Change Your Image
Alun H
I used to post here quite a bit (c. 2002/3), and then there was something of a gap. I'm English (live in West Yorkshire - up in the North), thirty, and one of the boards' openly gay posters.
I used to post quite a bit in Games and The Soapbox.
I've lived in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. I'm a smoker (my only vice - well, I say only...) and am teetotal. I like cats, dogs, and Jesus this is starting to sound boring. Surely that's enough of a biog to keep anyone happy? Isn't it?
No? Okay, then...
Favourite directors: Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Michael Curtiz, Sergio Leone, Tim Burton, Tom Tykwer, Kryzstof Kieslowski, David Cronenberg, David Fincher, Ingmar Bergman, FW Murnau
Favourite actors: William Powell, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, Edward G Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent, James Cagney, Brad Douriff, Jeffrey Coombs, Ralph Fiennes, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Max von Sydow, James Woods, John Cusack to name a few
Favourite actresses: Myrna Loy, Katharine Hepburn, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sigourney Weaver, Jodie Foster, Julianne Moore, Franka Potente, Stockard Channing, Cameron Diaz, amongst others
Favourite composers: Bernard Herrmann, Howard Shore, Ennio Morricone, Danny Elfman, John Barry
Favourite screen couple: William Powell and Myrna Loy
Favourite film: The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Favourite British gangster film: Get Carter
Favourite British war film: Went The Day Well?
Best Bond film: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Favourite US Gangster film:
The Godfather (I or II)
Favourite Musical: Singin' In The Rain
Favourite love story: Casablanca
Favourite German film: Lola Rennt (Run, Lola, Run)
Favourite Woody Allen films: Another Woman, Deconstructing Harry
Favourite Bergman film: Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries)
Swedish film: Tillsammans (Together)
Favourite German Expressionist film: Faust (1927), M or Metropolis
Favourite French film: Jean de Florette & Manon de Source
Favourite screwball comedy: Bringing Up Baby
Favoruite Russian film: Stachka (Strike)
Reviews
Dæmos Rising (2004)
Perhaps the most accomplished "Doctor Who" spin-off so far
A semi-sequel to the "Doctor Who" story 'The Daemons', this explores the nature of the Daemons and their connection to humanity. Both Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Capt. Douglas Cavendish (played by husband and wife team Miles Richardson and Beverley Cressman) return from the earlier film 'Downtime', although their characters are expanded upon perfectly as this is very nearly a two-hander. That's not to say there's no plot - there is, a complex one which begs a sequel. On the basis of this such a sequel would be highly welcome - the direction is the most assured of a "Who" spin-off so far, the picture quality surpasses anything we've seen before, Alistair Lock's score is suitably chilling, and the cast (including the late, great Michael Wisher's son Andrew) are uniformly excellent. There are nods to "Doctor Who" (I'd give details, but the joy is in spotting them alone!) but this is strong enough to stand up on its own, easily bettering the story which inspired it (this is far more atmospheric for one thing, and the ending more logical). Credit is due to both David Howe and Keith Barnfather for this, and one hopes it won't be long before they're teaming up again, perhaps for 'Daemos Dawning'?
The Slayer (1982)
I'd never heard of 'The Slayer' before. I know why now.
The back cover of the VHS release claims that the film was banned (by the Ministry of Good Cinema, presumably) and that now 14 seconds had been deleted the film could be now be seen in the UK, but watching was not advisable and could cause distress. It certainly distressed me. Never in my life have I been subjected to as much dross . Some friends go to an island and one by one they are killed. None of the deaths is horrific in the slightest, which makes one wonder what is in the missing 14 seconds. 'Dire' goes no way to explaining how bad this film is. The plot makes little sense, the lighting is poor, the acting indifferent. I have never before seen a horror film so unhorrifying. Be warned; there is nothing about this which is enjoyable. Not unintentionally funny, not frightening, simply a wasted hour and a half of my life: I urge you not to watch it.
Ringu (1998)
Genuinely frightening
A genuinely frightening film, Ring benefits from a particularly impressive soundtrack (the sound in this film is one of the keys to its success), an engrossing plot, and particularly the fusion of Eastern and Western sensibilities (the plot and exposition are typically Western, although the characters and handling clearly aren't. It's this that makes the film so unsettling). Truly, the sight of
SPOILER ALERT
Sadako climbing out of the television is one of the most horrific things I have ever seen, and pleasingly the sequel doesn't detract from the first film, but genuinely enhances it.
Batman & Robin (1997)
Ugh!
I'd vote this a 0 if I could! Easily the worst film I have ever seen, and how anyone can think otherwise is beyond me! Badly written, badly directed, badly plotted, badly acted, could this have been any worse?