CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

.

Ice Princess

starring: Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Cusack, Kim Cattrall, Hayden Panettiere
directed by: Tim Fywell

Release Date August 22, 2005
This film, in my opinion, has a very weak storyline and would benefit from some funnier jokes. The plot is not very original and although it is one of the worst films I have seen for acting I realise that it was also aimed at wowing the audience with iceskating. This is where the film truly delivers. The skating and the moves almost made me tempted to go to the local ice rink. The actors (or their stunt doubles)must have required so much talent and energy. The only reason that I have given this film three stars is not for the acting, but to the sporting talent. Some of the actors/actresses would be far better off in the winter olympics as opposed to acting.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

.

Madame Bovary

starring: Frances O'Connor, Claire Hackett, Adam Cooper, Hugh Bonneville, Eileen Atkins
directed by: Tim Fywell

Release Date March 13, 2006
Lets face it, Madame Bovary was always going to be difficult to produce. The story really centres around Dr Bovary, and Emma Bovary is his second wife, and you have to read about his first marriage until you get to Emma. Although I am a fan of Flaubert and Madame Bovary, as well as many others, I can also see where a large group of people are coming from when they say that this book is one of the most boring written.Madame Bovary (Penguin Classics) if you would like to read the book.

This production is not a straight transposition of the novel, opening as it does after Dr Bovary has lost his first wife. We see in this drama Dr Bovary getting Emma to become his second wife. Emma has been brought up spoiled by her father. Dr Bovary ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

.

I Capture The Castle [2003]

starring: Marc Blucas, Rose Byrne, Sinéad Cusack, Tara Fitzgerald, Romola Garai
directed by: Tim Fywell

Release Date January 26, 2004
This film faithfully follows the story of Dodie Smith's beautiful and sometimes painful novel, but cannot capture its magic or the lyrical narrative which is so important (and what is really successful) about the novel. Read the book first, then enjoy this film for the pictures!

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

.

Half Broken Things [2007]

starring: Penelope Wilton, Daniel Mays, Sinead Matthews
directed by: Tim Fywell

Release Date January 07, 2008
My wife and I both enjoyed this rivetting movie.Great cast, great acting, and a nice plot. It gets slightly implausable, but it was still enjoyable. Worth watching.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

.

Barbara Vine - A Fatal Inversion / A Dark Adapted Eye / Gallowglass [1992-1994]

starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Jeremy Northam, Douglas Hodge, Paul Rhys, Michael Sheen
directed by: Tim Fywell

Release Date October 31, 2005
'Adapted Eye' is the best of the Vine novels, a modern Greek tragedy that explores the sheer hatred that is unleashed when two hitherto devoted sisters fall out over a child that both want. The excellent TV adaptation captures the range of emotion, helped by the casting of Sophie Ward as the glacial Eden (the name conveys her perfection) and Celia Imrie's homely but manipulating Vera. Acting as narrator, Faith (Bonham Carter) has an important role of her own, her life blighted by guilt and the suspicion that Vera's madness might be hereditary. In an early appearance, Honeysuckle Weekes plays the young Faith, morphing rather unconvincingly and suddenly into the darker Bonham Carter - a pity in an otherwise good production.

'Fatal Inversion' was the first ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

.

Minette Walters Collection

starring: Daniel Craig, Virginia McKenna, Joely Richardson, Clive Owen, Anton Lesser
directed by: Tim Fywell, David Thacker, Diarmuid Lawrence, Graham Theakston, Stuart Orme

Release Date June 20, 2005
Its been quite a number of years ago now but I do remember seeing the TV Adaptation of The Sculptress on BBC1.

I think the acting by Pauline Quirke, who played Olive Martin, was quite chilling and showed that she could move away from the role of Sharon she played in Birds of a Feather and other comedic roles she was used to. You were also convinced of Olive's innocence within the film.

But I do look forward to reading the novel version of The Sculptress to make comparisons between the TV Adaptation and the novel quite soon.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

.

Norma Jean And Marilyn [1996]

starring: Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Josh Charles, Ron Rifkin, David Dukes
directed by: Tim Fywell

Release Date April 26, 2004
This is a great movie. It's not without it's flaws however, for a start they dramatize things a bit and make Marilyn look like a nutter with split personalites in places - which has no evidence of truth to back it up. However this does make for some great viewing, the final scene in the bathroom where Norma Jeane tells Marilyn in the mirror that she has 'lost her mind' is especially emotional and gives you an insight into perhaps Monroe's last hours with us.

More could have been done with the film in exhibiting some of Marilyn's more iconic images, the diamonds are a girls best friend iconic image and her most famous image in the white dress that blows up over the subway gate are given little screen time. Judd captures the essence of Marilyn far more than Sorvino, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

.

The Masterpiece Theatre: The Woman in White [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Tara Fitzgerald, Justine Waddell, Andrew Lincoln, Susan Vidler, John Standing
directed by: Tim Fywell

Release Date October 25, 2005
No, this is not a faithful adaptation, but it is a very good adaptation. As this is a Masterpiece Theatre production, there is an introduction and a conclusion that is included, but not part of the actual film. The conclusion explains why so much of the novel was left out and explains some important plot points of the novel that were excluded from the film. This includes the the "Paris scene" as one reviewer distressingly noted--which ties up the loose ends concerning Count Fosco.

Noting that they wanted to make a 2 hour film, they did a superb job. And, really, this film would be more fun if you haven't read the book so please don't let that deter you if you haven't read the book. Actually, if you haven't read the book, I'd suggest you see the film first. That will ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

.

Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes [2001]

starring: Miles Richardson, Charles Edwards, Crispin Bonham-Carter, Ben Macleod, Mossie Smith
directed by: Paul Marcus, Simon Langton, Tim Fywell

Release Date June 27, 2006
When we last saw the great forensic professor of medicine, Dr. Joseph Bell (Ian Richardson), from the University of Edinburgh, it was 1873. He and his callow young medical student, Arthur Conan Doyle, had just solved a horrendous series of murders, but at great cost. The young woman Doyle had loved was the last victim and the murderer had escaped. It's now a few years later. Doyle has his degree and is trying to establish his own practice. Bell has chosen to become friends with Doyle, drawn by Doyle's eagerness to learn, his intelligence and his concern for the sick and weak. Bell also is touched by the knowledge of Doyle's great loss. He is sensitive enough not to comment on Doyle's physical change. Instead of a callow youth, Doyle, while still tentative in manner, now looks something like ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

.

Affinity [2008] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Anna Madeley, Zoe Tapper, Domini Blythe, Anne Reid, Amanda Plummer
directed by: Tim Fywell

Release Date August 19, 2008
Having waited and waited for this DVD be be released on Region 2, I opted to purchase the Region 1 version (just noticed the release for Region 2 has gone back yet again possibly due to ITV wanting to televise before the DVD comes out??). I am questioning whether the Region 1 version has been edited due to some of the content - the scene in the cell between Selina and Margaret when Selina is changing into her nightwear is a bit strange as the dialogue that comes out of Margarets mouth doesn't go with what you are seeing, guess I will watch the ITV version when it is shown to check this.
Having read all of Sarah Waters' novels to date, I find Affinity to be the most unexciting - therefore this adaptation was the same for me. I think Tipping the Velvet is the best book/adaptation, Fingersmith ... Read More: