Benjy Reviews

Men in White (1998 TV Movie)

I think I hold the record here...

[1/10 · 12 June 2002]

it got switched off before the opening credits had even finished appearing. The first joke was just so appallingly lame and dreadfully acted that it had to go. You shouldn't really decide to watch this based on my review or not. I saw so little of it I shouldn't even really be commenting but suddenly it all became clear why the video shop guy was sniggering at us paying money to see it.

Couldn't they have just made Earnest does Dallas?

40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)

Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be

[6/10 · 11 June 2002]

First off this is far from a great movie but it's an ok night of entertainment if a) you're in the mood for a sex farce and b) there's nothing better on at the cinema. It has a lot of flaws, most notably the liberal applying of schmaltz across the whole film but it does have it's rewarding moments and interesting characters such as the Bagel guy who knows everything except how to turn up on time. A lot of the comedy is too heavy handed but there are moments which genuinely made me laugh. I particularly liked Josh Hartnett's Priest to be brother struggling to listen to Josh's tales of sexual encounters.

That said the two main characters are somewhat lacking in life and could have done with a bit more development. This is a largely French funded film and it does show in places. There are elements of French farce about it but with transposing the action to California it was always inevitable there'd be the standard Hollywood ending and it doesn't "disappoint" in that respect.

Hopefully this won't be the best film you'll see this year but it certainly could be worse.

Spider-Man (2002)

Stan Lee says it's better than the comics

[9/10 · 10 June 2002]

and I feel inclined not to disagree with him. This film is just plain excellent from start to finish. It's not perfect, it contains far too many cheesy lines although to be fair the majority of them come from the 60s comics so they were always bound to be cheesy but could you do Spider-Man without the "great power comes great responsibility" line? Of course not so we'll put the odd cheesy line to one side for the moment.

This movie was never going to be your standard Hollywood blockbuster with the potential oddball coupling of Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire. Raimi is a talented director and throughout his career his films have had 2 things in common, entertainment and Bruce Campbell. Spider-Man disappoints on neither score. Add in the lovely Kirsten Dunst and a Green Goblin played by someone who yet again you wouldn't think would do this kind of movie (though he did do Body of Evidence....) and it's a recipe for not only box office success but also critical success.

This film was always going to be the first in a series of films about one of the best superhero chracters available and it's excellence across the board merely means were unlikely to ever see one of them go straight to video. The quality of the script, acting and directing and also it's faithfulness to a comic legend means no-one should be disappointed. That all said it's not the sort of film likely to win Oscars (except the technical awards) but then Titanic isn't half the movie this is and it won a shedload.

My only complaints, the odd cheesy line which I'll forgive and the Green Goblin's mask which makes him look like a Mighty Morphon Power Ranger baddie. Come on Willem Dafoe just needed his face painted green!

Bulworth (1998)

Why do people have such a problem with swearing?

[6 June 2002]

Reading back on most people's reviews of this movie it strikes me that the main reason people dislike this movie is because they don't like profanity. Guess what? It's R Rated and reading the blurb on the back of it would suggest it's not going to be for sex or violence. So, this begs the question why did you want to watch it in the first place? Personally I can't understand why anyone has a problem with words which are let's face it, a part of the English language and there to be used.

Right on with the film, it's a political satire concentrating on what most Americans would term socialist values (although to most Europeans it would just seem to be left wing politics and not particularly far left politics either) Beatty is well known to be a left wing political speaker and there have been rumours in the past about him running for president. Instead of running he made Bulworth and may I say what a fantastic acheivement it is. I found this film exceptionally well written, competently directed and acting superbly. The cast is nothing short of fantastic. Halle Berry's character remains too under developed but she does her best with the part. Oliver Platt and Dom Cheadle must get particluar mentions though in supporting roles, both were their usually excellent self (what were you thinking with Mission to Mars Don??).

