Confessions of a Small-Screen Junkie

Spider-Man 3

2007-11-29T17:11:00.000Z

Watched it at last. Good blend of comedy and excitement - though perhaps a tad OTT on the action. You start to wonder how many times a guy can get thrown against a wall before he gets fed up with the whole thing and goes home. Good to see Stan Lee again. And I preferred this version's Goblin uniform than Willem Dafoe's. Admittedly the film could have had a good 15 minutes cut out of it, but we couldn't quite see where from. At least he didn't lose his aunt's engagement ring.

Flying Down To Rio, Sleepless In Seattle and Casablanca

2007-11-21T23:39:00.001Z

Another film night chez Peter and Maggie - the theme was cities. Flying Down To Rio was bizarre - in terms of the somewhat naive acting, direction, effects etc (it was 1933 after all) but when Fred and Ginger danced together, wow! Sleepless In Seattle was a bit of a struggle, especially if you don't like Tom Hanks (but probably great if you don't like Bill Pullman!) Casablanca was - Casablanca. Funnily enough I watched a lot of the early part of the film not remembering it, so finding it interesting - and then slept through the last half hour. Mea culpa etc.

Oh! What A Lovely War

2007-11-21T23:31:00.000Z

Watched it on DVD the night before Remembrance Day because I thought I should watch something meaningful and pertinent. Wasn't disappointed. A bit slow to start with but interesting use of the old Brighton Pier and once the songs began I was swept away. Couldn't remember anything of the stage show we put on at Tiffins - just after the Falklands War broke out, causing the audience, sadly, to stay away.

Miscellany

2007-11-10T20:41:00.000Z

Have been enjoying Jamie Oliver's and Gordon Ramsey's series. Stopped watching Nigella Lawson's after the first programme. More on that another time.

Watched the first hour of Children Of The Damned the other night before falling asleep. Life is too short to have another go. Afraid all it taught me was that Ian Hendry (a genius - God rest his soul) couldn't do a Welsh accent.

On a more positive note, watched the best ever Criminal Minds the other night - guest starring Jeannetta Arnette, whose scenes opposite Mandy Patinkin were phenomenal. And I got to cry again! The plot - unlike any other CM I have watched - and the way it unravelled really made you think. About marrying the wrong man, about motherhood, about police work... Special mention also for her husband (Michael Massee) and for the warden (Roger Aaron Brown). Excellent. It was Series One Episode 14 and it is going on my letter to Santa.

ET

2007-11-10T20:35:00.000Z

Watched this a couple of weeks ago - at 4 in the morning because I couldn't sleep! Brilliant! I'd forgotten just how good it is. Watched the original theatrical release with the intention of watching the recut version soon. Stunning the way Spielberg tells it all from the kids' perspective. Until an hour and ten minutes into the movie, the only adult you see the face of is Dee Stone's. High spot - crying at the end of the movie. How does he do that?

Spider-Man 2

2007-10-25T10:42:00.000Z

Watched it on DVD and have bought S3. Much more enjoyable than S1 - largely due to the excellent effects and acting going on every time Alfred Molina is on screen. His character really makes you think. And the relationship between Peter and MJ moves on nicely. Looking forward to S3.

Night of the Demon

2007-10-25T10:32:00.000Z

Almost forgot - watched this recently having recorded it off one of the main TV channels. Appalling stuff view-wise - both left and right sides of the screen were chopped off so didn't bother to keep it. Must look for it on DVD. Apart from that it was of course fantastic. Highlight - the medium speaking with Maurice Denham's voice and saying "It's in the trees. It's coming!" which was of course used by Kate Bush in Hounds of Love. Lowlight - the ambulance bell ringing when all they were doing was to take Rand Hobart from his secure institution to a paranormal science convention. Moves nicely into a telephone ringing I believe but I don't think an ambulance is supposed to ring its bell unless it's an emergency.

Miscellany

2007-10-16T17:41:00.000Z

Forgot to mention - the other week, while painting the living room, having the DVD player in the same room, I watched (v loud) Garth Brooks Too, Jimi Hendrix Live at Woodstock, Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen and Peter Gabriel's Growing Up Live. Mmm.

Spider-Man

2007-10-16T17:31:00.000Z

Watched this last week on DVD. Really don't like the design of the Green Goblin. It just seems out of place - almost amateurish. But Willem Dafoe as excellent as ever, and otherwise v enjoyable, and lots of nice touches, especially the performances of Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris as Peter Parker's parents and the "will they/won't they" between Peter and MJ.

Duel

2007-09-27T21:25:00.000Z

I watched another film! And excellent it was too - I'd forgotten just how well Spielberg keeps up the excitement - and with quite limited resources. Favourite bits: the snake lady - where did that come from? - and Dennis Weaver's jumps for joy as he realises he has won the day. Least favourite: the kids making faces from the back of the bus. They go on a bit. In a masterpiece of economy, they go on a lot.

Oh, and we watched the last episode of the first series of Life On Mars. Interesting.

Out of the Blue

2007-09-17T23:25:00.000Z

At last after nearly two months of watching nothing but Cagney and Lacey re-runs (excellent), Heroes (excellent) and Jamie Oliver's latest offering (at least he talks about food and cooks stuff, cp Nigella) last night I watched Out of the Blue, starring and directed by Dennis Hopper. And jolly good it was too. And the DVD only cost me £1.99! Starring is perhaps the wrong word. He was hired to play the father and took over directing after about a week because the initial director wasn't getting the right performances out of the actors. The real star is Linda Manz who plays his daughter. She plays an angry young teenager who you sense doesn't stand a chance what with her drinking and driving jailbird father and not very faithful mother (another great performance from Sharon Farrell). And she makes the ultimate punk statement in the brilliant surprise ending - but don't listen to the first few chapters of the director's commentary otherwise it won't be a surprise ending! The school bus crash at the start is pretty nifty too.

Miscellany

2007-07-31T21:37:00.000Z

As before - lots of C&L, Doctor Who has finished so now dipping toe into Heroes (first two episodes last week) and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (pilot ditto). Timeshifted some more films on to DVD for later consumption but didn't watch any of the stuff I saved previously.

We did take Life on Mars - Series 1 - with us and started watching that. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Have discovered Over There, a Bochco gem hidden away on Sky 3 about Iraq which is worth watching, and of course am sticking with Criminal Minds. First episode of Threat Matrix was directed by Charles Haid (ex-Hill St Blues) which was reason enough to watch it - will give some other directors a chance.

Must watch a film some day.

Miscellany

2007-06-30T06:52:00.000Z

Subhead: the title of this blog is ironic. Have been so busy I haven't watched any films this month. Just a weekdaily dose of Cagney and Lacey, Criminal Minds and of course Doctor Who. There was an extraordinary episode of C&L this week in which Michael Moriarty plays a cop, partnered with Christine, who ratted on some other officers so gets a very rough ride from everyone in the squad room. His performance is superb - very understated and he never looks anyone in the eye. It's called Act of Conscience.

Have timeshifted some goodies on to DVD to take on holiday - The Missouri Breaks, Billy the Kid, Johnny Guitar, Electra Glide in Blue and the entire Seven Ages of Rock series from BBC2.

Did buy some great DVDs in the HMV sale, including Star Wars IV (the one with the original theatrical release as well as the revamped cut that I already have) for only £7. Looking forward to having the time to watch it...

The Truman Show

2007-05-29T15:38:00.000Z

Watched this the night before last. Have watched it before. Jim Carrey is good in this, though I don't usually find his OTT style watchable. Ed Harris is superb. And you can't beat Peter Weir.

Happy Feet

2007-05-29T15:31:00.001Z

V entertaining - great music and soundtrack, especially in 5.1 surround sound. Bearing in mind the film is about a penguin who can't sing but is a great tap dancer, the only bit I found unbelievable was that Mumbles would be able to convince mankind that it must be good and not destroy all in its path... I particularly liked that its pay-off line - and in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make - was a Beatles lyric.

