:00:28. > :00:31.We'd like to hear from you, so please do tweet us.
:00:32. > :00:39.On tonight's show: Growing old disgracefully.
:00:40. > :00:46.Lily Tomlin packs a punch in "Grandma."
:00:47. > :00:54.Some people should not grow beards, your face looks like an armpit!
:00:55. > :00:58.Brad and Angelina embrace happiness and heartbreak in "By The Sea."
:00:59. > :01:08.And a long time ago - in a galaxy far, far away? We look
:01:09. > :01:11.back to the birth of "Star Wars." Plus, keeping a sense of humour
:01:12. > :01:14.British movie Hector, starring Peter Mullan and Gina
:01:15. > :01:20.And joining us is the Independent's critic Ellen E Jones.
:01:21. > :01:28.Hello. Hello. Hello. But, that went well.
:01:29. > :01:30.Actress, stand-up comedienne and all-round super-star.
:01:31. > :01:33.If she were British, she'd be a Dame by now.
:01:34. > :01:34.Once a favourite of top-indie director Robert Altman,
:01:35. > :01:37.now she's winning fresh acclaim in indie comedy Grandma,
:01:38. > :01:51.When? When are you going to have to ask is? Now. You are asking? Yes,
:01:52. > :01:55.you are disturbing the customers. I am a customer, do you know what a
:01:56. > :01:58.customer is. A customer pays for your services so I am a customer.
:01:59. > :02:06.What other customers are we disturbing? Them? Ozzie and Harriet?
:02:07. > :02:12.Yes. Else is a lesbian feminist poet and her granddaughter shows up on
:02:13. > :02:18.her doorstep and her granddaughter is in a tight place, she needs
:02:19. > :02:25.money. I need $600, 603. For what? I am pregnant. And so Elle joins her
:02:26. > :02:31.on a road trip to find the money for the abortion.
:02:32. > :02:34.Do you think I am a shut? No, no. But I don't want you using that word
:02:35. > :02:41.again. It is a comedy drama which makes one
:02:42. > :02:46.cringe, the hardest film to do correct me, the success ratio is
:02:47. > :02:49.low. But at the same time, some of my favourite films like the graduate
:02:50. > :02:54.that. You have to take responsibility for that. Why did you
:02:55. > :03:02.not use a condom or for the sake of humanity, get a vasectomy! Who is
:03:03. > :03:05.this? She is my Grandma. In some ways, she is conventional. The grand
:03:06. > :03:10.daughter is making a mistake she might have made. Get out of my
:03:11. > :03:17.homecoming you crazy old... I liked your boyfriend, he is special.
:03:18. > :03:21.Nobody is able to be as aggressive. And yet as charming and funny as
:03:22. > :03:29.Lily. She is already pregnant. Grandma! Just saying! The character
:03:30. > :03:36.is gay. The character is in her 70s. There is ageism and transgender
:03:37. > :03:40.character played by Laverne Cox. Your Grandma helped me out a long
:03:41. > :03:45.time ago. That is some sort of essence of what the movie is about.
:03:46. > :03:49.Don't reduce people. I am assuming you went to her for money but she
:03:50. > :03:55.doesn't have any money either so of course you came to me. I figure
:03:56. > :04:01.Conservative America will not love the film! That has been borne out!
