Film Reviews by JD

This meandering documentary is mainly about a 12th century composer. But it is full of artistic German pseuds who posture and pose so artificially as to be nauseating. There are debates about incredibly pretentious rubbish, some held in a small supermarket while shopping. What was the budget for this piece of intellectual snobbery?

This is about real spying, not your zip wire stuff but more exciting. Ordinary people doing desperate things to help end the war. How far would you go to protect your family or revenge their memory? It is also about the Dutch resistance and the plot is so thick you can't pour a glass of Advocat without getting lost.

Chris Lilley plays several unlikely heros and heroines in their bids to be Austrailian Hero of the year. His is a very gifted actor and each character is exactly and brilliantly played. Even twin brothers have well noticed differences. Most of the characters have a huge personality flaw which is irritating, I'm glad he played a few pleasant ones. The parodies of some stereotypes are agonisingly funny in a deep and black way, a pretty contemporary comedy. There is some slap stick but mainly an oblique look at how there is n'ought so queer as some folk.

Billy Crystal is wonderful. His character is ruthlessly cold and calculating but he does it with such a dry wit that it is endearing and funny. Meg Ryan does the famous fake orgasm in cafe scene with more guts than many would manage. This is a must see classic. Having said that it is a bit dated in the filming and direction and the acting is sometimes a bit theatrical. It is a good laugh and I'm glad I saw it.

As I write, 5 previous reviewers have given 5 stars and 4 have given 4 stars. I requested this DVD mainly on the basis of these very high ratings. I confess I am not a fan of horror. I always find myself wondering how they do the special effects and why the acting is so poor. For horror fans particularly of the child vampire persuasion this is great. For those who like a drama or action/adventure it is not worth the detour.

I am old enough to remember most of the Carry On films when they first appeared. They were risque, but quintessentially British with all the usual double-entendres. Like Panto but ruder. I thought it would be fun to see some again. If you are of an age when you are feeling nostalgic about Carry On, leave it as a distant memory. If you are not, prepare to be amazed at what people used to laugh at 40 years ago

The 12 certificate limits the target viewing by half. Get Smart was very funny because of Steve Carell but the script was generally weak. This doesn't have Carell in so the residual actors are poor and the script remains weak. Probably the best gag is in the first 5 minutes before Bruce and Lloyd appear. I should have spotted the word zany in the synopsis. Always a bad sign.

The plot is simple: Feckless footloose young man from deprived background becomes a servant for a rich sophisticated tetraplegic older man. They form a strong relationship. That's it. Except that it is done so well. The witty conversation, the fine detailed acting, there must have either been a great chemistry and/or phenomenal acting. It just goes to show great films are not just about telling good stories but are as much about telling stories well.

Of the five or so plots that are intermixing through the 3 episodes on the disc there are brilliantly acted, searingly painful and utterly bleak moments interspersed with rubbish. The style is very deprived, spiteful urban the accents are generally Yorkshire and it is never comfortable. There are moments of greatness within this worth waiting for. Not an average film. The 18 rating is more for the disturbing adult themes rather than sex or violence of which there is virtually none.

It must be said that Jonathan Meades features heavily in these art essays. He is never out of shot. His narrative is very wordy and often for its own sake. Words like parodic and polemic you might find in a Will Self novel in the same concentration. Phrases are usually a repeat of the previous with a different unusual word. The essays were quite interesting and I like the unusual style but he is just showing off most of the time and it became a bit wearing.

Of the far eastern films I have seen it can be said, with as much truth as any generalisation, they are slow, some monumentally slow, some glacial. This is not in these categories, but it is not to be rushed. The plot could easily be summarised in 20 words but I will not because there would be little left to savour. The photography is not so much bleak as plain. It is about very ordinary things, not superheroes but just good people.

If you're OK with subtitles this is well worth the effort. The acting is so much better than any British serial drama, the plot unfolds at a nice steady pace and is definitely not guessable. The photography is great. I'm completely hooked and will book the whole series.

This is a subtitled Danish series. I had not ever seen a Danish production before and am happy I have, the acting is fantastic the plot electric. This series is about the Prime minister during the Afgan conflict and the personal life of her and those around her. It is dramatic and gripping but is immensely believable. It is the sort of series it would be easy to lose a weekend with.

As you will discover there is no such animal as a sabre tooth tiger but what you think of as such was a dominant force. Having a Shakespearian actor narrating a natural history computer graphicised documentary is uncontextural and gives it a certain child story feel. There is plenty of complete and utter guesses which cannot be known through fossil evidence which for me makes it all less believable, but I thought there was enough possible information to be interesting.

East Germany in 1980 looks grim. There is a lot of body cavity searching. Young girls are used in forced labour. References are made to concentration camps. I kept thinking that it was surely anachronistic but maybe not. Certainly it is not very clear why there is so much oppression. Barbara is interesting, she maintains a closed dower sadness for most of the time but bursts into quite surprising glee when her western boyfriend visits. It is generally bleak and the filming plain and the atmosphere of the whole is unusually sad but for the glimpses of hope it is uplifting.