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Beachhead
Reviews
Unleashed (2005)
This is a breakout???????
If this what is to be considered a breakout performance for Jet Li, then I believe he should return to pure martial arts movies.
The first role I ever saw him in was Lethal Weapon 4 and that was a far more creditable performance than here, I assure you!
Here, Hoskins plays yet another role as a 'nasty cockney crim', Morgan Freeman plays yet another role as a 'nice' man, Kerry Condon plays Victoria as a pre-pubescent schoolgirl with braces and Jet Li plays Danny like a baby pit-bull!
The acting is all very hammy and it comes off as more of an effort by Hoskins, Freeman, et al attempting to make a few quid between jobs!
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Downright dreadful!
Having both read the novel and seen the excellent 1995 BBC mini-series I was completely taken aback.
Under most other circumstances I have thoroughly enjoyed the roles played by the cast members. However, in this instance I believe the casting to have been horribly misconceived.
Donald Sutherland was not Mr. Bennett, neither was Brenda Blethyn Mrs. Bennett, Matthew Macfadyen was a bad choice for Darcy and Keira Knightley certainly did not impress me as Lizzie! While I realise this was a two hour film and not a mini-series and therefore had to be trimmed of fat to fit the time, I do believe it was done in a rather haphazard manner with what appeared to be huge chunks of necessary material being removed and others just thrown back in randomly.
It would also have been far more effective to have left the imagery of Darcy seen at Pemberley by Lizzie's uncle and aunt as the portrait rather than a marble statue amidst similar, though nude reclining statues.
This addition seemed uniquely ridiculous in the extreme and very typically 'Hollywood'!
Blues Odyssey (2003)
For the connoisseur!
This doco has been floating around on the 'Ovation Channel' for around a month now and I finally managed to connect with it a couple of days back and set the VCR. Glad I did!
It is a great insight into the influences on Bill Wyman's music since his days in Germany with the British Armed Services in the 1950s and shows perfectly the respect he has for what are essentially his mentors - the American bluesmen and women.
There is some excellent and rare footage of everyone from 'Leadbelly' (Huddie Ledbetter), 'Big Joe' Williams, 'T-Bone' Walker and 'Sonny Boy Williamson II' (Aleck 'Rice' Miller) to Riley 'B.B.' King. With all the wonderful playing that entails along the way.
Very much a piece for the connoisseur and the 'blues lover'!
10/10!
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
One of our favourites!
This film has long been one of my wife's and my favourites. Possibly because of the quirky humour involved. The film doesn't take itself too seriously and is an absolute delight to watch. Even Hugh Grant! One of the high points for us was Charlotte Coleman and her antics and we were both very sad to read, only recently (on the IMDb) of her death two years ago!
The Gig (1985)
I love it!
This little film brings back a lot of memories, both fond and foul, of what can and does happen when one is a working musician. The not so pleasant accommodations for the band, the management of the venue jumping up and down telling you what to play, the sheer ecstasy of the applause.............. Far from being farcical it is, in fact, very accurate in the way it depicts musicians, professional and otherwise, who have travelled a great distance to perform a season of gigs at a venue. There are those times when everything goes perfectly, there are those other times when you immediately start to miss your partner and wonder what the hell you are doing this far from home. In the end you have to make the best of it because there is no other way out.