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Poltergeist III (1988)
Inferior sequel, but not all bad
The original Poltergeist (1982) is almost perfect, so any sequel was never going to be as good. Personally I think Poltergeist III is better than Poltergeist II.
The best things about this movie: the effects. All but one of the visual effects were done live on set. And most of them are truly impressive, especially the mirror sequences. CGI hadn't yet taken over most special effects in movies when this was made in 1987, and potentially if they had used what was available then it wouldn't have looked anywhere near as good as the practical effects did, and still do.
The location - the skyscraper location is brilliant, almost a character in itself - dark and foreboding, and especially when the action takes place high up in the building, the isolation makes for a spookier atmosphere.
What's not so great? The overall plot isn't particularly original or compelling. Carol Anne has been sent to live with her uncle and his new wife in Chicago and the evil spirit Kane follows her there.. That's it basically. I think we can take from this that JoBeth Williams and Craig T Nelson didn't want to do yet another sequel so writers had to come up with some other relatives to be traumatised by Carol Anne's poltergeist..
This movie also feels incredibly short. Apparently the original edit was only 80 minutes, and the studio insisted on further footage to lengthen it and make it worth cinematic release. The whole film does feel a bit incomplete and I think part of that is down to footage being added to pad out the running time after it had originally been removed. As well as this Heather O'Rourke who plays Carol Anne became very ill and sadly died after principal photography had wrapped, so a body double was used for reshoots, including a new end sequence. Whilst the sequence looks good, there is something a bit "off" about it and I think it is because of the efforts to disguise that Carol Anne was not being played by the original actress.
The WORST aspect - the amount of times "Carol Anne" is heard, either whispered off screen by spirits, or by other cast members.. Pretty much the storyline of this movie is that everyone is looking for Carol Anne who has been sucked into the spirit realm on the other side of the numerous mirrors in this skyscraper, which means we hear that line over and over again! It's annoying.
However, for a late 1980s "horror" (it was only a PG13 when released, so it's pretty tame actually) it isn't all bad. There are a few jump scares, a couple of quite horrific moments, and a generally unnerving atmosphere throughout. It's just a shame it all feels slightly tired and a bit too brief.
The critics at the time were not too kind about this movie, and with Heather O'Rourke's untimely death, the movie was sunk as there wasn't really a way to promote it without it coming across like it was exploiting O'Rourke's death. Therefore very little in the way of promotional tours was done and the movie came and went. It's very occasionally on TV, but nowhere near as much as the original has been.
Mr. Right (2009)
An unfunny gay romcom - little romance, almost no humour
Romcoms generally work, because we know what to expect of them. The meet cute is usually contrived and what we see played out on screen is usually a total fantasy version of how romances blossom, usually with some ridiculous yet at least funny situations that prevent the lead couple or couples getting together properly until the final few minutes.
This doesn't happen here. In fact none of the leads are particularly cute, charming or funny. Most of them seem to be shallow and self absorbed, or just unpleasant. The casting is all over the place. This was 2009 so there wasn't the whole thing about straight actors playing gay roles that we have now.
James Lance is pretty decent in everything he is in, and probably offers up the best performance here, as does Rocky Marshall who plays as far as I can work out, a more recently out of the closet gay man who was a rugby player and has a daughter from a previous relationship. He is preoccupied mostly with looking after her, and she seems to want to sabotage any potential relationships he gets into.
Everyone else, I only watched this last night and can't even remember what their plots were, other than they were all in their own way searching for 'Mr Right' and not succeeding at it.
In some ways the naturalistic dialogue used is quite clever - how many times watching movies have we thought "nobody would say that in real life", but actually it doesn't work here as the dialogue feels flat, and what jokes there are feel flat too. The worst performance is by the director who gives himself a part in this movie.. He should definitely stay behind the camera going by this performance.
The other part of the movie that seems to make no sense is the token "f*g hag" who knows all of these gay men starts dating Kurt from Hollyoaks who really over emphasises his claim that he is straight... Surprise surprise, turns out he isn't..
I'm not sure who or what this movie is for. It isn't really anything, just an hour and a half that doesn't really go anywhere and ends as unsatisfactorily as it begins. There should be more gay Romcoms generally, and there have been more in recent years, and some of them are very sweet, funny and romantic. Shame this relatively early British entry isn't one of them.
Rita (2012)
Everyone needs a teacher like Rita
I don't watch a lot of Scandinavian dramas that we get in the UK as most of them tend to be detective shows which aren't my favourite genre really - in any language.
Rita is one show I've watched the entirety of several times. It's a real dramedy, mixing some hilarious comedy with some quite hard hitting topics. The main character of Rita is a teacher who will do anything for her students, the kind of teacher who supports her pupils and always does the best she can for them. Even if some of her methods are unorthodox to say the least. The main topics of the show are around this, but also around the "politics" of school, how she gets on or doesn't get on with her colleagues, and her somewhat messy personal life. Outside of the school Rita has quite a mixed up love life, often choosing the wrong men to be with, and often causing problems with her own children. But what you do always get with her is that her intentions are generally for the good.
The first 2 seasons of Rita are the best I feel. The stories feel the most compelling and reach good conclusions. Series 3 is also pretty good. Series 4 comes after a slight gap in production and the location of the school changes, although her previous colleagues and friends still appear. We also see Rita finally with someone who she loves, and who she deserves to be with.
