Movie I Just Watched: Catwoman (2004)

Catwoman (2004, Dir: Pitof) has been on television quite a lot recently, which makes a perverse sort of sense. After all, any channel foolish enough to hand over real money for the broadcast rights to this dreck might as well keep on using it, hoping the cumulative number of viewers might somehow justify the lousy investment. It probably won't have done the channel's reputation much good, but then again, this is ITV, purveyors of braindead reality television only one step up from (urgh) BBC Three's legendarily dreadful 'youth-targeted' output, including the splendidly-titled Can Fat Teens Hunt? and Snog, Marry, Avoid.

Catwoman is every bit as demeaning as either of those two shows, or the many ITV equivalents where famous people are put through increasingly humiliating trials for the attention (and perceived adoration) of those watching at home. Despite proclaiming a pseudo-feminist mantra at every available opportunity, the movie is an embarrassing example of how sleazy Hollywood's notions are of what a strong woman can or should be.

 

Movie I Just Watched: Being There (1979)

I recently noticed that the number of Movie articles I've written for this blog has lagged behind the Gaming and Television content, so this new feature is an attempt to redress that balance. Movie I Just Watched does exactly what it says on the tin: a review of any movie I happen to come across on television, a rewatched DVD, a special event, and so forth. It will essentially be a random feature in terms of when it appears and what it covers, dependant entirely on external factors.

As well as my need for a greater number of movie-related articles, the feature was also inspired by one of my favourite films, Being There (1979; Dir: Hal Ashby), appearing unexpectedly on television over the weekend. I've wanted to write about it for a long time, so the creation of a new feature was a perfect excuse. Being There was the last film released before the death of its star Peter Sellers and though he starred in one more production before his death, the horrible The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu in 1980, his atypically serene performance in Hal Ashby's film is generally considered his true swansong.