benjohnskinner

Member since 4/9/2007, last signed in awhile ago.

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Freaks

Freaks
By benjohnskinner in benjohnskinner Blog
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"Filmed back in 1932 with a cast of real dwarves, midgets and what can only be described as 'pin heads' Freaks caused controversy at the time and would never get made today. It's a very funny film and sometimes the laughs are intentional, although most often come as a result of the wonderfully overblown 'acting'. The fate of the freaks, especially the midget Frieda, is occasionally touching, and the bizarre, grotesque ending is impossible to forget. " [More]

The Painted Veil

The Painted Veil
By benjohnskinner in benjohnskinner Blog
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"In The Painted Veil stuffy Ed Norton and spoiled Naomi Watts meet, get married and come to loathe one another almost instantly. Watts is coerced by her husband into leaving behind the parties and priveleges of 1920s high society for cholera-ridden China, alowing us to watch these two wholy unsympathetic characters face up to one another against a backdrop of beautiful mist-ladden scenery. (8/10) " [More]

Sunshine

Sunshine
By benjohnskinner in benjohnskinner Blog
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"Nothing new here, but that's not so bad. Astronauts travel into space in a claustrophobic ship and die in a variety of inventively unpleasant ways. It's moody, awe-inspiring, scary... it's Alien, Solaris, 2001, all jumbled up together. Sunshine is a visually stunning film, with decent acting and tense set-pieces, but it ends up being more horror than science fiction, and doesn't leave much to chew on once it's all over. (7/10) " [More]

Casablanca

This is Spinal Tap
By benjohnskinner in benjohnskinner Blog
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"There are some lines from books or from movies or from music that spread through the popular consciousness so completely that you don't even have to have read the book or seen the movie to know them. The first line of A Tale of Two Cities, the first few bars of Beethoven's Fifth, half the lines in Casablanca... Somehow I've managed to get this far through life without having seen This is Spinal Tap, yet I already knew about Nigel Tufnel and turning the amps up to 11. I was expecting to see the band wandering around lost back-stage and that the drummers would all meet an untimely fate.It's a shame actually, because I do think this detracts somewhat from the film. I had a similar feeling when I did finally get to see Casablanca a few months back... I couldn't help but sit there counting off the well-known exchanges and waiting for the next one to turn up. Also, I've probably come to Spinal Tap a bit backwards. I initially stumbled across the 'mockum ... " [More]