I think this is a show that is good for anyone who likes their TV to feel uplifting and positive. Rita is a bit of a flawed superhero in many ways. Not perfect, but always striving to do the right thing for those around her. It's not necessarily a family friendly show, as there is quite a bit of sex, smoking, drinking and swearing. However the spin off show Hjordis, which focuses on one of her teaching colleagues putting on an anti-bullying school play is definitely meant for a wider and perhaps younger audience.
Sweetpea (2024)
Comedy from a dark place when you snap
I think plenty of us have felt like Rhiannon (called Sweetpea by her newspaper office boss) - invisible, ignored, bullied. Obviously most of us never go as far as what happens in this series!
Ella Purnell is brilliant as Rhiannon - a young woman who was mercilessly bullied at school until she pulled her hair out. As an adult she still carries the anger and trauma from those times but has become a shy, lonely, doormat in adulthood, until one evening she meets her old school bullies and finally snaps with violent, murderous results. It's pretty graphic on screen with very little shying away from blood and gore. By the end of the first episode we see that Rhiannon has plenty of people she wants to kill.
What's brilliant is that whilst murder is completely wrong, I found myself understanding Rhiannon's motivation for the kills she makes. By the end of the series her body count is 4!
The humour of this show keeps it from being just a violent murder story - some of the dialogue and scenes are incredibly funny. The mundane smalltown UK backdrop also helps. It wouldn't have worked the same if it was set in London or another major city - you need the claustrophobic, almost inescapable tedium of an average small town for this to work.
All of the cast are brilliant in this show, especially Ella Purnell whose very unusual looks really work for this almost "Carrie" like revenge show. At the beginning she really does look downtrodden and unseen, but as the series goes along she becomes sleeker, more glamorous, more confident.
The last episode of the series ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so hopefully there will be some more of this very dark but fun show soon.
Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999)
Filthy and incredibly funny
I'm not sure a show like Gimme Gimme Gimme would be made now, as a lot of the tone, language and the plots would be considered very offensive. It's a shame, because actually however coarse it maybe this show is utterly hilarious.
Kathy Burke and James Dreyfuss play flatmates Linda and Tom. Linda is of an undefined age and completely deluded about her appearance. She thinks she's beautiful and sexy whereas she's very unattractive and a bit stupid, and Tom is gay, an aspiring actor and thinks he is a cut above Linda, whereas he isn't successful in his career and is probably as common as Linda. Rather than choosing to live together they're both so awful that they're basically forced to live together as nobody else will have them! It's a twist in the old 'odd couple' situation and it works brilliantly.
The first two series in particular are just wonderful - completely over the top, incredibly rude, but hilariously funny. The main supporting cast of neighbours Jez and Suze - a sickly and almost permanently cheerful couple who have what is implied as quite a wild sex life, and then there is ex prostitute landlady Beryl. All of them really add to the sub plots and round out the show.
Series 3 does begin to feel like we have seen it all before, and it just doesn't feel as fresh and inspired. It's still very funny however. The show I feel ended at the right point, before the quality really dipped and it became too repetitive. I guess there are only so many stories you can make out if Linda trying to get into her neighbour's underpants, and Tom trying to get more than a bit part in a police procedural drama.
It's 25 years old now and still brilliant. Critics were quite divided at the time over the show, and it probably isn't for everyone, but if you bring your sense of humour with you and enjoy 30 minutes of outrageous and vulgar comedy then this is for you. I don't think this show would ever work as a remake from another country.. The humour and writing is so incredibly British I'm not sure it would adapt. I also can't imagine anyone other than Kathy Burke and James Dreyfuss playing such awful characters that you can't help but also love.
Paperhouse (1988)
A curious oddity from the late 1980s
I saw this film not long after it came out, aged about 11 on video. I think my step sister rented it from our local corner shop. I've just watched it again aged 46 after it popped up on Amazon Freevee.
It's a really oddity of a film - not a children's movie as such, and not horrific enough to be classed as a horror. It's more of a dark fantasy. Charlotte Burke who never acted again after this plays Anna, an 11 year old girl who is quite troubled (father is never around, strained relationship with her mother) gets sick with glandular fever and keeps collapsing. Whilst at home she draws a picture of a house, with a boy called Mark living in it. In the dreams she has when unwell the drawing comes to life, and anything she adds, takes away, or does to the picture in her real life becomes a reality in the dream world, including an angry version of her father. She makes friends with Mark in the dream world, but also discovers Mark is a patient of her real world doctor and he is gravely ill. The story is also about their friendship as slowly the realisation that he is dying comes to them.
This film was shot on a relatively low budget, but visually it's quite striking. The dream world is mostly quite dark and moody until we get towards the end. The production design of these sequences brings a child's drawing to life very effectively.
The visuals in the real world segments I think are a little bit drab and flat, as are the performances from the actors playing Anna's parents. Glenn Headley apparently originally played the role using her natural American accent, but close to release it was decided the character should be British and she was forced to very quickly dub all her dialogue. Whilst it's mostly done quite well there are many parts where you can see the visual and the sound aren't quite in synch, and she sounds quite flat. It is distracting. Ben Cross who plays Anna's father also seems a bit underdeveloped and again, a bit lifeless.
