Just watched U-571 for the first time on my projector screen and what a great movie I have to say. I went out and bought it on DVD today I was so impressed. The acting all round is superb, really convincing, even Bill Paxton, for a change, manages to give us a convincing portrayal other than Hudson from Aliens that we always seem to see. Matthew McConaughey steals the show and is totally convincing in his transformation from a caring inexperienced lieutenant who has to become the strong decision making captain due to circumstances beyond his control. I knew nothing about this movie and so all of the events were a complete surprise to me and the scenes of "silent running" were very suspenseful. The storyline was completely absorbing and the feeling of authenticity was maintained in all the combat scenes. There were no reactions of, No, I dont believe it in this film. One thing I also thought made a pleasant change was that it was quite old fashioned in its approach. There was no cursing evident anywhere and yet the film still maintained a highly dramatic and realistic feel. One question thats nagging me though is this. Maybe I'll get an answer from one of our British posters to this one. The young German translater called Wentz shared an uncanny resemblance to our British stand up comedian Lee Evans. Is it really him under a pseudonym? I know he's done some acting in America, but I'm still unsure whether it is him or an amazing lookalike? I checked the credits and the name was something with "Mouth" in the surname. It was such a comical sounding name that it just fuelled my curiosity even further. Anyone out there know? Oh, the Music by the composer Richard Marvin was very effective. Nothing too flashy or gimmicky but the score served the film well. I haven't heard of this composer before. It had a good heroic military feel to it and enhanced the drama of the movie appropriately well. Thanks Gae NP The Last Starfighter

Did manage to see Memento (man who can't remember anything for more than five minutes at a time tries to solve wife's murder). Absolutely brilliant, I thought. The strange time structure made me feel for all the world like I was trying to go the wrong way along a conveyor belt.

I did see one movie:
FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS
3 of 5

I honestly don't know what to make of this movie. Perhaps Gilliam (one of my favorite directors) has succeeded in simulating a drug experience without the viewer taking drugs. It's aggressively bizarre with the skewed perspective and surreal imagery. It is, at times, darkley humorous. But for the most part the movie doesn't mesh well; it's seems they just pasted the film together haphazardly. Some things don't match up and others are left unexplained (What did happend to the room at the Flamingo? Who is this Z?). It's definately a movie that confuses the hell out of you and wonders what to make of it. I must praise Gilliam's visual style, he's nailed Thompson's frightening, bizarre and surreal imagery in the book. It's worth renting for a look.

NP: Prospero's Books - Michael Nyman

I know for one thing...I'll never look at Katie Holms the same ever again!

I never got to see Hannibal!!! Because I stayed to see the whole movie!!! And we couldn't sneak in because our tickets were already ripped and the manager knew who we were! I was so pissed!

Good Christopher Young score too. It's not The Omen or anything (though there is choir and a spooky bell), but it was good enough to make me keep my eyes open for the CD.

Anyway, here are the credits, so pay attention, and no talking over them...

Bless The Child (USA 2000)

Directed by Chuck Russell
Screenplay by Tom Rickman, Clifford Green and Helen Green, from the novel by Cathy Cash Spellman
Photography by Peter Menzies
Music by Christopher Young

CARAVAN TO VACCARES (UK/US 1974) movie ** score **1/2

Dusty old Mediterranean-set thriller with American David Birney and Englishwoman Charlotte Rampling battling French baddies.

February 3 2001

THE MUMMY (US 1999) movie ***1/2 score ****

My second viewing of this hugely entertaining action/adventure that recaptures the exciting and fun essence of '30s and '40s Hollywood at its best. Great visuals, a fun script, non-stop action, Bernard Fox's amusing turn as a loveable English RAF pilot, and Goldsmith's spot-on score make this the kind of movie that people want to see.

February 4 2001

THE GIRL ON THE BOAT (GB 1962) movie * score **

Dim Norman Wisdom farce set in New York and on a boat.

THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS (US 1959) movie *1/2 score **1/2

Hilariously clichéd clinker, with Paul Newman as an up-and-coming lawyer defending his friend on a murder charge. British character actor John Williams is always worth watching, but Robert Douglas is wasted in a minuscule character role. Brian Keith is amusing as an Irishman, and Otto Kruger fares well as Newman's mentor.

February 5 2001

LOST (UK 1955) movie ** score ***

Jaded thriller about the kidnapping of an American embassy official's child. David Farrer tries his best as the dogged Scotland Yard detective, and the London settings are beautifully photographed, but the story is plodding and unconvincing, and much of the support acting is lamentable.

THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (US 1950) movie **** score ***

Brilliant and influential crime caper from John Huston, boasting superb performances from Louis Calhern and Sam Jaffe.

GREEN MANSIONS (US 1959) *1/2 score ***

Dingy South American saga filmed in the jungles of British Guiana. Anthony Perkins and Audrey Hepburn star, whilst Lee J Cobb overacts to the nth degree.

February 6 2001

BLUE SKIES (US 1946) movie *** score ****

Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby are on top form in this otherwise wafer-thin musical drama, thankfully decked-out with numerous excellent Irving Berlin tunes.

