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dan.adams
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What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
Really just a quaint idea....
Kids and big birds ten out of ten. Unbelievable family dynamics a big fat zero-from me. This bitsy flick is not in the same class as the likes of Whiskey Galore! A so-called "family film" spoiled by "bottom humour". I think the writers spent to much time with Stephen Fry. Also,quite sad,seeing well known actors reduced to almost non-verbal roles. Liked the "intelligent house"-sort of made the world really become "virtual".(is that possible?)Oh,scene change by ostrich flitting across the screen,brilliant! I must say,the idea of pushing Billy Connelly out to sea on a burning raft certainly does have some appeal! ;-)
Mapp & Lucia (2014)
Life and times in small town Sussex
I think I know my "Benson(and Holt etc)".I watched this entertaining contemporary take on Lucia's progress with great interest.Longitudinally,Mapp is Lucia's nemesis.What ever is going on in Lucia's busy social life there is always an awful possibility Mapp will pop up.She,well,is not a nice person.One thing I'd like to suggest to the makers of this current series,your production is absolutely sumptuous with fine views of Rye and environs,please don't truncate stories to fit time slots.Two tales ought never be abridged,"War and Peace" and "Mapp & Lucia". That said,there is now surely enough written material to make a longer series than "Downton Abbey"!
Midsomer Murders: Death in the Slow Lane (2011)
pretty appalling actually
The story seemed to be being written as the show jerked along!The "villain" was diagnosable 2 seconds after he appeared on screen.Doubt I'll watch another episode-and John Nettles is NOT the reason.I reckon MSM really shows how brilliant the likes of Wexford,Frost,Morse,Wycliffe and D&P were! I guess the one thing that bugs me is my inability to warm to MSM characters-they are SO unpleasant.In MSM I'm happy to see said folk deleted violently(and improbably)it helps get to the end of the picture! As a PS I'd like to add that in this particular episode DS Jones is made out to be particularly obtuse-to downright dumb! I thought that a bit unfair.
A Family at War (1970)
The Curates Egg
Starts of OK(apart from "Oxford" Phillips fanciful goings on in Spain). Thereafter thinks move at a pace.The most interesting battle in the series is between business-owner Sefton Briggs and his "donkey"brother-in-law, Edwin Ashton.Keeps the show alive actually.One or two appearances are rather "guesty"(eg Robert)And that little chap John George hardly ever gets fed,is never seen(one for the social welfare folk?) Moving to the second half-series 3 in particular.The whole yarn becomes rather "Mills & Boonish".Afraid I cannot tolerate the acting of passive-aggressive Sheila Ashton and her inadequate soiciopathic husband! I rather hoped a doodle-bug would get them....
Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Owing not a little to Hogans Heroes!
In this film,Clint Eastward gets to face down a Tiger tank to a melody taken from an Italian western.Just a bit breathtaking.It is a scene possibly inserted to placate fans of 'the man with no name" Whatever,it certainly works on the Kraut tank sergeant. Then there is fellow played by Donald Sutherland,a sort of "hippie tanked commander"(not a spelling mistake,he is forever taking the wine,the cheese and the rays")Anyrate this chap is a bit of as time traveler,a refugee from the late Viet Nam conflict where as "Oddball"he would have fitted in nicely.All in all this is an action-packed chaotic send-up of the military with a happy ending!
Roar (1981)
Roar,or I'd say,ROAR!
This rambling home movie, makes Clyde Beatty's life-style look like a walk in the park! A plague of big cats greets a woman with kinder,when they come to "reunite" with manic dad in a corner of darkest Africa. Reminds me of that dreadful rendition of "Phil the fluter's ball..."-you know "cats on the roof tops,cats on the tiles,etc!" Any-rate,a wonderful menagerie of savage beasts keeps the viewer so entertained that a plot isn't really necessary. 10 out of 10 to the camera crew who MUST have been involved in some hair-raising moments with the animals. Many many close-ups of slavering jaws will keep me and mine, awake for weeks!
