lordthorpe Reviews

One for the Money (2012)

interesting attempt - needs more work on the characters

[5/10 · 29 February 2012]

in spite of the negative reviews, my wife and I took the plunge and went to see this film. I have read all the Stephanie Plum books so am familiar with the characters and the story lines.

The good

Katherine Heigl looks the part of Stephanie and is how I visualised her too look. I cannot comment on the jersey accent but it sounded good to me. the location shots were well done and nicely filmed, Daniel Sunjata as Ranger I think worked well. The wrap up scene worked quite well and nicely pulled the pieces together.

The average

I'm afraid that Jason O'Mara as Morelli didn't quite work for me - maybe if the chemistry between him and Katherine can be improved (see later) I would change my mind.

The poor

The comedy timing was awful - Grandma Mazur is a key eccentric character in the books (as is Lula) these need to exploited in future films (assuming that there are any). There was no chemistry between the characters you felt that they were reading lines a lot of the time - a lot of the reason that Stephanie plum works is that she gets along with people and shows compassion(for example with Lula and in later books Mooner) in this film she turns up and asks questions and people tell her the answers, that's not how it works in the books - sorry.

overall 5 out of 10 - I wanted this to be a success, I with more attention to the people and crisper comedy timing and direction these players could make it work. I do wonder if they will be given the chance.I will watch it again on DVD to see if it improves on a second showing.

Angels & Demons (2009)

Very Poor attempt

[1/10 · 20 June 2009]

I read Dan Browns books before any of the films were made. I had low expectations for this film after seeing the mess that was made of the Da Vinci Code - unfortunately my expectations wern't low enough! I walked out early! This film is a mess, key events and characters from the book are missing, the plot in the book is tight and crisp with the ending very well written. In this film the characters are wooden, almost cartoonish, & the plot unbelievable, the sound quality is poor, with characters being inaudable due to background noise.

The only redeeming actor is Ewan Mcgregor - who turns in his usual excellent performance.

Ron Howard & Tom Hanks should apologise for this mess - they can do so much better.

If this film was a new car, you would demand your money back. Please save the planet and don't transfer this mess to DVD.

Star Trek (2009)

Absolutely Brilliant!

[10/10 · 10 May 2009]

I grew up with the original Star Trek - Jim Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty etc, were all part of my childhood – so I approached this remake with some trepidation.

I absolutely loved it! The casting was pretty much spot on, there were some goofs (such as Mr Chekov) but they were easily forgiven. The story line was quite clever allowing the original series and this new series to co-exist using the same characters.

The special effects and action scenes are as you would expect for the 21st Century – fast paced, brilliantly executed and edge-of–your seat. You were into the thick of the action from the start but there was sufficient time for good character development and storyline.

If this is the beginning of a new series of Star Trek then all I can say is "Live long and prosper".

Battle of Britain (1969)

Everyone should watch this film!

[9/10 · 16 December 2006]

This Movie has to be the most influential of my life. At the age of eight after seeing this film, I vowed to myself that one day I would pilot a Spitfire. It took over 30 years, but I did it! I can now sympathise with the rookie pilot who has a few hours on "Spits" and is less able than his more experience colleagues - and who later "buys it" in battle. The Spitfire is fairly easy to fly - but very difficult to fly well.

I have to agree with Winson Churchill that this was "Their finest hour" the fate of the country and the free world rested on the RAF fighter pilots - about 2,500 men. If we had lost the Luftwaffe would have destroyed the Navy and Britain would have fallen.

The special effects do show the age of the film - the good news is that a lot of the flying shots are actual aircraft! The film tries to be historically accurate, made in the days before Hollywood decided to re-write history! Most of the actors remembered the war years and so wore accurate clothing.

One of the set piece bombing sequences was filmed at RAF Duxford. Where a hangar was destroyed without permission! The balance of the film is right - not all Germans were Nazi's. Goering is shown to be a political animal, without the objective realism that a true general needs.

The music by Ron Goodwin is excellent, especially - dare I say it - the Luftwaffe March, "Aces High".

In short the only criticism of this film is its age, now days the special effects would be better - but it would be made to be too 21st Century and would have lost the atmosphere of the 1940's. A great film and should be part of everyones collection.

American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile (2006 Video)

Better than expected

[6/10 · 6 December 2006]

I have seen all the other "American Pie" franchise offerings – including the "band camp" spin off. Based upon "Band Camp" I expected this to be fairly poor fare! What a surprise! It's not too bad at all.

It pays homage to the previous films in the use of the Stiffler name and that Eugene Levy makes some cameo appearances, but it is not overly dependant on the other films to succeed.

There are the expected sexual jokes and bawdy humour (lets be honest it wouldn't be "American Pie" without them) and the Situational comedy sequences.

I felt that – after a hilarious opening scene – the film flagged in the middle, but the director managed to pull it back on track and it regained some of its sparkle.

What was noticeable is that there appeared to be some full frontal female nudity and that some of the set piece scenes were slightly more explicit than the usual "T&A" we expect from the series.

Overall a good addition to the series, not highbrow, no hidden deep messages – just pure unabashed smutty humour.

Just Like Heaven (2005)

Enjoyable Romantic comedy.

[7/10 · 22 December 2005]

Surrounded by Ladies, I get to see my fair share of romantic films. This is a nicely filmed - simple tale - that has enough of a plot twist to keep you interested.

The ending is fairly predictable but is nevertheless well executed. Jon Heder very nearly steals the film but - unfortunately - his appearances are not long enough to steal the film from the two stars.

Overall a nice family film without gratuitous violence or nudity that leaves a definite "feel good" factor after watching it. Not quite as good as Ghost in my humble opinion but one to definitely rent and watch with the Ladies in your life.

Transporter 2 (2005)

what a lot of rubbish

[1/10 · 22 December 2005]

The first film was enjoyable, even though it was highly improbable, but nevertheless it had a certain charm about it.

The sequel, unfortunately, has dispensed with the one element that made the first film bearable - that is the quirky charm. Instead it has opted for a lot of cartoon style martial arts moves that are so improbable and unlikely that you need to switch off all your higher brain functions just to accept.

Audi must be pleased though - their cars are portrayed as being able to smash through most materials without even scratching the paint.

I walked out of the film after 35 minutes..

avoid - like the plague.