By Ray Bennett
LONDON – “There is a lot of pressure. You’ve got to be thin. You’ve got to look pretty. You’ve got to look good. There’s a lot of competition, There’s too much to worry about.” That was “Happy Days” star Erin Moran speaking to me in 1982 just before the launch of “Joanie Loves Chachi”. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – The problem with Ritesh Bafra’s new film “The Sense of an Ending”, which opens in the U.K. today, is that it makes very little sense and it has no ending.
Reviews of the Man Booker Prize-winning novel on which the movie is based suggest the same is true of the book but no doubt it is saved by the fine writing of Julian Barnes. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
NEW YORK 1975 – Jack Nicholson appears in the breakfast room of a fancy Manhattan hotel on a Saturday morning in a baggy brown suit, no tie, his dark shirt collar inside his jacker, and dark glasses. He lights a Marlboro and scrounges coffee and says “You mean you guys actually got up for breakfast?” He curses lazily, shaking his head. “I’m wrecked.” Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Worldwide headlines about the Oscar fiasco over mixed-up envelopes that saw “Moonlight” triumph over “La La Land” as best picture has been a big help to the low-budget picture’s international theatrical release.
I’m happy to have been proved right when I made that prediction on Monday on BBC World News (see clip below). Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Mind over matter is refined in Lindsey Ferrentino’s absorbing new play “Ugly Lies the Bone” at the National Theatre to the application of virtual reality to deal with physical and emotional pain. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Repeat screenings of the Academy Awards nominees serve to reinforce original impressions so while I doubt that it will win, my choice for best picture remains Denis Villeneuve’s profound sci-fi picture “Arrival” (pictured).
Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea” is a haunting and ultimately life-affirming story of grief and guilt and I would not be displeased if it were to win. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – My life as film critic began 60 years ago with a log of movies I saw along with my verdict on each one. I was 11.
The first movie image I recall seeing was of a man with curly white hair in a battered top hat who reaches deep into a pocket of his baggy overcoat and when he draws out his hand, his fingers and thumb are lighted candles. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
In a year that has featured many fine films with splendid performances by women, the movie I enjoyed the most was Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival” starring Amy Adams (pictured).
In my review from the Toronto International Film Festival, I said: “Science-fiction movies that threaten to depict creatures from outer-space generally leave me cold but Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival” presents a plausible “what if?” grounded in a contemplative question for humankind with another standout performance by Amy Adams. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
Very pleased to see that Kate Beckinsale (pictured right) has won two nominations in the 37th London Critics’ Circle Awards for her sparkling performance in Whit Stillman’s Jane Austen adaptation “Love and Friendship”, which garnered seven nominations overall including film of the year and British film of the year. Continue reading
As he turns 80, ten Jack Nicholson films you should see
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Three-time Academy Award-winner Jack Nicholson, who turns 80 today, hasn’t had a leading role in a film since Rob Reiner’s ‘The Bucket List with Morgan Freeman’ in 2007 but his classic pictures remain treasures.
They include ‘Easy Rider” (1969), ‘Five Easy Pieces” (1970), ‘The Last Detail’ (1973), ‘Chinatown’ (1974), ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975), ‘Terms of Endearment’ (1983) and ‘As Good As it Gets’ (1998).
The range of his films confirms that but he also made some very canny deals. While other top stars boasted about making $20 million per picture, Nicholson smiled, took half of that number but also a big chunk of the back-end. I’ve heard that he made upwards of $50 million for playing the Joker in ‘Batman’ (1989).
There are some films, however, that made less of an impact and here are ten titles that remain worth a look.
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Directed by Mike Nichols with a script by cartoonist Jules Pfeiffer, it’s a comedy with a fierce undercurrent as it follows two men, played by Nicholson and Art Garfunkle, as they pursue their dreams and fantasies about women. Candice Bergen and Ann-Margret also are terrific as two of the females involved.
