April 2009 Archives
FILM REVIEW
Watchmen
certificate:18
GRAPHIC violence, a healthy dose of female and male nudity and a fairly torrid sex scene gives Zac Snyder's Watchmen its 18 certificate. Fair play to Billy Crudup who seems to have gone all the way through the entire film as Dr Manhattan wearing nothing but a coat of blue paint. Now that's suffering for your art!
With the exception of Batman, most comic superheroes have superpowers. Superman flies and has X-ray vision, Spider-man can shoot webs out of his finger tips and the Fantastic Four have a variety of special powers. That's not the case with the masked and costumed superheroes in Watchmen. They were basically just a bunch of vigilantes. The one exception is Dr Manhattan who possesses some extraordinary godlike powers.
Watchmen is based on Alan Moore's DC Comics graphic novel. Moore has rarely been happy with film adaptations of his stories. He notoriously hated The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta. True to form, he had his name removed for the credits of Watchmen.
One nice touch was that the film was set in an alternative 1980s where America won the Vietnam war and Richard Nixon became president for a third term. This set a strong background of tension between the US and an unreformed Soviet Union which takes the world to the edge of full-scale nuclear war.
In the midst of all this tension, someone is killing off all the former superheroes starting with The Comedian who is flung through a high plate glass window. These crimes are investigated by Rorschach another former superhero turned private detective.
The use of a virtual scrapbook and a number of flashbacks provide the fascinating back story to this confusing if slightly familiar alternative reality. Some of the superheroes turn out to have unsavoury histories quite at odds with their public images. Others are struggling with their relationships and their own sense of identity in a world that had rejected them.
This film is magnificent in its scope. It's well acted and scripted with believable special effects. The superheroes have the endearing quality of being people just like us and even those with problems tend to have super problems. It all hangs together well.
You will need to pay attention, though or you'll become confused. I was, but I'd be prepared to watch it again on DVD to pick up on the details I'd missed in the fast-moving story. I have no idea how true it is to Moore's original story. If you're a fan, go see it and make up your own mind. If not, the story stands well on its own. It's one of the best movies of the year so far and bound to attract a hardcore cult following.
Watchmen
certificate:18
GRAPHIC violence, a healthy dose of female and male nudity and a fairly torrid sex scene gives Zac Snyder's Watchmen its 18 certificate. Fair play to Billy Crudup who seems to have gone all the way through the entire film as Dr Manhattan wearing nothing but a coat of blue paint. Now that's suffering for your art!
With the exception of Batman, most comic superheroes have superpowers. Superman flies and has X-ray vision, Spider-man can shoot webs out of his finger tips and the Fantastic Four have a variety of special powers. That's not the case with the masked and costumed superheroes in Watchmen. They were basically just a bunch of vigilantes. The one exception is Dr Manhattan who possesses some extraordinary godlike powers.
Watchmen is based on Alan Moore's DC Comics graphic novel. Moore has rarely been happy with film adaptations of his stories. He notoriously hated The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta. True to form, he had his name removed for the credits of Watchmen.
One nice touch was that the film was set in an alternative 1980s where America won the Vietnam war and Richard Nixon became president for a third term. This set a strong background of tension between the US and an unreformed Soviet Union which takes the world to the edge of full-scale nuclear war.
In the midst of all this tension, someone is killing off all the former superheroes starting with The Comedian who is flung through a high plate glass window. These crimes are investigated by Rorschach another former superhero turned private detective.
The use of a virtual scrapbook and a number of flashbacks provide the fascinating back story to this confusing if slightly familiar alternative reality. Some of the superheroes turn out to have unsavoury histories quite at odds with their public images. Others are struggling with their relationships and their own sense of identity in a world that had rejected them.
This film is magnificent in its scope. It's well acted and scripted with believable special effects. The superheroes have the endearing quality of being people just like us and even those with problems tend to have super problems. It all hangs together well.
You will need to pay attention, though or you'll become confused. I was, but I'd be prepared to watch it again on DVD to pick up on the details I'd missed in the fast-moving story. I have no idea how true it is to Moore's original story. If you're a fan, go see it and make up your own mind. If not, the story stands well on its own. It's one of the best movies of the year so far and bound to attract a hardcore cult following.
THE LARNE LINE...
a great past and a bright future
HEADING back into Belfast from Carrick a couple of Friday evenings ago, I was surprised to see that the train in service had ancient narrow slam door coaches. I had a difficult job manhandling my bicycle through that narrow gap. The next day I read Emma Blee’s heartening story in the your Carrick Biz reporting that the Larne Line is to get its fair share of the twenty new trains recently ordered by Northern Ireland Railways.
This is welcome news. According to Ursula Kelleher of Translink, passenger journeys along the Larne line have risen by over 10% in the last year. This has been helped by an upgrade of many of the halts along the line and the new park and ride facility at Greenisland station that has increased parking capacity from 10 to 71 car-parking spaces. Similar facilities are planned for Jordanstown and Whiteabbey stations.
This is not before time. For too long the Larne Line was NIR’s poor relation. Some of us feared that the starvation of resources was a prelude to complete closure. This new investment offers some reassurance as does the recent upgrades of stations on the line. I am particularly impressed by the improvements to Clipperstown halt.
Browsing through the Linenhall Library last week, I came across Along UTA Lines: Ulster’s rail network in the 1960s by Ian McLarnon Sinclair, a Bangor man who was prominent in the campaign to Save Our Railways a few years ago. Mr Sinclair takes the traveller on a virtual train journey through every station and halt inherited by NIR from the old Ulster Transport Authority in 1967.
The Larne Line of the 1990s and early noughties was a pale shadow of the line that NIR took over in 1967. I find it fascinating to see how the stations on the line have changed in the past forty-odd years. Most of the fine stations have gone to be replaced by rudimentary shelters. Some of the old stations - Jordanstown springs to mind – were quietly demolished early on Sunday mornings before anybody realised what was going on.
Greenisland, now heavily transformed, was originally called Carrickfergus Junction until 1893. The old Belfast and Northern Counties Railway built the station and the golf cou-rse on the Upper Road as a tourist attraction. The original station had three platforms and its own signal box. A back line from Greenisland went to and from Monkstown and carried boat trains direct from Londonderry to Larne Harbour. This service ended in 1961. The lovely old buildings were destroyed by fire in the late eighties.
Trooperslane used to have an attractive station building which can been seen in the picture above. This was demolished in 1974-The halt was threatened with closure in 1977 but was reprieved and it is still in service. The Mount halt opened in 1925 and was shut in 1930. It came back into service again in 1946 when the massive Courtaulds textile factory opened. Two sidings supplied the factory with coal from the port of Belfast and paper pulp from Larne. The sidings closed in 1967 and the halt was taken away altogether after its closure in 1972.
A siding used to run to the Carrick saltworks just before the bridge at Clipperstown halt. This siding closed in 1957. Clipperstown halt opened in 1925 and never had any fancy buildings. It has never looked as well as it does today.
Carrickfergus station is one of the few buildings erected by the old Belfast and Northern Counties Railway to survive largely intact. The mock-Tudor design was restored in 2001 which brought at degree of comfort to what used to be freezing waits for trains. The seats might not be heavily upholstered but at least passengers won’t catch their death waiting for the next train and the lifts are handy for mothers with prams and cyclists who no longer have to manhandle these things down huge flights of stairs.
Most of the halts around Carrick opened in 1925 to cater for a growing population in the town’s suburbs. Barn closed in 1931, reopened during the war years and remained as a request stop until 1977. Today only the footbridge remains. Downshire Park had only a corrugated iron shelter and cinder platform when it opened in 1925. Renamed Downshire in 1979, the halt is still in daily use. The Eden halt did not do so well. It closed in 1977 and its cinder platforms were taken away.
Kilroot was one of the earlier stations opening in 1862. It was the terminus for some local NCC railway services in the 1930s. It fell to the 1977 cull of stations and halts on the line and the buildings were demolished in 1979.
