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The world's longest set up for a movie that never plays.

This is another I picked up from the charity shop on the basis of having a somewhat bad reputation that put me off, but intrigue compelled me to see for myself.

It seems to be Ridley Scott's venture into the kind of tonal world that Sicario, or No Country For Old Men conjures, or inhabits... A simultaneously seedy, yet sophisticatedly lo-fi awfulness world of cartels and too highly polished, deluded sophisticates being too coolly criminal for their own good.

Michael Fassbender's "Councelor" is involved with some distinctly nefarious types, and wants a piece of action on the side for himself, to set himself up with new fiancé (Penelope Cruz) involving him with yet more seedy characters, and of course, a downward spiral into the quagmire ensues.

I could also mention movies like Scarface, or any Michael Mann style movie, to give you an idea of what this intends to be, but there is something distinctly lacking here... it's too monotone, too dull, even. And on top of that, it's too subtextual for it's own good. I usually appreciate, and pick up on such things well, but this is way too abstract, and many, if not most, will get to the end thinking like I was: "I think I got it at one point, but then.. no. In fact, what the hell just happened?!"

It feels like some of those aforementioned movies where there's lots of threads set up at the start that you don't get, and are not really supposed to, in order to be bowled over by the gradual unfolding of the plot by way of little deposits of key information, leading to s sequence, or even one revelatory twist that leaves you breathless... except, here it never arrives, like the movie after this, if it were made, would be what this were leading to.

It's not a bad movie, as as such, it just ain't great, or even really good.

The plot, as said is too abstract, like an in-joke that all the characters are in on, but being an outsider as a viewer, you feel like: "...What?", and Ridley is too tuned into the more naval gazing aspects of the story to worry about the audience. Much of the more philosophical leanings are a bit much to be expected in reality from such low life characters, and feel a bit naïve from a director who doesn't get this kind of world. I suspect, as this is based on a Cormac McCarthy novel (Much as with Elmore Leonard), the more subtle stylings and subtextual elements would be more apparent in the reading, or rendered by some other director as a movie, but here, it just feels obscure, and lacking the kind of charisma that say, a Tarantino would offer.

It's a shame, as the performances from all the central cast are excellent (if you can get over Bardem's hair!), especially Cameron Diaz's suitably convincing icy snake-lady, and they are all doing their best, it just doesn't really come together the way those others do.

An intriguing, at times fascinating watch, even engaging at times, just a bit too random, and dull to really hit home.

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What a tangled web we weave!

This is one for the conspiracy theorists, especially those who got entangled with the likes of The Da Vinci Code, and The Holy Blood, And The Holy Grail... Except this is work of (overt) fiction is a almost a masterpiece of deadpan satire of conspiracy theories.

In fact, given the author was an absolute master of medievalism (he knew his historical, and indeed his "historical" stuff!), this leaves those other works in the dust, due to his total command of the material in ways others can only dream of.

Essentially, within the framework of the plot, of a trio of cynical, esoteric book publishers who decide to make a little publishing enterprise by concocting a global "masterplan" based on their combined knowledge of all things "secret society", freemason, and Knights Templar etc., they weave a massive web of horseshit for their target audience, built form the accumulated mass of almost every piece of history and "history" not nailed down that you can think of...

(Seriously, almost any historical figure or place you care to mention pops up at some point, and even the most learned or familiar among you will struggle with some of these references)

...Only to discover, once dark events and happenings around them may suggest their created plan may actually be true!

.....And now it seems it may be after them.

There's plenty of twists here, naturally, and I think it may be somewhat too dense with historical reference at times, but that only serves to highlight the psyche of the conspiratorial mind, by taking it, and running further with it that most of them are able, or willing to go. It gets to be like a joke told deadpan, that just keeps going and going, and getting more and more elaborate and funnier, not necessarily because of the content, but due to the absurdity of persistence.

It is also great at breaking this down, and showing the mechanics of conspiracy, and the conspiratorial mind, and how such people are susceptible and vulnerable to such intrigues. So not only a masterpiece of satire of the whole "world" of conspiracy, but actually quite useful for those wishing to seek some objectivity... or indeed... sanity.

Ultimately, there is no conspiracy, and everybody else knows it but you :)

...Or is there?

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Guardian review :read:

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It's better than his last album "Soulsun" (although truthfully, that really wouldn't have been difficult) but this is another crushingly disappointing effort from Damo.

It's now been 12 years since his last truly great album, 2012's "Almighty Love". "Soulsun", from 2017, sounded like a record made by someone who was struggling to write (bad covers, what felt like outtakes from previous records and re-recordings of old songs) but needed to put an album out.

"Hold Your Joy" feels like a record made by someone who has forgotten what made him great. It's weak, where's the warrior abusing his guitar with that boxers right arm, beating his chest in righteous ire. When he does get pumped up it's on the worst song I've ever heard of his (the awful "James McLean") and the less said about "Let It Go" (aka I've got a title and I'm gonna sing it, never mind the lyric) the better. I'll give him "Love Is The Bomb", a beautiful song about his Dad, but it's the last song on an album that runs for over an hour, by the time I got there I was bored.

I'll always go see Damo live, it's a life affirming experience, but his records seem to be getting further apart (6 between 2000-2102, 3 in the ensuing 12 years and one of those was duets of his own previously released songs with other artists !) and less and less good.

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Still completely wonderful!

I have not seen this since I was made to go and see it at the cinema with my mum's co-worker, who took me and her - as it turned out - not only sickly, but terminally ill son when it came out...

(Let's see... I would have been nine years old at the time)

... And as if this fact was not bummer enough, there are some emotionally stretching moments here that for children of that age, as anyone already familiar with this movie will know, can be devastating to younger hearts and minds.

And for both of these reasons, I've wilfully avoided watching it since.

But now, as the nights draw in, and I feel exhausted watching new (to me, at least) movies, I feel I'm in the season where I need a little nostalgia, and something cosy and familiar, as well as being prompted by the urge to see if itwould still "get me" the way it it did first time around.

And while I do come to this now, with adult mind and soul, a little more objectively, this wonderful, magical fable of the relationship between fantasy and reality has lost none of it's imaginative potency, and still elicited a tear or two... or maybe there was just something in my eye.

While one particularly devastating scene (You know the one!) didn't quite reduce me to a blubbering mess the way it did when I was nine, it still made me go: "Ooh, that's a bit heavy to handle for kids!".

But the tale of a magical book, discovered by a bullied child who has lost his mother, and can't connect, or be sympathised with by his matter of fact father, and which causes him to escape into the world of magical fantasy still resonates to this day... more so, perhaps, in such all too real times as these.

Great practical effects, animatronics, and puppetry, well shot, and the story well told, in the finest traditions of the most earnest, un-cynical and non-meta fairy-tales of old, and time immemorial, still help to push aside the self referential, cynical , or all too real times in which we live.

So if, like me, you may be older now, or not having seen this for a good long spell, or think, even, that maybe you've grown out of this kind of thing a long time since... I'd urge you to revisit it again, perhaps for old time's sake, or even Auld Lang Sine.

Consider it a guilty pleasure, or even a much needed, long neglected treat.

Go on!... you deserve it! :)

(It maybe that you need it too :)

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Absolutely brilliant!

Those of us in the UK who were only familiar with Michael Winner being on the telly often, and principally known only (it seemed) for those God-awful Death Wish films, would never suspect he was capable of making anything like this!

This, on first impressions, seems like it's going to be pretty standard western fare... a vehicle for established Hollywood star to be the hero... roll into town, clean up the bad guys, before riding off into the sunset after a job well done...

...Except here, they've turned the whole thing on it's head, the titular "Lawman" is more the bad guy than the supposed baddies. Subsequent research reveals that the inspiration for the script for this was a quy read a quote to the effect that: "The only real hired killers in the west were the Lawmen" (paraphrased / misremembered), and that they often caused more trouble than they solved, if not actually were the source of the trouble in the first place.

It jumps straight in with the incident that causes all the hoo-ha from then on, as a bunch of cowboys get drunk in a town, shooting all over, as is the common trope and an old man gets accidentally killed during this incident.

But then we get to the ranch owner played thoughtfully, meditatively, even philosophically by Lee J. Cobb, who contrary to the usual pure evil overlord type you see in this role, is perfectly willing to make reparations to the townsfolk, for what his ranch-hands have done, as are the, again, counter-to-trope cowboys in his employ - all fully fleshed out characters, and proper humans, as opposed to the ye-ha! types we usually see here, and it even seems the townsfolk are willing to go along with it to.

