The Green Mile (5 Stars)

Let me state for the record that I'm not a fan of Stephen King's books. I discovered Clive Barker first and didn't read a single Stephen King novel until I'd read all of Barker's books. In comparison they seemed very lightweight and unsatisfying. It was like a man who's used to steak eating his first slice of tinned ham. I would go as far as to say that I don't understand why King is more popular than Barker. Maybe it's for that very reason. King's style is light, easy reading, whereas Barker is heavy and "classical" in his approach.

Stephen King has certainly made an impression on cinema. He is the author who holds the record for the most of his books (and short stories) having been filmed. A recent issue of Empire magazine listed about 50 of his films. I wish I hadn't thrown it away, I was too diligent in my cleaning up. His stories certainly make good films. "Carrie" and "The Shining" are icons of film history. "The Green Mile" rates just as highly, in my opinion. Three hours long and never boring for a single minute.

I expect most of my readers have already seen the film, so I'll keep my review brief. It's a departure from King's older horror stories, although it has a supernatural element. It's a prison drama set in the Depression era. The 1930's? Tom Hanks plays the head of a prison's death row. He has an unusual inmate, a simple minded man, and he immediately begins to doubt he's guilty of the crime that he has been accused of. All the characters in this film, the good guys and the bad guys, are rich believable characters, like broad strokes in a painting.

There's one small point that I consider an anachronism. Percy is shown reading an erotic comic about someone called "Miss Lotta Leadpipe". Comics like this didn't exist in the 1930's. The first comics featuring female domination were printed in the late 1940's, the most popular artists being Gene Bilbrew and Eric Stanton. I have no explanation why female domination as an artform appeared at this particular point in history; it would make a good subject for a doctoral thesis.

But sorry for that, I'm always picking on minor matters. Call me pedantic if you must. The truth is that this is a great film, one of the best I've ever seen. If you've never seen it, please watch it, you won't be disappointed.

Gia (4 Stars)

Yet another true story. That's three in a row I've watched. I must admit that I enjoy watching a film knowing that it's true. Truth is often stranger than fiction.

This is the story of the rise and fall of the American supermodel Gia Marie Carangi, in a career that only lasted nine years until she died at the age of 26. I admit that I had never heard of her before the film was recommended to me. I'm ignorant of the fashion world. Angelina Jolie's portrayal of Gia is poignant and moving, showing both the strengths and weaknesses of this remarkable woman.

Ip Man (4½ Stars)

This film is the true story of the martial arts master Ip Man and his difficulties during the Japanese occupation of China. The fighting scenes themselves are toned down, as the film is intended to be as realistic as possible. I'll allow myself the liberty of quoting another reviewer who has said everything better than I possibly could:

"Ip Man" is adapted from the life story of Ip Man, the grand master of the Wing Chun style of kung-fu and sifu (master) of the legendary kung-fu superstar Bruce Lee. Wing Chun has a history of more than 200 years. It was founded by Yim Wing Chun, took root in the hands of Leung Chun, and prospered with Ip Man. The art of Wing Chun has now become very popular with martial arts enthusiasts, especially overseas. It is a traditional Chinese martial art with a formidable reputation internationally.

Wing Chun is characterised by close body combat, requiring practitioners to show speed and power. Chi Sao or "sticking hands" is more similar to modern day combat skills and has a rich feel of genuine strikes. This is also why "Ip Man" differs from the dazzingly romantic and purely fictional style of previous martial art movies. Its explosive punches and aggressive close-range combat offer a new thrill never experienced by modern day audiences.

The story of Wing Chun began in the 1920's and 30's, in wartorn China. Ip Man was martial art's unyielding follower, devoted whole-heartedly to the free learning of wushu. The fight to be top between the wushu schools in the southern and northern regions of China had not stopped him having goodwill matches with other practitioners. Nationalistic bad feelings and racial hatred had not lessened his respect for Japanese kung fu warriors. In this great era of hatreds and tragedies, Ip focused only on wushu. His enthusiasm for martial arts saw him having devastating straight fights with various elite practitioners.

To this date there have been neither movies nor publications about Ip Man. This movie will be the first important record of the master's life. Ip's persistent devotion to Wing Chun is a classic example of the love and respect shown to wushu and the freedom and spirit it represents. This movie will see the making of a modern wushu master representative of Chinese people worldwide. "Ip Man" is a concept, a spirit, a way of thinking – and it represents a new peak in Hong Kong's martial arts movies choreographed expertly by the legendary Sammo Hung.

The Runaways (4 Stars)

This is a difficult film to rate. Should I give it stars based on its entertainment value or its historical accuracy? The DVD box has the blurb "The story of the most influential rock band you've never heard of". And that's just it. I know the Runaways. I was a big fan of theirs in my teens. I followed their rise and fall closely. And I know enough to tell my readers that the film is biased. It tells the story from Joan Jett's perspective.

