shell-26 Reviews

Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004)

wonderful

[10/10 · 26 January 2005]

Farscape was the best and most imaginative of sci fi series. The characters were just that ...characters. Not a cop who gets results through unorthodox interrogation techniques, not a group of American army personnel representing earth to a group of American-o-centric aliens but a group of incredible (meaning unbelievable) characters.

The colours, the shapes.....

John spends the entire series as a mentally ill person warped by his experiences and the brain surgery of Scorpius.

When he takes on a 7 foot lizard creature in a fist fight he ends up smashed and bruised on the far side of the room. When he falls in love she happens to be a soldier dedicated to his own extermination. Nobody gets his jokes and he honestly doesn't know the secrets the others are prepared to kill him for.

Farscape is about a hopeless quest. No Voyager style course plotted in to a computer. Earth is just a dream to be scrabbled after by a desperate loony. He keeps a grip on his own reality by quoting catchphrases from prime time TV and incidents from black and white films. Harvey, the computer program implanted by Scorpius is my favourite. What a wonderful complex character Scorpius is - there is no evil in Farscape, no black and white, only shades of Grey.

I would quite happily have accepted John waking up and believing it was all a dream following some tremendous astronaut accident.

Farscape the mini series is a wonderful finale to the best sci fi series ever conceived.

Shaft (1971)

He's a complicated man...

[9/10 · 5 March 2000]

"Real dude jus' been in here askin' 'bout you Shaft. $50 shoes, funky plaid coat and grey flares...."

Wearing enough leather to re-upholster a rodeo Shaft is an icon of 70's cool. Recently the subject of comedy and satire he stands out from the other blaxploitation characters because he is a well written character who is more than just a black face. Credit for this has to go to the actor Richard Roundtree who is a massive presence on the screen capable of clinical violence and sensitive loving.

The main plot of Shaft is a war breaking out between black gangstas and the mafia. Shaft is a private detective with a good friend in the Police dept. Everybody needs him, the Police need his street knowledge, the gangstas need him on a dangerous job, his woman needs him for..... well he knows just what his woman needs.

Moses Gunn is a superb villain, it seems a strange parallel to make but Alan Rickman in Die Hard uses the same tricks on his opponent as Gunn does on Shaft. It would be nice to think that the cold teutonic Hans Gruber owed just a little to mean ol' m*ther Bumpy Jonas !

Well-directed, with a surprisingly measured pace and with a superb soundtrack Shaft is a good film by any measure. The Isaac Hayes songs and incidental music are second to none, every effect used in Shaft has become an archetype. The wah-guitars signifying quiet tension, the fast picking during the chase scenes, the vibes when his gives his woman good loving......

Starsky and Hutch owe everything to Shaft including Antony Fargas, who makes an appearance as a "pseudo Huggy Bear". The brilliant "Chef" from South Park and UK comedian Lenny Henry may send up the genre but Shaft is an original and the best.

Gentleman Jim (1942)

Knockout (...sorry)

[9/10 · 5 March 2000]

Gentleman Jim not really a boxing film. It is a vehicle for Errol Flynn as Jim Corbett. But having said that, the boxing scenes are a real eye-opener to the modern viewer. There are no 12 round, points decisions here.

Errol Flynn plays the Irish bank clerk who gets a shot at the heavyweight world title. Flynn is well suited to the role of suave but unpredictable Corbett. His opponent John Sullivan is still better however, a bruiser of the old school played by Ward Bond.

The theme of the film is a man pushing for his big chance. Corbett leaves his mundane life behind and builds a new persona as Gentleman Jim. Jim is a chancer who can adapt to any social environment. He is a liar and an egotist. Sullivan the heavyweight boxing champion is portrayed as a simple brute but his honesty and sportsmanship gives a certain contrast to the main character.

There is action and excitement aplenty and a wonderful ending with the requisite redemption for all. And Errol Flynn gets the girl.

Edison, the Man (1940)

Inventive

[6/10 · 5 March 2000]

I like the fact that Edison was nominated for the Oscar for best Original Story. How many biopics can claim that honour ?

Spencer Tracy is excellent as the dynamic American inventor. Although he was a 40 year old playing a 25 year old he produced sufficient energy to overcome the obstacle of years. This is a fine piece of acting and is well supported by the bit-parts and by the director who clearly enjoys telling the story of Edison's finest achievements, the invention of the light bulb and of the recording device.

The main problem with the film is its lack of balance. We don't hear enough about his theft of patents and his failure to give credit to his co-workers. Edison is a metaphor for America in the early twentieth century, exciting, inventive, thrusting, dynamic but also shallow and lacking in grace.

A Good Man in Africa (1994)

A good book in Africa

[6/10 · 1 March 2000]

William Boyd is a good writer and verges on greatness at times but this film seems to suffer from too much money and talent, but not enough effort.

The book is funny. The naive Englishman Mr. Leafy tries to navigate through African politics and colonial interests. There are some interesting sexual subplots and classic scenes of trousers down British farce but the film loses all the subtlety and parody.

Sean Connery appears. He has a supporting role which threatens to overbalance the film, he stops the plot in its tracks.

Write William Write ! If I catch you behind a camera again, I'll pull out the plug and sit you down behind a typewriter until you come up with something as great as The New Confessions.

Tunes of Glory (1960)

Double Oscar Winners

[8/10 · 1 March 2000]

Alec Guinness is superb as acting colonel Jock Sinclair. Drunken and boorish, a terrible administrator but a wartime hero. Rough and wild for once, he is cast against type, yet emerges triumphant in an acting master class.

The book is a slim volume, but is fast moving and full of character. Set in provincial Scotland, the flavour of the film is as strong as the novel (by James Kennaway who also wrote the screenplay) but the characterisation by the actors builds on and then surpasses the script. I note that neither of the actors is Scottish and this amazes me. Maybe I should seek advice from a Scot on this matter.

We never leave the barracks or the quiet army town and so learn only by rumour how Jock Sinclair, on some blasted field at the centre of El Alamein saved his regiment and turned the battle. Half the officers and men were dead, the cause lost, yet his spirit and the force of his will brought him a battlefield promotion to acting colonel. The Regiment is what he lives for.

Several years later, in peacetime, the army catches up with its paperwork and sends a proper officer to take back the reins. Basil Barrow arrives unexpectedly from a desk job and Sandhurst. His assignment is to organise and civilise the men, long gone wild under Jock's supervision. John Mills plays the rather impotent lonely Barrow as an accentless and educated man. There are "dark rumours" amongst the men that he may be English.

The clash between the two men commences immediately on their meeting and ends in scenes of mourning and redemption.

This is an actors film. There are few effects and much of the action is centred on one or the other of Guinness or Mills. Sinclair is a piper, this gives him an almost spiritual air and his feel for music (the Tunes of Glory) is the first area of contention between the two Colonels. When Jock leads his men in a wild and unruly reel with arms flailing and much shouting and yipping at a society ball the ensuing fit from the uptight and conservative Mills is wonderful. He trembles and shakes and we do likewise.

The film builds and builds to a finale full of Tunes of Glory and we come to an understanding about both men, as they come to understand each other.

Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

Hard to forget

[7/10 · 23 February 2000]

An all star cast act out the Magnificent Seven in Space (I doubt any of these lot have seen the Seven Samurai) and you can pick out your favourite hero-for-hire: "John-boy Walton", "Hannibal Smith", "Man from Uncle" or "Token Woman with Big Bosoms". This is a surprisingly pleasant experience. It won't change the way you view the world but it is a big slab of fun.

The graphics and the plot are sympathetic and interesting. The main body of the film is the hunt for mercenaries to defend the helpless agricultural planet. It builds to a good final battle and the redemption of the fallen heroes.

A note about the baddy, Sador, played by John Saxon. Like all the best villains he has an interesting twitch. Some wear a black hat (Jack Palance in Shane), some wear womens clothing (Anthony Perkins in Psycho), Sador goes just that bit further.

