Issue 14 of The Big Picture Magazine is now available – and includes my first contribution to the print edition! There’s also a spotlight feature on London film locations to give you a taster of the World Locations: London book, released this July.
You can download a digital copy of the May/June edition – Lost in Transition – from Magcloud by clicking here.
If you missed it, you can read my piece on robots in film titled Almost Human on the Big Picture Magazine’s website.
The Classic: All About Eve (1950)
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm
The Excuse:
I don’t even know how this happened. I started hearing about All About Eve when I studied All About My Mother – twice! – at university, as much of the plot is borrowed in homage. After languishing at the top of my Netflix queue for quite some time, I bought the DVD to celebrate Bette Davis’ birthday. Then waited a month. Then, finally, sat down to watch it.
The Review:
The title is fairly self-explanatory – but who is Eve? She’s a timid, sweet, and morbidly obsessed fan of Margo Channing (Bette Davis) played by Anne Baxter. After attending every performance of Margo’s Broadway play, the star’s best friend and wife of the playwright Karen (Celeste Holm) takes the girl under her wing and introduces the pair. Eve quickly adopts the role of PA and, making her presence felt, soon begins to make Margo feel uncomfortable. Using her charm and innocence to tease favours and bend unsuspecting do-gooders to her will.
Entangling herself in the theatre world of mutually beneficial contracts and friendly sharing project sharing, Eve works her way into the inner circle, though she’s fooling no-one. A sparkling turn from Marilyn Monroe offsets the drama with a gently humorous vigour, keeping the tone of the film spright and fluid. Though their moves are inevitable, as the story unfurls like a fated red carpet the showbiz bitchiness makes for a rollicking journey into obsessive ambition as the characters cling to each other for balance. It really is a bumpy ride.
The Verdict:
Wowza. Reading about Bette Davis’ performances, it’s easy to believe that things have been a little overstated. Watching her, though, it’s easy to become confounded by her intense swaying, gestures of unleashed fury, and inglorious eye-flashes. If you’ve never ventured back as far as the 60s (hands up!), the closest comparison I can glean is Marisa Tomei’s emphatically ticking biological clock monologue from My Cousin Vinny (1992). The writing is spectacular and the comebacks drip with sincere contempt. It’s everything you thought you were in high school with the added mishap of adulthood.
Favourite Quote:
“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”
Further Viewing for Experts:
What are your thoughts on All About Eve?
Stranger Tides brings tidings from strangers in this extension of a 1-part turned 3-part franchise, now pitted to carry on into its sixth instalment of the saga. Rob Marshall steps in to take the helm as director, as Johnny Depp continues his reign as the titular Jack Sparrow. No longer legend for his captaincy, we find Sparrow in London amidst the largest collection of known British actors outside of Harry Potter. After rescuing first mate Gibbs (he’s the one who slept with the pigs) from hanging under Sparrow’s name, our swaggering swashbuckler discovers there’s a new Jack in town.
Meanwhile an arms race is taking place between the Brits (led by Geoffrey Rush’s now peg-legged Barbossa), the Spaniards, and big ol’ Blackbeard to find the Fountain of Youth. Pretty self-explanatory, their motives and maps are laid out in a series of hops back and forth from exposition to rehashed sword-fight and chase sequences through the streets of London. While Jack’s runaways are more Austin Powers than Bond, the swift swish of metal is far preferable to Verbinski’s interminable distraction with ship battles in parts 2 and 3. It takes a long time to get to the captain crossover and corrupt bargaining that the first film did so well, with a race to the finish opposed to a tactical playoff. But, warming up to a reunion between Sparrow and Barbossa, it’s the archival camaraderies that bring out the best in the remaining key characters. It’s in this unlikely union you’ll find most of the laughs.
Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane team up as Sparrow’s ex-lover Angelica and evil buccaneer Blackbeard, though her needy deception and his one-note barbarism don’t liven up proceedings as much as Will and Elizabeth’s foolish frivolities have in prequels past. In a despairing attempt to plug the gap, too much is made of an attraction between a random mercenary and mermaid – by the by, a depiction of the mythical creatures is too close to a Lynx advert for comfort, and the key to a center-piece so pointless that it’s almost a relief that CG was similarly cut and plugged with slow-searing 3D effects.
Hingeing heavily on Sparrow’s well-documented improvisation, many of the set-pieces are fun and nimble, though frustratingly hampered by needless 3D which knocks the pace of the action sequences. Hans Zimmer’s ever-excellent score pulls together all the rogue threads, keeping well within the range of the first film and injecting a vigorous dose of fun. Restrained and keeping convention, Pirates 4 is far from heading up the franchise, but remains a solid addition to the fleet.