JOHN_REID's Reviews

Killing Time (2010–2011)

9/10

3 December 2011

I have just seen the fourth episode of Killing Time and am enjoying this immensely. It is interesting that a series of this type has its premier and probably exclusive screening on Cable TV rather than Commercial TV. Perhaps the content is too violent and confronting for Commercial TV. The Cable TV screening actually works very well with a series like this. There are multiple screenings of each episode so there is no excuse to miss anything and only small interruptions from commercial breaks.

David Wenham is superb as Andrew Fraser, a lawyer who chooses the wrong clients. His family and friends know this and look on his successes with an almost condescending bewilderment as to why he seems drawn to representing criminals and exploiting loopholes in the law to set them free. Although he is successful he makes enemies with the police and has a tenuous relationship with the people he defends.

Killing Time is told as two parallel stories - the past, with Fraser's rise to fame and success in making the police look like fools and the present, where he is incarcerated and trying to cope with life in prison. At the moment we are not sure exactly what precipitated his sentence to a term in prison but there are plenty of clues.

With each week we learn more about the man. It seems inevitable that things will eventually turn pear shaped for him. His strange penchant for defending criminals who are obviously guilty is a road to self destruction. Each time he wins in court and humiliates the police, he creates more enemies. He tries to justify his actions to his family but they clearly cannot accept that he uses legal arguments and technical points to defend vicious criminals.

The cast is impressive. Diana Glenn is a very promising actress and plays the role of his wife very effectively. Richard Cawthorne and Malcolm Kennard are both brilliant as the manic criminals that Andrew Fraser chooses to defend.

Colin Friels is at his best as Lewis Moran. He plays one standout scene in a bar with classic understatement that will linger in the memories of anyone who sees the series.

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series - great Australian drama and highly recommended.

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Caught Inside (2010)

8/10

Ben Oxenbould is a standout in this well crafted suspense thriller ....

2 December 2011

Caught Inside is a taught psychological thriller set on a Surfing Safari in the Maldives with a thought provoking script that revolves around a central character who is not unlike Max Cady from Cape Fear.

Director Adam Blaiklock and the crew spent a month or so in the Maldives filming Caught Inside. From the outset a requirement was that the actors were all competent surfers and the surfing scenes are all shot with realism. The story is cleverly and quietly developed with moments of real suspense and surprise that make the audience gasp.

Ben Oxenbould plays Bull, at first glance popular with his peers, a larrikin who can charm anyone when he wants to. However we soon learn that he has a dark side. He has issues with women and anyone who disagrees with him and his disturbing sociopathic tendencies cannot be hidden in the confined spaces of the vessel.

He uses his strength as an intimidation to others but, interestingly, never takes on the Captain played by Peter Phelps. It is not clear whether this is due to some past incident, his respect for authority or the fact that the skipper might be stronger than him but anyone else who crosses his path is fair game.

Despite the fact that the Captain laid out the ground rules at the beginning of the trip, it becomes evident that the cruise participants are on their own – miles from anywhere. No one can help. This plays into Bull's hands as his manic tendencies become obvious. There are subtle hints that he has shown this type of behaviour before and he becomes more and more menacing and unhinged as the film progresses.

Caught Inside was filmed with a tight budget but it does demonstrate how important it is to base a movie on a great script. The film essentially revolves around Bull and Ben Oxenbould is truly exceptional in the role. He has been known as a comic actor with his performances in Comedy Inc but this film provides him with an opportunity to display a real talent for a complex character role.

In some ways the other actors are incidental to Bull but they are generally all very competent.

It is disappointing that Caught Inside hasn't reached a wider audience. The sad reality these days is that it is very difficult to get wide distribution without major stars and studio backing. Independent film makers face an up hill battle to get their films screened in cinemas.

Highly recommended.

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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

2/10

Very disappointing indeed

23 September 2010

In a film that deals primarily with excesses of money and greed, it is interesting that the budget for this movie was in the region of an obscene $70,000,000.00. I'm not sure how much of the budget was devoted to script and substance but the end result was a banal and poorly developed screenplay with puerile, soppy sub plots of romance and the strained relationship between father and daughter.

