Vintage brilliance.

Miles is not OK...

...He's a glum, depressed, high-minded (pretentious) intellectual who's life circumstances don't quite matchup to his expectations...

...A wannabe writer (one of those you feel, wants to be an author the next "Great American Novel") but is struggling to get published, and having had a messy divorce, now lives alone in small, run down apartment block while working as a School-teacher... he hates life, and it shows.

His one passion, even obsession, is with wine, about which, you could justly call him a mega-nerd... and he's excruciatingly exacting and pretentious about that too! (Which makes for great comedy :)

With friends like these...

This weekend is different though, as he's taking his friend Jack on his stag weekend before a marriage rehearsal the following week, which Miles has perfectly planned notions of being a very civilised journey through the wine growing regions of California, some golf, a dinner out, and good conversation... a chance for himself too, to get away from it all too.

...Unfortunately, Jack's a lad! - And has other ideas for the weekend, and wants have a blow out, and get laid.

A flaky, impulsive, vulgar man-child and struggling bit-part actor, he is the absolute antithesis of Miles, and almost immediately starts sabotaging Miles's plans, and getting him into various troubles, with often hilarious and painful to watch consequences.

Maybe this will break Miles, or be the forceful and perhaps necessary breaking of the big dark cloud of gloom and despair that Miles has hanging over him, and carries with him everywhere he goes.

This has a n air of Frasier about it, in that it is very sharp and intelligent (Intellectual) comedy, which is consistently and deliberately undermined by the crass, vulgar humour and scenarios that occur.

It was very much talked about and praised at time of release, but seems to have drifted somewhat off the radar since then, and fully deserves to be watched again, as it has aged very nicely :)

The only criticism I have of it, is that Miles is one of those characters I hate to admit, I see too much of myself in at times (yikes!)... and often some of Jack too!!!

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The Love Epidemic is a series of comedy vignettes about sexually transmitted disease spliced with serious medical footage and doctors explaining the risks of unsafe sex.

This is considered an Ozploitation (Australian Exploitation) film. You will never convince me this is a serious educational film. It was simply an excuse to get nudity and sex past the censors to make a few bucks at the box office.

It is very funny in places and it draws comparisons to Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask (a better film). There's a really fun sketch with two ignorant men in the pub talking; "one day you're just going about your business then the next thing you know your tool drops off". Or syphilis and gonorrhoea represented as two blokes in boiler suits inside the factory of the human body drinking beer and talking about the good old days of WWII VD. Or the prostitute who makes the punter wash his "old man" in the sink. It's all very silly stuff and Brian Trenchard-Smith even manages to sandwich in a kung fu fight and a medieval battle.

This is far from a great film, but it delivers on what modern viewers expect. A fair amount of nudity including some full frontal, simulated, but lengthy sex scenes and some laugh out loud moments. It's not as good or as polished as the aforementioned Woody Allen film, but for a low budget Australian comedy it does deliver on inventiveness and laughs. Be warned there are some graphic scenes of the symptoms of VD so don't watch it if you are having your dinner.

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Teenage brat, Kathy (Scarlett Johansson) finds her brother George (Nick Fuoco) annoying. She plays a prank on him to get him into trouble with their cool babysitter, Matilda (Eva Mendez). He gets turned into a pig after accidentally activating a Mexican voodoo spell. They travel to Mexico to find a way to break the curse while their parents are on a cycling trip in France.

There a host of famous faces here. Judge Reinhold was the big name. He isn't in the film for very long and plays the wise cracking father, a role he's played many times. Scarlett Johansson is particularly annoying and comes across more as a bully than a cool girl going through puberty. Dee Bradley Baker voices the pig, he's best known for providing the voices for many hit Cartoon Network shows; he's only given a few lines, none of them good. Eva Mendez was around 25 at the time of the film's release. She doesn't look significantly older than Scarlett and plays a sort of big sis role, she's decent. Alex D. Linz deserves a mention as he is given the best lines and nails them.

I wanted to like this film more. Sadly it feels like a TV Movie at best and an overly long episode of a Saturday morning sitcom at worst. The characters are never really developed and feel a bit unrealistic. I didn't really feel Kathy had an annoying younger brother; I felt more sorry for him. His big crime is making a giant bowl of ice cream and trashing a kitchen. There's supposed to be some sort of comment on the brother and sister age gap; one is growing up, the other is still a kid. This theme is often explored in PG rated comedies, but it's not done as well as in say, Fudge (Fudgeamania).

The fantasy theme, not fantastical enough and the voodoo style curse never really explained. The special effects are bad even for 1999. The climax was a letdown as well given the film had been building for over an hour by that point.

I think it is a good film, but far from a great one. I didn't find the acting to be bad, just the characters underwritten. Compared to high marks of family films like Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire, My Brother The Pig falls way short. That said there is something enjoyable about seeing a pig shaped mountain and there's a few funny lines. This film can't shake off dated Mexican stereotypes, but it did try to blend the two cultures before Dora the Explorer got it right.

Availability: The film is available on DVD in the UK rated PG uncut. It's quite rare. The DVD has nice picture quality and sound I'm fairly sure the film has been broadcast on terrestrial TV albeit 20 years ago. It's an ok 90 minutes timewaster, but even children will want a more meaty film.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Unexpected item in the modern comedy classic area!

