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Reviews
Johnny and the Bomb (2006)
Very Enjoyable
This is yet another example of good, solid, made-for-television British Juvenile Science Fiction. I wish the U.S. produced the like. The strength here is in the acting, for the most part, and in the relationships among the characters, past and present. The plot, on the other hand, is a bit rickety, with the young leads repeating actions that really didn't need repeating if they had just gone back in time a little farther.
Still, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and got a kick out of seeing actors who I'd seen before in the Horatio Hornblower and Harry Potter movies, Downton Abbey, An Education and The Boys Are Back. If you've got a DVD player or computer that can play DVD's for any region, I recommend it for fans of British SF juvenilia, Terry Prachett (an author I've not read), George Mackay (who played Johnny Maxwell and was also seen in The Boys Are Back) and, to a lesser degree, time travel stories.
By the way, it's presented in widescreen and there are no extras on the DVD.
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
Superb, heartbreakingly realistic and personal film about aging in economic hard times.
I've also taped this movie off of TV (Thank you, Turner Classic Movies!) but would love to see it on DVD. The restraint with which this story is told is really quite impressive, but the ultimate result is devastating. As the arrangements with their adult children unravel, even a surprisingly pleasant and romantic day on the town for our elderly couple fails to give us any hope for a happy ending. The performances are uniformly fine, with lovely work done both vocally and with facial expressions; for instance, keep an eye out for Faye Bainter's last look at her mother-in-law. Bainter became one of my favorite character actors after I saw her work as a sympathetic daughter-in-law with troubles of her own.
I'm not being nearly eloquent enough, so let me just say that if you ever get a chance to catch this film, watch it!