Change Your Image
RedMars
Reviews
Prime Suspect 1973 (2017)
What a show
When I heard there was a prequel to Prime Suspect, with Jane Tennison as a WPC, I was cautious. What made the original series so special was a female detective bettering the men. But I was really surprised with this series. Sure, the first two episodes are a bit slow (setting the scene) - though so are the first few chapters of the book which this series is based on - but then it becomes one of the most gripping series on TV this year.
I'd even place this above the third series of Broadchurch for sheer enjoyment. It was like curling up with a good book. The last 3 episodes especially are fantastic edge of your seat drama. I hope they make more, with Jane as a detective. Get her stuck into the investigations in future. This one could run for years.
Serenity (2005)
You don't have to be a Joss Whedon fan...
I've never seen an episode of Buffy and although I know what Firefly is, I've not watched it. So it's a great shame that the albatross of the TV series hangs around the film's neck - as in, if you haven't seen one, don't bother seeing the other.
The film rocks! Plain and simple. How many sci-fi films get made each year that are intended for grown-ups and not to cash-in on merchandise for the five-year-olds? Serenity, from start to finish, is the kind of film people should be queueing to see. In an ideal world...
The plot, the characters, the wit, the action, on every level this film is excellent cinema. How many times have you sat in a cinema with a smile on your face because the film you're watching is THAT good? It's totally engaging and should be number one in the movie charts, but I think its cult status, especially on DVD, will give it the audience it deserves.
But go and see it. You don't need to know Firefly or Buffy. For a start it recaps Firefly in the first five minutes. Brilliant.
Citizen X (1995)
Fascinating case, boring film
HOw anyone who watches this film can say it is the best film they have seen amazes me. The script is leaden, the actors are clearly doing it for their paycheck from HBO and the direction is student-like at best. Endless walking in and out of rooms, accents that waver from Irish to Hungarian to Russian to German...!
Don't bother watching this film. Even for a TV movie, it is appalling. Even for an AMERICAN TV movie, it is lame.
Rent something else.
Beau travail (1999)
Stick with it
In an age of predictable flash-bang MTV entertainment where empty-headed blockbusters rake in bucket-loads of undeserved cash, it is reassuring that independent cinema can occasionally deliver an intelligent film that blows you away.
You'll have to search hard to find this film playing at any cinema, but it's worth it (on video, the hypnotic mood and complex sound trax are simply wasted). At first, you'll find it slow, ponderous... but stick with it. It rewards in spades at the end and leaves you thinking about it for days to come.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
An expensive experiment
Having waited with baited breath for Eyes Wide Shut, I can only conclude that it was a sore disappointment. The acting, whilst honest, was theatrical. The piano score was infuriating, like sitting in the next room to a child practising his scales. There were simply too few characters to sustain any mystery element. Surely, everyone knew who the masked woman was??? Most of the film felt under-developed and dated. The masked ball, the highlight, was an interesting section, but its aftermath lacked focus. Then to top it all off, Sydney Pollack (who in no way was a better choice over Keitel) explains it all to Cruise in a breathtakingly over-developed scene.
Kubrick's track record secures his reputation as a genius, but this swansong was a disappointing bow. Surely the producers could have edited it down? Instead of treating it like some sacred parchment - overlong, over-developed, over-hyped. A welcome bit of intelligentsia amongst the brain-numbing box office fodder? Not really.