The Seekers (1979)
AWful Awful Awful
This the tale of a selfish gene,embodied in 4 generations of a family mostly named Kent.Kent men were,as a rule,not to bright and not prone to make good judgment calls.Frequently their heart ruled their heads and frequently they were in trouble. The Kents were frustrated action men I suppose.Anytime they entered into a field of conflict they seemed to harm bystanders,rather than the object of their ire. The story rambles through hours and hours where well-known actors do "bad guy" cameos and are thankfully dispatched quickly.The only "good guy" who is on the side of right and god is,Grizzly Brian Keith.More strength to his elbow,I say. I thought the story was pretty bad,almost funny at times but by and large an ordeal to watch.The third part,"The Seekers" descended into high farce and little Jarrard Kent's escapades were akin to those of Huck Finn. I would never watch this poorly acted,disjointed,poorly scripted flick again.Gets a big "OH DEAR" from me.
One Foot in the Grave (1990)
What a bitter sweet effort!
Surreal at times-mundane at others.Why does self-absorbed irritable Victor keep getting his gear off?I mean,I've watched the whole series and Annette Crosbie seems to be able to keep her clothes on but Victor is always peering down the front of his trousers or fiddling with his fly,seems obsessed with a state of undress. For me,the star of the show was Mrs Warboys-always good for a laugh at a most inappropriate moment. Patrick and Pippa...could they be real?I think not.Patrick had watched Fawlty Towers once to often-whilst Pippa was anyone's for the price of a sherry. Must say I miss the Meldrews though. Full marks to Mr Renwick and cast for a great series!.
The Bletchley Circle (2012)
Circle of Belchers
Pretty unrealistic murder mystery. Reminiscent of the "famous five" The feminist card is played to early and to long. The dimwittedness of males is a cross the girls must carry. Mind you the principal lady,Susan,has incredible difficulty conveying the simplest bit of information to anyone else.Sighs and heaving bosoms convey little to the average chap. The story itself is incredible.Things become unbelievably(Meldrew,not me) out of control in the last episode. Hope we see no more of these 1940 anoraks. My feeling is,the Bletchley Circle would have been more gainfully engaged in confidence tricking.Either bringing scammers to boot with their code breaking talents or perhaps,chiseling "not very deserving outfits", themselves.And getting away with it of course.A bit the way Alistair Sim or Sir Alec tended to do things.......
Campbell's Kingdom (1957)
Dearing do outdoor adventure....with cultured good guys and bad guys.
Well, my old mother in law enjoyed it! I've given it a 5 because of the confusion it created(pour moi).Campbell's Kingdom is up there,in the Rockies.Nearby,a construction gang have built a dam-for hydro-electricity.The plan is to allow water to flow over the dam and into CK.Where they are finding oil. The construction team are into sabotage of the well diggers efforts.I got all that.It was when an inclinator was used to go up to the CK land I got confused.This mountain climbing device took us up into the snowy peaks of the Rockies.Where the prospective oil field was. Where then,was the dam that would flood the oil field?Well,it must have been even higher! It just didn't make sense.Later scenes showed the dam breaking and doing a bit of flooding.It was well and truly above the oil field. A rousing matinée tale but hard to digest geographically.
The Boys from Brazil (1978)
The Boys from Brazil,what a crock!
Were they from Brazil-or Paraguay?Anyrate,where-ever the dementing doc set up his laboratory.For starters,this film should have been a TV series where roles scenes and themes were developed. The flick is filled with monster assumptions and coincidences and really is utterly implausible.I'm not talking about the central Mengle plot,the sci-fi cloning of Hitler.I'm referring to the serendipitous way characters,assassins/victims meet up. It is sad seeing fine old actors doing "anything" to earn a buck. It is also hard to laugh at Nazis-outside of Schultz and Hogan's Heroes or To Be or Not To Be. However,James Mason(realizing he was in a crock)gave a lovely characterization of an urbane sophisticate,determined to stop Mengle(who appeared to have escaped from Castle Frankenstein)embarrassing the new age nazi mob.He half-failed but gave the audience some grim chuckles.Right from the start the viewer understood Mr Mason,thought his colleague Mengle to be off his proverbial trolly.Likewise Olivier's doddery old Liebermann,hardly an avenging angel-more a geriatric with a profound fixation and a godawful accent!
