Love Actually (Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman... and more!)

(Amazon UK link)

Many people have recommended 'Love Actually' to us, but I'd heard that there was a large cast and that the plot was confusing... and I find it hard enough to understand films at the best of times. However, when we spotted the DVD for a pound or two in a British charity shop, we picked it up - and finally sat down to watch it, on the recommendation of one of our adult sons.

The plot is, indeed, somewhat confusing in this film, because it's made up of several loosely connected subplots about relationships.  Supposedly they are all reflecting different kinds of love, which - as we're told - is all around us.  The cast of main characters was larger than I'm comfortable with in general, so it's a tribute to the script and the actors themselves that I mostly managed to keep track of who was whom.

The majority of the actors and actresses are well-known in other fields - so much so that even I recognised them despite my very limited film viewing compared to many. One of the most significant was Hugh Grant as a new and slightly naive British Prime Minister who develops a bit of a thing for a new tea-lady. His sister, played by Emma Thompson, is excellent, married to someone played by Alan Rickman who's something of a workaholic, and seduced into doing something foolish by one of his workers.

Then there's Colin Firth playing a writer whose wife cheats on him, and who then falls slowly for a European domestic worker who doesn't speak any English.  My favourite subplot of all, however, features Thomas Brodie-Sangster, whose name I did not recognise but whose face was familiar from such diverse productions as Nanny McFee and Doctor Who.  He plays a recently orphaned boy slowly getting to know his stepfather, and their scenes are, in my view, by far the most poignant and thoughtful of all.

A few of the subplots are light and amusing - particularly those with Bill Nighy as an aging rock-star, trying to produce a rather naff new Christmas song. There are some funny moments when Rowan Atkinson features as an over-enthusiastic shop assistant, too. Unfortunately, two of the other subplots seemed utterly pointless; the film, in my view, would have been a great deal better without them.

I was particularly unimpressed with somewhat explicit scenes from a young couple who were supposedly making a porn film despite being very shy. It was somewhat gross rather than comedic - the US censors have given this film an R rating, which for once seems quite appropriate, although the more generous UK ones.

Possibly worse still was the most feeble thread featuring a nerdy guy whose name I have forgotten already, who wanted to get intimate with lots of girls - nothing whatsoever to do with love - and decided to travel to the US for this purpose.

Still, despite the two lame subplots, the acting is very well done, and despite the large cast it holds together in a way that works, and even I found myself keeping up with most of the storylines. While I'm not sure I'd watch it again, it made an enjoyable light evening's viewing.

Recommended guardedly, so long as you don't object to very explicit nudity and simulated sex.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

The Gods Must be Crazy (N!xau, Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo)

(Amazon UK link)

Although we've had this DVD for many years, it had never appealed to me and I had never seen it. Then, last Sunday, some teenage friends came over, and chose this as their film of the evening. I sat down to watch the beginning... and soon found myself fascinated, drawn into the story.

The opening describes an idyllic society.  'Attachment parenting' is the norm, children get along, and there are no words for negative emotions such as anger or jealousy.

One day a man from this society comes across an empty coke bottle, discarded from a small aeroplane. They assume it must have been sent by the gods. At first people find constructive uses for the bottle - as a rolling pin, or a hammer, or for curing snakeskins.. But gradually, because there is only one, they start to fight, and experience anger and violence for the first time.

So after attempting in vain to get rid of it, Xi one of the bushmen, decides to walk to the ends of the earth to return it to the gods - a distance which he thinks could take as much as twenty days...

Meanwhile a young and attractive teacher (Sandra Prinsloo) is on her way to Botswana. She is going to be met by a rather klutzy scientist (Marius Weyers) in an ancient truck.

Meanwhile again, some guerillas try to assassinate the president. When they are afraid that they might be caught, they take some small children hostage

All these stories run alongside each other. Xi (played brilliantly by a real bushman called N!xau)  gradually meets people in so-called 'civilized society', as he travels to find the gods. It's all very confusing for him, and difficult to deal with. This leads to some amusing moments, although the main humour, some of it almost slapstick, comes from the problems driving an ancient truck which will probably give up working altogether if it's ever allowed to stop.

