rickcadger-67635 Reviews

Oil City Confidential (2009)

An Extraordinary Film About an Extraordinary Band

[10/10 · 24 November 2015]

What can I say? A real band from the unparalleled reality of the British pub rock scene. Dr Feelgood were raw, biting, cutting and sincere. For me they ended when Wilko left: for others they ended when Lee died. For other others they're still going strong.

For me, the heart and soul of the band was always the eccentric, mesmerising guitar maniac, Wilko Johnson: he of the red scratchplated Telecaster and the totally unexpected, post-cancer resurrection. This documentary movie is presented, narrated, almost curated by Wilko himself.

If you were there you'll love it to death. If you weren't then you may wish you were. If you don't get it then look up videos and MP3s of Dr Feelgood at their 70s peak.

Welcome to rock and roll reality in all its surreal, mundane strangeness. I will never understand how anyone could live without it.

The Quiet Hour (2014)

Dull, Trite and Plot less

[3/10 · 2 November 2015]

Visually, this low budget drama is nicely done with atmospheric location and lighting.

The performances aren't bad. The main problem is that the actors really had very little to work with, and I feel for them.

There is no real plot beyond a very shallow rehash of the besieged-by-nutters theme. The SF/alien aspect is completely superfluous and is in no way required by the travesty that masquerades as a storyline. The dialogue is dreadful, with thin chunks of cliché exposition and old-hat speculations about aliens who the budget will not allow us to see.

As is so often the case, the first reviews of this movie are implausibly glowing... and similar. Draw your own conclusions.