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AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A bus transporting prisoners is hijacked when a gang takes their leader back. The rest of the prisoners and the bus is locked up inside a barn which is doused with paraffin and will be set alight if anybody tries to escape. This is a cracking low budgeter. Part of the story follows a police investigation as they attempt to track down the missing prisoners while another follows the melodrama taking place inside the barn as certain prisoners recall the tale of how they got to be arrested by the police in the first instance. There's a good cast which includes Peter Sallis as an unhinged lunatic who thinks everybody should be afraid of him. It's him that sets up the fiery and exciting finale. I enjoyed this little b-movie.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A realistic tale of puppy love between two 12 year olds who decide that they want to be together for the rest of their lives and marry straight away. For anybody that has fallen in love for the first time at school, you'll find a lot of nostalgia in this great movie. The story revolves around the pair's growing up years at home, at school and outdoors. In the end, Daniel's friend Ornshaw helps the eager boy-girl couple to get married by playing the pastor performing their marriage ceremony with their school friends as the congregation. There are so many great moments in the movie that take you right through your childhood age although the anarchic final 20 mins is a bit far-fetched. The movie is directed by Waris Hussein who is best known for his work on the early episodes of Dr Who. The gentle soundtrack from the Bee Gees complemented the movie and helped to evoke the 70's era beautifully. An innocent and charming movie which will turn some viewers into hopeless romantics after watching it.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

The Duchess is based on the true life story of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire who married William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire in England in 1774. The facts of Georgiana's life form the basis of the movie's plot such as her initial failure to produce an heir to the Duke to her affair with the future Prime Minister Charles Grey. This is a very beautiful looking movie. The costumes are grand and wonderful to look at. The art direction was also of a high end and there was a lot of detail put into this movie. They wanted to get the feel for the period. The director Saul Dibb seemed to be influenced by Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon with the amount of candle light shots and wonderful historical settings in Bath and the countryside. Dibb did a good job trying to keep a good pace and there solid attempt to make an interesting movie. Keira Knightley gives a powerful and sympathetic performance as The Duchess. Hayley Atwell has an interesting character as both Georgiana's best friend and the Duke of Devonshire's lover in what is a very complex relationship. All in all, The Duchess is a great costume drama full of compellingly deep characters. One to watch for sure.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Young Paul Grahame is the elder child in a family living well above their means. His mother Hester is a spendthrift badly hung up on money as some sort of status symbol, while his father, Richard is a gambler, and not a good one at that. The family are heading for bankruptcy unless some income comes in. Befriending the new handyman Bassett, Paul is delighted to find that Bassett is an ex-jockey and regales him with tales of horse racing, he even learns from Bassett how to ride his rocking horse like a real jockey. Then something magical happens, Paul seems to be able to predict the winners of real horse races, and the money starts to roll in… D. H. Lawrence's story gets a faithful adaptation and transfers quite excellently to the screen. It's a haunting fantasy at heart, but one tinged with utter sadness. As the story progresses, it soon becomes evident that Paul has to ride his rocking horse to a frenzied climax, if he doesn't get there then he will not see the name of the next race winner. The irony of this movie is that Paul ends up virtually saving his family from financial ruin without them knowing it. The stress and strain of 'saving the family' soon becomes too great for Paul to bare. This is truly a bizarre story about how the burdens of a dysfunctional family are often placed on an innocent child who wants to fill a void that the adults aren't able, or willing, to do on their own. The whole cast is brilliant but especially John Howard Davies as young Paul. This story after almost 70 years still holds up well as one of the most sinister movies I've ever seen. Recommended.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A classic Christmas movie which is sadly neglected these days. This is the story of a Christmas in which the emotionally wounded family of a Church of England clergyman come home and attempt to have a happy holiday. It's a reasonably realistic look at a family of emotional cripples as they all try to put their lives back on track. Various members of the family have gone through painful experiences of one kind or another but have been afraid of telling their father as they thought he wouldn't understand as a vicar. Forget about the usual cheery Christmas movies in which everybody is happy and smiling. This is a real Christmas about real people. The movie has a tremendous cast in Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, Margaret Leighton, Denholm Elliot, and Hugh Williams! This is a movie that deserves wide attention and should be a Christmas staple.

