Essex_Rider

I love this movie, it's camp, colourful and in parts, very 'very' funny.

It's the seriousness with which the characters approach the wonderfully name 'Pan Pacific Grand Prix', we all know they're hamming it up but they offer up a seriousness that really makes it even funnier. I love the way Fran emerges as a butterfly and I love the life and joy of her family. It's a feel good movie, just right if you need cheering up and enjoying some magnificent acting and storylines.

Paul Mercurio playing Scott Hastings is absolutely on point, and the wonderful Tara Morice playing Fran is captivating.

For me though, it's the machinations of Barry Fife and Scott's mother Pat Thomson playing Shirley Hastings, along with Sonia Kruger playing Tina Sparkle and the outrageously camp portrayal of Ken Railing by John Hannan that left me grinning from ear to ear.

Oh dear, like Winnie the Poo, War of the Worlds has crossed the pond to become a United States keeper.

HG Wells wrote about the quintessentially beautiful English countryside being invaded by cruel heartless aliens. He didn't write it about the American Midwest.

That said, it's infinitely better than the hogwash with Tom Cruise. That, although the CGI bought us scary aliens, had nowhere near the tension this version did.

I thought that for the time it was made, the special effects were ground-breaking. The acting was sound and enjoyable and I would put it up there with other amazing Sci-Fi movies like Forbidden Planet (incidentally based on Shakespeare's The Tempest), and the fact it is still watchable speaks volumes for the arts and crafts of all those involved.

It's really difficult to put something into words that is so profound. When I watched Jamie (Owen Cooper) it was like I was watching my own son when he was in his early teens. Unsure, directionless even with a loving family around him. When we first let go of their hands to go to school, we are letting them into a forest full of uncertainty.

They go from your cossetted world into a world where your values diminish and peer pressure takes over.

This series shows the tragic consequences of that world. Jamie, a clever good looking boy is subjected to feelings he never experienced at home. I cannot say too much as I don't want to spoil the story for those who haven't seen it yet, but suffice to say, it is real for many young boys today.

Peer pressure, sexual awakening, being caught between the love of the family and the street.

This is a truly magnificent performance from the whole cast, in front of and behind the camera. Flawless.