Film Reviews by PV

This is a curio piece - made for Czech TV and, to be honest, too padded out and flabby to stretch even to 90 minutes. Would have been better as a one hour (if that) TV drama,.

I have to admit I did not know Czechs and Poles were in north Africa fighting with the Allies in WWII; I did know many Italians were there (the Brits too 300,000 prisoner, and half could not write their names and many did not even have guns) and Italians also fought with the Nazis on the Eastern Front against Russia and a handful even flew planes in the 1940 Battle of Britain - for the Nazis. As many Czechs and Poles flew planes in that battle for the Brits!

Oddly this film is based on Stephen Crane;s late 19th C novel the Red Badge of Courage all about the US Civil War - the theme of courage and redemption come from there.

I liked the non-pc barrack humours etc - no Brit/US film made these days would do that or have an all white all male cats either (one woman is in this, that is it, and she to provide, ahem, 'services'.

An interesting curiosity piece. 2 stars for the film really but 3 stars for highlighting a little known event in WWII history. Maybe watch it with classic 1940s/50s films about Tobruk or the north Africa campaign - the filme Rommel The Desert Fox with James Mason is a classic. As is Ice Cold in Alex.

Not sure about this. For a start, it is a musical - and so will appeal to those who like The Greatest Showman and other new musicals with pleasant-enough but untimately forgettable songs. It should state it's a musical really - it was something of a shock when they started breaking into song on screen (and I fast-forwarded through most of the songs after hearing the first verse, chorus and attempted hook). I did like the fish rap though.

It dates from 2017. A year after the rather brilliant THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS which is also my favourite pandemic movie - even though a fungus not a virus ravages the world there. Maybe Shaun of the Dead is the main influence. Also I feel sure the Matilda musical is an influence here.

Anna and the Apocalypse ticks the feminist boxes, strong female characters saving the world all over the place, males deferring to them. The new cliche trope.

But it's not bad - just all rather cartoon character. I did laugh a couple of times, but many jokes are obvious. Very predictable and maybe too long - would suit maybe an hour special on TV.

2 stars

OK so this is based on a children's novel by Michael Morpurgo. His books are usually based on true stories - but they often too can be a bit preachy lecture, with a great big clunking moral hammer to bash you with. Not hard when you portray Nazis in WWII, mind, to make moral points.

The best thing here is the wonderful mountain scenery. The worst thing is 1) the lack of subtitles - I could barely understand the voiceover and could not understand a lot of dialogue by characters either; 2) how predictable it all is - goodie German and baddie German etc. 3) the ending is glib and pointless (no spoilers).

A very twee children;s film really - should be classified as such. Gentle, rural, nice mountain scenery - not really believable though.

2 stars

This is a slight movie which feels more like a short story, to be honest, adapted from a pulp crime novel, I think.

I saw the great reveal climax (no spoilers) coming a mile off. All I can say is these must be the dimmest mobsters in history not to see it.

All meandering and rambling really, very episodic, confused and confusing. Many things not explained - such as specifically why the main character's brother Leo is being pursued. Or who is in the police.

Watch Breaking Bad instead, from series 1, to see classy 5 star mob/mafia drama.

Anyway it passes the time, so 2.5 stars rounded up.

I rented this solely because I admire Tom Schilling as an actor (brilliant in Generation War when he was 30 playing 20, amazingly).

This is a fabricated biopic about Hitler's early years in Vienna aged 19/20 in 1909. It is not however based on fact. Honestly, so little of this is true - the worry is people will think it is. The idea Adolf Hitler became what he was because he was influenced by the people here is absurd.

And this is absurdist comedy - possibly very theatrical and Hungarian which is why I did not get it at all. It starts well but the last half is almost unbearable to watch.

Watch the 2002 film MAX for a more realistic account of Hitler as a struggling artist in 1918 post WWI which was when Hitler became political - he was not really in 1909. For comedy, rent THE PRODUCERS musical.