5 years, 4 months ago

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5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

An American comes over to Britain trying to find some information out about his younger brother who was killed in a commando raid during WWII but the shot that killed him did not come from a German soldier. This is a great whodunit detective movie. It's not an easy task to discover details about a death during a commando raid, obviously a chaotic and deliberately secret event by nature. Although the American's motivations remain a bit fuzzy to everyone, he is doggedly determined. The result is an ending resolution that I found to be rewarding and finely done. Ray Milland is the perfect choice as the American. Director Jack Tourneur has made this movie like an Agatha Christie puzzle in which clues are slowly drip fed to the viewer. There are some fine shots of the Scottish Highlands as Milland pursues the truth north of the border, where the whistling of a folk tune called 'White Heather' takes on significance in terms of identifying the killer. Overall, this is a fantastic movie for those who love mystery stories.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Based on a stage play, Warren Mitchell is Fred Midway who is plotting his way up in the world by using devious methods such as posting anonymous letters to get rid of his competitors to rise up the ladder where he works. It seems the rest of the family also share his ideals of bettering themselves - by fair means or foul! The story outline above sets the tone for the movie as Fred and his wife try to marry off their daughters to people in positions of power to further their standing in high society. Although Mitchell gets to play somebody other than Alf Garnett, at times in the movie the viewer does see some of Garnett showing through. There are a variety of beautiful ladies on display such as Adrienne Posta and Vanessa Howard to provide eye candy for the men. It's not a laugh out loud comedy in any shape or form but I found it amusing enough. The final scene of Fred Midway laughing victoriously as he blackmails the boss of his company is quite chilling. A good British low-budget comedy which is hardly seen these days.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Made a year before the Disney version came out, this movie is much closer to the fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Although there is no definitive version of the story, it is far better better than the Disney movie that there is no doubt. This new French version is different from many other versions because it concentrates much more on the family's back story and how awful Belle's siblings are. The movie is also visually breathtaking. The style takes from classic watercolour paintings and it gives the movie such a vibrant gorgeous storybook feel. The Beast also sports some pretty decent practical makeup that does a good job conveying what a humanised lion may be like. Vincent Cassel is great underneath all the makeup as The Beast with the beautiful Lea Seydoux complimenting alongside him as Belle. Director Christophe Gans did a wonderful job on this movie. It's a fairly impressive movie and I enjoyed it.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

This is a rather weak spin-off movie from the Jimmy Edwards comedy series Whack-O! which has him as the headmaster of a private boys school trying to rein in the unruly pupils. The TV series was written by good comedy writers in Frank Muir and Dennis Norden but this movie has only a scant contribution from both and it shows. This movie just isn't that funny. Many viewers are also likely to be offended by Melvyn Hayes blacking up as a young Arabian Prince. Jimmy Edwards is assisted by a young Richard Briers and Donald Hewlett. It might be interesting for some to look back at a time when children were routinely beaten with a cane for minor transgressions. Compared to the more wittier St Trinian's series at the time, this looks poor beside them.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Contraband

 Contraband 7/10

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Chris Farraday is a retired smuggler turned family man who now owns his own business selling alarm systems. Farraday is forced back into the contraband game when his brother-in-law Andy, owes his boss Tom Briggs a large sum of money due to the drug deal he failed to deliver. Everything does not go according to plan when Farraday goes to Panama with his team of smugglers to repay Andy's debt. This was a pretty good heist thriller. I thought the story was unique and the location too. I haven't seen many movies aboard freighters in the Panama Canal before. The action scenes were exciting, the cast more than decent and it had a pretty great ending. Mark Wahlberg carries the movie with more cool than edge, and even when the story gets mazy and convoluted, he's a genuine enough protagonist to make everything seem precisely clear: exactly when it needs to be. I was more than entertained with the movie and it is certainly a watch or two.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Hard pressed scientist Albert Dooley has little money to spend as his work with animals isn't proving as profitable as he hoped it would be. However one day his worthless duck is exposed to high levels of radiation. Taking the duck home with him he finds that it can be stimulated to lay eggs – eggs made of solid gold. This is a typical example of the great family movies that Disney produced during this period. The plot is goofy and sets the tone for the sense of humour but it isn't used very well. Instead of laughs it really only produces energy and wackiness. There are a few laughs mostly during the car chase near the end. This is a fine movie for children and even adults should find it enjoyable.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