This is a daring film and it won't be to everyone's tastes ardent Republicans will just not like it, in fact it pokes at so many areas within the political and media spectrums I suspect there's a lot of people who will not like it for it's politics. People who dislike copious amounts of swearing will dislike it intensely. However people who like Bill Hicks will love it. Beatty rapping is quite frankly somewhat painful at times but you have to pay attention to the words and being honest I doubt whether this film would have been released if Beatty simply spoke the lines. You can say far more controversial things in song or rap than you ever could in a normal line in a movie and as a tool in the film it works. Hopefully Beatty will never release a rap album though!

This is a brave film, funny yet with a social message. America is not a democracy as long as it's run by big corporations, health insurance, oil and power companies buying up senators and has a controllable media with which it can keep it that way. That ultimately is the main message of this movie. Comedy is often the best forum for preaching social change. Bill Hicks was a master at it. At least someone is trying to carry the torch follwing his death.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

The Coen Brothers' Odyssey

[9/10 · 19 September 2000]

Throughout their film career, the Coen Brothers have never disappointed, except at the box office. Whether this film will be a commercial success remains to be seen, I saw it the first weekend of release in the UK with only a small handful of other people. This is a moderately faithful retelling of Homer's Odyssey set in a depression hit South, complete with the Coen Brother's now obligatory fake plot. The script is a masterpiece of dialogue realistically creating the 30s yet referencing modern day issues. The acting is sublime, George Clooney is on top form, John Turturro is always good but there's also an excellent performance from relative newcomer Tim Blake Nelson. John Goodman shows up in a brilliant cameo as a bible salesman/thief/KKK member. Also add into this an excellent supporting cast and Holly Hunter to boot. O Brother contains without doubt the funniest Ku Klux Klan scene I've ever watched which should be required viewing for Klan members and activists alike to make them all realise how daft they look! A word too for the soundtrack, a mishmash of 30s blues and country. I'll be queueing up for the CD! The Coen brothers really are master story tellers, true artists in an industry full of artisans. Who cares if it's a commercial success? Hollywood probably will so for the sake of there being many many more Coen Bros. movies go and see it! You will not regret it.

Snatch (2000)

Doesn't quite live up to the hype

[7/10 · 3 September 2000]

I guess like most people I really liked Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels so my expectations were very high for Snatch. After all Guy Ritchie had managed to recruit two of my favourite American actors in Brad Pitt and Dennis Farina. However it seems that my expectations were a little too high. There is so much to commend this film, the acting on the whole is very good, Brad Pitt being particularly worthy of note and Vinnie Jones given a little more depth with Bullet Tooth Tony than he was with Big Chris, but having said that I found it very hard going at times, especially when the cockney gangsters were around. I know it's a comedy (and Ritchie's script provides plenty of laughs) but gangsters are supposed to be hard! There's just something about a cockney accent to me that makes it seem, I don't know, comical I guess. Bricktop lacks the menace of the villains in Lock, Stock and you have to wonder how he got into such a position in the first place. The direction is clever, particularly the opening sequence but it leaves me slightly cold. It's too stylised and reminds me more of adverts than it should, though how much of that is due to adverts being derivative of Guy Ritchie or vice versa I'm not so sure. Ritchie's dialog is much better than his previous film but his plot, I'm afraid to say is vastly inferior and feels a little hurried at times, the plot itself is not overly complex but Ritchie's direction serves to make it more so. His occasional use of flashbacks to different characters do not work too well either. Guy Ritchie is an accomplished and talented writer and while his Direction is stylish it still needs a lot of work. All things said Snatch is by no means the worst film of the year and is well worth going to see, just don;t go in with your expectations too high. 7/10.

The Naked Man (II) (1999)

More left turns than the Indianapolis 500

[8/10 · 8 August 2000]

I rented this movie for two reasons, first and foremost because the box contained the 'C' word. No not that 'C' word, the other one.... Coen, Ethan Coen. One half of the duo which brought us the Big Lebowsi, Fargo and the Hudsucker Proxy and even though he only has a co-writing credit (along with director J. Todd Anderson)it's easy to see his influence. The second reason was the excellent Michael Rapaport, who you may or more likely not, recognise from True Romance and Beautiful Girls. He's in fine form here as a Chiropractor who sidelines as rather odd looking Wrestler who wears a suit that looks like he's had his skin removed. SPOILERS***** When his family of chemists are massacred by the local pharmaceutical mafia head, Sticks Verona he loses the plot (although Coen and Anderson don't) and becomes a wrestling super hero using his Chiropractic skills to disable his enemies. One ridiculous plot twist after another follows as the Naked Man seeks his horrible revenge on the quadraplegic Sticks Verona. He's not an evil man, he just has back problems. This is not a great movie, it's a good movie. It is though, always entertaining and thoroughly bizarre!