All very reasonable, so far.

...Except, then Burt Lancaster, who gives an excellent performance as a coldly indifferent "lawman" shows up to see the law has it's pound of flesh. - He is all, and exclusively duty, and by the book, and is deaf to all other considerations, even if it would defuse this whole situation from the outset, and he is constantly advised to do so by all and sundry, but nothing is going to dissuade him.

The whole thing spirals out of control, with the Townsfolk deciding to do something about him administering the law, even at the expense of justice, and even the local Marshal (Played brilliantly by Robert Ryan) tries to talk him out of making a mess by pursuing this course, but Burt ain't having none of it... he's almost like the Anti-Terminator, fighting for what he sees as the good, ruthlessly relentlessly, and without a grain of compromise.

In the end, it's a tragedy, of how being too "by the book", and un-merciful can see justice, in the true sense, fall by the wayside.

A real Winner.

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Found a super-tatty copy of this in the charity shop, with misprinted labels (matrix - A1 / B1), and while I didn't want to look to close at what was going on on the cover art (yikes!), I assumed it was going to be some kind of Black Sabbath-y proto metal affair...

...Actually, consistent with the date of release, this has more of a bleed-over into the seventies-sixties psychedelia, proto-prog / folk thing happening instead.

Only the themes (the whole cult / occult / devilry) of the songs and the surprisingly excellent vocal style really have anything to do with any kind of heavy metal. Rather, this has more in common, to my ears, to Gabriel era Genesis, underscored by a more sedate, even tender at times folk feel, as far as the overall sound is concerned... as one of the two most prominent elements in this is the extensive use of various organs... which gives it that psychedelic going into prog style....

...The other most prominent element, which is actually a point of distinction for this, is the drumming - very jazzy, lots of fills and punctuation, as opposed to flat rhythms.

That said. the opening track of side two does wrong foot you, with a more gentle, sweeping affair, with strings, that sounds like it's about to go all "Moody Blues" of a sudden, before it settles back down into it's established style.

Quite a good album actually... except maybe the organ and drums, being so prominent do largely overwhelm anything else in the music, even the vocal at times. And although this does, at the same time, give the sound a sense of scale, it is mostly an artificial one, as I think this is more intimately recorded, arranged and produced than would otherwise have been the case without those two instruments.

So you could probably get a later remaster on a CD which might have attempted to "pull the sound elements apart" a little, in order to give the vocal and other instruments a more separated sound, I'm not sure there's enough here the the music could bare it, and the sound, as it is here, has a character of it's time, and consistent with the subject matter, that may be somewhat lost through such an exercise.

It's a CBS disc, so as always, and excellent pressing, and any issues you may have sound wise, are as mentioned, before the getting to press stage... not a pressing issue.

If you can find a copy in good condition (unlike my scratched, and snowy sounding one!) and appreciate an album of this kind with this kind of audio aesthetic and character, it's well worth getting this issue.

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A movie with a bad reputation, for all the wrong reasons.

One I've been meaning to see for some years, mainly to see what all the fuss was about. General, common cultural consciousness will hold this in a place of infamy due to proclaimed obscenity, and lately, a controversy over one of it's most infamous scenes, and the making of that scene. And while I find myself on that side of the fence where if I know something icky has happened on the set during the making of it, it colours my view of the movie as a whole, in this case, and quite in spite of myself, I come out the other side if this convinced it's a masterpiece.. as a movie, and as a piece of storytelling.

The story of a lost man who's wife has recently committed suicide, for reasons he can't understand, leaving him broken, confused, and kind of in freefall, meeting a much younger woman / girl in a flat, as she is looking for a place, and setting in motion almost instantly a questionable, and purely sexual relationship is, it seems, now that I have seen it, wholly misinterpreted, and the reputation it has for "obscene" scenes wildly over-exaggerated.

Admittedly, the opening scene of their meeting and first sexual encounter would surely be considered rape, as would the scene with the butter stick (I'll say nay more on that!), as well as the scene when she sticks her fingers up Brando's ass, but as with the shower scene in Psycho, it's more about what we know is going on, than what it actually shows...

(The girl is frequently nude, but only ,mostly from the waist up, and you only get the brief glimpse of Brando's flabby ass, but not in any sexual context)

In fact, the movie is deeper than that, and the sexual element is only a cipher for deeper meanings, concerning loss and tragedy, the broken-ness and desolation of a person when their world falls apart. A refuge, you might say, when nothing seems to matter any more.

It seems a bit shonky and third rate at the beginning, camera-work, directing, the whole shebang, but thoroughly engrossing as it goes along, and not for those sexual reasons.

The last half hour or so are positively brilliant, as, after a key scene where Brando visits, and has a stunning monologue at the bedside of the corpse of his dead wife, as she lies in state (Tom Cruise's best performance in Magnolia is a straight lift of this scene) , the tone suddenly lifts, like he's got something off his shoulders, and it becomes quite a charismatic affair, full of life and zest, even optimism...

...For him, at least.

And having raised you up in such a way, it abruptly drops you emotionally down a metaphorical elevator shaft right at the end.

Seriously, I don't think a creeping grin has dropped so suddenly from my face in any movie.

breathtakingly tragic.

You can feel the influence of this movie in many modern movies, like Blue Is The Warmest Colour, and one scene is shot where (Now) Elliot Page's dream architect does that thing with the mirrors under the viaduct in Inception (I bet Nolan just wanted to film there because of the aesthetic from this).

So if you can get over the reputation and disturbing elements of the movie's production, you have a brilliant move here.

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MGM tries to do Disney, and misses the mark, somewhat.

Fans of James Herbert's novels will acknowledge this, while not being his greatest novel, does hold a place of deep affection in their hearts... as it is, not his usual horror fare, but more of a poetically tragic tale of a man who, once he dies after a tragic car accident, is resurrected as a puppy, born to a stray, and form there, haunted by memories of his former life as a man, tries to find his way back to his human family.

Already you can see this is a little too heavy for what the DVD cover here suggests.

That seems to present the idea of a more: "Turner and Hooch", or "Beethoven" style "Awww!"-fest. And I think that was what MGM was aiming for: That those kinds of movies were killing it at the box office at the time, tuned in superficially to this novel, as "being in the ballpark" of that kind of story, and so went with it. But while it may be among the more earnest, even tragically sentimental of Herbert's work, it really isn't Disney material, and a little strong and odd for kids.

I made the mistake of watching with headphones on, so all I could see in my head while the voice overs for the real dog's thought dialogue was the image of Samuel L. Jackson in a booth, with fag on the go and a glass of whiskey while he phoned in this afternoon's work for a fat paycheck / paycheque (as you will)... That really breaks the illusion.

(Still better than a modern CGI talking dog effect though... at least it's honest!)

It does engage you more in the last twenty minutes or so though, and is, on occasion there, touching... but that's due to James Herbert's story, rather than the mis-matched Disney style movie presentation, which even that, could not entirely dispel.

I would therefore encourage people to give the movie a miss perhaps - or go into it with no expectations at least - and instead, read the book... It's pretty lo-key great.

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This is a deeply weird and and unpleasant movie.

It aims for the kind of black humour that War of the Roses had, but it's aim is wildly off. Imagine The Farelly brothers trying to do a Tarantino movie, and creating only a mess.

Greatest of respect to John Goodman (Legend), but I do not need the thought of him lusting after Liv Tyler in my head, let alone having sex with her... And that's basically what this movie is: Three guys scraping their knuckles after Liv Tyler, while she plays them to get what she wants, but she is essentially exploited for her sexuality at this time, and fetish-ising her, and dressing her up in various sexual fantasy wardrobe choices for horny teens.

Now this would be ok, if the movie was at all funny, but it isn't.

It produced only two mild chuckles from me, which isn't enough to forgive the movie's trying too hard, but failing too hard awfulness.

The only good things in this movie are Michael Douglas's "hair" (a wonder to behold!), and Reba McEntire... Everything else is a cringe-fest.

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This is one long-ass movie!

Finally plucked up the courage to watch this, thinking, since time of release, that it was absurd and hokey in concept... a bit of mock-worthy fluff.

I never imagined that what I was actually in for was a positively Tolkienian 2hrs, 45 mins of funerial, languid, bordering on the morbid, depression, and all n David Fincher's signature murky tones, minimalist direction and glacial pacing.