Ultimately the story is grossly simplistic, cashing in on the global financial crisis, without any attempt to provide real detail as to how the end results are achieved. You are supposed to just accept that everything that occurs in the film is plausible without any meaningful attempt at a reasonable explanation.

Leaving aside the flaws in the plot there was an opportunity to develop some suspense but Olvier Stone missed his chance and concentrated on expensive sets and effects that did absolutely nothing to provide anything substantial.

The cast all do their best but they are hamstrung by an unimaginative script and poor direction.

At the screening I attended, the person in front of me was playing games on his mobile phone and many people left before the end credits were shown. That, I'm afraid, says it all.

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The Dark Knight (2008)

6/10

Is it possible to make a successful film without spending a fortune?

22 July 2008

I just returned from seeing The Dark Knight this afternoon and although it was reasonably entertaining I have to wonder if a really successful movie can be made today without throwing truckloads of money into the project and relying almost totally on whiz bang special effects and mass destruction of cars, buildings etc etc.

I also thought that it was a little remiss of the director that in a number of scenes it was very hard to hear what Gary Oldman was saying. I actually have no idea what he said in the fairly key final scenes, bearing in mind that his were the last words of the movie, and the people I saw the movie with made the same comment.

In 1960 Hitchcock made a movie with his TV crew for a budget of under a million dollars and shot the film in a matter of weeks. If it hadn't been for the shower scene, he would have completed the project even quicker. I would like to see one of the major directors like Spielberg, or Christopher Nolan, make a film with a low budget and see what they could come up with.

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A Coming-Out Party (1961)

7/10

Lighthearted British Comedy

14 June 2007

Very Important Person combines elements of the Carry On films, The Great Escape and Hogan's Heroes to produce a lighthearted low budget British Comedy that is surprisingly effective. Many of the stalwarts from this era are here with John Le Mesurier, Stanley Baxter, Eric Sykes in supporting roles. I wouldn't have been at all surprised to see Sid James turning up somewhere.

James Roberson Justice is excellent in his role as the cantankerous Very Important Person. There are lots of stiff upper lips and "tickety boos" from the British and the German officers are typically cast as foolish buffoons. This must have all been an inspiration for Hogan's Heroes but a very long way from the reality of prisoner of war camps.

Overall, VIP is a fine example of British Comedy from the 60s and is well worth a look.

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The King (2007 TV Movie)

5/10

A little Disappointing

21 May 2007

There is no doubt that Graham Kennedy was a master of his craft, with Bert Newton not too far behind as another icon of Australian Television. As such it was always going to be difficult for anyone to accurately portray The King. While Steven Curry's performance is a reasonable effort it still resembles something of a caricature and falls well short of reproducing the magic of Kennedy.

Graham Kennedy's life certainly had its bitter sweet moments with his complex and private personal relationships but I thought that the writers could have delved a little more deeply into his life and what made him tick. Some things appear to have been left unsaid.

There were some interesting insights into the early days of television in Australia where the participants learned their craft on the job but perhaps it was the attempt to duplicate everyone from Noeline Brown to an appalling attempt at replicating Ugly Dave Gray that detracted from the film.

The fact is that many Australians grew up with these characters and appreciate and understand them from viewing hundreds of their performances over the years. Any attempt to re create icons like Graham Kennedy is likely to be very tough indeed. It is ironic that some of the more effective moments in the film came with original footage of Kennedy himself rather than those from his impersonator.

Perhaps this was too big a task. As so many have said, no one will ever replace The King.

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Young and Innocent (1937)

7/10

What Did I do With the Belt? .........

11 May 2007

Warning: Spoilers

"Young and Innocent" aka "The Girl Was Young" is rarely mentioned in the same breath as The 39 Steps or The Lady Vanishes but it is nevertheless one of the more underestimated films from the master of suspense with all the ingredients of a Hitchcock classic.

Alfred Hitchcock loved the theme of a man accused of a crime he didn't commit and used this successfully in other films like The 39 Steps which preceded Young and Innocent and later, Saboteur and North by Northwest.

