Discs - Reviews by ppint.

Discs - Reviews by ppint.

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
ppint. 11th Oct 2021		DVD Box Set Black Adder: Remastered - BBC (2009)	Review and maybe - quite possibly - should be adjudged even better than fawlty towers as, after the somewhat uneven first series "the black adder", "blackadder II", "blackadder III" and especially the final series, "blackadder goes forth", add to the frequently extremely and inspirédly silly, an underlying level of acutely observed historically acute criticism *and* from time to time satirically creative writing, for which the wonderfully funny fawlty towers rarely aimed. - but this mayn't've been - and may not be, still - to all viewers' taste, nor fit all viewers' ideas of what a sitcom should perhaps be. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
ppint. 8th Oct 2021		DVD Alice Through The Looking Glass [2016] - Disney	Rated 9/10 sequel to the first johnny depp film inspired by, rather than based on, one of lewis carroll's two classic fantasy/satire novels, q.v.; these tim burton and james bobbin films are strangely compellingly weird, definitely "deppraved" variations upon their originals' themes, plus others barely present, only hinted at, or deeply buried... - yet they work really well, handling "grown-up" themes, including some that fundamentally affected the man that rev. charles dodgson - lewis carroll - was, and does so in ways that are - and remain - entertaining, whilst going into the core ideas in some depth, as it were, "under the covers". - this sequel creates an original setting by "backstrapolating" from the wonderland-based world of the first film, to look into the fraught and more than a little mentally and spiritually abusive childhood and teenage of hatter tarrant hightopp, and invents an eccentric - of course! (?) - time-travelling, time-collecting and time-obsessed lord of time - or slave of his obsession with time - ? - whose iron, steel and clockwork (naturally) steampunk chronosyllogismobile alice has to hijack, to prevent the death - or worse - of the hatter, and the erasure of the outcome of - and even, of the reality of - the frabjous day, itself... - this film moves much farther away from lewis carroll's originals than tim burton's first, q.v., but imnsho he, james bobin and its other makers kept faith with carroll's thematic concerns, and the story and images are - again, very weirdly - well in keeping with many of those that were his abiding concerns. - these two deppraved productions should definitely be viewed in the order in which they were made, as hatter's problems are symptomatic of those faced by underland itself, and which could destroy it, twice over. and under. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
ppint. 8th Oct 2021		DVD Alice In Wonderland [2010] - Disney (2010)	Rated 10/10 the first, very strange johnny depp film "inspired by" the first of lewis carroll's two classic fantasy/satire novels, tim burton's "alice in wonderland" (2010) creates an original, but clearly carrollian wonderland, a world riven by the bitter sisterly rivalry of the red and white queens, at daggers drawn since a long-repressed utterly horrific betrayal, an incident too dreadful to be mentioned in more than hushed whisper, into the middle of which which alice - definitely an alice - and possibly, but not necessarily, "*the right* alice*'' - is pitchforked, (- intro précis to be completed when yr hmbl srppnt.'s a bit better recovered from the death of a friend. sorry.) the stories of the hatter, and of the jabberwock, and their fates, and whether the outcome of - the long foretold, inexorably oncoming - frabjous day depend upon whether ''the right alice'' has indeed been matched to the right job - that of the long-awaited heroine who will save everyone and wonderland* from the vengeful, demented rage of the red queen.. probably... - only probably. . . - this film moves some distance away from lewis carroll's original first "alice" fantasy novel - if that's quite the right classification for it (that creation possesses many levels besides that of ''fantasy''), but imnsho burton and its other makers kept faith with carroll's thematic concerns, and the story and images are - again, very weirdly - well in keeping with many of those that were his abiding concerns. - this "alice in wonderland" is complete and satisfying in itself, coming to a thundering fine climactic conclusory frabjous day - and one that fully satisfies alice - this alice - in the fantasy world of underland, and about her place in her real world too; she gains confidence through shaping events according to her own ideals - mostly - in the one, and discovers it transfers in its own, weird way, and ways, into insights into the difficulties and decisions she faces, in the other. - and yet the 2016 james bobin-directed sequel (q.v.) *isn't* an anticlimax of any kind, and in its own right is a superb film. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
ppint. 23rd Sep 2017		DVD Plan 9 From Outer Space - Image Entertainment (2000)	Review this er, creation of ed wood's is generally accepted to be a seriously worthy contender for the title of the worst feature film of all time. "unmissable". 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
ppint. 18th Mar 2017		DVD The Dark Is Rising - 20th Century Fox (2007)	Rated 10/10 one of the finest single film "young-teens-through-adults fantasy films" known to yr hmbl srppnt. - though it varies significantly from the novel(s), and is disliked by some for this. in addition, it casts one of the few active female rôles - which is very well played - rather stereoptypically as an evil temptress. n.b. susan cooper expressed strong reservations during the film's making, too. ✔︎ Helpful Review?