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Reviews
Hollywood (1980)
Hollywood - The Complete Series DVD availability
To add further to the praise that this series has received I would just say that this is my favourite documentary/historical series of all time. I first saw it on British TV in 1981 and it was subsequently aired a few years later on Satellite TV (to my knowledge the last broadcasting).
Although in this age silent films are perhaps easier to get hold of, in the eighties the genre was somewhat mysterious and rarely sighted. This all changed when Brownlow and Gill produced this sympathetic and fascinating appraisal including rare and insightful interviews sadly just in time with a host of stars who had been largely forgotten - i.e Louise Brooks, Janet Gaynor, Jackie Coogan, Anita Loos had sadly passed on within 4 years of the series release to name a few. Truly made in the nick of time.
Regarding DVD availability it was due to be released by Fremantle Studio in the early summer of 2006 and is available to order from store4dvd.co.uk and play.com although 10 months later it's release is still to be confirmed..........I fear the worst.
Hollywood Homicide (2003)
medals should be awarded for watching the whole film..............
This is a desperate film with no redeeming features whatsoever. Once again Harrison Ford's lack of comedic ability shines(!) through and reminds me of his rather inept performance in Working Girl. I rate Ford a fine actor but this role appeared badly chosen and maybe he is a bit limited now he is probably too old for fully fledged action roles. Regardless of whether the film is intended to be a self parody as some reviewers have maintained, surely the most important requirement is that it should entertain. Some of the humour is so forced and woeful that it borders on embarrassing, and the plot line jumps incoherently from one unlikely scenario to another. Little use is made of some potentially very useful cameo performers, and I, like most others found Josh Hartnett's performance quite baffling. His best acting seemed to be in Streetcar, and I'm sure it should have been his worst !! Again I like Hartnett, and perhaps blame should lay somewhere other than with the actors - as the saying goes "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" Makes you wonder whether the script offered by that bloke from Outkast could have led to a better movie.