mattjtemp Reviews

Hulk (2003)

unfairly criticised

[9 December 2004]

For me I felt more than a pang of annoyance when seeing the praise being heaped on the flash but insipid X men 2 and the corny and shakily put together spiderman films when this then was criticised for everything that was its strength.

The storyline of repression of emotion is a faithful yet modern interpretation, the opening scenes covered a great deal of necessary yet potentially dull story telling in a fast and effective way. Lee constantly references the story's original medium and employs arguably the best damn editing alongside JFK that I have ever seen.

Special effects are always going to be important for this type of film and they impressed me far more than other comic related offerings of recent years, or ever in fact. But the notion that a fifteen foot green man does not look real becomes ludicrous, the story of the hulk will always need a higher degree of suspension of disbelief than your normal plot.

The ending has been criticised and did initially confuse me but made sense on second viewing and on third viewing this film went from highly enjoyable to my favourite mainstream film of the year.

Ang Lee has never made a bad film and this one is brilliant.

G.B.H. (1991)

engrossing, wonderful, powerful etc etc

[9 August 2004]

I dont know what it was in the 90's but UK TV produced GBH, Our Friends in the North and Prime Suspect.

My favourite was GBH, it is so substantially long that all characters receive the fleshing out they deserve, some episodes are hard hitting drama, others are on a smaller more personal level and others are out and out hilarious (one commentator mentions the daleks scene which was verging on slapstick in the midst of high drama and yet it worked perfectly).

Simple to follow yet complicated plot, great all round performances cemented by towering contributions from Robert Lynsey and Michael Palin, while the script wears its heart on its sleeve it does not become too sentimental, nor does it lecture.

Perfect television, and criminally unreleased on dvd, Channel 4 would make a packet if they repeated it then released a spec edition.

Sexy Beast (2000)

in defence of a great film

[1 July 2004]

There is a real danger watching this film to dismiss it as an ok film with one outstanding performance but that is not the case.

Ben Kingsley does deliver a blistering performance as Don Logan and is at turns fiersome, frustrating and hilarious. Yes this should have won him a best supporting actor oscar but there you go.

But, Ray Winstone, Amanda Redman, Ian McShane all put in excellent performances too (winstone and Mcshane at breakfast in the hotel was superb showing the tension and lies- really cranking up the stress of the situation), it's just that they are overshadowed by the fireworks surrounding Kingsley's character. Is that a criticism by me of the director's construction of this? Nope, I think it was a good script and taut story telling, it had some excellent and innovative work and felt smoothly constructed, it also had a good soundtrack, AND a man-rabbit creature representing all of Gail's fears.

I recommend this to everyone, I think it is one of the few good British gangster films to emerge in recent years (alongside Gangster no1) and pales the flimsy likes of Lock Stock etc. Though it shouldn't even be compared as this is a real story and not a cartoon.

Lady in White (1988)

not as good as I once thought

[23 June 2004]

I really enjoyed this film when it first came out and so was very excited to get this on dvd as I hadn't seen it in so many years.

While not quite upset with what I saw I couldn't help but think my younger self was a lot more forgiving of its faults.

I used to like that it combined so many different styles and themes but now think that although this still makes this an interesting film they were not executed that well. I think the idea is good and the performances are excellent, especially Lucas Haas and Alex Rocco but that the script, direction and over-the-top corny moments hinder it.

If you don't mind ropey effects and are a sucker for sugar then you may well love this as much as I once did, if you love films and can over-look glaring faults then I would recommend checking it out (the archery scene is still stand out for me and the best part of the film).

If you are very discerning it will grate too much, still I don't regret buying it and will no doubt watch it again.

Miller's Crossing (1990)

best of the best

[25 February 2004]

I've never seen a bad coen brothers' film and at this time this is their best.

labyrinthine plot which rewards repeat viewing, it is at once a great homage and a great gangster film, a difficult path to walk.

Perfect Dialogue, perfect performances, beautiful sets and marvelous costumes coupled with fantastic cinematography and if all that wasn't enough the oft repeated score of Carter Burwell takes this film into a level of perfection that I thought was nearly impossible.

Some may gripe, but very few, and if they do you can just ignore them- This is the greatest.

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Yuck

[17 February 2004]

I thought this film summed up everything that is bad about hollywood, potentially great actors performing way over the top with a way over the top script which was oh so slick and incorporating 'issues'.

That probably doesnt make a lot of sense but for me this was a bland and cynical, slickly marketed oscar grabber and should be shown to film students as a warning.

Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–1989)

very good and over-looked

[2 February 2004]

Very popular on first airing (1984 ish) but now fairly unheard of and rarely repeated on UK terestrial television. Great Sit-com, not a huge classic but very watchable, especially for the ridiculously smooth Peter Egan and wound too tight Richard Briers.

Our Friends in the North (1996)

One of the greatest TV Dramas

[3 December 2003]

I felt compelled to comment after reading a disparaging comment, I too come from a 'North/South' family with a mix of working and middle class and in no way found this patronising or contrived.

Instead I found a drama that personalised Britain's modern history, which also gave me an anchor of historical facts while watching to really emerse myself in the stories.

I found the characters at times to be self important but this was clearly the intention- Eccleston's character Nicky was self-important and selfish with his views- these are character flaws. This was the brilliance of the length of the series as you become so intimately knowledgeable of the characters. The tragedy of Geordie and the on/off nature of Nicky and Mary's relationship. By the end you feel like you have lived their lives with them, something only achievable with a top notch cast and great script.

I would unreservedly recomend this to anyone, even outside of the UK, as it is quite simply brilliant drama.