Burton and Taylor (2013)

Director: Richard Laxton
Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Dominic West .UK. 1h 30m

This glamorized TV movie is the love child of director Richard Laxton, who cleverly used a poignant part of life and relationship between Liz Taylor and Richard Burton to highlight their turbulent relationship and striking personalities.

Set in 1983, the film revolves around Burton and Taylor as they attempt to join forces to star in Noel Coward’s stage play “Private Lives”. After years of marriage, their own addictive personalities and the pressures from the press, they begin to lose their stubborn protective barriers and find some kind of path to recovery together.

Spotlight : Scott Speedman

I’ve always found the British-Canadian actor to be one of those shy types, he doesn’t seem to have enough in him to play a strong lead but as a supporting actor he can really boost a movies vibe. Hopefully we’ll see more of him in the future but here are what I think are some of his stand out roles.

01.Underworld (2003)

It took me ages to bother watching Underworld because I knew exactly how it was going to play out before it had even been released and I was spot on. But basically vampires vs werewolves and to make things exciting we’re treated to a hybrid between the species and this precious mutant love interest is Michael (Scott Speedman). It’s an okay film, adored by lots of proto goths and pseudo kinksters. Speedmans performance isn’t blinding but he certainly does put a lot of energy into this role.

Xander Berkley is the best scumbag husband..

I couldn’t resist writing this piece after rewatching Todd Haynes’s unusual drama, Safe (1995), I realised how often I had seen Xander Berkley play a bit of a dick husband. So in a similar vein to my short article on The Life and Times of Stathis Borans, here’s another insight.

I do plan to do a proper spotlight on Xander’s acting career, however today I am going to focus on a role that he seems to play so well but luckily isn’t type casted to just yet. So when did it all start?

Candyman (1992)

Trevor Lyle

Back in 1992 Xander was cast as a brilliant university lecturer and doting husband in Bernard Roses supernatural horror, Candyman. Based heavily on Clive Barker’s novel, The Forbidden. The main protagonist is the gorgeous Helen (Madsen) who is on the trail of an urban legend known as Candyman who has taken on a Folk Hero statue in a nearby predominantly black neighbourhood. Her husband Trevor (Berkeley) being so teaches a similar urban legend course which forces Helen to have to speed up her investigations of an entity that appears once you say his name in the mirror 5 times, however I believe it’s only 3 times in the book… As Helen becomes entangled with Candyman and his mythology come to life her doting husband’s true colours come to light.

Spotlight – Michael Smiley

There have always been a startling pantheon of amazing Irish actors, and if not loved for their devilish looks then their Irish lilt wil have draws dropping worldwide. I had watched Smilie in a few films like The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) just a small part, but that voice is so darn distinctive. A stand up comedian, married to Miranda Sawyer he always brings a cheeky smile and some darkness to any role, a hot favourite of Ben Wheatley the two seem to develop some very interesting and deep characters together.

05.Down Terrace (2009)

This was the first feature length film from the budding director and Smiley appears as Pringle, a small town hitman who sometimes has to drag his young son along with him. Everything about this film dank, filmed like a documentary and dealing with lots of raw emotions, double crossing and delivering some sharp kills, no one is safe once the killing starts. Stabbing shootings, old ladies being pushed under buses, it’s all go. Michaels character is hard to take, one minute he’s all smiles and the next he’s deadly serious, a great addition to the cast and possibly working towards his role in Kill List. 9/10

Spotlight – Peter Stormare

Rolf Peter Ingvar Strom has certainly made a name for himself, but rarely ever secures the big roles that he deserves unless it’s in some dark Swedish tv show…

01.Fargo (1996)

The Coens have that magical touch that doesn’t come around very often, if they were chefs they would put together the most bizarre ingredients and while you would turn your nose up at it, you would probably like it and wouldn’t know why. There is nothing remarkable about the drama in their movies but the characters are so unique and magnified that they hypnotise the audience. They manage to bring out the best in a lot of actors that I had lost hope of, including George Clooney, one of their marvelous creations was the icy blond hitman in Fargo, and was my introduction to Stormare. The stony faced and emotionless thug, Gaear Grimsrud is coolly played by Stormare who’s more interested in pancakes than sex. Driving around with his inferior and lippy partner Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) they manage to get entangled in one of the most bizarre kidnappings on film. I can find no fault with the movie or any of the cast.

