FILM REVIEW: Michael Keaton in ‘Birdman’

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By Ray Bennett

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” is a scintillating evocation of artistic crisis. It’s a surrealistic black comedy about the creative fears of a movie star whose career in comic-book blockbusters has long ended and who now seeks redemption in a serious Broadway play. Continue reading

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Upcoming movies: The winners

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By Ray Bennett

A snapshot preview of some of the movies to be released over the holiday period and into the New Year. These are the ones that work. Continue reading

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Upcoming movies: The losers

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By Ray Bennett

A snapshot preview of some of the movies to be released over the holiday period and into the New Year. These are the ones that don’t work. Continue reading

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How I helped keep Bill Murray subversive

Ghostbusters

By Ray Bennett

I had a bone to pick with Bill Murray. It was 1990, and all the rebellious early comedians on “Saturday Night Live” appeared to have lost their way. From radical satire they’d moved to mainstream comedy and sappy dramas. They were no longer subversive and they had let a generation down.

Murray said, “I feel the same thing about other people. There are people that have a responsibility to me that aren’t living up to it. If I ever see them in traffic, I’m gonna bump into them.”

He did not, however, disagree. I’d met him first at the Park Plaza in New York on a junket for “Ghostbusters’ in 1984. After a series of round-table interviews fellow Toronto writers Ron Base and Jerry Gladman joined me in the Oak Room for a drink. When a waiter arrived with a tray of Golden Cadillac cocktails, we explained that we had not ordered them and he pointed to a raised area adjacent to us where Murray was doing a one-on-one interview. “You need to drink two,” he said. We ordered the same for him “from the Canadians” and the surprising thing was that six years later he recalled the incident.

We were in a hotel room in the Bel Age Hotel in Beverly Hills for an extended interview and photo shoot in advance of the release of his film “Quick Change”. Murray admired the Erté prints on the walls: “I might just waltz a couple of these right out of here.”

He spoke at length about the film, a crime comedy he co-directed with Howard Franklin, and then I brought up my complaint. I cited the SNL alumni’s recent output: Chevy Chase in “Funny Farm”, Gilda Radner in “The Woman in Red”, Jane Curtin in TV’s “Kate & Allie”, Eddie Murphy in “Coming to America”, Dan Ackroyd in “Driving Miss Daisy” and Murray in “The Razor’s Edge”.

Murray said, “People wish that the ‘Saturday Night’ guys and girls did as well in movies as they did on TV but the two things are very different. You can’t compare TV to movies any more than theatre to TV. It’s not the same event. On TV, there’s just not that much that can go wrong. In movies, there are millions of things that can go wrong.”

Bill Murray in bank robbery comedy 'Quick Change' 1990

Bill Murray in bank robbery comedy ‘Quick Change’ 1990

On the TV show, they did 5-minute sketches: “If we did three good 5-minute sketches in the course of a 90-minute show, people said, ‘Hey, that’s pretty good.’ If you can get ’em in the first half-hour, anyway. But you only had to be good for five minutes at a time to do something memorable. In a movie, it’s an hour and a half. It’s a different ability, different awareness, a different story sense, everything.”

Murray also cited the writers: “We had good actors, no question about it, but the writers were really great and they collaborated all the time.”

Perhaps, I suggested, a comedian’s only responsibility is to make people laugh. Murray said, “I hear that but I don’t know. It’s sort of OK, sure, but I don’t really feel that I’m able to say that because, to me, without an audience, where are you? You’re really alone.”

He agreed that a performer should be true to himself: “But I do feel there is an obligation. I don’t think it’s fair, though, to say that it has to be in movies. All those people are great, everybody was great, and not everybody’s had the same success in the movies, but so what?”

Bill Murray in 'St. Vincent', which opens in the UK Dec. 5, 2014

Bill Murray in ‘St. Vincent’, which opens in the UK Dec. 5, 2014

My point, I said, was that the movies were no longer counter-culture, they were mainstream. He said, “That’s true,” and he spoke passionately about the way politics had changed in the 1970s with hypocritical “sons of bitches” in Congress and good politicians who would not run against Ronald Reagan “because people wanted an actor; they wanted a jive-ass”.

Could you say that in a movie? He said, “I think you have to but in order to make a statement in film, you’ve got to be able to make film. If people say, ‘How come ‘SNL’ people haven’t chopped these people down to size?’, well they’re all pretty young, relatively. It’s just as baffling to go from the Nixon/Johnson thing into whatever the Woodstock generation was all about as to go from there to this Reagan/Bush business.”

Murray gave two reasons for his odd choice to make a dramatic film of W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Razor’s Edge” – the Indian locations and co-star Theresa Russell, for which it’s hard to blame him.