I watched this film about 18 years ago, but it has stayed with me. If I watched it again I could probably remember the dialogue. I certainly couldn't do that with the Seven Samurai!

The Corsican Brothers (1941)

Lancaster, UK

[7/10 · 23 February 2000]

Vendetta, the vicious tribal feuding which ravages the great families of Corsica. The Baron Calonne has ended the Franzi dynasty and made himself supreme.

Or so he thinks..... unbeknownst to him, infant twin sons of the noble line of Franzi did not perish in the inferno he visited on their family. One, was taken to Paris and raised as an aristocrat, the other lived in the Corsican woods as a bandit.

What might have been a predictable revenge saga is given an enterprising twist by the device of making the twins Siamese at birth. Surgically separated as their family is massacred and their home destroyed, they are parted and raised along different paths. Mario grows up to be a cultured and wealthy Parisian, Lucien however is raised in the Corsican woods by outlaws, and it is Lucien who retains a "sixth sense" link with his twin. He feels the pain of his brother and also the pleasure. When Mario fell in love with and fought a duel for a beautiful Countess, Lucien was present in spirit.

The paths of the brothers reconverge at their 21st birthday where they are reunited by the doctor who saved them and told of their destiny.......

Douglas Fairbanks Jr is excellent in the roles of Lucien and Mario. The special effects are limited to crude superimpositions and backprojections but he overcomes their lack of effect by the simple expedient of acting. Lucien is shorter, darker and cunning. Mario is tall, suave and clever. The countess who plays their love interest and who will eventually come between them is not so impressive. A soft focus stereotype in silly skirts simpering through the forest like an umbrella on legs.

The scene is completed by the villain, the evil Baron. What a character ! Short, greasy, and swarthy, complete with twirly moustache he is a worthy adversary for the heroic twins. If trains had been invented, the countess would surely have ended her days tied to some tracks.

The swordplay is frantic, buckles are swashed, the plot is satisfying and Fairbanks is a star twice over. If you can overlook the (awful) technical shortcomings and you like your heroes handsome but flawed and your baddies to twirl their moustaches and get their come-uppances, watch the Corsican Brothers.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987)

Sad and funny and bleak and positive

[8/10 · 21 February 2000]

This was an excellent low-budget film full of strong performances. Set in the North of England it follows two schoolgirls and a philandering husband on what appears to be a dirty and sleazy romp. But none of these people deserve their grim and loveless lives. None of them are "bad" and there are no victims. This is not so much a morality play as an immorality play. When Bob says that his wife doesn't understand him, he is right. The "seduction" scene in the back of his car is one of the best ever. With hindsight, it is impossible to tell who is being seduced.

Made for TV by FilmFour the camerawork reminds me of a soap opera. The scenes are largely drab and impoverished but Rita, Sue and Bob have fun ! When they are together the world seems a better place. The scene at the dance with the terrible 80's party band Black Lace is wonderful, they are having a such a great time and it is in such contrast to their grim reality.

The ending is wonderful.

Brewster's Millions (1985)

Ho Hum

[4/10 · 21 February 2000]

This is one of many "Brewster's Millions". It isn't as good as the 1940's version being too reliant on Richard Pryor in the lead role. I can't wait for the Robin Williams version (not).

In the 40's version Brewster has to spend a million dollars. In 80's it is 30 million which even considering inflation is a different proposition. This film is as much about Greed is Good as another from the 80's. Why any sane individual would prefer 300 million to 30 million is anybody's guess.... as if it makes a difference ! Why we should empathise with such a character is beyond me.

John Candy's presence lends a warmth and humanity which is otherwise lacking. Without him I would have given it less than the 4/10 it received.

Bullshot Crummond (1983)

Hurrah !

[9/10 · 21 February 2000]

Expert spoofing on the British comic book heroes of Victor, Warlord, The Eagle etc mixed with dashes of Biggles, Inspector Clouseau and (of course) Bulldog Drummond, produced Bullshot.

