Michael Caine is............Carter! 

GET CARTER! dvd review

When 'Get Carter' was first released, it was excoriated in some quarters for its "extreme" violence; seen today, the violence itself looks almost tame -- but the cold ferocity of Michael Caine's performance is still unnerving, even frightening. For a man who is personally obviously so likable, he has the uncanny ability of making his eyes go lifeless and cold, and he has plenty of opportunities to do so in 'Get Carter.'

This was really the first serious movie about British gangsters in many years, and that itself shocked some people, those who preferred to think that such types just didn't live in Jolly Old England. But they did, and evidently Ted Lewis' novel Jack's Return Home, the basis for the movie, nailed the idea. Mike Hodges wrote and directed the film, establishing himself at once as one of the hottest young directors in England -- a position he toppled from after the likes of 'The Terminal Man' and 'Flash Gordon,' not to mention 'Morons from Outer Space.' But with this year's excellent 'Croupier,' he shows that promise was not misplaced -- just delayed.

'Get Carter' is cool, sleek and hard, almost metallic in its understated, almost austere approach. It's been called a film noir, but it's something more basic and primal; there's no sense of redemption, no sense of thwarted ideals. Jack Carter (Caine) is no hero; he's a soulless man out for revenge. Even though there are flickerings from time to time, as he reaction to noticing a family near him on a ferry, that he knows just what kind of person he is, and regrets it, 'Get Carter' is not about what he has lost, or even what he gains in his implacable campaign of revenge. It's a hard, tough movie about a hard, tough man -- a character who'd be a villain in almost any other context, and who is hardly the hero here, just the protagonist.

Although it's never explicitly stated, it's obvious that Jack is a hit man working for a pair of London gangster brothers. As the movie opens, he's just learned that his brother has died back home in Newcastle; despite the fact that his bosses want him to stay in London, Jack heads for Newcastle, the town he'd gone into crime to escape from.

He concludes that his brother Frank was murdered, leaving his teenaged daughter Doreen (Petra Markham) without any parents, her mother having died some years before. (There is a strong hint that she's actually Jack's daughter, the result of his affair with his sister in law.) Margaret (Dorothy White), Frank's last girlfriend, has no interest in Doreen at all, and gets away from Jack as soon as possible.

His return to Newcastle has aroused a great deal of interest among the less savory residents of Newcastle. He encounters Eric Paice (Ian Hendry), and we realize that though they've known each other a long time, they are anything but friends. Carter suspects elegant, sardonic Cyril Kinnear (John Osborne, the playwright) is involved, especially when Cliff Brumby (Bryan Mosley), another shady character, urges Carter to kill Kinnear.

But it's not the unraveling of the well-constructed plot that makes 'Get Carter' such compelling viewing. Nor is the dialog particularly memorable. It's the way the story is told both technically and dramatically, and the superlative performance by Michael Caine. Furthermore, the movie was shot entirely on location, and a sense of place is precisely and clearly evoked; the interiors of buildings have the somewhat awkward and cramped feel of many British buildings. The skies are gray, the city and the people are dingy -- no wonder Carter fled; just watching this movie can drop the temperature in your room. Even if a few very bizarre, but very real, touches such as an all-girl marching kazoo band wander by.

Caine is one of the greatest actors today, and always working; he's even in the depressingly bad remake of 'Get Carter' starring Sylvester Stallone. Unlike all too many American stars, though, Caine is fearless about playing unlikable characters; he's interested in the role, not whether the audience likes him personally. And though we do occasionally get those brief glimpses of a decent man buried under Jack Carter's icy surface, that man is buried, and will not be resurrected. He keeps stuffing money in people's pockets, hoping to buy -- what? not salvation or their gratitude, but just a little good will. Carter is a bastard, a murderous, hardened thug, however well he dresses.

The DVD includes the usual extras, including a very good commentary track featuring Hodges, Caine and cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky (all recorded separately). Their memories of the film, made 30 years ago, are mostly clear, and they obviously had a precise idea of just what the film was supposed to be. There's an odd short featuring the brilliant, melancholy and spare score by Roy Budd (which is trashed in the remake).

Technically, the disc is very good. Suschitzky's photography used a lot of long lenses, desaturated colors and gray skies, ideal for showing on television. Hodges, whose first feature this was, uses sounds like music, even in a similarly "unrealistic" way; during a sex scene between Caine and Geraldine Moffat, Hodges doesn't use music but the sound of wind as an "underscore." It adds a kind of coldness to the scene, which is otherwise pretty hot.

