The Big Sleep (DVD)

Advantages: Lots of well-known actors
Disadvantages: Mitchum is not Marlowe

...As a recent convert to the work of writers like Raymond Chandler and James M Cain, when I saw this DVD was going free with last week's Mail on Sunday, I didn't hesitate to get hold of it. This is a re-make of the original film based on Raymond Chandler's work, which stars Humphrey Bogart and was made in 1946. This particular version, made in 1977, was directed by Michael Winner, who apparently took precautions to change the setting of the film, so ...
...have a copy of the original on video, but unfortunately my video player has broken, so I cannot comment first-hand on the differences. However, I understand that this version of The Big Sleep is very faithful to the original story, although some liberties have been taken with Philip Marlowe. The director Few will not have heard of Michael Winner, most recently because of those dreadful e-sure adverts, which isn't really much of a recommendation. ... Read review

Advantages: Bogart and Bacall sizzle; the dialogue crackles; everything is nigh perfect
Disadvantages: I could lie and tell you there are any, but i won't

First off let me say The Big Sleep looks magnificent in all its DVD glory. The picture is crisp and all those annoying crackling sounds we can remember from the VHS version have gone. So set it up on a big TV, turn off the lights, close the curtains and you’re as close as you’re ever gonna get to seeing it in the cinema without the effort of getting to one (though the effort is certainly worth it). OK, the packaging is kinda ordinary and there are ...
...TV plugs that regurgitate all the usual nonsense and are generally nothing better than extended commercials. Anyway, a film this good doesn’t need extras to make it appealing. At a general RRP of about a tenner the price isn’t gonna put you off either. But that’s not the point is it. The point is the Big Sleep itself. Let me say right off that I love this film. It is my favourite film alongside the great Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. Everything ... Read review

Advantages: Performances excellent, as is the dialogue
Disadvantages: Plot is convoluted and confusing

From the outset let me just be clear - this film is bafflingly confusing but wonderful at the same time. Plot explanations would be long winded and confused. In a nut shell: the film is based on a Raymond Chandler Philip Marlowe novel. Humphrey Bogart plays the cynical private eye Philip Marlowe and is hired by General Sternwood Marlowe to investigate a blackmail plot on his naive childlike daughter Carmen (Martha Vickers). Marlowe encounters Carmen’s ...
...various complications along the way including a murder of a dealer in pornography. The plot is generally confusing owing to many editorial cuts when released to emphasise Bacall's part. this doesn't really overshadow what is a great film noir as the performances and chemistry from Bogart and Bacall are electric. I can't think we've seen anything like this since. The greatest strength is the dialogue performed with precision timing by the leads. It ... Read review

Advantages: Fantastic Film Noir
Disadvantages: none

...which never lets up all the way through. ......Very complexly plotted ...so you'll need to have your wits about you when watching........in fact this is so complex that even the writer ....when asked who killed the butler...didn't know the answer! There's a great teaming up again with Lauren Bacall and excellent character actors along the way such as Elisha Cook Jr . Also Dorothy malone in that wonderfull scene in the bookstore. By the way the scene ...
...idea and not John Hustons. The dialogue crackles and this is one film i've seen so many times and enjoyed it even more on each repeated viewing..........this is definitely one of my favourite film noir's of all time. As a matter of interest Dick Powell the former crooner turned actor also played Phillip Marlowe in the film Farewell My Lovely and very near as good it was too.......some say better........but for me there's only one Bogart!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Read review

Advantages: Hilarious! Touching, with very insightful dialogue and performances
Disadvantages: Not very P-C at times so not for the sensitive

...is not well established yet - nor is much said of the neighbours yet - this is all to come later. The DVD contains: EP1 Alive and Buried (when victor starts his early retirement - unplanned of course!) EP2 The Big Sleep (when exercising becomes lethal) EP3 The Valley of Fear (hooligans intimidate Victor, and in revenge he mistakenly intimidates an unsuspecting sales man) EP4 I'll Retire to Bedlam (Victor's moods swing high and low as his boredom increases, and manages to offend everyone in his path) EP5 The Eternal Quandrangle (marrital problems occur, and it won't be the last time that jealousy rears its ugly head either) EP6 The Return of the Speckled Band (misjudged neighbourliness ends in catastrophe, but of course, we are left only to imagine the horrendous outcome of the disaster!) A featurette is included on the DVD... Read review

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Advantages: Original comedy writing. Excellent performances from Mitchell and Webb.
Disadvantages: May be offensive.

...It is only recently that David Mitchell and Robert Webb have been thrust into the mainstream so this first series of Peep Show may have passed a lot of people by. Unlike nearly all comedies, Peep Show is filmed mainly from the two characters' points of view. The audience then hears the character's inner thoughts as voiceovers. Peep Show tells the story of two very different characters, Mark (the 50 year old Conservative trapped in the body of a 30 year old) and Jeremy (the young musician who thinks he will make it big). The series sometimes touches on 'taboo' subjects. For example, Mark in one episode sleeps with a school girl (aged 16 or 17) which is probably why the DVD has an 18 certificate. Basically, throughout the entire series, Mark is fighting for the affections of his work colleague Sophie. Similarly, Jeremy is... Read review

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Advantages: None I can see
Disadvantages: Far too many to list

..., and certainly the closest you feel to reality. It's kind of ironic that I'll Sleep When I'm Dead was a big seller in respect of DVD sales, not only did it sit at number one in the charts for several weeks; but when I used to sell DVD's I could never get hold of enough of these. I can only conclude that the reason it was so popular was at the time of its DVD release Clive Owen was pretty much a guaranteed cert to be the new James Bond. Because having flitted through several websites today I cannot find one person that has anything decent to say about the film. In my mind I'll Sleep When I'm Dead is another prime example of why the British film industry is in so much turmoil. It pretends to be a thinking movie, but I think it out thought itself; either that or they ran out of money. Too many dark brooding moments in which the characters look... Read review

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