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sloth_ian
Reviews
Ghostbusters II (1989)
Tremendous film
One of my favourite films ever, it surpasses the original (though not by much) in terms of effects and humour. It's hard to know where to start giving out praise. Bill Murray is once again excellent as the sleazy Peter Venkman who has excellent one-liners. Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis excel again as writers and their roles, though reduced, are still important - their career paths at the beginning are a joy to watch. Ernie Hudson, as Winston who completes the quartet, is more funnier here than he was in the original. Sigourney Weaver has been given a better presence, despite having a fairly naff plotline (the story is the one cause of concern - Dana's baby being used as the reawakening of a painting?) whilst Rick Moranis is once again hilarious: the courtroom scene is priceless.
The humour here makes up for a slightly weak plot, the effects are better (the dogs in the 1st film were pretty dire) and the contributions of the cast and Ivan Reitman are spot on. Plus the theme music (which is lacking slightly in here) rocks! So ends my worthless internet opinion.
Get Your Own Back (1991)
One of the best British TV shows of the 90s
As I was growing up in the 1990s, this show has become one of my favourites because I was the right audience - having said that,I still try and catch it whenever I can. The originality of "Get Your Own Back" is what makes it such a long-running show. Aimed at children, it offered them the chance to humiliate an adult that they knew who had been unfair to them or deserved some kind of punishment, by dunking them in a huge dunktank of gunge. As there are always children who will feel hard done by, I can see the show lasting for even longer than it already has.
The energetic children's presenter Dave Benson Phillips really found his niche with this show, coming from CBBC's Playdays and a current presenter of Playhouse Disney, allowing him to show off his warm personality as he was always on the kids' side and played upon the adult's fear of being gunged, making it worse for them and all the better for the audience. Dave himself has found himself in the "Gunk Dunk" twice on television and then once again on CBBC's NEC shows in the mid 90s - normally during the celebrity editions (never major stars, usually CBBC TV presenters).
The format of the show has changed a number of times over the lifespan of GYOB, but the adult who found themselves over the Gunk Dunk would never escape clean (apart from the most recent format). The first series saw 3 teams of adult/children whittled down to 1 team, through a series of games, where both adult and child would sit over the tank. The format would change over the years; from the adult being sprayed upto 3 times with gunge before being dunked to being able to gunge the kid by answering 5 logic questions (and then being dunked anyway) to the current format where both adults are over the tank and the one dunked is the one whose child has answered 5 questions correctly
The best bit is obviously the gunging at the end and the reactions that the adults give when they've been thoroughly gunged. This is more true with the women, although they don't tend to get dunked as much as their male counterparts. Two series ago, with the current format, Dave also gained a female co-presenter who has yet to be dunked, but it's only a matter of time ;)
Great show
Wild Wild West (1999)
It's really not that bad
Wild Wild West is not a bad film. OK, it's certainly no MIB but just because it's been made by the same people doesn't mean that it has to be judged by the same standards - they are different types of films. Will Smith is a bit limited in this film but his chemistry with Kevin Kline is great and they have some great moments together. Kenneth Branagh is wasted here but makes a decent villain whilst Salma Hayek is only going to be remembered in this film for her arse (and that's no bad thing!)
I haven't seen the original series so I didn't go into the cinema expecting anything and it was a good way to pass the time. Sure it's not a classic, but in the same way it doesn't suck: it's got some great lines, a great performance from Kevin Kline and some good effects. I even like Will Smith's theme song. In the same way though, not enough time has been spent on the performances and the plot is what REALLY lets this film down.