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A View to a Kill 1985
Time to ‘fess up. As a kid I thought A VIEW TO A KILL was great. Admittedly I was only 9, it was the first Bond movie I saw at the cinema, and my favourite band were doing to theme tune. What was there not to like?
In the cold light of day, unfortunately, there is a hell of a lot not to like about A VIEW TO A KILL , Roger Moore’s (overdue) swan song from the series.
And…
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Back to the Future 1985
If this isn't used in film school as a guide to script writing I don't know why. Absolutely perfect, so much so that I hated myself for spotting a minor plot-hole.
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Back to the Future Part II 1989
An absolute mess of a sequel.
The first half now looks incredibly embarrassing, despite some marvellous split-scvreen work, and fine work from Fox and Shue.
The second half is an improvement as Marty finds himself in 'bad' 1985 (written entirely as a result of the problems of not getting Crispin Glover to reprise his role as George McFly).The first film was written, re-written, re-drafted and honed to pefection over years of struggle. That's why it's so good.
This smacks… -
Berberian Sound Studio 2012
Didn't get it.
Absolutely loved it.
Almost willfully obtuse.The giallo trappings are marvelous, but the Lynchian nods grated after a while.
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Beverly Hills Cop II 1987
I've seen some bad sequels in my time, but I had forgotten how utterly awful BHC2 was.
An 'action comedy' whose action highlight is a cement truck chase, and the height of comedy is Judge Reinhold doing a bad Clint Eastwood impression.
Where the original successfiully blended hard intense thrills with Eddie Murphy's easy charm and a fine supporting cast, this serves up re-heated, lazy moments because it knows the audience doesn't care.I genuinely have no idea what the…
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Beware the Moon: Remembering 'An American Werewolf in London' 2009
An absolute must for any fan of American Werewolf in London.
Everyone is interviewed, and everyone has something interesting to say.
It's particularly good on the effects work, obviously, but also fascinating stuff about the Piccadilly Circus climax. -
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure 1979
Beyond any kind of definition of entertainment... Irwin Allen rips himself off with a cheap, tacky sequel which somehow manages to get dreadful performances from a pretty good cast. Only worth watching for seeing Michael Caine SHOUTING all the time, mainly telling people to "SHUT UP!".
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Black Christmas 1974
Still brilliant.
I'd forgotten just how obscene the first obscene phone call is.
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Bridesmaids 2011
If you ever wondered what it would be like if Jennifer Aniston or Katherine Heigel decided to rewrite one of their films so it featured loads of swearing and scatalogical humour, then Bridesmaids would be the result.
Producer Judd Apatow's attempt to recreate the 'magic' of his bro movies for the ladies, produces a disappointingly bland affair filled with the staples of traditional rom-coms.There are some highs. Melissa McCarthy is absolutely hilarious as the straight-talking, mannish, man-eater, and a…
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Class of 1984 1982
An idealistic teacher, Andrew Norris (Perry King), arrives for a new job at a rough inner-city school. His goody-two-shoes ways (and dreadful beard, probably) immediately rile the gang who rule the school, the kind of new wave punks found in most US exploitation films in the early 80s.
They are led by a peroxide blonde mullet called Stegman (Timothy van Patten), highly intelligent and a talented pianast who somehow manages to run a drug business, extortion and (it's hinted) a… -
Compliance 2012
It's been a while since a film made me feel this uncomfortable.
It seems that in the 21st century, filmmakers are determined to revive the nihilistic 'New Brutalism' of the 70s and take it to a whole new plain. While torture porn now seems to be on the wane, writers and directors are having to come up with new ways to test the mettle of viewers.
Based on true events, COMPLIANCE is not a horror movie in the conventional sense.…
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Confessions from a Holiday Camp 1977
It's just Holiday on the Buses with full frontal nudity. I'm all for 70s Brit smut, but this is low humour of the lowest kind, including endless racial gags and homosexual stereotypes to go with the usual single entendres and T&A.
Depressing stuff only worth watching for the brief appearances of Bill Maynard and Doris Hare as Robin "The Arse" Askwith's parents...