The story could have been condescending, but the film really pokes fun at supposedly advanced civilisation. The gentle bushman society is portrayed as ideal, and Xi adjusts well as he learns about life outside his home and the ways of white people.

I was surprised at how much I liked this film. It was very well done despite having been made on quite a low budget; it was a surprise hit in 1980, apparently.

There's a fascinating 'extra' on the DVD, interviewing some of the real bushmen actors - who were rather different from the people they portrayed, much happier about beginning to adopt technology and other western innovations.

The rating is PG in both US and UK; there's some minor bad language in appropriate places which might offend some parents, and also several shots of people in underwear, in awkward and amusing situations. Unlikely to be of interest to anyone under the age of about ten or eleven.

Note that the DVD link to Amazon is for the dual edition including the sequel to this film. They can sometimes be bought separately too, and are often available in charity shops.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Nia Vardalos)

(Amazon UK link)

It's very rare for me to re-watch films - at least, it has been. While I re-read favourite books fairly regularly, the imagery of movies tends to stay with me longer and I'm far less likely to think of seeing something I've seen before, unless it was twenty or more years ago in the cinema.

However, some teenage friends have started coming over a couple of times per month to watch films of their choice from our collection; time was limited on Sunday, and the choice was 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', which I saw, for the second time, less than two years ago.  I thought I might get bored, or even drop off... but found that I enjoyed it very much indeed.

The story revolves around Tula (played exceptionally well by Nia Vardalos), a Greek girl living in the United States. Her family are loud, and cheerful, and hard-working; caricatured, perhaps, and yet there's a great deal that we recognise, after living for fifteen years in Cyprus, where culture is very similar to that of Greece. Tula is expected to marry a nice Greek boy and raise Greek babies...

However, Tula is something of a geek, and does not appear to attract any boys, Greek or otherwise. She works in her father's restaurant, but is frustrated that it's a dead-end job which doesn't begin to take account of her intelligence. 

With her mother's help, she persuades her father to let her enrol on a computer course and then to work in the family travel agency... where she meets and falls in love with Ian (John Corbett) a quiet, all-American white English teacher. He is a very nice guy indeed, but absolutely not what her parents were hoping for.

That, basically, is the story. A young girl's bid for independence, and breaking out of the family expectations and stereotypes. Of course it pokes fun at Greek culture; it also pokes fun at American culture (Ian's parents are unbelievably naive, and don't appear to know about anything beyond US borders).  

Tula's father Gus (Michael Constantine - a Greek American by nationality) is absolutely brilliant in his exaggerated control of his family, his desire for tradition, yet with a deep love for all his family.  There are echoes of 'Fiddler on the Roof' in the story, as well as some very funny moments, no less amusing for knowing that they were coming.

I had forgotten a lot of the detail of this film, and found that I enjoyed it very much indeed. I'm a little surprised that it's only rated PG in both the UK and the US; the content would not be of much interest to anybody under the age of about 13 or 14, and although there's no nudity, bad language or sex, there is the end of a bedroom scene where it's very clear what has gone on - something which I would have expected to raise the rating to 12/PG-13.

All in all, I'd recommend it highly to teenagers and adults, particularly anyone who knows anything about Greek and American culture.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Henry Thomas, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace)

(Amazon UK link)

I first saw the film ET when it was out in the cinema, back in 1982. I had no idea what to expect, but fell quite in love with it. However, although some people went to see it several times, I have never been a great fan of cinemas, and didn't re-watch it at all. 

We bought the DVD about eight or nine years ago so that our sons could see it with their friends, although I didn't join them. I watched it - or at least half-watched it - about six years ago. Then yesterday evening we watched it again with some teenage friends.

The story is well-known: an odd-looking but lovable alien comes to earth to collect some plants, then accidentally gets left behind by his spaceship. He is taken in by a boy called Elliot, played absolutely brilliantly by Henry Thomas. Dubbed ET, the alien and Elliot get to know each other gradually, each developing trust in the other, and sharing an odd kind of psychic link. 

There's a poignancy in the friendship which is very moving. Elliot is a stressed, often lonely boy whose parents have recently separated. He's the middle child of three who is teased by his brother (Robert MacNaughton) and sometimes irritated  by his small sister (a very young Drew Barrymore).