Whitehead station was built in 1877 with just one platform. Whitehead was largely developed by the BNCR as a holiday destination aimed especially at day-trippers. The railway company spent a lot of money on the promenade and the Gobbins cliff path. Increased popularity led to the station’s expansion and the construction of another platform. An additional excursion station was built in 1907. Today this is the headquarters of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. The town is still popular today with day trippers and no wonder. It’s still a fine place to visit.
I’m delighted to read about and see wonderful pictures of the Larne Line’s past glories but I’m even happier to see that it has a bright future well into the coming century.
a great past and a bright future
HEADING back into Belfast from Carrick a couple of Friday evenings ago, I was surprised to see that the train in service had ancient narrow slam door coaches. I had a difficult job manhandling my bicycle through that narrow gap. The next day I read Emma Blee’s heartening story in the your Carrick Biz reporting that the Larne Line is to get its fair share of the twenty new trains recently ordered by Northern Ireland Railways.
This is welcome news. According to Ursula Kelleher of Translink, passenger journeys along the Larne line have risen by over 10% in the last year. This has been helped by an upgrade of many of the halts along the line and the new park and ride facility at Greenisland station that has increased parking capacity from 10 to 71 car-parking spaces. Similar facilities are planned for Jordanstown and Whiteabbey stations.
This is not before time. For too long the Larne Line was NIR’s poor relation. Some of us feared that the starvation of resources was a prelude to complete closure. This new investment offers some reassurance as does the recent upgrades of stations on the line. I am particularly impressed by the improvements to Clipperstown halt.
Browsing through the Linenhall Library last week, I came across Along UTA Lines: Ulster’s rail network in the 1960s by Ian McLarnon Sinclair, a Bangor man who was prominent in the campaign to Save Our Railways a few years ago. Mr Sinclair takes the traveller on a virtual train journey through every station and halt inherited by NIR from the old Ulster Transport Authority in 1967.
The Larne Line of the 1990s and early noughties was a pale shadow of the line that NIR took over in 1967. I find it fascinating to see how the stations on the line have changed in the past forty-odd years. Most of the fine stations have gone to be replaced by rudimentary shelters. Some of the old stations - Jordanstown springs to mind – were quietly demolished early on Sunday mornings before anybody realised what was going on.
Greenisland, now heavily transformed, was originally called Carrickfergus Junction until 1893. The old Belfast and Northern Counties Railway built the station and the golf cou-rse on the Upper Road as a tourist attraction. The original station had three platforms and its own signal box. A back line from Greenisland went to and from Monkstown and carried boat trains direct from Londonderry to Larne Harbour. This service ended in 1961. The lovely old buildings were destroyed by fire in the late eighties.
Trooperslane used to have an attractive station building which can been seen in the picture above. This was demolished in 1974-The halt was threatened with closure in 1977 but was reprieved and it is still in service. The Mount halt opened in 1925 and was shut in 1930. It came back into service again in 1946 when the massive Courtaulds textile factory opened. Two sidings supplied the factory with coal from the port of Belfast and paper pulp from Larne. The sidings closed in 1967 and the halt was taken away altogether after its closure in 1972.
A siding used to run to the Carrick saltworks just before the bridge at Clipperstown halt. This siding closed in 1957. Clipperstown halt opened in 1925 and never had any fancy buildings. It has never looked as well as it does today.
Carrickfergus station is one of the few buildings erected by the old Belfast and Northern Counties Railway to survive largely intact. The mock-Tudor design was restored in 2001 which brought at degree of comfort to what used to be freezing waits for trains. The seats might not be heavily upholstered but at least passengers won’t catch their death waiting for the next train and the lifts are handy for mothers with prams and cyclists who no longer have to manhandle these things down huge flights of stairs.
Most of the halts around Carrick opened in 1925 to cater for a growing population in the town’s suburbs. Barn closed in 1931, reopened during the war years and remained as a request stop until 1977. Today only the footbridge remains. Downshire Park had only a corrugated iron shelter and cinder platform when it opened in 1925. Renamed Downshire in 1979, the halt is still in daily use. The Eden halt did not do so well. It closed in 1977 and its cinder platforms were taken away.
