By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Evan Hunter was an American writer who wrote several novels that were made into movies including Richard Brooks’s ‘Blackboard Jungle’ (above) starring Glenn Ford and featuring Sidney Poitier and Vic Morrow but known best for its opening credits song, ‘Rock Around the Clock’ by Bill Haley and the Comets. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Barbara Mandrell, who turned 70 on Christmas Day, was country when country wasn’t cool but in 1981, when she was 32, she loved it when I told her I thought she was a knockout.
“Well, bless your heart,” she said. “Why don’t you call me every morning?”
Back then, long before Shania Twain and aside from the adorably extreme Dolly Parton, tearaway Tanya Tucker and the peerless Emmylou Harris, female country singers tended to be demurely feminine or tough as nails. Immensely talented, Mandrell was the queen of country music at the time with hit singles and albums, sold-out concerts and a popular television variety show on which she she never hid her sex appeal.
“It always flatters me if somebody uses the word ‘sexy’ and attaches it to me,” she said, “because in my life, all my life growing up, I’ve always been a tomboy, and I still am.”
I wouldn’t normally say such a thing in an interview but given how sniffy the Nashville community could be, on the phone from Toronto, I wondered if being sexy had ever been a problem.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Growing up, I played with dolls a little bit but my big thing was building forts and playing cowboys. I’m a girl too. I’d put on little frilly things, enjoy getting dressed up and feeling pretty. But I’m a mother of two and I’ve been around a long time. I’ve built a solid career and I’m very civic minded. Nashville knows how proud I am of Nashville and, unless they’ve got me really fooled, Nashville’s very proud of me.”
She won the 1980 Entertainer of the Year Award from the Academy of Country Music in In 1981, she became only the third woman (after Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton) to be named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association and she topped that in 1982 when she was the first to earn the accolade twice. She also was named female vocalist of the year twice (1979 and 1981).
She earned 11 Grammy Award nominations with two wins. ‘He Set My Life to Music’ won for best inspirational performance in 1982 and ‘I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today’ with Bobby Jones won for best soul gospel performance by a duo or group in 1983. She had 26 releases on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with ten Top 10 hits and 46 singles on the Hot Country Songs chart with 25 Top 10 hits and six that reached number one. Chart-topping singles were ‘Sleeping Single in a Double Bed’ (1978), ‘(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right’ (1979), ‘Years’ (1980), ‘I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool’ (1981), ‘Til You’re Gone’ (1982) and ‘One of a Kind Pair of Fools’ (1983).
Besides the ‘Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters’ show, which ran for 35 episodes on NBC 1980-82, she performed on scores of shows including the 50th Annual CMA Awards special in 2016. Following her acting debut in an American version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ titled ‘Skinflint’ starring Hoyt Axton in 1979, she acted in shows such as ‘Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman’, ‘Baywatch’, ‘Diagnosis Murder’ and ‘Touched By an Angel’ and appeared in 35 episodes of the NBC soap opera ‘Sunset Beach’ (1997-98).
She retired in 1997 following a farewell concert at the Grand Ole Opry titled ‘Barbara Mandrell and the Do-Rites: The Last Dance’, which aired on TNN. Her 1990 autobiography ‘Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story’, which tells of the 1984 car accident in which she almost died, was adapted into a TV movie starring Maureen McCormick by Hallmark in 1997.
She was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and in 2000 she was awarded the Academy of Country Music’s highest honour, the Pioneer Award. In 2009, she became the only woman ever to be inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame and she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2014, she was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame, recognised for her skill on multiple instruments, particularly the steel guitar. On her website, she says that today she can be found gardening, visiting friends, taking care of her home and family and enjoying a slower pace of life.
Aside from her great voice and looks, a big part of Barbara Mandrell’s success was down to her warm personality. She always looked as if she were having fun. “I’ve always thought I had a fairly good sense of humour,” she said. “I love to laugh at myself and I’m always attracted to people who have a good sense of humour. On the TV show, I found that I really liked and felt good doing ridiculous things. I found I could have fun with stuff and make people laugh. I like watching people smile and laugh … it lets me know that I gave them their money’s worth and that just means the world to me.”
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Yorgos Lanthimos’s costume romp ‘The Favourite’ has picked up 10 nominations for the 39th annual London Critics’ Film Awards including best film followed by Pawel Pawlikowski’s ‘Cold War’, Rupert Everett’s ‘The Happy Prince’, Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Roma’ and Lynne Ramsay’s ‘You Were Never Really Here’, each with five nods. Pedro Almodovar will receive the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film.
