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Jack-186
Reviews
Saved by the Bell (1989)
I'm gonna get my hands on some of that money
There is something so very evil about the morally superior world in which Peter Engle's creations live. Filled with vile characters always looking to make a fast buck or live on easy street, week in and week out they learn their lessons, only to repeat the process in the next show. Preacher to the point of unrealism, every vice is hyperbolised until it is rendered unrealistic. At first I had images of Engel being a happy, sincerely sweet man with good intentions, but having seen him in the flesh, the only word that I can think of is sinister, leading to the question, is the man playing on Christian values to make a hit television series, or is there something darker at work? When all is said and done though, the programme is just another bad teen-aimed comedy series that misses its target widely.
Snatch (2000)
Style over content, but manages to work
With the initial fear that Snatch would serve as little more than a Lock, Stock part 2, I was pleasantly surprised by what turned out to be a better acted, and in places, better paced second film by Guy Ritchie. Although at times the editing does much to jar the flow of the story, it still manages to hold the attention, and provides a number of great set pieces and laughs. Praised for his first foray in front of the screen in Lock Stock, Vinnie Jones goes one better in this film with an extremely good cameo. It is also great to see the underrated Benicto Del Torro in use, all be it under-used yet again. Brad Pitt manages to work a great comedy performance out of his boxing pikey, and, with the labourious Nick Moran and the ridiculous Dexter Fletcher dropped for this film, the acting seems alltogether more professional and more believable at every level. Ritchie shows more flashes of inventiveness, and with an amazing finale, Snatch will undoubtedly stand on its own merits rather than being dismissed as formaliac under-performance from all involved.
A Kind of Hush (1999)
Well made, powerful drama outgrowing its low budget
A first time feature for the majority of crew and cast, the focus is placed upon a young group of homeless or out-casted teenagers as they gang together to inflict revenge upon their abusers of past and present. Roy Hudd is excellent as the friendly father-figure, but full credit must be given to the young cast, most of whom are first time actors, who tackle the difficult content and subject with maturity and dignity.
The low budget only adds to the strength of the piece, giving it an inherent grainy, and often dirty feel.