Ellliot Spiers who played Mark is very good, and had performed in a few things on TV and film before Paperhouse but only played one role after in the film Taxandria. Unfortunately he became ill and died in the mid 1990s.
All in all Paperhouse is quite enjoyable, but the low budget I think, means the film is a little bit sluggish and a bit flat in places. Like there should have been more if only everything had been a bit bigger. If you like dark fantasy this isn't a bad watch.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)
Cheesy 80s dance fest
It's actually quite hard to rate this film out of 10, because it really isn't a good movie. It's completely cheesy, makes very little sense, but it is fun.
You've got a very much pre-Sex And The City Sarah Jessica Parker and a young Helen Hunt who somehow manages to look and sound about 30 in this even though she would have been around 21 at the time it was made as best friends, trying to get on to a really dreadful looking TV dance show called Dance TV (how original) by throwing some very, very 80s shapes in very, very 80s outfits. Add to this a little romantic element with Richard Montgomery as the love interest, a bratty rich girl trying to cheat her way to winning the contest and you've got the whole plot, such as it is, right there.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun is just that - it's a fun movie, the kind of thing teen girls would have watched on a sleepover. It's colourful, the soundtrack is good in a very 1980s way, and it goes everything it needs to entertain. It's one of those movies that could never be remade or rebooted because it is SO very much of its time.
Richard Montgomery looks great in this movie, whatever happened to him by the way? As do Parker and Hunt. The acting is actually alright given the script and the audience it's aimed at.
Enjoyably silly, incredibly dated, but a nice watch. Not all movies need to gave a coherent plot or depth. Some are just there to be watched and forgotten.
Uglies (2024)
Dumb, but sort of fun
This is a bit of a dumb movie. It's based on a YA novel, so expectations shouldn't be too high. Really the only decent YA fiction is The Hunger Games and Joey King is no Jennifer Lawrence unfortunately.
Set in the future after various environmental disasters and wars (sound familiar?) society has rebuilt but is divided into two - Pretty people who live in a utopian city and Uglies who are waiting until their 16th birthdays to be made pretty through extreme plastic surgery. The rather far fetched theory being that the pretty people all live in harmony and don't cause wars or something. It's sort of Logan's Run meets Brave New World, only not as good as either premise.
Netflix has a lot of money to throw around, and some of that cash has been thrown at the special effects in this movie. Some of them are very good, especially the CGI rendering of the utopian city (it actually looks very similar to the New London used in the Peacock TV adaptation of Brave New World which had been made a year or so previously to this). However in other parts the CGI effects look really cheap and you can almost see the green screen, especially in the 'hover board' sequences.. Hmm I wonder where they got that idea from...? Except it was done better way back in 1989 because the actors had to physically be in the place they were flying through... Never mind!
Oh there's also something about some kind of flower the futuristic society claim to use for energy, that is actually taking over the world to force everyone to live in the city. By that point my attention was wavering, so I could be wrong on that.
Anyway, Uglies is not going to blow you away with a deep story, and you'll work out everything that happens before it happens. That's not to say it isn't mildly enjoyable. Joey King is a competent actress and does her best with the thin material, as do the rest of the mostly young and pretty cast. Just don't expect to be in any way moved or affected by this film!
Back to Black (2024)
Great performances, sanitised story
I was never the biggest fan of Amy Winehouse, but there was no denying her enormous talent. She was a brilliant songwriter and had an amazing soulful jazz voice.
This film tells the story of how she wrote her hugely successful Album Back to Black. Marisa Abela is the star playing Amy and her performance is amazing. Whilst she doesn't look exactly like Amy Winehouse she gets her look, her mannerisms and her voice so convincingly you can imagine she IS Amy. We see her go from living at her dad's flat with her family around her, to her time in Camden and her incredible rise to fame as well as her far too early passing.
The biggest problem in this film for me is just how sanitised it feels. Whilst we don't need to see all of her spiral into addiction, it's almost completely passed over here. There's a very short scene of her smoking a crack pipe, and we see her drink some vodka, but that's about it. It's very much skirted around, whereas we know the real Amy had huge addiction problems. We also don't see here how the people around her didn't intervene. In fact her father and Blake Fielder Civil in this film are almost seen as angelic figures. Fielder Civil in particular is seen here almost as a Disney Prince. Not an enabler of her addiction.
What was presented very well was Amy's desire to be wanted and loved, which is very much true of her real life, and in a way, part of why she self destructed.
The great things about this film - Marisa Abela - she IS Amy, her performance is brilliant and she is totally believable. The setting is fantastic - it really shows Camden with it's gritty charm, the music - again this is down to Marisa Abela, in that she performed a lot of the songs herself and you can hear she's clearly studied Amy. Her performances are amazing.
Not so great - how the biggest and worst aspects of Amy's addictions were skirted around. Whilst we don't need to see every time she took a drug, or drank herself into oblivion it was far too brief here, to the point of almost not being shown. I know the director Sam Taylor Wood wanted it to be a celebration of Amy's life, but her life included the darker periods too. That feels missing here to a large degree.
The ending of the film, we all know how Amy's life ended, is quite well done. But does miss, I feel, how there were chances for people to intervene and to perhaps change Amy's fate. It just feels like too much was left out in this story. Recent biopics have tended to skirt around the darker aspects of big musical performers lives and this film is no different.