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Action action everywhere but nothing makes you think.

[5/10 · 7 August 2000]

John Woo fans, you will probably not be disappointed. Anyone wanting some more of the semi-cerebral plot of the first movie will be. As with all of Woo's movies, the action scenes here certainly do not leave you wanting. They are on the whole quite simply stunning. Is there anyone that can combine John Woo's ability to produce great action allied to such beautiful choreography? Probably not but there is pretty much where the superlatives end. There's a paper thin plot, poor dialog and actors who seem to be going through the motions. Thandie Newton looks stunning and should go onto to better roles and there's some promise as a Bond Villain for Dougray Scott. Tom Cruise had just begun to build himself up a reputation as a serious actor, while MI:2 doesn't shatter it, it hardly enhances it. Physically though he is superb, his stunts fantastic his movement sublime. Emotionally he's a wet fish. Ving Rhames is capable of much better, will someone write this man a good role again? Overall not a disappointment, but nothing to write home about either.

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Brutality, death and honour?

[10/10 · 7 August 2000]

The Wild Bunch is surely the finest, defining and almost the ending moment of Hollywood's love affair with the Old West. I have no hesitation in categorically stating this is the best Western I've ever seen, the only other that comes close is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, ironically the film that probably rescued the Western from the early grave the Wild Bunch plunged it into. In the real West, Butch and Sundance's gang were known as the Wild Bunch and thats not where the similarities end.

*SPOILERS****** Both sets are train robbers and all meet their bloody end, hopelessly outnumbered, at the hands of a Latin American Army. Despite the similarities though, these films are polar opposites. There is no sign of the jokey relationship between the male leads. No tomfoolery and certainly no laughs. While Butch and Sundance wins us over with Burt Bacharach's score and Raindrops keep falling on my head, the Wild Bunch mentally tortures you through Jerry Fieldings haunting music. Scenes of death are treated by Peckinpah with some cold realism and bloodshed that you wonder how this passed the censors in 1969! Both films are staged around the 1900-10 period, the end of the West. Progress comes to both, in the form of the bicycle in Butch's case and in the form of the motor car in the Wild Bunch. Progress comes and all who cannot adjust are swept before it like the tide of ants swamping the scorpion. Not a single Oscar nomination in sight for Peckinpah or any of his superb cast. A travesty, not the first and certainly not the last. Very few films move me, the Wild Bunch does so perhaps more than any other.

High Fidelity (2000)

Hornby travels the Atlantic well.

[9/10 · 5 August 2000]

Having seen Fever Pitch I never thought anything written by Nick Hornby would be made as an American film - not made well anyway! However, when the same team that wrote, directed, produced, etc... Grosse Pointe Blank signs a deal to turn Hornby's book about infidelity in a record store you know it's in some of the safest hands it could be. I say that but this film represents John Cusacks Production team's proof that Grosse Pointe Blank was not a fluke. High Fidelity is an excellent film. Well scripted, excellently acted, particularly by the supporting cast and well directed. Actors talking to the camera can sometimes seem uncomfortable but John Cusack carries it off in a style that feels natural to watch. The same though cannot be said of Iben Hjejle (Laura), she is acting in a foreign language but sadly for large portions of the film this makes her appear wooden. This is only seriously noticeable in a couple of scenes but with so many good actresses around I can't fathom how she got the part. She certainly is no Minnie Driver. Catherine Zeta-Jones also seems an odd choice for one of Cusack's former loves. She plays the part well enough but there's something not quite right, she's just miscast I feel. It's hardly a laugh a minute but it's a darn sight better romantic comedy than the average Hugh Grant flick. It is though, in the record store that the film comes to life where Jack Black and Todd Luiso play Cusack's long time muso employees. To call Black a scene stealer is like calling the Saturn V Moon Rocket a firework. All that a great slimy cameo by a ponytailed Tim Robbins. Watch this movie, even if you're not on a date. If John Cusack hadn't done Pushing Tin I'd have though he could do no wrong, 2 of the best movies of the past 12 months have his name above them. This is not as good as Being John Malkovich but it is a good movie nonetheless.