Cagney and Lacey

2007-05-27T15:03:00.000Z

We have also been watching loads of Cagney and Laceys. They are showing them every weekday on ITV3. Absolutely superb. They stand up after all these years for good stories, good characterisation, good supporting cast. My heart melts every time Cagney smiles at the camera - which she did a lot. Or when Lacey's eyes sparkle, which they do a lot. I even love Michael, who was a brilliantly natural actor, and a great foil to Harvey Jr, everybody's nightmare son. I was really surprised to see that Troy hasn't done more, but less so that Tony did no more on TV and is now an Elvis impersonator in Vegas (source, IMDb!).

The Shield

2007-05-27T14:44:00.000Z

Over the past couple of weeks I have been watching The Shield, courtesy of the Hallmark channel - they showed the first season, episodes 1-13, one episode more or less every day - and I really enjoyed it. The combination of police work, characters and relationships, and corruption was brilliant. I got just the same buzz towards the end of each programme that I used to with Hill St Blues or NYPD Blue - which is perhaps not surprising because, watching the credits, I thought I remembered the name Scott Brazil, and I see from the IMDb that he produced loads of episodes of HSB.

Goodfellas

2007-05-11T07:00:00.000Z

Started watching this the other night, but I have to confess that when my DVR froze with about an hour to go, after rebooting I just deleted the film without the slightest feelings of guilt. I found the first hour and three-quarters completely devoid of light and shade, interest, thought etc etc. De Niro hardly did anything. It was just people shouting at each other, hitting each other and being nasty. I suppose the scene where the guy fixing the drinks answers back and Joe Pesci shoots him was worth watching but during the rest of it I really felt my life slipping through my hands. And I can't get it back. I'd rather watch and learn from any of Godfather trilogy or Once Upon A Time In America.

Witness

2007-05-08T12:38:00.000Z

Watched it last night - as excellent as ever. Hadn't noticed Viggo Mortensen before - but then I probably hadn't seen Lord Of The Rings the last time I saw Witness. I probably also watched it from TV before because I don't remember seeing Kelly McGillis's "dirty pillows" before. (I would have made that link straight to the quotes page but it keeps crashing my PC!) I still love the bit where John Book hits the guy with the ice cream...

Still Crazy

2007-04-30T19:06:00.000Z

Watched Still Crazy the other day - the only film I have watched all month! Excellent. Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais can't do wrong in my book - but the bonuses ie Jimmy Nail singing a song, Billy Connolly singing Stealin', Keith Richard doing Bill Nighy (or was it the other way round?), an appearance from Bruce Dickinson who I don't think I've seen since The Music Lovers - it was great.

Other than that it has just been Friends, Criminal Minds, Dr Who...

Bound

2007-03-29T09:31:00.000Z

The Wachowski Brothers' first feature - and doesn't it show? Lots of stylish stuff zooming along phone leads with swishy sound FX. Regrettably I feel the film is a triumph of style over substance. I thought I was going to have to switch off after half an hour because they seemed to be lingering for too long on the lesbian sex scenes. If I want to watch lesbian sex scenes there are other places I can go. Fortunately the action got ramped up with the introduction of a pair of secateurs and once the girls had hatched their plot things got more and more exciting. So it was worth watching. Jennifer Tilly is always fascinating - I particularly remember her turning Henry Goldblume's head in Hill Street Blues - as is Gena Gershon. But at the end of the film - Do you know what the difference is between you and me? Neither do I. - I was left with a feeling of emptiness that I presume the scriptwriters also felt. Which I guess sums up the picture. (Film4)

Pride and Prejudice

2007-03-28T21:52:00.000Z

The one starring Keira Knightly. Really enjoyed it. Lots of filmic stuff like the ball, where everyone disappears except Lizzie and Mr Darcy, and the bit on the swing where you see a year go by as she twists herself round. Brenda Blethyn was as annoying as she could be as Mrs Bennet and Donald Sutherland is God: seemingly ineffectual until the moment it mattered - when he was as solid as a rock. The stately homes of England were lovely - as was England. The smouldering quality that I had been led to expect from Mr Darcy was not there. Which made it all the more plausible that he should do what he did and Lizzie would react the way she did. Well played. There is a heap of information about P&P here. (DVD)

Miscellany

2007-03-20T08:57:00.000Z

Haven't had time to watch a complete film since Pete's Bath Film Festival though have watched various programmes, including episodes of Hack, Desperate Housewives, South Park (especially liked the one where Cartman was arrested by the FBI for a hate crime because he threw a stone at Token, a black kid, for calling him fat), Doctor Who (the one with Marc Warren and Peter Kay) and the last episode of Heaven's Kitchen, which I picked up each week from UK TV Food.

The Producers, Bowfinger and Young Frankenstein

2007-02-28T07:46:00.000Z

On Sunday I attended the fifth film night, my first, at Pete and Maggie Patson's house in Bath. You meet up at the pub at lunchtime, back to the house and watch a film, snack, watch another film, eat a gorgeous three-course meal provided by the lovely Maggie and watch a final film. And drink a lot of wine. The food and wine flowed to such an extent that most of us dozed off through a good portion of Young Frankenstein so I will not say any more about it than it was good to see Peter Boyle and Marty Feldman again.

I enjoyed The Producers more than I expected. It's a long time since I have seen it and I only remember it for Springtime For Hitler so it was good to see the actual build up towards the show. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder were Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder - which is not a criticism.

Bowfinger was very funny and quite clever. Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy were Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, but it was particularly good to see the latter sending himself up.

Hero

2007-02-22T21:47:00.000Z

Just finished watching Hero - which I have just found out is also known as Ying Xiong - absolutely amazing. A Chinese martial arts film, it has such stunning use of colour, movement, scenery, music (Itzhak Perlman on violin!), and I could follow the story. Amazing. I particularly liked the games of go (called "chess" in the subtitles) being played in the rain and the Qin archers. A feast for the eyes and ears. Got all excited when I thought it had an English cinematographer - Christopher Doyle - only to find he's Australian. Directed and produced by Yimou Zhang, who also directed and produced House Of Flying Arrows. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung - lovers Broken Sword and Flying Snow in Hero - were the central characters in In The Mood For Love, which Christopher Doyle was also co-cinematographer on. (Film4)

NYPD Blue - Last two episodes

2007-02-21T15:19:00.000Z

Yesterday I watched the above - penultimate was a bit on the slow side but the last was superb. Everything on the face of it going wrong for Andy on his first day commanding the squad. It was good that he didn't "use" his knowledge about Bale (finding his credit card on a guy who rips off homosexuals) or maybe I missed that episode - unlikely. Also good that they ran Esai Morales and Charlotte Ross's names and pictures in the opening titles - but disappointing that they didn't show up! And good that Andy Sipowicz was in the final shot before it faded to black. A classic.

Welcome to Hard Times

2007-02-21T15:04:00.000Z

On Tuesday I watched Welcome to Hard Times, which is an actual western, and had quite a similar feel to Bad Day at Black Rock. Both were set in little communities with little more than a saloon, a jail and a store along with a few houses. Black Rock was about a village with a secret - a group of villagers had killed a Japanese farmer in retaliation for Pearl Harbour - whereas Hard Times is about a village which can't cope when it's terrorised by a stranger. Directed initially I believe for TV by Burt Kennedy. Henry Fonda, Keenan Wynn, Warren Oates and loads of ace character actors such as Elisha Cook, Royal Dano, Aldo Ray, Lon Chaney and Denver Pyle. Worth watching for all those cameo appearances. (TCM)

Bad Day at Black Rock

2007-02-19T22:57:00.000Z

Set in 1945 but had that western feel to it, probably because it was set in the middle of nowhere - "First time the train has stopped here for four years." All about fear of strangers. Spencer Tracy, Lee Marvin, Walter Brennan. Directed by John Sturges. Excellent. (TCM)