It is dashedly funny. With a cast of several, it follows the antics of Captain Bullshot Crummond, WWI fighter ace turned amateur sleuth. Explaining a joke ruins it and so I can't give too many details about the plot. All I can urge you to do is seek this film out.

You will never look at a banana and a pair of plums in quite the same way again.

Hurrah !

The Stratton Story (1949)

Some people just don't know when they are beat.

[8/10 · 21 February 2000]

Relax and enjoy this excellent story about a comeback against the odds.

Jimmy Stewart was made to play this small town ball-player who makes it to the big time only see his dreams. Apparently a true story and featuring several bona fide stars of baseball it is a good enough yarn, even for a Limey like me. Fans of Jimmy Stewart will just lap it up.

The Final Test (1953)

The only film ever made about a cricketer?

[10/10 · 20 February 2000]

The Final Test is probably unique in that it revolves around the final match in the career of an old cricketer. Jack Warner (of Dixon of Dock Green/The Blue Lamp fame) plays the cricketer who has had the misfortune to have fathered a poet.

His son wriggles out of watching his fathers final match in order to visit his own hero a poet played by the wonderful Robert Morley.

It is a charming light comedy which deals with the father/son relationship. Morley steals the show, as expected and the ending is suitable happy.

The real tragedy is that this is practically the only film to feature cricket when dozens have been made about baseball. Cricket contains all the metaphor and allegories that exist about life and the universe. In fact it is itself a branch of philosophy which can teach humankind the true path to enlightenment. It is not just an interesting way to hit a ball with a stick!

This film should have been the thin end of a very large and wonderful wedge. John Boormans "Hope and Glory" contains an excellent cricket scene. If anyone can suggest any other films with a cricketing theme I would be pleased to hear from you.

A Very British Coup (1988)

Alternative History

[10/10 · 19 February 2000]

"A Very British Coup" was a turning point in my life. Aged about 18 and having spent much of that time in Mrs Thatcher's Britain, this mini-series illustrated what might have happened had a Michael Foot, Tony Benn or a Ken Livingstone been elected Prime Minister.

Ken Livingstone wrote a book called "If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It". Harry Perkins the new socialist British Prime Minister, like all the best idealists fighting a hopeless cause, simply doesn't know when he is beaten, or rather he chooses to carry on regardless of the storm clouds looming.

Shortly after his election he receives the traditional congratulatory phone call from the US president. A formal script is placed in his hands which he refuses to follow much to everyone's consternation and the scene is set.

The Americans cannot risk losing control of their huge static aircraft carrier off the coast of France (it used to be called the UK). Big Business tries to starve the Perkins government of funds. Harry responds brilliantly surviving on low cunning and simple honesty in this capitalistic, high-brow, dishonest world.

There is no way his government can survive, it will not be allowed. There are dark forces gathering......

Hope and Glory (1987)

My favourite moment

[8/10 · 19 February 2000]

Its a great film, I agree with all the other praise for the director but my favourite scene is when the father is "going off to war".

He takes his young son into the garden to talk along the lines of

"this isn't going to make much sense now, but one day you'll be a man and...... [he produces a cricket ball] ....this is how to bowl a googly."

It won't make much sense to an American viewer I suppose but then much of this film must seem peculiar. Much of its charm comes from the effort of living a normal life amid the rubble. Wonderful

Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979)

By Your Command

[19 February 2000]

The story owes far more to ancient stories like "Anabasis" by Xenophon than Star Wars. Although the idea to do a "fighter pilots in space" thing must have been influenced by Lucas, he certainly can't claim that the plot of Battlestar Galactica owes anything to Star Wars. In addition Star Wars leans heavily on sources as diverse as comic books, Zen Buddhism and classic films like The Dambusters.

