david-bartlett Reviews

A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

Absolutely terrific

[10/10 · 16 January 2007]

What a film! The sort of film that may not do well at the box-office, but certainly deserves to. And what a fitting epitaph for Robert Altman, one of the most charming American film-makers. The film is utterly delightful. All performances are excellent - so much so that one could be forgiven for giving a list of "especiallys"... Kevin Kline is hilarious, Meryl Streep is incredibly natural, Harrelson and Reilly charming etc etc. Garrison Keillor himself is so unusual and beguiling, one gets to the point of wanting to call him for a chat after the movie. I didn't want it to end. I was in the company of such an interesting, flawed, fascinating, loving bunch of characters, I could have stayed forever. While the film is immensely enjoyable and funny - Kline is majestically good - it is also SO whimsical and wistful. And the beautiful, notorious Lindsay Lohan should learn from this film. She is tremendous: completely compelling. So Lindsay, give up the boring feuds and party-tales with the likes of la Hilton, and stick to what you are SO good at... Entertaining, eliciting, captivating an audience. What a great, great film with a great script and magnificent cast.

Horizon: The Race for the Double Helix (1987) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

Beautiful

[9/10 · 7 January 2007]

What a difficult story to tell, but what a beautifully executed result. I loved the performances from all of the actors. Goldblum and Piggot-Smith are splendidly accessible, and Alan Howard is mesmerising and painful as the tormented Wilkins. I'm not a great scientist or fan of "accurate" history pieces, but I thought this was a fabulous piece of drama, and an invaluable one. More dramatic and dynamic than BRAVEHEART and more moving than TITANIC. A triumph! This film is strangely and hypnotically beguiling, interweaving the plots of scientists with all their flawed characteristics while describing the race to define the DNA structure with aplomb. And even more of an achievement considering the potentially dull details of the story.

V for Vendetta (2005)

An offence to the art of film

[1/10 · 28 June 2006]

This has to rank as one of the most grotesque abominations ever shot and released. Ill-conceived, childish, puerile, and likely only to appeal to those whose understanding of politics is at best simplistic, and to those who think terrorism is fun, and nihilism a way forward. Quite aside from some of the worst dialogue, set design and acting in the history of cinema, this characterless film will deeply offend anyone who thinks death and slaughter is not a way to solve the problems of the world. Natalie Portman - usually beguiling and powerful - is awkward and silly, helped only by the fact that everyone around her is even worse. Made without style or intelligence, this movie is a complete and utter embarrassment - no wonder the main character never wants to take the mask off. Offensively childish.

Towed in a Hole (1932)

Cinema's greatest comic actors at their absolute peak

[10/10 · 28 June 2006]

Every single detail and frame of this film is a work of art. With only Laurel and Hardy in the cast, it is the most beautiful 18 minutes you could ever wish to spend watching a movie. Every gag, every nuance, every movement, every moment is timed and placed beautifully. I can only wonder if Stan and Babe had any idea when they were making this masterpiece quite what they were achieving... Is it possible to recognise timeless perfection in the midst of the process without spoiling the result? Whatever, this film could almost bring tears to the eyes it is so charming, so satisfying, so quietly side-splitting, and such a magnificent example of screen comedy at its best. Nothing comes better than this. Ever.

The New World (2005)

Stunning, an achievement only Malick is now capable of.

[10/10 · 1 January 2006]

I thought THE THIN RED LINE was a great film; to rate THE NEW WORLD is to wonder whether it's actually better than THE THIN RED LINE or just as good as it. Either way, this film is an utter achievement on the highest level. When other film-makers are giving us two-dimensional cartoon characters parading as deep psychological insights, Malick gives us pure poetry and majesty - a trip into the past and way beyond. Apart from being a unique experience, this film is beautifully shot, beautifully written, extremely intelligent, sensitively scored, powerful with performances beyond anything we have seen this year in cinema. It is, quite simply, mesmerising.

Malick has admirably steered clear of a torrent of pointless, immature dialogue in favour of a harshly realistic and yet poetically transcendent film created virtually entirely from image, sound, music, gesture. What is said is only what needs to be said. Again, a refreshing change from the dribbling verbal diarrhoea exhibited in so many other films.

Q'Orianka Kilcher in the lead role is an absolute revelation. What a magical, deeply-felt performance from a talented young lady who surely promises to be one of the great actresses of her generation. An emotional, utterly beguiling characterisation in a film so admirably conceived and so intelligently executed.

Cagney & Lacey (1981–1988)

One of the best police shows in TV history

[5 December 2005]

Cagney and Lacey was one of the best acted, best written, best conceived police shows in TV history. Ranking alongside Hill Street Blues and Morse in terms of its quality, I would suggest it is one of the finest television series ever made, greatly surpassing most TV made today. Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless kept this series going so beautifully, with never a dull moment, and never anything less than perfect performances. So instinctive, so moving, so engaging and so charming - the two are among the great television partnerships. The gritty, honest dynamic those two wonderful actors generated is a beautiful achievement. It is actors like this that make television occasionally magnificent. What a shame we don't have anything to compare these days to this.

xXx (2002)

The worst film ever made?

[1/10 · 5 December 2005]

Well, I began watching this movie with trepidation and interest, which quickly turned into annoyance, then enormous irritation, then disbelief, then finally hilarity. This has got to be one of the most appalling, pointless, moronic, tedious films ever made - it is a triumph of bad film-making. The performances from Diesel, Jackson and everyone else in the film are at a level more often seen in nativity plays, ably assisted by a script resembling an episode of The A-Team but with less emotion and less philosophical depth. I have never been a great fan of James Bond movies, but I suddenly felt a warm, intense longing for Connery, Moore et al after seeing this absolute car-crash of a film. Beyond the extraordinary incompetence of the direction (from a director clearly unable to understand the use and necessity of geography in any scene, let alone the concepts of atmosphere, tension etc), the poor, out-of-date special effects, over-bearing, nasty score, and desperately awful acting, this was so enormously old-fashioned as to be insulting. I would advise reading the local telephone directory rather than watching this excretion.