Three Salons at the Seaside (1994)
Just lovely
This documentary has no voice over, no pieces directly to camera. It's just a camera observing the comings and goings of 3 hair salons in the backstreets of Blackpool one day in 1994 and it is beautiful from start to finish.
Unlike today's reality TV 'Three Salons' is real - no Turkey teeth, no fake tans, no fame hungry wannabes.
It just focuses on the owners and elderly female customers of the salons featured as they get their hair done, talking about Chinese food, new windows, death, and other aspects of normal life. It's funny, touching and sad all at the same time, and shows us a glimpse of life that perhaps doesn't exist anymore.
My absolute favourite participant in this documentary is Hillary who runs the Vanity Box - big glasses, perm, tabard, that very particular Lancashire accent, and just how lovely she is. Going from talking about a handbag she lends out to customers attending funerals to a hilariously funny (yet obviously still sad) description of someone dying on her toilet. Her description of a Chinese meal she had is just perfect too and will raise a smile in everyone.
The 40 minute film is like Alan Bennett and Victoria Wood plays taking place in real life.
After it was originally shown it faded in to relative obscurity, a little curiosity of a film, largely forgotten. But in 2022 someone uploaded it to YouTube and it became a huge cult hit. It's even back on the BBC iPlayer. I recommend everyone watches this to be uplifted and to see a real slice of life gone by. The BBC no longer makes this kind of film which is a real shame.
I would guess most if not all of the women who were the main stars of this film have long passed away, along with the salons they either ran or were customers of. In a way the hairdressing is actually the least important part of what those salons brought. It's the support, the friendship, the place to gossip, confide, laugh and cry that really show through.
A lovely, lovely film that can be watched again and again.
Keeping Up Appearances (1990)
Permanently re-watchable classic
I don't really think the overall plot of Keeping Up Appearances needs explaining again. The show is well over 30 years old, and the antics of social climber Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced "bouquet") have been watched by millions around the world.
This show is an absolute classic. Every episode is built on the same basic concept -
Hyacinth is either organising or attending a social occasion - something that she feels shows off her elevated social standing, or with the intention of climbing further up the social ladder, whilst her long suffering husband Richard and their neighbours Elizabeth and Emmett look on baffled, and usually dragged into the situation. At the same time Hyacinth goes to ridiculous levels to prevent her family - most of the time her lower class sisters Rose and Daisy, and her brother in law Onslow who is married to Daisy, from being at the event and exposing her lower class background to everyone around her. Of course one of the jokes is that everyone already knows her background, and Rose, Daisy and Onslow whilst perhaps a bit "rough around the edges" are kind, thoughtful, and even quite tolerant of Hyacinth's ways.
Sitcoms around social class are very typical in Britain, but what makes KUA different us just how much the crazy/slapstick is turned up. It's ridiculous, but at the same time brilliant.
Unusually for a TV sitcom I feel the first series is actually the weakest. I think perhaps the producers and the cast weren't sure quite how big they could play it. When it came back for a second series the existing cast all played up their roles much more, and the character of Rose had been changed in terms of being softened somewhat, as well as even more lovelorn. She was also recast, with Mary Millar taking over from Shirley Stelfox. Millar's performance is far better known than Stelfox's. Neighbour Elizabeth also got a partner in crime - her brother Emmett who came to live with her after a messy divorce.
Overall there were 5 series of KUA produced between 1990-1995, as well as several Christmas specials. Almost every episode hits the mark in terms of comedic excellence. Every character is perfectly cast, with Josephine Tewson as Elizabeth, and Geoffrey Hughes as Onslow being particular highlights. Patricia Routlege as Hyacinth is outstanding - not only in her delivery of the script, but her sheer physicality. She can just give a slight look in response to an event happening in front of her, or news over the telephone and it's perfectly timed and hilarious. Patricia was in her 60s when KUA started and whilst some of the bigger stunts were clearly done by stand ins, she herself bravely does an awful lot of the falling over, climbing walls and getting soaking wet (anytime she is near a river or body of water basically).
The show came to an end in 1995 when Patricia Routlege decided she wanted to move to new roles. By this time some episodes of KUA felt very familiar, recycling plots from earlier episodes. Whilst still funny, I think they called it a day at the right time.
KUA is very old fashioned in many ways, but is an absolute classic, emenently re-watchable, and hasn't been surpassed in many ways.
Ugly Betty (2006)
Begins amazingly, but does get patchier towards the end
The Ugly Betty main plot isn't anything particularly new or unique - an "ugly duckling" manages to get a job at a glossy fashion magazine as the editor in chef's assistant. Sounds pretty familiar, and is the main plot of The Devil Wears Prada that came out almost at the same time.
What makes Ugly Betty different is it follows the methods used in central and south American telenovelas - it's very soapy and a continuing drama that plays out over 85 episodes.
America Ferreria is just wonderful as the heroine - what she lacks in fashion sense she makes up for in pluckiness intelligence and a good heart. She's not attractive in the way the other Mode magazine employees are. They're all thin and glamorous whereas Betty has a few curves, wears braces and glasses. Predictably she does become more physically attractive as the series goes on, but never loses what makes her special, her intelligence and caring nature.
The first series is by far the best, taking the "fish out of water" trope to its funniest but also sweetest heights. As well as Betty's antics we have feuding families - the Meades, who own Mode magazine, as well as backstabbing and plotting, especially from Vanessa Williams' Willhellmina Slater character who is always trying to take control of the magazine.
Played out over 4 seasons, the 3rd and 4th did begin to lose some of the original magic - stories were repeated and it all became formulaic with editor Daniel Meade running into some problem and plucky Betty saving the day. However the smaller plots of Betty's family kept some of the energy going. The Suarez family are so close, and Betty's nephew Justin who it is clear from early on is probably gay provides a lot of humour and pathos, and is wonderfully supported by his family.
The ending of Ugly Betty came when ABC decided not to renew it past season 4. It had never attracted high ratings in the USA. However the producers were able to give everyone a mostly happy ending, with Betty finally removing that "Ugly" tag and overcoming her lack of confidence and allowing herself to become her own person. The last couple of episodes are just lovely and really end a great show back on a high it had lost for arround 2 and a half seasons.
Overall it's a lovely, funny, sweet and beautiful show even if it does begin to feel a bit repetitive.
High-Rise (2015)
Visually appealing but pretentious and confusing
What on earth is this film about? I saw it in the cinema back when it came out and wasn't entirely sure about what I had watched then, and now in 2024 on a boring afternoon I've watched it in Amazon Prime and I am still none the wiser.
The casting is brilliant. Literally everyone is perfectly cast. Visually this film is a treat. Set in a very stylised 1970s the interior sets mix brutalism with modernist design, the external shots are pure brutalism. Which set it totally in that period, and for me really add to the visual appeal of this movie. The costumes and makeup are brilliant too, as is the soundtrack, and the cinematography is second to none. Pretty much every scene is wonderfully shot.
That's where the praise ends..
Unfortunately the plot for me just doesn't work. It's too messy. At first we see the high rise apartment block as some kind of utopia and then suddenly all out anarchy breaks out, but there is no build up. The pretentious script makes Kubrick movies sound like Adam Sandler films by comparison. People speak in a way no real person ever speaks!
The second watching didn't improve my opnion of it, though I do still appreciate the look and the soundtrack!
Tank Girl (1995)
Uneven and not particularly compelling
In 1995 Tank Girl was still quite a popular but cult/niche comic book. But inevitably Hollywood was going to have a go at turning it into a movie. The result is at best uneven.
Set in a post-Apocalyptic 2033 where a comet crashing into the earth some years before had turned the land into desert. The remaining water being under the control of baddie Keslee's corporation Water and Power, Rebecca (Tank Girl) is a rebellious girl who fights this corporation and it's group of dumb footsoldiers to try and remove the hold they have over the water, and keep her friends safe/alive. That's pretty much the whole plot.
The good bits about the movie - Lori Petty looks great as the heroine. She has the look, the hair, the costumes and the cheeky feistiness needed to play the character.
Naomi Watts as Jet Girl is another highlight, playing it subtly and in the beginning quite shyly.
If you like hammy, over the top performances then Malcolm McDowell as Keslee you will enjoy. I do quite like him in this. He plays it with plenty of ham and camp.
Visually the film looks as good as a comic book adaptation can look given it's been transplanted to real actors and sets rather than being drawn or painted. Though we will see some animated parts throughout.
The bad bits - the plot. It's just so thin, there isn't enough here to sustain a 90 minute movie, so it gets dragged out and becomes repetitive and old quite quickly.
The script - whist Rebecca's one liners seem funny at the beginning there are far too many and it becomes a drag as the action almost stops whilst she says something really dumb.
It's boring. Because of the thin plot being stretched out it just feels limp and a bit dull, which to me should be difficult given the brightness of the original comic strips. Apparently studio and other interference ended up removing some scenes from the final cut, which actually explains why there is an uneven pacing throughout. Things either feel rushed or very slow.
The animations.. Small segments of the film are done in animation rather than live action. They look good because they hark back to the comicbook source, but they don't work and often feel like they're thrown in to save those that hold the purse strings money. In fact the entire end scene had apparently been made, but was replaced by an animated sequence.. Unsure as to why - money? Not enough to make it look as good as it could? Or just bad so needed to be replaced?
In conclusion, this isn't as exciting or fun as it could have been. I won't criticise the performances of the main cast as they worked with what they were given and they do mostly look and feel the part, but the overall result of a dull and thin plot, potentially not enough money, and some uneven editing, it's just uneven and not very compelling. A film you can watch, but will lose your attention from in parts of it, and will mostly forget about afterwards.
Would a remake work? Bigger budget, stronger storyline? Not sure. How popular is Tank Girl in 2024?
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Not as good as the first time I saw it
I remember watching this film when it came out in cinemas in 2001 and my 23 year old at the time self absolutely loved it. It was so different to anything else at that time - camp, funny, sad, colourful, bohemian - whatever I felt at that was at that time.
I've probably not watched this film for about 10 years at least and today saw it was on a streaming service I subscribe to. And I have to say it isn't as good as I remember.
Sure, virtually it is still pretty stunning, with the brightness that is a Baz Lurmann signature, but the fast cutting, particularly in the opening 15 minutes is actually horribly jarring and almost headache inducing. It's still very clever and creative, but rather than a movie, it feels like you're watching a music video.
Other things that now annoy me are how disjointed the film is, with tragically sad or serious scenes interspersed with very sudden out and out ridiculous comedy.
