I must reiterate what's already been said. The 2 series available on DVD are brilliant and the last episode in the second series actually made my mouth open as the twist (regarding one of the bedroom's characters) was so amazing and unexpected. There are however quite a few instances when the microphone boom can be seen in shot and in another scene, you can make out the shadows of the camera-person as he/she tries to step away when the action moves from one place in the room to another. All that though adds to the charm of the piece. The acting is uniformly excellent throughout but a special mention must go to Alun Armstrong who is just the most brilliantly diverse actor, so believable.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Melinda and Melinda
(2004)
Quite simply dreadful!!!
20 September 2005
I cannot quite believe I'm doing this; writing a less than sparkling review of a Woody Allen film. A friend of mine came to visit recently and she told me in passing that she'd never seen a Woody Allen film, I told her that we could sit and watch any one of a number of video's/DVD's and we were going to do that until she saw that his latest was playing at a local independent movie theatre. "Let's go to that" she said and I said "yeah, sure, why not?" I wish I hadn't said that. It was appalling awful. Rubbish dialogue, uncharismatic actors, plodding direction and tired plot. I didn't feel an affinity with any of the characters. I just wanted it to end. My friend was disappointed. "I thought Woody Allen was a great director" she said, knowing she would never watch another of his films ever again. Why? Why? Why? Why was this film allowed to be made? I would have given it 1 star but couldn't allow myself to, Mr Allen's given me so much viewing pleasure over the years, after all. Terrible.
Better Living
(1998)
Absolutely terrible!!!!!
21 December 2004
I bought this film because Olympia Dukakis was in it. I thoroughly enjoyed her role as Mrs Madrigal in Tales of the City and so have looked out for her in other films since and most have been well worth the while but this dreadful film isn't one of them. It's not often you reach the end of a film and don't have a clue as to what it was all about but this is one of them. It has no storyline, no plot, terrible dialogue and is a complete waste of talented actors. The acting is good but you can't believe in any of the characterisations because you cannot recognise people like this in real-life! They seem to all be from a different planet somewhere. Please everyone, do yourselves a favour and avoid this horror of a movie. It has NOTHING good going for it at all and one can only assume, it was a stopgap part for all the actors involved. The one decent thing is the music, which is quite good. Don't waste any time watching this. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Connie and Carla
(2004)
I really enjoyed it!
21 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
Mum roped me in to watching this film and I have to be honest, I didn't really want to see it but what a great little film it was. It's funny, light-hearted and really enjoyable in a trashy B-movie kind of way. Nia Vardalos and Toni Colette work brilliantly together. Stephen Spinella is excellent as he always is, as the gay drag queen brother of distant brother David Duchovny. If you get the chance, watch him in The Unknown Cyclist too with the delectable Lea Thompson.
It's a film about two women who are on the run having witnessed the murder of their ex-boss who was dealing drugs and so take off to on the road, to try and gain anonymity. They arrive in Los Angeles and decide to go and get a drink and loosen up and end up in a gay club called The Handlebar. They soon discover that auditions are taking place the next night for Drag Queens, so they realise what better way to hide than to pretend they are men dressed as women and perhaps make a few bucks along the way? That's when the fun starts.
The gay characters are hopelessly clichéd and stereotypical. There is the corny subplot of a sibling attempting to accept his brothers homosexuality, there is a subplot about acceptance of those who are different but you can forgive all of that because it's really just a silly, feel-good film. Even Debbie Reynolds shows up towards the end and looks like she's had 70 plastic surgeries too many!!!! But it's all good. By the end, you know what's going to happen, that everyone will live happily ever after and perhaps that's a good reason for watching it. It's a good, fun and harmless film.
WATCH IT!
It's a film about two women who are on the run having witnessed the murder of their ex-boss who was dealing drugs and so take off to on the road, to try and gain anonymity. They arrive in Los Angeles and decide to go and get a drink and loosen up and end up in a gay club called The Handlebar. They soon discover that auditions are taking place the next night for Drag Queens, so they realise what better way to hide than to pretend they are men dressed as women and perhaps make a few bucks along the way? That's when the fun starts.
The gay characters are hopelessly clichéd and stereotypical. There is the corny subplot of a sibling attempting to accept his brothers homosexuality, there is a subplot about acceptance of those who are different but you can forgive all of that because it's really just a silly, feel-good film. Even Debbie Reynolds shows up towards the end and looks like she's had 70 plastic surgeries too many!!!! But it's all good. By the end, you know what's going to happen, that everyone will live happily ever after and perhaps that's a good reason for watching it. It's a good, fun and harmless film.
WATCH IT!
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