Film Reviews by PV

I had no idea what to expect from this film. None. I thought it may be the usual tedious Scandinavian smuggery. Slow movies which go nowhere about relationships.

How wrong I was! This is a\bout relationships but oh so much more.

Oddly it is utterly believable. And wonderfully specific to Scandinavian traditions and myths.

The specific crime ring plotline may be a tad unbelievable BUT the writing, set-up, sheer skill at establishing character and place that has happened before means we can suspend our disbelief for that too.

I LOVED this film. Just brilliant. Better than anything I have seen from Hollywood for years. If I could I'd give it the Oscar.

Imagine the BBC Film Unit making this - the demand for authentic casting and the shoehorning of black characters and racism issues in the plot. Thankfully, there is none of that. None. WHAT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.

5 stars and then some - this is a brilliant movie. SO good. Intelligent, thoughtful, genuine, BRILLIANT!

This series is occasionally enjoyable but often very irritating indeed. I suspect this director's style fits the southern Catholic Italian sensibility more than the northern Anglo-Saxon one. I suspect Catholics who care so much who the pope is will find this more interesting than I do. I have no idea why he won the Cannes from with THE GREAT BEAUTY - awful, pretentious movie.

The director's tendency to keep trying to make pop videos grates, as does his stereotypical nonsense about British food being awful (It isn';t and in Italian restaurants here you can get anything anywhere, unlike in regional Italy) and British weather being always rainy. IN FACT, Rome gets more annual rainfall than London, YES, REALLY. Lazy, silly, Italian bigotry.

BUT there are some great scenes and actors - and nice to see Woburn Abbey on TV standing in for the stately home of the John Malkovich character. BUT ultimately it is all rather silly and pointless.

2 stars

I see they are remaking this or have done - predictably with a black female director and screenplay from the man who wrote GET OUT (who also says films with white people in have no interest for him - such utter racism! The characters matter NOT the skin colour).

Anyway, this is fun and there are several points than made me jump out of my skin. Funny how all actors in it white and black disappeared without trace though.

Remember that this is based on a horror novel by a white British man, Clive Barker. No doubt people yell STAY IN YOUR LANE at him now. It was Mr Barker who came up with the classic stare in the mirror and say the name 5 times shtick. Perfect. I can imagine youngsters doing that and being disappinted when sod all happens lol.

One thing has always puzzled me though - why Candymen takes revenge on the poor black people. Supposedly as they didn't help him in the legend but still doesn;t quite work logically. Nor does the whole bee thing, though it looks good. And as for the toilet scene and what happens to the boy - a lot of this just does not make sense and is here for pure imagery and the look of it. Fair enough.

Reminds me of SHE actually - and those old Egyptian mummy films with a modern woman who looks like an ancient princess in a picture.

3 stars for the film and 1 extra star for the brilliant Philip Glass soundtrack. I bet the remake uses awful rap and R&B. Yawn.

I enjoyed all 5 series of this - watched the shows back to back, and only found out recently they were made between 2012 and 2017.

Freddie Highmore is perfectly cast here. Maz Thieriot is superb as normal Dylan. Vera Farimiga grew on me as Norma, even if looking way too young and glamorous at first. I loved the character of Chick and Romero's character curve neatly mirror's Norman/Norma's.

The show pays homage to the 1960/1 Psycho movie. That is blatant here in an episode (5) with the motel shower scene... ALTHOUGH Hitchcock himself did not create that - it was storyboarded by a French scriptwriter apparently.

However, WHY did they cast Rihanna as Marion Crane. In the original movie a pretty Marliyn-Monroe-esque sexy blonde woman played her. In the EXTRA documentary here they say Rihanna was a fan of the show so cast her. WHY? She may well be a good rapper/singer (I have no idea - not my kind of music) but she is not stunningly pretty which is what is required for this character. I just did not believe the person she was in a relationship with would have a relationship with her (no spoilers). This spoilt the story for me. I suspect a reaction to #OscarsSoWhite etc and deliberate diverse casting (ie shoehorning black actors into the drama, which is set in a VERY white area of the USA actually).

There is also a pc nod to female casting with the female Sheriff. That doesn't work really. It's a copy and paste job from Fargo to tick diversity boxes again - and made me cringe.

I am so glad the series has ended here as it was in serious danger of jumping the shark and outstaying its welcome.

But these are minor points. The entire series is well paced and written, although sometimes when the plot veers off into romantic relationships away from the spooky house and motel, it loses momentum. But when it's in the motel with Norman, it's superb.

The split personality stuff is handled well despite its inaccuracy in medical terms (Ed Gein was the model for this and other mass murderers). It's also worth noting that a son loving his mother and living with her is not odd or abnormal. We wouldn't say that if a daughter did it. so why the sexism? In these times of insane soaring house prices and parents getting older nearing care, many grown-up sons and daughters will be living with mum.