‘Roma’, Debra Granik’s ‘Leave No Trace’, ‘Cold War’ and ‘You Were Never Really Here’ are the other titles up for best film. Lanthimos is nominated as best director for ‘The Favourite’ along with Cuaron, Granik, Pawlikowski and Ramsey.
Olivia Colman is nominated as best actress and Rachel Weisz as best supporting actress, both for ‘The Favourite’ (picture above). Others up for best actress are Yalitza Aparicio for ‘Roma’, Glenn Close for ‘The Wife’, Toni Collette for ‘Hereditary’ and Joanna Kulig for ‘Cold War’. Other best supporting actress nominees are Elizabeth Debicki for ‘Widows’, Cynthia Erivo for ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’, Claire Foy for ‘First Man’ and Regina King for ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’
Best actor nods went to Christian Bale for ‘Vice’, Rupert Everett for ‘The Happy Prince’, Ben Foster for ‘Leave No Trace’, Ethan Hawke for ‘First Reformed’ and Joaquin Phoenix for ‘You Were Never Really Here’. Best supporting actor nominees are: Adam Driver for ‘BlacKkKlansman’, Richard E Grant for ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’, Michael B Jordan for ‘Black Panther’, Daniel Kaluuya for ‘Widows’ and Alessandro Nivola for ‘Disobedience’.
There is no prize for music in the awards but nominees for the Technical Achievement Award include Nicholas Britell for his music in ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ and Thom Yorke for his music in ‘Suspiria’.
Awards Chair Rich Cline said, “Because our critics see almost everything that’s released, they nominated more than 180 titles in the Film of the Year category alone.” He said the list of nominees goes against expectations and is “very distinctive in the current awards season” as it includes two women for best director and performances that other groups are overlooking: “With such a wide range of titles on the ballots, getting a nomination is a real achievement.”
Winners will be announced at ceremonies on Sunday January 20, 2019, at The May Fair Hotel. Here’s the full list of nominees:
FILM OF THE YEAR
– BlacKkKlansman,
Cold War,
The Favourite, First Man,
First Reformed,
The Happy Prince,
Leave No Trace
, Roma,
Shoplifters,
You Were Never Really Here
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR –
120 Beats per Minute,
Cold War,
A Fantastic Woman,
Roma
, Shoplifters
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
– Faces Places
, McQueen
,They Shall Not Grow Old
, Three Identical Strangers,
Whitney
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR: The Attenborough Award
-Apostasy
, Beast
, The Favourite,
The Happy Prince,
You Were Never Really Here
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
– Alfonso Cuaron – Roma
, Debra Granik – Leave No Trace,
Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite,
Pawel Pawlikowski – Cold War,
Lynne Ramsay – You Were Never Really Here
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR –
Alfonso Cuaron – Roma, Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara – The Favourite
, Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk,
Steve McQueen & Gillian Flynn – Widows,
Paul Schrader – First Reformed
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR –
Yalitza Aparicio – Roma,
Glenn Close – The Wife,
Toni Collette – Hereditary,
Olivia Colman – The Favourite,
Joanna Kulig – Cold War
ACTOR OF THE YEAR
– Christian Bale – Vice,
Rupert Everett – The Happy Prince,
Ben Foster – Leave No Trace,
Ethan Hawke – First Reformed
, Joaquin Phoenix – You Were Never Really Here
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
– Elizabeth Debicki – Widows,
Cynthia Erivo – Bad Times at the El Royale
, Claire Foy – First Man
, Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk,
Rachel Weisz – The Favourite
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
– Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman,
Richard E Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
, Michael B Jordan – Black Panther
, Daniel Kaluuya – Widows
, Alessandro Nivola – Disobedience
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR –
Emily Blunt – Mary Poppins Returns, A Quiet Place, Sherlock Gnomes
; Jessie Buckley – Beast;
Olivia Colman – The Favourite
; Claire Foy – First Man, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Unsane;
Rachel Weisz – Disobedience, The Favourite
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
– Christian Bale – Mowgli, Vice;
Steve Coogan – Holmes & Watson, Ideal Home, Stan & Ollie;
Rupert Everett – The Happy Prince
; Richard E Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms;
Daniel Kaluuya – Black Panther, Widows
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
