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nik_desborough
Reviews
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018)
Nope, not for me
I'm giving 2 stars only for Alice Cooper and Ben Daniels.
All too boy band-y and feeble for me. Considering the significance of the character he was playing John Legend was lacking in charisma and vocal range for me. 'Gethsemene', one of the biggest numbers was more a teenage temper tantrum than someone begging the Almighty/Dad for a reprieve. There was none of the anger in Brandon Victor Dixon's Judas. Both kept running out of breath.
I really wanted to enjoy it, I really did, but when the two main roles are so poorly played it ruins the whole production.
If you want to see Judas played right, look out Tim Minchin on YouTube or watch the original film of the production.
Thank goodness for Herod and Pilate!
Beauty and the Beast (1987)
Beautiful, Romantic, Glorious
I adore this series! A fantastic story told by a fantastic cast. Ron Perlman's Vincent is a gentle, intelligent soul who has to hide from the world but has learned much about humanity through literature and the support of those around him. He falls in love with Catherine Chandler, a young woman he rescues and cares for until she returns to the world above. The growth of their romantic connection is a joy. I found it so inspiring that it has helped me through some very troubling times. Feel stressed and wrung out? Watch a few EPs of this series and you'll feel better.
Death on the Nile (2022)
Very disappointing, muddled and messy
I so hoped to enjoy this film and although it is a spectacle in visual terms it completely messed about with the story and characters. Why does every iconic character need a blasted back story? It added nothing more than a dismal 20 minutes to the running length. It lacked any of the charm of other versions of the tale and I hated the way they altered so many of the characters, the Audobons in particular and Mrs Van Schuyler were played well but but they bore no relationship to the characters in Christie's book. They amalgamated so many of the original characters and it really does not work. To my mind, the Ustinov version and the Suchet TV version were far superior. Watch them instead.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (2016)
Very disappointing
I am a huge fan of the original film which may have given the remake an impossible task. It was great to see Tim Curry which unfortunately only reminded me how great he was and how disappointing the new cast was.
I'd never seen Laverne Cox in anything else and on the strength of this I won't be in any huge rush to see anything of her in the future - for my taste every line seemed undersold with none of the impish naughtiness I've come to associate with Frank.
I just didn't feel there was any of the 'likeability' the original cast managed with such apparently unlikable characters.
I wasn't sure initially that I was going to watch the new film because I couldn't see how a new cast had anything to say that hadn't been brought out in the original but decided it was only fair to give it a look see but now I really wish I hadn't. A missed opportunity in my book.
Tut (2015)
Hated it - such a disappointment
Terrible script, irritating performances, historically goodness knows where and a huge disappointment. I felt this was a huge missed opportunity. It looked fabulous and I was expecting much but it when it went straight from the death of Akhenaten and a 9 year old future Pharoah to an eighteen [?] year old lad I started to lose interest. One of the things I would have been interested to see what the conflict that occurred when the boy king returned his country to the worship of the multitude of ancient gods rather than the Aten which his father had believed in. Just missed it out entirely and went to a lot of nonsense about miscarriages and such like. Ben Kingsley was fabulous as always but I hated pretty much everything else about this drama.
Faerie Tale Theatre (1982)
Love these old films
I used to love watching these when they were screened during an afternoon. Really proper classic fairy tales, not messed about with or overly 'Disneyfied'.
I loved particularly Beauty and the Beast with Klaus Kinski as the Beast and Susan Sarandon as Beauty even though it was virtually a direct lift from my all time favourite Beauty and the Beast movie, La Belle et La Bete, a Jean Cocteau classic from the 1940s. I have only just realised that these are available on DVD and have just treated myself to volume 1 - Rumplestiltskin and Rapunzel. They were delivered with humour and class by the most amazing stable of actors.
Looking forward to a nostalgic wallow.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
High expectations not met
I really didn't like this film version of the stage musical. I was completely disappointed with Gerard Butler as Erik. I always expected that, like Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera should have some charisma to make us understand why Christine is so drawn to him but I really felt Gerard Butler was a charisma free zone in this film. I've seen it a couple of times, hoping my initial view was wrong but I still can't warm to it as I would have expected. I went to see it in the cinema when it first came out and was fully prepared to enjoy it so the level of disappointment was massive. Having seen the West End version I really had high hopes but even the Masquerade scene was rather soggy with even the Red Death costume worn by Erik looking dismal.
Hellboy (2004)
A great, fun film
Being a huge fan of Ron Perlman, I was expecting to enjoy this film although I'd heard little of the character Hellboy. For me, the film didn't strike a bum note anywhere although perhaps a little more development or use of some of the other characters might have been interesting. I know a 2nd film is in the pipeline so perhaps we'll see that in Hellboy 2.
I loved the character of Hellboy himself. Don't you just know if you had that kind of ability you would probably be much the same yourselves? I enjoyed the romantic element too with the character of Liz.
All in all, if you are looking for a weighty, make you think kind of movie, this won't be for you. If you are looking for a film that makes you laugh and eat too much popcorn while cheering on the good guys, then sit back and enjoy