Erik-Bloodaxe Reviews

Columbo (1971–2003)

Best 'Tec Of The 1970's

[10/10 · 22 January 2013]

Growing up in the early 1970's there were a few TV shows which I would call "iconic"; "Kung Fu" was one, and the UK series "Thriller" was another. But if we had pizza in those days the one series which would make you want to open a beer and heat up a pizza was "Columbo". We all know the story; you see the murder and Columbo gradually pieces together the clues, often by thinking "what would I do in that situation?". In one episode the murderer gives a kid some money to go to the movies and Columbo says "did he ever do that before?". The kid replies "No, never, is it important?" and Columbo replies "Well when people do things they never did before that bothers me!". And that is his modus operandi; no matter how carefully the murder is planned, the killer always forgets something. He had a host of stellar co-stars but the standouts are Robert Culp (my favourite), Patrick McGoohan and Jack Cassidy. Although Peter Falk passed away 1.5 years ago he has left a body of work to be celebrated forever.

Prescription: Murder (1968 TV Movie)

Genius At Work

[10/10 · 26 June 2011]

There's little you can say about Columbo that hasn't been said before; I grew up in the early 70's watching it with my dad. What I love about the character is not just his catch phrases but the way he THINKS. He always tries to imagine how he would react in a given situation, so in one episode he says to the murderer (Robert Culp I think) " You get home home, find your friend dead, open your mail then call the cops?". He was easily the TV detective ever and although Peter Falk passed away 2 days ago he has left an incredible legacy for us all to enjoy.I try to keep my reviews short and sweet but apparently the IMDb requires "Just One More Thing" so here it is. RIP Peter Falk and as John Cassavetes said in "Etude In Black" "Goodbye Genius".

55 Degrees North (2004–2005)

Columbo hes Not.

[31 May 2005]

I wanted to like this,honestly I really did.It borrows heavily from the format of the 1970s cop show "The Chinese Detective" in which a detective of Chinese origin is posted to a station and has to deal with racism as well as the usual rigours of police work.However in the 70s Political Correctness didn"t exist so TCD had a bit of "edge"to it.In 55 Degrees North DC Nicky Cole {Don Gilet} has been transferred to Newcastle.Its a scrubbed up Newcastle where hardly anyone speaks with a Geordie accent-or at least a convincing one-and in the episode I saw Cole doesn"t seem to experience any racism at all.So what you are left with is a very low octane cop show where the one cance of making it different has been wasted,and the result is a sort of Soap Opera crossed with a Travelogue for Newcastle.At least it wasn"t peppered with four letter words though.

The Others (2001)

Nice Try

[13 January 2005]

I watched this movie last night with a heavy heart;I expected it to be the usual 21st century orgy of terrible CGI effects and ham acting.Surprisingly,it wasn"t.It tries desperately to be "The Haunting" {1963} but maybe I am too cynical about movies to give it any of the credit due to THAT masterpiece.Nor do I like Nicole Kidman;she screams so often throughout the movie that you want to either slap her face or hit the "mute" button! She tries though,but the two kids are far better in their roles than Nic.The story is a mix of The Haunting and The Sixth Sense and unfortunately is pretty predictable,just as TSS was,but at least its not dumb and you get a certain satisfaction from predicting the ending-a sort of "I told you so"!Nice to see the great Eric Sykes on screen,albeit in a minor role.My view? See it on TV,rent it {cheap} but don"t buy it.

Tightrope (1984)

Give it up,Clint

[7 August 2004]

I will give a brief view of the plot-serial killer,nude women,swearing,smartass one liners,Clint Eastwood blah blah blah.Thats all you need to know because you have seen it all before with Dirty Harry.The movie is set in the 1980s but looks like the 1970s and is very boring; you wait in vain for something to happen.Clints relationship with his kids is a joke-at one point he wishes them goodnight with his trademark "well do ya punk?" scowl! This is for die-hard Eastwood fans only,and anyone else should rent "A Fistful Of Dollars" or "Dirty Harry" to see The Man in his prime before he started wasting his time with stuff like this.Its hard to find ten lines of comment but i have done my best.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

I Woke Up

[9 July 2004]

I saw "nightmare" when it was released and like most people thought its mix of humour violence and bloodshed was really great.BUT i saw it on TV last and to my surprise--its not very good !! In fact i got so bored that i turned the TV off. If a movie has a really great storyline,cast or whatever such as "The Terminator" or "Fright Night" you can forgive shortcomings in the SFX department but here they stick out like a sore thumb! My recommendation is; if you haven"t seen this movie for a long time and you think it is a "classic" leave it that way and don"t spoil your memories.However if you have never seen it you might like it. 4/10

Air Force One (1997)

You"ll Laugh,You"ll Cry,You"ll Hurl.

[31 December 2003]

OK,I know thats not a very original tagline but the novel thing about this movie is that you will do these things in the wrong places! I had all kinds of sarcastic comments to make,but i will cut straight to the chase.Skip the entire movie and go to the last 10 minutes when AF1 crashes into the sea.Its CGI of course and probably the worst example of that process i"ve ever seen.I slammed CGI on a message board and someone replied that "it was better than paper plates on string".If you are reading this,eat your words and than look for some paper plates.