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Passport to Pimlico, a review by Jon

Passport to Pimlico
4 out of 5


An archaic document found in a bombsite reveals that the London district of Pimlico has for centuries technically been part of France. The local residents embrace their new found continental status, seeing it as a way to avoid the drabness, austerity and rationing of post-war England. The authorities do not, however, share their enthusiasm...

Passport to Pimlico is the epitome of charm. A brilliant conceit delivered with gentle optimism and good natured satire by a cast of well-known British actors, or at least to be well known. Ealing was always smarter than the Carry On series and if you look carefully you may spot a few Carry On faces before they stereotyped themselves. In this one we have Charles Hawtrey for instance and in later films, Sid James was a regular. By the way, I do enjoy Carry On, but Ealing managed to be just as funny and allowed the cast to keep enough dignity to pursue careers elsewhere!

Like Hue and Cry, it's a light film, yet smartly written to lampoon British bureacracy so sharply, you may not even notice. You can learn a lot about England from this film, or at least the England we'd still like to be. Despite its age, I like to think there will always be a lot of proud Burgundian's amongst us! Although both films were written by T.E.B. Clarke, Henry Cornelius' direction isn't as ambitious as Hue and Cry, more content to let the simple story unfold without effort, but that's important, because audiences of the time would have been able to identify very easily with the people of Pimlico. Heck, I know one or two people like that now, I'm happy to say. It's still the sort of fantasy that dreams are made of; finding a treasure trove under your house. But the daily lives they lead are like anybody. The Mouse That Roared has a similar idea, but goes for a much quirkier execution.

The dependable Stanley Holloway leads the cast and the town into their small rebellion and you'll have a big grin on your face throughout. The ubiquitous Margaret Rutherford pops up as the professor. She's hilarious, but I'm glad it's a reduced role because she could be overpowering, bless her! On the other side at the Government, we have the wonderful Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford essentially reprising their double-act from The Lady Vanishes! Remember that one for your pub quizzes.

It's a stirring film and uplifting when we see Londoner's banding together to help the little "nation". And great, good hearted fun as they fight back to get water or impose customs checks on the underground. And of course, no-one gets really upset. In fact the final scene features a typical British rainstorm, while at the start it is very untypically hot, almost suggesting the whole thing was caused by a heatwave sending people a bit silly. "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" perhaps?

We do seem to like bureacracy in this country and I can't think of another film that has so effectively laughed at us and with us at the same time. Still, it's the sort of story that could easily run out of steam and require awkward contrivances to drag it to a conclusion, so it's commendable that it never feels like it's overstretching and in fact, the conclusion is rather clever. Oh, I'm sure you could be picky and find some sort of issue with it, but that would be very British and as the film is all about looking past our pedantic nature, it's far more fun to enter completely and willingly into the spirit of the thing.

Perhaps this was a film to remind the British people who they really were while things like the ration were still going on ("I never thought I'd be glad to see these again", says Philip Stainton's kindly copper of the dreaded ration books). It still has that power to do so, if modern audiences could allow themselves to watch such old fashioned whimsy. I think they need to watch it really and get some perspective about what's really important.

(From A Feeling for Ealing... on March 4th, 2010)

Campfire Tales, a review by Danae Cassandra

Campfire Tales
Year of Release: 1996
Directed By: David Semel, Martin Kunert, Matt Cooper
Starring: Jay R. Ferguson, Christine Taylor, Kim Murphy, Christopher Kennedy Masterson
Genre: Horror

Overview:
Horror takes a detour deep into the woods in this terrifying cross between Scream and Tales From The Crypt, starring Christine Taylor (Dodgeball) and Ron Livingston (Office Space).

Returning home from a concert and driving recklessly, four teenagers crash their car on a deserted road. To ward off the cold, they build a fire and wait for help. But the hair-raising stories they tell around the fire put a deeper chill into the night. Each tale is more lurid, more horrifying, more shocking than anything they've heard before. Yet for these unlucky teens in the woods, the biggest shock is still to come...

My Thoughts:
This is a competent enough film, but suffers from being thoroughly predictable. After their car crashes, four teens are forced to spend time by the side of the road telling stories, all of which are well-known urban legends. "The Hook" is the most well-known, and a throwaway bonus tale. Nothing special here. "The Honeymoon" does well to leave you never actually seeing the creatures, and therefore letting the imagination run wild, and I liked that the girl fought back instead of just screaming and cowering. "People Can Lick Too" does well with creating tension but the villain doesn't act as someone like him would. It almost seems the filmmakers are afraid to go where the story should take them. I thought this was the weakest of the group. "The Locket" was my favorite. I liked the production design and atmosphere here, even if I knew how it would end. The wraparound story wasn't bad either, but you could easily see where it was headed. Twist ending aren't as fresh now as they might have been when this was released.

This is a low budget film, and there's some pretty clear technical errors (most glaringly to me, the red camera sights that were visible multiple times). The acting was competent, but nothing spectacular, though I did like how expressive Jacinda Barrett was in "The Locket," especially given I think she was cast because she was very pretty. Recommended if you like anthology horror, but don't expect any surprises.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 2.75/5

2015 Horror Movie Count: 13

(From Horror/Halloween Marathon 2015 on October 29th, 2015)

Grey's Anatomy Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

5. Haunt You Every Day
It's Halloween at Seattle Grace and the day is chock-full of surprises for the doctors. Alex has a surprise visit from a former patient; Meredith thinks her mother's ashes are haunting her; Cristina is snubbed by a top surgeon; and everyone is shocked when Callie reveals George and Izzie's relationship to the public.

My Thoughts:
Woohoo! A Grey's Anatomy Halloween episode! And I loved every minute of it! The medical stories were great... the personal stories were wonderfully done. It really seemed like the episode flew by as I was glued to the screen the entire time.

My Rating:

6. Kung Fu Fighting
With his marriage once again falling apart, Chief Webber invites the male surgeons out on a "gentleman's evening." Meanwhile, Cristina and Izzie compete for the same surgeries, mainly to impress the doctor performing them; Meredith treats the survivor of a skydiving accident; and two finalists competing in a promotional competition are treated by the doctors.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode... though not a good as the previous one.  The medical stories were interesting if not somewhat silly. The stories on their personal lives did continue... but wasn't as in your face as they usually are. Which was good. I like the story with George and Izzie... and once again Alex is the jerk wee have grown to know the past 3 and a half years.

My Rating:

7. Physical Attraction...Chemical Reaction
George and Izzie's relationship is tested, as is Derek and Meredith's when Derek wants more than a physical relationship with her. Meanwhile, Mark falls for a surgeon and Callie's position as Chief Resident is put on the line when she gives too many duties to Bailey.

My Thoughts:
An ok episode... didn't care much for where the personal lives storylines are going at this point. And the medical storylines were only ok. They even dropped one of the medical storylines and never got back to it to know where it ended up.

My Rating:

8. Forever Young
The ER is thrown into a state of chaos following a school bus accident. Meanwhile, Bailey treats her high school crush; Derek goes on a date; and Thatcher comes to Seattle Grace in search of Meredith.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode. I really liked the medical story in this one. Though I didn't care much for the private lives storyline this time. Izzie and George really need to get their stuff together.

My Rating:

(From Grey's Anatomy Marathon on February 6th, 2010)