He made a case for “Scrooged”, his variation on the Dickens theme, that had come out in 1988: “Well, it’s a Christmas release movie so its box office potential was limited by definition. The movie opens the third week of November and Christmas has become so exhausting as an event – that’s why all the suicides occur because it’s so emotionally banging – so when it’s over people don’t want to know about it for another 12 months.”

The picture made money but Murray said he thinks it could have been different: “I think we didn’t all understand what we were about; we were in different minds, maybe. There’s some very good stuff in it and what I hear from people who saw it on cable this year, they say ‘Jeez, that wasn’t bad. That almost made it’, and I go, ‘Yeah?’ They say, ‘No, I mean, that was almost pretty good,’ and I say, ‘Well, thank you’, and they say, ‘No, I mean, no, I’m not kidding.’ ‘Scrooged’ had something to offer. It was a movie, as you say, that could have really had something to say about the state of the trickle-down world. That was the intention and to a degree it was effective.”

In 2005, I ran into Murray again in the lobby of the Hotel Residéal, where we put out The Hollywood Reporter festival dailies. He was in the lobby with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch waiting to do interviews for their picture “Broken Flowers”, which won that year’s Grand Prix.

Over the decades since “Quick Change”, Murray has become one of the most delightfully subversive elements in all kinds of terrific films by great directors such as Jarmusch, Sofia Coppola, Roger Michell, George Clooney, and especially Wes Anderson.

He greeted me warmly and as we shook hands I offered him an apology for my accusation back in 1990 and thanked him for all his work since. It’s always hard to tell with actors but he smiled and said, “No, you were right.”

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When Ricardo Montalbán killed off Frito Bandito

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By Ray Bennett

Chris Rock’s question “Is Hollywood Mexican enough?” in his essay about race in the current edition of The Hollywood Reporter reminded me of what the late Ricardo Montalbán told me a long time ago about the image of Mexicans on screen.

The “Fantasy Island” star, who would have turned 95 last week, in 1970 founded Nosotros, now the oldest US non-profit arts advocacy group. In an interview in Los Angeles for TV Guide Canada on Jan. 21, 1983, Montalbán said he had been motivated to form the organisation because of the way Mexicans were depicted in film and television.

He said, “There are two extremes. One is the indolent, lazy peon with a big hat, taking a siesta, leaning against a cactus. Now, I don’t know how you can do that because, have you ever tried to lean against a cactus? I never have and I never will, but nevertheless that’s the image.’

The other extreme was the bandit: “It was always a Mexican bandit with a phoney, phoney accent, a comedic bandit who says, ‘Eh, señor? Gi’ me your gon’. And then there’s the gigolo. In between: nothing, a vacuum, never a decent man.”

Ricard Montalban, Yvonne de Carlo 'Sombrero' MGM 1953

Ricard Montalban, Yvonne de Carlo ‘Sombrero’ MGM 1953

The star persuaded the Frito Lay company to drop its Frito Bandito character in TV commercials: “He was a funny little fat guy with a moustache and bandoleers across his chest and he would steal chips because they were so delicious. I called the president of Frito Lay and I said, ‘I hope you will listen to me because otherwise you will have to listen to the more militant organisations who are really fed up with this.”

Montalbán said the man objected: “He said, ‘But why? He’s a very cute little guy. We spent $12 million on it and it’s the most successful campaign that Frito has ever had.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m sure that’s true but it’s precisely because he is so cute that he is so dangerous. It’s one more insult added, one more injury to the Mexican people. I said, ‘Why not make him Frito Amigo, who finds the chips so delicious he has to share them?’ He said, ‘Mr. Montalbano, you make very good sense’ and Frito Bandito was off the air.”

Nosotros, which means “we”, set out to correct the Mexican image on screen and urge directors to ignore people’s names when casting and go by appearance and performance alone, and establish workshops where Mexican – and later people from all Spanish-speaking nations – could hone their talent.

The organisation will celebrate it’s 45th anniversary in 2015, and Montalbán said back in 1983: “We’ve made some inroads, some very positive inroads but they are slow in coming. There have been some gains and we see some very good signs. I think the Spanish actor is in better shape because of Nosotros – a small contribution but I think an important one.”

According to Chris Rock, it appears there’s still a long way to go.

Ricardo Montalban as Khan

Ricardo Montalban as Khan

Montalbán was a victim of stereotyping early in his career. He is recalled best for “Fantasy Island” (1977-1984) plus Chrysler commercials in the US and Maxwell House commercials in Canada. He also played Khan in the “Star Trek” TV series in 1967 and the 1982 film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, but when he first went to Hollywood in 1943, he was stereotyped immediately.

