conradb Reviews

Stewart (2022)

Fine - But annoying commentary and music

[5/10 · 24 October 2023]

Stewart is an interesting subject - I'm a fan of him and the sport, but I found this documentary fairly annoying.

I particularly get annoyed at all of the archive footage with a modern commentator putting on a funny accent and made to sound like it was recorded at the time.

It simply doesn't sound real, and they use it very clumsily to try and insert some unrelated point (e.g how far he's come from working in a garage, that his wife is watching, etc.), or to try to create a forced narrative.

I think it would be much better to have a narrator.

Even the actual recordings from the archive footage have obviously been over processed and don't sound real at all.

I did enjoy many of the 60s and 70s archive clips - at least the visuals.

Sidney (2022)

Old fashioned documentary on a great subject

[6/10 · 25 September 2022]

Sidney Poitier was a great actor and a great man, so I was very much looking forward to this movie, especially given some very positive reviews.

The documentary 'Sidney' is fascinating when Poitier is on screen, being interviewed for this project or in the extensive archive footage.

However it is intensely irritating when some random celebrity comes on screen to tell us what we've just heard, or explain the obvious.

I don't mind the views and anecdotes from his family or people who actually knew him, but there were too many unnecessary talking heads delivering exposition that had obviously been scripted by the production.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Well made, but lightweight

[7/10 · 11 November 2001]

I hate being just about the only dissenting voice, but I was not overly impressed with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (as it is titled in the UK).

I have not read the books at all, so I did not have any preconceptions about what should be in there from the book, and I didn't have any idea of the plot.

Firstly, I found the movie overly long - I don't have any problem with long movies per se - as long as something is happening. There seemed to be far too much exposition, and it was over halfway into the film before a plot started to develop - and even that was quite slight. Perhaps this is because J.K Rowling was loath to lose too much from the book, perhaps they've already got the next 6 movies in mind.

The adult actors are very good - Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane - are all excellent. Unfortunately the child actors are quite one dimensional, especially in their failure to show any meaningful emotion.

The effects aren't brilliant, but they're generally good enough. The sets and locations are superb.

Overall I found it a well made but light confection - enjoyable enough, but easily forgotten.