turpinjude Reviews

Fußball wie noch nie (1971)

Thanks for the memory.

[10/10 · 27 December 2006]

I am a George Best fanatic, I admit it. This film was made in 1970 by the late German director Hellmuth Costard and I for one will always be grateful that he, at least, had the vision to follow the maestro doing what he did best, not shagging and not drinking but playing the beautiful game. Six cameras were trained on the Manchester United legend during a First Division match against Coventry City at Old Trafford in September, 1970. We get the whole game, from the warm-up onwards. Of course the other players can be glimpsed, Charlton and Law among them, but there is no doubt as to who is the star of the show. The result is a fascinating, and quite moving, portrait of a man who was his own worst enemy, but who lit up the World of football for a few short years. We see the familiar short shuffle, the sudden burst of electric pace and yes, a text-book goal. There is a shot of George at half-time( obviously added later,as he has a beard) where he stares into the camera and we are invited to look into his mind, what is he thinking? If you are in any way a fan of GB, then get this. I got my copy from the company who produced it, very helpful they were too. Hellmuth...danke.

The Full Monty (1997)

Unemployed men become strippers...honest.

[1/10 · 12 November 2005]

If memory serves me right, this film came out around the same time as Titanic. Now, Titanic had it's faults, but this has to be one of the worst ever Oscar nominees, ever. I know it was dirt cheap to produce, in fact I'd say most adverts cost more, but I just didn't get it. Maybe it was the cast, I had seen some of them in other stuff, mostly dire English comedies, but the whole concept was lame. Would people do this? Also, why was the young boy dragged into their daft scheme, what was the point? I think I fell asleep during this, but unfortunately not long enough. Even now, the opening bars of Hot Stuff send shivers down my spine in a way Hitchcock could only have dreamt. Brrr.

8MM (1999)

Nicholas Cage takes a trip into the dark side of humanity.

[8/10 · 12 November 2005]

As subject matters go, this one (snuff films) is pretty gruesome. Are there really people who get a kick out of that sort of thing? Anyway, the film itself is both disturbing and touching, especially the scenes involving Cage and his baby daughter. The villains are evil, exploiting young women and coming across as creepy pond scum. Cage's character is a street-wise private eye who gets a strange case, looking for a porn actress who appeared on one of the snuff movies mentioned earlier. Was she really murdered, or is it a hoax? We work out the answer soon enough, or rather Nicholas does. I think this is his best film, and I recommend it.

Angel Heart (1987)

Shaggy private eye searches for missing crooner......

[10/10 · 10 November 2005]

The thing about Angel Heart is I have found very few people who admit to liking it, it seems to exist on a separate plane from other horror movies. It usually gets put out really late, with few fan-fares from the TV companies. Granted, the plot is a little complicated, I am not ashamed to admit that I did not see the ending coming. I won't ruin it for those who have not seen it yet, suffice to say you just KNEW De Niro was a nasty piece of work, but you can't put your finger on it. Or rather I couldn't. Rourke is cool personified, he really had it all. De Niro is flawless as usual, in an over the top sort of way, but hey, it's De Niro. I love this film, I never tire of watching it, and it always works for me. Top marks.

Roger Dodger (2002)

Worldly wise uncle decides to 'educate' his shy nephew.

[8/10 · 9 November 2005]

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, it dealt with a lot of very important themes, love, sex and growing up. Roger takes it upon himself to educate his naive young nephew in the ways of the fairer sex, and being a bit of an expert, it should be a piece of cake. However, things aren't always as they seem. For a film with such an adult theme, there is very little in the way of titillation, thankfully the film does not suffer for that. In fact, this keeps the story flowing. As Roger imparts his words of wisdom to the youngster, we begin to wonder exactly who is doing the educating. There are very few laugh out loud moments, it is all very bitter-sweet humour. Recommended.