Hindenburg: The Last Flight (2011)
Not as good as "Airplane!"..but then,they didn't have Leslie Neilsen.
Three hours long and the plot fails to engage the audience.Acting is poor and characters stereotyped. Afraid my mind wandered wildly as "action-man" Merten fell from the sky,was beaten to a pulp(several times) and was generally misunderstood by everybody.What Mert really needed was a hairpin,so he could see what was going on!Clearly the flick was intended to cash in on "Titanic" similarities.Mind you,the way Merten haunted the insides of the big balloon made me feel he could be"the phantom of the Hindenburg" Must not knock the guy to much,his effort was a full-on one and he did disarm the "berm".Wonderful the way his lacerations and bruises washed off! There was a fellow posing as a comedian-actually his role was very similar to that of the compere in "Cabaret",didn't like him at all. Right at the beginning of the film vapor trails can be seen in the sky..UFO's? Unfortunately the Hindenburg did of course go down in flames.A terrible sight.With it went a lot of "unlikable" characters.What a disservice to the real victims of this historic event.
The House of Mirth (2000)
Best left alone...
If ever there was a flick calculated to annoy and depress,this is it.Short on dialogue and long on "funereal" settings,House of Mirth is anything but. Not that I expected a cackle-fest! Best acting can be blamed on Dan Ackroyd though.I thought things were warming up when he appeared.No such luck. I really would have liked the pretentious heroine to have become,a scheming blackmailer,rich,beyond her wildest dreams and the toast of New York!But it was not to be.She was,in her own word,useless.Without any ability to marshal resources offered by friends,this lass's fate was sealed. To all 21st century young ladies who now think a "kick*ss" attitude will get them through life-beware,take heed of Lillie's fate.
The Grand (1997)
Misnomer
The Grand,it isn't. This series is a sort of,television "monument to sleaze". There are simply no likable characters and some are so evil an average guest at the Grand would have to think twice or thrice before daring to leave their room! If you are into,suicide,murder,wicked ways and weird weird surrogacy, plus heaps of infidelity,"The Grand" will appeal. Set in post WWI Manchester,it is the tale of the decline and fall of a family of erstwhile successful hoteliers,the Bannermans. Downstairs,the Dickensian staff,with a corporate IQ of 40,are getting restless-and into trouble. Upstairs,self interest prevails. The naval gazing Bannermans pursue as many hurtful and self-destructive lines of behaviour their idle minds can conjure up. My advice,stay at the Midland!
Fingersmith (2005)
Slick as Willy
A quite superb rendition of a grand Victorian tale. A bit of Dickens, a bit of Collins and a bit of something entirely new. This story is about girls,not usually my cup of tea but I found FS utterly compelling.What's more I warmed to the plight and feelings of the ladies.I really didn't give a fig about the fate of the men in this show. I'm trying to remember,when was I last left utterly bewildered by a sudden turn of events at the end of Part One of a mini-series?Never,as I recall. But,rather like a cliff-hanger movie serial,all became clear as the tale thus-far, was recapped from another point of view. I really have no criticism of Fingersmith.I watch mini-series night and day and somehow had missed this one which I can now say,"is a jewel among mini-series",as it's heroines are amongst literary characters.
Pascali's Island (1988)
Wonderful film
You can feel the heat in the cobbled streets.Fresh air seems to fill your lungs as you take in the stunning Med.What a setting for a subtle spy flick.Helen Miram does her thing-decadent as can be and a closet supporter of the "Cypress for the Cypriots" faction.Charles Dance is engaging as an Englishman who believes this fact will make a difference on Pascali's Island.Ben Kingsley is simply superb.A chap who,holds the fate of others in his hands.Does he drop the ball? Quite a few folk are not exactly what they seem and that is what makes the film. A lesson sorely learnt is,NEVER NEVER NEVER trust a bloke who is by trade,an informer!
