Search
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Dad's Army (2016) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
Full of wasted British talent
I may be fairly young in years, but I grew up around comedies like Only Fools & Horses, One Foot in the Grave and of course Dad’s Army. I remember many evenings sitting at home with my dad as he cried with laughter at all three, though it was the latter’s influence that stuck with me the most.
Now, Dad’s Army like so many classic TV shows is getting the silver screen treatment, but does this modern-day reimagining, with an all-star British cast live up to the series that delighted so many for so long?
The movie adaptation of Dad’s Army follows on from the TV series, taking place just before the Second World War comes to an end. In Walmington-On-Sea, the Home Guard, led by Captain Mainwaring must track down a German spy, who is intent on swaying the war in their favour.
A whole host of British talent, young and old, star and each and every one of them slots perfectly into the well-worn shoes of classic characters. From Michael Gambon’s effervescent performance as Godfrey and Toby Jones’ faithful portrayal of Mainwaring to Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison taking on the role of Pike, it feels as though the casting team really put a lot of thought into getting the characteristics right.
It doesn’t stop there, Welsh beauty Catherine Zeta Jones, TV favourite Sarah Lancashire and Victor Meldrew’s long-suffering wife Margaret (Annette Crosbie) all make appearances for the fairer sex, with each bringing something to the table.
The scenery is beautiful, filmed just a couple of hours up the road in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, the normally vibrant seaside town is transformed into 1940s Walmington with an enviable amount of detail. Elsewhere, the White Cliffs of Dover are replicated exceptionally at Flamborough on the east coast.
Unfortunately, the story is a little on the light side, barely managing to stretch to the film’s slightly overlong running time. This is an issue that blights many TV to film projects and it feels like this unbelievably talented cast is somewhat wasted with a fairly run-of-the-mill plot.
It also feels like the comedy is on rations. Yes, it’s nostalgic with constant references to its small-screen counterpart, but it comes across like the producers were too busy trying to shoehorn as many elements of the TV series into the film, without concentrating on what Dad’s Army was all about – laughs.
Nevertheless, there is plenty to enjoy despite a lack of giggles. The acting is, as said previously, remarkable with fans of the series and newcomers alike being able to enjoy the warm, typically British feeling these thespians bring to the film.
Overall, Dad’s Army is a decent, albeit slightly underwhelming, effort in bringing one of the most popular TV shows of all time to the big screen. Its talent and casting are undeniable and the filming style is very impressive, but a lack of attention to the plot and a comedy drought stop it short of achieving what it clearly set out to do.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/02/07/full-of-wasted-british-talent-dads-army-review/
Now, Dad’s Army like so many classic TV shows is getting the silver screen treatment, but does this modern-day reimagining, with an all-star British cast live up to the series that delighted so many for so long?
The movie adaptation of Dad’s Army follows on from the TV series, taking place just before the Second World War comes to an end. In Walmington-On-Sea, the Home Guard, led by Captain Mainwaring must track down a German spy, who is intent on swaying the war in their favour.
A whole host of British talent, young and old, star and each and every one of them slots perfectly into the well-worn shoes of classic characters. From Michael Gambon’s effervescent performance as Godfrey and Toby Jones’ faithful portrayal of Mainwaring to Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison taking on the role of Pike, it feels as though the casting team really put a lot of thought into getting the characteristics right.
It doesn’t stop there, Welsh beauty Catherine Zeta Jones, TV favourite Sarah Lancashire and Victor Meldrew’s long-suffering wife Margaret (Annette Crosbie) all make appearances for the fairer sex, with each bringing something to the table.
The scenery is beautiful, filmed just a couple of hours up the road in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, the normally vibrant seaside town is transformed into 1940s Walmington with an enviable amount of detail. Elsewhere, the White Cliffs of Dover are replicated exceptionally at Flamborough on the east coast.
Unfortunately, the story is a little on the light side, barely managing to stretch to the film’s slightly overlong running time. This is an issue that blights many TV to film projects and it feels like this unbelievably talented cast is somewhat wasted with a fairly run-of-the-mill plot.
