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Reviews
The Day of the Triffids (1981)
Weird but strangely entertaining
This series, being a rip-off from the 1962 movie with the same catchy title, made interesting viewing because it's very hard to determine whether it was made with a tongue-in-cheek attitude or not. The plot is obviously completely crazy - it contains the perplexing phenomena of 99% of the population going blind in the glow of a meteor shower and disregards the fact that roughly half the population has daylight. The glow also causes a vicious breed of plants called triffids to go berserk and in doing so they have the poor blind people for snacks. This of course leads to a number of chases and a survival story which rates among the most arbitrary in the history of movie or television fiction. So if you like to keep your viewing on a serious or artistic level don't watch this one. However, if you can digest a bit of kitch together with perhaps a trifle mediocre acting, you will find it entertaining.
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Informative but not entertainment
I went to see the movie with my wife, who very frequently falls asleep in the middle of a mediocre performance, but this time she was alert and enjoyed the movie from beginning to end. Personally - we have both read the book, I read it twice - I agree with the criticism concerning Mr. Browns skills as a writer. Having said that, I have to point out that the poor writing, though making the directors and screenwriters work more difficult, also provides the movie makers with the leverage needed to sophisticate the dialogue. Ron Howard and his team haven't quite succeeded in making the substance lacking dialogue any better, but the movie is nonetheless more palatable in this respect than the book. Maybe the movie as such is a bit too informative for the average American viewer and requires some education in history beyond that of the local school system. Tom Hanks' performance as professor Langdon has been criticized for being dull and dimensionless, but hey, the man portraits an art historian and symbolist! What do you expect, Indiana Jones? On the contrary, Mr. Hanks' somewhat hapless personality build of the witty professor in the middle of a situation beyond his control is in my opinion well founded and skillfully performed, a more action movie-like approach would have spoiled the idea completely. Ms. Audrey Tautou, the doll-faced french actress with the very winning smile, does not fail, either. She is somewhat lost and perhaps a trifle emotionless in the beginning, but she does rise to the occasion and ends the movie with a skillful touch of comedy. Jean Reno, reliable as ever, makes a fair show of a problematic character and deserves to be complimented. Ian McKellen works with great routine but is not fascinating, though genuinely British in both speech and attitude. Paul Bettany is downright scary and draws a very believable picture of the effects of religious fanaticism on the individual. Which brings us effectively to the point of discussion on the heartrending cries from various friends of our Lord, who feel that both the book and the movie are sacrilegious and should be burned - with the author, naturally. At this point I usually toss the ball back to the critics and remind them of the fact, that if our Lord finds Mr. Brown's or anyone else's books or other works offensive, he will deal with them in his own good time. No human interference is needed, as this is one authority you cannot escape from, right? Should some mortal authority find himself annoyed or even offended, that's OK, but limit your indignation to fair and pertinent criticism.
Kevin Hill (2004)
Is this entertainment?
Sorry all you Kevin Hill fans, but this has got to be the lamest ripoff of an old TV-show ("Family Affairs") I have seen. Plastic people in a plastic box just doesn't do it, if you know what I mean. The character Kevin Hill is much too two-dimensional to create any passions one way or the other, and the entire cast seems to be a bit lost through each and every episode. There are lots of admiring ladies (becomes boring when repeated)and Kevins' confused male friends are completely in the woods and clueless. "Kevin Hill" is also a success in the category of "The Most Boring Score Ever Composed for a TV-Show". Why is it that the writers of these quasi-modern TV-shows assume that the public is interested of mediocrity?
Die Millennium-Katastrophe - Computer-Crash 2000 (1999)
T.J.A. is right
If watching a bad movie could kill, I would be dead! What is it with these guys and how in the world did they convince Jurgen Prochnow to "act" in this baloney? All actors involved seem to be doing their worst, there is neither enthusiasm nor pride in their work, possibly due to poor directing. I was not too surprised to find Kaj Holmberg, co-producer of "Baltic Storm" (another lemon) involved in this tragedy as well. If you are incompetent, time will not heal that problem if there is no talent. I agree with TJA that any lame commercial is way better a pastime than watching this one. If "Millennium-Katastrophe etc." ever comes to a theater near you...run, it is indeed a catastrophe!
Sapphire & Steel (1979)
What?
How hard I ever tried I never really got the hang of it. I still don't know the series was all about. A lot of of walking around looking scared or alarmed, a very mixed up script...well, you can't win them all. I guess someone liked this one, too. It aired in the late seventies or early eighties in Finland, so maybe I was simply too immature to understand all the fine details of the plot, assuming there was one. Mr. McCallum seemed a little out of place, I thought, being used to see him in quality series such as "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." (which was entertaining) or "Colditz" ( which was excellent). When the series ended, I remember being glad and relieved in anticipation of something more entertaining to replace it.
JFK (1991)
Excellent contemporary history!
Spoiler herein.
Seldom has anyone in Hollywood reached a level where the portrayal of an historical event becomes history in its own right. Oliver Stone does just that in "JFK"; the actors are superbly directed, and even the most controversial or peculiar characters come out as human beings. The movie contains some documentary material, which makes the actions and theories presented by Jim Garrison more palatable to the critical mind. I was impressed by Kevin Costners closing speech at the trial. Perhaps a bit too emotional for the European mind in a case like this, but then again - what American doesn't become emotional, when the credibility and integrity of their government is under question? And here comes the spoiler: Governor Connally, sitting right in front of president Kennedy in his car, cries out in the middle of the horrible fracas:"My God! They are going to kill us all!" They? What circumstance made the good governor refer to the shooter/shooters in plural? I was surprised and disappointed to find that neither the Warren Commission nor Jim Garrison regarded the actions and statements of those in the motorcade worth while to investigate: to me it seems that at least a few of the individuals present knew what was going to happen, and where. Well, perhaps in time the truth will submerge. Until then, it will remain an ugly boil in the judicial history of the United States.
Kuolleista herännyt (1975)
Excellent acting!
Beware of spoiler herein!! It is very rare to have a play written and directed for TV only become such a big hit immediately on airing. That is what happened with "Kuolleista herännyt" (Woken from the dead), a semi-serious comedy (sounds crazy, but that's what it is) of a derelict man who think's he has won a million in a lottery, and subsequently receives hails and hoorays from his friends. As everyone wants a piece of the virtual "cake", the main character (Jonni Lumperi) stumbles from one disaster to another on a bumpy journey which, finally ends where he started; poverty and a bona fide member of skid-row aristocracy. Erkki Pajala, an excellent character actor, in the lead role as the sorry derelict makes the play, the rest of the cast follows and do their best as well. Truly enjoyable TV-theater!