He wanted to introduce a fresh approach in this film with stars that were young and relatively unknown (and cheap). Nova Pilbeam had featured a few years earlier in The Man Who Knew Too Much and was a fairly prominent child/teenage actress and Derrick De Marney had had some moderate success but both actors were not well known overseas.

Hitchcock added his usual array of interesting character studies which typified so many of his films. I always thought that he never wasted a character in any of his films with even the smallest bit part being used effectively. Young and Innocent is no exception with a couple of wonderful cameos from J.H Roberts as the myopic solicitor who advises his client "We mustn't be depressed on a day like this" after he has been accused of murder.

George Curzon as the villain plays an aggrieved, black faced drummer who has been two timed by his actress wife who he "dragged out of the gutter to make a star". Curzon hams it up to the hilt complete with a twitch which eventually leads to him being exposed as the murderer.

Edward Rigby is the quintessential tramp who dons an uncomfortable tux to enter the Grand Hotel in another fine cameo role. Basil Radford and Percy Marmont as the kindly Police Chief are also very impressive in their small roles.

The film closes with one of Hitchcock's most impressive scenes from all of his films. He loved the concept of furthest to nearest with the camera moving slowly from a very wide shot through the hotel to finally focus on the drummer. He used a crane to achieve this in Young and Innocent and it must have been an extremely innovative and logistically difficult task in 1937. He used the concept again in Notorious and other films to great effect.

Young and Innocent has all the charm and humour that typifies so many Hitchcock movies and is set in another world - country England in 1937.

I have always thought that Hitchcock's English films from the mid to late 1930s produced some of his best work and this is a forgotten gem that helped progress him to Hollywood.

Highly recommended.

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The Limping Man (1953)

5/10

Pity about the ending.......

12 January 2007

The Limping Man is a fairly bland British B grade Noir with Lloyd Bridges imported from America to play the lead role and add appeal to a wider audience. The plot follows a reasonably intriguing path towards what should/could have been a dramatic conclusion before reaching a disappointing ending that might have been borrowed from a children's story. Despite this, the film has its moments with fine performances from Bridges and Alan Wheatley as the Inspector. Leslie Phillips appears as the inspector's subordinate and, as always, is typecast as the ladies man who ogles everything in a dress.

Although the ending is flawed the film still has appeal as an interesting example of British Film Noir.

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Hollow Triumph (1948)

8/10

Fine Film Noir with an ironic twist........

12 January 2007

"The Scar aka Hollow Triumph" The Scar is somewhat underrated as a film noir but powerful performances by Joan Bennett and Paul Henreid as Johnny Muller, and stylish direction from Steve Sekely make this a gripping film with some very effective twists. All of the ingredients of Noir are present with the flawed characters, dark settings and the inevitable tragedies. Henreid sees a way of escaping from his troubles by stealing the identity of a psychiatrist. Ultimately, irony plays its part in the destiny of the leading characters. Although Johnny Muller appears as a highly intelligent criminal, he makes a fundamental blunder that could expose him. However, the vagaries of human nature allow him to succeed with his impersonation with only a charlady detecting him. Look out for a wonderful cameo from Alvin Hammer as Jerry, the garage attendant who dreams of becoming a famous ballroom dancer.

If you are a fan of Film Noir, I would recommend adding the film to your collection.

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The Ipcress File (1965)

Fleming would have approved....

2 September 2005

I suspect that Ian Fleming would have preferred the James Bond films to have been closer to the Harry Palmer movies than the over the top series that relied on special effects and huge budgets but were so short on substance. The Ipcress file has a gritty realism that the Bond films lack. Michael Caine is brilliant in the role with some of the same character traits as James Bond but far more vulnerability. The Ian Fleming books portrayed Bond in a similar way. Sure, he had his expensive tastes for the good things in life but the films left out the character. The producers of the Bond films would do well to add some of the Harry Palmer realism to their films.

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How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)

What Style, what punch......

2 September 2004

One of the great satirical, musical comedies of the 60s. Robert Morse in the lead role is not unlike a sophisticated version of one of the Jerry Lewis characters of the same era - with the exception that he sings. And, he sings some wonderfully witty songs that must be very close to the bone in companies that take themselves too seriously. Sammy Smith is superb in his dual roles as the quarter of a century mail room head who "plays it the company way" and then later as Chairman Wally, the ex window washer. The lyrics will never date, along with the hammy caricatures of the self serving executives and staff. Not all stage musicals have translated well to the screen but How to Succeed is a noteworthy exception - highly recommended.

