Suitable song for a Sunday in the middle of September conjuring as it does an image of a forlorn British seaside resort.
End Transmission
Showing posts with label Seaside. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seaside. Show all posts
Sunday, 15 September 2019
Sunday, 20 January 2019
Tuesday, 26 June 2018
Out On Blue Six: Squeeze
Phew, what a scorcher! I think now is as good a time as any to play this great Squeeze song from the 90s...
End Transmission
Sunday, 27 May 2018
Sunday, 6 May 2018
Sunday, 20 August 2017
Tuesday, 11 July 2017
Away (2016)
Can Hayley Squires stop going through hell in films please? She had to endure it in I, Daniel Blake and she endures it again here in Away. So, in her next role, can she have some happiness for a change?
I was sold on this by the cast and the setting of Blackpool, the northern seaside resort that's approximately an hour away from me and the place I stayed for many a holiday as a child. I wasn't totally sure what to expect from Away beyond a spring and autumn odd couple style story. That's certainly what's being sold in the poster(shown above), which sees a tux-wearing Timothy Spall next to a sullen looking Juno Temple appearing somewhat out of her comfort zone in a ballgown. That image suggests something quirky and heartfelt in its notion of two worlds colliding and some of the traction around Away saw it being likened to Lost In Translation, which perhaps served to perpetuate that initial expectation. However in reality this is a gritty, grubby and dark essay on the old Chinese wisdom of the life debt a person is owed if they save another's life. If it's reminiscent of any film, it's Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa or Paul Andrew Williams' London to Brighton.
Spall is a grizzled and grieving alcoholic intent on taking his life in an off-season Blackpool that proves the irony of the 'Vegas of the North' tag. He's saved by Juno Temple, a former junkie on the run from vengeful Matt Ryan who's determined to be reunited with her 'sister' (Squires). From their initially abrasive yet grudging and weird relationship, a platonic and believable love story gradually takes shape between the two lost souls that is truly affecting thanks to the excellent playing from Spall and Temple.
And it's those performances and how well they create the chemistry between their characters that I'm rating this four out of five stars. Truth be told, it's actually probably only a three and a half star film, maybe even a three, and that's down to Roger Hadfield's script and how the story is told. You see, in an effort to be different, the narrative is like a jigsaw; constantly jumping between the present and back in a way that is really disorientating. I get that Hadfield and the filmmakers clearly wanted to reveal certain things slowly to preserve an air of mystery, but I'm not convinced that jumbling the sequence of events up does anything to help the film, in fact I actually think it hinders it.
Nonetheless, director David Blair - a reliable hand who gave us something similar with Best Laid Plans - delivers a small, relatively non commercial film that boasts a big heart, and I defy anyone not to feel something for this story of hope amongst desolation, fear and tragedy.
I was sold on this by the cast and the setting of Blackpool, the northern seaside resort that's approximately an hour away from me and the place I stayed for many a holiday as a child. I wasn't totally sure what to expect from Away beyond a spring and autumn odd couple style story. That's certainly what's being sold in the poster(shown above), which sees a tux-wearing Timothy Spall next to a sullen looking Juno Temple appearing somewhat out of her comfort zone in a ballgown. That image suggests something quirky and heartfelt in its notion of two worlds colliding and some of the traction around Away saw it being likened to Lost In Translation, which perhaps served to perpetuate that initial expectation. However in reality this is a gritty, grubby and dark essay on the old Chinese wisdom of the life debt a person is owed if they save another's life. If it's reminiscent of any film, it's Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa or Paul Andrew Williams' London to Brighton.
Spall is a grizzled and grieving alcoholic intent on taking his life in an off-season Blackpool that proves the irony of the 'Vegas of the North' tag. He's saved by Juno Temple, a former junkie on the run from vengeful Matt Ryan who's determined to be reunited with her 'sister' (Squires). From their initially abrasive yet grudging and weird relationship, a platonic and believable love story gradually takes shape between the two lost souls that is truly affecting thanks to the excellent playing from Spall and Temple.
And it's those performances and how well they create the chemistry between their characters that I'm rating this four out of five stars. Truth be told, it's actually probably only a three and a half star film, maybe even a three, and that's down to Roger Hadfield's script and how the story is told. You see, in an effort to be different, the narrative is like a jigsaw; constantly jumping between the present and back in a way that is really disorientating. I get that Hadfield and the filmmakers clearly wanted to reveal certain things slowly to preserve an air of mystery, but I'm not convinced that jumbling the sequence of events up does anything to help the film, in fact I actually think it hinders it.
