FILM

Rip It Up, Issue 53, 1 December 1981, Page 18

FILM

Peter Thomson

Rutherford (guitar), John Dodd (bass), Kevin Thomas (drums) and Liam Ryan (keyboards), Marsden controls the dynamics. A slow harp intro, a little shimmy then wham the band's in. Whether it's re-vitalising old standards like 'Little Red Rooster' or dishing up his own brew of R&B with a shot of reggae, Marsden knows his strengths and the audiences demands. The night raged, the band connected and out front was a gent who should be around for a long time yet. George Kay Georgie Fame Ace of Clubs, Nov 24. The fact that Fame had made his first trip to NZ with only a bass player and was, as he put it, 'rehearsing onstage' with locals Bruce King and Bob Jackson, didn't daunt me at all. I came not to criticize but to celebrate a man who'd played a vital part in developing my whole musical outlook. His first 50 minute set contained many of the big 60s hits 'Yeh Yeh', 'Sunny', 'Get Away' etc in a generally crowd-pleasing cabaret format with a little for everyone, from ribaldry to Hoagy Carmichael. After a few numbers on guitar and electric grand piano he returned to his main instrument, the Hammond organ to close with a pounding 'Green Onions'. However his true greatness lies in that magnificent smokey voice which has continued to mature over the years. As an interpretive vehicle it is simply superb and when matched with his marvellous rhythmic sense, songs tend to take on a definitive form. To my, admittedly biased ears the whole of Fame's second hour-long set was definitive, whether he was singing James Moody, Willie Nelson or Fats Domino. I'd go see him again tomorrow.

Bloody Mama . Director: Roger Corman , Like most of Corman's later films (The Wild Angels, The Trip), Bloody Mama was banned by the censor in 1970 and has only now made it onto our screens in its original prints, alas, which means everything is pink, brown and muted green as. Ma Barker rampages through America with’her killer brood. Although the film is careful to ! include lashings of drugs (marijuana and heroin), sex (most categories except lesbianism and bestiality) and violence, it is a skilfully made piece of cinema. Held together by Shelley Winters' magnificently theatrical performance' as Ma Barker, with a brood of misfit sons that includes Robert De Niro and Don Stroud,. Bloody Mania is as powerful as ever, outlining as it does the ultimate in American Momism. Gloria Director: John Cassavetes The tragedy of Gloria is that it is probably just too American for our chauvinistic Kiwi audiences. In another paean to his wife Gena Rowlands, director Cassavetes places her within a genre film as a hard-boiled cynical heroine suddenly taking on all the guns of the Mafia to rescue a neighbour's kid who has been literally dropped on her doorstep before his family were assassinated. Rowlands' performance is magnificent one of the great performances of this year - and the film manages to be . moving, exciting and tremendously funny. Few recently could meet all these criteria. Popeye Director: Robert Altman .... The latest Altman epic which, like Gloria, has taken a year to cross the Pacific. All the Altman trappings are there, including his propensity for relentless dialogue overlapping that makes multiple viewings almost a necessity to get the most from the film. One could be facetious and describe it as a comic-book McCabe and Mrs Miller, but Popeye uses the romance of America's spinacheating hero and his Olive Oyl (marvellously played by Shelley Duval) to highlight some of the innocence and simplicity that have vanished from contemporary American : (and Western) society. If nothing else, the score is a treat with Harry Nilsson right on form and some stunning Van Dyke Parks arrangements. William Dart

Raiders of the Lost Ark now rates as the biggest grossing movie in - Paramount Pictures' history. The hit of the American summer releases, Raiders walked off with 12 percent of all ticket sales over that period ... special feature of this year's New York Film- Festival was 'Films For Cynics'; a collection of movies that the festival directors hoped would represent "an anti-estab-lishment point of view." Films included were Milos Foreman's Taking Off. Michael Ritchie’s Smile and Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator ... taking the prize for best film at the Venice Film Festival was Margarethe Von Trotta's" The German Sisters. Reportedly, husband Volker, Schloendoeff withdrew his entry Coup De Grace ,[o' avoid any potential marital competition ... Alan Parker (Mid : night Express. Fame) will direct Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats in the movie of Pink Floyd's The Wall. Parker's last work Shoot The Moon with Diane Keaton is released overseas ... follow up to The Sting is in production and is imaginatively titled The Next Sting: The leads this time out are Jackie Gleason; and Mac Davis but the script is once again by David Ward ... John Carpenter is at work on a remake of 50s sci-fi' film The Thing while Martin Scorsese continues on The King Of Comedy with Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis ... Ingmar Bergman has announced that he will throw in his career as a director after his next, two features ... Lindsay Anderson has just published About John Ford, a critical history and assessment ol the work of the late director. Anderson is now directing Britannia Hospital with Leonard Rossiter, Malcolm McDowell and Dandy Nicholls ... new' film by Italian director Marco Ferreri Tales Of Ordinary Madness is based on stories by . American poet Charles Bukowski ... a movie based on the life of Bobby Darin goes into production next year ... filming has already started on The Black Stallion Returns. Mickey Rooney will again take part ... Akiro Kurosawa is to film an adaptation of King Lear ... Star Trek 11. with all the old familiar faces, is now shooting.