fiona-21's Reviews

The Christmas Shoes (2002 TV Movie)

Tooth dissolvingly sweet and sentimental

9 December 2003

Too sickly for me I'm afraid. From reading the other comments I sense that many of the other users had read the book and obviously loved the story. I don't enjoy this type of film whenever it's set but to set it at Christmas time with a beautiful, angelic dying mother was just too much.

I'll be avoiding this one in the future.

19 out of 29 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Silent Warnings (2003 TV Movie)

Total 'Signs' Rip-Off

28 June 2003

Desperately tries to cash-in on the success of 'Signs' but fails somewhat. Very similar in feel and setting to 'Signs' including the aliens running around the roof and being generally creepy in the corn.

A few interesting moments and Billy Zane is always compelling but otherwise very obvious made for TV movie.

1 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

It (1990)

1/10

Dreadful hack job - avoid.

14 June 2003

I approached this film with extreme trepidation since it stars the hideously awful Richard Thomas. Sadly, my instincts were correct - it is truly the poorest Stephen King adaptation I've ever seen. I LOVED the book and it could have made a fine film but sadly that will never be the case now.

The only redeeming features in the entire shambolic mess were the kid actors and Tim Curry (who never seems to mess up in anything he's in).

I could write pages and pages about why it is such a bad movie but I'm not going to waste my time. If you want to see a well made Stephen King adaptation check out 'The Stand' or 'Misery' - avoid 'IT' like the plague!!

3 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

10/10

Surreal shenanigans of the highest calibre

5 May 2003

I can't say anything about this that hasn't already been said. I just wanted to add my voice to the legions of you who have praised this film. I would say that the Pythons are definitely like Marmite - you either love 'em or hate 'em.

The non-fans (like my husband) simply don't get their humour. It must be an inherited thing as my Dad and brother love them too. The first time I saw this I pee'd my pants laughing. I couldn't even pick out a best bit as it is all wonderful, although I think John Cleese as the French knight is worth a mention and the Knights who say 'Ni'.

My only complaint about this film is that nerds tend to go about quoting bits as if they were the first (and only) people to ever see it. They think they are so original and amusing !!

I know that 'Life of Brian' seems to be regarded as the finest Python movie but I love this the best.

2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Goodfellas (1990)

10/10

Deserves its 'classic' label.

30 March 2003

Warning: Spoilers

!!!! POSSIBLE SPOILERS !!!!

If anyone ever thought they would like to be in the Mafia,I'm sure this would deter them. Scorcese shows the degeneration of Henry Hill (Liotta) from fresh faced kid to paranoid coke addict. All the people he admired either died or went to prison and in the end he is utterly alone. There is no honour among thieves seems to be what the movie is saying. Forget the notion of glamourous, honourable mafiosi, looking out for each other. These guys would shoot their own children in the head!

I like the fact that even at the end of it all, Hill still hankers for the life of crime - he seems unable to rise above that and grow as a human being.

Technically the film is very good to look at and the camerawork is great. I own this on DVD along with Casino and never tire of watching either. A deserved classic.

0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Innocent fun for little kiddies.

13 March 2003

When I was a child I LOATHED this type of film and never thought I would end up watching it. Now I have 3 year old and he is enchanted by it. It seems much less horrifying to me now when I see it through his eyes, and lets face it, it's a lot more wholesome than most TV aimed at kids nowadays.

It's kind of sad to watch for me as it was made at a time when the world was a much less worrying place to live (and also it was made the year I was born so I feel so old now). We have a whole collection of these movies on DVD - Mary Poppins, Willy Wonka, Wizard of Oz etc. and I definitely think there is still room for them even now.

Maybe as parents we should try to engage our kids with this type of TV input rather than Pokemon etc. and perhaps then they wouldn't end up smoking crack at age 10.

0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Signs (2002)

7/10

It doesn't HAVE to all make sense, people.

12 March 2003

Warning: Spoilers

!!!!!!!!!! CONTAINS SPOILERS !!!!!!

Okay, I've read a lot of criticism about this film but I have to defend it.

If anyone has read 'Tommyknockers' by Stephen King they will be aware of the stupid alien theory. Okay they can travel to earth but maybe they didn't invent interstellar travel, they could have poached it form some other nearby species or inherited it from a previously enlightened culture on their own planet ( I mean, when the ancient Egyptians were building pyramids , some cultures were still living in caves in other parts of the world ). If they were that smart they would have been far more subtle and used more insidious ways to get what they wanted rather than the very clumsy methods they did use. They had no obvious weapons (except their poison gas spray) and seemed to be unable to cope with a locked door barring their way!! Also they struck me as rather insectile - quite organised but not too able to think creatively, even their speech sounded like crickets or something.

As for the water thing - maybe they didn't KNOW that water was toxic to them. Perhaps earth was the first planet they ever visited that HAD water. And if they they subsequently realised after landing that water could harm them, then maybe they had a sort of stubborn attitude to the idea of giving up and going home after travelling all that way in the first place. Lets face it, everyone knows that smoking gives you cancer but how many people keep smoking anyway and think 'it won't happen to me'.

Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix were excellent and the film had some quite subtle humour and nice touches like the recruiting office scene where JP gets a hard time from local idiot Lionel Pritchard and then there's a tiny moment where you get to see that Pritchard is a total loser. I liked the fact that Mel Gibson didn't seem to own any guns - being an ex-reverend and everything, and the cursing scene was funny too.

I don't think films should necessarily give you nice neat endings and answer all your questions. I think that M Night Shayamalan would be pleased to see how many people are outraged by the loose ends, I'm sure it's exactly what he would have wanted to see.

0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Boring, tedious and not worth your while.

28 February 2003

Unlike many horror flicks of the 70's/80's this is just poor. My measure of a good horror of that era is if you and your mates would get a laugh out of it on a Friday night in with beers and a takeaway. It fails miserably on that score. The acting is pathetic, the scares too few and far between and the end you can see coming from about 5 minutes into the film. Avoid.

0 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Starship Troopers (1997)

Stop analyzing and enjoy it !!!!

13 October 2002

This film is excellent entertainment. If you watch it more than once then you begin to appreciate the subtlety of it's message and the very clever way this is put accross. However, if you aren't at all interested in what it's trying to say or why Verhoeven was trying to say it then FINE !!!!!!

Why do people have to analyze the thing to death and pick holes in it. I'm sure that Verhoeven is laughing at all the furore this film has provoked. I personally think that he loves being controversial and does it just to see if he can get some kind of knee-jerk outrage response from people. I like to think this was his excuse for 'Showgirls'.

Basically the film is ultra-violent, the main characters have a very skewed morality and the bugs are gross.

Watch and enjoy.

1 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Rentaghost (1976–1984)

When children's TV was actually GOOD!!

13 October 2002

One of the overiding memories of my childhood was watching Rentaghost in the afternoon. The early episodes are the best and were actually quite intelligent. Sadly, but inevitably, it eventually just became trashy rubbish with the most ridiculous plots played as pure slapstick .(Luckily, by then, I had grown out of kid's TV so my memories remain untainted).

I just caught an episode on satellite as my young son was watching it (yes - I do feel old!!)and it made me realise how innocent it was to be a child in the 70's. Kid's TV now is so cynical and all about merchandising and product placement. Today's generation will never have the same warm nostalgia about 'Pokemon' or 'Batman of the Future' that my peers have about 'Rentaghost' and it's contemporaries.

19 out of 19 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Ivor the Engine (1976–1977)

Pssshhht-koof, Pssshhht-koof !!!

13 October 2002

A dark winter evening, Mum cooking the dinner and me curled up on the couch watching 'Ivor the Engine'. I am writing this and actually have a lump in my throat because childhood then was so sweet and uncomplicated.

Oliver Postgate's programmes are like a background to my childhood and there will never be anything in the future to compare with them.

My generation had the best kid's TV. You only have to look around at the revival of popularity for 'Rainbow', 'Bagpuss', 'Clangers' etc. to know that these shows were special.

I don't imagine that in 20 years there will be a resurgence in popularity for 'Pokemon'!!

12 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

8/10

Technically marvellous and surprisingly funny.

23 September 2002

I bought this for my son when it came out on DVD. I watched it with him the first time and can honestly say that I think I laughed more than he did. It's very well done and the casting is spot on.

I never cease to be amazed at the technical genius that creates these computer generated movies. You can actually see the indiviual strands of fur on the monsters' bodies moving as they move. Amazing. However, great effects don't make this film, it's got an interesting premise and the dialogue has enough humour to appeal to us oldies. The story moves along briskly and it has a nice child-friendly happy ending (something we mothers like to see)

I'm only sorry that I've now watched it about 200 times so it's beginning to pall.