Nonetheless, director David Blair - a reliable hand who gave us something similar with Best Laid Plans - delivers a small, relatively non commercial film that boasts a big heart, and I defy anyone not to feel something for this story of hope amongst desolation, fear and tragedy.
Sunday, 18 June 2017
Sunday, 2 April 2017
Out On Blue Six: Morrissey
^That Sunday feeling, expertly conveyed by Sophie Aldred in the final 'classic' Doctor Who story, Survival from 1989. Musically, it's conveyed well here too;
End Transmission
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Monday, 20 February 2017
Bob's Weekend (1996)
This weekend I watched Bob's Weekend, a 1996 film that didn't trouble the distributors.
I recall watching some consumery type programme on the BBC in 1996 that included a report on how the cinema chains in the UK are owned by the big Hollywood studios, which means little independent features get squeezed out of the market and struggle to find a distributor beyond film festivals. The report centred around Bob's Weekend, which it showed a few clips from, before they revealed that they had staged a screening with various people, including the actor Ian Holm, who later gave his view that this was a film that deserved to be seen by a wider audience. It never happened though, and it has taken me personally twenty-one years before I clapped eyes on Bob's Weekend (on YouTube)
Was it worth the wait? Nah, not really.
Whilst I still totally agree with that BBC report, I'm afraid to say that Bob's Weekend isn't really much of an unfairly treated gem. Granted, it's fair to say that when you look at writer/director Jevon O'Neill's subsequent sparse career, there's an argument for talent withering on the vine thanks to the monopoly of the big studios, but even if this had got a wide release at the time I can't see it taking the world by storm. It's just a very average, cheap first time feature.
Bruce Jones of Ken Loach's Raining Stones and latterly Coronation Street fame stars as Bob, an autodidact security guard with an encyclopedic knowledge for the letter 'B'. A diligent and officious, by-the-book person; he takes his eye off the ball one evening when giving in to his new colleague's desire to play football in the building they patrol. This ironic action is subsequently caught by his boss (Brian Glover) who seizes upon this opportunity to fire Bob on the spot. To cap the evening off, the hapless security guard then returns home to find his wife conducting an affair! Now utterly suicidal, Bob takes himself off to Blackpool for the weekend with the intention of chucking himself into the murky unforgiving depths of the Irish Sea. However, whilst there he meets a sympathetic young waitress, Angela (Charlotte Jones), and a series of mystical figures, who each offer him a chance to reassess his life.
O'Neill initially seems somewhat influenced by Loach (it's there in the casting of Bruce Jones and Ricky Tomlinson - who both starred in Raining Stones - as well as Brian Glover) but the fantastical detours the film makes are would-be Capra, leading to some uneasily handled changes of gear. He makes great use of the Blackpool locations, with the birds-eye-view of the then newly opened thrill-ride The Big One, the illuminations, the Tower and the ballroom, but his handle on the performances are less assured, leading to some hollow line readings. Charlotte Jones (no relation to Bruce) is quite weak with a children's TV drama-like performance as the well-meaning Angela, so it's unsurprising to see that she has subsequently moved behind the camera to create ITV's latest drama The Halcyon (essentially 'Downton Hotel' with a curious Bond-like theme tune and opening credits) Bruce Jones fares somewhat better with the lead role, which is within his admittedly limited range as a performer, given that it isn't too dissimilar to other parts he has played. Tomlinson and Glover's performances are effectively minor cameos that are dispensed with once the film moves to Blackpool.
The cheap independent status of the film is perhaps best exemplified and unfortunately scuppered by the bargain basement musical score (or should that be muzak score - a lot of it sounds like tinny, irritating lift muzak) from Don Gould and David Mindell. There are a couple of songs in there too, and they're truly terrible.
I recall watching some consumery type programme on the BBC in 1996 that included a report on how the cinema chains in the UK are owned by the big Hollywood studios, which means little independent features get squeezed out of the market and struggle to find a distributor beyond film festivals. The report centred around Bob's Weekend, which it showed a few clips from, before they revealed that they had staged a screening with various people, including the actor Ian Holm, who later gave his view that this was a film that deserved to be seen by a wider audience. It never happened though, and it has taken me personally twenty-one years before I clapped eyes on Bob's Weekend (on YouTube)
Was it worth the wait? Nah, not really.
Whilst I still totally agree with that BBC report, I'm afraid to say that Bob's Weekend isn't really much of an unfairly treated gem. Granted, it's fair to say that when you look at writer/director Jevon O'Neill's subsequent sparse career, there's an argument for talent withering on the vine thanks to the monopoly of the big studios, but even if this had got a wide release at the time I can't see it taking the world by storm. It's just a very average, cheap first time feature.
