mygreatness321 Reviews

Brexit (2019 TV Movie)

Interesting - Though real events have overtaken it

[5/10 · 15 May 2020]

(SPOILERS BELOW) I watched this on Netflix tonight. I watched it when it first came on TV over a year ago and there has been so much water under the bridge since then that parts of the film are completely obsolete. The story is book-ended by an inquiry of some sort, set in 2020 where everything appears to have gone wrong and the dubious campaign that Dominic Cummings ran is being heavily scrutinised. When this was written the film-makers could not know that their protagonist would be calling the shots inside number 10 itself, making any regret he has about the politicians messing things up by 'rebooting the old operating system' seem very hollow. The ending betrays not only Cummings as a man who thought he could see the future but was in fact mistaken and powerless (which turned out to be wrong), but it also showed the viewer where the sympathies of the film-makers lay far too starkly. Their attempts at even-handedness throughout the bulk of the film, though mostly failures, are completely spoiled by the final scene strongly suggesting that everyone was fooled and the choice was a mistake. This is then compounded by the final captions purporting to show that some form of illegality took place which just this week has been completely thrown out of court, but forevermore this film will end with a wrongful accusation, misleading anyone who watches it uninitiated in the subject matter.

The focus is 85% on Cummings 'Take Back Control' campaign, with comedic digs at Farage and Banks which may be justified. The Remain side are portrayed as complacent, but otherwise in the right. They see their defeat coming too late in a focus group when unable to win over the lady representing their much needed demographic to win. However, she is portrayed as fooled, misled, won over by a lie. The only true thing about that scene is that the Remain campaign have no comfort to offer her, and just sit in silence while she breaks down.

In conclusion, worth a watch. Certainly avid Remainers will enjoy the way it makes them feel right all along, but no Leave voter was anywhere near the writing process or film set when this was made, and subsequent events date it terribly.

Jumper (2008)

Decent Premise but not well executed.

[3/10 · 17 February 2008]

The idea of a character who can teleport around the world to all the places he has been before and use this for personal gain is a good one and makes sense.

What did not make sense is exactly why 'Roland' (Samuel L Jackson) and his 'Paladins' were trying to kill him. There was the briefest of explanations about it being a group of religious people, and upon murdering jumpers Roland would say things like "Only God should have these powers" but it was so flimsy. We never even saw them praying or communing to give us any sense that they were a religious cult. They could have done this much better like saying; "We have to stop you because every time you jump it causes minor earthquakes that kill people in other parts of the world." Or they could be trying to recruit him for their own gains, hell they could even work for the banks he was robbing from and be trying to get their money back, anything would have been better. So the villains were very weak.

The love story was rubbish also. 'Milly' (Rachel Bilson) didn't seem to care too much about David (Hayden Christensen) when they were kids, so why would she go to Rome with him right away when she hadn't seem him in 8 years? He then continually messes with her head, life, and not least her apartment and she doesn't really care, she makes limp attempts to get him to leave her alone but for the most part just accepts the whole thing without question quite happily.

Then Davids relationship with his parents, his Mum leaves when he's 5 to become a Paladin, but she still helps him out even though she sort of threatens him at the end, again making the religious fanaticism a joke. His father is nearly killed by Roland, David jumps him to the hospital and we never find out if he survives or not, whats the point in him other than 'everybody has a Dad so we've got to explain him'.

The next problem was that they were so concerned with leaving everything open for a sequel that they never bothered to finish this movie. Jamie Bell (who steals all the scenes he is in) is just left dangling on an electricity pylon asking for help. Again, why doesn't this kill him? I get the point that small electrical current inhibits the ability to jump but surely being a jumper doesn't prevent you from being killed by any and all electrical currents? If it does then this wasn't explained.

On the plus side the special effects are really good but thats not really a good enough reason for a sequel, if they do a sequel they need somebody who can write a whole movie plot and not just a basic idea of people who can teleport because that is all this is.

Superman (1978)

This film really is Excellent

[10/10 · 20 September 2005]

I watched this film the other day for the first time in say 5 years plus. As a kid I watched it all the time on a video my parents taped from Christmas Day 1983, (I know this since it has the Queens Speech just before it). I thought I knew the film off by heart therefore, until the other day.... SPOILER: The scene near the end where Superman finds Lois' dead body was extended from the 'cut' version I had seen, to the point where he is basically just staring at her in silence for about 3 minutes. I found this to be very powerful indeed and showed Christopher Reeve to be a pretty damn good actor. My opinion of this film had always been good, and this opinion was backed by critics always giving it 5 stars - but this scene added further weight to that view.

Aside from this it is truly excellent. The first 40 minutes or so are concerned with the origins of Superman, the relationship with his adopted parents, and how this shapes him. Marlon Brando's part, while relatively small, is very worthwhile and enjoyable to watch. The film then moves into comic book territory and is almost completely different. The same change you get from country to city I suppose, the fact that the young Clark Kent is played by someone other than Reeve despite the fact he can't really be much younger enhances this change. It's a very brave thing to do midway through a film which is already working perfectly well.

From here we get to see all the things we expected: Mild-mannered Clark Kent, heroic Superman, the hint of a love story, an excellent comedic villain played expertly by Gene Hackman, and a brilliant bit of pacing so you never get bored.

The score is a classic, no doubt about that, probably in the top 10 of all time. If you doubt it, watch this film again and listen to the music.

This film is outstanding and for me still the benchmark for all superhero films. I think it has been largely downgraded due to the fact the subject matter is fantasy and not reality, but I gave it 9 out of 10, simply because I don't think a 10 exists.

Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–2024)

Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave, When First We Practice To Deceive

[1 November 2004]

This TV show is superbly funny. It's a very simple idea but so brilliantly executed. In the main it goes against Larry but they've made him so unlikable in the show that you rarely feel sorry for him. Even the smallest incidents can come back to haunt him later in the show so you have to keep your eyes peeled. This is not something I can watch with other people therefore. My personal favourite was in an early episode where he takes one of his wifes friends to the movies, and she mistakes the way his trousers fold around his crotch for an erection. He spends the rest of the show denying it to everybody saying it's the way his pants 'tent'. It's very well done and I think it's a shame that this show has never really got the backing it deserved on British TV, much like Seinfeld it was put on a more obscure channel at midnight, the fools. Great show.

Hurricanes (1993–1997)

I've inherited a team from the world soccer league...the Hurricanes!

[21 October 2004]

Unbelievably silly cartoon based on football or soccer as some call it. I'm surprised that it got shown in England at all as the creators clearly knew nothing about the game. It would be like an English company making a cartoon about baseball and selling it to Americans. Most of the players were Americans (the best ones anyway) there was one English guy but he was an attempted cockney who said 'bloody' and 'mate' a lot. There was also the girl who 'inherited' the team and would generally cry a fair amount as I remember. The WORST part of all was the commentator though, he would rap throughout and do everything in rhyme, very annoying. Should he exist in real life he should expect assassination. They always played the same team every week and they always won, it was just awful.

D'Artacan y los tres mosqueperros (1981–1982)

Lengthy but Good Recreation of the Book

[20 October 2004]

I have fond memories of this show, the animation was a bit patchy but that never seemed to matter too much. The theme tune was superb and was accompanied by dogs barking to it in the background! Obviously the idea of using Dogs as characters wore a little thin on the creators as only 'Dogtanian' got a doggy name while the rest of the characters got the names they had in the Dumas book. They also extended every aspect of the book as far as they could go, I don't know how many episodes there were but it was a lot and when you consider that the film faithfully reproduced the book in 2 hours this was perhaps overkill. Anyway, still a lot of fun.

You and Me (1974–1992)

Pre-School Fun With Puppets

[20 October 2004]

I'm surprised that this show started in 1970, thankfully I am not old enough to remember episodes from that long ago, my memories are circa 1983. It was a show that I enjoyed quite a lot and always looked forward to. It was set in a (fake) market as I remember and Cosmo and Dibs hung around the fruit and veg stall, I'm not certain if they owned this stall or not. They would be taught things by a human friend that they encountered like counting or the alphabet. Cosmo had a Geordie accent and sounded like a heavy smoker although she/it never had the accompanying cough. Dibs had a London accent and was apparently a male version of whatever they were. In fact it is hard to say, they looked a bit like monkeys but I don't remember it ever being clear. The only other parts of the show I can remember are that they would do an outside bit that Cosmo and Dibs didn't take part in. I remember one where Michael Rosen took his son to see Arsenal play, I can't remember if they won or not as that was by the by. Anyway I have good if hazy memories of this show.

Murder in the Mirror (2000 TV Movie)

Extremely Funny Movie.

[17 August 2004]

It was apparent from the outset that here was a made for TV movie. I'd never heard of it before but decided to watch it anyway. I must say it was a lot of fun to watch, almost as if it was a spoof of a crime film. When you scrutinize the acting it seems fairly clear that nobody is at all sure of their lines, there are pauses all over the dialog where the actors seem to be giving themselves thinking time to remember what the scene is about! Many scenes made me laugh out loud but possibly the funniest one was near the beginning where Jane Seymour's character is working with 'troubled' children. For some reason these kids are painting everything in black, (they're troubled remember) but after a kind word from Jane they are smiling again with pinks and yellows. This has to be seen to be believed! Overall extremely funny, however it makes me question why anybody spends money on these awful scripts? Somebody very untalented is laughing their way to the bank!

Jossy's Giants (1986–1987)

Great Fun

[24 February 2004]

This show was a lot of fun really about a team of young Geordies who couldn't play football being mashed together, often letting in soft goals. Football at this time was not the big business it is today and Jossy's Giants reminds me of more innocent times. Great tactics displayed in the opening title song; "Kick the ball, now score a goal...Jossy's Giants." The only thing that ever annoyed me about this wonderful programme was the time when the girls formed a team to play the boys and SHOCK, HORROR... the girls won! This seemed a little formulaic to me and unrealistic. Loved Bryan Robson's cameo too, give that man a BAFTA!

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Not too Super, but very funny!

[14 February 2004]

This movie has got many problems but I can't just accept that this is to do with a low budget. Basic errors are made all over the place in terms of editing and shooting and how the story hangs together. There are also parts to the story that simply are not plausible. They should definitely have left the film at full length just to make sense of it. Towards the end of the film we see a shot of Nuclearman looking at a picture of Lacey on the front cover of 'The Daily Planet' proclaiming the 'new publisher' (talk about slow news day). Then Nukes flies off to see Superman in the street and greets him with "Where is the woman?!" How does Superman know who he's talking about? Apparently he does though; "Give it up, you'll never find her." Another problem is defining Superman's strength. Whenever he fights Nuclearman, particularly on the Moon, he gets beaten senseless. This doesn't make him look very heroic. Also, he struggles to hold up the statue of liberty when it gets dropped by Nuclearman, yet he can push the Moon around with great ease! Add this to Lacey breathing and having her hair blown in the space wind and it's none too clever. Superman's flying scenes are all the same shot over and over just pasted on different backgrounds, and his hair always gets magically combed after brief scuffles. There is also another shot of the Earth from space and it's back to front! The Arabian peninsula is west of Africa, this is very sloppy. I could go on, but what for? I love this film its very funny and Hackman is still great and puts in loads of effort. In truth it's a brilliant spoof of it's own early efforts and well worth a watch if only to spot mistakes.