:04:02. > :04:04.Most of them do not see the film. There has been stupid stuff on the
:04:05. > :04:09.internet about it. A presidential election is coming up and the old
:04:10. > :04:14.Raft of Republican candidates have made political hay out of this issue
:04:15. > :04:19.and lies have been spread around. You need to be able to say, screw
:04:20. > :04:23.you sometimes. I say that. You did not say that about little creep back
:04:24. > :04:28.there. Screw you, Grandma! Not bad. The movie is a welcome
:04:29. > :04:33.change of the issues and the way it is handled and the way people
:04:34. > :04:40.relate. What about those can Dons I got you? We used them. You can get
:04:41. > :04:46.more. -- condoms. I know, you do not have to yell at me! This is not
:04:47. > :04:50.yelling, I will show you yelling. It is not pro-abortion, I cannot think
:04:51. > :04:56.of anybody who is. They are pro-choice. This young woman is in a
:04:57. > :05:01.dilemma and she clearly is not in a position to be a parent. Any aid it
:05:02. > :05:07.can seat you need to be supervised, right? -- idiot. You saying I am any
:05:08. > :05:13.idiot? What do you one? A kiss. I am going
:05:14. > :05:24.to be there because this is my granddaughter. What do you think,
:05:25. > :05:29.acquitted? This is a Paul Weitz movie and he made American Pie but
:05:30. > :05:35.this is more of an American indie, low budget feel. This is about
:05:36. > :05:40.abortion, two women going to get an abortion. We're watching it in the
:05:41. > :05:43.UK and thankfully in this country abortion is not a fraught issue and
:05:44. > :05:47.it takes on a different tone, it is more about the granddaughter and
:05:48. > :05:53.grant parent relationship. -- grandparent. In many movies, she is
:05:54. > :05:57.a caricature but she gets to be a character and that is interesting. I
:05:58. > :06:02.could just watch her and you realise it is really tight, it is succinct
:06:03. > :06:05.and she is so fantastic as a character that if they made a film
:06:06. > :06:11.just about her going shopping let alone what they have to do, I would
:06:12. > :06:15.watch that. Lily Tomlin is fantastic, I have been scared of her
:06:16. > :06:19.since All of Me in 1984 and I was 12. New cow in the best way and that
:06:20. > :06:25.is a condiment. She still has that, she is why a wall on legs. A 70
:06:26. > :06:29.something punk rocker. It works well as a buddy movie and you need two
:06:30. > :06:33.people and Julia Garner who plays her granddaughter is great and they
:06:34. > :06:37.have a great dynamic. It should not make sense as she is frail and
:06:38. > :06:41.serial, hop on Marks blonde curls, but she is a top cookie and that is
:06:42. > :06:47.one reason that the -- the film works. A lot of fantastic actors
:06:48. > :06:51.appear. You think, that was a day and a half of work. That did not
:06:52. > :06:55.cost a lot of money. Each interaction is meaningful. In this
:06:56. > :07:01.kind of movie, people coming in and out. Several great scenes in this
:07:02. > :07:07.movie, Sam Elliott is another great character to who plays an old flame
:07:08. > :07:12.of the character of Lily Tomlin. And Marcia Gay Harden. She is fantastic.
:07:13. > :07:17.It is perfect sense because Little Miss sunshine was a perfect movie
:07:18. > :07:22.but had unfortunate consequences like American indie movies, you get
:07:23. > :07:26.half a dozen random people and each has a quirk and they like a family
:07:27. > :07:33.and it makes no sense but the family makes sense. They even look quite
:07:34. > :07:38.alike. Lily Tomlin, it makes perfect sense and Marcia Gay Harden is a
:07:39. > :07:43.driven woman and her daughter is Julia Garner who is a slightly
:07:44. > :07:47.uncertain character. We needed a film about the relationship between
:07:48. > :07:55.that hippie generation and their children. And not the usual Grandma.
:07:56. > :08:00.And not just the one that has toffees and is sweet and knitting,
:08:01. > :08:04.but also very grumpy, she isn't a mixture. She is a smart, she is a
:08:05. > :08:09.rocker and she is soft and she changes. It has the American
:08:10. > :08:14.trappings, chapter headings in lower case. You think, could it not be
:08:15. > :08:17.capital letters? It does not push that too far, there is no ukelele
:08:18. > :08:23.and I always breathe a sigh of relief. Grandma does not need a
:08:24. > :08:30.ukelele. Not expensive, a contention for the wards? Lily Tomlin might be.
:08:31. > :08:34.A lot of good feeling for her. , cost $600,000 and the funny thing
:08:35. > :08:38.about awards and we are about to enter that corridor of hysteria,
:08:39. > :08:41.awards season, and if you make films that are not blockbusters, that is
:08:42. > :08:46.history were because you have to make nominations. I do not think
:08:47. > :08:50.that is bad in the case of Grandma, it fits the movie. Tangerine was
:08:51. > :08:54.another film benefiting from not having as much money. But you
:08:55. > :09:00.realise you have to do that if you do not get the film industry
:09:01. > :09:03.economy, if you do not get nominations, you make a film in a
:09:04. > :09:05.cover shop with no extras for half $1 million.
:09:06. > :09:08.Written and directed by Angelina Jolie, she stars
:09:09. > :09:10.with her husband, Brad Pitt, as an unhappily married couple
:09:11. > :10:06.trying to save their relationship in the South of France.
:10:07. > :10:25.Can I just say, there was only one screening of this and I could not go
:10:26. > :10:31.because I had to do other stuff. I have not seen it. People have been
:10:32. > :10:37.vile about it. In my world, she can do no wrong. With that, Danny.
:10:38. > :10:43.Delightful as that clip was, we need to put flesh on it. The film is
:10:44. > :10:46.directed by Angelina Jolie and about a pair of ridiculously good-looking
:10:47. > :10:51.married couple played by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. She is a famous
:10:52. > :10:55.dancer and he is of course a famous writer but despite their success and
:10:56. > :10:59.good looks, they are not happy, the marriage is going bad. They fetch up
:11:00. > :11:05.in the French Riviera in the South of France in a beautiful Andy Dilip
:11:06. > :11:08.result. They get stuff unpacked and spend the rest of the film having
:11:09. > :11:13.rows, drinking gin for breakfast and having mascara running down their
:11:14. > :11:19.cheeks. It is very self-indulgent and in places shrivelling great goal
:11:20. > :11:25.but I quite like it. It is also smite and self-aware and it has
:11:26. > :11:30.slight whipped -- smart. It is a based around these beautiful perfect
:11:31. > :11:35.people stricken with Ms Rhee, even luggage is perfect and even though
:11:36. > :11:40.the room is perfect and Brad Pitt's slacks, they are perfect and
:11:41. > :11:46.Angelina Jolie's lips, they are perfect on her big and bubbly head.
:11:47. > :11:50.It is not big and bubbly, it is perfect. Continue as you are! That
:11:51. > :11:59.is a condiment. They are consumed with self loathing. Why have people
:12:00. > :12:03.been so mean? People are confusing a beautiful film made by a beautiful
:12:04. > :12:07.woman with a vanity project. The character is quite vain but it is
:12:08. > :12:11.not a vanity project because there is more than her showcasing her
:12:12. > :12:15.beauty and talent. Good ideas as well. And she is quite smart to
:12:16. > :12:20.focus on the beauty because if you cast Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,
:12:21. > :12:24.they cannot just stand in a garage forecourt, they have to be in a
:12:25. > :12:27.beautiful location, it makes sense. It is tradition for the director to
:12:28. > :12:32.fall in love with the leading lady even if the director is the leading
:12:33. > :12:37.lady! What is weird is me listening to you two, I think of course I will
:12:38. > :12:42.see it but having read the reviews, you'd two come at it from a
:12:43. > :12:48.different angle. It is far too long. Seven days long? It is getting
:12:49. > :12:54.there! Neither of us wants this on our epitaph, I liked By The Sea. It
:12:55. > :12:59.is too late! There is a lot to stick up for. So many interesting ideas.
:13:00. > :13:04.For Angelina Jolie, she is self-aware and she knows she is one
:13:05. > :13:08.of the world's most sought-after actresses and she makes herself a
:13:09. > :13:11.peeping Tom. There is a hole in the hotel room wall and she is the one
:13:12. > :13:16.looking at the couple next door, that is interesting. What are my
:13:17. > :13:20.favourite scenes is short, it is her and him ready to go out together and
:13:21. > :13:25.they look in the mirror and she puts lipstick on with a cigarette hanging
:13:26. > :13:28.out and it is fabulous. You said vanity project but everything is a
:13:29. > :13:33.vanity project. We do not normally notice because it is normally a
:13:34. > :13:37.director's project and we do not recognise their name. Actors
:13:38. > :13:42.constantly, even when they do not direct, like she has, they
:13:43. > :13:45.constantly make vanity projects because everybody is dependent on
:13:46. > :13:50.that to get the finance. Writers and direct has turned into skeletons
:13:51. > :13:57.waiting for Ryan Gosling to say yes to their movie. Every film is a
:13:58. > :14:00.vanity project. Let of Angelina! -- lay-off.
:14:01. > :14:03.It won seven Oscars, ranks as one of the world's top
:14:04. > :14:06.grossing films and is, quite simply, the stuff of movie legend.
:14:07. > :14:08.Nothing was the same again after Star Wars.
:14:09. > :14:10.But we've waited more than 30 years to find out what happened
:14:11. > :14:12.to Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Hans Solo.
:14:13. > :14:16.On the eve of the new Star Wars release, we go back to 1977
:14:17. > :14:17.and Star Wars fever, first time around.
:14:18. > :14:33.Star Wars THEME. Make sure your seats are securely fastened. For the
:14:34. > :14:39.most part, like any fairy tale, it is timeless. Just making a movie
:14:40. > :14:41.that I thought would be enjoyable, that I wanted to make, telling a
:14:42. > :14:58.story I wanted to tell. Now, Star Wars is a world-famous
:14:59. > :15:04.brand but in 1977 it was an unknown quantity. The sci-fi B-movie
:15:05. > :15:11.directed by a relative newcomer starring a cast of unknowns.
:15:12. > :15:15.Expectations were low. My agent said there was an American making a cheap
:15:16. > :15:19.little budget science-fiction movie where the money was going on the
:15:20. > :15:27.sets and costumes and special effects. He wanted to see me for the
:15:28. > :15:33.part of... And she paused, a robot! Don't take that look with me! I said
:15:34. > :15:39.no! We thought it was a bit of a turkey. It blew everybody's mind,
:15:40. > :15:45.what I was doing. Not very reassuring! George's style of
:15:46. > :15:49.film-making was difficult, he never said anything, he never asked me to
:15:50. > :15:55.do a scene in a particular way, he would just say action and cut.
:15:56. > :16:02.Sometimes he would say terrific. Often he said nothing. I have a very
:16:03. > :16:06.bad feeling about this. We were several weeks behind schedule and
:16:07. > :16:20.the studio cut us off. We ended up with the 80% shot movie. It looked
:16:21. > :16:23.like the ship had sunk. Hello there. Is it true that you didn't know what
:16:24. > :16:31.character you were playing in Star Wars? I don't know quite what he was
:16:32. > :16:35.meant to be come I must admit that. Darth Vader, now that's a known I
:16:36. > :16:45.have not heard in a long time. -- Obi Wan. I thought oh, grams. Star
:16:46. > :16:50.Wars, science-fiction, not for me! We will have no more of this Obi Wan
:16:51. > :16:55.Kenobi gibberish. I feel something terrible has happened. The dialogue
:16:56. > :17:00.was pretty childish. That's the real trick, isn't it? I said to George,
:17:01. > :17:10.you can type this shit but not say it. And it's still true. There is a
:17:11. > :17:17.bit of a trick to say" it will take a few moments for it to get the
:17:18. > :17:25.coordinates". At the rate they are gaining? It isn't like dusting
:17:26. > :17:33.crops, boy! I thought, who talks like this? Do you know what he's
:17:34. > :17:37.talking about? Star Wars was pretty difficult to read as a script
:17:38. > :17:40.because a lot of the description was of special effects and it looked
:17:41. > :17:45.like a description of something that was impossible to create. I don't
:17:46. > :17:49.think George thought of them as a special effects, he wanted to make
:17:50. > :17:54.his movie. It took 6-8 months to get that stuff functioning. It was very
:17:55. > :18:01.difficult to make the schedule. It hadn't been done before. George is
:18:02. > :18:07.like a great builder. When he has it in his mind that going to make these
:18:08. > :18:12.Star Wars, you know, I'm told billions of dollars, nothing is
:18:13. > :18:17.going to stop him. George created his own world, his own industry in a
:18:18. > :18:23.way. You wonder what it's going to be in the future in terms of an
:18:24. > :18:30.injury, going to visit George at the ranch. A piece of junk! I hate great
:18:31. > :18:36.confidence that we would make it -- had great confidence. Even by the
