Batteries not Included (Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy)

(Amazon UK link)

I'm not entirely sure how 'Batteries not Included' came to be on our DVD shelves. Possibly it was part of a special offer deal at one of the websites that offered 'three DVDs for 15 euros' or similar.

It sat there un-viewed for some time, but finally we decided to watch it. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this: the pictures on the cover show children sleeping, and alien spaceships. And the film is rather depressing to begin with. High-rise buildings are being knocked down by a big businessman, and there is a rather sad group of people who really want to keep their home.

However, there is fairly quickly some human interest. This group of people includes an elderly married couple who run a café. The wife (played by Jessica Tandy) appears to have early forms of dementia. Then there’s an artist whose girlfriend has just left him, a prize-fighter who doesn’t speak to anyone, and a young pregnant woman.

The elderly man (played by Hume Cronyn) is at his wits’ end. Then help comes from a most unexpected source…

Once I got into it, I found this film amusing in places, and oddly moving in others. The effects are quite clever for the time (it was made in 1987) and still look good even with today’s advanced sophistication. But then Stephen Speilburg directed it, and this was the era of classics such as ET.

All in all, I thought it a pleasant family film. Rated PG due to the subject matter, I assume, which could be disturbing to some children.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Jeeves and Wooster, complete (Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie)

(Amazon UK link)

The TV series 'Jeeves and Wooster', in my view, is one of the masterpieces of book adaptations.

I have read and liked - off and on - the PG Wodehouse books about Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves since I was about 12 or 13. They are full of irony, great satire on the upper classes in the early part of the 20th century.

Bertie is supposedly a typical good-hearted and slightly gormless idle rich guy in his 20s, with a series of aunts of varying character. He keeps on getting himself into scrapes - or else someone else does it for him - and sooner or later Jeeves comes to the rescue.

Predictable? Undoubtedly. But great fun, nonetheless. 

When the BBC first started broadcasting episodes of these classic books featuring Stephen Fry as Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as Wooster, I was reluctant to watch them, at first. I feared that they might taint my enjoyment of Wodehouse's brilliance. But curiosity got the better of me, and I'm glad it did. The pair are superb in the title roles, bringing them to life in a way that did not at all detract from my imagination.

I was delighted when the entire series - four seasons of it - became available in a boxed set, at not too great a price. I was even more pleased when someone gave them to me. I have been watching them over some months, in random bursts, with one of my sons. We have liked them all very much.

The scenery is excellent, the mood just right, the atmosphere perfect. It's true that some of the plots veer  away from the Wodehouse originals, but others stay true to the novels. What matters most are the characters - all extremely well portrayed - and the humour, which comes across perfectly despite the difference of medium.

The very 'British' (indeed, English) style will not appeal to everyone. Irony and satire does not go down in all cultures. But for anyone who likes this kind of thing, who is willing to suspend reality and enter into 1920s upper-class society, these come highly recommended.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Music and Lyrics (Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore)

(Amazon UK link)

Several people recommended this film to me, and the blurb looked good - so it went on my wishlist, and I was pleased to be given it for Christmas.

'Music and Lyrics' is a lovely feel-good film, starring Hugh Grant as Alex, a rather washed-out musician. He is given the chance to make a recording with a current teenage pop idol... but has to write the lyrics. He agrees to this, despite not being much of a writer at all.

He then meets Sophie (Drew Barrymore) who has been employed to water the plants in his apartment. She hears him struggling with words, and offers assistance.. and it turns out that she's quite a talented lyricist.

Unsurprisingly, the story is all rather predictable after the initial situation unfolds, but the chemistry between the two led characters works well, and we thought it a very pleasant story. Nothing particularly deep, just gentle romantic comedy. 

Recommended, if you like this kind of thing.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Father of the Bride (Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor)

(Amazon UK link)

I was flying on a plane with individual choice of films to watch. But the only one that appealed to me was the 1950s black-and-white version of 'Father of the Bride'. I knew that there was a 1990s remake starting Steve Martin, but knew little about the plot other than assuming that there was a wedding involved somewhere.

The movie begins with the respectable and slightly grumpy Stanley (superbly played by Spencer Tracy). He is sighing over the cost and mess produced by his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) having been married.

