Change Your Image
paxiuba
Reviews
Doctor Who: The Sontaran Stratagem (2008)
Brilliant Cribbins !
Donna is appalling, Martha is ok, and of course David Tennant shines, but it is wonderful to see a veteran proper actor, Bernard Cribbins, being so effortlessly natural.
I do like Sontarans, however, so they and Martha push up the rating.
Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood (2008)
Dreadful Donna !
Re-watching all the reboot episodes, and I am struck again by just how awful Catherine Tate is. Dreadful self-conscious overacting, a thoroughly objectionable persona.
The thing is - the storyline is great, the Ood planet convincing, the Ood themselves well-conceived, Tim Macinerny a convincing villain, and David Tennant brilliant as always. All my stars go to those things, but the whole is let down by CT, who thankfully doesn't last too long.
When I think of the extraordinary companions Rose & Martha, what were the casting directors thinking !!!
The Eliminator (2004)
'Straight to video' - you can see why !
I've given the 3 solely for the excellent short story on which this is based.
For jaded wealthy people, the ultimate bet is on a human's ability to survive. You produce your candidate, place your bet, put all the competitors on an island, then set the hunters on them - it's a winner-takes-all survival game. Great plot, but, oh dear, what a mess has been made of it. The film quality is blurry and often strangely-coloured, the editing is jumpy, the fight scenes phenomenally and cartoonishly unrealistic, the sound often not good, and the acting is mostly wooden, with the possible exception of Michael Rooker (Merle from 'The Walking Dead'). It is also full of random banks of cloud groaning across the sky ! On the other hand, the house where the rich gamblers congregate is very pretty.
Really not worth wasting your time on, I'm afraid.
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
Real old-fashioned charm
I have just seen this film for the first time and was charmed by the slightly drifting plot, the beautiful sets, and first-class acting from Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy. Only the typically 50's freckly-faced children grated somewhat (just a personal dislike !!). But such a contrast between this gentle humour and the 'in-your-face' style of the Steve Martin remake, which is admittedly good in its way, but with its modern setting cannot hope to characterise the situation of the real family. There's an interesting parallel between this father and Christopher Plummer's character in The Sound of Music. CP portrays a man who finds it difficult to express emotion, and regiments his children to avoid dealing with their individual needs. Clifton Webb's character is very loving in his own way, there is real concern that the children be equipped for the adult world, and his relationship with his wife shows a delightful tenderness. I thoroughly recommend this as a family film, if you're not too jaded by modern crassness to appreciate it !