adamjohns-42575
Joined Apr 2020
Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Reviews1.7K
adamjohns-42575's rating
An Ideal Husband (1999) -
Although he's not my favourite actor and he does always seem to play the same sort of part I did like Rupert Everett's character of Lord Arthur Goring in this production. He's perfect for these overtly British cad-type roles.
Jeremy Northam as Sir Robert was nice to look at and good in his role as well. Cate Blanchett also delivered playing Gertrude while Julianne Moore really gave an enigmatic and fun performance as Laura Cheveley. And Minnie Driver was charming in her slightly more obvious comedic role as well. In fact there were no performances that irked me at all. A great cast in general.
It would be hard for me not to enjoy this film of plotting and political deceit that threatened all sorts of relationships because I do just love the wit of Oscar Wilde. Although I will admit that initially I hadn't been that sure about this story. However as it built I did find that while it wasn't as enjoyable as 'The Importance Of Being Earnest', it did still have an interesting ending if a bit cut short and without as much of a definitive conclusion as I personally would have liked.
Mr. Wilde was always good at building to a point.
I did feel that the farce and shenanigans might have come across better on stage in a faster more staccato pace though. It wasn't that it was bad in this production, just that I felt it would lend itself better that way, which is perhaps where the ending fizzled out slightly, because it didn't bam, bam, bam with the confessions and so on.
It could be said that this sort of thing was a precursor to 'Bridgerton' (2020-) except it was of course relevant in its own time too, but it is likely that fans of the 'Ton would enjoy the escapades of Oscar's characters too.
Overall this was a well made production with a great collection of stars that delivered a charming tale that with a tad more effort could have been brilliant instead of just good. That sounds harsh because it was polished, I just wanted a little bit more.
680.81/1000.
Although he's not my favourite actor and he does always seem to play the same sort of part I did like Rupert Everett's character of Lord Arthur Goring in this production. He's perfect for these overtly British cad-type roles.
Jeremy Northam as Sir Robert was nice to look at and good in his role as well. Cate Blanchett also delivered playing Gertrude while Julianne Moore really gave an enigmatic and fun performance as Laura Cheveley. And Minnie Driver was charming in her slightly more obvious comedic role as well. In fact there were no performances that irked me at all. A great cast in general.
It would be hard for me not to enjoy this film of plotting and political deceit that threatened all sorts of relationships because I do just love the wit of Oscar Wilde. Although I will admit that initially I hadn't been that sure about this story. However as it built I did find that while it wasn't as enjoyable as 'The Importance Of Being Earnest', it did still have an interesting ending if a bit cut short and without as much of a definitive conclusion as I personally would have liked.
Mr. Wilde was always good at building to a point.
I did feel that the farce and shenanigans might have come across better on stage in a faster more staccato pace though. It wasn't that it was bad in this production, just that I felt it would lend itself better that way, which is perhaps where the ending fizzled out slightly, because it didn't bam, bam, bam with the confessions and so on.
It could be said that this sort of thing was a precursor to 'Bridgerton' (2020-) except it was of course relevant in its own time too, but it is likely that fans of the 'Ton would enjoy the escapades of Oscar's characters too.
Overall this was a well made production with a great collection of stars that delivered a charming tale that with a tad more effort could have been brilliant instead of just good. That sounds harsh because it was polished, I just wanted a little bit more.
680.81/1000.
The Invisible Man Returns (2) (1940) -
As sequels go I wasn't sure that this one was really all that necessary. With that said it wasn't a bad film, it just wasn't different enough from the original and didn't have anything to make it stand out on its own.
I barely wrote any notes either way about it because it just didn't really grab me. The usual filmic values of acting, camerawork, editing, direction, etc were all mostly fine and actually the special effects were superb for the time.
The sound was terrible though, I couldn't understand what some of the supporting artists were saying, because they were laying their obscure accents on so thick.
And George Napier as Willie Spears and Ben played by Forrester Harvey were particularly over the top in their performances as well as their accents.
It seems that it's really hard to impress me lately, because this is the third film that I've reviewed and stated that there wasn't enough to it, but I don't think that it's wholly my fault. Sequels like this need to be different enough, whilst maintaining a connection to the first, but not copies of the same story and with a subject like 'The Invisible Man' which is so well known there really needed that something special to make it distinctive from all of the other versions of it.
