Tony-166 Reviews

Electric Dreams (1984)

Nowhere near as bad as people made out.

[7/10 · 14 November 2009]

I went to see this film on at the time of it's original theatrical release in the UK. I quite enjoyed it - It was light and fluffy and the story and music was nicely uplifting. And they showed the video that was issued to promote the Moroder/Oakey title song.

Then I saw the reviews. It was being received as one the worst films ever made. Every film critic in the business seemed to jump on the bandwagon shouting "Me too ! Me too! - This film was crap".

Well I have seen a lot of turkeys in my time and this wasn't one of them. I recently watched it again and found that it was cute, and a nice reminder of what the 80's was like for some.

Saxondale (2006–2007)

A piece of comic genius

[10/10 · 28 September 2009]

Maybe you have to be a similar age to Tommy Saxondale to really appreciate a lot of the humour. Well, I am and Steve Coogan has created one of the most unique comic creations ever seen on TV.

Look out for the subtle use of tics and mannerisms that make Saxodale such a watchable character. And fantastic support from all.

Rasmus H. is just right as Tommy's assistant, basically playing the same character he portrays in "Lead Balloon". Ruth Jones is dead sexy and Morwenna Banks is a treasure.

This is a multi-dimensional comedy. Always varied and not just playing on the idea of an ageing "hippy" out of place in the modern world. Poor old Tommys' encounters with some squatters was pure comic brilliance.

I love it.

Thirty-Minute Theatre: Is That Your Body, Boy? (1970) Season 5, Episode 27

39 years on - I still remember this

[10 March 2009]

Just a slight correction. This certainly wasn't a comedy :-) I remember it so well because I had to suffer under a number of sadistic masters at the school I then attended. In this play the Carstairs character gradually softens and there is some nice dialogue between the boy in detention and the master. Probably only exists now in the BFI archive. In which case there it will stay, obsessively guarded by some strange people who see their job as keeping the only copies "safe" but without ever letting anyone see it. I utterly despair at the attitude of the BFI.

Ho Hum.

Press for Time (1966)

Posting comments

[17 January 2008]

To clarify matters a bit. It is only these comments entries on IMDb that have to be a minimum of ten lines. If you add some info on the other topics, such as goofs, it is handled in a different way.

This is my favourite Norman Wisdom film, simply because of the location shoots. And I really like the music too ! Well, I am getting a bit old now. Watched a TV programme last night about the man himself and sadly he is showing the signs of his great age. But he has the most wonderful family and is now happy being looked after in a carehome on his beloved Isle of Man.

Now I got to waffle a bit to make up the entry to enough lines.

Blah Blah Blah

Arthur's Dyke (2001)

A sad waste of British acting talent

[1/10 · 29 May 2007]

Caught this late last night on UK BBC 1 - Wish I hadn't.

What could have been a pretty good film was badly let down by one of the worst scripts I have ever seen in British film of this type.

Stereotypical characters of the very worst type.

90% of this film was rendered unwatchable by dialogue that comes across as written by a 13 year old.

EG - Lets have a gay hotel owner. Make him camp it up like John Inman on crystal meth. Then give him some dialogue that would have been kicked out of the worst "Carry On". "Fricasee", yeah what a hoot.

A great shame.

Play for Today: Edna The Inebriate Woman (1971) Season 2, Episode 2

Realistic and moving

[9/10 · 7 August 2005]

Although nowhere near as influential as "Cathy Come Home" this play nevertheless perfectly portrays the sad and tragic life awaiting anyone unlucky enough to fall from life's terrible roller-coaster ride.

A story simply told with lots that is still very relevant over 30 years later.

Patricia Hayes is quite simply masterful in the role of Edna. Intensely moving. Certainly deserves to be more widely shown. Another example of quality TV material that just languishes in some vault somewhere. The film companies are finally realising the market that exists for even very obscure material. Why can't the TV companies do the same?

Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004)

Criminal waste of comic talent

[2/10 · 6 June 2005]

The idea probably looked quite funny on paper, but sadly this film fails to deliver any real laughs at all. What is the point of having all those comedy giants in the movie, but not actually giving them anything particularly funny to say or do. You can see that this could have been so much better. The director, Peter Richardson, has touched on this theme before in the genuinely funny, "Strike!". That film spoofed how Hollywood might just treat a big screen adaptation of the 1984 UK miners strike. It is spot on. But this is just so wide of the mark. I give credit to the cast, who seemed to be doing their best with a pretty mediocre script. Christian Slater at least gave his part his best shot, and he did have some of the better dialogue. It just seems that there wasn't enough to go round. A tragedy.