Anyway, back to Galactica. It IS over-serious and self important but then so is Star Trek TNG, Voyager, DS9, Star Wars, and the rest of the genre. It isn't worth making it if you don't take it seriously. And Galactica is a serious story. If anyone has cause to complain, I would suggest that Voyager might owe more than a passing nod to both Xenophon and Glen A. Larsen.

Carry on Up the Khyber (1968)

Any time is Tiffin time

[8/10 · 19 February 2000]

Probably the best of the Carry-Ons. Genuinely funny performances from all the actors and a classic script.

Watch Carry on up the Khyber and then watch Zulu. Two films about the British made in the 1960's both of them perfect in their own way.

The 300 Spartans (1962)

Ralph Richardson

[8/10 · 19 February 2000]

A week after I had finished my dissertation on the life of Themistocles this film was shown on the TV and my hero was being played by Ralph Richardson.

It is an impressive, stirring film based on the themes and events found in Herodotus. The scale of the film is its best feature, some of the acting (and the accents) grate a little but the story shines through.

The Lawless Breed (1952)

A forgotten classic

[7/10 · 19 February 2000]

It was made to a formula and revolves around most of the cliches in the Western handbook but it was hard not to enjoy this film.

It is based on the life of the famous Texan John Wesley Hardin. His youth was shaped by the Civil War and by his preacher father. When his father forbids him to practise shooting young Wes reckons its about time to leave home and seek his fortune. Almost immediately he kills a local gunslinger and plunges into the life of a rootin tootin cowboy, gambler and outlaw.

It has a classic opening a dignified man walking out of the prison gates, shaking hands with the warden and sniffing the air of freedom. It has an equally recognisable ending, back at the ranch to see how his wife and family have managed during the long years of incarceration.

The final scenes of the film are lovely, it won't spoil the film to say he learned from his experiences and lived a long and happy life.

There is nothing new in this film. Although it claims to be an autobiography, it is one of countless 1950's Westerns with a theme of a young man seeking adventure and finding redemption. The real strength of the movie is its star Rock Hudson, barrel chested and manly, who shoots, rides, kisses, gambles and drinks as well as any of his contemporaries. One of the baddies is a young Lee Van Cleef who easily steals scenes from his fellow wrong-doers.

It won't change your life, the way "Shane" might have done but it won't hurt you to watch it, and to remember Rock Hudson in the way he should be remembered.

The Van (1996)

They have red hair and they like a drink !

[24 April 1999]

Although I must say at the outset that I enjoyed The Van and would watch it again, it is strangely uninspiring when compared to other films in its genre. Indeed, this genre of all-too-real, Irish grit and spit, may, in The Van be seeing a backlash or a counterpunch. The cliche of happy but poor Oirish Paddies (with red hair and they'll take a pint of Guinness) is not so much indulged in this time but is rather exposed and exploited. Larry and his friends find themselves with a grimy filthy chip van and a chance for grimy filthy happiness in a grimy filthy world.

How a shiny happy person would stomach this film I don't know. It is by turns delightful and soul-eroding. Unlike the Commitments there are no real moments of glory (Packy Bonner saving that penalty being the exception). Like the Commitments, we are left with a brave sense of optimism rather than a happy ending.

I'd like an Irish perspective on this film. It won't change the world. It won't change the way we view Ireland. The Irish are still portrayed as "the blacks of Europe". It may stop me from buying fish and chips from a van though.

A Dry White Season (1989)

watch it and never forget.

[10/10 · 24 April 1999]

One day in South Africa in the 1960's, a young black man was walking along the street with his aged mother. Coming along the road was a young white man. The young black man knew that apartheid law and custom meant that the white would probably barge the two blacks off the pavement and into the gutter. The law would protect him and the young black man might be imprisoned for defending himself. The young black man tensed his muscles and prepared to defend his mother, but was amazed when the Englishman stepped off the pavement and doffed his broad brimmed hat in greeting. Later on the two would become friends and allies. The white man was to become bishop Trevor Huddleston, the black man, bishop Desmond Tutu.