It also feels like the comedy is on rations. Yes, it’s nostalgic with constant references to its small-screen counterpart, but it comes across like the producers were too busy trying to shoehorn as many elements of the TV series into the film, without concentrating on what Dad’s Army was all about – laughs.
Nevertheless, there is plenty to enjoy despite a lack of giggles. The acting is, as said previously, remarkable with fans of the series and newcomers alike being able to enjoy the warm, typically British feeling these thespians bring to the film.
Overall, Dad’s Army is a decent, albeit slightly underwhelming, effort in bringing one of the most popular TV shows of all time to the big screen. Its talent and casting are undeniable and the filming style is very impressive, but a lack of attention to the plot and a comedy drought stop it short of achieving what it clearly set out to do.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/02/07/full-of-wasted-british-talent-dads-army-review/
Britain's Best Small Hills: A Guide to Short Adventures and Wild Walks with Great Views
Book
Hot on the success of Wilderness Weekends, one of the top selling guides in 2015, award-winning...
Translate Pro - Dictionary & Translator - Photo and Voice translation in 80+ languages
Business and Utilities
App
Translate is a powerful tool that will help to break down language barriers. It gathers together,...
iTranslate Translator
Productivity and Reference
App
iTranslate is the leading translation and dictionary app. Easily translate text, websites, or start...
Translate - Dictionary & free Translator - Photo and Voice translation in 80+ languages
Business and Utilities
App
Translate is a powerful tool that will help to break down language barriers. It gathers together,...
IRIScan to Word
Business and Productivity
App
IRIScan to Word turns your iPhone & iPad into a scanner! Scan paper documents using the native...
Lee (2222 KP) rated Rose: A Love Story (2020) in Movies
Oct 14, 2020
Married couple Sam (Matt Stokoe) and Rose (Sophie Rundle) are living a quiet, simple life in a remote woodland farmhouse. While Rose spends her days indoors, tapping out a novel on a typewriter, Sam is out in the peaceful, snow-covered woods, setting traps and hunting animals. But, right from the outset, it’s clear that this is anything but a relaxing couples retreat.
As Sam cautiously goes about his work, rifle in hand, it’s obvious that he is alert and on edge, flinching at the slightest sounds that come from beyond the trees. Persistent, ominous music also informs us that something isn't quite right and succeeds in putting us quickly on edge too. And when Sam does return to the farmhouse, we learn that Rose has been locked inside, with all the windows boarded up, only the slightest slivers of light entering the gloomy rooms.
Sam and Rose are clearly a couple in love, their actions and conversations appearing genuine and normal. But occasionally the topic of conversation veers towards the unusual, and we continue to be drip-fed even more sinister clues as to what’s actually going on in their lives. When Rose cuts herself while preparing dinner, black veins pulse throughout her finger. Meanwhile, Sam heads off to an ultraviolet-lit room, where he attaches leeches to his body, casually sitting to read a book while they set to work, gorging on his blood. When the couple head outside for a walk one night, Rose wears a face mask while Sam doesn’t. And she talks of “a poison inside her”. You have a fairly good idea of what's going on, but the answers to any questions you have don't come easy, and we're constantly left guessing at which direction the movie is going to take.
Jennifer Sheridan’s feature directorial debut has a wonderfully claustrophobic feel to it, perfectly capturing the feeling of isolation against the beautiful backdrop of a Welsh forest in Winter. Questions hang throughout - how did Rose get this way, what kind of life did the couple lead beforehand, what actually is this illness doing or going to do to her? We're kept in suspense throughout and even when a young runaway called Amber stumbles across the couple, and stays with them overnight, the answers still don’t come easy. Amber just has to accept the fact that Sam is dropping his trousers in front of her in order to attach leeches to himself. And that she must sleep with the ultraviolet light on in her room...
As we neared the very end of the movie, I began to wonder if any of those answers would ever come, or if we would be left to make our own minds up. But thankfully a quick and frantic last-minute change of pace changed all of that, and still managed to end on something of a cliffhanger!
