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Reviews
Gregory's Two Girls (1999)
I loved it!
As a huge fan of the original, I avoided this film like the plague when the bad reviews started coming in eight years ago, but I just finished watching this film and found it to be a really pleasant surprise.
Okay, if you are looking for a retread of the original, you're in for a big disappointment, but if you are looking for something quite different, a bit edgy and political, then this is the film for you.
Gregory is now thirty four and works as a teacher at his old comprehensive school, where he's being pursued by a fellow teacher and having sexual dreams about one of his students. When the student insists on meeting up with Gregory, a series of misadventures ensue that include torture, breaking and entering and all manner of unexpected twists and turns that left me feeling elated and moved.
If you are looking for something original, then I highly recommend this film. I only wish that more people had gone to see this when it was released and seen it for what it really is.
Letty (1984)
The Letty Bootlace Agency!
My memories of this are faint. I remember that Letty was in a wheelchair and that she lived in a children's' home of some description. At some point in the show, Letty and some other kids form a group of private detectives called "The Letty Bootlace Agency" (a play on Eddie Shoestring which was a popular show at the time, starring Trevor Eve.) Much in a similar vein to the Famous Five, they would solve a new mystery every week. I definitely enjoyed it as a thirteen year old.
My main reason for coming to this page was that I recently watched Threads on Google video and remembered that the girl who played Ruth's daughter was also Letty. I was sad to see that she'd died in a car accident in 1990.
One Summer (1983)
As Good As I Remember!
I've just finished watching this on DVD for the first time since it was aired in 1983, when it had a huge impact on me as a twelve year old growing up in Thatcherite Britain. Certain parts of it I remembered clearly and certain parts I didn't, but I was amazed at how much this TV drama was ingrained on my psyche and yes, it's just as good as I remembered it.
It tells the story of the adventures of two Liverpool lads, Billy and Icky, who steal some money and head off to Wales because one of them remembers having had a good time at a camp out there and how they are befriended and helped by a recluse called Kidder. All three of leads have dark pasts and the main theme of the story is how no matter how hard you try and how far you run, you can't escape your past.
Excellent performances, haunting and memorable music and a heart-breaking story add up to a truly recommended 250 minutes.
Nobody's House (1976)
Creepy Kid's Show From My Youth
I was five years old when this was aired on TV and I haven't seen it since, but for some reason, a few days ago, it popped into my head. As far as I can remember it concerned a family moving into an old house that was haunted by a child who had died in there, many years before (cleaning the chimney or something.) He either didn't have or couldn't remember his name, so the children who befriended him called him Nobody, thus, Nobody's house. The only part of the story I remember involved the two kids either accidentally locking themselves into the cellar, or being locked into the cellar and Nobody using his ghostly powers to get them out. I also remember being really scared in the first episode, with the thought of a ghost and the mystery surrounding it, then settling into the idea and naming it my favourite program at the time. I wonder what my 34 year old current self would think of it?