THE ENGLISH DISEASE

April is upon us. I play no trick on you, as I know just being near me makes you realize that you are a fool, because I am so much more special than you. Why rub it in, you know?

Anyway, I paid the rent today, and am going through my favorite ritual of flipping all of my calendars, and I have another list of films to recommend in my capacity as an employee at an independently owned video store. This month, I started off thinking of doing something with the British kitchen sink dramas, and then extended it to include other generations, one that was the group supplanted by the young men of the kitchen sink-era (Tunes of Glory) and one that featured kids that came at the tail end, who were railing agains the system in their own way (Quadrophenia), and made after the fact. And with Darling I made sure the girls got some representation.

So, here's the list:

* Darling, starring Julie Christie, dir. John Schlesinger

* Look Back in Anger, starring Richard Burton, dir. Tony Richardson

* Quadrophenia, a spin-off of the Who album, with Phil Daniels

* Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, starring Albert Finney, dir. Karel Reisz

* Tunes of Glory, starring Alec Guinness, dir. Ronald Neame

I had originally intended to include A Taste of Honey, and in fact it was the film that made me want to start this list, but another employee got their picks in before I did and had it as one of theirs, so I replaced it with Look Back in Anger, since they share the same director.

Also, rather than Tunes of Glory, I was going to include Trainspotting, and go all the way forward, but it was a recent selection in a Trilogy feature of the month and I thought it was too soon to recommend it again. You can consider them both alternates.

Current Sountrack: Kaiser Chiefs, Employment

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2004 Jamie S. Rich