I caught this on BBC Three the other night, and was completely blown away by it.

I was expecting just another movie about those sinless millenials I've been hearing so much about recently, but this belong on any list of seminal Graduation / End of term / coming of age / growing up and moving on movies that define the subject for their generation...

...In fact, you can strike a line straight through, from (off the top of my head) American Graffiti, Dazed and Confused, Ghost World, to Superbad and the like. And you detect a strong whiff of all of those movies in this, especially the last one, as two overly-studious girls who feel they have wasted their school years studying too hard and not having any fun, decide to have a bit of a blow out the night before graduation to make up for it.

This follows these girls as they try with desperation to find a party, and a kind of odyssey ensues (a lot like Superbad) to get there.

What elevates this, is firstly the dialogue is Blackadder sharp, with a note of Withnail and I, but very naturally, and easily done (it doesn't feel forced), and the story cracks along in a very watchable way; And then, crucially it's very funny, with some moments of genuine comic genius - The Stop motion segment where, having taken some undefined illicit substance, they turn into barbie dolls is pure brilliance.

This sharpness does give way at the right time to more feeling, and drama without feeling clunky, and the whole film is just excellent.

Special mention must go to director Olivia Wilde...balancing all these elements perfectly, without losing the thread, and has great feeling for, and sensitivity to these characters and the cinematography makes this feel like a Michael Mann movie!

(Michael Mann does The Inbetweeners!!!)

A surprising and unexpected nugget of a movie, that adds another fine chapter to a great tradition.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Villeneuve strikes again!

As with Blade Runner, I kind of groaned when learning of the intent to make this (again), but having witnessed the brilliance of what this director did with Blade Runner sequel (and all his other work!), I breathed a little sigh of relief.

That said, unlike Blade Runner, this is not a sequel, but a remake (of sorts), or more accurately, a new attempt at the original Frank Herbert novel for the big screen... And as someone who, despite it's many, many faults, dearly loves the Lynch Dune movie (mostly it's quirky Lynch-ian oddness is why I love it), and who has read the vast and complex and subtle novel which has many prescient themes woven intricately into it's fabric, I was worried it might still be biting off a little more than even Villeneuve could chew...

(After all, in terms of influential books that HAD to be made properly one day for cinema, there's The Lord Of The Rings, and then there's Dune!)

...And while I'm a bit sketchy now about the details of the novel, the overall impression remains, and this finally feels like it's living up to that epic tome... In both the scale, look and feel of the work, and it's essential themes and message (more of the subtlety than Lynch was able to shoe-horn into his available contracted space).

I was also worried that, having read the book, and seen the previous movie attempt, this would offer nothing new... No surprises, and it would just be a more careful run trough of what I already knew - pointless watching if you know all what's coming! But some of the story-telling choices, and visual devices used still managed to carry me along with it.

There will, of course, be some ardent fans of the novel who are not satisfied, because they are unwilling to concede that this is a different art form, and whatmay work in a book won't work on screen, so the director / film-maker has to TRANSLATE it into something that will work in that medium, which this does.

And much of Villeneuve's style does the story-telling without having to literally copy the text. A lesser, or even a different director who is more concerned with details might get bogged down, and overwhelmed by this, but here, Villeneuve is the RIGHT man for the job, in the same way that Peter Jackson was the RIGHT director for Lord Of The Rings, even if, it were arguable that a "better" director were available - Chris Nolan, for instance, might well have spiralled down into a thick morass of endless detail and complexity if he'd tried this.

It is, of course, more of a tale akin to The Godfather, than a Star-Wars-esque flashing light and action festival, in that it is a slow paced, (although occasionally active) epic, depicting the cosmic power struggles between families / dynasties and factions, with economics, ecology, philosophy, mysticism, prophecy and political manoeuvrings at it's heart, so more like The Godfather, or war and Peace in space... and Messianic overtones.

But the two and a half hours do fly by, as you are engrossed in the stunning visuals, the good script and pacing, and Timotheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (however you pronounce that, I don't know, 'cause I'm a dunce :) Chalamet has a lot of burden to carry in this movie, but does so with impressive ease, even though the role in this first part, is largely subdued, as a kid with a lot of expectation of him, and the weight and heft of earthing this story is done by the super solid performances of the "supporting" cast of reliable perfomers like Brolin, Rampling, and others.

(Jason Mamoa deserves a lot of credit for his performance that offers a lot of levity and charisma to the film)

The only real complaint I have, is that it's a split film, leading up, only to when Paul and mum take up with the Fremen, because I was was so wrapped in the movie, I didn't want it to end!

(I could have sat through another three hours quite happily, in order to see the story through to the end)

And as for the music, it's that man Zimmer again, knocking it clean out of the park with another esoteric abstract brain crusher of a score, perfectly complimenting the visuals... Brilliant.

Cannot wait for the next part, which had better be forthcoming Warner Brothers, or I will not be happy!

In short, this will take your brain to another dimension... so pay close attention :)

[YouTube Video]

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is a no budget British horror film. Allegedly made for £50, whether that is true or not it sure looks like it.

A young woman goes to a fancy dress party and finds she is to be sacrificed as part of a satanic cult.

The film is influenced by classics like The Exorcist and has some slasher elements like a knife through the throat (best gore effect in the film).

The budget shows and the film looks like it may have been shot on VHS or Hi-8 as it doesn't have the clarity of 16 or 35mm. The film first appeared on VHS tape with the director's other film The Last Night. I was convinced this was a video nasty, but it's a pre-cert that was never re-released in the UK. It does have a DVD release in USA. This film is not recommended but it is a rare curiosity of British horror.

Michael J. Murphy or MJM went onto write and direct a series of straight to video cheapies in various genres: slasher, sex, fantasy. He died in 2015.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Shrooms takes bits of the stoner comedy movies which saw a resurrection in the 00s with "Dude Where's My Car?" and the Harold and Kumar films and adds it to Folklorean slasher conventions.

It doesn't do anything particularly well. The characters are a bit annoying and underwritten. However, Sean McGinley and Don Wycherley as Bernie and Ernie are brilliant playing the yokels who live in the woods, giving darkly humorous deadpan delivery to some truly silly lines.

It suffers from editing choices that date a lot of 00s films; high contrast photography, grainy flashbacks and jarring jumpcuts, not to mention handheld camera shots.

The film has some funny scenes, but it could have done with a few more jokes. The film delivers just enough gore, but it goes for more of a supernatural angle, which doesn't quite work as the plot get jumbled near the end.

This was borderline between a 5 and a 6 for me, but I think there is just enough to recommend it. It was made for 3.5 million Euro, but it doesn't in anyway look cheap. The DVD and Blu-Ray are also very cheap to buy at present and in abundance.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

There was huge trend starting in 00s to remake old slasher films and bring them to an emo audiences of teenagers who liked Slipknot and Marilyn Manson. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ghost Ship (Death Ship) and even House of Wax. A Nightmare On Elm Street is either a reboot or remake depending on which way you look at it. It was universally panned by critics and slasher fans alike, but it's not that bad.

Coming out in 2010 it has a clinical, cold, dark look to it which seems to still be a popular aesthetic choice seen in films like Us (2019) , maybe it became popular with films like The Cell (2000) and In Dreams (1999). I personally preferred the neon dayglo of 80s slashers and the "blue light" effect of 90s horrors like Necronomicon (1993) and Two Evil Eyes (1990).

The deaths in A Nightmare On Elm Street are gory enough, but lack the humour and outrageousness of even the first A Nightmare On Elm Street. The acting is decent enough, with the teens not being annoying or boring and Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger is a fine choice; but he is nowhere near as imposing as Robert Englund or as funny. In a nutshell it's just a bit "meh" like a lot of 00s slashers "Cherry Falls", "Jason X" and "The Pool (2001)" . Had it not carried the Freddy brand I believe it would have had a fairer roasting by critics. It's not a must see, but it's perfectly acceptable as a popcorn horror.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Set in an Orwellian vision of the future were sex is banned, a couple try to escape from the "Big Brother" society to be together.

This film is another take on the 1984 theme with sex added to the mix. There's been UK TV Movie "The Year of the Sex Olympics" - a much better albeit much more serious film and "Barbarella" exploring some of themes and a much better film. Cinderella 2000 is very kitschy in the style of Barbarella, but can also be viewed as (largely intentionally) camp in the same way "Buck Rogers", 70s "Dr. Who" or "The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy" can. Beyond that it's got some OK songs, some above average acting and some of the setpieces like the robot are quite fun, but that's it.

Al Adamson is a decent director who manages to craft interesting films from ultra low budgets. Cinderella 2000 doesn't have much to offer modern audiences, it didn't in 1977. Those looking for sex would be able to see hardcore pornography like Deep Throat around the time this film came out and there are much better sexploitation films of the 70s like Emmanuelle. As mentioned for camp, kitschy films: Barbarella and the like do it better. It's a tough sell these days, beyond a weird B-movie curiosity piece.

Blu-Ray from Severin is quite nice, but sadly has some damage and soft colours, but it's more than acceptable. Audio is HD upscaled 2.0 mono.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Trilogy of short films with slasher influences.

The first story "That's The Way To Do It" is about a children's entertainer who puts on Punch & Judy shows in what I think is Brighton. He spends more time with his puppets than his family. His stepson is an abusive bully, his wife "doesn't know why she married him". I think this is supposed to be a black comedy, but it's played as straight as is possible with some good acting. It's also the best story of the bunch, about 15 or R rated in terms of violence with most of it off screen.

"Dreamhouse" is about a couple who are gifted a nice house as a wedding present. The wife develops second sight and sees horrible visions of people being murdered in the house. This is the goriest of the bunch with a fair amount of claret. It's also the most boring with slow pacing and no real characterisation.

"Do You Believe In Fairies?" A good looking young man who works at a gentleman's clothes shop gets a weekend job as a gardener/handyman to pay back a £400 loan. He maintains a country house for eccentric biddies who have a bizarre gnome collection. After seeing the ladies counting a wad of cash, he decides to burgle the place with his grease monkey mates. They find a treasure chest filled with diamonds and money. The consequences are bloody. This one feels a bit like a fantasy kid's TV series like "The Queen's Nose". It's too silly to take seriously and the violence is a bit jarring.

