BarryFrom

I honestly cannot think of one redeeming feature of this trash programming. The show consisted of a group of incredibly unfunny performers combining sketches with stand up comedy. The sketches are pretty awful, but the stand up comedy is so bad it's difficult to watch. Most of the jokes are circa 1920 (I just flew in from Peru and my arms are awfully tired), and even they are few and far between.

Let's just be thankful that we didn't have to endure most of these performers on television again, apart from the odd performance here and there. Fortunately, Shane Ritchie seems to have finally accepted that his talents lie in acting and not comedy, and Billy Pearce is resigned to Blackpool and Scarborough piers, where most of those acts have ended up.

I've seen this documentary a couple of times and it never fails to capture my interest from beginning to end. It's a non-judgmental look at the prostitution industry in New York circa 1993. The film cleverly juxtaposes the relatively high-class, free and safe inner city escort style prostitution with that of the addiction fueled, survival prostitution of the suburban ghettos. Days-in-the-lives of and stories from a demographic mix of prostitutes, dominatrixes, clients and one strangely endearing brothel owner are placed on top a base of vox pops, pertaining to the question "have you ever paid for sex?". Whilst this may sound like an obvious line of enquiry to include in such a film, it works so well due to the unexpectedly candid responses from the public and the fact that this theme runs relentlessly from beginning to end. The film-maker herself also adds to the effect of the documentary by appearing extremely peripheral throughout, forcing only her contributors and images to tell the story. Only a couple of times does she add a voice-over, and never is it judgmental or subjective.

It's therefore of strongest recommendation that if you get chance to see this documentary, then do so. You most certainly wont feel you've wasted your time

Shine is a Fantastic true story of Pianist David Helfgott and his battle with mental illness, brought on by several factors in his life, each resulting from his "piano prodigy" status. Although the story is a fascinating one, and very touching at times, it seems to me, to be executed quite poorly for the big screen. David's mental illness itself seems rather inconsistent throughout. One minute he will be talking erratically in his own way, and the next he will be entertaining guests at a modern cafe, by gracefully playing the piano, with several women at his side, only to return to his former state moments later. This only serves to remove any belief in the performances of the cast. One thing I think really took away what could have been a fantastic film, is the portrayal of Helfgott, by actor Geoffrey Rush. It is evident from his initial scenes where he has gotten his inspiration for the role (Dustin Hoffman in Rainman) but the result is more of an embarrasing imitation of an eratic Woody Allen. I know that many people regard this actor as one of the greatest of our time, but Shine represents quite the opposite.

What we have here is a fantastic story of battles though life, turned into a fantastic screen-play, and subsequently, and quite sadly, turned into a simply mediocre film