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Reviews
An Cailín Ciúin (2022)
Irishness is the story
I don't know if it's my old Irish ancestry maybe more imagined than real but this movie like a lot of Irish films has a strange Irishness about it. It has a quiet difference about it like the main character. There is even nods to their old legends and myths in it. One scene stands out. Cait is taken by her Aunt to a small trough and drinks out of it and it has a other worldliness about it. I hope more people can see it for it's uniqueness. All over a quiet film that says a lot. I don't believe in magic or the supernatural but i have found after watching it twice it stays with you. After a lot of the run of the mill crap i watch this makes a great change.
Arthur of the Britons: The Challenge (1972)
Is this the best?
Another great Arthur ep. A toss for me which was the best of the 24 this one or the 2nd season's The Treaty. Face it all were great. I waited for the weekly showings of this series after school. In this one best mates Arthur a Celt and Kai a Saxon bought up with him battle it out in front of their Dad who adopted them Llud. The fight scenes with different weapons of the time is very well done. And it goes to show the arrogance of warriors that even these 2 brothers almost come to the point of killing each other to prove who is the better. I must of first saw this when i was 11 or 12 and its stuck with me. I wish more shows were around like this still.
Arthur of the Britons: The Treaty (1973)
Best of the Best
My favourite episode of my favourite series. If not of all time at least of my childhood in the 70's. In Australia this series turned up when i was 11 or 12. It got me in from the start and this ep in particular when the Celts, Jutes and their enemies the Saxons have to join forces to fight the common enemy the Scots/Irish is prob the best of the lot. It shows how they had a lot in common and could of been friends. Missed opportunity. In earlier eps they were always at each others throats but this one shows how it all could of been different. I'm glad i have them all on DVD but it is all on You Tube so do yourself a favour.
65 (2023)
Better than tired old Jurassic
I enjoyed this film way more than i thought i would. For the first time in a while i've seen a Hollywood film that isn't doing a political woke number in a action film but just lets a simple story go for it. Adam Driver and the young girls-his daughter and the only other survivor do a great job here of putting emotional punch into basically a survival story. I do think it was much better than the big budget Jurassic franchise because it was grounded in emotion. A father wanting to look after his children. It wasn't even over run with dinosaur scenes but they were well done anyway. Deserves a fair audience.
The North Water (2021)
Good but the book is better.
That's it. It's good but the book is way better. Some comparisons. In the first chapter of the novel Drax one of the most evil characters i've ever read of in a story kills and rapes a boy showing his evil. This is cut from the series. Also the backstory of the Doc. Sumner in India. Shortened so much to the point of why did they even put it in. You get the heat and desperation of it all in the novel. And when we get to the end Baxter the evil capitalist is not killed by Sumner just robbed by him. The Irish doctor isn't Drax. That's part of the point. Also the lost in the snow scenes are way too short. A good try with some great acting from the leads but not in the novel's league. I hope the author's The Abstainer keeps closer to the source.
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Sheezus
Just saw this one today. Way different from In Bruges their last team up but a better film i reckon. Big themes here even though it starts with one old mate not wanting to be a mate to his old mate anymore. Very great acting by all and just a great mix of comedy and melancholy which is best done by the Irish. Kerry Condon is the most beautiful i've ever seen her in this. And is she maybe a Banshee too or is it just the old girl in black with the pipe? It is plural-Banshees. A mad ending too and i like how the Civil War is part of the story too. I could happily watch it again so i'll have to get the Blu Ray to watch this gem again when it is released.
Warrior (2019)
Irish as villians
Not a bad show and the setting is good but here we go with the Irish as the villains of the piece. The acting is pretty good but the fight scenes are pretty cardboard and unrealistic. I know it's only a show but honestly most of those moves wouldn't work in real life. Watch some MMA for some realism fellas. Setting it in the late 19th century in San Francisco was a good move and there are some bits based on the truth of what happened in those times it's just that having done some martial arts i know that way smaller men wouldn't beat larger opponents. There is a reason that there's weight divisions. I just hope my Irish ancestors get a better shake of the stick in season 3.
The Stranger (2022)
Creep
This is a great fictionalised take on a infamous child abductor and his capture that started with his heinous crime in my state of Queensland in Australia. The family of the boy killed never wanted this made but all i can say is his real name is never mentioned. I think it is very well done in showing how the cops got the killers confidence through a lengthy ruse. All act well in this one with Edgerton and Harris of course the standouts. Harris might be a great bloke in real life but in most things i've seen him in the creepiness of the characters he plays is always evident. Give it a watch for realistic chills.
Alone (2020)
Great horror film
I would have to give this movie a solid 9 if not a 10. I mainly watch non supernatural horror films because i can't come at fantasy and this is truly horrible for the protagonist. Also even though the woman is the victim and fights back it isn't like most woke films now where a smaller woman belts much larger men and easily win. Like i said i can't get into fantasy acting like reality. How the main character fights back to save herself is realisticly done. I wish more modern horror flicks were like this instead of the standard slasher films. Boring. It looks like it was done on a smaller budget too. Congrats all.
The Eagle (2011)
The book reigns
This film was a good try. And it did add some stuff i did like. Like how Esca hates being a slave and is not Marcus's best mate from the start which makes sense. But it does come across a bit like a homo adventure sometimes instead of male mateship like in the book by Rosemary Sutcliff and the 1977 TV series which are both better. The locations are great and the 2 leads are good but getting rid of Cottia Marcus's love interest was a mistake. Surely they could of fit her in. She was well played in the series. Another plus was Donald Sutherland as Uncle Aquila. He is always good. Yes a pretty good effort all round.