This review makes it sound like I hate Moulin Rouge! But I don't. I still really like it. The casting is perfect, especially the two leads. Ewan McGregor puts in a consistently great performance as the penniless writer who falls for courtisan Satine played by Nicole Kidman who manages to bring out sizzling sensuality, hilarity and tragedy in her. Everyone cast in this film looks and feels right for the parts they're playing. The story is simple and some of the musical sections are incredibly inspired. It's great entertainment.
One final jarring thing for me. I know the Paris scenes and anything outside of the main Moulin Rouge set are all CGI and because we are being told a story they have a sort of "storybook" look about them, and 23 years ago the effects were probably cutting edge, but on a 4K/UHD screen the fakery looks too fake - outlines around actors and that look of the actors being inserted into the scene post-production.. Oh and there are a few bits where Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman's eye colour, clearly brightened in post-production has been missed. Eye colour changes between different parts of the same scene.. Especially when they're in the elephant and he's singing Your Song to her. Picky I know, but now I won't be able to unsee it!
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
Not as good as the original or the folow up
I LOVE the Bridget Jones (so far) trilogy of films. The original 2001 movie is so good, and whilst people were initially shocked at the idea of an American playing such an iconic British character, Renee Zellweger absolutely nails the part - from her looks, to her mannerisms, to her almost pitch perfect home counties accent, if you didn't know Renee is from Texas you'd think she is from Surrey she is that good.
Unfortunately this sequel to the original, whilst all the cast are still brilliant, the movie is just silly - a collection of scenes where Bridget ends up being the butt of the joke. In movies 1 and 3 Bridget is in the joke, but she isn't THE punchline and often triumphs over adversity. In this film all the misfortune and all the jokes are just thrown AT her and it makes the whole thing less fun to watch. It feels and plays sillier than it ought to.
The plot - Bridget a few weeks into being with Mark Darcy is seemingly blissful, but her own insecurities and jealousies put a temporary end to things and she ends up sort of back with Daniel Cleaver, played brilliantly smarmily by Hugh Grant, and on a disastrous trip to Thailand as part of his TV travel show. Like many unwitting true life Thailand tourists Bridget ends up in jail after inadvertently smuggling drugs in her suitcase. The whole thing is very bizarre, but kind of humorous as Bridget teaches her cellmates the correct lyrics to Madonna songs and shows them the wonders of the Superbra. Eventually she is rescued by Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and brought back to the UK, where she finally discovers and accepts just how much Mark loves her. It's a bit of a fairytale, but then so are the original books.
What lets the movie version down is just how silly and almost slapstick the comedy becomes. It's not a bad film, and fans of Bridget will still find a lot to enjoy, but compared to the far superior original movie and the much delayed Bridget Jones' Baby that came out in 2016 the humour is just played far too broadly. Like an American adaptation of subtle British humour.
Out of 10:
Cast 10 - the casting of every part is superb, from the main players to the supporting roles of Bridget's friends and family. Everyone is superb and pretty much how you would imagine them from the book.
Storyline 6 - whilst the story reflects parts of the book it is different. Daniel Cleaver doesn't feature much in the book, but Hugh Grant's part in the film is hugely expanded. On the other hand in the book Bridget Interviews Colin Firth but of course cannot do this in the film as he is playing Mark Darcy.. Which is a bit of an in-joke about Bridget's obsession with the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in which Colin Firth actually plays Mr Darcy.
The humour is an issue in the film adaptation. It plays far too silly and slapstick. Every scene seems to play out as though it is a comedy sketch and we are just waiting for the punchline. It feels like a too Americanised version of British humour. It's still funny, but it begins to feel contrived.
Overall 7 - still a good film. Just pales compared to the others.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
A fairytale in the best possible way
This film is gorgeous from start to finish. It looks beautiful - from the locations to the costumes to the cast. It also flows beautifully, without a single moment of dragging.
Lesley Manville plays Ada Harris, a working class cleaning lady whose husband Edward is presumed dead after going missing in World War 2. She lives in London and cleans the houses of those richer and and "better" than her. But far from being downtrodden Ada has dreams and believes one day she will have her lucky day.
The main story in this movie is that of Mrs Harris living her dream of travelling to Paris and buying a Christian Dior dress. The first third or so of the movie sets the scene about how she obtains the money to travel.
The part set in Paris is absolutely wonderful. Mrs Harris through a huge amount of good fortune manages to meet the right people in the right place at the right time and leaves an impression on all who meet her. It's a total and utter fairytale, and all the better for it. We all need a bit of implausibility in our lives sometimes!
There is an underlying story around workers standing up to their "betters" but it doesn't get too bogged down in politics.
This is a story about following your dreams mainly, and perhaps a little self discovery along the way all wrapped up in a beautiful 1950s Parisian box, and it's wonderful!
Ticket to Paradise (2022)
Predictable but fun
George Clooney and Julia Roberts are a great combination in a film. They just work so well together, and they do in this romcom.
There's nothing very new or original about the story here. The long divorced and bickering parents of a recent college graduate daughter try and stop her marrying a man she's met on holiday in Bali. The "in laws who want to stop their kid's wedding" trope is in no way new or original, but it does work for this movie and allows Clooney and Roberts some very funny dialogue and scenes together, particularly earlier on.
