On The Buses (5 Stars)

In America, British sitcoms such as "Are You Being Served", "The Vicar of Dibley" and "Goodnight Sweetheart" have built loyal followings. Strangely, one of Britain's funniest sitcoms has never enjoyed the same success. "On The Buses" was a huge hit in the UK from 1969 to 1973, yet somehow it slipped under the American radar. Perhaps the early black and white episodes put people off. Whatever the reason, they're missing a comedy classic.

Hammer Films brought the series to the big screen in 1971, and unlike many television spin-offs, it feels completely at home as a feature film. The setting has changed and the buses wear different colours, but Stan Butler, Jack Harper and Inspector Blakey are exactly as fans remember them. More importantly, the film doesn't abandon the formula that made the television series such a success.

The title tells you everything you need to know. It's a film about buses. Stan is a driver, Jack is a conductor and Blakey is the long-suffering inspector. Even when the story wanders into Stan's chaotic home life or his hopeless attempts to impress attractive women, the buses are never far away. Every few minutes another bus rumbles across the screen, reminding you that this is a working comedy built around everyday life rather than glamorous adventures.

The main story concerns the arrival of female bus drivers, a prospect that horrifies Stan and Jack. Today the idea seems wonderfully old-fashioned, but that's part of the film's charm. The comedy isn't making a serious statement about gender politics; it's poking fun at men whose attitudes were already becoming outdated. Stan may spend his time chasing pretty conductors and bus drivers, but he's so hopelessly awkward that his romantic escapades are innocent rather than predatory. Reg Varney's natural likeability keeps the character on the right side of lovable.

The cast couldn't be better. Reg Varney and Bob Grant have effortless chemistry, while Stephen Lewis steals every scene as the permanently exasperated Blakey. Their performances capture everything that made the television series so popular.

Critics dismissed "On The Buses" as crude and unsophisticated, but audiences had the last laugh. It became one of the biggest British box office hits of 1971, outperforming the James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever" at the UK box office.

What makes the film so enduring isn't just the laughs. It captures a Britain that has largely disappeared. Stan and his family live in a modest working-class home where money is always tight, overtime is essential and life's little pleasures mean everything. It isn't a world of glamour or wealth, but one that feels warm, familiar and authentic. For anyone who grew up in a similar environment, these characters don't feel like sitcom creations; they feel like neighbours, friends or even members of your own family.

That's why "On The Buses" remains such a joy to watch. Beneath the jokes and the flirtation is a wonderfully affectionate portrait of everyday working-class Britain. It may never have conquered America, but for those who remember that world, it's one of the finest sitcom spin-offs ever made.

Success Rate:  + 25.8

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

There are songs you listen to because you like them. Then there are songs that become part of your daily routine. For me, Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" falls into the second category.

Every morning my Echo Studio wakes me with Tony Iommi's unmistakable guitar riff. If I'm in a hurry I'll silence it before Ozzy Osbourne has a chance to sing a word. On a more relaxed morning I let the whole track play before getting out of bed. It's become such a habit that I can't imagine waking up to anything else.

Of course, "Paranoid" deserves its place in rock history. Released in 1970, it was written almost as an afterthought to pad out the album, yet it became Black Sabbath's signature song. Clocking in at under three minutes, it's one of the shortest songs they ever recorded, but it captures everything that made the band unique. Tony Iommi's unforgettable riff, Geezer Butler's driving bass, Bill Ward's energetic drumming and Ozzy's unmistakable voice combine to create a song that still sounds fresh more than fifty years later.

I've heard "Paranoid" literally thousands of times, yet I never tire of it. Perhaps that's because I rarely sit down and choose to play it. Instead, it arrives at exactly the same moment every day, announcing that it's time to stop sleeping and start living.

Not many songs can claim to have changed the history of heavy metal. Even fewer can claim to have got me out of bed every morning.

Who am I (3 Stars)

Today's the first time I've seen "Who Am I?", and I have to admit I was disappointed. This isn't really a Jackie Chan film; it's a spy thriller that just happens to star Jackie Chan.

The story is interesting enough. After a military operation in Africa goes disastrously wrong, Jackie survives but loses his memory. Unable to remember even his own name, he sets out to discover who he is while being hunted by the people who betrayed him. The plot is surprisingly similar to the Jason Bourne films, mixing amnesia with an international conspiracy.

The problem is that Jackie rarely gets to do what he does best. The film spends so much time on espionage, journalists and corporate villains that the martial arts seem almost like an afterthought. Whenever a fight breaks out, it feels as though it's been added to remind us we're watching a Jackie Chan film rather than because the story needed it.

That's not to say the action is poor. The final rooftop fight is excellent, and Jackie's famous slide down the side of the Rotterdam building remains one of the greatest stunts of his career. I only wish there had been more moments like these.

As a spy thriller, "Who Am I?" is perfectly enjoyable. As a Jackie Chan film, I wanted more. It's worth seeing once, but I don't think it'll ever become one of my favourites.

Mr. Nice Guy (5 Stars)

Note that this is the first film with Jackie Chan that I haven't flagged as Chinese. It was filmed in Australia, and almost all the dialogue is in English. Practically the only Chinese dialogue is private conversations between Jackie and his girlfriend Miki.

Why do so many critics dismiss "Mr. Nice Guy" (1997)? I honestly don't get it. They complain that the plot is paper thin, the villains are cartoonish and the humour is childish. Well, yes... but none of that matters. This is Jackie Chan at his absolute peak, delivering one astonishing action sequence after another. If you're expecting a deep, meaningful screenplay, you're watching the wrong film.

The real genius behind the film is director Sammo Hung. Few action directors understand pacing as well as he does. There's hardly a quiet moment in the entire running time. Every chase, fight and stunt flows effortlessly into the next, yet the film never becomes exhausting because Hung constantly changes the setting and the style of the action. One minute Jackie is improvising with kitchen utensils, the next he's racing through Melbourne on a bicycle or hanging from a speeding crane. It's a masterclass in keeping an audience entertained.

Jackie Chan is, as always, phenomenal. His comic timing is perfect, his stunts are breath-taking, and his ability to turn everyday objects into weapons remains unmatched. The spectacular finale, with a gigantic construction vehicle tearing through buildings, is exactly the kind of over-the-top climax that Hong Kong action cinema does better than anyone else.

Perhaps critics wanted a darker, more sophisticated crime thriller. If so, they completely misunderstood what Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan were trying to achieve. "Mr. Nice Guy" isn't about realism. It's about excitement. It's about keeping you on the edge of your seat while wondering how on earth Jackie survived another impossible stunt.

Sometimes cinema doesn't need to be profound. Sometimes it just needs to be brilliantly entertaining. "Mr. Nice Guy" understands that better than most action films. It's one of Jackie Chan's finest achievements and one of Sammo Hung's most underrated films as a director.

Police Story 4: First Strike (3 Stars)

"Police Story 4: First Strike" (1996) is a strange entry in Jackie Chan's most famous series because it barely resembles a Police Story film at all. The gritty Hong Kong police work of the previous films has disappeared, replaced by an international spy adventure involving the CIA, Russian agents, nuclear warheads and globe-trotting locations from Ukraine to Australia. It's closer to a light-hearted James Bond film than anything suggested by the title.

The biggest problem is the screenplay. Jackie spends the film chasing one person after another, yet it's surprisingly difficult to understand who's working for whom. Double-crosses, secret agents and smugglers are introduced so quickly that the story becomes little more than an excuse to move Jackie from one spectacular stunt to the next. Even by the end, many viewers may struggle to explain exactly why half the fights happened.

Fortunately, Jackie Chan's action choreography is as inventive as ever. The ladder fight in the warehouse is one of his greatest comic action sequences, the underwater shark encounter is unforgettable and the film rarely goes more than a few minutes without another dazzling stunt. Stanley Tong directs the action with tremendous energy, even if the plot never catches up.

