Change Your Image
jamesharris
Reviews
My Kingdom (2001)
excellent
I was completely unfamiliar with this film but as I was watching it I felt it to be something that Shakespeare would have written if he were a contemporary writer.I was surprised to see that the movie was inspired by King Lear. The movie is dynamic and unsettling and although the setting up of the story is a little slow the perfect ensemble playing keeps the viewer gripped throughout.There are no weak performances but, as ever,Tom Bell takes the acting honours. I recommend this to anyone seeking a change from the usual sanitized mindless fare.
Die Another Day (2002)
shoot the script writers
DAD has to be the worst entry in the history of Bond.This is even more frustrating when the first twenty minutes were so impressive. The entrance into Korea,Moon's ferocious temper and the chase sequence were well done with the notion of Bond being imprisoned for fourteen monthes novel and original. Bond's subsequent arrival in Hong Kong is deftly handled but the movie goes downhill from the moment Bond arrives in Cuba. Halle Berry is completely miscast as Jinx and seems to think she is in an Austin Powers movie.Her publicist trots out the tired old line about Jinx being the first Bond leading lady to equal 007, but in reality almost all of the Bond girls were tough and independent and let down by poor acting...as happens here. The ludicrous invisible car has been the subject of a great deal of criticism but I'll just say that with this level of technology why bother training double 0 agents?anyone could do the job.Star Trek's Mr Scott famously said that he couldn't change the laws of physics but to judge the poorly judged set pieces here apparently Lee Tamahori can. The less said about the effects the better. There are some inspired casting choices from the European /Asian quarter.Rosamund Pike sparkles as Miranda Frost despite being hamstrung by the script and Rachel Grant shows that her first big screen appearance certainly won't be her last. John Cleese is a pleasant surprise I hated his clowning in TWINE but he works well here and establishes a genuine touch of dignity to some very silly scenes. Traditionally the US casting in Bond films is poor and apart from the over rated Halle Berry Michael Madsen phones in a performance that shows why his career consists of z-grade straight to video garbage. Which is basically what DAD is...albeit with a bigger budget.