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chrisatthekeyboard
Reviews
Alien Autopsy (2006)
The problem with UK cinema
Think how much better the Americans would have done with this plot line and you've got a clue as to the current problems with UK cinema - something the Film Council and all the Lottery funding in the world won't cure.
A good film starts with a good script - this movie doesn't have one. Once you've got your knock-out script you cast the best possible actors you can get for the roles, not a string of television personalities, minor stand-up comedians and B-list celebs.
Then you get a good director and give him or her a decent budget. "Alien Autopsy" would have been much better done for television, where most of the performers in it belong. It just doesn't have the scale, scope or ambition to be a big-screen movie. And for something selling itself as a comedy, it certainly doesn't have enough laughs. Don't waste your money - avoid.
Egypt (2005)
Classy series
I very much enjoyed this classy, dramatic and involving BBC series on TV and having just watched the UK DVD set from beginning to end I can say that it definitely bears repetition. The best thing is that the series sheds light on characters (notably Belzoni and Champollion) who were fundamental to the rediscovery of Ancient Egyptian civilisation but whose stories are not well-known. I had no idea, for example, until I saw the wonderful last two episodes on Champollion and the race between the English and the French to translate hieroglyphs that it was Napoleon's invasion of Egypt that re-awakened European interest in the country and indeed started a craze for all things Egyptian. Even in the opening episodes telling the better-known story of Carter discovering King Tut's tomb the series seems to bring a freshness to the story and the character that makes it better than previous versions. All in all, this series seems destined to become a classic.