Change Your Image
bpeacock-2
Reviews
True Grit (2010)
An interesting remake but oddly cold
This 2010 version correctly tells the story through the eyes of Maddy Ross and has a similar ending to the book; the John Wayne version more accurately depicts certain scenes from the book but changed the ending. The Coen brothers version is, pardon the pun, grittier and as a result probably more realistic but that is how things have to be these days yet, for all the realism, I think their version lacks tension. Certainly the ending appears to have been cut short; there is none of the pain, discomfort and tension that there is in the book and the John Wayne version managed to portray several parts of the film in a more suspenseful manner. I feel slighted cheated by the Coen Brothers film, it was good but could have been far better. It should have been made longer and contained more detail - the scene where the two outlaws are captured in the hut is oddly succinct and superficial, obviously foreshortened for whatever reason is just one example so, for me, the John Wayne version remains superior.
I suggest that anyone who hasn't read the book buy a copy, it's a terrific read.
Robin Hood (2010)
They could have made a decent movie
It's one of those films that was annoying me as I watched it but actually making me cringe the more i think about it. A few points - ignoring any historical inaccuracies (of which there are plenty).
1) There appeared to be only one character (Godfrey) who could speak English intelligibly, accents of Robin Hood and Little John were quite laughable (Crowe darted between North Yorkshire, Liverpool and Ireland) and I have no idea which part of the world Little John was supposed to come from. 2) Maid Marion – a very hammy performance and legend does not ever mention her super-human strength; have you ever tried to bend a modern longbow replica? Very hard even for a large bloke and they have about half the draw weight of the real thing, and I had no idea that Wendy and the lost boys were involved in the legend of Robin Hood. 3) The final battle scene was taken more or less directly from Saving Private Ryan and included replica landing craft, one of the daftest scenes in cinema for quite some time. 4) There is so much information about concerning archer's other weapons of that era there was no need to invent a long sledge hammer 5) Why call the film Robin Hood? Only the last few seconds are to do with 'Robin of the Hood' so this should have been clearly labelled as a prequel. 6) Could they not have found a beach with real cliffs?
All that money wasted – they could have made a decent film
Criminal Justice (2008)
Misandry and cliché
I'm sorry, but I cannot let all this praise go without some balance; the first series of Criminal Justice was pretty good but this has clearly been written by or from the view point of a mysandronous woman. Every male character is a cliché - young slightly evil convict at all costs bit of rough Essex boy cop v his understanding wife super cop who, up until this case, loved him but now questions their relationship. The older wiser cop - all men are evil a woman told me so, look for the underlying reasons as to why, etc., etc., The heroine solicitor who, of course, knows best. Social worker - same. Defence QC brilliant female, prosecution QC, nasty, snobbish, misogynistic, etc., etc., Hard nosed prisoner with a soft heart..tough girl prisoner who appears like a walk on baddie during a pantomime. It just goes on and on Surely this could have been made a lot more interesting if the characters had been more human, more realistic, not all men are evil not all woman are saints, this needed a more intelligent script for what is, obviously a worth subject.
Flyboys (2006)
Oh boy
I can't believe how many people appeared to have liked this nonsense. All the flying and fight scenes were as if taken straight from a poor playstation game with no attempt at realism at all. Why a smoke trail from bullets? Some of those 'aerobatics' would have ripped the wings of the planes - flying round a tree as if on a wire???? Mid-way through a fight various pilots, friend and foe, would fly alongside each other and salute/wink etc etc; what a complete joke. The script - my God, how crass and clichéd. Everything was so obvious and written at a level 10 year old might like.
Up there with Pearl Harbour in terms of complete rubbish - war for the game consul generation. It's not like that, fighting is noisy, dirty, smelly, dirty and definitely not fought in a chivalrous manner