Very Guilty Pleasures: Phantom Of The Paradise. (1974)

I avoided this film because I'm not a fan of Brian De Palmas work...Though I suppose a few would make it onto my Very Guilty Pleasures list. It looked trashy and camp and too much like a cartoon version of Rocky Horror. I am now obsessed with this film. Its camp and trashy and dare I say it a better film than Rocky Horror. It evokes child hood memories because Paul Williams wrote and performs the songs and his voice is burned into my brain from watching Bugsy Malone every school holiday. Its a really flawed film with nonsense characters, forgettable songs and a non-sensical plot but you will never see a film like it and for fans of 70s split screen there is a great Touch Of Evil homage.
BEEF, BEEF, BEEF!

Sidney Lumet

It was very sad news that Sidney Lumet passed away on 09/04/11. He has always been a favorite of mine and I feel that sometimes his films weren't viewed in the same light as some of his contemporaries.  He definitely had an Anglophile persuasion often using british casts and scripts and he often made quite theatrical films (some were based on plays) preferring films set in one location and small casts. What follows is my personal top five faves:

1: The Offence (1972)

What a film. If you think you are a fan of Sean Connery then you have to watch this film. It simply blows away any performance he's ever given. Its a brutal, raw film and deals with a violent police Detective (Connery) who has had a life surrounded with Murder, Rape and and violence. He works on a
child molestation case and starts to slowly unravel. It ends with a fantastic scene with the suspect played brilliantly by Ian Bannen which gets tenser by the minute and explodes in bloody violence. This film has some fantastic camera work including amazing super slow 3-D and has a great script from Jon Hopkins which he adapted from his play. It has the feel of a play especially the ending in the interrogation room.
Warning the opening credits give away the ending of the film.

2: Network (1976)

"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
Best movie speech of all time? Peter Finch is superb as Howard Beale a news anchor going mad and being exploited by the TV studio he works for. Great script and great cast, Will Holden, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall and Ned Beatty. There comes a time in every young mans life when he has to try and learn the "Mad as hell speech".

3: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

John Cazale, what a great actor. He was in 5 of the most important films of the 70s and sadly died of cancer after making The Deer Hunter (1978), I love everything about his performance in this film and it always upsets me at the end in the airport. Al Pacino proves there was a time when he could show some restraint and he shows a different side which is very sweet and often quite funny.

4: Equus (1977)

Richard Burton at the top of his game. "There is a light in the darkness and it will never go out". I have the soundtrack on vinyl and its just Richard Burtons dialogue booming back at you over the soundtrack.
Another example of Sidney working with English Playwrights its adapted by Peter Shaffer from his play. Though he hated the ending saying it was too much like Psycho.
I believe it has another fine breast performance from Jenny Agutter.

5: The Verdict (1982)

Proving again that Sidney was an "actors" directed he teases out an outstanding performance from Paul Newman as an alcoholic lawyer who sees a medical malpractice case as way to redeem himself at the end of his career.

I could have done my top 10 Sidney Lumet films and have to mention:

12 Angry Men (1957)
The Pawnbroker (1964)...Superb Rod Steiger performance
The Hill (1965)
The Anderson Tapes (1971)...Have to watch this whenever its on TV
Murder On The Orient Express (1974)...What a cast!
Deathtrap (1982)

I didn't mention The Wiz once.

When We Were Young: Part 4 Polanski Vs Polanski

Mosquito, Trelkovsky, Alfred or simply the man with knife, Polanski has given himself some great parts in his films. He had a run of some of the greatest films ever made which started in 1962 with Knife In Water and ended in 1976 with The Tenant, 9 great films and I am including What? (1972) which is beyond bizarre. A surreal porn film with no sex. It feels very Terry Southern. Its hard to pick a favorite film but I can't help having a soft spot for The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). I find it very hard to understand how the man responsible for Rosemary's baby (1968) or Chinatown (1974) could be responsible for The Ninth Gate ( 1999).  Carnage (2012) has a fantastic cast Kate Winslet, John C Reilly, Jodie Foster and Christoph Waltz. Polanski is great with actors so my fingers are crossed.
Let battle commence...