These are held together by a bunch of idiots watching stolen VHS tapes in a New York Apartment. To the credit of the filmmakers it was actually shot in New York (Lower East Side?) rather than using archive footage.

Screamtime is rare. It might be available on Prime in USA and it appeared on VHS in the UK on Pre-Cert and USA unrated. The film comes recommended, even if it isn't great it's interesting enough and has some recognisable faces, good acting and direction. Why it has become buried is a mystery.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is great fun!

It's one of those superhero movies that is how a superhero movie ought to be: A good, light heart, FUN, family movie.

There's the occasional joke / wink to the older audience, like the reference to the Tom Hanks movie: "Big" and the odd innuendo, but nothing that will set your teeth on edge.

Doesn't take itself too seriously.

The best coupple of hours of superhero movie you can have since Spiderman - Into the Spider-versy- thing.

Shazam!... I am entertained!

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A family swap houses for a vacation and end up in a town occupied by Trolls\Goblins who can morph into human form. The trolls try to feed them "green goo" to make them transform into edible plants.

It has to be said Troll 2 is a truly terrible film. These films are made for teenagers that rented VHS tapes of Charles Band's Full Moon films or Troma for a few laughs with their friends. Troll 2 delivers on laughs, awful special effects, but it lacks a bit in the gore department.

It's worth pointing out in every bad movie there is at least one good actor. Michael Paul Stephenson as Joshua, the little boy who is sort of the lead role is better than most of the adult actors apart from Deborah Reed who plays a Troll Queen and really goes for it, hamming it up, every facial expression really turned up to the Nth degree, knowingly giving viewers exactly what they expect and being sexy with it.

A documentary was made by actor, Michael Paul Stephenson and is favourably reviewed. I do like guilty pleasure films and try to see the good in most films, but while far from the worst film ever made it is difficult to recommend because it's bad on every level.

On Censorship: The film was passed in the UK uncut with an 18 certificate for VHS. It was downgraded to a 15 for DVD. For comparison the film has less violence than 15 rated Final Destination.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The Trollenberg Terror is a film that plays on Cold War paranoia with a theme of radioactive monsters from other planets. The merging of Sci-Fi and Horror was hugely popular in the 50s with films like Godzilla, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms and Them!

Since the home video market these films have gained a cult following. I'm sure that in the 1950s cinema goers will have had the life scared out of them. Now these films are seen as being campy, party movies; a few beers and a lot of laughs.

Trollenberg Terror was a low budget British production featuring American actors. Due to the budget constraints the special effects are truly terrible. Painted backdrops of mountains, mountain scenery made of fibreglass with the actors walking on scaffolding boards, Airfix airplanes and the creature effects really deliver on comedy value. That said the film has a lot of charm, with the actors playing it straight and some good acting. The film has gone onto gain cult status with John Carpenter professing to being a fan and I can see some influences being used in The Thing (itself a remake of The Thing From Another World).

Sadly for me the sticking point was an incredibly slow pace and despite the end payoff being good it was a bit of a slog.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The Bitch was a critical flop with both fans and critics. In the last few decades it has built up a fanbase and become a bit of a cult movie.

The plot is pretty incomprehensible with Nico smuggling a diamond to pay off a gambling debt to some hardened criminals and Joan Collins being the woman he has a fling with.

The film came hot on the platform heels of the "discoploitation" subgenre with the pinnacle being Saturday Night Fever and some true oddities like Disco Godfather. There are some truly appalling disco scenes that do not capture the glamour and feature largely unprofessional and unchoreographed dance scenes. Even worse the nightclub scenes take up aroun ten minutes of the film which has an already short runtime; obvious filler.

Joan Collins looks great. One of the eye popping scenes is her in a red and black basque which was used for the poster art. The sex scenes are brief with Joan keeping her clothes on for most of it and even a swinger scene in a mansion feels a bit limp.

This film isn't a total mess. Nice photography, great locations and set pieces, a bit of campy dialogue and some good looking actors who can actually act make for a decent night in with a few beers. Ignore the low review scores, fans of exploitation films have always known what's good.

Joan Collins was maligned for this film as her starpower was fading by the time she did The Stud. Ironically this sequel was a factor in showing the world she was still a sex symbol and an icon at 45 and I'm sure lead to her being cast in Dallas.

The Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber features a soft print, most likely from film deterioration, clear sound and the commentary track is a hoot.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

One of those: "You've got to see it at least once in your life" kind of films.

Of course, the big thing about this movie, is the big gimmick employed of making an entire movie from Vincent Van Gogh paintings, making them move and tell a story, which is the story of Vincent himself...

...And as such, the many thousands of hand painted frames (actual paintings!) that go to make up this work stand as an astonishing technical, and artistic achievement. That said, this gimmick does threaten to overwhelm the movie, as it is quite a jarring experience which takes some getting used to after the initial: "Wow!" of the concept has passed...

...It looks, and feels, not unlike an LSD trip (so I'm told - ahem), which very much presses in on the brain somewhat.

Fortunately, even if you take this big gimmick / artistic concept out of the equation, there's still a great story, well told underneath, and the movie could stand on this alone.

