Change Your Image
wangop
Reviews
Wah-Wah (2005)
Truly fantastic movie: brilliant pacing, excellent performances, quality cast.
Truly fantastic movie. I went to the world premiere last night at Edinburgh Film Festival and was blown away. As much as I like Richard E. Grant, I must confess that I was expecting a rather indulgent art-house auto-biopic. Instead, what we got was a brilliant, superbly paced, wonderfully entertaining feature film that held the audience to the last scene. The first 10 minutes are a little slow, but from then on Grant never puts a foot wrong.
"Wah-Wah" has the right blend of comic situations, gritty family conflict, stunning African scenery and caricatures of latter-day British imperial pretensions to entertain, engage and amaze.
Nicholas Hoult shows that the intensity and charisma evidenced in "About A Boy" were no childhood fluke, while Gabriel Byrne brings a perfect mix of menace and charm to encapsulate the contradictions of Grant's father figure. Special kudos goes to Emily Watson, whose on-screen presence is radiant and lively, rather akin to Rachel Griffiths in "Six Feet Under".
With an assured debut like this, Grant should soon be able to give up those wretched Argos ads for good!
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Com-less rom-com
Flat, predictable and basically lacking in jokes, this was rather pedestrian fare. It could come close to being Hollywood's first romantic comedy with no comedy, but I must confess to a few laughs. The stereotypes were accurate and amusing, but PC considerations dictate that the jokes are only ever soft.
Spy Game (2001)
Ponderous attempt at an intelligent spy thriller
Tony Scott's attempt to make an intelligent espionage thriller in the Le Carre mould comes off as turgid and ponderous. Creditable performances from Redford and Pitt are largely overwhelmed by stylised directing that detracts from, rather than enhancing, the storyline. Scott should stick to what he does best - big dumb action thrillers - and leave the MTV jumpshots and freeze frames to those who know how to use them effectively.
Final Destination (2000)
A real surprise packet - tense and well made
From the trailer, I was not expecting much from 'Final Destination'. How wrong I was! A gripping, physically wracking horror-thriller that really succeeds in generating tension. And that was on video!
Well worth watching.
Lolita (1962)
Improves on a second viewing
Much greater impact on a big screen. James Mason's accent is somewhat preposterous and Peter Sellers is (as usual) about as subtle as Joe McCarthy.