Archive for Modern Classics

Planet of the Apes (1968)

February 6, 2012 DVD, Just Reviewed, Just Seen, Modern Classics
planet-of-the-apes 68
Movie: Planet of the Apes
Director:  Franklin J. Schaffner
Stars:  Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter

“Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”

Who doesn’t remember this movie? Or the TV series for that matter? During a moment of Christmas spirit induced nostalgia, I hired this from our local Video Ezy , popped the pop corn and settled in for the evening. 

 

The first thing that really struck me was how quickly and easily I ‘fell’ into this movie.  Yes, the set is stark and has that Star Trek feel to it but somehow that gave it a realism I wasn’t expecting. Perhaps realism is not the right word exactly – and I freely admit nostalgia was a vital ingredient to this entire experience – but I bought into and that surprised me. I was expecting to spend the evening giggling at the sets and the effects that had not stood the test of time. Did everything look a little dated? Well, yes a little. But did it work? Absolutely.

Based on the 1963 French novel, La Planete des Singes by Pierre Boulle (which I have been lucky enough to read in French and highly recommend), the movie plot revolves around a group of astronauts who have crash landed on a planet where apes rule, and humans are the beasts.  Charlton Heston (1923-2008) leads the group as Commander Taylor in a role that begs the question as to whether or not in fact the man suffered from type casting – and if you don’t believe me, try watching Ben Hur and Planet of the Apes in the same weekend and see what you think….but I digress. Not just strong, brave (read – exceptionally macho) and intelligent, the loner, Taylor is also stubborn and single minded.

The film was a massive success on release bringing in a whopping $32,589,624 at the international box office. The prosthetic makeup was groundbreaking and was so complicated that once it had been applied in the morning, the actors were ‘stuck’ in character for the day, eating liquid foods through straws.

According to that repository of all vital trivia, Wikipedia, “in 2001, Planet of the Apes was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.”

While Heston was the big name draw card for the film, the true star was undoubtedly the late and very great  Roddy McDowall (1928-1998) who played the archaeologist chimpanzee, Cornelius. McDowall went on to star in four of the five movies (he wasn’t in the second movie) as well as  the TV series.

Watching the movies and the series as a kid, I never really pondered the reality – it was just a cool show to me. Watching it now as an adult, I actually really enjoyed the movie and found it not only very well done (especially for the era) but easily believable. It does, in my opinion, tick all the boxes: the casting is perfect, the storyline works, the effects and sets are in the worst examples non-intrusive and in the best brilliant, and the ending is ideal. No candyfloss happy ending, but the realisation that man, like it or not, is capable of great things both good and bad and must take responsibility for them all.

It’s worth a revisit. Trust me.

 

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Bag of Bones – Stephen King

January 8, 2012 E-Books, Fiction, Hodder Stoughton, Just Read, Just Reviewed, Modern Classics
Just Heard, Just Read, Just Seen, review of Bag of bones

Okay Bag of Bones is hardly the latest book on the shelf from Stephen King – but it is one of my favourites. And it is one of my favourite love stories, ever. I read it was when it was first released and this past week have re-read it as an E-Book.

Unlike most of King’s books, scariness takes a back seat to love in this book. Not romance – though there is some of that – and not sex  - though there is a little of that too. Love in the broader sense – love of a spouse, a child, a friend – that deep love that is not dependent on romance or sex and yet makes both of those things even better if you do manage to get the balance right.

Mike Noonan is a successful writer whose wife, Jo, has died of a stroke. When collecting her things at the morgue, Mike discovers she was pregnant with their first child. After battling four years of writer’s block following her death, Mike moves to their lake house for the summer, where he meets Mattie Devore and her daughter Kia. Mattie is the widowed daughter in law of a self made billionaire who started life as the  local bully. Still a bully, Devore has set his sights on taking his granddaughter away from her mother and Mike finds himself embroiled in the ensuing custody wrangle.  At the same time, he discovers he is not alone at the lake house. Jo’s ghost is also there – along with someone else’s ghost – and that someone else isn’t so impressed with Mike or  his relationship with Mattie.

There is a supernatural element to Bag of Bones – hey this is King gang – but it is not the main focus of the story. Human relationships and grief are the main theme of this compelling story of a man dealing with first loss and then the arrival of new love in his life.  I suspect (and have always longed to ask him  - yes that is one of my dream interviews..Mr King if you’re out there listening…..)there are a lot of the authors own thoughts and observations in Bag of Bones – more than normally found in a novel, I mean.  Writing fiction is always dotted with a novelists thoughts, beliefs and ideologies but there is a sense in Bag of Bones that perhaps there is a bit more of Stephen King in Mike Noonan than you would normally expect to find.

King is often criticised for being less than politically correct, in particular when his characters are speaking. Dropping the ‘N’ bomb on a regular basis may not be PC, it may be jarring and it may be uncomfortable – but in the mouths of racist, narrow minded characters who are displaying their ignorance and lack of humanity, it’s also honest and correct. You are supposed to be shocked, you are supposed to be disgusted – these characters are shocking and disgusting.

If you are looking for the clown from IT,or the maniacal caretaker from The Shining, this is not the book to pick up.  If you are looking to find some old friends  - mostly from Derry – and a touching story that suggests love can go beyond this realm, give Bag of Bones a whirl.

 

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