Category: Virgin Reviews
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A US Classic From A UK Perspective – A Christmas Story
A little background… At the start of the decade a change in circumstances meant I had a lot of spare time during the run up to Christmas. So what was I going to do? What I did was got hold of a load of Christmas films and thoroughly got into the spirit of the season.…
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First View Movie Review – Murder on the Orient Express (No Spoilers)
I very much enjoyed 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. As an avid mystery book reader, I’d heard of the 1934 novel in question, of the writer Agatha Christie, and even knew bits and pieces about her recurring eccentric detective Hercule Poirot. (It’s the kind of name that sticks with you.) But that is ALL.…
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First View Movie Review – Primer (2004)
Primer was made with $7,000 USD, filmed mostly with two guys talking in a garage, and took home the Grand Jury Prize from the 2004 Sundance Festival. It features time travel, paradoxes, and a very dense script full of jargon. Primer doesn’t give anything away, and is barely comprehensible upon the first viewing. And that’s…
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Movie Review – Naked (2017)
Another Groundhog Day themed film to discuss! As often with this trope, Naked takes a while to get going. Eventually you settle into the rhythm of the repetition and drop a few giggles along the way. With Groundhog Day movies, something has to happen in order to move the day forward, and that something resets…
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Best of British Biographies – Timothy Spall
“There’s the funny-looking character actor who plays the same role every time. But I’m the funny-looking character actor who plays many different kinds.” – Timothy Spall Tim Spall is one of those brilliant, chameleonic actors who can turn his hand to any role but — probably because he isn’t classically handsome — isn’t a top…
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Classic Movie Review – Gremlins
Gremlins. One of the best non-Christmas Christmas movies ever made. It’s got a bizarre but cemented niche among the classics that somehow stands up after all this time, although Steven Spielberg seemed to be experimenting with genres in those days. Gremlins (1984) isn’t a great movie, but slips into the A range by nature of…
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Movie Review: A Star Wars Ewok Adventure – Caravan of Courage
Because I’m a masochist completist, I decided to watch everything Lucasfilm put out about Star Wars. Even if it sucks. I’ve got the atrocious yet fun Star Wars Holiday Special under my belt, plus The Battle for Endor (just bad bad bad), and now mockumentary Return of the Ewok (terrible production values, but enjoyable). RunPeep…
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Star Wars Mockumentary Movie Review – Return of the Ewok
I’ll start this mini-review saying Return of the Ewok is quite sweet, if you can get your hands on a copy — even the bad one currently up on YouTube. This fun little 25-minute mockumentary features Warwick Davis as himself and Wicket the Ewok (inserted Forrest Gump-like) into various scenes of Return of the Jedi.…
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Contagion – a PSA and movie review
What makes the movie Contagion so dramatic is that it’s not overly dramatic. This isn’t a virus that wipes out half the world population. There’s no bleeding from the eyes, no walking dead. However, director Steven Soderbergh manages to turn an everyday scene in a coffee shop into the horror movie equivalent of the young coed pulling…
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First View Movie Review: Star Wars – the Battle for Endor
Because I’m a crazy geek and want to understand all the canon Star Wars material out there, I decided to view all the ‘extra’ shows and movies Lucasfilm created, some of which may or may not be part of the larger narrative. Have you seen The Mandalorian yet? It’s amazing. Have you seen The Star…