After serving in the navy during WWII, a trio of ex-seamen buy their old patrol torpedo boat and decide to start smuggling some stuff between Britain and France. They make a lot of cash but one of them wants more so they team up with another smuggler and up their game in the business but this greed comes with a price to pay. This morality tale may be a little heavy-handed at times, but it's engaging for all of that. An interesting cat-and-mouse scenario develops between the three smugglers - Richard Attenborough, George Baker & Bill Owen - and the customs officer, played by the excellent Bernard Lee. Things descend from high spirits to sordid crime and ultimately murder. And their spiral of disgrace is reflected in the declining reliability of their vessel and its final loss. There's plenty of open-air photography with some excellent shots at sea. It might not have a happy ending but it's a movie that is worth checking out.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

One of the least successful of Ealing comedies. A dockers trade union supporter is sent by the Labour government to govern a small British colony in the Mediterranean. However, his blunt ways upsets everybody but when the natives grow restless and begin a riot, his skills are required to quell the uprising. I can see why this movie wasn't that successful. It's billed as comedy but there's no laughs to be had. It's a painfully dull and unfunny movie. The story is basically about the culture clash between the snobs that have come over to rule and look down on the commoners and the ordinary people that live on the island. The cast which includes Eric Portman as the Governor do what they can with the poor script. It's not a movie I can really recommend.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A young gang of bored motorbike friends who are usually up to mischief around the shops of Bristol notices the door to a church open on their way home. Being curious about what's taking place inside,the gang enter the church and are met by the churchwarden Mr.Smith. Thinking that they can mess him around, one of the gang mention that they would like to perform some rock music in the venue, which to everyone's surprise, Mr.Smith agrees to. As their music ability starts to progress, tensions begin to build in the gang over fears that they are conforming. Made just before the start of when the 'proper' swinging sixties took place, this is an interesting timepiece of what the restless youth of Britain was doing before The Beatles swept away the old and ushered in a new era for this country. There's a clash of culture at times in the story with the youth wanting excitement and respect and all the adults can offer them is a boring Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. The usual conflict between the youths of women coming in between male friends also comes up. It has a fine cast with Ray Brooks and Kenneth More as the main leads. A nice cameo also from Harry H Corbett. A great movie about the alienation of young people with the adults not willing to try and understand them.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A group of 5 friends start a yearly game of Tag when they are just young boys in school. The game starts and ends during the month of May. Whoever is IT at the end of May has to wait for the game to resume the next year in May again. Fast forward 30 years later to the present day and the boys are now grown up adults who are still playing the game once a year for the full month of May. It's also the one time of the year that brings the original guys back together so they don't lose touch with one another. This is actually based on a true life story of a bunch of men that are still playing Tag and go great distances in order to try and tag the other players. I was rather curious, as the movie's concept is different to anything we have seen previous seen in a comedy. While the idea is good, the movie's end result can be rather average, and at times the joke can feel repetitive. Sometimes it feels like the same scene is repeated, with our main characters setting up a situation in order to try and catch Jeremy Renner's character. There's a great cast involved with Isla Fisher fantastic as the crazy wife of one of the players. I wouldn't say it's one of the best comedy movies of the year but I liked the unique concept of the story.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

This is an intelligent action thriller. It features the story revolving around a potential threat of World War three. The movie begins with attacks on American and Russian submarines. The Russian president's life is in danger, and American navy officers team up with their Russian counterparts in order to save the Russian president and eliminate any possibility of World War three. This movie has a decent story and screenplay, good direction, and intense performances. The action scenes are also nice, although some CGI experts may claim that the sequences could have been more refined and polished. I loved it anyway. The submarine battle scenes are great. The performances by all actors were great but Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman really stood out and shined greatly. Definitely worth taking a look at.

5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A teenage girl with a mentally ill mother finds some solace in the music of The Smiths. This is a great movie which tackles a difficult subject with grace, compassion and insight. To do all of this whilst being so watchable and entertaining is pure genius. The writing by comedian Jo Brand and the directing by Keith English is nothing short of brilliant and a wonderful rollercoaster ride of comedy, sadness, and romance with touches of intrigue and excitement for good measure. The acting by the cast is fantastic with Sheridan Smith and Ella Hunt the stand out performers. All in all, this is a warm, kind and gentle movie which stirs up some genuine emotions.

5 years, 4 months ago

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5 years, 4 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 4 months ago