Wednesday 20 August 2008

Watch with Gyppo - III

This is getting trickier. I've exhausted my "must-see" films and am into a random selection from a penumbra of 50 or so flicks that I just like a lot.

Well, shall I be obscure of blindingly obvious? Or a mixture of the two? Decisions, decisions...

Alright:

Ninth Night: Zulu
"Zulus sir. Fahsends of them..."
I have issues with this film for its historical inaccuracies, but the fact remains it's magnificently and uncompromisingly British. And I do like war films as a rule so I had to put one in.

Tenth Night: Yellow Submarine
Looking back over my choices, there does seem to be a worrying tendency towards illegal substances as theme and inspiration. This film made such a strong impression on me when I first saw it on TV at about age 10. I have recently had the pleasure of sharing it with my daughter, who also loves it...

Eleventh Night: Farewell my Concubine
I challenge anyone not to be ravished by this Chen Kaige offering from 1993. Another one that's too well-known and acclaimed to be cult viewing, but necessary viewing for anyone who thinks that cinema is an exclusively American art-form.

Twelfth Night: Twelfth Night
Sorry, but somebody was going to do that gag at some point anyway...
Again, I felt duty bound to put in something modern, British, and involving Helena Bonham-Carter and Richard E. Grant. So here you are. We love this as family viewing.

6 comments:

No Good Boyo said...

I was tempted by Twelfth Night for that very reason. I and two other Welsh once wrote a script for a Welsh James Bond film during an all-day "sesh" in a Reading bar. The notes deteriorated rapidly, but I do recall a full page scrawl of:

"Helena Bonham-Carter

LESBIUN!!!!"

It never got made.

Gyppo Byard said...

"The Man with the Golden Wellies"? "Casino Splot"? "You only live in Newport"? "Octosheep"?

No Good Boyo said...

All good!

It was called "Never Say Dai". There was a sequel too - "Dai Hard".

Gyppo Byard said...

To be followed by "Live and let Dai", and then "Dai Another Day". And then there's "Never say Llanfairpwllgyngogeryetcetc Again".

No Good Boyo said...

The Welsh equivalent of "M" was "Ll". And Dai Bondo drove a Hillman Imp. His drink was vodka martini "top".

Gadjo Dilo said...

Gyppo's on fire here; I must get my skates on and make my lists. I've never seen any of these films, no, not even Zulu. I'd like to stroke Helena Bonham-Carter's downy cheeks and I know the songs on Yellow Submarine, but that doesn't count. I'm an utter peasant, sorry.