OPENING CREDITS
"Dedicated to all who know the joys of a dark room – who know what it
means to be wrapped up in watching a great movie."
And a special dedication to Sidney Myrie (
- 1982) aka “Papa”, my grandfather, and the greatest storyteller I have ever
known.
Acknowledgements
If you’re anything like me, you absolutely
hate to miss opening credits (though many movies these days begin the action
without them), so I hope you’ll pay attention to the brief but sincere
acknowledgements:
To Therese
– if all you were was the most wonderful, exciting, open-hearted and pragmatic
woman I’ve ever met, that would be more than enough. But, on top of all that,
you’re my one-woman book production team. Your input is impeccable, your
contribution is indelible; living without you – impossible.
To my family, including – but certainly not
limited to – my Mom, Melrose Edwards, Dad Michael, brothers Kurt and Rico,
Uncle Eric, my four fantastic children, Aaron and Israel and Zachary & Gabrielle and my former
wife, Jacqueline Chin Depass
To my former colleagues on the board of the
Cinematograph Authority of Jamaica (essentially the Film Ratings Board), and in
particular, to former Chairman, Mrs Joyce Archibald.
The staff and management of The Palace
Amusement Company, in particular Mr Lincoln Forbes, a living repository of
knowledge on the history of the Jamaican cinema business – and an exemplary
human being.
To Mrs. Jean Lowrie-Chin, Founder and
Managing Director, and all my former colleagues at what was initially PRO (now
PROCOMM),where my reviewing career took wing.
The editorial staff – past and present – of
the Jamaica Observer, where Mike@the
Movies came into being.
To all the people who, in person, by mail, and
online, have offered commendation, criticisms, good wishes and argument – all
of which have strengthened me over this journey.
And to anyone whose name is not on this
page, but should be, know for a certainty, you are in my heart
About The Author
Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Michael Edwards has parlayed an innate curiosity
about a wide range of topics into an accomplished and diverse media career. He
has been reviewing films - in print, and on radio, TV and the Internet - for
over 20 years, and has also contributed numerous music, visual and performing
arts reviews to several publications.
He now lives in Portland, on the island's east coast, with his wife, food
critic, designer and writer Therese Edwards.
CURTAIN-RAISER: The Back Story
From Drive-In to Hard Drive: My Movie
Journey (thus far)
I grew up five minutes’ drive (or a considerably longer walk) from a drive-in
movie theatre. This one had the added allure of being a seaside drive-in, so
the pounding Caribbean surf was often a welcome counterpoint to the score and
soundtrack of the particular film being shown.
Sadly, the seaside location that was such a boon for the aesthetics, was also
the key element in its downfall. Deadly Hurricane Gilbert, which ravaged the
island in 1988, did not spare the property, and with the cinema world moving
toward the multiplex and - inexorably - to the digitally produced and displayed
films of today, the owners, who then enjoyed (and still do) a virtual monopoly
on commercial film exhibition, decided against reviving the drive-in.
Thus died an important element of my enduring passion for watching movies.
Thankfully, the Harbour View Drive-In was far from the only movie house back
then, just the closest. So there were other places, - and most of them covered - where I could go
to get my movie fix. Again, the vagaries of the media and entertainment
business have subsequently claimed many of them. The Carib, once the grandest
single-screen cinema in the Caribbean (now a five-screen multiplex), and the
dual-screen Sovereign Cineplex are all that remain in the metro Kingston area.
But whilst they remained, the city's cinemas rivalled the local libraries and
bookstores as "2nd homes" for me; within their walls, I would while
away many an hour absorbing single, double and triple bills, depending on the
day and time (Saturday mornings and afternoons inevitably meant triple bills).
In my early cinephile days, I was an omnivore, indiscriminately devouring
thrillers, comedies, westerns, dramas, period pieces and Kung Fu movies with
equal relish.
