alanj Reviews

Welcome to Woop Woop (1997)

Not Priscilla

[7/10 · 19 November 1998]

Set in the Australian outback you might have thought this movie would have had more in common to the directors previous movie Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The (1994). At the London Film Festical screening director Stephan Elliot started off before the screening that this definitely wasn't the case, and telling us it was about the more obnoxious of his country folk.

This shows a side of Australia that is being rather swept under the carpet. Although raucous and rude in the first half of the movie the mood turns darker towards the end.

And don't forget to wait till after the credits end for an amusing extra.

There are some very funny scenes including Barry Humphries as a blind petrol pump attendant - which so outraged the US lead that he had to spend time recovering in his trailer - it was done fortunately in one take with Humphries ad libbing the scene. And an excellent performance by Rod Taylor as the leader of the community.

Shot in the height of the summer, due to Stephan Elliot becoming ill just before the original start date, the crew needed 36,000 gallons of water per day to survive and in one scene they had to fit the dogs in the scene with shoes to allow them to run across the set.

Hasards ou coïncidences (1998)

Innovative ride through coincidence

[7 November 1998]

An enjoyable movie, with depth and substance. Claude Lelouch's style of shooting close to sequence and only teling them the details of the scene as they are shooting gives the film a slightly documentary feel. One that is deliberate according to the director - and one felt slightly harrowing on the actors.

B. Monkey (1998)

With little substance.

[7 November 1998]

B Monkey, entertained but didn't add anything to my weekend. The London Film Festival gave the World Premiere of this movie which must have been shot before My Best Friend's Wedding when Rupert Everett was still an untouchable (according to Radford, Everett paid for and shot his own screen test because no one would give him a chance). He worked well as the out of it drug pusher whose life B Monkey is entangled with. The two leads, Jared Harris and Asia Argento work well together but this is still not enough to make the movie fully work. The London locations look great (even if with the usual cinematic ploy unconnected parts of town seem to be next to each other).

Overall I may not have gained much from seeing this film but I enjoyed the experience.

The Terminator (1984)

A James Cameron film....

[27 September 1998]

If one didn't know from the trivia section of the IMDb that Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally offered the Rees role one would have thought that Cameron and Hurd wrote the role of the Terminator for him. The terse words have epotomised his acting style since his first movies.

Today the effects look wooden and unrealistic but at the time the expectations were lower. Overall this movie shows all the hallmarks of Cameron's style and story telling that have become his signature.

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

The Montana Tourist board sure are proud :-)

[4 August 1998]

I must say I enjoyed this movie, even after the jokes about it being a 3hr advert from the Montana Tourist Board. The acting is all excellent and reasonably consistent, at least it didn't try to be sugar coated.

Its also nice to see a Range Rover somewhere other than on a school run in a movie....

Godzilla (I) (1998)

Next time plot does matter....

[29 July 1998]

Dear Mr Emmerich,

I like spectacular, enjoyable entertaining movies. Godzilla lacked originality and plot but at least was jovial entertainment.

Next time more plot and bigger monsters none of these puny reptiles :-)

Starship Troopers (1997)

Where was your sense of humour

[29 July 1998]

Dear Mr Verhoeven, > I looked forward to this movie and when it arrived I wondered what happend to your sense of humour - the premise was full of humourous posibilites but your straight face was just too, well straight. > Nice bugs though :-)

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Fun neurosis for beginners...

[8/10 · 29 July 1998]

Jack Nicholoson might have seemed type cast but his delightfully compluslive obsessive behaviour made his charactur all the more enjoyable to watch. The supporting cast held up the dog beautifully :-)

Love and Death on Long Island (1997)

Not what I expected

[29 July 1998]

You know how sometimes you go to a movie expecting one thing and get something slightly different. This was one of those movies. Not a bad thing but curious to see the publicity and the movie. Some thought it slow and pondering, and the char

acture of an English recluse stuck in the 19th century unbelivable. I felt that it was just that a characture and just over the top. Enjoyable but don't mistake it for Godzilla :-)

Thelma & Louise (1991)

good looks do add to the pleasure

[29 July 1998]

Having seen this movie recently for the first time in several years on DVD the directors eye for detail and framing in the girls travels is tremendous.

The DVD also answers the stories about the famed alternate ending that was discussed at the time of the release.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

The ultimate fairytale or the ultimate soap...

[29 July 1998]

One of my all time favorite movies comes with lots of baggage and unappreciative friends. The fairytale wrapped up as SciFi rewrote the cinema handbook for this type of movie. > The sequels lived up to the promise but will the prequels still catch the imagination 20 years later?

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

My favourite number

[29 July 1998]

This is one of the great movie musicals, my personal favourite number is "Good Morning" - just before the ubiquitous Singin'in the Rain.