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The Titfield Thunderbolt, a review by Jon

The Titfield Thunderbolt
4 out of 5


Director Charles Crichton and writer Tibby Clarke team up for the first Ealing comedy to be produced in Technicolor. When an antiquated railway line is threatened with closure, the villagers decide to run it themselves and enter into frenzied competition with the local bus route, with hilarious consequences!

The Titfield Thunderbolt is another charming film from Ealing with a typically witty screenplay from regular writer T.E.B. Clarke, working once again with director Charles Crichton, who together made several Ealing films including The Lavender Hill Mob for which Clarke won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay.

I think he deserved it for this too; it so sharply lampoons British traditions (a love of trains) and problems (selling off industry, despite the loss of community). We are a small country and feel it deeply when a way of life comes to an end, which happens all too often in the name of cost cutting efficiency and bloody health and safety. Though the film good naturedly pulls the leg of traditionalists who are blinded by nostalgia, it also rallies against those who ignore it. When John Gregson calls on the villagers to support them running the railway themselves and he says the “village will die without it”, he is sadly correct (in general and specifically if you watch the included clip). That scene at the town meeting also features a hilarious argument that exposes the absurdity of unions. And later, the vicar panics when he hears they are making a profit. “We’ll be nationalised!” he wails.

There are endless touches like that though; a civil servant arriving at the Ministry for Transport on a scooter or my favourite, Naunton Smith saying he will not be made a fool of, while pulls his suit over his pyjamas! Early on when the vicar first says they cannot let the railway go and is told the Canterbury line closed, he replies, “well, there cannot be any men of faith in Canterbury”! However, Stanley Holloway steals the show as Mr. Valentine, the amiable, but permanently drunk millionaire (or near enough) who agrees to fund the venture. The banter as he is persuaded to do so is wonderful (check out the clip below).

This is all in the fabric and sadly, the future of the story. Really the plot boils down to the rivalry as the  bus company try to sabotage the new venture, but the motley crew of amateurs (funded by a drunk, driven by a vicar!) refuse to give in. I’ve never been a train-spotter, but the gorgeous photography could turn anyone into one.

The story doesn’t call for a notable visual flair, but Charles Crichton is clearly in his element and loves playing with train-sets! And seriously, the sight of these engines billowing steam through the countryside is enough to inspire anyone. He also pulls off an impressive crash and the resultant sequence of Dan and Mr. Valentine drunkenly stealing another engine is fantastic. I wonder if this is the first instance of crashing through billboards with apt phrases, a staple of action films? First the engine smashes through one and then a car swerves to avoid it and hits a second sign that recommends careful driving! His last film was A Fish Called Wanda, which also had inspired lunacy.

It’s a lot of fun with a cast of wonderful characters in an eminently infectious and watchable farce. It plays on national nostalgia while pointedly satirising the post-war policies that killed off a way of life, yet it is never being less than utterly charming and is frequently hilarious. Somehow I think Genevieve from the same year is more well known. It also stars John Gregson and the stories bear similarity, but this is far better while the other film has dated very badly.





(From A Feeling for Ealing... on March 7th, 2010)

Ocean's 11 (1960), a review by Antares

Ocean's 11





Year: 1960
Film Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Length: 127 Min.

Director
Lewis Milestone (1895)

Writing
George Clayton Johnson (1929)...Story
Jack Golden Russell...Story
Harry Brown (1917)...Screenplay
Charles Lederer (1911)...Screenplay

Producer
Lewis Milestone (1895)

Cinematographer
William H. Daniels (1901)

Music
Nelson Riddle (1921)...Composer

Stars
Frank Sinatra (1915) as Danny Ocean
Dean Martin (1917) as Sam Harmon
Sammy Davis Jr. (1925) as Josh Howard
Peter Lawford (1923) as Jimmy Foster
Angie Dickinson (1931) as Beatrice Ocean
Richard Conte (1910) as Anthony Raymond 'Tony' Bergdorf
Cesar Romero (1907) as Duke Santos
Patrice Wymore (1926) as Adele Ekstrom

Review
   WARNING: Citizen Kane this is not!

       When Frank Sinatra sang the famous line, from his last great hit, New York, New York is a product of its time and that means women are in her time.


Ratings Criterion

(From Ocean's 11 (1960) on January 30th, 2010)

Tom's Glee Marathon, a review by Tom

Glee: Season Two (2010/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Length: 940 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Subtitles: English

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Plot:
Bring home the complete second season of TV's most exhilarating series! Despite their loss at Regionals, the kids in New Directions are more motivated than ever. And whether it's Will doing a sexy tango with a substitute teacher, Sue joing the Glee Club or everyone catching Bieber fever, the excitement at William McKinley High School is keeping everyone on their toes. With more incredible musical numbers, hugely popular guest stars like John Stamos, Carol Burnett and Kristen Chenoweth, and lots of behind-the-scenes special features, Glee Season 2 hits all the right notes.



Glee
Season 2.01 Audition
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ian Brennan (Writer)
Director: Brad Falchuk
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Artie Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Cheyenne Jackson (Dustin Goolsby), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Dot Jones (Shannon Beiste), Charice (Sunshine Corazon), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Chord Overstreet (Sam Evans), Josh Sussman (Jacob Ben Israel), Dustin Ingram (Pizza Guy), James Earl (Azimio), Max Adler (Karofsky), Lauren Potter (Becky Jackson)

A good start into a new season.
This is also the beginning of the traditional recap of the previous season where Glee pokes a little fun at itself. They mention some stuff in character which the audiences where complaining about the season before. Like Will's rapping and song choices. There also some new characters. I think Shanon Beiste, the new football coach, is a great addition.

Finn-competent:
Finn gets kicked from the football team and now tries out for the cheerleading team, because he needs something to keep him in the popular crowd. Besides that he cannot dance to save his life, he is bracking about his (non-existing) leadership skills.

Tina-Watch:
Over the summer, Tina broke up with Artie and is dating Mike now. This dooms here character to being Mike's girlfriend instead of a character of her own. And Mike is only a secondary character who only had a few lines in the first season.

Notable songs:
I enjoyed the songs in this episode. I liked "Telephone", sung by Rachel and Sunshine (an exchange student), best:


Rating:

(From Tom's Glee Marathon on September 30th, 2012)