Truthfully, I can't remember the first
movie I ever watched. I can however, remember the first one for which I wrote a
review - that honour goes to John Boorman's lush re-telling of the Arthurian
legend, "Excalibur" (1981). Curiously, the review was written in
Spanish, part of an assignment for my 10th grade (fourth form as we knew it)
Spanish class. My then limited facility with the language meant, of course,
that I kept it quite simple, but it made enough of an impression on my teacher
to earn me a B.
My English-language reviewing career had a bit of a false start some years
later when I attempted to publish a review of Abel Ferrara's "King of New
York". I had sent it, admittedly unsolicited, to a local magazine with the
unimaginative title of "Lifestyle"(long since defunct). Ego
notwithstanding, I don't believe that the rejection was a matter of inferior
writing or formatting; more inferior PR; up to that point, my "body of
work" consisted of a few poems and a Letter to the Editor published in the
then sole daily newspaper, and the magazine’s editor was clearly loath to grace
the publication with the work of an unknown. Happily, I was subsequently tapped
by said editor to write a couple of essays, just not film review.
Publication would come in the early 90s, via an entirely new rag, and one
in which I had a more direct hand. I was then working with a PR firm ( oh, the
irony) and the CEO of said firm had been commissioned by the aforementioned
daily newspaper to create a new pull-out aimed at luring teen and young adult
readers. The publication, called "Chill"
would prove to be the forerunner of the teen-oriented publications run by both
daily papers today. It included, inter alia, a drama serial and a film review
(both written by me). My choice of films were unfortunately, determined by the
local monopoly exhibitor, so the merits of my first review, Martin Scorcese's
"The Age of Innocence" for
a youth publication were dubious at best (needless to say, I rather enjoyed the
movie).
The reviews continued regularly thereafter, but the publication - or more
specifically the PR firm's directorship of it - was relatively short-lived.
With The Gleaner firmly in control
of the editorial, my services were apparently no longer required.
My next regular reviewing opportunity would come by even greater serendipity. I
was walking the row of shopping malls in Kingston's midtown area when I passed Susie's, then an already popular coffee
bar and brasserie. Normally, I would have avoided the place as it's prices were
generally way outside my then meagre earnings (I was then
"self-employed" as a features writer) but I decided 'what the heck,
one coffee and pastry can't hurt.'
It turned out to be quite a profitable decision, as there I encountered a
journalistic colleague who at the time was moving out of the Lifestyle
department at the rival daily paper which had by then been established. Our
conversation invariably led to the paper and I enquired, quite casually, about
the absence of their regular film reviews. The writer had gone off to start a
family, he pointed out. Then, without any further prompt, my colleague
suggested that I should seek to replace her.
Long story short, within a couple of weeks of that meeting, I was the regular
film reviewer for the Jamaica Observer. (I did many other features
over the course of a ten-year tenure at the Observer, but that's another book.) I was reunited with the said local
film exhibitor, Palace Amusement, which at the time still hosted (rather parsimoniously, I might
add) screenings for media and other " invited guests" in advance of
the films' commercial opening. There was a certain camaraderie in those
sessions, and the post-screening discussions were often rowdy affairs, with
much cross-talk.
Because of its monopoly position, the exhibitor had a tendency to balk at
unfavorable reviews of its offerings, which tended to fall squarely in the
Hollywood mainstream. In the face one too many such reviews (whether from my
hand, or otherwise, I don’t know), they decided to suspend the preliminary
screenings, thus putting paid to my regular review practice - but only
temporarily, of course.
The Cinematograph Authority
I interject this here because not only does
it encompass a great leap forward in my reviewing career, it also, ironically gave
rise to a strange and sometimes strained, reunion with the folks at Palace
Amusement or, as I’m fond of referring to them, the monopoly exhibitor.