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Cat-Women of the Moon (1953)

From Gone With The Wind to this.....

4 December 2003

In the early part of his career, Victor Jory appeared in some great films, starring alongside the likes of James Cagney and Errol Flynn. He even had a prominent role in Gone With the Wind. His co-starring role in Cat-Women of the Moon represents a descent to the depths in a film that resembles an amateur high school production. He must have been desperate. This is about as bad as it gets with a horrendously unimaginative miniature rocket and a plot that makes you wonder why they bothered. The absolute highlight occurs midway through the film when the head Cat Women slaps one of the underlings. The slap misses by some margin despite the sound effect of hand making contact with flesh. This scene is so bad that it has been mimicked by comedy writers ever since. The original print has been remastered for some unknown reason. Whoever made the decision to do that wasted their time.

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The Verdict (1946)

Don't miss this one.....

19 November 2003

It is sad that Sydney Greenstreet's career in film was relatively brief - albeit marked by memorable performances in some truly great movies. He may well have had a successful life on the stage in the bulk of his acting life but his roles in film, in a brief eight year period, are all that is preserved from a long and distinguished career. We can only guess at the performances of a young and perhaps thinner Sydney Greenstreet. Despite all this he made his debut in The Maltese Falcon and then a few films later co-starred in Casablanca, more than making up for the delay in the transition to the big screen. The Verdict sees Greenstreet at his finest as the wizened superintendent whose career has been forever marred by an error of judgment that costs a man his life. This is a perfect whodunit/noir/murder mystery that is still gripping and tight despite the slightly melodramatic ending where revenge is possibly carried a little too close to the wire. Lorre is his usual sinister self, fascinated at the thought of exhuming a dead body and Colouris appropriate as the inept detective. Highly recommended.

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Ransom! (1956)

Disappointing anticlimax.....

13 October 2003

Ransom is a classic example of a promising plotline that hits a brick wall in midstream and is doomed to end in an anticlimax. When Glenn Ford's son is kidnapped, he chooses not to pay the ransom. He prefers to play the waiting game in the hope that the kidnapper will realize that he has no hope of financial gain and return the child. This is where we hit the wall. All that is left is to watch the anguish and near breakdown of the mother and the misery of the father as he passively waits for his son to be returned. There are only two likely outcomes from here - the child is killed or he is returned. Either way, Glenn Ford as the star of this, has no real role in the events. Inevitably, the end will be an anticlimax. When the son miraculously appears in the closing stages, there has been no real suspense or proactive action - just a series of images of Glenn Ford looking distraught and Donna Reed on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The premise of a father refusing to pay the ransom will only have a chance of working in film if he had taken a more active role in locating his son. In the case of Ransom, the writers and director clearly took the wrong fork in the road.

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D.O.A. (1949)

The definitive Film Noir....

13 October 2003

Frank Bigelow: "I want to report a murder." Homicide Captain: "Where was this murder committed?" Frank Bigelow: "San Francisco, last night." Homicide Captain: "Who was murdered?" Frank Bigelow: "I was."

It must be the dream of all directors to open a film with a scene or line which carries great impact and remains in the memory. The opening line in D.O.A must rank among the most dramatically effective and intriguing lines that has ever opened a movie. This is the quintessential film noir. Edmond O'Brien as the tough, hard drinking businessman who has grown tired of the normalcy of his life and the clinging Paula. His holiday in San Francisco is an opportunity to break the shackels. The premise that the hero has been given a slow poison for which there is no cure, and only a day or so to solve his own murder before he dies, is exceptional. We also have an array of sultry "bad girls", a seedy villain and a manic hitman. Rudoph Mate directs brilliantly, not missing a moment to twist and turn the action at a fast pace with no dull moments. Scenes of O'Brien running through city streets after he has learned his fate are superb with incredibly realistic wide shots. The fact that his direction is so effective makes one wonder how he could have allowed the lapses of ridiculous canned "wolf whistles" whenever the hero passed a good looking girl in the early scenes. Although these "wolf whistles" are really out of place and very annoying, the film is so effective that we can forgive the indiscretion. This is a classic example of a brilliant plot superbly told in a way that is still gripping 50 years after it was made. D.O.A. defines Film Noir.

