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Lam_on_the_lam
Reviews
Phill Jupitus Live: Quadrophobia (2000)
Hilarious
Phill Jupitus is a brilliant comedien and this show really shows it.
I think the funniest section of this show is near the end when he talks about his fear of spiders which he puts into categories by their size.
'If a category 1 spider happens to escape from you in the living room, that's a shame because you can NEVER go in that room again'. He also has a funny section about a man who climbed into a lion cage at London zoo 'You'd think now he's wet he wouldn't be able to get into the cage because the bars are vertical and he would just slip down but no at London zoo they have vertical and horizontal let's call them ladder style bars!' This is a must see for fans of Phill Jupitus and fans of comedy I don't think there's anyone who won't find something to laugh at in this show.
FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
A great film for children and enjoyable for higher ages too
**Spoilers**
The fact that some people seem to dislike this film I find quite surprising. For children it's really great although really Batty is the only properly entertaining character the film in general is pretty good.
The story is basically of Crysta the fairy she's been told that humans lived in the forests years upon years ago but now they're probably extinct due to being chased off by Hexxus. Of course humans have come back trying to cut down the forest and accidentally unleash Hexxus who was trapped in an enchanted tree. Zak a boy from the city is accidentally shrunk to fairy size and learns about how much the forest is needed.
I really enjoyed the music to this film myself and I think it sends a fairly good message out to children although it does through all people into a fairly bad light. Hexxus himself is meant to represent sort of pollution and bad things in the environment. He looks like a brown toxic cloud, although fairly funny at first near the end of the film when he rises up and looks like a brown skeleton with fire inside him he gets pretty scary.
I recommend this film to at least watch once, if you don't like it just don't watch it again. But I think it'd make a good film for children.
Village of the Damned (1995)
Fairly decent
Although I am slightly more fond of the 1960s version I did like how the children seemed to have more light on them. Each of the children had names, as we see in the credits, even though only 4 of them are mentioned by name (Mara, Robert, David and Julie).
Basically there is a blackout in the fairly small town of Midwich, every animal in Midwich boundaries is unconcious, when they wake up 10 women are pregnant. The film for the first 30 minutes before the children are born has a pretty good story going. These pregnancies seem wrong somehow especially since one of the women is a virgin and they seem to be causing trouble for everyone. They are given the option to abort the children, due to odd dreams none of the women take the offer. Things go from bad to worse when the children are born 4 girls, 5 boys (1 girl is taken away). They are all super-intelligent, emotionless and also have the power to hear thoughts and take over peoples minds.
There's just once difference: David. David is the left-out boy, he has no 'mate' and he develops emotions due to sadness of being alone.
This effects of this film are great. You can't take your eyes of the childrens glowy red/green/orange/pink eyes. Christopher Reeves did a very good job but also who I think deserve some credit are Lindsey Haun (Mara the leader of the children) and Thomas Dekker (David). Haun did a brilliant job playing the ruthless cold leader of the children and Thomas Dekker was just great.
If you're into sci-fi films or light horrors, I suggest you watch this.
The Story of Tracy Beaker (2002)
Very good touching in parts funny in others
I had read the book of this not long ago and when I heard it had been made into a TV series I had to give it a try as I enjoyed the book.
The story is about Tracy Beaker a young girl who lives in Stokesley House a.k.a 'The dumping ground' a place for children who have been put into care.
Tracy has an overactive imagination and frequently says things such as 'my mum can't look after me because she's a famous actress in Hollywood' or other stuff to make up for why her mother isn't looking after her. When she starts talking back to each other there is an unrealistic cartoon flashback of her mother the way Tracy would like to see her but then they show the flashback of what was really happening. Such as Tracy's mother reguarly leaving her at home to go out with her boyfriend showing that she was unfit in the end to take care of Tracy. In the first series you meet other generally likeable characters from the book such as Justine, Louise, Peter, Maxie etc and later Cam.
The second series however brought new characters Lol, Bouncer and Amber who were not in the book but also they are likeable with the exception of Amber who clearly we are supposed to dislike as she is a rebel, a bit of a bully and cruel towards the other kids when she's in a bad mood which is her most regular mood.
The story is very good and Tracy Beaker is a very good character. Seeing the flashbacks of her mother are quite touching and when they play the song starting with 'I can make my world come true...' slowly when something sad happens you can't help but feel sad yourself. If you have read the book I recommend watching it and if you haven't read the book I still recommend watching it you get the gist of story and characters in a short time.
The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)
Enjoyable
I first got this game when I was around 7 or 8 and it was slightly difficult to complete at that age but when I was a bit older and tried it I got through it fairly well. The story isn't difficult to follow a young pirate-wannabe named Guybrush Threepwood comes to Melée Island to try and become a pirate. He is set three trials to complete and while trying to complete them he meets Elaine Marley the Governor and future love of his life but he isn't the only one who loves her. The ghost pirate LeChuck plans to kidnap Elaine and make her his wife and of course it ends up being down to Guybrush to stop him.
There are so many lines that make you want to laugh out loud, Guybrush is a great character altogether and it's a game that'll have you addicted fast. When you've started playing you'll be in a rush to get through it and see more of it. I recommend it especially for people who love this type of game.
Lam_on_the_lam a.k.a Minnie Goodsoup
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991)
My favourite Monkey Island game by far
The sequel to Secret of Monkey Island sees Guybrush starting his adventure on Scabb Island and people have now grown tired of his story of how he defeated LeChuck so to be the centre of attention again he plans to find Big Whoop apparently the ultimate pirate treasure. Problem is he's on the island run by LeChuck's former first mate Largo LeGrande, Guybrush first sees Largo as not being a problem (mainly due to the fact Largo is very small) but this changes when Largo mugs him. LeChuck ends up getting brought back to life when Largo gets a piece of the ghost pirate's beard from Guybrush. Now LeChuck is thirsty for Guybrush's blood and won't stop at anything to make him suffer.
This game is darker than the other Monkey Island's and I think this had a lot of fun dialogue in it. It also had characters that you can't help but like such as in my views Largo and Wally. The puzzles in the hard version of this game (or the only version on CD-Rom) are pretty difficult and at times you think they made it a little too hard. This game is really, really worth buying and I recommend it to everyone.
Lam_on_the_lam a.k.a Minnie Goodsoup