The Patriot (2000)

Don't waste 3 hours of your life!

[1/10 · 4 August 2000]

It's not the anti-english sentiment that annoys me, I'm welsh I could teach Mel Gibson a thing or two about it. What I found far more insulting was the PC treatment of the black characters. A South Carolina land owner having freed his slaves in 1776? I think not! 1876 maybe just about. This major annoyance only served to make an appallingly cliched piece of tripe even more unwatchable than it already was. Technically it's not bad, the settings are excellent the camera work and directing adequate. I've seen worse acting although I have seen an awful lot better as well. No what ruins this film is it's holier than thou cliched dialogue. Sadly it's very rare for a good script to come out of Hollywood these days. Sadder still is the fact that there is no 0 score on IMDB. The Patriot doesn't even deserve to score that highly. Rent Glory instead, ok so it's a civil war movie but the battles (the only good bit in the Patriot) are as good, the script is much better and it might just give you a better idea about how blacks were treated by the USA about 100 years later.

The Perfect Storm (2000)

Leave with 10 minutes to go and it's a great movie.

[6/10 · 4 August 2000]

I wasn't expecting a great movie, just great Special Effects. The Effects were great but I got a wee bit more than I bargained for in the film department as well. It's gripping, tense well acted, pretty well scripted and anyone thinking of a career in the fishing industry will surely be put off by it! What galls me though is the last 10 minutes of sentimental tagged on schmaltz. There really is no need for it, the film would work fine with being 10 minutes shorter. If you watch it you'll know what I mean but I'm not going to spoil it for you here. I thought George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg worked very well together in Three Kings and again here they seem to share a chemistry. The Supporting cast you will probably all recognise but you won't know where from. John C Reilly is like in the Thin Red Line worthy of particulary high praise. ILM have done an incredible job with the water and ships. There is a stunning brutal beauty to all of their shots not to mention an eerie realism. Perfect Storm takes a while to get going but unlike Twister once it starts it's a ride of pure tension and excitement. As weather movies go, this is a damn good one (except for the last 10 mins!).

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Vastly superior to Saving Private Ryan

[10/10 · 1 August 2000]

Saving Private Ryan got all the hype, received all the nominations and won all the awards yet somehow this masterpiece slipped through the net virtually undetected. This is a trip through the minds of a collection of increasingly desperate and maddening men as they fight for a hill on an island in the middle of nowhere. This is done cleverly as a voice over, a film making technique that can often be difficult to fit with the rest of the film. The director here submits a perfect example of how to use the voice over to your best advantage. The setting is beautiful and peaceful and yet manages to be both ugly and lethal as well. The acting from all corners of this massive cast is never less than impressive and judging by the number of minor roles filled by A list actors I'd say that it's a script a lot of actors wanted to get in on that a lot of Hollywood studios did not. Woody Harrelson is worthy of a particular mention in the minor role department. Nick Nolte is nothing short of excellent as the desperate commanding officer charged with a virtual suicide mission. Elias Koteas, Jim Caviezal, John C Reilly, John Cusack, etc... everyone excels in their parts helping to make this a far more human drama than Private Ryan could ever pretend to be. The camera angles are frequently chosen to place you as one of the men fighting for their lives making this an exhilarating watch, I only wish I'd seen it in a dark movie theatre and not at home on DVD.

