Newsletter C-7

NEWSLETTER C-7

Welcome to our Yuletide Newsletter.

This month, the C in C-7 stands quite firmly for Christmas! 2020 has been the strangest of years, when the C word has meant something altogether different, and it has been a time when we have all had to adjust our lifestyle and our habits. Not least of these will have been our cultural outings, including your weekly film fix at the Phoenix. Who would have thought as we sat watching the wonderful black comedy of eco-film Woman at War or the beautiful and elegiac black and white classic The Last Picture Show in the winter months that the arrival of Spring would also see the early closure of our 2019-2020 programme because of you-know-what. As I write this editorial, Christmas is on the very near horizon, but with the fear for many that it will be largely virtual, with the celebrations muted, and the festive season very much a stay-at-home affair possibly in small family bubbles. We know that the Phoenix will not return until 2021, and even then the restrictions placed on society may mean a very different experience for you our loyal Members. However, in spite of the many difficulties we have all experienced throughout the year, the Phoenix Council members would like to thank you for your fantastic loyalty and remind you of our paraphrase of both Arnold Schgwarzenegger and The Beatles “We’ll be back!”

007 has left the Cinema 2020 will forever be remembered as the year covid-19 entered our lives, bringing death to so many people worldwide, and further wreaking such havoc with society in so many countries. Within the Phoenix community, we have lost valued film-loving friends. At the time of preparing this Newsletter, it is thought that of all the nation states represented at the United Nations (and excluding North Korea and Turkmenistan) just ten countries have escaped the virus, although because of its impact on things like tourism, even those countries have suffered adversely. All of them are (relatively small) island nations in the Pacific Ocean (Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga, etc.). We have previously commented on how the covid virus has affected film-making, with few feature films possible during the confinement period, and actors and crew unable to work within the social distancing guidelines, although some directors have evidently found ingenious ways to carry on working on their latest projects. Meanwhile, scriptwriters have doubtless been having a field day with time to write and plenty of pandemic-related source material to play with. But as with any other year, death has stalked the cinema industry by other natural causes, and we have seen the passing of a number of key film-related names, including three notable names from the James Bond franchise. Here, in no particular order, is a list of just some of those we have lost in 2020.

Trini Lopez, actor (83) - Marriage on the Rocks (1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and of course your singalong tune for this issue, the worldwide smash hit song If I Had a Hammer Alan Parker, director (76) - Midnight Express (1978), Mississippi Burning (1988), The Commitments (1991), Angela’s Ashes (1999) Olivia de Havilland, actress (104) - Gone With the Wind (1939), The Snake Pit (1948), The Heiress (1949), Pope Joan (1972) Ennio Morricone, musician (91) - Death of a Friend (1960 – his first soundtrack, uncredited!), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), Sacco & Vanzetti (1971), Cinema Paradiso (1988), Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989) and 515 other musical credits! Carl Reiner, actor (98) - The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66), Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982), Oceans Eleven, Twelve & Thirteen (2001, 2004, 2007) Ian Holm, actor (88) - Oh, What A Lovely War (1969), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Chariots of Fire (1981), A Life Less Ordinary (1997) Brian Dennehy, actor (81) - 10 (1979), First Blood (1982), Silverado (1985), Romeo + Juliet (1986), Ratatouille (2007) Hal Willner, musician (64) - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café (1991), Short Cuts (1993), Leonard Cohen, I’m Your Man (2005) James Drury, actor (85) - Gunsmoke (1955-61), Rawhide (1959-61), The Virginian (1962-71), Maverick (1994) Honor Blackman, actress (94) - Green Grow the Rushes (1951), Goldfinger (we have to mention Pussy Galore!) (1964), Fright (1971), Dr. Who: The Trial of a Time Lord (1986), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), I, Anna (2012) Lee Fierro, actress (91) - Jaws (1975), Jaws: the Revenge (1987) Adam Schlesinger, actor (52) - That Thing You Do (1996), Shallow Hal (2001), Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) Krzysztof Penderecki, musician (86) - The Exorcist (1973), The Shining (1980), Wild At Heart (1990), Katyn (2007), Neruda (2016) Max Von Sydow, actor (90) - The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries (1957) and many other films directed by Ingmar Bergman, The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Flash Gordon (1980), Pelle The Conqueror (1987), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), Game of Thrones (2011) Ann E Todd, actress (88) - Intermezzo (1939), Destry Rides Again (1939), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Pride of the Marines (1945) Kirk Douglas, actor (103) - The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Ace In the Hole (1951), Lust For Life (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), Spartacus (1960), Paris, Brûle-t-il? (Is Paris Burning) (1966), Oscar (1991) Terry Jones, actor, director (77) - Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967-69), Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-74), Ripping Yarns (1976-79), all the wonderful Monty Python films of course, Jabberwocky (1977), The Rutles: All You Need is Cash (1978),and we couldn’t resist mentioning this 2004 short The Mystery of the Missing Morsel of Murder at Moorstones Manor Jack Kehoe, actor (85) - Serpico (1973), The Sting (1973), The Untouchables (1987), D.O.A. (1988) Buck Henry, screenwriter (89) - The Graduate (1967), Catch-22 (1970), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) Diana Rigg, actress (82) - The Avengers (1965-68), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Evil Under the Sun (1982), Parting Shots (1998), The Painted Veil (2006), Game of Thrones (2013-17), Breathe (2017) Michael Lonsdale, actor (89) - The Day of the Jackal (1973), Moonraker (1979), Ronin (1998) Chadwick Boseman, actor (43) - 42 (2013), Get On Up (2014), Black Panther (2018), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) Ben Cross, actor (72) - A Bridge Too Far (1977), Chariots of Fire (1981), Star Trek (2009), Once There Was a War (2019) Kelly Preston, actress (57) - Twins (1988), Jerry Maguire (1996), What A Girl Wants (2003), Old Dogs (2009) Joel Schumacher, director (80) - St. Elmo’s Fire (1985), The Lost Boys (1987), Veronica Guerin (2003), The Phantom of the Opera (2004) Ivan Passer, director (86) - Intimní osvetlení (Intimate Lighting) (1965), Law and Disorder (1974), Cutter’s Way (1981) Nikita Pearl Waligwa, actress (15) - Queen of Katwe Rhonda Fleming, actress (97) - Spellbound (1945), The Spiral Staircase (1946), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Nude Bomb (1980) and last but definitely not least, Sean Connery, actor (90) - Lilacs in Spring (1954, uncredited, his first movie), seven Bond films (1962-1983), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Finding Forrester (2000). May they all R.I.P. Which of these is not a genuine movie title? Trust me, these are the answers to last month’s film puzzle.

