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rowan1925
Reviews
Mr. Turner (2014)
ugly film about an ugly man
This is an ugly film about an ugly man. We do not get much of the Turner claim to fame - his oil paintings. What we get instead is a no doubt accurate picture of an unprepossessing man shuffling about the world exploiting women, getting on badly with almost everyone, ignoring his children, messing up a loan to a supposed friend, and so on. I was not really interested in this bear of a man, with few friends and a few women who were prepared to be used by him, and even to buy him a house where he could hide out from his friends and relatives. A man who could lead a double life like this does not seem to me to be worth much. All the unimportant details are very well done, and a lot of research must have gone into this film, but the eventual effect is quite disappointing.
Letters to Juliet (2010)
What a beauty!
I turned this on quite by chance, and could not switch off till the end. Of course I love Amanda Seyfried, because she is so beautiful, but she was good in the part, and carried it off well. The story is so simple and so in a way predictable. but Yeats said you can get away with anything if what the audience wants to happen does happen. Of course Charlie was INTENTIONALLY brash and unpleasant at the start, it was no accident of bad casting! Vanessa Redgrave was of course wonderful, as always. The only people who could hate this movie are those who think themselves superior and connoisseurs or something. I liked this movie so much that I really annoyed my wife, who was making dinner and wanted my support and help.
Red Riding Hood (2011)
beautiful and scary
I don't know what is wrong with the people who didn't go for this. It is a lovely film, sexy and full of atmosphere, with many striking scenes and beautifully shot photographically. I really cared about the characters, and they came across in an emotional way. It is really an original, not like other movies, and I loved it. Amanda is so beautiful you can't help loving her, and the other woman is very appealing as well. I loved the way in which the supposed wonderful wolf-killer got dealt with. This film really took me into its world and gave me a bit of magic to go away with. There should be more films like this, that take you into another world, with different rules and different expectations.
Howl (2010)
Better than they say
Appalled to see most of the reviews of this wonderful film. Very few seem to get the point that it is about real poetry and real vision. To get the whole poem, and the atmosphere of the time it was written, is a great achievement. Those who didn't get it must be oblivious to poetry. This is very possible in England, where the horrid influence of W H Auden pervades the atmosphere. Ginsberg himself once said "These people wouldn't know poetry if it came up and bit them in the street!" I thought the animations were good enough, particularly on the Moloch part, and the picture of Carl Solomon reaching Ginsberg's house was very moving to me. Some of the trial stuff was good too. Brilliant!
When You're Strange (2009)
This is it!
This an absolute winner. It captures the excitement and challenge of Jim Morrison like no other film has done. There are all sorts of bits of information which I have not seen elsewhere, and the live extracts from film of the concerts are immediate and fascinating. No attempt is made to prettify or excuse the decline and fall of Jim Morrison, but justice is done to both the positive and the negative. I actually saw the Doors perform at the Roundhouse in London (on the same bill as Jefferson Airplane!) and this film does capture the real feel of a Doors concert. I was so affected when Jim died that I did a performance at Alexandra Palace of a poem that simply consisted of his name screamed over and over again. My throat was sore for days after.
The I Don't Care Girl (1953)
inspiring song
In spite of its imperfections, the film contains one of the most inspiring performances of any song in any film. Mitzi Gaynor becomes Eva Tanguay, insists on coming out into the audience, hits a star quality personality in the song "I don't care" when she sings - "Let down the gangway, for I'm Eva Tanguay, and I - DON'T - CARE!!!" I have tried to find this on DVD, but it does not exist. CAn someone get this changed??? Does it exist on CD or MP3 anywhere? I believe that Judy Garland sang the song in the film "Good Old Summertime" but I can't find that either. I have been remembering this song for over fifty years now, which shows how memorable it is. Not many songs have this power to impress itself on the memory, and it is only because of the great performance of Mitzi Gaynor, who is apparently still going today with live performances!