rowmorg In the 1940s and 50s there was some kind of rule that Americans B-list stars had to star in British B-movies (when there were double bills). I'm not sure why. This B-category film reminded me of those days, with an American "star" (Christina Ricci) standing out like a sore thumb in the middle of a British picture. It must have been something to do with the financing, although it's billed as a Film on Four production. Anyway, the casting of Ricci drove a stake through the heart of the movie before it was ever filmed. I never believed either the romance that drove the story or the intrigue that lay behind it. After a briefly engaging beginning, the film declined into sophomoric nonsense. The British film is in a parlous state, and we were told about 10 years ago that Alan Parker was going to clean it all up and get good scripts and directors happening, so that 99 out of a hundred did not flop and pass straight into video obscurity. Somehow this one squeezed through all the many blockages that stand in the way of any production, and I suspect that Ms Ricci was the reason. Pity!

pantagruella This is an excellent film if you enjoy watching Christina Ricci walking and talking. She does these things very well and she looks very much like Wednesday Addams would look if she Wednesday had grown up. At one point Christina has her hair pulled back very severely.John Simm is engaging and is inclined to treat Christina Ricci the way she should be treated if she ever came to Leeds. John is also making his mark in the Life of Mars TV series.It's a romantic thriller and I'd guess the plot is not very original. It moves through some sordid aspects of modern life but doesn't wallow in them. John Hurt and Kyle McLachlan are suitably repellent.A good film too for fans of Green Wing.

rps-2 Apart from 90 minutes of watching people smoke cigarettes, I don't really know what this movie tried to prove or say. The story is murky. The characters are ill defined. The cinematography is pretentious. The acting is (barely) adequate. I suppose swallowing a button like taking the eucharist might be considered profound by some. I thought it rather stupid and pointless. But if you like toe kissing and bare ass bonking, you may feel better about it. Channel 4 has done some interesting stuff. I suppose if you are going to pioneer and experiment, it's inevitable that you'll take a wrong turn now and then. Too bad this wrong turn led to a swamp. Too serious and too artsey dartsey by half!

Andrew Hutchings I doubt if many people remember the film starring Glynis Johns. I always liked her. She had that husky voice, latterly impersonated to great effect by Felicity Kendall. But that was about a mermaid. Christina Ricci, rarely seen in these parts since 'Sleepy Hollow', makes a welcome return to my local Cineworld. I knew very little about this, having read something about it 2 years or so ago, except that CR was the lead. I have often wondered why she has not become slightly better known but anyway she is back. 'Miranda' is a good little offbeat movie, and anyone who knows me will know that I like quirky material. Therefore I enjoyed it. I suppose, if it has to have a 'shelf' at the video store, it would be in the comedy romance department, rather than the reverse. It certainly has its funny moments. It never succeeds as a thriller, though, which it may never have intended to do, but overall there is something very likeable about this material. Quite a good cast, including Kyle Maclachlan, who seems to age like the picture of Dorian Gray. The soundtrack is very enlivening and John Simm's voice, in the very funny Miranda song, is very good. Lots of verys, then, but at the close of the day, 'Miranda' is unlikely to find its way into many peoples' DVD libraries. Firstly, it may not even get a release here, and if it does, chances are that only strange obsessive people like me will want to buy it. Personally, though, I find Miss Ricci compelling, especially because of her looks, and also through her mysterious acting. I reckon Hitchcock would have killed to get her in a movie of his. She has that special kind of appeal. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was surprised it even got a release, as I'm certain it was made ages ago. 'Of all the libraries in all the world, she had to walk in to this one'. That's not the tagline, but it could have been! One final thought. Are they as big as Heather Graham's? Comments welcomed, but I'm referring to eyes here.