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Reviews
What Waits Below (1984)
Entertaining
"Wolf" Wolfson is a consultant for the army who want to place some sort of computer system in a cave in south America. When they explore those caves they meet a forgotten people. The built up is actually quite good and suspenseful when people get killed one by one without knowing who is after them. The film is well directed and most of the cast give a really good performance. The story itself is a not so subtle allegory of the Vietnam war but again, it works rather well without being too obvious. The drawback however is that the film's lack of budget becomes fairly obvious early on. The rocks are obviously made of cardboard and the caves themselves look painted. Eb´ven for 1984 the sets are really bad. Overall, the film has a very cheap look about it. But it is intellignet and well directed.
Blue City (1986)
Good 80s fare
There is a whole sub-genre of the hero coming home and cleaning up the town in hard boiled. Taken from the novel by Ross McDonald the film version simplifies the story quite a bit. However, I quite like this film. At a running time of 79 minutes it feels more like a b-western transported into the 1980s. It's well told an straightforward, has the aesthetics of Miami Vice and an absolutely amazing soundtrack by Ry Cooder. That in itself makes the film worth watching. The action scenes are very well executed. So overall it may not be great film but it's a film that works very well and it's very entertaining.
Miami Vice: Missing Hours (1987)
Weird but great
Dick Wolf once said in an interview that there was a point when they were running out of ideas because they felt they had done everything they could with the characters. So season 4 contains some "strange" epiosdes that breal the mould. And if you want strange it doesn't get any stranger than a Thomas M. Disch screenplay. I would argue that Disch's novels are actually high brow literature. Here Disch is having fun with the characters and the storyline. Watching it you keep thinking that there must be a logical explanation for it all but lo and behold, there isn't. So within the framework of Miamai Vice this is certainl not what a viewer expects. Talen by itself I find it weird in an entertaining way and a precurser for later programs such as The X Files and Twin Peaks.
Devil Girl from Mars (1954)
Everything you want from 50s sci fi
By giving this film 10/10 I'm not comparing it to Citizen Kane. But if you like cheesy 50s science fiction films, this has got everything you want. The setting is in a remote Scottish hotel in the winter, an escaped convict who hides out, an Alien in a dominatrix outfit, a funky robot and a flying saucer. What more can you want? The story itself is thing but well told with the subplot of the escaped prisoner. The film ist relatively short and well paced so it's really entertaining to watch. There are some great actors in this film and the special effects are funny from today's point of view but reasonably well executed for the time.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
Funny peculiar
I think there are two films that I didn't watch to the end in the cinema and where I left the theatre early. This is one of them. Maybe if you have watched the series it makes a little more sense or you find it remotely interesting. Basically, I don't see the film ever getting into a narrative. It's disjointed and you don't really know where this is going. Again, this might make sense as a back story to the series but as a stand alone film it doesn't. It's essentially hystreric young women shouting and crying but you don't really know why. After a certain point I dind't even care as to the why.
The Sweeney (2012)
Horrible
The Sweeney was groundbreaking in its day. The episodes were extremely well written and acted and it certainly pushed the boundaries of what you could show on television. If you watch the original series today it looks like a period piece. It's also pretty much state of the nation stuff for the 70s. So first of all, why bother remaking something that worked really well? Odds are that you won't improve on the original. Secondly, the two Swenney films in the 70s proved that the format could not be translated to the big screen. Although commercially successful, both films are unwatchable from today's point of view. Thirdly, Ray Winstone is sleep walking through the film giving his standards world weary Cockney performance. I could think of 5 actors on top of my head who would have done a better job.
44 Inch Chest (2009)
What on earth?
This film has a stellar cast but apparantly no one has bothered to read the script. I have no idea what this film is about. Someone is brought to some gangsters' hideout because he is suppose to have done something for which he is being interrogated. Other than that nothing really happens. It's mainly luvvies trying to act tough. You wonder how they got into their role. I have nomidea what's happening here so what's my motivation? Especially Ray Winstone sleep walks through the film playing the same role he's played in everything for the last 20 years. He doesn't even bother anymore with giving a performance, he's just the world weary Cockney.