Reviews

This movie has ensured that it is now a well known fact that the pictures of astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon were transmitted to the world from the Parkes radio telescope. This impressive, absorbing, witty and overall engaging movie is easily the best film of the year. Sam Neill (DEAD CALM, JURASSIC PARK, CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION) stars with Kevin Harrington and Tom Long (both of SEACHANGE fame) as the technicians who operate the dish. Patrick Warbunton (SEINFELD) appears as NASA's representative at Parkes. The jokes come consistantly with brilliant execution. The first-class plot is dramatic and comic at the same time, and the memorable performances of the four leads, particularly Neill and Long, are nothing short of extraordinary. ***** out of *****

Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Richard Attenborough stand out in this amazing spectacle about the rise to power and early reign of England's Queen Elizabeth I. Though this has the potential to be overly violent (the only fault with BRAVEHEART), the director did not let the it slip below acceptable levels. Nominated for numerous Oscars, it deserved all of them (especially Best Actress, though I won't dwell on that) The story moves along at a pace which is neither too fast nor too slow, and the result is a well-acted, understandable yet subtle film about one of the most dramatic periods in world history.

What an intelligent, highly watchable piece of cinema Rob Reiner's film is. Focusing on the dormant-but-still-there racial tensions of the Mississippi delta in the early 1990s. It revolves around the retrial of Byron De La Beckwith, accused of assassinating civil rights leader Medgar Evers. The cast is positively first-rate. Alec Baldwin is good as Bobby De Laughter, the Assistant District Attorney that agrees to reopen the case. James Woods is superbly chilling as Beckwith, although he is in the background all too much and didn't have enough to say. Whoopi Goldberg, in a rare serious turn, outshone the whole cast as Evers' widow Myrlie, she oozes passion and her grief and pain is totally believable. This film is a cinematic treat that has a simple moral of anti-racism and "crime doesn't pay".

Patrick MacNee and Diana Rigg. In the six episodes that I was lucky enough to find in the "Classic" section of my local video hire store, I was in for a treat. I saw the episodes "From Venus, With Love", "The Cybernaughts", "Return of the Cybernaughts", "The Bird Who Knew Too Much", "The Town of No Return" and "A Touch of Brimstone". MacNee and Rigg have such a wonderful chemistry, and their characters are so similar yet so different that Mr. Steed and Mrs. Peel made perfect partners. And now it seems that 007 got in on the act, Roger Moore especially, using Avengers-style jokes, however with not as much success, save some occasions few and far between. This is a not-to-be-missed treat. A shame about the 1998 movie with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman, though.

A particular note: Emma Peel's leather costume in "A Touch of Brimstone" - WOW! Miss Rigg (according to what I have heard) designed that costume herself.

I have seen some bad movies (Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged Me, Batman Forever), but this film is so awful, so BORING, that I got about half way through and could not bear watching the rest. A pity. Boasting talent such as Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davitz and Robert Duvall and a story by John Grisham, what went wrong? Branagh is a big-time lawyer who has a one-night fling with Davitz. Her father (Duvall) is a psychopath who hanged her cat, etc, etc, so Branagh has him sent to a nuthouse, and he promptly escapes. Somehow (I couldn't figure out how) Robert Downey jr, Daryl Hannah, Famke Janssen and Tom Berenger are all mixed into the story which moves slower than stationary. I wanted to like this, and, being a huge Grisham fan, have read all about this movie and I (foolishly) expected something interesting. This is honestly the WORST film I've seen to date and I wish I could have my money refunded. * out of *****.

This game is visually superb, and has a good storyline guides the player through the levels. Original filmed footage is a welcome feature of this game, and it gives the viewer the feeling of being part of a Star Wars movie. The only disadvantage is that, with the one storyline, it can get repetitive, unlike other games with numerous storylines. ***1/2 out of *****.

Glenn Close is Cruella de Vil. Simple as that. Nothing else about this film is worth much note, save her extravagant costumes. She was wonderfully over the top, despite the weak "Home Alone" style storyline that dominated even over her towards the end. Joely Richardson and Jeff Daniels are NICE, but are reduced to too many scenes of worrying to be of much interest. Cruella's henchmen are exact parallels of Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci in "Home Alone". *** out of *****

Bogus is a delightfully different family film that is very predictable, but that does not subtract from the entertainment value of the film. Whoopi Goldberg and Gerard Depardieu are superb, but it is young Haley Joel Osment who (once again) steals the show. When circus performer Lorraine Franklin (Nancy Travis) is killed in a car crash, her son Albert (Osment) goes to live with his mother's no-nonsense foster-sister Harriet (Goldberg). To help himself cope with his pains, Albert invents Bogus (Depardieu), an imaginary Frenchman. The perfectly cast lead actors lift this film from mediocre standard to an entertaining departure from the norm.