Bruce Jones of Ken Loach's Raining Stones and latterly Coronation Street fame stars as Bob, an autodidact security guard with an encyclopedic knowledge for the letter 'B'. A diligent and officious, by-the-book person; he takes his eye off the ball one evening when giving in to his new colleague's desire to play football in the building they patrol. This ironic action is subsequently caught by his boss (Brian Glover) who seizes upon this opportunity to fire Bob on the spot. To cap the evening off, the hapless security guard then returns home to find his wife conducting an affair! Now utterly suicidal, Bob takes himself off to Blackpool for the weekend with the intention of chucking himself into the murky unforgiving depths of the Irish Sea. However, whilst there he meets a sympathetic young waitress, Angela (Charlotte Jones), and a series of mystical figures, who each offer him a chance to reassess his life.
O'Neill initially seems somewhat influenced by Loach (it's there in the casting of Bruce Jones and Ricky Tomlinson - who both starred in Raining Stones - as well as Brian Glover) but the fantastical detours the film makes are would-be Capra, leading to some uneasily handled changes of gear. He makes great use of the Blackpool locations, with the birds-eye-view of the then newly opened thrill-ride The Big One, the illuminations, the Tower and the ballroom, but his handle on the performances are less assured, leading to some hollow line readings. Charlotte Jones (no relation to Bruce) is quite weak with a children's TV drama-like performance as the well-meaning Angela, so it's unsurprising to see that she has subsequently moved behind the camera to create ITV's latest drama The Halcyon (essentially 'Downton Hotel' with a curious Bond-like theme tune and opening credits) Bruce Jones fares somewhat better with the lead role, which is within his admittedly limited range as a performer, given that it isn't too dissimilar to other parts he has played. Tomlinson and Glover's performances are effectively minor cameos that are dispensed with once the film moves to Blackpool.
The cheap independent status of the film is perhaps best exemplified and unfortunately scuppered by the bargain basement musical score (or should that be muzak score - a lot of it sounds like tinny, irritating lift muzak) from Don Gould and David Mindell. There are a couple of songs in there too, and they're truly terrible.
Wednesday, 24 August 2016
Wednesday, 17 August 2016
Thursday, 4 August 2016
The System (1964)
Oh look, a film by Michael Winner that is actually worth your while!
Granted the director who couldn't direct traffic hasn't exactly turned in an accomplished film with The System (later released in the US with the boringly descriptive title The Girl-Getters as you can see from the posters and lobby cards on display here) but it is deeply infectious fun and utterly commendable for both its strong sense of atmosphere, and for capturing a distinctive moment in time which saw the British kitchen sink drama intersect with the influence of the French New Wave.
The system of the title is a seduction method employed by a group of bored young men native to the seaside resort of Roxham. For a few brief months of the English summer season, tourists (or 'grockles' as the characters refer to them, writer Peter Draper originating a phrase that has passed into common parlance now) flock to the town, including young women in large numbers. And those young women with their desire for holiday romances are easy pickings for the local boys led by Oliver Reed's smudger Tinker, whose system makes sure each of them share the spoils as evenly as possible.
At the start of the film, Tinker seems pretty happy with his lot. His work as a beachside photographer means that he has a license to take photographs of the girls and obtain their temporary addresses in order to forward the snaps on to them and put the system in place for him and his cohorts. But when Jame Merrow's Nicola arrives and is picked up at the station in her father's new Buick Riviera, Tinker is immediately hooked. The Riviera is a status symbol that proves Nicola is way out of Tinker's league but that kind of wrinkle doesn't feature in Tinker's thoughts; he just sees her as the ultimate challenge, reckoning that plenty of well-to-do girls enjoy a holiday fling with a bit of rough. The problem is, once Tinker beds her, he realises his feelings run a little deeper than he first imagined. Forced to confront the notion that, whilst girls like Nicola may have flings with boys like Tinker, they certainly don't marry them - a sobering fact that makes him reconsider his whole outlook on life.
Watching The System it becomes immediately apparent that Winner was very lucky to have Oliver Reed as his star (and that luck continued in many subsequent productions, each with increasingly diminishing returns) Reed was a calibre of actor who could convey great, and often unexpected, depth and sympathy to characters who initially appear vulgar, glib or even brutish. As the film progresses, the complexity inherent in Tinker's character comes to the fore as he discovers his life hasn't been as rosy as he first imagined and that a little thing like feelings can impact upon his casual encounters.