Sir Norbert Smith, a Life (1989 TV Movie)

When Harry Enfield was funny

[8/10 · 22 May 2005]

Thinking back to this now, it is hard to believe that Harry Enfield would go onto produce such low grade trash. This spoof documentary is an absolute piece of comic genius. Packed with loads of truly clever subtle jokes about the nature of the film, television and theatre world. Sir Norbert is a composite of a number of well known giants of the thespian world. They have lovingly spoofed some of the greatest films from a range of different film genres. If you are British you will have great fun working out just who and what the writers are referencing. Everything is done to perfection. The look and feel of each "film" is spot on. The best has to be the early 60's working-class-life film, "It's Grim Up North". Quote, "I'm going out to fly me whippets". I used to have this on tape too, but it's long gone and as far as I know has never been repeated. A great shame.

Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

Pretty good - Great atmosphere

[25 April 2005]

Thanks to a memorable musical score and some brilliant location shooting, this is a pretty top-class spy movie.

It is also one of those rare occasions where the script writers have improved on the original novel. Well, in my humble opinion at least.

The book has a very much more mundane conclusion. General Midwinter does not make any attempt to attack the USSR, he is simply regarded as a bit of a crank by the US intelligence agencies and was closely monitored. It is easy to see why they needed some kind of climactic ending for the film. And what they chose was excellent. Quite clever.

I also think that the Michael Caine on-screen Harry Palmer is a more believable character than the Palmer of the novels. Again, IMHO !

Satan's Triangle (1975 TV Movie)

A low-budget, but genuinely creepy TV gem

[9/10 · 21 March 2005]

I remember seeing this way back on TV in the UK at the time of it's release. It was just put out late at night as a filler. Like many others I found it quite eerie with a very unexpected twist at the end. I never forgot it but I could never remember what it was called. All I knew was that the great Doug Mclure was in it. So, thanks to the wonderful IMDb I now know what it was !

It always amazes me just how much really excellent film and TV remains almost impossible to get, whilst at the same time, we are sinking under the weight of dross DVDs. A friend in the industry informed me that a great part of the problem is the legal maze surrounding the issue of copyright ownership. He says the big bucks are being made by the legal firms specialising in that area. Quite often though there is no way of establishing "moral" ownership of a work when the writers and artists may all be deceased and the companies that financed it have also gone to the great studio in the sky. Films such as "Satan's Triangle" were made for a couple TV transmissions and that was it. In the UK it was usual to wipe video tape for re-use. This was originally done for financial reasons as the tape was very expensive, but the practise continued far too long. There can be no excuse though, for the loss of classic film and TV that existed on true celluloid.

Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111 (2000 TV Movie)

Excellent, haunting drama. A rare gem of a TV movie

[8/10 · 22 February 2005]

This film just had an airing on UK television. I have to say just how unexpectedly good it was. A complete surprise. You rarely get performances as good as this in TV films of this nature. I suppose the fact that it was a Canadian production was a factor. It portrays ordinary people going through some traumatic times, and it does so with an immense amount of tact and feeling. It is heart-wrenching at points which isn't surprising considering the subject matter, but it is well worth keeping a look out for. Gently, and profoundly moving, with excellent location shooting and an apt musical score. Wish I had taped it. These sort of productions never seem to have any kind of review prior to transmission so there is never any way to know whether or not it is likely to be any good.

The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon (1997 TV Movie)

Badly received at the time but one of Coogan's best

[12 December 2004]

Recently watched this again, (two "episodes"), and I just can't fathom why it was poorly received. What it sends up, it sends up to absolute perfection. Maybe a lot of the humour was too subtle for some. Anyone who grew up watching cheesy Saturday night TV entertainment will revel in the sheer perfection of the presentation. The songs are funny and at the same time you end up whistling the tunes for long after ! Deserves another showing, 'cause, as another poster commented, Coogan managed to produce a whole series which didn't contain much to bring a smile to one's face. I refer, of course to, "Dr. Terrible's House of Horribles ". IMHO Steve C. should stick to what he does best. His sojourns into the film world are OK, but the half hour comedy short, just seems to suit him. Alan Partridge may have run it's course, but I bet Coogan's got another set of "Coogan's Run" in him somewhere. I always expected him to give Gareth Cheeseman another go. "Dearth of A Salesman", just has to be one of the top 10 funniest and smartest Brit comedies ever brought to TV.