1 War; The Short War That Never Ended; The Private War of Major Benson; Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came; War Horse. 2 Eggs For Breakfast; Diamonds For Breakfast; Lions For Breakfast; Kisses For Breakfast; Lobster For Breakfast. 3 Down With Love; Loveless; Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb; Must Love Dogs; The Love Ship. 4 Rumble Fish; A Fish Called Wanda; Plenty More Fish; Fish, Fish & More Fish; Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire. 5 The Ruby In The Smoke; Smoke Yourself to Death; Smoke; Smoke Signals; No More Smoke Signals. 6 Silent Night; Silent As a House Mouse; Silent Witness; Silent Running; Silent Light. 7 A Heavenly Vintage; Bottle Shock; Sideways; Days of Wine and Roses; Rouge, Blanc, Rosé. 8 How to Tie a Bow Tie; The Ox-Bow Incident; Baby, Take a Bow; Meow Bow Wow; The Magic Bow. 9 Green Tulips; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; The Blue Dahlia; Magnolia; Daffodils. 10 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints; The Saint; The Saints & the Sailors; La Sainte Famille; Sinners and Saints. 11 Rain Man; Purple Rain; The Man With Rain In His Shoes; Like Rain For Rhubarb; Strawberries Need Rain. 12 Flash Gordon; Flash and Splash Hit the ‘Hood; Royal Flash; Ricki and The Flash; A Flash of Light. 13 White Heat; Body Heat; Dead Heat; Love Heat; Blind Heat. 14 Black Swan; Deepest Black; The Black Dahlia; The Black Camel; Black Beauty. 15 1408; 1917; 1941; 1984; 2050.

Well, how many did you spot? It was certainly fun making up those imaginary film titles! Try them on your film buff friends at Christmas! ***The Phoenix AGM will be held virtually on January 27 at 6 p.m. Details will be sent out by MailChimp about how to participate in the meeting.*** Movie presents for our wonderful politicians With the possibility of sending gifts by amazon, ebay, etc. and wishing to close our Yuletide Newsletter in a festive way, I asked Sanity Clause to help me select a cinematic gift to send to some of our wonderful politicians to take their minds off the hurly-burly of life in the House (and elsewhere, if they are prepared to break the covid rules). Thus, they will be able to enjoy a fine, carefully-chosen DVD (blurays for the Tories) amidst all the repeats of Downton Abbey, Bill and Ben, Wise & Morecambe, etc. (N.b. all titles available from Notflix) Graham