– Liv Hill – Jellyfish, The Little Stranger
; Noah Jupe – Holmes & Watson, A Quiet Place, That Good Night, The Titan;
Anya Taylor-Joy – Glass, The Secret of Marrowbone, Thoroughbreds
; Fionn Whitehead – The Children Act;
Molly Wright – Apostasy
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER: The Philip French Award –
Deborah Davis – The Favourite;
Rupert Everett – The Happy Prince;
Deborah Haywood – Pin Cushion;
Daniel Kokotajlo – Apostasy;
Michael Pearce – Beast
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM
- Little Shit – Richard Gorodecky,
Night Out – Amelia Hashemi,
Salt & Sauce – Alia Ghafar
, Three Centimetres – Lara Zeidan
, Under Growth – Evin O’Neill
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
– American Animals – film editing, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart;
BlacKkKlansman – costume design, Marci Rodgers;
Cold War – cinematography, Lukasz Zal;
The Favourite – production design, Fiona Crombie;
First Man – visual effects, Paul Lambert;
If Beale Street Could Talk – music, Nicholas Britell
; Mission: Impossible Fallout – stunts, Wade Eastwood;
A Quiet Place – sound design, Ethan Van der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
; Suspiria – music, Thom Yorke
; You Were Never Really Here – film editing, Joe Bini
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Fasten your corsets, it’s going to be a bumpy night. Yorkos Lanthimos’s costume romp ‘The Favourite’ is a cartoonish depiction of the fiery relationships between 18th century Queen Anne, her best friend and senior courtier Sarah Churchill, and a young woman who seeks to replace Sarah in the monarch’s affection. Call it ‘All About Abigail’.
Olivia Colman, as the flighty, ailing Queen; Rachel Weisz (top left with Colman and below) as the beautiful and intelligent but wilful Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and Emma Stone as the seemingly guileless but devious and determined newcomer Abigail Hill (below) are all in top form. There is a great deal to enjoy with lots of intrigue, sex and filthy language even if director Lanthimos (‘The Lobster’, ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’), fails to match the deft touch that Armando Iannucci brought to his wickedly funny ‘The Death of Stalin’.
It is a crowd-pleaser so there was little surprise when it was named best film at this year’s British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs). It succeeds as a raucous romp without any real historical context aside from references to military conflict with France and the monarch’s squabbles with parliament. All the men are foppish and unthreatening twerps, the peasants and servants are as revolting as the landed gentry and aristocrats, and the ending is bathetic, but historical accuracy is not its aim.
The film takes for granted Sarah’s disputed allegation following the queen’s death in 1714 that Abigail’s affair with the monarch included lesbian relations and, to fit the bawdy narrative, insists that Sarah’s did too. Abigail arrives at court to plead for a job after a rough life following the loss of of her family’s aristocratic position. (In truth, her cousin Sarah invited her). She soon proves helpful to the Queen who is plagued not only by explosive mood swings but also very painful gout. Abigail’s agreeable nature, eagerness to please and home-made potions applied to Anne’s legs create an intimacy she’s only too willing to exploit. Her rivalry with Sarah escalates to the point of physical violence and attempted murder.
All three actresses are delightful and very funny. Colman and Weisz play it straight with exceptional skill and both should be in line for awards beyond their wins as best actress and best supporting actress at the BIFAs. Colman adds a human dimension to a character who could easily just be addled and amusing with occasional fits of demented rage while Weisz conveys Sarah’s brilliance, shrewdness and fierce candour but also her sympathy for the queen and vulnerability. Stone’s English accent is perfect and she does well too, playing canny and knowing while appearing to be sweet and innocent, although she does tend to wink at the camera as do many of the male members of the cast including Nicholas Hoult (below centre) as the Tory Robert Harley, Mark Gatiss as Marlborough, James Smith as the Whig Godolphin and Joe Alwyn as Abigail’s suitor Samuel Masham.
Cinematographer Robbie Ryan and production designer Fiona Crombie make the most of the gorgeous Hatfield House while triple-Oscar-winner Sandy Powell’s costumes are ravishing. Works by Bach, Handel, Purcell and Vivaldi are joined on the soundtrack by pieces by such modern composers Luc Ferrari, Anna Meredith and Olivier Messiaen.
