Dir. Mike Nichols

Starring: Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Hank Azaria, Gene Hackman, Calista Flockhart, Dan Futterman.

Ok, so The Birdcage, I’ve been tipped off by a few people that this was a hilarious classic and unless you have a hatred for either Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Hank Azaria or all of the above then it definitely is.

So the story goes, Val and Barbara (Dan Futterman & Calista Flockhart) are getting engaged and want their families to meet, Barbara’s father being ultraconservative, ultramoral Republican Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene ‘He’s better than Pacman’ Hackman) and at the other end of the spectrum is Val’s father Armand, the owner of The Birdcage, a drag club in Miami, the formula for hilarity is clear. So, obviously Barbara’s Dad isn’t going to be wanting to meet a gay nightclub owner so she and Val inform Kevin that Armand is infact an Attaché for Greece and that his last name isn’t Goldman, but Coleman to hide Armand’s Jewish roots.

Before the 2 families can meet, Kevin hears of his colleague and co-founder of the ‘Coalition For Moral Order’ Senator Jackson having been found dead in the bed of a black prostitute, the obvious media circus appears at the gates of Fort Keeley to question him on the actions of his colleague. Using Barbara’s marriage as a wonderful excuse to escape the media furore, Kevin’s wife Louise (Dianne Wiest) suggests that they go to meet Val’s family as it should hopefully result in nothing but positive PR for Kevin’s party.

On the other side is Val, he has to try to convince Armand to go along with what Barbara has told Kevin, for Armand, this is not so hard in the obvious of ways as Armand isn’t the most flamboyant of homosexuals, whereas his partner Albert (Nathan Lane) is the headlining act at The Birdcage and frequently has to take on the persona of a lady through drag. However, Hank Azaria’s character, Agador outshines the whole of the cast put together camp-wise, because of this, they make Agador the chef for the evening, whilst Albert has to act as Val’s mother throughout the meeting. As you can probably tell, this all boils up to being a recipe for disaster whilst everything that could ever go wrong does.

If you’ve got a couple of hours to burn I definitely recommend giving this title a go, Robin Williams actually shines as being the least camp of a trio of homosexuals whilst Azaria is camp-slapstick in the best way possible and as always Nathan Lanes turns on the charm. Next on the list… Son Of Rambow… *sigh*

8/10

Chris.

Those adverts on the telly seemed to have worked, I’ve gone and got myself a LoveFilm subscription, so to give me another reason to blog, I’ll be reviewing the films and TV shows I rent (mainly consisting of material I’ve never seen, some of these are pretty shameful, especially for someone with a film degree), first one to arrive… Ponyo.

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Starring (English Version): Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, Noah Cyrus, Frankie Jonas.

Ok, so if you know Miyazaki’s work then you’d know he’s a MASTER of all trades in animation. His touch for creating masterpieces in numerous genres is equally stupendous; He has sublime examples in drama, action, and in Ponyo‘s case, family. My Neighbour Totoro is, or rather, was the benchmark for Miyazaki’s family films, after viewing Ponyo there’s a new leader for the category…

It was a cardinal sin as far as watching Studio Ghibli films is concerned but I watched the film in it’s English version, that’s just something I had to get off my chest right off the bat. I promise to get round to watching it in Japanese.The story follows Sōsuke (Frankie Jonas), a young boy living in a house on the cliff of a small fishing town with his mother. On the other side of the spectrum is Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), a ‘gold fish’ who lives in her father, Fujimoto’s (Liam Neeson), underwater castle along with a bunch of her much smaller siblings. (Are you still with me?) On a trip in Fujimoto’s 4-finned submarine, Ponyo discovers a much more vibrant life outside of the castle in the ocean and sets off to  discover the happenings of the surrounding waters and even dry land. As Ponyo floats away on a jellyfish she finds herself stranded on the shore of Sōsuke’s village. Sōsuke finds the little gold fish stranded so attempts to help her, cutting his finger in the process. Whilst the seemingly unconscious Ponyo rests in Sōsuke’s hands she licks his wound which appears to heal almost instantly, the blood being the catalyst for Ponyo transforming into a little girl.

As Sōsuke takes Ponyo into care, Fujimoto sets off to reclaim his daughter, in doing so, Ponyo lets her father know that she does not want to be called by her birth name Brunhilde anymore, but by Ponyo, and to further Fujimoto’s pain, she no longer desires to be an inhabitant of the ocean any more, she states that she will become a human and live on land with Sōsuke. After the brief confrontation, Ponyo starts to develop arms and legs, the blood she has taken from Sōsuke starts to come into effect. With some effort, Fujimoto manages to halt Ponyo’s development and sets off to talk to Ponyo’s mother about the predicament. Whilst away, Ponyo’s smaller siblings come together to release Ponyo from the bubble she has been imprisoned in, Ponyo manages to come across a plethora of powerful potions in a well in a vault of which Fujimoto’s been working on to restore the balance of the ecosystem of the ocean. Ponyo sets off a reaction in the well which leads to her escape from the castle and for the ocean to turn seemingly nasty, when in fact it gives Ponyo a platform to return to Sōsuke.

As Fujimoto reaches Ponyo’s mother, she explains that they should allow Ponyo to fulfil her wish to become a human and a test is set, if she passes she will become a fully fledged human, and if she fails, she’ll become sea-foam. The rest of the film follows Ponyo’s struggle to become human, so I won’t be ruining the ending for you. If I was to compare Ponyo to anything, and a lot of people definitely have, then it’s The Little Mermaid, it certainly takes obvious cues from the Disney feature but Miyazaki carries it out in his own original way. It really is an amazing film, so I whole-heartedly suggest that you take some time out of your life to watch this one, I’d say that about a lot of Miyazaki’s features anyway. Next on the list, The Birdcage.

9/10

Chris.

It’s coming.

Chris.