Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York ...

To the Almeida Theatre in London for their current production, The Bard's RICHARD III in a highly praised production by director Rupert Goold, with Ralph Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave.

Well, no, not to the theatre itself, but to my local multiplex where the live performance was being screened, as it was in cinemas around the world. This was actually the first of these popular live theatre screenings I had been to - and it was like having a seat in the stalls, well apart from the girl next to me with a tub of popcorn and bottle of cola - I hate the stench of popcorn! - and then two old dears arrived late after 15 minutes in, and yes, they had to sit next to me too, disturbing all of us as they got to their seat and settled themselves. But apart from that .... Lets see what the Almeida says:

The Almeida will broadcast Artistic Director Rupert Goold's production of RICHARD III, with Ralph Fiennes as Shakespeare's most notorious villain and Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Margaret, live to cinemas in the UK and around the world today 21 July.

Almeida Theatre Live will give worldwide audiences the opportunity to see plays from the stage at the Almeida's London home for the first time. The Almeida Theatre and distributor Picturehouse Entertainment are partnering to broadcast RICHARD III, produced by Illuminations.

The production will be filmed using multiple cameras around the stage and auditorium, with John Wyver as producer. 

Rupert Goold said: "The chance to take the work of the Almeida to international audiences via live cinema screening is a new and timely venture for us that I'm extremely excited about. Working with Picturehouse Entertainment and Illuminations on this broadcast I'm really looking forward to seeing how audiences around the world react to our Richard III on the big screen."

Vanessa had previously worked with Fiennes on CORIOLANUS and THE WHITE COUNTESS film with daughter Natasha and sister Lynn. Great to see her back on stage and in fine form at 79, after that heart attack last year - as per this illuminating interview with her from The Guardian newspaper: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/jun/13/vanessa-redgrave-interview-simon-hattenstone

Fiennes of course is on a roll at the moment, he was also recently in THE MASTER BUILDER this year, and stunning in A BIGGER SPLASH, did a neat cameo in HAIL, CAESAR and of course we loved THE GREAT BUDAPEST HOTEL.

He is of course electrifying as Richard and makes the lines sing, as does Vanessa as Queen Elizabeth, its a sort of modern dress production, complete with cell phones, but why is she dressed in a boiler suit and carrying a plastic doll? 

Anthony Sher was also a terrific Richard, almost playing him like a giant spider, and we love the Olivier 1955 version - see review, Olivier label. The one recent Richard we had not seen was the 1995 Ian McKellen one, unavailable for a long time - we finally got a German dvd recently, but I found it practically unbearable with that 1930s Fascist background and far too tricky and full of special effects, with tanks, and Battersea Power Station as the Tower of London just did not work for me at all - great supporting cast though, including Maggie Smith as Queen Elizabeth. 

The Ralph & Tilda show, Matthias & Channing too ...

Almost a double bill this week:  the recent A BIGGER SPLASH  at my local art cinema on Tuesday evening, followed by HAIL, CAESAR there on Thursday morning

Luca Guadagnino's new film which - intriguing for me - is a remake of Jacque Deray's stylish French thriller LA PISCINE from 1969 which re-teamed Alain Delon and Romy Schneider with Maurice Ronet whose daughter was played by Jane Birkin - a very stylish murder story around that swimming pool.

This time around its Ralph Fiennes in towering form (as he has been since Wes Anderson's THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL), with Tilda Swinton as a Bowie-esque rock star on holiday on that Italian island, ,she is mainly silent after throat surgery, and with hunk de jour Matthias Schoenaerts Paul, as her lover.  Her ex-record producer Fiennes turns up with daughter Dakota Johnson (the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffiths, and granddaughter of Tippi Hedren) and soon is playing games to win Marianne (Tilda) back. I loved Guadargnino's operatic melodrama I AM LOVE in 2009 - a modern Italian classic, where Tilda - a goddess here - was amazing again (see Tilda label). 

Fiennes and Swinton are never less than compelling - Fiennes' scene dancing to the Rolling Stones's "Emotional Rescue" is fantastic, and its one of their songs I love and play a lot. His character is so annoying and he plays it perfectly - great to see an actor enjoying himself so much. The cast are all dedicated here, stripping off frequently, and Tilda gets to wear to some fantastic clothes. Despite the sex and nudity I could see why it did not play at our local main cinema - a tad too arty perhaps for the multiplex kids. Of course I will have to re-see LA PISCINE now too soon ... Guadragnino came out in a recent interview and one can see the gay sensibility here.

The BFI says: "25 years after BARTON FINK the Coens revist Capitol Pictures with another colourful portrait of studio-era Hollywood. This time its the 1950s and Capitol boss Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is making a prestige Roman epic, but all hell breaks loose when star George Clooney is kidnapped. Many familiar faces populate an extraordinary cast." 

