267. The Bookshop; movie review

THE BOOKSHOP
Cert PG
113 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language

For about 45 minutes I was a little bit in love with the quaintness of The Bookshop and its old English sensibilities.
But I waited and waited for something significant to happen and finally realised it never would.
Yes, there is a bit of treachery and tragedy but scarcely enough to create a ripple on a mill pond.
Meanwhile, its star, Emily Mortimer, is the personification of nice.
True, at one point she does shout the word 'leave' at someone who has maligned a friend but otherwise she smiles benignly at those she is trying to engage and turns the other cheek towards those who offend.
During Isabel Coixet's adaptation of Penelope Fitzgerald's novel, Mortimer's character, Florence Green is offended a great deal.
However, she always behaves with appropriate decorum.
And that will both endear and frustrate. There is not a single profanity during The Bookshop but some of the characters deserve to be on the receiving end of at least one or two.
They include the local wannabe aristocrat (Patricia Clarkson) who immediately takes against Mrs Green and her new venture.
Number two on the hit list is James Lance's layabout Milo North who also justifies a verbal lashing.
Meanwhile, ally-in-chief of Mrs Green (they stuck to surnames back in 1959) is the reclusive Edmund Brundish, played with perfect deadpan by Bill Nighy.
The Bookshop looks great - every bit the East Anglian seaside town it is mean to represent.
But the emotions are held a tad too firmly in check and not all of the contributors are quite as skilled as Mortimer, Nighy and Clarkson.
Indeed, it seems to me as if they have gone a bit overboard in maintaining the stiff upper lip.
That sums The Bookshop up - if it had been set in Victorian times I would have wanted it to break out of its corset.
They weren't around as much in the late 50s but the analogy probably fits.

Reasons to watch: A movie out of the old English school
Reasons to avoid: Very little actually happens

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Director quote - Isabel Coixet: "There was such little sentimentality to the novel when it tackled something that could have been very tearful and mushy. "

The big question - When did the English change from being quaintly discreet to be loud and brash?

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266. Arcadia; movie review

ARCADIA
Cert 12A
78 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, bloody images, moderate threat

The British Film Institute's promotional blurb describes Arcadia as "a very strange trip indeed".
It isn't kidding.
The BFI tends to distribute movies which are away from the norm - therefore, I saw its description of Paul Wright's movie as a warning of style over substance.
In a way that is true but Wright, aside of his apparent obsession with naked dancing and prancing, has evoked some wonderful memories of old England.
Arcadia, backed by a soundtrack from Portishead's Adrian Utley and Goldfrapp's Will Gregory, explores the connection between man and the land and how that relationship has broken down over the past century.
There are reminders of the style of Mark Cousins' work I Am Belfast which has a common producer in John Archer but even more similarities with Cousins' A Story Of Children And Film.
However, unlike Cousins' films which have contemplative narratives, it relies on the snatches of commentary of selected footage to make its point about how we have become divorced from the land and even our humanity.
It highlights an England which has drifted from being green and pleasant to one of inner city poverty.
To hammer home his point, Wright leans heavily on footage of naked cavorting in the countryside. Indeed, I was surprised at how much recorded nudity there had been in the past.
The problems with Wright's film are twofold.
Firstly, it will be far too unstructured for some. There are abstract insertions which I didn't understand and I doubt many others will.
Secondly, Wright's assertions are too simplistic. Industrialisation and the migration of people from country to cities happened much earlier than he suggests.
However, his overall points about us needing to be closer to nature and losing our eccentric English identity both hold true.
I was torn over it - and that is why I have given it 6/10

Reasons to watch: Some evocative images of Britain's past
Reasons to avoid: It is very surreal at times

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 6/10

Director quote - Paul Wright: "The power of images and sound and how they rub up against each other to create different meanings and emotions is my main passion in film-making."

The big question - Was life happier when it was simpler?

