David Berlevy

The Green Mile is an extremely long three hour film. It starts in a home for the elderly where an old man cries watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the black and white film "Top Hat" singing "Dancing Cheek To Cheek". Then there is a flashback to 1935 when the man is revealed to be Tom Hanks working as a prison guard in a death row prison. He is surrounded by the most foul mouthed violent prisoners. He is also suffering from a very painful urinary infection. Enter an eight foot black man called John Coffey who is alleged to have raped and murdered two young girls. One by one the most brutal executions are carried out by electrification. There are further scenes of men urinating including one incident of a man urinating all over one of the prison guards. Probably the highlight of the whole film is the incredibly talented mouse named Mr Jangles. This little creature is delightful and I thought he was worthy of an Oscar for best performance. He gets trodden on yet John Coffey manages to bring him back to life. John Coffey also cures Tom Hanks of his urinary infection and the prison Governor's wife of a brain tumour. In the end John Coffey is executed even though he confessed to the Prison warders that he was I innocent of raping and murdering the two girls. There are a number of things that were not quite right. The deep southern accents made it difficult to understand what a lot of the actors were saying. I think the film required subtitles. The next point is the film is far too long and at times slow. I also found some scenes repetitive especially emptying the padding cell of its contents and shoving unruly prisoners in there. The film needed more editing to bring it down to two hours and a half. Although it is a Steven King story on which the film is based it is not as good as "The Shawshank Redemption" nor "The Shining" nor "Carrie". I think it has pretensions to shock the audience but I believe it misfires. Tom Hanks is better in his Oscar winning films "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump" . I have sympathy for his painful urinary infection but somehow I do not completely believe his amazement at the curing techniques of John Coffey. He kept avoiding a Doctor's appointment and that could have made him more ill. If there is a meaning to this film it is probably that you should try to see the good in people rather than their evil.

In my opinion "Dial M For Murder" is Alfred Hitchcock's greatest ever film. It was the first Alfred Hitchcock film I ever watched and I was hooked ever since. I then watched every other Alfred Hitchcock film from "Downhill" from the 1920s up to his last film "Family Plot" in 1976. I then watched every episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour". This was all because I was so impressed by "Dial M For Murder". Firstly the background music is phenomenal especially as the clock turns 11.00pm and Ray Milland dials the M from a telephone box. The frenetic scene of Swan trying to strangle Grace Kelly and her reaching the scissors to stab Swan in the back for me is as great as the shower scene in "Psycho". You can really feel the sharpness of the scissors penetrating Swan's back as he falls to his death on the floor. I had never seen anything quite as alarming as this before. Don't forget I had not yet seen "Psycho" yet when I first saw this film. For me the killing of Swan was in preparation for the eventual stabbing of Janet Leigh's character in "Psycho". The acting from Grace Kelly was immaculate. She looked like she had been strangled by a scarf. Her expressions were of the shock of being strangled by a complete stranger. Then we come to the performance from Ray Milland which as Wendice is quite superb. The intrinsic details of the planned murder are fascinating. Nothing is left to chance. Wendice blackmails Swan or Lesgott into murdering his wife by following him everywhere and discovering that the man had been linked to several women and he had failed to pay his rent in some cases and then changing his name. Wendice manages to implicate Lesgott or Swan into the stealing of a letter from Grace Kelly's lover called Mark and making it look like Lesgott or Swan demanded money from Grace Kelly in return for the letter. Ray Milland goes into the most extraordinary detail to implicate Lesgott or Swan and when the murder of Wendice's wife goes all wrong Wendice goes to extraordinary lengths to imply that Grace Kelly knew this Lesgott or Swan and instead of handing the money she killed him instead. This is where Robert Cummings as Grace Kelly's lover Mark suspects that Wendice has planned to get Lesgott or Swan to kill his wife. In comes this brilliant detective played wonderfully by John Williams the actor not the film music composer. This detective finally traps Wendice just before Grace Kelly's character is about to be hanged for murder. The key to the solving of the murder is the key itself which plays an integral part in the whole film. Were it not for Swan's key the wrong person could have been hanged for murder. Wendice has made a big mistake. He has taken Swan's key out of his pocket and put it in his wife's purse thinking that it was the latch key to their house. This mistake leaves Wendice as the man who planned to murder his wife. This is such an exhilarating film that whenever it is on television I watch it. I even have the film on DVD but I still have to watch it when put on the television as it began my lifetime adventure of watching Alfred Hitchcock films. To me Alfred Hitchcock is a genius alongside William Shakespeare Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie. What a pity Agatha Christie never worked with Alfred Hitchcock. Can you imagine what thrillers they would have made together?