...I mean, it's actually a better story than I had expected, and better handled than the cringe fest I thought awaited me, but with all those previously mentioned factors at play, it just exhausts the viewer, so that by the end, I found myself drooping, and thinking: "Dude, I don't really care how this ends now, so long as it does end... at some point... soon!"

Subsequent research reveals something I didn't know about the story: That it was based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald... I repeat: short story, of some only 45 pages long.

How on earth do you spin out a 45 page short story to heading toward three hours of movie?

And this tale of a man who ages in reverse, set against the fable like device of a clock that was built to run backwards by a man in grief at the loss of his son to war certainly does have an appealing notion at it's heart, and which should have made for a more engaging, and crucially, compelling tale. It actually feels like one of those short stories great novelists write from time to time, where they get a cute notion in their heads, and so jot it down... for fun.

I think what's happened here then, is whoever made this happen had too long to think about that notion, and all it's extensive implications, and spun the yarn out way too long.

Another odd thing, is when a particular director makes a movie not in his accustomed style, or of a different kind of genre, it often begins to look like another director's work slightly. Here: it has a faint whiff of Wes Anderson or the kind of magical fable telling of Guillermo del Toro, but alas, these allusions wilt under the weight of it's Finchery.

(Also, in this sense, Martin Scorcese's: Hugo, sprang to mind, except that is quite enjoyable)

So if you fillet this movie, and look at the bones of it, it's like Forest Gump minus the joy, emotional impact, fun, engaging quality, or entertainment value... and it should have been handed to a Zemeckis or a del Toro to make a better movie.

Drab, soul crushing, depressing... and ultimately disappointing, in that it could have been such a magical movie if someone else had done it... with a shorter runtime!

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A fairly decent slice of sci-fi action spectacular hocum, typical of it's age, and among the better movies of JCVD's, that holds up better than most among his filmography.

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Hardcore Parkour!

This is one of those frenetic thrill rides that jumps straight into the action from the off, and rattles along to the end without letting catch your breath much.

From the age when Parkour was, culturally speaking: "a thing" on everyone's lips, so naturally you get all these brain bending parkour set pieces and fights, but it also has a great premise, and fairly decent story to boot:

So, a local lad defies, and goes up against the local drug lord / warlord in his district, which, along with others, have been deemed "out of control" by the authorities, and so a wall has been built up around it to keep the mayhem in, and away form "decent folks" outside... Said lad fails in his attempt (though has a decent stab at it!), and is locked away by the corrupt police when he is delivered to them by said warlord... and to make matters worse, his sister is being held captive inside by the warlord and his crew.

But then... an action man / super cop is recruited to go into district 13 and retrieve and defuse a bomb that the warlord has stolen, and which will go off in a few hours, so naturally employs the help of the incarcerated local lad to guide him in, which also gives him the chance to recover his sister... Naturally, both are supremo Parkour super- bendy people, made of springs and general boing-y-ness, so that helps!

This is an absolute masterclass in how to cram a complete action story into just 1 hour, 24 mins without missing beat.

A super thrill ride actioner, great for a Saturday night in.

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As I write this in October 2024 it is exactly fifty years since B.T Express's debut single "Do It ('Til Your Satisfied)" both topped Billboard's US R&B listings and received its UK release on Pye International 7N 25666. The single didn't quite manage to top Billboard's "Pop" listings but it did hold the #2 spot for two weeks!! I could have sworn it was a UK chart-hit as well as I remember hearing it being played a lot on the radio but somehow it missed out.

This CD contains all the tracks from the LP that was rushed out to capitalise on the success of the single plus the 7" edits of "Do It ('Til Your Satisfied)" and its follow up "Express" (a tune that also topped Billboard's US R&B Chart as well as getting to #4 on the magazine's "Pop" Hot-100 chart). "Express" DID manage to chart in The UK at a respectable(ish) #34, but probably outsold many a Pop-Top-20 hit as a lot of its sales would have been through specialist Soul/Disco/Funk shops that didn't report to the folks who compiled the charts.,. the L.P. versions of these two tunes on this CD sound to me to be the same as the "Long" versions that were on the "B" sides of their respective singles.

B.T. Express were one of a number of popular New York City based self-contained Disco/Funk/Soul/R&B bands that emerged around 1974 (the clue is in the name as "B.T. Express" stands for "Brooklyn Transit Express") and I was spurred into buying this CD after hearing some of the lesser known tracks being played on a splendid "early '70s" Soul/Funk radio show called "The Soul Power Lunch Hour" that goes out every weekday at Midday EST on WQSV in Staunton, Virginia (that's usually at 5PM where I live in England where I can pick it up via "The Net") ... try it, you'll like it!!

Fifty years on all the tracks stand up very well and still sound VERY fresh and not rushed at all ... apart from the relentless, insidious funk of their two major hits, standouts for me are "Mental Telepathy", a very "Norman Whitfieldesque" track that has echoes of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", and "That's What I Want For You Baby", which has more of a mainstream "Soul" sound than the other tracks. "Once You Get It" is really a "Do It (Until You're Satisfied)" soundalike and "Everything Good To You" is one of those "advice" songs that might have been a big hit if recorded by someone like The Staple Singers.

Here are some of the standouts ...

[YouTube Video]

[YouTube Video]

[YouTube Video]

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Independent review :read:

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I'd always avoided this believing it was an over-wrought, schmaltzy, sugary-sentimental, overly earnest affair, leaning a little too heavily into the whole Hallmark card angels business...

...And to some extent, it is, but not schmalzy or over sugared. Certainly, they don't beat you over the head with the emotional manipulation I expected in true Hollywood style, but to such an extent that they may have gone a little too far away from any sentiment, so that it felt a tad... sterile, emotionally for me.

What they have done with this romantic fantasy tale of an angel who falls in love with a doctor, and wants to become human for her sake (plot taken care of!) is actually opted, wisely, and to my great delight and surprise, for a more sparse, almost minimalist tone, where everything is very lightly handled and done, from the photography, acting, story and dialogue. This gives the whole feel of the movie a more haunting, ethereal tone, so as not to damage it's poignancy.

...But, as I said, I think it goes a little too far in this direction, making it feel a little thin, and fragile, and as with the footprints in the sand as the angels walk on the beach at sunset, it barely leaves any emotional impression... at least on first viewing.

It could have done with, let's say, more emotional punctuation - The odd scene where they did amp it up a little more, just to sell the rest of the story a bit more, rather than, therefore, emotional monotone through out. Of course, it does kind of elevate it a little towards the end, and may have suggested a tear or two (but only to my right eye! :), but I feel it needed a little more of something in there.

Finally, I must take issue with the key scene in the finale, which, rather than deliver the emotional punch it was aiming for, was poorly staged, weakly, and meekly acted, and was inclining slightly toward the curling of the toes (but only on my left foot!).

All told, this does have the feel of a movie that needs more than one viewing, as many who have seen it the once, will likely hold the same opinion as me, but, I suspect, will grow on you, or into you the more you see it... Eventually to become one that is held with great affection. So I'm going to keep this one about the place for a while, then watch it again sometime, to see if it's worked on me in the meantime.

(I am certainly inspired, on the strength of this, to seek out the movie it was based on: Wings of Desire - a German film, I believe)

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There's still time.. Brother.

Well, this is a pretty bleak movie!

In fact that's why I've been meaning to see it for a while, to see if it was as depressing as it's reputation suggests, and yup, it is pretty grim.

It's not graphic, or horrific to watch, obviously, due to the time it was made, primarily, as well as the stars who appear in it would never do anything like that...It's just the whole setup, the whole premise, and situation is quite a lot to invite into your brain, especially in times like these... But perhaps that's exactly what may make this the most timely movie to watch.

So, humanity has destroyed itself globally in a nuclear war, with only Australia surviving, and an American sub, captained by Gregory Peck is heading in there as their last resort... what with home being destroyed... but nobody in this part of the world has truly escaped, and are in fact, doomed anyway, as the global fallout radiation is heading their way in just a matter of months, when they will all die from that.

(Happy thoughts everyone!)

But this is not a Mad-Max type of post-apocalyptic mutant wars scenario; Rather this is a character study of people who, though they all know what is coming, are trying simultaneously to carry on as normally as possible - after all, what else can you do? - while trying to push such thoughts of impending doom aside.