Young Polanski:

1:Cul-de-sac (1966)

2: Rosemary's Baby (1968)

3:Chinatown (1974)

Old Polanski:

1:The Ninth Gate (1999)

2:Oliver Twist (2005)

3:The Ghost (2010)

Exception to the rule:

I have a confession. I found it hard to think badly about Polanski. 

Although they aren't great films I'd gladly watch Frantic (1988) and Death And The Maiden (1994). 

Winner ? 

God he's had such a fucked up life

Posterski

We all love Polish film posters and there "artistic" interpretation of the films they are selling. Just stumbled across these 2 from this amazing website http://www.polishposter.com/ (Thanks Rich).
I wish  these films were half as good as these posters look, its been a long time since I dared to watch either of them but they were never this amazing.

                                                                   The Golden Child

Weekend at Bernie's

When We Were Young: Part 3 LUCAS VS LUCAS

Jesus Christ. This is too easy. Far too easy. Sorry George, lets look at the evidence. 

Young Lucas

1:THX 1138 (1971)

2:American Graffitti (1973)

3:Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977)

Old Lucas

1:Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (1999)

2:Star Wars: Episode II-Attack Of The Clones (2002)

3:Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

Winner. Ha, well maybe its I.L.M for there excellent effects work they've done on George Jabba Lucas's chin? I wish he'd stop reinventing the past like Big Brother. I was destroyed when I watched the THX1138 DVD...Why George? Why?

Young George

Exceptions To The Rule: .....Errrrrrrrrmmmmmm????

When We Were Young: Part 2 SCOTT VS SCOTT

Great Scott or Not So Great Scott?

Worried about Sir Scott's Prometheus? Is it an Alien prequel?
"This Is Not An Alien Prequel" Ridley has revealed...Its confusing, its also 3-D.
Worrying...There is only one scientific way to find out the truth of how disappointing the new film (will) may be.

Young Scott VS Old Scott

Young Scott:

1:Alien (1979)

2:Blade Runner (1982)

3:Legend (1985)

Old Scott:

1:Kingdom Of Heaven (2005)

2:Hannibal (2001)

3:A Good Year (2006)

Mmmmm...When was the last great Scott film? Black Rain? (1989) I really like but its not a masterpiece, if I'm honest it may be Blade Runner. I still get shivers when I think about Hannibal, a truly terrible film.

Winner:

Young Scott.

Exception to the rule: Prometheus?  (2012) (The whole world crosses their fingers)

SPIELBERG VS SPIELBERG

I can remember seeing a drawing of Steven Spielberg in a comic when I was young, he was sitting on a directors chair and hand his arms around E.T and had Jaws and Indiana Jones stood behind him (Can sharks stand?). I couldn't believe that one man had made so many of my favorite films. I grew up with his films such as E.T, Empire Of The Sun and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, I even have fond memories of 1941! I think I started to fall out of love with Spielberg after going to see Jurassic Park, I don't think it was to do with growing up because Duel, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Jaws are very adult, maybe Spielberg had lost something on the way?

When We Were Young will look at directors and compare there early work with there current work.

Young Spielberg:

1:Jaws (1975)

2:Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

3:Close encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

Old Spielberg: 

1:Indian Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008)

2:War Of The Worlds (2005)

3:A.I  Artificial Intelligence  (2001)

Will I be disappointed by The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn? Probably. I'm hoping that Peter Jackson is steering the film in the right direction. I think that Spielberg struggles to end a film in a satisfying way, A.I, Saving Private Ryan, Crystal Skull, War Of The Worlds all have horrible tacked on endings where the film should have finished at least 10 mins before they actually do. 

Winner: Young Steven Spielberg.

Exception to the rule: Munich (2005)