Reviews
Harry and Cosh (1999)
I love it.
Do you remember the British show, "Sister Said"? Didn't think so. I'm ashamed to have such vivid memories of it myself. Well - it focused around a comic book, that told the story of an aspiring girl group who, each week, would find themselves in a different predicament.
Well - the two boys who would read the comic each week were Harry and Cosh. In perhaps their best idea to date, Channel 5 in Britain took Harry and Cosh and gave them their own show.
Okay, so it is just as outrageous as "Sister Said", but it is much more entertaining. Each week Harry and Lucinda will argue, break up, get back together, and snog - for some reason. Usually Lucinda blowing something that Harry had said or done out of all proportion.
I love it.
Dead Man's Island (1996)
Drivel.
I hated this movie. The title and plot description may make it sound interesting, but believe me - it isn't.
The first scene sees our hero, Barbara Eden getting into a boat to go to the island, when an Indian man - who happens to be sat at the dock - tells her, "That was Dead Man's Island. And it will be again.", or words to that effect.
From then on, I could tell what sort of entertainment I was in for. The plot was completely unrealistic - in a bad way. Every cliche in the book was present here - I could predict every twist, including the ending, before it had happened.
To be frank - for a TV thriller - this film didn't thrill me at all. I don't know why Barbara Eden - a fine actress - ever agreed to do this. She probably did it in an attempt to rescue it, but unfortunately, she is beaten by the poor script and talentless cast members, (including William Shatner, who I used to think was talented).
Victoria Wood (1989)
"I don't want my buttocks lifted. I'm quite happy with them bobbling along where they are, thankyou."
A short-lived but very amusing series of plays from Victoria Wood. Actually - it's a shame that there never was another series because I absolutely loved them.
Each one features Victoria Wood as herself, finding herself into a different hilarious predicament.
Many of Victoria's other regular co-stars popped up in this series as well. Including Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Susie Blake, and other famous faces included Una Stubbs, and Jane Horrocks.
Crossroads (2001)
Not too sure about this one
As a soap-a-holic, I was pleased to hear that "Crossroads" was making a comeback, as I was only three years old when the show was cancelled, and therefore never saw it.
Alas, I was rather dissapointed with what I found. Crossroads Motel had been demolished and replaced with a Crossroads four star hotel. Some of the acting from the new actors is terrible, the script is dier at times, and what seems like the beginning of an ongoing storyline is over by the commerical break.
But perhaps the biggest mistake of all was killing of Jane Rossington as Jill Harvey. Jane was the best of the three original cast members that had returned to the show. The writers killed her off because the ratings weren't high enough.
If that were the case, then surely the most sensible thing to do would have been to pull the plug on the whole show, and not the best character.
I'm not too surprised. Even at the age of 15, I have noticed a severe landslide in the quality of British TV. The overall quality of British soaps has plummetted, making most of British TV cheesy, boring and unrealistic.
Take the conversations held by some of the teens in Crossroads - nobody talks like that!!!!
5 out of 10.
Murder Most Horrid (1991)
Murder can be a funny business!!!
Each episode of this hilarious comedy series is written by a different writer and tells a completely different story. The only common factor between each episode is the terrific Dawn French.
Each episode tells the story of the events surrounding a different murder. Each week, Dawn French portrays a different character who is caught up in all the action, sometimes her character is the murderer, and sometimes she plays the victim.
With guest stars, such as Amanda Donohoe, Dexter Fletcher, and Sarah Lancashire, and writers such as Ian Hislop, this show is a real gem.
French & Saunders Live (2000)
Excellent!!!
I am an enormous fan of French and Saunders and was lucky enough to book a front row seat at their live performance. It was absolutely brilliant, with hilarious skits on the British TV shows "Casualty", and "Big Brother" as well as loads of incredibly funny sketches.
5 Stars!!!! Buy the video!!!!!!
Confessions of a Sorority Girl (1994)
When she's bad, she's very, very good...
After about two years of searching, I have finally found a copy of "Confessions of a Sorority Girl" on video, and it was better than I thought it would be!!!
The beautiful Jamie Luner was perfectly cast as Sabrina, the misunderstood new girl at school. The basic story is this...
Sabrina (Jamie Luner) arrives at a new school, which her sister attended a few years before. Everyone expects Sabrina to live up to her sister's high standards, but Sabrina has other plans.
She tries to steal Alyssa Milano's boyfriend (Brian Bloom) and goes to all lengths to embarrass the other girls, until she finally goes too far...
It's a brilliant take on the Good Girl / Bad Girl theme and it is brilliantly done. Set in the fifties, it takes advantage of the fashion and music of that era.
5 Stars!!!
Walking Across Egypt (1999)
The best film of the year
I recently got the chance to watch "Walking Across Egypt" and was delighted when I did. Ellen Burstyn has always been one of my favourite actresses, and this film has got to be the best she's made in years.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas, of "Home Improvement", showed his competant ability to portray a deeply troubled character.
