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Reviews
Sam Smith & Kim Petras: Unholy (2022)
Can't stop listening to this
This is a tremendous song, and 3 versions I have seen - the original video, the one with the pink coat and this different Brits performance and the one called the orchestral version are all so theatrical and sexy.
It is a far cry from the theme tune for the James Bond film Spectre, the excellent "Writing's on the Wall" from only 7 years ago. Sam's voice is still so good but I think it has a harder edge to it and he has really blossomed as a dramatic performer too.
I personally think they are even sexier now that they have, shall we say, filled out a bit. So powerful and sexy.
Kim Petras is new to me but I love her in this song, I especially like the woop woops like a siren.!
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
Wooden and unengaging
I had heard a lot about this film and was delighted to find it on Talking Pictures TV.
I was disappointed.
Jennifer Jones is usually good and although she is watchable here, her delivery is oddly stilted and declamatory. The film has attractive locations and is an interesting picture of life at that but as a love story it fails to convince because the leads have absolutely zero chemistry.
To me the film is flat and lacks fizz and, for me, is not worth watching again.
Holding (2022)
Maybe you have to be Celtic or Northern
I thought this was terrific with great characters. I'm on the west coast of Scotland rather than in Ireland but I recognise the setting and attitudes and find them all to be believable.maybe you have to have a rural Celtic or Northern background to fully appreciate the mild humour and the secrets and the shame etc.
I also enjoyed seeing people, especially the women, who look real with real looks and figures - normal, pleasant, naturally attractive people and no one tottering around in farms and in the countryside in high heels. And it was great to see a mature romance between less than svelte people.
I very much hope there will be a second series.
Broken Blossoms (1936)
I was very surprised by this film, it's oddly mesmerising
I watched this via the UK TV channel Talking Pictures TV which shows some great films.
When it started I thought "no, I can't watch it, it's just too old" - the back drops of China are clearly just painted, the Chinese music is too jaunty and jingly jangly and the make up of the actor playing Chen makes him look like Julian Clary. I like Julian Clary but he would be entirely out of place in a film like this. I must also observe that the subtitles are often incorrect - Tommy Tacos instead of Tommy Tuckers; Bright Blossom instead of White Blossom; junk instead of drunk ;"there, time will come" instead of Better Times will come - a theme of the film.
Despite these deficiencies, something made me keep watching and I can only say that I was mesmerised by this film. It is so intense. The actress who plays Lucy was 26 at the time but is very convincing as a teenager and her odd accent and the strange rhythm of her delivery adds to the character rather than detracting from it. The scenes of violence are not shown explicitly but the atmosphere is so menacing and the acting and reacting of the actors is so good that I actually felt physically sick and the father's final violence and the obvious pleasure he takes in it is horrifying.
The idea of that brutality permeates this Limehouse world is very well conveyed and there are some excellent grotesque vignettes such as the 3 old people laughing wordlessly at a violent boxing match.
I would thoroughly recommend this film for its menace and atmosphere. I was so interested that I then went on to watch on Youtube the 1919 silent version with Lillian Gish which is deemed critically superior but I felt it lacked atmosphere and I didnt enjoy it half as much.
I.
Address Unknown (1944)
Lots of interesting shots, good story and a brilliant, unexpected twist
I very much dislike reviews which recount the plot of a film and reveal spoilers so all I will say is that this is a film worth actually watching rather than having it on while you are messing about with your phone or tablet. There are many cleverly shot scenes which mirror the action of the story and hint at shadows to come.
I feel that the opening scenes are very good and authentically display the friendship between Max and Martin and their families and this of course makes the story all the more powerful.
I have read the short story/book on which the film is based - it is available to borrow from the Internet Archive on line free library - and in my opinion this one if the rare occasions when the film is better than the book, largely due to the devastating end twist in the film.