New name...

Welcome back to Avalard's Cultural Crisis...

Just to let you know, you can now find the blog at www.culturalcrisis.com. I figured that should make it easier than trying to recall the rather longer blogspot address, and will allow us to shift the site relatively painlessly in future should we decide to do that.

We still have our RSS feed and you can add us to your blog reader as before... if there's any problems please do let me know.

We've had a lull for a few months, but expect lots more between now and Christmas.

Barry Letts

One-time actor, writer, director and producer Barry Letts passed away at the weekend at the age of 84, and with him a huge chunk of British television history.

Alongside prolific writer Terrence Dicks, Barry Letts was responsible for reshaping cult British science fiction series Doctor Who at the end of the 1960s. Rather than simply regenerate Patrick Troughton into Jon Pertwee, Letts regenerated the entire show ushering in an era of excess, gadgets, eccentric fashions, and the earth bound battles between aliens and the forces of UNIT. Letts' version of Doctor Who became the blueprint future versions of the show would work from right through to Russell T Davies' revamp in 2004 and spin-off show Torchwood. Letts was also responsible for the creation of Sarah Jane Smith - a character that continues to entertain a new generation of kids thanks to the creation of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Whilst Letts had a prolific career in television including a long stint helming classic serials for the BBC, it is his Doctor Who work that will be most remembered. In the 1990s he wrote two radio serials The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space which saw the return of Jon Pertwee to the iconic role, and he was a regular guest at Who conventions and contributor to dvd documentaries and commentaries.

My own dealings with Letts were very very limited, but he left an indelible impression on me. Back in the mid 1990s I founded a little Doctor Who Society at school, back when it wasn't cool to love Doctor Who I might add. We decided we wanted to make a film based on Doctor Who for the society. I duly set about writing a sequel of sorts to one of my favourite Who stories, The Daemons. I wrote to Letts via the BBC for a blessing to continue with the project. A couple of months passed before I received a perfectly worded reply. He was courteous and considerate and understood just how important it was to encourage a budding teenage filmmaker, but at the same time stress the realities of the business. He personally had no issue with us making a sequel to The Daemons for our own use within the society, but a commercial venture would be a different matter... I wasn't yet aware of copyright law, of the importance of protecting intellectual property, but I was thrilled to have his blessing. I can't remember if I ever wrote a thank you letter, but damn I should have.

The lengthy script was developed (down to featuring a mysterious Doctor-like character), cast and we rehearsed and read for weeks and months. We never made it though - all became rather big and beyond our abilities then, and we made something else with the same set up instead. The story was rather too much like his Who original, and I dread to think what he'd have made of it. But thanks to Barry Letts I wrote my first (unproduced) script. The first of many. Eventually I made my first film too... We never met, but his work kept me entertained for years and connected with me in a way nothing had before.

Like many in the world of Who fandom I mourn the loss of a talent we felt we knew thanks to his ceaseless promotion of the show and reissues of his work. But I'm glad we had that experience and enrichment.

Now all that's left is to look forward to the publication of his autobiograph Who and Me by Fantom Films next month, a poignant final chapter in Lett's association with the show (and oddly mirroring his friend Jon Pertwee, whose memoir I Am The Doctor came out shortly after his death in 1996).

Barry Letts - 26 March 1925 - 9 October 2009.

Who And Me by Barry Letts
Foreword by Terrence Dicks, Afterword by Katy Manning.
published by Fantom Films, 9 November 2009.
£12.99.

Buy Who and Me here.

Buy Who and Me audiobook here.

Film: Triangle (2009)

Well, that's my brain fried folks. I can have little doubt that most reviewers will sum Triangle up as the horror version of Groundhog Day, only it rather lacks the satisfactory resolution, and three hours later I'm still working the plotting around and around in my head.

Triangle tells the story of a group of thirty somethings who take a trip sailing in the Atlantic ocean aboard the yacht 'Triangle' only to encounter a deadly storm and find themselves marooned aboard a mysterious liner, seemingly drifting abandoned...

Despite the seemingly American setting this is very much an Australian film, and just occasionally it comes through in the actors accents. Christopher Smith is fast proving himself to be a competent director of contemporary low-budget(ish) horror following on from Creep and Severance. As writer-director he knows how he wants the picture and allows real menace and tension to build and successfully twists the narrative back on itself time and time again until the viewer is left knotted. A simultaneously frustrating and brilliant move.

The whole piece hangs on the performance of Melissa George as Jess. She delivers a tense, taught and multi-textured study, supported ably by the rest of the cast. Viewers expecting a nautical shocker set in the Bermuda Triangle might be disappointed, though the allusion is clear...

