Rob Roy (1995) Film Review

Rob Roy MacGregor (Liam Neeson) is the head of a clan in 1712, Scotland, living in idyllic happiness with his wife, Mary (Jessica Lange) and their sons. But he is at the whim of the powerful classes, most notably English Lord Montrose (John Hurt), his manservant Killearn (Brian Cox) and the evil Cunningham (Tim Roth). MacGregor needs to find a way to retain his honour in the face of adversity.

It came out in 1995, the same year as Braveheart, and there are clearly a lot of similarities. I love it, even though I question the lack of Scottish actors (especially with a few of the very dodgy accents), though certainly the main cast is extremely strong and drive the story. Revisiting this was extremely interesting, and what I noted the most was the extremely strong script – often, entire conversations, entire moods and conflicts were summed with one perfect line. Wonderful. I am unsure on the historical accuracy, but it is a fantastic film.

Rob Roy was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tim Roth).

 

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) Film Review

If you are a fan of the eighties, and in particular of cinema of the eighties, you must love this. It’s worth seeing for the cast alone: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Pheobe Cates, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz and Sean Penn as constantly stoned surfer boy Jeff Spicioli.

The film is an ensemble piece covering a wide range of teenage issues, but most notably sex and drugs. It’s fun, it’s fast, it’s dated, but in that glorious eighties way of being dated. And it is heaps and heaps of fun.

 

The Butterfly Effect (2004) Film Review

This is one of the worst films I have ever seen. It’s just awful. And it’s long, or at least, it feels incredibly long.

As a child, Evan had moments of blacking out. He would lose anywhere from a minute to a few minutes, waking up unaware of what had happened. Each of these moments had an event of some significance happen, from a letterbox prank gone wrong, to a dodgy home movie by a friend’s dad. Starting college, Evan discovers that he can go back into these moments by reading the diary he kept as a child, and whilst there, he can change events. But oh no! It’s a disaster!

The start of the film may have you fooled – the kid actors are pretty good, and the idea of this kid blacking out is kind of interesting. And then, in comes Ashton Kutcher. Ashton Kutcher is awesome in That 70s Show, and it’s entirely possible he’s done other great things. I don’t know, I haven’t followed his body of work. In this, he is appalling, but it’s not just him. The script is terrible, especially the ending. I cannot think of any redeeming features of the film. Oh, ok, one – the reappearance of Eric Stoltz. Admitedly as a creepy pedophile, but still. At least that’s something. Don’t watch it. Ever.