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Reviews
Extra Ordinary (2019)
Inside this dud there's a good movie trying to get out...
I guess Maeve Higgins can add "acting" to the list of things she cannot do.
The I-Land (2019)
I watched it all so you don't have to...
Dire, absolutely dire, I've been thinking about cancelling my Netflix account recently (let's face it's all the good series have ended or have been cancelled) and this was another nail in the coffin.
Aniara (2018)
An Interesting Movie For People Who Like Their Sci-Fi Deep
Overall I enjoyed the movie. However it left many questions unanswered and introduced plot lines that were suddenly dropped and never spoken again in the next epoch. These include the cults and The Spear. I also would have liked to see a resolution to the captain having to atone for his crimes. Finally, we are told that the ship has lost the ability to maneuver, except they later on maneuver the ship in order to dock with The Spear. I'd also say a lot more interesting story happened between year 10 and year 24 but we didn't get to see that.
But after that, there is so many things that the film does right- the space elevator; many of the characters are physically disfigured due to the climate catastrophe on earth; the long, slow drudgery of what it would be like cooped up in a starship, year after year (albeit a massive starship). Even the passengers wish to escape, even if by artificial means (the MIMA) and the eventual self-destruction of same when the AI realises that humans are to blame for everything and no longer wants to have anything to do with them- a great invert to the whole HAL trope.
This is definitely a film with flaws but one I would recommend to anyone who loves their sci-fi deep.
The Shannara Chronicles (2016)
Absolutely terrible...
Every character in this dire program should be characterised as TSTL (Too Stupid To Live).
Other crimes include:
* Let's leave the weekly bad person alive so they can kill one of us. * Black Guard less effective than Red Shirts. * Contagious stupidity- a character that might seem intelligent suddenly catches stupid from another character.
Seriously, I do not understand how they could take a great set of books and turn it into this drivel. The story lines and dialogue is what I'd expect from a 10 year old's English homework.
Doctor Who: Blink (2007)
Steven Moffat proves that he is the current best Doctor Who writer.
Where to begin? I've been on tenterhooks since I heard that Steven Moffat was writing an episode for series 3. His previous episodes (Empty Child in series 1 and Girl in the Fireplace in series 2) have proved themselves to be the highlights of their respective series. I hoped that the brilliance would continue...
And it did. What an absolute cracker of an episode. How do you make inanimate objects terrifying? Well watch and be amazed. The science is fantastic ("quantum lock", "devouring a persons potential"). The scary empty house. The conversation with the DVD. A brilliant protagonist in the form of Sally Sparrow. And then the fact that the Doctor and Martha are barely in it.
A well deserved 10 out of 10 and I can't wait for next Saturday; Not for the new episode of Doctor Who but for Stevens 'Jekyll'...
V for Vendetta (2005)
This film does not entirely suck
I first met V during the 80s in a comic called Warrior. It was a good comic and had great stories including Madman, The Legend of Prestor John, Laser Eraser and Axel Pressbutton and Marvelman. When the comic went out of print around issue 28 it left a lot of stories up in the air. So I was really happy when Alan Moore and David Lloyd finally finished off V for Vendetta as a graphic novel. I have always credited this story for my own political outlook and because of that it always had a special significance for me- I always thought that it could work on screen but probably more as a 6 part TV mini series rather than a film. I saw this film today and the only feeling I had when I left the cinema was "bewilderment".
First off I would like to say that the characterisation and choice of actors was spot on. But within the frame of the movie I have to ask the following questions: Why was Evey not prostituting herself when picked up by the Fingermen? Where was V's exploding hand? Why wasn't Protheroe the Voice of Fate? Why was the girl that says "Bollocks" in the wrong place? Why were the roses renamed "Scarlet Carsons" from "Violet Carsons" ? Why didn't Delia Surrage ask to see V's face one last time? When seeing the Larkhill camp explosions why wasn't V's part in it made more clearer (and where was the mustard gas?) Why didn't V tell Evey that Valerie was the woman in cell IV? Why wasn't Evey naked in the rain? Why didn't Evey ask if V was her father? Why did't Finch do LSD? Why wasn't Finch the person that shot V? Why didn't Evey assume the mask (and in after that raise Dominic as the next V)? There are a lot of other "whys" but these are ones that could have at least been included in the film as it stands that would have made the fans of the source material a little happier.
For me the film failed every time it got too far from the source material. It was also missing two key characters- that of Rosemary Almond and Helen Hayer. There was a couple of times that the new envisioning worked- Stephen Fry's brilliant Gordon Dietrich and V in a kitchen apron for instance. But a lot of time it didn't (Dascombe surviving in the TV tower). It also failed in representing NorseFire as a totalitarian fascist dictatorship. And where did the slagging of America come from? That wasn't in the book.
The film is not entirely bad- When it hits the source material (Bishop Lillimans take-down, Surrage's execution, Valerie) it is powerful and evocative; Valerie for me was especially hard hitting and I am not ashamed to say that I shed a few tears during the sequence- And even Storm Saxon got a nod. But at the end of the day I think the Wakoffsky brothers missed the mark. I will even go as far as say that I don't think they understood the source or didn't have the balls to bring the real thing to screen.
