FILM | BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

                                       

                

We all remember Beauty and the Beast from childhood having probably been read it and, even more likely, seen the Disney version. There are however some other very interesting adaptations of this great fairytale, which still has a highly poignant message about acceptance and not judging a book by its cover.                      

     

Here's a bit of largely forgotten and overlooked film weirdness. In 1984 Shelly Duvall's kooky Faerie Tale Theatre offered a very interesting production of Beauty and the Beast. Starring Susan Sarandon, Anjelica Huston and Klaus Kinsky as the (cough) handsome prince this version's more Labyrinth than Disney. Quite frankly what's not to love.

 

The best version (in my opinion)of this fairy tale came much earlier, in 1946, from the superb Jean Cocteau. Cocteau's imagination and the magic he could create using simple editing techniques make this film sublime and pioneering. This film is exceptional and cannot be topped. 

                                                     

There have also been some pretty shocking adaptations but we'll overlook any butcherings of a great story and stick with the good stuff and this cracking quote from the Disney version...

'I want to do something for her... but what?' 'Oh, there's the usual things; flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep...' -Beast Cogsworth

FILM MEMORIES | FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR

I spent the weekend catching up with old friends and inevitably chatting about our exploits growing up and all the weird and wonderful things that made up our 90's childhood. I've had a recent hankering to watch a film that I absolutely LOVED as a child and haven't seen since I was about 10. This film, like many of the PG cert late 80's and early 90's was fun sci-fi/tech based cinema that both scared and completely intrigued me, and obviously stayed with me into adulthood...

Anybody remember Flight of the Navigator? Ok, it was actually released in 1986 (the year I was born) but it sustained to reach my demographic because it was repeatedly shown on the TV (the power of Disney). Growing up I  must have seen it about 20 times and loved it more and more every time. Far more low budget and simple than Spielberg's sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind and it was Disney's introduction to a the powerful Sci-fi genre that was dominant at that time. It captured (on an admittedly less advanced level) the awe and wonder that was inspired by the idea of alien encounters and successfully presented it to a Disney audience. Like Batteries not Included or Short Circuit, this film filled wide young eyes with exciting images of technology and science, and embodied it's potential to take you into intrepid new territory; exploring humanity, showcased against new alien experiences.

Yes that's SJP

The Flight of the Navigator's plot is pretty bonkers and it's a fun, totally farfetched and touching film because it shows how the young spirit can span old ideas, conquer fear, embrace adventures, then simply return home unscathed. I  will never forget the scene when David first discovers the spaceship in the woods and sometimes wonder what it would be like to go out one night and drive a space ship then return home and simply go to bed. What a ride! What a film!