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The Lavender Hill Mob, a review by Jon

The Lavender Hill Mob
5 out of 5


A meek bank clerk who oversees the shipment of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbour to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eiffel Towers.

T.E.B. Clarke won a deserved Academy Award for this marvellous screenplay. Still clearly post-war Britain, there are undertones of social and political satire, but it doesn’t detract from a wonderfully funny heist movie. There was a big increase in crime following the war; indeed this was inspired by classic The Blue Lamp with a similar, albeit serious, tone. The police are presented as largely ineffectual (a late scene shows how forward thinking and scientific they are, but are quickly turned into a chaotic mob to the tune of Old MacDonald!), but not unkindly so, which is the enduring skill of Clarke’s films, that he had resolve enough to tear institutions to shreds, but always with a smile. I suppose it says something that the police appear far more professional than they do now!

Of course we no longer reside in “post-war” anything, but the film hasn’t really dated. It’s still an effective heist film with a breezy, hilarious nature that identifies with anyone heading for a mid-life crisis. The premise is infectious. What if you could come up with the perfect crime, exploiting your own daily routine, so you could retire with a fortune? That’s the meticulous plan Alec Guinness has been cooking up for 19 years as fastidious middle-class Henry Holland (or “Dutch” as he asks to be called later on), responsible for transporting gold bullion. He meets jovial Stanley Holloway who makes holiday ornaments and gives Holland the idea of how to shift the gold (disguise it as Eiffel Tower models and ship them to Paris). They quickly ensnare a couple of proper criminals (Sid James and Alfie Bass) and set the plan in motion.

It’s a well done plot, actually authorised by the Bank of England. Clarke asked them how such robbery could take place and they formed a committee to tell him! It bats along and fits such a lot into its short 78 minutes, it feels more substantial yet nothing feels rushed. It even has a framing device. Alec Guinness is telling the story from Rio, where he has been living the high life (a young Audrey Hepburn is there too, the lucky devil!).

Guinness was without a doubt one of the greatest actors of all time and his characterisation of Holland is perfect from note one, right down to mispronounced “r”’s and a wonderful cheeky glee that reveals itself in the briefest of moments. There are so many layers to what would be a very two-dimensional role these days. He is intelligent and passionate (his reading of a crime thriller to his landlady also reveals Clarke’s obvious love for pulp fiction, as he showed in Hue and Cry), yet is happy to be a quiet, subservient, pedantic laughing stock to his colleagues. All part of the plan, yet the tics are so organic, he really is all of those things. Honestly, you could watch this performance time and again. Stanley Holloway is at his best too and the scene where Holland drips the idea into Pendlebury’s mind is superb.

Dependable Charles Crichton directs and as with Hue and Cry, some of the photography is wonderful and he finds all sorts of opportunities to stage some great sequences. The charge down the Eiffel Tower is as brilliant as it is indulgent, as is the farcical car chase.

Great fun and still effective. One of Ealing’s most enduring comedies.

(From A Feeling for Ealing... on March 10th, 2010)

The Dorm That Dripped Blood, a review by Jimmy

Title: The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982)

Genre: Horror
Director: Jeffrey Obrow / Stephen Carpenter
Rating: NR
Length: 1h28
Video: Widescreen
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Laurie Lapinski
Stephen Sachs
David Snow
Pamela Holland
Dennis Ely

Plot:
On the eve of Christmas vacation, a college dormitory stands condemned the dark halls now vacant and unsafe. Student Joanne Murray and her close friends volunteer to help close down the building, unaware a psychopathic lunatic is hiding in the shadows. As the students disappear one by one, Joanne discovers the horrifying reality that if she is to survive, she alone will have to find a way to slay the brutal murderer.

Nice little horror movie, not something I would call original since I found who the killer was really fast (but maybe I've seen too many of those films). The cast is mostly composed of unknown, watching you often say I'm sure I've seen him/her in something else, so it won't be surprise if I write that the acting talent is really variable. Also this movie is the first one of Daphne Zuniga. The special effects done by Matthew W. Mungle (this is one of his first movie) are really good, the second murder is the most effective you really feel like it was real. But the big plus of this one is the end, best ending I've ever seen in an horror films. I'm almost sure it wasn't the original ending since the studio don't like to end a film like that. We often say that a bad end can destroy a film and the inverse is also true since it made a great film of an average one.

I think you could like this one Pete... Don't worry the dvd is also included.

Rating :

(From The little known movie review depot on April 14th, 2011)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: BC-303 (BC stands for Battle Cruiser) was finally salvaged after they transfered the hyperlight engine from an Al'kesh to it. But on the way home the Prometheus is attacked and when Sam re-awakens, she is alone on the ship.

My Opinion: Although they've used the known plot element that different characters portray different aspects of a person's personality, I liked this episode. Especially because the character traits of Sam were well presented.

Synopsis: As it turns out, the Naqahdriah on Jonas's home planet is also not of natural origin. It was transformed out of normal Naquadah. By detonating the Naqahdriah bomb they've started the transformation of Naquadah into Naqahdriah in a very deep vein. If they can't stop it the Naqahdriah will explode and destroy the planet.

My Opinion: Unfortunately this is the only reunion with Jonas Quinn. And while I did not watch The Core, the plots sound similar. The relation between Jonas and Kianna was interesting, especially because - as Kianna pointed out - Jonas actually never met the host, only the Goa'uld.

Synopsis: Daniel has been dreaming of the time he met Sarah (Osiris's host) for a couple of nights now. Sarah shows him a tablet of the Ancients and with this he might be able to find the Lost City. It is possible that his subconscious recalls knowledge from the time where he was ascended.

My Opinion: Regarding love relationships none of the four members of SG-1 had much luck. This time they made it look like another of these short romances. But luckily Pete did survive and with David DeLuise the third of the DeLuise brothers and the fourth DeLuise in total (Dom and his sons Peter, Michel and David) has made a guest appearance on the show.
It was a bit hard to believe that Sam actually told Pete what she was doing when she hasn't even told this to her father until he became a Tok'ra. But that's no reason to not to like the episode.

Synopsis: The Alpha Site has been attacked by a Kull warrior and was nearly completely destroyed. Somehow the information about this place and the weapon they've developed there have gotten into Anubis's hands. The Kull warrior is in pursuit of Sam to destroy the weapon that poses a threat to him. In the meantime General Hammond tries to find out how Anubis could have known about the secret base.

My Opinion: "The Fellowship of the Ring has broken" - whoops, wrong universe. I noticed in this episode that they seem to have problems to find film locations. After the Alpha Site has become a huge crater the place looks exactly like the place where the Stargate on Chulak resides - just from another angle.
Apart from that I had the feeling that the break-up is more a disservice to the Tok'ra and the Jaffa than to the Humans, but they tried to keep it together. It was a bit sad.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on April 19th, 2008)