Change Your Image
qnzjgpkj
Reviews
Play for Today: Sunset Across the Bay (1975)
Early but characteristic Alan Bennett TV play.
An elderly couple are moving house, as their old home in Leeds amidst a slum clearance programme is about to be demolished. They choose to go to live in Morecambe, scene of past holidays. Morecambe is quiet and, frankly, drab, especially out of season, as they quickly discover.
Events take their turn and issues emerged gently and slowly, but inevitably.
Bennett has a certain way with this kind of situation. From his other writings and interviews, it is very clearly based on some aspects of his own family life and certainly on his skills as a writer about ordinary people, particularly older ordinary people, coming to terms with a world which isn't easy for them.
Emotions are there, but suppressed, as was the way of
working-class Yorkshire folk in those days. (I write as a Yorkshireman brought up in a poor home.)
Nothing happens quickly and the plot focuses on the two main characters, all the other characters being there in very subsidiary roles.
Bennett is not judgemental about these people, and about those around them, he writes in a way which allows the themes to emerge and for watchers to come to their own conclusions, even at the end.
I felt a sadness at the end of the play and felt that Bennett had written something of real worth and dignity. I grew up in Leeds, having been born in another part of West Yorkshire, and felt that he had a real insight into the mores of these people. The quiet dignity and working-class aspirations and fears of the characters is well caught and the cast do justice to the writing.
Alan Bennett is on record as saying that he writes because he is in two minds about things, including these two people. This surely reflects his view of his own parents, about which he has written much.
Shed and Buried (2021)
A wacky and enjoyable show.
This is a lovely show presented by two lovely people. It has an inherent gentleness which some shows of this ilk lack, and that is one of its great charms.
Harry Cole is clearly not as others, but is an engaging and off-beat presenter, with a great sense of humour and a very personable way with things.
Sam Lovegrove, again, comes over extremely well and is very calm and demure.
Both these two men have a vast knowledge, which they wear lightly, not trying to impress you with the fact that they really do know what they are talking about.
The show has a clear strategy, buying old stuff in need of some tlc, doing it up somewhat and selling on quickly for a nice mark-up.
They have a in-built enthusiasm which comes across well, but which never becomes suffocating or self-indulgent.
I'd recommend this show to anyone who loves old things, cars, bikes, motorbikes, trucks, signs, lamps, etc. This show is not all about money, mercifully, it's about two nice and interesting chaps bringing things back to life with a passion, knowledge and gentle charm.
Dream Car Fixers (2024)
Interesting new car renovation show, just a bit dull.
I looked forward to new show about restoring classic cars; I already enjoy Bangers and Cash, Wheeler Dealers and others of their ilk.
These shows thrive on the personality of their presenters, and on that of the narrator.
This is where this new show doesn't score well.
The narrator is earnest, but not terribly interesting, he is let down by a dull script, lacking humour or any much engagement. I find his voice dull, compared with the excellent narrators on the two shows cited above.
The two mechanics are clearly very nice people and have the knowledge required, but they just aren't very interesting people, from my perspective. Conversations are flat and uneasy, there's no verve or drama, in my view. Perhaps they were overly-nervous in front of the cameras.
I had high hopes for this show, but, after two shows, it's more of a time-passer than genuine and engaging entertainment.
The margins they make on the first two shows make it blindingly obvious that this could not be a commercially-successful venture in the real world, only in the world of reality television. It this respect it is like Wheeler Dealers, rather than Bangers and Cash Restoring Classics.
Other viewers may find the show more engaging, but their view and mine are subjective, of course.
Read other reviews and see what you think.
Top Secret! (1984)
Wonderfully funny, feel-good film.
This is one of the lesser known Abrahams, Zucker films, but it is a joy from first to last.
There are many, many visual sight gags for those who watch closely. If you like Airplane or Police Squad you'll love this.
Val Kilmer is superb in the lead, and sings the songs with panache and obvious skill. He dances and gyrates to the manor born.
The largely-British cast enter into the spirit of the film totally and give excellent performances.
Musical standards are top notch throughout and the pastiche numbers are very impressive and funny.
If you feel a bit down, this is a wonderful restorative.
I can recommend this form to anyone who enjoy this type of film, there are few, if any, better done that this.
Flipping Bangers (2017)
Excellent Show Hosted by Two Wonderful Personalities
There are plenty of car shows on TV, many of them very good indeed. This one focuses on the two hosts buying a car in serious need of help and trying to fix it, and certainly improve it in only five days.
The joy here is that huge amounts of money are not being spent and the finances are more realistic than in, for example, Wheeler Dealers. In that show it is blindingly obvious that, were the cost of labour included, no project would make other than a very large financial loss. Flipping Bangers is set in a basic garage. The first two series use a good garage with a proper ramp. The third series only has a rough garage with no ramp, and no concrete courtyard outside.
The big plus of this show is the personality of the two hosts. Will Trickett is a skilled welder and presents as an honest, straightforward man, a bit "rough round the edges". Gus Gregory is more urbane, but brings humour and giggles to the show. Both men are skilled in car-related tasks. They are, however, more like us normal amateur mechanics than in some other shows. They don't use computer diagnostics as normal, and certain high end tasks are delegated to other professionals, as is the case for normal amateur mechanics.
The interaction between the two men is a major boon and they clearly get on well together, though they are very different from each other - rather like the case in many very good marriages. The cars used in the shows are what most people can or did own, and they are definitely in the lower quadrant of affordability. Difficulties and mistakes aren't glossed over and the show doesn't aim for the sort of showground perfection one sees on Chasing Classic Cars, where the focus is always on perfectionism and, consequently, obscene amounts of money being lavished on what are, ultimately, machines designed to transport people.
I sometimes wish that their selling adverts were given longer to run, as the selling prices achieved are often lower than the cars would fetch given a bit longer to sell, in the first two series in particular.
These are minor gripes, though, the show is a joy and the two hosts are wonderfully entertaining and come across as really nice people with no "showbiz" affectation.
I'd recommend this show to anyone who has ever tried working on cars, or anyone, in fact, who is interested in cars, engineering or related topics.
Mud (2012)
Sensitive and pleasingly off-beat film.
This isn't a short film, it takes enough time to develop character in a nuanced and sensitive way. The main cast members are strong and the production values high, in the main.
The adult lead character, Mud, is hard to warm to, as he veers between accepting help from the two boys and placing them in clear and obvious danger. The boys are a mixture of naivety and knowing, as boys of this age typically are.
The film explores themes of family tension, separation, direct and implied violence, romance, love, past lives, broken relationships, betrayal and loss. It manages to combine these without resorting to overtly graphic violence, though there are violent scenes in there. Plot twists are nicely judged and the ending is very well done, and is not one which one expects.
The director elicits a superb performance from the main boy character, played by Tye Sheridan, with support from Jacob Lofland, though his character is somewhat overshadowed by the two main leads, young and old.
Though set in a very low social setting - these people are trying to scrape a very basic living - there is nothing condescending about the portrayal of these folks. They exhibit the same sensitivities and love for their children as do those in films of a much loftier social setting.
The film leaves a strong aftertaste and one comes away glad to have watched the film, as it begs some very important questions about the central themes I cited above.
No spoilers in this review and it focuses on the character and the themes rather than name-dropping famous actors, though there are some big names acting impressively in this film.
Well worth a watch, I'd say.