c.g.brannigan Reviews

Dark Skies (1996–1997)

Greatest TV Show EVER!

[13 April 2002]

Dark Skies is a great show, brilliantly made and highly entertaining. Every aspect of production looks top notch and big budget. The actors are outstanding, from relative newcomers Eric Close and Megan Ward all the way to long time vetran of many oscar winning movies, the late, JT Walsh.

Dark Skies is a great show and why it never got it's second season boggles the mind. If IMDB had a top 250 for TV Shows this would deserve a place in the top 5...certainly the best show in the sci-fi genre.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

My Humble Opinion...

[1/10 · 21 December 2001]

I went in expecting to not like it but I wanted to see it to form an opinion and that I have.

Now I haven't read the book, nor am I inspired now to read them.

I did kind of enjoy the film but it was nothing fantastic. The special effects wern't anything to write home about. Sure they had fantastic scenery and landscapes and some nice CGI graphics whatever there called] but it was nothing any better than the big battle sequences in The Mummy Returns [in fact I was more impressed with them]. The best special effects were in the first few minutes of the story [not the recap] when they did the fireworks. Other than that Special Effects wise there was nothing new....I'd seen most of it before in other movies and it wasn't as impressive as everyone makes out.

The make up was quite cool with the hobbits and the dwarfs, Costumes were excelent also.

Tyler looks nice as usual but was not in it enough [I know she's not in the book at all] Ian Holm was brilliant as was McKellan and Wood. Cate Blanchet was also not in it enough and her character left me confused to her point [which no doubt will be explained in the future]

As for the acctually progress of the movie. The first half hour basically explained the history of the ring and, I assume, was telling us what happened in The Hobbit, it wasn't really needed coz they re-explained everything later and it made those parts boring coz we already knew. The next hour or so was good, got into the story and everything, started to like and care for the characters and wanted them to be successful. Then it got boring. They reached a certain part of their mission and I thought we were comming to the end...check my watch and though...woa thats only been an hour and a half...Then the story didn't advance anymore and it really slowed...the characters didn't become more interesting or anything, it was just people walking and having conversations about the history of the ring and society which was explained in the first half hour, we already knew it all and they didn't need to tell us again.... it got boring. Then the last half hour got much better again....there was just that hour in between that was really boring...checking my watch every five minutes.....if they had cut out all the boring bits in between and kept it at about 90 to 120 minutes of the good bits then it would have been excelent.

With it all in, it was just good...in fact, it was just OK....no oscar winner. I would probably nominate Ian McKellan or Sean Astin for Best supporting actors and I'd give it a nomination for costume, makeup and scenery but I dunno about anything else.

I'll no doubt see the other two when they release them but I won't hurry to the cinema to see them.

ChrisB

PS: I'm commenting on the movie, not the book, two separate entities...shouldn't be compared

Strictly Sinatra (2001)

Great Music, Great Cast, Great Movie...

[9/10 · 30 October 2001]

I attended the Premier of Strictly Sinatra on Sunday Night. I was extreemly impressed by this movie. It had a great cast including the fantastic Ian Hart as Tony Cocozza. Brian Cox also put in a fantastic performance.

The Movie is set in Glasgow and revolves around the life of Tony Cocozza and his dream to rise to Sinatra like stardom. Tony sings in pubs doing his act which is 'Strictly Sinatra' until one night one of Glasgow's gangland bosses request a song which is not in Tony's regular act. After performing an Elvis classic the young man is invited to join the man and his associates to a night in a casino. IT's here he meets a pretty cigarette seller, played by Kelly McDonald. Tony soon gets caught up in the local mob, after accidently asking for a favour, one which he'd have to return. His friends find out and he has to make a descision....fame, at it's price, or the girl of his dreams.

Ian Hart stands out in the brilliant cast with his fantastic vocals for the movie. If it had been made in America he'd be nominated for an oscar, sadly this Scottish movie will probably be ignored.