#25: The Baskerville Curse (1983) May 7, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Animation, adaptations, 1 star, 1980s, 2008, Mystery, Sherlock Holmes , add a comment1983 | Eddy Graham | 67 mins | DVD | U / G
Peter O’Toole is Sherlock Holmes (well, his voice) once again in this animated Conan Doyle adaptation from the ’80s (see also my reviews of two others, The Sign of Four and A Study in Scarlet). Of course, this is an adaptation of that perennially popular Holmes story, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and as such O’Toole barely features. A shame, as he’s the only half decent thing in this mess.
As I’ve previously expressed, The Hound of the Baskervilles is not my favourite Holmes story, though it has its moments and there have been some enjoyable screen versions. Unfortunately, this pointlessly renamed offering retains all of the original’s faults but loses most of the best bits, despite wasting time on train journeys, telegram writing and pointless flashbacks to things we saw just minutes earlier. The animation is poor, even for a production of this level, with dire character design and a total lack of atmosphere (it opens with jolly music over views of primary-coloured countryside!) There are further flaws, but there’s no point wasting any more time going through them. I can only hope that the final entry in this series, The Valley of Fear, will be closer in quality to the other two installments.
In retrospect, I’m certain I underrated the 1939 adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. I’m equally certain that I shall have no such regrets over this lame attempt.
25 new old reviews April 18, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 1 star, 2007, extended/director's cut , add a commentAnother 25 reviews in this update, taking things to week 19 of 2007. There’s a bunch of editorials scattered around these too — hunt them down if you’re interested.
So, after the two five-star films of the last 2007 update, this time we have the first (and so far only) one-star film. And well deserving of such revulsion it was too, if you ask me. Also worthy of note this update are reviews of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours Trilogy, and the first review of something I’ve seen before in a new cut (with so few differences that it’s numbered “27a” instead of “28″, a convention that will find further employment in the next update).
- American Dreamz (2006)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Breathless (1960)
- Casanova (2005)
- Chocolat (2000)
- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
- Crash: Director’s Cut (2004)
- The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
- Flight 93 (2006)
- Garden State (2004)
- Happy Feet (2006)
- Hidden (2005)
- The King and I (1956)
- Ladies in Lavender (2004)
- Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
- March of the Penguins (2005)
- Mrs Henderson Presents (2005)
- The New World (2005)
- Secretary (2002)
- Stormbreaker (2006)
- The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
- Three Colours Blue (1993)
- Three Colours White (1994)
- Three Colours Red (1994)
- Trainspotting (1996)
One thing I’ve noticed, looking back through these, is that some of the scores seem awfully generous, especially based on how fondly I remember the film — quite how March of the Penguins earned 4-stars is beyond me (for just one example). I’ve stuck with all the original scores though, and also left the content of the reviews unrevised (except for one brief addition to Casanova…) I think if there’s one major flaw I have as a reviewer (and that’s not to say I don’t have many), it’s that I enjoy things too easily and score too highly. Great for me that I enjoy things, not so much use to any readers one might kindly describe as ‘discerning’.
#26: Flight 93 (2006) April 2, 2007
Posted by badblokebob in : Drama, Thriller, 2000s, 1 star, true stories, 2007 , add a comment2006 | Peter Markle | 85 mins | DVD | 12 / PG-13
Oh dear. The Other Film About United 93 is just that. With poor acting, pedestrian direction, dreadful effects, and a young child in every single scene involving a relative, this film is infinitely inferior to Paul Greengrass’ United 93. Where that was subtle, realistic and moving, this is over-worked, cheesy and laughable — yes, laughable; we spent half the running time taking the piss out of it! Not good for a film about a tragedy. Some have called this a worthy companion piece to United 93. It’s not. United 93 is essential; Flight 93 you can take or, preferably, leave.