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Reviews
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Short, sharp and sour
This is a one word summing up :- awful! I didn't bother to look more than ten minutes at this film and came away with the thought that it was all a waste of talent. The direction was hammy and the presentation so derivative there was nothing original in it. The cast must have been hard-up or else they were paid a lot of money to get involved in this .
Tough Guys (1986)
Nostalgia rules okay?
This is one of my favourite films. I've watched it many times and what's more my grand-daughters enjoy it too, and they don't even know the two stars like I do.
It's funny, with a good pacey script. It has something to make you think about - getting older, not fitting in and being a geriatric rebel. It's got action, a bank robbery , a fist fight with some great dialogue. It's got comedy (see Kirk trying on "hot" clothes taking advice from a CCTV shop assistant) and also it has some touching scenes of Burt in the old people's home, where he's forced to live.
The supporting cast has class - Eli Wallach, Dana Carvey, Charles Durning and Alexis Smith. And to top it all there's a terrific train chase finale. Besides which Burt and Kirk were made for this film. It brought back a lot of good memories for me and I can thoroughly recommend it. Enjoy, as they say....
Memento (2000)
Presentation not content makes this an excellent film
This is a film that makes you think and it takes a while to realise that you're basically seeing the film backwards - not really in flashbacks but almost like mirror-writing, if you know what I mean. It made me wonder how the film was made.
Was the film made in a chronological order and then, by way of very clever editing, dissembled and then re-assembled in an "anti-clockwise" order? It's possible, with the addition of some extra scenes to cement the whole picture together.
It was all very complicated, but it gripped me to the end. Once I started watching it I daren't leave it, because I felt that I wouldn't be able to pick up the plot again easily. I stayed up until 1am - when I had intended to see it over two-nights.
I thought Guy Pearce excellent. Was this the same actor as in "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"? I enjoyed watching his performance in "LA Confidential" too. Joe Pantoliano and Carrie-Anne Moss were new to me but they were impressive. A most enjoyable film, one to recommend.
Face of a Fugitive (1959)
An interesting minor western
I enjoyed this film for the fact that Fred MacMurray was the star and also because James Coburn played a minor role. The latter was noticeable even though he had only a few lines to speak. It was interesting to see him at the beginning of his career flash that big toothy grin of his. Fred was a bit staid for his role as a bank robber and with his honest looks not quite believable as the criminal type. He didn't seem to fool any of the supporting cast either. Perhaps that's why he changed direction in his career somewhat after this film. Still for a low budget western it's worth watching.
The Stars Fell on Henrietta (1995)
A recommendation for a well acted film.
This was an enjoyable Depression era drama and it had more to it than I expected. Set in 1935 it was refreshing to see a story about ordinary farming people struggling with adversary, whose lives are transformed with the arrival of a wildcat oil prospector. There was no sickly sentimentality and characterization was believable with excellent period-piece detail. If you're a fan of Robert Duvall's you'll find that he doesn't let you down in this film. He is well supported by Aidan Quinn, Frances Fisher and Brian Dennehy, a cast which attracted my attention in the first place. I was interested, too, to discover that Clint Eastwood's daughter (Francesca Ruth Eastwood by Frances Fisher)played the role of Miss Fisher's daughter in the film. It's a shame the film did not have a wider distribution.