Hmmmmmm....

OK so here it is in a nutshell. I don't understand modern comedy. The Office. Little Britain. The Fast Show. Two Pints of Lager and a Whatever. Don't get it. They have all passed me by. Are they meant to be funny? Are they meant to make you cringe? Anyone?

So we come to Gavin and Stacey. The series was recommended to me by someone who is usually reliable (my mum) and so I watched it with some anticipation. I have now fallen out with my mum.

For those who haven't endured the show, the series features two families, one fom Barry in Wales, the other from Billericay in Essex, and the burgeoning relationship between two youngish people Gavin and Stacey. What makes the show so amusing is the fact that all of the characters are ignorant, thick as pig pooh and dead common. Hilarious huh? No real jokes are required. What humour there is generic, refashioned and totally predictable. In fact I often found myself cringing in my chair waiting for a joke which had been telegraphed some time before. Oooh now where is her thong? I just can't imagine. In the end what enjoyment I got from the series was as a drama rather than a comedy. And there wasn't a lot of that either (enjoyment that is!).

Of course the series contains a host of hilarious characters. Uncle Bryn and his technology (haha), Nessa and her cliches and deadpan style (hoho), Smithy and his moods (hehe) and Gavin's mum and her whatever.

But it's not all bad. There are only six episodes and the amount of really cringe-making moments has been kept to a minimum.

Now where is my copy of The Shield Series 1. Perhaps it wasn't that bad after all?

Such a crap movie very disappointed

I was very disappointed when i saw this movie, thought it was funny, but it had no story line what so ever, and the movie was TOOOO long, the only good thing in this movie is Lisa Kudrow, she was funny as usual.
Bottom line don't buy this movie wast of money, if you really want to see it just go rent it.

Touching and involving but SO grim!

Absolutely faultless in terms of acting, story, setting and wardrobe, but in every episode something miserable lands on the village. For the last three of the five episodes I was predicting who would die next, who would get a horrible disease and fever, or who would appear out of the blue and then who would get together with who. There's so much warmth in the story that it's hard to dislike it and the feel good side is very high, but you have to pay for that! Death haunts every episode and tears flow like rivers all the time and that would stop me watching it again even though the rest of the series is so enjoyable. I would have marked it down for that, but to be harsh on such a well made series would be wrong. The goodness in human nature holds everything together and resilience in adversity is at the heart of Cranford.

When a cast of great actors gets together and there's not an ego in sight, this is what you get.

A True Tribute to an Amazing Woman

My view echoes the vast majority of reviews on here; Cotillard is a revelation; what an achievement in acting; she really did deserve the oscar for best actress and then some, in fact she may have raised the standard! I could not help thinking"I wonder what Edith Piaf would think of this" - I think she would have been very impressed (in her own way of course).
I have not stopped talking about this since I saw it; I bought it for a present for my mother for Christmas last year, after hearing rumours how brilliant it was, and only saw it myself the other day; in the meantime of course, Marion Cotillard has won the oscar.
If you think you cannot watch a subtitled film, and this is the only thing that is putting you off, I urge you to take a chance and watch, as the film truly is a work of art in every sense.

Average film

It is ok film with good cinematography and Kiera Knightley wasn't stunning in this film due to being thinner than usual. Storylines is good, but not a film for male audience to watch.

Not bad for a fiver.

Superb

If you only buy one US tv series this year it has to be Damages. The script is sharp and will keep you guessing and hooked to the last episode. This far outshines anything else around at the moment.

I dont think youll be disapointed

The lives of others is set in Eastern Germany during the mid 80s. The internal security services ease drop on their citizens without any hesitation and the population must keep their head down and brak no rules in order to keep them off their back. The DVD has in depth interviews with every main character, the making of the film and a full length commentary, even a short show reel of the gadgets the security used to spy,easedrop,survey the population in East Germany at the time. The film is mainly about a specific couple and a 1 of the agents who gets to know their lives.

Still great.........