Peck's Captain lives in denial that his wife and children have perished at home, and so refuses the attentions of a barely-holding-it-together Ava Gardner, who just wants companionship, and connection in her final months. Fred Astaire's scientist has invested his remaining time in building a Ferrari to race, and enjoy what remains to him, and bleakest of all, Anthony Perkins is trying both to keep composed, while planning for the end for him, his unaccepting wife, and baby through the procurement of certain pills to speed them painlessly on their way when the time comes.

The doom and uncertainty means there's no happy ending here, and the movie was clearly intended at the time to shock audiences into abandoning the lunacy of nuclear proliferation, by painting a very effective portrait of the un-survivable aftermath of such a final devastation.

All performances are strong, including Fred Astaire in a straight up dramatic, non-dancing or singing role, but especially Ava Gardner, who steals the whole movie with charm and charisma.

One of those movies that's perhaps important to watch, but once would probably be enough.

Otherwise a very powerful, haunting movie, who's pointedly significant motif lingers long in the memory after it's ended:

There's still time.. Brother.

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The best one since the first one!

In pantheon of infamy which is the Predator franchise >gag<...

(I always feel unwell using that word, along with other tummy bugging terms like: "IP" and the like)

...This is way above all the other sequels, and for one clear and obvious reason: They actually had a story to tell, in which the Predator appears, rather than: "Let's make a Predator movie, then tack "a story" on after.

For it's primarily an inspired coming of age tale for a young girl / woman of a Native American tribe who just wants to be a hunter, rather than just a home-maker etc. And so, the whole first 45 mins is about establishing her character, her world, and her relationships to others in the community, with only the brief scenes of Predator arriving and being Predator-y interspersed ere and there until their paths really cross, and she must prove herself, as well as survive.

Great storytelling, beautifully shot in some stunning countryside (Cinematography looks and feels more of the calibre of something like The Revenant crossed with Dances With Wolves than the usual mega CGI / green screen fare we've come to expect.

I rank this alongside the likes of Blade Runner 2049 and others of this rare breed of truly getting a sequel / prequel right.

Truly excellent.

(I'm sorry I was so dismissive of it when it came out... I just thought it was going to be another cruddy movie in the series)

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Great fun of course, but it feels a bit too much "Comic book nerd material" for me now, and while it is enjoyable, it's all gone way too meta.

Ultimately, a sugar rush of a movie, nice instant hit, but ultimately disposable pap that won't really bear repeated viewings.

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A very "talkie" drama.

Not much by way of cinematic pizzaz with regards dramatic visuals and scenes, mostly interior dialogue scenes, but very mesmerising nonetheless.

The story of a poor Spanish girl plucked from her hometown and transported to Hollywood to be transformed into a star by some mega-rich wannabe Howard Hughes type, with the intention of working with Bogart's down on his luck director.

Alas, she won't play the game the way Hollywood wants exactly, being strong willed, self possessed, yet lacking a certain something in her life.

Her story is told through the narrations of three principal characters at her funeral (not much of a spoiler, as that's where the movie begins!), as this tragic tale unfolds.

One impressive thing about this is the relationship between Bogart and Gardner's characters... initially threatening to be of a romantic nature, it then progresses and continues throughout the rest of the movie as a purely platonic relationship, in the manner of allies, confidants, and friends, although you do feel a strong love between them... not something you often see in a movie like this, or of this time, but it's excellently handled.

So a nice, easy paced, engrossing tale of a rise and fall of a tragic heroine.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Better than I had been led to believe, if a little odd.

This always seemed to dwell, reputationally, in the long shadow cast by it's near contemporary: Easy Rider, and always seemingly readily dismissed as a bad movie.

But it's not that bad actually; In fact, in many ways, it's really rather good.

The problem it has, I think, is that people don't really know what to make of it, have gone in perhaps, with one set of expectations about what it is, and finding it's mostly something else.

Begin with that title, which leads you to believe this is a biker movie, in the style of what our more recent, and more modern understanding of what Hell's Angels are, and any movie about featuring them would be... And while there certainly are those elements present: Riding around en masse, fights, trouble with the law etc. What it really is, is a typically sixties psychedelic art movie, like an Andy Warhol movie, with zany, amateur-ish spiralling handheld camera views of crazy arty orgies, strange set piece scenes of mucking about on motorcycles and other trippy nonsense, all set, not to any expected hard rock soundtrack you may associate, but all the groovy, psychedelic, far out Hollywood approximations of the music of that specific era.

All of which, gives it a weird vibe: A psychedelic movie featuring Bikers? ... eh?

Like chocolate and cheese. Two things that you may like on their own, but would never consider putting together.

The "plot" consists, at least for the first hour, of a wash, rinse, repeat cycle of psychedelic orgy and love scenes, followed by a fight, followed by some riding, followed by another love / orgy scene, followed by a fight...etc. Once petrol station attendant Jack Nicholson ditches his job and takes up with the Hell's Angels.

And frankly, this first hour seems aimless, and pointless, and going nowhere... which is, as it turns out the point the movie is consciously making... the excellent song in this: Moving Going Nowhere, by a band called The Poor, makes this evident, in case you missed it!

...But the last 25 mins / half hour is where it all begins to make sense, and you go: "oh!.. I get it!"

And as such, it turns out to be a commentary on an itinerant, rebellious lifestyle. And given that this point was very much against the prevailing "free" spirit of the time it was made, it's actually quite bold, and ahead of it's time, in re-appraising the late sixties even while living it.

In fact, Jack Nicholson delivers the most salient line once he realizes he's dropped out of societal norms only to adopt, contrary to his expectations, a new set: "I won't wear your uniform!"

(A bit like when everyone and their dog gets a tattoo in order to be "different from everyone else", and express their "individuality" - Life Of Brian, anyone? ((Chuckle))

Not the greatest movie ever, but really rather good, nonetheless.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Wow, this really lost it's way pretty darn fast!

....Right in front of my eyes in fact. For while the first two parter had a very strong idea at it's core, and felt like a split cinematic movie, in terms of the story, and the quality of the writing, this instantly feels less movie-like, and more tv miniseries / episodic.

It feels rushed too, bouncing from scene to scene without much explanation of how it got from one scene to the other. Across the three episodes, you see a valiant attempt to match the orginal story, and take up where it left off, rapidly, and by degrees disintegrate, visibly running out of ideas, and cobbling together stories just to get it along to the finale.

By the end, it gives way entirely to the most hokey, cornball hammery you can think of... It almost literally goes back in time from first episode to last in terms of quality of production, until it's virtually a spoof hippie sixties groovy buck rogers Flash Gordon spoof of love-in optimism, replete with rainbows of balloons, groovy cod-funk music, and unaccounted for space magic nonsense.

Forgets all the good characters they'd previously put work into building, and summarily disposing of others, losing any interest that marked the original out for special consideration.

Promising to begin with, total crap by the end.

✔︎ Helpful Review?

I remember this being a real event back in the day, but have not seen it since.

So I was pleased to find the DVD sets of both this and The Final Battle in the Charity shop the other day...

...And I've got to say it's even better than I remember it!

Imagine Independence Day, but with fully rounded, non cartoonish characters, and depth of story-telling, and rather than a straight up, meat and potatoes alien invasion scenario, like War Of The Worlds, the superficially benign "visitors" have a subtle, fascistic scheme for world domination, with the story focussing on all the interpersonal relationships among the humans experiencing this, and how those character dynamics change when challenged, and what you find you have here is an excellently thought out, brilliantly written analogy for a modern fascist oppression, who's methods are more insidious than a flat out invasion, and who's true motives are far more sinister.

Granted, it's very, very eighties in terms of production quality, and the effects have mostly aged pretty badly, but the story is good enough to get over that, and the telling of that story is brilliantly handled. More subtle and nuanced by orders of magnitude than said: Independence Day, as you have human collaborators, as well as Alien, human sympathisers all considered well in the writing.

It's just a shame they didn't have the guts back then to go huge with this, and make a three hour, big budget movie of it (which is what this feels like... minus the budget, of course!), if they had, this would have been a landlmark in sci-fi cinema to this day, every bit the equal of the modern iteration of Dune.

As it is though, it's still a cracker... and I can't wait to get going on the Final Battle set.

✔︎ Helpful Review?

A winter warmer.

I really liked this one, against all expectations.

