Cinema - Reviews by Magic Marmalade

Cinema - Reviews by Magic Marmalade

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Magic Marmalade 4th Jun 2024		Cinema Mannequin (1987)	Rated 7/10 Cheesy, Creepy (now), but fun still. (I can even forgive the Starship mega-hit soundtrack song...almost) 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 3rd Jun 2024		Cinema Dobermann (1997) (1997)	Rated 7/10 A kind of French attempt at a Natural Born Killers style movie... ...And a fairly decent stab at one too! Of course, NBK is, in the true sense of the word: inimitable, but this has the energy, and frenetic pace and wild visual and storytelling sensibility of that, about a semi-legendary bank robber / outlaw and his squeeze, and their merry band of nutty men, going up against a police unit, headed by a sadistic, psychotic copper, who is the real villain of the piece. After only a brief, obligatory introduction to characters and situation, it pretty much jumps straight in, and bangs along until the end in a nutty, extreme cartoon violence way. Not sure it all works, but it sure ain't boring! very good indeed. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 31st May 2024		Cinema A Simple Plan (1998) (1998)	Review When you're in a hole... Stop digging. This particular hole though, is ostensibly the the opposite: finding a huge bag of cash in a downed plane in the woods ought to be a good thing, surely? ... And the hole the three men in this movie begin to dig from this moment on is everything you'd expect; after all, who hasn't imagined this scenario, and further more, thought through the implications and possible bother that comes with it. And that's the basic plot, and the inevitable story that proceeds from it. Very simple, very elegant, and brilliantly executed. Although this premise is perhaps not new, what this movie does excellently is not make it a gangster flick, it action movie, or reservoir dogs style affair... The money is just circumstantial, the real story is centred almost exclusively on the three characters, and how their dynamics shift in relation to each other over time. And this is why it took me so long to finally see it, as I was under the impression it was more of a cheapo, straight to DVD heist movie, when in fact it's more of a three man stage play character study... (In fact, there's a very strong influence from: Of mice and men, i detected) ...A very Fargo-ish vibe, albeit played more straight (minus Coens' signature humour), and I know there are many who already appreciate this movie, but I feel this has the potential to undergo the Shawshank effect, and will only become more generally appreciated over time, principally through word of mouth. Truly brilliant. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 30th May 2024		Cinema Mulholland Falls (1996) (1996)	Rated 6/10 Feels like a made for TV version of an L.A. Confidential style movie... (Being that this was before that movie, it s prbably better to be considered a prototype of that) ...Yet it's strangely unsatisfying. The reason, I think, is that it is, as said, more in the look, style, and feel of a TV drama, in terms of production - like Columbo does brutal police violence intrigue mystery. As such, it doesn't really fit anywhere - too volent for TV audience this would be otherwise aimed at, yet decidedly uncinematic. I think a look at the cast list for this, at the time it was made probably tells you a story on it's own - as now it seems, as the DVD cover blurb says: "stellar cast", was at that time, a group of actors who either two to ten years earlier or later might have been considered "stellar" but at the time were somewhat in need of work... any work. It really goes off the rails at the end, as the finale is frankly absurd, and ridiculous. Viewed as (if you can square your brain to it) a brutal TV drama, I suppose it is mildy interesting and enageing, slow paced and draggy though it is, but if you expect "cinema" it will suffer greatly under this definition, in your perception of it. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 28th May 2024		Cinema Suspicion (1941) (1941)	Rated 6/10 Nearly but not quite. Not sure if the idea of the morally ambiguous other half movie was new at the time, but certainly it's been done plenty of times since... and better. As with Monolith's comment, the ending is a bit contrived and hokey, but the real problem is Cary Grant.. I don't blame him or his acting, it's just the character he was asked to play, and evidently, how he was asked to play it (obviously, in order to make the whole premise of the story work at all) - Charming yet obnoxious... And I don't buy the forced way he does the obnoxious bit, as it feels unrealistic for someone to behave this way, especially towards the maid - very over-deliberate, and on the nose. Feels clunky and untrue. But really, he is only the support, and his character the essential plot device to enable the titular "Suspicion" to be played out excellently by Joan Fontaine. I saw that Tarantino loves the end shot, for it's ambiguity, and I agree, but get the feeling that's more likely what Hitchcock's initial inspiration was for this whole film - what he initially saw in his mind, then built the rest of the movie around, and towards that. Doesn't quite get there for me. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 28th May 2024		Cinema Jumper (2008)	Rated 7/10 This movie has gotten a lot of unfair flack since the time of release... ...But my opinion is that it's actually a quite entertaining, well thought out and executed slice of teleporting combat action. The only decent movie Hayden Christensen has ever been in too. :) ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 24th May 2024		Cinema Броненосец Потёмкин (Battleship Potemkin) (1925) (1925)	Rated 7/10 One of those: "You must see this before you die, explode, or otherwise spontaneously humanly combust" movies... ...Often listed among the greatest ever made etc. blah blah, and so on and so forth. Having finally gotten around to seeing it, I can see it was good, dare I say, even revolutionary for it's time - a silent movie which is more an historical dramatic diagram of particular events than a a movie proper, or drama in the modern sense, but it was just more interesting than engaging for me. Difficult to imagine now, a story about a Russian battleship crew, who, neglected and oppressed by their superiors are pushed into mutiny, and turning against their military overlords, and who's tale inspires the local population of Odessa to rise in support of them, in a Dunkirk style , small boats salvation... ...Before the hierarchy turn on the lot of them, in order to put down the uprising, in a Peterloo style historical civil / war crime. I read somewhere once, that Russians used to be like this... not putting up with this kind of oppressive nonsense from their betters... ... Or maybe that was some other country? 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 21st May 2024		Cinema Airheads (1994) (1994)	Rated 7/10 Quite a cult bad-ish movie, now pretty hard to find a DVD of. Found the DVD of this a couple of days ago, and I haven't seen it since release, but had fond memories if it, so was pleased to watch it again. It's not aged entirely well, humour wise, but neither has it aged tremendously badly... ...It's hokey, goofy, dumb fun, taking the Mickey out of the kind of metal heads of the time as they stage a kind of Spinal tap-lite do a Dog Day Afternoon style ambush / hostage scenario on a local radio station just so they can get their music heard by the masses. It's a perfect companion piece in tone and style to Empire Records and the like, so if that's too dumb for you, you won't probably like this, but if you do, you'll like this as well, I'd say. The inexplicably over-rated "talents" of both Adam Sandler and Chris Farley are in this, but mercifully (by their own standards) are quite conservative performances, so don't grate too much... And what the hell is Steve Buscemi doing in this role?... who knows, but he is quite good. Bevis and Butthead also make a brief cameo. Charmingly awful and crap, but I still enjoy it :) 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 21st May 2024		Cinema 1408 (2007) (2007)	Rated 7/10 "That room is f&$king evil" ...And you know, Samuel L. Jackson's hotel manager's assertion about that room in his hotel to John Cusack's paranormal investigator / debunker is pretty much on the money, as all of Cusack's personal trauma and hidden hurts become manifest when he spends the night in there in order to debunk it. Terrific realisation of the idea of making the room itself a character in the movie, a malevolent force of nature that persecutes it's occupants to death if they dare try to stay in it. A nice yet perhaps predictable twist at the end, which is that the twist isn't the twist... er sort of, but very moody, tense, and creepy. Will give many the chills. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 21st May 2024		Cinema Tais-Toi! (Shut Up ! / Ruby & Quentin) (2003) (2003)	Rated 7/10 Quite a fun odd couple slapstick adventure. Jean Reno is a generally uncommunicative kind of John Wick style mob enforcer who has been involved with the mob boss's missus, and who gets bumped off by said mob-boss, angering Reno, who decides to get revenge on him, initially by stealing millions of his cash, and not revealing what he has done with it, but only as a pretext to creating the circumstances to get back at the boss. Depardieu is a hapless "bank-robber", thief, and simpleton, who never shuts up, and has an insufferably sunny attitude to everything... His incessant chattering being in stark contrast to Reno's silent deadly type. They both find themselves in prison, and sharing a cell, where Reno makes a break for it, only to find Depardieu has taken a very strong shine to him, as he interprets Reno's silence as listening to him, and now he can't shake off Depardieu while they escape, who is constantly clinging to him with dreams of a partnership his new "best buddy" in a prospective café / restaurant venture: "The Two Friends". It is fun, and a simple, but basic time honoured premise that is made the most of, except, oddly, I felt this wasn't quite as zany and cartoonish as the premise demanded... the performances are good, it's just I felt they didn't go "all in" as much as the story demanded in the presentation and tone. But good, nonetheless. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 21st May 2024		Cinema L'appartement (The Apartment ) (1996) (1996)	Rated 8/10 Er... It's complicated. In that this is a very convoluted plot about the relationships between a group of people who are essentially slightly obsessed to the point of what would now be considered stalking each other. ...But that's not to say this is a tone deaf movie, rather it uses this idea to show what a tangled web we weave, and the "no good will come of it" scenario. Quite in spite of the DVD tag line about this being smart, sophisticated, sexy etc. Giving the impression that it's a pose fest and a gratuitously cool and sophisticated sex rom-com type deal, this is actually more in tone and intent, a direct homage to a kind of Hitchcock movie: Romantic intrigue, mystery, investigation, obsession and drama... in fact it reeks of Hitchcock, from the sweeping drama of the musical score, to the characterisations and plot, right down to the cinematography at times, and so is best regarded as the kind of movie to watch if those movies by the master film-maker himself are your cup of tea. To loosely sum up the plot: Cassel's central character is a youngish go-getter playboy type, who encounters Bellucci's: Lisa, becomes obsessed with her, starts following her about, even though she has a suspicious jealous other half, who is also keeping tabs on her, he meets and gets with her, before she disappears from his life... years later, while seeing a different woman he picks up her trail again, and tries to track her down, leading him to an apartment where she once lived, only to discover another woman claiming to be her, living instead, he ends up getting involved with her, and she starts stalking him, all the while seeing another man, who unbeknownst to either, happens to be Cassel's best mate. Nobody is aware of the entre situation except the audience, and only as the film progresses, and little revelations are dropped in lightly, and judiciously, and the whole story unfolds. Quite masterfully done I thought... especially, as this is the kind of plot that Hollywood would make a complete mess of, by virtue of making it too busy, and frenetic in tone, and trying to hit the nail too hard on the head, if you see what I mean - In short, if done by Hollywood, you'd very quickly lose the thread of what's happening, but this keeps it's focus, goes along at a great easy pace, to allow you to keep up with it, and thereby retain your interest and sense of intrigue. It is one of the best Hitchcock homage style movies I've seen. Only one minor gripe is the use of contemporary music tracks at the beginning, which for me, jarred against the tone of the rest of the movie, and the score there... it really didn't need these. I rated it 8, but could easily have gone higher, and over time, I think I will rate it a 9 or 9.5. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 16th Apr 2024		Cinema Song Of The South (1945) (1945)	Rated 6/10 I found a home made rip / burn copy of this in the charity shop the other day, with what looks like a cut down VHS cover fitted in a CD jewel case... ...Knowing what it was, and certainly with no clear memory of ever having seen it, even back in the day, I grabbed it, to see what all the controversy was. The copy I have seems to be at least DVD quality, possibly moving toward Blu-Ray quality, in terms of sharpness and clarity, so I don't think it came from a VHS rip. (I believe it was released on Blu-Ray in Spain, at least, so half suspect this is from that source, ripped from that disc, then burned to DVD) Now of course, I'm not really going to go into all the sociological issues with this, being neither capable or qualified to do so, and this not perhaps being the appropriate forum for that debate - after all you start a discussion along those lines and very soon we have to get our heavy modding wellies on! - Except only to say, that the principal sin committed here is that it makes the time, place and circumstance a litlle more... rosy than it should be. ...That said, there are certain hard-wired circumstantial elements that no amount of varnishing can clear away - the big house plantation is owned of course, by a white family, and the the servants, are, of course, black, and everyone knows their place without having to mention it (and don't), and everone seems of course, Disney-chipper about it... So yes, anyone can see how this would be "problematic". I cannot say, however, that, given all the furore, there was anything over and above this that was in danger of prompting an outrage based aneurism, nor did my jaw hit the floor in incredulity... As there is nothing here really that doesn't exist, and indeed, persist in other movies and content elsewhere - eyebrow raising, certainly. (Django Unchained, it ain't... Nor 12 Years a slave) Looking for a moment (if possible) beyond these issues, just at the basic plot, in terms of the movie as a story, it is a pretty good one: Undefined tension between Mummy and Daddy causes them to escort their young child to Grandma's house, where Mummy intends to live with him, while Daddy moves back home without them... child is bereft, and doesn't understand, feeling lost, and so intends to run away back home to be with dad... here he meets Uncle Remus, raconteur and teller of fabulous tales about Br'er Rabbit and his run ins with the fox and bear, who want to do horrible things to him - These tales being, of course, analogies containing little tricks and life lessons for the kid to learn from, and learn to cope, in the best traditions of the fable. I can't help thinking the solution to this problematic movie might be something that Disney is doing already with their back catalogue whether asked for or not: Remake it. ...And indeed, refurbish it, re-position it or do whatever to make it less troublesome. (In fact, while watching it, I frequently thought of the Coen brothers for some reason... just a thought!) As is though, as my find demonstrates, both in the finding, and the fact that I was aware of this movie because of all the bother about it, if you ban something, you are likely to create a mystique about it, even if it is not any more deserved than others of it's kind. Had I not known about this, I would have simply left it on the shelf, rather than be prompted by curiosity. After all, as I said at the start of this ramble, the principle sin is that it seeks to ignore or rewrite historical realities in favour of making things a little more rosy... ...But then, isn't banning a movie outright because if this, doing exactly the same thing? 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 5th Apr 2024		Cinema Alien 3 (1992) (1992)	Rated 7/10 Never understood the hate for this one... ...Granted, it had a lot to live up to, in the wake of the masterpiece of claustrophobic space horror of the original movie, and then the more actiony sci-fi franchisement of sequel: Aliens, which I think did a lot to skew expectations of this, which, of course, a return to a more claustrophobic space horror origins would fail to meet: "Hey, where's the zap and pow, and action etc!?!" ...and so forth. ...But I thought it was a very strong character study, and found it thoroughly engrossing in the cinema on release, and no repeated viewings over the years have dissuaded me from that. Yes, the set-up is a little contrived, where Ripley's pod crash lands on an all but deserted planet which happens to be a prison planet, full of bad dudes, and absolutely, the ending (will say no more) is a mite toe curling and overblown in concept, but everything in between is solid stuff in my book. Also, I did try something the other day which seemed to bring even more out of this, and gave the movie an extra dimension, which you may wish to try: I messed about with my colour settings in order to make this completely Black and White, removing all colour, and making the blacks and whites in high contrast to each other, and it was great! So it seems there's a great black and white horror creature feature trapped inside this already grim palleted movie. Anyway, food for thought. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 29th Mar 2024		Cinema Before Midnight (2013) (2013)	Rated 7/10 A philosophy of love... ...And relationships, and how they change. So I finally caved in on this one, as it just wasn't turning up in the charity shops, and decided to just stream it, to round out the trilogy. Got to say I was dreading it, as I didn't want to spoil the magic of the first two, as I kind of had a hunch that reality would come crashing in at some point, and here it is. However, the reality, is a well considered one, and is just as well written as the others, this has not just been tacked on to finish the trilogy...indeed these may be among the finest screenplays ever written, the kind that I should image any actor would hack off a limb to be a part of... ...And from this perspective, this may be the best written, and possibly best acted of the three, due to the actual drama and contention that now exists between the two lead characters, now living together with twin daughters, and on holiday in Greece... and the tension of unspoken, and as yet unsaid acknowledgement of trouble having grown in paradise over the intervening years... Jesse, torn between a desire to have deeper relationship with his son from his previous marriage, and being with the love of his life, and their daughters in that new life, while Celine doesn't feel how "present" he has been in their lives because of this, leading to her stifling the complaint she justly has about this... ...A storm is brewing, and the tension will surely cause it to break at some point. What these movies do well, is the unspoken things, as well as the spoken, and what lies behind them, as the first two thirds of the movie seems to be moving along ok. with the idyllic life, with only apparent minor "quibbles", which only in the final third, you find out that what they were both really thinking about the situation, and everything they did prior to this section of the film, was not what they were saying, or how they were acting or behaving at the time. So, quite masterfully, the scenes later, lend a new context, and meaning on what you saw before, and call to mind those previous