The rise and fall, and rise again, of Alec Baldwin is a Hollywood story you can’t help but enjoy.
The rise and fall, and rise again, of Alec Baldwin is a Hollywood story you can’t help but enjoy.
From an Irish American family full of actors with a predisposition for self-destruction, Alec Baldwin’s career has been a collection of great highs and terrible lows, along with private and public outbursts.
Who can forget the phone message abusing his daughter Ireland during his six year custody battle with his ex-wife Kim Basinger, or more recently his eviction from a flight for not turning off his cellphone - he was in the middle of a game of Words With Friends when the pilot wanted to take off. Then there’s his outburst at the Cannes Film Festival in May. He called powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein “a fucking douche bag” for not appearing in a documentary by James Toback about raising money to make movies. Impulsive, but ballsy.
As one of Hollywood’s bad boys, it’s fitting Baldwin takes the role of an unfaithful husband in director Derick Martini’s film about a dysfunctional suburban family living in Long Island in the late 70s; Lymelife (Saturday 20th October, 8.30pm). It’s a theme we’ve seen before in films like The Ice Storm and American Beauty, and while Martini’s film doesn’t surpass these efforts it features a collection of strong performances.
As well as Baldwin, Lymelife also stars Jill Hennessy as his wife and Cynthia Nixon as his mistress, but the most impressive performances come from the younger cast members; Rory Culkin and Emma Roberts. It’s through their teenage eyes that we see how easily the American dream can go wrong.
Lymelife was developed at the Sundance Filmmaker’s Lab, hit the festival circuit in 2008 and picked up the International Critics Award at The Toronto International Film Festival. It’s worth a look.
As I mentioned last week, during October we’re screening a collection of music documentaries every Thursday night, and this week Rialto Channel brings you the story of music producer extraordinaire Arif Mardin - The Greatest Ears In Town: The Arif Mardin Story.
Mardin, a classically trained musician who became one of the most successful arrangers, composers and producers of the 20th century, began work at Atlantic records in the early 1960s. He began his career with The Young Rascals number one hit Good Lovin, and continued working until his death in 2006.
He gave the Bee Gee’s their falsetto sound, combined classical elements with pop music to win Bette Midler a Grammy with Wind Beneath My Wings, gave Chaka Khan her infamous hip-hop edge, and worked with some of the biggest divas in the business, such as Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon and Aretha Franklin. He never lost his touch, and was responsible for turning Norah Jones into a world-wide sensation when she released her debut album Come Away With Me.
A gentleman who knew how to get the best out of his clients, he never forced his own sound on anyone, instead he helped these artists work out what their sound was, and enhance it. No one has a bad word to say about the man in this documentary made by his son. Yes, it’s a touch sentimental, considering it was being filmed around the time of his death, but he was a truly talented and humble individual, and it’s clear everyone genuinely loved him.
To wrap it up this week, don’t forget we’re showcasing work by the great French director Alain Resnais on Sunday evenings at 8.30pm. This week, you can catch Stavisky, staring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a con-man and ex-convict whose extravagant lifestyle is funded by selling phony stocks. The film is based on a true political scandal in the 1930s and was shot and released in the early 70s. Who would have thought this subject matter would be so relevant almost 40 years later.
Enjoy.