Films of the week

Well here we go again wuth my pick of this week's films. For those of you not currently in the UK treat these as DVD recommendations if you like. Saturday night has three offerings. In descending order of merit we start with The Killing Fields. This was one of the first films I ever went to the cinema to see on my own. It is one of the most spiritually uplifting films I have ever seen but it is not an easy watch by any stretch of the imagination. That being said the ending is one of the most emotionally powerful scenes I have ever watched. Watch out for performances from John Malkovich who is as impressive as ever and the much maligned Julian Sands. The tragedy of this film is enhanced by the fact Haing S Ngor was killed in Los Angeles. From the sublime to the ridiculous now. Die Hard 2. Not nearly as good as its predecessor it is nevertheless a good couple of hours entertainment. Lastly we make the jump to ludicrous speed with Escape To Victory. This is The Great Escape meets Match of the Day. Whilst the appearance of Stallone as a goalkeeper is faintly ridiculous this film is a real cult hit.

Sunday is not exactly awash with films but there is one outstanding offering. Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is an outstanding film. As to how accurate a portrayal of the day to day reality of the life of the film icon it is I cannot say. As entertainment it is top rate. Jason Lee is compelling in the title role. Earlier on in the day is A Bridge Too Far which with its cast of thousands of the great and good. As great war films go it is not the best but it is worth a watch. Anthony Hopkins is as usual excellent. If you are looking for truly light entertainment then go for Carry On Dick. I am not a big fan of the Carry On films but this is one of the better ones. On Monday the only film of note is Local Hero. It is a great quirky film featuring one of the few Hollywood stars who can do quirky - Burt Lancaster.

Tuesday's two film offerings are Unbreakable and Kickboxer. Unbreakable is an offering from the man who brought you The Sixth Sense. This film is not unfortunately in that league (you don't see dead people everywhere). Bruce Willis meets Samuel L Jackson again. Willis cannot be harmed and is 'unbreakable' Jackson on the other hand is practically made of glass. Jackson is ultimately the bad guy and Willis a force for good. It is an intriguing watch. Kickboxer is one of the few Jean Claude Van Damme offerings that actually made it into the cinemas. As an action packed violence fest it is actually not bad at all. It does nothing to dispel the opinion that Van Damme couldn't act his way out of a paper bag but is nonetheless a diverting evening's entertainment.

Wednesday presents a number of alternatives. Heaven Can Wait is a remake of the 1940s film Here Comes Mr Jordan. It is widely acknowledged as being one of the best remakes in cinema history. Well worth a look. Steven Seagal gets a look in twice with two formulaic offerings in Belly of the Beast and The Foreigner. If you have seen any of his offerings you will pretty much know what happens in both of these. Lastly is the End of Days. Arnie gets all apocalyptic. He gets acted off screen by Gabriel Byrne as Satan.

Thursday brings Mission Impossible 2 and Murder By Decree. The first is the big budget sequel to Mission Impossible. It is not nearly as good as its predecessor but then few sequels ever are. For trivia fans the villain in this film is played by Dougray Scott. Had this film not overrun we would never have had Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the X Men films. Murder By Decree is a Sherlock Holmes solves Jack the Ripper story. Christopher Plummer is OK as the great detective. Unfortunately this focuses on the version of the myth that says it was the Freemasons covering up for the Royal family. It is about as plausible as Patricia Cornwell's version of the myth.

Friday night is the pick of the week. The outstanding offering is The Shawshank Redemption. This is without doubt the best adaptation of a Stephen King work ever committed to screen. OK it takes a few liberties with the story but it still works. The performances particularly by the two leads are stellar. But the supporting cast is also outstanding in particular Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown. Also outstanding this week is The Jackal. It is a remake of The Day of the Jackal. OK it shifts everything to the US it introduces the world to Richard Gere's terrible Irish accent but it maintains the good bits of the original. It is cracking entertainment. Also check out Wargames and Chicken Run. This final film is Aardman does The Great Escape. It is fabulous family entertainment.

Sporting success, bag ladies and other animals...

A week before making his First Communion Tom was at his rugby club for the end of season awards. The club doesn't have a player of the year awards but gives an award to all players. They do however have a few special awards. These are clubman of the year and most improved player of the year. This year a new award was introduced for tag dedication.

The inaugural winner of this award can be seen to your left. His prize was a rugby ball signed by Martin Johnson captain of the world cup winning England team So Tom has held something touched by a world cup winner and clearly destiny awaits.

