Star Trek

I went to see the new Star Trek movie last night and really enjoyed it. However, if there was one area I could fault it would have to be the dire accents.

The guy playing Checkov (is that how you spell it) seemed like an extra from "Allo Allo", speaking some sort of weird accent that sounded neither Russian not French, but somewhere in between. However, the worst criticism has to be for the usually very good and admittedly still very funny for Simon Pegg. He plays Scotty in a good comedy way, but his accent never really reached Scotland and got further and further south as the film progressed. We all like to criticise Americans attempting poor British accents, but surely Simon Pegg could have learnt something from those from the other side of the pond (the original Scotty and his fellow Canadian Mike Myers who does a great comedy Scottish accent ) or at least spoken to one of the many Scots living in the England in ordet to do the accent some justice.

As to the other actors, Kirk, Spock and the rest were great, but the best for my money was the guy playing Dr McCoy. Brilliant film though and well worth watching, even if you were never Star Trek fan.

Only a week late

Iain Dale tagged me a week ago to take part in a small challenge/meme which asked if I had seen any of the 25 DVDs that Barack Obama had given to Gordon Brown.

Shamefully I didn't see the e-mail saying I was tagged until last night, so belatedly I am taking the challenge.

Those I own are

1) Star Wars (No, I will not call it "Episode 4" or "A New Hope". I saw it at the cinema in 1978 and it was simply called Star Wars.)
2) It's a Wonderful Life. Surely one of the greatest films ever made ?

Those I have seen are

1) Schindler’s List - Brilliant
2) ET - Brilliant
3) Gone With The Wind - A Ripping Yarn
4) Singin’ in the Rain - Harmless Fun
5) Lawrence of Arabia - Incredible
6) Vertigo - Tense and brilliantly made
7) The Wizard of Oz - Always bored me
8) 2001 A Space Odyssey - Again, always bored me.
9) The Graduate - Fun, of its time, a good film.
10) Psycho - Brilliantly made
11) Some Like it Hot - Classic film, brilliant acting.
12) The Godfather - A must see film.
13) To Kill a Mockingbird - Incredible. Show it to any racist and see them squirm.
14) Casablanca - Seen it, pleased I did, wouldn't bother to watch it again.

Not Seen -
City Lights, Sunset Boulevard, , The General, The Grapes of Wrath, Citizen Kane, Raging Bull, The Searchers, On the Waterfront, Chinatown.

So I score 16 out of 25. Not too bad I think.

What really happened at the end of The Italian Job

I wrote a couple of years ago about my own solution to the ending of the classic film "The Italian Job". My simple solution was to turn the film over just as they are safely on the bus, all the cars are ditched, and with the classic "Self Preservation Society" music playing happily.

But for all those who want to know what happens after Michael Caine's classic line "Hang on, I've got an idea", Michael Caine has revealed what would have happened next HERE.

Essentially, they burn off the fuel, all the men get off the bus but the bus and gold go over the cliff where the mafia are waiting for the gold, and then this leads to more shenanigans.

I'd still have let them get away with the gold if I was making it though.

Liverpool film smoking ban is ludicrous

Liverpool is, according to reports, the lung cancer capital of Britain. Not a nice statistics I am sure. But simply slapping an 18 certificate on any film depicting smoking is not going to sort that statistic out.

Liverpool City Council are supporting moves by the group Smoke Free Liverpool to put an automatic 18 certificate on every film featuring images of smoking, even retrospectively, meaning that any film used in schools to support English literature (the likes of "To kill a Mockingbird", for example), would also be banned from schools.

Modern films set in a contemporary setting will, of course, have virtually no smoking in them because in the US and in the UK and most of Europe now, smoking in bars, restaurants, etc, is banned, so Liverpool should have no need to ban these. But the threat to go back and effectively ban hundreds of classic films from being used to support teaching in schools seems crazy.

It's not quite Whiskey Galore

Anyone who has seen the classic British film "Whisky Galore" will know what I am on about when I say that the cargo washed ashore from the stricken ferry off the coast of Blackpool does not quite match up to the booty in the film.

However, should someone want to make a low budget remake, the title "Biscuits Galore" might work.

Just what I didn't want for Christmas

I love the classic Charles Dickens tale "A Christmas Carol", and I also like watching the many and various versions that have been turned in to films. Particular favourites are Alistair Sim's classic version in Black and White (not the awful coloured in version Channel Five insist on showing) and I even like the Muppets Chistmas Carol. However, I am less than enamoured at the new version of the tale planned.

Apparently Walt Disney (oh dear !) are to remake the story using lots of computer effects, which are barely needed for a tale of this sort, and the film will star the awful Jim Carrey.

Jim Carrey is, for me, the archetypal "over actor", who fills each pause with a stupid face or a silly grin, assuming this is what he public want. He occasionally produces a performance that can surprise you with its quality , but will then follow it up with a film of such utter banality that it makes you wonder if his good performances are more down to the directors and co-stars.

No doubt the new version of "A Christmas Carol" will feature manic faces, silly garbled speech, American accents (argghhh !) and will bare only a passing resemblance to the original story.

Ready for Christmas 2008, it is a film to be avoided, I fear.

Everything that an action film should be - The Bourne Ultimatum

I am not one to give film reviews, but after seeing two rather ropey second sequels this year (Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek 3) this year and being badly let down, I have just seen the Bourne Ultimatum and can honestly say it is the best film I have seen in a long, long time.

Brilliant acting, superb direction, necessary violence but no gore, such a clever storyline, this film just cannot be faulted in any way.

If you have not seen it, do so.

Second sequal problems for Pirates and Shrek

According to reviews, the new Pirates of the Caribbean 3 film is an absolute turkey. On top of early reviews from American suggesting that Shrek 3 is also a miss rather than a hit and the widely accepted view that Spiderman 3 is also the weakest of the three films in that series (although I liked it best), there seems to be something of a trend developing in serial films which are not based on books.

Films based on books (Lord of the Rings, James Bond, Harry Potter) or scripts written many years before (Return of the Jedi) don't seem to suffer from second sequal syndrome. Why is this ? Perhaps it is like third term government (like we have now) in that they lose direction.

Historically there have also been some duds from third films (Batman), but also some which have improved the franchise (American Pie : The Wedding - Back to the Future 3).

I am just hoping that the new film in the "Bourne" series, out in August will not suffer the fate of Shrek and Pirates. Then again, it is based on a book so it should be great.

Turning off The Italian Job off with five minutes to go

I've just watched the Italian Job on one of the movie channels this evening. Can I stress now, I watched the original version, not the dreadful and quite awful American remake.

Can I say quite clearly. I love the film. I saw it when I was about eight and and was entranced and would rate it as one of my top ten films still.

However, as I watch the film, every time, enthralled and smiling throughout it, I am aware of my impending gloom at the end with the famous cliffhanger. It reminds me of when I go on holiday, I'm delighted to be there, but know it will soon end and I'll be disappointed. So I have an answer.

For the last three times I have seen the film, I simply turn over or turn off with five minutes to go. So as far as I am concerned, Michael Caine does get away with the three million pounds of gold and Noel Coward (Mr Bridger) can celebrate in style. Now if only I could get the referee to ignore the last few minutes of football matches where my team concedes a late goal, my world would be complete.