That story is NOT the story of A Dry White season, but it is of a kindred spirit. Like the gesture of Trevor Huddleston, the story of Ben de Tor is a gesture against apartheid. A glimmer of hope, but merely that, a flicker.

It must be five years since I saw a Dry White Season but I still remember how I felt leaving the cinema. It is a film which will stay with you.

The plot follows a white South African on an adventure through bewilderment, revelation, denial, disgust, and a futile attempt to fight a grossly unfair system.

I can't go into detail after this length of time but the cameos in this film would be worth the video rental. Marlon Brando (yes) steals the show as the lawyer who knows exactly how hopeless the fight against apartheid is but agrees to fight anyway.

The political situation today in South Africa is a world away from that of A Dry White Season. Watch it and never forget.

Cold Dog Soup (1990)

Hot Dog

[29 March 1999]

Cold Dog Soup is a somewhat dark and twisting comedy which follows a smart young man, a smarter young woman, a dead dog called Jasper, and a maniac taxi driver through a city at night.

The driver Jack Cloud (Quaid) is our fantastical guide to a warped underworld as he drives us from Chinese restaurants to Voodoo rituals, dead dog in tow.

Definitely worth watching on a damp day. You'll be surprised how valuable a canine cadaver can be.

When the Wind Blows (1986)

Chilling

[29 March 1999]

This is a film you will never forget. I watched it as a teenager expecting something soppy and sentimental (it was made by some of the same people who made the Snowman, a Christmas tale featuring the chorister Aled Jones).

John Mills is superb as the male character, his voice carries the echoes of his former glories as hero, officer type and all round good guy. With lavish casting, animation and soundtrack the plot is given a painful intensity.

Instead my family were treated to horror of the worst kind. A horror that deals with ordinary comfortable society. The two lovely elderly characters are my grandparents, my neighbours. We see them crumble and disintegrate in the nuclear aftermath. They prepare cheerfully for a nuclear war and wait helplessly in the fallout for a rescue which will never come.

Don't watch it with your parents, you will cry and be reminded about it for years afterwards.

Operation Disaster (1950)

"Pull yourself together Stokes" *slap* "Thankyou sir I needed that"

[8/10 · 29 March 1999]

John Mills is superb as the indomitable submarine captain who leaves his wife and baby for a routine patrol. Richard Attenborough excels as the young sailor who cracks under pressure.

A wonderful film which may have started as a play. Well formed with portrayals which are both intimate and skilful. The "character" actors are enjoyable and colourful as the submarine sets sail, all leading to heightened drama when tragedy strikes.

If you like British black and white films about stiff upper lips and devotion to duty, you cannot do better.

God save the King.

The A-Team (1983–1987)

"I loved it when a plan came together". 15 years on...How I see The A- Team now.

[22 February 1999]

Oh how the rosy spectacles of childhood hid the truth from my tiny eyes. I used to love the A-team.... but then I saw "Taxi Driver".

Every week, the baddies (evil roughnecks or mysterious pyjama wearing cultists) are seen beating up the goodies (a wholesome young/old/couple/family plus dog/cat and ailing farm/restaurant).

The goodies seek out (or bump into) the A team and plead for help (which they can never pay for). The A-team break out their insane comrade from a top security hospital by sticking a toupee on him/dressing him up as a doctor/gardener and then turn up to fight the baddies. They get themselves beaten up (as befits a group of fairly camp and somewhat elderly actors, B.A. excepted).

They are locked into a shed or garage within which is stored all the component parts for an armoured tractor upon which is mounted a cabbage catapult or a ketchup cannon. Riding this (usually painted bright orange and green) the A-team burst out of their shed and taken on the heavily baddies who gratefully fall off roofs when struck by a cabbage or other vegetable oriented weapon.

Refusing all payment (except food and coy offers of sexual gratification) the A-team get back in their van and are on their way just before the military police arrive scattering chickens/garbage cans everywhere. The "mp"s end up leaping a hundred yards into a lake/compost heap/dump truck as our heroes disappear down the road.