dickyadams Reviews

Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks: Part One (1975) Season 12, Episode 11

Masterpiece

[10/10 · 22 February 2024]

Absolute masterpiece.

It was when Baker really clicked and story wise it all moved on from the early 70s paternal environmentalism.

The introduction of Davros was genius. It gave the show a whole new mythology that has stood the test of time. Often this show does that and it's a testament to its staying power. More shows should do this but unfortunately they try to be like the pointlessly thick modern scifi novels that labour every point but remain rigidly encased in their desire to be canonical.

The story hinged on the great philosophical monologue and what a monologue. Years later Capaldi delivered one or two that were outstanding but this was the time the Doctor grew up.

Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse (2014 TV Movie)

Why bother criticising?

[4/10 · 21 December 2023]

I've been a professor, chair, director & partner. Yet I had a phase of reading & enjoying Mills & Boon books and I enjoyed doing so. Watching Apocalypse Tomorrow (Sky Sci-fi) just now, it's fair to say there's a whole genre of TV movie that is as beyond criticism as Mills & Boon is. This film and others like it are the scifi equivalent of Mills & Boon. Formulaic, cheap, predictable, knocked out as a script over a latte at Starbucks. Yet why not? There's room for low art like this.

Criticising these films is as pointless as criticising Mills and Boon as literature. Pretty girls and guys, heroes and villains, mcguffins aplenty and cameos for one vaguely recognisable scifi genre face. Added to the often preposterous plot (one man links the zodiac to world ending events and only he sees it) these films are just the TV equivalent of.fast food. Enjoy the burger and move on.

The Boys (2019– )

First rate

[10/10 · 3 June 2022]

In an era of saccharine, special FX superheroes, this series is a stand out. Satirical, violent and very funny it's top rank TV content.

Anthony Starr as Homelander gives a breakout performance as a sociopathic Superman type figure.

Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)

A masterpiece

[10/10 · 17 April 2022]

Everyone should see this film at least once, especially film making students. It doesn't flag at any point, it unravels the mystery step by step with an internal logic that is consistent and the dialogue is snappy. The gags are very funny. The sweet/dude gag is pure stoner Laurel and Hardy.

Of it's kind it's a masterpiece.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987)

Period piece but very accurate

[9/10 · 6 January 2022]

This is a period piece now, but as someone who grew up near there in a similar working class area, I have to say the vignettes in it are very very accurate. One can almost smell that estate. Many houses had abandoned cars and washing machines in the garden and the characters were really like that; the working mens clubs were full of them. No surprise really as Andrea grew up there. We are missing this type of authentic working class voice now. Everything now is a middle class view of others. Apart from Loach, few are genuine.

This is one for social historians but it's also very very funny. It reminds me of Dickens a lot.

The Philadelphia Experiment (2012 TV Movie)

Shame the film wasn't sent back in time.

[2/10 · 25 September 2021]

Perhaps if this film itself had gone back to 1943 it would have looked more impressive then than it does now.

The lead actor is good though.

Yesterday's Hero (1979)

McShane a great actor

[6/10 · 18 September 2021]

A middling film and quite entertaining. Great cast, typical Jackie Collins plot, McShaneq as usual is always watchable.

It's amazing how grim the 70s were.

The Last Sharknado: It's About Time (2018 TV Movie)

What did you expect?

[10/10 · 2 January 2021]

This film contains one of the greatest sight gags ever.

Near the end, the protagonist is being blown around inside a tornado, surrounded by flying sharks and robot future sharks, while being attacked by a future robot version of his wife, who in turn is being blasted by the second robot head of his future wife but from an earlier future, who's head is being heald in the mouth of flying shark, while she is blasting lasers from her eyes.

All around them are historical figures killing flying sharks, and he's suddenly hit by a flying kitchen sink..

It's up there with Shatner's door gag in Airplane2.

Watch this and enjoy.

The Meaning of Life (1983)

A curate's egg with flashes of high genius dark satire

[7/10 · 12 December 2020]

This film has high points and low points. It's well worth sitting through it though. When it hits it really hits but it's with darker satire than we might usually expect. I know it made some audiences so uncomfortable in places they left during the screenings.

The Oliver style commentary on birth control and religion, is quite astonishing really, as is the Mr Creosote sketch (Even Tarantino thought that was the grossest thing he'd seen). I don't think I've seen satire quite that effective and quite that dark. The hospital sketch has a lot to say on the notion of medicine as a function of capitalism and the sex education sketch speaks volumes about how sex has been reduced to something so routine and functional (it's worse now with the explosion of online porn) that school kids are totally bored by it.

Genuinely watch it all if you haven't.

First Men in the Moon (1964)

Charming and fun. Watch it.