The film was funny wherever it could be, and emotional in the other parts. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and was glad that I rented it when I had set out to rent something entirely different.
An Audience with Victoria Wood (1988)
The Funniest Comedienne Ever!!!
Victoria Wood managed to reduce her celebrity audience into a state of delirium in this hilarious one-off TV special. In this one-woman show she performed stand-up, songs, and sketches which had me in tears as I watched them
Among the stars in the audience were Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Joan Bakewell, Maureen Lipman and Dennis Norden.
Classic.
Style & Substance (1998)
Damn those American Networks!!!
Style and Substance has got to have been the best comedy series to come over from the States so far!!! There was brilliant acting from Jean Smart and Nancy McKeon in particularly, hilarious story-lines, and excellent theme music!!!
What is wrong with American networks? If a show is not too popular, they cancel it before it has had time to prove itself, and if a show is popular, then they drag it on for so long that it becomes boring and not funny (eg Friends!!!)
Luckily I have all 13 episodes on tape, so I can watch them time after time.
Absolutely Fabulous (1992)
I love AbFab!!!
AbFab is probably the best Britcom ever made. I Absolutely love it!!! Each episode was brilliantly written and hilariously funny. Jennifer Saunders demonstrated how brilliant she is at writing / performing without Dawn French and Joanna Lumley showed that she has great comic timing as well as a superb talent for dramatic roles.
As a true AbFab fan, I have bought all of the videos and, even though i know them off by heart, I still find them Absolutely hilarious.
As were many other people, I was completely heart broken when Jennifer Saunders revealed that she was ending the show in 1995. But since then, there has been a very funny American remake that I've had chance to see called "High Society", and I highly recommend it to any other AbFab fans.
Life simply hasn't been the same, for me without AbFab, but Jennifer Saunders has apparently confirmed rumors that there is a fourth series in the works...
The Stepsister (1997)
Compelling
"The Stepsister" is an interesting variation on the gold-digging wife storyline. This is a good attempt at a thriller, but it doesn't thrill nearly enough.
All through the film, the tension seems as though it is rising to a dramatic climax, but alas, it doesn't come.
There were competant performances from Bridgette Wilson and Rena Sofer in the main roles, and generally a new and different story line. Shame about the let-down ending.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1991)
Excellent!!!
An excellent remake of the 1962 classic, with real life sisters Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave in the old Bette Davis and Joan Crawford roles.
I am a big fan of the original film, and was pleasantly pleased when I watched the remake and it was a lot better than I thought it would be.
Although based on the same story, the events in the two films are staged completely different, which was good because I can't stand a remake that is just a total rip-off of the first film.
The basic story is as follows...
Jane Hudson (Lynn Redgrave) is a former child star who was forgotten when her sister Blanche (Vanessa Redgrave) became famous and stole all of Jane's former success.
Now middle-aged, the two sisters live together and Jane takes care of Blanche after a horrific accident leaves Blanche unable to walk. When a TV network starts to show a season of Blanche's old movies, Jane's forgotten jealousy returns, as she has always held her sister responsible for the loss of her career...
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. 4 stars.
Cyndi Lauper: 12 Deadly Cyns... and Then Some (1994)
Fantastic!!!
As a fifteen year old, I could only remember Cyndi's music from the early nineties, "Hey Now", "The World is Stone" etc. But this movie changed all that. It featured some brilliant songs, including my favourites, "Time After Time" and "Money Changes Everything", and as well as that, there were some great interviews in which Cyndi spoke about why she sings and dresses the way she does.
If you're a fan of Cyndi, you MUST buy this movie. IT'S BRILLIANT!!!
Scorned 2 (1997)
An excellent film!!!
An alright sequel to an excellent original. This has Tane McClure (daughter of Doug McClure) taking over from Shannon Tweed in the lead role, and although she is not as good as Tweed was, there's not much in it.
The story starts a couple of months after the original left us on tenter hooks, with Amanda Cressfield (McClure) completely recovered after her ordeal in the original and happily married to college tutor Mark (Myles O'Brien). But, when she catches him having sex with one of his beautiful students, her repressed, past memories are brought from the back of her mind and Amanda snaps, and seeks violent revenge on her husband, and anyone else who has ever wronged her...
There is a cracking story, with plenty of steamy sex to fill in the gaps, personally, I'd give it 3 stars.
Savannah (1996)
The World's Greatest Soap!!!
Savannah was the best soap ever! How could Aaron Spelling have cancelled it after just two seasons? It was much better than Dynasty, which seemed to run forever! The storylines were excellent, the acting was awesome, and the three main cast members (Jamie Luner, Robyn Lively, and Shannon sturges) were beautiful!
Savannah really had the potential to become a long-running series, but it was cancelled just when the story was at a crucial point and it ended with a cliff-hanger.
Savannah could have become a bigger success than Dallas if it was given the chance. I'm appalled at the network that cancelled it!!!