Tag Archive: Johnny Depp


The magic escapism of Fantastic Beasts

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November 21, 2016

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM directed by David Yates (UK, 2016)220px-fantastic_beasts_and_where_to_find_them_poster

The spirit of Mary Poppins is not dead; it’s just been Marvellised. The bottomless bag this time around contains not household fixtures but numerous gremlin-like creatures.

The ‘beasts’ of the title are harmless if handled by a nerd but destructive in unscrupulous hands. Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander plays up the role of an awkward Brit for all its worth to the point that he looks half retarded most of the time. The plot device of hooking him up with a ‘no-maj’ (American for muggle) in the portly shape of Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) provides a welcome foil to his gormlessness.

JK Rowling further demonstrates her instinctive empathy with tormented adolescence through the invention of the ‘obscurus’, a black cloud of malevolence unleashed when children feel anger and discomfort. In addition, a literal witch hunt provides more of the requisite villainy but it is the anarchic antics of the beasts that steal the show. Continue reading →

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF STEPHEN HAWKING

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January 18, 2015

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THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING directed by James Marsh (UK, 2014)

The doctors who told Stephen Hawking that he only had around two years to live must be feeling pretty silly. They obviously weren’t counting on the man’s superhuman willpower or what the love and dedication of a good woman can do.

In some ways Hawking’s story is like one of those Sci-Fi movies where a brain is alive when the rest of the body is dead. In Cold Lazarus, for example, Dennis Potter’s final play for television, a preserved head is tapped for the brain waves it generates.

In the recent movie, Transcendence (a turkey by all accounts) starring Johnny Depp, there is a similar theme of a scientist’s brain surviving the death of his body.

Hawking’s case is different in one crucial respect, however. The fact that he has still been able to father three children is proof that his ‘muscle of life’ is unaffected by the motor neuron disease. Bizarre tabloid reports of him attending sex clubs and enjoying the attention of lap dancers also shows that his sex drive remains high. Continue reading →

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KUSTURICA’S DREAM

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January 28, 2013

ARIZONA DREAM directed by  Emir Kusturica (USA, 1993)

What a bizarre movie this is!

There are on set stories of Kusturica sitting under a tree when actors expected to be shooting a scene. He was apparently trying to get into the ‘zone’, like a poet waiting for the muse.

The Serbian director’s surreal U.S. debut  looks as if it was made by someone who has immersed himself in articles about the Hollywood cinema but hasn’t actually seen so many America movies.

Arizona-Dream

An offer you can’t refuse! – Axel (Johnny Depp) being asked by his cousin Paul Leger (Vincent Gallo) if he’d like to come to his uncle’s wedding.

To say it has a loose structure would be an understatement and I’ve no idea what it is all supposed to mean, after a while I just gave up caring and went with the flow.

Featuring dreams of flying, Eskimos and halibut fish, you never really know what’s going to happen next but it hangs together because of the strength of the performances by the five main players   – Johnny Depp, Vincent Gallo, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway and Lili Taylor.

Vincent Gallo’s mime of the crop duster chase scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest  at a talent show is particularly memorable as are the scenes where he shows his word for word knowledge of Raging Bull and The Godfather. Gallo is an actor I haven’t paid much attention to in the past but on this showing this is my loss.

Poetic, visionary or just plain bonkers? Who’s to say? I only know that this film make me laugh and that it has a higher than average number of scenes that stick in the head long after the closing credits have rolled.

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McCARTNEY EARNS SOME LOVE

Filed under: Music — 1 Comment
April 20, 2012

Nicole Portman makes like she's flying.

“The only thing you done was Yesterday and since you’ve been gone you’re Just Another Day”. John Lennon was not feeling much love towards Paul McCartney when he wrote How Do You Sleep?

This venomous song is an illustration of the rivalry between the two that helped make them the most important and influential songwriting partnership in contemporary music. Continue reading →

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L.A. WITHOUT A CLUE

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June 4, 2009

"No - I don't know what we're doing here either"

If you’re feeling generous you might describe the  adapation of Richard Rayner’s novel ‘LA Without A Map’ as  a cult movie.

It’s chief (only?) attractions are that it stars David Tennant pre- Doctor Who and features  a cameo role by Johnny Depp.

Continue reading →

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