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RəX Regent (349 KP) rated Batman: The Movie (1966) in Movies

Feb 18, 2019 (Updated Feb 18, 2019)  
Batman: The Movie (1966)
Batman: The Movie (1966)
1966 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb!
Before the Frank Miller’s Dark Knight, there was the Caped Crusader; The founding member of the Dynamic Duo, Batman and his ward, the Boy Wonder, Robin. In order to promote the series, after Batman’s first season, a theatrical version was green-lit. Bigger and longer than any of the soon to be syndicated TV show, which would ultimately run for three seasons, Batman was on the big screen with “all his wonderful toys” and a whole host of new ones.

Welcome, the Bat Ladder, Bat-boat, Bat-copter and of course the Bat Shark Repellent! The wry humour can easily be dismissed as hammy and cheap, but in fact, this incarnation of Batman struck a cord and ran with it with confidence. And in this era of The Dark Knight, Batman Light is a welcome respite from all the dower self flagellation of the character.

The late Adam West and Burt Ward are as dry as ever as they over act and dramatically fight crime against a collection of cartoon villains, with this movie delivering the most popular, The Joker (Caesar Romero), Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin, all of whom have been brought together by Burgess Meredith’s, Penguin.

Fun from start to finish, with Batman gags, satirical humour and out and out farce! (The bomb gag is classic!) An outrageous plot involving dehydrating the UN Security Council is delivered at a breakneck pace, with one set piece being delivered after another. It is hard to imagine that so much happens in such a lean running time. This is a smart comedy with does not out stay its welcome.

And that is the thing with Batman (1966); It is a smart comedy posing a piece of nonsense. A point proven by its popularity 50 years on. If anything, the recent Lego Batman Movie plays the same hand, only it gets away with it because its a kids Lego digi-mation. But the humour is very similar, irreverently honouring their source.

If you have not seen this in years and god forbid, not at all then get yourself…

…”to the Batmobile!”
  
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Kaz (232 KP) rated Oh Dear Silvia in Books

May 15, 2019  
Oh Dear Silvia
Oh Dear Silvia
Dawn French | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
7
5.5 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's funny and beautifully written (0 more)
The ending was resolved too quickly (0 more)
What the 'blurb' says:


'Silvia Shute lies in a hospital bed. Family and friends are at her side, each thinking they know the real Silvia. But do they? For Silvia hides a secret. And as her visitors gather, so the truth about Silvia is slowly revealed...'


My Thoughts:

I had never read anything by Dawn French (for anyone who doesn't know who she is, she is a famous British comedian, best known as one half of comedy duo French and Saunders) before reading 'Oh Dear Silvia' and to be honest, I had low expectations of it.

 It's not that I didn't like Dawn French, I think she is a very funny woman. However with there being a current trend of celebrities writing cheesy, badly written chick-lit and selling copies because of their names alone, I thought this was going to be the same. Thankfully, I was wrong.

The writing is this book is very good. The descriptions are, at times, beautiful and each of the characters are believable and diverse. Even though the main character doesn't utter a single word throughout the book, I still felt that I knew her because of the other characters and their complex relationships with each other. One of the characters, Silvia's sister Jo, for me felt like a bit of cartoon character at the beginning. There is a scene involving her in the book, which I felt didn't fit in with the tone of the story, but I still laughed at it though. As the book progressed though, I did warm to her.

The pace of the book was slow, but I felt that this was effective, because it allowed the story to unfold at a natural pace. Towards the end, however, one of the more sinister elements of the plot, was concluded slightly quicker and in more lighthearted way, than it should have been. In my opinion, this could have been dealt with better and with more impact.

Overall, I'm glad that I read this book because on the whole, it's written with sensitivity and subtle wit. I look forward to reading more of Dawn French's novels in the future.


My Rating ****
  
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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated A Dog's Way Home (2019) in Movies

Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)  
A Dog's Way Home (2019)
A Dog's Way Home (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Drama, Family
Being by the same author as A Dog's Purpose you basically know the sort of film you're going to be getting and it doesn't disappoint on that front.

All the real life floofs were amazing and Shelby as Bella obviously gets five stars. The CGI floofs however should probably get a minus amount of stars. You notice it right from the start but once you get to that cougar that's when you think "oh it really is that bad!" It kind of feels like they found a cartoon of a cougar instead of a photo of one to work from.

I don't know where Ashley Judd has been hiding but it was good to see her back in a film. It was a nice little role and she did well with what she was given.

Bryce Dallas Howard was the voice of Bella and she does manage to give her the right tone for all the different situations. It's exactly what you think a dog would sound like if it could talk.

Bella's script is quite fun. Snow is ice cream falling from the sky and cutting the grass is indeed taking the mower for a walk, she even dislikes playing "go to work"... so do we Bella, so do we.

This had potential to be a 3.5/4 star film if it hadn't been for the frankly awful CGI, but I don't think I could see my way clear to give it more than that. It's predictable, just from the synopsis above you can make guesses at what's going to happen... something/someone is the reason Bella is far from home, she'll run away the first chance she gets, danger and camaraderie will be the themes while she's on her journey, she will somehow make it back even though it looks like everything is lost and they'll all live happily ever after.

What you should do

There are probably a lot of classic family films to stream or you already own which do the same job so there's probably no rush to see this one at the cinema. If you do though... take tissues.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

Any amount of floofs will do me!
  
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
John Hughes Film Inside a Superhero Cartoon
Spider-Man: Far From Home is the prototypical teen film from the eighties that was not written with the keen insight of John Hughes or one of his proteges. There is the teen girl who kind of likes this boy, but they are friends and she is afraid of losing him as a friend if they start to date. She doesn't flirt with embarrassingly tossed off factoids that only attract him more. There is also a dorky guy who is in love with a girl in his school so instead of directly asking her out he comes up with an elaborate plot to win her over. But at least the plan doesn't end in rape where the sex causes the dream girl to fall head over heels in love. In addition to our lovers, there is a romantic rival who blackmails the guy so he can't attempt wooing the girl. There is a horndog best friend who tries to convince the guy to give up a monogamous relationship for casual sex with multiple partners on an European vacation. There is the bully who hates the dorky guy, but is smitten with the hero who is the dorky guy in disguise, i.e., Teen Wolf. There is a second milquetoast girl who makes occasional appearances in the film so it is not some sausage fest with one female character in search of love. Then, there are a lot of ineffectual adults in the film except for one sympathetic adult who serves as a mentor. The mentor tries to help out teen to win the love of his life and figure out his path in life. And, there is also a heartless boss the teen has to work with who rides his ass and makes him want to quit, but he needs the money. Against all odds, the dorky guy succeeds and transitions into a functional adult male of some character.
Overall, the movie is extremely satisfactory and sets up a whole new set of Marvel movies. But it leaves several huge questions due to the credit cookies, one of which is Where is Maria Hill? (not really a spoiler)