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LiamONeill
Reviews
The Cicerones (2002)
Interesting short film.
This is a pretty interesting short film which is sure to be relegated to late night obscurity due to its length and nature. it is the story of a man (mark gatiss, of "the league of gentlemen"/ "dr who" books fame) who is on a journey to examine a rare painting, but when he arrives at the church where the painting is supposedly held, he is set upon by some pretty bizarre characters.
Directed by jeremy dyson (the only member of the league of gentlemen writing team never to appear on screen in the tv show) it manages to create a nice sense of tension in a genuinely eerie setting. however, it is pretty bewildering, and at the end of the day, will not attract much attention apart from curious "league of gentlemen" fans, which is a shame, as it's nicely directed and there are great performances given by all.
Manic Street Preachers: Everything Live (1997)
decent enough live video of the manics
this is a video of the manics 1997 manchester nynex arena gig, it was the first (of now many) gig(s) they ever played in an arena. this was taken from their "everything must go" tour and only includes songs up to and including that album, 4 or 5 from EMG itself, the rest from the bands older stuff (imo a lot better).although i know for sure that a few songs have been clipped out for no reason whatsoever. that said it is a fairly thorough greatest hits selection, and although a lot of people seem to dislike this video, i reckon it's good, ok so it has pretty rubbish documentary inserts (random people and the manics being asked REALLY stupid questions), if you want to see a video recording of a manics gig - it does what it says on the tin.
The Ghoul (1975)
for fans.
basically, this is a retread of 1960's "psycho", except with more characters living in the house. it has dated, and outside of being atmospheric (which it does really well) it isnt really frightening. However, if you are a fan of hammer, peter cushing or john hurt then you will most probably enjoy this film. spoiler-less synopsis; some upper class idiots have a big party and then a race to land's end, not everything goes to plan, and each character is eventually lured to cushing's ominous looking house. cushing delivers an exceptional performance, especially during the scenes where he talks about the loss of his wife, however, this is not without a queasy sense of voyeurism, as at the time cushing had in fact lost his wife, and it had hit him extremely hard. john hurt features as a thoroughly weird groundskeeper who wouldn't be out of place in "the league of gentlemen" the film looks great, all of the sets are very convincing the ever present fog really adds to the feel.
in conclusion - if your'e a fan of hammer, hurt or cushing - give it a chance, if not - give it a miss.