What is also really refreshing and daring for the time is the fact that Nicola is just as sexually carefree as Tinker and the boys are depicted and that it is Tinker, not her, who falls so hard he is left to reevaluate his life. Jane Merrow wasn’t the first choice for the role of Nicola (originally it was to have been Julie Christie) but she’s actually perfect here. The rest of the cast is rounded bout by several familiar faces - many of whom were up and coming at the time - such as David Hemmings, John Alderton and Julia Foster, and the film boasts some fine black and white cinematography by future auteur Nic Roeg.
Granted the director who couldn't direct traffic hasn't exactly turned in an accomplished film with The System (later released in the US with the boringly descriptive title The Girl-Getters as you can see from the posters and lobby cards on display here) but it is deeply infectious fun and utterly commendable for both its strong sense of atmosphere, and for capturing a distinctive moment in time which saw the British kitchen sink drama intersect with the influence of the French New Wave.
The system of the title is a seduction method employed by a group of bored young men native to the seaside resort of Roxham. For a few brief months of the English summer season, tourists (or 'grockles' as the characters refer to them, writer Peter Draper originating a phrase that has passed into common parlance now) flock to the town, including young women in large numbers. And those young women with their desire for holiday romances are easy pickings for the local boys led by Oliver Reed's smudger Tinker, whose system makes sure each of them share the spoils as evenly as possible.
At the start of the film, Tinker seems pretty happy with his lot. His work as a beachside photographer means that he has a license to take photographs of the girls and obtain their temporary addresses in order to forward the snaps on to them and put the system in place for him and his cohorts. But when Jame Merrow's Nicola arrives and is picked up at the station in her father's new Buick Riviera, Tinker is immediately hooked. The Riviera is a status symbol that proves Nicola is way out of Tinker's league but that kind of wrinkle doesn't feature in Tinker's thoughts; he just sees her as the ultimate challenge, reckoning that plenty of well-to-do girls enjoy a holiday fling with a bit of rough. The problem is, once Tinker beds her, he realises his feelings run a little deeper than he first imagined. Forced to confront the notion that, whilst girls like Nicola may have flings with boys like Tinker, they certainly don't marry them - a sobering fact that makes him reconsider his whole outlook on life.
Watching The System it becomes immediately apparent that Winner was very lucky to have Oliver Reed as his star (and that luck continued in many subsequent productions, each with increasingly diminishing returns) Reed was a calibre of actor who could convey great, and often unexpected, depth and sympathy to characters who initially appear vulgar, glib or even brutish. As the film progresses, the complexity inherent in Tinker's character comes to the fore as he discovers his life hasn't been as rosy as he first imagined and that a little thing like feelings can impact upon his casual encounters.
What is also really refreshing and daring for the time is the fact that Nicola is just as sexually carefree as Tinker and the boys are depicted and that it is Tinker, not her, who falls so hard he is left to reevaluate his life. Jane Merrow wasn’t the first choice for the role of Nicola (originally it was to have been Julie Christie) but she’s actually perfect here. The rest of the cast is rounded bout by several familiar faces - many of whom were up and coming at the time - such as David Hemmings, John Alderton and Julia Foster, and the film boasts some fine black and white cinematography by future auteur Nic Roeg.
Thursday, 14 July 2016
Last Resort (2000)
Not a film that anyone who voted for Brexit is likely to want to to watch or recommend, Pawel Pavilowski's 2000 film Last Resort is nevertheless an extremely timely watch as we witness hate crime increasing and the continuing extremely disproportionate amount of negative prejudiced comment from the right-wing media and the professional bigots of UKIP and the Conservative party - the latter who seem to be achieving increasing positions of power since Empress Palpatine ascended to the throne yesterday. In the midst of this dangerous rift, Last Resort gives a human face to the issue of immigration.
Last Resort tells the story of Russian refugee Tanya, and her son Artyom (compellingly performed by Dina Korzun and Artyom Strelnikov respectively) who arrive at Heathrow where Tanya expects to be met by her fiance Mark. However, it quickly becomes clear that Mark has had second thoughts. Stood up but determined to seek Mark out, Tanya has no option but to claim asylum to bide herself some time, whereupon she and her son are transferred to a holding bay in Stonehaven, a fictional decaying seaside resort in the South East of England (in reality Margate, which is ironically in the constituency of South Thanet, Nigel Farage's political stomping ground) There they make many failed attempts to head for London to find Mark and come to rely on local amusement arcade manager Alfie (Paddy Considine) for help in navigating the peculiarities of the strange new country they find themselves in, as well as the vagaries and hardships of their asylum seeker status; a life of phone cards, food vouchers and regimented, virtually incarcerated living in a drab high-rise flat. Gradually, a mutual attraction begins to blossom between the pair but, with money becoming increasingly short and with increasing desperation regarding her situation, Tanya takes up the offer of local internet pornographer Les (played by real-life pornographic film-maker Lindsay Honey, aka Steve Perry, aka 'Ben Dover') in a desperate bid to financially support herself.