Dawn of Evil was adapted from a play by Hungarian playwright and theatre director George Tabori and explores the period 1909 and after when Hitler was a struggling artist in Vienna, Austria.

It gets 2 stars

Somewhere in this expensive flabby mess there is an exciting taught thriller trying to get out. It's an overlong, convoluted, meandering, confused, pc woke mess.

Remi Malek's baddie is so underused, it's a real shame, esp after a superb opening sequence. It's, all so feminised of course, the usual new cliche of the 'strong woman' empowered females trope (and yet the UK services have precisely NO female snipers), typical catty lines aimed at a retired Bond described as old and a wreck, and with one working knee - when Daniel Craig looks GREAT for 52 when this was filmed. The fact is, feminising Bond to be a 'new man' goes against his whole character - it is not him. SO it is hard to suspend disbelief therefore or, frankly, to care what happens at all. Ben Wishaw is great as ever as in everything he is in.

Wonderful location shots (shot in Norway, UK,. Faroe islands, Italy) and set pieces - of course, as these movies are made for an international and esp far east market who demand them. Hints the next Bond will be a black female (007's replacement here). No humour and plenty of girly soppiness esp at the end. Yawn. Give me LIVE AND LET DIE and Roger Moore any day.

AND the worst Bond song in years - utterly forgettable dirge. And the producers seem to know it too - they revive ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD, from a Bond film over 45 years old to add to the score.

3 stars

Jewish Londoner called Monty Norman, still with us age 93, wrote the Bond feem toon, y'know - not John Barry

The film is English language, so not sure why someone is saying it is German. There are no subtitles available for the hard of hearing. background music too loud at times and dialogue unclear.

It says it is based on a true story. Hmm, one wonders how much, as ever with such movies.

Anyway, I am sure there was some revenge from Jewish groups as with Mossad catching war criminals or sometimes killing them in South America.

Interesting bit of hidden history. Workmanlike but OK. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I doubt I am the target demographic for this teen drama - set, I think, in 1990s, judging by nightclub music and Berlin Wall down so travel to former commie states possible. I have been to Zoo station which is in West Berlin and yes, the station attracts a lot of drug addicts, beggars and down and outs, as many train stations.

It is directed by the director of the truly great Generation War Philipp Kadelbach.

However, I felt that, though the 8-part 2 disc series was watchable, it often dragged and could have been a 3 parter. Far too much of teen squabbles and teens smoking (endlessly) and teens having tantrums and teens dancing. Lots of flab here.

I also felt the story could not decide if it was a thriller, a fantasy, a druggie drama like a German 'Trainspotting, a pop star fan movie (Bowie appears in the first 4 episodes a lot then vanishes), a memoir - and consequently is none of them. It falls between all stools and is thus a bit messy and confused. I could have done without the fantasy element.

Btw the best film I have ever seen on drug addiction is "Osla, August 31st" (2011) which is a brilliant film, grown-up but featuring young people.

Some may be offended by drug taking, sex and violence depicted. I am not. What did offend me and I call it out here is how every single man is portrayed as either a useless buffoon (like the clueless father with dreamy plans that never work) or monstrous violent abusers. Every single one. Can you imagine a film or drama which portrayed all adult women as useless or abusers? One star off for that sexism.

That may well be what the book or magazine article this is based on portrayed. But I found it unfortunate and it also means most adult men here are just cartoon characters in 2 D not 3 dimensional characters. I very much suspect the 'true story' is embellished too - and at the start of every episode it more or less makes that clear.

I liked the 2 young male leads in particular whose stories and dilemmas were more interesting, frankly, than that of the girls.

2.5 stars rounded up.

This film is such fake new. Watch the great German film DOWNFALL to see the facts; what we see here is fantasy.

I had no great expectations of this TV series - though it's listed as a DRAMA when it is now. It is half drama and half documentary. Why someone gave it 1 star I do not know.

I found this fascinating as Speer is fascinating as one of the few top Nazis who escaped the noose at the Nuremburg trials even though his deputy was hanged! How he managed that is explored here.