Johnny English (2003)
Just shows flicks are becoming dumber and dumber
In "Top Secret" Val Kilmer sang,"How silly can you get?" This dumb flick answers his question. Beats me how so many good actors get raked into this "time-waster" sort of movie. It barely has a plot.What it has stumbles along and is disjointed(I'm not talking about Mr Bean's acting either!) If a production team wants to take the proverbial out of the "Bond genre",how about doing it with a super smooth well-mannered nit from the David Niven stable? Rown shows a flash of brilliance then descends to Lou Costello tricks!Hard to believe it cost 35,000,000. In all movies of this kind the baddie really gets to strut his stuff. John M.s evilness was just enough for "family consumption" Lorna whats-her-name from Interpol gave a formula performance that would have satisfied the Bond production people.Talk about a curates egg!
Doc Martin (2004)
on it's last legs?
If you have a rare undiagnosed complaint that is fixed quickly by a jab...then head for Port Wenn.Doc Martin may SAVE YOUR LIFE! Just watched the 5th series of this show. Port Wenn looks a great place for a holiday but it is an even greater place to suddenly collapse in the street.I've never seen or heard of a place where so many of the citizens,permanent or transient,simply drop in the street!Once down,they are attended by immaculately suited grumpy Dr Martin Ellingham. Who...raises the near-dead! I'd like to know. Why is Martin always saddled with a dimwit for a receptionist?A good one would protect him from all the balmy calls that come in from the local police/school/food shops etc.But no,poor old Martin,short on communication skills,has to put up with receptionists that scream,"you've GOT to go!"And off he trots with his wee black bag to see some kid who has licked the classroom floor as a dare. Martin is married to a home-grown school mistress and they have a boy, James.What a tumultuous ride this kid is having! James is dragged around the village by both mum and dad. Absolute child abuse in action.With a bit of luck he will survive until they send him off to a boarding school. I can't really see where this series is going. It is getting pretty "samey".Set in an isolated community,new characters can always be drafted in.However,when the viewer knows the newcomer either,knew Martin in another life/has some hidden vice or illness,then said viewer can predict how the story will go. Maybe series 5 will be the end?
Downton Abbey (2010)
Soap
Yes,slipped on the soap.And if the lady hadn't, the problem of finding and keeping an heir might have been smooth sailing.
Whatever.
I watched both series-in big lumps,three episodes at a time-a real pig-out.I don't agree with whoever described characters as being 2-D,underdeveloped and not capable of engendering feeling in a viewer,I felt quite strongly about a number of principal players.Who could love nasty O'Brian or her sociopathic understudy,Tom? And I found Lord Grantham(and Matthew for that matter)simply grand and honorable chaps.Decent to the core.And what an intensely sad girl Lady Mary is.I'd strike out her "turkish delight"if it wasn't for the fact the plot is intergral to behaviours in later episodes. On the whole,I thoroughly enjoyed Mr Fellowes' escapist cliché-ridden yarn. Why did I keep thinking,"Mills and Boone and ...Fellowes? Not to worry. As in life,the plot dragged at times but for the most part,Downton Abbey is,well written,well acted and,well worth watching! Roll on series three. Will Downton's master save Bates....
The Wind and the Lion (1975)
Where was the Lone Ranger?
Great scenery-but there it ends.The sound was uneven and ear drum destroying at times. A real boys flick.Cowboys and Indians in Morocco,sort of thing. Not much of a story and what dialogue there is,is rather weird and stilted. Brian Keith gives an entertaining over the top,"Teddy Rooseveldt" impersonation-got the odd chuckle. Otherwise,the Krauts were krauts and the frogs were frogs and,wogs were wogs!-and good ol' boys,trained in the Rough Riders,shot the lot! Back in the USA.Teddy was glad to hear "the Moroccan problem"had been resolved. I didn't mention Candice Bergan?Sorry, I was brought up never to say anything nasty about a lady.
