Woodley Week: Woodley
Frank Woodley burst back onto Australian television screens sans Colin Lane this year with the simply titled Woodley. Obviously Frank had been doing his solo thing for a number of years on comedy festival stages, but this was a reintroduction to a broader free to air telly audience.
Viewers were confronted with something quite different to The Adventures of Lano and Woodley but also something very charming. Something that also showed of the range of Frank Woodley, proving he was more than a mere silly slapstick man. In Woodley, he shows off his straight acting chops as well as his comedy ones. Don’t get me wrong, there are still fantastic slapstick scenes (see Frank’s drunken escapades at a golf course), but there is also a tender relationship built up with his estranged daughter through the show. There is still a definite vein of hijinks running through it all, but this is more about Woodley as an outsider, desperately trying to fit into a world that he just does not quite fit into. And that is really interesting stuff.
Woodley, flanked by the two wonderful women who help to make this show such a charm.
Whilst there is no doubt that in some ways Frank misses the brilliance of former straight man Colin Lane, he surmounts this by delivering a show that is more grounded, true to life and definitely emotive. Woodley is able to develop emotional undercurrents over the course of the 8 show season, something his previous outings did not allow. He is assisted greatly in this regard by two stellar female supporting performances. Firstly Justine Clarke as Frank’s long suffering ex-wife who has a complicated relationship with her former man, whilst trying to continue on her life. And as Frank’s daughter Ollie, Alexandra Cashmere is spectacularly good and has a real screen presence for one so very young. Just as he did for most of The Adventures of Lano and Woodley the incredibly innovative and talented musician Mal Webb provides the soundtrack. I think Webb is a vastly underrated musician and he is having a lot of over the top fun with this soundtrack. Here is just a tiny taste of his other work:
Overall, whilst perhaps not reaching the side-splitting comedic heights of Frank’s earlier TV effort, this is an incredibly charming change of pace from the helter skelter vibe of The Adventures of Lano and Woodley. As a demonstration of Frank Woodley’s range and ability, both as writer and star, Woodley is definitely worth spending some time with.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
Want to win a copy of Frank Woodley’s new show Bemusement Park on DVD courtesy of Madman Entertainment? Then head here for the details.
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Woodley Week: Buster and Frank
Ever since the first time I started watching Buster Keaton films, he has been connected with Frank Woodley in my mind. It’s not just the fact that they are both masters of physical slapstick. It is also the way they use facial expressions, especially stony ones, as a punch line. They are both also excellent at constructing jokes over long periods of time. I am not saying that Woodley is the equal of Keaton who is one of the best few filmmakers of all time. But there are definite parallels to be drawn.
For this third entry in Woodley Week, I thought I would take a look at two of Buster’s short films, in memory of one of the greats who paved the way for so many who followed him, including Frank Woodley. Hope you guys enjoy these.
The Bell Boy
I thought I should include one of Buster’s films with Fatty Arbuckle, seeing as most of Frank Woodley’s career was spent in a comedic duo too. Plus I absolutely love Arbuckle, so much so that my beautiful pet bunny Arbie is named after him.
Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton on the set of The Bell Boy
The Bell Boy (1918) sees Buster and Arbuckle working as bell boys at a hotel with “Third class service, first class prices.” Much of the deficiencies in the service levels can be attributed to our two heroes, as they spend most of the film chasing after a pretty woman rather than attending to any other guests. There is also a strange narrative aside with a bearded man in a top hat. Arbuckle, apparently a part time barber as well as a bell boy, takes him into the barbershop and ties him down. After that, he proceeds to craft his beard and hair into that of a succession of historical figures, most notably Abe Lincoln. As he shows off each creation, Arbuckle seemingly breaks the fourth wall too. It is all obscenely weird and makes no sense from a continuity point of view.