Unfortunately ET can't survive for long on earth. We never really discover why in any detail. Worse still, government officials want to capture him, worried about alien contamination, so that in the end the children have to fight to get him away.  I had forgotten most of the details of the story, and enjoyed it very much. 

If I'm being picky, I would have liked more scenes with Elliot and ET, and fewer of the later more tense ones that featured fast action. But the whole thing was brilliantly done, directed by Steven Spielberg, with a very moving end.

Supposedly this film is for children, with a PG rating on both sides of the Atlantic. This sounds about right, since it would be fine for many children of about nine or ten and upwards. But parts of it would probably not be understood by much younger ones.

The edition we own is the 20th anniversary one, with an extra DVD. We watched the 'creation of ET' afterwards, in which the stars and director were interviewed. It was amazing watching Henry Thomas's audition - his acting and emoting were outstanding for such a young boy - and also very interesting learning how ET himself was made before the days of CGI. 

The film had been digitally enhanced on our DVD to take account of modern technology, and clear up a few minor glitches. Seeing how it was done was fascinating, and certainly didn't spoil the film in any way.

Highly recommended.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Fiddler on the Roof (Topol)

(Amazon UK link)

About eight years ago, when we started collecting DVDs, 'Fiddler on the Roof' was on special offer. I knew it was a classic, one of those musicals where I knew some of the songs, and had a vague idea of the storyline. I'm pretty sure I saw a stage version - maybe done at a school - when I was a teenager, but I had never seen the 1971 film production.

It's the story of a Jewish family living in Tzarist Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Tevye, the star and narrator, is brilliantly portrayed by Topol; he's a likeable middle-aged peasant who has been married for twenty-five years and has five daughters.

Teyve pledges his oldest daughter to be married to the local widowed butcher who is wealthy, but not at all young or handsome. To his horror, his daughter pleads to be married instead to her childhood sweetheart. Teyve loves her, and wants her to be happy, so he agrees somewhat reluctantly… not realising the irony in that in marrying a nice Jewish boy whom he likes, she is being far more traditional than her younger sisters will prove to be...

For tradition is at the heart of the culture. The opening song glorifies the importance of tradition, which is how Teyve was raised, and how he expects his future to continue. Yet young people - most of all his daughters - are starting to query it. Concepts such as love are alien to Teyve; in the song quoted in 'love language' books, his wife lists the things she does for him, but is also a bit puzzled by the concept of love itself.

Teyve is a caring person, and is usually willing to listen; sometimes he will change his viewpoint too, often in conjunction with a quick chat with God. This is done in a style that works well as little asides, as if he is thinking aloud, pondering the pros and cons of various options while his companions of the time are temporarily frozen.

'Fiddler on the Roof' is a long film, nearly three hours in all. The musical style, even the songs themselves seem old fashioned at times, yet the choreography is excellent, and the scenery gorgeous. The Russian army, eventually driving the Jews out, are shown in historical context, making this useful from a social history point of view, and overall there’s much to think about. At the end, which was almost too abrupt, seeing Teyve himself having to depart from his beloved tradition for many reasons, I found myself wishing it could be longer.

Recommended.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint)

(Amazon UK link)

Having decided to collect the Harry Potter DVDs and watch them, over a period of several months, we finally sat down to the fourth in the series on Sunday evening.

'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' is my least favourite of the books in the series. I haven't read it since 2005, but could remember most of the important plot points. It starts with some clear evidence of 'he-who-shall-not-be-named' seeking dark methods of returning to power. This is followed by the world Quidditch match, which doesn't much interest me. Most of the book, once the students have returned to Hogwarts, deals with the Tri-Wizard tournament - dangerous tasks between representatives of three different schools.

The ending of this book is particularly unpleasant and much darker than the previous novels; I didn't like it either of the times I had read it, and was not at all keen on seeing it on screen.

Still, the film is very well done, in my view. It keeps close to the plot of the book (or as much as I can remember, anyway) while - inevitably - cutting out some sequences, and cutting down on others. It's two and a half hours long, and quite intense. I felt myself quite tense at times. Some of the action scenes were so rapid that I had to close my eyes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I deliberately didn't watch most of the climax at the end, knowing what was coming. Just listening was more than sufficient - and it was well done.

