As a lover of Danny Boyle films i won't go over the top with this movie. However, billed as the "feel good film of the summer", one has to go along with that and after watching this delightful fantasy rom-com, it was a pleasurable 1hr 50 mins of cinema. Written by the ever credible Richard Curtis, this story line tells the tale of Jack, a Suffolk musician, struggling to get any serious credibility in his music, playing at small time gigs and bars until one day he encounters an accident with a bus whilst riding his bicycle. He ends up in hospital with a head injury and wakes to find he appears to be the only person in the world that has heard of or known of the existence of The Beatles. This is a fabulous story line and credit where it is due, Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis have made a winner here in my eyes. There are some great scenes of the Suffolk Coast and indeed into Norfolk in England as well as Liverpool and Hollywood. My favourite scene is when Jack re-creates that famous roof top Saville Row Beatles concert in London, although in this case it is on the beach in Gorleston On Sea, my home town. Suffice to say my old school chum, Ian, owns and runs The Pier Hotel, where this scene is filmed and it is a delight to watch this as Jack performs a terrific punk version of "Help". There are some great songs and if you were like me born in the 60s, you will be more than familiar with most of them especially as i grew up listening to the band. I adore the scene where Jack & Ellie discover a delightful recording studio right out in the middle of nowhere next to a busy railway line and this turns out to be the old railway station cottage at Buckingham in Norfolk. As the trains whiz by they belt out many songs from The Beatles catalogue and you can't help but foot tap along to them. I've watched this film for the 3rd time in my local cinema, The Palace, in Gorleston High Street, having previously seen it in London and incidentally The Palace is where Danny Boyle held the local premier of this movie along with Richard Curtis, Ed Sheeran and Kate McKinnon whom i thought were terrrific in the film. I guess this film will appeal to those aged 30 or over as anyone under that age may not be at all familiar with The Beatles, but don't be put off by that, this is still one of those fabulous rom-coms that is a delight to watch. This film will stay in the memory for many in the not too distant future and i guess when the DVD appears, many people will be stop freezing to see if they can spot themselves of the 6400 extras that were used on Gorleston Beach in the summer of 2018.
Reviews
6 Reviews
Yesterday
(III) (2019)
l Good Film Of The Summer, Fantasy Rom-Com, The Beatles, A Delight To Watch
10 August 2019
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
(2018)
One Of The Best TV Series, Tangerine Dream, Music Fans, The 1980s
10 August 2019
Black Mirror - This is one of the best tv series on the box right now. Some brilliant writing and production from the skills of Annabel Croft & Charlie Brooker. This particular episode is one for Tangerine Dream music fans and one the bands earlier albums "Phaedra" features strongly throughout the episode. There are some great scenes from the 80s as well and the episode had me engrossed in it's storyline and the music. If you love early computer games this will appeal and not wanting to give the storyline away, it was great to see how computers have come a long way since those 1980s efforts.
Midsommar
(2019)
Similarites to Whicker Man, Pretty Damn Horrific, Not For The Squeemish
10 August 2019
To say i did not enjoy watching this is an understatement. This is one of those movies that you wish was never made and whatever Ari Aster the director was thinking of, was beyond me as i really enjoyed Ari's previous horror effort 2018's terrifying Hereditary. My thinking at the start of the film was a wonderful group of young people going to enjoy an outdoor festival in the middle of the summer in a beautiful location only to find things weren't quite as they thought they were going to be. This is the case with this film but instead we are quickly introduced to some elders whose lives never pass their early 70s, then wonder what on earth for and what happens to them? Soon we find out and the results are pretty damn horrific and not for the squeemish. After stomaching that, we are then held on tender hooks as to what is going to happen to our American friends in the movie and as the film moves on in all it's dreary tedious progression, i really wanted out of the cinema. To cap it all we are shown a mysterious pyramid shape building which no one is allowed to enter and by the end of the film we are shown why. There are so many similarities to The Whicker Man and this becomes apparent when you realize the direction of the movie in all it's bad taste which had me revolted. This is not one film to enjoy and upon the closing credits it was a relief to exit the cinema.
I've Gotta Horse
(1965)
Music Dancing Animals Horses Very Enjoyable 60s Musical
29 December 2013
This is a neat little film with plenty of music and dancing featuring Billy Fury and Amanda Barrie. It is set in the musical 60s in the UK and the majority of the filming was done on the East coast in Norfolk along with some scenes at Shepperton Studios and Epsom Racecourse. The film opens at the remote Stracey Arms Mill and the Branch Road turning near Halvergate. Next location is The Royality Theatre in Great Yarmouth along with the racecourse and seafront. In case you were wondering where the lifting road bridge, in which the cast drive over in an old Seagull coach was, it is The Haven Bridge in Great Yarmouth and it is interesting to see the old tramway tracks that ran along the quay until the early 70s. Incidentally Seagull Coaches were based in the town and united with Caroline Coaches to form Caroline Seagull Coaches in Great Yarmouth until just a few years ago when they went into liquidation after several years operation in the town. Children would probably love this film with all the animals, horses and dancing although now a little dated but nevertheless still enjoyable. Some good parts played by Fury & Barrie and watch out for a cameo role by the late Jon Pertwee.
Horrors of War
(2006)
...A pile of half sun-baked dog dirt!
27 July 2006
This movie really is the pits. I don't know if a load of college gin-ks have got together to make this pile of half sun-baked dog dirt but it really is truly painful to watch. We see from the start of the film some edgy CGI war plane effects, followed by a load of greased-up unknown actors in dodgy war clothes prancing up and down in what looks like someone's back garden or a public park, to some very dodgy hand grenade explosions and fire crackers from all the toy guns everyone is holding. They look like a bunch of weekend warriors. There are some occasional nice cool acting scenes but only sporadically and these are generally followed by cheesy one liners such as "Sir, I think there is another one!" Keep an eye on the graveyard and you'll notice some of the grave stones wobble about like polystyrene blocks when the actors fall behind them, probably because they are just that. The editing is just as painful and the watcher finds it difficult to assess the scenes that are amateurishly put together becoming lost in the boring and pointless plot. The "monsters" are not scary and look like something out of the local amateur dramatics society...cheap looking face masks and all! This is one movie to avoid. Only watch if you are a die hard weekend warrior or 'B' movie fan . Ouch! Where is the aspirin?
"No real point or sense of direction...leads nowhere!"
22 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of those tedious TV films that every once in a while are made with no real point or sense of direction. We see a rather "out of place" Joe Don Baker arrive in a fictional English town, (it's actually Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft on the east coast of England), to coach a team of English student soccer players the sport of American football. The team are put through a rigorous training routine for a game of American Football. The film, (or rather ScreenTwo Play), really does lead nowhere and there are numerous continuetty errors, not that it really matters for this dull affair, however fans of the sport may enjoy this and those that live or work in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft will no doubt recognise some of the locations.
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