Being John Malkovich (1999)

Malkovich, Malkovich

[10/10 · 1 August 2000]

There are simply not enough superlatives in the English language to describe this film. It is however, the best film I saw in the 90s, right up there with Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club and the handful of other movies which fit into that all too small subsection of 90s culture. This film was not even given a general release in the UK because to quote my local cinema manager "It's too arty". He was wrong, it is a piece of art but above all it is a piece of classic cinema which can be understood and appreciated by anyone with a brain. Perhaps people round here are too stupid. The Cinema owners of the UK certainly are. I've been a fan of Spike Jonze ever since he directed the video to Buddy Holly by Weezer. Being John Malkovich was a perfect choice of script for his first feature film and while I still haven't seen American Beauty (if you can believe that!) it's going to have to be mighty impressive to beat Jonze's first film.

To describe Being JM as quirky and off the wall does not do it justice. In an age lacking originality, here I believe we have re-discovered some of that precious commodity. We have no obvious hero, no good people, only greedy self serving people. Art reflecting life perhaps? Perhaps not but this film will truly appeal to the cynical generation weened on a diet of cash and superficiality who are seeking just a little more, the eighties kids. We have no culture, no great defining moment in our lives. Our idea of nostalgia is to talk about 70s kids TV programmes. Being John Malkovich is not a great defining moment, it is not the Beatles on Ed Sullivan's show or the end of the Second World War but at least it gives us something to think about and something better to talk about than the Banana Splits and Bagpuss.

Groundhog Day (1993)

Why is there not an Academy Award for comedy?

[9/10 · 2 February 2000]

It never ceases to baffle me why there is no Award for good comedies. Good comedy is harder to write and perform than almost any other genre and yet great films like Groundhog Day are constantly ignored when the Academy issues it's nominees. It seems that to win, or even be nominated all you have to do is set your drama in the late part of the last century. Among Groundhog Day's 1993 contemporaries are the Piano, Remains of the Day, Schindler's List and Philadelphia. Worthy films all and while there may not be a dry eye in the house for any of them, there surely aren't too many laughs either!

Don't get me wrong, you won't guffaw your way through this film in the way you might at say, the Naked Gun films or South Park but it is an excellently scripted and crafted piece by Harold Ramis (famed as Egon in Ghostbusters). Ramis and Murray do appear to have an exceptional working chemistry having also collaborated on the under-rated Stripes waaaay back in the 80s. That chemistry is obvious here as Bill Murray puts in what was at that point arguably his best performance. I'm not an Andie MacDowell fan by any stretch of the imagination but she is well cast here as the prissy producer to Murray's cynical Weatherman. Also of note is Chris Elliot who you may recognise as Woogie from "There's something about Mary". Elliot carries off the part of long suffering and desperate cameraman Larry with some aplomb and I find it a shame that he does not do more work in the film industry, if only so he'd stop doing those awful Baked Tostito's ads!

While it certainly didn't deserve to win the 1994 Best Picture Oscar, it could certainly have merited a nomination. Groundhog Day is though very deserving of it's top 250 position on IMDB, although it could justify being a little higher in my opinion. It is over sentimental in parts but that could just be the cynical Brit coming out in me :)

Cruel Intentions (1999)

Sick, Twisted, disgustingly funny.

[8/10 · 14 December 1999]

I'm still not quite sure what to think of this movie. I feel absolutely no sympathy for any of the characters, being as they are spoilt little brats on the whole. However, you cannot help but marvel at the manipulative skills of one Miss Gellar. I must admit to a little trepidation about a movie with Buffy the Vampire Slayer in but that soon disappeared as Kathryn slinked her way from scene to scene stealing whichever one she was in. Ryan Phillippe is not as appealing but he is effective as the not quite so smart as he thinks brother. The rest of the cast take it in turns to irritate and titilate as they ably support the two main characters.

The sets are sumptuously rich, encompassing large English style mansions and upper east side apartments. The direction is well paced and I never lost interest in the film, partly because with these two involved you were never sure who was going to come out from under the bedsheets with them! If it's tits your after, look elsewhere but if it's titilation, a great plot, decent acting and as black a comedy as you can find look no further.