The premise is that a postmaster's son, returning a letter to the family of Vincent Van Gogh in the town where he spent his final days begins to unpick the story of those final days through conversations, or even interviews with those that knew him, and so unravel the mystery of the man, both in how and why he died, and who he was as a person:

...Did he kill himself?

.............Was he Killed?

....................Was he mad or simply misunderstood?

Ultimately, this is an "impressionist" portrait of Vincent Van Gogh in one crucial period of his life: The end... as told through the collective testimony of others, and I think it does the man justice, for all his faults and foibles, there's a love, warmth and sympathy for him that helps look at those well established ideas we have of his life in a new light.

In fact, I did come away form this feeling that perhaps I'd like to see a straight up, live action version of this story, without the gimmick, as it would certainly still be a great movie, but as it is, as a whole, it's a great experience to have at least once.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

There's been a trend starting in the 00s to make films in the style of exploitation films from the 70s and 80s that were popular on VHS; titles including Nude Nuns With Big Guns, Hobo With A Shotgun and even Hollywood getting in on the act with Deathproof and remakes of The Hills Have Eyes and I Spit On Your Grave. The Greasy Strangler is one such film in the "straight to VHS" mould, using a lurid colour palette and a deliberately soft print.

A misfit father and son team do tours of disco hotspots in an unnamed American town. Their relationship is compromised when son, Brayden falls for Janet, a patron on one of the disco tours. In the meantime a greasy strangler is murdering locals.

The first 20 minutes are hilarious. I was laughing a lot. The film reminded me of Tim and Eric's Awesome Show and South Park. It uses gross out humour, scatological references and nudity featuring prosthetic penises. There's also a ton of overly camp murder scenes with purposely bad special effects. Sadly my enjoyment was soured by the endless repetition of the few good jokes and lines. It would have worked beautifully as a 30 minute TV pilot, but crass for crass sake soon wears thin. I have a strong stomach and watch many exploitation and horror films, but even I found this film disgusting.

I honestly believe British director, Jim Hosking is one to watch in the future as he has crafted something slightly derivative, but also it stands out in an oversaturated, engineered B-Movie market. It probably just needed a slightly higher budget and maybe an additional writer to tidy it up and we could have had a great black comedy. Don't believe the hyperbole about this being one of the best films of the last decade or a cult classic, it's purposely designed to appeal to people who love Troma and/or the hardcore horror film festival crowd. For me while enjoyable it fell quite a bit short.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Another journey into a heart of darkness and light.

Alex Garland does it again!

...Cook your noodle, that is.

For my money, he deserves his place among the modern masters of intelligent cinema, alongside Villeneuve and Nolan.

This time he takes a lot of fairly stock ideas that are usually employed by lazy writers to cobble together straight to streaming cheapo, knock-off Sci-Fi, and instead, uses them as a cinematic language to carry through some more profound thoughts and story.

In this case, he begins with the tried and trusted alien object / meteor crashing to earth and messing with the fabric of our reality (Color Out Of Space - Lovecraft) via an inscrutable alien phenomena: The "Shimmer", which is a huge curtain of expanding protoplasmic radiation stuff, that's gradually swallowing the world, and from which, any attempt to investigate it yields no clues as to it's nature, as those sent never return...

...Until, that is, one of the soldiers sent (Oscar Isaac)- thought lost - arrives mysteriously back at his home to his grieving wife (Doctor and former soldier - Natalie Portman), but he is odd, and quickly falls ill, and is taken into military quarantine... his only hope, that Portman and a small group of soldiers can go in tot he Shimmer, and unlock it's mysteries.

This sets up a kind of Heart of Darkness / Apocalypse Now, journey into the phenomenon ,and "Down river", where things start going very strange indeed, and increasingly horrific.

And there are some truly horrifying concepts in this movie, as well as some quite beautiful ones - sometimes at the same time!

And while there's a very definite H. R. Geiger / Alien debt owed at the end, which anyone will pick up on, all this only serves to carry through a deeper story, which is to do with psychological self destruction, identity, definition of reality, and what that might be, and even this, strongly conveys a profound Buddhist like, spiritual idea of self Annihilation (Oceanic consciousness etc.).

So it's essentially a hard spiritual pilgrimage into very disturbing territory, that is very unsettling at times, obscure, difficult to wrap your head around what's happening, but quite rewarding if you do stay with it.

This would sit comfortably on notional DVD shelf next to movies like Arrival, Interstellar (anything by those two directors- Villeneuve and Nolan), in being a slow burning, thoughtful mind-bender, punctuated by small moments of action.

And, as I say, Garland uses those "tropes" deliberately, as a "mash-up" language not incompatible with the central theme of the phenomenon itself.

Excellent, and should be better known.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Like most people of a certain age I used to read Terry Pratchett Discworld novels as a child. They are fondly remembered by children and teenagers of the 80s and 90s. The Abominable Snow Baby is based on the Terry Pratchett short story from 2015 aimed at young children.

Granny (nicely voiced by Julie Walters) adopts an abominable snow baby after nobody will take him in. The granny becomes an outcast in a fictional Northern town, but forms a bond with the baby.

