Film Archive (78)

© Words Matteo Sedazzari
The Perfect Friday (1971 Directed by Peter Hall, co-produced by Stanley Baker)

Friday is a nice day, the week draws to a close, and many of us plan a pursuit of happiness and excitement, away from the mundane routine of work. And that is certainly the case for Mr Graham (Stanley Baker), a deputy bank manager, in a pin striped suit and bowler hat, with a sergeant major type moustache working at a plush branch in London’s Hyde Park, single and on the surface dull and happy to oblige his employers and clients.  

© Words Matteo Sedazzari
Baker may have left Wales, but was proud of the country of his birth “I’m a Welshman and proud of it. But I’m no nationalist. I think the Welsh nationalists are foolish and misguided people.”   stated Baker in 1969, a comment that could have alienated him.  However in 1970, in his home town  Ferndale, Rhondda, Baker attended the unveiling of a plaque placed on the house in which he was born Albany Street.  It seemed that Ferndale offered solace to Baker, and kept him grounded, as he would return to visit old haunts and catch up with old friends, “Acting can be an artificial business, that’s why I go home when I can to the Rhonda Valley, I do it to be with my own people. They love in a real way, It’s a great leveller. 

© Words Matteo Sedazzari

It may be a romantic notion to say that Stanley Baker was a working class hero, however it is a label that certainly rings true of one of Britain’s finest actors, who died young at the age of 48, leaving behind a legacy in film, TV and the theatre.  Born to a mining family on 28th February 1928 in the Rhonda Valley where the main career choice was mining, and the only escape would either be boxing or football.  Rock & roll hadn’t hit the youth of Britain yet,

© Words William Goodchild

You'd be forgiven for expecting Drive 2: Bangkok Boogaloo. However, this is a very different beast from Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling's previous collaboration.

Julian (Ryan Gosling) is a drug smuggler in Bangkok operating behind the veneer of a Thai boxing gym. As a result of his vile behaviour, scumbag brother Billy (Tom Burke) meets a grisly end. Julian accepts the consequences of his actions but their mother Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) seeks vengeance on corrupt cop Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm).

© Words –Richard Williamson/ ZANI Media

Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer's Lone Ranger is a lot better movie than the media line and box office receipts so far might suggest.  The filmmakers succeed here, and bring home the silver if not the gold, by proving their  respects to  the entire Western film tradition through strong story-telling, solid performance, glorious visuals and technical excellence.  It's a different kind of classic with a lot for eyes willing see what it offers and heads ready to have fun.