In early 2008, shortly after the previous
year’s general elections, I was invited by the then Minister of Culture (on the
recommendation of the then Prime Minister, no less) to join the Board of the
Cinematograph Authority, an organization which I had previously heard of only
in passing. Ninety-five per cent of Jamaicans have never heard of the
Cinematograph Authority (my estimate, down from at least 99% prior to my
tenure), but it is essentially, a Ratings Board – NOT a Censorship Board – for
films shown commercially. Its basically the equivalent, in Jamaican context,
the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) though nowhere near as well
funded.
My tenure as a member lasted three years,
which is the mandated life of each Board, although one individual did not make
it through the entire three years. It involved meeting twice weekly (most
cases) at the head offices of the monopoly exhibitor, located in a kind of
“fringe” area (not quite the heart of Downtown; and too far south of National
Heroes Circle to be lumped into “Cross Roads”). There, beginning around 11, we
would view usually two films, but sometimes one and, on rare occasions, three
per sitting. For that we (the five members) were paid a stipend too pitiful to
even mention here, and even that was held up for the better part of TWO YEARS,
thanks to a callous and inefficient bureaucracy who felt it ought not to be
beholden to a bunch of people whose only public service consisted of watching
films and deciding who else could – or could not – watch them.
Still, for a movie buff like myself, that’s
a high exposure on a consistent basis, and even though it was mostly Hollywood
drivel, these were first-run features. Even though I don’t – yet - derive
direct income from my blog (www.mikethemovies.blogspot.com), with movie tickets running as high as the equivalent of USD13
a pop, the savings from viewing over 150 films without charge (plus a crappy
but filling lunch) adds up to a decent
bit of passive earnings.
More valuable, ultimately, is the
positioning it provided for me – and still does. Despite the work of the bootleggers,
I was seeing some of the films before the general public got a chance, and
before the public in several overseas markets (including the UK) got a chance.
This helped to give my posted reviews (some of which constitute the next
section of this book), an added currency and credibility, provided of course,
that I didn’t allow too much time to elapse between “ view” and “review”.
My tenure ended, quite abruptly (not to
mention ironically) in June of 2011, at the hands of the said Prime Minister
who so enthusiastically initiated it. I can take some amount of poetic justice
in the fact that events elsewhere in the political arena meant it would prove
to be among his last acts in that office, but my own life was also moving into
a dynamic new phase of its own, including a departure from Kingston – where I’d
lived for the better part of 44 years, to Portland.
By
the time of my “ascent” to the Cinematograph Board, the film landscape was
already dominated by the Internet, DVDs and multimedia, thus somewhat reducing
my dependence on the local exhibitor (not withstanding the aforementioned ). In
particular, 2005 saw my advent as a blogger, though initially on jazz - one of
my other passions - rather than on film. It soon followed however, and despite
technical glitches, and varying levels of access to technology, I have remained
a movie blogger ever since. At the time of this writing, the blog has attracted
just over 27,000 total pageviews – maybe not a staggering figure, but really
quite commendable, all things considered.
Why do I do it?
That is of course, the big question, and the answer is stunningly simple:
I love it. To elaborate, there's something deeply resonant in the use of
moving images to tell stories. Storytelling is what it's all about, and beneath
the costumes, special effects and action sequences, the best films, like the
best books, are the ones that tell stories in a compelling manner, you know
-"Once upon a time....." and take it from there.
Granted, even the best movies leave less to the discretion of the audience than
the best books, but the best of them leave one with a feeling of having been
transported, of one's disbelief having been suspended. Now, just as water
reaches a boil at varying temperatures according to altitude, so different
persons have different points at which they allow their disbelief to be
suspended.
The basic premise, however remains: movies help to remind us that we're alive
(and as redundant as that sounds, we need it). For that reason, I'm grateful to
have been associated with them as a reviewer for the past 20 years and
counting.
On the following pages, I humbly present some of the fruits of that
association. It's a mixed bag of toppers and turkeys, blockbusters and obscure
indies, covering a wide range of genres. Except where indicated, the reviews
were initially published on my blog, The Emx blog (www.theemxblog.blogspot.com ).
As with any great story, you'll enjoy it a whole lot more if you sit still.
