011-02-22T13:02:27.436+11:00

Every time I ask people about this film they start gabbling. Its either 'great' or 'unspeakably great' or 'so true' etc etc. It made it a Must See but troubling afterward.I have seen a little of the Ballet world and, while the discipline is greater for dancing, there are similarities with Performance. The exploitation and obvious sexual predation seem less now but this is a whole new era where

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-79020057858935493722011-01-20T16:31:00.009+11:002011-01-25T09:23:11.829+11:00

My family had problems of the kind this beautiful film depicts. Stammering or stuttering is an insidious and devastating affliction - you never know how much you can feel for someone until you find you can not help them through a horrible ordeal. There are few public troubles worse than willing someone you love through a speech they seem unable to begin. God bless the ones who guide people out of

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-76348834056847135292011-01-05T10:55:00.014+11:002011-01-07T22:05:47.764+11:00

I saw the trailer for 'Life during Wartime' and immediately wanted to see it. The images of clean cut, sorrowful beings and their quirky cracks was compelling and not full of the leaden misery so many other tales of urban angst have. The poster was better and even the failure of the projector at the first screening could not stop me.Shirley Henderson is luminous and her spare figure is as close

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-13557147187515230182010-12-03T11:48:00.023+11:002010-12-10T10:39:29.542+11:00

Two Australian actresses have appeared as spies recently and both covered themselves in glory. The first, Genevieve O'Reilly in 'Spooks' playing an American femme fatale ostensibly working for the CIA but with dark undertones which lead her to hurtle male mentors straight off balconies. This was such a shock that I had to rewind to see how it could have happened. Her calm impassive beauty is

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-16051823181654330072010-11-24T15:17:00.025+11:002010-11-26T10:01:01.989+11:00

I went along to see 'The Social Network' with the friend who introduced me to it, slightly nervous the movie was going to do a hatchet job but no. It is a forensic look at what started the whole new world of communication and to judge by the two noisy Zuckerberg nerds who shut up like clams as soon as the film started, compelling film making of the highest sort.The film tells us that people who

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-74209850690147403572010-11-11T11:27:00.018+11:002010-12-09T11:55:41.080+11:00

I hadn't realised how much I love being on set but shooting 'PURPLE FLOWERS' this week was the clincher. What's not to like really?You meet talented people from all over the world, get fussed over and made up, immerse yourself in another life, tea and coffee is brought to you and then you get paid. It is a bonus if you like the script, cast, director and production team.Shooting this beautiful

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-74117393906681850752010-09-25T15:03:00.016+10:002010-10-10T11:27:25.415+11:00

I heard very little about this before it was released and it came as a great swell of surprise when I saw it. Make or break for me is identification with characters - whether or not you are willing to take the journey of the film with them. The opening of this trailer will give you an idea how easy it is to go anywhere with this 'Boy'.James Rolleston was a late starter for the part. He turned up

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746233930324774988.post-81669576286878517242010-09-04T10:53:00.009+10:002010-12-16T12:33:18.735+11:00

When you first see 'Me and Orson Welles', you might wonder if you can accept Christian McKay as Welles BUT it won't take long before you think the man has come back to life. This actor had played Orson before and it certainly shows.From the credits onward this is an unusual film. The production originates from the Isle of Man - a small tax haven off the coast of England. The film itself is

Penne Hackforth-Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04915105247008112921noreply@blogger.com0