kim-683 Reviews

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Exceptional film - small scale yet huge concept, brilliantly done.

[8/10 · 6 November 2008]

The trailer is truly misleading. This film is much more leftfield and original than you'd expect from watching the trailer and would definitely be one the films that I've most enjoyed watching.

I like "Anchorman" Will Ferrel, but in this he's in another league altogether. Bouncing off the rest of the cast - Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman are on particularly fine form and perfect foils for the main character - he climbs to a new level as an actor.

As a production it is pretty much spot on. The use of Wreckless Eric in the soundtrack was genius. I'm not a fan of either slush or explicit sex in films, aesthetically, but in this the play between Ferrel and Maggie Gyllenhaal really made me smile. It is slick, but feels a little bit indie, as if there were a lot of people who had a passion to make this movie.

If you enjoyed "Being John Malkovitch" then I really recommend you check this title out. It's suitable for a wide range of viewers and has baking and guitars, so great for guys and chicks too! That's Not a sexist comment, but one that will make more sense when you see the movie, trust me...

Rick (2003)

A polarising flick, to be sure

[8/10 · 1 April 2008]

Other's have given good synopses of the plot so I'll not go along that route, and I'll keep this brief. One other commenter noted the quality of Bill Pullman and I have to concur. He has a habit of choosing rather off-beat films that deserve greater success than they receive; I'm thinking of The Zero Effect and Lost Highway rather than Independence Day.

I was expecting very little from this film and was awed by the quality of the production. Rick managed to build its own style as a film, being grotesque and dramatic, yet the moniker of DARK COMEDY was not a lie on the sleeve, it really was very funny.

Thankfully the film only follows the same general route as the opera. Guiseppe Verdi (sounds so dull when you translate it to English - Joe Green) never wrote for the screen. Yet... the production retains a very set-like feel, as if it was taken from a play.

The only criticism that I can really level at Rick is that it seems to lose its pacing in the last 15 minutes, when you can see the slow car-crash of a finale approaching. The director really passes up opportunities to build suspense and there is a feeling of an opportunity lost. However, this stands out only due to the quality overall.

In summary, it's got really superb characters, none of them are out of the box at all. Gothic and fatalistic, funny and sexy but cruel and merciless. The acting is faultless, stand-out performances from Bill Pullman and Sandra Oh, with a special mention for one of the most cringe-worthy bosses of all time to Aaron Stanford - watch out for him in the future.

Born and Bred (2006)

Advanced and powerful film, rough in parts, but gripping

[7/10 · 16 August 2007]

This move hangs together very well, with a simple story of tragedy and loss with a journey through the pain to emerge at some kind of acceptance at the end. It is not a feel-good movie by any means, but for me it made sense and worked as a whole.

The characters, dialogue and story are well done, if going over well-trodden terrain. What sets this film above many others of its genre is the desolation of the setting for most of the time - Patagonia is beautiful but empty. Yes, lots of analogy with the lead character who has run away from a family tragedy, for which he feels responsible.

However, whereas something like "We Don't Live Here Any More" has the annoying cloy of intellectuals whining and bleating about their interactions and attempts to get under the skin of people undergoing huge changes in their lives, this achieves it.

What was interesting was the quality of the film, which was low-quality digital. If you ditch your preconceptions of film stock having "musical" distortion and grain, and all other types of visual degradation being wrong, you may find the artifacts quite stunning. I thought that it was an amazingly shot movie and the director deserves plaudits for the look of it.

To be honest, I would not have seen this film out of choice, the subject matter is an area that can be too sentimental and introspective, but I am very pleased that it was an excellent piece, sympathetically and, at time, humorously shot and with a great deal of humanity on show. If you get the chance to see this gem, take it.

Sherlock Holmes Returns (1993 TV Movie)

Oh, what fun!

[9/10 · 7 August 2006]

This has the style and class of an episode of Murder She Wrote (one victim dies when his VW Beetle is filled with beetles!) but is utterly and insanely enjoyable - more bad puns than you can handle. Thank goodness it never made a series as this 90 min pilot is plenty enough to entertain, more would just hurt.

The script is pretty bad, yet romps along with incredible energy. The plot is grade A rubbish, but don't let that distract you from the enthusiasm the actors put in, bless them. Anthony Higgins as Holmes, frozen for 80 years in a device of his own devising and woken up in 1994, is brilliant - so over-the-top it is pure panto.

I don't like the adage "so bad it's good" but this is so camp and groan-worthy I think it may melt any heart into submission.

Beau Brummell: This Charming Man (2006 TV Movie)

A truly astonishing account of an amazing man

[9/10 · 7 August 2006]

Beau Brummel Beau Brummel was an 18th Century gambler, socialite and overall dazzling light of high-society who invented the look of the Dandy. This was a time in history where the French ruled the world in terms of style and fashion and it was normal for men to wear white wigs with white makeup, reddened lips and cheeks in a style known as the fop. Brummell deconstructed masculinity and is actually responsible for the introduction of the trouser as the preferred form of clothing for the gentleman – up to now it had been the pantaloons or breeches.

His style was astonishing; he developed the trend for men to look carelessly smart, clothes simple, yet elegant – black trousers, jacket, white shirt and intricate neckerchief – but of course this took hours of preparation. He totally redefined how men should behave – how they would stand, smell, look, interact. He was closely associated with Lord Byron and also with Prince George – son of George III. Hereby hangs a tale of wealth, beauty, excess, comedy and tragedy.

James Purefoy and the assembled cast provide something quite astonishing in this rendition of the most astonishing tale of a man who styled the future king of England, who managed to squander several fortunes in such amazing style and panache that he makes it look like the most fun a human could ever have. The relationships between Brumell and his manservant, Byron and his sister, the gentlemen of high-society are so exquisite in this superb BBC production that I found my self totally seduced.

If you only watch this production for one scene it must be where the Prince Regent demands Beau come to show him how to dress "come and watch me!" he exclaims in exasperation, and the Prince does, and we do too. Such an erotic and charged scene – Purefoy shaving and preening in the morning sunlight, watched by first the Prince and then an array of admirers; this character was so seductive people would come for miles to see how he managed to assemble his dress.

The production is small in scale; a few well-chosen external sets, some spectacular location work used very carefully. But it is the script and the performances, framed so sympathetically by the director with a very well-judged soundtrack, which makes this a gem of a work. Forget the nonsense by Jane Austen, this is where the BBC set the screen on fire and if you get the chance to see this, you must. It is a production that just works so well and somehow burnt itself into my mind to linger in my mind long after the credits had rolled.