H.A.V.O.C. #3

While flicking through the channels last week I came across "The Alamo", not the John Wayne directed film from 1960 but the 2004 version directed by John Lee Hancock and produced by former child actor/blockbuster director Ron Howard.This film had slipped under my radar on it's release no doubt Ron Howard's involvement did little to fuel my curiosity,even though I am partial to the odd revisionist western!What this version did was remind me of the original. Apparently it was a labour of love for John Wayne who had ambitions back as far as the mid 50's to direct a film on the the siege of the Alamo. He managed to finance the film with the aid of United Artists Studio,some very wealthy Texans (who insisted it be shot in Texas) and his own personal fortune.

This all got me to thinking of how we get to see films nowadays compared to years ago, before video and when television did not show relatively recent films.I remember seeing the original version of "The Alamo" in the Grove cinema in Athy about 1968 or 1969.That was 8 or 9 years after its original release!

Films in those days had longer cinema life also there would have been a limited number of prints available for distribution. I think that was probably the first time I experienced the anticipation of waiting to see a film that I had looked forward to seeing for what seemed like a long time. I'm glad to say that that feeling doesn't go away.

Back in those days it would have been rare for a film to get a weekly run as I remember "The Alamo" got at that time. The weekly run would only have applied to blockbusters like "The Sound of Music","Dr Zhivago" or "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" that type of film. Most  of the time there would have been 3 to 4 changes per week. This continued  on to the late 80's up to the time the Grove sadly closed down. The 60's and 70's were great times for cinema goer's,you could see 8 to 10 films per week if you so wished. At that time there was an opening or support film as well as the main feature.

 This all stopped in the late 70's early  80's because feature films got longer and time was a factor in showing 2 whole films .We were then treated to what were a series of quite boring British short films( probably about past naval conquests) before the main feature at the time.The reason we never got to see any Irish short films those days was that they were mostly shot and distributed on 24mm  film and most cinemas only had 35 mm facilities.

There is now a strong case to be made for compelling the multiplexes to show Irish shorts,it happens in some cases but not nearly enough.But don't fret your good friends at Athy Film Club will endeavour to continue it's support of Irish Short Films throughout our yearly programme.Who knows we might even get a short filmmaker to present his or her short film to us now that would be nice.
The End
Hugh Hyland

H.A.V.O.C. #2

Well here I am back with H.A.V.O.C.#2 already.I thought I just had to do one of these blog things every now and then,but I am under severe pressure from the CHAIRMAN to do this on a more regular basis (weekly?),if it stops being fun I'm outta here.

But seriously back to the business of being a film fan and having some more random musings!I saw "Robin Hood" the other night Russell Crowes/Ridley Scotts latest blockbuster.These two have made 5 films together,"Gladiator","A Good Year","American Gangster","Body of Lies" and now "Robin Hood".Poor old Russell seems to have a bit of an attitude problem though,he even walked out of an interview the other day and was very rude to the interviewer.I think he is inclined to take himself a bit too seriously and I think he has absolutely no sense of humour.He has never done a comedy film,well o.k."A Good Year" was kind of light-hearted but it wasn't very good.Could you imagine Russell in a film where he makes a bit of an eejit out of himself?Look at some of the so called A-LIST actors who have taken roles that show them in an unflattering (but comic)light,George Clooney in "O Brother Where Art Thou",Brad Pitt in "Twelve Monkeys" even (I hate admitting this) Tom Cruise in "Tropic Thunder",why not grumpy old Russell.

Cannes Film Festival is also on at the moment.I read an article recently saying that there are no female directors competing for the main prize ,the"Palme D'Or",this year.I find that a bit ironic considering that Katherine Bigelow won the best director award at this years Oscars.There were three female directors in competition in Cannes last year.Jane Campion (Bright Star),Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank)and Isabel Coixet (Map of the Sounds of Tokyo).Both "Bright Star" and "Fish Tank" are easily attainable on d.v.d.,lets hope things are a bit more balanced next year.

This brings me to a film that I am very excited about that also has a female director.A couple of years ago I read a book called "Winter's Bone" by a writer called Daniel Woodrell.I'm a big fan ,I've read all his books.His book "Woe to Live on" was made into the film "Ride with the Devil" which was directed by Ang Lee and starred Lee's regular actor Tobey Maguire.This was an excellent revisionist American Civil War drama that received much critical acclaim but little commercial success on its release.
"Winters Bone" the book was first published in 2006 and now the film is doing the festival circuit prior to its general release.It won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival this year(that's the biggest prize you can win at Sundance, the independent film awards equivalent of the best film Oscar).This film is one of those that I talked about in my last blog insomuch as it ticks all the right boxes.It was directed by Debra Granik who made two previous films dealing with similar themes.I wont say anymore about it,I don't want to spoil it for you but remember where you heard about it first!I might have a bit of info on Swedish films next time.

THE END

Hugh Hyland

H.A.V.O.C.#1

Lets get something straight from the start I'm a film fan, not a critic, a film buff or a cinephile, simply a fan. A football fan can follow any team he or she wants and so I do much the same with films. Although I do admit to sometimes being a bit of a film snob which does not always work out so good for me, but I can be a bit like that about music also. Anyway being a fan means that I don't have to go to see "Avatar" if I don't want to,despite all of what people told me about the brilliant special effects and all that. The best thing about Cameron's previous blockbuster was that it brought people back into the cinemas,people who had stayed away during the 80's and the 90's for whatever reasons, more films on television or the advent of video maybe?

Being a film fan also means I can go and see films like "Iron Man 2" which I saw lately,dragging my kids along.It was mildly enjoyable, I like Robert Downey Jr. Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johannson, the director John Favreau also made "Mr & Mrs Smith" and he always has good soundtracks to his films. At the opposite end of the cinematic spectrum I watched a film lately called"The Class". This film ticked all the right boxes,it won the "Palm D'Or" at Cannes Film Festival, it was shot in a cinema veritè style and it received huge critical acclaim.But it left me cold,I just didn't get it! Sometimes it just goes that way you build yourself up for what you think will be your film of the year only to be let down, that's life I suppose.I saw another film recently by director Julian Schnabel called "Before Night Falls" starring the great Spanish actor Javier Bardem and I stopped the film halfway through! I had seen two films by this director that I had thoroughly enjoyed ("Basquiat" & "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly") but "Before Night Falls" did absolutely nothing for me.What I think is good about Athy Film Club is you have to stay and watch the film (its rude to walk out) and you can do so without interruptions which frequently happen if viewing a film at home.

This all brings me to our last screening "I'm Not Scared".This was also a film I was looking forward to. I had read the book last year on holiday, in Sicily of all places.I knew of the directors last film,I was expecting great things and I was not disappointed.For once a film with beautiful cinematography that was relevant to the story.How many times have you seen a film that looked lovely but that was all it just looked lovely."I'm Not Scared" delivered on all counts,it looked lovely, it had great acting, a great story and an underlying tension that kept you on the edge of your seat (or maybe that was the seating it can be a tiny bit uncomfortable, it depends on where you sit I'm not saying where but feel free to bring a cushion next time).I' m looking forward to seeing you all again on June 1st for "Everlasting Moments"

That's all folks
Hugh Hyland

H.A.V.O.C. intro

Hugh's alternative views on cinema
(the random musings of a film FAN)
My first real blog to follow shortly I cant type that quickly you see