[8/10 · 25 July 2020]

A charming period piece that feels like an English Star Trek TOS in terms of production. Jeffries is a much underrated actor and the animations are fun. Give it a watch.

Passport to Pimlico (1949)

A genuine minor classic.

[9/10 · 28 June 2020]

This film is funny, well written and well acted but what raises it to minor classic, is the picture it paints of London in the immediate aftermath of WW2.

The vignettes of bomb sites, the local characters, society in microcosm and if you watch carefully, the sheer and complete exhaustion that people must have felt with regard to the deprivation and hardship of war.

No wonder they wanted to escape.

Fight Club (1999)

Stop talking about it

[10/10 · 15 May 2020]

Just stop. Joke aside, this a film that has to be watched. Acting, brilliant, script, brilliant, direction, brilliant. Critique of Ikea culture, brilliant.

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)

Refreshing version

[8/10 · 12 April 2020]

Dickens can be painful to watch as directors ramp up the darker aspects. This felt like it wasn't directed so much as conducted like a major English symphony.

I thought it was a terrific, open, expansive and utterly beautiful film. Some shots were living paintings.

Great casting and great deal of humour yet still showing the dark side of Dickens.

My teens were highly entertained by it too, which is no mean feat for a Dickens film.

That'll Be the Day (1973)

A time capsule

[8/10 · 29 March 2020]

This so a film made in the 70s about the end of the 50s. Looking at it through modern eyes it could look dated, but it's not, it's A well made film that captures an atmosphere and a class at a specific time and place in history.

It has its flaws though, not least of which the lead character is simply awful, no real redeeming features and apart from the opening about his father leaving, it doesn't really show why he suddenly changed his attitude from talented good boy to total greaser drop out.

The Young Ones (1982– )

True genius

[10/10 · 9 November 2019]

Imagine a very very funny Looney Tunes style, extremely slapstick violent sitcom, but R or 18 rated and then add a dash of hard satire and total disrespect for TV formats and societal authority.

Then, on top of that, throw in a bunch of comedy actors at their absolute peak and you get a sense of what the Young Ones is.

Make no mistake this is punk rock sitcom par excellence and like its musical counterpart it's almost impossible to replicate now without feeling derivative.

My own student house was exactly like this.

It's a rare programme but it really was revolutionary at the time.

Futurama (1999– )

The best

[10/10 · 14 October 2019]

There's a simple test to the quality of TV shows, can you watch it over and over and still enjoy it and also get more from it?

With Futurama you can.

It's a genuine classic that's actually more rewatchable than The Simpsons.

Timeless (2016–2018)

Pure entertainment

[8/10 · 14 August 2019]

Sci-fi fans get too tied up in tiny things. This show is one to just sit back and watch and enjoy. Just pure fun. And the lead actress is hot.

Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)

Acting masterclass.

[9/10 · 3 August 2019]

The lead actress, Kim's Stanley, is brilliant. Over the run of the film she gradually and almost imperceptibly changes from suburban medium to deranged and psychotic, locked in her own psychosis.

Backed up by a truly top rate cast, including Attenborough's amazing prosthetic, she should have at least had nominations for this performance.

You really must watch this.

Oh and isn't Nanette Newman just one of the most beautiful actresses in post-war British film?

Lost Honeymoon (1947)

Worth watching due to actors' performances

[5/10 · 3 August 2019]

From a social point of view, the setup of this is quite interesting as it lightheartedly shows the post war problem of kids left behind by their forces dads returning to the USA. Some criticise it for being a ridiculous setup but the lead character is actually just trying to get a better life by taking advantage of the situation. How many people were desperate to escape ruined Britain at that time? Passport to Pimlico dealt with exactly the same problem but in a much superior way. This film's setup is a bit silly but then lots are.

This is an average comedy in the end but it's played well by the actors and isn't a waste of time at all.

Futurama (1999– )

Excellent

[10/10 · 17 June 2019]

Adult, juvenile, clever, satirical. Futurama can be rewatched multiple times and one can get more out of it on each rewatch. This is the best one can say of any TV show. Watch it. It's essential.

The Orville (2017–2022)

Cocoa

[10/10 · 5 March 2019]

In sci-fi terms the Orville is like the world's best cup of nighttime cocoa. It's warm, comforting and sweet and we all enjoy it. Those slagging off Disco are idiots. Two different shows and two different approaches. The Orville is a really well done homage to and pastiche of TNG and it's great TV. By making it have the SG1 feel it has become popular TV for undemanding geeks who don't like change. Disco (at the time of writing) takes Trek into the future and is a must see series (after a slow start). Both are 10/10 so stop whining and appreciate your luck that two such fine series are on at the same time.