But, do not let this random sorta sub-plot put you off, because The Bell Boy is a truly hilarious short film. Despite being vastly different in proportions, Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle were an astoundingly in sync physical combo. They bound around the set in perfect harmony, like wonderful dancers or something. As well as their comedic excellence as a duo, this film features a fair bit of Buster doing is own thing onscreen by himself, a harbinger of things to come because within a few short years he would be out on his own making films sans his mentor Arbuckle. Right near the end of the film is a long set piece which caps the film off perfectly. It involves a bank robbery, a narrative turn that comes up quite suddenly. But it descends delightfully into the most wonderfully over the top brawl scene, almost like 1920s WWE, only more beautifully choreographed and intentionally hilarious. Arbuckle even takes out another dude with a chair shot.
This is a hilarious short from two masters. The part with the bearded dude is unfathomably weird, at least to me. But aside from that, this is a brilliant short comedy that you should definitely take the time to check out.
Verdict: Pint of Kilkenny
The Scarecrow
I basically chose The Scarecrow (1920) because it is a Keaton short I had not seen and I heard that it was Luke the Dog heavy. Whilst Luke belonged to Arbuckle, he obviously continued to star alongside with Keaton once they split.
It turned out to be a good choice indeed, because this is one of the best Buster Keaton shorts I have watched. In the film, Buster shares a house with a farmhand friend of his. For the first part of the film, this house delivers much of its charm. It is a one room house with some exceedingly clever inventions to save space. A turntable that doubles as a gas hotplate, a bookcase/fridge (I want one!) and a very innovative table setting. The scene as the boys sit down to eat their breakfast is the most wonderfully intricate and mechanical piece of comedy. Marvellous.
The legendary Luke the Dog
The second half of the film once again sees Buster and his offsider (this time played by Joe Roberts) vying for the affections of a young lady. Sybil Seely plays the woman in question, and gives a really good performance, conveying a lot in her role and having a (little) more to do than the average woman in one of these films. After having his heart broken, the film lets fly with the greatest man chasing dog sequence in film history. One of the best chase sequences in film history full stop. It sees Luke the Dog haring after Buster, including through windows, up a ladder and on top of a building. It is extended brilliance and shows off the choreography skills of Keaton and the charisma of his (well Arbuckle’s) four legged offsider. The scene is made even more hilarious due to Joe Roberts’ character calmly taking himself off to the drug store, stocking up, and awaiting the seemingly inevitable injury.
This time, at the end of a succession of wonderful moments, Buster gets the girl – he’s the star now. The film closes with a wedding scene like none you have ever seen before, perfectly capping off one of my favourite Buster Keaton films.
Verdict: Longneck of Melbourne Bitter
Want to win a copy of Frank Woodley’s new show Bemusement Park on DVD courtesy of Madman Entertainment? Then head here for the details.
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Woodley Week: The Adventures of Lano and Woodley Series 1
Whilst I had come across Lano and Woodley before, on the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala and other TV appearances, it was the duo’s own show The Adventures of Lano and Woodley that really sealed my love of them. My sister and I would sit down religiously every week to watch the first series of this show, hang out and laugh our arses off. This theme song was an ever-present sing-along in our house and still gets stuck in my head to this day:
The show, like many a wonderful TV comedy, is not really about anything. Rather, it sees Frank and Col bumbling their way through day to day life. From girl trouble, to flirtations with fame and psychotic video store employees, these day to day jaunts are rendered hilariously. The major strength of the show is the great rapport between stars Frank Woodley and Colin Lane. It is classic comedy stuff, Col is the straight man, Frank the really bloody silly physical comedian one who gets the huge laughs. Having said that though, the character of Col holds his own in terms of laughs. They bounce off each other so well – Woodley really is a wonderful physical comedian, the kind they do not make any more whilst Lane provides the perfect overbearing foil.