FAIR WARNING

You might want to look away now before I go into any detail about the substance of the film (spoiler light, but may include discussion viewed as spoiler)... needless to say at this point I recommend Triangle.

Triangle looks stunning, and its such a joy to see a horror film which is largely set in the daylight for a change. Smith gives us a fair share of skulking in shadows, lovingly lit in greens and reds, but he also gives us an abundance of Australasian sun. There's some lovely visual gimmicks as well, and these are largely gentle old-fashioned edits rather than bombarding the screen with computer wizardry (though there's a bit of that too).

The script is very good, but perhaps too clever. If anything I can see audiences baffled and confused and tempted to walk out (as my viewing partner was this evening). There's a crucial point which involves a jarring jump. Except it isn't. Except it is. At any rate it jars. I found myself out of the film temporarily and wondering if I'd fallen asleep for half an hour and just woken up. Of course, that's exactly how the characters feel too... From there Triangle is temporarily marred by a semblance to a slasher film before coming back to something more intelligent and sophisticated.

There's something of Roeg's Don't Look Now about this film too, and a rather clumsy line of dialogue rather gives the game away early on (Smith, you should have left the reference in and the line out... would have been a nice little nod for the clever clogs in the audience), but that doesn't stop the film being gripping and inventive and equally frustrating.

Ultimately its a rather bleak and hopeless conclusion that presents as many questions as it asks. But it is one of the better horror films on offer this Halloween, so track it down if you can and join the debate...

Triangle
Directed by Christopher Smith
99 mins, 18 cert.
Released: 16th October 2009 (UK)

Official Website

Competition: Thirst poster giveaway

A priest becomes a vampire... another man's wife is coveted... a deadly seduction triggers murder...

Courtesy of the lovely folks at Metrodome we've got some exclusive limited edition posters for new horror film THIRST.

Thirst was joint winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes this year and is an intriguing vampire melodrama from Park Chan-wook, director of Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Excitement is already building for the release of this prime cut of Korean cinema, which also marks the first time a Korean picture has had investment from the US.

Thirst is released on 16th October in the UK, with an 18 certificate.

Running time: 133 mins.

To win a copy of the poster, send an email marked "THIRST giveaway" in the subject line to thirstcomp@avalard.com including your name, age, and postal address. Entries should be received by midnight on 25th October 2009. After which we'll draw the winners names from a hat.

Multiple entries will be deleted, and don't worry, we'll not share your details with anyone else.

Entrants must be based in the UK for this competition please.

DVD / Blu-Ray: Penny Points to Paradise (1951)

The BFI has dusted off its shelves for a new slate of dvd releases as part of the Adelphi Film Collection - promising a batch of curios from the catalogues of the long-forgotten British film company. Together with the current Flipside label, the BFI are firmly reawakening interest and spreading awareness in British cinema of the 50s and 60s. For me its a thrill to be able to see beautiful restorations and rare films I wondered if I'd ever catch - films I'm familiar with by name (or by advertising) from my own research on cinema of the period.

Penny Points To Paradise is a particular treat, effectively a Goon Show film without the presence of Michael Bentine (Bentine would be on hand for 1952's Down Among The Z Men). Any screen appearance with Milligan, Sellers and Secombe is essential watching for Goon fans, and whilst probably quite dated to audiences today, are essential viewing for anyone looking into the history of British comedy. The Goons are the forerunners of Vic and Bob, League of Gentlemen, Monty Python... comedy today would be very different.

Penny Points doesn't quite bring the zaniness of the Goons over to film (not even The Telegoons really managed that) but there's something of the stock in trade of Goon plots as Harry plays the halfwit lead, enriched by a win on the pools accompanied by Spike in a B&B in Brighton. There they are faced with criminals set on stealing the money from them as well as various other well-doers (Sellers amongst them).

The film has been largely forgotten, and only available in an edited version until the BFI's restoration this year. The glimpses of a bygone Britain sit well with the releases of Primitive London and London In The Raw (also by BFI this summer). Sellers rather steals the show with his proto-Bloodnock.

In fact the entire release is a celebration of Sellers as the BFI have also issued two additional features as special features on the disc.

Alongside the 68 minute Penny Points, is the short 31 minute Let's Go Crazy. A truly bizarre little filler with Milligan in some straight supporting parts, and Sellers in a variety of guises (including Groucho Marx) in Goon-like sketches, broken up with musical numbers from the likes of Freddie Mirfield and his Garbage Men (a truly wonderful comedy-musical troupe). There's little plot, other than the whole thing takes place at dinner in a club. Sellers works his ass off here in a variety of personas, and something of his talent is evident. There's a strange dance routine too between a peculiar middle-aged couple which sticks in the memory long after viewing is through.