Tom's award came one week after his team won the SubStottie trophy at the Alnwick Rugby Festival. This was awarded for the battle of the 5th placed teams in his age group. It was his last tag rugby union game. However a month ago Tom represented his school in a tag rugby league festival. He was the only year 3 player in the first team. He did have the misfortune to be coached by his dad on the day but the team was still triumphant.

The reason that the photo is so blurry is that just as the team were starting their championship winning match the heavens opened and everybody was soaked. Tom has adopted his usual position of standing in the back row (he is on the right).

But what I hear you ask has Jenni been up to? In general it has been her usual idiosyncratic approach to life and the occasional bouts of total chaos.

Meet Jenni the bag lady...

Jenni the mistress of chaos...




and finally Jenni the style icon.







More to come soon.

At long last!!!!

Well after much ado about very little here we are family pictures and recent ones too!!! Unfortunately due to a bunch of eager people who couldn't be bothered to wait this is about the best photo from inside the church that I could get. But you get the idea anyway. Tom is at the back left, just look up from the woman with the camera. This was on possibly the hottest day of the year and so most people were roasting alive inside the church. Everybody seemed to enjoy the whole event but it had to be done against the clock to get the next shift in.



Since chaos was ensuing at the church and the fact that I had gone all Nigella and baked flourless chocolate brownies and made summer fruit cheesecake the party repaired to chez Kirton for the photos. That is me in one of my new suits and the dark glasses (classy eh!!). Mum was none too happy about the photos but the public have demanded photos of the event.



Having been asked to lose the glasses we took this photo. To those of you who don't know the gentleman on the right is Emmett, Thomas' godfather who had come up from the deep south of the country especially for the occasion.

The Kirton men then gathered for this photo. It is not often that Dad and I are in the presence of sporting greatness but only a week before Tom had been awarded a special award for dedication at his rugby club. More on the future sporting great in a separate blog. If you look to the left on the slideshow you can see all the photos. Unfortunately the food didn't last long enough to be photographed.

More to come in a moment thrill seekers.

Bad Films

This week I sat down to watch two DVD's one to see if it was really as bad as everybody would have us believe and the other to see if it was any good in the first place. The films in question were David Lynch's adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune and the second was Ultraviolet starring Milla Jovovich.

Dune is roundly condemned by critics the world over and provokes heated debate amongst those who have actually read the source material on which the film was based. When the inlay to the DVD itself tells you that a film is not that good you really have to worry. Is it is as bad as the critics would have you believe well no actually it isn't. Is it a good adaptation of the book. In parts yes in parts no. Whilst the use of a narrator is good the narration does not adequately explain who is who where they came from and why they are where they are. I found the script to be just terrible. The effects look decidely ropey which is never a help. Dune could, in the right hands, have become a masterpiece. Unfortunately it fails because the script and let's be honest some of the acting is dire. It doesn't matter how good an actor is if the material they have to work with is lousy. The later SciFi channel miniseries were better but only showed to a limited audience. It is with some trepidation that I have discovered that there is to be a new version out in either 2009 or 2010. Given the state of CGI today this could be monumental. But whoever makes this will have to get round the issue of script and explaining who everybody is ikf it is to stand any chance of success.

I hope that this along with another remaked in 2010, Highlander, are not condemned finally to the rubbish bin of the film world.


So then I sat to watch Ultraviolet. It appeared to me to be a kind of The Matrix meets Underworld meets Equilibrium. Unfortunately it is not even as good as the worst of these three (Underworld just in case any of you are wondering). The frightening thing is that this film makes Aeon Flux look good and that is really difficult. The script is lousy, the acting worse. To those of you who like vampire lore and vampire movies this really is one to avoid. The 'plot twist' such as it is can be seen coming after only a short while. To spare you the torture - the archcardinal is a vampire and his 'kid' ( who looks like Wesley Crusher) is not there to save humanity and end the war.


So if you are standing there in the video shop and all you can have is Dune or Ultraviolet get Dune it is at least bearable.

Movieweek w/c 26/7/08

Well movie lovers here are my weekly choices and views on the films available via Freeview in the UK. For me on Saturday the clear film of the day is Die Hard. This film made Bruce Willis a superstar and showed how Alan Rickman could act Hollywood's finest off the screen. According to Channel 5 in the UK this film is the best disaster movie ever made. I'm not sure that I would go that far but it is fantastic entertainment. It also has one of the best catchphrases ever to come out of Hollywood "Yippee kay aye ...". An alternative but equally action packed choice is Broken Arrow. This is the John Woo film with Travolta and Slater in the starring roles. They are well supported and the film is a rollercoaster ride of just pure escapist entertainment.

Sunday night has a couple of offerings you may wish to consider. War of the Worlds is Spielberg and Cruise together again. Personally I wasn't that impressed. Whilst the film succeeds inasmuch as it is broadly faithful to the source material it just did nothing for me. Watch Top Gear instead is my advice. Earlier in the day there is Stealth. again it is a film which does not require much thought just sit and watch the explosions but worth a look. Last tip is Muriel's Wedding. Long before Mamma Mia this rode the popularity of ABBA music. It is a quirky little film and might float your boat.







On Monday there is only one real choice and that is Jaws. You can keep your current 'horror' films. They are only poor quality gore fests in comparison. This film works because you don't actually see anything. That is why all good horror works. You are allowed to make the image yourself you don't need it rammed down your throat. The cast is fantastic. In fact the only real let down is the shark itself. Today it would be CGI but this one was an animatronic monster that was forever breaking down.

Tuesday is something of a write off for me so let's go on to Wednesday. This is probably the best day of the week. For all you boys own types there is When Eight Bells Toll. Based on the Alistair Maclean novel this casts Anthony Hopkins as an investigative type. It hasn't aged well but is worth a look just once and then read the book. At 9 o'clock you are spoilt for choice. You can choose between Outbreak. Another film along with Die Hard and Broken Arrow which made it into that list of disaster movies. The cast are magnificent but the stars are Dustin Hoffmann and Donald Sutherland. This is a battle to save lives between scientists and soldiers. all the bother was caused by the monkey from Friends. I always said that program would lead to no good. At the same time there is Team America: World Police. I watched this one by accident once. I wasn't sure whether I should be laughing at some of it but just couldn't help myself. This one is from the team that brought you South Park. Lastly you might want to check out Jet Li's The One. Citizen Kane it isn't but who cares.

Friday night we are back with yet more action. The fourth Tom Clancy film and effectively the prequel to Hunt For Red October. It is a good film and The American cast a largely well supported by a great British one. Colm Feore plays a bad guy (when doesn't he?). The British play the Russians. Hollywood goes for bad guy get a Brit. Ben Affleck isn't bad.The American film industry does paranoia really well and this is no different. Check it out. Last film of the week is Rocky Horror Picture Show. Again I was no big fan of this one but if you like musicals and/or Richard O'Brien then check it out.

Catch you next week.

By the way to my family I promise I will put some other stuff that you might be interested in up this week.

Movies of the Week

Well here we go again with this week's recommendations. Saturday night is not that great. But if you are looking for something to watch then check out the following two films. The Chronicles of Riddick is worth a look but is not a patch on its predecessor Pitch Black. As an alternative you could take a look at Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is the film which launched the massive TV series. It patently is not as good but is mildly comic entertainment. The performances of Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer are a delight. Also look for a role by Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman).


Sunday on the other hand is a veritable feast for film lovers. If you like musicals and I don't then you have On The Town. But if it's escapism you love then there is Dr No. Connery (still the best Bond ever) makes his debut in the role that would make him a superstar. And then there is Ursula Andress and that scene. For the trivia nuts amongst you it is said that Enter The Dragon the iconic Bruce Lee pic is heavily influenced by this film. Follow this up with The Great Escape. One of the best war films of all time. Scripted by James Clavell who went on to write Shogun. as ensemble casts go they don't get much better than this. Late night entertainment is provided by Rutger Hauer in Blind Fury. OK the plot is mildly ludicrous but who needs a deep film for entertainment. Also there is The Wraith utter garbage in general terms but worth a look anyway. Who says 1980s straight to video films can't be good.


Monday night's standout film is True Lies. It is one of Arnie's best films and the cast clearly enjoyed the fact that this is just pure escapist nonsense. As was the case the bad guy is played by an English actor (Art Malik). Support comes from Jamie Lee Curtis, and Tom Arnold. There is also a cameo by Charlton Heston as Arnie's boss. As alternatives can I recommend the following films. Anybody who knows me knows that I cannot stand Ben Stiller and will avoid films with him in because I just don't see what all the fuss is about. However, there are always exceptions. Dodgeball is one such. Stiller is as terrible as ever but Vince Vaughna and his gang of misfits supported by Rip Torn are excellent. Eddie Murphy on his day is outstanding and generally his earlier work is better. 48 Hours is reasonably tolerable. Much better though is Crocodile Dundee 2. As sequels go it is one of the better ones I have come across. Alison, my wife, thinks that 50 First Dates is a good film I don't agree but I include the opinion just to show that I am magnanimous and open to editorial variety.