Frank Woodley and Colin Lane
Rewatching the series, there are a couple of frustrations. Front and centre is the canned laughter – whoever came up with that invention has a lot to answer for. It achieves nothing, except frustration and distraction. Though there is a pretty good canned laughter joke in one of the episodes, perhaps playing off on this. While it has dated ever so slightly, this still has to be one of my favourite TV comedies ever. It is predominately slapstick, but the scripting is quite excellent with great delivery from both men. There are a couple of hilarious motifs or recurring jokes throughout the series, such as the two of them getting fired at the start of each episode, that just add so much flavour. One of the measures of great comedy is its ability to really make you laugh despite having seen it multiple times. Don’t worry about multiple, I’ve seen all the episodes in this first series countless times and it still got plenty of laughs out of me. All of the episodes in this first series have a whole lot to offer, with my favourites being Starquest and One Simple Task. Search them out if you can. Especially Starquest actually, which I think is just a simply brilliant piece of television.
I’m not going to lie, there may be a little nostalgia in my feelings about this show, but damn, this is my blog and I’ll be nostalgic if I want to. And the show still holds up excellently today, on occasions even brilliantly so. If you ever get the chance to catch this show, then I highly recommend you do. I love it.
Verdict: Longneck of Melbourne Bitter
Want to win a copy of Frank Woodley’s new show Bemusement Park on DVD courtesy of Madman Entertainment? Then head here for the details.
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Woodley Week: Intro and Competition details
The great Frank Woodley
Frank Woodley is a name that may be unfamilar to many of my readers, especiatlly those not reading from Australia. But for me, along with many other Australinas, Woodley along with straight man Colin Lane were a formative part of my life. As Lano and Woodley they were close to the most iconic stand up act in the country for a good decade or so, success which also led to two seasons of their own show as well as guest appearances on countless other television shows. They were always my favourite comedy act, managing to be simultaneously silly and very intellighent in what they did. I recall saving up my pocket money so my sister and I could go halves in their TV show on VHS (each video only had 2 episodes and cost $20 – TV on home video has come along way). I also recall that when my parents got their first answering maching, my sister and I took it upon ourselves to record an opus of a message for them. This Lano and Woodley inspired masterpiece ran for about 5 minutes, and concluded with my line “Kath, do I have time to do a poo?” After Colin Lane left the group in 2006, Frank Woodley (the silly one) continued down the comedy path with succesful (and somewhat different) standup routines and himself having a show run on ABC earlier this year, simply titled Woodley.
Why all this chat about my beloved Frank Woodley? Well becuase his latest show Bemusement Park has just been released on DVD. And thanks to Madman Entertainment, I have a copy to give away. Entry is open to anyone who reads the site, no matter where you live (if you take the time to read my site, I’m happy to send this little mmmbaby anywhere). Even better, the DVD plays in all regions, so no worries about compatability issues.
Ok, so how do you enter. Over the next week, I will be posting five ‘Woodley Week’ posts. To earn entries, just do any of the following (including on this post and double entries on Saturday’s review of Bemusement Park):
- ‘Like’ the post on Facebook for one entry.
- Comment on the post on Facebook for two entries.
- Share the post on Facebook for two entries.
- Retweet the post on Twitter for two entries.
- Like the post on this site for one entry.
- Comment on the post on this site for two entries.
Any questions, please let me know. Entries will be open til midnight on Christmas Day. For now here is a little Lano and Woodley for you to enjoy.
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Trailer for your Weekend: Oblivion
Coming hot on the heels of last week’s awesome sci-fi trailer comes this one for Oblivion. Taking the old Planet of the Apes conceit of showing today’s icons in their future dilapidated state seems to be the focus and it looks awesome. Well the beaten up old stuff looks cool. What does not look as good to me is the human side of things. Some pretty questionable dialogue and cringeworthy moments in this.
Hopefully it sticks to a real sci-fi centric approach though, because this looks as though it has the budget and visual punch to be something quite cool.
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Carrie (1974)
I am a big fan of Stephen King’s 1974 novel Carrie. It is a really sharp, taut horror narrative that turned me into a believer of King’s after a couple of failed attempts to get through one of his books. So with that in mind and a remake on the horizon, I felt it was a good time to check out Brian De Palma’s iconic Carrie (1976).
