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Charlie_Runkle69
Reviews
Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby (2005)
interesting..I'm the first kiwi to comment on this!
Wow, Im the first kiwi who actually cares enough to write about this series.
This is a nice little comedy set in an average kiwi town stereotypically portraying pacific islanders as 'dumb'. David Mcphail is an outstanding actor and his talents really shine through. I did like his 'camp' on the school grounds in the second series, an obvious number 8 wire reference.
However, the rest of the actors really are average at best. It's a great shame that all of New Zealands best actors go overseas, because guys like Sam Neill and Martin Henderson would have been great in this class. I could just see Sam as a history teacher and Martin as the dodgy arse selling drugs behind the bike sheds. Even the Maori bloke was only mildly amusing when he lost all the schools camp money on betting. Fenn was sexy enough with the whole 'sexy school teacher' look, but it's all been done before and much better to be honest.
I still think that most of New Zealands programs like this look back too much into our supposed glory years of the 1950s to the 1970s when we really need to embrace our culture more as it is today. Thats why outrageous fortune is so popular because its a different spin on an overseas based idea (the sopranos,always greener etc).
In conclusion, it is good to see an un-pc program on television. You definitely get a few good laughs but overall i think Outrageous Fortune is where New Zealand television needs to head rather than these '1950s new Zealand" overdone medieval programs.
Oh and Andy from Aussie. Cheers for the plug. By the way, we can be heroes is a TOP program and its well worth a look. Ricky Wong for life!
The World's Fastest Indian (2005)
excellent, amazing, superb, motivational, and yes, I'm bloody biased!
The Worlds Fastest Indian is probably the best feel good movie i have ever seen. I truly believe it is one of the best independent films of the last ten years.
What TWFI real appeal is that it is not really a story about a motorbike rider at all. I mean sure, dumb petrol heads (including my ex-flatmate) will probably love this movie, for its exciting scenes where Bert breaks the world record. But really, the actual breaking of the record itself is only a small part of the movies appeal.
What is much more presence are the common themes of triumph over adversity, of the underdog winning out, of a man from a small country, (The mighty NZ) coming to the 'big smoke' to make his fortune and succeding. Indeed this story has some relevance to New Zealands proud sporting history, as while Munro was breaking this record, athletes such as Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, Bill Baillie and of course the great Colin Meads were firmly establishing New Zealand as a strong sporting nation.
The humour in this film is a pleasant surprise. All of the jokes contain an element of wit to them, unlike so many other films that come these days (hollowood obvisouly0. Although i like the American Pie films, they kick-started a host of toilet-humour movies which have become tiresome and unfunny. But this film has clever humour to go with a simply, yet effective plot. The 'lemon-tree' running joke is particularly humorous.
The accurate portray of New Zealand in the 1960s is very evident, and the community spirit of the town in getting behind Bert is also brilliantly scripted. I also enjoyed the different people that Bert met whilst in American, particularly Native American Jake and the transsexual. The fact that Bert does not judge these people on their appearance alone is very enduring ( although I would have to say this has changed somewhat in New Zealand now days.) In the 1960s, New Zealand was naive to the world in many ways. Nowdays, we are one of the worlds most travelled people due to our isolation and rebellion nature. People like Bert and Peter Snell were pioneers of the travel bug for the average new Zealander.
As for the acting, Hopkins was magnificent. he should have gotta an Oscar nomination. if Keisha "I'm pregnant at 16" Castle-Hughes can get one for Whale Rider, then Hopkins was clearly robbed, and it is only his previous success that denied him a nomination in my opinion. Hopkins is able to nail the difficulty Invercargill accent ( the only real provincial different in accents in New Zealand) superbly. He really makes this film what it is. Jim ( Berts fellow competitor in Utah)also puts in a quality performance, as do the girls who support Bert. Finally, the little boy whose name i have forgotten really adds well to the cast, bringing back childhood memories for everyone i am sure.
Overall I Cant say enough good things about this film. Im hopelessly biased, but if you are an American or European out there who doesn't rate New Zealand films, i would honestly recommend this one. It will have you feeling happy the entire movie and will confirm your faith in the kind spirit of the human race.
Fawlty Towers (1975)
brilliant
this is a fantastic comedy, and probably the best ever. it is so good because only 12 episodes were ever made, and i think it would have lost some of its value if it had made more episodes. john cleese is in his finest element here, and some of his comments are fantastic ( eg is this a piece of your brain? and ah, so, you want to go to a chemist, ai!" prunella scales is also a very fine actor who manages to manage her dignity whilst her husband basil can never seem to get out of trouble. Manuel is also a highlight, but i think his character would have gotten very tedious if more episodes had been made.Polly also brings a lot to the table, and i like how she is portrayed as intelligent, breaking the dumb blonde stereotype.
with respect to the guy from Boston who wrote a review, yes the characters are stereotyped, but you must remember that this was made in 1975! certainly now these sorts of characters have been overdone, but not back then ( this was when a movie about sharks was the best think since sliced bread). thinking retrospectively, i think the characters were perfect for the time they were cast.
favorite episodes are definitely the episode where the chef gets drunk and basil has to go and get a duck from another restaurant, and of course the horse racing episode which is probably one of the funniest things i have ever seen on TV. their are countless references to both world wars and international relations in general which makes for very witty comedy ( yanks- see not friends or married with children!) an interesting point of note is that back in this time there is little on screen affection between the actors shown. for example, i don't remember scales and cleese kissing, in fact i only saw physical contact between them in one episode! contrast this to today where an average episode of say the o.c has at least two minutes of making out every episode.
overall this is a great comedy that i would recommend to anyone to watch. 10/10
The Flintstones (1994)
an average effort
i saw this movie when i was around 8 or 9 years old- and i didn't think it was that great even then. i did think that john goodman and rick morais did a pretty decent attempt at playing fred and barney though.
the only scene i remember with any great detail is when fred is starting his first job with cliff and halle comes in and asks him how he likes his coffee. i think this was the first time i realised how attractive a woman could be, halle blew my mind back then! she was just so sexy and she stole the movie for me.
overall though a pretty weak attempt at modernising the flintstones cartoon series. not enough sustainable plot to really make it a decent film.
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
extremely baddddd
Firstly, i cannot believe the high rating that this movie has gotten. Honestly, a hell of a lot of fans of these types of movies must have voted because this movie is utter garbage! the plot is riduculousy simplistic,basically involving Kate Beckinslae and her side kick Michael trying to avoid Markus, with the killing at the end the result of a painful final scene worthy of a worst final scene ever nomination. I was sittiong their going "no, it cant be that simple surely?". I made a short film at 12 more worthy than that final scene.
I had not seen the first movie, but could guess almost any scene that was coming. The sex scenes are rather forced, although beckinsale admittingly is attractive and doesn't do a bad job of acting. The guy who played Michael was a terrible actor however and when he came back to life i cracked up in the theatre. The "bad" guys in the film such as Markus really aren't scary at all. There is absolutely no humour in the film at all, a terrible mistake for all but the very best of films.
I'm sure some may be mildly impressed with the special effects but they do not save this disaster of a movie.
i give it 1 out of 10