After Cherie Currie left the band in 1977 there was a struggle for leadership of the group. Kim Fowley put Lita Ford in charge of the group as she was, in his opinion, the most mature. Joan Jett gained most of the attention after Currie's departure, since she took over as lead singer, and claimed that she was the boss. There were a lot of arguments about musical styles that eventually led to the group breaking up. The disputes about the control of the group are left out of the film. The film is based on Jett's recollections, and she's rewritten history the way she thinks it should be remembered. The film also omits the drink and drug excesses of the group during their prolonged stays in England. I can imagine that Ford was clenching her fists in anger the first time she saw the film.

But on the positive side, the film is entertaining. Kristen Stewart is excellent as Joan Jett. If you compare photos of her and Jett in her earlier years it's difficult to tell them apart. Dakota Fanning was a good choice to play Cherie Currie, but she's lacking the provocative sexuality that I remember so well from Currie. Or maybe it was deliberately toned down. The Runaways were a controversial group in their time. They were only 16 when they first achieved fame, and they created a Lolita image to gain notoriety. The late 70's were the days of punk, and it was "acceptable" to be shocking. Today audiences are more prude.

The film is worth watching, but remember that it doesn't tell the full story.

The Lair Of the White Worm (2½ Stars)

I bought this film after seeing a short clip on television. It seemed like a fascinating horror film, and since it's based on a Bram Stoker novel I expected quality. It didn't live up to my expectations. The problem is Hugh Grant. I've never understood his success as an actor. He's incapable of playing a role, any role, he can only play himself. Maybe it's his Britishness that endears him with American audiences? I don't know.

The story itself is good. In a remote Scottish village an ancient creature, a carnivorous giant worm, returns periodically to devour members of the local population. The film has erotic moments, and is in serious need of a remake. Without Hugh Grant.

The Truth About Love (3 Stars)

This British film is a highly unusual love story with an unexpected outcome. Sam and Alice are happily married. Sort of. They're both content with their life, but the magic has gone. Sam's best friend, Archie, is secretly in love with Alice. While drunk Archie sends Alice an anonymous Valentine's card, which she assumes is from Sam. She sends him a card back, also anonymous, which he hides from her, making her suspect he's being unfaithful. This leads to a series of intrigues. Alice sends her husband text messages, pretending to be another woman. Sam actually has a secret lover, a foreigner called Branka, who becomes jealous of his new lover and sets out to expose her. Is the film a comedy or a tragedy? You decide!

End of Days (5 Stars)

This is a film I enjoy a lot. I saw it in the cinema when it was first released in 1999, and I've often watched it since, first on videotape, now on DVD. I know that there are lots of things that can be criticised about it. The plot has more holes than Swiss cheese. An example is the priest's explanation of the number 666 in Revelation 13:18. "Prophets sometimes see the future upside down. The number isn't really 666, it's 999, which signifies our year, 1999". Doh! That's amazing theology, isn't it?

But I still like the film. Why? First of all, this is Arnold Schwarzenegger's best performance as an actor, even better than his acting in "Terminator". Gabriel Byrne is the ultimate in cool as the Devil. The action scenes are exciting. The underground cults in New York encompassing doctors and police detectives are scary but plausible. Just close your eyes to the illogical elements, and you'll enjoy this film too.

Holy Smoke (3½ Stars)

This is one of those films that I think has a message somewhere, but I just don't know what the writer and director are trying to say.

Kate Winslet plays a young Australian girl who goes on holiday to India and joins a cult. Since they suspect brainwashing her family and friends kidnap her and deliver her to a deprogrammer, played by Harvey Keitel. From his first appearance he makes an arrogant overbearing impression, alienating all around him by saying he's the best at what he does and everyone should just do what he says. While isolated together in a desert hut the deprogammer takes advantage of the girl, seducing her and making her emotionally dependent on him.

Excellent performances by the two lead characters, but I can't rate this any higher because I just don't understand the message. Cults are good, deprogrammers are bad? Your guess is as good as mine.

TV Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Some of my regular readers may wonder why I haven't updated my blog for so long. You're wondering whether I've stopped watching films. The answer is actually Yes. Over the past few weeks I've been watching tv series on DVD instead of films. As you know, I don't regularly review tv series, only when I have something special to say. I've been watching various tv series, such as "Angel", "Supernatural", "Doctor Who" and "The Tribe"... but more than anything else "Star Trek: The Next Generation", which I'll refer to as TNG in this post.

Although I was old enough to have seen TNG when it was first broadcast, I missed it entirely. I jumped straight from the original series of "Star Trek" (TOS) to "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (DS9). For the last 15 years I've watched random episodes of TNG on reruns, but now is the first time I've sat down to watch the episodes in order. It seems like a completely new series to me, so I'll review it as something new.

