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Reviews
Fandango (1985)
A great film starring Kevin Costner. No, really!
A group of friends on the threshold between college and their careers take one last road trip before saying goodbye. On the way, there a few thrills and spills, some great slapstick gags and some genuinely touching life lessons.
The highlight for me has to be the encounter between the car and the train. An all-time great comedy moment, as a result of which I more or less missed the rest of the film, I was laughing so hard.
Far from earth-shattering, but a pleasant way to pass the time. Amazingly, Costner adds to, rather than subtracts from, the experience.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Bon appetit.
Writer/Director Peter Greenaway teams up again with cinematographer Sacha Vierny and composer Michael Nyman, delivering a banquet of sound and colour, light and dark. And dark and dark. A simple if disturbing morality tale sits atop a canvas of grotesque characters, carefully-composed frames and revolting details. The restaurant setting forces analogues with a meal, and it's easy to oblige - a rather formal affair, bordering on pretentious, with its influences conspicuous - sumptuous, exotic, intoxicating, memorable, if perhaps too rich and over-long, and it plays havoc with the digestion.
As acquired a taste as any of Greenaway's work, and by no means an unqualified triumph. This film does not deliver on all its promises. But at least they were big promises. Try a piece - if you don't like it, you can always go back to your burgers and fries.
Nine out of ten.
Notes:
1. Michael Gambon's "Albert Spica" (the Thief of the title) surely ranks as one of cinema's all-time nastiest villains. Sorry Darth - no cigar.
2. The title of this film has become a template for headlines in British newspapers, e.g. "The A, the B, his C and her D". Don't ask me why.
3. "Cook/Thief" is one of four similar and inter-related films that Greenaway made during the 1980s, the others being "The Belly of an Architect", "A Zed and Two Noughts" and "Drowning by Numbers". While "Cook/Thief" stole all the headlines with its snazzy visuals and outrageous grotesquery - not to mention various collisions with the censors - For me, "Drowning" is the best of the bunch. And somewhat easier on the eye (and stomach).
Pervirella (1997)
Bad Bouff. Naughty Bouff. Must be punished.
A duff attempt at reviving the British sex comedy, which just about survives by virtue of not taking itself in the slightest bit seriously. The theme that female libido can be positive and empowering is the only real similarity with "Barbarella" - although the outfits will appeal to men as much here as they did there! Harmless fun (but not too harmless...) and a film that would have a cult following, if it weren't so obscure!
But enough about the film. This is really just a vehicle for the delectable Emily Bouffante (a.k.a. "Bouff") who has her own small but dedicated cult following among the further-flung fringes of British TV fandom.
A Boy and His Dog (1975)
A genuine original.
Firm evidence, if it were needed, that a film CAN be so bad it's good.
A real oddity, which holds the attention without really trying for it, with several "did they really just...?" surprises (and not just the ending). Be warned - this film does not cater for all sensibilities - women in particular are venal or victims. But hey. Hardcore sci-fi obscurists (like me) love it. And this film definitely scores high on snob-value, given its rarity and general whackiness.
Perhaps the best thing I can say about this film is that there's nothing else quite like it - if you haven't seen, there's a whole kooky back street of movie town you've never visited.
See also: "Spacehunter - adventures in the forbidden zone", "Dark Star"
Glen or Glenda (1953)
Nice sweater. Angora?
Ed Wood made the worst films in history the only way that ever really worked - unintentionally! "Glen or Glenda" takes its place in his pantheon of good/bad/indecipherable. Imagine a social drama about transvesticism in a car crash with a 1950's public information film, half-remembered by the kids from "Reefer madness", mixed with offcuts from the edit room floor at a stock photography agency. All wearing an angora sweater.
We can only speculate as to the real meaning of this, erm, film - not everyone will see the joke, if indeed there is one, so like the man says... "Bevare! Bevare!"
This film covers adult themes (transvesticism) but has no nudity or bad language. Not suitable for children, or indeed human beings of any description as far as I can tell.
Eight out of ten.
Sphere (1998)
Balls.
I saw this in the cinema and thought it was execrable. Watched it on TV a few years later to see if I was wrong. I wasn't.
Stone sinks. Hoffman swims frantically but is inundated and drowns nonetheless. Fishburne, lucky for him, sleeps through most of it. A dream budget. A dream cast. A dream screenplay (from Michael Crighton's book). Put them all together and what do you get? Somehow, a turkey. How did they manage it? There are a few thrills and chills but these don't cover the cost of the celluloid. Some reviewers have suggested that if you don't like this, you don't understand it. I fear I understand this all to well - a reasonably enjoyable, mildly thought-provoking (if derivative) novel rendered a near-unwatchable movie. The use of captions, clumsy episodic editing and mangled plot bring to mind "Dune" and the original edition of "Bladerunner". Did "Sphere" suffer similar woes during production?
Only a die-hard fan could care, and there can't be many. If you want a decent sci-fi about the dangers of having your dreams made real, watch "Forbidden Planet" or "Solaris". If you want a decent sci-fi about people discovering a haunted old spaceship, watch "Alien", or at a push "Event Horizon". If you want a decent sci-fi of any description, avoid this.
Drowning by Numbers (1988)
An unsung, all-time masterpiece.
Not much I can add to the rave reviews above. A simple-complicated-ugly-beautiful-puzzle-painting of a film, which demands repeated viewings.
"Drowning" is not for everyone - but look at the breakdown on that voting. As I write this, this film got more "10"s than any other number.
I'm not into lists, but if you forced me, this would be my number one.
Go see (or rather go buy). If you've seen it before, see it again - new layers reveal themselves even now.
The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970)
A little gem.
At university I was part-time apsirant film-maker, part-time aspirant womaniser, and full-time aimless waster. Unsurprisingly this film struck a huge chord with me, when I stumbled across it during those bewildering days!
A great little film, lots of fun, just don't expect any niceties like, erm, a recognisable plot or a meaningful ending. The film-within-a-film - Stanley's outrageously bad student short "Headless" - is a real hoot and worth the price on its own!
Oh and if you like this, check out student rebellion in "The Strawberry Statement" and more of the young Don Johnson in "A boy and his dog", both recommended.