canfordcliffs2010 Reviews

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Brilliant!

[10/10 · 26 July 2009]

This is one of the most faithfully adapted of Christie's works and coincidentally one of the very best. The enclosed almost suffocating nature of the passengers stranded on the train is brilliantly shot as are Poirot's evolving hypothesis', I loved this. The ending is a massive and wonderful shock, the back story brilliantly done in a 'newspaper-ish' way. Albert Finney is the best he has ever been and Bacall and Bergman are my two favourite ladies, they and in fact the whole cast are wonderful, the characters are brought to life with an immense vitality.

The train pulling away from the station to the swelling music is genius, it sweeps the view up and along the journey with it and conveys an amazing sense of majesty.

Definitely watch this, one of Christie's best books, the best adaption. Marvellous.

Marple: At Bertram's Hotel (2007) Season 3, Episode 1

Did they even read the book?

[5/10 · 26 July 2009]

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

OK so I have to start with how much I love the novel of this particular Poirot. It's brilliant, think famous five with murders. Now the TV episode, it was good but missed what I loved from the book. The book takes great pains to describe Miss Bullstrode's crisis, she has lost her passion, her school's heyday long gone. The school and its runnings are set up so perfectly that when everything kicks off the reader feels it is an intrusion into THEIR world. Miss Bullstrode has a lot less action in the episode. Now I know that the story had only 90 mins but the whole charm of Agatha Christie is that she creates these little worlds which the reader feels like they live in.

All in all, nice adaption, David Suchet is exceptional as always but not half as enjoyable as the book.

At Bertram's Hotel (1987) (TV) Did they even read this?, 26 July 2009

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Did they even read the original book? Nazis? Hannah from S Club? What??? I hated this!! I am going to overlook the fact that the plot is COMPLETELY different to the book, Martine McCutcheon is a maid who basically takes over from Miss Marple, it makes no sense.

My main problem is the style, it contains none of the nostalgia and charm that the book exerts towards the hotel. The hotel represents the change of times and how Miss Marple and others long for the past, for the old way of life. The hotel is a portal into Jane's past, her coming to terms with the future is just as important as the murders. The hotel is the main character of the book, it draws you into the world. This is barely addressed in the episode and just adds pointless characters not only that but at the end the young Jane decides to 'Just live' with her boyfriend. HELLO?? Miss marple stands for old fashioned values, she's always complaining about the 'young generation' and the episode ends like this, huh??? Don't mess with what isn't broken!!!!

Poirot: Cat Among the Pigeons (2008) Season 11, Episode 2

Nice adaption

[9/10 · 26 July 2009]

OK so I have to start with how much I love the novel of this particular Poirot. It's brilliant, think famous five with murders. Now the TV episode, it was good but missed what I loved from the book. The book takes great pains to describe Miss Bullstrode's crisis, she has lost her passion, her school's heyday long gone. The school and its runnings are set up so perfectly that when everything kicks off the reader feels it is an intrusion into THEIR world. Miss Bullstrode has a lot less action in the episode. Now I know that the story had only 90 mins but the whole charm of Agatha Christie is that she creates these little worlds which the reader feels like they live in.

All in all, nice adaption, David Suchet is exceptional as always but not half as enjoyable as the book.

The X-Files: F. Emasculata (1995) Season 2, Episode 22

Quite liked it

[8/10 · 29 March 2009]

SPOILER--- I liked this episode but did not like that it was Scully's fault that doctor got infected, she opened that clearly contagious body bag and the guy died coz of it, that kinda ruined the ep for me as I was mad at Scully!!!! However I was quite surprised by some of the twists the episode took and it was very gross, squeamish people should not watch this!!! Another nitpick is that the guy who is supposedly killed in the toilet MOVES when the camera pans down to him (when Mulder is on the phone), I wasn't really totally sure what the drugs company were trying to do, they already knew it was contagious no? So why test it on the prisoners? Also was it the warthog's back legs that got sent in the post? There were no boils on it so surely the contagen should not have spread. Overall though good ep!!!

Live & Kicking (1993–2001)

The BEST!

[10/10 · 3 September 2006]

I LOVED L and K. Trev and Simon were hilarious, I especially liked the Men In Trousers! (this pair) and the 'Footore Noos' where the 'U' sound had been banned, my Saturday mornings would consist of The Racoons, The New Adventures of Superman, and then this for three hours. I think Clarissa Explains It All, was first shown on it, I loved the leprechauns, although I lost interest when Jamie and Zoe left. The saying 'We don't rightly know' was also really funny. BRILLIANT!

