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Willybilly723
Reviews
Mr. Stink (2012)
What the hell was the story? Girl lets tramp live in the shed, meets the prime minister, then buggers off.. A waste of my license fee
Was really looking forward to this as a Christmas treat for my daughter and was left utterly baffled as to who on earth wrote the script to this.
It really was terrible and I think my 7 year old daughter only laughed about twice.
I like this summary from a digital spy user, "A totally lightweight piece of utter kids dross - what the hell was the story? Girl lets tramp live in the shed, meets the prime minister, then buggers off.." The main actors are all very good in themselves - just let down by an unfunny and incredibly weak script. The most repetitive "joke" was that the mother, Sheridan Smith, pronounced their surname Crumb - as Croom!! PLEASE - a blatant rip off from Keeping up Appearances and Hyacinth Bucket but just unfunny and I am sure most young kids wouldn't be sure how to spell Crumb or even understand why that was meant to be "funny".
My 7 year old certainly didn't understand it. It was way too political which she also didn't understand and I found completely unnecessary.
The dog is Pudsey that won Britain's Got Talent however Mr Stink apparently slept under piles of leaves and used poo as earplugs - but somehow had a pedigree dog that was groomed to within an inch of it's life!! Ridiculous.
Another recurring "joke" was that an Asian owned a newsagent and tried selling rubbish at inflated prices. At best an outdated and offensive stereotype, at worst borderline racist!! Also it was blatant to see that this was filmed in the summer - as in certain shots deciduous trees were in full bloom and then the next day the whole street was an idiots idea of a perfect White Christmas! I give Hugh Bonneville and Johnny Vegas a point each and Chloe and Sheridan Smith half a point each for their performances.
No where near Roald Dahl adaptations so I can only infer that the book is utter dross to.
One to definitely avoid - incredibly poor!!
This Is England '88 (2011)
Not as good as the critics say
This is England '88 is the follow up to TIE '86 unsurprisingly and all of the drama that left us with. This included Lol splitting up with Woody, sleeping with his best friend Milky and getting impregnated by him and also gave us background into the abuse that she had suffered at the hands of her father.
She ended up killing her abusive father and Combo took the rap for it which resulted in him getting sent to prison for manslaughter.
Obviously this is meant to be set 2 years down the line. The first problem is that this just isn't portrayed. None of the characters really look like they are even living in the 80s and the late 80's at that. The main characters, Lol and Woody still dress like mods in the Northern Soul era. Combo and Shaun still dress like skinheads and the people that do seem to have moved with the times are hardly in it! There is also a MAJOR continuity error which I find very sloppy that it was left in. This occurs when Woody bumps into the old gang with his girlfriend and complains that he hasn't seen them all for "2 months"! Remember this is set 2 YEARS down the line. Lol has already had Milky's baby and is roughly 18 months old when we see them.
The actor who plays Milky actually tweeted just after the show aired and said that all of that dialogue and the fight was completely unscripted and improvised and shot in one continuous take.
It was an impressive piece of acting and drama. But why on earth would Woody get so moody if he had only not seen them all for 2 months? It is very obvious that he hadn't seen Milky for a long time, basically since he fell out with him in '86 which was 2 YEARS ago! This was a mistake by Joe Gilgun because the whole scene was improvised. However the director should have edited the dialogue before showing the film.
I am amazed that very few people picked up on this and the only reason I worked it out is because the actor who plays Milky tweeted that it was one continuous take.
There are prolonged scenes and an unnecessary voice over from a Catholic Nurse who Lol has confided in whilst we watch whether she has actually succeeded in suicide.
It is so drawn out but ultimately ends up being unrealistic because she has her stomach pumped and an hour or two later is well enough to go and have a cigarette.
The bottom line is that none of the characters are really likable, there is very little comic relief and it revolves way to much around 1 character only really - LOL.
It is too ambitious to even call this, "This is England" whatever year.
I give it a 6 but that is only really based on Joe Gilgun's performance which really is excellent acting and for the fact that the fight scene was shot in one take and completely improvised.
The story is incredibly bleak. Not in itself a bad thing. It just seemed to have no real merit and was all a bit repetitive and tedious.
More points have to be taken off for actually misleading the viewer into thinking that Woody had only not seen them all for 2 months instead of YEARS.
I'd watch it if you have seen the earlier film and series.
If you haven't then you won't know what the hell is going on and it definitely doesn't stand up as a one off drama without knowledge of the background.
I will never watch this again. Apparently another series TIE '90 has been commissioned. Unless it becomes a bit more relevant and the people actually do move with the times and embrace the music, fashion, haircuts, culture and mentality of 1990 then I won't be watching.
The Shadow Line (2011)
Best British drama since Between The Lines "may contain spoilers"
I cannot remember a British drama that has affected me as much as this since the first series of Between The Lines.
The acting, direction, editing and sound are brilliant. The script is nearly as good as all of them.
This seems to be continually compared to The Wire in the British press. Yes, it is about cops and criminals and the line - the Shadow Line - between them. That is about as far as the comparisons can be taken.
Personally I found The Wire too drawn out and I think the overhype of it is absurd. It's good but no way "the best TV show ever made" as many people like to label it.
The Shadow Line starts of at a crime scene. A bigwig drug dealer - Harvey Wratten has been found in the back of his car with a bullet in the head and two in his body. We are then introduced to a series of characters, dodgy coppers, his criminal assosciates, his psychopathic nephew.
However it is not until episode 2 where we meet one of the scariest characters ever portrayed on film. Gatehouse.
As it said on the press release - there is a puppet master lurking in the shadows pulling the strings. Stephen Rea making his best performance since The Crying Game.
Some people on forums think that he is a spook whilst others have, ridiculously said that he is supernatural! Get a grip, please. He is a rival gangster or hit-man for a rival gangster.
My money is on the Turk.
Rafe Spalls psycho gets a lot of criticsm. I think he plays the part very well. The only thing that made him unconvincing was the ludicrous way he runs!! I also find the whole Alzheimers story intensely irritating. It seems to have been forced in there because it is the latest "fashionable" ailment. It doesn't work IMO.
Having said that this is the best British drama for at least a decade.
Shutter Island (2010)
A disturbing movie in the same vein as The Machinist
This film was nothing like what I expected. I am still unsure whether I liked it or not. I did find it fairly disturbing and I can say that I have not been as genuinely disturbed by a film since The Machinist which nearly made me physically sick and messed me up for days - and I am a fan of horrors like Saw! I think De Caprio is a very talented actor. However the fact that he looks about 17 just makes it unbelievable when he is playing a role where he is supposed to have some kind of authority. It doesn't work for me. An example is where he has his top off next to his partner. Leo has the smooth body of a child he also has crappy tattoos that I just don't feel a US Marshall would have had in 1954! I also find Ben Kingsley to be a very one dimensional actor. Psycho one or psycho 2. He is good in this but I find it impossible to get the image of him as Don Logan in Sexy Beast out of my head. He seems to be the "dial a nutter"! We need a phsychopatic actor - phone SIR Ben and see if he is available. I find it hard to take him seriously.
Michelle Williams acts well in this and I found it quite poignant seeing what has happened in her personal life. There is just something too plain about her that i feel she has blagged her way into Hollywood and is not really a star.
The stand out performance for me was Mark Ruffalo. I have never seen his work before and he stole the show for me. I kept thinking it was Billy Zane and had to keep reminding myself that he is bald! The "twist" becomes so obvious that I was waiting for another one. Is that it I was thinking? Yes, the score was haunting but at times I felt it was too much.
I think Marty needs to get back to his gangster roots and make a modern day gangster flick using less obvious A list stars and sourcing his actors from some of the amazing TV shows like The Shield, The Sopranos and OZ.
Mark Ruffalo would make a perfect leading actor as he has that ambiguous "foreign" look about him.
All in all a disturbing, dark film that hits wide off the mark in my opinion.
44 Inch Chest (2009)
THE WORST British film I have EVER seen, crying shame with this calibre of actors!
I saw this on release from Blockbuster and as it had a stellar British cast - Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson and Ian Mcshane - I thought it would be brilliant. Surely they don't sign up to any old rubbish, do they? Well the answer would be yes, it seems they do! This is by an far the worst British film I have ever seen and I have seen Sex Lives of the Potato Men! It watches more like a play, and one written by a foul mouthed teenage brat, and I kept with it thinking I may see some stand out performance or something to make me like the film. There was nothing. The story was dull the characters all utterly repulsive and even the filming, editing and production and camera work appeared as if it was done by a badly failing GCSE student.
I am amazed that firstly this film ever got made and secondly the huge names in the acting world even signed up to this garbage. I cannot comprehend why they would do that.
This isn't one of those utterly sick and thought provoking films that will become a cult classic. It is just sick, dull utter rubbish that should never have even been filmed.
I seriously wonder if someones son, whose father was a big cheese, persuaded these great actors to take part in this. It seems like a vanity project for someone - not the actors. The actors that I mentioned earlier are all great actors but taking part in this rubbish takes a massive club hammer to the head of their credibility.
Stephen Dillane and Joanne Whalley - especially Stephen - not a worse actor you will see. He is an abhorrent joke and Whalley portraying a "sexy housewife" made me wonder if I was missing the irony.
Waste the time this film takes to view out of your life if you want. My advice is don't bother.
The only redeeming acting is it was Mcshane and Berkoff who played their parts perfectly. Two characters who if the rest had been bombed and the script was written by anyone with a modicum of intelligence could have made a half decent film.
Even then Mcshane got a load of completely redundant rubbish to spout, and to his credit he did look pretty embarrassed.
Utter garbage. The screenwriters should go tell daddy their film is a joke and go and work somewhere else. Maybe in a fast food joint where they can swear their immature little heads off.
Bug (2006)
Man goes insane after watching this!!
A man in London killed his child after watching this movie. He was a high flying executive with a wife and 2 year old daughter. After watching this movie he thought that either he or his daughter had become possessed. He went to trial and was acquitted of murder due to insanity. Probably there were other factors involved but this movie was cited as to the start of his breakdown. Here is a quote from a newspaper, "A millionaire City executive and "totally devoted father" killed his two-year-old daughter by smashing her head against the floor because he believed she had been taken over by a "malign and satanic entity". Not the first of Friedkins films to be cited as having a malignant power.
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Utter bile
This film really is terrible. Apart from an ensemble cast of highly paid A list superstars, this film has no story, no point, is pretentious beyond belief and has only one thing to keep you watching - the Zeta Jones who has never looked more radiant. I urge you not to see this movie because it really is a waste of a couple of hours and I will definitely not be watching the third movie in this series. The first was mediocre this one is simply a turkey. I find it hard to name a movie with so many A list actors that fails so terrible. Utter rubbish!!! It proves that even A list actors who could be selective in choosing their roles more carefully are simply greedy cash whores. By having so many big name stars it's true that there is always going to be some eye candy but there is nothing to distinguish them as they are all vying for attention. The wage budget must of been huge for this film but simply because you have a load of big names does not mean that the film will be good, especially with such a confusing and convoluted script. Julia Roberts playing herself, wow that's original. Utter rubbish and they should all have hung their heads in shame and given away their fee - Not just bad - AWFUL!!!!