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Robin of Sherwood (1984)
A Classic Atmospheric Gem!
I recently got to watch this rarely seen (in my country, anyway) gem again. Not much to add to the praise of other reviewers - I rushed out and bought the soundtrack in the 80s and loved the grittiness (the homes of the rich looked just as uncomfortable as lying on the ground in the forest!) and the mythical themes. A very talented cast was gathered and although sometimes the stories lacked pace, it was always a pleasure to watch, and it was never afraid to challenge romantic versions of certain characters and people from history.
The only criticism I might have is the way the actors' considerable talents seem too often underused by the director. Will Scarlett, played by Ray Winstone, is many times quick to be angry with either Little John or Robin with no build-up, leaving his character with nowhere to go. The Sherriff of Nottingham and Sir Guy in particular, can be fairly two-dimensional. They're often angry and shouting at each other too. Nickolas Grace as the Sherriff is obviously very talented and could've had a lot more fun in the role, but he is just mean to everyone and never shows an ounce of patience, pushing servants out of the way and always yelling at them, his soldiers and his animals; he says 'Where the devil is he?' and 'Damn the man!' or Damn the beast!' quite a lot and his only smiles are evil melodramatic sneers. For him, gentle persuasion is to ransack a town and throw the population in the dungeon, though in Season 4 he does get to extend himself a bit more. Still, somehow his verging-on-the-camp performance makes him kind of likeable and was perhaps an inspiration for Alan Rickman's portrayal. Philip Jackson too (who many will remember as Inspector Japp in TV's Poirot) as the Sherriff's brother Abbot Hugo de Rainault shows talent , but again there is little real humanity for him to show, though the battle between the brothers (church v state) for lands and wealth lends an interesting sidelight.
Michael Praed would've been very hard to replace as Robin Hood. Another reviewer used the word 'fey' to describe him, and he certainly had an other-world quality. The idea to use Jason Connery's version as an Earl's son was clever, given apparently there are different versions of Robin's background. I thought perhaps they could've made use of that for a few more episodes in the vein of Zorro and that show that scared the hell out of me as a kid, Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow.
The rest of the cast are all excellent (though it was too bad the Alan-a-Dale character didn't work out) and like many shows of the era, it is fun to spot guest performers who later went on to other things. Overall, it could've been better, but not much and it's still my favourite version of Robin Hood.
Starhyke (2009)
Monumentally Bad
Caught this on Amazon after noticing Claudia Christian from Babylon 5 was a lead.
I do not like panning shows, but I got through three episodes of this before I gave up. I spent a good deal of that time shaking my head, uttering 'this is so bad!' I read that some have said it gets better. I can only hope it does, but somehow I know it won't get better enough for me. It is just not funny: the scenes are unbearably long; the face pulling and over-acting is relentless; the storylines forgotten; the sets bland and claustrophobic. I've also read reviews favouring it over Hyperdrive. Whilst Hyperdrive was not brilliant, it was a lot better than this and had experienced comic actors who could get the best out of a script.
Non sono un assassino (2019)
Style Over Substance
Previous reviews of this film have been fairly accurate. Director Andrea Zaccariello - whose previous features have been comedies - presents a complicated plot with a mostly predictable ending and an underwhelming payoff for the story's most mysterious device. The photography is certainly stylish and the setup intriguing, and the main players do their best with their undeniable talents, but there are major problems with this film.
The character at the centre of it all - Deputy Police Superintendent Francesco Prencipe (Ricardo Scamarcio) is accused of killing his old friend Judge Giovanni Mastropaolo (Alessio Boni) who mysteriously summons him in the early hours for a meeting. The pair have not seen each other for two years, and the judge has been investigating organized crime. Surely he has been framed! The trouble is, as his thoroughly unlikeable character quickly unfolds, we don't particularly care.
Then there is the jerkiness of of the editing, which could be forgiven to an extent if characters and timelines were clearer and the actors playing their younger counterparts bore some resemblance to each other - it was unclear to me just who was who. All this meant little light was shed.
The music was used to effect (and I will have nothing bad said about prog-rock legends Emerson, Lake & Palmer!) and the characters in themselves were interesting, while the occasional twist did keep you involved, but in the end, this film left me flat.
Yesterday (2019)
Just Suspend Belief, Sit Back, & Enjoy The Music
A world without the Beatles, as some have already observed, would mean we would not have much of the music we enjoy today - they are that important. Not only did they influence music, they changed the way music was recorded, marketed and managed. They had more control over their music in the recording studio than the vast majority of new recording artists in the 60s, so paved the way in so many ways.
But what about the movie? It's a nice romance with good comedic actors and some really good music (if you like the Beatles, that is...and if you don't, you're just trying to be cool!). Take your partner, sit back and sing along (the music was loud enough in the screening I attended that others in the audience didn't notice).