Change Your Image
Chris Clazie
Reviews
Vantage Point (2008)
surprisingly effective
Yes,I read the reviews when this opened last week in the UK,and I was very wary when my son suggested seeing it,after all I thought I would be seeing the same ten minutes all the way through,but,guess what.It's much more original then that.OK,it opens at exactly the same spot each time,but you see it from different perspectives and angles each time.You get to see more than one dimensional characters involved in something that jumps out of the blue and involves them,and each time a new twist or clue comes along to keep you interested,and the last 15/20 minutes is genuine on the edge of your seat stuff.Oscars have been handed out this year to supposedly very good movies that left me cold when I saw them,Vantage Point is surprisingly good and extremely entertaining.Acting is good throughout especially the great Dennis Quaid,William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver.Yes,I know that the end twist is somewhat implausible but I didn't really care.I just enjoyed it for what it was.Well done.
The Golden Compass (2007)
A let down
Saw this yesterday,and was looking forward to it because of having seen the trailer but what a let down.Whole scenes seem to have been cut so there was very little continuation of story line.At fist sight Nicole Kidman seems to be a computerised image.Anything of real interest seems to be done as a montage so there is no development of character,and scenes that were shown in the trailer were missing from the film.People who worked in the cinema were as surprised as I was,that the film seemed to finish full fifteen minutes earlier than it was supposed to.More like a 100 minutes then a 113.All I can presume is that a lot of footage already shot has been carried over for part2,so what remains is like a Walt Disney adventure film from years back.Very disappointing.
Closing the Ring (2007)
closing the ring
I saw this movie at the London Film Festival yesterday.It is an incredibly old fashioned piece of film-making that at times seems very contrived and manipulative,but it does contain genuine emotion and a story that keeps you watching from beginning to end.Some of the acting(especially from the 1941 period)is patchy,but in the 1991 period of the film,MacLaine is great,so is Postlewaite but the film is stolen by young Martin McCann as the naive Jimmy Reilly,who is responsible for piecing the lives together of the characters separated by time and oceans.After the showing,Lord Attenborough appeared for a short Q&A and gave us some insight into the making of the film and announced the film will receive it's premiere in Ireland and will be released nationwide on the 28th Dec.My guess is for anyone who has an elderly relative to catch up with over the Christmas period,and wants to take them out,then see this movie.They will love it and you might possibly get hooked.The audience yesterday obviously were.
Children of Men (2006)
Powerful and disturbing,but difficult to sit through
With no knowledge of the book,I didn't know what to expect.If I had,then I may have given this a miss.I found the first half interesting,but as it went on,it became so bleak and depressing,and I found the second half,after the birth of the child,gratuitous in it'sviolence, and I'm sorry to say I was just glad when it ended.Although all the actors were good in their roles,some were surprisingly brief.Being a fan of Julianne Moore,her 'starring' role is just an extended cameo.AND JULIANNE MOORE as Julian,would have been more fitting.Clive Owen,who gets better with each film,is always good as the anti hero,and here is no exception.He was also effective in a similar type film,Beyond Borders,so he is obviously drawn to these bleak parables on mans inhumanity to man.A powerful film,as I said,but not exactly an entertaining or uplifting one.
My Geisha (1962)
memorable MacLAINE
First saw this movie on TV one afternoon whilst I was off from work.Had always wanted to see it,but after it's release(rather like John Goldfarb),it kind of disappeared.Lucky to catch up with it though,as from the opening credits I was hooked.MacLaine,very young and initially kooky,is marvellous in this film.I guess most people know the plot by now,but for a comedy,it does have it's touching moments,especially at the end.The scenery is superb,the music is great,the costumes colourful and I for one am glad this will receive a DVD release in December.Edward G and Yves Montand are both good in their roles,although I found Bob Cummings just a bit long in the tooth for his part.Altogether a very enjoyable movie and one to watch for if you haven't seen it before.Yes,I know some of it doesn't make sense,but heck,this is a comedy,and wonderful it is too.
Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
Not So Basic as you would imagine
Yes,this movie is not as good as the original.That's that out of the way.It is,however,not so turgid as most reviews would have you think.There is an underlying intelligence to the whole movie,and although it is quite different to the first one in terms of mood and mystery,after all,we didn't know Catherine Tremayne then,it is a fairly decent attempt to attempt a what if,what if Catherine hadn't been caught out,what if she had succeeded in getting to England to carry on in her evil ways.The movie is good to look at,as was the first one,there are several confused characters,as in the first one,and there are more murders,although it's never really made clear as to who does what.In tone it reminded me of the ITV Monday,Tuesday night thrillers but I guess that's because it's set in London.Yes,there are some fairly amusing sexual encounters along the way,but they are there to give some emotional coherence to the characters involved.Stone still looks good,although her hairstyle is unflattering,and she seems to play it as though she's an ageing Barbie doll doing her best to get rid of all the sexual heat she's built up.The other actors are fair to good,and it was a good idea of the writers to add the scene at the end which is meant to screw our minds just as much as the poor Psychologist who's been caught up in all this.If you liked the first one,then give this a go.See it with an open mind.The first half is slow and a bit dull,the second half is much better.Six out of 10.
Minority Report (2002)
Cool
Yes.Minority Report is an extremely well made film.It has dazzling special effects,and it has some great set pieces.Colin Farrell gives the best performance in the movie trying to create a two dimensional character with a genuine ability that doesn't exist elsewhere in the movie,except for the small role of Cruise's wife.It's not a movie that lends itself to good acting,so maybe Tom Cruise was well cast after all.In film after film,he seems to be the male contemporary of Elizabeth Taylor,great at emotional outbursts,but with no depth of ability to back them up.There's a complete lack of emotional warmth in his acting,and especially in this movie.I think that's why there appears to be no heart at the centre of Minority Report,just an icy shell.There is very little color in this movie;like Tom's wardrobe,it is almost a monochrome movie,that adds to the coldness at it's centre.A stunning,but very uninvolving experience.
The I Don't Care Girl (1953)
Entertaining curio
This movie has been shown recently in England,so liking musicals,I decided to watch it.Curious mixture of voice overs,flashbacks and a film within a film,all packed tightly into less than 90 minutes.Mitzi Gaynor is astounding.The film works because of her.Although the period setting is earlier in the 20th Century,the dazzling production numbers are pure 50's.Paintbox bright colours are prevailant.Mitzi's costumes are spectacular.One wishes it was longer and more detailed,but it's an extremely agreeable way to spend 80 odd minutes.An entertaining curio.
Let's Do It Again (1953)
Undemanding entertainment
Recently seeing this movie for the first time I was pleased to find that it is a very pleasant,frothy technicolored entertainment.Jane Wyman,whom I remember mainly from TV,is a very capable comedienne,and a very good singer.She is obviously enjoying herself,and looks very good too,in a dazzling Jean Louis wardrobe.Ray Milland plays her ex-husband in a Cary Grant type performance,and warbles a song or two.Aldo Ray is the new beau and also shows what a versatile actor he was.All in all,an undemanding Technicolor treat that is typical of it's period.Worth catching.8/10
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965)
Very pleasantly surprised
I was fortunate enough to see this movie recently for the first time.I could not understand why we had not seen it in the UK on tv since it's general release in 1965.Being a Shirley Maclaine fan,I was looking forward to it.Was I surprised!I found it highly amusing,often laugh out loud funny.Peter Ustinov is incredible in this.I think the director J.Lee Thompson is English,and maybe that's something Ustinov responded to.The scenes with the animals in particular,are outrageously funny.Being a Brit,I'm afraid to say I don't really understand American football,but in this movie you don't have to.Sit back for 90 minutes,suspend belief,if you can,think your way back to the 60's and just enjoy.My son who's into modern movies and the new stars,saw some of this and laughed out loud.It's wonderful,crazy fun and not to be taken seriously.John Goldfarb,Please Come Back.Soon.8/10