Posts tagged woman
“Pirate Radio” Will Never Sink
Nov 18th
Will Never Sink
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
PIRATE RADIO is based on the fact that back in the Sixties the British government–meaning “the Establishment”–didn’t approve of rock ‘n’ roll music, and so it wasn’t allowed to be played on traditional radio stations.
As a result of that ban, “pirate” radio stations developed, some even broadcast from ships anchored off the coast of Great Britain and thus outside the law and safe from the long arm of the Establishment. This is one story, which takes place in 1966.
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays The Count, an American disc jockey on one such ship in the North Sea playing rock ‘n’ roll music 24 hours a day to an enthusiastic audience, one of whom isn’t Sir Alistair Dormandy, played by Kenneth Branagh, a government official who spends his time in the film trying to shut down the radio station by the end of the year.
This causes the following response: “They can’t shut us down. We’re pirates!”
There is one woman on board, Felicity, but that is okay, because she is a lesbian, or as one character says, she is “of the lesbionic tendency.”
Serving as the catalyst to the story is Carl, a young 18-year-old lad who has been kicked out of school and sent into the care of his godfather, Quentin, who owns the pirate-radio ship and is also in charge of running it.
Carl’s father had sex with his mum and then left without leaving his name or address, and the search for the identity of Carl’s father is a subplot of the film.
Now, you might think that life aboard a ship would be cramped in terms of a story, but we have many colorful characters, and occasionally Quentin arranges for adoring female fans to be brought aboard in order to meet their favorite deejays–if you know what I mean.
Also, the music might not be historically accurate, but it is great nonetheless.
One disc jockey even gets married, which allows his wife to come live aboard with him, but that causes more problems than he bargained for.
The film doesn’t exactly have a TITANIC ending, but it might be the only time that the expression “rock ‘n’ roll” brings tears to your eyes and a smile to your lips.
PIRATE RADIO also shows that rock ‘n’ roll will never sink.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Amelia” You Won’t Be Enthralled
Oct 29th
You Won’t Be Enthralled
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
AMELIA is the story of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to perform a number of flying accomplishments in the Twenties and Thirties, and she is played stunningly by two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank.
Unfortunately, if the film were a jet airplane, it would have to be called a flameout, whereas everyone involved with it and many in the audience were hoping that it would soar to wonderful and exiting heights.
Part of the reason is that we know how the story ends, and so there is hardly any suspense at all.
Another part is the construction of the film. It jumps back and forth in time and setting without warning, so that the audience is disoriented along with being dissatisfied.
As a matter of fact, the opening scene takes place in June 1937 in Miami, Florida, at the beginning of Earhart’s ill-fated attempt to be the first woman to fly around the world.
Then we jump back to April 1928 in New York City and see the preparations for Earhart’s first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, in which she didn’t fly the airplane, but was just a passenger, although she was named the “commander”
of the flight over two men who did the actual flying.
Now, some of these jumps are identified by titles for the audience, but others aren’t, and scenes from Earhart’s final flight keep being thrown into the somewhat chronological story at this point.
We see Earhart’s relationship with publisher and promoter George Putnam, played by Richard Gere, and the first time he asks her to marry him, she says, “I don’t want to get married, George. I’m not the marrying kind.”
However, they do get married, only without the part in the marriage vows about “obey.” Earhart says that she can’t promise that.
We also see Earhart’s relationship with flying instructor Gene Vidal, played by Ewan McGregor, the father of Gore Vidal, who appears in the film as a young boy.
Also, many shots of beautiful scenery are thrown in that have nothing to do with the story but just look pretty.
All in all, the film is too melodramatic, but without much drama and certainly without any suspense.
AMELIA might teach you something you didn’t know about Earhart’s life, but you won’t be enthralled with it, whereas I wanted to be enthralled.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Amelia – Movie Trailer
Oct 23rd
Hilary Swank and Richard Gere star in director Mira Nair’s biopic tracing the life of famed aviator Amelia Earhart — who made history in 1932 by becoming the first woman ever to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The trip made the aviatrix a national celebrity — with help from her publicist George Putnam (Gere), whom she fell in love with and eventually married. Their union was tested, however, as Earhart developed feelings for contemporary Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor ), and the couple’s marriage faced the ultimate tragedy years later, as Earhart’s fierce independent spirit spurred her to attempt to fly around the world — a venture that infamously shrouded her in mystery, as the pilot simply vanished after crashing into the Pacific Ocean. Christopher Eccleston and co-star in the Avalon Pictures production.