I do agree that Alan Moore was right to remove his name from this movie- Hopefully sometime in the future proper justice will be done to this story. England Prevails.
Andrew "I know every inch of this cell and it knows every inch of me. Except one"
The State (1993)
Total and utter brilliance
Okay- I guess a non-amercian has to write something about this absolutely funny show. Back when MTV were still decent, The State played here (MTV Europe) Sunday nights along side The Maxx and Aeon Flux and I watched it religously. It was at a time when there was a renaissance of sorts in American comedy. Emo Phillips and Sam Kinnison were doing the rounds and all of a sudden american comedy was edgy and FUNNY!!!
I never thought that america could produce something as sublime as The State; I was reminded of TW3, The Goon Show and Python. However we only got the first season (and a couple of episodes from the second) so I'm really buzzed to hear that a DVD featuring all the sketches is on the board- I look forward to seeing some of the sketches I've only read about here.
Favorite skit- well there are so many- Louie, Doug, Mime Plane Disaster, International Signs but I think I have to go with Muppet Meat.
All in all The State was Brilliant- we need these people back together again and producing more shows.
Joking Apart (1991)
Steven Moffat is a genius
This was an absolutely incredible series. I don't think I've laughed as long or as hard at anything else. Steven Moffat the writer is currently doing Coupling (also brilliant) and previously wrote Press Gang. I was reminded of an episode of Joking Apart when watching the last of the current series of Coupling (series 3) the concept of 'Jeffina' reminded me of the episode of Joking Apart when Mark has concussion and is visited by a personification of his penis ("see you Saturday for Baywatch???").
I find it totally stupid that dead in the water comedies like 'Last of the Summer Wine' continue to get greenlighted for new series but this was canned after two years.
Someone needs to get this out on DVD. Soon.
P.S And now it's available at http://www.replaydvd.co.uk/ If you loved this comedy, support this site and help get series 2 out...
and P.P.S. Steven Moffat is still a genius as any of us who have been privileged to see his Doctor Who episodes will testify.
Looking forward to Jekyll.
P.P.P.S. Jekyll was Brilliant.
P.P.P.P.S Series 2 coming shortly- check http://www.replay-shop.co.uk/ and if you want to see the sheer effort Craig Robins put into getting this out check: http://www.replay-shop.co.uk/perils.htm
P.P.P.P.P.S- The brilliance continues with Sherlock...
Scrubs (2001)
Second series hits the ground running
The second series started over here in Ireland on Monday and if the first episode is anything to go by it's it looks as if it could be better than the first. The most obvious thing about the new series is the extended opening credits deservedly moving end credit names to the start. The other thing that this episode reminded me of was that Scrubs always has good background music. In this episode it was Colin Hay as the Troubladour singing "Overkill". I'm sorry to say I didn't recognise him at first and I needed to do a websearch in order to find out he was lead singer in Men at Work.
Black Books (2000)
2nd series slow to get going.
It was welcome to see the return of Black Books. At least the second series got a little bit more hype (due to the BAFTA win). However it's been a little slow to get back on its feet. The first thing of note is that Graham Linehan is no longer writing, Dylan Moran taking the whole task on his own which I think may have contributed to the slowness of pace of the beginning of series 2 as he had to get upto speed on all the characters. But after saying all that, when the 2nd series did hit its stride it did so very well. 'Blood' is THE episode of series 2. I'm not saying that the earlier episodes in the series were without their good points- Manny in the piano with the spoons, the comfy sofa "consuming" a child and what is 'Dave's Syndrome'???
Further good news, series 1 is now out on DVD and video and also a third series has been green-lighted.
A Knight's Tale (2001)
Best film of 2001
The summer of 2001 has been pretty devoid of any decent blockbusters and I was starting to despair of seeing anything reasonable. Until A Knights Tale came along.
It's a simple story of local boy makes good that is carried well by all the actors. It is glib, cheeky and humorous. The jousting scenes look excellent and the soundtrack rocks! I was kinda reminded of Plunkett and McLean.
Nightingales (1990)
Brilliantly surreal
This is true British comedy following in the footsteps of the Goons or Monty Python. You wouldn't think that a sitcom about 3 security guards and an empty building would yield much in the way of laughs but this comedy did using a combination of off-the-wall plots and fantastic characterisation by Lyndsey, Thewlis and Allison.
If you like Nightingales, check out The High Life and Joking Apart.
"Anyone here?" "There's nobody here but us chickens"
Bad Boy Bubby (1993)
A morality tale
Bad Boy Bubby is modern day fairy tale. The central character is neither good or evil, being a blank canvas that others paint onto. He then mimics his experiences sometimes with disasterous effect. The reason he's this way? A mother who keeps him locked up for 35 years; She is the real psychopath in this tale.
This film pulls the viewer in so many directions but no matter how uncomfortable it gets it's worth persevering to the end. A 10 out of 10 anyday.