Yes some dramatic scenes are cheesy, and some may object to the humanising of Hitler (the great film Downfall got criticised for the same). And the subtitles often leave a lot to be desired (they say people 'hold speeches' when they mean give them, and refer to 'Crystal Night' for example which in English is referred to as the Night of Breaking Class or more usually the German Kristallnacht).

Most fascinating perhaps is hearing from some of Speer's children - in their 60s mostly when this was filmed - and children of those who knew him, plus real archive footage of Speer who died in London in 1981 - the same London he bombed with V2 rockets who were built by slave labour he organised. The film exposes all his lies - it seems his charm and willingness to speak at the 1946 trials and say sorry even though he claims he was not directly involved saved his own neck.

And Leni Riefenstahl speaks too - aged maybe 100 (born 1902; died 2003). She who made all Hitler;s films like Triumph of the Will.

Part 1 is the rise of Speer who age 28 was chosen by Hitler to be his architect; part 2 is the war and aftermath; part 3 is the 20 years Speer served in Spandau prison with a select few other top Nazis like the deranged Hess and Doenitz and more.

The extra doc on disc 2 is interesting too.

If you are interested in World War II and the likes of Speer, you'd love this; if not you will not.

4.5 stars rounded up

OK so this is a bit of a B movie and looks it, Very annoying overly-loud background music and NO subtitle options.

Cary Elwes is best-known these days for the SAW movies, but I remember him as the Eton love interest of a teenage Guy Burgess later Soviet spy) Rupert Everett in Another Country (1983) probably the best film of both, and Colin Firth.

It is all watchable and an interesting story - focuses on a Christian family though the reason the Nazis persecute them is not explained. Maybe because they are evangelical or a form of Christianity not approved by the state? A note at the start of this movie would have been helpful. Lots of other vagueness here too, esp about the Swiss banker.

Some interesting scenes - and tense ones too - with the Nazis and gestapo. Not sure the ending would have actually happened (remember in Vichy the French Gendarmes rounded up many many thousands of Jews and packed them on trains to the death camps, and the French political class until 1990s collaborated with the Nazis more than has been admitted - Mitterand too).

Made during the pandemic, the 'stay safe' motif is clever and used well.

Not great but not bad so 3 stars. Shame about the too loud music drowning out dialogue. Why subtitle are useful!

There was only one series of DANGER UXB as it covers the whole of World War II, but there was no need for a second series as this is one of the best TV dramas of the last 50 years - in the top 10. The main character Brian Ash is played by Anthony Andrews who was also in another great ITV classic drama, Brideshead Revisited in 2-3 years after this. Some great character actors too such as Robert Pugh.

It has 13 parts, each one a cracker, despite every story being the same: will the bomb go off or not? My favourite episode is probably 10, BUTTERFLY WINTER, which I actually remember from the first time I watched this age 11.

The simplicity of the strong characters and trueness to life win through - unsurprisingly, the scripts were based on the memoir of a real WWII UXB officer.

Today's audiences may demand more CGI, quick editing and all the rest to pander to their tiny attention spans - and I dread what the woke pc producers of drama would do to this now (maybe make half the UXB men women?). This, however, is how it as - all white British men doing brave heroic war work defusing bombs or trying to. And, for me at least, it is better than any BBC or ITV drama today.

Watch the 45 minute documentary at the end of disc 4 - well worth a watch to learn about how the series came about.

That says the series was filmed on film and on location - the all TV drama until then was filmed on video and mostly in TV studios, so this series really was ground-breaking.

5 stars. Classic stuff.

I saw great reviews for this from critics, all 4 stars of 5 or more. But then critics are the vainest people ever and desperate to fit in an conform to whatever the on trend view is, and these days fawning over any film which features African American stories as this does, set against 1967 civil rights movement and early 70s. BLM has a lot to answer for - I wonder how this might have looked if made 3-4 years earlier.

Anyway it is all very episodic, with expected violent scenes and people getting 'whacked', but is very bitty and fragmented, with civil rights issues shoe-horned in, I think. Watch Peaky Blinders to see gang warfare done with Jewish gangs and others.