This is from the same animation studio (Eagle Eye Drama) that produced last year's big Christmas animation for Channel 4 "Quentin Blake's Clown". The animation is digital, but has a watercolour feel to it. It definitely looks like a children's book and there are some stunning scenes. Story-wise as it is aimed at children, it is as one would expect: light on content. Unfortunately, every Channel 4 animation is going to be held up against The Snowman which bankrolled Channel 4 as a formidable force in broadcasting quality original animation. Pratchett fans will get a kick out of some of the inimitable language used such as people's surnames or the photograph of Pratchett on a wall, but it's just a bit meh. I'm not doubting a lot of care and love has gone into producing this, but much like previous efforts of Clown, We're Going On A Bear Hunt and The Tiger Who Came To Tea - I'm just underwhelmed.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A Christmas Carol was produced for ITV in the UK. Ross Kemp was allegedly a driving force in getting this film made, as he is a fan of the story. It was his first big role since EastEnders.

Unfortunately everything about it just strikes the wrong tone. It's set on Alexandra Road council estate in Camden. A popular filming location for "urban films". It just looks drab and soulless. Even Eddie Scrooge's flat which is supposed to look modern, looks like they set-dressed a carpark.

Scrooge as the loan shark is a good idea, but Kemp doesn't have the acting chops to pull off the more intense scenes and it is reduced to looking camp. That's the issue it's tries hard to be funny, but also serious and it doesn't do either well. It's seems like they were trying to attract a family audience; most violence is off screen and only mild swearwords, but trying to make it dark.

There's a fine supporting cast with Liz Smith and Mina Anwar who are always good value. I'm not sure if Warren Mitchell is an inspired choice as Scrooge's father or not.

The whole production looks cheaper than it is, with only a few locations and some terrible special effects even for a 2000 TV movie. The ghosts don't even look like ghosts just men in chains.

All that said, I didn't hate it. It's not a turkey, but it needed longer to cook and a sharper script.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Despite being Emmy nominated, here's a Christmas film virtually nobody talks about anymore.

Olive, the Other Reindeer is a 2D computer animated TV special. It has Olive who is a dog, a Jack Russell terrier, I think. Her best friend is a penguin who sells fake Rolex watches (Rolexxx to be precise). An evil postman plots to stop Santa delivering presents; because he's sick of delivering letters to Santa. After a misheard radio announcement Olive comes to the rescue as the other reindeer to pull the sleigh.

This film is very charming. It's now regarded as a classic. To be honest it's not up there with The Snowman, or some of the Rankin Bass productions, but it is great fun. The film has some grown up humour, but nothing sexual or edgy, mainly just pop culture references and wordplay. I preferred this over "Hooves of Fire". There's a superb mix of voice talent on show, Drew Barrymore is excellent; bringing a cute naivety to the role without being irritating.

Unfortunately, given this uses computer animation from over 20 years ago it looks a bit rough around the edges. I saw it in 2000 and I remember it looking great and it has a very unique style, which is sort of flat. Viewers will be reminded of early South Park episodes and Cel-shaded videogames like Wacky Races on the Dreamcast. Once you get over the dated look there is a lot to enjoy. At 46 minutes long it does outstay its welcome by about 15 minutes.

It was first broadcast and produced for Fox Television with Matt Groening serving as executive producer. It was later repeated on Nickelodeon the year after and on Channel 4 in the UK in 2000. It was repeated for a few years after, but it hasn't been broadcast in the UK since 2003 to my knowledge. A DVD has been released with a nice picture and some extras.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Peter and the Wolf is a UK and Poland production. It reportedly cost over $2 million to make; a lot of money for a 30 minute animated film.

The film is based on the music of Prokofiev. The animation style reminds me of The Brothers Quay and Jan

Jan Svankmajer. I understand why some people might find it creepy. It has a realistic look to it using fabrics and fur textures on the animals. The animation is the film's biggest strength. It looks stunning.

Despite being produced for UK TV station Channel 4. It hasn't been broadcast for a few years now. It was a mainstay of their Christmas schedule for a few years. A DVD is available.

The film might be unsuitable for very young children due to some violence and scary scenes. I will praise the art style all day long, but I find myself getting bored half way through. That said it is a darker winter themed animation that deserves to be seen at least once.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

>>Transfered from a comment made on Blu-Ray Disc<<

I took the plunge, and watched this t'other day.

...I was apprehensive, as Blade Runner is my favourite film of all time, and was a little heartbroken (and a bit angry) when they announced this was coming...

(I went to the cinema when it came out, and stood debating with myself before deciding I didn't want that kind of disappointment in my life - another F$%^^ing remake! / cash in / destruction of that which (I) love - and walking off)

But very pleasantly surprised... if it wasn't for the enormous baggage it carries of the first film, I might say this is a modern masterpiece (if it stood alone) - doesn't quite have the soul of the original, but it does have one all it's own, very minimalist performances which speak volumes (Gosling is very good at twitch acting at this level)

Nice twists on he original premise, and elements in the score which are wholly original, and quite startling - did I hear one of those Australian whirly wooden things on a string that Crocodile Dundee used to call out to the clan in the wilderness, a fair bit of throat singing, and the usual bleeps and squiggles.

I very soon forgot about the original for a time, and was absorbed in it.

Villeneuve can take his place as perhaps one of the best directors of our time, and certainly one of the best sci-fi directors (Arrival is brilliant!).

