stacy_g_ie

Last night, my friends and I searched the local video shop for something worth watching. We picked Wonder Boys, even though none of us had ever heard of it before. Result? All of us laughed ourselves silly and watched it three times. This film is about Glady Tripp, a pot-smoking college professor going through a tough time in his life. Seven years ago he wrote an acclaimed book, but is having trouble following it up---it's over 2600 pages long, shows no sign of ending, and his agent Terry Crabtree is getting impatient...That's not all. His wife has left him, his mistress Sara Gaskell (or his boss' wife) has just informed him she's pregnant, his best student James Leer, a crazy literary genius who can't stop lying, is following him around, and Hannah Green, a female pupil who rents a room in his house, is clearly trying to put the moves on him by wearing very little.

But it gets worse again for Grady. James Leer kills the Gaskells' dog when it won't get its teeth out of his professor's leg, a man with a James Brown haircut is claiming he owns Tripp's car, and a jacket Marilyn Monroe once wore has disappeared from the Gaskells' safe. Soon, some young-looking police officers are swarming around Grady's house. Throw in some codeine, alcohol, a pink dressing gown and a heavily-pregnant waitress named Oola and you've got the ingredients of a very tasty film.

There are some very funny moments, including a scene where James Leer climbs through a dog flap to get into a house, then makes himself comfortable on the sofa in front of the tv, Vernon jumping and running around Grady's car, and there was one little scene that just shone out to me. When James is semi-conscious in the club and is just propped against the chair, Terry starts touching his hair and brushing it behind his ears and I thought it was hilarious! So incredibly camp!

All the acting in this is superb, and it's very much a cast effort. Michael Douglas made me smile as Glady Tripp, Robert Downey Jr is SO funny as Terry Crabtree, he deserved an Oscar for sheer dedication to the role! Frances McDormand puts in a perfect performance as Sara Gaskell, and Tobey Maguire's character James Leer kept my attention. There is something wrong with that boy! I don't think any other actor could have pulled off that giggle during the speech by Rip Torn's character! Agh!

I urge EVERYONE to see this film! I have one question though. How come I never heard of Wonder Boys before my friends and I rented it? It's a brilliant film!

Gimme Gimme Gimme is a show about a gay man and a straight woman who live together in Kentish Town in London. While it doesn't sound like much on paper, it really works because it is, as Linda would say, VILE! But it's the kind of vile that works. The funny kind of vile.

Kathy Burke plays Linda LaHughes, a heavy-set tart with frizzy red hair and glasses. To put it in the words of a character in the 2nd series, she looks like 'a cross between Chris Evans and Olive from On the Buses.' She is sex-obsessed, vulgar and probably the most disgusting British character ever created, excepting maybe Fat B****** in Austin Powers 2. She gets the best lines, though most of them make you cringe. An example would be 'He can stick his hand up my skirt and make my lips move...if you know what I mean!' about a ventroloquist. She is always talking about her days in borstal and her oddball family, such as 'My auntie Vi was a cyclops...or auntie eye as we used to call her.'

James Dreyfus plays Tom Farrell, an extremely camp self-obsessed gay actor who *suprisingly* can't get work anywhere. He's had his fair share of bad luck, attracts horrible men, such as Rick who hated everyone and sold sofas on cheesy ads, the man who slept with Tom once and wouldn't leave him alone...then of course was one of my favourite episodes when Tom met his idol, Peak Practice star Simon Shepherd. But he firmly believes in people being honest in their sexuality. My favourite Gimme Gimme Gimme quote was when he said 'I like my men to be stong, assertive...not so far back in the closet they're in f*****g Narnia!'

This show is so much better than most American comedies such as Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier and so on. Why? Good acting, funny script, and absolutely no limitations. A genius created this. An absolute f*****g genius.

I sat down a few weeks ago to watch this film on Channel 4. And in many ways, this film is superior to many others, both British and American, of the last 30 years or so. It is a natural, wonderfully-acted film that moved me to tears in many scenes.

The plot? It's about a group of miners in a small Yorkshire town who are also members of a brass band. However, the mine is to be closed down, and the film shows what happens to the redundant workers afterwards. There is also a romance between Andy Barrow and Gloria, a woman who works for the management of the mine, which causes conflict in the group.

Many scenes made me cry like a little child. One of these was the 'Danny Boy' scene outside the hospital window. Another was the scene where Stephen Tompkinson (one of the most under-rated actors working, in my opinion) dressed as a clown, is entertaining a group of children at the local church and loses it, completely, because he's so preoccupied with the thought of his sick father.

The Albert Hall scene at the end is very emotional and enjoyable, and one of the highlights of this beautiful film. Sadly, many of the actors in it are still unrecognised as truly brilliant. Ewan McGregor lights up the screen in a pre-trainspotting role, however, but whatever happened to his love interest in the film, Tara Fitzgerald?

Overall, a beautiful, emotional and deeply moving film that made me cry. I don't usually cry at films. When most other people cry, I laugh. Not this one. Had tears rolling down my cheeks. There were a few funny lines however, such as 'Is this man bothering you?' "Of course he is. He's my dad" which is both funny and sweet. See this film the next opportunity you get or you'll regret it later on. 8/10.