XIII Oceans

Any decent films on Freeview this week?  It’s a slow week this week with not much to pick at until the weekend.  My pick of this week’s offerings.

Today at 4.25pm on Film4 is the great Howard Hawks western Red River complete with John Wayne in fine form.  I know that a lot of people have prejudices towards Wayne for various reasons (usually politically or the fact that the man was a cock), however it shouldn’t detract from his status as one of the screen’s finest cowboys.  Until watching some of the Ford and Hawks films I had a similar attitude and took the plunge into watching more of his work and have been won around.  My preference is still Eastwood because his character and attitude reflect more of our time whereas Wayne’s attitude is one from days gone by and as repulsive as it can be it does sit exceptionally well in westerns.  Ignore your prejudice and watch Red River today.

There’s a couple of interesting films that you might want to look at.  I’ve heard that Morvern Caller (midnight on Tuesday) is pretty good and Walter Hill (48 Hours, The Warriors) directs Southern Comfort at 1.25am on Film4 this Friday morning.  The first film I’ve not seen and will be tucked up in bed for that as I imagine most will be for Southern Comfort.

Onto the weekend and Saturday throws up thre absolute belters.  First up at 9pm on Channel 4 is Ang Lee’s Sense And Sensibility which is highly recommended.  Lee’s track record is exceptionally impressive and this was his first English language film and was followed up by The Ice Storm, which is arguably even better.  Emma Thompson collected an Oscar for her screenplay and like John Wayne I think she’s a person hampered by people’s perception of her.  Lee’s invovlement with the film gives the film a great cinematic quality that sits wonderfully with the script.  I think this is a piece of work that gets overlooked because it’s a British period piece and we all know how boring some of those can be, so throwing in an Emma Thompson doesn’t sound that attractive.  Forget that, it is.  It’s leagues ahead of Joe Wright’s Pride And Prejudice with even Hugh Grant giving a good performance.  It has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Set your video for 10pm on BBC4 for former Ealing Studios legend Alexander Mackendrick’s Sweet Smell Of Success, starring Burt Lancaster in one of his finest roles.  It’s a vicious look at the work of gossip columnists in New York and although it might be difficult for you to connect with, if you’re not into older films, I found it to have a real feel for its time.  If you’re a fan of good writing you’ll enjoy the script which is almost icy cold and bitter at times, underpinning the characters and that dark train of thought that travels through each of them.  8.2 on IMDB, 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and featured in Time Magazine’s Top 100 films of all-time.

Final choice for next Saturday is a personal favourite.  Rodger Dodger at midnight, BBC2, Saturday night is a black comedy about the relationships between men and woman as played out via a man and his nephew.  I won’t give too much away except to say that it’s modern, fresh, funny and cynical with terrific understanding of how the dating game can work.  Tied in with a great ending, it’s a film that you’ve probably not heard of or seen so check it out.