Film Reviews by JD

Third series is seldom promising but the writing is a little more believable and some shaky acting notable by Martin Compston is thrown off. The plot remains the weak part of this crime drama, the camera work has improved and the new parts of the cast bring the acting level up to pretty impressive. There seem to be quite a lot of crime dramas at the moment but this is worth a watch as being very dramatic.

On the negative side most of the acting is reasonable but not great, strangely the outstanding actor is the 10 year old who plays an utterly unlikeable character. The camera work is probably the worst I can remember and some of the plot lacks credibility. On the positive side when the plot is credible it is good, compared with the scandinavian crime drama multi-layered plots it is not so intricate or involved but still enough to make you want to watch the next episode. The police are depicted as being dense with deceit, committing purgery in court as a matter of course and conspiratorial to avoid trouble and enhance promotion. Not hard to imagine if a little clichéd. Jed Mercurio's interviews do not portray him as a person of any self-doubt, he does seem however to have a good skeleton of a plot. It could have had a final edit by someone with a little less confidence.

My review of Series 1 pointed out some unconvincing acting. In series 2 the lead role is played brilliantly by Keeley Hawes but there is still some pretty unconvincing acting most notably Liz White who was better in Life on Mars but still pretty bad. Mercurio's plot is a little more believable in this series and he has increased the whodunnit factor giving greater suspense but it still lacks the intricacy and depth that the Scandinavian crime dramas have perfected. Having said that I could not wait to watch it all and look forward to series 3 with more anticipation than most crime dramas.

Jason and Lyndhurst have become so famous mainly because of this that it is difficult to believe the script is so simple and the acting so plain. Not an outstanding soap comedy but not bad either.

The acting is worse than I remember, the plot is pedestrian, the punch lines very weak and yet there is something that makes this cosy and familiar. I wonder if anyone who didn't see it first time around would feel so warm towards it. Probably not. The famous scenes are not in this DVD (falling through the bar hatch, chandelier smashing, batman and robin) but it made me smile a little.

Christopher Nolan has been lauded for this direction in which every scene precedes the previous one. Stepping backwards towards the beginning in such a way as to reveal more. The credit however must surely go almost entirely to his brother Jonathan who wrote it. Guy Pearce is fantastic. The subtlety of portraying a man with no memory is done perfectly. The end of the film (the beginning of the plot) was a bit of a let down, neither satisfying nor believable. For the film connoisseur, a must.

Even at the beginning of his sadly short career Heath Ledger is a screen presence that demands your full attention. This character is a doomed and lost soul. There is a ghostly narrator who appears throughout which creates an unusual twist. The plot is generally sad sometimes violent but I wouldn't compare it with Reservoir Dogs or 2 smoking barrels as the cover does. It is a good film for a family whose youngest is 15ish.

I write the 8th review to date. All 5 scores (from 1 - 5) have been given. I am surprised anyone would give this less than 3 stars. It is quite long and the plot is not that original or dynamic but come on this is batman. Heath Ledger's flat was allegedly a shrine to the joker when he committed suicide. I can imagine that he devoted himself entirely to the role, it is utterly mesmerising. The tortured evil is utterly convincing. Caine and Bale are belittled by his brilliance. His death is a devastating loss.

Patrick Stewart in the lead role surely a masterpiece? Sadly not. This tries too hard to be a cutting edge modern updated Shakespeare. Macbeth is a senior army man and the setting is predominantly in empty hangers or bleak basement corridors. The acting is overly dramatic and gruesome. I prefer Shakespeare plays to be more traditional and less like a Pink Floyd film.

40 years after this Wilder, Feldman, Brooks comedy classic was produced and I am writing the first review? It doesn't seem just. This has Mel Brooks steam of madness gushing through its veins. It is also Gene Wilder in my opinion at his very best (way better than Charlie and the ...). The comedy changes from slapstick to pathos from subtle to crude, it is truly a classic and a must see for all comedy lovers.

The worst thing about this film is the acting. Never good sometimes appalling. The best is the plot, building slowly through the eyes of a strange author (you think at first that he is just a creepy voyeur but it develops, have patience). The direction is good; that is what alerted me to the film, but I wouldn't say amazing. It is non-linear but that is about all. It is a B&W film with great lighting and photography. Overall a bit arty and definitely not main stream, but interesting.

This series of short films comes as a 2 disc pack and a separate 3rd disc. This is the 3rd, generally not quite as interesting as the 1st 2, with a few awful ones. See other review.

The other reviews are slammers. I found it moderately funny in a 7 psychopaths / sightseers sort of a way. Django unchained often gets critical acclaim but is too nasty violent for me. This is much more funny violent, but still a bit brutal for 15 rated. Sure, Pegg may not have been the perfect casting for this, Kenneth Hadley from Sightseers would have been better (a must see film if you haven't) but would not have drawn many to the box office.

These 16 films could not be more different except that they all low-budget. Films from every continent. They all have the feel of newly qualified directors with new ideas. There are 2 actors of renown but generally not. Some is animation, one is a historical collage of clips. Visually spectacular is Madame Tutli – Putli in a novel sort of a way. All have something of value but some are very slow. They range from 1 to 5 star so I have given an average.

This is clearly an expensive film with teams of Hollywood promoters ensuring a truly homogenised product. Body building hero meets girl from forbidden class but they elope anyway da..de..da.. what a load of Hollywood pulp, I bet it made millions. If you like visual effects and can sit through any rubbish to get it, it is amazing.