Writer Matt Stokoe (who also plays Sam) says of ‘Rose’ that while watching traditional vampire movies he was struck by the macabre, horror aspects of the vampire genre and the general avoidance of emotional depth shown in the figure of the ‘monster’. The result of his observations is a beautifully simple movie that focuses more on the love of a married couple than the monster that threatens to overpower their relationship. Sam shows that he will do anything for Rose as they struggle with her life-altering illness. Theirs is indeed a true love story.
As Sam cautiously goes about his work, rifle in hand, it’s obvious that he is alert and on edge, flinching at the slightest sounds that come from beyond the trees. Persistent, ominous music also informs us that something isn't quite right and succeeds in putting us quickly on edge too. And when Sam does return to the farmhouse, we learn that Rose has been locked inside, with all the windows boarded up, only the slightest slivers of light entering the gloomy rooms.
Sam and Rose are clearly a couple in love, their actions and conversations appearing genuine and normal. But occasionally the topic of conversation veers towards the unusual, and we continue to be drip-fed even more sinister clues as to what’s actually going on in their lives. When Rose cuts herself while preparing dinner, black veins pulse throughout her finger. Meanwhile, Sam heads off to an ultraviolet-lit room, where he attaches leeches to his body, casually sitting to read a book while they set to work, gorging on his blood. When the couple head outside for a walk one night, Rose wears a face mask while Sam doesn’t. And she talks of “a poison inside her”. You have a fairly good idea of what's going on, but the answers to any questions you have don't come easy, and we're constantly left guessing at which direction the movie is going to take.
Jennifer Sheridan’s feature directorial debut has a wonderfully claustrophobic feel to it, perfectly capturing the feeling of isolation against the beautiful backdrop of a Welsh forest in Winter. Questions hang throughout - how did Rose get this way, what kind of life did the couple lead beforehand, what actually is this illness doing or going to do to her? We're kept in suspense throughout and even when a young runaway called Amber stumbles across the couple, and stays with them overnight, the answers still don’t come easy. Amber just has to accept the fact that Sam is dropping his trousers in front of her in order to attach leeches to himself. And that she must sleep with the ultraviolet light on in her room...
As we neared the very end of the movie, I began to wonder if any of those answers would ever come, or if we would be left to make our own minds up. But thankfully a quick and frantic last-minute change of pace changed all of that, and still managed to end on something of a cliffhanger!
Writer Matt Stokoe (who also plays Sam) says of ‘Rose’ that while watching traditional vampire movies he was struck by the macabre, horror aspects of the vampire genre and the general avoidance of emotional depth shown in the figure of the ‘monster’. The result of his observations is a beautifully simple movie that focuses more on the love of a married couple than the monster that threatens to overpower their relationship. Sam shows that he will do anything for Rose as they struggle with her life-altering illness. Theirs is indeed a true love story.
Translate Me - Live Translator
Productivity and Reference
App
Translate Me is a simple yet powerful tool to translate text, speech and even to have real-time...
Translate Voice - Language Translator & Dictionary
Travel and Reference
App
To watch a demo video on YouTube, search for "myLanguage Pro". myLanguage is the premier language...
Alice (12 KP) rated The Temptation of Dragons (Penny White #1) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
<i>Many thanks to the author Chrys Cymri for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review</i>
Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1Js">here</a href>
I was kindly offered this book by the author in exchange for an honest review and my initial impressions were "yeah this sounds like my kinda thing. Here there be dragons" ya know? Only to get more fully immersed in the book and find that I was a touch disappointed.
<i>The Temptation of Dragons</i> follows Reverend Penny White as she becomes the Vicar General of an alternate world called Lloegyr - please note that there is a heavy Welsh influence in this book coupled with an enormous religious influence - where dragons, unicorns, gryphons and more reside and coexist in relative peace.
The book starts with Penny White coming home slightly intoxicated and thinking she's going mad when she comes across a dying dragon. In true priestly form Penny gets out of her car and performs the last rites of absolution to what turns out to be a real dragon!
From that moment on Penny's life changes in so many ways - dragons exist, unicorns are real, snail sharks get drunk and gryphons are eating her garden birds. Penny is soon tasked to become the Vicar General to the citizens of Lloegyr and that includes all manner of supernatural beasties. Though expected as the main character is a priest, I didn't expect there to be such a heavy religious influence all throughout with literal verses from the Bible quoted on a regular.