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Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

A step below The Roaring Twenties but Cagney is superb

28 August 2003

I was a little disappointed with Angels with Dirty Faces having expected something to equal The Roaring Twenties. Unfortunately this is not in the same league as the Raoul Walsh classic. Despite its flaws, Cagney is magnificent as always, the quintessential tough but lovable gangster with an underlying heart of gold. Whilst Cagney's performance as Rocky Sullivan is faultless, The Dead End Kids appeared to me as overstated, hammy caricatures and their performances bordered on annoying with a manufactured script that convinced me that the writer may have heard of, but never experienced, the tough side of Hells Kitchen. Nevertheless, there are some great moments and the climax is indeed memorable as Cagney is led the "the chair". The Father makes a final request to Rocky to fake cowardice so that the kids might reconsider their hero worship of him. There is some ambiguity about whether Rocky really was "yellow" in his final moments but to me there was no doubt that he was acting for the sake of the kids. The scene certainly has great impact first with the chilling image of Cagney's face, and then in shadows the sounds of his feigned terror in his last moments. I would question the plausibility of the Father asking for such an act of cowardice as Rocky is led to his death and I also wonder whether such a grand gesture at the point of death would have had its desired result. Ultimately, without the brilliance of Cagney, Angels with Dirty Faces may well have been dismissed as another typical and unremarkable gangster film.

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This Gun for Hire (1942)

Seedy B grade noir

1 July 2003

Alan Ladd as a youthful hitman who blows away everyone who crosses his path, Laird Gregar brilliant as an oily, overweight, camp villain, Veronica Lake sultry, blonde and devastatingly beautiful, raise this seedy film to an interesting noir that has been regarded by critics as a "classic".

This Gun for Hire is a typically B Grade feature with a slightly implausible plot featuring Lake as a performer who blends music with magic before becoming a spy. Ladd is the "likeable" perhaps misunderstood killer/hero who is kind to animals and children but slaps chamber maids and kills cops routinely. Advertising posters for this title featured some of the classic graphic art of the film noir and as such has raised the profile of the film to a higher level than it deserves. That aside, the film is still well worth seeing - great cast and classic noir.

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Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Hardly a starring role for Peter Lorre but....

30 June 2003

An interesting film noir with Peter Lorre in more of a cameo as the mysterious villain than a starring role. He appears briefly, lurking darkly as he attempts to avoid a confrontation with the hero, not saying a word until the final ten minutes of the film. With a fairly nondescript cast, Lorre received top billing for what must have been a fairly easy few days' work. The film runs for just 64 minutes and is not unlike one of the Hitchcock tele plays in prime-time television in the 50s. Boris Ingster includes some creative moments with the dream scenes impressive. I particularly liked the angular images of the prison bars with the gruesome shadow of the electric chair. The ending is a little glib for my liking and the plot fits into place just a little too easily resulting in a fairly banal ending to what could have been a more complex psychological thriller - I thought for a while the hero had actually committed the two murders and that may have been a more interesting development than the more obvious ending. This film was shown on ABC television as part of a series of Film Noir and I was impressed with the superb quality of the print. 2 stars out of 5.

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The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

Intriguing and haunting

8 March 2003

Curse of the Cat People is an intriguing tale, beautifully filmed in a style that bears more resemblance to a Grimms fairytale than horror, with a mesmerizing performance from Ann Carter. This is her film and she is strong and convincing in the role. The exploration of the insecurity of the child coupled with a troubled relationship with her father is fascinating. I have not seen Cat People and, possibly, aspects of the history of the demise of Irena would be clearer having seen the original. The expectation of a "horror" film with the suggestive title is also misleading. If you are looking for horror you will need to look elswhere. This is ultimately a surprisingly sensitive and uniquely haunting film that would appeal on many levels.

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