Flambards (1979)
Mills & Boon would be proud of it!
A mini-series characterized by poorly developed characters and stilted portrayals of the same. Must say things picked up in latter episodes but the plot was very predictable. The heroine is young,dizzy and impressionable. Her "proper" upbringing is cast aside pretty quickly as she falls under the spell of testosterone charged members of the hunting fraternity. This girl must have been away sick the day brains were handed out,she consistently comes across as being pretty dense.Also,it seems it is a family trait to ignore"good advice",which causes continual problems.But this and dicey personal relationships are what make up a soap opera,are they not?
Poirot: Dumb Witness (1996)
Poirot and Hastings at the top of their game!
All episodes should be as entertaining as this one.Fortunately the majority are! Things are never as they seem-as usual.As Poirot might say,"when there is a cry of "Fire"-quite often it comes from the miscreant who lit the match".And so it is with murder,n'este ce pas? Look for the person who first claims dirty work! Also,look for the suspect(and aren't they all?)who conveys a piece of vital information to the eager ear of the murderer-who seems quite trustworthy at the time. Don't you love the Lakeland?I've been on the train that Poirot and Hastings rode-also the ferry.Great stuff that adds touches of realism to this delightful tale of crime in the most genteel of places.Thumbs up!
House M.D. (2004)
Like the curates egg,alright in parts
House....is entertaining.Even though I still see Wooster(fallen on hard times?) in an American medical drama. I worked in hospitals,as a house-surgeon,registrar,consultant.I really don't recall colleagues wildly shouting out their diagnostic opinions in hospital corridors.Nor do I recall my peers being so multi-talented! Fearful "oneupmanship" did prevail in teaching departments. I'm rather taken a back by the way House's interns almost invariably query their senior's opinions-but that maybe because numero uno is Gregory ,a bloke who doesn't wash,shave sleep or say sorry. And for that matter,isn't to keen on explaining his often darned near intuitive diagnoses. I do hope the "smart a*se" attitude of docs in this series is not aped in reality.It isn't funny and I know in my day I'd have quickly been shown the door if I'd defined my function in life as narrowly as Gregory House does!
2012 (2009)
Most of the time I was trying to work out how I could leave the
private theater I was at...without offending my host! What an appalling load of twaddle this comic strip is.I was rooting for the tidal waves and could barely restrain a cry of,"Go get 'em tsunami!" I can do the "suspend belief bit" but I really can hack screamers who want to argue the point when they are in clear and imminent danger.I felt really sorry for the poor giraffe being tossed around like a rag doll.Otherwise I didn't really give a fig for what might happen to the principals of this special effects extravaganza.The hero(I use that word loosely)seemed to have a thousand lives and what's more,this, "sedantary computer addict whose claim to fame was the fact he had sold 500 copies of a novel he authored",also evidently held the world record, for holding his breathe under water.
Don't they make flicks for grown-ups anymore?
Poirot: Appointment with Death (2008)
A complete and utter travesty.Aunt Agatha is spinning in her grave!
Watched this extravagant production last night and wept!What are the Poirot writer's up to? Does Suchet cringe when he watches "the rushes"? Do Christie aficionado's recognize the story? Tim Curry was the bloke who carried the show-and his character really wasn't in the written tale. The Pleasance presence was good for a laugh-straight out of a Hammer Horror as a bewildered guilt-ridden "nanny".Got to say,she looked good in the bath! Then there was the nun.Crikey dick,a white slaver in disguise,well, would you believe,"a relocator" of young white women? Must say I like Poirot's attire.he has a real sense of occasion. I think all that religious mumbo jumbo was offered in place of evidence.The little frog(sorry) got lucky when half the cast decided that,when in trouble,"do Hamlet".With bodies dropping left right and centre,Hercule was SURE to get the guilty party! roll on "Curtain" :-)Trevor