:18:37. > :18:41.standards of Hollywood, a place where nothing succeeds like success,
:18:42. > :18:45.Star Wars is phenomenal. It is already the biggest box office hit
:18:46. > :18:49.in cinema history. One reason for this is that it somehow combines
:18:50. > :18:52.elements of the best loved themes of romantic adventure, from Arabian
:18:53. > :18:59.nights to the Western, science-fiction and fantasy. We did
:19:00. > :19:04.it! We did it! Fantastic imagination. I didn't like it when
:19:05. > :19:11.the man chopped off that persons arm. Why not? Because there was
:19:12. > :19:15.blood! I think a lot of people feel that George and Star Wars
:19:16. > :19:18.transformed the industry. It transformed the exhibition, allowing
:19:19. > :19:23.a film to be released into Morse in the Mars than anybody had put a
:19:24. > :19:30.movie before. People love the movie, not only for the content but what it
:19:31. > :19:37.represents, in their minds, ushering a new era merchandising driven
:19:38. > :19:42.movies. With the success of the film, the country goes Star Wars
:19:43. > :19:50.crazy. Star Wars pretty much created merchandising in movies. Did I
:19:51. > :19:56.enjoyed that? Yes. There was a shampoo where you could twist my
:19:57. > :20:03.head and pour liquid out of it. Yes, the Force can be with you at
:20:04. > :20:06.breakfast! The problem is, you make a film, people take it, especially
:20:07. > :20:11.if you are successful, and they use it however they need to. Many people
:20:12. > :20:12.used it emotionally and intellectually and some people used
:20:13. > :20:26.it, surely. But that was a long time ago, and
:20:27. > :20:33.far, far away. Now a new generation of fans will get to feel the Force
:20:34. > :20:40.once more. Camera, action! When Star Wars the Force Awakens hits in a
:20:41. > :20:44.Mars next week. -- hits cinemas. These characters come and they know
:20:45. > :20:49.it is in a galaxy far away, a journey that people can relate to. I
:20:50. > :20:55.have been a Star Wars fan as an adult and a child. Oh, my gosh.
:20:56. > :20:59.That's something that George Lucas started and we are definitely
:21:00. > :21:10.carrying it on. He has signed his action figure! Ciabatta! We are
:21:11. > :21:14.home. -- Chewbacca. It is the characters that people love, a world
:21:15. > :21:16.we want to go back to immediately. We are going back to the stories
:21:17. > :21:23.that people feel intensely about. And we'll be reviewing "Star Wars:
:21:24. > :21:26.The Force Awakens" next week. Next, Hector, starring Peter Mullan
:21:27. > :21:44.as a homeless man in search Early Christmas present coming up.
:21:45. > :21:54.Lovely Hazel, looking after my bank. What else have I got? For you, for
:21:55. > :22:01.being such a lovely dog. And I almost forgot, Lord Douglas, for
:22:02. > :22:08.being a clever old bastard. You are a locking MAC Gold mind reader.
:22:09. > :22:15.He has been homeless for 15-20 years and he has embarked on an annual
:22:16. > :22:23.pilgrimage to a homeless shelter in London. It is a kind of Odyssey, you
:22:24. > :22:28.know. Who he meets on his journey and what he encounters on the
:22:29. > :22:37.journey. Just passing through? Have you got a girlfriend? A few years
:22:38. > :22:41.ago I did some volunteering work for Christmas and I met some
:22:42. > :22:48.extraordinary people with amazing stories, including a particular man
:22:49. > :22:56.who travelled and came to stay in the shelter. I came to realise that
:22:57. > :23:01.it was a story. Hey, you! Nearly gave me a heart attack! We were on
:23:02. > :23:06.location in the middle of the Scottish winter, it was never going
:23:07. > :23:15.to be easy. It was cold but you know, you are an actor. You wear
:23:16. > :23:20.jumpers. It's not working down a mine. It isn't sleeping rough on the
:23:21. > :23:24.streets certainly. Private contractor for the council. Driving
:23:25. > :23:36.one of those trucks for the recycling. RU a bin man? Lock off!