Josh Brolin as Mannix heads the cast, Ralph Fiennes is the fastidious director Laurence Laurentz (a Cukor-Minnelli type) saddled with an Audie Murphy type singing cowboy Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich - that name would have to be changed in the '50s) in his new film of a sophisticated hit play; Scarlett Johansson is the Esther Williams clone swimming star who is unmarried and pregnant; Tilda plays rival sisters and gossip columnists - surely a nod to Hedda and Louella? There's also Channing Tatum doing "No Dames" a camp musical number, a sort of hommage to Gene Kelly and those dancing sailors. The Coens stir it all together in a pleasing pastiche of 1950s movie cliches. The Roman epic is fun too - think Robert Taylor in QUO VADIS or John Wayne at the foot of the cross, or Heston as BEN HUR being very thirsty ..... There really was an Eddie Mannix at MGM back in the day, a Mr Fixit for the stars.  

Hail Caesar ?

Here's a new one! I had not heard of the Coen Brothers new one HAIL CAESAR! but it features Channing Tatum doing a sailor number (a la Gene Kelly?) , and Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton are in it too (see A BIGGER SPLASH below), along with Clooney ..... sounds intriguing at the very least ! 

The BFI says: "25 years after BARTON FINK the Coens revist Capitol Pictures with another colourful portrait of studio-era Hollywood. This time its the 1950s and Capitol boss Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is making a prestige Roman epic, but all hell breaks loose when star George Clooney is kidnapped. Many familiar faces - Tilda Swinton as Hedda Hopper (didn't Helen Mirren also portray Hopper in TRUMBO..) - populate an extraordinary cast." There's also Tatum doing a camp musical number, and Scarlett Johansson as perhaps Esther Williams doing a swimming number ....

We can see it when it opens here in March, (There really was an Eddie Mannix at MGM back in the day, a Mr Fixit for the stars). 

ANOTHER Bigger Spash !

Now that the Oscar-bait movies are all released and on show, its good to see some interesting new international movies appearing here in London. I am very intrigued by the new A BIGGER SPLASH - no, not another Hockney - but Luca Guadagnino's new film which - intriguing for me - seems a remake of Jacque Deray's stylish French thriller LA PISCINE from 1969 which re-teamed Alain Delon and Romy Schneider with Maurice Ronet whose daughter was played by Jane Birkin - a very stylish murder story around that swimming pool.

This time around its Ralph Fiennes in it seems towering form (as he has been since Wes Anderson's THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL), with Tilda Swinton as a Bowie-esque rock star on holiday, who it seems stays silent after throat surgery, and with hunk de jour Matthias Schoenaerts as her lover. The daughter is Dakota Johnson (the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffiths, and granddaughter of Tippi Hedren). I loved Guadargnino's operatic melodrama I AM LOVE in 2009 - a modern Italian classic, where Tilda was amazing again (see Tilda label), so we are looking forward to this one -  Fiennes and Swinton are never less than compelling and both seem on top form here; we will be rushing to it when it opens here on Feb 12.
Guadagnino came out as gay in a recent interview, and one can definitely see a 'gay sensibility' in his work ... 

Another modern Italian classic I loved was Paolo Sorrentino's THE GREAT BEAUTY in 2013, so his new one, in English, YOUTH also has to be a must-see. I don't rush to Michael Caine films but will have to make an exception here, it also has a good role for Harvey Kietel and it should at least be interesting to see Caine and Jane Fonda (if they have scenes together) 50 years after their teaming in Otto's HURRY SUNDOWN back in 1966 ... what a lulu that was (Fonda label). This poster is not the one being used here in the UK.

Hilarious reading the reviews on DIRTY GRANDPA - maybe the worst film Robert De Niro has churned out in recent years? He is entitled to do as he pleases of course in his 70s, but hard to picture Travis Bickle of TAXI DRIVER or Jimmy Doyle of NEW YORK NEW YORK or his RAGING BULL or GOODFELLAS appearing in drivel like this ... surely he could have said no this time ? I suppose we will be laughing at it in due course ...... 

My new favourite film: The Grand Budapest Hotel

GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune -- all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.

This simply has to be my new favourite movie, I absolutely loved every mad minute of it. It is beautiful, funny, smart, silly, sad, and full of fantastic lines delivered by that incredible cast. Even the long end credits are a joy with that zingly balalaika music. It all looks incredible - I don't care whether its a real hotel or CGI every shot of it amazes. 

Ralph Fiennes is our lead - he has been quite quirky of late, with his British Prime Minister in PAGE EIGHT, the bishop in BBC tv series REV, and films like IN BRUGES, he excells himself here as  Gustave H, as we follow the zany antics at the hotel and how he and pals escape from prison. Tilda Swinton is unrecognisable as the aged Countess, and we also get Adrien Brody as her son, Jude Law as the young writer, Harvey Kietel, Willem Dafoe as the unstoppable killer, Saoirse Ronan as Agatha the resourceful girl Zero loves, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and so many more. I barely noticed Owen Wilson or Jeff Goldblum. This is my first Wes Anderson fim - he also scripted, from stories by the great Austrian writer Stefan Zweig (LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN and I have his biograhy of Marie Antoinette), so I shall be on the lookout for Anderson's other features. 

The colour and sets are all intoxicating, not only the Hotel but also Mendl's confectionery shop, and that very bleak prison. We follow the adventures of the new lobby boy Zero (Tony Revolori) who becomes best friends with the mercurial Gustave - F. Murray Abraham as the owner of the hotel recounts the tale to young writer Jude Law and we are off on a whirlwind ride. I shall be checking in to the Hotel again before too long.