The rest of the film looks back over the circumstances leading up to the wedding. It starts with the time when Kay mentioned her young man for the first time. Then it  progresses through all the rituals that were common in 1950s America - inviting him to dinner, meeting his parents, and so on.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. Parts of it were very moving, perhaps all the more so since we had just said goodbye to our son who was working at the other side of the world.

I scarcely noticed the lack of colour after the first five minutes or so, and was drawn right into the story. I smiled in places, and even shedded a little tear in others.

Definitely recommended, if this kind of film appeals to you.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Northanger Abbey (Katharine Schlesinger, Peter Firth)

(Amazon UK link)

I was on a long flight, with personal choice of video to watch. I opted for an adaptation of one of my favourite Jane Austen books, 'Northanger Abbey'. It was made for TV by the BBC, who are usually very good at period dramas of this kind, so I had high hopes for it.

Katharine Schlesinger plays the hapless Catherine Morland. She stars in this story as a young girl longing for adventure. But her imagination runs riot, and she envisions all kinds of dreadful deeds taking place amongst even the pleasantest of homes.

Unfortunately, I did not much enjoy the movie. While much of the text was (to my memory, anyway) fairly true to the book, none of the characters was particularly appealing. Catherine, admittedly, is supposed to be rather annoyingly silly. But none of the others were a great deal better.

In addition, the director appear to have missed the point of the book. It was ironic, poking fun at the plethora of 'gothic' novels which were so popular with teenage girls at the time. But instead of warmth and humour, this film seemed to glory in the gothic horror, producing some scenes that I couldn't quite bear to watch, as part of Catherine's nightmares.

The rest of it was, I suppose, pleasant enough. It told the Austen story, albeit from a perspective entirely lacking in humour. But I don't think I'll be watching this again.

Note: later on we acquired the ITV adaptation of Northanger Abbey, which I liked a great deal better.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

The Vicar of Dibley complete series (Dawn French)

(Amazon UK link)

While we're not really television watchers in general, there are some sitcom series from previous years where we caught a few episodes and very much liked them. 'The Vicar of Dibley' is one such series, made mostly in the 1990s. And when, visiting our son abroad, he was given this series - most of which he had not seen previously - we watched it together over a couple of weeks.

The story is well-known. Dawn French stars as the lively Geraldine, appointed as Vicar in a small parish. The series starts at the beginning when she must face prejudice against her gender, and moves through typical (or stereo-typical) situations in the life of a parish church.

There's lots of humour in the characterisation and circumstances. What we particularly like about this series is that it doesn't poke fun at the church as such, nor at Christian ministers. Geraldine is portrayed as a lively, caring and - in the end - faithful and responsible lady, for whom problems arise. What we particularly appreciated is that God is usually the winner, in a gentle kind of way.

This series is rated 12 in the UK, probably due to some sexual implications and innuendoes, which sometimes border on the vulgar. However, there is nothing explicit, and no violence to speak of. The US does not have a rating for this series.

Definitely recommended for adults and teenagers, if you don't mind the strange mixture of humour, which does sometimes border on the adolescent.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Emma (starring Kate Beckinsale)

(Amazon UK link)

Of all the Jane Austen novels, my least favourite is 'Emma'. However, I have realised that some classic novels come to life in film or TV form, and so have started collecting some of them on DVD.

There seem to have been several versions of 'Emma' made, but the most highly rated one was the ITV production made in 1996, starring Kate Beckinsale.

The story is about Emma's inveterate match-making, which leads to misunderstandings and embarrassment amongst her friends. She is quite cold-hearted, or so it seems, caring more about her own success as a match-maker than the feelings of her supposed friends.

Emma is a very clever creation by Austen. It's not easy reading a novel where one really doesn't like the main character, and it's a tribute to her writing and imagination that the book is so popular. I don't much like the book because so little seems to happen, and because Emma is, basically, quite annoying.

However, I did very much enjoy this made-for-TV adaptation. I found that I could get more into Emma's skin by watching the settings and situations that arose than I could in the book, which is often decidedly long-winded. Kate Beckinsale does an excellent job, showing Emma to be rather more human than the book implies, and the story flowed well.

Enjoyable, and recommended. My husband, who has not read the book, thought it well-made and liked the film too.

Other recommended adaptations of Jane Austen books include:

• Sense and Sensibility
• Persuasion (1995 BBC version)
• Pride and Prejudice (BBC series)
• Pride and Prejudice (2005 film)

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews