The Big Screen
By Steve Sharp
My dad’s first job was as a projectionist at The Picture House Cinema in the market town of Beverly in East Yorkshire. There was no TV at the time and so news and entertainment were to be found there and he saw it all though the tiny square window of his projection booth. He then went off to war.
Going to the cinema has gone in and out of fashion over time but it seems there are films that deserve to be seen on the big screen rather than at home on the telly.
Forty two years ago Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark starring Harrison Ford, was a smash hit and last week I ventured to the cinema to see the fifth and last latest incarnation, The Dial of Destiny. It was worth the effort.
This time Indiana has the immensely talented Phoebe Waller-Bridge as his sidekick. Having previously written and acted in Fleabag and added scriptwriting genius to the latest Bond Film she shines as a modern superhero.
Having not been to the cinema for ages I then found myself there again at the “premiere” of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, a remastered film of his last performance as Ziggy fifty years ago.
Before the film there was a panel Q&A featuring his pianist on the night Mike Garson who played an overture, Woody Woodmansey his drummer, Don Letts, Ken Scott, Suggs, and Richard E Grant. A fascinating insight into their relationship with the great man.
Given that the performance, caught on film was fifty years ago, it was remarkably fresh and saw Bowie at his creative best.
At the conclusion of it he announced the end of Ziggy Stardust. Not with any sadness but with excitement and optimism for the future.
Another film worth seeing full size.
The Sunday Times, meanwhile, trailed the launch of Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy of Peaky Blinders fame, with a look at the 25 greatest war films.
I saw a few of these with my dad including Where Eagles Dare, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Laurence of Arabia, and I wonder what the fascination with the war is still today. Oppenheimer is about the nuclear bomb and having visited the peace park and brutal museum in Hiroshima I still feel drawn to see it on the big screen.
There is one much hyped film I was sure I would avoid this summer, but having seen reviews from such august bodies as Reuters I might have to think again.
Rotten Tomatoes listed the critics consensus as…
“Barbie is a visually dazzling comedy whose humour is smartly complemented by subversive storytelling.”
Maybe I’ll wait until it’s on Netflix!
Steve