I was really looking forward to this film, Sissy Spacek who is in the title role, is a personal favourite of mine. But unfortunately this was a real let down for me. The opening shower sequence exhibits all of the awkwardness in tone and quality that I think plague much of the film. Initially the scene, of a group of female teenage girls showering, is quite sexually shot with a softness and plenty of frontal nudity including from Spacek. However when the tone shifts (when Carrie has her first period in the shower and has no idea what is happening to her body), the attempt to convey the terror and fear of the moment falls flat. De Palma awkwardly flits from one close-up of a leering, heckling teenager to the next. You can see what he is going for – alpha girls using their numbers to gang up on the ostracised ‘plain’ girl. But he does not get it right, there is none of the menace nor feeling for Carrie that should dominate. This sequence in the book totally established the character of Carrie and her place in her high school society, but it does not achieve the same here.
I know it is folly to refer to the book when discussing a film adaptation, nevertheless I will keep doing so. One of the strengths of the book is how it deals with Carrie’s telekinesis. The true nature of Carrie’s gifts are hinted at and gradually brought in from the shadows by King. De Palma though just slaps you in the face with them from the start. Carrie has TK and it is incredibly powerful. Along with your face getting slapped with that, watching this film will also lead to some self administered forehead slapping, at the sheer stupidity of some of the narrative construction. Possibly the worst of these moments is when Carrie goes to the school library and reads the entry on TK. There is a close-up on the words, a voiceover and everything. Truly terrible. It is not that the film is totally without merit, it is just that I don’t think it is very good. The character of Miss Collins, Carrie’s teacher is a good one, providing the moral compass of the film. As such it might have been nice to have seen a bit more of her character onscreen. The ending for me though was not great, feeling a little rushed. Or maybe the problem was earlier, because when the deathfest got going, it was hard to muster much of a care factor for those meeting their end. Possibly most fatal for a horror film is the fact that anything supernatural or remotely scary is just fumbled entirely. With the honourable exception of a scene right at the end which scared the pants off me. De Palma does also get some kudos for his handling of a couple of elements of the final prom scene. The slow-mo anticipation as the bucket of pig’s blood teeters, and Sue sees what is about to happen for one. Then the really nice use of split-screen during the early parts of the carnage Carrie brings about is also a cool touch.
A really scattershot element of the film, for me at least, was the performances. Sissy Spacek as Carrie is brilliant and she totally acts the pants off everyone else here. When I consider all time great female actors, Spacek is pretty near the top of my list. Piper Laurie plays Carrie’s mother as a totally over the top ‘bible basher’ in what is I think a pretty poor performance. You can see what Laurie in conjunction with De Palma were trying to achieve with it, but the performance just comes across as not at all genuine. But aside from Laurie’s effort, a number of the supporting roles are well performed. Betty Buckley as Carrie’s supportive teacher Miss Collins is really excellent whilst amongst Carrie’s classmates it is Amy Irving as Sue Snell and Nancy Allen as Chris Hargensen who stand out. The soundtrack, indeed more broadly the whole sound design, is actually quite unbearable. The music is overly intrusive and emotive whilst the constant terrible ear piercing screeches every time Carrie uses her TK had me reaching for the mute button. The effect intended to hype the power that Carrie yields, is just really ham fisted.
Carrie should be the ultimate high school film, with everything magnified due to the supernatural elements. Unfortunately due to the haphazard production and (mostly) neglected human side of things, it definitely is not.
Verdict: Schooner of Carlton Draught
Progress: 69/1001
Chaser Review and My Other Work
Just a quick post guys to send you in the direction of The Film Brief to check out my review of The Chaser, a really fantastic South Korean flick I mentioned briefly in Worth Watching November 2012.