Spotlight – C Thomas Howell

Here is a collection of 5 of my favourite C Thomas Howell films, if you enjoy this list then check out my other actor lists here.

 

The Outsiders (1983)

An american coming of age movie by Frankic Ford Coppola turned out to kickstart a new brat pack into 80’s cinema history. This dream team included C Thomas Howell, who won the Young Artist Award for his performance. following the turbulent lives of teen gangs in rural Oklahoma, the Greasers and Socials, regularly meet up to fight, but during one of these altercations that results in the death of one of the Socials the stakes are raised and the boys are forced to go into hiding but their rivalry carries on.Howell plays a pivotal role and really acts his heart out, bright eyed and energetic he adds a rough edge to some of the otherwise wooden characters in this hard but thrilling drama.

Spotlight – Pete Postlethwaite (RIP)

There will be spoilers ahead…

Peter William Postlethwaite (07.02.1946 – 02.01.2011) An incredible actor who never really got billed as the star of any movie but stole the show whenever he was involved.

After years of bit parts in TV productions, his talent was spotted, while getting longer roles he then began getting posted into movies and his career bloomed from there, his international reputation was solidified when he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for In the Name of the Father.

I’m the first to say that I don’t get all fan girl crazy over actors but there are a handful that I find interesting. It’s easy to assume that someone has a certain manner or temperament until the news gets out that they beat their wife or are a sexual predator (not that Pete has ever had any accusations) then the perception changes and everyone gets bummed out. After all we don’t know these people who act for us everyday, and assumptions are the mother of all fuck ups, but when the do wonderful things with us, like marching for Climate Change as Postelthwaite did in London on several occasions and even offering to return his OBE if dodgy power options were sought by a coalition government, and he marched and spoke out against the Iraq War, there’s a brilliant testament that his heart was in the right place.

Spotlight – Sly Stallone

Here is a selection of 5 stand out Sylvester Stallone movies, I’ve still not really worked out what these 5 Selected lists are all about, sometimes the top 5 best movies from an actor/director sometimes their worst, or just a select sample of their acting abilities if they have any, for this I’ve chosen my favourite Stallone movies and this time they are in order..

05. Death Race 2000 (1975)

This American Sci Fi sports movie produced by Roger Corman was a cracker in its day, something so influential that it sparked a range of remakes and copy cats over the years. Sylvester Stallone plays Joe Machine Gun Viterbi, who takes part in the Transcontinental Road Race which is televised as a form of morbid entertainment in a dystopian future. It’s not his crowning glory but definitely a role I always remember him, in a bizarre live action wacky race.

Vile blackmail (2018)

Director: ?
Starring😕 Nigeria. 1h 28m

There isn’t much to this short Nollywood production, although for some unknown reason one distinct story seems to gets swallowed by another part way through, maybe everything went to hell during the production, or the director has a change of heart, it becomes confusing but results in more hectic drama and heartbreak but sadly doesn’t make a better movie.

The film comes together over the cruel and mindless layabout trying to make some money, constantly scrounging from his friends, the lazy douchebag spends his days laying on a sofa watching TV and promising to pay everyone back when he gets his next big role, because this actor is apparently going places, it’s the markets fault for being so darn dry. When this excuse starts to wear thin he hatches a new devious plan. Using facebook he entices a young woman into the home promising her an acting role but first she has to submit a fee and act out a special sex scene for him, not realising that she’s being prostituted the girl goes ahead, free sex for friend and he gets to watch.

Meet the Feebles (1989)

Director: Peter Jackson.
Starring.Mark Hadlow, Peter Vere Jones, Donna Akerten, Stuart Dasent. New Zealand. 1h 37m.

This is one of the few titles I use to gauge someone’s personality, sense of humour and to find out if they can be left alone with small children and animals, it can also be used in a test to see if they can keep food down in a crisis. The video was originally passed around at school as a dare, a test of a teens measure, can you get through this without being sick!? I was up for it and passed the test with flying colours!

Meet the Feebles is a sort of psychotropic; meth fueled GG Allin styled Muppets show, that often sinks below the gutter, and it’s attempts to be funny and overly sick for sick’s sake has divided movie fans for years. It’s never going to active much acclaim for its efforts but I feel it helped to kick start a lot of subversive comedy which deserves it’s own platform even if only a handful of people like it.