He told me that the dozen or so films he’d made in Mexico had been intensely dramatic: “They kept giving me those roles. I never played comedy. I was very dramatic and intense young man.”

Hollywood, where he was under contract at MGM, had a different idea: “They always categorised me as a Latin, whatever that was, and I had to play those roles. Because in my first picture I danced, and it was successful, people thought I was a dancer. I had to dance from then on in many films. I began to play, ‘How do you do?’ and I’m kissing ladies’ hands and clicking my heels, doing a rumba or a tango. It was very peculiar.”

'Latin Lovers' Lana Turner, Ricardo Montalban

‘Latin Lovers’ Lana Turner, Ricardo Montalban

His last MGM credit was “Latin Lovers” opposite Lana Turner in 1953. He said he had been happy at the studio and had great respect for Louis B. Mayer despite what many others have said about the studio boss: “To me, he will never be Louis B. Mayer. He will always be Mr. Mayer. He always treated me with affection. I have nothing but pleasant memories of the man. I’ve heard all these other things but, you know, in Spanish we say that each one speaks about the party in his own way. We can both attend the party and you could say it was a lousy party and I could say it was the best party of my life. I suppose it’s the same with human beings. I hear people talk not in very kind terms of Mr. Mayer and in my case he was a man who was absolutely wonderful to me.”

Montalbán’s career suffered when he left the studio and he had to fend for himself but he survived and IMDb lists 172 acting credits until his death on Jan. 14, 2009. He became a household name as the mysterious host Mr. Roarke on “Fantasy Island” with Hervé Villechaize (pictured top) as his diminutive sidekick Tattoo, who always called out “de plane!” as the week’s characters arrived for their adventures.

He said he was very lucky that the show and the TV commercials came along when they did: “It was the luckiest break of my life. This is a career of diminishing returns and as you get older you are less desirable but in my case it’s been just the opposite. It’s all timing; a throw of the dice, and I consider myself extremely fortunate.”

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FILM REVIEW: ‘American Sniper’ and ‘Unbroken’

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By Ray Bennett

Upcoming Hollywood war films “American Sniper” and “Unbroken” are long and grim with a great deal of violence and suffering and they just seem … empty.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, “American Sniper” tells of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper, pictured below) who, in combat in Iraq, was said to be the deadliest marksman in US military history. Directed by Angelina Jolie, “Unbroken” tells of US Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who was a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II where he suffered at the hands of a cruel Japanese soldier nicknamed The Bird (Miyavi, pictured above). The events are true and well-documented and the trailer for “Unbroken” pretty much tells the whole story of that film.

They are both superior productions with high levels of performance, action and excitement. The problem is that each film is shallow and inflammatory with no interest in politics or another point of view. Iraqis are portrayed as savages and the Japanese as soulless brutes.

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In “The Hurt Locker”, Kathryn Bigelow took time for reflection on the lives of people on the other side, allowed for some pause on the part of the central characters and showed the impact war has on individuals. In writer and director David Ayer’s “Fury”, when tank commander Collier (Brad Pitt) is told that the remaining German army is fighting ever more ferociously to avoid defeat, he says, “Wouldn’t you?”

Each of the new films shows soldiers who approach war in the same merciless way. Neither questions the rightness of his particular war. They both view the enemy as less than human and they show no remorse. The hero of one and the villain in the other are shown to be formed by strict fathers with adherence to God and country. Kyle is taught at a young age that it is fine to kill wild animals so long as you show proper respect for the heart you’ve stopped beating and you don’t leave your rifle in the dirt. There’s little backstory to the Bird except an explanation that he is a spoiled rich kid with one photo that shows him with his stern military father.

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The US sniper claims to have shot to death from long distance more than 160 men, women and children. He states that his priorities are “God, country, family” and he regards his enemies as savages. He declares that he will meet his maker one day with a clean conscience for all of his kills. The Japanese commandant starves, overworks and beats prisoners, especially the Olympic athlete. He has no compassion and no guilt. He tells prisoners, “You are an enemy of Japan. You will be treated accordingly.”

The stone-cold killer is acclaimed as a hero and family man while the malicious overseer is depicted as a psychotic sadist. Kyle has no doubt that God is on his side and Zamberini in a moment of deep peril promises God that if he is spared then he will do whatever is asked of him. A note at the end of the film says that he devoted himself thereafter to “God’s work” and spent his life advocating forgiveness. That is something that neither film encourages. Instead they demonise the enemy and rabble-rouse for vengeance. Just what we need.

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“Unbroken”, which co-stars Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock, opens in the US on Christmas Day and in the UK on Boxing Day. “American Sniper”, which co-stars Sienna Miller and Luke Grimes, will be on limited release in the US on Christmas Day and on general release there and in the UK on Jan. 16.

