James-Purefoy Movie Reviews

The production is lavish, the costumes beautiful and very correct to the period of time. The cast very capably brought to life the characters of the suffering Helen Graham, the scoundrel Arthur Huntington and the love-struck Gilbert Markham.

Tara Fitzgerald appeared a little miscast, owing to her often unnecessarly harsh displays of emotions and an unsuitable gruffy voice. But because she played the role of Helen Graham (who's an exceedingly likable heroine), I grew to ignore all that and found myself rooting for Helen to find all the happiness she deserves.

I simply love Toby Stephens whom I think, is just perfect as Gilbert, the handsome, young gentleman farmer who sees the goodness in Helen and seeks to protect her from the hypocrisy and prejudice shown by his unkind relatives and neighbours.

The cinematography is lush and breathtaking. It's obvious that this is a well-planned production with no expense spared.

I have only 1 minor complaint - that the romantic scenes involving Helen and Gilbert weren't made more passionate (the way it should be). Instead, we see more displays of love and affection between Helen and Lord Huntington (during their courtship days and early marriage). And to what purpose do they serve? - Since we know just what a brute Huntington turns out to be later!

If you love this video, please pick up the book (ie. if you haven't already) - the book fleshes out the thoughts, emotions and agonies of the love-lorn Gilbert much more effectively than could be captured on film.

Nevertheless, I love this video. It's great to have in one's collection for repeated viewings.

This film is essentially a moral tale on the dangers of infatuation, the soul killing effect of an abusive and loveless marriage, and the possibility of love refound for a heart zinged once too often.

Tara Fitzgerald gives a performance worthy of any Oscar actress as the lead character Helen Grahm, who in the beginning is fooled into love by a "gentleman" who has everything a woman could look for in a husband. Yet she discovers to her horror her husband is much more than the upstanding lord he makes himself out to be.

As the "upstanding gentelman," Rupert Graves plays a character that could easily have been portrayed as a typical lord/lout found in many novels. His Lord Huntingdon is much more complicated. Truly a man created by an environment of entitlement, wealth, and absolute power bestowed on members of the upper classes. And this film holds no punches to depict how truly awful he and his friends were in their relationships with the fairer sex.

As for Toby Stephens, he is the embodiment of the renewing effects love can have on a person who has suffered so much. His determination to forgo the consequences of befriending Ms. Grahm and assisting her may seem cliched, but Stephen's presents a man who acts not only out of his own personal emotional needs, but a greater indignant reaction to the injustice of the situation of Ms. Grahm.

Wonderful performances, beautiful cinematography, a strong storyline, and timeless characters all add up to provide a romantic, yet realistic film.

The mysterious new tenant of Wildfell Hall finds herself the love-object of the communities young buck, Gilbert. Through their love story, the poor young woman's story unfolds to Gilbert. In the end, the past comes back to haunt her, and Gilbert must chase his lady love back to her wealthy family. A moment of truth between them hapens when he meets her carriage at the gate. Will she marry him?

It is profoundly interesting. Quite innovative storytelling in book form very pleasantly translated to the screen.

The production is lavish, the costumes beautiful and very correct to the period of time. The cast very capably brought to life the characters of the suffering Helen Graham, the scoundrel Arthur Huntington and the love-struck Gilbert Markham.

Tara Fitzgerald appeared a little miscast, owing to her often unnecessarly harsh displays of emotions and an unsuitable gruffy voice. But because she played the role of Helen Graham (who's an exceedingly likable heroine), I grew to ignore all that and found myself rooting for Helen to find all the happiness she deserves.

I simply love Toby Stephens whom I think, is just perfect as Gilbert, the handsome, young gentleman farmer who sees the goodness in Helen and seeks to protect her from the hypocrisy and prejudice shown by his unkind relatives and neighbours.

The cinematography is lush and breathtaking. It's obvious that this is a well-planned production with no expense spared.

I have only 1 minor complaint - that the romantic scenes involving Helen and Gilbert weren't made more passionate (the way it should be). Instead, we see more displays of love and affection between Helen and Lord Huntington (during their courtship days and early marriage). And to what purpose do they serve? - Since we know just what a brute Huntington turns out to be later!

