An excellent series spoiled by the overzealous one-note narration and boom-boom audio effects - perhaps the fault of the producer/director. Very annoying and spoils the whole show.
Reviews
15 Reviews
The Bourne Ultimatum
(2007)
This film is tripe. Tries too hard. A bore from beginning to end. Hopefully, young Bourne will be killed off before we have to endure yet another sequel.
14 December 2007
As I said: "Tripe". I cannot fault the acting; Damon looks very convincingly like he doesn't have a clue what is going on and he seems as harmless as a mouse. A big disappointment as a film. Give me Hellen Mirren in "Prime Suspect" any day.
The whole premise of this film is almost risible. As if Bourne was any real threat. He's an operative who must be liquidated. BUT, what a lot of fuss! This is Hollywood going out of its way to try and make spies and spying sexy. It's nothing of the kind from what I've learned. Much ado about nothing as far as I'm concerned. I may get raked over the coals for my crit, but I hope someone sees this film for what it is, nothing but high-energy fluff.
Hugh Corston
The whole premise of this film is almost risible. As if Bourne was any real threat. He's an operative who must be liquidated. BUT, what a lot of fuss! This is Hollywood going out of its way to try and make spies and spying sexy. It's nothing of the kind from what I've learned. Much ado about nothing as far as I'm concerned. I may get raked over the coals for my crit, but I hope someone sees this film for what it is, nothing but high-energy fluff.
Hugh Corston
Babel
(I) (2006)
Just Blew Me Away.
1 March 2007
I haven't seen this kind of movie making in 20 years (maybe a slight exaggeration!). But, the conception, execution, and the directors attention to detail are almost breath taking There is so much beautiful significant detail to each frame. The story is brilliant and left me with the hairs rising on the back of my head and real "frisons and fremissements". I think I had my mouth open as I watched it and could feel the impending doom approach. Never been much of a fan of Pitt, but he comes through with flying colours.
This is what real film making is all about. The film may not be to some people's taste, but it makes even Inspector Morse and Prime Suspect look amateurish. And they are brilliant in their own right.
Hugh Corston, Starving Actor
This is what real film making is all about. The film may not be to some people's taste, but it makes even Inspector Morse and Prime Suspect look amateurish. And they are brilliant in their own right.
Hugh Corston, Starving Actor
You Are Not Alone
(1978)
A charming film
29 January 2007
Anyone who finds this film shocking, exploitive or revolting doesn't have a closed mind; they have a problem. This film is very reminiscent of a French film version of the novel Les amitiers particulaires shot in about 1958 I think. For anyone boy or girl who has had a crush on a member of their own gender, these films tell it all. The boys in You Are Not Alone were luckier than me:-) I was absolutely nuts about some of my friends at that age and extremely attracted to them physically. Unfortunately they weren't as smitten with me as I with them. A difficult time ensued for several years, confusion and hormones raged and reigned and certain scars remain. So, it's nice to see a film where boy meets boy, and boy gets boy. Maybe it would just be a passing thing. Who knows? I think sometimes that people who rail all wholier than thou against the type of relationships depicted in these films should be subjected to unjust accusations and then come up against a gang of gay bashers. Hopefully no harm but a lesson learned and eyes opened would come of it.
Hugh
Hugh
The King
(2005)
Oddly enough this film reminds me of the brilliant Belgian film, Le fils.
27 October 2006
There is a similarity in the idea of search and redemption in both these films In, The King you pretty much know which way things will go until the end. Gael's (brilliant as usual) performance does hold out some hope of redemption, but the film is darker than Le fils where, however, the viewer in an absolutely creepy and uncomfortably (man obsessed with boy) state of suspense and terror till the end. Le fils is a more successful film, I believe, but The King is more thoughtfully written, directed and produced. I just found an odd similarity in the themes of both films. I was deeply touched at the end of Le fils; merely saddened at the end of The King. Tears for the former; "Well, OK....hmm", for the latter. Both definitely worth a watch though.
Saint Ralph
(2004)
Canada, eh?
19 October 2006
Being a Canadian and in the "arts" (i.e broke), I recognized this film as a Canadian offering from the first frame. And this is one Canadian film that can hold its own against anything out there. It makes me think of some the brilliant Belgium films of late.
Sentimental? You bet! But young Butcher and his director want you to get on your running shoes and run like the wind with them.
The film captures, with just the right touch, all that is good in Ralph. It's a "root for the right little guy" type of film which goes beyond being parochial. Hats off to the director/writer McGowan and young Butcher for doing a slap-up job.
Hugh
Sentimental? You bet! But young Butcher and his director want you to get on your running shoes and run like the wind with them.
The film captures, with just the right touch, all that is good in Ralph. It's a "root for the right little guy" type of film which goes beyond being parochial. Hats off to the director/writer McGowan and young Butcher for doing a slap-up job.
