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Reviews
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
Kurt Russell's Narrator & Nicholas Hammond are the highlights
There is a great sequence in this film with the Narrator Kurt Russell describing the exploits in Italy of the lead character, a series of extremely interesting events that take place entirely off-screen. Since so much of the on-screen action is meandering and plotless, I think it would have been better if Tarantino had just had Russell narrate the entire story to the accompaniment of a still picture or maybe even a blank screen. It would certainly have moved along at a quicker pace. Some people think Tarantino is the most overrated writer/director this side of Christopher Nolan. I couldn't possibly comment.
Nicholas Hammond (Black Cobra 2) is excellent as Sam Wanamaker.
The Idea of You (2024)
Hilarious fantasy for middle aged women
No doubt this is popular with women of a certain age, who probably think it is essentially a docudrama. 40 something mother of one finds herself in a relationship with a 20 something famous pop star (of course she does). Shame the filmmakers did not have the courage of their convictions. The middle aged mother is played by the slim and glamorous Anne Hathaway, as opposed to someone who is foul mouthed, overweight and with a face that looks like they have just been slapped with a fish, which would be a far more realistic portrayal of most modern day 40 something women.
Presumably in the sequel, the now 50 something mother will dump the fading pop star for a younger model.
Bergerac: All the Sad Songs (1990)
I Remember Yesterday Like It Was Only Yesterday
A very good cast in this episode, the shenanigans involving a pop singer decades past his prime and an awkward reunion with his former singing partner. The unintentional highlight however is the appearance of their big hit from back in the day. Supposedly from the early 60s, the song I Remember Yesterday Like It Was Only Yesterday (presumably written for this episode) actually sounds like a rejected Eurovision entry from about 1983. The production team must have been particularly proud of it however, as the chorus is sung by various characters throughout the episode, and is then performed in full by the duo - and it seems to go on forever!
Batman Begins (2005)
Batman Begins To Take Himself Too Seriously.
A comic book film by and for people who think comic book films are beneath them. A children's fantasy with all the fun squeezed out of it. Christopher Nolan is a director who has never seen a Stanley Kubrick film he did not want to make a pale imitation of, so I guess we should consider ourselves lucky there are no Eyes Wide Shut style orgies.
The actors perform as if they are suffering from hypertension. Rutger Hauer manages to stay calm, but does not get anything interesting to do. Thomas Wayne is played by the son of Ken Barlow.
Presumably next in line for Nolan's 'dark' revisionism is Thomas The Tank Engine or maybe The Teletubbies.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Laughable Attempt At A 'Grown Up' Super Hero.
The Super Hero genre is intrinsically puerile in nature, featuring characters with stupid names in ludicrous outfits doing ridiculous things. Any attempt to make it 'mature' or 'serious' inevitably leads it to being unintentionally hysterical. Christopher Nolan, a man who clearly thinks Straw Dogs wasn't serious enough, believes otherwise. The actors here perform with a level of intensity that would make William Shatner cringe, and rather than having real conversations, the characters speak at each other in pseudo dramatic monologues. Nolan needs to put down his 'Best Of Stanley Kubrick' blu ray box set for a few minutes and look at some real human interaction. Christian Bale is awful throughout, his Batman sounds like a hoarse Barry White and his Bruce Wayne is strangely unlikable- Patrick Bateman without the Phil Collins collection. Heath Ledger's overrated attempt at a 'realistic' Joker has been usurped by Joaquin Phoenix' performance in 2019 (that film was also a load of pretentious, derivative drivel, but that is for another review). The next in the series, 'The Dark Knight Rises' turned out to be even worse.
Nolan's aunt played Helga Geerhart in the BBC comedy 'Allo 'Allo. I await his big screen adaptation with baited breath.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Ludicrously overlong, pretentious and unintentionally hilarious.
Batman, the famous character from children's comics is brought to 'life' by a cast of top class actors performing in the most overwrought and irony-free way possible. Instead of Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson having fun and winking at the audience we now have Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and the rest seemingly under the impression they are in the next chapter of The Godfather, completely oblivious to the fact half the cast are wearing ridiculous fancy dress. Bale's sore throated performance as Batman is a particular stand-out of absurdity.
Director and co-writer Christopher Nolan delivers his usual trademarks of bits and pieces he saw in Kubrick films (how many more times is he going to ape the opening scene of The Shining?) and clunky exposition dumps. Michael Caine's speech about seeing Bale in the future but not speaking to him (eh?), is as lugubrious a piece of dialogue as you will ever hear.
Coming in at a brisk 165 minutes, The Dark Knight Rises is made even funnier by the fact that lots of grown men think it is a masterpiece.