265. Mildred Pierce; movie review

MILDRED PIERCE
Cert PG
111 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild violence and sex references

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I have written before that I struggle with offering admiration to Joan Crawford because of the revelations by her children in the book Mommie Dearest.
This becomes doubly difficult during Mildred Pierce in which she stars as a mother whose trouble is caused by the spoiling of her arrogant, materialistic daughter (Ann Blyth).
Crawford won the best actress oscar for her role in this 1945 film but I am afraid its heavy melodrama  has not really passed the test of time.
Indeed, nor has its portrayal of women - even though Crawford's Pierce is attempting to break out of the metaphorical shackles.
Michael Curtiz's film begins with Pierce's second husband (Zachary Scott) being shot dead and the film then traces the lead-up to the murder.
Crawford's title character is seen initially as a mother who is tied to the kitchen by an unappreciative first husband (Bruce Bennett) and then as a businesswoman trying to bring in the money to pay for the whims of her extravagant and loveless daughter.
Meanwhile, she is romanced by a local businessman (Jack Carson) whom she tries to frame for the killing.
Crawford's character is meant to be naive and desperate but, possibly because of my preconceptions of her, she looks hard and wily to me.
Meanwhile, every man seems to be so beguiled by her that he feels compelled to chat her up with mixed results.
And the movie jumps surprisingly quickly from scene to scene meaning that some of its impact is lost.
On the plus side, it offers nostalgia from the old type of big studio movies, overflowing with fur coats, glistening jewellery and shiny sedans.
And, as a whodunnit, it works pretty well, keeping its audience guessing until its finale.
Its just so sad that I can't get on with Joan Crawford. Apparently, I am not the only one.

Reasons to watch: An Oscar-winning performance from Joan Crawford
Reasons to avoid: It doesn't pass the test of time

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

The big question - How did Joan Crawford win an Oscar for this?

264. The Delinquent Season; movie review

THE DELINQUENT SEASON
Cert TBA
103 mins
BBFC advice: TBA

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3Oh, the dreariness. Two failing marriages and resolutions which satisfy nobody, accompanied by shouting, swearing and crying.
Mark O'Rowe's film focuses on beautiful people in beautiful homes sharing anything but beautiful lives.
The presence of Cillian Murphy might well attract Peaky Blinders fans but I fear they will be disappointed by his needy work-from-home, weak-willed philanderer.
I guess they might at least be impressed by him flopping around the bedroom in the altogether.
Murphy's character, Jim, initially seems satisfied if slightly uninspired by a family set-up in which he is self-employed and attends to the needs of his children while his wife (Eva Birthistle) goes out to work.
His life becomes much more complex when her best friend (Catherine Walker) seeks refuge from her wife-beating husband (Andrew Scott).
Actually, complex is an understatement - minefield would be more accurate.
The Delinquent Season becomes a web of deceit among best friends with a couple of twists which are intended to add to the intrigue.
That would be if there were any. The problem is that the movie's characters are so utterly unlikable that I had no interest in their fate.
And that is probably why I have nothing more to write.
Unlike those portrayed in The Delinquent Season, I don't have a limited amount of time on my hands so I, having spent 103 minutes of an Amtrak train journey from Seattle to Eugene on it, I choose not to waste any more.

Reasons to watch: Impressive cast
Reasons to avoid: So dreary

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 4/10

Director quote - Mark O'Rowe: "Cillian told me, ‘This is going to be tough. I’ve never played a part that was so close to myself. Every part I’ve ever played I’ve created a character. I can’t do that with this one. This one has to be me’."

The big question - What was Cillian Murphy thinking?

263. Vertigo; movie review

VERTIGO
Cert PG
122 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild threat and references to suicide

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The Amtrak train from Vancouver to Seattle promised decent wifi but it wasn't good enough to watch a streaming link of new movies which have been sent to me.
Therefore, I turned to one I had already downloaded on iTunes and which is set for re-release this summer.
Sadly, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo rather disappointed me.
It is some years since I watched it but I found its concentration on melodrama stifled its ability to thrill.
That, in my opinion, cannot be blamed on age because North By Northwest, Psycho and Rear Window have all passed the test of time.
I wondered whether it was down to the wide eyes of James Stewart, the ludicrous speed at which his character falls in love with Kim Novak's or the hurried finale.
Of course, it isn't a bad film - Hitchcock didn't make such a thing. It has his usual elegance, wonderful use of light and intriguing, original concept.
Stewart plays John Ferguson a detective who feels compelled to quit his job after his attack of agoraphobia cost a colleague his life.
An old pal (Tom Helmore) then givs him a strange private assignment - to follow his wife who, he believes, has been taken over by the spirit of her great grandmother.
So he follows her and...falls in love with her.
As you do. More incredibly, after scarcely two conversations, she is head over heels for him too.
This is bad news for Ferguson's best pal (Barbara Bel Geddes) who is desperate for him to recognise her allure.
Anyway, there are myriad twists and turns as with all Hitchcock thrillers and a humdinger ending.
Well, at least it probably was seen as a humdinger ending at the time of its release but it didn't quite hit the mark with me 60 years later.
Perhaps I was in a daze after all of the use of spiral backgrounds and queasy in-and-out shots to reflect dizziness.
Anyway, who cares what I say. Vertigo is in many filmwatchers' top 100 of all time. It just isn't in mine.

