#thedwreview

It wouldn't be the seasonal holidays without assessing a work of art dedicated to the holidays.  While the norm around Christmas time is to revisit either Elf or Home Alone, I - being the glutton for punishment I am - opted instead at the start of the month for a piece of work that's not even available on an official release!   'The Star Wars Holiday Special' is available in all its gory online without paying a penny, and evidently it was recorded on an American telly going by the ads that are featured. Now there may have been a time where either Phantom Menace or Attack Of The Clones would've featured at the bottom when ranking your favourite films in the saga.  Heck, if you're like me, you might be old enough to recall when Return Of The Jedi held that mantle alone; maybe or maybe not by default.  The more recent sequel trilogy undoubtedly divides opinion as well, where it could be argued that portions of The Last Jedi should never have left the editing room....

Cast your mind back to the summer of 1996: with the news dominated by the Atlanta Olympics and the intensity surrounding parades back home, pop music was suddenly taken over by a five-piece girl band known as the Spice Girls.   Ushering in a phenomenon branded 'girl power', the group owned a void not even remotely seen since Bananarama and literally turned the volume right up. It's no exaggeration to use the saying about one's rising fame that "they were everywhere".  Every television show with a young demographic wanted them; virtually every magazine and occasionally newspaper would have them on the front page; their music saturated the pop radio stations.  They would see out '96 with the first of three consecutive Christmas UK No.1 singles - a feat only accomplished at that point by The Beatles three decades previously. By the end of the year they completely dominated the UK's airwaves.  Within the next 12 months they took the world by storm; so m...

On my final day of primary school in June '97, upon breaking up for the summer holidays and first year of high school just months away, my mum took my sister and I to the cinema to see a film that was premiering that night in the UK.  'Batman and Robin' was the forth live action feature-length take on the caped crusader's legend and featured George Clooney's only dual portrayal of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne and the eponymous vigilante alter-ego. Being no stranger whatsoever to the movie saga, even back then, I was admittedly excited.  In fact I even re-watched the previous three films that week over different nights to get in to the mood for the occasion.  And that was only under the sheer assumption we were actually going to the then-MGM cinema, a recently-opened picture house on Belfast's Dublin Road cleverly positioned next door to a Burger King outlet. What was the output of the sequel like?  Probably similar to how one felt after a Kids Club meal, u...

(With thanks to my friend Andy Tomlinson for his suggestion and contributions to this analysis) My film review today focuses on ‘The Exorcist’ and its lesser known follow-up ‘The Ninth Configuration’.  This write-up will analyse two thirds of a trilogy of novel-come-movies created by author William Peter Blatty.  It is a departure from my recent output, however I trust you’ll take something from it as you read on.  At the heart of both stories lies the never-ending question of theology:  ‘Exorcist’ deals with the fear of God, whereas ‘Ninth’ focuses on the search for God.  Evil becomes an obstacle in both because: 1.)  The devil himself believes in God, and  2.)  Evil wants to disrupt goodness, any way possible. “Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon. We may ask what is relevant but anything beyond that is dangerous. He is a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the...

In the 1930s, Universal Studios begun a phase of horror films dedicated to the gothic monsters of novels such as Frankenstein and Dracula.  Nearly 30 years later, Britain's Hammer company would revive the trend at least until the early 70s.  Needless to say many film makers independent of these institutions would take their own turns at the genre. 1988 saw the infamous German actor Klaus Kinski reprise the role of a vampire in 'Nosferatu In Venice' - also known as 'Vampire In Venice', as it was released in different markets.  Despite this star power, along with an on-screen rival portrayed by the legendary Christopher Plummer, the output was mixed at best. In ths story, Dr Von Trapp (Plummer) has sailed straight from Austria to Italy, complete with English accent in tact, having dedicated his life's work to studying vampirism and not raising a family of musical kids after all.  He is in voted by local royalty to investigate the last sighting of undead bloodsu...

"The less said about Superman IV, the better" is what actor Christopher Reeve was once quoted as saying when discussing his famous film franchise - and its not hard to see why, as you'll be forgiven for watching this picture, not least in comparison with what came before it in the series - and this "What on earth is this?" The plot, as the sub-title alludes to, tries to take an honourable approach where the Man of Steel goes on an anti-nuclear crusade by eliminating warhead weapons that threaten the Earth's existence.  Meanwhile, arch-rival Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) manages to escape from prison with an interest in making profits for arms merchants.  He succeeds in creating Nuclear Man, a blonde bodybuilder-type to face our hero in physical combat, by simply using a strand of his hair. Elsewhere a semi-comical love triangle develops where Clark Kent and his caped alter ego attempts to please both colleague Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), who's in to Superm...

Welcome to somewhere in California!  Where a mother and her three kids, including wheelchair-bound Eric, are crossing the country to move in to their new home.  They're a picture of all-American 1980's with a love for Coca-Cola and McDonalds.  Meanwhile some NASA-type lab has happened to nab a family of aliens from their planet via a vacuum system.  A subsequent explosion leads to their escape, but the youngest alien is separated from his parents and sister in the commotion. Taking solace in the new house, Eric befriends what he dubs the 'mysterious alien creature' (Mac) after the latter saves him from drowning, in a now-infamous moment where Eric rolls uncontrollably towards a cliff and bombs at great height in to a river. In turn Eric takes steps with to prevent Mac from being captured by the FBI, with a view to return him to his own parents, by disguising him in awful teddy bear costumes amidst the longest fast food commercial in history - complete with dance se...