February 16 2001

TECUMSEH: THE LAST WARRIOR (US 1995) tv-movie * score **

Dazzlingly inept bastardization of history that manages to overlook some of the most important aspects of this man's life. See my 'Britons With Balls' article for the facts about Tecumseh's life at the '? For PeterK' thread.

ROOSTER COGBURN (US 1975) movie ** score **

The duke's in fine form in this middling late-career entry. Marshal Cogburn helps to track down the murderers of Katherine Hepburn's father in the fabled 'old west'.

February 17 2001

LOVE STORY (UK 1944) movie *** score ****

Enjoyably overblown tear-jerker with going-blind RAF-pilot Stewart Granger finding love with terminally-ill pianist Margaret Lockwood in romantic Cornwall. Lashings of classical music on the soundtrack, most notably Hubert Bath's Cornish Rhapsody.

MICKEY BLUE EYES (US/UK 1999) movie *1/2 score ***

A nice idea - an English auctioneer in New York gets caught-up with his fiancee's Mafia family - with great characters, including James Caan and James Fox, wonderful New York locations, well-judged use of music and top production values, is completely undone by the witless and lame scripting. NOTTING HILL it ain't.

DEATH HUNT (US 1981) movie *** score ***

Entertaining wilderness thriller set in 1930's Canada. Victimized trapper Charles Bronson is relentlessly pursued by Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Lee Marvin, whose idea of British justice is unusual to say the least. The photography is breathtaking, not least when the Royal Canadian Air Force joins the 'death hunt'.

I've lost track with how many times I've seen this movie and yet it still manages to grab my attention throughout. Everything is perfect in this movie. The cast are superb and bring a credibility all of there own to the story of Gold and Greed and its affects on ordinary decent people. A classic movie which there aren't enough superlatives to do it justice. What amazes me about TTOTSM is the fact that it doesn't seem to have dated at all. At times I felt as though this movie could have been made recently such is the grittiness and realism with which it is presented. Its hard to believe its 53 years old!! Listening to max Steiner's score once more made me think I have to buy the recent Marco Polo re-recording as soon as I get some spare cash. So much music, so little money!! Gae

Directed by Blake Edwards
Screenplay by The Gordons, from their novel "Operation Terror"
Photography by Philip Lathrop
Music by Henry Mancini

Main Cast: Lee Remick, Glenn Ford, Ross Martin, Stefanie Powers

Heavy breather wants a young bank clerk to steal money for him. When she goes to the police, he terrorises her and her little sister.

Quite a taut little thriller, I thought. The hard-boiled cop scenes are a bit po-faced, but there's a lot to enjoy on the technical side, from Philip Lathrop's gleaming San Francisco location photography to Henry Mancini's music. Great main title sequence (it's just a car journey, but it's beautifully shot and scored).

Directed by Denis Heroux
Screenplay by Michael Parry
Photography by Harry Waxman and James Bawden
Music by Wilfred Josephs

Main Cast: Peter Cushing, Ray Milland, Donald Pleasence

A writer tries to convince his publisher that the world is being taken over by evil cats. Cue three stories.

Almost the dying gasp of Amicus' portmanteau films, this is very weak indeed. It tries for the goulish comic-book style, but the problem is that it is completely leadenly written and directed, and the central idea is also rather so-what. The Uncanny just might pass muster with undemanding twelve-year-olds (though I doubt it), in fact the "special effects" in the second story reminded me of 70s children's TV.

Directed by Peter Sasdy
Screenplay by Brian Hayles, from the novel by John Blackburn
Photography by Ken Talbot
Music by Malcolm Williamson

Main Cast: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Diana Dors

The trustees of an orphanage are killed off.

Another 70s British film as dead as the trustees of the orphanage in question. A pity, because the idea is quite interesting on paper. However, the handling is so pedestrian that it generates virtually no tension at all, and the switch to science fiction towards the end is unconvincing (and boring to boot). The cast is the only attraction here, but even so, Christopher Lee has rarely been so wooden. The Wicker Man it ain't, though it shares much in common (children, bonfires, Scotland).

Directed by Terence Fisher
Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster
Photography by Jack Asher
Music by Franz Reizenstein

Main Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Yvonne Furneaux

YIPPEEEE! A truly great movie for once!

