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The Legends of Nethiah (2012)
Dire sub-Disney fantasy
Where to start? While obviously a passionate personal project for some of those involved I regret this film fails on every level. I don't understand the positive review sitting on its IMDb page. The effects made us cringe,the plot is lame and the acting is generally unconvincing, though Picardo and Young do what they can with a clunky script.
The sci-fi fantasy sequences just don't work, they have an amateurish look that suggests the budget was too modest for the undertaking. Sayys is very watchable as a basketball mentor type, but falls to a plot twist that left us bewildered. Maybe Picardo (and Theresa Russell no less!) did this as a favour, maybe they needed the work. Even they can't rescue it.
Our main complaint is that the marketing on the DVD box proclaims it to be something it isn't, a sci-fi fantasy epic (with clear hints at NeverEnding Story in the artwork). Epics need scale - this was a miniature. Avoid.
Enchanted April (1991)
A masterpiece
I need to add my praise to these other positive reviews. This is one of the rare films that could not be improved in any way.
Everything works in perfect harmony; the script, the performances (impossible to pick out highlights, everyone is great), the camera-work, editing, music and the breathtaking setting.
If you love violence, adrenaline, jeopardy, terror or guns you may wish to pass on this film, and so avoid writing inappropriate, negative reviews.
If you are in the mood for the kind of uplifting emotional therapy that can only be found in a warm, nuanced, and profoundly human film this is unmissable.
The Marseille Contract (1974)
Disappointing thriller despite the triple "A" cast.
The plot sounds intriguing and we know Caine can play a hit man, but he lacks any of the bite we saw as Harry Palmer. It was his mega busy period, and this was appears to have been just another gig.
James Mason is underused, having little to do,and Anthony Quinn, despite sharing several scenes with Caine, appears to be in a different film. He looks ill at ease throughout, and a nonsensical plot twist undermines his honest cop routine.
Considering the salary bill for just these three the studio could surely have hired a director who could breath some sort of life into the limp script, hang on, why was it green lighted with that script at all? A waste.
The Kremlin Letter (1970)
A superior cold war thriller - taught and complex.
Majestically directed by Huston, stuffed with great performances including Richard Boon, John O'Shea, Nigel Green, and especially Max Von Sydow who is in compelling form. Bibi Andersson is a revelation, so full of tenderness, anger and despair.
Full of engaging characters, unexpected scenes, and plenty of twists this is a neglected classic of the genre.
It needs a proper DVD release with plenty of extras, before all those involved pass away (Bibi Andersson and Barbara Parkins are the only principals still with us) Despite being central to the plot Orson Wells has little more than a cameo. O'Shea is little known now but deserves a larger entry in the footnotes of the secret agent roll.
The Wylds (2010)
I did not get to the end!
Christopher's Review: (age 9) I saw this film because my Dad got it for my Percy Jackson/Harry Potter –loving sister. I agree with all the other terrible reviews here.
The acting is dire, the CGI is the worst I've ever seen.
Since it is a modern version of John Bunyan's 'The Pilgrim's Progress' it is strange and misleading to be packaged as a modern-style fantasy. No-one in my family managed to finish it and I wouldn't be able even if I wanted to.
I'm glad it was straight to video, otherwise the whole world might want their money back. Please avoid at all costs, before it becomes a health hazard.
Where the Spies Are (1965)
Disappointing, miscast Niven vehicle
Despite Niven's presence do not expect this to be a comedy. There's nothing Pink Pantherish or Casino Royaleish here. It's a moderately engaging spy thriller but it hasn't aged well, the pace in particular meanders from leisurely to static.
Niven looks like he's parachuted in from a film made ten years earlier. It's difficult to work out why he was cast, or who the target audience was. In different hands it could have been a cousin of Johnson's Bulldog Drummond or Coburn's Flint, but misses both by a mile.
Dorleac smolders very effectively as the crumpet with brains. Although every performance of hers is given lustre and added depth, and distracting but unavoidable pathos, by the viewer's knowledge that she had less than two years to live.
Subterfuge (1968)
Highly recommended espionage
A very satisfying, taut 70's spy yarn, unaccountably overlooked. Well-written with some decent dialogue and many plot twists, it's fairly late in the film when the true loyalties and back stories are revealed.
Gene Barry is his usual wooden self but he does a good job as the uncompromising tough guy. Tom Adams hams it up, maybe he didn't like playing a foil to the action hero (having some form himself).
Joan Collins is on a different planet from the rest, she raises the overall quality with some real class as the icy, fiery, aristocratic, sensitive wife dragged into an espionage world she despises.
Harry in Your Pocket (1973)
A downbeat, petty crime drama a million miles from MI
Bruce Geller made a huge impact with Mission Impossible but this film lacks that show's drive and innovation. Painstakingly plotted and performed it nevertheless drags in places and it's no surprise it was his only feature film.
Pigeon looks out of his depth throughout and fails to spark any rapport; Coburn brings his usual cool reserve and magnetism, Sarazzin improves as the film goes on. The revelation is Trish Van Devere who plays the love interest and conscience of the film with real style. As well as looking like a cross between Debbie Reynolds and one of Charlie's Angels (both these things being magic) Devere brings an engaging lightness of touch that overshadows Coburn's own, and keeps the viewer just about caring how things turn out.