All by Myself
Songs in Our Heart # 3 All by Myself (Eric Carmen) (Written by Eric Carmen; released December 1975) [Ah, Memories…]
Continue Reading →Séance on a Wet Afternoon
(Dir. Bryan Forbes) (1964) “This is to notify you that your daughter is in our possession. She is quite safe, and if you follow instructions, she will remain safe.” Mark McShane’s ingenious psychological thriller was read by director Forbes whilst on holiday in the South of France, and became a stunningly original, doom-laden film, full of rain-drops, sadness, loss, longing and self-delusion. Myra Savage (Kim Stanley, in a miraculous performance) is a medium (not a charlatan – the real thing, at least in her own mind). Invalid husband (we didn’t know “being wet” could get you a disability pension) Richard…
Continue Reading →The Sweet Hereafter
"It turns to streaming piss."
(Dir. Atom Egoyan) (1997) The school bus has gone badly off piste in a town that looks (and acts) like South Park. Whilst a close-knit (at times, a little too close-knit – adultery and, disturbingly, incest seems de rigueur) community mourns the lost children, a troubled ambulance-chaser (Ian Holm) moves in. This intense and rich movie features superb performances and has a great weird atmosphere. [Trivia note: Director Egoyan is a big fan of The Homecoming, that AFI rendering of hijinks within a bogan family. Apart from Ian Holm, who is sensational in Atom’s film, TVC does not agree. Respectfully, filmmakers…
Continue Reading →The Evil Plan
(image by W. Endicott & Co.)
“You befriend a number of unfortunates, indigent, alone, abandoned and unhappy. The sheep of this misbegotten flock need be old enough to have forever lost their zest but too young to carry with them an official record of mental illness, drug dependence, tendency towards violence, or history of self-harm. “You take life insurance upon each of them. You foster in them a feeling of self-worth and joy. This achieved by the simple expedients of spending time, listening, taking seriously, showing some respect. The purchase of small presents, mere tokens, may be involved. “You have them execute their last wills and…
Continue Reading →Damned Whores and God’s Police
Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll say goodbye (by Robert Sayers)
(by Anne Summers) (1975) (updated 1994, to 2000s and beyond) The title is a bit of a howler, for it derives from a statement attributed to someone in partial error. But it is still a great title, and it synthesizes the point of the book, which is to reveal and detail how the bifurcation, by colonial authority, of early Australian females into saints and tramps, has formed the nation’s bedrock and permeated the social fabric ever since. This is a difficult case to make. For instance, such ‘types’ are considered somewhat one-dimensionally cartoonish now. And wouldn’t the outlook change with the development of a free…
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