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Liam Hutchinson

Listed below are comments made by Liam Hutchinson between Friday, 24th April 2009 and Saturday, 14th November 2009.

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The Best Christmas Movie Ever 01:19am on 14 Nov 2009 In my view the best Christmas movie is also the best adaptation of the famous Dickens novel and that is “The Muppet Christmas Carol”, truly great and truly magical. I went to the cinema to see it when I was five in 1992 and EVERY year since then I have watched it during the Christmas season (so, November don’t count). May seem odd but it is my Christmas ritual and I like it, meaning this year’s Yule-tide will be the 17th year I have kept with this great tradition of mine.

Coming in a very close second is the fantastic “Brazil”...don’t really need to say much about this as everyone has seen it must surely know how great it is...and if not: WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN?
The Revisitations of Doctor Kermode 00:10am on 14 Oct 2009 For me it has to be Pulp Fiction, which is a film I have a very strange relationship when it comes to return visits. First time I watched it I was in my mid-teens and I loved it, returned to it a year later and I thought it was somewhat over-rated, several months later I loved it again and two years ago, watched it twice and thought it was over-rated.
This from... you 8:41pm on 14 Jul 2009 In relation to Public Enemies, as time has passed I have mentally gone over what I think is wrong with the film. All that Mark Kermode has said in relation to the film I agree with but looking over it now I think the problem comes from two main areas: that of the director and that of the script.
In relation to the script it is ok, nothing really to complain about and in relation to Mr. Mann, he is one of my all time favourite directors. As separate entities they are fine but when you combine both, it has become problematic. As we know from Mr. Manns previous works his work centres around finding the grey area between lawful activities and unlawful activities and this will be characterised between two male characters. However, there is nowhere in the script of Public Enemies that really allows for this to be seen and yet we know that Mr. Mann has tried to sandwich this theme into the movie but as the script does not develop this it feels forced and undeveloped. For example, I feel that the scene where Dillinger is incarcerated and a conversation occurs between him and Purvis it is meant to convey the same meaning between Pacino and De Niro in Heat (Coffee shop scene) and yet the script does not contain such a feel and the direction is at odds. Also, Im not sure if it is historically accurate (I doubt that it is) but nearing the end of the film where Dillinger enters the Police Station and walks around the office where Purviv and his fellow colleagues have been studying him I felt it was supposed to convey a feeling that Dillinger is finally learning about his adversary as Purviv has learned about his and so the comparison is complete and we can move to the final show-down and yet once again, everything is at odds with one another.
Simply put, the material of Public Enemies is not the usual thing that one would expect from Mr. Mann and this is not the problem. What is a problem however is that Mr. Mann has approached Public Enemies like he did with Heat and unfortunately has made a movie that does not feel complete. There are other issues with this film and it was something of a disappointment but nevertheless it is one of the best releases of 2009 (but there have been better).
Review: PUBLIC ENEMIES 3:54pm on 03 Jul 2009 Dear Dr. Kermode,
At first when you were going on about most of the appalling drivel such as Terminator Salvation (of which I am a fan of the series but that was just hugely disappointing and Mr. Bale was simply wasted in the movie) and the like being released this Summer (for which I agree with you) I thought, for one heart stopping moment you were going to praise Public Enemies to the hilt and I would have to take issue. However, you have articulated extremely well why this movie is such a disappointment.

Dont misunderstand me, it is not a bad movie, it is not an awful movie it is just an ok movie. Having seen Angels and Demons early this year I rated that as an average movie (that is, nothing to get worked up about in relation to anything bad or awful, and nothing to get worked up about anything good or fantastic, just simply average) and left the cinema in somewhat of a mediocre state and here I am, having watched Public Enemies a movie with a wonderful cast, directed by a truly wonderful director and having a somewhat mediocre feel leaving the cinema. It was with a heavy heart that I had to personally rate this movie just slightly above Angels and Demons as it should have been a great deal better. There was a somewhat detached feel despite the up-close directing and I feel as disappointed as yourself Dr. Kermode when I say that 2009, thus far, has seen much better releases than Public Enemies
Blog me up, blog me down 1:47pm on 22 May 2009 Hello,
I have to mention Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle (Upon Tyne). It is simply great. The staff look after you, make you feel welcome...and the seats are really comfy.
Blog reply replies: You say Piranha, I say Crimes of the Future 10:29pm on 24 Apr 2009 Hello Dr. Mark, I’ve been a follower of this blog for quite some time and really look forward to hearing what you have to say. More than that, you have actually educated me sometimes and thanks to you discovered the animation “Fantastic Planet” (which you mentioned bally ages ago).

Now, you have recently mentioned “Wosname Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death” and I wouldn’t mind seeing this. However, finding a DVD copy of this is proving problematic...any ideas where I could get my hands on one? Secondly, any ideas why DVDs have region codes which prevents us watching certain DVDs when there are many non-region coded (mainly music DVDs) that exist...or am I missing something glaringly obvious?

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