Firstly, I love the format of Prison break - the way you never know where its going to go and what can happen next. Thats the beauty of the whole show. The fact that the story takes you to a Panama Prison is awesome. The fact that this seaon is shorter is a bit of a pain, but they still managed to give a full rounded feel to the season, without feeling like anything had been missed. It makes me laugh that some mark it dowmn for that, as everybody in the world new about the wirters strike, and there was NOTHING the creators could do about that. They made the best of it and it worked. Some say its too much like the first season. Well if you watch a show called 'Prison Break' its pretty bloody obvious that it will revolve around a prison and an escape. If thats not what you want to watch, my watch a show of that name!?!?!?! What did you expect? I think it was good, with a winning format and they did well considering the strike. Im looking forward to the next season..........

Life on Mars is a jewel in my DVD collection

The second series of Life on Mars doesn't waste a shred of it's predecessor's momentum, throwing us into emotional plots, and continuing with it's streak of superb acting, editing, and music.

The ending was widely speculated by fans and some were thrilled, whilst some seemed disappointed. I was extremely satisfied and found it completely believable, but there are those who may not truly understand the depth of the psychological aspects and label Sam's actions as unrealistic. If you let it, this can go far beyond the normal spectrum and touch on life's big questions.

Then again if you're not the philosophical type, at least you'll still be entertained by one of the best cop shows in existence.

Bye Bye Morse, Hello Robbie Lewis.

With this second series I feel Lewis has lost the"ooh, not as good as Morse" tag and come into it's own.

Series One, in my opinion, nodded a little too often in the direction of Morse's ghost who always seemed to be one step behind Robbie Lewis.

Series Two is superb. Lewis and Hathaway are now their own closely knit unit and some of the interplay between them was touching and amusing. It was also nice to find out about Hathaway's"priestly past".

There was Morse and now there's Lewis. Buy this, you won't be disappointed.

BRILLIANT, NOT TO BE MISSED

BRILLIANT
One of the best tv series of the past number of years. Fantastic writing and acting - gripping stuff. Everything of the 70's was spot on - I remember them well and the casting for Gene Hunt and Sam Tyler was spot on - buy it and watch it - you will not be disappointed. FANTASTIC STUFF

Good, but not good enough

This is an enjoyable, well produced and for the most part well acted series, however it bears almost no relation to the original books which is a great disappointment to all of us who grew up loving these wonderful stories. As someone who studied the books for A'level sadly 30 years ago now, and also as a fan of the wonderful stage productions involving the Albion Band, I looked forward with great anticipation to this series. Sadly, episode 1 made it clear that this was 'based' on the original, and very loosely at that. Gone is the wonderful social history and acute character description of Flora Thompson, only to be replaced by a sacharine image of English Country life. Laura is no longer a shy but intelligent girl developing into a self assured young woman at the centre of her community, only to be replaced by a 21st century flirtatious teenager who is almost unrecognisable as the original character which was of course a thinly disguised autobiography of Thompson herself. I will never understand why television adaptations have to be like this, but if you are willing to view the series as being little more than a shadow of the original, go ahead and enjoy it for it's own sake. But for God's sake read the book as well!

My Favourite Show Of The Past Decade

It does what it says on the box - House M.D. series 3. All 24 episodes spread over 6 discs.

What a wonderful TV show. If you loved series 1 & 2 them you'll love this. The character of House is as brilliant as ever and steals the show. There are some episodes where you don't like the guy much but that all adds to his complex character. The other characters all get a chance to shine at various points throughout the series also.

Regarding bonus material, I found the 20 minute featurette on disc 6 the best (based on The Jerk episode). You get interviews with the main actors and that was really enough for me. Disc 5 has a series of short 3-5 minute features - bloopers, special effects etc. There's also an alternative ending and commentary episode. So a decent enough splattering of material.

The most complete film musical?

Burton has in Sweeney Todd pulled off a masterstroke. Sweeney Todd in this incarnation is probably the finest adaptation of a stage musical ever made. Everything, from the sets, costumes and design, through to the orchestration and casting are as near perfect as one could ask. The changes to the original, disposing of the stage Chorus etc, only goes to reinforce the drama.

This is without doubt Burton's greatest achievement in the cinema and Depp's finest 2 hours on screen. Astonishing.

