As Nebraska continues to gather universal acclaim why not take the chance to revisit Alexander Payne’s earlier work when Election (1999) gets a rep screening this week at The Ritzy. A darkly irreverent high school/political satire it features top performances from both Mathew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon.
When Allen Ginsberg wrote that he’d seen the best minds of his generation destroyed by madness in his seminal, controversial and epic poem Howl, he wasn’t joking. He’d certainly seen his fair share of insanity by the time he’d gained notoriety and recognition in 1957 when Howl became part of an infamous and groundbreaking obscenity trial that shone a spotlight on the burgeoning Beat Generation.
Kill Your Darlings sees Daniel Radcliffe boldly taking on the role of a young Ginsberg in a film that follows his first encounters with fellow Beats Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs and how they all became embroiled in the mysterious murder of a fellow student.
Spike Lee’s remake of Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy comes out this week in a wave of contrived controversy. Since its release stateside audience opinions have been split straight down the middle between those who think it’s just another clueless Hollywood remake of a successful Asian movie and those who haven’t seen it yet. The jury is out.
My pick of the week is music documentary Muscle Shoals about the legendary Fame studios. Stuck out in the swamplands of Alabama, Fame Studios, it’s founder Rick Hall, and the in house band The Swampers created a defiant, beat heavy and extremely potent brew of Soul Music. It became known as the Muscle Shoals sound and gave rise to artists such as Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, and many more. Essential viewing for any music fan I’d say.
And don’t forget that some of this year’s most talked about films are still being screened at The Ritzy this week including Blue is the Warmest Colour, Dirty Wars, Leviathan, Nebraska, Gravity, and Computer Chess. Happy viewing.