"First Strike" is entertaining if you stop worrying about the story and simply enjoy Jackie Chan risking his life for your amusement. As a spy thriller it barely makes sense. As a Police Story film it feels completely out of place. It's an action spectacle held together almost entirely by the charisma and athletic brilliance of its star.

Cocorico 2 (3 Stars)

I went to see this film as my cinema's sneak peek. Once a week a film is shown before its official release date, but we're not told what it will be. Today the film was a French comedy, "Cocorico 2". I didn't see the first film when it was released in 2024, so I was at a disadvantage. All I'm willing to say is that it's about the friendship of two middle-aged men.

Frédéric Bouvier-Sauvage (Christian Clavier) is a wealthy, proud aristocrat who owns a grand wine estate in Bordeaux. Snobbish, conservative and fiercely protective of his family's social status, he looks down on the Martins as beneath him. DNA test results challenge both his sense of identity and his deeply held prejudices.

Gérard Martin (Didier Bourdon) is a cheerful Peugeot car dealer from a solidly middle-class background. More down-to-earth and outspoken than Frédéric, he's equally proud of his own values and doesn't appreciate being patronised. His rivalry with Frédéric provides most of the film's comedy, as the two men constantly clash over class, culture and family.

Go For It (4 Stars)

"Go For It" (1983) is one of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill's most enjoyable 1980's comedies, even if it takes a frustratingly long time to get going. Rosco Frazer (Terence Hill) and Doug O'Riordan (Bud Spencer) are two petty criminals on the run from the police. After stealing a pair of airplane tickets, they're mistaken for secret agents and unwillingly sent on a dangerous mission.

The first half hour is the film's weakest point. Watching Bud and Terence flee from the authorities lacks the charm and energy of their best work, and the story doesn't really come alive until the mistaken identity plot begins. Once the duo become accidental spies, the film transforms into an affectionate spoof of James Bond and "The Man from UNCLE". High-tech gadgets, eccentric villains, glamorous locations and increasingly absurd action scenes provide the perfect playground for Bud's thunderous punches and Terence's acrobatic trickery.

The humour is consistently inventive, with the pair's complete incompetence as secret agents creating one ridiculous situation after another. Rather than trying to be a genuine spy thriller, "Go For It" delights in poking fun at the genre while never losing sight of the easy-going chemistry that made Bud Spencer and Terence Hill international stars. Their effortless comic timing carries the film through every explosion, chase and fistfight.

It may not be on the level of "They Call Me Trinity", but once the spy adventure begins, "Go For It" becomes one of the duo's funniest later collaborations. If you can sit through the sluggish opening, you're rewarded with an entertaining and highly amusing adventure that proves Bud and Terence could still make audiences laugh well into the 1980s.

Double Trouble (3 Stars)

"Double Trouble" (1984) is the 15th film that Bud Spencer and Terence Hill made together. They're united for a mistaken identity comedy, with two millionaires hiring lookalikes to take their places after becoming targets of assassins. It's a premise that promises plenty of confusion and comic chaos, but the film never makes the most of it.

The biggest problem is the pacing. Despite the constant swapping of identities, the story unfolds surprisingly slowly, with long stretches where very little happens. The jokes are repetitive, the action lacks the spark of the duo's best films and even the trademark brawls feel routine rather than inventive. Bud Spencer and Terence Hill are as likeable as ever, but their effortless chemistry can't disguise a tired script. Compared with their classic collaborations, "Double Trouble" is one of their dullest and most forgettable outings.

All the Way, Boys (4 Stars)

I watched this film today dubbed into German. The German title is "Zwei Himmelhunde auf dem Weg zur Hölle", i.e. "Two Heaven Dogs on their way to Hell". It's the seventh of 17 films that Bud Spencer and Terence Hill made as a comedy duo. It's sometimes incorrectly claimed that they made 18 films together. They both appeared in 1he 1959 film, "Hannibal", but they had no screentime together.

"All the Way Boys" arrived at exactly the right moment in Bud Spencer and Terence Hill's careers. After the phenomenal success of "They Call Me Trinity" and "Trinity Is Still My Name", audiences wanted more of the pair's effortless chemistry. Instead of another western, director Giuseppe Colizzi threw them into a modern adventure full of planes, treasure hunters, missionaries and, of course, spectacular fistfights. It proved that Bud and Terence weren't just stars of comedy westerns; they could entertain in almost any setting.

The story follows the pilots Plata and Salud, whose latest job is to deliberately crash an ageing aircraft for an insurance scam. Instead, they find themselves stranded in the Amazon rainforest, where a legendary treasure, ruthless criminals and a remote mission turn a simple fraud into a full-blown adventure. The plot is really just an excuse to throw Bud and Terence from one comic set piece to the next, and that's exactly what the film needs.

What makes the film so enjoyable is the relaxed confidence of its two leads. Terence Hill supplies the charm, quick thinking and acrobatic movement, while Bud Spencer is the immovable force who solves problems with a thunderous punch. Their comic timing has never been sharper. By this stage they understand exactly how to play off each other, making every argument, prank and fight feel completely natural.

The action also marks an important step in their evolution. The famous slapstick brawls are larger and more polished than ever, mixing genuine stunt work with cartoon humour. Instead of violence, the fights deliver laughter, a formula that would become the trademark of nearly every Bud Spencer and Terence Hill film that followed.

Although it isn't usually ranked alongside their greatest classics such as "They Call Me Trinity",  "All the Way Boys" is one of the films that secured their future as Europe's biggest comedy duo. It proved they weren't tied to one genre and could carry a modern action comedy just as successfully as a western. For millions of fans, this was the beginning of the classic Bud and Terence formula that would dominate the rest of the 1970's.

It's a lightweight adventure, but it's also an important milestone. Without "All the Way Boys", Bud Spencer and Terence Hill might have remained remembered as western heroes. Instead, they became one of cinema's most beloved comedy partnerships, and this film helped them spread their wings far beyond the Wild West.

Off-Topic: The Euro Confusion

In 1999 a new currency was introduced, the Euro. Actually, it was introduced in two stages, as a virtual currency for online transactions only on 1st January 1999, and as a real currency when Euro banknotes and coins were distributed on 1st January 2002. In this article I don't want to discuss the currency itself, but the symbol used to represent it, as shown above.

The Euro symbol was first made public on 12th December 1996, after the European Commission held secret sessions to pick from a selection of 30 designs. The 29 rejected designs were kept secret to avoid public discussion about the symbol after its release. I can't help admitting that I'm curious. Someone somewhere must have a list that's been lying in his desk for the last 30 years.

The symbol is supposedly a letter E with two horizontal bars. I don't see the resemblance to an E. It looks much more like a capital C. Maybe there's a slight resemblance to a small E, but even so it looks more like a capital C.

At first it was requested that the symbol should be used exactly as shown above, but typeface designers protested. Their argument was that all other currency symbols, such as the American dollar and the British pound, vary from one typeface to another in order to retain the typeface's style. The European Commission was sensible enough to allow artistic renderings of the Euro symbol.

Here are examples of the Euro symbol in five common fonts. Note that the C in the Euro symbol has been squashed in every case except for Courier New, a monospace font.

Since I moved to Germany I've been confused to see the Euro currency symbol written both before and after the number, either €25.99 or 25.99 €. Today I finally checked which one is correct. Germany's official writing guidelines, DIN 5008, is clear on the subject. The Euro symbol has to be written after the number with a separating space. The only exception is that banks and financial institutions are allowed to put the symbol before numbers. Anyone who puts it before the number in other contexts is wrong.

What about the other European countries? Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands and Cyprus put the symbol before the number, all others put it after the number. So much for European unity! But there's one more rule that makes it even more confusing. Any document written in English, such as a tourism brochure or a restaurant menu at an airport, must place the Euro symbol before numbers regardless of national rules.

This is a mess. Is it too late for the European Commission to send a letter to all the European Union's member states, telling them to do it one way only?