All the following films were seen at the cinema during 1996.
Executive Decision (6/10)
With Kurt Russell & Steven Segal(AKA 'the plank'!) as the good guys and David Suchet as the baddy. (Why do American films always have to have a Briton as the bad guy?) A mildly entertaining film.
Copycat (8/10)
Staring Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter(The Piano). Described to me as slightly reminiscent of 'The silence of the lambs', and I can see why. That should not put you off from going to see it though, because it's different enough to not really notice the similarities unless you are specifically looking out for them.
Twelve monkeys (9.5/10)
With Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, and Madeleine Stowe. All the actors played totally different parts from the one's you usually see them in; Brad Pitt was brilliant as a completely unhinged eco-terrorist; and Bruce Willis, in his best ever role I think, equally brilliant as a totally sane but completely confused time traveller. Madeleine Stowe? Well she's just naturally gorgeous, what more needs to be said. Well, all right then, yes she's very good as a psychiatrist who gets hooked up with Willis, and, naturally, disbelieves his time travel stories. Well wouldn't you?
Eddie Murphy's Vampire in Brooklyn (2/10) is very predictable, and not very interesting. I'd give it a miss unless you are a Murphy fan.
The Rock (7½/10)
I found very good, and very funny. Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery worked exceedingly well together on screen, and some of the stunts were quite clever. Just remember 'Green Balls' :-)
Twister (7/10)
I found this film quite lightweight, but entertaining in its own way. The special effects were stunning - depends what you want out of special effects I suppose - but the story was very weak, some characterisation - Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt did good with what little they had. I enjoyed it though, and that's the main thing.
Independence Day cert.12 (6/10)
This was all hype and little substance, the excellent special effects were the only thing that really made it worth watching. I did enjoy it to a certain extent, though I'll have to admit I was a rather disappointed overall. Too 'God bless America' for my taste, but it is an American film so ....
Well, it won an oscar for the special effects, but they were the only part of the film really worth seeing anyway.
Mission Impossible (4/10)
Again the special effects were okay, mind you, the rubbish with the helicopter at the end was well OTT. And an SNCF TGV in England? Give me a break! Story was far too predictable as well.
Eraser (6/10)
With the one and only Arnie - don't ask me to spell his name - amusing, predictable, and entertaining! Arnie was his usual violent self, on the side of the law here, but the help from the mafia was amusing! Second hand James Bond stunts I'm afraid, but they were well done.
Phenomenon cert.PG (7½/10)
John Travolta was actually surprisingly good. Not normally my sort of film - no special effects, no fast action, no aliens or high technology, just an amusing and yet very deep story, with Travolta as a man who can seemingly perform miracles. Try it. I think you'll like it.
Diabolique (7/10)
With Isobelle Adjani & Sharon Stone. To be honest I've never really liked Sharon Stone, but this film does prove that she is an accomplished actress. Isobelle Adjani was the real reason I went to see this film - georgous, talented, and older than Ms Stone, not that you'd know by looking at her. The film? Predictable to a point, though the actual denoument was a bit of a surprise. Kathy Bates as a one breasted detective was both believable and extremely well done.
A time to kill cert.15 (8/10)
This was an excellent film, and while it was reasonably predictable all the way through, in this case that wasn't a dissapointment. I liked the father and son team of Donald and Keiffer Sutherland - on opposite sides in the film, one a drunkard ex-lawyer, the other a rabid rascist. And the defense summing up at the end even brought tears to my cynical eyes. Matthew McConaughey is definately the next Hugh Grant for looks, and a better actor to boot. Well worth it.
Courage Under Fire cert.15 (7½/10)
With Meg Ryan who is already dead at the start of the film, Denzel Washington and Lou Diamond Philips. Not a bad story line, and I think Meg Ryan, here playing the serious sort of part she's not normally known for, managed to play three slightly different versions of her character extremely well. Told in flashbacks, the film was very well done. I enjoyed it.
The Nutty Professor cert.12 (5/10)
I didn't think this was as good as the original with Jerry Lewis, but for all that it was okay. Murphy plays at least 6 different roles, and possibly a seventh - look at the keep fit guy only ever seen on the telly and see if you can decide. Some highly amusing and entertaining parts, but it didn't hang together as perhaps it could and I found a few parts actually boring. Far better than his last outing though.
