Inherit The Wind

Inherit the Wind is about the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, which pitted Darwin's theory of evolution against creationism in court. Spencer Tracy and Fredric March play Henry Drummond and Matthew Harrison Brady, characters based on the real-life court opponents Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. It is unbelievable that almost 50 years later (the movie was made in 1960), and more than 80 years after the Scopes trial, this debate is still waged in some sectors of society. I understand that according to a recent poll more than 35% of Americans believe that "God created man more or less in his current form some time in the last 10,000 years" and more than 50% doubt that man evolved from other species. Now you may think that this type of belief is only possible in the realm of the slack-jawed yokel, but 50% of Americans is quite a lot of yokels. The film really gets going in the impassioned court room arguments between the two men. Its a fascinating examination of how religion stacks up against scientific fact and the emotion evoked by the debate. Excellent performances all round.

Black Sheep

Here's a bit of good clean, but bloody, fun from NZ. Best described as slapstick horror, it tells the cautionary tale of what could happen if genetically modified, mutant sheep were let loose on the world. Shot in the green and bucolic pastures of NZ sheep country. It includes some excellent lines, such as when a sheep farmer is discussing the illustrious sheep breeds.....Merino, Dromney, Drysdale the names that "young men in the land recite as they take themselves off at night." Its unsettlingly gory at times and probably not one for the kiddies or the squeamish, but generally good fun. The Kiwis have a unique sense of humour which is definitely worth checking out as we have seen with the excellent Flight of the Conchords.

Burn After Reading

A very funny movie from the Coen brothers. Brad Pitt reveals a goofy side that we seldom get to see. George Clooney completes his "idiot trilogy" for the Coens, which started with O Brother Where Art Thou. Frances McDormant is again excellent and shows some of the same determination in her character as we saw in Fargo. She plays a gym instructor, looking for love on the internet and determined to raise the money to have some extensive plastic surgery done. The plot loops around itself and pops up in unsuspected places. The real joy is in the dialogue and the characters. There is one scene with Pitt and Clooney that only one character survives that is truly screamingly funny. Clooney is building something very interesting in his basement and John Malkovich is a nasty ex-CIA drunk who comes to a sticky end. Great fun.

After Hours

I can vividly remember the first time I saw After Hours at the cinema on its release in the Eighties. I remember feeling completely exhausted at the end. The level of tension created in this nightmare tale is almost unbearable. Its a story that plays out over one late night in NYC about a young man who stumbles from one accidental incident or encounter to the next and gets more and more deeply into trouble. Its directed by Martin Scorsese, although its seldom remembered in lists of his great films. Its said to be at least partly autobiographical reflecting the time of his life when he was trying to get The Last Temptation of Christ made, reflecting the series of problems that cropped up on the way to getting that film made. In any event, its an absolute cracker of a movie. I was delighted to rediscover it on DVD. It still has the power to completely draw you in.

Five Easy Pieces

This was the film that made Jack Nicholson into a superstar. Jack plays Robert Eroica Dupea (Bobby), a former piano protégé who is estranged from his artistic upper class family. We find Bobby working on oil rigs in California. He lives with his waitress girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black) and spends his free time bowling or drinking with his mate Elton. One day at the rigs Elton tells Bobby that Rayette is pregnant and shortly afterwards he is arrested. Bobby takes off and visits his sister (also a pianist) at a recording studio in LA. She informs him that their father has suffered two debilitating strokes. The second half of the film is about Booby visiting his father and family where they live on a remote island off Washington State. It is a simply sensational performance from Nicholson, who is playing a complex and deeply conflicted character. He does not fit anywhere. He has rejected his background and yet can never be at home in the blue collar world of his new life. There is the famous and much quoted "Chicken Salad Scene" where Bobby tells a diner waitress to "hold the chicken between her knees". The film was perfect for its time, capturing the disaffection and weariness at the end of the Sixties. Even now it is effective and enjoyable, mostly for the realism and honesty of the characters. The title "Five Easy Pieces" comes from an apparently fictitious book of piano music for childre