As I say this is a very predictable film and nothing really will surprise you about how it ends, and in a way that's a good thing. Romcoms are never very surprising and they don't need to be. Romcoms work because of the predictability in a way - it's comforting and makes the viewer feel good. What works particularly in this film's favour are the two biggest stars performances, and the beautiful locations. It wasn't actually filmed in Bali, but Queensland Australia which does make for a pretty convincing stand in.
It was quite a big hit in cinemas, although it semeed to bypass me completely me - I saw it on Netflix. And it does sort of feel like a standard Netflix romcom, but it's a good one. Solid performances, enough humour to keep you smiling, and a story that holds interest from beginning to end.
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)
Good enough but not brilliant
When the original series was broadcast from 1992-1995 Absolutely Fabulous was just that - it was hilariously funny, poking fun at PR and fashion, a world most of us only ever see on TV or in magazines. As the show went on it did begin to wear a bit thin, but side characters such as Bo and Marshall kept the comedy flowing with their ever more bizarre and ridiculous get rich schemes through televangelism etc.
Two more full series came in the early 2000s, followed by 3 specials in 2011 and 2012, although by then the ideas were really running out. However, a movie was expected at some point and in 2016 this came out.
Again, like the later series the movie isn't very original and plays out a storyline we've seen hints of numerous times for Patsy and Eddie. Such is the impact of the show the movie attracts cameos from 60 big stars, all of whom are generally playing themselves and don't mind sending themselves up to a degree.
This movie is basically the length of 3 episodes of the TV show and doesn't divert too much from what we've seen before - Eddie and Patsy are aging and trying to keep hold of what they see as a glamorous lifestyle, something goes wrong, this time with Kate Moss, which they then have to escape and try and fix. That's pretty much the whole film.
It's alright. Comparing it to one of the original series, it's probably on the level of series 4 - mildly amusing, but a bit thin on ideas. A good final ending for the fans of the show but nothing that would win it any new fans.
Allegedly if the film did well Jennifer Saunders was going to do a sequel, but subsequently said she was done with Ab Fab. Take from that what you will.
7 out of 10 because earlier Ab Fab is one of my favourite TV shows ever. If this was a standalone film that didn't come from the TV show heritage I'd probably give it 5 and a half.
Ever After (1998)
Love love love this film
This is my absolute favourite Drew Barrymore movie. She is absolutely brilliant as the lead in this possibly more traditional, less "Disneyfied" telling of the story of Cinderella.
Anjelica Houston as the evil stepmother does steal the show with some brilliantly funny barbed lines. It really looks like she enjoyed playing this part. Another highlight is Melanie Lynskey as step sister Jacqueline, who rather than being horrible or ugly, is quite sympathetic to the plight of Danielle (Cinderella), as well as being silly and again very funny. Rounding off a pretty amazing cast is Dougray Scott as the handsome prince, who is actually quite a rounded character in this rather than just the hero.
At just over two hours the pacing of this film is just about right - plenty of action, and the scenes all flow well. Nothing feels wasted or too slow.
I won't go into the plot as I think most of us know the story of Cinderella in one version or another, and the main points of the story are all involved in this beautiful looking movie.
As well as my favourite Drew Barrymore film, it's one of my favourite films full stop - fun, action packed, very funny, but not in a way to ridicule the fairy tale. Watch it and love it!
View from the Top (2003)
Not great
Not a brilliant movie, but it does have a few cute funny moments. Gwyneth Paltrow has an odd relationship with comedy films. She can be very good - see Sliding Doors or Shakespeare in Love for an example of that, but sometimes she just doesn't seem to fit - Shallow Hal and unfortunately View From The Top fall into this category.
Paltrow plays Donna, a small town girl who dreams of becoming a flight attendant. Through a a silly plot about a swapped exam paper she ends up flying the domestic express routes rather than the glamorous international route she had been dreaming of. There's also a love interest plot with the usual drama of do you follow your career dreams or your dream partner?
I'm not really sure why this movie got made. The screenplay isn't very good and none of the cast seem to play their parts with any conviction. I know it's supposedly a comedy but even then it does require some effort to draw in the audience. Mike Myers was a huge star at the time this movie came out thanks to his most famous role of Austin Powers, so I guess he is supposed to be a draw too, but he just ends up playing an irritating Mike Myers character, the joke of which had begun to wear thin even back in 2003.
Also what is with the editing of this film? Some scenes seem so randomly placed they just don't make any sense.
Drive Me Crazy (1999)
Average and formulaic, but charming enough
This is another high school romcom that came out in the late 1990s when there was a resurgence of this genre. The best examples are probably 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That, both of which are superior to Drive Me Crazy.
The problem with this movie is that it does absolutely nothing original - it's totally formulaic. It isn't without it's charms and the two leads - Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier both perform their roles very well. Hart being the perky, popular high school girl and Grenier playing the "indie" boy who isn't into all that hight school cheeriness! Basically they agree to date one another in the hope of her getting the high school jock as a date for the dance, and him to try and win back his irritating "indie" girlfriend. We can all see where is is going to go can't we?
Its totally predictable but fun and one thing I do like about this movie is the cast are convincing has high school students - none look too old and none look too Hollywood perfect, which does make a change!
This film is on Disney Plus now and if you enjoy this kind of silly comedy it's still worth a watch even if it isn't a stand out of the 90s high school film craze.
