herbiehancock

No 122 – The Princess Bride Director – Rob Reiner Some films just age. This is not always detrimental to the story, but it means that the film, as a whole, is stuck in a certain period. From the opening sequence and the plinky plonky 8bit graphics, this film is very much of the 80s. It doesn ’t matter that much because it isn ’t trying to be futuristic or show technology of any kind. It is a fairy tale, and can give off a timeless feel. And it does. It is a wonderful film to watch. It just all looks pretty budget. It is obvious that a lot of the ‘outdoor’ shots are actually in a studio, they look artificial and are littered with the most obviously polystyrene rocks I have ever seen. It isn ’t helped that whenever they do have an outdoor shot (especially if it is a wide angled shot) the film stock (on my DVD at least) goes all grainy. It feels a bit like a 70’s sitcom, when you could easily tell which sections were filmed with which camera because the image quality wo...

No 48 - This is Spinal Tap Director - Rob Reiner Spinal Tap is always going to be an important film, in that it brought us really great, influential , iconic comedy that was improvised. The improvisation thing is what is really impressive, because like Anchorman (another moment of improvisatory genius), this film is so utterly quotable. It makes you wonder how committees who are meticulously writing scripts can fail to get the zest and the laughter than some people can just invent on the spot. The acting is also brilliant, creating fabulous performances which deliver these amazing moments in a brilliantly subtle and understated way. It makes the film believable as an (albeit ridiculous) actual ' rockumentary '. However, before I go on to talk about some of the performances from comedy greats in this film, I want to begin by talking about Rob Reiner's role as fake documentary (and advert) director Marty DiBergi . For most of the film it is fairly understated, asking ques...

No 90 - When Harry Met Sally Director - Rob Reiner Once again, this little blog allows me to rack up one of the ( alarmingly many) classic films that I have never seen. Today is all about the rom -com. Or relation-com. Or friend-com... because 90% of this film isn't about love but about the relationship and friendship between two people and how it develops. I'm naturally wary of romantic comedies. I have discussed my preconceptions with them before, it is too easy for the film to fall into a formulaic and predictable set up. For the film to lose any sense of drama. We know the couple get together at the end... that is the point of a romantic comedy, what is important is the journey. You want the film to be interesting and different. You want the characters to be likable and have development. We all know where we're going, lets enjoy the ride. Luckily the story is superb. It talks about the subtle way that a friendship can build up. Beginning with two brief moments separate...

No 70 - Stand by Me Director - Rob Reiner My first real experience with 'Stand by Me' was the song . I had to be the bass line for it in a Saturday morning choir (oh, my youth captured all the dizzy heights of excitement!) and therefore spent many a moment going " doo doo bum bum doo doo bum bum". I had read the book though and as soon as I turned the DVD on I could see some familiar Stephen King traits. King loves the 50s and there have been several stories which use the 'flashback' technique in order to tell a story from an earlier decade. I think his fascination seems to stem from the 'oldies' - music from the 50s - and the romanticised violence of gangs in the 50s. The film is very similar (visually and stylistically) to It - following the same idea of a group of young 'losers' on a mission whilst being pursued by a gang of older youths. There are other similarities to It which I'm not going to go into detail about, but both stori...