Don't be fooled by the DVD cover, as this is not the ultra-slick production that cover suggests; Rather this is in the vein (pun!) of the kind of ultra-low budget, atmospheric, early seventies rural England style "horrors" that Hammer and others used to make - maybe think, in terms of look, style, and feel: The Devil Rides Out, and the 1978 movie: The Legacy (Both more my kind of horror movie, as opposed to modern horrors) - This has a lot of atmosphere, and character, due mainly to the incredibly meagre budget seemingly only stretching to the hire of a couple of cars, a caravan, some charity shop find costumery, and the use of an old manor house...

(Perhaps for a few mornings, where I guess they shot most scenes in a very short amount of time, to make the most of this access)

...These resources are utilised to great effect by shooting in those dank misty, autumnal / winteral mornings those of us in England are well acquainted with: damp brown, soggy leaves bestrewn among the baring, dead looking woodlands, an icy mist hanging perpetually in the air to the sound of the many ominous crowings of local rooks, ravens, and well... crows.

This weakness also is this movie's strength though too, actually, as not being able to do spectacular vampire effects (supernatural powers etc.), they basically dispense with all that, and concentrate on the "off-ness" of the two main female leads: besides the mostly tastefully shot, largely inoffensive soft-focus, soft porn lesbian sex scenes, and occasional romp with their lured, and ensnared male victims, there's plenty of stomping around in the misty woodland and graveyards sporting long flowing, black and purple velvet cloaks, before stomping back again moodily.

And aside form a hapless straight-laced couple in their caravan, one of the lured: the hapless Ted, who spends the movie, once ensnared, trying to free himself from their clutches, has the only real "effects" in the movie: A cosmetic cut on his arm the devilish duo extract their needed blood from. So it's all about mood, and not visual effects nonsense, or contrived variations on Vampiric folklore.

In fact, it has a kind of cosy, familiar feel to it, great for a night tucked in with a little snifter when the rain's coming down outside.

The only thing that really has me scratching my head is the opening scene, after the initial sex bout between the pair, they are shot by a dark figure... who? we never find out, or how this leads them to become vampires, or by what mechanisms...

(I did say they dispensed with all that establishing of premise etc... and as you can see, I mean ALL of it)

...But once over that, you have a gently titillating early seventies rural English gothic mood piece.

All good fun :)

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this is the edition first read by yr hmbl srppnt. sometime in the early-to-mid sixties, when my elder bother° borrowed it from church end public library, and the sub-teenage me glommed onto it, devoured it, and has never forgotten it since - despite having only had time to read it the once before he returned it - and couldn't remember the author, its title - nor even having read the book from my memory of the key word, ''rhiannon'', detailed description of the set-up, and the bones of the story!

° - the russian for ''brother'' is ''brat'' - and rightly so!

a superb, technically "sub-burroughsian", "planet stories"-style exotic science fiction adventure story, a true gem of its kind, with the accent almost as heavily upon the powerfully exotic setting, as upon the adventure that pits matthew carse, a low-life chancer of a man, a would-be tomb-robber, against an actual, veritable god - and against the cruel, conscienceless saurian race that rules their thalassocracy on mars of yore - exercising their dominion over all other races - including lowly humanity - upon the planet through their fawning worship of this god, and their apparent obedience of him, and his kin, and studying his technological teachings, and wielding the great powers they gain thereby without any shred of compassion, no achilles heel of any inclination towards mercy - thousands of years before our would-be tomb-robber was born. . .

- against such inhuman and uncaring, overbearing and unfeelingly callously cruel overlords, what chance does one, very far from heroic - let alone perfect - and utterly out of his depth chancer-on-the-run have ?

- this gripped the young ppint.'s imagination, as it has enthralled so many readers in the decades since first it saw the light of day.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Another classic tale of revenge...

...Set in motion by our (anti) "hero" defying the big cheese / Shogun, and having his wife murdered, and so setting off to basically kill everyone the Shogun has ever met, or seemingly ever even looked at!

He takes with him his infant son, in a cart / pram, and they just continually travel around, dicing all who the Shogun has sent to assassinate him and his son.

This includes a pack of ninjas, another group of female ninjas, and three ominous beings known as the: "Masters of death"...

(Three dudes with huge hats and individual fighting gimmicks that will immediately call to mind three such individuals to any who have seen: Big Trouble In Little China!)

...But fortunately, our hero is, of course, the ultimate badass!

A few points of consideration though:

Firstly, this movie, shall we say, doesn't seem to have any actual resolution, which is odd. Also, while this is technically a samurai / martial arts / revenge movie... in look, feel tone and style, I would actually describe this as more of a genuine piece of 60s / 70s psychedelia...

...It has a very trippy, hypnotic, and mesmeric quality to it, further enhanced by the oddly John Carpenter-esque synth score, which I presume, of course, was not part of the original, and much earlier two parts welded together to make this single movie in 1980.

And so, this odd time shifted psychedelic splatter-fest, which is not without some great story points, and poignant moments, is probably best watched whilst smoking a "cigarette" or two .

(wink :).

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The movie that "inspired" Kill Bill.

(Not that Tarantino ripped it off at all, oh no, he doesn't do that... he "pays homage to...")

A child born for, and to vengeance...

...In a prison, to a mother who promptly dies after giving birth, and swearing the child to fulfil this vow of vengeance on those who killed her husband, and created the circumstances of her lifetime of incarceration.

The child, of course, grows to be "Lady Snowblood", a cool, ruthless, sword wielding angel of revenge.

All the beats, style, and look that you will recognise from later Kill Bill are here, but in the authentic 70s fashion:

Some truly beautiful photography / cinematography, transition shots, and other innovative, and stunning visuals frame the essential fountains of blood, spewing comically all over the place, yet this is a more engrossing, easier paced, slow burner of a tale of revenge, as opposed to the more frenetic Tarantino style.

The scene at the end, at a European style period ballroom dance is strongly reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's style, and I wonder if he was an influence on the moviemaking style here... it seems so.

Excellent.

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An unofficial Turkish remake of The Exorcist.

I expected this to be entertaining but made to the same inept standard as the infamous Turkish Star Wars

The production values are actually much better and it's reasonably acted. The only bit they seem to struggle with is making decent demonic vomit - it looks like plasticine!

Well worth a watch if you're familair with the original

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A cut above the rest.

Finally took the plunge, and snagged myself a DVD copy of this - frankly exhausted waiting for it to reappear on TV...

...And having rewatched it, I can now see there is definitely very good reason for that:

This is probably one of those movies that parents do not want their kids to see, and any network is terrified of showing for that reason - That in the current climate, and in this modern world where teens in particular seem to be very nihilistic, not top mention "stabby" and "shooty" - with scarcely a week going by when they are not having at each other - seriously, it seems like it's becoming a hobby or a pastime for "kids these days" (<old man speaking! :)...

...But perhaps I shouldn't make light of this topic... But then, this does exactly that.

Whereas other movies deal with such issues in a lighter manner, such as Mean Girls, and The Craft (Both clearly inspired by this): A gang of popular girls set against the protagonist and making life hell for all the other kids at the school, and you may say that behind the serious frowny face they give, there's something of a wry smile, this is the opposite: having, as it does, behind the wry smile of a jet black humour, something more, well despairing and malignant.

So, with the "Heathers" running the place, one girl, on the periphery of the group, uneasy about being in their clique, takes up with "rebellious", edgy new guy, played by Christian Slater, and thence ensues a Bonnie and Clyde exacting of revenge on them, but kicks up a gear in the final third when she tries to free herself now, not from their influence, but his, as her turns out to be a genuine psycho, way beyond any romantic, Romeo And Juliet visions she had or conceptions of what they were about together... and form there, it turns into a prototype Joker and Harley Quinn dynamic: She's trying to stop him manipulating her, and at the same time, stopping his psychotic, evil schemes.

The one liners in this are grade A writing, my faves being deadpan nuggets like: "Well F"$k me gently with a chainsaw!", and: "Did you have a brain tumour for breakfast?"

In style and tone, I can only describe it as being like a John Hughes teen drama counterpoint in the style of Mean Girls, but scripted and produced by the Coen brothers and directed by David Lynch, in one of his more "Blue Velvet" moments.

Probably one of those like Joker, that powers that be are terrified it's target audience will watch, as it may strike too close to home, and makes everyone distinctly uneasy about, in case it "puts ideas in people's heads - but conversely, maybe that's the exact reason it should be watched, having grown, disturbingly, in relevance over time.

Well, at least it's not a musical... that would be misguided, cynical, and truly sinister.

(I hate musicals, by the way, with a fiery passion... drama, or music dude? pick a lane!)

