paddyshack Reviews

Almost Famous (2000)

Is there a conspiracy to deny this is a turkey?

[1/10 · 15 December 2003]

Does this movie tap into some American subconscious that I am unaware of - is there a national paean for bell bottoms and groupiedoom that overlooks the awfulness of this film? For a start it is very boring, following the not very interesting or even rock and roll adventures of a very well behaved rock group and a journalist with the world's longest deadline trying to pen an article about them. there are groupies whom we never see having sex, very little drug taking, not much boozing, but most clankingly of all a love story between a child, a guitarist and the apparently irresistible Penny Lane, who I guess is supposed to be enigmatic but is really just vapid and if Hudson's performance is all it takes to get an Oscar nomination then get you daughter on the stage Mrs Robinson, it's there for the taking.

hilariously we have continually "just missed" various real rock stars who are "next door", and "by the pool" which at least provided some light relief throughout this too-long clunker, but I am sure it wasn't meant to.

Yet this is 150 ALL TIME movie. Nearly 7000 voted this a 10? What am I missing here? This film provides a perfect companion piece for the Banger Sisters as two movies, that if I ever see again, will require a major shift in lifestyle so that I never have 2 hours to waste as badly as that again. At least with the Banger sisters I was on a plane. Almost unwatchable and you can remove the almost in the case of a second viewing.

The Dish (2000)

Don't tune in for laughs or thrills, or moments, or interest...

[6 December 2001]

Criticising this film feels a bit like aiming a boot at a puppy dog. It desperately wants to be liked and will do anything to get there. Lead character not noble enough? - make him a recent widower. American a bit frosty? Have him reassure us that he's doing it for the betterment of the project. Have we made the mayor too superficial? lets put his heart in the right place at all times.

I am a huge fan of The Castle, but it did not seem to have the same need to have everyone seems so perfect. The Dish, however does and as a result the film is not funny. It's slow, there's virtually no conflict, there's little in the way of comedic or dramatic set-pieces - it just washes over the viewer like warm air - pleasant but entirely forgettable.

Dirty Weekend (1993)

I write this to warn others

[26 October 2001]

I only saw this as I was writing a review for a college magazine at the time and thought it would be easier to write about a bad movie than a good one. I didn't realise just how easy it wou ld be. I saw it on a wet afternoon in a mutliplex, and 4 of the 6 people in the cinema walked out. I wish I was one. Awful in every possible respect, if Edison had known that this would happen to his great invention he would have hid the patent. Not out of curiosity, masochism or desperation should you give this a look.

My Summer with Des (1998 TV Movie)

Footie, women, success, happiness - it's a man's film

[8/10 · 8 May 2001]

As much to do with remembering a great summer, football provides the backdrop for this amusing comi-drama. Is easy to empathise with a fan getting caught up in the fervour of the tournament and his own fervour with falling for a woman (Rachel Weisz) who seems to mirror England's progress in the tournament.

Weisz is as ephemeral as footballing success, particularly as she is a device and not really a woman in this drama, and footballing success is as ephemeral as happiness itself, so the movie reaches a predictable conclusion particularly if you know anything about the tournament.

Weisz looks great, the movie has good pace, and it is well enough written to remind anyone of a great summer whether it involved football or not.



Worth a look if it crops up.

Exiled (1999)

Brotherhood, betrayal and booze.

[8/10 · 18 April 2000]

Story of a Irish cousin who travels to live with his brother in Ireland "33rd county" Sunnyside in Queen's NY and gets involved in nefarious IRA business.

I saw this in a packed house at the Dublin Film Festival, with an appreciative home crowd and despite my bias, it fully deserves all 8 of the stars I've given it.

There is a vibrancy in the language that is usually lacking in most movies these days with people enjoying words and using them interestingly. But unlike most "European" films, they serve to propel the plot along, and don't sit up to be admired alone.

The plot itself is compelling but a bit thin to sustain 90 minutes. An obvious lack of budget presumably meant that there wasn't much chance of introducing many more plot elements and the film swings between about 5 locations in total. However the film makes up for this with some interesting insights into young Irish in America - how they live, how they got there etc. The film develops a nice sense of place, a little like Mean Streets and its accuracy in the depiction of how its characters lived and also the South/North conflict in perception on the troubles in Northern Ireland.

The acting is good, the plot adequate, the script excellent, there is a power house last half-hour, and an excellent ending. Don't know how you are going to see this film, but if it does crop up on cable or in the video store or at a festival near you, I recommend you sit down and learn something about a conflict you might think you understand, but more than that you should enjoy a right good thriller.