The restoration work on Let's Go Crazy is first class. Both this and Penny Points have been sourced from a variety of 16mm and 35mm sources. This leaves for inconsistency in picture, but when it provides an intact film who can complain?!

The surprise delight though is the inclusion of The Slappiest Days of Our Lives, a 73 minute compilation of classic Hollywood comedy put together in 1953. It seems to be a French compilation that Adelphi re-dubbed for the English market, bringing together disparate films from Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. Sellers voices most of the actors, with narration in the guise of Stan Laurel (which he has spot-on). Graham Stark may be one of the other voice artists according to the BFI Film & TV Database.

The 50s saw a wave of these re-issues and new compilations, allowing the silent stars a rediscovery in the cinemas as opposed to on the new tiny television screens. Few have made their way to dvd so the BFI should be congratulated on including this.

Rounding off the package on both DVD and Blu-Ray is a comprehensive and informative booklet detailing the history of the films, restoration and of Adelphi itself.

A mixed bag entertainment wise, but a crucial purchase all the same.

Buy Penny Points to Paradise on DVD here

Buy Penny Points to Paradise on Blu-ray here

Penny Points to Paradise

BFI Release - 3 August 2009

DVD RRP £17.99 / cat. no. BFIVD843 / 172 mins / DVD-9

Blu-ray RRP £22.99 / cat. no. BFIB1028 / 182 mins / BD50 / region free

UK / 1951 / PG / black and white / English, optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.33:1

Keith Floyd

I wasn't actually aware that the documentary Keith Meets Keith was on Channel 4 on Monday night, but I'd been reading a bit about Keith Floyd again lately and enjoying the serialisation of his forthcoming autobiography Stirred But Not Shaken in the Mail online (I wouldn't pay money for that rag!). I knew Floyd was ill and waiting news on his cancer, and I knew the years had caught up on him.

And so on Tuesday I learned that the great television cook had died at the age of 65, whilst waiting at his partner's home to watch the Keith Meets Keith programme.

Television and British popular culture has lost an icon and a gem this week. Floyd was unmatchable, a real one-off. Keith Allen's documentary feels like an obituary, and its a mixed bag. Floyd is much frailer than I'd like to remember, but he's pin-sharp, hiding behind the onscreen persona and the alcohol. The clips from his classic shows only hint at the greatness that any Floyd show has.

Allen put Floyd's style as brilliantly deconstructing the television medium - a very apt description.

To me Keith Floyd was the most engaging, most passionate and most entertaining cook on television. His personality sat alongside the food rather than override it. I doubt very much that his show was scripted, and the fact that he incorporated the screw-ups, the insults, the carnage, only made him better. We could trust his honesty. Sometimes things go wrong in the kitchen and Floyd embraced that. He longed for old-fashioned Heinz canned soups and beans whilst travelling around the world - the honest desire of a real human being. Simple foods (as Allen admirably demonstrated this week) brought him as much pleasure as a gourmand feast.

He didn't seem to care for sensibilities, but rather indulged in local customs wherever in the world he was. He combined the travelogue with culinary documentary, and he wasn't afraid to shove the camera towards the food cooking rather than his face. He was a celebrity, but a humble one.

Floyd always gets me fired up, wanting to cook, and diving back into the kitchen, and to embrace the occasional error. Few tv cooks have managed this since - only Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Rick Stein seem to have that same passion, and a willingness to embrace everything, and to ensure that the food remains the real star.

The obituaries this week have spent too long on the more salubrious aspects of Floyd, of the stuff that sells tabloids. Forget it all. Floyd could cook, and he encouraged a generation to get back into the kitchen. Our televisions were brightened, and our bellies filled.

- Keith Floyd, 28 December 1943 - 14 September 2009 -

Buy Shaken But Not Stirred: The Autobiography by Keith Floyd

Buy The Keith Floyd Cookery Collection DVD boxset

film: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Confession time. As a kid I loved Transformers. Watched the cartoon religiously and loved the toys, though as far as recall I only ever had an Optimus Prime (which disintegrated over many years). I didn't see the first of the Michael Bay films, so this was new territory for me. Had no expectations.

And yet the film itself sort of defies any sustained analysis. So please excuse the review....

Explosions. Guns. Huge robots disguised as cars. Godzilla-like parody.
Shia LaBeouf - off to college (yawn). Megan Fox's arse and a motorbike. More explosions. Super-cute ikle robot. Megan Fox hot hot hot. College. More robots. Egypt. Explosions. Inept US government officials. Robots.

Erm... I think that about sums it up. All strangely good fun. I was told before that Megan Fox is regarded as the new Angelina Jolie, but this isn't fair. Megan Fox is the new Megan Fox. Eye candy par excellence, but with an ability to act.

Enjoy.