Also, as you may or may not have noticed, I have been doing a little work on the site, adding in some more pages along the top. One of those is for My Other Work, where I will link to all my writing which appears on other sites. I will be updating it as I go along, so I don’t have to bug you guys every time something else pops up somewhere on the wilds of the internet.
And just cause I can’t handle a post without a pic, here is a Lol Bunny
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The House is Black
As this blog has progressed, I have gradually expanded out from my original vision to review the 1001 Films to See Before You Die. But it is good to revisit the book, because it exposes me to so many fantastic and challenging films that I would never know about without it.
The Iranian documentary The House is Black (1963) is one such film. The film focuses on a leprosy colony in Iran, the poverty that causes the disease and especially the plight of those who inhabit the colony. It is not an easy film to watch, unflinchingly showing the physical deformities of these people that so markedly separate them from the rest of society. The humdrum and neglected nature of the existence many of them lead is also shown, a girl looking longingly out a window which seemingly traps her. Sentences her to a disconnected life. A man pacing up and down endlessly, humming to himself. Despite the subject matter though, there is a definite tenor of hope through much of the film. It opens with the quote that “there is no shortage of ugliness in the world” but then states that man is a “problem solver”, arguing that the only way to overcome ugliness in the treatment of those less fortunate in society is through humanity. There are many close-ups of the physical attributes of these lepers, which were confronting to me because I had not seen these kinds of bodies before. We also see various members of the community undertaking exercises in order to help combat the disease, including painful looking exercises to straighten out clenched hands. But all this focus on ‘deformed’ physicality is never used in an exploitative way. Rather these shots are a way in to life in the leper colony, as do the other shooting techniques such as some really nice use of montage. Contrasting a child with one of the older lepers for example.
The House is Black is not just an ethnographic piece or rallying cry for better treatment of lepers. The only film of poet Forugh Farrokhzad, it is a really artistic piece that is very clever in the way it weaves poetry as well as excerpts from the Old Testament and the Qur’an in with the images onscreen. Early we see the lepers giving thanks to God, specifically thanking him (through reading from a text, not sure which one) for the physical attributes provided to them and what these attributes allow them to do. The lyrics of the poem especially mirror the images being shown. The poem evolves throughout the film, giving a range of different perspectives on what the screen is showing. The lyrics talk of the physical form, reflect on the treatment of those less fortunate in society and for a brief period express a longing to escape, both from one’s personal situation and also from an uncaring universe. The sense of hope that I referred to earlier is also seen in the increasing instances of kids featuring as the film progresses. It is horrible to see children caught up in a situation such as this and to ponder what their lives must have been like. But the children in the film are a source of hope, a splash of laughter from a child playing is probably the highlight of the film. Farrokhzad obviously saw this hope too as she went on to adopt one of the children that she connectd with at the colony.
The incredible Forugh Farrokhzad
Conronting, but necessary to see, The House is Black is a wonderful documentary. Like many great piences of art, it shines a light on those who have been marginalised, forgotten or neglected by the society in which they exist. I urge you all to check it out whch you can do just here. The subtitles are occasionally white on a white background, but aside from that it is a reasonable quality copy.
Verdict: Longneck of Melbourne Bitter
Progress: 68/1001
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The Bergman Files: Summer Interlude
“I am very fond of Summer Interlude; it is my favourite movie… I don’t mean it’s my best. I don’t know which movie is my best” Bergman speaking of Summer Interlude in a 1960 interview with James Baldwin.
The first thing that struck me about Bergman’s tenth directorial effort Summer Interlude (1951) was just how sharp it looks. From the very first shot, a canted one of a church, every image is both beautifully composed and lovingly shot. Once again, Bergman is peering into another art form. Instead of the orchestra of To Joy (1950), here it is a ballet company. Just like in that film, here Bergman seems to revel in the shooting of another art form. As Wim Wenders’ Pina (2011) recently showed, dance onscreen can look astounding. The dance scenes in this film are glorious with Bergman exploring the way dancers look onscreen, both individually and as part of a collective. He seems especially concerned with the structure of the dancers as they fill up a stage, the manner in which they divide up that space.