Reasons to watch: It's renowned as a Hitchcock classic
Reasons to avoid: Rather over melodramatic

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Director quote - Alfred Hitchcock: "I indulged in a form of necrophilia."

The big question - Why did 40s and 50s movie characters fall in love so easily.

262. Animal World (Dongwu shijie); movie review

ANIMAL WORLD (DONGWU SHIJE)
Cert 15
130 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence

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It starting so intriguingly with wild dreamlike action scenes and highlights in slow motion.
But what took over was a life-or-death game of rock, paper, scissors and head-spinning mathematical equations.
It is fair to say that Animal World is quite different to any movie which will be screened in 2018.
Han Yan's picture begins with its main character, Zheng Kaisi (LI Yi Feng) losing his sick mother's house after signing up to a dodgy deal.
This also leaves him, inadvertently, in debt to a mobster, played by Michael Douglas who offers him the opportunity of writing it off if he signs up to play 'a game' on a huge cargo ship.
The movie then centres on moral dilemmas over what an individual would do to save his own skin.
Yan builds up tension during the game in which each competitor must accrue stars during challenges with cards containing images of rock, paper and scissors.
If they are eliminated they go to a mysterious back room where it is believed they will either face medical experiments or death.
With no other rules, Kaisi is faced with working out the best tactics for survival.
In itself this is pretty gripping but its link to the clown character, into which Kaisi dreams that he morphs and slices apart demons, is rather confusing.
Then he also daydreams scenarios in which he gives his enemies a violent comeuppance.
Chinese movies often have this type of surreal quality which, in this case, seems to be intended to thrill the audiences who find the maths of counting cards a bit dull.
I was rather torn on Animal World. I was impressed by Feng, quite struck by Douglas and gripped by the moral dilemmas in its denouement.
I also admired some of the slow-motion chase scenes which would have been even more inspired on a big screen (I was sent a link so saw the movie on my laptop).
However, the clown elements were baffling and I admit I didn't really understand the mathematical conundrums.
Nevertheless, it is well worth a watch.

Reasons to watch: Different to any film I have seen this year
Reasons to avoid: Its surreal tangents may be too much for some

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10

The big question - What would you do to save your own skin?

260. Freak Show; movie review

FREAK SHOW
Cert 12A
91 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, discrimination theme, sex references, strong language

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3I am all for using movies as a vehicle to promote tolerance and diversity but I would ask whether there have been too many and at whom they are aimed.
I pose this question because, sadly, there is no chance that bullying alpha males will watch Freak Show and, therefore, it will probably be preaching to the converted.
If Trudie Styler is only intending it to be entertainment rather than a campaign then she succeeds on only one level - thanks to her lead, Alex Lawther.
Lawther's performance is worth watching because it demonstrates verve and versatility. Otherwise, Freak Show is overflowing with teen movie cliches.
Lawther plays Billy Bloom, a gay teenager who enjoys shocking with his attire and antics.
However, his actions are a veil over his sadness at his unhappy home life and also act as cover for social insecurities.
Bette Midler is the mother on whom he dotes but little deserves his adoration. Her character is separated from her rich traditionalist husband (Larry Pine) who struggles to touch first base with his flamboyant son.
At school, Billy fares little better, being the butt of the bullies and even the god-fearing leader of the cheerleaders (a rather out-of-place Abigail Breslin).
But he does find unlikely friends in a star footballer (Ian Nelson) and a well-meaning motormouth (AnnaSophia Robb).
So, the American school stereotypes line up to be eventually won over by the initially outcast gay student.
In other words, Freak Show goes over the same ground as Love, Simon but this time its main character uses a sledgehammer in order to be accepted.
In both cases, the outcomes are a little bit too obvious and unrealistic.
I think that gay students who would have watched both would hope that real life resolutions were so simple or even that the bullies would have seen them.
They are not and they will not.

