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Bonza (1989)
Better than I first thought
I've recently come across a copy of this recorded off-air on VHS and have digitised it. Naturally, in the process, I watched it again. And again. And then after I'd uploaded it to YouTube, again off Youtube to see if it worked!
This one really appeals to my humour, so perhaps I'm biased giving it a ten, but I couldn't give it less in all good conscience.
If you're an Aussie, you'll love it. If you're not, you'll love it too.
Search for 'Bonza (1989)' on Youtube, and you'll see what I mean.
Cats (2019)
All there and all better!
I've just spent a productive two hours watching the late 2019 movie "Cats". Now I had read the critics panning it, saying they weren't real cats, and the story was weird.
Clearly they hadn't seen the live show, something I've seen many times from the original Sydney production at the Theatre Royal (where I spied British comedian Mel Smith in the audience) to Gosford Musical Society's to the UK video with Elaine Page and in the Big Top at St Ives showground, among others, amateur and professional.
I still know the lyrics pretty well, and was pleased that singing along - apart from a couple of sections (see below) was an easily achieved joy.
There were a few minor insertions of dialogue in between songs, which provided a bit more character exposition than what you get in the musical. They weren't obtrusive, and quite helpful.
*MOST* of the production is faithful to the musical, except many previous third person descriptions of a character sung by other cats now see those lines given directly to the character.
They changed the melodic structure of "Mungo Jerry & Rumpleteazer" for the worst, but made a few cuts here and there for the better.
There was a delightful addition of a song following "Memory" (first rendition) sung by a soprano which was completely new material for the movie.
In some places the lyrics are obviously drawn from parts of the original T S Eliot that Webber didn't use in the musical, but this only happened in a couple of places.
The sets apparently used modern CGI, and naturally much greater visuals than ever possible in a theatre. The look of the production is slick, and wardrobe and make-up are a real tour-de-force.
It's also a little bit darker with cats, especially Macavity, pushing their case to be reborn for a new jellicle life, and Old Deuteronomy's responses, something not in the musical.
With Judy Dench as Old Deuteronomy we miss the dulcet baritones of this role, but she plays the dramatic side impeccably which adds to the understanding of the story. Ian McKellen was Bustopher Jones, and did his song exceptionally well for an old salt.
There are certainly differences, but they are mainly related to transferring a live show successfully into a movie. If you've seen the musical you'll love it. The familiar "Cats" is all there. If you haven't, then you'll either "get it" and love it too, or miss the point, as a number of the aforementioned critics obviously did.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's score and Eliot's lyrics have always combined beautifully. Webber's highly syncopated arrangements appeal to all listeners of many genres.
This is what ensures any production of this highly original concept will border on masterpiece levels.
I absolutely loved it.
Total Control (2019)
Gets better toward the end - stick with it!
I was thinking the first couple of episodes were rather formulaic, not believable and a tad pedestrian. There are some ponderous issues raised, such as how an unknown woman from the bush (and not even a party member) becomes a senator to occupy a casual vacancy. Members who've been going to branch meetings for years will be extremely disappointed by the low entry price Alex had to pay to become a senator.
Another point I had incredible difficulty with was how an aboriginal rights campaigner ends up joining the Liberal/National government. Okay, I'm aware of Neville Bonner and even Ken Wyatt, but I still can't see why Mailman's character - completely upset over lack of indigenous services in the bush - could join the (now) government.
As the episodes proceed, however, and we get to know the characters, the emotional side starts to shine through, and the series massively improves. Not wishing to reveal spolers, I think the main change occurs when Mailman has to race back to her home town to deal with a pressing issue there. That's treated with humour and sensitivity, and humanises the character and the whole series.
Some of the political procedures shown are simply not correct, but perhaps the series can be forgiven for taking shortcuts. However, to a regular watcher of parliament, it grated on me a little about how someone can just stand up in parliament and make a statement or even move a motion without going through the correct procedural processes.
What's interesting is that most of the imagery in parliament house is shot in the new parliament house (Opened in 1987), but when we enter the House of Reps or Senate chamber, we find ourselves down the road at Old Parliament House. I suppose it was a lot easier for the locations manager to book old Parliament House than the new, or indeed for a set to be constructed.
Certainly a worthwhile watch, and I encourage people to not judge this on its first two episodes - it gets a lot better - but far from perfection as some reviewers here would have you believe.
Norbert Smith, a Life (1989)
Best thing Harry Enfield has done
"Norbert Smith, A Life" is a 1989 Mockumentary charting the life and career of the fictitious British actor Sir Norbert Smith. It stars Harry Enfield in the title role.
It was first transmitted on Channel-4 on 3 November 1989.
The programme was written by Harry Enfield and Geoffrey Perkins and superbly directed by Geoff Posner.
The show is an absolutely priceless send-up not only of British films over the years, but of the worshipful documentaries that cable and public TV companies crank out endlessly seemingly from a sausage factory.
Using Melvyn Bragg as the narrator, doing exactly the kind of thing he was doing at the time on The South Bank Show was an inspiration, and kudos to Lord Bragg for being a good sport to create this Mockumentary, which even sends hims up in a way.
The film parodies are all spot-on, but the scene from the World War II action flick with Sir Norbert finding an excuse to guzzle a glass of wine in every single shot, and the identical scenes from each of Sir Norbert's composer Bio-Pics (Beethoven, Man of Music, Lizst, Man of Music and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Man of Music were heavenly inspired.
