Change Your Image
SirSidneyRuffDiamond
Reviews
Robin and Marian (1976)
Delightful, moving film
Realistic, wistful and moving, one is left wondering why 'Robin and Marion' failed at the box office. There's a moving chemistry between Sean Connery and the ever-lovely Audrey Hepburn, who came out of retirement to make the movie. As expected both excel, as do other principle cast members Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Nicol Williamson, playing Little John. Williamson deserves a mention here. He was in so many films in the 60s and 70s and as expected is excellent. He has an unusual, expressive, almost pained face and voice. Sadly missed, he was once described by John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" and viewed by many critics as "the Hamlet of his generation" during the late 1960s (Wikipedia). Top marks also to director Richard Lester for capturing the spirit of the age and for keeping it earthy and 'real', something he achieved brilliantly in others films such as The Three Musketeers. Also for John Barry for his beautiful, emotive score. When did he ever fail to produce the goods? What were people thinking of in giving this the cold shoulder on its release? It's a crying shame this wonderful film was no more successful on its release, not least baring in mind the cast it boasted. It certainly didn't deserve to. A genuinely lovely, touching movie and a treat for anyone.
Tyrannosaur (2011)
Superb - harrowing yet deeply moving debut from Paddy Considine
A tale very in keeping with the wonderfully talented Paddy Considine's work. Brilliant performance from Peter Mullan and Olivia Coleman is a revelation, heartbreakingly vulnerable as the battered wife. I'm not sure of the name of the actor who plays her unpleasant and possibly schizophrenic husband but he is very creepy and thus plays his unsympathetic role very well. I seem to recall some time ago a film critic speak of how unfathomable he or she found it that Coleman was not even nominated for a BAFTA, though I cannot confirm this. She should have been if she wasn't. I've always liked her but here she was able to really show her range. I am typing this as I write and have no idea how things will turn out with thirty minutes or so to go which is no bad thing at all. I suspect there will be a twist or two before the credits role. Hats of to Paddy Considine for an excellent debut as director.
The Hill (1965)
Brilliantly acted & directed, a searing, 5-star film. Criminally overlooked,
How is it possible that such a brilliant, remarkable film won only a handful of awards and has passed into relative obscurity over the years? It includes some of the finest, most committed and powerful acting you will ever see from superb British stalwarts such as Harry Andrews (truly powerful), Sean Connery, Ian Bannen, Michael Redgrave, Ian Hendry (genuinely vicious), Alfred Lynch, et al. Everyone involved is outstanding and it is brilliantly directed. It simply never ceases to amaze me that so few people know of this film. It is deemed so minor that it fails even to get a mention on the page of the IMDb biography for the great Sidney Lumet (http://www.imdb.com/news/ni9436556/) which says it all really yet accurately mirrors the movie's strange obscurity. You won't see many better, more coruscating and more believable films than The Hill. Unquestionably 5-stars.
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Clunky dialogue, direction and score
Watched some of this the other day and it was very amateurish. I thoroughly disagree with the review i read on the main page. The dialogue was clunky at times and reminiscent of a foreign soap. One goof mentioned was that Bond closes his menu twice in on scene, but in the car chase in which Bond and the girl are in a Citroen 2CV they are barged off the road roll down a hill and end up on the same road lower down. I distinctly saw the 2CV fall into a massive black catch-net. All in all just another in a much-loved film series which was already in decline due to an emphasis on mirth (questionable) over real spy-genre values. The one-liners continue to be pretty awful generally and rather silly. The music score, as with so many films in the 1980s, was very average. Class stands the test of time. This version and others either side of it fall some way short. But I will always be a fan of James Bond and they appear to have gone back to its roots latterly and much better for it. It should never stop.