Reasons to watch: Its laudable message and Alex Lawther's flamboyant performance
Reasons to avoid: Stereotypical characters and easy resolutions

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 5.5/10

Director quote - Trudie Styler: "Bullying is an ordinary evil. We allow things to be said, we condone things that are said, we’ve turned blind eyes to bad things that we’ve seen and it’s something that is remarkably familiar at the workplace and can be at home and certainly at schools."

The big question - Will school bullying ever end?

259. Kissing Candice; movie review

KISSING CANDICE
Cert 15
108 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong threat, drugs misuse

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It is possible to be torn by a movie - to bathe in moments which are really evocative or clever and be left scratching one's head in bafflement during other scenes.
Such was my experience of Aoife McArdle's Kissing Candice - a drama about a 17-year-old's first lust, difficult home life and battle with epilepsy.
Its first plus point is its lead - Ann Skelly who captures the transition between girl and woman with total conviction.
And then there is the backdrop - modern-day Northern Ireland where people are trying to acclimatise themselves to a peace which is punctuated by mistrust.
Skelly's title character has a dream about falling for an older boy (Ryan Lincoln) - little knowing that he is part of a gang of troublemakers who her father (John Lynch) believes is connected with the disappearance of her brother.
Her dad's torment and bumbling attempts to protect her act as a barrier between the two.
Meanwhile, she continues to try carve her own way - in collusion with her rebellious best friend (Caitriona Ennis).
The viciousness of the gang, the potential love affair and the devastation of a parent over his boy provide a strong story thread.
Kissing Candice has considerable potential but I couldn't help feeling that McArdle had tried too hard  to make it stand out.
She has sculpted entirely believable characters, a gritty, wince-inducing storyline against a landscape which is part harsh, part beautiful.
However, she darts off into surreal tangents which only serve to distract the viewer rather than add depth to their experience.
That said, it was compelling enough for me to want to see more of her work.

Reasons to watch: Compelling story well acted
Reasons to avoid: Too many surreal tangents

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Blink and you'd miss it
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Director quote - Aoife McArdle: "I had always wanted to write an Irish youth film that felt different — vivid, anarchic, and immersive… almost a dark fairy tale, where the place, its history and atmosphere, was as much of a character as its residents."

The big question - When will The Troubles truly be in the past?

258. Jurassic World; Fallen Kingdom; movie review

JURASSIC WORLD - FALLEN KINGDOM
Cert 12A
128 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate threat, occasional bloody moments, action violence

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Anyone who wonders why film studios are spending vast amounts of money on limp sequels should have been sitting with us in Vancouver's Cineplex on Saturday morning.
"Hold on," you say... "You went all the way to Canada and you spent your time watching Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom?".
In our defence, it is an education watching movies abroad, so Mrs W and I nipped in before adjourning to the International Jazz Festival.
I digress. The crowd were up for J.A. Bayona's movie... and I mean up for it.
The first appearance of a dinosaur was greeted with a loud cheer, a key moment prompted spontaneous applause and there was whooping and clapping at the end.
Now I have a warm feeling about Canadians thanks to a wonderful visit to Vancouver and I really shouldn't judge a nation on the reaction of a cinema audience to one movie but...
Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom is more than two hours of "seen it, done it." and didn't deserve a smile let alone a cheer.
If there was a single bit of originality in this sequel to a sequel then I must have been having a micro-sleep at the time.
This saddened me. I was a huge fan of the original Jurassic Park and was sceptical about Jurassic World but thrilled in how that turned out.
This lacks the charm of either.
Its premise is that the dinosaurs of Jurassic World face being wiped out by a volcano which is spewing lava across their island
It stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt as paleontologists who are brought in by one of the scientists (James Cromwell) behind Jurassic Park to help them secure the safe passage to the mainland of some of the dinosaurs.
The benefactor's aim is purely philanthropic but his assistant (Rafe Spall) sees an opportunity for big bucks and brings in an even greedier money man (Toby Jones) to come up with a plan to sell the great beasts off.
In other words, the plot of Jurassic Park has been mirrored and almost like-for-like replacement characters have been brought in.
Oh, with the exception of one who actually talks to one of the raptors.
Yes, Jurassic Park meets Doctor Dolittle in a way which might be intriguing if it were not just plain stupid.
Those who applauded will disagree, but I found this incarnation of what has now become a franchise to be dreary.
I groaned when a follow-up was left in the offing at its finale.

