virginia-12 Reviews

Dark City (1998)

Total And Utter Rubbish

[23 April 2004]

I picked this up at a car boot for a quid and believed the blurb on the front of the case. 2 of us watched it: "can you understand this nonsense?" said my friend. "No but it might start making sense in about 20 minutes" Trouble is it didn't it just got worse. I've had enough of this brain bending stuff I watch movies for some sort of entertainment not to risk giving my brain a hernia! That well worn theme of the guy waking up and forgetting who he is etc.has been done so much better and so much more sensibly. In fact to call this codswallop rubbish is being kind it was not worth the effort to find some merit in it. All I can say is those who thought it was brilliant are probably the kind who deserved it. That overworked word "brilliant" should be reserved for the kind that ARE,such as one with a good court case,most disaster movies and films about giant insects

Without a Trace (1983)

Unreal

[19 April 2004]

Somehow you could tell this was NOT a True Story.It was more like a Hollwood movie of the 40s than anything resembling real life. The only time a missing kid appears like that is if he got lost or something. We had the usual cliches: the psychic who "saw" whatever it is they see and the helpful policeman. To say nothing of the rather stupid scene where a known paedophile,who just happenned to have a pair of the kids blood spattered underpants in his pocket.Even more unreal was the mother talking to him in his cell awaiting arraignment and somehow believing he knew nothing . And did I miss something but apparantly he was known to her once having domne some work in her house. This is when it got beyond being even silly.His reason for the blood spattered underpants was because he'd cut himself shaving and he'd nicked them from her house...I think. And herein lies a question: if this guy WAS guilty and the police roughed him up to get a quick conviction then it would have been a miscarriage of justice thing there. Now THAT'S real life Nothing about testing the blood but maybe they did and it was the same type as his. I would say this movie was rubbish.Stockard Channing was better in Grease

Eraserhead (1977)

Another comment

[8 April 2004]

We just started watching this,two of us and I was thinking Brief Encounter.It was making no sense and then the phone went.My friend had to go out. So I checked on here to see what the hell I was watching. And after reading words like "boring" and "complicated" I think I'll not bother watching any more. The soundtrack noises were interesting and all I can say is I have a David Lynch movie somewhere called Industrial Symphony,which I liked because Julee Cruise wears some great dresses.Though it makes little sense Otherwise I get the impression if I watched this I'd give my brain a hernia

Hellraiser (1987)

Just when you thought it was safe to play with a Rubic Cube....

[30 March 2004]

No doubt some ancient Chinese legend is behind this which ties in with the Christian vision of Hell,the Book Of Revelations or whatever. Interesting special effects which look more realstic than computer generated ones. The story is just an excuse to build something around the Horrors and it reminded me in parts of the Amityville Horror series. And I would say another influence here was the paintings of Heironymous Bosch where all manners of hideous torments are shown in graphic detail. A few dumb lines which should have been left out....what was Jesue Wept supposed to mean? The video case quotes Stephen King as having written "I have seen the future of horror and its name is Clive Barker" is I suppose meant to be taken seriously. Needs watching at least twice and i don't know whether this is a problem with video transfers but the sound is too low in places and you miss the dialogue

Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce (1984)

A movie with a message

[30 March 2004]

And that is,even if theres a couple of actors in here with Pete Townshend connections it doesn't neccesarily follow the results will be entertaining. Roger Daltrey was the one with the movie career and has made generally decent films,while Leslie Ash was in Quadrophenia. Toyah Wilcox,also in Quadrophenia,seems miscast she always looked better as a blonde and her performance was unremarkable. As for Terry Raven,his movie career has been no more than a series of bitparts Daltrey did his best with a bad script ....which could NEVER have been based on a true story,and its also noticable that the writer and composer of the music never did anything else either before or after. It could have been more understandable if the idea had been to promote Daltrey's new album or something,but the whole "on location" idea had been done so much better by Cliff Richard (Summer Holiday)) and the Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour). Here the mystery is,how did this codswallop ever get off the cutting room floor?. Not worth any marks its no more than a Home Movie and a series of private jokes

They Crawl (2001)

First Clas Bug Movie

[19 March 2004]

Read between the lines here and you'll learn its yet another White House Cover Up. The American government has long been rumoured to be conducting experiments on bug genetics and in the future they'll stop spending money on bombs and simply drop a few 1000 of these mutant insects wherever they are at War next. Its the cheapest way ever of killing people and leaves no traces. These bugs are very angry and very hungry and can deplete a large size area in a matter of days. Checking the User comments few poeople have understood the political implications here. But the very last frame of a single cockroach leaves it wide open for They Crawl 2

The Three Lives of Thomasina (1963)

An All Time Great

[10 February 2004]

A movie with everything from first class acting to a storyline where fantasy meets reality.In this case the Cat...who is also a voiceover...is really the central part of the story. Patrick McGoohan plays the vet,whose daughter Mary (played by Karen Dotrice)is owned by the Cat. Its definitely a weepie but everyone lives happily ever after as Thomasina returns from an unusual resurrection performed by Susan Hampshire...supposedly a witch!!!

The Bunker (2001)

THE MEANING BEHIND THE TALE

[26 January 2004]

Amazing so many didn't get it. The bunker may very well have been the burial ground of plague victims but not here.The Germans were dumping Jewish POWs here and this was how they reached from the Grave to take revenge. But I can't see the blurbs from the critics reproduced on the sleeve of the video. There was more frightening stuff in the real Holocaust movies like Schindlers List or Auschwitz. Probably poorly directed as to add so much confusion in there.

Crime on the Hill (1933)

BRILLIANT

[12 December 2003]

Classic British black & white movie from the early 30s starring the great Phyllis Dare in one of her few movie appearances. Phyllis was a child star from the 1890s and the sister of Zena Dare who was in My Fair Lady. Both were leading Picture Postcard Beauties at the turn of last century

Astley's Way (2001 TV Movie)

Indispenable to fans of Edwin Astley's music

[18 April 2003]

The documentary was first planned after the death of the composer in 1998 and was a year after he'd been on the pop charts via the Orbital version of "The Saint". With members of his family present to speak about the man were Jon (the official Who Archaelogist),Virginia (whose career as a singer songwriter not only saw her on the Indie charts in the early 80s but to blossom further in Japan) and Hazel,his widow. His son in law Pete Townshend was seen later reminiscing about the work they did together and the first time they met when he was introduced to the family by his future wife Karen,who was Edwin's eldest daughter. Edwin was represented by stills of photos and other memorabilia and clips were shown from some of the productions he composed music for. Obviously the film only scratched the surface when a career spanning over 50 years was the subject. While Jools Holland did an admirable job and performed the "Danger Man" Theme with his own band,what was sorely needed was more research as it would have been nice to have included Vera Lynn,the first to ever record any Edwin Astley music in the mid 40s. Neither Jon or Virginia spoke of their own careers and both are generally unknown of to the masses as Virginia is the Ultimate Cult Artiste