To take a classic movie and mash it up like this is brave and original - those TV series that just plod on, remaking things loyally, or all those TV series which take some old book and make a dull plodding TV series (preferably set in India) are so tedious and best avoided.

But this is special. AND they even get a mention of great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas in at the end so well done for that!

The ending (no spoilers) is satisfying and right. And the soundtrack, as ever, is cool and often very British too.

Watch the extras to hear from the producers and actors.

4 stars.

I really enjoyed this movie - it had me hooked and jumping out of my skin in all the right places.

Gets a tad silly but all very well done. A bit predictable in act 3 to be honest but the ride was great.

Far better than most budget horrors.

But why oh why is the young boy have such long girly hair and why is he called 'Trevor'? I mean, 'Trevor'! If he were e 60 year old cock-er-ney maybe. Maybe it's an American thing. I'd recast that character and rename him.

Otherwise, good fun silly and effective horror. The sequel looks decent too.

The acting and plot are spot-on and the soundtrack is excellent too.

4 stars.

OK so this is very much a B-movie with some very wooden acting and on the nose obvious dialogue which should have been edited out before shooting started.

Having said that, it is an enjoyable revenge fantasy. A couple who (improbably) move to France after an army friend of their father leaves them a house in his will but only if they live there a year, get agro from the local yobs, male and female.

This being France, some are obviously north African heritage (in the UK that;d be black, esp in cities). Anyone who has lived in London will know the type - amoral feral kids who make everyone's life a misery with mugging, anti-social behaviour etc. The young actors here get it spot on as does the script - these yobbo kids are truly menacing and scary. AND true to life, sadly.

I wort of didn';t believe some parts (a couple like this would surely own a property at home in the USA by their age and yet they say they have never owned a place themselves, Hmmm). And the police procedure and seeming lack of any investigation or DNA testing or SOC officers make it all a bit absurd.

BUT it is I must admit rather enjoyable to see the yobbish thugs who do not care who they hurt getting what they deserve. If only...

Watch with EDEN LAKE a British-set version of this, violent too and classier to be honest. Great to watch the two movies back to back.

Now I look forward to someone somewhere daring to make a version of this feral youth thug storyline but set in the ethnic inner city with black feral kids making everyone;'s life a misery (an everyday story in London).

4 stars. A decent effort on a small budget.

For me, this is a superb TV drama WAY superior to the unfunny posturing 'The Death of Stalin' (2017) by the endlessly over-rated and unfunny Armando Iannucci.

This dates from 1983 and is from a stage play, and that shows in its theatricality and farce tradition - which is maybe the best way to respond to the horror of Stalin. Comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin.

Some old British character actors pop up in this, which is fun (eg David Kelly, comedy Irishman from Fawlty Towers and Robin's Nest etc) and Dave the Wincester Club barman from Minder!

Yes, subtitles would be handy as a few lines are hard to understand, esp with all the accents.

To make Stalin and the vile rapist Beria Irish is supposed to mark them as outsiders as both were Georgian in charge of the USSR in Moscow. I would suggest this idea is a bit dated though.

And NOW WAY would the pc gestapo in charge of TV now allow non-Chinese people to play Chinese characters - sadly. Though they always have black actors playing white roles now!

I enjoyed this. I'd like to see it on stage too.

4 stars

This series is really interesting and enjoyable. Occasionally, one is brought to think how ridiculous it all is - set in modern day etc - and it is only through nifty plot twists and characters that keep the attention that this gigantic mash-up works.

Occasionally it annoys, as with some diverse ethnic casting, subplots re lung transplants and romance of the brother Dylan. and mental home mooching and wallowing.

But once it returns to the house and Norman, and Norma of course, the spark is reignited.

I cannot wait for series 5 - the last.

OK so series 2 of this does get a bit OC and soapy with all the teen romance etc, and a bit Weed or Breaking Bad with the dope gang theme.

But, having said that, I am also thoroughly enjoying all series of this mashed-up remake retake of Psycho.

Nobody can possibly trump the original movie (though Hitchcock in fact did not create the famous shower scene story board! He gets the credit always for something he did not create!) so this series wisely does not try it. Instead, it bizarrely creates a modern day version but mashed up with sort of retro Norman and his mum.

To be honest, they are maybe not weird enough, and I have known WAY more overbearing domineering mothers than Norman's mum here. The family is pretty normal actually.

Dylan the brother is sort of everyman - we see the story through him, in a way. He's our conscience.

Some of the younger female characters are dippy and annoying, but at least there is no box-ticking diversity nonsense. If the BBC had made this, Norman would probably be Asian with a black dad or something.

SO 4 stars - not profound but enjoyable, and better than any BBC made drama I have seen in years.

