principessaleah Reviews

Sex Lives of the Potato Men (2004)

I laughed, despite myself

[20 February 2004]

Sex Lives of the Potato Men tells the story of four men from Birmingham who are in the potato delivery service. Their lives revolve around their pursuit of sex. And that's about it. Oh, and getting p***ed in the pub.

It's a flimsy premise, and there isn't much plot to speak of, although the film does structure itself around the breakup of Johnnie Vegas' marriage.

Instead the film is a mass of sex gags. There is sex in a chip shop store room, in the back of a car, at an orgy, in a threesome, group sex, sex with your mother in law. Plus there's masturbation, some exploration of sex shops and some porn. Yes, this isn't one for Mary Whitehouse.

And although I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent individual, I nevertheless found parts of this film very funny indeed. There are some wonderful throw away lines, and some amusing set ups. Of course occasionally it goes a bit too far and I had to turn away in embarassment, but most of the time it was just funny and crude, like a lot of blokes I know.

So even though I'm slightly ashamed of myself, I enjoyed this film. It won't rock your world, but its fun. And if you find yourself shocked and appalled, well, aren't sex jokes better than violence and crime?

Running Out of Time (1999)

A great little starter for Hong Kong cinema

[1 August 2003]

This film was recommended to me by a friend. I don't know much about Hong Kong cinema, but having seen Aau Chin, I definately want to find out more. I really enjoyed it, and found it was surprisingly different from what I was expecting. I had prepared myself for lots of big fights, lots of blood and gore, and more than a little machismo. What I got was a sad, sensitive and suprisingly funny bit of cinema. Ok, so there are gunfights, car chases and bombs a plenty, but there is also something else - a heart. I really liked the interaction between the two leads, I think it worked really well, and I loved the fact that the criminal and the cop were working together. The love story was terribly romantic, and even the 'purely for laughs' role of the chief inspector was done quite nicely. As an introduction to Hong Kong cinema, I'd say this was perfect.

Romance (1999)

Uninspired and failing in its purpose

[4 May 2003]

This is clearly a film that inspires great reaction, hardly surprising considering the subject matter. However, like many other critics here I feel that if you take away the sex you are left with a deeply uninspiring film that coasts along on cod philosophy without courage or depth to explore true emotions.

It's not that I disagree with the director's take on cinema, in many ways she is doing brave and important things. I just wish that she would do them better, and put them in a more relevant context. Breaking the boundaries of cinema should always be done, we should rail against a system which finds the thought of an erect penis shocking while the gore of a thousand horror films is commonplace. However, can't you have an interesting story as well?

The acting is uniformly wooden. The actors are given admittedly little to work with, but the long lingering stares and fixed expressions fail to convey any emotion other than an ennui which I found affected the message of the film. How can this woman talk about passion, she doesn't look as though she has experienced a moment of passion in her life.

Even the imagery was uninspired, though admittedly beautiful and very well done. A woman in a red dress in the centre of a room, a white bedroom, accompanied with white cat. All are attractive to see, but so predictable they are empty signifiers.

Perhaps too much thought has gone into this film, perhaps too little. It seems to be little more than a manifesto for pushing back the boundaries, and only a film which connects to people on more levels will ever be truly successful in that objective.

And finally, while I appreciate that this is a very stylised piece of cinema, I found the experience of watching people behave so unrealistically quite absurd and at points excruciating.

The English Patient (1996)

Good, very very good

[10/10 · 29 September 2002]

I still shiver when I see this film. When Katherine asks, her voice breaking 'am I K in your book, I think I must be', when the flare lights up the sky as Almache brings him arm across her neck. This is photography to marvel at, to revel in. The desert is brought to life, in rich, vivid textures, in marvellous detail and astounding beauty. Music to make your heart soar, to bring tears to your eyes. The story is fantastic (though you have to read the book to appreciate all the nuances, particularly those around Hana, Kip and Caravaggio), an epic romantic tragedy that rivals (and indeed surpasses) the melodramas of yesteryear. The actors are perfectly casted, utterly compelling and beliveable. And with a script like that who could ask for more - 'what do you love, say everything.' My favourite film, without a doubt.