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quinny666
Reviews
Shameless (2011)
A Tea Fancy or a Twinky - A treat is a treat.
I love IMDb for all of its reviews that come across from people who deliver their most sincere views on production values, location, actors etc. 'Can't believe it' (sic) said one hot tempered Luddite, 'It's the same; word for word'. Well, as the our friends across the pond would say, 'If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... it's a duck'. English people certainly don't get up in arms when they see another Romeo and Juliet. I would never say, 'I saw the original. Magic it was. Magic. Halcyon days. And the Yanks ruin it with West Side Story'. Tosh. This version of a brilliant piece is BRILLIANT! Don't miss this for the world. The production values are higher which can take away from some of the more grubby aspects of the English version but, as one reviewer said before me, visually it adds the darkness needed, the actors salaries, directors, etc. Personally, I've never seen a show, this one or the UK one, that really showed me that father Christmas was my dad drunk in a fat suit. It's real and life moves that fast and you don't know what your getting in to till it's too late. Long Live Frank!!!
Requiem for Detroit? (2010)
Hope in a Modern Catastrophe
Detroit might be anywhere. A city built on promises and wealth from the powers that be that often shape countries. A city left bereft of wealth and promise by the people who created it not so long ago.
Temple's documentary is a strong message of what can happen should the worst happen. It reminded me of how reliant we are on the promises of big business and when the power goes out it might not come back on.
Having never been to Detroit I wondered how this once burgeoning city, like all cities, could fall and emerge in the modern world like a post-apocalypse disaster town, where anarchy ruled. The word 'apocolypse' comes from ancient Greek and it translates as 'rebirth' (sic) and anarchy in Detroit is not as bad as it seems to Temple, as the city can only pick itself up from rock bottom.
The documentary is solid and provides an insight into a city that is the butt of a lot of jokes in the US. This city is no joke if we take the future of capitalism seriously and Temple's Requiem For Detroit will be remembered as a non-sectarian view of capitalism gone awry.
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)
Cop out!
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call is a good film. A detective loses his way after things in his life go from bad to worse. His girlfriend is a drug addicted prostitute, his father and step mother are alcoholics, his fellow officers and law enforcers ineffectual and he's a drug and gambling addict with a bad back with every kind of gangster after him. Oh, hold on... ten minutes from the end... WTF... Herzog suddenly remembers horses love rainbows and merry Christmas everyone.
On it's own the film does stand up. Cage turns in a brilliant performance as a declining bedraggled morally repugnant cop just trying to get by. The plot, though, loses all credit when it stops focusing on the demise of a flawed, yet human, warrior and sells it out in one scene where the family reunion is cemented with a Pallegrinio toast to their new clean-cut lives. The only thing it lacked was shots of them all doing yoga while the credits rolled.
Not so much a homage to the original. More, Werner Herzog wants Bambi's mum to go to the vet - and the guy who shot her to go to hunting-rehab.
Psychoville (2009)
You're my wife now...Dave
OK. So it's not the League, but it maintains all the best bits and continues to disgust and mesmerise as if it is being beamed into your skull from a malign planet of terror.
The first episode opens with some of the most delightful characters; a hook-handed clown who arrives at the kids bash in a hearse, the midwife who delights in the pain of childbirth and many more sikos. Where does the humour come from? I'm sure it comes from being unbalanced by a knowledge that I've met these people in rural England.
The performances are strong and suited, the script and comedy timing is near perfect, mostly because it all been lifted from other successful hits like Murder Most Horrid, League of Genltemen and the premise of I Know What You Did Last Summer. This is why I recommend you get a return ticket to PSYCHOVILLE!!!!! Mooohahahahahaha.
Knowing (2009)
You and me together in thinking this film stinks.
Woe is me. Nick Cage has once again taken on a role to portray the fact he's just in it for the money. I wistfully remember the times I would see his name attached to a project and get excited. Now when I see his name on a new film I get that feeling like when granpa's about to do that thing that keeps getting him arrested.
The film wasn't so bad. It ticked all the boxes for a Holloywood blockbuster: big name, religion, Mr. Scientists, end of the world, aliens, prophets, bunny rabbits. Hold on. Bunnies? Yup. Nick Cage's seat on the ship to the new world was usurped by a little, fluffy bunny-wunny.
The characters were slightly interesting but the story was more prominent and couldn't hold water in the end. Cage's bereft, whiskey drinking, single father performance should have been predicted by those precious numbers he seemed so bemused by. And the love interest's early demise was a relief. "Somebody think of the children!" When she bought it I could almost hear the script writers giving themselves high fives for having included a pretty woman and gotten rid of her without disturbing the stupidity of their ultimate goal.
Now when I see Nick Cage's name I know what I'm getting into. Crash, bang wollop! Still, Knowing is what it is and I did enjoy it until it ended. Then I thought: Armageddon? I'm-a-geddin-out-here.
El hijo de la novia (2001)
A truly delightful film.
The Son of the Bride is a film that resonates the beauty and sanctity of life, without needing to be sentimental (Take note Uncle Sam). The Son Of The Bride is a wonderfully crafted, thoughtful, and almost poetic movie that pulls no punches. The protagonist of the story is in somewhat of a midlife crisis. Just as he believes that he's on top of everything, life plays him a cruel card in the guise of a heart attack. From this moment on, we suddenly see the fragility of his life. It's a simple point that the film tries to make, and not in anyway original, but maybe from the fact that the director was also the writer one might construe that there is a personal element in the film that gives it such a rich and delicate feel. I say delicate because of the way the director chooses to convey the protagonist's mother who suffers from Alzheimers. In doing so he shows us the cruelty of life and the beauty of love. To see this film is to be educated about the importance of family. A truly delightful film.
Killing Me Softly (2002)
Love at first sight. Then he gets moody. She feels used.zzzzz
This is one of the worst films I have ever seen. It had nothing to hold my interest at all. Even a naked Heather Graham didn't keep me interested. And Joseph Finnes as a mysterious mountain climber was laughable. Mountain climbing has to be one of the most boring spectator sports ever, and this film does nothing for its popularity.
The film was meant to be a thriller, but I found myself laughing out loud at the supposedly scarry scenes. Finnes spends most of the film walking at a snails pace in some a attempt to seem menacing, but was as deadly, and slimy, as a slug. Don't waste your time seeing this film.