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

The 80s never seemed so good at the time

[10/10 · 20 September 1999]

I must confess my review will be a little biased. I have long been a huge John Cusack fan, since around 1985 which was the first time I saw the marvellously under-rated high school black comedy Better Off Dead. CUsack has had the knack over the years of choosing good scripts usually (but not always) in smaller budget films. He is a fine fine actor in an understated sort of way and his gravity and comic timing lend him well to this role. Cusack plays the world weary hitman who gets a second chance at life courtesy of his High School Reunion and his childhood sweetheart (whom he jilted at the prom). While this is predominantly a comedy, it's not a laugh a minute it is also hardly a typical movie. How many hitmen are the good guys? More to the point how many hitmen are the good guys, get the girl and ride off happily into the sunset? There's a very welcome indie feel about the whole production but it still manages to look slick. The cast is of the highest order. Just about the entire CUsack family makes an appearance somewhere, Minnie Driver is well quite frankly gorgeous in a way I can't quite put my finger on. She's also a damn fine actress and the American accent is not a problem for her. This also probably represents Dan Aykroyd's finest performance since Ghostbusters. He's well cast as the overly fussy rival hitman. The real star of the show is a cameo by Alan Arkin as Martin Blank's long suffering psychiatrist. Much humour is made of the fact that no-one seems to believe Martin is a hitman although he is very liberal with this information. The attention to detail as mentioned in a previous review is what sets this movie apart and provides it with some of the best laughs. The way the hitmen stand and talk to each other, Martin not being able to sit with his back to a door, the authentically believable high school reunion. All of these things combine to make what is pretty unbelievable subject matter, well, believable! The dialogue comes over as natural, the action scenes while not quite in Jackie Chan territory are extremely well choreographed.

I can watch this movie time and again and still enjoy it. This still begs the question, why is a man as obviously talented as John Cusack, a huge star? As long as he keeps turning his hand to quality indie's like this one, I don't care!

The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Thoroughly enjoyable romp

[7/10 · 30 July 1999]

The Mask of Zorro may never win any Oscars and I'll never pretend that perhaps it deserved to but it is a wonderfully engaging and entertaining film. Some doubts may be cast about employing 2 welsh actors (Hopkins and Zeta-Jones) to fill the roles of Mexicans but the odd wavering accent, they carry it off with an air of believability. What is such a joy to behold in this film is the chemistry between the 3 leads. Catherine Zeta-Jones would seem to be heading for a huge career. She has the looks and screen presence of a 1950s star. Both her and Anthony Hopkins gel well with Banderas who is in his element here. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful and the fight scenes wonderfully choreographed. Yes it's corny and predictable but it's grade A entertainment none the less. 7/10.

The Rock (1996)

The Best Action Movie of the 90s

[9/10 · 22 July 1999]

Michael Bay is quickly establishing himself as a director of some standing in the Summer blockbuster market. The Rock is his second feature, the first being the hugely enjoyable if not particularly intellectual Bad Boys. He has since also gone onto direct the similarly enjoyable if completely brain dead Armageddon. The Rock however, is light years ahead of either of those two films. Not only is the action fantastic but unusually for this type of film, the characterisation is well explored and to some extent believable. I'm a great fan of all the main actors, Nick Cage, Sean Connery, Michael Beihn and particularly Ed Harris who is on great form here. Harris is the villain we can identify with and to extents feel sympathy for. He is an honourable man who firmly believes what he is doing is right. The real villains here are the politicians. Alcatraz makes for a wonderful setting and the sets are atmospheric while keeping that claustrophobic feeling.

With the Rock, Michael Bay can stand comfortably alongside that other master of the Summer blockbuster, Barry Sonnenfeld.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

As a Kid's film, outstanding, as an adult film, not bad

[7/10 · 16 July 1999]