0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

10/10

Heart-warming corn.

6 September 2002

I don't know why I like this film, there's nothing I can say is especially exceptional about it and yet I adore it! I think it's the combination of the chemistry between Steve Martin and John Candy, the silly plot (paper thin though it is) and a sort of nostalgia for the 80's. I think also it's because it's the sort of film that doesn't get made now as it's a little bit sentimental and homespun.

Several scenes are hilarious especially Steve Martin at the Marathon desk - 'I want a f*****g car, right f******g now!' and the scene where the car is on fire and he discovers that John Candy had his wallet.

It's corny and unsophisticated and unashamedly manipulative bit I LOVE IT!

0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

The Ninth Gate (1999)

6/10

A by-the-numbers Polanski

2 September 2002

I like Johnny Depp so I possibly enjoyed this more than I would had it starred another actor, that said, it was an interesting film. The locations were gorgeously shot and gave a real sense that the action was taking place in France, Spain etc. and not some back lot in the Hollywood Hills.

Frank Langella's performance as Boris Balkan was interesting, he looked nothing like himself. If not for his voice I would have had trouble knowing it was him. I hope that he was heavily padded and made-up as if not then he has aged horribly (sorry Frank).

My only warning would be this - if you hate those kind of endings that don't offer any type of conclusion then avoid this film at all costs. It's typical Polanski.

0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

The Stand (1994)

8/10

Not the hack job I was afraid it might be.

2 September 2002

I sat down to watch this with real trepidation as I have read the novel so many times that it has become incredibly real to me. Like so many other fans of the book, I had created the characters in my mind and could actually visualise them. After the hack job that was the TV adaptation of 'It' I could not imagine that I could be anything other than sorely disappointed.

I am glad to report to other 'Stand' fans that it aint' half bad. Granted there are some horribly miscast parts. Molly Ringwald failed to portray Fran's immense courage and determination and was (I'm sorry to say) neither young enough nor pretty enough. Corin Nemec as Harold was just a TOTAL joke. Harold was FAT, FAT, FAT with long greasy hair -not a skinny dweeb in a track suit. When I think of Harold I imagine Philip Seymour Hoffman (or Meat Loaf in his Rocky Horror days). Finally I must also mention Laura San Giacomo as Nadine - she played her like some kind of manic depressive( ! ). However, there is enough about the film that is excellent that it kind of makes up for that. I have to single out Gary Sinise as Stu - he must have read and loved the book himself as his performance had incredible depth and thoughtfulness. In addition Adam Storke and Rob Lowe were tremendous as Larry and Nick respectively and Bill Faggerbacke WAS Tom Cullen.

The music and cinematography were an integral part of the film's power to pull you in and bewitch you. I watched the whole thing in one go as I literally couldn't switch off.

If you are a Stephen King fan you shouldn't be afraid to watch this and if you aren't then it's a cracking story, very well told.

29 out of 47 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Home Alone (1990)

10/10

Hilarious, yes it REALLY is!!

21 August 2002

If you've never seen this then you must. It's a living cartoon. The bit where Daniel Stern gets the spider on his face is pure cinema magic.

For all of you who've never grown up, I urge you to appreciate this film.

0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Man on the Moon (1999)

10/10

Compelling, couldn't tear myself away.

1 December 2001

JIm Carrey must be one of the most underrated actors around. What a stunning performance - he IS Andy Kaufman. My husband HATES bio-pics and he was glued to the screen the entire film. I never saw this at the cinema as I didn't fancy the sound of it. I just caught it on cable by chance and found myself spellbound. It's funny, interesting and, thanks to Carrey, very touching. I recommend you check it out. Even Carrey haters will enjoy it.

0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

New Jack City (1991)

10/10

A must for all fans of Mafia-type movies.

3 January 2000

This is a very stylish movie. All the elements seem to have combined to give it a very distinctive look and feel. The soundtrack is excellent and complements the story perfectly, almost like it is a part of the story. All the performances are great but special mention has to go to Wesley Snipes and the great Judd Nelson/Ice T double act. Okay the plot doesn't really tax your brain but if you are a fan of gangster movies or want a bit of mindless entertainment then you won't go wrong with this film.

25 out of 34 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

fiona-21

Reviews

Tell Your Friends

Recently Viewed