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Reviews
Narrow Margin (1990)
Interesting film let down by by some elements
I agree with the 5 star review from Leofwine_draca. It's not a terrible film. Hackman is always engaging. There's action and a pursuit. But there are elements that should have been left out. There's a scene where Hackman is buying time by jumping into a private room as he waits for bad guys to go by. The dialogue does not come off and goes on for far too long. Yet there are other parts that work better such as when the Hackman character deputises a 10 year old boy to get hold of his toy gun ! But why does the Hackman character never have a gun ? Plus there are problems with the central character of the witness who comes across as unlikable to the point of it becoming unbelievable. Bottom line, this is worth seeing if you are a Hackman fan but otherwise the films various elements fail to ignite into a creative vision that we've seen in films like The French Connection.
Murder, She Wrote: A Virtual Murder (1993)
OK for the usual formulae but not for the Silicon Valley side
At first I thought this could be interesting, even a nostalgic trip back to the tech of 1993. But the "VR" turns out to be normal video with processing on it to make it look pixellated ! The Silicon Valley angle is just there to supposedly make an interesting Murder She Wrote story that seems to simply be trying to riff off (badly) to VR inspired fare of the era such as Lawnmower Man (at least that had actual CGI in it). So called "VR" was quite primitive in 1993 by todays standards. However the engine that powers the game "Doom" was created in 1993. I would have been cool to have Angela Lansbury interacting with something in that but that was maybe just too "cutting edge" for the time.
BBC2 Playhouse: The Brylcreem Boys (1979)
Absolutely legendary
Not a coincidence that i'm writing this on 6th of June 2022. Took me 40 years to find what I must have watched as a 10 or 11 year old. I was riveted. This is epic WW2 drama, basically, on a stage with chairs and actors. The Lancaster bomber crew have been badly mauled and limp home not even sure if they are flying in the right direction. The radio operator is dead and his blood has obliterated all their maps. In an epitome of desperation this piece somehow depicts what could be impossible to put into words. See key Aero forum for an amazing thread about the production.
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Troll (2015)
Not up to usual NICS standards
I'm never a fan of these "hunt the terrorist" episodes as NCIS completely changes for, in this case, 4 episodes. The trademark humour is suddenly absent and all we get are bad guy caricatures. The terrorist kids plot was just overly melodramatic and much of it I found unbelievable. At one point in one of the episodes Vance says they have recruited children in every branch of government, or something to that effect. What is this ? Children of the Corn ?! Also now we're torturing suspects ? Apart from dodgy plot elements and writing there's still some good performances from the cast but its inconsistent. Look, I know the writers have to make an effort to keep viewers and get into that next season but this all lacks the usual sophistication of the series. I don't know maybe that's the point to bring in an emotive zero sum game but judging by the quality of the writing in other episodes they can do better than this.
Atlantic Convoy (1942)
Fascinating if you are a WW2 history buff
Seeing as it was actually made in the war this was obviously meant to be a warning to the public and troops alike that spies and collaborators could be very real and really did walk amongst us. There's one scene that is done so well that it took me completely by surprise. Chilling in it depiction of the ease of switching between a trusted compatriot to a Hitler saluting NAZI. Although the film is not quite as accomplished as works such as Hitchcok's Saboteur, the piece had me watching right to the end when it was shown on the "Movie's for Men" channel here in Blighty. There's not many films on that channel that have me watching for long, but Atlantic Convoy had acting that pulled me in (there's one scene between that main character and his love interest that has strong 1940's flavour romatic overtones) as well as as having a character all of its own. Tally ho !
Submarine Raider (1942)
Of interest to historians.