I loved this 3 parter. It first aired on BBC2 and typically the pc Radio Times constantly complained there were not enough strong female characters - well actually, the 'strong independent in charge' woman character is now its own cliche and stereotype and SO BORING.

I avoid TV drama painted by numbers like that to worship diversity and shoehorn such characters and pc issues into the plot; ditto re race.

This is the best drama I have seen on the BBC is 2 years - unlike most of their output in drama, it is not woke and broke.

It is just GREAT STORIES WELL TOLD which is what all drama SHOULD be - the BBC has seriously lost its way as its belief now is that the purpose of drama is to promote their diversity message. No wonder their ratings are plummeting so badly.

I enjoyed this hugely and could watch it all again - decent stories, interesting characters, the lot.

5 stars! More please but do not ruin it with pc characters parachuted inappropriately into early 20th C Vienna please - so NO Idris Elba or similar purlease and no 'strong independent women' detectives to tick the MeToo boxes. if that happens, I shall switch off.

This 2013 series passed me by so I am working my way through them now. I do expect later series to 'jump the shark'.

It all reminds me a tad of the TV series DEXTER for some reason.

All a bit silly at times, almost a fantasy movie, and tbh the characters do not seem weird enough - esp Norma Bates. But also Norman. The original movie has not equal in that - though the over-rated Hitchcock did not actually create the shower scene (storyboarded by an underling).

Freddie Highmore looks younger than the 21 years he is, which helps and reminds me of Nicholas Hoult. As a child actor for a well-off family of actors and mum was Daniel Radcliffe's agent, he had all the advantages BUT it's still hard for a child star to make the transition to adult acting. He does here with aplomb.

Best not to think to hard when watching this - let it wash over you. I particularly liked the way it all started.

4 stars

This is maybe the worst movie I have seen this year. Just awful. I actually flicked fast forward through it a lot.

So absurd in every way and the acting;s so wooden it could cause 'a fence' if I could be bothered!

It;'s just yawnsome and boring. Dreadful CGI special effects with a 6 headed shark who...

Oh I can't be bothered.

The people stand on a beach for ages waiting for the shark to attack - that is how bad this is.

Watch SHARKNADO for a laugh of THE SHALLOWS for a decent shark movie or the original JAWS. Or watch old Ray Harryhausen special effects to see how it's done. CGI has a lot to answer for.

Watch only when very drunk or not at all.

No stars

I have never been a particular fan of Stephen King (the only book by him I tried to read was as overlong and dull as this movie) so maybe I am not the target audience.

But anyway, by any standard's this movie is overlong with a daft silly drawn out plot (like the first one) and I yawned through a lot of it.

To horror audiences it is probably passable but so convoluted and non-sensical even to bore them.

2 stars - just.

I love old movies like this - they don;t make em like this any more and wouldn't. Not diverse enough racially and the women are passive which is now verboten - all women MUST be strong and independent and in charge now. That is a new cliche, a new stereotype, of our metoo woke age.

SO I enjoy the lack of pc preaching in these old movies even more.

A decent story from a book - all dark love story and death and guilt. Very Tennessee Williams except it isn't.

I enjoyed it anyway - a long film by the standards of its day at almost 2 hours.

Kirk Douglas cast against macho man type too.

4 stars.

This is based on a novel which though a best seller has very mixed reviews.

The over-rated director claims this "a new way of telling the story of WWII to a young audience". WHAT ROT! The story does not change and you do not have to add pop music and infantile slapstick 'jokes' to appeal to youngsters who can easily watch SWING KIDS, DOWNFALL, GENERATION WAR, FATHERLAND, and THE PRODUCERS (1968) instead of this tosh which is nowhere near as funny as it thinks it is. Less funny than pilot for sitcom HEIL HONEY I'M HOME even.

It is basically panto, slapstick, cartoon characters, cheesy slushy schmaltz, too cutesy by half.

AND 10 year old boys do not have imaginary friends - maybe 3,4,5 year olds - and they certainly do not hug each other - this is an adult';s view of childhood and it is cringe-worthy. Especially when the 10 year old shows an love interest in a girl. Aged 10. Yeah right!

A complete misfire take on childhood - not sure if the director or author of the original novel is to blame. The taste is so bad it;s criminal. As are the jokes (German shepherds anyone?). Americanese from 2020 like 'overthinking' and use of the word 'goddam' in people speaking with German (actually Austrian) accents jars too.

And from this anyone would think WWII was Americans + Russians versus the Nazis. No reference to the British - just the English later on, which is so ignorant. So pc though so has to mention India and China (the former had people also supporting the Japanese actually).

The most hilarious thing here is imaginary friend Hitler having a New Zealand accent. Nothing else made me smile, let along laugh.

The best bit is the start and the linking of Hitler with other mass hysteria with pop acts. Otherwise, avoid this. I wish I had.