Told from POV of Christopher and focusing on his father and grandfather rather than a child and teenage Tony Soprano - the film tries to explain his personality and backstory as we all know the man he became.

As we know, James Gandolfini died of a heart attach in Rome aged 51 in 2013. His 14 year old son found him slumped in the hotel room in room, That son is Michael Gandolfini who was 20 when he brilliantly played the teenage Tony Soprano here. One to watch for the future, he is. Some funny scenes too, at school, with the usual personality tests showing what he may become, and a hilarious scene with a dog and Christopher as a baby (remember Tony choked him to death after a car crash in the series - no spoilers - it mentions this in the first scene of the film and is in the Sopranos series). A bit Omen-mystical but funny. Tony is a man to be wary of, even as a boy or teen.

No spoilers but when it all ends with a MEH one is left wondering if one can remember any of the film. I have forgotten most of it already and I only watched it yesterday. I looked up some of the Italian-American slang on the internet (there are sites) which was as illuminating as it was hilarious, I do rather suspect the N word was toned down a great deal from what real Italian-Americans like these would have said in the late 60s and early 70s. So not really realism at all. Very mild racial swearing mostly. Some new words on me too, and the hilarious insults the gangstas use - esp 'your sister's C' - had me laughing every time.

An interesting curiosity piece like the Breaking Bad movie spin--off and equally forgettable.

My advice: watch the TV drama series of the Sopranos instead - then you can see some characters younger in this like Junior etc. Maybe enjoy this as you might an extra slice of cake after that main meal - which you do not really want but feel you have to eat because everybody else is.

2 stars

OK so this is a German film - more a TV movie in feel - and instead of any British or American characters speaking English to be subtitled, they speak German. So Joe Louis black American boxer of 1930s speaks fluent German as does a British POW. Very odd in a way but maybe just what US films do all the time the other way round.

What is great about this being German is that you get to see lots of original and well-used archive footage of boxing and the Nazis and WWII which we in the UK have never seen before as these are German newsreels.

Sadly, whenever we get to hear of Max Schmeling it is in the contest of Joe Louis, hero of African-Americans so Max is portrayed as the (white) enemy. Very refreshing to see this German and European angle on it all.

Liked the footage of Crete where Max was sent as a soldier.

Watch right till the end to find out what happened to all the characters.

NO SPOILERS as biography, but Max became very rich as the man in West Germany who supplied Coca-Cola and died in his 100th year. Fab. He also financially supported a destitute Joe Louis in later life.

3.5 stars rounded up

I heard about this on a David Bowie documentary - he loved it as a 12/13 year old in Bromley in 1960/61 and based himself on Anthony Newley in so many ways, copying his accent and style (see the way he introduces THE SNOWMAN from 1982).

This is all very surreal - a prototype TRUMAN SHOW in a way.

And part 4 of 6 is very risque too - I can only assume the pofaced censors were unaware of the double entendre.

Una Stubbs is here and Bernie Winters and a young Geoffrey Palmer in part 1.

I loved it - it only feels dated with some comments and attitudes that our pofaced judgemental feminist puritan metoo age would consider sexist. Maybe 1960 was a more intelligent age! AND of course, the computers shown back then look hilariously dated because NOTHING DATES AS FAST AS A VISION OF THE FUTURE> Watch Westworld (1973) to see that. I could not help a smile when two men ballroom dance and we are informed that dancing should be with people of the opposite sex. Not now, Newley!

Anthony NEwley died in 1999 and seems forgotten BUT cowrote the song FEELING GOOD made famous by Nina Simone and the score of the early 70s US Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film incl the famous IMAGINATION song - I suspect Anthony Newley wrote the lyrics. Multi-talented.

I loved it anyway. More entertaining than most drama on TV now. I see it was on ITV then as there are ad breaks minus the ads - shows how far TV has gone downhill, NO WAY would any TV channel risk something like this now - not terrestrial anyway.

This is a gem. really. 5 stars