Michael Gove (Minister for the Cabinet Office): The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920); I’m not not sure what Mr. Gove’s ministerial role involves - polishing governmental cupboards, perhaps? Dominic Raab (Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs): A Foreign Affair (Billy Wilder, 1948) or more simply Useless (Brandon Adams, 2011). Sir Keir Starmer (leader of the opposition): Labour Day (Jason Reitman, 2013). Based on Jeremy Corbyn’s screenplay? Priti Patel (Secretary of State for the Home Department): quite a choice for this unintentionally shy and retiring lady. Perhaps Big Bully (Steve Miner, 1996) or Bully (Larry Clark, 2001) as her main gift, but with Channel Crossing (Milton Rosmer, 1933), or maybe Swim the Channel (Emma Harpin, Stephanie Keelan, 2016) in her stocking. Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education): Exam (Stuart Hazeldine, 2009). Rishi Sunak (Chancellor of the Exchequer): All the Money in the World (Ridley Scott, 2017) and his stocking filler is a copy of ABBA’s single Money, Money, Money. the late Margaret Thatcher (former Prime Minister): U Turn (Oliver Stone, 1997); not the kind of title she would have made had she been a film director. David Cameron (former Prime Minister): I’m Sorry (Andrea Savage, 2017) TV series box set. Nick Clegg (former leader of the Liberal Democrats): The Social Network (David Fincher, 2017). Dominic Cummings (who?): Brexit: The Uncivil War (Toby Haynes, 2019) and a stocking-filler download of Durham Town, by Roger Whittaker. Margaret Ferrier (although not an item with Mr. Cummings, we didn’t want either of them to feel ignored, so they could watch this together on an intercity going to somewhere like Edinburgh): Breakin’ All the Rules (Daniel Taplitz, 2004). Tony Blair (former Prime Minister): The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008). Grant Shapps (Secretary of State for Transport): High Speed! Free! Starting Summer! (2016, Yasuhiro Takemoto); a Japanese animation which obviously lies about ticket prices to be charged, and does not say which summer the trains will start running from. Matt Hancock (Secretary of State for Health & Social Care): Lepsie byt bohaty a zdravy ako chudobny a chory (Juraj Jakubisko, 1992); now, unless this Oxford (BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)) and Cambridge (MPhil Economics) alumnus also learned to speak Czech, we shall be sure to get him the English language version It's Better to Be Wealthy and Healthy Than Poor and Ill. Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister of Scotland): The Angel’s Share (Ken Loach, 2012) might not go down as well as the whisky featured in the storyline, so Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996) could be a reserve pressie.

And for our chums in Europe and elsewhere … Emmanuel Macron (French Président): Confinement (Andrew Nuno, 2015), set in a future where a government sends its citizens underground … and as an extra obvious gift The French Connection/French Connection II (William Friedkin, 1971; John Frankenheimer, 1975) box set (lucky boy!). Jo Biden (US President): White House Down (Roland Emmerich, 2013) and his musical bonus is the Alice Cooper 45 r.p.m. Elected. Jacinda Ardern (NZ Prime Minister): A Heavenly Vintage (2009) or Queen City Rocker (1986) – both are New Zealand productions. Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany): My Lonely Christmas in Berlin (Charlotte Roustang, 2020). Donald Trump (ex-U.S. President): the obvious one is F For Fake (Orson Welles, 1973), but Loser (Amy Heckerling, 2000) is entirely appopriate too, and for a stocking filler a copy of the Mandy Miller 45 r.p.m. Nellie the Elephant (which is also your Christmas Newsletter singalong tune – ♫“off he went with a trumpety trump, trump, trump, trump”♫). Kim Jong-Un (Supreme Leader of the DPR of Korea): Jolochinseon-ui saesidaeleul pyeolchin lyeogsajeog-in sangbong – it’s all about him so he is bound to love it. Vladimir Putin (Russan President): The Boss (Ben Falcone, 2016) or any Mafia tale. Xi Jinping (Chinese President): Made In China (Brendan Merrill, 2020), but actually made in the USA.

Oh, and we almost forgot him, our dearly beloved Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (U.K. Prime Minister): there really is a genuine 2019 short film entitled I Don't Know What I'm Doing Ever... Dumb Blonde Edition which he might enjoy. But for a feature length, we’ll go with A United Kingdom (Amma Asante, 2016), and his bonus pressie would be The Jam’s single Eton Rifles!

But, perhaps we should also send a DVD of Contagion (2011, Stephen Soderbergh) to all politicians everywhere struggling to keep things steady at this time. The storyline goes thus: Soon after her return from a business trip to Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff dies from what is a flu or some other type of infection. Her young son dies later the same day. Her husband Mitch however seems immune. Thus begins the spread of a deadly infection. For doctors and administrators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and in the U.S. Senate, several days pass before anyone realizes the extent or gravity of this new infection. They must first identify the type of virus in question and then find a means of combating it, a process that will likely take several months. As the contagion spreads to millions of people worldwide, societal order begins to break down as people panic .... Interestingly, at the time of writing, the film has NOT been shown on television for several months.

to them all. And, more importantly, to You all, once again.