Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150AD (1966)

It's hard to take these Dr Who films seriously. I know there are people who do and bless them but out of the two that were made this one is the best. For one it has Bernard Cribbins in it. Secondly it doesnt have the Thals in it and thirdly it has Philip Madoc in it. The idea is that the Daleks want to mine the earth to turn it into a giant spaceship, exactly the same as the 1964 TV version. The TV version is a black and white one which is filmed on a restricted budget in a BBC TV studio. This film is filmed with a vastly improved budget along with a big star and in colour. Of course it wins out in the visual sense but as we learnt with Doctor Who and the Daleks, colour isnt everything.

Peter Cushing might be great in everything else but he's not a convincing Doctor. He doesnt carry the dramatic weight that William Hartnell does and Susan is only slightly less annoying than the TV version. Bernard Cribbins is the one that commands my attention when he is on screen which is a problem when he's on screen with Cushing.

If you want to see the better version of this story then by the TV version, its about twice as long and three times better. Dont get me wrong, this is a better film than the first one but lets not forget that the TV series always has been and always will be the superior and regardless of what anyone says, neither Peter Cushing's Doctor or this movie will be considered to part of official Doctor Who chronology.

Brighton Rock (1947)

This is the original which for me is noticeable for having William Hartnell. It always seems strange seeing him in any other way apart from the Doctor. Anyway this film sees Richard Attenborough as Pinkie Brown who is some of leader but to be honest doesnt make me believe that he could be a thug leader or that anyone in his team could take him seriously. In fact there are many times that he is mocked by the others and I thought that this undermined Attenborough's performance when it needed strengthening. I thought that there were some scenes that were very enjoyable and William Hartnell is a nice pice of casting. I thought that Attenborough was at his peak when Pinkie was with Rose. I thought that this doomed romance was very effective and it had a thrilling conclusion.

I thought the best piece of casting was Hermoine Baddeley  as Ida Arnold who is the one poking away at Pinkie and is the Jessica Fletcher of this film who puts things together and solves it but at the beginning when she comes across as a boozing mad woman and its credit to Baddeley who lures us into thinking one thing before turning the charm on and winning me over.
It's not a great movie if I am being honest. I thought that large chunks were very boring and it was the times when Attenborough, Hartnell and Baddeley that I found it entertaining. I dont know whether the 2010 version is better but I may watch it to compare.

The Damned United (2009)

Now I'm not normally a Football film fan but this film about Brian Clough's doomed tenure as Leeds United Manager is a truly fantastic film. It's told in the form of flashbacks, we start off with him being appointed as Leeds boss but we go back to his days as Derby County boss. Now this film is based on a book and I have to say that I have never read the book though I might after seeing this film. Michael Sheen is brilliant as Brian Clough. Like David Frost in Frost/Nixon, Sheen captures the manerisms of the person he is playing. He might not look to much like Clough but that doenst really matter to much because his performance is so good that you look past it quite quickly. I liked how Clough comes across as someone who has lots of confidence but puts himself over to the Leeds team badly and its soon clear how important Peter Taylor was to Clough. Timothy Spall is great as Peter Taylor. Actually Spall in great in pretty much everything he is in.

The Damned United is a film that should be seen because like Frost/Nixon, the central character's flaws and positives are in clear view.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

I have to admit that I found this film to be totally boring. Only Humphrey Bogart stopped me from falling asleep. It started off promisingly and I was thought that this was going to be quite an interesting little film but after about 15 I found the film quite boring and totally dull, lacking any tension or anything in the way of charisma. None of the characters were believeable and the whole idea was totally stupid which is a shame because Bogart is regarded as one of the most popular actors of his generation.

This is the only Bogart film I have ever seen but whilst I liked Bogart's performance, the film was utter tripe and I was relieved when it was over. I wouldnt say its the worst film that I have ever seen but its only because of Bogart. Remove him from the film and its on par with the 1969 True Grit.

Magnum Force (1973)

The second Dirty Harry film is far better than the first film. I think that the story is far better and the whole feel of the film was better than in DH. The film is about a group of rookies who seem to be taking the law into their own hands. At first I thought that it was just one guy and that was David Soul but when it turned out that there was more of them then it made the idea of rogue rookies even better. The introduction of Hal Holbrook was brilliant.

The final scene on the abandoned ship was funny and exciting in equal measure. I couldnt believe that Harry could walk/run/stagger onto the boat with no one noticing or saying anything but as the story moved along and the film got even better. Generally the whole film worked a lot better than DH. I thought that Clint Eastwood got a better handle of the character than in the first one and he was surrounded by very good actors that helped make some of the weaker moments go by very quickly.

Dirty Harry (1971)

Dirty Harry is one of those films that I have heard good things about and I was interested because it had Clint Eastwood in it. It's the first of I think four films and hopefully the rest will be better because this film whilst had its moments wasnt quite the classic that I thought it would be. I honestly dont know why this was but there were things such as Eastwood and some cool 1970's music but the rest didnt really work and at the end of the film I felt slightly disappointed with it because it didnt have the killer punch at the end that I thought it should have had. The film is regarded as setting the template for future police films which is clear but it still remains that it doesn’t quite work despite having someone who is apparently going on a one man killing spree. Some scenes were quite good but ultimately it didnt gel very well.

There is something that is quite fun about watching someone who doesnt act like a normal cop but it has to be due to the person playing the role and Clint Eastwood is one of those people who can get away with it because he has such as strong body of work where he is someone who you dont mess with. Eastwood is clearly the main selling point of this movie but there are certain films where you can get a superb performance in a poor film and I think that Dirty Harry is certainly one of those films.

Rating – 7/10

True Grit (2010)

I wasn’t wild about the original version and I was hoping that this remake would satisfy the disappointment that I felt when I watched the John Wayne version. I have to say that I think that this remake is 110% BETTER than the 1969 version. Firstly Hailee Steinfeld is brilliant and considering its her first role is astonishing. I also thought that the story was better told than the 1969 version as the Coen Brothers have done wonders with this story and there are classic Coen things in it such as characters that make brief appearances yet are instantly funny and every scene is truly wonderful. Like No Country for Old Men, there are some visually stunning scenes and everyone in the film deserves to be there.

Jeff Bridges is better than John Wayne but I just couldn’t understand him half the time and had to stick the subtitles on. It was only then that I could make sense of what he was saying. He was very good though. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are also very good and they are also better than their originals. However it is Hailee who steals the film and is far more beleiveable in the role than Kim Darby.

This is possibly in my top three of films of most recent films and it just falls short of No Country which isn’t a bad thing. The Coen Brothers are great film makers and now what it takes to make a great film.