MovieChat Forums > fawltybasil > Replies
fawltybasil's Replies
I enjoy it more from the moment Sim arrives on the scene.
Great actor. His face and his voice made him a unique, magnetic screen presence. Honestly I could have sat and watched Sim read the phone book and be engaged.
The fight between Waterman and Brian Cox in that early role is terrific.
I prefer Only Fools and Horses to the Ray Daley era of Minder but I prefer the Terry era (with the possible exception of series 7 where Waterman looked flabby and a bit bored) to OFAH.
OFAH is one of my favourite sitcoms but Minder was just something else - the off the wall and often subtle humour, the grit, the real locations, the many quirky and peculiar characters often played by famous guest stars, and not least, the chemistry between Terry and Arthur which I thought was even better than the chemistry between Del and Rodney. The lack of a studio audience also added to that because it meant the banter and the bickering between the two didn't have to pause while the actors waited for the audience to stop laughing. The dialogue could just flow more naturally.
Furthermore, I think Dennis Waterman and George Cole were more believable in their roles than David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst were in theirs. Jason could pull off the comedy and sentimental moments but he was guilty of being a bit broad at times, and Lyndhurst was convincing as a plonker but struggled with the more serious stuff. The scene where he breaks down in the lift over Cassandra's miscarriage for example.
George Cole was a superior actor to both of them, and completely effortless as Arthur. Waterman never had range as an actor but as Terry he didn't need it. All he had to do was have good chemistry with Cole, and be convincing as someone who was easy going, and could handle himself in a fight if it called for it. And he was.
Waldorf Salad.
Completely agree. The time just flies by.
The Magnificent Seven was a decent remake but it couldn't match the excellence of Seven Samurai.
Akira Kurosawa was able to make the film he wanted to make. Not many filmmakers get to do that. It was the length he wanted, all of the different weather conditions he wanted... A remake was always going to be inferior.
I think it's one of the greatest films ever made.
I agree with Danny Boyle who has said in the past that people who think Trainspotting glorifies drug use only think that because they remember some of the comic moments and the brilliant soundtrack. Just because it didn't beat you over the head with preachy dialogue like Hollywood does doesn't mean it was glorifying drug use.
The main character wades through a sh!tty toilet, has an overdose, suffers going cold turkey, a baby dies in a drug den from neglect, another character becomes addicted to heroin and gets aids and becomes an outcast in a grotty flat.
It's hardly glamorous.