Change Your Image
markcampbell
Reviews
The Festival (2018)
Entirely as expected, but still funny. Definitely a FEZ!
I was heartily sick of the trailers, so with the viewing of this film I hope not see any more. Every plot beat is as you would expect. Every one. Yet still it manages to provide a few laughs. I gave this a Fez.
Addicted to Sheep (2015)
Real Life Down on the Farm
It's a shame that the strapline for this touching little film - "One Family's Quest to Breed the Perfect Sheep" - is rather at odds with the film itself.
"Addicted to Sheep" is a meandering, quiet, funny, touching, deeply fascinating look at a life lived in...well...the middle of nowhere. Although I was brought up in Dorset, I'm a townie at heart and the daily grind of this North Pennines family looks terrifyingly grim to me. But the family - especially the children - cope with it all amazingly well. There's a real love lived out in these bleak landscapes.
The opening shot is hilarious, as the farmer catalogues a list of what's wrong with his sheep...but the pay-off at the end is the perfect counterpoint. In the meantime, there's plenty of sheep action, but no sign of a "quest" (this is just PR guff). Instead, we get birth, death, castration and plenty of mopping out of cow sheds. Thankfully there is no 'throughline' to this film - director Magali Pettier points her camera and captures what happens, and that is really what makes this such a charming exercise.
There are off-hand mentions of money (or lack of it), of how the parents want to make sure their children are fed and clothed, but there's no whinging about government policies - this is an apolitical film. It is also entirely unsentimental, viz the stillborn lamb chucked casually into a bucket. The film might ultimately be "heartwarming", but that doesn't mean there are a few moments that can still shock.
The family loves their farm, and their sheep, but it's always clear that the sheep are commodities. That's not a value judgement or a criticism, it's just a fact.
"Addicted to Sheep" has echoes of those classic b/w documentaries of the 1950s from Basil Wright or Lindsay Anderson. It even smacks of one of the more bleaker 1960s "Look at Life" featurettes (sans the Alan Wicker-style narration).
I loved it.
Fantastic Four (2015)
Only see it if you want to be disappointed.
I'll be concise: this FANTASTIC FOUR reboot is a waste of your time. It is not a bad film, so much as a pointless one. The acting is adequate. The script is terrible. There is not a trace of wit or reality to any of the dialogue. Characterisation is two-dimensional at best. The effects are, in comparison to other films of this type, poor. There is a story, but no plot. The final 'showdown' with Dr Doom takes place in the last 5 minutes. To describe it as perfunctory is to be kind. Only see this film if you have an 'unlimited' cinema pass for one of the chains - please don't spend money on it. At the special Cineworld preview, everyone sat through the credits waiting for an extra scene. Nope, nothing. "That was a load of sh*t!" exclaimed someone in the suddenly silent auditorium. Oh yes.
Open Water 2: Adrift (2006)
Tense adventure, with a few unbelievable moments
This is a sequel to 'Open Water', hence the American title, 'Open Water 2' (my, these Americans are original). Personally, I thought it was a better film, due mainly to the relationships between the characters, who are all well acted. The situation in which they find themselves is also more believable (despite the original film being based a true story, it just seemed so far-fetched). Also, whereas you know that EVERYTHING from the moment the boat leaves in 'Open Water' is fabricated, at least here, for a very good reason, it is easier to believe it's all true
The directing is generally good, fairly non-intrusive - barring a few key sequences - and, as I say, the acting of all cast members is perfectly credible.
What lets the film down are those moment where you think, 'Why didn't they do that?' Specifically - the knife. They could very easily have got back on the boat had they a) used it to prise open the door (tricky, but possible), or b) used it as a foothold to gain entry (which they did right at the end with another object). Also, it occurred to me very early on that they should get naked (!) so they could use their clothes as a lasso to get onboard. This took them AGES to realize in the film. I was amused that from this point on, you never saw any 'naughty bits'. Very prudish considering it is a 15! The dilemma about the baby was frightening. The loss of the characters was scary. But when the woman finally got onboard, why on earth didn't she feed her crying baby? It would have been the first thing she would have done. Also, I thought the last man's 'sacrificial' action at the end was deeply unbelievable. Despite all his guilt, surely he would have got onto the boat and helped her steer it back to the shore? It was a very selfish and really very unlikely thing to do for him to just swim away. But of course he had to do that for her to dive in and rescue him.
Overall, an intense, tense film with a few obvious flaws. Considerably more successful than it's over-hyped predecessor.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Feeble
Frankly I cannot see the appeal of this film. Cary Grant has not developed his suave movie matinee persona and is content to be a watered-down Harold Lloyd/Stan Laurel. Hepburn is intensely irritating. The plot is contrived and very unfunny. And any film where an animal is the star - and is expected to have the most laughs - has got to be suspect! When I finished watching it, I thought the whole thing was very feeble.
Traffic (2000)
Terrible Waste of Time
"Traffic" is quite possibly the most boring film I have ever seen. The director (of the excellent "sex, lies and videotape") manages to make what could have been a fairly interesting narrative utterly banal and irrelevant. I did not empathise with anyone, the plot strands are too disparate (and shot in an irritating blue or orange tint), the films is quite obviously far too long; in fact, there is simply nothing that I could possibly recommend (except, perhaps, for the acting, which is adequate.)
Avoid like the plague.
Lost (1956)
Fascinating British Thriller
'Lost' is rather like one of those old 1950s public information films - the acting and dialogue are crisp and stylised, real emotion is kept in check, and the boys in blue will always uncover your man (or woman). Brilliant use is made of UK locations (mainly in London), and the slice of life in 1955 is fascinating. Technicolor is also superb, and the whole thing looks great. It's dated sure - sometimes hilariously so - but then it is half a century old, and anyway that's half its charm. Red herrings litter the plot, and the clifftop climax is suitably atmospheric. Look out for a very youthful Thora Hird and Joan Sims. Recommended.