Week 33

Introduction

As of this week, the blog is genuinely in sync with the entries on deviantART. I will switch to individual film entries here at some point, as mentioned in the introduction, but for the time being I'm going to stick with these compendiums. I expect I'll either switch at the start of year two, or with film number 101. Which, as you shall soon see, may not be so far off...


Week Thirty-Three

The biggest news this week: I've passed 90! 90! Only ten films to go til I hit the final aim -- I think I can manage that in 19 weeks, to be honest. Anything after that... it's all a bonus, and something to aim to beat next year!

Anyway, on to the business of the films themselves. The first one up this week is an odd'un, but I've gone ahead and justified that in the review itself. Elsewhere it's the usual mixed bag of filmic delight and despair. How I've fit it in whilst also watching nearly all of Neon Genesis Evangelion I do not know.


83) The Sign of Four (1983, Ian Mackenzie & Alex Nicholas, DVD) 3/5
A slightly unusual one to review, this -- it's a 49-minute animated Sherlock Holmes adaptation from the '80s, one of four in this particular series. But, as best I can tell from IMDb, it's not specifically TV-based, and it does feature the voice of Peter O'Toole. Vocally he makes for a good Holmes, though the character design could be a little better. I can't recall the original story well enough to comment on this as an adaptation, but it's a decent mystery that's well explained. The animation is not bad; certainly no worse than most kids' TV animation from the '80s and '90s, and better than the flat Flash-animated stuff of today. A solid production.

84) Alfie (1965, Lewis Gilbert, DVD) 4/5
Michael Caine stars as the eponymous London lothario in this '60s sex-based comedy/drama, which helped bring about a change in British abortion law thanks to its chilling final act. If you're only familiar with the Jude Law-starring remake, most of the original might come as a shock to you -- whereas the 2004 version was pretty light and amusing, this is actually a more serious affair. There is humour, but it's tinged with a sad awareness of how deluded and misogynistic Alfie is; horribly so now, but bad even for his time. This one may be more complex and worthy but, sacrilegious as it may be, I'd rather watch the remake.

85) Thunderbirds (2004, Jonathan Frakes, TV) 2/5
No doubt you've heard only bad things about this re-imagining of Gerry Anderson's '60s puppet extravaganza (apart from that esteemed publication The Funday Times proclaiming "You'll love this!" on the DVD cover). Certainly there's much for fans to hate -- dull teen angst, tired moral messages, low budget CGI, an iffy storyline and a truly horrendous re-mix/ruining of the theme music. But, believe it or not, it's not all bad: the redesigns of the Thunderbirds and Tracy Island are modern but faithful, the scenes where they're doing some proper rescuing aren't bad, the characters are as annoyingly FAB-perfect as they actually are on TV (apart from Alan's angst of course), and Lady Penelope and Parker are near spot-on too (except when they go all Buffy). The interpretation of the Hood may be weak (even more so thanks to his pathetic henchmen) but his plan's not bad. There are even times when the whole thing feels like it's adapted from an original episode... albeit a relatively poor one. If you loved the series you'll never like this; heck, unless you're under 10 you'll probably never like this (and that's being generous). Maybe, someday, there'll be a decent new version of Thunderbirds. Sadly, this has probably hindered any attempts at that. Shame.

86) An Inconvenient Truth (2006, Davis Guggenheim, DVD) 4/5
Famous/infamous documentary centred on Al Gore's presentation about global warming. Many were surprised by the numerous high-scoring reviews this film received, considering it's a bloke talking in front of some pictures for an hour and a half. Watching it, though, it's easy to see why. For one thing there's more to it than that -- the show (made on Apple's Keynote, not PowerPoint as many reviews incorrectly state) is full of clear diagrams and video footage. Gore is a captivating speaker, explaining the issues in understandable terms without being patronising, and with humour when appropriate. The little interruptions following Gore on his 'campaign trail' are a mixture of illuminating and pointless, but ultimately don't detract from the point.

87) Point Break (1991, Kathryn Bigelow, DVD) 3/5
Jock-tastic '80s-style surfing-based crime thriller. If you've seen Hot Fuzz you'll know of this -- it's the one where Keanu Reeves lies on his back and empties his gun into the air while screaming "nooo!" The first half hour is pretty dull, unless you like surfing or American football, but it picks up to some pretty decent action sequences in the middle (a foot chase through back gardens is especially worthy of note). It's nothing particularly remarkable, but if you can stomach the overlong sports sequences, the occasionally cliched plot and Keanu Reeve's' acting, there are a few good things to be had here.

88) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006, Tom Tykwer, DVD) 4/5
Recent adaptation of Patrick Suskind's popular novel, often considered unfilmable because of its focus on the sense of smell. Tykwer covers for that with strong cinematography, with sumptuously rich visuals and a judicious use of close-ups to evoke beauty of disgust as appropriate (the early birth scene in a fish market is particularly rancid -- do not watch this right after eating!) Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman give typically brilliant supporting performances, and Ben Whishaw is fairly notable in the virtually mute lead role. John Hurt's narration is also excellent; he may well have the best narrative voice known to film. The ending is pretty bizarre, yet possibly very appropriate; certainly, it raises the whole story up to the level of legend.

89) Mrs Brown (1997, John Madden, TV) 4/5
Period drama focusing on the friendship between Queen Victoria and her Highland servant John Brown, alongside political threats faced by the British monarchy in the 1860s. There are undoubtedly some parallels to be drawn with recent Oscar-winner The Queen (British Queen retreats to Balmoral to escape the public eye amidst political events threatening the monarchy's future, etc), but the real treats here are the performances. Judi Dench is fantastic as ever as the Queen, a character more complex than the stereotypical "we are not amused" image; and comedian Billy Connolly is surprisingly effective in a rare serious role.

90) Wilde (1997, Brian Gilbert, TV) 4/5
Stephen Fry leads a starry British ensemble in this biopic of poet, novelist, playwright and genius Oscar Wilde. The film focuses not on Wilde's literary achievements and public life, but on his private relationships with various men, and in particular his obsession with the young Lord 'Bosie'; of course, eventually, all of these things collide. Fry is perfectly cast as Wilde and Jude Law is suitably horrid as the spoilt, stroppy and thoroughly dislikable Bosie, whose selfishness brings about Wilde's downfall. Also worthy of note is the ever-excellent Michael Sheen in a smaller but vital role; he's a criminally under-acknowledged actor.