badcommand Reviews

Pianomania (2009)

Brilliant and captivating

[10/10 · 5 January 2012]

I've always enjoyed watching an artist at the top of the game, and while the musicians here, Lang Lang, Aimard et al are all at the top of their games for sure, it is Stephan Knüpfer who is the true artist here. Here is a man who knows his pianos at such an intimate level he is able to translate the musicians incredibly specific and intangible demands in to reality.

This film is just captivating from beginning to end, watching Stephan tweak, poke, dust, tune, twist and thump the pianos like only a true master of his craft can do.

Highly recommended.

The Osterman Weekend (1983)

Only watch it on TV if you have 90 minutes going spare!

[5/10 · 14 February 2009]

The Robert Ludlum book of the same name is excellent, very tense and very well written. I waited ages for this film to come along at the right price (25p off ebay, ha ha), but how disappointed I was when I finally saw it. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad film if it wasn't based on a book, but it is, and a great book at that. Therefore, I have to compare the film with the original as the two can't be separated. Relative to the book, the film is, frankly, rubbish I'm sorry to say. I had such high expectations, but the film bore such little resemblance to the book that had I not known it was called "The Osterman Weekend", I would never have guessed that it was based on the book of the same name.

I gave this film 5/10 simply because I made it through to the end (and Rutger Hauer and John Hurt have done some great stuff), but it was more out of morbid curiosity as to how much more they could butcher the book than for any entertainment value. This was a film that was a product of its time (replete with cheesy music and bad acting) and it hasn't aged well. I'm glad I bought it for 25p because any more and I would've considered it a waste of money.

If it comes up on TV and you have 90 minutes burning a hole in your life, watch it - it isn't dreadful, but it's certainly not great. If you've read the book and are hoping to see it brought to life, or think that you're about to watch another Sam Peckinpah classic, give it a miss, it really isn't worth it.

Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962)

Entertaining if you can see past the bad acting and awful effects

[5/10 · 25 October 2008]

Somewhere buried in this movie is a good plot waiting to burst out. The idea that someone or something can reach in to your mind and create a (fake) reality for you predates the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the second landing scene (the fake town) in The Martian Chronicles by 6 and 18 years respectively.

There is far too much reliance on stock footage, the effects are pretty dreadful and the acting is wooden. But... if you like B-movie Sci-Fi and have a spare 90 minutes, this is still entertaining. Sure, I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the dreadful stop-motion, but the plot moves quickly and it hangs together well. How accurate it was that the men, despite knowing that the women were not real, still couldn't keep their hands (and their hormones) to themselves!

I'd find it hard to justify spending more than a few pounds/dollars on this movie because, ultimately, it isn't very good. However, the basic premise is solid, its intentions are good and the science isn't too wide of the mark.

If you like cult Sci-Fi, this is well worth seeing, just don't get your hopes too high.