Reviews

I was delighted to stumble on this excellent TV movie late one night. Garner is great as the mega-rich company exec who comes unstuck when he tries to buy his own company. The financial shenanigans are well explained and there's genuine tension in the result. Based on a true story. It's like WALL STREET with laughs. [rating 9

A Unionist deserter (earnestly portrayed by Murphy) has to whip a group of women into shape to fight off an Indian attack. A lively idea leads to a (mostly) lively film. The trouble is we've got Indians, the Civil War, evil officers, religious nutters, Calamity Jane types... generally no stereotype is left unturned. (5

This low-budget, low-ambition western actually contains the line, "white man speak with forked tongue." Well, nearly. A doctor poses as a vet to track down two horse thieves and prevent the great Sioux uprising. Rather slow-moving and the liberal speeches at the end are the last straw.

Interesting if minor western about a horse trading patriarch who fails to notice what a cold-hearted killer his son has become. Just like the old man. Fast-moving but over-simplistic characterization leaves it a little short of its potential. [6/10]

Rory Calhoun is a disgraced army officer trying to track down the only man who can clear his name in this bland western with all the standard elements. It does feature the World's most inept lynch mob. So that's something, I suppose. Poor: [4/

Black Velvet, a "killer" stallion terrorises the range. Two people, a reformed badman and a tomboyish farmer's daughter, think they can tame him (and each other, naturally). Only Chill Will's typical character acting distinguishes this very minor and rather childish western. Weak:(4 out of

This edgy and off-beat western has plenty of seething resentment amongst its characters (and there are lots of them: vengeful gunslinger, baddie, baddie's dumb henchmen, local gambler, baddie's wife, baddies girlfriend...) but isn't too believable. Some good action scenes but only average over all. (5

As a fan of In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, I wasn't sure I liked the sound of this but it's well written and acted and there's an interesting clash between the fluffy romcom main plot and the darker black comedy subplot. Plenty of good lines, some genuine surprises and it's great to see Freeman as a baddie. (

Roger Corman's films tend to be cheap and cheerful but this one's mostly just cheap. Mind you, the thin plot (baddies take a group of hostages) has been used for some $100,000,000 movies as well. Thirty minutes of talk, padded out with irrelevant songs. Mr Cameo himself, Dick Miller, turns up in a rare main role. (4/10)

An Asian family living in salford in the 1970s falls apart under cultural pressures. Ah, a British film that doesn't involve psychotic alcoholics or fop-haired romances in bookshops. Instead, a character driven story with lots of good jokes that raises and examines BIG issues without getting bogged down. That said, the bout of domestic violence does give the final third a rather sombre feel. (8/10)

Sturges' sequel to Gunfight at the OK Coral is in some ways a better film with a less predictable (obviously) storyline transformed into a bitter tale of vengeance. James Garner isn't his usually laid back self as an increasingly disillusioned Wyatt Earp while Jason Robards catches the acting honours as a Jimmy Cricket-style Doc Holiday. Clever, moody, well made. (8/10)

The "Kid" has always been a recurring character in western lore. Here he gets a whole movie to himself. Hopper is excellent as the train robber trying to settle down. An unpredictable storyline starts with a very funny robbery and never goes entirely where you'd expect. (Good stuff: 7/10)

A lot of talent has gone into making this film, so why is it so throughly above average? All the performances are great and the scenery is magnificent but the story is trashy fun and needed to be taken much less seriously. (7/10).

I think the problem here is that Sommers lacks either the balls or the talent to make an action-adventure with comedy bits and great special effects like Raiders of the Lost Ark and has made a spoof of the 1930s films instead. And you should try seeing those expensive effects on a 12" portable TV.

As you would expect from Ang Lee, this Civil War drama has quality written all over it. It's like a classy Western with a history lesson thrown in. If only it was thirty minutes shorter it would be a classic. (***)

Obviously, it's difficult to say anything original about THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT but two things impressed me. First, in horror movies victims are often portrayed as bringing their fate upon themselves (like the promiscuous teens in FRIDAY THE 13TH) but the trio in this film are just having some fun and generate a lot of sympathy. Secondly, the final image and the way this only works if you're paying attention during the initial lighthearted phase.

Absolutely brilliant: 10/10

A cheeky unofficial sequel to Romero's Dawn of the Dead which mixes in bits of Dracula and Dr Moreau for luck. It's not a great film, the humans are slow and the zombies nearly comatose, but it does have a certain vigour and contains the infamous eye-spiking scene and so holds a special place in the hearts of even reformed gore-hounds.

In the 1980s Merchant-Ivory preserved the British film industry. That is to say, the embalmed it with a series of adaptations of which this is the least tedious. The cast read like a Who's Who of Brit acting but nothing actually happens at all. (rating: **)

Cocteau tells the long version of the fairy tale, with nasty bits. What impresses is the way he builds up a sense of magic with small details (the famous candle-bearing arms, a trick mirror) rather than grand gestures. Beast is a terrific creation, part animal and part poet. (rating: *****)

Incorporating aspects from every Mafia film you can think of, except the gangsters are Irish. Actually, they're supposed to be Irish, there's nothing really to distinguish them from all the hundreds of Italian gangsters over the years. Miles too long. Starts well then degenerates into endless male bonding. Ennio Morricone's score sounds like the Hovis advert. Is it too late to say I actually quite enjoyed this movie? (rating: **/*****)

I'm sorry, but this is the kind of film people say they like because they think they should. Sure, it looks pretty but how could you shoot a film in Venice that doesn't? (rating: */*****)

Tony Kaye's background is in advertising and it shows. Even the ubiquitous shower rape scene looks like a shampoo commercial. Norton is magnificent as the skinhead turned liberal although his conversion is too easy for comfort. If all racist beliefs were so flimsy, there'd be nothing to worry about. Wants so badly to be a proper grown up film it's a shame it's so lightweight.(6/10)

How many directors would follow up their biggest commercial hit with a political fable with subtitles? An aging doctor travels into the mountains in an unspecified Latin American country and finds that local politics can be murderous. He picks up various passengers on the way: a faithless priest, a guilt-stricken deserter and a world-wise orphan. A political road movie with both chilling and humerous asides, the mechanics and politics are both familiar but the mixture is fresh. Another fine addition to Sayles' increasingly eclectic CV: 8/10.

I was very disappointed with this one. All the ingredients seemed to be there: cynical characters, a moody city & a European director adapting his style to a Hollywood genre - film noir. The very poorly plotted storyline throws Andrews into a mess (which he deserves) and he thinks up the daftest plan ever to get out of it - this mostly involves punching the rest of the cast. A bit feeble, but adequately made: 5/10.