5 of 5

On the opposite spectum of Gilliam's Fear & Loathing is Aronofsky's film, a, well, mindf**k of a movie. Whereas Gilliam went for gallows humor, Aronosfky goes for an all out harrowing depiction of the downward spiral of four connected characters each with some addicition to a drug. Pretty much every main character has some sort of addiction in the first place. Harry, Marion and Tyrone are the ones with an obvious addiciton: drugs, apparently hallucenogens. Sara Goldfarb, mother of Harry, has a more subtle addiction: that of television and game shows. She puts up with her son endlessly pawning her televison so he could buy more drugs; she just goes down to the shop and buys back her television, ignoring any concerns of her son.
Sara has the dream of being on television, a particular show where the audience cheers ecstatically for the winner as the smiling host smothers the guest in praise. She gets a phonecall from this show, and in fashion to those Publishers' Clearing House Sweepstakes, is told that she has been chosen to appear on television...once she fills out the forms. Sara flips out and brings out her cherished red dress. When she discoveres she can't fit into it, she resorts to diet pills. The film takes a satrical swipe at the doctors for prescribing drugs as a quick fix, but it doesn't let Sara, obsessed with her image and past, off. Meanwhile Harry and Tyrone hatch a scheme to resell a potent drug for a higher price and get rich quick. Naturally things begin to fall apart, and the film doesn't spare any shots. It gives you the full hard reality of drug addiction and it seems to question the current way of handling drug abusers.
Aronofsky proves that he can perectly balance style and substance as quick edits, split screens and other effects are used for a hightened effect on the story and characters rather as a crutch to make the movie look "cool". The hallucenations are at both times frightening and brilliantly filmed. Ellen Burstyn who plays Sara Goldfarb is stunning. I would not hesitate in declaring her performance the best of the year. She damn well deserves an Oscar for her work (and although I haven't seen Erin Brockovich, I don't think Julia Roberts could best Burstyn). She nails Sara's endless hope for her dream and tragic fall.

BRAVE NEW WORLD (US 1998) movie * score *1/2

Inept screen version of the great English writer Aldous Huxley's brilliant science fiction satire.

February 20 2001

OUT OF THE FOG (US 1941) movie ** score **1/2

Fatally unconvincing drama starring British leading lady Ida Lupino as a young woman torn between her love for her father (Thomas Mitchell, excellent as usual) and bullying racketeer John Garfield.

February 21 2001

RAG AND BONE (US 1998) movie * score **

Dismal supernatural drama about a Catholic-priest-turned-cop, who is guided by a ghost-like figure.

February 23 2001

LOST IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE (US 1998) movie ** score **1/2

The infamous 'triangle' serves as the backdrop to a mildly entertaining drama that is chiefly of interest for its Bermudan locations. With Union Jacks seemingly on every corner, bobbies 'pounding the beat', and references made to the Royal Navy at every turn, it is fascinating to see how proudly 'British' Bermuda remains.....far more so than England itself. Indeed, Bermuda is Britain's oldest permanent overseas territory, dating back over four hundred years, and Mark Twain spent more time in this British colony than he did in the US because of his admiration for British slave emancipation, compared with continued US racism.

February 24 2001

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT (US 1998) movie ****1/2 score ****

Superb animated recreation of the life of Moses, replete with stunningly inventive animation, a wonderful 'moral message' for the younger audience, and Zimmer's magnificent scoring that perfectly complements the excellent songs....it is interesting to note that some of Goldsmith's THE MUMMY sounds remarkably similar to Zimmer's main thematic material here. Well voiced by a star-cast, with all the Americans playing nice Hebrews, and the Brits voicing the despotic Egyptians....still, it works. How wrong Chris Kinsinger was in his condemnation of cartoon representations of the bible fables. By the way, if Andre Lux is reading this, congratulations on your systematic and 'common sense' dissection of the ludicrousness of Chris Kinsinger's religious philosophy at the FSM thread "Who said that MEN didn't came from the APE??" - it has been a pleasure to read, though I am a little disappointed that I'm unable to join in the discussion Andre, not that you need my support.

THE LAST EMPEROR (GB/Italy/China 1987) movie *1/2 score **1/2

THE LAST EMPEROR provides a feast for the eye, whilst also being a colossal bore. Peter O'Toole's belated appearance as the Chinese emperor's English tutor does not improve matters.

February 26 2001

A SIMPLE PLAN (US 1998) movie **1/2 score ***1/2

Unconvincing and simplistic, A SIMPLE PLAN provides at least a reasonable amount of entertainment value that will probably be appreciated most by younger children. Three men, including upright citizen Bill Paxton, discover a downed plane concealing a fortune in drugs-money. Rather than hand the money over to the cops, the mismatched threesome decide to keep the loot and one murder follows another. Danny Elfman's evocative score and the snowy landscapes add immeasurably to the movie's limited success.

February 27 2001

RANSOM (GB 1975) movie ½ score *

Hilariously inept thriller involving Sean Connery's Norwegian lawman (complete with heavy Scottish accent) tracking down Ian McShane's ruthless English terrorist. The acting, direction, screenplay and Jerry Goldsmith's score are of equal incompetence.

RUSHMORE (US 1998) movie ** score ***

Likeable prep school farce that somehow fails to come off despite a great performance from Bill Murray as a local tycoon who is befriended by oddball student Jason Schwartzman (also excellent). And there's great support from Olivia Williams as an English first grade teacher whom Schwartzman falls for, and Brian Cox as Rushmore Prep's head teacher. Sadly, it just doesn't work.

February 28 2001

THE GHOSTS OF BERKELEY SQUARE (GB 1947) movie ** score **1/2

Plodding comedy involving the antics of a couple of ghosts, well played by Robert Morley and Felix Aylmer.

And finally, a little movie trivia for you-