terrycarter Reviews

Dreamgirls (2006)

Emperor's New Clothes

[1/10 · 25 January 2007]

Come on people - see this for what it is.

EIGHT Oscar Nominations for something that would have taxed someone watching from the comfort of their lounge. Forgettable songs, hammy acting, the awful contrivance of singing dialogue, no great attempt at capturing the feel of the mid 60s to 70s apart from big hair. The list goes on.

Yes, Beyoncé looks great, Ms Hudson's singing was OK - but the show tunes were cringe-worthy, the storyline, pacing, plot and character development were all missing.

And don't even get me started about Eddie Murphy. This was no Oscar-worthy performance. It's a travesty that Michael Sheen's portrayal of Tony Blair in "The Queen" and Bill Nighy's cuckolded husband in "Notes On A Scandal" have been bumped by another "show me the money" turn by Murphy.

And this coming from someone who had the "privilege" of seeing this in a free preview.

Night at the Museum (2006)

As good a family film as you'll find this holiday

[8/10 · 17 December 2006]

Slightly overlong - and lacking the perhaps obligatory love interest - this is as good a film as any parent will be able to excite their kids with this holiday period - well certainly in the UK. The film has huge plot holes and probably hundreds of continuity errors but rampaging dinosaurs, goodish CGI and another athletic comic turn from Ben Stiller, together with the gorgeous Carla Gugino make this near perfect Xmas cinematic fair.

The Museum of Natural History is suffering a downturn in visitor numbers and has to make cutbacks by way of night security men. Step up Larry Daly (Stiller) in an attempt to retain his home and convince ex wife that he is a role model for their impressionable son. The film's premise that the various waxwork and skeleton inhabitants come to life at night due to the presence of a magical Egyptian golden tablet placed 50 years before is, of course, to suspend disbelief beyond anything else you'll be expected to this year - but anyone at a loss for an excuse to get the kids out of the house over the Christmas period could do a lot worse than spend just under a couple of hours at the multiplex to see what is a cross between Jumanji and the Indian in the Cupboard.

Robots (2005)

Lazy

[13 March 2005]

For all of the technical achievement, Robots is a lazy film much devoid of wit and charm. Most of this is probably due to the feeling of disengagement with cinematic metalwork and the viewer having no real concern for the "lives" of pieces of scrap. This is not helped by the film containing no real sense of menace from the baddie and having a script (due in no small way to Ganz and Mandel) that is for the most part smug and humourless. On top of this is a Robin Williams turn which just goes to prove how good he WAS as Genie! Long before the end of a mercifully short film, a large number of the kids in the audience had lost interest. The whole thing looked and felt like a 91 minute advert for the Nintendo DS game

Bad Santa (2003)

Just HOW Bad, Santa

[1/10 · 4 November 2004]

No words can adequately describe how AWFUL this film is. I'm no shrinking liberal violet but it cannot be described as a comedy because it's simply not funny and it's not dramatic. This was lazy film-making of the very worst kind and something that should never have seen the light of day. The script, performances, direction - absolutely nothing to commend it and coming from a man who brought us Ghost World, that makes it all the more disappointing. Reviewers in the UK are falling over themselves to laud this movie and I'm sure they're suffering from the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome of not wishing to stand alone in denouncing this as a piece of utter garbage not worthy of Billy Bob Thornton and Terry Zwigoff for fear of appearing not to get the joke. Well, stand up and say, there simply wasn't one in the whole sorry 92 minutes

Finding Neverland (2004)

Finding perfection

[10/10 · 26 October 2004]

A simply beautiful and touching film that brought tears of joy and melancholy. Script, performance and direction working as one to bring a magical cinema visit. Not a genuine drama and no more so a biopic of J M Barrie's life, this film takes a look at the times and influences that shaped the writer's penning of Peter Pan. Marc Forster has done a fantastic job and it seems that for the performers it was a labour of love as they infuse every scene with beauty and majesty. Kate Winslet, Julie Christie and the rest of the cast are uniformly excellent but it is Johnny Depp to whom the greatest plaudits must go. I feel he is unsurpassed as an actor who chooses his roles with great integrity. Not for him the easy and lucrative route of blockbuster movies (save for his work in Pirates.. which MADE it a smash), Depp is alone in taking such risks.

Van Helsing (2004)

Dear oh dear

[3/10 · 7 May 2004]

Has Mr Sommers not heard that less is more. Familiarity soon breeds contempt in this lame outing where the director goes for louder, brasher and ever more in-your-face special effects in lieu of anything approaching a cogent storyline. What a shame! After a brisk and reasonably witty opening, it all deteriorates into something that is simply short on ideas but all too dependent on CGI. It all has the look of a long decided franchise which is a disservice to Hugh Jackman who may be caught in sequel hell. Best thing to say about it is that it's likely to make a brilliant ride at Island of Adventure in the coming years

Shanghai Knights (2003)

Inconsistencies

[6 April 2003]

Yes, the movie's brain-in-neutral fun. But in addition to some other points raised, are we supposed to believe that Charlie Chaplin was an adolescent 2 years before he was even born? Would the plot have suffered if they'd left out the obvious visual gag at the end with the soot smeared on the lad's top lip? There's playing fast-and-loose but this was just taking a liberty.