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FILM REVIEW: Tommy Lee Jones’s ‘The Homesman’

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By Ray Bennett

Tommy Lee Jones told me at a recent Bafta screening that he would not want to make a movie without composer Marco Beltrami and when you see his new film “The Homesman”, you can see why. Continue reading

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Rock Hudson and the Hollywood AIDS scare

Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson 'Giant' Cliff

Rock Hudson, who would have been 90 years-old today, had a more significant impact on Hollywood when he died than in a long acting career that included “Giant” (pictured), 1960s comedies with Doris Day and TV series “McMillan & Wife”.

Hudson died aged 59 on Oct. 2, 1985 from complications related to AIDS. On Feb. 8, 1986, I reported from Los Angeles on the impact of his death for TV Guide Canada. Here’s that story, which reflects all the fear, confusion and ignorance of that time. Continue reading

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FILM REVIEW: Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’

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By Ray Bennett

Christopher Nolan’s entertaining sci-fi epic “Interstellar” is a swashbuckling adventure set in the far reaches of space with a mix of scientific fact and flimflam, and lots of black holes, wormholes and plot holes. Continue reading

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THEATRE REVIEW: ‘Made in Dagenham: The Musical’

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By Ray Bennett

David Arnold has seldom appeared happier. You can only imagine what it’s like to walk along the Strand in London and see the splash of colour at the Adelphi Theatre that proclaims your very first West End musical and know that everyone says “Made in Dagenham: The Musical” will be a giant hit.

Everyone being me and those I know who’ve seen it. The London critics will see it tomorrow and Arnold, who is a pragmatic man, says that no matter what they say, this has been one of the most satisfying things he’s ever done: “Even if it closes in a week, to have worked on this with all these people, and to see it actually get on the stage, has been wonderful.”

I’ve known David Arnold since I interviewed him in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s. An acclaimed record producer and songwriter, he has won success with his scores for many movies including James Bond pictures, “Stargate”, “Independence Day” and “2 Fast 2 Furious” and TV shows such as “Little Britain” and “Sherlock”. He produces an annual concert for the CARE charity and he was Danny Boyle’s musical director for the universally acclaimed opening and closing shows at the 2012 London Olympiad.

He’s also great fun to be around, as I know from the early Saturday morning when he brought director Alan Parker along to join me, a Spurs fan, at the Fox pub on Vineland in Studio City to watch an Arsenal premiership game to several splendidly entertaining evenings at the World Soundtrack Awards in Gent.

David Arnold

David Arnold

All the elements are there for another major new development in his sterling career. Arnold, who wrote the score for the 2010 Nigel Cole movie about female machinists who went on strike against the Ford Motor Co. in East London in 1968, has written a mix of melodic tunes and soaring anthems with lyrics by Richard Thomas (“Jerry Springer: The Musical”).

Richard Bean (“One Man, Two Guvnors”) wrote the book and the director is Rupert Goold, who won the Olivier Award as best director for “Macbeth” starring Patrick Stewart in 2008 and “Enron” in 2010.

The show stars Gemma Arterton as the fictional leader of the women strikers, played in the movie by Sally Hawkins. Two of the finest British actresses, they have somewhat different skills. Hawkins can play meek so her character in the film becomes the mouse that roared whereas Arterton cannot play meek but she can play vulnerable, and as the show begins Goold sensibly places her off to the side where she is just one of the girls. Her obvious good looks and strength come to the fore only during the course of the story, which serves the production very well.

There are several ensemble numbers and each of the strong cast has a chance to shine as the strike protest makes its way to Ford management and ultimately to parliament. Industrial unrest has served as the backdrop for many British dramas with musical content such as “Billy Elliot” and “Brassed Off”. “Made in Dagenham” is a natural for stage musical treatment and the creative crew and cast carry it off with crowd-pleasing aplomb.

Already a big star in Hollywood movies, indie films and serious theatrical drama, Arterton shows that she will have a formidable career in stage musicals. Arnold tells me that she has proved to be the absolute sweetheart she’s appeared to be when I’ve met her and she has worked without airs as the show has gone through inevitable changes and tweaks.

Adrian der Gregorian makes a likeable and worthy leading man and the other women are a clever mix of serious, sweary and saucy while Mark Hadfield’s Harold Wilson is amusingly addled and Sophie-Louise Dann has a great time as employment secretary Barbara Castle. The songs are hummable and witty and there’s a show-stopper titled “America” that builds to a tremendous climax as it lampoons everything we love and hate about that nation’s image. Long may it run.

For more information, see “Made in Dagenham”

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