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Excalibur [1981]

starring: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Paul Geoffrey
directed by: John Boorman

May 15, 2000
John Boorman's 1981 film is an exercise in how to treat fantasy in an adult and serious manner.
The fantasy elements are subtle - there are no stop motion monsters to be found here - and yet still pervade the movie with a sense of the magical & arcane. This film in no way attempts a realistic approach to the extent of 2004's King Arthur.
Merlin as portrayed here is dark & ambiguous, constantly aware of the end of the time of magic & the old gods. A very eccentic performance by the
excellent Nicol Williamson. Helen Mirren as the evil & seductive sorceress, Morgana gives an erotically charged performance that is not easily forgotten!
Nigel Terry as Arthur is a bit wooden BUT his tone & manner suits the ... Read More:

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Far From The Madding Crowd [1998]

starring: Nathanial Parker, Nigel Terry, Jonathan Firth, Paloma Baeza
directed by: Nicholas Renton

February 19, 2007
One of Thomas Hardy's best-loved novels is sensitively and accurately dramatised in this 1998 classic.

Upon inheriting her uncle's farm, the beautiful and assertive Bathsheba Everdene (Paloma Baeza) is the most sought after maiden in the whole of Weatherbury. She's forced to choose between the affections of three very different men; local shepherd Gabriel Oak, gentleman farmer Mr. Boldwood and the womanising Sargeant Frank Troy. Here, Hardy's classic tale of love, betrayal and tragedy is faithfully dramatised. The 1967 Julie Christie version is good, but this is even better!

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The Lion In Winter [1968]

starring: Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Merrow, John Castle, Anthony Hopkins
directed by: Anthony Harvey

August 25, 2008
No movie sums up Christmas or brings back so many memories of Christmases Past than The Lion in Winter. It's 1183 and Henry II's let his wife out of prison to decide the succession at Christmas court in Chinon: he favors John, she favors Richard and nobody cares for Geoffrey. Cue daggers, plots and reopened wounds as everyone tries to kill everyone else and nobody gets what they wanted for Christmas. Part costume drama, part Who's Afraid of Eleanor of Aquitaine? as these jungle creatures scratch and claw at each other's weak spots and almost certainly a lot closer to history as it was lived than as it is written thanks to a truly great screenplay by James Goldman (who stumbled across the plot while researching a play about Robin Hood that would ... Read More:

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The Chronicles of Riddick [2004]

starring: Vin Diesel, Colm Feore, Thandie Newton, Judi Dench, Karl Urban
directed by: David Twohy

January 03, 2005
Appalling acting - even by Judi Dench - how did she ever let herself be involved.
The is no real story - and what there is is inconsistent between beginning and the end.
Poor special effects.
Dire action sequences. The fights are laughable.
But worst of all the continuity is shot.

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Caravaggio [1986]

starring: Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Tilda Swinton, Mark Tildesley, Michael Gough
directed by: Derek Jarman

January 29, 2007
Beyond Caravagio's art there is very little evidence to support an in depth biographical study. What there is (principally a few police records) may or may not suggest a violent man prone to fits of jealous rage and violent behaviour. Jarman, however, provides a beautifully realised poetical interpretation, charged with a latent sexuality, that conveys a complex blend of urban poverty and aristocratic patronage. Jarman succeeds in placing a 'modern day' Caravaggio amongst his baroque compositions, recognising the artists's immense talent for the human form, light and shadow and use of colour. The acting is awesome and the sets show how a highly imaginative crew can pull together the essence of a period with grace and historical insight. Amazing.

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The Wind In The Willows [1996]

starring: Terry Jones, Nigel Planer, Julia Sawalha, Michael Palin, Stephen Fry
directed by: Terry Jones

June 30, 2003
You will either love or hate this live action movie version of Kenneth Grahame's charming book.Personally i disliked it immensely,it captured known of the warmth & cameraderie of the book,and the main characters to me were completely miscast.

Out of the many versions of this enchanting story i have seen this is probably the worst by far.For an accurate adaptation of this brilliant book i would thoroughly recommend without hesitation "Cosgrove/Hall's" animated film of the story which is a true classic,featuring the vocal talents of David Jason, Sir Michael Horden & Ian Carmichael.

If ever i had the misfortune to be given Terry Jones's version as a present it would be placed straight into a charity collection bag 'unopened' ... Read More:

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Blue [1993]

by: Derek Jarman's Blue
starring: John Quentin, Nigel Terry, Derek Jarman, Tilda Swinton
directed by: Derek Jarman

July 23, 2007
Considering the context for this film I felt spiritually uplifted by Jarman's poetry and courageous attempt to juxtapose physical deterioration against the beauty of living and the experience of love. Some of his films (e.g. Angelic Conversation and Last of England) provide only a fractured narrative and fragmentary imagery but offer a cohesion that makes the whole feel like a transcendental meditation unsurpassed in the history of film. Blue goes one step futher and leaves it to the viewer to ponder a blue screen and wonder 'what if....'.

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The Last Of England [1988]

starring: Tilda Swinton, Nigel Terry, Jonathan Phillips, Spencer Leigh, 'Spring' Mark Adley
directed by: Derek Jarman

February 16, 2004
The Last of England is like jarman's The garden, The Angelic conversation, Glitterbug and even Blue (in a quircky sort of way), a movie that consists of film- and sound colages. No lineary narrative, no dialogue, just found footages, super 8 visuals and a bizarre collection of music: original score by Simon Turner, and existing pieces like that of Barry Adamson, Andy Gill, a song that is called 'Disco death', and the stunning voice of Diamanda Galas. never has an atmosphere been so utterly depressing and yet ever so arresting and captivating. Jarman is a visual poet, a visionair of it's own, talking through series of disturbing images about opression, alienatiuon and downfall of society as we know it. This is cinema-non-grata at it's best, ... Read More:

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Look Back in Anger [1958] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Mary Ure, Edith Evans, Gary Raymond
directed by: Tony Richardson

December 11, 2001
The play uses the metaphor of describing english working classes as bears for men and squirrels for women ,it even shows them as fluffy toys and mary ure and burton enact the 2 animals very animatedly ,which is very overdone but interesting as this whole movie is an exercise in a mock protest rather than reality.

It is a very condescending view of the english marriage and character ,at times contemptible of it's characters which rather translates to a selfish love of the same low-lifes as the script evolves .

You will hear the Jazz score and the trumpet blaring angrily but nothing will prepare you for the very entertaining venomous outbursts by burton -who is a candy stall keeper in a market.

He talks like Bernard Shaw as he is ... Read More:

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Edward II [Region 2] [import]

starring: Steven Waddington, Kevin Collins, Andrew Tiernan, John Lynch, Dudley Sutton
directed by: Derek Jarman

February 12, 2004
The play uses the metaphor of describing english working classes as bears for men and squirrels for women ,it even shows them as fluffy toys and mary ure and burton enact the 2 animals very animatedly ,which is very overdone but interesting as this whole movie is an exercise in a mock protest rather than reality.

It is a very condescending view of the english marriage and character ,at times contemptible of it's characters which rather translates to a selfish love of the same low-lifes as the script evolves .

You will hear the Jazz score and the trumpet blaring angrily but nothing will prepare you for the very entertaining venomous outbursts by burton -who is a candy stall keeper in a market.

He talks like Bernard Shaw as he is ... Read More: