F i l m R e v i e w s

The Letter P is for Pantechnicon

0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z - €5

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Pieces of April
[ , xy', 15, 2003], 20Feb04

Whereas we Brits stuff all our winter festivities into a fortnight of hideous consumption and family loathing the Americans have the good sense to spread theirs over six (count 'em: Xmas, New Year's, Martin Luther King Jr Day, Lincoln's Birthday, President's Day and Thanksgiving) dates. Of these the one where family is to the fore is Thanksgiving. Originating with the Pilgrim Fathers celebration at their good fortune to find a resource rich and unpopulated continent (Indians don't count) over which God's provenance has given them dominion (a loving gift America now seems to presume extends to the planet. . . and I puzzle, should dominion be equated with stewardship or

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This one was effectively the last night of that intense summer heat we had. And it was in the Clapham Picture House, so . . .

 

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
[Gore Verbinski, 143', 12, 2003], 11Aug03

Remove Johnny Depp from this picture and you're left with a lumbering sea-dogs musket English oppressor's yawn of a ghost island treasure ship story. Workaday perfomances and a CGI fest of trickery only serve to highlight another Hollywood blockbuster. Million's of dollars in one end, millions out the other: don't be bothering. Add Johnny D though and we have another thing altogether.

The gorgeous Johnny is that rare thing in Hollywood, an actor who not only acts but inhabits his parts. . . with attitude. There is a lovely insouciance about his performaces, Depp appears and the movie comes alive. Not a film have I seen in whihc his appearene does nothing but double down. Cetainly I adore Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in which

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