Crime and Punishment (1935)

Mr Pinky was introduced to the world of master director Josef Von Sternberg via his series of lavish, baroque and beautifully lit movies starring the incomparable Marlene Dietrich. After reading Sternberg’s autobiography Fun in a Chinese Laundry it has been a slow process tracking down viewings of his other films.

Crime and Punishment was made in 1935 and at this stage is only available via a Spanish import dvd. I can heartily recommend tracking down a copy just to witness this master cinematic stylist working with what must have been a limited budget yet still managing to create a work of high art.

This was to be Sternberg’s first film without Dietrich to lavish his attentions on and instead Peter Lorre as the murderous student Raskolnikov became the perfect subject for Sternberg’s masterful eye. I believe this was Lorre’s first American film and certainly his performance in Fritz Lang’s M and this film make for interesting comparisons.

I am sure there have been major liberties taken with the original novel but hey, this was Hollywood in the thirties and what we as classic celluloid fans are left with is a gloriously photographed and marvellously acted film. Mr Pinky suggests to just wallow in its beauty!

Pinocchio (1940)

Walt Disney's follow-up to the smash hit Snow White was not at the time regarded as a huge success. Decades after it's debut in 1940, Pinocchio has proven to be not only a cash-cow for the lucrative home video market but visual proof that the benchmark of animation's golden age had certainly been created.

So much has already been written about this jaw droppingly beautiful film. The humour, the design, the superlative animation that reinforces Disney's "illusion of life" technique. All can be found in this wonderful film.

Previously available on dvd, Pinocchio has been reissued this year but this time in a fully restored version. The differences between the two are astonishing. Viewing the new release is like watching Pinocchio for the very first time. Pinocchio's background design had always been a major part of its appeal and this restored version allows the viewer to see the gorgeous attention to detail applied by Walt Disney's team of artists. Every frame is a work of art begging to be explored via the freeze frame button on the dvd remote.

I doubt that films as breathtakingly beautiful as Pinocchio will ever be made again. Hand drawn creations have since been replaced by CGI rendering. Pinocchio certainly belongs to that grand and glorious period of Hollywood's Golden age of animation.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

Oh what fools these mortals be,
That miss out on this DVD!

So says Mr Pinky.

Mr Shakespeare’s play is a weird and wonderful romp through the forest, pretty much a one off in the Shakespearian canon. He never wrote a play like it afterwards. The action is so fanciful and delightful, indeed, almost camp, that it has prompted some wags to query whether it would be possible for a straight man to write such a fairy dominated play.

Who knows? Who cares?

What I can say is that this 1935 visual extravaganza well and truly lives up to its original source and inspiration. Every frame of this picture is gorgeously made. It’s one of those films that is so mesmerising to watch that you often simply forget about the plot.

The film also has some terrific performances from some unlikely Hollywood actors. James Cagney is most affecting as Bottom, and Mickey Rooney is amazing as Puck.

What is it about these dream-like 1930s films, that seem so hermetically sealed from reality? You can’t help but think that it would be an impossibility to make such a free, uninhibited and imaginative film nowadays. Film is perhaps too self-conscious today. There are too many references for filmmakers to fall back on; back in the 1930s they were creating the very language of film themselves.

A classic!

Mr Pinky invites you to enjoy some of the film stills presented below.

Spice World: The Movie

Spice World: The Movie was made when the 'fab five' Spice Girls were at the height of their fame.

It was released just some six weeks after the release of their second album, Spice World. The year was 1997, and the Spice Girls juggernaut was at its very height. The girls ruled the charts in just about every country in the world. A movie seemed inevitable, like a force of pop culture nature.

Eleven years on, Mr Pinky finds Spice World: The Movie has not aged at all and can be enjoyed every bit as much as it was on its original release.

Directed by Bob Spiers (AbFab, Faulty Towers, plus a whole host of other British comedy classics) and written by Kim Fuller and Jamie Curtis, the film, it has been said, is based on The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. As Mr Pinky has not seen this movie, he will have to trust to what others have written.

Spice World: The Movie is essentially a bit of an adventure film with comedy skits, flashbacks and an abundance of absurdities thrown in. If anything, the girls, Ginger, Scary, Sporty, Posh and Baby, seem intent on sending themselves up and having a 'laff'. If the jokes going to be on anyone, the Spice Girls want it to be on them.

The film is neatly tied up with a cute message on the importance of putting friendship (and even motherhood) ahead of the trappings of fame and fortune. It sounds corny and lame, but you accept it because you know, deep down, The Spice Girls are quite serious about the films message.

Oh, did Mr Pinky mention the music? That's why we all became mad Spice Girls fans in the first place. If you find the plot too silly for words, there's always the terrific music to enjoy.

Mr Pinky's Favourite Scenes: The bootcamp sequence with the campy Mr Step (played by Michael Barrymore). Watch Posh walk past the obstacle course with great insouciance in her camouflage print clinging designer dress.

The encounter with the aliens who also happen to be Spice Girls fans. Hilariously, Gerri yells in a panic, "Run!", but stays stuck on the spot.

Bob Geldof's cameo, where Scary Spice gives Sir Bob a new hair-do.

And not forgetting the irrepressible Barry Humphries as media tycoon Kevin McMaxford.

Here's the track listing for the movie. Enjoy!

• "Too Much" (opening title)
• "Do It"
• "Say You'll Be There"
• "Mama"
• "Denying"
• "Saturday Night Divas"
• "Stop"
• "2 Become 1"
• "Leader Of The Gang"
• "Never Give Up On The Good Times"
• "Sound Off"
• "My Boy Lollipop"
• "Viva Forever"
• "Wannabe"
• "Who Do You Think You Are" (Morales Club Mix)
• "Spice Up Your Life"
• "The Lady Is A Vamp" (closing title)