If you love this video, please pick up the book (ie. if you haven't already) - the book fleshes out the thoughts, emotions and agonies of the love-lorn Gilbert much more effectively than could be captured on film.

Nevertheless, I love this video. It's great to have in one's collection for repeated viewings.

This film is essentially a moral tale on the dangers of infatuation, the soul killing effect of an abusive and loveless marriage, and the possibility of love refound for a heart zinged once too often.

Tara Fitzgerald gives a performance worthy of any Oscar actress as the lead character Helen Grahm, who in the beginning is fooled into love by a "gentleman" who has everything a woman could look for in a husband. Yet she discovers to her horror her husband is much more than the upstanding lord he makes himself out to be.

As the "upstanding gentelman," Rupert Graves plays a character that could easily have been portrayed as a typical lord/lout found in many novels. His Lord Huntingdon is much more complicated. Truly a man created by an environment of entitlement, wealth, and absolute power bestowed on members of the upper classes. And this film holds no punches to depict how truly awful he and his friends were in their relationships with the fairer sex.

As for Toby Stephens, he is the embodiment of the renewing effects love can have on a person who has suffered so much. His determination to forgo the consequences of befriending Ms. Grahm and assisting her may seem cliched, but Stephen's presents a man who acts not only out of his own personal emotional needs, but a greater indignant reaction to the injustice of the situation of Ms. Grahm.

Wonderful performances, beautiful cinematography, a strong storyline, and timeless characters all add up to provide a romantic, yet realistic film.

The mysterious new tenant of Wildfell Hall finds herself the love-object of the communities young buck, Gilbert. Through their love story, the poor young woman's story unfolds to Gilbert. In the end, the past comes back to haunt her, and Gilbert must chase his lady love back to her wealthy family. A moment of truth between them hapens when he meets her carriage at the gate. Will she marry him?

It is profoundly interesting. Quite innovative storytelling in book form very pleasantly translated to the screen.

Hunter's own script tells the tale of a prison ship which strikes the rocks and sinks off the coast of a remote lighthouse-island 300 miles from the mainland. A small number of guards and prisoners escape the disaster and take refuge in the lighthouse where they're stalked by another survivor of the wreck, the monstrous psychopath Leo Rook (Chris Adamson). The basic premise is fairly familiar and prompts fond memories (perhaps deliberately) of Jim O'Connolly's equally outrageous "Tower of Evil" (1972), but Hunter's tightly-constructed script and dynamic visual style propels the narrative forward like a guided missile, pausing every so often for some truly gripping set-pieces, beginning with an early sequence in which the ship's captain (accomplished character actor Paul Brooke) becomes trapped in a stall in the lighthouse-washroom with Rook on the other side of the door, oblivious to the captain's presence. Then Brooke accidentally knocks a can of air-freshener from a shelf, precipitating a nail-biting cat-and-mouse confrontation which ends on a shrill note of genuine horror. But the real fireworks are reserved for the climax, a knock-down drag-out rollercoaster ride combining high-octane stuntwork and spectacular visual effects as the remaining survivors confront Rook at the top of the lighthouse. This incredible sequence contains more cliff-hanging thrills than a dozen serials and will leave most viewers completely drained, exhausted and thoroughly entertained.

Populated with a cast of familiar British faces (including Don Warrington, heroine Rachel Shelley and James Purefoy as the regulation handsome hero), all of whom invest their roles with character traits which prevent them from sliding into routine stereotype, the film maintains an impressive degree of logic, isolating potential victims through careful calculation rather than narrative contrivance. And while there's plenty of R-rated brutality on display, Hunter emphasizes the thrill of pursuit and the THREAT of violence rather than an excess of splattery gore, and Simon Bowles' impressive low-budget production design transforms the storm-lashed island and lighthouse into a shadowy, antiquated killing ground. Veteran cinematographer Tony Imi (whose career stretches back to the 1960's) gives the whole thing an expensive-looking gloss, and Debbie Wiseman's moody score is impressively grandiose. All in all, this is a tremendously exciting feature debut from a director who's clearly in love with his own material and completely in command of the filmmaking process. Together with a superb cast and crew, he's produced a minor masterpiece.

Image's region-free DVD runs 94m 55s, and while it's still a worthwhile purchase, the transfer leaves a lot to be desired. The full-screen presentation is OK, but there's some evidence the picture has been cropped from the original 1.85:1 ratio. Sadly, the 2.0 surround track is a downmix of the theatrical Dolby Digital format, and while the music and effects have a sumptuous dimensionality, large portions of the center-channel dialogue are so faint as to be virtually inaudible at normal listening levels. There are no captions and no extras except an extremely poor video trailer which sells the movie as just another routine potboiler. Four stars for the movie, two for the DVD.

Hunter's own script tells the tale of a prison ship which strikes the rocks and sinks off the coast of a remote lighthouse-island 300 miles from the mainland. A small number of guards and prisoners escape the disaster and take refuge in the lighthouse where they're stalked by another survivor of the wreck, the monstrous psychopath Leo Rook (Chris Adamson). The basic premise is fairly familiar and prompts fond memories (perhaps deliberately) of Jim O'Connolly's equally outrageous "Tower of Evil" (1972), but Hunter's tightly-constructed script and dynamic visual style propels the narrative forward like a guided missile, pausing every so often for some truly gripping set-pieces, beginning with an early sequence in which the ship's captain (accomplished character actor Paul Brooke) becomes trapped in a stall in the lighthouse-washroom with Rook on the other side of the door, oblivious to the captain's presence. Then Brooke accidentally knocks a can of air-freshener from a shelf, precipitating a nail-biting cat-and-mouse confrontation which ends on a shrill note of genuine horror. But the real fireworks are reserved for the climax, a knock-down drag-out rollercoaster ride combining high-octane stuntwork and spectacular visual effects as the remaining survivors confront Rook at the top of the lighthouse. This incredible sequence contains more cliff-hanging thrills than a dozen serials and will leave most viewers completely drained, exhausted and thoroughly entertained.

Populated with a cast of familiar British faces (including Don Warrington, heroine Rachel Shelley and James Purefoy as the regulation handsome hero), all of whom invest their roles with character traits which prevent them from sliding into routine stereotype, the film maintains an impressive degree of logic, isolating potential victims through careful calculation rather than narrative contrivance. And while there's plenty of R-rated brutality on display, Hunter emphasizes the thrill of pursuit and the THREAT of violence rather than an excess of splattery gore, and Simon Bowles' impressive low-budget production design transforms the storm-lashed island and lighthouse into a shadowy, antiquated killing ground. Veteran cinematographer Tony Imi (whose career stretches back to the 1960's) gives the whole thing an expensive-looking gloss, and Debbie Wiseman's moody score is impressively grandiose. All in all, this is a tremendously exciting feature debut from a director who's clearly in love with his own material and completely in command of the filmmaking process. Together with a superb cast and crew, he's produced a minor masterpiece.

Image's region-free DVD runs 94m 55s, and while it's still a worthwhile purchase, the transfer leaves a lot to be desired. The full-screen presentation is OK, but there's some evidence the picture has been cropped from the original 1.85:1 ratio. Sadly, the 2.0 surround track is a downmix of the theatrical Dolby Digital format, and while the music and effects have a sumptuous dimensionality, large portions of the center-channel dialogue are so faint as to be virtually inaudible at normal listening levels. There are no captions and no extras except an extremely poor video trailer which sells the movie as just another routine potboiler. Four stars for the movie, two for the DVD.

Hunter's own script tells the tale of a prison ship which strikes the rocks and sinks off the coast of a remote lighthouse-island 300 miles from the mainland. A small number of guards and prisoners escape the disaster and take refuge in the lighthouse where they're stalked by another survivor of the wreck, the monstrous psychopath Leo Rook (Chris Adamson). The basic premise is fairly familiar and prompts fond memories (perhaps deliberately) of Jim O'Connolly's equally outrageous "Tower of Evil" (1972), but Hunter's tightly-constructed script and dynamic visual style propels the narrative forward like a guided missile, pausing every so often for some truly gripping set-pieces, beginning with an early sequence in which the ship's captain (accomplished character actor Paul Brooke) becomes trapped in a stall in the lighthouse-washroom with Rook on the other side of the door, oblivious to the captain's presence. Then Brooke accidentally knocks a can of air-freshener from a shelf, precipitating a nail-biting cat-and-mouse confrontation which ends on a shrill note of genuine horror. But the real fireworks are reserved for the climax, a knock-down drag-out rollercoaster ride combining high-octane stuntwork and spectacular visual effects as the remaining survivors confront Rook at the top of the lighthouse. This incredible sequence contains more cliff-hanging thrills than a dozen serials and will leave most viewers completely drained, exhausted and thoroughly entertained.

Populated with a cast of familiar British faces (including Don Warrington, heroine Rachel Shelley and James Purefoy as the regulation handsome hero), all of whom invest their roles with character traits which prevent them from sliding into routine stereotype, the film maintains an impressive degree of logic, isolating potential victims through careful calculation rather than narrative contrivance. And while there's plenty of R-rated brutality on display, Hunter emphasizes the thrill of pursuit and the THREAT of violence rather than an excess of splattery gore, and Simon Bowles' impressive low-budget production design transforms the storm-lashed island and lighthouse into a shadowy, antiquated killing ground. Veteran cinematographer Tony Imi (whose career stretches back to the 1960's) gives the whole thing an expensive-looking gloss, and Debbie Wiseman's moody score is impressively grandiose. All in all, this is a tremendously exciting feature debut from a director who's clearly in love with his own material and completely in command of the filmmaking process. Together with a superb cast and crew, he's produced a minor masterpiece.

Image's region-free DVD runs 94m 55s, and while it's still a worthwhile purchase, the transfer leaves a lot to be desired. The full-screen presentation is OK, but there's some evidence the picture has been cropped from the original 1.85:1 ratio. Sadly, the 2.0 surround track is a downmix of the theatrical Dolby Digital format, and while the music and effects have a sumptuous dimensionality, large portions of the center-channel dialogue are so faint as to be virtually inaudible at normal listening levels. There are no captions and no extras except an extremely poor video trailer which sells the movie as just another routine potboiler. Four stars for the movie, two for the DVD.

'A Knight's Tale' is about a peasant named William Thatcher, who wishes one day to "change his stars" and become a knight. His father left William one day to the care of another knight. Years later, William and his friends, Roland and Wat, discover the knight dead. Willing to take his place, William poses as the knight and wins. This sparks a growing interest in his mind, and William convinces his buddies to join him on his quest to become a champion jouster. Along the way, they encounter Geoffrey Chaucer, their match announcer, and Kate, a female blacksmith. William also begins to fall in love with the fair Jocelyn, hoping to win her heart. The only problem is is that he is not a noble knight, so he must continue this charade, until...

The story is set to rock music, such as Queen's "We Will Rock You" and dancing to David Bowie's "Golden Years." I think this accurately sets the mood and I can't help but smile every time the peasants clap at the jousting tournaments in unison.

Characters are nicely acted. The supporting characters had a lot of chemistry with each other, especially between Geoffrey and Wat (ok, not really). Shannyn Sossamon, who is a newcomer, did a nice job playing Jocelyn. The only thing that I did not enjoy watching in the film were the dramatic scenes. They didn't seem right and it seemed as if they were trying to slow the momentum.

All in all, 'A Knight's Tale' is something you can enjoy watching if you don't want something to sentimental or full of perverse jokes. It's a rollicking ride.

Confused? Well, considering that jousting was probably the sport of choice in the movie's time setting, this makes perfect sense. Still confused? You'll understand when you watch the opening scene with the spectators at a joust singing "We Will Rock You" by Queen. Sound bizarre? I thought so, too, but then it all made perfect sense as I sat and watched.

Basically a tale of a rookie new to the sport and his struggle to the top, this film is now one of my favorites up there with Gladiator and Braveheart. Just like those two movies, Knight's Tale is one of those films that sucks you right in with gorgeous sets, detailed costumes, and great characterization. However, the main difference is that the tone of this movie is rather comical. Actually, I laughed more during A Knight's Tale than I remember laughing during most comedies. This isn't to say that the movie lacks any seriousness. Competition is what jousting is all about, and this film gets you pretty pumped up even without having any battle scenes.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone, and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD. Make sure you don't get to the theater late so you don't miss the "We Will Rock You" opening sequence, and check out Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the major characters. Yes, the same Geoffrey Chaucer that wrote Canterbury Tales. You won't be disappointed.

'A Knight's Tale' is about a peasant named William Thatcher, who wishes one day to "change his stars" and become a knight. His father left William one day to the care of another knight. Years later, William and his friends, Roland and Wat, discover the knight dead. Willing to take his place, William poses as the knight and wins. This sparks a growing interest in his mind, and William convinces his buddies to join him on his quest to become a champion jouster. Along the way, they encounter Geoffrey Chaucer, their match announcer, and Kate, a female blacksmith. William also begins to fall in love with the fair Jocelyn, hoping to win her heart. The only problem is is that he is not a noble knight, so he must continue this charade, until...

The story is set to rock music, such as Queen's "We Will Rock You" and dancing to David Bowie's "Golden Years." I think this accurately sets the mood and I can't help but smile every time the peasants clap at the jousting tournaments in unison.

Characters are nicely acted. The supporting characters had a lot of chemistry with each other, especially between Geoffrey and Wat (ok, not really). Shannyn Sossamon, who is a newcomer, did a nice job playing Jocelyn. The only thing that I did not enjoy watching in the film were the dramatic scenes. They didn't seem right and it seemed as if they were trying to slow the momentum.

All in all, 'A Knight's Tale' is something you can enjoy watching if you don't want something to sentimental or full of perverse jokes. It's a rollicking ride.

Confused? Well, considering that jousting was probably the sport of choice in the movie's time setting, this makes perfect sense. Still confused? You'll understand when you watch the opening scene with the spectators at a joust singing "We Will Rock You" by Queen. Sound bizarre? I thought so, too, but then it all made perfect sense as I sat and watched.

Basically a tale of a rookie new to the sport and his struggle to the top, this film is now one of my favorites up there with Gladiator and Braveheart. Just like those two movies, Knight's Tale is one of those films that sucks you right in with gorgeous sets, detailed costumes, and great characterization. However, the main difference is that the tone of this movie is rather comical. Actually, I laughed more during A Knight's Tale than I remember laughing during most comedies. This isn't to say that the movie lacks any seriousness. Competition is what jousting is all about, and this film gets you pretty pumped up even without having any battle scenes.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone, and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD. Make sure you don't get to the theater late so you don't miss the "We Will Rock You" opening sequence, and check out Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the major characters. Yes, the same Geoffrey Chaucer that wrote Canterbury Tales. You won't be disappointed.

With Resident Evil he has given us a decent story with a touch of complication and a fair amount of suspense. My main gripe is the fact that the movie looks far too slick to be as truly disturbing as the grainy and filthy Zombie movies of the '70s. Plus the violence isn't all that graphic but there is still plenty of fun to be had in watching a bunch of office workers turn into the living dead and it's scary how cheaply their lives are considered by the Umbrella Corp. they work for. I'm certainly not going to work in an office for a company like that if that's what they're going to do to me.

The characters are thin but not entirely one-dimensional. You do end up siding with some of them and feel urgency in their futile escape from the underground skyscraper (shouldn't that be 'Groundscraper' then?). Milla Jovovich is cuter here than she was in Fifth Element or Zoolander but Michelle Rodriguez just plain annoys me. All I've ever seen her play is a moody Latino who frowns all the time. It's time for here to try and expand her range a bit and I wish someone else played her character.

Video games will never make for classic movies. They can be mind-numbingly terrible (Super Mario Brothers, Double Dragon) or competent, such as this. Just turn a blind eye to the really, really bad FX at the end when a CGI monster goes on the rampage. My old Commodore 64 was capable of better graphics.

The DVD is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and a choice of Dolby 5.1 or DTS 5.1 soundtracks which sound great but, as a result, also serve to highlight he meaningless and clichéd Marco Beltrami/Marylin Manson 'score'.

Recommended.

Plot:
It takes less than a minute for all heck to break loose as the virus is released upon "The hive"(an underground facility where the film takes place). The poor workers are trapped and we witness an intense and very sad series of scenes. Cut to above the complex where we meet out star, a beautiful young woman who can't remember who or where she is. In come the S.T.A.R.S members(the good guys) to save the day. They are here to see what went wrong at the Hive. All of this happens in only minutes...just hinting at how fast-paced this film is going to be. We meet many people, majority very likeable as they go deep into the Hive. The beauty of the film really comes out here. The film started so quickly and left so many things un-explained that we feel exactly like the lead. Everything is a mystery and every second of the film is part of the mystery unfolding.