There's a perfect representation of Will Hay films then they go on to cover staid institutions such as Olivier's Shakespeare and even Carry-On films.
Enfield is well supported by Renee Asherson playing the long- suffering Lady Norbert.
Moray Watson has spots as a recurring interviewee called Sir Donald Stuffy, whose recollections of the theatre seem much more interesting to him than us and he usually realises this himself when he gets to the end of his story.
Then there's the crass joke-cracker Dick Doty played by Mike Kelly. Stop me if you've seen this sort of character before.
This is a 3/4 hour masterpiece no British film fan, Harry Enfield devotee, Melvyn Bragg supporter or British Comedy aficionado should miss.
Legion of Fire: Killer Ants! (1998)
Masterpiece of comedy
This is billed as a horror film. This is perfectly correct, because as a film, it is a horror.
There is no way this has been seriously made to be anything other than the funniest thing you will see for years. I laughed from start to finish. I only scored it nine out of ten as if it had been just a little bit worse, it would have been better.
The whole idea of the writer would have been to do a scene, then ask themselves what else could be added to make it even more stupid?
For example when confronted on two sides by marauding ants, but having a river on one side, totally discount the possibility of venturing into the river. But then have the characters shoot the ants which kills off four or five out of a few thousand. Yeah, that made it a bit less dangerous.
Then to get them to notice a rickety canoe a bit further upstream and have them paddle off in the canoe with one assuring the other there's only a bit of easy white water ahead. But actually have some killer rapids and the hint of a fifty foot waterfall (always out of shot) but with a convenient overhanging branch for when the entire canoe is shattered into several pieces.
Then when the actors get themselves to shore, add a scene where the hats are still on their heads, and just need a bit of wringing out before being replaced on their heads.
Have a scene where two guys go into a barn to avoid the marauding ants, one on foot and one on a tractor, and have one of them accidentally put the tractor into reverse resulting in the front wall caving in, trapping them in with the ants but with no explanation as to how the clutch can be disengaged with no-one sitting at the controls. If that's not bad enough have the first- killed taken by ants all over his face, and in about three minutes have his body stripped back to bone.
Not enough? Get the other guy to climb up in the loft with the assumption he'll be safe as ants can't climb the ladder. Then ensure the actor doesn't just use the tractor to punch through the wall that's collapsed, but instead kick out the boards from the loft, ignore the copious numbers of hay-bales he could have thrown down to break his fall, and instead have him jump from the top floor to the ground outside, land flat on his back without damaging his head, self-diagnosing a broken leg, but then running off with only a slight bit of help from his mate outside who's arrived in a ute (flatbed).
Then have him stand on an ant's nest filled with petrol (gasoline) by the skeletal farmer from the previous sequence to his full knowledge, have him fall into the hole up to his neck and then have him fire his gun, thus setting off a chain reaction of ALL the holes that had been filled with petrol blowing up despite lack of an obvious connection.
Have a father driving another ute and getting ants crawling up his leg resulting in him not getting out of the ute but driving around almost uncontrollably in a deadly manner to all bystanders, one of which included his ten year old son who he almost squashes against a schoolbus he TOLD his son to get into assuming the ants would not be able to penetrate because of the really good seal you get on an old schoolbus. Then you have the son stuck in the bus because the door lever gets jammed, but smash the window with a canister rather than just getting the kid to open from the inside. The smashed glass is not a worry - the ants are far worse than that.
Then at the end, have the solution of the ants - blowing up a dam - without apparent access to any explosives, by blowing up a dam with about 20 sticks of dynamite with three fuses that "you wish were a lot longer", which have been ignited by a woman who looks like a non- smoker who has a lighter, a police officer with a Zippo lighter and the last guy with the worst box of matches you'd ever have that ends up getting lit by the Zippo lighter thrown to him after the first two fuses are well and truly on the way.
Despite this, and the evacuation of the first two to a helicopter that just happened to be passing by with no apparent reason whatsoever, with fuses burning short all 'round, have an earthquake make it very difficult for the third guy to get on to the helicopter, but still manage to get rescued. Just in time.
I could go on and on at the ridiculousness of this movie, but the massive plot deficiencies, dreadful acting, and the incredibly obvious fact that a bunch of ants were far more intelligent than the characters in the movie they were trying to attack, yet still manage to get away from (well, four of them, anyway) make it so hilarious it's a movie you have to watch.
By the way parts 1 & 2 of the movie "Marabunta" are on YouTube (easily searched), sent up without fear of a copyright suit whatsoever, as no-one would be brave enough to admit they wrote/produced the movie to launch a claim!
Must-see stuff - absolutely hilarious.
100 Centre Street (2001)
Sadly missed, where is the DVD
Unfortunately the first reviewer (prak8221) is symptomatic of why this show was axed. I can't believe that anyone apart from the most puerile would think Law and Order was actually better than 100 Centre Street, but alas, L&A is still running whereas 100 Centre Street is not...
I found the stories absolutely gripping; Alan Arkin totally enchanting, and the whole show a work of art, aimed at the intellectual. It's such a pity that shows aimed at people like us, just don't rate well - although AMC has done Mad Men and Breaking Bad, and (is it?) HBO with The Sopranos.
We got 100 Centre Street over here as a treat from the good old Australian Broadcasting Corporation (gov't run institution known as Aunty). They also gave us Breaking Bad, and the SBS (another gov't run broadcaster) gave us Mad Men. If it was up to the commercial networks, I guess this sort of stuff would never see the light of day.