The theme tune was also really good, and I would get really annoyed if I missed it, and who can forget Mitch? The arrival of Mr Blobby could have been a big mistake, it turned out to be genius, Blobby was now a real thing instead of Noel Edmunds in a suit.

Sweet Charity (1969)

Overly long and self indulgent

[3 September 2004]

I was really excited about seeing this as I have seen many of the fantastic dance numbers. However, whilst Fosse was quite restrained with his style of directing in later films such as 'cabaret' in this film he is unashamedly self indulgent with his directing e.g. the wedding song, the freeze frames do nothing to further the story and just highlight how overly long this number is. I feel there was about 1/2 hour that could have been cut to produce a much better, more watchable film.

Shirley McLaine is perfect for Charity portraying the desperate need to be loved without going over the top. She dances beautifully even though she sings less well [it is to her credit however, that she wasn't dubbed]. My favourite bit is the 'rhythm of life' section, with an good performance from Sammy Davis jr.

Overall, I would recommend Fosse's later works where he refined his talent and does not become over repetitive.

The Pirate (1948)

Excellent musical, very different to most others

[12 July 2004]

The first 20mins of this movie are a bit slow but once Judy launches into 'Mack The Black' it takes off at an incredible speed. Garland and Kelly are wonderful with their tongue-in-cheek characters,especially funny is the scene where they have a huge row, judy throwing things at gene.

I find it a bit hard to believe that judy is this Spanish/Caribbean woman, could they not have used a little self tan? Most of the numbers are excellent although Minnelli gets a little self indulgent with his style at times.

This is enjoyable as it is rather satirical and doesn't contain any corny well used plots like many musicals of the time, however this is not as good as judy and gene's first outing 'for me and my gal'.

It's a pity the first take of 'voodoo' isn't available, the one that made LB Mayer burn the film and gave gene a massive lecture on how to behave whilst dancing, it probably wouldn't be so shocking today.

Not as good as classics such as 'meet me in st louis' and 'singin in the rain' but still ***** 5 stars.

Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

nice montage of clips-why the boring scenes?

[8 July 2004]

Judy Garland is the only reason to buy this along with june allyson and angela lansbury.

There are some terrific song and dance numbers but you are required to watch an awful lot of fluff in between. the showboat sequence is OK for 5-10 minutes but far too long, I am not keen on lena horne's portrayal of Julie,far too smug, Ava Gardener was much better and [even though it wasn't used] her singing really convinces you that she loves him. June Allyson is exceedingly cute in this as is angela lansbury.

Lucille Bremener is especially wooden in her acting although at least she isn't as drab as the two male leads. I wish Judy Garland had gotten a bigger role,her scenes are refreshing and I love the circus number [why was d'ya love me deleted?]. She's obviously pregnant with Liza Minnelli throughout which must have made it incredibly hard to dance around in those killer heels!

Whorf's direction of the numbers is nicely staged as it is done like one is watching a vaudeville act, no fancy camera movements. Therefore it is obvious which scenes Minnelli directed as the stage is twice as big as the others with lavish costumes and scenery, this isn't necessarily bad-it's just obvious that directors changed over that's all.

Old Man River should have been transposed up a key as it's a bit low for sinatra who makes a good attempt at a song obviously below his age.

Overall-should just be a long montage of music clips.

Gone with the Wind (1939)

The GREATEST film ever

[8 July 2004]

This is without doubt the greatest film of all time and is a testament to the golden age of cinema. There is a lot of Ibsen in Scarlett O'Hara,you start off hating her but by the end you admire her for her strength,determination and grit. Clark Gable-what can I say,he just IS Rhett Butler.I am a bit confused as to why the film is "racist",Mammy is excellent,she is one of the only people who can control Scarlett, the reason the blacks' all seem very happy is that if the film had gone in to what they were feeling the film would have been a good 3 hours longer,it isn't a story about them so they had to be one dimensional. In fact the most racist thing in it is that all Irish people are not drunks,[the book is a worse offender of this]and Gerald is a main part of the story.

My favourite bits are the tableaux of the red sky and THAT music, it makes the audience wish they were back in Tara and certainly aids the understanding is Scarlett's affinity with the land, I get goose pimples every time i see it.

This is a film with a strong female lead and helped push for more films with a female lead. I would just love to see the 6 hour long version as I feel many important points of the book were missed out and would help the audience to sympathies with scarlett more,e.g. Will,the yankies burning the cotton or the two extra children needed to be supported.

Overall excellent [even though I start crying 15minutes in and can't stop until 10 minutes after it has finished!]