Front Row Dress Circle

Just lately I picked up some DVD’s of movies I saw years back and had on video:

Blues Brothers - always a great way to wile away a couple of hours. Great music really makes this film

Ghostbusters - my youngest kids had never seen this so I bought it yesterday. Lot’s of fun!

Sense and Sensibility - okay, not so much an oldie but a real good chick flick if ever there was one. Best thing in the movie is Alan Rickman of course…

I also bought Little Miss Sunshine. I was quite disappointed in this film I have to admit, I was expecting some really great moments but they never came!

But my pick of the week?

The Castle - a wonderful little film made in Australia back in 1997. About an ordinary Aussie family who are close and loving, funny and ever optimistic. Their home, right beside the airport, is their castle and when they face losing it to big businessmen they put up the fight of their lives to save it. Great humour that is genuinely Australian and if you don’t have a warm glow as the closing credits roll then there is something seriously wrong with you.

Popularity: 37% [?]

I just love this film. Stepping Out with Liza Minnelli, the fantastic Bill Irwin, Julie Walters and a wonderful cast make this one of my most watched DVD’s. I first saw this film on video (remember those?) back when it was first released and I have to say that I have watched it several times over the past couple of weeks. My young kids love it too and often ask if they can watch the tapping movie.

I am one of those people who, when they hit on a really good film, can watch it over and over and this is what I do with Stepping Out. I cannot put my finger on it exactly why, but from the start to the finish it gives me a real lift - I always feel better after seeing it and how many films can you say that about?

What do I like about Stepping Out? well Liza for one thing - she’s always brilliant - but the ensemble of actors is just perfect, a good mix of characters and emotional stories. My favourite character though?…it just has to be the lovely and  sweet Geoffrey played by the amazing and unrivalled talent of Bill Irwin.  What a versatile performer this man is and how I would love to see him on the stage in a theatre. 

Bill is a unique actor in that he can convey the most exquisite emotions, thoughts and feelings without saying a single word; in the same way that the late Marcel Marceau was able to do.  What a talent - I hope we continue to see more of him in the future - I see he has a film due for release this year, Dancing with Shiva, so I will be waiting for that with great enthusiasm.

Liza, by the way, is currently in London preparing for a tour of the UK - good luck Liza, what a trouper!

Popularity: 37% [?]

I’m watching The Jungle Book lately! I know, it has been out on release for forty years now but until this past week I had never seen before. The kids had, but not Mum. And I’m loving it!

The Jungle Book is standard viewing for kids in the Scouting movement in Australia; at pack sleepovers the leaders (all named after a character in the film) always play the movie to the kids before lights-out so my older two know the film well, as well as all the songs. But my two littlies had never seen it and as this year is the film’s 40th anniversary I thought it was the right time to grab a copy and have them discover it for themselves. Great fun!

Here’s some trivia…

* Kaa’s song “Trust in me” was originally written for Mary Poppins (1964) as “Land of sand” but was not used.

* The laughing heard from King Louie when he is tickled by Baloo was originally used in Song of the South (1946) as Brer Rabbit’s laughing heard during the ‘Laughing Place’ sequence.

Popularity: 23% [?]