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lordmelbury
Reviews
The Thin Blue Line (1995)
Not exactly TV gold....
It's incredibly odd how Ben Elton's writing went so seriously downhill with this series. It's not written with Richard Curtis as Black Adder was and this must be one of the reasons it's so clunky & old fashioned. Rowan Atkinson was brilliant throughout all of the Blackadder series' and his performance here is still quite impressive but the overall effect leaves one feeling immensely underwhelmed. The end-of-the-pier humour sounds like it was taken from an episode of Terry & June circa 1979 - probably funny to some people but in an era with shows like Seinfeld for competition it's just not good enough. I'm quite surprised how many people think it's funny. If you are a fan of more modern shows like Partridge / Nighty Night / Curb etc then you're really not going to be at all impressed.
The Office (2005)
Brilliant
The US Office is far superior to the UK version. It's more joyful, more comedic and has amazing performances. Yes, it's less subtle and has much more out and out comedy, but the writing is sublime. The supporting characters feature more heavily which is where the original suffers. Gervais' ideas about not doing too many episodes because he wanted to finish on a high is frankly a cop-out. If you are a good enough writer then there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to carry on at a consistent level. It's amazing how US shows have multiple writers and yet still seem to maintain their quality over multiple series'. I mean Seinfeld ending at 9 and they were all great - even after Larry left. In the UK it seems we're all obsessed with being auteurs. It's gone to Ricky's head certainly. Extras was a big floppette compared to the office whereas the US version has gone from strength to strength. It's surely down to have Mike Judge at the helm who has such a great pedigree. It's great, underrated here in the UK and is right up there with Seinfeld in all time great shows - seriously!
Ninety Days (2005)
An moving & soulful study
This as-yet unknown director has created a passionate film about sexual tensions in the heart of the city of angels. Johnathan, a lonely ex-student becomes entranced with Emma, who works at a nearby peanut salting factory. The story then spirals as the two become entwined in a plot to save Brian, the lover of Ian's childhood sweetheart Amanda. I would recommend this to all fans of De Palma and Scorcese as well as those looking for an aimless thrill before a long walk. This as-yet unknown director has created a passionate film about sexual tensions in the heart of the city of angels. Johnathan, a lonely ex-student becomes entranced with Emma, who works at a nearby peanut salting factory. The story then spirals as the two become entwined in a plot to save Brian, the lover of Ian's childhood sweetheart Amanda. I would recommend this to all fans of De Palma and Scorcese as well as those looking for an aimless thrill before a long walk.