When 'Get Carter' was released, the reviews were mixed to bad, but when a list of the hundred greatest British movies was compiled a year ago, it came in around 26th. It's one of the great crime movies of the 1970s, and will be remembered long after both the remakes are forgotten. (Yes, 'Get Carter' was remade once before; only a year after its release, it was remade as the blaxploitation 'Hit Man.') It's as timeless, chilling and involving a thriller as anyone could want.

Angus Young of AC/DC onstage in Oberhausen in June 2003 (reviewed below) 

AC/DC/Rolling Stones Oberhausen ticket (review below) 

GIG REVIEW Cranberries, AC/DC, Rolling Stones. Oberhausen, O-Visions Zukunfstpark,Germany 13th June 2003

Gig review from an AC/DC perspective.....

The O-visions Zukunfstpark was a bitch to find. Oberhausen itself is a fairly anonymous looking town, and the venue itself was really just a huge gravel pit behind a disused factory in an industrial estate!
However, we got there early on the day of the gig (me (tomScotland), Cam, Bjorn (JD) and Johan) as I had a ticket to sell. We killed some time by sitting around enjoying the sun and the vast amount of people walking around sporting DC shirts.
The highlight of the early afternoon was undoubtedly hearing the soundcheck. Initially we thought it was the crew/guitar techs but then they rocked into IYWB and HTH (Brian sang HTH perfectly, and ended it very well indeed, quietly and quite Bon-like in fact, it suits his style this way!) But we were not prepared for what was to follow - they soundchecked Walk All Over You!!!!.
We mused briefly that it may find its way into the set, but predictably enough it didn't.

On to the gig itself, and I'm pleased to say I really enjoyed the Cranberries set (I've always had a bit of a thing for delores). They were tight, loud, and were treated to a good sound.
With anticipation building we made our way forward for AC/DC, getting quite near to the front. There were vast amounts of AC/DC fans in the crowd and I think some of the older Stones fans felt a bit threatened!
When the show began AC/DC simply strolled out, gave a wave and launched into HAABPTB, Angus' cap staying on for about 3.5 seconds as usual! I knew immediately we were witnessing a top-drawer performance. By now you'll know the setlist, 14 songs, 1.5 hours, no surprises but the tightest performance imaginable.
ANGUS PLAYED HIS HEART OUT. He was rolling, duckwalking, running like a teenager - he was on fire! Brian was feeling the strain a bit, but his vocals were pretty much spot on. It was nice to see the band play in daylight, you could see things you don't normally, like the band talking, and Brian waiting by the side of the stage during the BBB strip and Angus' solo part in LTBR. The Bell made a nice appearance, going UP into the gantry, and it was a nice change to see the old Cannons (From the Cannon and bell Tour era). The show was brilliant, I mean REALLY BRILLIANT and if the Stones were not so reliant on huge video screens and a billion dollar lightshow they simply could not have followed that, no way.
The Stones were pretty robotic, measured and reserved and I left well before the end. (In fact I left so bloody early I missed Rock Me Baby!)
Anyway, another 10/10 for AC/DC and another concert memory for me. I was totally knackered by the time I got home as I'd just come from the SwedenRock Festival (Motorhead were sensational as always).



- Hell ain't a bad place to be
- Back in black
- Dirty deeds
- Thunderstruck
- Bad boy boogie
- If you want blood
- Hells bells
- The Jack
- TNT
- Highway to hell
- You shook me
- Whole lotta Rosie
- Let there be rock

windswept and interesting? 

me before I became a hippy 

Review: Rory Gallagher Rockpalast DVD

222 minutes of Rory at his best. This DVD will be an absolute treat for not only fans of Rory Gallagher but guitarists everywhere. It features Rory in concert for WDR's "Rockpalast" TV show from the 70's.