Reasons to watch: Just because it's got the magical word...jurassic
Reasons to avoid: It is an insult to the glorious original

Laughs: Two chuckles at the film and several more at the reaction of the audience
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 5.5/10

Director quote - J.A. Bayona: "The whole film plays more with the idea of suspense.  And I really like that.  I think somehow the first Jurassic was like that.  You had the big T. Rex scene in the middle and then it plays with the suspense of the kitchen scene in the with the Raptors.  And we tried to follow the same pattern."

The big question - Are we going to have to suffer more lame Jurassic follow-ups?

\

257. Studio 54; movie review

STUDIO 54
Cert 15
99 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong nudity, drug references

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It may have been in its pomp 40 years ago but I vividly remember how exotic New York's Studio 54 night club seemed from thousands of miles away in the UK.
I don't know why but I have a specific recollection of Pele, the world's greatest footballer, mixing with the likes of the Rolling Stones and Andy Warhol.
As Matt Trynauer's documentary suggests, Studio 54's success was down to luring celebrities. It became THE place to be.
His film shows footage of regulars such as Liza Minelli, Bianca Jagger and Calvin Klein at the club which was the brainchild of young entrepreneurs Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell.
Rubell died of complications from Aids in the late 1980s but this is the first time Schrager has talked about the rapid rise of Studio 54 and its even faster demise.
He tells a story of how he and Rubell got together at college and how they created a club where only the fashionable were allowed through the door.
There are also contributions from many other of Studio 54's staff including the doorman who says he was offered sex for entry.
The halcyon days are described in excited tones but Schrager and others are less forthcoming when facing questions about the tax scandal which saw the club close for good.
I reckon I have seen a disproportionate number of documentaries about New York City's influence on the culture of the 1970s and 80s.
And they all end up with similar tales of tragedy with death or deaths of the young and vibrant.
Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the set-up of Studio 54 and the plain brass neck of its youthful owners in raising huge sums of money and believing that they really could take on those already established in a cut-throat environment.
Eventually, such bravado was their undoing but not before they brought a cultural phenomenon to the fore.
Looking back on those times make engaging viewing.

Reasons to watch: The first close-hand account of the rise and fall of the world's greatest nightclub
Reasons to avoid: A tad one-sided

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Director quote - Matt Tyrnauer: "Studio 54 was not just a nightclub, it became an international phenomenon, a byword for its era. Its most celebrated distinguishing characteristics celebrities, sex, drugs, disco have, over the years, become smoke screens, obscuring the much more significant story of its origins, the reasons for its overwhelming success, and its ultimate collapse."

The big question - What happened to the fun of those great disco hits?

256. Boom For Real; movie review

BOOM FOR REAL
Cert 15
78 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, drug references

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I have to confess I had never heard of Jean-Michel Basquiat and yet I have just learned that last year a painting of his sold for $110.5 million - a record for any American artist.
Sadly, Basquiat was not around to appreciate this success - he died in 1988, aged just 27.
Sara Driver's documentary, Boom For Real examines the rise to prominence of an artist who flitted around the Bohemian scene in New York in the late 70s and early 80s.
Driver uses never-before-seen works, writings and photographs alongside contributions from other artists who emerged from that period, including Jim Jarmusch, James Nares, Fab Five Freddy, Glenn O’Brien, Kenny Scharf, Lee Quinones, Patricia Field and Luc Sante.

Boom For Real's soundtrack also helps to re-recreate the era as it draws a portrait of Basquiat and downtown New York City - a run-down frightening place in the 1970s where art grew out of adversity.

There is no doubt that Driver, who was also part of the New York art scene, evokes a time and place to which I have become familiar thanks to other documentaries about The Big Apple (New York must feature in more movies, factual or fictional).
But she does not explain to an outsider such as me why Basquiat is so important as an artist.
Ok, she reflects on his early beginnings as a graffiti artist at a time when those who could not afford conventional canvasses took to the streets.
And his friends tell of how they recognised his supreme talent above their own.
But let's be honest, to philistines like me his art looks pretty basic - indeed, to me, it seems to be made up of mere doodles.
What makes him one of the most important American artists of the 20th century? It beats me and I feel as if I am none the wiser after watching Boom For Real.
Nevertheless, I am pleased that I am now aware of Basquiat.