It's probably worth mentioning that I stayed as far away from hype and knowing the plotline as possible. I think that may have been what saved this movie for me. There are very few movies released at this time of year that live up to the hype. Star Wars Episode I is no exception to that rule but it does have a lot of redeeming features. Anyone with half a brain knew this film would have a weaker storyline than Episodes IV, V and VI otherwise this one would have been made in 1977, not Episode IV. The reason is that the main characters are Jedi, not the most interesting people in the universe, until they start fighting that is. So with no Han Solo character, this really is just a scene setter and should not really be looked at as anything else. Having said that the Special Effects are simply mind blowing. I don't think most people realise just how much of this movie is actually composited and it's certainly the best example of how it can be done well. It's a shoo-in for the Effects Oscar, only the Matrix provides any competition to it and in any other year the Matrix would have won it. But while Jar Jar is annoying at first, I stopped noticing it after a while. The performances are pretty good even though the roles were not too demanding. I am surprised that more was not made of Hugh Quarshie's role as Captain Panaka or Steven Speirs as Captain Tarpals these two seemed the only ones with good potential as characters. I'll admit to some confusion over the dual role of Amidala and Padme, which was which when? A far from perfect film that is let down in the first half but redeemed in the second half. From the Pod Race onwards it's excellent for all ages. Before that it's a little dull, the timing is off. Perhaps George Lucas could have left the Directorial duties to someone who has directed more recently?

The Borrowers (1997)

Not just good special effects but superb ones!

[3 February 1999]

Reading some of the other reviews you get the impression that the Special Effects in the Borrowers are somewhat mediocre, well I feel I must stand up for them. The effects in this film are on the whole superb. The problem is that some of them are so good you just don't notice them unless they are pointed out to you. In my opinion the effects in the Borrowers are vastly superior to things like say Titanic, which rather unbelievably won an Oscar. Any effect which you're inclined to say "That's a good effect" too, is not a good effect, it is a poor one because you can tell it's an effect. The best effects go unnoticed, not only by the movie going public but also by the Academy it seems.

Twin Town (1997)

You don't have to be Welsh to enjoy it... ...but it helps.

[10/10 · 18 November 1998]

Contrary to some of the reviews on this page, Twin Town is a very good film. It is no Welsh Trainspotting, only marketing people will say that and consequently only the foolish will believe that. It is not even from the makers of Trainspotting as the US marketeers are currently trying to claim. It is a film that is to Wales what Trainspotting is to Scotland but that is really where the similarities end. Twin Town is much more of a comedy, and is much more difficult to understand, particularly if you're not familiar with welsh accents. The plot is nothing new, an ever escalating battle of revenge but it is the location and script which set it apart. Port Talbot is far more depressing a place to live than Glasgow could ever be. The chances of Port Talbot (or even Swansea for that matter) being called a European City of Culture are more remote than the Pope turning out to be Elvis. The Lewis Twins are synonymous with Wales in the 90s, poverty stricken, joyriding drug addicts. And yet there is something lovable about them, something heroic.

You can sit back and laugh at this film if you're not welsh, or you could be utterly confused for two hours because unlike Trainspotting, the accents are not toned down for American audiences. However, if you are Welsh, Twin Town will speak to you like no other film you can remember. The ending is a thing of beauty, I only wish Terry the bent copper could have been English.....

Forrest Gump (1994)

A triumph of hype over content

[1/10 · 4 August 1998]

Surely Forrest Gump must rate as one of the biggest dupes of all time. Quite how the marketeers managed to pass this off as a great film is beyond my powers of reason. Tom Hanks plays the intellectually challenged Gump and picked up his second consecutive Oscar for his over the top portrayal. A spectacular job considering the Academy do not normally fall for the same ploys as the movie going public. Even more spectacular when you consider that Morgan Freeman was nominated for The Shawshank Redemption. Gump was the Best Film winner as well, even though Pulp Fiction AND The Shawshank Redemption were nominated. I would put this film into the same sort of class as the Wonder Years or Dazed and Confused, nice but nothing special. It's little more than a period piece chronicalling American Life across three decades and how it affected one man, namely Mr Gump. The cast is good with Gary Sinise very good as Gump's Vietnam Sergeant. Sally Field is well cast as Gump's mother, beyond that there is not much to redeem Gump, the effects are very nicely added if nothing new and the soundtrack is predictably well chosen given the period of time it covers. For the most part it's too mushy, way too sentimental and just not much above mediocre. In years to come the Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction will be looked upon much more favourably than the over-awarded Forrest Gump.