Rebel Without A Cause.
Oh what a lot of delicious bru-ha-ha there is on the Shooter’s bulletins at the moment. There’s the Ambleton Delight Debacle, where a couple of badly chosen words about DPs have sparked a furore, at least two different rows about the fall out from the axing of the UKFC and over on Screenwriters it seems like even a simple discussion of the worst lines in movie history is about to turn toxic…
It must be late summer. Either that or the Tories. Everything is the Tories. Despite the many vocal attempts to paint our new coalition government as a “new politics”, it is hard to shake the sensation that voting blue was the ultimate expression of retro chic. It wasn’t enough that we’d rediscovered the clothes, the hair and the synth pop, the 80s vibe would not have felt complete without having the Tories and the recession.
As a child of the 80s I can understand this. There is something comforting about our return to a world with clear battle lines drawn. Looking back on the period with the benefit of hindsight it is easy to see how complex the world remained but at the time there was a delicious binary simplicity about life.
If you want a funnier and more evocative sense of what I mean then watch “Death Of The Revolution” a short film my brother and I made which draws on the rabidly radicalised passions of our childhood. You can see this film on our website but better still, if you’re free on Friday, you can watch it at one of the coolest cinema venues in London as an appetiser for a screening of “Rebel Without A Cause”.
I am more chuffed and delighted by this pairing than I can quite say. “Rebel Without A Cause” may now feel a little clunky in places, if only because it created the template for films about youth in revolt. But it will sweep you up, drag you in and is bound to thrill the guts out of you. And after all, surely it’s about time we found a different period to get nostalgic about…
peter hick August 18th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
will be great to see “rebel without a cause” again. think i’ll skip the other film though.
Ben Blaine August 18th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Cutting Peter. Deeply cutting. Still, thanks for sharing your pointless negativity, hope its helped
Dan Parkes August 20th, 2010 at 10:24 am
“Ambleton Delight Debacle” -I like it! Thanks Ben, completely agree with your take on all the ridiculous “bru-ha-ha” going on lately. Must be the hot weather (is it because we are not used to it here in the UK)? A lighting equipment list somehow becomes a “DP bashing”. I am sure you are experienced with handling all this negativity with your own blog at times -such as the above unnecessary post by Peter Hick. “Rebel Without A Cause” is a classic film definitely worth watching and wish I could see it again along with your “Death Of The Revolution” screening tonight. Hope it goes well. I’ll just have to suffice with the on-line version.
hair growth August 22nd, 2010 at 6:03 am
WILLIAM WALLACE：”Fight, and you may die. Run, and you’ll live at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now. Would you be willing to trade? All the days from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our Freedom! hair growth tips
Ben Blaine August 22nd, 2010 at 10:32 am
Ok the previous comment is clearly spam, but I’ve let it through because it’s also clearly the best spam I’ve ever seen…
Ingrid Kopp August 23rd, 2010 at 7:33 pm
I love good spam. It’s such a welcome surprise. You’ll never take my freedom!
Ben Blaine August 24th, 2010 at 9:35 am
And he was very hairy in that film so it’s not so crazy