Please understand that this is <b>not</b> anything against the book or against the writer and is merely my thoughts on what I considered an overly religious-toned story set in the wrong time period and the wrong world. I honestly found that the hardest part of reading this book but there were parts that I enjoyed for example: Penny White has what amounts to an obsession with sci-fi/fantasy and occult TV and movies, a lot of which were quite obscure for me (not really a TV and movie person *gasp*) I didn't get several of the references - particularly the Doctor Who ones.
Out of all of the characters my favourite had to be Moriarty - shortened to Morey for some reason - a 47-year-old gryphon with no filter. My favourite quote was from Penny about Morey:
<blockquote>"You've sent me a blue tit murdering creationist with sarcasm management issues."
"Correction. Today he's killing a starling."</blockquote>
The sarcasm and humour was rife throughout this book which was brilliant and gave it a nice light undertone to the ultimate seriousness of the book as a whole.
There was one character I didn't like and that was her brother James- I'm not 100% sure why but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. He's a free loading, insensitive toss pot and possibly a pod person.
However, despite my dislike of the heavy religious overtone and of James, I really, really liked <i>how</i> Chrys wrote the dragons and unicorns and all the other supernatural creatures and they had enough of a description without giving away too much important information; but also, on the flip side, there were away lot of unanswered questions such as how <i>exactly</i> does a unicorn use a telephone?
In all, it was a well written book with an interesting concept and some good characters and prose, dialogue was perfectly modern for Penny and a touch Olde World for a lot of the Lloegyr residents.
Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1Js">here</a href>
I was kindly offered this book by the author in exchange for an honest review and my initial impressions were "yeah this sounds like my kinda thing. Here there be dragons" ya know? Only to get more fully immersed in the book and find that I was a touch disappointed.
<i>The Temptation of Dragons</i> follows Reverend Penny White as she becomes the Vicar General of an alternate world called Lloegyr - please note that there is a heavy Welsh influence in this book coupled with an enormous religious influence - where dragons, unicorns, gryphons and more reside and coexist in relative peace.
The book starts with Penny White coming home slightly intoxicated and thinking she's going mad when she comes across a dying dragon. In true priestly form Penny gets out of her car and performs the last rites of absolution to what turns out to be a real dragon!
From that moment on Penny's life changes in so many ways - dragons exist, unicorns are real, snail sharks get drunk and gryphons are eating her garden birds. Penny is soon tasked to become the Vicar General to the citizens of Lloegyr and that includes all manner of supernatural beasties. Though expected as the main character is a priest, I didn't expect there to be such a heavy religious influence all throughout with literal verses from the Bible quoted on a regular.
Please understand that this is <b>not</b> anything against the book or against the writer and is merely my thoughts on what I considered an overly religious-toned story set in the wrong time period and the wrong world. I honestly found that the hardest part of reading this book but there were parts that I enjoyed for example: Penny White has what amounts to an obsession with sci-fi/fantasy and occult TV and movies, a lot of which were quite obscure for me (not really a TV and movie person *gasp*) I didn't get several of the references - particularly the Doctor Who ones.
Out of all of the characters my favourite had to be Moriarty - shortened to Morey for some reason - a 47-year-old gryphon with no filter. My favourite quote was from Penny about Morey:
<blockquote>"You've sent me a blue tit murdering creationist with sarcasm management issues."
"Correction. Today he's killing a starling."</blockquote>
The sarcasm and humour was rife throughout this book which was brilliant and gave it a nice light undertone to the ultimate seriousness of the book as a whole.
There was one character I didn't like and that was her brother James- I'm not 100% sure why but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. He's a free loading, insensitive toss pot and possibly a pod person.
However, despite my dislike of the heavy religious overtone and of James, I really, really liked <i>how</i> Chrys wrote the dragons and unicorns and all the other supernatural creatures and they had enough of a description without giving away too much important information; but also, on the flip side, there were away lot of unanswered questions such as how <i>exactly</i> does a unicorn use a telephone?
In all, it was a well written book with an interesting concept and some good characters and prose, dialogue was perfectly modern for Penny and a touch Olde World for a lot of the Lloegyr residents.