Vincent Price was very good in one of his earlier roles as The Man in question, in fact I would say it was one of his better performances before his voice got that unique tone and he seemed to get camper/cornier, but that good performance combined with the effects wasn't enough for me to rate this film that highly.
539.07/1000.
As sequels go I wasn't sure that this one was really all that necessary. With that said it wasn't a bad film, it just wasn't different enough from the original and didn't have anything to make it stand out on its own.
I barely wrote any notes either way about it because it just didn't really grab me. The usual filmic values of acting, camerawork, editing, direction, etc were all mostly fine and actually the special effects were superb for the time.
The sound was terrible though, I couldn't understand what some of the supporting artists were saying, because they were laying their obscure accents on so thick.
And George Napier as Willie Spears and Ben played by Forrester Harvey were particularly over the top in their performances as well as their accents.
It seems that it's really hard to impress me lately, because this is the third film that I've reviewed and stated that there wasn't enough to it, but I don't think that it's wholly my fault. Sequels like this need to be different enough, whilst maintaining a connection to the first, but not copies of the same story and with a subject like 'The Invisible Man' which is so well known there really needed that something special to make it distinctive from all of the other versions of it.
Vincent Price was very good in one of his earlier roles as The Man in question, in fact I would say it was one of his better performances before his voice got that unique tone and he seemed to get camper/cornier, but that good performance combined with the effects wasn't enough for me to rate this film that highly.
539.07/1000.
The Crowded Day (1954) -
As someone who worked in retail for far too long, I recognised a lot of the events that unfolded in the busy department store depicted in this film, although a lot of the niceties of that time were long gone even when I started. For a start I should imagine you'd be lucky to get tea making facilities these days let alone biscuits or housing.
I was a little bit disappointed that the film wasn't as Christmassy as I'd expected and I wasn't sure that there was enough to the story or that it really showed the chaos of working in a shop during the seasonal period either. There was certainly a lot more that they could have done with it. I'd love to have seen the 'Carry On' team do something like this, because it was a prime opportunity for their sort of jokes.
None of the characters really grabbed me unfortunately though. The on/off again relationship between Peggy (Joan Rice) and Leslie (John Gregson) was farcical and detrimental to others around them without any respect for that, whilst also making her more than a little bit fickle and like a tease.
Meanwhile poor Yvonne (Josephine Griffin), who was the only one I could even vaguely connect with, had a completely contrasting experience with an awful night in the streets making it a very juxtaposed film of two parts. I was unclear whether it was trying to be funny, serious or a blend of both, but it didn't seem to have the balance right.
Just one day in the life of the sales girls as they prepped for the Christmas party just didn't get the message across enough.
Overall it was a kind of something or nothing piece, with potential to have been much more interesting and only touching on issues instead of diving in to them. I don't suppose that I will remember a great deal about it or that it will ever appear in the annuls of film history, but it was inoffensive.
If you do tune in though make sure that you play spot the star, because it was littered with British film and TV royalty.
494.55/1000.
As someone who worked in retail for far too long, I recognised a lot of the events that unfolded in the busy department store depicted in this film, although a lot of the niceties of that time were long gone even when I started. For a start I should imagine you'd be lucky to get tea making facilities these days let alone biscuits or housing.
I was a little bit disappointed that the film wasn't as Christmassy as I'd expected and I wasn't sure that there was enough to the story or that it really showed the chaos of working in a shop during the seasonal period either. There was certainly a lot more that they could have done with it. I'd love to have seen the 'Carry On' team do something like this, because it was a prime opportunity for their sort of jokes.
None of the characters really grabbed me unfortunately though. The on/off again relationship between Peggy (Joan Rice) and Leslie (John Gregson) was farcical and detrimental to others around them without any respect for that, whilst also making her more than a little bit fickle and like a tease.
Meanwhile poor Yvonne (Josephine Griffin), who was the only one I could even vaguely connect with, had a completely contrasting experience with an awful night in the streets making it a very juxtaposed film of two parts. I was unclear whether it was trying to be funny, serious or a blend of both, but it didn't seem to have the balance right.
Just one day in the life of the sales girls as they prepped for the Christmas party just didn't get the message across enough.
Overall it was a kind of something or nothing piece, with potential to have been much more interesting and only touching on issues instead of diving in to them. I don't suppose that I will remember a great deal about it or that it will ever appear in the annuls of film history, but it was inoffensive.
If you do tune in though make sure that you play spot the star, because it was littered with British film and TV royalty.
494.55/1000.