It's easy to dismiss today the "slanty eyed Japs" statements and atmosphere in this film (why is "Kraut" not deemed "racist"?). However this took place only four years after the Imperial Japanese carried out the most appalling atrocities in China ( See here. WARNING EXPLICIT PHOTOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre#Massacre ). Compare with similar ISIS/Daesh atrocities and Presidents Trump's statements about Jihadist terrorists being "dirty, sneaky rats" and this film takes on an interesting dimension. At one point the intelligence agent refers to the Japanese 5th columnists as "rats". So where this film is relegated to obscure Freeview channels, deemed to be of exclusive interest to war movie die hard's, it actually throws a light on the peculiar modern tendency to deem criticisms and lurid remarks about the enemy as "racist" when lives are at stake. As noted above, the plot, acting and effects are not top notch but this piece has an interesting 1940's feel to it that can appeal to an audience beyond that of the historian.
American Sniper (2014)
Yes, support the troops, but this ?
I could only watch the first half an hour of this. Where in Gran Turino Eastwood crafted a fine film, in Sniper I was left feeling put out. The child killing scene is obviously supposed to highlight the evils of Jihad but he brings it in too early. I was initially reminded of the NAZI's employment of child soldiers at the end of WW2 but then Eastwood drops a sniped enemy soldier into the frame in a way that was just wrong. Do soldiers really seem so casual about death in this way? I doubt it. Where Clint made some really good points about violence in Outlaw Josey Wales and the Dirty Harry films, here, this comes across as a propaganda film. And make no mistake, I am aware of our current war (being British) and this could have been a worthy effort. But better, more thought out propaganda (not to mention entertaining) films were made in WW2. I support the difficult efforts of both American and British soldiers as well as Iraqi soldiers currently winning against Daesh in Iraq, but they deserve better than this. To be fair this is a film aimed at the American market that could be difficult for a Brit to understand.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Genesis (1994)
Next Generation parodies itself which is then parodied by Red Dwarf
Could it be that many people don't like this episode because the characters lose control ? No "always in control" ego trip here ! I always thought Barclay was Next Generations master stroke. He's not an idiot he's human ! His fears of what is happening to his own body get played out by the virus that his own body created. A massive case of subconscious projection ? But amongst all the shenanigans there is a serious story. I always love episodes where the Captain returns to find his ship adrift with some mystery to solve. Voyager does that a few times. Someone else mentioned Red Dwarf. It seems clear they parody this episode with "Pete" ( http://reddwarf.wikia.com/wiki/RD:_Pete_I ). The pet bird devolving into a dinosaur ? Data's cat devolving into a lizard ? The dinosaur connection ! So this is one of my favourites. For some reason Riker standing there looking dumbfounded, unable to remember the security code to authorise reporting to Starfleet, always sticks in my mind.
Young Blades (2005)
What a pleasant surprise
If you can get past the low budget and occasionally problematic production quality then this ain't bad, not bad at all. In fact the acting is really interesting, almost unusual especially from the younger players. The wit and modern relevance in it reminds me of things like Buffy the Vampire Slayer but there is only one brief occult element here. Dammit, this thing has a personality and charm all of its own ! It made me laugh ... the Musketeers poetry and I thought the performance given by the actor who plays the young King was particularly amusing. Maybe there's more of this out there somewhere ? Why so serious guys ?
Iron Man Three (2013)
Even 12 year olds are gonna feel dumbed down
This travesty reminded me of a cynical comment I received on a forum the other day commenting on how most media and press releases are "dumbed down to the level of a 12 year old". Iron Man 1 was funny and intelligent. It had action and a story line that any interested 12 year old could follow and maybe even learn a bit about how truly nasty evil can be. As an adult I found the arms dealer gets a conscience exploration compelling. But in 3 we get something that seems to want to insult adults that go and see "childrens" films, and which manages to insult the 12 years olds as well ! I remember being an intelligent 12 year old, looking back I knew and instinctively perceived much more than I was given credit for. 3 seems to revel in insulting anyone who even took a passing interest in reading a comic as if none of the material really matters. I know its "just a film", but this is a film that made millions upon millions ! Why ? I don't understand why it was not a huge financial flop. Go and make a film like 1, not this insult.