Andy Serkis gives many reasons to be cheerful channeling Ian Dury in biopic
sex & drugs & rock & roll (Mat Whitecross, 2010)
Saturday, April 24, Village East, 9:00
Monday, April 26, SVA Theater, 3:00
Wednesday, April 28, SVA Theater, 11:00 pm
Thursday, April 29, Village East, 11:30 pm
May 5-11, Tribeca Cinemas
www.tribecafilm.com
British actor Andy Serkis, who has appeared in such diverse roles as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Rigaud in the widely hailed 2008 LITTLE DORRIT miniseries, transforms himself into punk rocker Ian Dury in the biopic sex & drugs & rock & roll. Directed by documentarian Mat Whitecross (THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO, THE SHOCK DOCTRINE), the film follows Dury as an adult desperate to make it in the music biz, putting his career ahead of his family. The first half is awkward to watch, as there is not much to like about the character, a nasty, self-centered brute with a huge chip on his shoulder who leaves his caring wife (Olivia Williams) for a young fan (Naomie Harris). But as Whitecross and actor-turned-writer Paul Viragh reveal more of Dury’s past, centering on his relationship with his father (Ray Winstone) and being confined to a poorly run hospital after he contracted polio, Dury becomes a more compelling figure, especially as success approaches. Serkis does all his own singing in the film, set to newly recorded versions of such Ian Dury and the Blockheads classics as “Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick,” “What a Waste,” “Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3,” and the title song. The soundtrack was composed by Dury’s longtime collaborator, Blockhead Chaz Jankel (played by a bland Tom Hughes), who also served as a consultant on the film. It takes a while to get going, but once it does, sex & drugs & rock & roll grabs you, anchored by Serkis’s remarkable performance. Following the film’s four screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival, it will be shown May 5-11 at Tribeca Cinemas as part of the Tribeca Film in Theaters program.
In conjunction with the exhibition “Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art,” the Asia Society is presenting John Bush’s Yatra Trilogy, three films that journey to sacred Buddhist locations, revealing little-known, seldom-seen sites to Western audiences. The free series begins April 23 with DHARMA RIVER, in which Bush, who will introduce the screening, travels to remarkable temples and shrines in Laos, Thailand, and Burma. He uncovers treasures in Wat Po in Bangkok, Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai, Swedagon Pagoda in Rangoon, and Pak Ou Cave and Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang, among other stops. Bush’s narration places the fascinating iconography in proper Buddhist context, avoiding oversimplification while not getting too deep into the intricacies of the different philosophies in each country. His trip along the Mekong River is particularly memorable. From 1970 to 1972, Bush studied Buddhism in India, first spending several months learning vipassana meditation in a Burmese monastery, so DHARMA RIVER is, for him, “a flowing revelation linking a personal past with an intimate present.” The film is accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack by David Hykes with the Harmonic Chant Choir. The trilogy continues April 30 with PRAJNA EARTH (2005) and concludes May 7 with VAJRA SKY OVER TIBET (2006); the Asia Society is free on Friday nights from 6:00 to 9:00, so there should also be time to pay quick visits to the exhibitions “Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art” as well as “Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea.”
When media magnate Amos Kynes (Robert Warwick) dies, his son Walter (Vincent Price) takes over despite Amos’s greatest fears. Walter decides that whoever gets a scoop on the Lipstick Killer will become his number two man, so the backstabbing race is on among sleazy wire service chief Mark Loving (George Sanders); managing editor Jon Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell), who’ll do just about anything for a story; and Harry Kritzer (James Craig), who thinks the best way to get the job is from the bed of Walter’s wife (Rhonda Fleming). Throw in cynical television journalist Ed Mobley (Dana Andrews) and hot-to-trot columnist Mildred Donner (Ida Lupino) and you have another one of Hollywood’s terrific newspaper pics. Director Fritz Lang pulls no punches; the film is filled with plenty of sexual undertones (and overtones), and Kynes himself is a take-off of Charles Foster Kane, the glistening K atop his New York City skyscraper reminiscent of the K atop Xanadu’s front gate.
