Change Your Image
stuart-johnson-723-47355
Reviews
Moon (2009)
How did I miss this movie?
I've gotten a sci-fi bug recently and started re-watching older science fiction movies that I enjoyed when I was younger. The most recent of these is Silent Running, the Douglas Trumball classic that contains everything I love about futuristic space movies albeit with a rather creepy but excellent Bruce Dern. My problems with Silent Running are only about the things that date it. The Joan Baez soundtrack, the rather basic and obvious models. Even Huey, Duey etc don't really stand the test of time. This then brought me to Moon, in the hope I would find something fresh. I read a little before watching and was sceptical about what was possible on a £5 Million budget but I persevered and actually knew very little about the story. It's one of those films that definitely works better the less you know about it. Sam Rockwell is superb throughout and the space station set design is fantastic. I loved the story although I did have some questions about the reasons why the corporation did the things that make the movie, but that didn't over shadow a great story and a very well directed piece. Basically, if you loved Silent Running, I guarantee you will love this. Also after watching, google Gavin Rothery Moon design. His blog gives incredible insight to the making of the movie, worth a visit.
One Night in Turin (2010)
Brings It All Back
James Erskine brings it all back, the hooliganism, the state of English football and that fateful night in Turin. This documentary is a mixed bag of generally well written narrative spoken by Gary Oldman, real footage of games, unseen footage and English footballs bad name. This all works really well apart from the cut scenes of close up ball control and recreated gang scenes which are obviously and badly re-done somewhere in the arse end of Gateshead. It's a shame because it starts to annoy an detracts from the original footage which is more than enough to keep the viewer entertained. That aside it was a mostly enjoyable 98 minutes and the final game against West Germany was played out excellently. Nice little touches are added like subtitles showing what Bobby Robson said to Gazza to console him after the second yellow card, and there is loads of hotel behind the England camp scenes which make for interesting viewing. I was also quite surprised how gracious Lothar Matthäus was to Chris Waddle after that fateful miss which ultimately ended our world cup dream. A recommended watch for any England fan.
Love, Honour and Obey (2000)
Complete Waste Of Time
A stellar cast cannot save this horror show "mish-mash" of genres, that can never be sure what it wants to be. The comedy is crude, lazily written and totally unfunny, and the plot is a complete mess of meaningless "what shall we do next" storytelling, that goes nowhere. Jonny goes from courier to killer in a matter of frames, the violence is actually so bad that the punch and gun fire noises sound like they have been stolen from a 50's western. The words "small budget crap" sum up this tosh. I guess this would only appear on the CV of Miss Van Outen, the rest of them would surely be too embarrassed. Lock Stock this certainly isn't!