News from the frozen north

Well I thought it was about time to add more news and views from the frozen north. So far it has been a very good week. Tom has started back at rugby. Pictures will follow as the season progresses. I managed to persuade my insurance company to reduce their renewal quote just by asking them. I have a job interview next week and some options that I hadn't considered have opened up for me to consider over the next few weeks and months. But before this starts to sound like an astrologers dream this is down to me and the efforts I along with others have put in over the last few months and years. There was recently a music festival here at Leeds featuring the likes of Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Manic Street Preachers, Queens of the Stone Age etc. The coverage on TV was somewhat limited but I did get to see a band called The Last Shadow Puppets. They sounded different harking back to probably the late 60s early 70s in style. I got the album this week and it sounds as good as it did live. A 16 piece orchestra does add something to the sound.

So onto this week's movie recommendations. On Saturday night there is really only one film to watch and that is Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. Arguably this may well be the best of the trilogy.

The scenery is stunning and the trilogy as a whole will go down as one of those cinematic masterpieces. Like Star Wars this needs to be seen in the cinema to appreciate the scale of what is being done. So from orcs and hobbits on Saturday we move to Sunday which is a night for multiple video recorders.

The evening kicks off with Where Eagles Dare. This is Alistair Maclean at his best. This film did once hold the record for the highest body count on screen I believe with Burton & Eastwood accounting for most of them. It is said that the film makers got Burton & Eastwood to do the film by saying that the other one had said that they would never do it and vice versa. I don't know whether or not that is true but the outcome is over two hours of fantastic action. Later on we have three films which would be worth a look if you have the inclination. First is Equilibrium. This is a film that I had seen in my local library but never got round to actually borrowing and watching. When I finally got to see it I have to say it was better than I was expecting. It is sort of The Matrix meets 1984. The cast is excellent. Christian Bale pre-Batman is excellent as the policeman about to see the light. Although the tale revolves around Bale the rest of the cast are excellent. Next we have Sleepy Hollow. Tim Burton does dark films like nobody else and this is yet another excellent work. Johnny Depp is excellent as Ichabod Crane and is ably supported by Christina Ricci and a host of Britain's acting talent. There is also a marvellous performance from Christopher Walken but then again there usually is. Primary Colors is a black political comedy in which John Travolta does his own impersonation of Bill Clinton. My last recommendation for Sunday is to those who get the SciFi channel. Highlander which as you can see from the blog is one of my favourite films of all time is on.

Monday night has two 'excellent' films with which to tempt you. The first is one of Stallone's best performances on screen largely because it didn't challenge his acting ability. Judge Dredd is Hollywood's take on the British comic book character. The purists hate it and say that Robocop did Judge Dredd better than this. They may have a point. However, they are missing something else which is significant. When Stallone gets things right such as in Rocky, First Blood and Copland he is fantastic, and like it or not he does give a very good performance here. Rob Schneider is funny for the first few minutes and then does become a bit tedious. The senior judges played by Max Von Sydow and Jurgen Prochnow are fantastic. There are cameos from Joan Chen and Ian Dury. But acting up to Stallone is Armand Assante. Don't dismiss this as just comic book rubbish although it messes around with the lore of Dredd it tries hard to be faithful. It is a shame that they didn't get round to doing a sequel.

Also on Monday is The Fifth Element. This is Luc Besson doing Sci-Fi. When Besson tries something he generally gets it right. Take Leon for example. He hits the target here too. This could so easily have turned into a triumph of style over substance but Besson manages to attain both. Bruce Willis is fantastic and the comedy support comes from Ian Holm and a very annoying Chris Rock. I find that comedy works better, Airplane etc notwithstanding, when it is underplayed and subtle. However, the film is stolen by Gary Oldman as the villain. Yet again he puts in a fantastic performance.

Tuesday night has nothing of note so on to Wednesday. Here we have one of Harrison Ford's best films. Witness is the tale of a policeman who is assigned to protect a young Amish boy who is witness to a murder. Ford goes undercover with the Amish who find his presence inconvenient and disturbing. Ford then discovers that the people he is protecting the boy from are other cops. Laugh a minute this is not. It is not as I recall a huge action fest. It is however hugely entertaining and watchable for both Ford and Kelly McGillis (whatever happened to her). You could also check out National Treasure which is on one of the digital channels. This is Indiana Jones without the wit, charm and good acting and directing. Nevertheless it is diverting entertainment.

Thursday is bereft of anything to watch filmwise so watch Portsmouth take their first steps into European competition football. I won't be able to as I will be at a parents evening. You would think that the school would have put some thought into their scheduling, I mean how often do the mighty Pompey get on telly anyway.

On Friday night Clint Eastwood goes all Marine Corps on us in this entertaining film. Eastwood is his usual excellent self here. He is ably supported by a variety of American regulars who you will recognise. It is not by any stretch of the imagination his best work but Eastwood clearly demonstrates that less is more and manages to out act most of the cast.

Well that is all for now and I will be back in due course with, news, reviews and opinions for you to ignore at your leisure.