This film "Yesterday" is about a man who has an accident and Wakes up in a world where no one has ever heard of the Beatles. So with his guitar and piano he goes writing and singing all the Beatles songs and pretending that he wrote them himself. What a stupid story. This is so improbable that it is a farce that this guy is able to get away with it for so long whilst destroying "I want to hold your hand" "She loves you" and "The Long And Winding Road" etc. To add to that the Ginger pop star Ed Sheeran sticks his nose in as well. To play Wembley Stadium in front of thousands of fans as Jack Malik pretending he wrote the Beatles songs is just ludicrous. I am a fan of The Beatles and I have done a Beatles tour bus of Liverpool. I am afraid that this is a crude attempt to make a farce out of the Beatles catalogue because the new versions of these songs in this film are terrible. There is no John Lennon voice no Paul McCartney guitar or George Harrison guitar or Ringo Starr drums. I also found it very peculiar that Oasis did not exist either yet Ed Sheeran did. Neither did Harry Potter. It makes not sense at all. This is a Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle film that I consider a flop. The Beatles simply never disappeared and nor were they likely to disappear. Playing Paul McCartney singing "Hey Jude" at the end does not put the film to rights. A biopic of the four Beatles as they played and recorded together would have been a better idea.

Am I the only person to not understand what Rami Malek was saying in "No Time To Die"? Also the song by Billie Eilish is awful. It sounds very depressing and lacks any kind of power. How can James Bond return if he died at the end of the film? The film was one of the most violent I have ever seen. The scenes with Ralph Fiennes Ben Wishaw and Naomi Harris are not particularly well acted. They all just look like they are going through the motions. Unfortunately "No Time To Die" lacks the song the acting of Judi Dench in "Skyfall". Even the Blofeld scene with Christophe Waltz was an anti climax. A thoroughly disappointing last Daniel Craig film as James Bond.

"Vertigo" is one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films as director. The original bell tower of Mission San Juan Bautista outside San Francisco was reconstructed as it had been destroyed by fire in an earthquake. The view of The Golden Gate Bridge is superb as Kim Novak appears to deliberately try and kill herself in the bay beneath it. Her tour of San Francisco including a church a Cemetary where she visits the grave of Carlotta Valdez whose self portrait hangs in a gallery is mesmerising. She looks lost in her thoughts and James Stewart as John 'Scottie" Ferguson follows her around as requested by an old acquaintance who wants his wife Madeleine to be followed as she is 26 and the husband fears she may take her life as Carlotta Valdez did. Eventually after saving Madeleine from drowning Scottie becomes friendly towards Madeleine and it appears she has fallen in love with him. However she drives him to the Mission San Juan Bautista kisses him and runs off to the bell tower which Scottie cannot climb to the top of because of his fear of heights and sees Madeleine appear to throw herself off the building. The ensuing court case finds that Madeleine was not mentally stable so the verdict was suicide. Scottie is distraught and ends up in a mental institution only receiving visits from his female friend Mitch played by Barbara Bel Geddes. When Scottie is released he imagines he sees Madeleine everywhere he goes but they are not her. However one day he does see somebody who does resemble Madeleine but a brunette not a blonde. Either Madeleine had an identical twin sister or she is still alive but how? He goes up to her apartment and pleads to be let in to talk because he thinks she looks like Madeleine but this woman says her name is Judy Barton and she has documents to prove it. The fact is that Judy is Madeleine and she starts writing a letter to explain what happened and then tears it up. After getting to know Judy better he begins to request that Judy gets new clothes the type that Madeleine used to wear and dyes her hair blonde. Low and behold Madeleine reappears once all the changes to Judy have been made. Finally and probably not wisely considering his past acrophobia he takes her to the Mission San Juan Bautista makes her climb to the top of the bell tower,discovering that Gavin the man who hired Scottie to spy on his wife Madeleine had actually thrown his real wife off the top of the bell tower had used Scottie as a witness and that he had paid Kim Novak to impersonate his wife. The music by Bernard Hermann is very moving and the cinematography is brilliant. The acting from James Stewart and Kim Novak is of a very high standard indeed. Most other film directors say they are influenced by this film and that in 1958 when this film was released it was revolutionary and unique with camera angles not used before to produce the affect of vertigo and dizziness. A unique and extraordinary film.