An offer you cannot refuse

Throughout his long, wandering, often distinguished career Francis Ford Coppola has made many films that are great (Apocalypse Now); good (Rumble Fish) and fine (Rain Maker), many more that are flawed but undeniably interesting, and a handful of duds that are worth viewing if only because his personality is so flagrantly absent. Yet he is and always shall be known as the man who directed the Godfather films.

The first movie of the trilogy broke many records when it was released in 1972: it was, for example, the top grossing movie (a record broken in 1975 by"Jaws"); that year it also won three Academy Awards. It is also very highly rated by critics; the American Film Institute ranked it the third greatest movie of all time.

But in my opinion,"The Godfather" was a very good movie, not a great movie. It's sequels were even worse (but still much better than the garbage that Hollywood churns out today). The Godfather had poor plot development. In particular, I object to the way in which the putative master of crime was depicted conducting a vendetta; invariably an assassin would suddenly appear in proximity to the victim, plug him several times, or strangle him. There was never any evidence of skill or foresight on the part of the gangsters. Hitmen simply would appear at arbitrary intervals, and bump off a character the moment the screenwriter had no use for him. The single most egregious case of this is the assassination of Sonny Corleone by a horde of gunmen that appear as if by magic. Ambushes do occur in the real world, of course, and they often do employ massive overkill; but the planner has to know when and where to hit the target.

This is a common problem of action movies, especially when the protagonist is also a figure of the underworld. It is usually overcome by the writer focusing on fewer conflicts (e.g., the incomparably superior"Chinatown"), or by much greater research of the subject. Since the movie was adapted from The Godfather, it would have been possible to focus on fewer threads of the novel than Coppola chose. Or, had Coppola wanted to focus on the development of Michael Corleone's personality over time, then he could allocated more screen time to, say, the planning and decision-making. Of course, if he had, then he would have not made his gore quota.

The Godfather 2 is a very good movie, but not a classic. Much of the power of the second film comes from the contrast between the two stories. As Vito Corleone grows in power, he also grows as a family man, in both the sense of a father with children and a wife and in the extended sense in his role as Godfather. He becomes the center of a community, drawing others around him. But the other story, of the decay of all that Vito had built up through the leadership of Michael, betrays all the realities undergirding the delusions riddling Vito Corleone's Family. The rot and decay that characterizes Michael's reign are shown as the natural and inescapable result of the greed that drove the lives of those in the crime organization. Nonetheless, the contrast between Vito, surrounded by friends and family and associates, and Michael, killing friends and associates and even family members, alienating even his most loyal friends, sitting inside his armed compound alone couldn't be starker. There is a reverse symmetry between the two stories: Vito starts off alone and ends surrounded by family and friends, while Michael starts off surrounded with family and friends, and ends up alone. This is symbolized perfectly in the final scene in the film, in a flashback to December 7, 1941, when Michael reveals to his brothers that he has enlisted in the Army. They hear their father arrive elsewhere in the house and rush off to meet him, only Michael sitting at the table alone as the film ends.

As with the first film, the acting is beyond reproach. As great as Al Pacino has been in his career, Michael Corleone has been his greatest achievement. He and Robert De Niro excel in the two key roles in the film. Lee Strasberg came out of retirement to play Hyman Roth, and he was extraordinarily effective in the role. The late, great John Cazale was marvelously timid as the dim, confused, and indecisive Fredo, who both adored and resented his brother Michael. Michael Gazzo is unforgettable as Frank Pentangeli, who thinks he has been betrayed by Michael and turns government witness, and received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his performance (he was beaten out by Robert De Niro), as was Lee Strasberg. Robert Duvall returns as Tom Hagen, who is more loyal to Michael than anyone else but who Michael distrusts nonetheless. Bizarrely, Al Pacino lost out to Art Carney, who was excellent in the rather minor film HARRY AND TONTO. It is hard today to understand how Pacino failed to win.

Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture."The Godfather, Part III" (1990, 170 min.) - Now in his 60's, Michael Corleone is dominated by two passions: freeing his family from crime, and finding a suitable successor. That successor could be fiery Vincent (Andy Garcia), but he may also be the spark that turns Michael's hope of business legitimacy into an inferno of mob violence. This special collection also includes an additional disc containing over 3 hours of bonus material.
This effort is worth watching but it is the weakest of the three. Watch out for the talentless Sophia Coppola; she would have been better off on the other side of the camera.

worth a watch

I was in two minds whether to watch this. The BBC always deliver cracking period dramas but on the other hand, I didn't want another overly-romanticised Austen biopic. For the first half of it, I was a little bored, thinking nothing much was happening besides some rather dramatic imagery. I did not like Fanny (Austen's niece) much and didn't think it would keep me watching to the end.

However, having had time to reflect on it, I would say this is worth a watch. It's probably more true to Jane's life than Becoming Jane. Olivia Williams plays Austen well - she's quite a cheeky lady! Fun to think of her that way. Its not a comedy. I found myself close to tears on a few occasions watching this.

The DVD contains no extras which is ashame.

I can't believe I've only just discovered this!

As I understand it, this series is about to finish its 5th and final series yet I only stumbled across it about a month ago after reading an intriguing commentary in The Word magazine, which immediately prompted me to want to find out more. I bought the first three series and have now just finished watching this first series. I am so pleased I took a chance on it.
This is an exceptional piece of television. It commanded my attention and total concentration from start to finish. I found it difficult at times to tune into the street dialogue but that just made me concentrate more as I didn't want to miss a thing. Every individual in this series has a significant part to play and every individual, whether they be police or drug dealer, is given an opportunity to show what makes them the person they are. There are no throw away characters here.
The acting and writing are superb and every episode is infused with humour, frustration ,hope and despair.
It is such a multi-layered and thought-provoking series that I have no doubt I will want to watch it again. If you have not seen The Wire but your interest has got you as far as reading these reviews then I can only urge you to go ahead and buy it - you won't regret it.

"...I Knew Him Well!"

This is Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. Here we have Lewis, promoted to Inspector and fresh (if such be the bon mot) from a few years on secondment to the British Virgin Islands. His wife has been killed in a car smash some years ago and his face looks well and truly lived in! He has lost most if not all of his former charm as Sergeant Lewis, but of course I believe that's called Character Development (or increasing age lol!) and is true to the ongoing story, which started, in effect, with the incomparable Inspector Morse. Lewis is notably short-tempered here. And Lewis now takes on some of the characteristics of the deceased Morse: drinking real ale, knowing about poetry and history and even listening on occasion to Wagner!

Oxford is Oxford and (with much of the modern city's commercialized mess excluded) is beautiful. The fact that the most of the same people created this as were responsible for Morse, makes"Lewis" superbly located and filmed, with title music by Barrington Pheloung (as also in"Morse").

Lewis (the series) is a lot more politically correct than Inspector Morse (the series), but that, again, mirrors the continuing development (decay?) of society in the UK, perhaps. The police headquarters is all energy-saving dull strip lights, horrible blue decor and (probably poorly functioning) air-conditioning; the boss is a woman (who interferes far more than did the old Det. Chief Superintendent Strange in"Morse"); there are endless computer terminals about and a lack of fresh air, seemingly. Lewis has a sergeant assistant of his own, now, one Hathaway, a former theological student and trainee C of E cleric. Hathaway is very much the metrosexual cold fish who is probably terminally"pc" in more ways than one, but, again, that may be true to life as it is now...

For me, nothing can equal Morse, but this is a good, even very good, attempt to keep the ball rolling. I especially loved the end scene with the Rottweillers!

Great story - well told

Having read the book prior to seeing the film I was absorbed by the accurate portrayal of the plot and emotions in the early stages. My wife, not having read the book, found it a bit slow going.
With the evil deed established the film stuck to the plot in great sympathy to the book.
The scenes of Dunkirk were dark and frightening. The musical score at this stage was truly brilliant with the orchestral background blending magically with the troops singing.
This film will not raise your spirits. It is a sad yet very fufilling ending.
The acting and direction is faultless. Overall this is great piece of cinema art, perhaps not to everyone's taste. It's the sort of serious work that I could watch several times over.