DragonHeart cert.PG (2/10)
What a pile of rubbish. How on earth Sean Connery let himself be connected to this I don't know. I only hope he was paid well for it. Dennis Quaid does not suit the part of a medieval knight, the story was weak, and at times I was bored out of my skull. On the good side, the dragon animation was reasonably okay, Pete Postlethwaite as the priest was amusing, and on his looks alone David Thewlis was well cast as the 'evil' king.
Chain reaction cert.12 (6/10)
I must be slow, it took me about 15 minutes to work out that the Morgan Freeman character wasn't exactly what he pretended to be at first. No real special effects other than a couple of quite large explosions, but that didn't matter. Fairly weak story line, but it rattled along at a good pace, and Keanu Reeves actually managed to look a little like an actor instead of a plank, maybe there's hope for him yet. Rachel Weisz added the necessary bit of glamour, as an English scientist on the run with Reeves.
The Craft cert.15 (6½/10)
Did not really live up to it's promise. The first half or so of the film was very amusing in places, but then it began to get 'dark'. Unfortunately, it never really worked, and languished somewhere between 'dingy' and 'murky'. The four main characters played their parts reasonably well, Fairuza Balk as 'Nancy' was occasionally a bit over the top in places but quite chilling in others, while Robin Tunney as 'Sarah' was, I'm afraid to say, sometimes a little wooden. All in all, not bad, not brilliant, I suspect most people will enjoy it.
Pinnochio cert.U (7/10)
This is not the Walt Disney Cartoon version, but a live action film. With stars such as Dawn French, Gryff Rhys Jones, John Sessions, Martin Landau and Genevieve Bujold, this is actually quite an amusing story, and is very very close to the original story. My God sons, aged 8 and 9, loved it!
Brassed Off cert.15 (9½/10)
Surprisingly good. With Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and the Grimethorpe colliery band. Set during the closure of a fictional South Yorkshire mine, this film follows the fortunes of the colliery brass band as they try to win the local, and then national, brass band championships. A black comedy that really works, and works well. At turns very funny, and then very moving. If you only see one film this year, this is the one. It won't win an oscar, but it should!
The Island of Dr Moreau cert.12 (7/10)
With Marlon Brando in the title role, Val Kilmer, David Thewliss and Fairuza Balk. Not having read the book, I didn't really know what to expect, but whatever it was, this wasn't it. An interesting, and occasionally confusing story. Brando's slightly mad doctor was brilliantly played, as was Balk's character - I'll leave you to work out who/what she was playing, but the rest of the cast was mismatched and out of place I felt. I did enjoy it though - after a fashion.
The Long Kiss Goodnight cert.18 (7½/10)
As an action movie, this was better than some I've seen, with a lot of genuine laughs, though I felt it was somewhat disjointed and contrived. Geena Davis as a small town teacher and mother suffering from amnesia, but who suddenly gets it all back with the help of Samual L Jackson, and then probably wishes she hadn't. Jackson was good, but then, I've never seen him less than good. The best bit about it was the chief baddy. Patrick Malahide from Minder. If you didn't know he was British, you'd at least realise he wasn't american from the god-awful mock-american accent! I enjoyed it, and it fairly rattled along, with hardly any breaks, and was surprisingly unpredictable for this type of movie. Good stunts too, a few new ones, but even the recycled ones were well done.
Fear cert.18 (5/10)
Not as good as films like Cape Fear or Unlawful Entry both of which are vaguely reminiscent. The build up took far too long for the ending, and apart from one scene on a roller coaster, the whole thing was a little too predictable. The only thing I hadn't expected right from the start, was quite how many people would be involved in the house at the end. I found the whole thing slightly boring I'm afraid, partly too long a build up, and partly that the build up wasn't very high, and, once built up, the end was actually quite quick.
Star Trek First Contact cert.12 (8/10)
I'm a bit of a star trek fan, though not quite a trekkie (or trekker as the anoraks prefer to be called), and this was definately one of the better films. The mood kept changing drastically, which I found disconcerting occasionally though it did make sense. Some of the borg special effects were good, particularly the first introduction to the borg queen. In places though, it got a bit too silly - Deanna getting drunk for example. The crossover from Voyager was amusing, though slightly contrived, and the First Contact wasn't well done in my opinion. Overall though, a well done film which I thoroughly enjoyed.
© Dave Stratford 1996