Reasons to watch: A thorough essay on the 1970s underground scene in New York
Reasons to avoid: It presumes knowledge

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Director quote - Sara Driver: "I want people to understand that Jean-Michel wasn't some mythological figure. He was just a kid. He was finding his way."

The big question - Why are our brains wired to perceive art differently?

255. In The Fade (Aus Dem Nichts); movie review

IN THE FADE (AUS DEM NICHTS)
Cert 18
106 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody images

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At last, a movie which steps out of the summer of mediocrity.
In The Fade was a Golden Globe winner and its star, Diane Kruger, won the best actress award at Cannes last year. It is easy to see why it has been bestowed such accolades.
Kruger is an actress of tremendous versatility - not least in the number of languages I have seen her speak on screen.
Here she returns to her native German in a movie which highlights the discrimination against immigrants and the rise of the far right in her home country.
Kruger plays Katja who marries a prison inmate (Numan Acar) - a drug dealer who reforms upon his release.
They have carved out a happy life which is torn apart when a bomb blast wrecks his business.
Thereafter, Fatih Akin's movie delves into what type of justice is delivered to a family with a chequered past.
Kruger excels in the lead role of a wife who is pushing against the system and also encounters doubts from her extended family.
She is supported by Denis Moschitto who convinces as her inexperienced but willing lawyer and  Johannes Krisch as the ruthless defence barrister.
In The Fade offers an insight into what it must be like to be left behind after a violent family tragedy. The emotions experienced by Katja often lead her to rash decisions.
It also delivers an interesting and rare view of the German judicial system, giving the impression that, in the name of fairness, it is overbalanced in the direction of defendants.
And it shows Germany in a surprising light. This is a country which has hit the headlines for holding a beacon for refugees in recent years and yet we have heard little about the re-emergence of the far right.
Akin's film addresses the issue quietly, giving its audience room for thought rather than hitting it with a sledgehammer.

Reasons to watch: Gripping thriller which reaches into the gutter
Reasons to avoid: Upsetting scenes

Laughs: None
Jumps: Yes
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8.5/10

Director quote - Fatih Akin: "I live in Germany and we’ve had issues with neo-Nazis in the last year. And because I am the son of a Turkish immigrant, I am a possible target for these groups just because I look how I look. That bothers me. And this fear and anger I had needed catharsis. So that made me sit down and write this."

The big question - How powerful will the German right become?

254. Concert For George; movie revew

CONCERT FOR GEORGE
Cert 12A
102 mins
BBFC advice: Moderate sex references

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What to watch on a trans-Atlantic flight when I have already seen all of British Airways' in-flight movies?
Well, the obvious answer is to try to catch up with films which I missed earlier this year on itunes and they include a charity concert to honour George Harrison which was first released in 2002.
This would have been one to say "I was there" and I am sure those in the audience at the Albert Hall are still dining out on it.
David Leland's film is coincidentally an intriguing accompaniment to the Eric Clapton documentary 12 Bars which I saw a few months ago.
Clapton was Harrison's best friend despite falling in love with his wife back in the 1960s.
Here he introduces the tribute concert which was the idea of the former Beatle's wife, Olivia, and son, Dhani following the star's death.
The opening 40 minutes or so are made up of spiritual Indian music, specially composed by Ravi Shankar and performed and directed by his daughter Anoushka.
After an intermission, there is a celebration of Harrison's music, played by a host of famous faces who were dear to him, including Clapton, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Joe Brown.
There are also a couple of tunes from the stars of Monty Python (minus John Cleese) whose films he bankrolled.
All contributions are top-notch but McCartney's brought the house down, particularly his version of Harrison's Something.
However, this is not a star vehicle and I was interested that the final song should have been led by Brown, whose daughter Sam who was also on the roster.
Brown was another of Harrison's very closest friends and key roles were reserved for him and Clapton.
"You're the man, Eric", said Dhani to Clapton at the concert's conclusion. It emphasised a love which lasted nearly 40 years and was a central bond to a special gig.

Reasons to watch: Some great music from brilliant artists
Reasons to avoid: Some may find the love-in a bit too much

Laughs: Two
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Bare bottoms!
Overall rating: 8/10

The big question - If John had lived longer, would The Beatles have got back together?