Let's get this straight. In "Twin Peaks" whether it be the television series or the film "Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me" Laura Palmer's father Leland Palmer knew what he was doing. He claimed Bob the evil spirit had inhabited his body and took him over. However when Leland Palmer killed Jack Laurent in Hospital a middle aged man not a beautiful young woman Leland Palmer was not avenging the murder of Laura Palmer he was eliminating a man who could have given vital evidence testifying against Leland Palmer who knew what he was doing. Throughout "Twin Peaks" Leland Palmer was grinning every time he was told another person was being arrested for murdering Laura Palmer. He knew it got him off the hook as a suspect. When Laura Palmer saw Leland Palmer coming out of the house during the daytime when he was supposed to be at work he claimed he needed an aspirin which he could have bought from a shop. The reason why he came home was to sneak into Laura's bedroom and tear incriminating pages out of her secret red diary. If you go back one year to 1988 Leland Palmer murdered Teresa Banks when he discovered she plus Laura Palmer and Ronnette were prostitutes advertising in "Flesh World" and Teresa Banks had found out where Leland Palmer lived and therefore he had to eliminate her. This was not the evil Bob but Leland Palmer trying to cover his tracks and elimate all evidence that he was the murderer. When Leland Palmer murdered Maddy Fergusson and put her in a golf bag and was caught recklessly driving he got stopped by FBI special agent Dale Copper and Leland Palmer was about to attack him with a golf club. In my opinion Leland Palmer is Mr Hyde who is the other inner half of Doctor Jeckyll as in the famous novel. Bob could be the other name for Mr Hyde but Leland Palmer was evil anyway the way he sexually abused his daughter since she was twelve years old and Laura Palmer was fully aware of it and was terrified of her father. In all Leland Palmer killed four people Teresa Banks Laura Palmer Maddy Fergusson and Jack Laurent. He was a serial killer and he got what he deserved.

"Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me" is definitely up there along with "The Elephant Man" and "Mulholland Drive". There are several reasons why it is outstanding. Firstly Angelo Baladamenti's music accompanying the film is very haunting. Secondly the photography as with the television series of "Twin Peaks" with its Douglas fir trees and waterfall some of the most spectacular scenery ever used in a film. Thirdly Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer is perfect for not only is she one of the worlds most beautiful women she is one of the world's best ever actresses playing a very deeply troubled teenager battling not only a drug and alcohol addiction but haunted by a demonic figure called Bob and a very disturbing and mentally deranged father in Leland Palmer whose wife is equally deranged and disturbed. Laura Palmer has a very loyal friend in Donna but the rivals for Laura's love Bobby and James find it difficult to help the doomed Laura Palmer who descends into a maelstrom a deep cavern of danger that ultimately destroys her in a desperate and heartbreaking way.

"Mulholland Drive" is along with "The Elephant Man" the greatest David Lynch film. Once you watch it you will want to watch it again and again. It is a story about the darker side of Hollywood film making. The music is haunting composed by Angelo Baldamenti. The photography is mesmerising and the colours stand out brightly. The scene with Rebbeka Del Rio singing Roy Orbison's song "Crying" in Spanish it is Llorando" is outstanding in the night theatre "Silencio". The accident prone hitman is dark comedy. Justin Theroux covered in pink paint after pouring it over his wife's jewellery is another dark comedy moment. The coffee scene in the directors meeting with Mafia bosses who demand "This Is The Girl" is another great moment. This is Naomi Watts best acting in any film and so goes for Laura Elana Harring as an amnesiac who just about survives a car crash. Character names change all the time in this film so you have to watch it very closely. The dead woman lying on the bed is shocking as is the monster hiding behind the wall of the diner. It is probably deserving of being voted the best film so far in the 21st Century. It has mystery,horror,humour, great music,unusual characters,plenty of action,exceptional photography and a lot of meaning to the story. Once seen never forgotten. An absolute masterpiece.