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
Nicholson at his most reflective and subtle as a talk-show host who is inveigled by his dodgy brother (Bruce Dern) to get involved with a scam involving mobsters in Atlantic City. Directed by Bob Rafelson (“Five Easy Pieces”), it’s a great look at the Boardwalk city with a fine contribution by Ellen Burstyn.
The Passenger (1975)
Framed as a thriller, Michelangelo Antonioni’s film is typically complex with Nicholson as a man seeking both fight and flight as he opts to change character and identity in Africa. David Locke (Nicholson) is an English reporter educated in America who stumbles upon a story about a hidden guerrilla force. When the chance presents itself for him to pretend he is dead and assume the life of somebody else, he takes it and follows leads to Munich, London and Barcelona. Existential and absorbing.
The Fortune (1975)
Underrated screwball comedy set in Hollywood in the Twenties with Nicholson and Warren Beatty as conmen who set out to cheat a flamboyant woman (Stockard Channing) out of her inheritance. Directed by Mike Nichols, the film has a great look thanks to cinematographer John A. Alonzo and production designer Richard Sylbert with uncredited music by David Shire. It’s much more entertaining than its reviews suggest.
Goin’ South (1978)
Screwball Western that Nicholson directs as well as stars in. He plays a ne’er do well about to be hanged until a law crops up that allows any woman who owns land to claim a convict so long as he marries and works for her. Mary Steenburgen plays the woman and the pair of them have a rare old time. It’s her screen debut and John Belushi’s too. The cast includes Danny DeVito, Richard Bradford and Christopher Lloyd. The opening chase sequence is brilliant.
The Border (1982)
Penetrating drama about the U.S. Border Patrol in Texas with Californian transplant Charlie (Nicholson) and his high maintenance wife (Valerie Perrine) adjusting to the realities of life in El Paso. British director Tony Richardson takes an outsider’s view of the way corrupt cops deal with Hispanics who risk everything in search of what they think is a better life. Charlie’s life gets complicated when he tries to help a young Latina (Elphidia Carrillo) and her baby. Harvey Keitel, Shannon Wilcox and Warren Oates are in the cast and the music is by the always reliable Ry Cooder.
Prizzi’s Honor 1985
A very entertaining mafia movie with Nicholson as Charley Partanna, a made man who happens also to be a complete doofus. The star said he came to grips with the character only when director John Huston reminded him: “Remember, he’s stupid.” Anjelica Huston won the best supporting actress Oscar as Maerose, a far more resourceful mobster who steps in when Charley falls for a dangerous blonde specimen played by Kathleen Turner. Scripted by Richard Condon (and Janet Roach) based on his novel, it’s a riot with a score by Alex North.
The Two Jakes (1990)
Nicholson directed this contemplative sequel to “Chinatown” with a screenplay by the original film’s Robert Towne. Set following World War II in a Los Angeles much changed from the Thirties, it puts private eye Jake Gittes on the case of another Jake (Harvey Keitel), who says his wife (Meg Tilly) is bonking his partner. A set-up leads to a death and Gittes has to delve deeper as a beauty played by Madeleine Stowe complicates matters. Vilmos Zsigmond’s cinematography and music by Van Dyke Parks add to the film’s attractions.
Wolf (1994)
Vastly entertaining picture that became even better when I realised that it’s not a horror film. It’s a comedy, and very funny it is too. Nicholson plays a successful but meek publisher who is fired by his boss (Christopher Plummer) after he is betrayed by a young man he has mentored (James Spader). When his car hits a wolf that bites him, things change dramatically. Michelle Pfeiffer (pictured top with Nicholson) and Eileen Atkins are splendid in a terrific yarn directed by Mike Nichols with a score by Ennio Morricone.
About Schmidt (2002)
Alexander Payne (“Nebraska”) directs Nicholson as a cranky man in his mid-60s who, upon the death of his wife, decides to travel across the States in a trailer to see if he can prevent the wedding of his estranged daughter Jeanine (Hope Davis). A road picture with plenty of incident, it’s a showcase for the actor’s range matched by Kathy Bates, who also won an Oscar nomination.