chrismorrell Blog

Under discussion:

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy  (2004)

I haven't posted a review for a while,but this was so lame,it reminded me.

What they give us here is,basically a half-arsed apocryphally accepted notion that everything and everyone was so sexist in the seventies,and that's about it. That idea is barely developed ,and it sounds like they made it up as the went along. Proof that Will Ferrell is only really as good as his material.

Ditched it after twenty minutes and put some Seinfeld on to have a proper laugh.

Under discussion:

John Adams  (2008)

The Wire: The Dickensian Aspect  (2008)

After enjoying "John Adams" ,and ,of course the gracious bowing out of "the Wire" i just had to tell you about a new four part T.V series from channel four "the Devil's Whore"..
Having been infuriated by the actions of  "Jimmy McNulty",creating the "homeless man killer",( I even heard a Wire fan call it a "jump the shark" moment ),thinking that he may go "all the way" and actually commit a murder.
Accepting the,quite conventional way that David Simon ended things .. One thought left hanging was,what did Mcnulty (West) do next?..
Answer: Dominic West is, no less than, Oliver Cromwell!, in "The Devil's Whore" a contentious iconic figure that he fills out superbly..honestly,i hardly thought of McNulty at all ..
Co-written by Martine Brant and Peter Flannery,(who is famous for a great bit of T.V from the nineties ."Our Friends In the North"  which is full of top Brit stars that are even bigger names now..Daniel Craig ,Mark Strong,Gina McKee and Chris Ecclestone..) ..this is an Historically accurate drama,with a fictional thread which attempts to embody the mood of the times.. England was tearing itself apart,overthrew the Monarch ,became a Republic,only for that to resemble much the same tyrrany it purported to replace,ultimately ushering the Monarchy back...
 Demonstration of the forging of power structures through force of individual will, the "cult" of personality,and the role that religious fundamentalism can play,make this another hugely entertaining ,precient and,indeed ,educational work...
Starring as the one fictional character Angelica Fanshawe "the Whore",the percieved embodiment of the "licentiousness of women" is the wey-faced Andrea Riseborough ,(nothing less than a junior Angelina Jolie...) her,almost "proto-feminist" character is a common factor in the lives of the key players...
"Leveller" , Rival to Cromwell ,Thomas Rainsborough is played by "Hunger" man Michael Fassbender..and the mercurial,"gun for hire" Edward Sexby is played by all time "man crush" John Simm..(Life On Mars ) it doesnt get much better than this. . Hopefully those outside the U.K. can access the web-site ..and get to see it via "I-tunes" or DVD...
 So, as Elvis Costello said :"Olivers Army is here to stay" .. and as Cromwell "Lord High Protector" reflected, on the fate of "Leveller" "Honest" John Lilburne  .."He was...a free-born man...." ..now where did i hear that line sung recently?

Under discussion:

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly  (2007)

I put the title in the French ,well because ...we all know what a Papillon is ,and it's not so difficult to remember Scaphandre... this just blew me away..I heard that it was wonderful and it is .This film exceeded my expectations...i cried all the way through. I second every favourable review here.. As a piece of film-making it' s a triumph. A fitting testament to Bauby's strength of will,and wonderfully uplifting...

Under discussion:

Funny Games  (2008)

 What is this guy (Haneke) playing at ?..i could give it a three word review  Pa-the-tic!...    "Henry" the serial killer meets "Click" !

 Yeah we get  it..we are the voyeurs, this is so clever...why are we watching?..and all that...

The breaking the "fourth wall" bits arent even obvious enough to start with .

.If anything the depiction of the torture scenario is too intense,too realsitic for what this ultimately purports to be,That is, a treatise on our voyeuristic violence obsessed viewing habits..but , when he winds the tape back, for cryin out loud what a joke! the anger sets in...  Why have i wasted my time watching this?..Dont make the same mistake... Obviously i couldnt help giving a thought or two to the Hollywood remake..I suppose Naomi Watts is pretty good at crying and going red in the face...

Under discussion:

Twin Town  (1997)

"Twin Town" is gruesomely entertaining..."from the makers of "Trainspotting"  is the big clue..It's very violent,very cruel and the language is very strong.. It's fantastic!  director Kevin (brother of Kieth ) Allen ,eschewing the usual "sheep-shagging" jokes ,although ,they are probably in there anyway,probably play a major part (cant remember) ..revels in "doing a Tarentino" set in Wales... "T T" takes ,lets say one of the lower postions, in a gallery of  British dark comedies,along with "51st state" ,"intermission"  and "In Bruges"...

Under discussion:

Sexy Beast  (2000)

Intermission  (2003)

In Bruges  (2008)

I've heard people saying,they didnt think of Colin Farrell as doing "funny" .. They obviously didnt see,or forgot "Intermission" ..The "movie within a movie" being made in "in Bruges",is supposedly a rip-off of "Dont look now" .. That set-up  provides THE most preposterous of pay-offs imaginable.. lots of "claret" a sprayin...and Ralph Fiennes seems to be reprising Ben Kingsley's character from "Sexy Beast"..The other reference there being ,tally of "F"-word usage (still beaten by "Resevoir Dogs" methinks..but probably outscoring on the "C " word quotiant. All that said..this is a great example of a movie that will have you laughing out loud at disgusting characters and disgusting behaviour .. with enough redeeming ,believable qualities in those characters to make it all okay.

Under discussion:

Tetsuo: The Iron Man  (1992)

Iron Man  (2008)

This blog went to redundant link previously...

I've seen 1 and 2 i think..the "Super Furry Animals" namecheck two on "Rings around the world"..With all the current talk of "Iron Man" and the undeniably crazed Robert Downey,i am reminded of  these crazy black and white fantasies ,with a manic inventive style ,a high camp and extremely dark humour... Cross "Eraserhead",with "Scrapheap Challenge" in Japan,and you've got a visual start point...uses good old Ray Harryhausen "stop frame" animation...  These may have been director Shinya Tsukamoto's  first films,they do seem like student /art school work (and there's nothing wrong with that)..if you're in the mood they are just hilarious..fixated with the good old "man as machine"/"man becoming machine" metaphor,alongside very direct sexual references,all served up in the most literal style imaginable... Tetsuo!!! Hai!!

Under discussion:

The Rutles  (1978)

 Obviously i have loved this since 1978.. Neil Innes created such brilliant ,affectionate parodies/pastiches of the entire span of the Beatles catalogue. I'm prompted to add a few lines,after spotting a glaring error in the above review. .. To work properly ,each song has to be a slightly "off" version of the original.  So It's "Please please Hold MY Hand".. as opposed to "i wanna hold your hand".(It's certainly NOT "please please let me hold your hand" ).soppy inadequacy ,replacing assertive sassy presumption. All the Beatles totally approved of and loved "the Rutles" George Harrison appears adding a further layer of irony ,as he reports on the looting of "RutleCorp" ("Apple").. Some of the songs are  as good,i would contend as the "real" thing... from "Number One" to  "Get up and Go"  Neil ,singing "Cheese and Onion" on Saturday Night Live was ,apparently mistaken by many for John Lennon ...