On Tuesday there is little of great value. Jurassic Park 3 and Star Trek Generations are the only films worth a look. Neither is great and the latter is an odd numbered Star Trek film and is thus doomed to be terrible.

Wednesdays films tend to be comedies that are worth watching. School of Rock is Jack Black at his best and as a rock fan the soundtrack is great. Bird On A Wire is also worth a look as is The Hunger. Avoid The Wicker Man which is in my humble opinion one of the most overrated films I have ever seen.




Friday has two films worth a look. The Shining is perhaps the best adaptation of a Stephen King novel. Jack Nicholson is just incredible as the man who goes insane. "Here's Johnny" and "Redrum" are memorable lines from this film which has an exceptional cast. Another adaptation of a novel is The Rainmaker which is an adaptation of John Grisham's book. It is workmanlike and the cast of Matt Damon, Mickey Rourke and Danny DeVito are excellent. It may be a Grisham by the numbers story but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.

Movies of the Week

If you look to the sidebar on the blog you can see my film recommendations of the week. Please find below my personal opinions on these and some other notable exceptions.

Shadowlands is underrated by many people who compare it to the stage play and the television adaptation with Joss Ackland. Set all that aside and watch this and enjoy a wonderful film. Anthony Hopkins is outstanding in this filmand is ably supported by an outstanding cast. I went to see this at the cinema and a large portion of the audience was in tears by the end.

Pulp Fiction this is quite simply the best film Disney ever made. This was a Buena Vista production. This will keep you intrigued right to the end. Travolta is outstanding and this film resurrected his career. Uma Thurman is stunning. There is not a poor performance in the film. Tarantino has a gift for this type of thing and this is possibly the best example of his work.

You may want to consider Once Upon A Time in Mexico as an alternative but you would be better off watching Desperado it is much better. If you like monosyllabic Schwarzenegger films then watch Conan the Barbarian on Monday night.

No Way Out on Tuesday is a rare thing. A good film with Kevin Costner. His performance is helped by the acting class given by Gene Hackman. This is a much underrated film and is a great thriller. On the same night is Saving Private Ryan but quite frankly I'd have shot Matt Damon if I'd just traipsed all over France to take him home. Also look out for Stripes with Bill Murray. This is one of his first outings and it has its moments but it is very much of its time.

On Wednesday watch Tombstone. This came out around the same time as Kevin Costner's Wyatt Earp. This is a masterpiece. Brilliant cast. Val Kilmer gives possibly his best ever performance, as Doc Holliday. There are cameos and voiceovers from Charlton Heston, Harry Carey Jr and Robert Mitchum. If you want something lighter go for Austin Powers. It's daft but it manages to be funny whilst spoofing something that was already an essential spoof.

On Thursday watch Papillon. This was based on the story of Henri Charriere and is far more accessible than the book which can be difficult at times. Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman are both excellent. Sci Fi fans look out for a small performance from Bill Mumy of Lost In Space and Babylon 5 fame.

Happy viewing.

Entertainment News

This is a periodic feature. Periodic in the sense I will only add to it when I actually get out to have a social life or get something new to report on. In this first series of reviews we have four items.

Wanted

This was an enjoyable night out at the cinema. A couple of hours of mindless fun, mysterious assassins. If pointless entertainment is your thing then this could hit the spot.

Eddie Izzard is at his hilarious best. This is stream of consciousness of the highest order. His impersonations of Billy Connolly and Sean Connery are very amusing.

The Last Legion (12)

I saw this film advertised on a DVD trailer and so borrowed it from my local library. The film has many similarities to Highlander inasmuch as there is a large British cast. You will be going through the film recognising actors who you have seen in many other films and TV programs. This is a bit of a twist on the Arthurian legend, not an original one though. Good entertainment. The ending is a bit predictable.

3:10 to Yuma

This is a remake of a classic Western starring Glenn Ford. I haven't seen the original and so wasn't caught up with whether it was an authentic remake or not. It was a slow film to unwind and you certainly don't see the ending coming (or I didn't anyway). Christian Bale (who I am going to watch in the forthcoming Dark Knight) is in his usual excellent form. Russell Crowe demonstrates again why he is such a good actor. He excels at doing very little yet dominating the screen. This really is an excellent film and well worth your time. I hope to see the original in the near future.

Happy viewing.