Search
Search results
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery (1966) in Movies
Sep 6, 2020
Fourth St Trinian's film is a knockabout farce which has not aged at all well. Crooks hide the loot from a train robbery (such things were topical at the time) in a disused building, which is then taken over by St Trinian's school as their new premises. Can the villains retrieve the swag without anyone noticing?
Notably pragmatic (to the point of ruthlessness) in pursuit of its gags: there is shotgun satire of politicians, civil servants, the private school system, and various topical issues (there are some very dodgy jokes about immigration and racial minorities). Even more cartoony than a Carry On film, and increasingly frantic as it goes on, it does have a remarkable cast of well-known faces from British films of its period, but the jokes are thinner on the ground than one might hope for given the talent involved. Has a certain historical interest these days but it's awkward to watch as much as entertaining.
Notably pragmatic (to the point of ruthlessness) in pursuit of its gags: there is shotgun satire of politicians, civil servants, the private school system, and various topical issues (there are some very dodgy jokes about immigration and racial minorities). Even more cartoony than a Carry On film, and increasingly frantic as it goes on, it does have a remarkable cast of well-known faces from British films of its period, but the jokes are thinner on the ground than one might hope for given the talent involved. Has a certain historical interest these days but it's awkward to watch as much as entertaining.
Amiable With Big Teeth
Book
A monumental literary event: the newly discovered final novel by seminal Harlem Renaissance writer...
Fiction
The Water Babies
6.0
Rate It
Book
Shamed by his grimy appearance in the presence of an immaculate little girl, ten-year-old Tom — an...
The Birds and Other Plays
Aristophanes, Alan H. Sommerstein and David Barrett
Book
Offering a window into the world of ordinary Athenians, Aristophanes' The Birds and Other Plays is a...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Starship Troopers (1997) in Movies
Feb 22, 2018
Not so much an adaptation of Heinlein's novel as a parody of it, Verhoeven's SF spectacular works equally well as storming action movie and outrageous black satire. Johnny Rico (Van Dien) joins the army for the wrong reasons, finds himself rising through the ranks as Earth provokes a war with the invertebrate Arachnids and finds itself facing a much more dangerous opponent than expected.
Verhoeven displays his usual uncanny ability to turn a movie on a dime - one second this is a deliberately cheesy deadpan comedy about growing up in a fascist utopia, the next it's delivering a genuinely thrilling action sequence that pushes the boundaries of CGI. Much, much smarter than it initially appears - even the decision to cast good-looking but essentially wooden young people (e.g. Denise Richards) in the lead roles seems calculated to make a point. Michael Ironside is genuinely good as the grizzled old soldier; another belting score from Basil Poledouris. Also weirdly prescient of the way the US and its media reacted after 9/11. Thoroughly enjoyable on many levels.
Verhoeven displays his usual uncanny ability to turn a movie on a dime - one second this is a deliberately cheesy deadpan comedy about growing up in a fascist utopia, the next it's delivering a genuinely thrilling action sequence that pushes the boundaries of CGI. Much, much smarter than it initially appears - even the decision to cast good-looking but essentially wooden young people (e.g. Denise Richards) in the lead roles seems calculated to make a point. Michael Ironside is genuinely good as the grizzled old soldier; another belting score from Basil Poledouris. Also weirdly prescient of the way the US and its media reacted after 9/11. Thoroughly enjoyable on many levels.
ClareR (5726 KP) rated My Sister, the Serial Killer in Books
Dec 21, 2018
The problems of a serial killer's older sister....
Short, snappy chapters, satire oozing out of every page (and murder!). This story is about Korede covering up her sister, Ayoola's, penchant for 'offing' her boyfriends: "Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer".
Korede feels a responsibility for her younger sister - something which seems odd to do given the circumstances, but is explained later in the book.
Korede is quite a sad character, really. Ayoola is the beautiful sister, she is not. Yet she still protects her and keeps her safe, stops her from posting on Instagram after her boyfriend goes 'missing'. Ayoola certainly has issues - she has no problem with the murders she commits, no guilt. She gets on with her life, on to the next man, and Korede is left to clean up and worry. The eternal problem of the older sister (usually minus the murders, mind you!).
I really enjoyed this, and it seemed to end very quickly. It's well worth reading.
Korede feels a responsibility for her younger sister - something which seems odd to do given the circumstances, but is explained later in the book.
Korede is quite a sad character, really. Ayoola is the beautiful sister, she is not. Yet she still protects her and keeps her safe, stops her from posting on Instagram after her boyfriend goes 'missing'. Ayoola certainly has issues - she has no problem with the murders she commits, no guilt. She gets on with her life, on to the next man, and Korede is left to clean up and worry. The eternal problem of the older sister (usually minus the murders, mind you!).
I really enjoyed this, and it seemed to end very quickly. It's well worth reading.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Magic Christian (1969) in Movies
Apr 11, 2020
Laborious satire proves that no matter how good your cast is, it can't save a film with a lousy script. Subversive multi-millionaire Guy Grand (Sellers) and his adopted son (Ringo) embark on a series of lavish practical jokes to demonstrate the venality of western society. Basically a series of too-contrived-to-be-funny sketches clumsily making fun of the sacred cows of British society in particular.
Some people (Paul Merton for one) would have you suggest that The Magic Christian has a reputation as a bad movie because it ridicules things the establishment holds dear (the boat race, high art, grouse shooting, etc). This is not true: it has a reputation as a bad movie because it is a bad movie, clumsy, smug, and not nearly as insightful as it seems to think it is. The main reason for watching is the cast list, which is eye-opening, although how well the various cameoing stars emerge tends to be in inverse proportion to the size of their role. One of those films that proves the swinging sixties weren't all that great.
Some people (Paul Merton for one) would have you suggest that The Magic Christian has a reputation as a bad movie because it ridicules things the establishment holds dear (the boat race, high art, grouse shooting, etc). This is not true: it has a reputation as a bad movie because it is a bad movie, clumsy, smug, and not nearly as insightful as it seems to think it is. The main reason for watching is the cast list, which is eye-opening, although how well the various cameoing stars emerge tends to be in inverse proportion to the size of their role. One of those films that proves the swinging sixties weren't all that great.