Show One - Studio L Koln '76
For me, this is the pick of the bunch. An intimate setting, with a small audience. Captured shortly after the release of my favourite Rory album, the Roger Glover produced "Calling Card". Featuring the Lou Martin/Rod De'Ath/Gerry Macavoy line-up.
It begins with an acoustic set featuring Rory switching between DADGAD and open-E tunings, and using his steel resonator. "Pistol Slapper Blues" is a loose rendition with Rory really stretching out and warming up on the instrumental phases. On "Too Much Alcohol" he sets the pace with a wonderful slide rendition, pausing to slip into DADGAD for "Out On The Western Plain" which is beautifully rendered, and the most passionate live rendition of this song you'll find. "bankers Blues" and "Nothin' But The Devil" and "Rag mama Rag" follow, then its time to introduce the band for the very familiar "Goin' To My Hometown" which doesn't quite sparkle like the Irish Tour '74 version, but still shows how he blended celtic and american influences and is well recieved. Then its full band electric, Rory switching onto his battered '61 strat for the remainder of this set. He blasts into "I Take What I Want" and "Calling Card", then allowing Martin and De'Ath to shine after setting the tone perfectly with some mellow blues soloing on "Secret Agent". "Do You Read Me" isn't one of my favourites, but it's well executed here, with a loose feel. In fact, Rory himself comments about the venue having a small club atmosphere and its clearly obvious he's having a blast. He's figuring harmonic pinches and double bends into every song now, he's ablaze! Great energy in this performance, and its contagious. If you're a guitarist you'll want to play after watching this. And it's not over yet - Rory leads the band through storming versions of "Bought And Sold" and the under-rated "Country Mile". He brings the tempo down temporarily for the start of "jacknife Beat", finishing off stage in about the nuts and bolts of the studio for an improvised boogie. The restrained German audiencemust surely have wanted to stand up and let their hair down a bit more. This is the best set on this DVD - a great introduction to this line-up of the band. De'Ath is worthy of praise indeed for his ambidextrous abilities, and on the phrases where Lou Martin is given a few bars of freedom you realise he is in total control of his keyboard. MacAvoy, Rory's longest serving lynchpin is as solid and bottom heavy as ever. He does, however, sport a rather ill-advised pair of white flares which I'm sure he'd rather forget. 10/10

Show Two - Grughalle, Essen '77
Fully packed venue for this one - it was broadcast live in something of a landmark event on German TV, a satellite link up known as "Euro-Vision" (not the song contest, thank Christ) beamed across Europe and Eire. This is a bit of a mish-mash. The beginning of this gig was only ever broadcast on Radio, so we suffer a horrible talk-through by a rather anonymous host, as well as the intro of EuroVision and the nervous looking presentation team. However, once we get started, this is a belter. Theres a killer triplet from Calling Card - "Moonchild", "Secret Agent" and "Calling card". Just as its beginning to flow though, its time for the Acoustic interludings. Rory struggles slightly with a slightly out-of-tune DADGAD on "Out On The Western Plain" - but still makes it lilt as it should. Time then to switch back to electricity for a few stage favourites (and by 77, oldies!) "Tattoo'd Lady" ("anybody still remember this one?"), a thumping "Souped Up Ford" is a set closer most bands could only dream of having written. Rory and band head off stage, and Rory is cornered by the host with some of the most inane questions ever posed - Rory is clearly wired after a killer performance and is being asked utter shite like "were you satisfied with the crowd?" and "how do you feel".
Regardless, he re-appears for a double encore (was he ever asked for anything less?) dusting off "Bullfrog Blues" and "Bought And Sold" once again. This performance is less indespensible than the first, but for those of us with dusty old VHS of it its a godsend.
So, with the minor shortcomings accounted for I give this set an 8/10.

Show Three - Wiesbaden '79
This concert was an exhibition, a guitarists masterclass. Unfortunately we don't get to see it (I have it on video and I can tell you it was scorching). What we do get is the encore/Jam session from the tail end of it. We get Rory (now sans De'Ath and Martin) encoring with "Bullfrog Blues" before a clearly pissed (but still legendary) Frankie Miller is wheeled out to participate in "Walkin' The Dog" (great version, mind) and "Sea cruise", "Around and Around" finishing up with a blast through "Roll Over Beethoven".
The only thing I'll say about this is that it must have been included because there was space left on the disc - although maybe Rockpalast could have included the full gig and maybe even Loreley '82 and made it a double-disc? This set 6/10
OVERALL 9/10
Picture Quality - slightly patchy at times, but hey, its the seventies 7/10
Sound 5.1 - 9/10
Packaging - nice liner notes in German/English
Its worth it. Buy it!

tomScotland

WELCOME!

Welcome, one and all, to tomScotland's BLOG. Here, over the coming weeks, you can expect to find my thoughts, random meanderings, information, mis-information and general guff about music.