Made by Pawel Pavilowski, a Polish born, British based filmmaker and proof that immigrants make a positive contribution to our culture (so take that Farage et al!), Last Resort is not one to shy away from the issue of immigration but, treated with the upmost sympathy, it tackles the prejudices of those who would use the issue for political gain. Asylum seekers aren't living in the lap of luxury in plush residences with the top tier of benefits available to them, they live in the tower blocks long abandoned by everyone bar the most disadvantaged and desperate and make do with the vouchers for everything in a climate of extreme exploitation and a bleak limbo, as their cases are waiting to be heard. They cannot work legally, as they have no work permits. Therefore money is extremely hard to come by. To make ends meet, they must break the law and take the most debasing employment in an unofficial, invisible capacity, allowing their 'employers' to treat them as poorly as they can. This is effectively represented by the character of Les, who prowls the periphery of the holding bay, preying on the most desperate to enter the sex trade. Pawlikowski shows us how easy it is for someone like Tanya, a normally respectable and professional young woman in her homeland, to go down that ugly and exploitative path - though he perhaps thankfully spares us the more gruesome details of that journey.
Last Resort may be a socially aware film and a political statement, but it is actually constructed in a lyrical and often life-affirming manner despite the raw, grim situation Tanya and Artyom find themselves in. The central political message of the film never feels forced as the faltering, hesitant steps of courtship between Alfie and Tanya, and his keen and heartfelt surrogate fatherhood of Artyom shines through the gloom. The main focus of Last Resort isn't actually asylum seeking and immigration; its the positive message of how different cultures can rub along. As such it is the ultimate antidote of everything we see, hear and read in this country; a touching, humanist depiction of a contentious issue, which reminds us that people are people.
Tuesday, 24 May 2016
Out On Blue Six : Bad Manners
Given that we've had some lovely weather these past couple of days, I thought it only right to share this track today
Factoid: Buster Bloodvessel threw up in front of me in St Helens shortly before going on stage at the town's Chicago Rock!
End Transmission
Sunday, 11 January 2015
Friday, 9 January 2015
Theme Time : Kathryn Williams - The Café
The Café was Sky One's beautiful, bittersweet and quiet little sitcom written by and starring Ralf Little and Michelle Terry.
Set in the seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare, this understated and naturalistic series felt very much in the Mike Leigh vein. It followed the comings and goings of several characters who congregate around a small cafe run by the generational trio of Mary (June Watson) Carol (Ellie Haddington) and Sarah (Michelle Terry) Some of the regular visitors - always greeted by Carol with the words 'talk of the devil, hello...' whether she was talking about them or not! - were Ralf Little's nursing home care assistant Richard who has feelings for Sarah, and David Troughton's florist Stan who quietly carries a torch for Carol, along with his daughter the daffy Chloe played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, gay living statue street artist Keiran played by Kevin Trainor and Brian Murphy and Marcia Warren as elderly couple, the Dobsons. Tim Roth's son Jack appeared in series one as Big Issue Frank (so called because he sold The Big Issue outside the cafe) whilst Robert Glenister (brother of Phil) joined the cast for series two as Carol's estranged hubby Phil.
The series reunited Little with his Royle Family co-star Craig Cash who directed the first series (broadcast in 2011) whilst Robin Sheppard took on directing duties for series two which aired in 2013. Sadly due to falling ratings, Sky One in their 'infinite wisdom' decided to scrap this lovely little show last year.
The theme tune was a cover of Beyond The Sea beautifully sung by Liverpudlian/Geordie folky Kathryn Williams
Monday, 26 August 2013
Saucy Postcards
As it's August Bank Holiday today and I'm off on my hols to the North East coast this coming Saturday, I'm in the mood for some classic saucy postcards. Here's just a smattering of this British tradition that used to have me sniggering as a child in seaside holiday spots like Blackpool and Rhyll because I knew it was 'naughty', even if I didn't necessarily get the gags!
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