The film opens with the ballerina Marie receiving a small package. Inside is a journal which makes her distraught, obviously bringing back strong memories. The rest of the film is essentially a flashback to 13 years into the past, gradually revealing memories of a glorious first love and immense pain to the audience. The story follows Marie and her admirer Henrik as they grow into their love, extremely awkwardly at first. It is a somewhat strange arc to the love story the way it plays out, as they never completely outgrow this awkwardness. This serves to make the beginning of the romance not entirely believable but paradoxically makes the rest of it more so. We can all relate to the awkwardness of early love affairs, fumbling attempts to connect two hearts and that is plain to see in this holiday affair. I have already suggested that the relationship ends in tragedy, and the film actually reveals that fact relatively early on so it is not a massive spoiler. But the fateful moment at which that occurs is truly unexpected, shocking and quite upsetting. I struggle to think of another moment from Bergman thus far which has matched the moment for sheer intensity.
Whilst the narrative gives away where it is going relatively early on, this really interesting film keeps you guessing as to exactly the route it is going to take to get there. It has a similar playfulness with narrative structure as is seen in To Joy. As well, Bergman and those he surrounds himself continue to grow more assured at what they do. Summer Interlude features one of the better soundtracks amongst his first ten features. It is more prominent than in a majority of them, with the soundtrack generally playing a relatively minor role in the others. Here though it is more noticeable, complementing the goings on of the film and the growing relationship. But it also manages to be ominous and intriguing at various points of the film, adding a real flavour to the overall end product. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it is truly astounding just how good Bergman’s run is of getting supremely good performances out of his leading ladies. Especially given the fact that in his own personal life Bergman often treated the women in his life with contempt. Here in Summer Interlude Maj-Britt Nilsson as Marie is brilliant, the definite core of the strange whirl of a film that swirls around and encompasses her. Whilst in my opinion, none of these first ten films are what I would call ‘great’ films, there are definite glimpses as to why Bergman would go on to be considered one of the greats of world cinema. As a director, he was always thinking, always creating. In this film there is a gorgeous little piece of animation that seemingly comes from nowhere and adds so much to this film. I think in that one little flourish there is a window into the brilliance that will eventually follow.
The awesome Maj-Britt Nilsson
Whilst it is not my favourite of his pre-1960 films as it was for Bergman, there is an undeniable charm about Summer Interlude, especially concerning its island setting and central couple. There is also a lot of depth here, exploring how hard it is to comprehend the fact that after a loved one dies, the world essentially goes on unchanged, when you feel like it should have the decency to stop for just a little while. Well worth a look.
Verdict: Pint of Kilkenny
‘The Bergman Files’ Leaderboard
- It Rains on our Love (1946)
- This Can’s Happen Here (1950)
- To Joy (1950)
- Crisis (1946)
- Summer Interlude (1951)
- Port of Call (1948)
- Music in Darkness (1948)
- A Ship Bound for India (1947)
- Prison (1949)
- Thirst (1949)
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Trailer for your Weekend: Star Trek Into Darkness
For some reason, this was billed as an “announcement” on the site where I watch my trailers, so I almost didn’t click on it.
But it’s a teaser trailer, and an utterly killer one. I enjoyed the first Star Trek film (the first of these new ones – you know what I mean). That’s coming from someone who has never even watched a Star Trek TV show or film before. And seeing this suddenly has me hanging out for the next entry. Benedict Cumberbatch!!! Sherlock is one of my favourite shows of recent years, so seeing that man in a major villain role is enough to get me excited for this. Everything else is pretty cool too. What do you guys think of this one?
On a side note, any Star Trek fans out there? Would love to hear suggestions on the best way to start exploring the canon. Every time I look for a way in, I am just too intimidated by the sheer number of different versions of the TV show. Not sure where the start is, or if I should even be starting from the start.
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Beermovie.net 