lollyluvuk Reviews

Manon of the Spring (1986)

should be watched twice in youth then in age.

[10/10 · 30 October 2006]

A superb movie that works on so many levels....I first saw this and jean de florette as a teenager and was satisfied by the "happy ending" I thought it was then but now older, wiser and much more experienced in life,I have watched it again and was brought to tears by the tragedy of the ending I never truly appreciated or realised before in my youth.

I like this movie manon and jean de florette for tapping into the humanity of us all, how easy it to make wrong choices and actions not seeing the consequences to others and to ourselves, only seeing the immediate goal. How many things I would change now if I could.....

a 10 for a truly human movie and of course for great acting, beautiful countryside and music that only serve to compliment it.

Jane Eyre (2006)

Disappointing-an in the style of Jane eyre version

[4/10 · 9 October 2006]

Oh Dear having had hopeful expectations of this version with the actors involved I was sadly disappointed in its content,

Toby Stephens is good but too serious he has none of the humour that Mr Rochester portrays in the book and as for Ruth Wilson I do think she was picked for her looks which admittedly are very good for a Jane eyre but her acting was painful at times were she seems too whiny and also lacking in the subtle humour and strength which Jane has in the book. on saying this i'm not sure this is the actors fault you do get the impression that the directer had a definite agenda which overlaid the whole production making this an "in the style of Jane eyre version"

1/ The language is dumbed down for us, losing much of the books rich subtle tones and witty repartee between Jane and Rochester - I hate it when script writers do this

2/ There are to many changes! scenes are shortened and/or dropped to make room for extra totally superfluous scenes which seem to throw us away from the storyline, the shopping scene in particular was one I disliked Jane and Rochester do shopping ackkk

3/ I did not feel transported back time at all, not enough attention was paid to getting the time period feel especially in the early Lowood scenes which suffer from a lack of attention.

I would say to all those who like Jane eyre from reading it as I do, is go back and watch the 1983 timothy Dalton - zelah Clarke version its my favourite to date, if you want a passionate Rochester you get it in that version as well as the rich Bronte language. In fact I challenge those of you who praise this new version to go back and watch the 1983 "Jane Eyre" you maybe surprised how much you like it better... You can still buy the 1983 version (3 more Jane eyre's have been done since 1983) in shops and on ebay when other versions are unavailable testifying to timothy's and Zelah's undying popularity and when buying this 1983 version get it on DVD not VHS, the DVD is 2 hours longer and has a full Lowood section showing true brutal reality in children's institution. Also try the Orson Welles version yes its a movie but its good too. These 2 versions for me are the best and have yet to be beat by any other i've seen, as for this new one all I can say is go back to the book guys you spoilt this version by trying to be cleverer than Charlotte Bronte which is impossible.

V for Vendetta (2005)

Disappointing

[1/10 · 29 September 2006]

Although an interesting premise I did find this movie very gooey and heavy. Natalie portman was good despite her accent her acting was superb but V himself made me shudder with flowery over-the-top word usage, as if the director felt we needed V to go into endless Soliloquy's to define his personality. Then with the "end justify's the means" attitude that is so common in movies made nowadays, that a cruel world can only understand cruel answers. I personally think George Orwell's 1984 did it better using common people and real situations. I would seriously worry about a guy that has to torture and make a specially built cell for the woman he loves to be converted to his view point (this is a movie against totalitarianism but his high-handed use of the girl was a bit pot calling kettle black). Hmmm ever heard of the Stockholm syndrome where prisoners fall in love with their captors.....i'm not even gonna mention the worshipfully mask kissing scene ewwww.

Politically this movie is dated at best, down-right pushing the viewer to a misguided view of current British political trends, It might just be that this is 80's comic book politics pushed into current American politics, melded uncomfortably together making us squirm without realising why. Currently in the UK the politically-correct mob won years ago, religion is dying out, sexuality is anything goes from a very young age, std's on the increase and the nice movie scene where 2 parents are sat watching TV with their daughter who says bollox just wouldn't happen in todays single parent society where marriage is also dying out. If your gonna give us a bleak future ahead PLEASE gives us a realistic one

The police officer was well done! his simple exploration of the facts and where the blame of the terrifying crime really lay was good but felt underused, just to have him turn up and give the nod to the girl. In the end this whole movie felt hammed up to me but judge for yourselves guys...the fireworks were pretty :)

Jesus (1999)

not a bad effort

[7/10 · 12 July 2006]

While this a very good version I applaud a more human portrayal of Jesus, they have taken a lot of liberties with it and as another user comment says ..they have dumbed down the language a lot. The bit I found most disappointing was the rewriting of Jesus's baptism whereas in the bible john the baptist doesn't want to baptise Jesus saying "I have need to be baptised of thee, and comest thou to me?" and in this version he says "confess your sins and repent" huh!!!! I might be picking hairs but Joseph and Mary did have more children after Jesus but this version does give the impression Jesus was an only child but thats not new with movies based on Jesus's life. As versions go I rate this second, only "jesus of Nazareth" is better, after seeing Mel Gibson's "passion of Christ" recently and finding it totally unrealistic and weird...I think Mel has just done way to many action movies. The actors were all good although I felt Gary oldman playing pontius pilate lacked gravitas also just a bit more of the sermon of the mount would have been nice but that was just a personal taste thing. Overall it was an enjoyable watch even though you do lose a lot of what he did because of time restraints