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Reviews

The Wicker Man (1973)

My most recent DVD purchase was the director’s cut of The Wicker Man. It’s an almost-but-not-quite complete print that restores most of the footage hacked from the theatrical cut, which you also get on a second disk. This film has a reputation as being amongst the best British entries in the horror genre, along with Witchfinder General (one of Vincent Price’s finest moments). The packaging unsurprisingly emphasises the presence of Christopher Lee, in light of his recent Indian Summer.

The Wicker Man (1973)

And it is a great performance by Lee, who should seem comical and ridiculous in his fright wig and kilt, but doesn’t. Casual menace defines his screen time. Okay, so seeing him at the end in a long wig and a dress is quite funny! Otherwise, he’s just plain creepy, in a weirdly seductive way.
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Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

So, Lord of the Rings. The first episode, that is. It’s funny to think back, because two years ago I was really hot to see this at the cinema. I even re-read the books in anticipation of it. But it never happened, and my interest sort of waned.

Since getting a DVD player—we were probably at least two years behind most people there—my interest revived. (My interest in buying films on the whole has revived; I’d become entirely disillusioned with the horrors of VHS.) Last Thursday, I spotted a copy at Asda for a little under eight pounds. That clinched it.

Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
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Othello (1952)

I had planned to talk about some DVD purchases, so why not. It’s been a couple of weeks since I bought this one, and I’m sure mentioning it will have most people stifling yawns, but that’s just tough! It has to rate a mention: Orson Welles’ 1952 adaptation of Othello.

Othello Poster 1952

Out of the ‘official’ Welles directorial canon (all twelve of ’em), the ones I’d never seen were Chimes at Midnight, scattered clips aside, Immortal Story, and Othello. The latter’s the most ironic, as it’s my second-favourite Shakespeare play. (My favourite is Hamlet, unoriginally enough.)
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Not a Starman

I made another Bowie purchase. HMV has a lot of Bowie on sale at the moment, so what the hell. 1997’s Earthling is that rare Bowie oddity: an album I’ve never heard before. Well, now I have.

Before I get on to that: yes, I did really enjoy the new Bowie album, Reality. It seems to me it’s a notch or two better than Heathen, which I liked a lot, but felt was a little flaky around the edges. I appreciated the way most of it had a much harder, colder edge, which recalled Scary Monsters at times. No, I don’t think it’s that good; but it’s closer than most of Bowie’s recent work.

Not a Starman

I need a few more listens to decide for sure how well I rate it. So far, very positive.
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Recent Film Roundup

I just got a lot of packing done. I’d be in fairly good shape to move tomorrow, at a push, so I feel I’ve done something useful! I haven’t felt like writing much, tho’.

Brief comments on some recent films we’ve seen:

Panic Room… excellent stuff! Original story idea, stylish direction and Jodie Foster. Need I mention that Jodie is supremely cool? If I have little to say about this one, I guess it’s because it all works so well and beggars only mindless praise. See it if you haven’t already done so.

Recent Film Roundup
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Road to Perdition (2002)

It’s been out a while, but we finally saw Road to Perdition the other night. In spite of my almost irrational loathing of Tom Hanks, I really wanted to see this one.

Road to Perdition (2002)

So, is it ‘The greatest gangster film since The Godfather‘? Nah. Not even close. It is very good, though. The direction, courtesy of Mr. Kate Winslett, is constantly aspiring to interesting things, and sometimes even succeeds. The style outweighs the content on a few occasions (a sure sign that nothing very interesting is happening), but thankfully, the effect is not overwhelming.
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Cycle of the Limeys

Recent viewing: Sunday night we watched Dog Soldiers, a British horror film from last year.

A band of soldiers doing manoeuvres up in Scotland get besieged by a pack of werewolves. How’s that for a simple idea? I expected it to suck, to be honest, but it was okay. What, a decent British fright flick? Yep. There have been several recently, so I hear.

Some of the direction/action is a little confusing, but the acting is solid and the creatures are entirely convincing. Actually, they’re amongst the creepiest werewolves I’ve ever seen—huge, lithe monstrosities, rather similar to Bernie Wrightson’s rendition from Cycle of the Werewolf, only without the muscles. Good use of a small budget, FX-wise.
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If Memory Serves

Last night’s viewing: a rather strange film from 2000 titled Memento, starring Guy Pearce. I won’t give any spoilers if you’ve not seen it: read on without fear.

Pearce plays a guy who has lost his short-term memory and is looking for the person who raped and killed his wife. Simple premise, but… the film has a totally non-linear narrative. Initially, I felt it was going to be an irredeemable pain in the backside. By the halfway stage, the reasons for this technique start to become much clearer. The ending is terrifically well done. No, really, this one genuinely surprises.
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Gregory Peck in Court

By the way, we watched the Hitchcock courtroom drama The Paradine Case (1947), starring Gregory Peck, last night. We’d taped it off BBC2 on Monday afternoon.

It couldn’t be called the best work from either Hitch or Peck (some of the melodrama is rather overacted), but it has a strong cast and was worth seeing again. Mr. Peck was 30 years old at the time and wears a few dashes of grey in his hair for added maturity! Although he’s supposed to be English, he doesn’t try to fake the accent, which somehow works in his favour. The actual courtroom scenes are the best moments (Charles Laughton is terrific as the judge). Trivia: it was the Hollywood debut for both Alida Valli and Louis Jourdan.
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