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Reviews
Falling for Christmas (2022)
Grow up, Lindsay
This could have been quite a nice Christmas romcom movie with all the usual elements. However it was impaired by the "spoilt socialite" character played by Lindsay Logan. She is no longer twenty, she is 36 and pairing her with love interest Chord Overstreet, a much younger looking 32 year old, was an error. This made Lindsay look ridiculous. The plot had elements of "Overboard" with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell (heiress looses memory, goes to live with poor widower and family), however the characters just didn't work. Lindsay was too ditsy but old, Chord was too grumpy but young. Her other boyfriend was also unbelievable, but was played with gusto by George Young. Again the film missed a trick, George established a great relationship with Sean Dillingham, the rugged mountain man who rescues him, so as the plot sees George going off with the gay hotel manager at the end, why didn't he go off with the mountain man instead? That would have been a lovely touch. Then there were the plot holes! Tiny ski resort community with big luxury hotel. Woman in expensive clothes found. The only policeman in the area doesn't think to enquire at the hotel if any of the guests are missing! The other thing that was missing was the drama. They tried to echo "It's a Wonderful Life" whereby the townsfolk all chip in cash to save the local good guy (love interest Chord Overstreet). However he didn't have a pressing crisis (we're losing some bookings to AirBnB, I might sell up). The cash he collected seemed more like unpaid bills rather than donations to "save" him. Also why was it necessary to costume Lindsay in a skimpy red tart dress (which she immediately covered up in with a gold lamé auntie cardigan)? This just made her look even older. Didn't work. Pity.
The Noel Diary (2022)
Did nobody read the script?
This could have been an unassuming little rom-com if somebody had bothered to read the script and fix it up before filming. The thing was littered with laughable plot holes. Why had our highly educated professional linguist heroine never heard of our hero (an internationally famous author whose work had been translated into 30 languages and whose face was plastered over every billboard in the city)? The basic premise that the abandoned daughter was trying to find her birth mother was just forgotten about when her location was found. The daughter never went to meet her (a one line reference was shoved in "I'm sure something will work out). The protagonists appear to need no sleep, food or comforts. The heroine was left out in a car in the freezing cold all night and then left outside the house all day (still with no food, heat or toilets) while the hero spent hours chopping down a Christmas tree and reconciling with his father while they decorated said tree indoors. Meanwhile she shivers outside. The birthday scene in the small town Bed & Breakfast was laughable. The room suddenly became a five star hotel suite with hundreds of candles, room service which could deliver a gourmet meal, champagne and celebration birthday cake with no notice. Bizarrely the heroine had somehow managed to straighten her long very curly hair in the blink of an eye. This process actually takes hours at a professional salon (oh and it was curly again in the morning). I found that scene very questionable. Was the director trying for "love transforms woman into magical princess"? Implying that the African-American heroine's hair wasn't already beautiful, which it was. And why was everybody holding their coats and jackets closed in the freezing outdoors? Zip them up! Or were all the zips broken? Lastly the thing was littered with pointless conversations and references that served no purpose in the plot. A whole scene where the heroine shows off her proficiency in several languages - just because. A scene where our hero discusses his back story with a former school mate, why? We have already heard at length why he went away and what he has been doing. Altogether a very annoying movie.
The Crown: Queen Victoria Syndrome (2022)
Too tall
Elizabeth Debicki is far too tall for the part of Diana . They should have cheated the camera angles or made the other actors wear lifts. Princess Diana was tall for a female of her era at 5'10", but Elizabeth Debicki is 6'3". That completely changes the dynamic with all the other actors. The scenes with the tiny Imelda Staunton as the Queen (barely 5' tall) are laughable. Also the Royals would never have permitted a marriage with a woman who was 5" taller than Prince Charles. In real life Diana wore flat shoes and Charles often stood on a step for photos so as not to emphasise that she was the same height as him. It is a shame because apart from that she is doing a great job in the part and is very believable. I'm sorry but I find her extreme height in this performance very distracting.
The Steal (1995)
Missing reel?
I thought I had missed the start, so I rewound, maybe there was a missing reel. But no, this movie suddenly jumps into the convoluted plot with no real explanation. I was going to turn it off, but I persisted. Actually it was ok. A fairly decent script, some quite novel plot lines, a few interesting twists and a satisfactory ending. Some excellent acting by a solid cast of (mostly) seasoned British actors. Some genuinely funny bits of business. Littered with English tropes: Toffs (upper class) are gay and have notorious bondage parties, everyone drinks tea all the time, watchmen are thick, secretaries are thicker. It desperately needed a bigger budget. With a cash injection and a better editor it could have been a classic.
Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022)
Gripping but cleaned up.
Alia Bhatt is riveting as the heroine, tricked into prostitution, who ultimately triumphs. Although it is a bit too cleaned-up it is a fascinating (based loosely on reality) story. She is deceived, abandoned, raped multiple times, prostituted and beaten up to the point of near death on several occasions. However she always recovers to be fabulously beautiful, kind and clever.
It is of course within the Bollywood fantasy genre and as such must fulfil audience expectations.
Regardless of those constraints it is a very well written script, has great central performances and a solid mass of background artists. I particularly like the Director and cinematographer's experimentation with dark hues which overlay the normal brilliant sun or pitch black night of most Indian films.
Worth a few hours to immerse yourself in the world the movie created.
The Flight Attendant (2020)
Could have been an Oscar winner
If this had been a movie instead of a "series" it could have won an Oscar. Way, way too long. Dragging the plot out interminably. Interesting plot, well drawn characters. Nice mix of genres, psychological thriller / comedy /romance. We didn't need to keep seeing the same basic scenes in every episode. Get on with it!
L'ultimo paradiso (2021)
Rocco Ricciardulli is too young
I enjoyed the movie, beautifully shot and an interesting drama. However Rocco Ricciardulli was hopelessly mis-cast as the father of Riccardo Scamarcio. He didn't look like his son, he was far too young to be his father and was acting "too handsome" to be the sorrowful character he was supposed to be. In addition his wife looked more like his mother. So I checked the movie out on IMDB. Mystery solved. He co-wrote and directed the movie. Tip: don't cast yourself in a movie unless you fit the part.
Kidnap (2017)
Car chase
Halle Berry loves her son, he gets kidnapped, there is a car chase. The end. Don't waste your time watching this.
Lucy Gallant (1955)
Didn't like the end
I would have preferred someone like Rock Hudson in the part. Charlton Heston was too grim. Who would fall in love with him? Bitterly disappointed at the end when the heroine, believably played by Jane Wyman, gave up her huge fashion empire to go and be a wee housewife. A completely out of place plot device was introduced near the end where her business had to be rescued by the surly Heston. Oddly, although the great Edith Head was the costume designer, the outfits were terribly anachronistic. Wildly inappropriate for the era.
Gaslit (2019)
Audience gaslit into thinking this was a good movie.
Terrible. I had just watched the original "Gaslight" (1944), which is a classic, so I thought it would be interesting to see a modern take on the phenomenon. What a bitter disappointment. The casting was atrocious, with the troubled-teen daughter being far too old to be believable. The acting was wooden and laughable. And as for the plot...what plot? We all knew exactly what was going to happen right from the start. The script telegraphed the scenario, in case some slow person couldn't work it out (hey you at the back, I said "the new neighbour is from Seattle... you know, the same as the heroine who is escaping her husband's mystery lover...I mean could that be the NEW NEIGHBOUR ")
This was shown under the title "Fatal Deception" in UK (again trying to gaslight the audience into thinking it was similar to the classic "Fatal Attraction").
Knives Out (2019)
Waste of time and money.
Awful, boring, derivative. The script was unoriginal, the acting was diabolical...especially Daniel Craig. Some talented actors, but they were all lurking in a Gothic mansion shouting rubbish at each other. Why Daniel Craig's character was even in the movie is the biggest mystery. And why he was declaiming "audition-piece" monologues in a comedy Southern accent is anybody's guess. The vomiting heroine was a very off-putting character trait. Total tosh. Boo
The Desperate Hours (1955)
Gripping tale of decency vs criminality
We were all rooting for Mr Hilliard and his family. A group of friends in 2014 crowded round a TV hoping 'desperately' that Mr Hilliard in 1953 could save himself and his family from the filthy and murderous criminals who had invaded their lovely sanctuary of a home. What made this such a fantastically gripping and emotional tale? The cast, the story, the cinematography? Or our modern, 'desperate' need for decency to prevail ? Yes, as we are nightly beleaguered by tales of international atrocities we must believe that the ordinary, decent (American and by extension 'civilised') family can always prevail against the forces of evil criminality. A fabulous film, totally gripping. A glimpse into awfulness redeemed by decency and courage. We love Mr. Hilliard!