Richard has written 39 reviews for films during 2014.
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Tangled 2010
It will forever live in the shadow of Disney's insanely successful follow-up Frozen, but Tangled boasts a tighter story, some fabulous characters and rattles along at a cracking pace. Only the songs really make it the inferior offering to the all-conquering Frozen.
I spent three quarters if the film puzzling as to who it was Mother Gothel reminded me of. And I mean she REALLY reminded me of someone.
Then finally - I twigged.
Carol Vorderman.Translated from en by Google -
The Bishop's Wife 1947
A late 40s film in which an angel in a suit comes down from heaven to help a man struggling with his life. Sound familiar?
The Bishop's Wife is no It's a Wonderful Life, but does feature a winning performance from Carey Grant and plenty of Christmassy shenanigans.
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20,000 Days on Earth 2014
It's not a documentary as such. It's sort of but not quite a character study. So what is 20,000 Days on Earth?
During the running time there's about half an hour of truly great footage, ranging from an eel-based lunch with hirsute Bad Seed Warren Ellis through all-to-brief car rides with Kylie Minogue, ex-band mate Blixa Bargeld and Ray Winstone (the Winstone conversation being the best and funniest of the three) to some excellent rehearsal and recording footage.
But ultimately…
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An Officer and a Gentleman 1982
Richard Gere is the least gentlemanly gentleman ever called a gentleman in the title of a film. A gentleman wouldn't, generally, call a young lady a "cunt" I don't believe. Even if the young lady in question had done something bad.
The film is melodramatic hogwash, with Louis Gossett Jr's Oscar-winning performance as a tough drill sergeant the only saving grace.
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Knight and Day 2010
There's so much wrong with Knight and Day it's hard to know where to begin. Obvious CGI, contrived plot, unlikable characters, horrible score...
The film is partly salvaged by a couple of well constructed action sequences but ultimately Knight and Day is utter, utter rubbish.
Even the title doesn't make sense.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 2011
It's a big wizard fight! Lots of stuff gets destroyed!
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 2010
It's a dark, dark film. Not the tone. I mean you can't see a bloody thing that's going on half the time.
Paced in much the same way as the first half of the final book - whizz-bang action sequences up front and then lots of camping in a tent and arguing.
The unanswered question is of course where do Harry, Ron and Hermione go to the loo while hiding out in various wilderness locations? Does the magic tent have a magic en suite?
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009
The most low-key entry in the series and, like the book, largely exists to set things up for the grand Deathly Hallows showdown. I can't help feeling that anyone who hasn't read the books would struggle to understand a fair amount of what goes on in this film.
Translated from en by Google