The Ghoul (1933)

UK DVD

[15 November 2004]

I recently found this film for sale in the UK on a budget DVD collection with two other horror classics. They must have found a near perfect original print because the whole film is near flawless, in terms of reproduction, that is ! Even has a colour MGM intro. The film is pretty standard stuff for the time, but it is worth watching to see good old Boris Karloff strut his stuff. UK fans of early and low budget horror should check out their local branch of "Poundland". This sort of stuff tends to end up in there, presumably because there isn't much of a profit for the bigger retailers in stocking these films. Still, three films on one DVD for a quid, get 'em while you can.

K-PAX (2001)

Certainly not a SciFi movie.

[3 October 2004]

Having just watched this film for the first time I can only say that I could not classify it as SF. OK, I admit that I haven't read the book but the film itself, although leaving lots of little pointers and red herrings, did tend to make me feel that the central character was just human. HOWEVER ! It was just so superbly crafted, acted and filmed that I did not care what genre it fell into. If "Sci-Fi" films were this good, I might count myself a SF fan.

It is a lovely film - Whatever you can say about the Hollywood film "industry", this is what they do best. This last bit is to make up the required 10 lines for IMDb. Why do they do that ? Anyway, IMDb is the single best website on the net.

The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972)

I must have grown up

[4 August 2004]

I saw this at the flicks when it was first shown in the UK. I think I was about 16 - I recall thinking that it was totally hilarious, but seeing it recently on TV just made me squirm with embarrassment. I suppose seeing people "chunder" and hearing adults swear a bit must have seemed a bit special. Spike Milligan was funny as the landlord and Dennis Price was a good sport to send his "class" up. Dumb, devoid of any real intelligence and juvenile. That goes for me and the film ;-) I will now waffle a bit to fill up the required 10 lines of review. What happened to the Aussie film scene ? You guys threatened to take over the world at one point.

Late Call (1975– )

A genuinely haunting drama

[8/10 · 26 May 2004]

I saw this when it was shown on UK BBC2 back in 1975, and I believe it has never been repeated. It was television drama at it's very best, and I was not surprised to find that Dennis Potter had a hand in the dramatisation. This TV version of the book worked so well because it was put together by folk who understood both media. A musical score by Dudley Simpson was the icing on the cake.It was so good that the lovely Dandy Nicholls had a chance to show that she was an excellent actress. I don't know if it still exists in some form. I hope it has survived. I was quite young when this was first aired but I have never forgotten it. I would interested to see other user comments on this drama.

Sea of Souls (2004–2007)

About as good as TV drama gets

[27 March 2004]

This was a short series recently aired on UK BBC1. Three separate stories, each consisting of two , 1 hour episodes. Excellent casting and top flight acting from all concerned, particularly the ever-reliable Bill Paterson.

I won't spoil anything by giving any plot details, but suffice to say, each of the three tales are engrossing and thought-provoking, with an underlying theme of possible paranormal events. Don't be put off by that though, because the intelligent scripts leave many ideas open, and lots of questions unanswered.

Well, I seem to have used up all my cliches ! All I can say is, if you get a chance to see these episodes, don't miss it. Short, yes, but as sweet as they come.

WarGames (1983)

Still a pretty good film

[14 February 2004]

OK, so the main guy can type faster than he can talk AND never make an error, but this is still a very engaging film.

And take it from me, early hacking was just as easy as it is portrayed.

Well, it looks easy now but back then even a modem was at the cutting edge of computer technology.

Happy days :-)

I will now retire to bed with my old copies of "Byte" magazine, and I will play Dungeons and Dragons on my Apple II.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Ignore the negative postings - This film is a classic

[3 October 2001]

There is a lot of negativity towards this film - As indeed there is to virtually every film Speilberg has directed.

Forget about genre - Is it Sci-Fi, is it allegory, fable? etc. etc.

Put all pre-conceptions aside and go and see it on the big screen.

The genius of both Kubrick and Speilberg is up there in front of your eyes.

Personally, I felt privileged to have seen it.