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LauraAS
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The Armstrong and Miller Show (2007)
Series 2 off to a great start
Of course not all sketches in a sketch show are equally funny but the new series I feel has got off to a great start.
Most favourite.... The WWII RAF officers are back - this extremely silly premise continues to amuse The song by Brabbins and Fyffe was hilarious The Neanderthals also make a welcome return But the clip I have watched again and again features the bored examiner/invigilator
I do not know how they think this stuff up
Least favourite ....... Jilted Jim Sci fi sketch
Also no nudity these days? They were naked a lot on the earlier channel 4 series
Online clips available http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ndsgv#synopsis
Enjoy :-)
Quincy M.E. (1976)
Formulaic yet groundbreaking
It has struck me that despite the implausible pairing of Quincy with much younger women, the clashes with the management and the police, this show covered some pretty controversial topics for a 30 year old mainstream show:- * Teenage alcoholism * Elder abuse * Mental health issues * Legislation for lief jackets on plains * Drunk driving *Public health issues such as food contamination/pollution Yes it can be cheesy but I still find many of them watchable and find the range of issues covered impressive for the times. I also think it's quite cool that Mark was actually a technician not an actor who is now a leading DNA expert!
One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
A Welcome Escape back to Childhood
Clearly any film nearly 30 years old is going to have flaws by today's standards and I know many people knock this film because of the now very politically incorrect portrayals of the Chinese.
However (and I am part Chinese myself) I regard the performances as pure pantomime or affectionate parody and not offensive. Besides - the bumbling British upper classes hardly fare any better.
I watched this on DVD last night and I still find it funny. Nostalgia of course plays a big part - I was 8 when it came out, still into palaeontology and visiting the Natural History Museum regularly.
But it still has some cracking dialogue, great slapstick and visual humour and of course the incomparable Helen Hayes and Peter Ustinov.
So if you want a chuckle and to escape back to a gentler (albeit fictitious) time - you could do a lot worse than spend 90 minutes watching this.
Blow Dry (2001)
Warren Clarke is a real hoot
This pleasant film has a good ensemble cast, especially Rachel Griffiths and Rosemary Harris.
However Warren Clarke, best known in the UK for his sublime portrayal of Andy Dalziel, gets to use his comic talents in a a thoroughly enjoyable OTT way.
As the Mayor who is hosting the competition, his transformation is very funny, as are the closing credits. I wonder if he really is from Yorkshire, he does do Yorkshire so very well.
The sheep scene is also very funny - wonder how they managed it??
All in all I give it an 8/10.
It is a shame such films don;t get a wider cinema release.
Danger Mouse (1981)
Fabulous and Wasted on Kids
I was an avid watcher of DangerMouse throughout my teens when it was the best part of my regular babysitting gig.
In fact that's why I KNOW it was wasted on kids - I thought it much funnier than they did.
Great scripts and great voices all round but I have noticed that no-one has commented much about the narrator (who I had not realized was also David Jason).
I remember his comments at the end of the episodes were especially a hoot.
10/10
The Man Who Used to Be Me (2000)
Fair Film completely ruined by a Ridiculous Sexist Oversight
This film has annoyed me so much I have to get this off my chest. Yes it's a fairly enjoyable in the time travel crime genre albeit not that original. However whilst one character ages sufficiently over 25 years as to be played by 2 actors.... The wife does not age at all....Still young blond and thin at the end. It completely invalidates the whole film and yet again perpetuates the myth that actresses can't be old on screen not to mention the insult to the viewers intelligence. Pathetic
Murder by Death (1976)
One of my all time top 10 films
An amazing ensemble cast who must have all had their tongues most firmly planted in their cheeks to produce their performances in this highly amusing murder mystery spoof.
By incorporating plots and characters from your favourite classic crime genres and gently poking fun at them all it is both funny and comfortingly familiar.
So if you want great visual gags (blind butler, deaf maid), superb one liners (especially from Maggie Smith & David Niven) and to escape for 90 minutes back into the gentler, less realistic Golden Age of Crime then you need look no further.
If only there were outtakes.