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100307 - The Box of Delights - classic story by John Masefield, given the BBC Children's Adaptation treatment in 1984. The effects have dated somewhat, but given the fact that it was made over twenty years ago, it's not really surprising. It's actually the transitions which are the worst. Reminiscent of Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising novel sequence, although that might be reinforced by the Christmas setting and the crossover between the 'normal' world and the magical. Stars, among others, Patrick Troughton and Patricia Quinn.
110307 - Last Action Hero - an over-the-top action movie, using the conceit that it is about an over-the-top action movie hero - bullied Danny acquires a 'magic ticket' (golden, naturally) which allows him to enter the screen and join his hero, LA Cop Jack Slater ("They killed his favourite second cousin. Big mistake!") in his latest blockbuster outing. Amusing both for the number of gratuitous movie stunts and cliches employed (the leather and PVC-clad female cops in the police station, and, as Danny points out, the fact that every woman in the world is a model - he also points out that if everyone's phone numebr starts '555', then there wouldn't be enough for the whole population of LA ...), and the fact that you get insight into the behind-the-scenes life of a hero - his flat is bare but for a bed, he pays someone to pretend that his ex-wife calls him, and the fact that he 'just wanted to be a decent cop, but these strange things keep happening to him'. Then they end up in the 'real world', and he discovers classical music (never heard in action movies) and the fact that punching through a car window actually hurts. All in pursuit of Charles Dance, 'doing a Rickman' and playing a fastidious, intelligent and generally annoyed villain. ("It's a 180, you Sicilian idiot. If it was a 360, I'd end up facing the same way again." BANG)
I never claimed to have taste in films ...
110307 - Last Action Hero - an over-the-top action movie, using the conceit that it is about an over-the-top action movie hero - bullied Danny acquires a 'magic ticket' (golden, naturally) which allows him to enter the screen and join his hero, LA Cop Jack Slater ("They killed his favourite second cousin. Big mistake!") in his latest blockbuster outing. Amusing both for the number of gratuitous movie stunts and cliches employed (the leather and PVC-clad female cops in the police station, and, as Danny points out, the fact that every woman in the world is a model - he also points out that if everyone's phone numebr starts '555', then there wouldn't be enough for the whole population of LA ...), and the fact that you get insight into the behind-the-scenes life of a hero - his flat is bare but for a bed, he pays someone to pretend that his ex-wife calls him, and the fact that he 'just wanted to be a decent cop, but these strange things keep happening to him'. Then they end up in the 'real world', and he discovers classical music (never heard in action movies) and the fact that punching through a car window actually hurts. All in pursuit of Charles Dance, 'doing a Rickman' and playing a fastidious, intelligent and generally annoyed villain. ("It's a 180, you Sicilian idiot. If it was a 360, I'd end up facing the same way again." BANG)
I never claimed to have taste in films ...
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