Hugh
Privates Lives
(2001)
Extremely Disappointing
15 February 2006
I bought the film and couldn't wait to rip open the package and watch it. I love Bernal's acting (he comes by it naturally from his family). But the plot and dialog reminded me of some of the French films of the same genre from the '60s. I kept expecting Deneuve or Tritignant to come through the door. I couldn't watch it through to the end. I admit that I was tired and had just watched, Dot the I (much superior), so maybe I'll give another go, even if only to watch Bernal who never disappoints. This was a forced film in my opinion with a dreadful script, but maybe I should give a second chance. That sounds perhaps a bit pretentious:-) Hugh Corston Quebec City
Five Corners
(1987)
Awfully darkly shot -literally
15 February 2006
Liked the flic, but I could barely see what was going on in half of the scenes even though it it was on DVD - darkly shot and reminiscent of some of the 70's films of the same genre. A bit fractured in plot line, but still a good watch. And I almost melted when I heard, "In My Life" at the opening and closing. (Sigh:-) Foster wasn't really in the game, but Robbins saved the day in the film as did the disastrous villain. I kept waiting for Paccino to turn up!:-) A bit cliché however. Robbins has to take the credit for carrying the movie with his cool demeanor and fondness for the girl. I'm sure some producer in L.A, saw this and was inspired to create C.S.I. (jokingly)! Huh Corston
Tarnation
(2003)
Been there, seen, that...etc..
22 November 2005
I feel sympathy for Jonathan and his whole familial situation and the rest of his entourage. I'm gay and my formative years were in the mid-seventies to eighties. I'm fortunate not to have come from such a dysfunctional background. Quite the opposite. That doesn't mean I didn't go through some pretty f*cked-up years and still am a bit screwed up. Too many drugs, too many quickies, all in the search of love.
The particular, supposedly unique, self-revelatory story of this film, which is admittedly brilliantly shot and edited, I have witnessed and had to endure so many countless number of times in my life; whether told from a teen hustler in N.Y.C. to an old drunk in a bar, and in the end sounds like the same old broken record. Maybe I'm just a bit jaded.
Without wishing to condemn, it is more than apparent that Jon and his family were/are festering in their own self-perpetuating illnesses. It's a pity. Jon was right to get out. And all the best to him. For those unfamiliar with his particular plight, I'm sure that this film was a revelation. To those of us who have been around the block a few times, however, despite its brilliant execution, the film was a story retold.
Bravo, however, for Jon having the balls (pun intended) to tell it.
Hugh Corston Quebec City Canada
The particular, supposedly unique, self-revelatory story of this film, which is admittedly brilliantly shot and edited, I have witnessed and had to endure so many countless number of times in my life; whether told from a teen hustler in N.Y.C. to an old drunk in a bar, and in the end sounds like the same old broken record. Maybe I'm just a bit jaded.
Without wishing to condemn, it is more than apparent that Jon and his family were/are festering in their own self-perpetuating illnesses. It's a pity. Jon was right to get out. And all the best to him. For those unfamiliar with his particular plight, I'm sure that this film was a revelation. To those of us who have been around the block a few times, however, despite its brilliant execution, the film was a story retold.
Bravo, however, for Jon having the balls (pun intended) to tell it.
Hugh Corston Quebec City Canada
No News from God
(2001)
Just a quickie comment
21 November 2005
I'm stuck in Quebec City, Canada, and if it weren't for DVDs, I'd never get to see such good film making. This type of film takes me back to the time when films were working on many levels with the use of intelligent, inventive and ironic HMO; twisting old morality tales into pertinent and hilarious modern-day equivalents without ever preaching. I hope this apparent renaissance continues in the face of much of the dumbed-down commercial (read:U.S.) crap featured in our cinemas here; and not even in their original English-language versions. I speak French fluently but I'll be damned if I'm going to go to pay and see French-dubbed version of a film with Connnery or Caine or any Scots or Irish actor speaking French with a Parisian accent! Cheers!
Hugh Corston
Hugh Corston
Rory O'Shea Was Here
(2004)
Don't forget. This is just story telling.
12 November 2005
Every film, every painting, every photo, everything we say and do, in its own way, tells a story. Some films go out of their way to convey a political or social message, others to depict the human condition, others simply to amuse and entertain, often with a combination of the above.
With this film, as with most, we should realize that in order to tell a good story, we must not always try to read too much into the producers' or director's motives.
This is a touching story. A fiction based on the facts of life. I have a friend whose brother has Cerebral Palsy. He is a bright, intuitive, fun guy but could be a real pain when he wanted to be.
I'm a professional actor - have been for over twenty years. As I do with a lot of films, naturally enough I often tend to focus on the acting and the actors to the expense of plot - their every movement, every bit of blocking, every thought behind the eyes, etc.