Mel Gibson and Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of Hamlet has filled some of the gaps left by Shakespeare. This version of the classic story is thoroughly watchable. Gibson is perfect as Hamlet the Prince of Denmark, and he is well supported by Glenn Close (Gertrude), Alan Bates (Claudius), Ian Holm (Polonius) and Helena Bonham Carter (Ophelia). However, after already seeing Kenneth Branagh's 4-hour long version, I was left a little let down. Although this version was only 2 hours 20 minutes approximately, it was more boring in parts than Branagh's was. And no one can beat Kate Winslet as Ophelia, though Bonham Carter performed the lunatic scenes extremely well.

The acting, as is aboveforementioned, is the highlight of this version. You can see the emotions boiling over on Gibson's face, and Close gives Gertrude's nature a remarkable realism as both a worried mother and a lustful lover. Bates is the best Claudius I have ever seen, and Holm displays in Polonius what makes him such a great actor.

This Hamlet has an extremely good set design that complements the mood of each scene perfectly. The castle has a great look to it, both inside and outside.

The costumes, particularly those worn by Close, are excellent. They really highlight the mood and temprament of her character perfectly. On top of this, all of the costumes worn by the players (actors in Hamlet's play) in colour and shape symbolise the message that Hamlet was trying to get across.

Technically, this film is very well put together. The shots are each able to complement the action in that shot. Sound effects, especially in the ghost apparitions, as well as the lighting and juxtapositioning, set the moody feel of the film.

Of course, one cannot escape comparing this to Branagh's masterpiece, though in its own right is is a great version of Shakespeare's play that, through its star power and easier-to-follow storyline, should attract the younger audiences that saw Baz Lurmann's 'Romeo + Juliet', '10 Things I Hate About You' and will possibly see the upcoming 'O'. ***1/2 out of *****.

"Hitler: The Last Ten Days" is a powerful and stunning film based upon the demise of one of the most evil men that have ever lived. At the start of the film, the producers stated that they attempted to portray everything as it was historically documented. It worked. It explored Hitler's obvious mental problems, his charisma and how he managed to unite a disgruntled country under him. Sir Alec Guinness is a perfect choice to portray the Fuhrer, and he brings experience to an otherwise unknown cast. **** out of *****.

"The Rainmaker" is by a long way the best Grisham adaptation yet. The characters are well written and believable. There is some wit in the film (mostly from Danny De Vito's character), the plot is something we can understand so that we can sympathise with the characters and it contains a very powerful subplot about domestic abuse. Francis Ford Coppola is to be commended for a splendid piece of cinema that lives up to all expectations. Matt Damon, Danny De Vito, Claire Danes and Jon Voight portray their characters in the style that Grisham wrote them in, and that is good to see.

Star Wars Ep IV was amazing. The special effects were eye-popping and the story was simple but powerful. The story was based upon the legends and fables of previous times, and this film was a great way of making these moral values relevant to the youth of today. George Lucas mastered the use of symbols and technical codes to make this story meaningful when read between the lines. In short, Star Wars was a simple, moral story that will appeal to young and old alike.

For Your Eyes Only was a slick, fast moving, witty Bond film. Roger Moore once again plays Bond, alongside Carole Bouquet. The action sequences are spectacular for the time, and the story is very engaging. This is Roger Moore at his best. Much better than Moore's previous Bond film "Moonraker".

A great cast all round, but Haley Joel Osment stole the show in this mesmerising thriller about a young boy who sees ghosts. 'The Sixth Sense' is a superb journey into the mind of a troubled child. Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan presents this movie with a perfect atmosphere. He uses the codes and conventions of the genre as tools that bring to the fore the depth and beauty of the story. Worth seeing simply for Osment's stunning performance. Music and visual effects were used to great effect. 'The Sixth Sense' was the best film of 1999. Bruce Willis, Toni Collette. *****