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Reviews
Another Year (2010)
Seemed like this film lasted as long as "Another Year"
Watching this film was like having a very long tooth extraction---without anesthesia. What was Lesley Manville's character's name... Problemina? Oh, Mike Leigh, is this what you're doing in your old age? You're taking a really good cast and putting them on a treadmill. I think it would have been more interesting to watch the tomatoes growing in Tom and Geri's allotment. At least we should have been able to see Mary's car towed away. The luckiest cast members were Imelda Staunton's character--who actually was prescribed sleeping pills (and hopefully took one in the first half hour)....and Ronnie's wife, Linda who escaped into the flames.
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle (2007)
IMDb-- How about some info???
So this website has, what....thousands, millions? of titles on their database. Almost all of them have a running time listed. Why not for this??? Is this a series, a movie, episodes? What are the running times of the episodes? The DVD from that DVD rental company say it runs 3 hrs. So what is that? Come on Int'l Movie Db, do your job. OK, so now in order to get 10 lines of comment I have to continue. So now it's time to reiterate. What is the running time? Are they episodes? Is it a feature film? Why does the mail order rental company list their DVD as 3 hrs? What does that mean? While I'm ranting...how about if this site does away with the animated ads that cause pages to not load? Now...is that 10 lines? Good.
Between the Lines (1977)
A Great Ensemble cast in a 1970's Period Piece from Joan Micklin Silver
Joan Micklin Silver's ensemble masterpiece is watchable again and again! This is one of those rare films for which we can name 10 cast members. It captures the fading press counterculture of the late 60's and 70's in a memorable way. If you see it more than a few times, you will enjoy blurting out lines of dialog right before they are spoken... i.e. "some say 'whither rock 'n roll?...not at my house--I don't have the room" from Jeff Goldblum.
I'll wait a year or two, then watch it again. It's a 'cult' movie--at least with some friends I know-- along the lines of "Head Over Heels" a.k.a. "Chilly Scenes of Winter" another gem from Joan Micklin Silver.
Spooks (2002)
Gee, we're sorry here in the U.S. for causing MI-5 all the trouble...
Here in the big bad rotten U.S., we just got to see Season 6 on DVD. Prior seasons were pretty good for the most part, and interesting--with some decent story lines and engaging characters played by Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, Hermione Norris, and other good British actors. This season is a load of preposterous crap...with the entire plot revolving around how MI-5 has to put up with the big, bad, aggressive, warmongering, lying, deceiving, stupid U.S. Probably if it weren't for the U.S. screwing things up all over the world, MI-5 would turn it's attention toward running around England, chasing shoplifters and crooks, shouting "Stop, or I'll chase after you!" BTW-- you're welcome for us saving Britain 65 years ago.
Spooks: World Trade (2006)
By far the Worst MI-5 episode ever
This episode is by far the worst episode ever in this series. The writing is terrible, the plot line is preposterous, and it couldn't be more boring. This show has really gone downhill since the departure of Matthew Macfadyen and Keely Hawes. In this absurd episode the British Spy agency gets involved in trying to expedite agreement on a trade treaty which will lift poor African nations from the horrors of poverty and illness. The "big, bad self-serving" Americans stand in the way of this agreement--and it's obviously because the U.S. wants to profit from arms sales to friendly countries which border its enemies, i.e. China. Who comes up with this preposterous drivel? The script is horrible and the story impossible to follow. Let's hope that MI-5 has better things to do with its time and resources. A good example of Junk TV written for a moron audience that will watch anything as long as there is slick editing, fancy camera antics and lots of sound effects. BTW, early in the episode an MI-5 staffer talks about the American Trade Secretary coming to the meeting, and thereafter he is referred to as "Secretary of State".
The Upside of Anger (2005)
Too good for you to miss.
I've been waiting and waiting for this kind of film to come along, and thanks to Mike Binder it was a wonderful surprise. Well, thanks to Mike Binder, Joan Allen and the entire cast. The subject of anger would probably be way low on the list of potentially successful film topics, but Binder proves that if it is written, acted and shot well, it'll suck you right in. And that's where I want to be in a watching a movie. I don't want to be distracted by car chases and stuff blowing up (although there is a 'blowing up' scene--at the dinner table--that has to be one of the best scenes in movie history). In the DVD's special feature about the making of the film, Binder proves he knows a hell of a lot about human nature. He wanted to make a film about angry and hurt women, both young and old, without turning off male viewers. Kevin Costner's character was the answer to that challenge. I agree that this is probably Costner's best pure performance. I'm so glad I didn't know the 'surprise' ending ahead of time. SPOILER would have been the perfect word for that. I never looked at my watch, never really wanted to get to the end/beginning in a hurry. Binder told me a story, made me laugh, surprised me, made me think, and entertained me in the process. And after seeing many thousands of films over the past 50 years (it's my business and my hobby) I'm always waiting for that in a film. Thanks to everyone connected with "The Upside of Anger".