Tuesday 29 December 2015

Freeview film choices : tuesday 29th of December

Carry On Nurse (1959 85min.) [Ch5 12.30pm &+1]
Comedy starring Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey and Hattie Jacques. The nursing staff on the men's surgical ward at Haven Hospital find themselves having to cope with the endless antics of their amorous patients.

The Dam Busters (1954 119min.) [C5 2.15pm &+1]
Classic wartime drama, starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave, about the audacious RAF mission to destroy the Ruhr dams with "bouncing" bombs designed by aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis.

The film works because it's less about heroic acts of bravery and more about the skill, ingenuity and ability of inventor Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave) and the team of flyers led by Guy Gibson (Richard Todd).
Add in director Michael Anderson's solid work (the flying sequences are especially well done), the fact that there's (unusually) a well written role for a woman (Ursula Jeans as Wallis' wife) and Eric Coates' stirring theme "The Dam Busters March" and you have one of the definitive British films from the 1950's cycle that looked back to the events of the previous decade.


Coraline (2008 96min.) [Ch4 2.30pm&+1]
Animated fantasy, featuring the voices of Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher. A little girl finds a hidden door that leads to an eerie parallel world where her "Other Mother" lavishes her with attention, but she soon feels stifled and wants to go home.

Henry Selick, who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, adapted this deliciously creepy stop-motion animation fantasy from the children's book by Neil Gaiman.
Coraline (superbly voiced by Dakota Fanning) is bored in the big old house she's just moved into with her parents, who are too busy to talk to her, so she goes through a door leading to a parallel world where mum and dad are lots more fun, even if they do have buttons for eyes, and where the already weird neighbours (Ian McShane as a Russian acrobat with a mouse circus; French and Saunders as ageing burlesque stars with Scottie dogs) are even weirder.
There's even more to this magical parallel world than meets the eye, and some of it turns out to be not very pleasant.
There's a slightly ill-judged addition of a young male character who wasn't in the original book but adults as well as children should enjoy this spooky, imaginative modern children's classic, almost worthy of being set alongside Spirited Away.

Just a note of caution : some of the more intense scenes may not be suitable for the under tens.

Paranorman (2012 88min.) [Film4 4.20pm &+1]
Animated horror comedy featuring the voice of Kodi Smith-McPhee. Young Norman Babcock has the ability to see and talk to ghosts, but no one in Blithe Hollow believes him. When he discovers that a witch's curse hangs over the town, he realises that it is his destiny put an end to it.
Entertaining fun which builds to a teriffic final twenty minutes or so.

Finding Neverland (2004 96min.) [BBC2 5.55pm]
Fictional account of the evolution and creation of children's classic Peter Pan, starring Johnny Depp as Scottish playwright JM Barrie. In the early 1900s, Barrie's lacklustre career is reinvigorated when he befriends the four fatherless Llewelyn Davies boys and their recently widowed mother, Sylvia. As their relationship develops, the seeds are sown for Barrie's most famous work.

Rather charming fantasy with the young Freddie Highmore outstanding as Peter.
Johnny Depp reigns it in a bit and gives a warm and thoughtful performance and Kate Winslet’s Sylvia is a compassionate and caring presence, neatly balancing out Barrie’s flights of fancy and mercurial nature.

Master And Commander : The Far Side Of The World (2003 132min.) [Film4 6.10pm &+1]

Period adventure drama based on the novels by Patrick O'Brian, starring Russell Crowe. In 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, British frigate HMS Surprise is out-gunned by a French warship and badly damaged. Despite severe injuries to his crew and his opponent's greater fire power, uncompromising captain Jack Aubrey patches up the Surprise and sets off to seek revenge.

Thoroughly entertaining seafaring adventure story.
Russell Crowe reins it in a bit as the driven but human ship's captain driven to pursue a French pirateer seeking revenge and glory while Paul Bettany gives a quiet, thoughtful but well rounded performance as the ships doctor and resident biologist.

There's some spectacular CGI effects and model work (the rounding of Cape Horn in a full-on storm is especially well done) and Peter Weir spends enough time with the main characters and a strong supporting cast to add some human interest to the action sequences.

Genuinely exciting in places and very well photographed and shot - although it did unconvincing box-office business it's by no means a failure.
Warmly recommended for a chilly autumn evening.


The Shawshank Redemption (1994 136min.) [ITV2 9.00pm &+1]
Prison drama, based on a story by Stephen King, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Maine 1946: sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover, mild-mannered banker Andy Dufresne tries to adapt to the brutalities of prison life. Over the years, Dufresne's friendship with long-term inmate "Red" and the discovery that his financial expertise is suddenly in big demand make his ordeal easier to bear.

The Purge (2013 81mins.) [Film4 9.00pm &+1]
Futuristic horror thriller starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey.

Writer/director James DeMonaco throws a lot of subtext and moral questioning into what is, in essence, a survival of the fittest, horror thriller : but the two excellent leads are up to the job and deliver an entertaining film superbly assisted by lead villain Rhys Wakefield.

Erin Brockovich (2000 125min.) [C5 10.45pm &+1]
Oscar-winning biographical drama starring Julia Roberts. When she loses a lawsuit following a car accident, unemployed single mother Erin Brockovich browbeats her lawyer, Ed Masry, into giving her a job. Soon she discovers that a power company has been dumping toxic waste and poisoning the residents of a small town. Masry's firm takes up the case - making Brockovich the unlikely linchpin in one of corporate America's biggest ever lawsuits.
Despite some surprisingly flat direction by Steven Soderburgh the film keeps you interested thanks to an all-guns-blazing performance by Julia Roberts.
The film is over-long and loses its way several times : but the powerful central story and Roberts’ cyclonic acting keep you interested in the characters and their story.

Wolfcop (2014 75min.) [Film4 12.35am wednesday &+1]

Alcoholic police officer Lou Garou follows up on a disturbance call in a remote area, but blacks out shortly after arriving on the scene and the following night he transforms from a man into rage-fuelled werewolf. During the day, Lou struggles to remain in control while working to uncover the mystery of cursed him and why. Comedy horror, starring Leo Fafard.

It's a very long way from being brilliant and the 'story' extends very little further than the set-up ; but its short running length, some well done effects and a few moments of inventive humour mean that it's not an utter waste of time.

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