Now, when I stop watching "technique" after five minutes and relax and watch not the actor's "performance" but the character itself, then I know I'm watching real professionals at the top of their form, inhabiting their characters, and it's like being drawn into a shared experience (I know that sounds a bit corny, but ...).
The best of the best actors, especially character actors like Mryl streep, Gary Oldman, Ben Kingsley, Johnny Depp, Helen Hunt, Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington, Jeremy Irons, Sean Penn, Michael Gambon, et al, those are the real stars. Some are, in fact, stars in their own right, but first and foremost they are consummate actors and actresses. I once saw Maggie Smith on stage in London playing Lady Bracknell in Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest". She over-acted terribly. Mind you, it was a Wed. afternoon performance, and she had to do it all again that evening. I digress.
At any rate, this film was a fine tale told not by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing, but by a director and terrific actors with a sensibility which never overstated their intentions. Cheers!
Hugh Corston Quebec City Canada
With this film, as with most, we should realize that in order to tell a good story, we must not always try to read too much into the producers' or director's motives.
This is a touching story. A fiction based on the facts of life. I have a friend whose brother has Cerebral Palsy. He is a bright, intuitive, fun guy but could be a real pain when he wanted to be.
I'm a professional actor - have been for over twenty years. As I do with a lot of films, naturally enough I often tend to focus on the acting and the actors to the expense of plot - their every movement, every bit of blocking, every thought behind the eyes, etc.
Now, when I stop watching "technique" after five minutes and relax and watch not the actor's "performance" but the character itself, then I know I'm watching real professionals at the top of their form, inhabiting their characters, and it's like being drawn into a shared experience (I know that sounds a bit corny, but ...).
The best of the best actors, especially character actors like Mryl streep, Gary Oldman, Ben Kingsley, Johnny Depp, Helen Hunt, Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington, Jeremy Irons, Sean Penn, Michael Gambon, et al, those are the real stars. Some are, in fact, stars in their own right, but first and foremost they are consummate actors and actresses. I once saw Maggie Smith on stage in London playing Lady Bracknell in Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest". She over-acted terribly. Mind you, it was a Wed. afternoon performance, and she had to do it all again that evening. I digress.
At any rate, this film was a fine tale told not by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing, but by a director and terrific actors with a sensibility which never overstated their intentions. Cheers!
Hugh Corston Quebec City Canada
C.R.A.Z.Y.
(2005)
Qubec cinema resurrected?
1 November 2005
I'm an anglophone in Quebec. (Sing to Sting's, "I'm an Engishman in New York). This film was brilliant; not over the top, as some of the quebecois cinema has tended to be lately. Cote was marvellous as papa and Grondin as the confused adolescent was excellent. It mirrors the same situation I went through at about the same time, so I have a bias. Coming out to parents. Incomprehensibillity, but final acceptance on their part. That's what family's all about.
We'll probably never know what the boy did in the car with the other boy whom he had originally beaten up. It doesn't matter. The director had enough taste to allow us to imagine. I got a kick out of Grondin's answer, "I wasn't looking at him." when they were doing whatever in his dad's car. Sigh. It takes me back.
Hugh Corston
We'll probably never know what the boy did in the car with the other boy whom he had originally beaten up. It doesn't matter. The director had enough taste to allow us to imagine. I got a kick out of Grondin's answer, "I wasn't looking at him." when they were doing whatever in his dad's car. Sigh. It takes me back.
Hugh Corston
Secret Window
(2004)
More Excrement from Mr. King
29 October 2005
Do another line, Mr. King. Lame, laughable and ludicrous. Can't believe I watched it all the way through (only with the help of F.F.!!). Don't like King. Don't like the genre. A complete waste of time. Only rented the thing because Depp was in it and figured, as he is excellent in everything he does and seems to choose quality projects most of the time, this must be a good flic. If I'd seen or known that it was another of King's stinkers, it would have gone back on the shelf pronto.
The man seems to have burnt out ages ago - the reasons for which some readers may be aware. Maybe he and Depp are friends or maybe Depp was in-between major shoots and wanted a late summer/early fall vacation at Lac Brome in Quebec. I believe he visited Quebec City and Montreal sometime before, during or after the shoot. Anyway, it looks like he had a bit of fun playing the role at times and then spent the rest of the time, as his character does in the film, sleeping or sleep walking through the film. Don't waste your money on this one. Go and rent, The Shining or Carrie even if you've seen them before. This one is just like his mutt Chico, a real dog. A dead one at that
The man seems to have burnt out ages ago - the reasons for which some readers may be aware. Maybe he and Depp are friends or maybe Depp was in-between major shoots and wanted a late summer/early fall vacation at Lac Brome in Quebec. I believe he visited Quebec City and Montreal sometime before, during or after the shoot. Anyway, it looks like he had a bit of fun playing the role at times and then spent the rest of the time, as his character does in the film, sleeping or sleep walking through the film. Don't waste your money on this one. Go and rent, The Shining or Carrie even if you've seen them before. This one is just like his mutt Chico, a real dog. A dead one at that
The Boys of Paul Street
(1968)
A Lost Gem?
26 October 2005
I saw this film when it was first released in '69. I had just turned 14 and was blown away. I could relate to the whole gang of guys, what they were doing, what was really happening in context, and how tragically things turned out. I was (even more) hooked on film than before just from the screening of that one film.
Rare that you see films so well crafted and thoughtful. Haven't seen it since, and with time details have faded with the exception of a couple of scenes near the end. I have always kept my eye out for it. I remember I was in tears at the end. Perhaps we'll see it on video one day? I hope so. It would be very nostalgic to see it again, as well.
A film which I recently saw on DVD and recommend, if you haven't seen it already: Le Fils (The Son) by Belgian director, Jean-Pierre (and his brother Luc) Dardenne. It is disturbing throughout with the feeling of a perverse thriller until you discover what is really going on and then it's "get out the hankies" at the final cut. It's one of those films that just ends in mid-scene with a quick cut-to-black after a simple 20 or 30-sec. piece of blocking which serves as denouement, catharsis, and what I'll call "predictor of things to come". Check the data base for crits. Cheers.
Hugh Corston, Quebec City, Canada
Rare that you see films so well crafted and thoughtful. Haven't seen it since, and with time details have faded with the exception of a couple of scenes near the end. I have always kept my eye out for it. I remember I was in tears at the end. Perhaps we'll see it on video one day? I hope so. It would be very nostalgic to see it again, as well.
A film which I recently saw on DVD and recommend, if you haven't seen it already: Le Fils (The Son) by Belgian director, Jean-Pierre (and his brother Luc) Dardenne. It is disturbing throughout with the feeling of a perverse thriller until you discover what is really going on and then it's "get out the hankies" at the final cut. It's one of those films that just ends in mid-scene with a quick cut-to-black after a simple 20 or 30-sec. piece of blocking which serves as denouement, catharsis, and what I'll call "predictor of things to come". Check the data base for crits. Cheers.
Hugh Corston, Quebec City, Canada
The Ipcress File
(1965)
Spy Film as a Spy Film Should Be
26 October 2005
I first saw this film when it was originally released. I was only eleven at the time and was captivated by Caine (too cool by half) and the film as a whole, while not quite grasping the meaning of it all. But I never forgot the film. Being Canadian, albeit with a Scottish mum, such things as the Profumo affair, REAL spies and double agents were just not in my ken. Bond in From Russia with Love and Dr. No(seen at about the same time) were obviously more to the liking of a pre-teen.
But we are talking apples and oranges here. O.K. same producer, but different objectives cinematographically. Bond films rapidly became ludicrous; popcorn fare. Having just seen Ipcress File again on late night TV after so many years, being keen on films and an actor (read: "unemployed"), I was utterly taken by the acting and especially the camera work - brilliant. Harry's vision seems to improve as the film progresses:)
Too slow paced? Not enough action? Thus mentioned some of the above crits. Never felt that once. Who needs ultra-violence and endless car chase scenes. THEY put me to sleep. Too slow paced? That's the nature of the spy biz. Too slow paced? Look at the CSI series (which are excellent). Sneeze once or miss two minutes of of the storyline (especially at the start) and you're lost. Mind you they only have 50-odd minutes to squeeze everything in.
George Smiley was never in a rush, and I would like to think that Harry and George, being relatively of a similar age, would get on like a house on fire. Might even make a good team! Cheers.
Hugh Corston, Quebec City (where we get virtually no good films in the original English language version - thank God for DVDs)
But we are talking apples and oranges here. O.K. same producer, but different objectives cinematographically. Bond films rapidly became ludicrous; popcorn fare. Having just seen Ipcress File again on late night TV after so many years, being keen on films and an actor (read: "unemployed"), I was utterly taken by the acting and especially the camera work - brilliant. Harry's vision seems to improve as the film progresses:)
Too slow paced? Not enough action? Thus mentioned some of the above crits. Never felt that once. Who needs ultra-violence and endless car chase scenes. THEY put me to sleep. Too slow paced? That's the nature of the spy biz. Too slow paced? Look at the CSI series (which are excellent). Sneeze once or miss two minutes of of the storyline (especially at the start) and you're lost. Mind you they only have 50-odd minutes to squeeze everything in.
George Smiley was never in a rush, and I would like to think that Harry and George, being relatively of a similar age, would get on like a house on fire. Might even make a good team! Cheers.
Hugh Corston, Quebec City (where we get virtually no good films in the original English language version - thank God for DVDs)
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