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Strange one this...

...I've always liked it since seeing it in the cinema, but haven't seen it again in quite few years, so wanted to see how well it held up.

The essential premise is another one of those Hitchcock pastiches: A guy falls for a woman and suspects her motives, and begins to think she's out to murder him - but played for laughs, very much the same as the later Mike Myers movie: So I Married An Axe Murderer (Also good)...

...She being a Romanian accused of murder, with a strong suggestion of espionage and murky international political intrigue as her motive - Selleck, being a fading, down on his luck schlock, dime store crime fiction writer, attending court for inspiration, beholds her as she is presented to court, and is instantly smitten... So much so he puts himself forward as "her alibi", and takes her in, where all the comedic farce of suspicion ensues.

Granted the premise itself is a bit creepy now, and there are more than a few "yikes" moments throughout, but otherwise it's still funny, and amusing, with a great framing device, of his narration of events (in his capacity as a writer) inspired by what's happening, and of course, placing himself as the hero in this wildly exaggerated "version" of events, contrasts wildly with the reality of his bungling, haphazard, and comical behaviour, gives it a knowing, self aware, and self deprecating tone.

A fairly short movie, somewhat absurd, but still fun.

..And with the added bonus of one of those end credit songs I'd long forgotten, but instantly recognised when it played, and now can't get out of my head... that being this one, by Randy Newman:

[YouTube Video]

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This CD plays many excellent recordings from the era of 78s, beautifully transferred by David Michell, and with a subtle hint of 'Enhanced Stereo' added. Sadly, no details are given of the original 78s from which these tracks are transcribed, dates of recording, dates of release, or for the most part, of accompanists, orchestras and conductors. It's no use asking Shazam, they come up with wildly irrelevant nonsense.

Track 1 Sir Dan Godfrey conducting the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, Zampa Overture (parts 1 & 2) transcribed from Australian Columbia 02816
[YouTube Video]

Track 2 Luisa Tetrazzini: HMV D.B.690, 1954 reissue of a 1913 acoustic recording
[YouTube Video]

Track 3 Archie Camden, Allegro Spiritoso, orchestra conducted by Sir Hamilton Harty (knighted in 1925), 80 RPM 12” Shellac single Columbia L 1826, recorded 30 Mar 1926
[YouTube Video]
And issued in the USA on Columbia 67330D (1927) YouTube

Track 4 Heidenröslein (Hedge Roses), Alexander Kipnis with Roger Moore who is not mentioned here, unknown 78 (Recorded 1936
[YouTube Video]

Track 5 Alfredo Campoli with pianist Harold Pedlar unknown 78
[YouTube Video]

Track 6 Hallé Orchestra, Hamilton Harty Cossack Dance can be seen on Australian Columbia LOX-181
[YouTube Video]
or USA Columbia Masterworks 9076-M

Track 7 Peter Dawson, Why Do The Nations (so furiously rage together)? from Handel's Messiah
C.2694

Track 8 Greensleeves, by the Dolmetsch family Columbia DB 1062

Track 9 London Symphony Orchestra, Geoffrey Toye, On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring
HMV 4270

Track 10 Dance Duet From Hansel And Gretel
Columbia 9909

Track 11 "Dame" Myra Hess - Jesu, Joy Of Man`s Desiring: the notes refer to "Dame" Muyra playing a series of concerts in London, which could make this the 1940 recording on
HMV B.9035
This is a more sprightly rendition than the earlier recording, in keeping with her intention to support British morale during the War. There is no posting of this on YT, all there being the slow, lugubrious performance.

Track 12 Hans Pfitzner's performance of Joseph Lanner's Pesther Waltz
[YouTube Video]

Track 13 Siegfried Ochs - Ein Albumblatt: Typo: the arranger is Wilhemj rather than Wilhelms. Not on 78Cat or YT

Track 14 Lawrence Tibbett - Largo Al Factotum, with uncredited orchestra
D.B. 1478

Track 15 Alfred Cortot Ballade No.1
HMV D.B.1343

Track 16 Cortot, Thibaud, Casals - Haydn Trio In G Major
D.A. 895

Track 17 Richard Tauber - Roses Of Picardy: Parlphone R.O. 20316, 1936
Typo: the arranger is Wilhemj rather than Wilhelms

Track 18 Massed Bands - "Tannhauser" March, cond. John Henry IIles
HMV B.8245 (not on YT)

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I feared the worst... and was very, very pleasantly surprised.

For those younger movie fans, you will be familiar with this guy via an end credits scene in one the Avengers movies, where "The Collector" has a Duck in a glass case, smoking a cigar, and mutters something I forget (A little easter egg for all us old enough to remember Howard).

I recall having seen it a couple of times on a pirate VHS back in the day, and not being enitirely unhappy with it, according to memory, although intervening years seem to have played to the cirtics opinion of the time, that it is one of the worst movies ever made.

It isn't. Far from it.

Granted, it is not a masterpiece, by any stretch, but great fun, and worthy of an amused smile thoughout.

Duck gets accidentally transported through space form his duck homeworld, via earthman laser, which also accidently unlocks and transports a demon form nether regions of space, and Howard must become the hero.

Of course, it's absurd, stupid, and surreal, but, I think, knowingly so... I must place the caveat here that my recent watch was of the "uncut" version, which internet reveals has more adult oriented humour added (nothing obscene, just more of style only adults will get), and this context allows you to enjoy it for what it is - the 12 certificate is technically accurate, but i'd say that's stretching it a bit for that age group, maybe a couple of years older might allow them to "get" the self effacing, self depredating absurdist element a bit better.

I was worried about one thing, which I thing had been implanted as a false memory in my mind in the intervening years, I think through popular urban myth: That Lea Thompson's character has sex with Howard...the duck. Phew, thankfully not, but it does for a moment, seem like it's going that way, until it is revealed as a tease, or "prank" by Thompson's character, so you can rest assured on that one, but it does indicate the level of humour this movie operates at.

The animatronics and effects are still top notch, and the whole production is great quality for the time, given this is a Lucasfilm production too.

And the DVD I watched it from, looks cracking, really crisp, clean and spiffy, even on a big telly.

Worth revisiting, and reappraising, if you've not watched it for a while.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Still great fun, after all these years!

A really quite short movie (1hr 27 mins by my clock), that just gets straight to it, moves briskly through, in what a more highbrow critic might call "dumb fun", but suits me down to the ground.

A young Sean Astin is digging a hole in his garden for a pool, in order to up his cool factor at school, and accidentally unearths (with the aid of a minor earthquake, and chum Pauly Shore) a block of ice, with a cave man (Fraser) inside...

...He goes off to school, and upon his return, discovers the Ice has melted, and said cave man is loose in his house. Astin and Shore (Dave and Stoney) befriend him decide to modernise him, and take him to school and help them become popular. The uncivilised Fraser (Link) introduces a little anarchy and lots of amusing hijinks.

The basic set up of uncool kid seeking popularity, especially with childhood sweetheart, in opposition to school bully is certainly not new, and is indeed, a hang over from the eighties of the kind of John Hughes style teen drama, but for laughs.

Brendan Fraser's largely mute performance, bar occasional grunting, and the odd word, is charismatic and engaging nevertheless, even, at one point, quite touching, when he realises he's been stranded out of his time.

Even Pauly Shore gives a relatively muted performance, thankfully, as you can certainly have enough of that guy, and whatever that Schtick of his was back then.

For fans of said eighties teen dramas, but in a comedy sense, as well as movies like Airheads, Empire Records, and other throwaway cheap and cheerful, fun comedies of the nineties.

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not all of the stories manage quite the same combination of fantasy, eccentricity, surrealism, and poetic justice of vance's own dying earth stories; but they all of them evince a blending of at least some of these characteristics: and it's a worthy addition to the dying earth canon - as well as having been a recognition jack vance could and did enjoy in his lifetime.

(n.b. merkin editions lose the "u" from the sub-title.)

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

One of the best, if not THE best tribute bands to honour Fleetwood Mac.

This is confirmed by the fact that Mick Fleetwood, co-founder of the original Fleetwood Mac with John McVie, begins each of their concerts with a filmed introduction to the band. What more could you wish for as an endorsement to a tribute band?

This concert was an absolute masterclass in musicianship made especially poignant by a solo performance of Songbird as a tribute to Christine McVie who had died the previous November.