The Brink (2020)
Some good ideas within a mediocre film
The idea on paper for this film, whilst not exactly original, is pretty sound. Loner in post apocalyptic world teams up with people to fight violent cannibalistic and women raping gangs. The problem is that it's just far too long and the end doesn't really give any satisfaction, it just sort of turns up.
Made on a shoestring budget using real-life abandoned locations in the main works brilliantly so kudos to the production team.
The acting by the main players is pretty competent, but felt often too understated given the world they're inhabiting. The script didn't help with some monologues that did sound way too scripted if you all get what I mean. Almost like a play, where one character says their thing then stops and then the next character says their bit. All too theatrical sounding. However I do think a few of the cast probably deserve and will go on to bigger things.
Other issues for me included considering this is a world without any of the things we are all used to - running water, plentiful food, proper healthcare etc. Everyone looks far too healthy - all perfect teeth, nobody particularly malnourished, and well groomed. The women in this film clearly have either a supply of razors and depilatory cream, or there's a post apocalyptic waxing salon somewhere in Bedfordshire! The character The Wife is even more groomed with perfect corkscrew curls in her hair.. Did she raid a branch of Boots for styling products before the world fell apart?!
I do think for a low budget Sci fi movie this isn't totally awful but probably could have done with shaving about 30 minutes off the whole thing to make it tighter. If they'd have done that, even with all the other limitations I'd have said this film is good-ish rather than mediocre.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)
A gorgeous film
I LOVE this film. Its just beautifully written - funny, tender, occasionally sad.
A 60-something widow of two years, who never had an orgasm throughout her 31 year marriage hires young sex worker Leo Grande to catch up on the sex life she never had during her marriage.
Emma Thompson as Nancy plays her role perfectly, of someone who has never been fulfilled in that way sexually and how awkward she feels desiring these experiences whilst conflicted about hiring a young and handsome sex worker. Like many older people she is also insecure about her body and her looks.
Rather than the entire film being about Leo and Nancy getting it on, we see them build up a trust, almost a friendship, with heartfelt and raw conversations in the surroundings of the hotel room Nancy has booked her appointments with Leo. In fact the vast majority of the film takes place within these walls. At the beginning it feels like the room reflects how Nancy feels - isolated, alone, closed, but it eventually becomes a space of discovery and pleasure.
We see Nancy and Leo's time together as 4 separate bookings that Nancy had made, and in that time you see growth in both characters - Nancy accepting her body, herself, and embracing sexual pleasure, whilst Leo (this isn't his real name by the way) becomes more open to his family about his career, rather than hiding it away.
By the end of the film it feels like both main characters have grown, especially Nancy who realises that she isn't too old to enjoy herself, and the final scene we see her get fully naked and accept her body and herself. Emma Thompson has said this was the most difficult scene for her to film, and whilst I am not a 60 something woman who has had children, I and many others can probably empathise with this, as well as how Nancy feels about her body, that we aren't as young or as thin and toned as we once were, but that all bodies, shapes and sizes can be beautiful, sexual, sexy.
An absolute pleasure of a film from start to finish.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
I really enjoyed this prequel
I really enjoyed this prequel to the original series of Hunger Games movies. I liked the world building aspect, showing us where the Panem of the original movies came from and how Coriolanus Snow became who he ended up being.
I will say I did find The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes slightly too long, and some parts of the movie did feel like they dragged - almost too much in the way of exposition and scene setting.
Things I loved - the aesthetic of the film, the way that the filmmakers showed this was Panem before The Hunger Games we all know from the original movie series, and gave it a kind of 1950s Americana-meets-post-war-Eastern Europe look was a great way of visualising we are seeing the past in this universe. The Panem we know in original Hunger Games is definiely futuristic but not a million miles away from our own world, so putting their past into a visual style we could relate to worked brilliantly. My theory on this is that after civilisation collapsed and those left began to build Panem relying on items and records that were left from the "old world" to develop their technologies which is why some things look like an almost pastiche of what we know from our civilisation.
Anyway, moving on, I think Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth were perfectly cast in their roles. Lucy Gray is a character you can kind of root for but she isn't entirely innocent, and the young Snow is almost likeable and you feel sympathy for him at certain points in the movie, even though we all know what he will eventually become. The musical parts with Lucy Gray singing, in some ways almost made parts of the movie feel like a musical, but actually I found it really worked, though I am aware many others hated those parts.
Supporting roles were well defined, and I enjoyed the nod to the original Hunger Games movies with characters like Lucky Flickerman who clearly must me an ancestor of Caesar Flickerman. In fact perhaps he is the one the high chair is for that Lucky mentions on the phone at one point in this film!
The actual Games we see in this movie are a much less slick and polished version of what we have come to know. They've only been running for 10 years, and with the Capitol rebuilding still after the Dark Days there are none of the huge and realistic arenas, themed on certain environments and climates etc. They're literally thrown into what looks like an old sports arena and have to make do with what is there. The violence is much more perhaps primative because there isn't the technology or quite as much manipulation from gamesmakers as we're used to.
At nearly 3 hours this film does feel over long, but the story is interesting, its visually very striking and the soundtrack is great. Overall I really enjoyed it, though I can understand the mixed reactions of others because it isn't quite like the original movie series. I'd love to see a sequel to this prequal, though we would have to wait for another book first.