I thin even Philip K. Dick would be happy with this!

I am. (phew)

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A light, yet quirky oddball comedy take on a Hitchcock style tale of suspense.

Another of those that I had not seen for a while, and had my misgivings about how well it might have aged... or not.

...Fortunately, I was, for the most part, pleasantly surprised, for while some of Mike Myers quirks, and comedy stylings have aged rather badly ("Helloooo!" < type of thing, that he does), they are very infrequent, and don't spoil an otherwise enjoyable pastiche of a Hitchcock like setup and story:

Mike Myers being a guy who has commitment issues, and is always finding fault with anyone he is in a relationship with, even for the most tenuous of reasons, so that he can get out of the situation as soon as possible and avoid anything serious...

...Until, of course, he meets the "perfect woman", and begins to fall for her, and the relationship develops rapidly to the point of marriage (The point of no return? :).

...Unfortunately, she may or may not be an axe wielding serial husband killer.

And now the tables turn, in that where previously, his friends (one of whom happens to be a policeman) where constantly on at him for ditching women for trivial reasons, now don't believe him now that he has grounds for legitimate suspicion.

There's still lots of laughs and fun in this, despite some broad humour of the time, but nothing to get worked up about, and this is mainly because it is, as I said, lightly handled.... And with a surprisingly well conceived and structured story, worthy perhaps, of having a more serious, straight up suspense thriller approach!

Worth a couple of hours of your time for a bit of fun, I'd say.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Top class horror movie.

In the pantheon of horror movies, this is one of those that's really out of the top drawer.

....Not in the range of schlock, or unrelenting gore, but would sit on the end of that shelf next to the likes of The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, and The Wicker Man (original), in that it understands what horror is, and how to deliver it.

It works by using a very clean, sharp visual style of a Kubric like settled framing and camera movement, with heightened, or slightly "off" images within them, which combined with a minimalist, ominous, rumbling, and evil feeling score, creates an deeply uneasy, unsettling atmosphere, while it centres it's story around a family, recently moved into the dead grandmother's house, and who's growing presence begins to pick away at, and erode an already tense family dynamic.

Something is very wrong here, you feel, and it just keeps getting wrong-er!

This is punctuated by some actual, genuinely horrific events, and at least one or two moments when I even winced and involuntarily looked away from the screen... but even these are made more horrible by the matter of fact manner in which they happen... no dramatic score to signal danger or make much of what's on screen.

The other, central aspect of this movie, that makes it even more disturbing, is the (initially) randomness of these events, which leave you bewildered and lost as they happen, and this is the master stroke, because as the normal, by degrees, becomes the insane, by means of this, you don't realise any conscious progression while it's happening, only at the end, when the real story reveals itself in a complete mind meltingly surreal, and "other" manner, do you begin to put the pieces of the what went before together, and see the story that was being told all along.

So not knowing what the hell is going on while it's happening is what burns these events and images into your mind, and the ending, is what causes you to walk around for some time afterward with it in your mind, replaying it, and putting it all together.

In the immediate aftermath of having watched it, I'm not sure if it was something I wanted in my head for a day or so, but later, this gave way to the realisation and appreciation of what a minor masterpiece this actually is, both in it's construction, and execution.

Brilliant acting, great film-making, and very disturbing!

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Not a bad film, very atmospheric. Talky rather than all-action.

Segal manages to get where he needs to go and meet the people he needs to meet rather quickly but the film has a finite running time so I suppose that's fair.

Lovely John Barry score, as you'd expect, with a relatively unknown Matt Monro theme song only heard once, briefly and distorted, in the background.

60s Berlin by night and day makes an excellent backdrop and, as mentioned in IMDB, needed little enhancement, with bomb damage still evident.

:happy:

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Hooves Of Fire was a Christmas televisual event, much like the Wallace And Gromit animations before it. There's an unwritten rule that a big original Christmas animation needs to be created every year for BBC and Channel 4.

Robbie The Reindeer (voiced by a charismatic Ardal O'Hanlon) is a clumsy, naive reindeer living in the shadow of his father, presumably Rudolph. After being expelled from "The Sleigh Team" for being unfit, he retrains to win back his place on Santa's team.

The animation is Grade-A, stop-motion animation evoking Aardman Animation of the past. It was done by BBC Animation Studios\BBC Bristol and has a very similar style. The voice talent reads like a Whose Who of the time with some future A\B-list talent in the form of Robbie Williams, Steve Coogan and Rhys Ifans. This film tied in with Comic Relief and Sports Relief so there are a lot of references from the obvious "red nose" to Alistair McGowan playing sports commentator Des Yeti (obviously based on Des Lynam).

There's some big laugh out loud moments from Ricky Tomlinson playing a boy-racer Santa Claus who wears gold jewellery and tracksuits, musician Seal as a fish-eating Seal and the Fonzie character, Old Jingle an old, crazy reindeer played by Harry Enfield who sounds a lot like Adrian Edmonson.

Personally for me even at 30 minutes I don't get the same amount of joy watching it as I do The Snowman, Father Christmas, Charlie Brown's Christmas or even The Treacle People Christmas special.