Pure enjoyment for somebody who appreciates great music.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

There seems to be an attempt underway to redeem, or position this as a "cult classic".

Cult... maybe. classic... no.

Rewatching it after all these years, it's just as disappointing. The music, cinematography, and dialogue are cheap, and bad sub-tv standard. Effects look equally cheap, even for the time too.

The real problem is Rik Mayall's manic, gross out for-kids performance looks embarrassing in this cheap environment, and the subject matter is too adult for kids, but the execution is too juvenile for adults, especially when it tries to deal with topics concerning "mental health issues", and it is therefore borderline insulting.

Phoebe Cates characterisation too, of the woman who's childhood imaginary friend returns later in life when she is having a hard time in life - Overbearing mother, philandering husband, losing her job etc. is too flat, and monotone - no evident sadness when depressed, no apparent joy when happy (er), which only serves to highlight, in a negative way, how loopy Mayall is.

The dialogue is grossly misjudged, seeming spiteful and psychotic , in attempting to say things kids who don't know what the meaning of what they are saying really come from the mouths of adults, which is just plain sinister.

There are a couple of good points though, such as the other imaginary friends of patients in a psychiatrists waiting room can each only be seen by the people who's imaginary friend they are, so to those people, their imaginary firend appears to have an imaginary firend... which is quite original. And the end, too borders on the poetic.

But it is an obvious attempt to try and make a Tim Burton style movie, by someone who isn't Tim Burton...oh dear.

I can't help but imagine how truly great this story could have been if Tim Burton himself had actually made it.

Remake, anyone?

But this is mostly rubbish.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I did not have high expectations for this concert having heard all the horror stories about the delayed opening of the Co-Op Live venue.

But boy, were they shattered when we actually heard both bands playing live. I have seen many live concerts and this has to be in my Top 10 of all-time best. The visuals and sound were outstanding.

It was like sitting in your living room in front of the biggest, highest quality screen with the best Surround Sound system in the world.

Both bands were outstanding and even though I would have liked to have seen Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers were the perfect support act for the Eagles.

Awesome concert, one of the best.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A fun night and great to hear a full orchestra playing the silky music of Mancini, Bacharach, Les Baxter and Esquivel

The highlight was probably hearing an Ondioline being played live (Very early kind of proto-synthesiser from France)

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What it's all about.

This is a deliberately cheap. low budget looking love letter to the people who love movies... but more, it's about the sense of community that comes through the medium of movies, and people's love for them.

To understand this, it's best to consider the word: Media.

(Physical Media being the term that is increasingly becoming the catch-all buzzword of our age, not just for the ranks of collectors of various media, be it records, CDs, or DVDs - I 'd lay money on it that this term will be entered into the Oxford Dictionary before too long!)

For, beyond the specific media, or medium (VHS, DVD, CD etc.), collectively, these are a medium for something else: Social interaction, and connection, with other people.

Whether it be gathering at your local record store, Blockbuster, or other, these media facilitate this reason to connect, that the content provides.

Ironically, the prime thing that streaming, and the internet as a whole, has taken away from us, and the one thing we really needed from them.

Now, all this pretentious waffle of mine only serves to illustrate what this movie is about, and encapsulate... the desire to reconnect with others around you in person, physically present. AS when Jerry (Jack Black) becomes magnetised after an attempt to disrupt a local power station he suspects is sending out subliminal signals to influence his mind, he returns to the desperately struggling VHS video store he works at with long suffering friend Mike (Mos Def), and owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) and his magnetic presence causes all the tapes to be blanked.

Mike quickly formulates a plan for him and Jerry to make their own versions of the movies lost, and rent those out instead.

Ghostbusters is their first attempt, and unexpectedly, creates a cult like stir in the community, who are soon knocking at the door for their other favourites to be "Sweded", or remade by the duo. And as things go, the ore they draw in others in the community to help them out.

This is not a laugh out loud, tears streaming down your face, side splitting type of comedy, but rather a very quirky, surreal-ish eccentric smiling movie, that has you chuckling all throughout, while leaving you feeling very warm and cosy at the heart-warming, and uplifting finale.

As well as making you want to immediately go out and "Swede" your own favourites :)

Sweet, sublime, and really quite a beautiful little film.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I recommend this album, which was originally released in 1968, for its songs with positive and cheerful lyrics. The masterpiece, in my opinion, is the quiet ballad "Lazy Day" in which both voices describe the sky and the sea in the course of the sunset, as if it were a painting. The voices harmonize perfectly throughout the album. Sweet instrumentations in soft pop and sunshine pop songs, to forget about everything and be immersed in a musical paradise. The booklet includes the lyrics in English and Japanese, the credits of the songs, as well as the discography of each of the solo members, as well as that of the duo. Unbeatable presentation of the material.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Excellent renditions by Petula Clark. I find the dramatic "Coming Back To You" (Colombier/Gimbel) one of the best songs of the album, arranged by French musician Michel Colombier. "I've Got To Know" (A. David) is an outstanding sad ballad in which the lyric talks about her lover being attracted by another woman - arrangements by Johney Arthey. Petula sings the melancholic "After You" (Trent/Hatch) living it and the song has nice instrumental arrangements. "City Lights" (Trent/Hatch) is another favorite along with the energyc and uptempo title track "Today" (Clark/Harris), arranged and written by the prestigious musician Johnny Harris, his wife Kim co-wrote it. The soulful "After The Hill" (Holding/Trent) is very catchy, like "Marie de Vere" (Trent/Hatch) set in the music hall style. "Spring In September" (Trent/Hatch) goes between a slow ballad rhythm and a happy soulful one making it an interesting selection. The Trent/Hatch ballad "Close To You" which Petula performs elegantly has beautiful backing vocals and nice orchestra arrangements by Tony Hatch in a moderate tempo. Two hits were included on the album, opening and closing it, probably to make it sell "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" and "This Is My Song". The latter has an introduction and single vocal on the version included on this CD. The bonus tracks are all outtakes from the "Pink" album sessions (recorded in january 1968) with producer Tony Hatch, except "Look To The Sky" which was recorded in Hollywood (backing track) and in London (vocal) in 1967. The three self-penned songs "Look To The Sky", "I’ve Got Love Going For Me" and "Every Time I See A Rainbow" were used as B-Sides in 1968 singles. Whereas "Take Good Care Of Your Heart" is the alternate version of another B-Side called "American Boys" (1968). "Love Will Find A Way" was left in the vaults and there's an interesting alternate version, with more orchestration, you can find on a 2010 collection by the label Reader's Digest.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Excellent renditions by Petula Clark. I find the dramatic "Coming Back To You" (Colombier/Gimbel) one of the best songs of the album, arranged by French musician Michel Colombier. "I've Got To Know" (A. David) is an outstanding sad ballad in which the lyric talks about her lover being attracted by another woman - arrangements by Johney Arthey. Petula sings the melancholic "After You" (Trent/Hatch) living it and the song has nice instrumental arrangements. "City Lights" (Trent/Hatch) is another favorite along with the energyc and uptempo title track "Today" (Clark/Harris), arranged and written by the prestigious musician Johnny Harris, his wife Kim co-wrote it. The soulful "After The Hill" (Holding/Trent) is very catchy, like "Marie de Vere" (Trent/Hatch) set in the music hall style. "Spring In September" (Trent/Hatch) goes between a slow ballad rhythm and a happy soulful one making it an interesting selection. The Trent/Hatch ballad "Close To You" which Petula performs elegantly has beautiful backing vocals and nice orchestra arrangements by Tony Hatch in a moderate tempo. Two hits were included on the album, opening and closing it, probably to make it sell since the album wasn't promoted and no single was released with any other song from the LP.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Brilliantly conceived novel.

The narrator / protagonist is a young guy with autism - possibly, specifically Asperger's, and so we view the world through his eyes, via his mind, understanding events and happenings as related to us descriptively by him as he sets about detecting, and uncovering the truth behind titular curious incident... which a neighbour's dog is "murdered" with a garden fork in the middle of the night.

But the story evolves, through this premise, way beyond it... for him, at least.

The real genius though, other relating to the reader what the autistic mind comprehends, and how, is by way of his blank description of the events, that we can see, and understand, what he cannot...

...So the story being told in his descriptions is understood, in it's meaning, of what the people he is describing are doing and saying, even though, and especially, because he cannot see or comprehend those meanings.

