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100th Episode Extravaganza
 Just a quick reminder that Cinecast #100 -- our last show with the
name Cinecast (sigh) -- will be available this Friday.
Dylan Kidd, writer/director of "Roger Dodger," and "Brokeback
Mountain" co-producer Scott Ferguson are our special guests.
Plus, we'll have two exclusive acoustic tracks from the band
Aberdeen City that will be available for download at
cinecastshow.com. We'll also reveal the
Top 5 Most Memorable Cinecast Moments, based primarily on your
feedback.
* * *
Listener Brad Barber from South Pasadena, CA recently wrote in to
suggest this idea for the 100th episode: "I'd love to hear how you
two met initially, how you decided to do the show, how it all
started... sort of a 'behind the podcast' if you will." Joshua
from NYC also wrote in with a similar request, and it's a neat
idea... but one we won't get to for the 100th show. However, if this
is something that interests you, maybe we can spend some time on it
in The Dope Sheet each week. Feel free to email any specific
questions to
dopesheet@cinecastshow.com
* * *
Sam and I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for the
overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received so far in response
to our new name -- Filmspotting. As you can see above, one
creative listener (Josh Hurt) is already having some fun with it.
Starting the week of May 22, our new website will be filmspotting.net
and our email address for feedback will be
feedback@filmspotting.net.
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Adam's Overlooked DVD Pick: All Or Nothing
What does this Mike Leigh film have to do with anything discussed on Cinecast? Well, it should make sense when you hear Cinecast #100 and our Top 5 Performances countdown. Here is what I wrote about the film after seeing it at the Chicago Film Festival back in October 2002.
With
'All Or Nothing',
writer/director Mike Leigh ('Naked', 'Secrets & Lies') has given us
another celebration of the working class. But don't take my use of
the word "celebration" too literally; this movie is so bleak it makes
Ingmar Bergman look like he was popping Prozac.
As with much of Leigh's previous work, and in accordance with his
usual method of filmmaking -- he rehearses extensively before filming
with only the characters and some scenes in place, then develops the
final script through improvisational collaboration with his actors --
'All or Nothing' is an ensemble piece that feels almost more like a
cinema verite documentary than a fictional narrative.
The "plot" -- or lack thereof -- centers around a group of
desperate, depressed individuals living in a London housing estate
(read "project"). The primary characters are Penny and Phil Bassett
(Lesley Manville and Timothy Spall) and their two kids, Rory and
Rachel.
Each member of the family is the antithesis of his/her
counterpart. Penny incessantly nags and unknowingly belittles her
more quiet, introspective husband Phil. Rachel is also quiet, likes
to read, and works at a home for elderly folks, while her loud, obese
brother Rory is in his 20s but has the mentality of a 12-year-old. He
doesn't have a job and spends his days lying on the couch eating,
watching TV, and just generally being one of the most obnoxious
people you can imagine.
While Rory and various other characters who mingle in and out of
the story at first provoke laughs with their pitiful behavior, a
subtle transformation takes place as the movie progresses. Leigh
manages to evoke genuine empathy for these characters by allowing us
to witness their lives, the day-to-day struggle simply to get by.
Situations or circumstances that might have been funny early on in
the movie become less humorous as we start to respect the characters.
We no longer laugh "at" them -- as in, "Boy, aren't I glad I have a
such a blissful existence sitting in the theater at the Chicago Film
Fest watching other people suffer" -- because we start to respect
them.
After the movie, my wife said she felt it was "directionless" --
referring to the story, not Leigh's actual direction -- and
technically she's right. Characters meander through the story without
any sort of conventional plot machinations until the last half-hour
when a sudden life or death situation arises. But rather than
compound the Bassett family's already troubled life, this situation
becomes the catalyst for change, for a new life. And Leigh pulls it
off without any Hollywood manipulations.
The ending is "happy," but not what we would consider a "happy
ending." I was genuinely moved by the movie's final cathartic scenes,
and I credit Leigh for being able to end on a note of real hope
without it seeming inconsistent with who these characters are.
Life is never going to be easy for the Bassett family -- is it
for anybody? -- but maybe they can make it a little less dreary.
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