Tracey Ullman: ‘It’s very hard to be a boy in this world right now’ –
By Holly Bishop
Tracey Ullman said she believes it’s “very hard to be a boy in this world right now” as she reflected on her role in Steve.
The actor, 65, stars alongside Cillian Murphy in the drama, directed by Tim Mielants, which follows a headteacher of a troubled boys’ college.
Speaking to The Independent at the London premiere on Tuesday (16 September), Ullman said when asked about her mother-like character, and what she thinks of the importance of maternal relationships to young boys in education: “I love these boys in this film.
“I’m a grandmother now… I think it’s very hard to be a boy in this world right now. It’s hard to be anybody, but especially a, a young person.
“My best thing I’ve ever done is have children, but it ain’t easy, you know, you’re not having a baby, you’re having a person. And, uh, it’s a huge responsibility. Um, I felt all that for them.
The singer-songwriter, who died in 2000, is best known for duetting on “Fairytale of New York.” But in an unusual career, she also made her mark behind the scenes.
By Bob Mehr
During a fitful 20-year solo career, the singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl released just five full-length albums, achieving a modicum of success in her native England, and little notice in America. Yet MacColl — who died at 41 in 2000 — is omnipresent each holiday season: It’s her voice offering tart rejoinders to Shane MacGowan in the Pogues’ cockeyed Christmas anthem “Fairytale of New York.”
But the woman with the soaring alto, whom Bono once called “the Noelle Coward of her generation,” was far more than her best-known work. Last week, Universal released “See That Girl: 1979-2000,” an eight-disc boxed set with 161 tracks that follows MacColl’s musical journey — which included an attempt at teen pop stardom, years of accomplished studio craft and global musical exploration.
Those who knew her best, including the folk-punk musician Billy Bragg, have long extolled MacColl’s fierce wit, spiky charisma and gift for sharp-detailed songwriting. “It was all about attitude with Kirsty,” Bragg said in an interview. “Her personality came across so strongly in the songs.”
But her career was sporadic and often secondary to her family obligations, and her untimely passing precluded the usual late-career reappraisal and appreciation. “See That Girl”not only recovers many of MacColl’s lost recordings, but puts her in conversation with bold female singer-songwriters of today who perhaps unknowingly bear her influence.
“Her songs were brilliant, funny, they broke your heart, had wonderful chords and these magnificent bridges — and they were about girls,” said the actress and singer Tracey Ullman who, 40 years ago, scored an international hit with MacColl’s grand pop proclamation “They Don’t Know.” “I played that song at my wedding. I played it at my husband’s memorial service. It’s a song you can carry with you through your entire life,” she added. “Kirsty wrote those kinds of songs.”
One of The Hobbledehoy’s favorite films from the 1990’s was “Household Saints.” The Nancy Savoca film has just had a beautiful 4K restoration and we’re very much anticipating rewatching. Household Saints stars Tracey Ulman and 90’s Indie Queen Lili Taylor. There’s a memorable scene where Jesus Christ is preparing to do laundry. A Must see!
By Alex Billington
“Please keep me from giving birth to a chicken.” Kino Lorber has revealed a new trailer for a 4K restoration of this 1990s indie film called Household Saints, made by NYC-native filmmaker Nancy Savoca. This originally premiered at the 1993 Toronto Film Festival, and it screened again at this year’s New York Film Festival for its 30th anniversary. Adapted from Francine Prose’s novel of the same name, it’s an unsettling drama about three generations of Italian-American women struggling to get by in post-WWII New York’s Little Italy. Kino Lorber and Milestone Films are proud to present a new 4K restoration of Nancy Savoca’s Household Saints, featuring a cast inclduing Tracey Ullman, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lili Taylor, Judith Malina, and Michael Imperioli. The film has been digitally restored and remastered by Lightbox Film Center at University of the Arts (Philadelphia) in collaboration with Milestone Films with support from Ron and Suzanne Naples. Described as a “a unique voice in 1990s NYC independent filmmaking” – have a look.
Based on Francine Prose’s fifth novel, Nancy Savoca’s comic chronicle of a spirited Italian-American New York family perfectly balances humor, tragedy, and pathos. D’Onofrio’s Joseph Santangelo is a butcher with a wicked sense of humor who ‘wins’ his wife Catherine (an uncharacteristically reserved Tracey Ullman) in a pinochle game. Together they experience the ups, downs, and wacky in-betweens of city life until teenage daughter Teresa slowly overtakes with her yearning to join a convent. Perfectly embodying a modern-day Bernadette, Lili Taylor imbues Teresa with a mix of dedicated innocence and naïveté. Exec produced by Jonathan Demme, with notable appearances by Michael Imperioli & Judith Malina among others, Household Saints announced a unique voice within 1990s New York City independent filmmaking.
Household Saints is directed by Bronx-native filmmaker Nancy Savoca, her third film at the time after True Love and Dogfight previously. The screenplay is written by Nancy Savoca and her husband Richard Guay, based on the novel of the same name written by Francine Prose. Produced by Richard Guay & Peter Newman, and executive produced by Jonathan Demme. This initially premiered at the 1993 Toronto Film Festival and Cinefest Sudbury Film Festival. The 4K restoration premiered at the 2023 New York Film Fest this fall. Kino Lorber will re-release Savoca’s Household Saints in theaters in New York on January 12th, 2024 at the IFC Center, then in Los Angeles on January 26th at American Cinematheque.
The singer-songwriter, who died in 2000, is best known for duetting on “Fairytale of New York.” But in an unusual career, she also made her mark behind the scenes.
By Bob Mehr
During a fitful 20-year solo career, the singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl released just five full-length albums, achieving a modicum of success in her native England, and little notice in America. Yet MacColl — who died at 41 in 2000 — is omnipresent each holiday season: It’s her voice offering tart rejoinders to Shane MacGowan in the Pogues’ cockeyed Christmas anthem “Fairytale of New York.”
But the woman with the soaring alto, whom Bono once called “the Noelle Coward of her generation,” was far more than her best-known work. Last week, Universal released “See That Girl: 1979-2000,” an eight-disc boxed set with 161 tracks that follows MacColl’s musical journey — which included an attempt at teen pop stardom, years of accomplished studio craft and global musical exploration.
Those who knew her best, including the folk-punk musician Billy Bragg, have long extolled MacColl’s fierce wit, spiky charisma and gift for sharp-detailed songwriting. “It was all about attitude with Kirsty,” Bragg said in an interview. “Her personality came across so strongly in the songs.”
But her career was sporadic and often secondary to her family obligations, and her untimely passing precluded the usual late-career reappraisal and appreciation. “See That Girl”not only recovers many of MacColl’s lost recordings, but puts her in conversation with bold female singer-songwriters of today who perhaps unknowingly bear her influence.
“Her songs were brilliant, funny, they broke your heart, had wonderful chords and these magnificent bridges — and they were about girls,” said the actress and singer Tracey Ullman who, 40 years ago, scored an international hit with MacColl’s grand pop proclamation “They Don’t Know.” “I played that song at my wedding. I played it at my husband’s memorial service. It’s a song you can carry with you through your entire life,” she added. “Kirsty wrote those kinds of songs.”