Usually, we get an insight through the protagonist, or a "God's eye view" of the story, but in this case, we get to see the story he is blind to, even though he is telling it; which is somewhat tragic and heart-breaking, in it's depiction of everyday life for those struggling with autism in their lives, both those who are autistic, and those who love them, and live with them, and their condition.

(Apologies if I have been innocently insensitive in my use of terms, I don't want to come across as tone deaf or condescending here, but this is the first time I feel I've come anywhere near close to appreciating what Autism is, let alone experiencing it in anyone)

I venture to suggest though, that a lot of what is written here will hit home hard for those caring for anyone like main character: Christopher, and how he drives his parents, himself, and others near to, and even past the edge sometimes, unrelenting as it is.

Perfectly framed, and actually very enjoyable.


>Two points though, after reading and looking online about this:

1. The "offensiveness" of some of the language and terms used, principally by Christopher, as a criticism, holds absolutely no water, as he himself, is incapable of any intent, but innocently, merely relating, and reporting the words, and deeds of others, who have no such excuse - he doesn't get it anyway, just states: "He / she said / did this / that", so it's completely contextualised.

2. I see actor-oid Brad Pitt owns the movie rights to this, but nothing has been forthcoming as of yet - but if he does eventually pull his thumb out of his ass and get on with making this happen, he needs to make it (In my opinion) along the lines of an independent, mid to lower budget affair, along the lines of, say... Juno, in tone and style, rather throwing money at it, and making some huge, toe curling, and by virtue of this - offensively, and tone deaf "Hollywood" style movie.

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What on earth were they thinking?!!!

...Not regards the movie itself, but giving this great movie this crappy title.

If you want to hamstring your movie before it's even released, why not give it the same principle title as an already cult classic movie (Starring Harvey Keitel), to make people think it's a sequel to that one... not only that, add the extra qualifiers in there too, to make it sound like cheapo, straight to DVD bargain bin fodder movie that is going to be Godawful?

And I imagine it is this very thing that has put people off watching this from the get go, and why it continues to be overlooked.

Of course, it shares the idea of a "Bad Lieutenant" as does the other one, but this has plenty of it's own beats.

So do yourself a favour, and ignore the title!

Look instead, at the fact that this has, perhaps, the most Nicholas Cage performance Nicholas Cage has ever given... in that it is all, and everything he is and does in one movie, like this is what he's been aiming at all his career, as his character begins somewhat soberly enough, although somewhat morally corrupt, but then goes spiralling out of control with ever crazier antics, and behaviour - Cage goes bouncing off the walls eventually, but it's his portrayal of a man trying to contain it at first, and then the transition to Mr. crazy man that blows you away.

Add to that, it's Directed by Werner Herzog.

Werner Herzog... Nicholas Cage.

....Nicholas Cage... Werner Herzog.

That's the movie you're getting.

....And that's got to be worth a couple of hours of anyone's time.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

THE MISSION hatten gerade eine richtige Schmachtplatte (mit u.a. „Butterfly on a wheel“) abgeliefert, überhaupt waren die Leute um Wayne Hussey gerade dabei, den Rivalen der Sisters of Mercy den Rang abzulaufen, wenigstens ein bisschen. Schon 1987 war ich mal im „Linientreu“ in Berlin gewesen und stand auf Songs wie „Wasteland“ und auch die folgenden LPs waren kontinuierlich gut. Das Hamburger Kongresszentrum bot zwar nicht gerade eine passende Kulisse für die ganzen Fans mit Schwarzkittel und Nietengürtel, aber zumindest war’s dort auf Klo hell genug, um die schwarzen Haare der Gruftiemädels noch mal gründlich in die Höhe zu toupieren. Die Band hat dann auch sehr gut abgeliefert. Vom Support Act THE WONDERSTUFF kannte ich nicht wirklich viel, aber auch sie landeten später des öfteren auf Indie-Samplern der beginnenden 90er Jahre.

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1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

"How do you do" is great uptempo song where Jackie and Tony blend their voices harmonically. In "Jerusalem" Jackie does a great lead vocal with a soulful rhythm. "Reason to believe" is a sunshiny pop jewel by both voices. On "Last night I didn't get to sleep at all" we find Jackie's solo voice doing an elegant performance. "Betcha by golly, wow" has solos by both Tony and Jackie doing a melodical song that has a sense of melancholy. "So deep is the night" is sung by Jackie, an excellent ballad with nice arrangements. "Gotta get away" is another uptempo song featuring the duo in a pop style, this was featured on the 1st episode of "The persuaders" series. Jackie does a great performance on "Didn't we?" written by Jim Webb. The catchy "Love is life" has a bossa nova rhythm and it's a relaxing song. Jackie sings a great version of "Jesus-Christ Superstar" "I don't know how to love him" with her powerful outstanding voice. "You're so good for me" is a tender positive pop song. The song closing the album is "The world is a circle" from the film "Lost Horizon" where Jackie is accompanied by children which leads to a very innocent and excellent song. I recommend this album.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What a weird movie.

It seems to be, on the face of it, chumming along with the kind of Breakfast Club / John Hughes, 80s teen angst / melodrama kind of audience, and yet has a more substantial, and even darker heart in the story, aimed at a more adult audience.

In fact the whole teen romance bit between Cusack and Skye seems to fall by the wayside toward the end, focusing more on the relationship between her and her father's "tax troubles", with Cusack eventually receding into the background altogether.

Heavy subject matter for the audience you'd expect this to be aimed at. and the kind of movie who's clothes this superficially appears to wear...

...And other than the general look of the film, the two leads and one highly oversold moment (The boombox moment), which lasts possibly less than ten seconds and has precisely zero impact on story or anything, yet has become a cultural touchstone, not least through the likes of Deadpool and Family Guy etc. referencing it, this lacks all the kind of feel of those other movies, the zing, and the dynamic eighties style editing, and so forth...indeed, I'd go as far as to call it quite...flat, by comparison.

It almost feels, like this was a more seriously intentioned movie with some great, strong dramatic ideas of it's own, that was either co-opted, or re-purposed to try and shoe-horn it into a John Hughes category of movie, and for that audience.

If it had gone either way more completely, it might have been a great movie on it's own: Heavily toward the Dramatic, adult aspects, and it might have been an Oscar worthy movie... treated more lightly, and it it would have been sitting alongside Ferris Bueller in the collective affections, but ends up just befuddling, and underwhelming.

One moment, does not a movie make.

Meh.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I've "Seen" this twice before, but only watched it for the first time today.

Well, I saw a few minutes of it back in the day, off the back of the whole Tarantino thing, but found it boring, and switched it off...then, about ten years ago, I gave it another go, and fell asleep.

But now, I thought I'd give it another go, and find it is one of the best things I've seen recently.

I think this is because I'm now ready for it - more mature (ish) - as can be evidenced by the fact that among the Tarantino movies, Jackie Brown is the one that has been creeping up through the ranks of my favourite movies of his, as it operates on a more slow burn, lo-fi - effortlessly cool basis, rather than all the pizazz of his other works...

...And that's exactly the kind of space this operates in; If possible, even more effortlessly cool, and lo-fi than Jackie Brown - but not boring.

I've also read an Elmore Leonard novel now (Maximum Bob - quite funny!) , and so am more tuned into his intricate yet easy, and naturalistic storytelling... the vibe he was giving in his work, and which both Jackie Brown and this, both adaptations of Leonard's work capture extremely well.

This tale of the Hapless bank robber, and prison escapee who comes across the cool, calm, and composed FBI agent, and sparks fly between them, causing her to question her duty to the law while at the same time, trying to catch him , is coolly, and seductively told, against a backdrop of a planned heist among some nefarious yet engaging characters does everything with ease, and without trying too hard to say: "look how cool this movie is eh!?!!!" the way some adaptations of Leonard's work do, or how the Ocean's 11 series do, which are a bit too goofy and overt for my taste. This is more straight up, and is the better for it.... more... subtle.

Given I've only really just seen it, is it right that I should add it to my list of favourite nineties movies now? .... ah, what the hell, it's going on there, as I think this getting a few rewatches.

(Not only that, I've ripped the movie to hard drive, and I'm keeping this DVD! :)

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

One of the worst music magazines in Dutch history. With a lot of rubbish, gossip, many mistakes (for example in this issue a photo of the singer Albert West, presented as a photo of the singer Rene Froger), the magazine is 3 weekly, so it is also weird to present the Top 40 of one week only. A lot of advertisements, and the question is, for which audience is this magazine made?

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?