The three main actors - Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione, and Rupert Grint as Ron - were clearly growing with their roles, and did very well portraying 14-year-old teenagers, sometimes moody and suspicious, sometimes emotional, beginning to show an interest in the opposite sex. This facet isn't overdone at all; the film's 12 rating (US: PG-13) is no doubt due to the somewhat dark theme - even though actual violence is not extreme. A sensitive child could find it very frightening.

I don't watch enough movies to have got fully used to the way that actors pop up all over the place, sometimes in similar roles, but - more disturbingly - sometimes very different. Maggie Smith is excellent, as ever, as Professor McGonagall; we've been watching 'Downton Abbey' and were a little bemused by her being a dowager countess in that, but the characters are not dissimilar.

Robert Hardy as the Minister for Magic was a bit strange - we knew him better as Siegfried Farnon in 'All Creatures Great and Small' - but I was at least expecting that. However, we both found it quite disturbing that David Tennant - the wonderful Doctor Who - appeared as the evil Barty Crouch...

I think I would recommend this film overall, to anyone who likes the books or has seen the earlier films. It would rather be confusing for anyone who knew nothing about Harry Potter, however.

Reviews of the other Harry Potter films:

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2)

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Doctor Who, The Complete Third Series (David Tennant, Freema Agyeman)

(Amazon UK link)

We were reluctant, at first, to get hooked on the 21st century incarnations of 'Doctor Who', the popular science fiction show that was so popular (and scary) in my childhood. But after much persuasion from our sons and their friends, we've just finished watching the third series. We liked it so much that we are already looking forward to starting the fourth.

It took us about six months to watch our way through the thirteen episodes of Doctor Who series 1. But we then managed  the similar length Doctor Who series 2 in just three months. Season 3, with fourteen episodes in all, has taken us nearly six months, although that's not for lack of interest.

This series was mostly broadcast in 2007, but begins with the 'Christmas Special' from the end of 2006 in which a young and rather angry bride finds herself unexpectedly transported to the Tardis. We weren't quite sure what to make of this, but very much enjoyed the next episode which introduced Freema Agyerman as Martha Jones, a medical student in a hospital which finds itself transported to the moon...

David Tennant continues as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor. We found that we liked his portrayal more and more in the role as the series progressed. He has just the right amount of eccentricity verve; this series also gives him the opportunity to display his extensive skills as an actor. This came to the fore in the two-part episode, 'Human Nature' and 'The Family of Blood' which see the Doctor temporarily transformed into a human, unaware - other than in his dreams - of any other existence.

Martha Jones becomes the Doctor's companion for the rest of this series, zooming around the universe from the past to the long distant future. We liked her very much better than Billie Piper as Rose. Martha is highly intelligent and motivated, and saves the Doctor's life more than once. Inevitably she, too, finds herself falling for the Doctor even though he's a time lord and can never settle down.

Martha's family are very upset about her taking off with the Doctor. They are suspicious and rather worried too. There's an ongoing theme through the series, seeing her mother reporting every phone call to a government agency, in scenes that  are not explained until everything falls into place in the final episode.

As for that final episode, it's a three-parter. That must have been quite frustrating for viewers when shown on television, with a week to wait in between each part. It was so tense that we had to watch all three parts in one evening, something we would not normally do. It introduces yet another adversary from the Doctor's past, and has some very tense, rapid scenes, as well as some moving moments... and what appears to us to be a strongly Messianic theme in the final part.

Thrown into the mix of the third season are a meeting with William Shakespeare, a rather scary two-part episode featuring evolving daleks, and an elderly man after the secret of eternal youth. There are also some cryptic messages found on DVDs in a so-called 'Doctor-lite' episode which was very thought-provoking in terms of time travel.

All in all, we thought this an excellent season.

Note: Despite being rated PG in the UK, I wouldn't really recommend this for anyone under the age of about nine or ten; some of the concepts are quite complex, and while there's no bad language or gore, or indeed anything else to warrant a higher rating, there's a lot that might give nightmares to a sensitive child.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews