Reviews

Michael Keaton's performance is spellbinding, astounding. I couldn't believe what I was watching. When he's on screen, he lifts the piece onto a wholly different level. Unreservedly worth watching for his screen time alone. The unnerving atmosphere he creates happily offsets the unfortunate mawkishness that marrs parts of the Berlin and Budapest stories. Alfred Molina also deserves praise for a strong, gutsy performance as a permanently booze-fueled, no nonsense old time field commander. Production values are pretty high for a television series - Ridley Scott's production presence no doubt helped on that front - and the post-war look and atmosphere of the Berlin sequences is particularly well realised. But this is unmistakably Keaton's tour-de-force.

A very well crafted short documentary which reveals the fascinating musical subculture, a cross between the 100 Club 1976 and Berlin 1945, which flowered in besieged Sarajevo under the madness and privations of war. Club goers had to race across a sniper targeted bridge, to be able to lose themselves in the punk-thrash frenzy of the bands who formed to play in dark underground venues. As well as an escape from the chaos above ground music held and continues to hold an important symbolic significance for the young people of the city as a mark of their connection to a wider 'normal' Europe. There is one sad sting in the tale, but the interviewees all possess a remarkably wry sense of humour and an even more remarkable sense of optimism. Far away people, figures in just another news war story, never seemed so close to ourselves.

A film I saw as a child and still my favourite film of all time 25 odd years later. The lean purity of the theme and the narrative allow for great depth of feeling and interpretation to emerge from any number of viewings. Wayne was never better. His understated performance is exceptionally powerful, the torments and repressed feelings of his character beautifully expressed, a striking contrast to Jeffrey Hunter's occaisional moments of scenery chewing. A big influence on a whole generation of contemporary directors, most clearly (thematically) on Scorcese's "Taxi Driver". Probably more than any other American film it most completely fulfills the cinema's potential as a great story telling medium. Needless to say, it benefits hugely from being available now in widescreen and restored colour, but you owe it to yourself to see it at least once on the big screen.

Ignore some rather dim comments above about the film's supposed failings, "The Bandwagon" is one of the definitive products of the MGM Freed unit, the last wholly great musical of its era. The score is outstanding, the pace brisk, the numbers - "By Myself", "Shine On Your Shoes", "Triplets", "I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan" and the marvelous "Girl Hunt Ballet" - a delight. Don't quibble people, it was all downhill from here!

One of the outstanding horror films of the 30's, after 30 odd years of tedious slash and gore its excellence stands out even more today. And it really does pack a punch; Laughton's demise, similar to Karloff's in "The Black Cat", is still truly shocking. With the prospect of genetic manipulation now a reality, it's central proposition has been thrown into unexpectedly sharp focus. Lugosi's cameo role, the pre-code sexual element, and Laughton's wonderful performance are all equally memorable.Highly recommended.

Not wholly creak-free (Lee tracy's performance is notably of it's time), but still with some marvellous moments. The legendary "synthetic flesh" scene is still totally shocking and bizarre, worth the price of admission alone. Definitely one for the collection.