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MikeSez!
The name is Mike Williams. I work in the pharamaceutical industry, married with two young boys, with a great love of film, music, theatre and media in general.
Also an evangelical Christian. but don't let that stop you mouthing off at me...
Reviews
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1999)
Ah, a return to my own childhood
Nearly thirty years ago, the church choir I was a member of staged an entertainment evening, the first half of which was a 45-minute 'sung story' called Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Nearly thirty years on, and I have a chance to show my own children what a wondrous musical this was and continues to be.
I also have to confess that, when I first heard of this release, I was one of those people who went 'Donny Osmond???!!??'. Again, this was coloured by memories of 30-odd years of knowing him as a 70's teenybopper, but I have to admit that I was very pleasently surprised by his performance here. The years he spent playing Joseph on stage show in his performance, and it also made me forget Jason Donovan or Philip Schofield in the part.
The film succeeds both by acknowledging the most recent stage productions, and returning to its roots. It was originally written as a school stage show, and the prologue in the assembly hall returns to it to the original setting. Having the teachers (and yes, I took a double take on Joan Collins on the piano) go on to be the singers and actors grounds the film, and the opening up of the stage setting is done without ever letting you forget it was a stage show.
The support cast are all good - it's especially satisfying to see the likes of Richard Attenborough and Christopher Biggins doing musicals again after nearly 30 years as well. Joan Collins has a whale of a time as Mrs Potiphar, and Pharaoh gets down and rocks with the best of them. Maria Freidman as the narrator shows her vocal range to perfection - currently she is the main attraction in the stage show of Witches of Eastwick.
All in all, good family fun, and worth watching with your kids.
The Last Broadcast (1998)
A brilliant, but ultimately flawed film
I had heard so much about this film, particularly when all the discussions about the Blair Witch Project came out, that when the opportunity came to watch it I seized the day and sat down.
Two producers of a failing cable show Fact Or Fiction go on a hike into the woods with a soundman and a local boy to search for the famed Jersey Devil. Only the local boy comes back, and reports the other three as missing. The case that follows, and the footage shot by the crew that night, lead to a trial and conviction for murder.
The question remains, however, did he commit murder? The film takes the form of another documentary maker investigating the case. Slowly the evidence is gathered, and tape previously unusable is painstakingly recreated until.........
The style perfectly suits the film, and the fleeting glimpses of police photographs, evidence and glimpses of the tapes effectively builds a growing feeling of impending and catastrophic doom. For the vast majority of this film, you are taken on an increasingly dark journey into what happened that night.
Had the film ended with the final caption, and then the last restored image, it would have been a brilliant film. Unfortunately, it does not, and as others have said here the film is spoiled by that.
If not for that, I think this film would have acheived the fame and circulation of Blair Witch. As it stands, it is cerytainly worth watching, but you may want to switch off after that last caption......
The Wicker Man (1973)
A very strange, powerful and disturbing little film.
People have asked me why I like The Wicker Man, and the answer I usually give is 'Because you just do not know what is happening'. Indeed, unless you are fortunate enough to catch the full version of the film, you STILL may not know what is happening by the end of it!
Edward Woodward is Sgt. Howie, a police officer who is also a Presbyterian preacher. He is called to the island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a little girl, but the islanders deny the girl even exists. As he stays on the island, he comes to believe the girl is to be sacrificed during a pagan ceremony, and then sets out to rescue her. It is at this point that the film becomes very unsettling, but to give more away would spoil it for those who have not seen it...
Along with Edward, Christopher Lee gives the performance that he considers one of his finest as Lord Summerisle, the laird of the island and their leader in more ways than one. Britt Ekland and Diane Cliento also appear as ladies offering more than just friendship.
Some people complain that the film is dated, or that the songs are just a distraction. Not so - the film is deliberatly set up in what might be called the 'Avengers Style', and the songs are an integral part of the film. Look at the scene when Lord Summerisle is singing outside the inn, Britt Ekland is dancing in one room and Sgt. Howie is trying not to think what all normal men would think. The same can be said at the School, where the song while the children dance around the Maypole says much more than you may think.
Strangest of all, this film paints a sympathetic portrait of BOTH the Christian viewpoint and the Pagan one, and the ending actually justifies both sides in a very unusual manner.
If you haven't seen this film before and come across it, do watch. To know if you have the full version, check if the film opens in Church with Sgt Howie preaching. Do stick with it as well - getting through what may initially be boring does reap dividends further down the line.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
One of the finest films of the century.
A neglected classic, that needs and deserves to be seen a lot more than it is. No other film or series, with the possible exception of The Waltons, has got as close to the heart and soul of rural America as this one.
Gregory Peck, in his finest role, plays Atticus Finch exactly as the book describes him - a good and decent man trying to to the right thing in a society that just will not allow him to do that. The fact that we see how all aspects of the community interact and view the trial of Tom Robinson hammers home the point of how pervasive and common racism was in those days. The closing scenes in the courtroom still give a chill today.
The two child actors do an excellent job of bringing Jem and Scout to life, but the other real star to me is Robert Duvall. Boo Radley is the great unheard presence in the book, and he manages without words to bring out the tragedy and heroism in this character. I defy anyone not to be moved to tears by the closing scenes on the Porch, or Atticus' words 'Thank you Arthur for my children.'