What I think:
Now I won't give anymore away....the film does any amazing job of setting everything up, and slowly building up until the really scary stuff starts. Some of the acting at the start is a little off, but later the acting is great. You really start to care about the people, and when people die the way the characters react really gets to you. To top it off, this film has some of the best writing I've seen in a long time. I'm a writer so I'm usually very picky, but I was very happy with this films ability to surprise the audience. I see every horror movie, so I can always say what will happen next. In Resident Evil though, I had no idea what would happen. From opening scene to the completly amazing ending, I was susprirsed. There is even one specific scene that is so surprising, even after it happens you are still in dis-belief. By the time the film was over, everyone in our audience looked exhausted. I know I was. And if that still isn't enough, the movie fits perfectly in with the video games. Must you play the games to understand? No. People I saw it with have never played the games, but they still understood everything. However, if you have played the games, you will definitly appreciate the movie even more, if that's possible.

With Resident Evil he has given us a decent story with a touch of complication and a fair amount of suspense. My main gripe is the fact that the movie looks far too slick to be as truly disturbing as the grainy and filthy Zombie movies of the '70s. Plus the violence isn't all that graphic but there is still plenty of fun to be had in watching a bunch of office workers turn into the living dead and it's scary how cheaply their lives are considered by the Umbrella Corp. they work for. I'm certainly not going to work in an office for a company like that if that's what they're going to do to me.

The characters are thin but not entirely one-dimensional. You do end up siding with some of them and feel urgency in their futile escape from the underground skyscraper (shouldn't that be 'Groundscraper' then?). Milla Jovovich is cuter here than she was in Fifth Element or Zoolander but Michelle Rodriguez just plain annoys me. All I've ever seen her play is a moody Latino who frowns all the time. It's time for here to try and expand her range a bit and I wish someone else played her character.

Video games will never make for classic movies. They can be mind-numbingly terrible (Super Mario Brothers, Double Dragon) or competent, such as this. Just turn a blind eye to the really, really bad FX at the end when a CGI monster goes on the rampage. My old Commodore 64 was capable of better graphics.

The DVD is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and a choice of Dolby 5.1 or DTS 5.1 soundtracks which sound great but, as a result, also serve to highlight he meaningless and clichéd Marco Beltrami/Marylin Manson 'score'.

Recommended.

Plot:
It takes less than a minute for all heck to break loose as the virus is released upon "The hive"(an underground facility where the film takes place). The poor workers are trapped and we witness an intense and very sad series of scenes. Cut to above the complex where we meet out star, a beautiful young woman who can't remember who or where she is. In come the S.T.A.R.S members(the good guys) to save the day. They are here to see what went wrong at the Hive. All of this happens in only minutes...just hinting at how fast-paced this film is going to be. We meet many people, majority very likeable as they go deep into the Hive. The beauty of the film really comes out here. The film started so quickly and left so many things un-explained that we feel exactly like the lead. Everything is a mystery and every second of the film is part of the mystery unfolding.

What I think:
Now I won't give anymore away....the film does any amazing job of setting everything up, and slowly building up until the really scary stuff starts. Some of the acting at the start is a little off, but later the acting is great. You really start to care about the people, and when people die the way the characters react really gets to you. To top it off, this film has some of the best writing I've seen in a long time. I'm a writer so I'm usually very picky, but I was very happy with this films ability to surprise the audience. I see every horror movie, so I can always say what will happen next. In Resident Evil though, I had no idea what would happen. From opening scene to the completly amazing ending, I was susprirsed. There is even one specific scene that is so surprising, even after it happens you are still in dis-belief. By the time the film was over, everyone in our audience looked exhausted. I know I was. And if that still isn't enough, the movie fits perfectly in with the video games. Must you play the games to understand? No. People I saw it with have never played the games, but they still understood everything. However, if you have played the games, you will definitly appreciate the movie even more, if that's possible.