Then, two brand-new reviews were published this week...
Blue Velvet (1986)
Before he brought the disquieting underbelly of small-town America to television audiences with Twin Peaks — and revolutionised the medium in the process — auteur David Lynch subjected cinemagoers to its perversions in this 1986 cult masterpiece, the first cohesive expression of concepts, themes and motifs (and cast members) that would inform the rest of his career.Read more here.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
it moves at a restless rate of knots, much as the first one did. That’s not something to be sniffed at, as it throws plot and humour at the viewer with wild abandon. Sometimes such a methodology is a recipe for “chuck everything at the screen and see what sticks” — with the latter usually being “not a huge percentage” — but here it creates a pretty fine hit rate.Read more here.
And finally, seven classic reviews were new to the new blog...
Bhaji on the Beach (1993)
It was no doubt bitingly relevant, showcasing a different set of cultural rules and expectations... viewed today, the film feels less "this is how things are" and more "this is how things were then", emphasised by the ever-so-'90s costumes, cars, locations… It feels as much a period piece as, say, Ashes to Ashes.Read more here.
Great Expectations (1946)
there’s little to dislike about the adaptation. John Mills is too old to convince as a 20-year-old Pip, but his performance is good and he’s ably supported. However, the main highlights are undoubtedly all in Lean’s brilliant direction.Read more here.
Guess Who (2005)
The plot isn’t a direct copy of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, preferring to take the gist of the concept and a few of the story beats and surround them with a bunch of Funny Situations. [It] does manage the odd laugh or smile, increasingly so as it goes on (though this may be because I was getting increasingly inebriated).Read more here.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
a white girl falls in love with a black man and brings him home to meet the parents... this is still the era of Martin Luther King Jr. battling for equality and when interracial marriage was still illegal in 14 states. Hollywood may be known for its liberal politics, but it’s not always so, which makes the outcome of the film — will they or won’t they be given permission to marry? — a constant guessing game.Read more here.
Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (2005)
All comedy is an acquired taste, of course, but what Silverman offers here must take some acquiring. I mostly like what I’ve seen of her work in the past, but the lack of laughs here is enough to put me off bothering with her in future.Read more here.
Solaris (1972)
one of those films I think we can safely say is Not For Everyone. There’s much to ponder for the so inclined, not least the intriguing ending. I feel certain I, much like the scientists in the film itself, have barely scratched the surface.Read more here.
Waitress (2007)
looks like another breezy rom-com... a chick flick, or to sound inappropriately less derogatory, “woman’s film”. Waitress is a “woman’s film”, but in a good way: written and directed from a female perspective, with its central roles being female, it doesn’t pander to a perceived female demographic and nor does it bellow “this is what we women think, and it’s so different to you damn men” — it’s more subtle than that.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
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