:23:37. > :23:47.Recycling, doing my bit for the planet. Some people, Hector being
:23:48. > :23:52.one of them, you could argue that he has chosen this particular way to
:23:53. > :23:56.live. When somebody has a mental breakdown and cannot face the
:23:57. > :24:03.responsibility of keeping a job, I for one cannot condemn that person
:24:04. > :24:12.for making the choice. Nobody willingly wants to sleep on the
:24:13. > :24:19.street. Slow down, OK? I can't, the brakes have gone. It is sometimes a
:24:20. > :24:23.hard watch. Introducing a bit of humour, it is true to life but it
:24:24. > :24:35.makes the difficult things easier to watch. Trying to change the subject?
:24:36. > :24:44.Yeah. Let's go. You are my family now, that's the way it is. Want my
:24:45. > :24:47.cracker? Danny? One of the things I liked about Hector, it reminds us
:24:48. > :24:55.that Peter Mullan is more than a monster. He was great previously but
:24:56. > :24:59.he was also a bully, he was very good in it. He keeps being cast in
:25:00. > :25:04.those roles but this is a reminder that it wasn't always like that, it
:25:05. > :25:10.doesn't have to be that Peter Mullan arrives and almost the Jaws music
:25:11. > :25:15.arrives. In 1842 when he made my name is Joe with Ken Loach, it was a
:25:16. > :25:18.different Peter Mullan. There was the gentleness and these and see, so
:25:19. > :25:24.it's nice to be reacquainted with that. Yes, he has the twinkle in his
:25:25. > :25:27.eye. I like the fact that it shows as a different side to the British
:25:28. > :25:33.motorway that we don't normally see. A lot of films about American roads,
:25:34. > :25:38.very romantic but you don't often see a nice roundabout, nicely shot!
:25:39. > :25:45.I found it incredibly... It may be the perfect Christmas movie because
:25:46. > :25:49.it feels like it's about kindness and I thought I would like to take
:25:50. > :25:54.my 12-year-old to that. That's a better way to judge it rather than a
:25:55. > :25:58.Peter Mullan movie rather than a social realist movie. It isn't
:25:59. > :26:02.really about homelessness, it is about a homeless guy and lots of
:26:03. > :26:07.nice things happen to him so it is a bit schmaltzy if you are wanting
:26:08. > :26:14.gritty social reality. Difficult to make films about goodness and so on.
:26:15. > :26:20.A previous firm has done the same thing, making drama out of goodness
:26:21. > :26:24.and decency, really tricky stuff. We mentioned in Granma, we talked about
:26:25. > :26:29.how lovely it was, brilliant people popped up and the same thing happens
:26:30. > :26:33.here, Keith Allen, and so on, they may have only worked for two days
:26:34. > :26:41.but they are strong. Yeah, if you watch a lot of telly, there are many
:26:42. > :26:46.good TV actors, you have the hostel worker who everybody is the spirit
:26:47. > :26:52.of Christmas. We are running out of time. Film of the week? I'm going
:26:53. > :27:00.with By The Sea. Are you? The only person! I'm going with by the CX is
:27:01. > :27:05.Mac but I'm also talking about Reflecting Skin which has come out
:27:06. > :27:06.on DVD and Blu-ray, people should see it.
:27:07. > :27:11.Playing us out tonight is the late, great Nora Ephron's rom-com classic
:27:12. > :27:12.When Harry Met Sally, which is re-released
:27:13. > :27:24.Most women at one time or another have faked it. Well they haven't
:27:25. > :27:37.with me. How do you know? Because I do. Right. I forgot. You are a man.
:27:38. > :27:41.What does that mean? Nothing, all men are sure that it does not happen
:27:42. > :27:42.to them and most women have done it. You don't think I can tell the
:27:43. > :28:23.difference? No. Get out of here. MOANS SOFTLY. Are you OK? Oh, God.
:28:24. > :28:33.Oh, God! Ooh! Oh, God! Oh, yeah, right there! MOANS WILDLY. Oh, God,
:28:34. > :28:57.yes, yes! Yes, yes! Sir! Oh, yes! Yes, yes! Yes, yes, yes,
:28:58. > :29:02.yes! Oh, oh! Oh, God. Ooh...