If I understand the Star Trek chronology, TNG takes place 100 years after TOS. It's also an advance in the stories and the characterisation. The Enterprise in the orginal series is very frugal. The canteen is without decorations, and there are no facilities for recreation. It seems more like a prison than a place of work. In TNG it's better than a workplace, it looks like a home. In the original series the stories all rotated around the three main characters, Kirk, Spock and McCoy. In many episodes, especially in the third season, McCoy was part of the landing team even when there was no logical need for a doctor. It was also questionable whether the captain of a starship would leave his post to go on risky scouting missions. Even if he did go, would he take his second-in-command (Spock) with him?

TNG has more characters who share the stories. While Captain Jean-Luc Picard is the central character, he doesn't dominate the stories like Kirk did in TOS. The Klingons have suddenly become allies and there is even a Klingon on board the Enterprise. The new Klingons look very different, but the reason for their change is kept a mystery until a later series. One thing I find strange is the presence of Wesley on the bridge. He's given a place because he's a child prodigy, but I suspect the decision was made by the programme planners. Overall TNG is more mature than TOS, so some executive in a big office decided that there had to be a young boy to make the series attractive to children.

That's all I have to say for now, after having watched only the first season. I may have more to write after seeing more.

"Stop playing so innocent! I know you were staring at my cameltoe!"

"If you do it again I'll slap your face!"

R.I.P. Elisabeth Sladen

1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011

I just heard about the death of this great British actress. It was a total shock to me. I never even knew she was suffering from cancer. I'm going to sit and watch a few episodes of "The Sarah Jane Adventures" today to remember her. Rest In Peace.

Iron Man (4½ Stars)

In typical New Marvel style the story of Iron Man's origin is retold. I wish that the films could take place in the 1960's, when the comics were first written, but I guess that the film makers thought the films would be more relevant if they took place in the present. One other change from the comics is that the heroes frequently remove their mask in a showdown. That is something that is totally incorrect. The masks -- or in Iron Man's case the helmet -- should stay on.

So what are the other differences here? In the comics Tony Stark designed his suit while captured by the Chinese. Pepper Potts was less efficient and less attractive. And Nick Fury wasn't black.

So no review here. I assume most of my readers have seen the film and know what it's about. If not, go rent it now.

Living Dead Girl (3½ Stars)

This is a film by the master of psychedelic horror, Jean Rollin. Two workers have an accident while illegally hiding toxic waste in a crypt. The result is that a beautiful woman rises up from a coffin. After eating one of the workers she returns to the castle where her sister lives. She's not a vampire or a zombie, as the advertisements suggest. She's only an immortal cannibal.

It's difficult to say who is the biggest monster of the two sisters. The one who is a normal person kidnaps young girls and takes them back to the castle to feed to her sister. The cannibal sister regrets what she does and tries to curb her appetites.

This film is untypical for Rollin. It is has gore scenes that are never included in his usual films. As a fan of his vampire films I found some of the scenes very distasteful.

Quadrophenia (4½ Stars)

First let me say that the picture quality of the UK DVD release of this film is awful, for no apparent reason. I've seen it on television a few times, and the quality was much better. I don't know what went wrong. A similar case of this happening is the second season of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". The picture quality on televison is excellent, but on the DVD there are parts where the picture starts to wave, like the DVD image has been copied from a fuzzy videotape.

England in 1965. Gang wars between the Mods and the Rockers are common. It's a sad story about Jimmy, a teenage boy from London who finds fulfilment by being part of a gang, the Mods, but realises deep down that it's a sham. His first doubts come when his fellow gang members beat up an old school friend because he's a Rocker. After this he goes from disappointment to disappointment. He loses his virginity to a girl who then rushes into the arms of another man. For him it was love, for her only casual sex. For him the street fights with the Rockers in Brighton are a definition of his existence, but for those around him it's just fun. His fellow gang members call him crazy, and he ends up returning to Brighton for self reflection.

Although this film is about the youth movements of the 1960's, I can relate to it in the context of the Punks of the late 70's, a time that I'm old enough to remember. Jimmy says "I don't wanna be like everybody else, that's why I'm a Mod, see?" Isn't that what the punks said? The truth is that Jimmy isn't like everybody else. He is a sensitive person with deep thoughts. By trying to be like the others he loses his way. A tragic film, worth watching.

Jimmy is played by Phil Daniels, 20 years before he reached fame as Alfie Moon in "Eastenders". Also watch out for Ray Winstone and Toyah Willcox, each in one of their first films, as well as a very young looking Sting playing the suave street thug who speaks coolly before throwing punches.

Race with the Devil (3½ Stars)

This is a road movie with a difference. Two young couples are on holiday in a motor home. While camping in a field one night they witness a woman being sacrificed in a Satanic ritual. Like all good Americans they report the incident to the police, not knowing that some of the police on duty also belong to the cult. They are chased from town to town, trying to reach a big city before the cult members catch them.

Holiday On The Buses (4 Stars)

Sorry about the relatively poor quality picture, but I love the way the film poster is in the style of a picture postcard.

This is the third and final film in the "On The Buses" big screen trilogy. Admittedly it's weaker than the first two films, but even as the weakest film it's worth watching. Stan and Jack are fired from their bus company, and they find a new job driving tour buses for a holiday camp. Predictably, they can't escape Inspector Blake, who is also fired and gets a job as security guard at the same holiday camp. Laughs from beginning to end.

Please also check out my reviews of the TV series, "On The Buses" and "Mutiny On The Buses".

101 Reykjavik (3 Stars)

Hlynur is a man in his mid 30's who still lives with his mother. He doesn't work, and he's never left his home town of Reykjavik. Though Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland it only has a population of 120,000 and has a distinctive small town atmosphere.

Hlynur spends the days surfing the Internet for porn and the evenings going to bars and getting drunk. Nothing ever happens in his life until Lola, a flamenco teacher played by Victoria Abril, arrives from Spain and rents a room in his mother's house. His mother falls in love with her and a torrid lesbian relationship ensues. Lola seduces Hlynur, using him to make a baby to bring up as his brother.

An off-beat comedy, this is the first film I've ever seen that was made in Iceland. The film is a curiosity. Maybe I'll have more to say about it when I've watched it again.

Incidentally, the DVD costs $32 in Anerica and £4.50 in England. Poor Americans!

Law Abiding Citizen (4 Stars)

This film is a thrilling story with unusual character motivation. Clyde Shelton is a law abiding citizen. He's a family fan who never does wrong. One day two crooks break into his home. During the robbery one of them kills his wife and daughter. The evidence is too weak for a conviction, but one of the crooks, the one who committed the murder, cuts a deal with the prosecution and testifies against his partner. As a result the murderer gets a light sentence, while the other crook is given the death penalty.

Are you with me so far? Good.

Fast forward 10 years. Shelton is a changed man. Disgusted by his wife and daughter's killer walking around free, he decides to take the law into his own hands. He takes revenge not just on the killer, but on everyone who was involved in the trial. After confessing to a series of murders he's arrested, but he manages to continue his revenge plot while sitting in prison. Does he have a helper on the outside? That's the question the prosecution lawyer has to answer.

Gerard Butler delivers an excellent performance. Apart from the one incident where he stabs his fellow cellmate to death we have sympathy with him. Maybe that scene should have been omitted, because all his other victims were those who he considered to be guilty. The cellmate was an innocent bystander. Nevertheless, haven't we all felt that way at some time in our lives? We know who is guilty of crimes, but we see them walk free because the law doesn't have enough proof to convict them? Don't we feel frustrated and tell ourselves that we could do a better job than the police or the legal system? Clyde Shelton represents us as someone who feels wronged and tries to make a difference.

I might have given this film 5 stars, except for the bland performance of Jamie Foxx as the prosecution lawyer. Foxx has never been a good actor, in my eyes. I've never seen him play a role convincingly. There are a dozen other actors who could have played the part better. Nevertheless, this is a film worth watching.

14 Blades (3½ Stars)

I admit that when I watched the film I didn't really understand what it was about. It became clearer to me after watching the interviews with the cast. That's the main reason for the relatively low rating I give this film.

The film is about the leader of a Chinese secret service who is on the run. He's pursued both by enemies and by his own government. I still don't understand the motivation of the characters or why they were against him. But the cast interviews said that the plot is about a bad man who becomes good. Spectacular action, beautifully filmed, but a confusing story.

If Only (3 Stars)

Excellent acting from Jennifer Love Hewitt in a romantic film that doesn't quite make sense. We can understand what is happening, but not why it happens, and the moral of the story is elusive. To me at least.

A businessman and his lover are having a difficult time together because he isn't giving her the attention she wants. He constantly puts his work first. At the end of an emotionally traumatic day she dies in a random car accident. The man wishes he could have done things differently, and an enigmatic taxi driver gives him the chance to relive the day. But try as he may, whatever efforts he makes, the events repeat themselves, and he realises that there's no way to prevent her death.

Revanche (4 Stars)

This is a gripping Austrian thriller. I don't know how big the Austrian film industry is, but I've only seen two other Austrian films, "Angst" and "The Counterfeiters", and they were all good.

An inept crook robs a bank while his girlfriend waits in the getaway car. As they drive away she's shot dead by a policeman. The policeman is suspended for misconduct, and the crook hides out at his father's farm. When the crook finds out that the policeman lives close to his father he begins to stalk him. While getting close he starts an affair with the policeman's wife, still plotting revenge. This is a thriller with complex moral dilemmas.

P.S. Why does this DVD cost $33 in America when it's only £5 in England?