scenes and make you reflect on them while you watch. ...But also, this applies to the trilogy of films as a whole, as there are both overt, direct references to their previous experiences in those other films, as well as subtle allusions... "easter eggs" which those who have seen them will understand, and so feel the poignancy of. In fact, rather than simply ruin our daydream of that first, perfect romance, this, I feel, may have the effect of shedding a new light on the other two... knowing what is to come, may add to the power of the experiences of the first movie, and the second, just as each of those has a very powerful affect on how you view this one, which, if you didn't know the romantic past they share, may casue you to view this as a more purely bitter experience - there is, therefore, a kind of cross-chatter between the movies in this trilogy, as you recall events previous as you watch this, and as said, I expect may affect the I view the others in future when I watch them again... giving, together, a "God's eye view" of a whole relationship, and complete working diagram of love, and how it changes over time.... for better, and worse. This, like the others, is also constructed around the prolonged set piece conversations between them, as they by turns, talk in a car for a good twenty minutes, talk at a dinner party table with friends for another twenty odd minutes, then talk while walking through the local town and surrounding landscape, before the final scene in a small hotel room. So it has all the familiar look and feel, and makes a perfect circle of movies. Whether you like this one or not, will very much depend on what kind of person you are, and your own appreciation of the experiences they have, based on your own, as well as if, like the two protagonists, are idealistic, cynic, or realist, or any of those things (sometimes together) at different times. I'm pleased this exists, and it does add a lot, to make this one of the all time great trilogies, as well as each part having a claim to being among the best romantic movies ever made... But... Once I've watched the three together in sequence once again, I will mostly only watching the first two (especially the first ) in future... I guess I just want to believe in the romance more than the reality. :) 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 15th Mar 2024		Cinema DragonHeart (1996) (1996)	Rated 8/10 Still a wonderful, charming and magical family movie, with a great plot, fantastic, evocative score. The essential plot centres around a knight, in who's charge is a young prince, son of a medieval tyrant king... The king is killed in the opening scenes by the local oppressed peasantry when they rise up against him. This leaves the young Prince - Einon - king, but he is also mortally wounded in the battle, so his mother, accompanied by the knight, take him to a dragon, to get healed, by taking half the dragon's heart, also in the hope that the purity of the dragon heart will purify the young Einon's soul, and make him a more merciful and benevolent king for the people than his father was. ... Alas, it doesn't work out that way, and the knight, blind to Einon's fundamentally bad nature, blames the dragon for corrupting his young charge, and vows to hunt him down and kill him. It pitches the tale well in a pseudo-medieval "historical"/ mythical Celtic world, and captures the sense of wonder people now have for that period, even though it is a pretty generalised confection... Inspired by that time, rather than trying to replicate it in any sort of historically accurate way... And it does so through excellent locations selection, and broad mix of English and American casting, great cinematography, a light yet evocative Celtic adventure score, and an early CGI dragon which, although a little dated in it's effectiveness, still holds up well enough to convey a sense of character. A couple of inspired casting choices too round this out, in the shape of the distinctive Sean Connery as the dragon, and Julie Christie as Einon's trapped and rueful mother, and friend of the dragon (she really brings a note of gravitas to proceedings). But overall, it's a very warm, joyous, swashbuckling adventure yarn made of the best bits of everything from stories of times if yore, and it was a pleasant, and unexpected surprise at time if release, and still holds a place in my heart, principally by virtue of it's aspiring to virtue, if the old fashioned, knightly kind. If you've not seen it yet, but like, say: The Princess Bride, or some of the old eighties children's fantasy movies, you'll love this too. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 10th Mar 2024		Cinema The Black Hole (1979) (1979)	Rated 8/10 Event horizon... For kids! ... In fact, watching this for the first time after many years, this screams Event Horizon inspiration through and through. I just remember this scared the crap out of me as a kid... (In fact, it's amazing how many movies if my formative years did that very thing) ... Very disturbing for a young mind, very... Off, very... Not Disney! Imagine a hybrid Frankenstein, Dracula, zombie movie set in space, next to a black hole, on board a giant Cadillac/green house/ Victorian gothic mansion/space ship, narratively working it's way towards a William Blake style vision of heaven and hell, and you have to double take to see the Disney name on the label. The casting is inspired, principally in the choice of Norman bates as slightly creepy idealist scientist, the effects are still hugely impressive, as much now as it was then, as well as the production design, robot design and especially cinematography. ... In fact, it's more than just Event Horizon this has inspired... As you can see this movie has undoubtedly had a huge claim to inventing the sub-gene of sci-fi horror, which many movies of the type have been influenced by. Still too much for younger kids, and certainly still quite chilling for adults, in site of the limitations of the times, as it has in many respects, aged quite well, if not in others... ... A lovely thing though, that this even exists, testament that even Disney could colour outside it's own lines once in a while. If only they were still as brave! ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 7th Mar 2024		Cinema Running Scared (1986) (1986)	Rated 7/10 Still good fun... but with a twist. Seeing this after all these years, and having watched it back in the day at least a hundred times, I had wondered if it would hold up, or if perhaps, being a comedy variation on the buddy cop genre, the humour might have dated a little... ...Fortunately, the light bubbly wit and humour is still good fun, with nothing really that would date it, or make it cringe worthy to modern eyes and ears. Indeed, the story of a couple of Chicago cops chasing down a local drug lord, and getting embroiled in a game of cat and mouse with him is still hugely entertaining, and the story and dialogue is first rate - Jimmy Smits gives a good performance as a stock villain / bad guy, and the ever reliable Joe Pantoliano has a small but memorable supporting role... ...But it's the brilliant camaraderie, repartee, and flat out chemistry between Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal that is the heart of this story, and what gives this movie huge personality, and charisma. In fact, the movie, in essence, is the back and forth banter between them with a detective / action story on top, which mostly serves to showcase their relationship. But there is a problem here I've noticed, and it consists in how I watched it, in contrast to how I originally watched it, which detracts somewhat from it - and it's quite an odd thing too: I originally watched this, first of course, on TV, then on my overworked VHS copy, in 4:3 ratio, so it was a fairly meat and potatoes movie with a kind of dingy look and feel, in how it presented the Chicago city-scape of the time, which the VHS and ratio only served to highlight, and feed into, in terms of look and feel of the production design etc. ...What hit me immediately, when I set my newly acquired DVD copy of it playing, was that the aspect ratio was 16:9, and this revealed a truly startling fact: The cinematography is stunning, and the production is incredible to look at this way... But that's a problem (for me, at least). Being shot, and presented like a more upscale movie, like The Godfather, or a Kubrick work f cinematic art, doesn't chime with the character and personality I spoke of earlier, it seems, in fact to make the comedy banter (heart of the story) out of place a tad, smaller, and diminished a little, like those warnings you used to get on CDs, to the effect of: "CDs can reveal the shortcomings of the original recordings...etc.", and also put me in mind of the whole Mono / Stereo debate in music, whereby some original music sounds better in mono, as the music was recorded with the intention of maintaining that mono focus, and to have that kind of impact, and where stereo versions of such music can sound... off, or just plain wrong for what you're hearing. Here, the interaction between Hines and Crystal, is the focus, and the addition of all this extra screen, and sharper, more modern DVD quality only serves to distract, dilute a little, and draw away that focus. Well, that's me, anyway. Objectively, if you have not been conditioned to see it this way, you might feel differently, but still find a movie to enjoy here... (Does make me wonder though, if original screenings in this (presumably) original aspect ratio may have negatively coloured some critics view of it, in the manner I suggest, whereby, they may well have had a better opinion of it had they seen a 4:3 VHS copy later, it being more at home that way, and having that greater emphasis on the central pairing's comedy duo. I'm glad to have a DVD copy, but honestly, I think 4:3 VHS is the one for me, so I'm going to make a point of getting one of those, as it does seem to impact on substance of the movie, and my impression of it. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 5th Mar 2024		Cinema Broken Arrow (1995)	Rated 7/10 I'd forgotten how much fun this movie was! A straight-up, meat and potatoes, mid-nineties action flick, notable for being one of the movies after Pulp Fiction that helped continue the revival of John Travolta's career (Here cast well as a baddie) and casting, seemingly against type, Christian Slater as an action hero... And all under the very stylised whip-crack direction of John Woo. John Woo's stylisation often goes way overboard for me, into the realms of the cartoonish, but it works well here. Basic plot: Two bomber co-pilots come to blows when one of them tries to steal the two live nuclear weapons they happen to be carrying on a training flight... (Dear God, I hope they don't actually do this in real life!) ...Leaving the other to try and stop him. ..And bang! that's it, off it goes from there at a very brisk pace as a modern military style western showdown action adventure. Not reinventing the wheel, in terms of plot or anything, it's just a great example of it's kind being done well... hugely entertaining. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 3rd Mar 2024		Cinema Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (1991)	Rated 7/10 The movie I hate to love. OK, so I'm afraid I'm ging to have to be "that guy" who doesn't like this movie... or rather, I do, but against my will, or better judgement. The reason is, in the initial instance, I grew up watching the original, first Terminator on TV, who's atmosphere, tone, concept, and story totally entranced me, fitting nicely in with the lower budget, performing miracles on a shoestring movie making ethos that John Carpenter made, along with others who made such sci-fi on meagre budgets because this genre was more marginalised back in the day - not so much main stream - and as such, you'd only catch these kinds of movies - Scanners, Terminator, Brainstorm, and others - late at night, on one of those secondary tv channels, so it felt like you'd slipped into some twilight netherworld of your own when watching them... (I had a 14" colour TV next to my bed then, my second tv, after my Dad's 10" black and white portable one) ...The glow from these small, curious movies being the only light illuminating the room, and drawing me in in such a truly immersive way that no amount of modern big screen TVs, 3D, Imax, and all that jazz could ever hope to match subsequently. ...And along comes this, when I was in my teens, early movie-going years... ...Already dubious, as Arnie already looked too old to play a Terminator - they shouldn't age, surely! - and much less forbidding, formidable, and scary than he did in the first, somewhat detracting from the concept of this character before I'd even set foot in the cinema - and the movie "production values" and budget, had obviously been vastly upscaled, thereby removing most of the things I loved about the first one... this was just too slick. And then, we get into all the reasons I really dislike this one, as it has a whole lot to answer for! ...Firstly, the addition of "personalitly" to the Terminator, killed that character stone dead for me, and then adding some throw-away cheesy humour got me really disliking it. I'll admit, Seeing that opening sequence, with the Robot Terminator head looming through the flames on the big screen then is a movie going experience indelibly etched in my mind, and truly brilliant.. along with the development of Sarah Connor's character, and of course, a brilliant performance by Robert Patrick, now deservingly Iconic, and many other details besides, but all of the cons I've mentioned, plus the truly insufferable, obnoxious hysterical squeaky teen John Connor really set me against it in a big way. The final insult, which is beyond cheese - but which seems to get everyone else emotionally - and is a total deal breaker for me, is shall we say.. a total Thumbs Down! I personally trace everything that I consider wrong in modern cinema to this movie: Self referential, treating your own world building lightly, and buggering about with it, over commercialization due to mega budget bastardisation of something previously good, that had it's own integrity - "rebooting" and the beginning of the age of flogging a once live horse beyond dead, until it's all but fragments... this movie seems to show the way to that, due to it's massive commercial success, and set the trends we now have to suffer. Objectively, I suppose, it's a very good film, and exceptionally well made, and all that, but it's a bit like that thing people have with rock stars - if you knew them before they were famous, and accepted, it's very difficult to look at them as the icon they have become, especially, with the compromises they have made to get there. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 24th Feb 2024		Cinema Dark Star (1974) (1974)	Rated 7/10 You don't have to be stoned to enjoy this pocket-change budgeted movie... but it helps! :) 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 22nd Feb 2024		Cinema Happiness (1998)	Rated 6/10 Grim, Bleak, overly absurd at times, and largely bland, in comparison to others who have done this kind of movie better. It's a comically surreal look at the mundane lives of apparently ordinary people, or perhaps a mundane look at the comically surreal mundanity of their lives... Coming form the same sort of place as Magnolia, or American Beauty, in showing lots of broken people, who are outwardly normal or fine, occasionally giving a Woody Allen movie vibe, and is therefore a very "actorly" piece, which probably got actors of the time excited about the script in how daring, shocking, and meaty it was, but it does go too far over the line with one specific element, or character thread of the ensemble story, that of a family man / predatory Paedophile, which is frankly stomach churning, as well as profoundly uncomfortable to watch - - I frequently grimaced, and even looked away from the screen, even though it's not graphic, just nauseating in it's study of this character, and there's no on screen come-uppance for him, or resolution, which leaves a bad feeling for this movie - The occasional interesting parts of the story, those following other characters, which even make you chuckle on occasion, are completely overwhelmed by this thread, as you are constantly dreading that part coming back on the screen and having to find out what happens next. If you are in any way sensitive to this topic, avoid like the plague. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 20th Feb 2024		Cinema Peeping Tom (1960) (1960)	Rated 9/10 Are you shifting uncomfortably in your seats? Good, then I'll begin... Wow, what a movie! ...Don't even know how to begin to review it properly at the moment, as there's so much in there, both explicit and implied, that I haven't fully gotten my head around yet, but to find yourself sympathising with, even empathising with, let alone rooting for a serial killer is quite a feat of film-making! (Must emphasise though that it's not the serial killer, or his activities you root for, but the man, who is as much a victim, not least of himself, as anyone here) I think this is probably the principal reason this seems to have drawn all the vitriol from the critics I've been hearing about, as, especially in this time when it was made (straight laced fifties - although released in 1960) this was asking questions of an audience we'd be uncomfortable with today! - perhaps the critics didn't like being made to recognise certain things about themselves, as much as anything. >The old: Damn it to hell, and make it go away, that way, we can keep on pretending all is rosy in our respective gardens, and nothing will disturb this illusion.< It's beautifully shot, in a kind of technicolour of the time, that looks like a contemporary rom-com, Hollywood might make (made me think of Breakfast at Tiffany's in this regard), but with a normal every day quality - but the visuals exceed even this. There's lots in it as social commentary about voyeurism, of course, media, art, psychology, and movie-making in general, especially media and what it is to make a film, as well as us, as an audience. All deftly, and sublimely handled, without whacking you over the head with obvious explanations, so asks you to think, to what extent you want or can, about what it is showing you. (I think only Taratnino's Inglorious Basterds, recently, has been this profound about turning the camera, and the gaze of the audience on itself, and like that, this is doomed, to a great extent, to be severely misunderstood - seldom doth the subtle wit prevail, when all about you weep and wail!) You can see the influence of this on everything from horror, to thriller for years after. Needs a rewatch, and a further ponder or two every now and then, I think. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 17th Feb 2024		Cinema Kiss Of The Dragon (2001) (2001)	Rated 7/10 Not into "martial arts" movies in general, but this popped into my head again after all these years the other week, and I remembered it being a little better than the standard fare, so ordered a cheapo second hand copy on Amaznonia... ...And in some ways, it still is, but it does have the odd issue on second viewing: The story of a Cop from China coming to collaborate with the French police in a sting on a Chinese drug lord operating in Paris, only to discover the French head cop and his crew are bent, and looking to take over the operation themselves, leaving a trail of bodies in the process, and our cop: Mr Li, alone, hunted, and fending for himself in the city after they try to pin it all on him, is a great premise for a story, as is the conflict he feels between getting himself out of the situation, and the impulse to help an American woman (Bridget Fonda), trapped in servitude to Tchéky Karyo's menacing (occasionally cartoonish) villain head cop as a prostitute, recover her daughter from him, whom he is using as the leverage to keep Fonda in line. It is, as it looks and feels, a Luc Besson scripted and produced movie, so has that edge to it, and there are some good fight sequences from peak Jet Li (Who's story idea this is), but without being wholly at the expense of drama, and the story. The one gripe I really had, is that the look of this film, in how it was shot, is largely dark, dingy, and grimy, which doesn't really help you in seeing what is going on in these action / fight sequences, but a minor quibble. Burt Kwouk also has a small, but significant role as the owner of a small noodle shop in Paris, who is Li's contact, and gives solid stoic performance. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 13th Feb 2024		Cinema St. Elmo's Fire (1985) (1985)	Rated 7/10 Apex eighties melodrama. Of all the John Hughes era "Brat pack" movies, this one has aged the worst I think, as these people are mostly obnoxious, and do not have the excuse of highschool naiveté as those in other movies of this time have. (Still a key part of my growing up, so still a slight affection for it, but it is painful to watch in places). 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 12th Feb 2024		Cinema Midsommar (2019)	Rated 7/10 Not as good as I thought it was going to be, but better than I thought it was when I was watching it. I think the reason I expected so much is because of the obvious comparisons it drew to the classic: The Wicker Man... (Original - not the other nonsense with Nicolas Cage) ...And also, it our man Ari at the helm of an A24 film, which, after seeing the quite singular: Hereditary, made me expect great things. ...But that also turns out to to be the baggage this cannot quite live up to... This is slow, and a lot of the plot devices are contrived, so as to make the story move the way Ari wants it to, even though 99% of humanity, at multiple occasions in this story, would have acted to the contrary without thinking about it: ...Go to Swedish "commune" way out in the sticks? Hell no! ...Upon arriving, seeing this lot prancing about in the field around buildings you are not allowed to go in: Goodbye! And everything therein and thereafter, at almost every point: Not on your nelly chum! It has a couple of disturbing concepts, and few (quite weak) gross horror effects, but I didn't really feel it was excessively graphic, in comparison to many other horror films - in fact, quite tame (I even laughed out loud at a particular scene involving a mallet - which was not the intended effect they wished to have on an audience!). The group of friends traveling to this woodland based am-dram pantomime, in true horror style, are a bunch of boneheads: smart enough to go to university, but not smart enough to see where this is heading from the outset, apparently - so I didn't really care to what end any of them came. And all the while, at the back of my head, watching this, was the overly large shadow of The Wicker Man, and the expectation created by Hereditary - it lived up to neither. It is, only on reflection, the central, and to a great degree, subtextual story of Ms Pugh's grief, that is the story, and the only element of this story that really is it's own, but it sags under the weight of those comparisons. So in the end...yeah, it's OK, even quite good, but not anything like the classic it promised to be, and I don't feel the need to see it again. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 8th Feb 2024		Cinema Dead Man (1995) (1995)	Rated 8/10 Weird and brilliant. I'd convinced myself that I had seen this... even heard of it before, but I think I was lying to myself. ...Anyway, now I have done both, and as anyone who has seen this, could not help but be taken aback by this dazzling monochrome hallucinatory journey onto some kind of western based mystical underworld... (Not entirely black and white, as there are very light blues, which mess with your head when viewed next to the greys, and make the mind see pinks on occasion) ...And having looked a little online after, seeing Jarmusch himself describe it as a psychedelic western, I'm inclined to agree. it's shot in this black white blue monochrome in an almost documentary looking style, and is loaded with short cameos and appearances from an incredible array of well known figures, from actors to Iggy Pop! As Johnny Depp's character: William Blake journeys into a town called Machine to get a job that isn't there, then gets into trouble with the company's boss and flees, setting forth thereafter on this Odyssey into an almost "up-river" journey onto the heart of darkness or light affair, guided for extended sequences by a Native American shaman like character who goes by the name of: Nobody... All the while, pursued by gang of three ruthless, yet hapless bounty hunters / killers. "Nobody" believes Depp's character is the reincarnation of the English poet and namesake: William Blake, and seeks to help him get to where his spirit truly belongs. You'll not see nothing like this. (Neil Young provides big solo grungy guitar soundtrack to this trip too :) 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 1st Feb 2024		Cinema The Hole (The Hole 3D) (2009) (2009)	Rated 7/10 Dark therapy. (If I may borrow an apt title from an Echobelly song) As this, quite cheap, TV looking production by one of the masters of the wholesome family horror movie: Joe Dante (Who I consider in this vein along with Tim Burton), sets out as a fairly standard new family of mum and two sons moving into new house with something not altogether natural in the basement... But towards the end becomes more of an exercise in therapy for those brought up in a home with an abusive parent. ,,,After all, where's "dad" in this family equation?...hmmmmmm... As I said, the production looks more TV than cinema, like an episode of a creepy Twilight Zone type series, but that's not to say it doesn't look good by that standard... just lower budget. However, everyone here klnows exactly how to get the most out of what they've got to work with, and the story is spot on, the script tight, light and lively, and the visuals are in the best tradition of Tim Burton style weirdness, appropriate for the subconscious dreamscape themes, brilliantly designed and executed, so as to have an almost archetypical power. Without offering any further info for those who want to watch it, which I recommend, all I'll say is that one of the features of this experience is of a small toy jester / clown, which may be one of the most creepy things I've seen in recent years :), and an almost Ringu style little girl ghostie, so a couple of elements which are going to give younger viewers night horrors (perhaps a couple of adults too!). But I thought this was a great little film, which I'd made a mental note of to see when it came out, but forgot about it until I found the DVD the other week, and it exceeded my expectations. Great creepy fun! ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 28th Jan 2024		Cinema Peter's Friends (1992) (1992)	Rated 4/10 Nobody's finest hour. Ouch... ...They don't come much more overly acted, hammy and lovey than this wildly melodramatic cringe-fest. Not seen it since way back when, and had only a vague memory, or impression of it, and it has aged very badly indeed. A good idea at heart, of a man inviting his old school type friends to his mansion over new years, having not seen them in ten years, and seeing how all their lives have changed - mostly for worse, each with their own brand of baggage... ...But the acting, script, and characters are all obnoxious in the extreme, as they portray a ludicrous series of scenes as this "drama" unfolds. The excessive use of pop songs of the time is grating, especially through the first two thirds of the film, and the only saving graces are the (almost) good-ish final ten minutes, when everybody dials it down a little, and the peripheral character of Vera, the housemaid / cook, who is the only solid character, played with the only solid acting in this movie. Otherwise, just awful. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 25th Jan 2024		Cinema Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969) (1969)	Rated 9/10 Not what I thought it was going to be. Finally, after all these years, I got around to watching this... ...And several things struck me about it, that were opposed to the idea of what I thought this movie was going to be: Firstly, I thought it was just going to a straight up meat and potatoes western, shot, and presented in the usual fashion - sweeping scores, dramatic / epic set piece hero shots, and the kind of bore-fest I expect from the genre (A lot of these bore me to tears, so this explains why I avoided this... ...Then the story, I thought was just a fun buddy movie with lots of laughs and capers and such... fluff. On both of these counts, I was wholly wrong, as this rather glacial "modern" western is, but for the Bacharach song, and another piece over the ingenious segment of a narrative sequence sepia stills showing the pair's transitional phase between their American life and that in Bolivia, is devoid of music altogether, having only the ambient sounds of what's in frame at any given time... ...And what cinematography! Possibly some of the best I've ever seen. Rather than the sun drenched romantic western-scapes I'd predicted, the washed out, "thin" colour palettes, the sepia / murky brown segment at the beginning, and the woodland scenes are nothing short of art. And all to tell the story of two, only superficially breezy and sparky individuals' deeper tragic nature, and sense of fate, as the world is changing, and there ain't no place for them anymore. It occurred to me also - that is struck me quite a lot, actually, that most of my preconceptions came from the fact that whenever scenes from this are shown in any videos, discussions of great movies etc. it's only ever the scene with the bicycle and Bacharach song, or their jump of the cliff into the river... no other scenes that I can recall ever get shown, or talked about, and so I think this gave me a very false notion of what to expect. You'd think I'd learn by now not to go by what others say about a movie, but take the time to sit and experience these things for myself... lesson learnt! :) ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 20th Jan 2024		Cinema An Enemy Of The People (1978)	Rated 8/10 "The majority is always wrong!" I got around to watching my VHS of this last night, and was actually blown away by it! ...Not so much for any great acting performances, or dialogue especially, although it's very good on these points... No, the thing that got me was just how prescient this work is - point for point, beat for beat, it's almost uncanny how accurately this predicts the world we live in now, the problems we face, and in particular, the obstacles to solving them, politically, socially, and economically. Steve McQueen's Dr. Stockmann is the local doctor / general science bod on a small aspiring township, and he has noticed that a new local business is causing the water to be contaminated, which could be, or soon will, poisoning the local population, and so, after sending samples off to a University for testing, and receiving the results confirming his suspicions, compiles a report for the local council to consider, along with his strong advocacy that changes, at least, be made to how this business interacts with the local water supply, and that the whole water pipe system needs to be ripped out and replaced. ...And all for the public good. Unfortunately, his brother, The Mayor, sees only the expense, and is put out by the bad publicity this would cause, and the effects on the local economy (as well as other vested interests) and very rapidly turns on him, using political power and position to denounce him, and turn the public against him, which they duly do. ...To add to his woes, the local "radicals" / revolutionaries (code word for Socialists), who run a newspaper, seek to exploit him by weaponizing by him, and his report for political advantage over the establishment, as represented by the local council, and it's Mayor (his brother). Of course, this all blows back on him, as he is now trapped between the denouncements and persecutions of the establishment, on the one hand, the exploitations of radical revolutionaries on the other, both of whom are using the populist opinions of a largely scientifically ignorant public as the instruments of his persecution. As the doctor tries to maintain his integrity, in the face of this, advocating only the facts, from a scientific standpoint, his nobility, and scientific attitude stand as a profound disadvantage, as it is this, that makes him breathtakingly naïve, and therefore ill equipped to deal with those aspects of social life he knows not of: Political and social snakery, in using "democracy" itself as a weapon of denunciation, to marginalise him, and push him in to the long grass, as the townsfolk do not want to hear what he has to say - not if it costs them materially, even if it could save their lives. On his own, the Doctor could well weather the storm, but he has a home, and family to think of too, who have to live here, among the townsfolk. I thought, while watching this, of the Ecological issues of recent years, as reflected in the public debate, I thought of a certain Dr. David Kelly with regards to WMDs (look him up), as well as a recent phrase from UK politics, to the effect of: "People are tired of experts". "We're doomed!" :) Ibsen Schmibsen This is, of course, an adaptation of an Ibsen play (always meant to get around to reading some his work, and this has only made me want to read him more!) by Arthur Miller, and this is the strength of the whole movie - all the actors are good, and even Monotone McQueen gives a solid performance under all that hair and spectacles (Steve McQueen was never really required to act in reality, after all, just be Steve McQueen - and that's enough, I suppose)). Perhaps it is either fitting, or Ironic, that the absolute failure and disappearance of this most relevant (certainly now, more than ever) movie is almost an exact replica of the plot. This movie needs to be seen again, by as many modern eyes as can be laid upon it, and has a claim to be considered one that ought to be regarded alongside the likes of 12 Angry Men, as more than just a movie... It's a treatise, and an education. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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