Not shown on UK TV since 2003 according to the Genome project for unknown reasons. This has also stopped it reaching a younger audience, but it is fondly remembered by Millenials and older. A DVD was released as was two sequels of more of the same.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A girl, standing in front her boss, asking her not to fire her.

As much as I thought this was going to be a snappy, witty razor sharp comedy (which it is), it turns out this is actually a romantic comedy.... a rom-com.

Except, instead of a boy - girl / man - woman arrangement, and in the traditional sense of “romance” that we're used to, at it’s heart, it’s about the relationship between Emma Thompson’s ageing talk show host anchor, deemed past her prime, and about to lose her show, and the young, optimistic (naïve) Mindy Kaling character, who has ambitions to become a comedy writer for the show, who is hired, it seems, purely for diversity’s sake, and tries to freshen up the show with a new perspective.

And while it is funny, razor sharp, and cracks along in super snappy smart manner, it doesn’t do so at the expense of genuine feeling, and warmth. With some sombre moments underpinning Emma Thompson’s acerbic nature, and a kind of cynicism about modern cynicism (meta-cynicism?) , it’s pretty much as feel good as most other romantic comedies.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I recently saw this on Amazon Prime. I'm not sure what attracted me to it, but it is much better than I expected.

Underrated actor, Jeremy Piven (David) plays a fairly stereotypical, joke cracking American Dad living in York, England. For the unitiated York is a Roman City with stunning architecture in the North of England. He has a teenage daughter, Jules (played by Olivia-Mai Barrett) who is a bratty 16-year-old teenager into typical things like boys, backchatting and choir singing! David is a widow trying to come to terms with his wife's death and Jules' grades are suffering as a result. Jules has the bright idea of setting him up on a series of dates after making an honest online profile on dating websites.

What surprised me most is this film wasn't light-hearted Christmas bants and fairytale romance. It is quite tragic and emotional in places. Also, for anyone expecting something family friendly there is some swearing (no F words) and some sexual references which aren't suitable for younger children.

The film is carried by believable performances from Piven and Olivia-Mai Barrett. Well known British face, Joely Richardson is also good as David's best friend, Sarah. It starts off a bit slow and annoying, but stick with it. All in all this is an enjoyable, but not exceptional film which is more likely to make you cry than wet your pants with laughter.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Probably the best time travel movie I've seen.

...And in my view destined (pre-destined???) to become, if it isn't already, a cult classic in the sci-fi genre.

And that's because this is not trying to be, and isn't an "action adventure" type if time travel movie, which usually use that device as a means to some other end, such as to provide thrills and spills etc. Whereas this is a more philosophical drama style of movie... a "talky" movie, who's end, and subject is time, and time travel itself... The characters are there to serve that end.

The plot begins something something like a bad joke:

"A guy walks into a bar...."

...And then strikes up a conversation with the barkeep, and the discussion unfolds, as the "guy" relates an ever increasingly improbable tale, or so it seems, about his life story.

From there, revelations are made, and by degrees through means of flash backs, the plot ratchets up through the gears, revealing a very twisty journey through time.

So a lot depends on Sarah Snook, and Ethan Hawke, and their exchanges, and both, especially Snook, act the be-Jeezus out of this, with top notch performances.

In the end, this film is about the logic of time travel, a point which most, if not all time travel movies very quickly come unstuck, especially when they try to justify themselves through exposition, or try to treat it in the sense of the physics as possible, and real.... Movies like Back To The Future succeed by not picking too hard at that scab, and recognising that time travel is just a device to serve the action / adventure storyline.

...So very quickly, such movies that try too hard reveal plot and logic holes you could drive a Delorean through :)

This, plot wise, and logic wise, is almost perfect, even if the physics are still a little speculative and unlikely.

The drama, twists, and the mindbending implications of the logic are spot on.

If it is an action / adventure / Thriller style sci-fi you are after, like Looper or Tenet, or something else with loud explosions and rooftop chases and such (Terminator(s)), then you will be disappointed with this, but if you prefer a more cerebral time travel movie that isn't simply trying purposely and expressly cook your nut (Tenet), then you will enjoy the steady pace of this excellently thought out movie.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I can't believe this film wasn't on here. It's arguably the most famous "modern" A Christmas Carol adaptation. It was hugely successful at the box office and on home video; largely due to having the clout of Disney behind it. Back in the day when I had Disney VHS tapes there was often a trailer for this "coming soon to Home Video".

Michael Caine for some reason was seen as a weird choice for Scrooge, maybe because he was best known for playing comedic nice guys in the 80s. His playboy roles (Alfie, The Italian Job) and the tough guy (Get Carter, The Eagle Has Landed) were also a recent memory for viewers in 1992. He turned out to be an inspired choice for the role turning in an incredibly charismatic, but also in places scarily mean character. The songs in this film are good and memorable. There's some genuine laughs for people of all ages: "light the lamp, not the rat". The sets and costumes are also first rate. The ghosts in this are also surprisingly frightening for a kid's film.

This film is now regarded as a classic with a cult following. Its legacy long lasting and it gets a cinema re-release every few years. After having praised this film it has to be said sitting in a sweaty theater with 30 and 40-somethings singing along to the songs at high volume, possibly even dressed-up as muppets is my personal vision of hell on earth. Muppets indeed.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?