Dr Stu watched Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer on my recommendation.
My review: “Good, worth a watch. 7/10″
Dr Stu’s review: “The worst film I’ve EVER seen. You clearly know nothing about cinema.”
Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry.
Barry.
Quite funny BBC sitcom from 2001, with actor Kevin Eldon (”York” in Hyperdrive), featuring a bunch of cockerneys in a crap East End pub. Dodgy Phil (played by actor Kevin Eldon) comes up with an array of dodgy schemes to bring more punters into the pub (which changes name each week) beyond the regulars such as “Irrelevant Bob”, “Indecisive Bob” and “Ironic Bob”. Most episodes see the pub reduced to a pile of rubble. It only got one season, as the BBC gave it a rubbish slot and didn’t advertise it properly. Shame.
A better review here.
7 out of 10.
Watched Casino Royale on DVD last night. Near the end, Mr Bond decides to tender his resignation by sending an email to M from his franchise-sponsoring Sony Vaio laptop…
Jack Black plays Nacho, a Friar by day, and “Luchadores” wrestler by night, with the help of his weedy partner Esqueleto, “to wiin morneee to buy food for the leedle keedies”, and win the heart of Sister Encarnacion.
This is the third film by the director of Napoleon Dynamite, Jared Hess.
It’s alright, but not as good as Napoleon Dynamite. Jack Black’s the wrong type of actor (loud) for this type of comedy (quirky).
6.5 out of 10.
Following my review of March of the Penguins (the story of the Emperor Penguin) this week, here’s someone else’s review, just to balance it out.
(Doesn’t necessarily need sound)
(B3ta)
More of the same. Loads more characters - too many actually. A lot of them don’t get enough screen time. There’s some funny jokes though (one is a homage to the bit in Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indy tires of the show-off swordsman and simply shoots him), and it’s pretty brisk paced overall.
If you liked the first two, you’ll like this (maybe). I thought they could have done more with it though.
Just to spoil it for you, Jean Grey comes back as all-powerful evil Phoenix, she kills Professor Xavier and Cyclops (see graves below), joins forces with Magneto to fight a war against the good mutants and the humans (which they don’t win), Magneto and Mystique lose their powers, and Wolverine kills Jean right at the end. You needn’t bother watching it now!
6.5 out of 10.
There’s these penguins and that, and then all this snow comes on em, and they get this egg, and have some more penguins, and then that’s it. And everything. Rubbish.
The best thing about this DVD is the Bugs Bunny cartoon, “8 Ball Bunny”, on the Extra Features.
Okay, it’s alright, but in the UK we have TV shows like Planet Earth and The Blue Planet, so we’ve seen this kind of thing before, and better.
5 out of 10.
March of the Penguins Redux - click here
A satirical comedy from 2005, following the fortunes and misfortunes of fictional spin-doctor Nick Naylor, chief spokesman of the “Academy of Tobacco Studies”.
Although cigarettes get a hammering, the film is more generally about spin: Nick meets up regularly for lunch with his “MOD Squad” (Merchants of Death) buddies - the “lobbyists” for the gun and alcohol industries, where they compare notes and argue (or is that “compete”) over who’s business carries the highest mortality rate.
No matter what damning evidence there might be, Nick manages to spin it in tobacco’s favour. In his own words: “That’s the beauty of arguments - if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong”.
What I liked best about this movie was that it was very difficult to dislike these characters, despite their jobs. Oh and William H. Macy is in it, playing William H. Macy, as usual.
7 out of 10.
More Doctor Who. Tom Baker era, with Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, as they meet their old mates the Sontarans, on Earth in the future. Inevitably, Sarah Jane gets captured within the first 30 minutes.
This was one of the few stories that only had two episodes. The Sontarans are supposed to be a military race, in an ongoing war with the Rutans. To be fair though, they do look a bit like a turd in a space suit.
Not the best Tom Baker story, but it’s alright. No TARDIS though - they somehow “transmat” down to Earth.
6 out of 10.
From the Patrick Troughton era, the Doctor meets the Cybermen and Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart again, and first encounters UNIT.
Out of eight episodes, two have been lost, but the soundtrack remains, and this DVD features some smart animation in their place.
Classic Doctor Who, 8 out of 10.