Murphy's War (1971)
Entertainer Actioner
I really enjoyed this film. Not just because i have a Irish surname. This was actually the first time O'Toole played a Irishman. He is working class in this one too which makes a change from people like Lawrence of Arabia which he played in the past. This is a different type of war movie being at the end of WW2 and how he hangs on for revenge is the guts of it. His wife of the time playing the missionary and his French mate are good too. The Germans are still shown as while not completely evil not saints either. They commit some atrocity in the flick. A sad ending but at least there is some humour in this one. Up the Irish. Enjoy.
The Last Valley (1971)
Horrific Times
Just goes to show how our times aren't the most barbaric in history. Way before the evil and destruction of the 2 world wars of the 20th century there was the religious wars of the past. This great film shows the bloodiness of the 30 years war 1618-1648. The acting is universally good in this one. Michael Caine as the Captain has to walk a fine line between his mercenaries and the townspeople. Old Omar is good in it too trying to be the middle man. Even the extras stand out. Religion is a divisive evil in itself and this movie shows up it's hypocrisy. I just wish more people could see this in these times as we look to be sinking into the abyss again.
Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Violence on the prarie
I didn't expect the violence in this one but it suited it. They were hard times that would of been made harder by the creeps in this one. This film is quite realistically done and having no soundtracks suits it. It is well acted by all and having 2 retired MMA fighters as leads is a good stroke on the film makers part. Gina is very good as the mother left alone. I haven't seen here in anything before but i'd watch her in something again. The good thing about how she's shown is that even though she is a strong woman it doesn't show her about being as strong as a man. Very unwoke and a good change to many films today. A solid 9.
Journey Among Women (1977)
70's bush in the bush
Known mainly in Australia because the women get their gear off i first saw it at a Drive In when it first came out when i was 15. I got smuggled in because you had to be over 18 and i looked about 12 at the time. Now i have the DVD and it's way better than i remember. It may not be too accurate but the realistic way it is played just doesn't look like acting at all. From what i've heard the women took over and just made it up as they went along. It worked a treat. I can't see a film being made now like this one. Cheers to the 70's. Good on you all Aussies involved. Well worth a watch for its uniqueness.
Platoon (1986)
Still hits home
This film is still as powerful and anti war as when i first saw it in my 20's when it first came out. Instead of showing the glory of war it showed it how it is. Fearful and violent. Especially to the innocent. I think it took a war vet like Oliver Stone to make this film.
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)
Best Adaption
This 70's action Sci fi/Horror is the best version of Wells story as far as i'm concerned. Destroys the mad 90's film with Brando which was a disaster from beginning to end. Carrera is beautiful, York is a great protagonist and Lancaster is the right touched Moreau. Great make up and action and the horror of the story comes through. Another 70's Classic.
Cross of Iron (1977)
Great Peck.
One of the greatest anti war films along with Come and See. This film gets overlooked because of old Sam's other classic The Wild Bunch. It shouldn't be. Realistic war film that strips away any glamour and shows it from the German soldiers side and shows they weren't all Nazis. Classic.
Men (2022)
Mad
I thought it was great. Bugger subtlety just go with it. Not anti man just about grief. Great acting all round. Especially Kinnear who has a lot of boots to fill.
Saint Maud (2019)
True Horror
This low budget horror hits all the right notes. Great acting and shows what can be done with a small budget if you just have the right story. And great actors like everyone in this. Watch it if you like horror.
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Aussie as
I used to have a battle about which is best this one or the original Max. I go with the original but this is a close second. I stood in a long line in Oz when this first came out and have loved it since. Good that it has some Aussie humour in it too.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Aussie Classic
This film still holds up after nearly 50 years. Many people think it is a true story. It isn't but that doesn't matter. Or that you never learn what happens to the girls. That just makes it even better. Miranda Miranda Miranda.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Best of the revisionist Westerns
Being nearly 60 i grew up in Australia watching many old Westerns and love many of them but this one shows the grit. Peckinpah's best film. Mainly about male mateship to me but bloodily violent and with some great humour and grand characters. Eddie Sykes is my favourite but i love old Strother Martin in it too. Everyone is great and no other Western was like it. Not like it was but it'll do.
Billy the Kid (2022)
Better than Vikings
I've only watched 2 eps of this series so far but it seems closer to the truth that i know of Billy than Vikings the other series the creators made. I love how it shows his Irish background and the main actor does really look like him. Big problem is they make him right handed when he was probably a lefty. Well done by all involved i'll be watching the rest of the series.
Alien³ (1992)
Under rated
A lot of people knock this one and i know it had a mad production but i rate the best of the Alien franchise after the original. Beats Aliens and the pale AVP efforts abd Ridley's sad prequels or whatever they are. I like the idea of the prison planet and how they changed the original monk script. It's great the alien comes out of the dog and not a bullock like they had in the original. Ripley is great in it-they all are. Fincher shouldn't disown it in my view. Good stuff.
The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
Horror well done.
This first feature of Eggers shows why he is the director of his day. This film doesn't rely on gore but on dread. Dread of the devil and their puritanical religion. The Lighthouse was mad and great but i think The Witch is better. And his Northman is magnificent. Get to Thy 4th film Robert.