NOTE: One regret about the picture is that it probably rules out any chance of a serious movie about Sarah Churchill, who was one of the most powerful and fascinating women in British history. The script by first-time screenwriter Deborah Davis and TV writer Tony McNamara (‘Puberty Blues’, ‘Doctor Doctor’) plays fast and loose with historical facts. Sarah did pretty much rule the country during Anne’s term after succeeding William and Mary as she was a brilliant woman married to the powerful Duke of Marlborough, hero of Blenheim.
Her relationship with the queen, however, foundered more over party politics than jealousy – the Queen decided to back the anti-war Tories while Sarah and her husband were Whigs and Abigail was a Tory – and it barely addresses Anne’s deep religious feelings. The film omits entirely any mention of the Queen’s consort, George, Prince of Denmark, and treats the fact that Anne had 17 pregnancies with no survivors as bearing only on Anne’s wildly unruly mental state. In fact, had any survived to adulthood and taken the throne, then George 1 very likely would not have become the first Hanoverian monarch.
The film suggests falsely that Anne gifted Sarah with Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill, when it actually was a reward to her husband for his victories in the War of the Spanish Succession. It’s true that the queen withdrew funds for its building and banished the Marlboroughs from court but they returned upon her death and were re-established in the highest echelons of what during Anne’s 12-year reign had become Great Britain. The Duke of Marlborough died in 1722 and Abigail, who became Baroness Masham, died in 1734 aged 64. Sarah completed Blenheim Palace and died in 1744 aged 84 as one of the richest women in Europe.
Released: UK: Jan. 1 2019 / US: Nov. 23 2018 (Fox Searchlight); Cast: Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Mark Gatiss, James Smith, Joe Alwyn; Director: Yorgos Lanthimos; Writers: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara; Director of Photography: Robbie Ryan; Production designer: Fiona Crombie; Editor: Yorgos Mavropsaridis; Costumes: Sandy Powell; Producers: Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Lee Magiday; Executive producers: Daniel Battsek, Deborah Davis, Ken Kao, Andrew Lowe, Tony McNamara, Josh Rosenbaum; Production: Element Pictures; Scarlet Films; Film4; Waypoint Entertainment; Rating: UK:15 / US: R; running time: 119 minutes
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – The Coen Brothers have taken Netflix for a ride with their anthology production ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’. It’s a western ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ in which they have dusted off some mostly hoary old story ideas and spent a lot of money on a great cast and crew and wonderful locations. Sadly, only one of the yarns reaches the level expected from the Coens and the others probably would never have seen the light of day without the streaming service’s desperate need for big names. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy ‘Some Like It Hot’, which is running in selected theatres in the United Kingdom ahead of its 60th anniversary, is the funniest comedy you’ll see this year, or any year. Restored in 4K by MGM, Park Circus and the Criterion Collection, its black-and-white cinematography is stunning. Continue reading
By Raymond Bennett
LONDON – A priest, a traveling salesman, and two young women walk separately into a hotel-casino on the California/Nevada border and all hell breaks loose. They aren’t who they seem to be and neither is the exotic joint where they’ve chosen to stay. Written and directed with assurance and tremendous style by Drew Goddard, ‘Bad Times at El Royale’ is a garish noir tale full of surprises, violence and no little humour. It also offers roles that a terrific cast – Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Jon Hamm and Dakota Johnson initially and then Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman and Chris Hemsworth – get their teeth into with very satisfying results. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
TORONTO – Directors often claim full authorship of their movies in the credits but if ever someone merited that it is Alfonso Cuarón who is the writer, co-editor, cinematographer, producer and director of his dramatic masterpiece titled ‘Roma’. It is touching, funny and thrilling and it deserves every accolade and award coming its way. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
TORONTO – Chris Pine keeps his Scots burr soft and believable in ‘Outlaw/King’, the saga of Robert the Bruce, the 14th century leader who succeeded where William (Braveheart) Wallace failed in uniting the Scottish clans to fight the English.
It’s a rousing adventure with several battles, a warm love story, and glorious settings filmed across Scotland. The title onscreen is ‘Outlaw/King’ although it’s not shown on posters or promotional material. The distinction is subtle but important as it conveys the point that Robert is not an outlaw king but a man seen by different people in different ways. He is a king and he is an outlaw. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
TORONTO – Forget the shallow glitz of ‘Ocean’s 8’, the women in Steve McQueen’s full-of-surprises caper movie ‘Widow’ really mean business. The British filmmaker (‘Hunger’, ‘2 Years a Slave’) brings his serious view of the world to an escapist drama and it is all the more entertaining for that. Continue reading
