The fifty year anniversary of the moon landing has finally arrived (and you can almost hear the sceptics and conspiracy theorists kicking and screaming).
But haven’t we seen all the existing footage numerous times? Todd Douglas Miller’s Apollo 11 is special because much of it consists of rediscovered 70 mm film left in canisters from the National Archives. The angles are new, the faces, the rooms and people all seem from now and not then but for their ’60’s clothing. The effect is disconcerting because the colour and the fresh intensity of the Florida light is beguiling and you are immediately thrust into the magnitude of the event. Continue reading Apollo 11
Protest
Yesterday
There is a special feel about the movie Yesterday. My initial reaction on seeing the trailer was one of suspicion, that it seemed like a setup; use the Beatles and their songs to generate a tenuous plot. A tad parasitic.
But I was pleasantly surprised. In its light-hearted way Yesterday entertains from start to finish. It has a certain self deprecating dry wit that is very English and so manages to pull off the unthinkable: use the Beatles‘ music to sell itself. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting) has achieved what would initially appear to be an unlikely success. Continue reading Yesterday
Rocketman
Tiny Dancer has always been in my all time top ten, along with Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man .. and I hesitate because this isn’t about me but a certain Elton and his pen friend Bernie.
The song’s free wheeling imagery – the type that only poetry conveys – seems to capture what is quintessentially ’70s. The bus singalong sequence in the film Almost Famous (2000) recreates something of the magic. But how could you achieve this in a biopic? Continue reading Rocketman
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