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wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Peter Sellers' finest hour, playing Chance the Gardner, a simple, quietly spoken man who finds himself in the company of a well connected yet dating businessman who has connections with the President. Mistaken Chance's ideas about gardening for optimistic slices of advice, Chance wins over everyone he meets. Hal Ashby's satire is lifted by Sellers' tremendous performance and it's gentle pacing. Shame this wasn't Sellers' final film as it would have been a crown and a terrific career.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster rated Town on Trial

 Town on Trial 6/10

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

50's British thriller in which the murder of a young woman brings detective John Mills to investigate and his methods start to upset the locals. The whole thing is still quintessentially British while wanting to be a little tougher. Mills, as always, is on top form but as maverick as he gets, he is no Dirty Harry. As for whodunnit? You re left guessing till the end and that side of the story is handled extremely well.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

The original and still the best, James Cameron's low budget sci-fi thriller may look dated now as far as the effects are concerned but it still manages to grip and the set pieces, particularly the police station attack, is up there with the best action scenes. Schwarzenegger, playing the villain, does it with flair. Most other action films would like to be as good as this. A classic.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Missing person thriller played out on the computer screen of the girl's father, as he starts to uncover clues and finds he didn't really know anything about his own sibling. Starts with a short, Up-style montage that will have you blubbering and then introduces twist and turn that will have you gasping. The ending is a little exposition heavy and the contrived but for a film that uses the premise of watching a computer screen for 104 minutes, it is surprisingly gripping and tense.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster rated Casualties of War

 Casualties of War 8/10

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Brian De Palma's tough Vietnam drama has Michael J. Fox as a soldier assigned under bullish Sean Penn, who kidnaps a Vietnamese girl in order to rape her while on patrol. This is possibly DePalma's most straight-forward film, lacking any of his usual cinematic flairs, instead of telling this horrific tale without anything flashy. The performances, especially from Fox and Penn are exceptional. A hard film to watch and one of the underrated Vietnam dramas that came out of the 80's.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster rated Pete's Dragon

 Pete's Dragon 6/10

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Disney musical which mixes live action with animation, as a young boy moves into a coastal town with his pet dragon, Elliott. Causing all kinds of trouble, the dragon becomes the interest of an unsavoury conman. While the cast gives it plenty of welly, the songs are unmemorable and the animation isn't as exciting as Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The recent remake was much more of a touching tale.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster rated Christopher Robin

 Christopher Robin 8/10

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

A charming reinvention of the A.A.Milne stories with Ewan McGregor as an older Christopher Robin, who has forgotten childhood things and replaced them by seriousness and stress of work, which is slowly pushing his wife and daughter away, until Winnie The Pooh arrives needing his help. With incredible CGI creations of the friends from the Hundred Acre Woods, this is aimed more at adults who loved the stories and who have forgotten what its like to be a child.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster rated The Darkest Minds

 The Darkest Minds 4/10

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Fairly forgettable YA dystopian adventure where children have developed powers that make them dangerous to adults, as a group try to find sanctuary which isn't what they hoped for. This would have been an interesting concept if it hadn't have come long after the YA type movies had died. It feels very old-fashioned and behind the times, especially with the superhero movies ruling. Maybe would have made an interesting TV series on Netflix but fails as a cinematic experience.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

From the makers of The Inbetweeners comes a film not too dissimilar from the hit TV series, as Joe Thomas stars as Nick, a man dumped on his graduation who is dragged to a music festival. Full of jokes about drugs, sex and bodily functions, the film works best when it isn't trying to be rude and Thomas makes Nick a likeable anti-hero. Not as funny as the Inbetweeners but it will do.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

One of Norman Wisdom's finest films, playing a man who dreams of being a policeman like his father who has to go undercover as an Italian hairdresser. Brimming with slapstick comedy, it has some hilarious moments, including a chase through the streets for hundreds of police officers. Wisdom is as charming as ever although the film is almost stolen from him by a very funny performance from David Lodge. A little gem.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster rated The Bargee

 The Bargee 6/10

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Dated comedy with Harry H. Corbett as a barge worker, travelling up and down the English canals, with women at every lock house. When he gets one of the girls pregnant and her father is very overprotective, he has to change his ways. The cast of supporting actors is made up of the good and the great of British comedy at that period, although the humour maybe slightly of its time, it passed a lazy Sunday afternoon nicely.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 3 items to their collection

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 3 items to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster rated Paper Tiger (1975)

 Paper Tiger (1975) 4/10

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Adventure with David Niven as a coward and a liar who is hired to be an English teacher to an Asian ambassador. When the pair are kidnapped, the teacher must become everything that he has made-up. For an adventure film, this is fairly slow moving, although you can see the British filmmakers want to cash in on the martial arts craze. Niven, however, holds his own, while the boy is absolutely terrible. Fine for a disposable, nothing else to watch but hardly worth tracking down.

5 years, 8 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

5 years, 8 months ago