Kilroot was one of the earlier stations opening in 1862. It was the terminus for some local NCC railway services in the 1930s. It fell to the 1977 cull of stations and halts on the line and the buildings were demolished in 1979.
Whitehead station was built in 1877 with just one platform. Whitehead was largely developed by the BNCR as a holiday destination aimed especially at day-trippers. The railway company spent a lot of money on the promenade and the Gobbins cliff path. Increased popularity led to the station’s expansion and the construction of another platform. An additional excursion station was built in 1907. Today this is the headquarters of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. The town is still popular today with day trippers and no wonder. It’s still a fine place to visit.
I’m delighted to read about and see wonderful pictures of the Larne Line’s past glories but I’m even happier to see that it has a bright future well into the coming century.
RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS
Blast Live DVD Runtime: 80 minutes.
Pipe music at its best is wonderful. Just listen to the magnificent Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band and you'll see what I mean. However, pipe music can also be dreary and dreadful. Think of some of the woeful street pipers you come across from time to time in the city centre. It's no wonder that many folk associate bagpipes with laments and misery. It's all true but terribly unfair as these magnificent instruments are much more versatile than their poor public image suggests.
Enter the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. The one thing you'll notice about this ensemble is that they don't do dreary. They've invented a new sound - they call it 'bagrock' and it's infectiously wonderful. It's a frenetic fusion of drums, bass guitar and the bagpipes playing up tempo piping standards and heavy rock tunes. This is We Will Rock You and Smoke on the Water as you've never heard it before. Tunes from the likes of Queen, AC-DC, Status Quo and Deep Purple really do lend themselves to the Red Hot Chilli Pipers' unique style.
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers take to the stage resplendent in black kilts, and matching black shirts emblazoned with a red Lion Rampant. In contrast they wear bright red sporrans and socks and carry bright red bagpipes. It's all quite eye-catching on their first ever DVD release; a recording of a gig to a home crowd in the Glasgow fruit market in August 2008 during the Piping Live festival. To add to the entertainment, they are joined on stage by the extra spicy Red Hot Chilli Dancers and the Kintyre Schools Pipe Band from Campbelltown in Argyll.
These pipers have a fanatical home following and they're gaining a lot of fans all over the world on their tours. They have played in France, Germany and America and have just returned from a successful tour of India. Don't miss them if they ever come to Ulster. In the meantime enjoy this DVD concert and the extra interviews giving the history of the band and some glimpses of the lads on tour. You'll never look at a piper in the same way again.
Blast Live DVD Runtime: 80 minutes.
Pipe music at its best is wonderful. Just listen to the magnificent Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band and you'll see what I mean. However, pipe music can also be dreary and dreadful. Think of some of the woeful street pipers you come across from time to time in the city centre. It's no wonder that many folk associate bagpipes with laments and misery. It's all true but terribly unfair as these magnificent instruments are much more versatile than their poor public image suggests.
Enter the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. The one thing you'll notice about this ensemble is that they don't do dreary. They've invented a new sound - they call it 'bagrock' and it's infectiously wonderful. It's a frenetic fusion of drums, bass guitar and the bagpipes playing up tempo piping standards and heavy rock tunes. This is We Will Rock You and Smoke on the Water as you've never heard it before. Tunes from the likes of Queen, AC-DC, Status Quo and Deep Purple really do lend themselves to the Red Hot Chilli Pipers' unique style.
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers take to the stage resplendent in black kilts, and matching black shirts emblazoned with a red Lion Rampant. In contrast they wear bright red sporrans and socks and carry bright red bagpipes. It's all quite eye-catching on their first ever DVD release; a recording of a gig to a home crowd in the Glasgow fruit market in August 2008 during the Piping Live festival. To add to the entertainment, they are joined on stage by the extra spicy Red Hot Chilli Dancers and the Kintyre Schools Pipe Band from Campbelltown in Argyll.
These pipers have a fanatical home following and they're gaining a lot of fans all over the world on their tours. They have played in France, Germany and America and have just returned from a successful tour of India. Don't miss them if they ever come to Ulster. In the meantime enjoy this DVD concert and the extra interviews giving the history of the band and some glimpses of the lads on tour. You'll never look at a piper in the same way again.
CLASSIC FILM REVIEW
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense rarely made a bad film. Hitchcock always liked to play with his audiences. He liked to lead them in what seemed to be one direction only to pull them away suddenly into another. Remember Psycho, which seemed to be about an embezzler on the run until she booked into a country motel and was unexpectedly murdered by the motel owner.
Shadow of a Doubt also keeps the viewer guessing. Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright) has always doted on her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) after whom she was named. She is a little bit down in the dumps and wants a miracle. She comes up with the idea of sending a telegram to her Uncle Charlie in Philadelphia to invite him to stay. By coincidence, Uncle Charlie has sent a telegram to Charlie's mother – his sister – to say that he is coming to stay. To her this is proof of her telepathic link with her wonderful uncle.
However, Uncle Charlie isn't always cheerful. The world seems to him to be a terrible place and he has sudden flashes of anger which he can't always hide. In addition, Uncle Charlie is quite a private type of a guy. Nobody on the long-distance train to California sees him as he's 'very sick' and confined to his cabin. There are no photographs of him. He seems to be running away from something – or somebody. He is 'in business' but nobody quite knows the nature of his business. What has he got to hide? Why did he steal a page out of his brother-in-law's newspaper? Why doesn't he like the waltz tune, The Merry Widow?
Two men who turn out to be Federal agents are following Uncle Charlie. They are on the trail of a serial killer who marries rich widows and then murders them. They believe that Uncle Charlie is their man. But is he?
Young Charlie dismisses the idea out of hand – at first – but doubts grow as Hitchcock ratchets up the suspense. With a growing sense of dread, she begins to suspect that it might be true after all. Uncle Charlie himself turns harsh and begins to frighten her. Strange accidents begin to befall her. She almost asphyxiates when she gets locked in a garage while a car engine runs. Then she is slightly hurt when a steep wooden back staircase collapses under her. Is Uncle Charlie trying to kill her?
The genius of this plot is that we're never really sure until the last few frames. It could have all been a mistake and young Charlie and the Feds were wrong. On the other hand, he could have been the murderer after all. That's Hitchcock for you: puzzling, enthralling and totally compelling as he draws viewers into all the twists and turns of his stories. We'll never see his like again. This film can be purchased on DVD or can be seen online at http://tinyurl.com/cwgozb
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense rarely made a bad film. Hitchcock always liked to play with his audiences. He liked to lead them in what seemed to be one direction only to pull them away suddenly into another. Remember Psycho, which seemed to be about an embezzler on the run until she booked into a country motel and was unexpectedly murdered by the motel owner.
Shadow of a Doubt also keeps the viewer guessing. Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright) has always doted on her Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) after whom she was named. She is a little bit down in the dumps and wants a miracle. She comes up with the idea of sending a telegram to her Uncle Charlie in Philadelphia to invite him to stay. By coincidence, Uncle Charlie has sent a telegram to Charlie's mother – his sister – to say that he is coming to stay. To her this is proof of her telepathic link with her wonderful uncle.
However, Uncle Charlie isn't always cheerful. The world seems to him to be a terrible place and he has sudden flashes of anger which he can't always hide. In addition, Uncle Charlie is quite a private type of a guy. Nobody on the long-distance train to California sees him as he's 'very sick' and confined to his cabin. There are no photographs of him. He seems to be running away from something – or somebody. He is 'in business' but nobody quite knows the nature of his business. What has he got to hide? Why did he steal a page out of his brother-in-law's newspaper? Why doesn't he like the waltz tune, The Merry Widow?
Two men who turn out to be Federal agents are following Uncle Charlie. They are on the trail of a serial killer who marries rich widows and then murders them. They believe that Uncle Charlie is their man. But is he?
Young Charlie dismisses the idea out of hand – at first – but doubts grow as Hitchcock ratchets up the suspense. With a growing sense of dread, she begins to suspect that it might be true after all. Uncle Charlie himself turns harsh and begins to frighten her. Strange accidents begin to befall her. She almost asphyxiates when she gets locked in a garage while a car engine runs. Then she is slightly hurt when a steep wooden back staircase collapses under her. Is Uncle Charlie trying to kill her?
The genius of this plot is that we're never really sure until the last few frames. It could have all been a mistake and young Charlie and the Feds were wrong. On the other hand, he could have been the murderer after all. That's Hitchcock for you: puzzling, enthralling and totally compelling as he draws viewers into all the twists and turns of his stories. We'll never see his like again. This film can be purchased on DVD or can be seen online at http://tinyurl.com/cwgozb
Evita
Grand Opera House
Belfast
Who hasn't heard of Tim Rice's and Andrew Lloyd Webber's fabulous musical, Evita? This stage show shot Julie Covington to stardom in the mid-seventies with her hit single, Don't Cry for Me, Argentina. Even a war with the South American nation in the early eighties failed to dent Evita's popularity. Pop superstar Madonna ensured renewed interest in the musical with her memorable big-screen interpretation of the role in 1996.
The story is the traditional rags to riches tale of Eva Duarte, a struggling B-Movie star and radio actress from the sticks who meets and marries an up-and-coming military officer, Colonel Juan Peron. Eva Peron brushed aside the scorn and hatred for her among the upper classes and the military top brass and won the hearts of the ordinary workers - the descamisados. Her political influence and charitable works made her the most famous women in Argentine history.
A new West End production of Evita is currently touring the UK. After a short run in Londonderry, it is currently packing the punters in at the Grand Opera House.
Rachel Wood takes on the role of Eva Peron and does it well. Her passionate interpretation of the standards, Don't Cry for Me, Argentina and Another Suitcase, Another Hall is more moving on the live stage than Madonna's recordings. Seamus Cullen, finalist in the BBC television show Any Dream Will Do comes across as a fine Che with his sardonic version of Oh What a Circus.
With fine music, magnificent sets, impeccable scene and costume changes - some on-stage - this is the musical show of the year. Evita was the best show to come from the Rice-Lloyd Webber stable. It's not to be missed. Tickets range from £8.50 to £37.00 depending on the day you attend.
Grand Opera House
Belfast
Who hasn't heard of Tim Rice's and Andrew Lloyd Webber's fabulous musical, Evita? This stage show shot Julie Covington to stardom in the mid-seventies with her hit single, Don't Cry for Me, Argentina. Even a war with the South American nation in the early eighties failed to dent Evita's popularity. Pop superstar Madonna ensured renewed interest in the musical with her memorable big-screen interpretation of the role in 1996.
The story is the traditional rags to riches tale of Eva Duarte, a struggling B-Movie star and radio actress from the sticks who meets and marries an up-and-coming military officer, Colonel Juan Peron. Eva Peron brushed aside the scorn and hatred for her among the upper classes and the military top brass and won the hearts of the ordinary workers - the descamisados. Her political influence and charitable works made her the most famous women in Argentine history.
A new West End production of Evita is currently touring the UK. After a short run in Londonderry, it is currently packing the punters in at the Grand Opera House.
Rachel Wood takes on the role of Eva Peron and does it well. Her passionate interpretation of the standards, Don't Cry for Me, Argentina and Another Suitcase, Another Hall is more moving on the live stage than Madonna's recordings. Seamus Cullen, finalist in the BBC television show Any Dream Will Do comes across as a fine Che with his sardonic version of Oh What a Circus.
With fine music, magnificent sets, impeccable scene and costume changes - some on-stage - this is the musical show of the year. Evita was the best show to come from the Rice-Lloyd Webber stable. It's not to be missed. Tickets range from £8.50 to £37.00 depending on the day you attend.
