andy-cippico Reviews

Double Dynamite (1951)

A frothy delight

[7/10 · 22 January 2024]

Don't expect anything too deep or meaningful. I came to the film with no expectations - probably the best way to be with any film.

It's a joyful comedic romp through 1950s America. I thought Sinatra acquitted himself very well, as did Russell and Marx. They all played into the somewhat thin plot as well as they could and I thoroughly enjoyed the result. It keeps a fast pace and doesn't let up. There are jokes aplenty, mostly from Marx (some of which still work today) when directed at the owner of the bank at which he tries to deposit a sum of money. There are three musical interludes, and whilst not being a fan of musicals per se, I found charming and appropriate for the scene.

I came away smiling and happy, but nostalgic for a film era when agendas and quotas weren't shoehorned into them. Look no further than this film.

Reggie Perrin (2009–2010)

Dark, existential angst, wrapped up in comedy

[8/10 · 19 December 2023]

Although I'm plenty old enough to have seen the original series' broadcasts, I never saw any. So, I come to this series with no preconceptions.

Martin Clunes is without doubt the standout actor in this series and I felt an increasing empathy with his character as the story unfolded. I really enjoyed his dark sarcasm and flippant attitude towards the world, all whilst trying to hold down a high power job and being oblivious of a failing marriage.

How many of us turn up at an office job wishing they could be farming penguins instead; poor but happy.

The last scene had me in tears, being a bit close to home for me, and was disappointed that this was the last ever episode.

All in all, a hugely enjoyable comedy with plenty of poignant life stories threaded through it.

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (1965)

Not as funny as I remember

[4/10 · 25 April 2023]

Ok, I was 6 when this came out and I haven't seen it since. Of course, it was immensely funny at the time, but having seen it recently, I was inevitably disappointed.

The film is woeful in character development, thin on script, thin on plot, and peppered with dreadful slapstick, not to mention the occasional bawdy 'Carry On' moments.

Unlike others, I didn't struggle with the international stereotypes, but with the lack of a cohesive and fluent script. Themes and scenes were barely fleshed out, and left me feeling that I could have stopped watching at any point without missing anything or caring what happened at the end.

Sadly it was only interesting to me as a period piece of the mid 60s.

Raised by Wolves (2020–2022)

I tried to like it, honestly I did

[4/10 · 15 April 2023]

A stylish sci-fi with an inexplicable plot and without a single character I cared about. Admittedly, I gave up after 3 episodes as I was regularly falling asleep during each one. This told me it was never going to get much better.

None of the characters had a single redeeming quality and mainly had habits that were restricted to either glaring or shouting at each other. Did I mention the gratuitous gore? Well, there's plenty of that. There seems to be some sort of religious theme that runs through the plot but neither the believers or atheists were any better than each other. I advise you to give it a miss.

The Time Tunnel: Chase Through Time (1967) Season 1, Episode 24

One of the best episodes

[9/10 · 4 January 2020]

Sure, it's a plot that never quite hangs together coherently, what with the incompetent and unpredictable abilities of Ann, Ray and the Time Tunnel itself, but it concentrates more on the time travel theme than most episodes. People (sometimes 5!) are switched in time over millions of years whilst the plot hangs on to the continuing real-time threat of end of TicToc. Great stuff.

The Great Hack (2019)

Confused

[4/10 · 31 July 2019]

I'm staggered that this documentary seeks to expose the fact that our social media data is sold on and used for all sorts of purposes that we can only imagine. Surely you have to be stupid not to realize this, or am I assuming too much? That this data should be used to target and sway uninformed individuals for political purposes seems absolutely obvious to me. All the documentary had left was to expose the players with little or no moral compass, and in some cases describe them as victims, thus simply reducing it to a human interest story. This was not the exposé I was hoping for.

Lucky Them (2013)

Mystified as to why this scores so highly

[5/10 · 29 November 2017]

I watched this on the basis of the good reviews here and elsewhere. Unfortunately I never got into it. None of the characters were particularly likable, apart from perhaps Thomas Haden Church's character. Toni Collette's character seems to have no hesitation in sleeping with most men she either interviews or meets. It just didn't seem real - or does this sort of thing really go on? When things get tough for her she ends up smiling inanely, as if she now doesn't care.

I'm a big fan of slow-moving films, as long as the story is good and the acting is strong. I struggled with this one, as both of these factors were missing for me. I didn't care about any particular character and I just didn't care if she found the missing musician or not. Don't get me wrong: the acting wasn't bad, especially when she finally meets the missing musician, but despite the surprise factor (I won't spoil it) it all falls a bit flat for me.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)

What a shame

[3/10 · 2 June 2009]

Is it just me, or are UK 12-rated films pushing the boundaries and invading the territory once occupied by 15s and 18s? I ask this because I don't think I've ever seen a 12-rated film that had so much smut, innuendo, vulgarity and obscenity in it. It's a shame, because a lot of it was quite funny. In my opinion, Adam Sandler came across as a bit of a Borat-wannabe, just not as good. Maybe he wasn't actually aiming at that, but you couldn't help see the similarities. Apart from that, there was a lot of preachy stuff about racial harmony between Jews and Arabs. Some of it was based simply around the mutual appreciation of women's bodies - not what I'd expect a Muslim to do (or is that just me?). Good idea, sketchy execution.

Yes Man (2008)

Great uplifting idea spoilt by completely unnecessary crudeness

[3/10 · 13 May 2009]

It's a real shame. The premise of this film is about a man who turns his life around for the better. Now normally this can only be a good thing, and Jim Carey does a fine job of portraying the loner and nay-sayer that makes the journey to the eponymous 'Yes Man'. But, and it's a big but, along the way the plot is spoilt by unnecessary crudeness. For example, there is one barely disguised oral sex scene, comments about masturbation and liberally-peppered crude language. Now, I'd have less of a problem watching this film if it had a higher age rating. At least I'd know what to expect, but even my 13-year old boy was looking distinctly uncomfortable throughout. As I said, there really was no need for the crudeness. The story could have stood up completely on its own merits without this tawdry nonsense. A shame, because the rest of it was very good. This family gives it 3/10.

The Time Machine (1960)

It fired the imagination of a 10 year old boy for a lifetime

[10/10 · 3 July 2006]

OK, so some people are intent on pointing out factual or historical inaccuracies. Some people ridicule the costumes and accents, but what's important is the spirit of the film. I sincerely doubt anyone made the same kind of comments back in 1960. It was a seminal film and must have inspired a generation of film makers. You don't need CGI to make a good film. It's all about the story and the ingenuity of having to make do with the things you've got to hand. This film exemplifies that attitude.

I first saw The Time Machine as a 10 year old in 1970 and was utterly captivated. The stop-motion photography was spell-binding to me; particularly when George kills one of the attacking Morlocks. The gory footage of the body decomposing will abide with me forever. More importantly, and for the first time in my life, I was completely swept away with the concept of time travel. This film was unlike anything I had ever seen before and sowed seeds of profound thought for many years after.

This film may not be for everyone, but it was for a certain 10 year-old boy all those years ago. How I wish I could go back and recapture those moments...