Bernard and the Genie (1991) (Obscurus Lupa Presents) (FROM THE ARCHIVES)

[@SongbirdAlom]

"I wish you'd just go" *disappears* ...well shit, that made me more emotional than I expected.

[@mastermarkus5307]

Especially delivered by adorable, nervous Alan Cumming.

[@ophidic]

This movie is a rough gem.

[@mattbirchall8161]

Thanks for this. My sister and I had this taped off the TV and watched it every Christmas when we were small. It is obviously flawed but holds so many great memories. The footballer in the grotto scene is one of the highest paid presenters on the BBC now and I think of Bernard and the Genie every time he is on.

[@cmcculloch1]

Me and my sister recorded this on VHS when it was first day back in 1991 and we watched it every single year and then it got uploaded to KZbin it is my favourite Christmas film ever

[@danielwilliamson6180]

"I wish you'd stop trying to kill me." "Damn!" LOL

[@lemongrabloids3103]

This is my favourite Christmas movie. Classic British comedy 😂

[@stonewars3224]

I saw this movie years ago. It's been a favorite Christmas movie of mine. I think you see it on PBS still.

[@danielwilliamson6180]

Classic. Such a lovely TV movie. Wonderful performances by Lenny Henry and Alan Cumming.

[@kevinstorrar7880]

Frickin’ love Bernard and the Genie, recorded this when it was on tv back in 1991, the VHS is still in my attic. A few of the art world jokes based around Rowan Atkinson were loosely based on some real events, in terms of art dealers ripping off old people that didn’t realise quite what they had. I work in the arts, and sometimes quote Rowan Atkinson from this, no one ever gets it....

[@theambivalentps2bloke60]

I'm so glad you found this British gem to review!

[@Derboffles]

(from uk) Used to watch this every year as part of my Christmas routine. A wonderfully British take on Christmas. One minor point, in the uk BBC has very very strict Product placement rules, especially back in the 90s.

[@colinbaker3916]

It’s BERnard, not BerNARD.

[@julesakers3051]

18:29 the footie player is Gary Lineker, then England captain and record goal scorer. Now what you would call a 'sportscaster'?

[@graemesmith6721]

So, after watching this review, I found this movie was on Tubi, and my wife and I watched it together, and really we really enjoyed it. Thank you for letting me know it exists. Merry Christmas!

[@PeterStawicki]

Joe-see-phis!! Oh dont forget to mention this was written by Richard Curtis of Love Actually and 4 Weddings and a funeral fame. And like all Richard Curtis movies it has a character named Bernard.

[@percyperanamus7432]

the big mac zoom killt me

[@DollyBelladonna]

Sir Trevor McDonald is a legendary News broadcaster

[@tacotoosday42]

Hope you now review the Melissa Mccarthy remake

[@planescaped]

This was Blackadder's weirdest reincarnation. Also, how'd he kill the police officer when the sword he hit him with was still very clearly in the sheath? O_o

[@supercharliegalaxy]

Probably ruptured his stomach like what happen to Houdini

[@danielwilliamson6180]

If Bernard and the Genie had been set in the same universe as Blackadder, Charles Pinkworth without a doubt could had been another descendant of Blackadder or possibly a reincarnation of the earliest Blackadders.

[@abnunga]

@@supercharliegalaxy Houdini probably had appendicitis to start with.

[@tiernandaly5622]

Great film. My Christmas Eve go to each of the last few years.

[@mastermarkus5307]

12:00 - Well, Alan Cumming _is_ bisexual in real life, so whether or not it was intentional in the script I'm not surprised that he could convincingly "play both sides". I don't think attacking someone who is sneaking around your house and accidentally causing their death counts as "murder".

[@polk-e-dot8177]

Master Markus no i think that's manslaughter

[@joetiltman9371]

I saw this the one time it was shown on TV. 23rd December 1991. I was 11. I loved it, taped it and watched it many, many times. I'm so glad someone has uploaded it to KZbin, so I can see it again. Seeing this review prompted me to look for it. Much nostalgia. And yes, 'fuckin' Leonardo' is right! I was just as amazed when I saw that!

[@Wannabe_Baby]

This sounds really cool. I'm from the UK and hadn't heard of it before now but there's a ton of actors I recognise from it. I'd definitely recommend seeking out more Lenny Henry films to review because there was a period in the late 80s/early 90s where he tried to break into an Eddie Murphy/Richard Pryor-esque film career that didn't work out. True Identity is a good movie to check out.

[@TheNumnutRandomness]

This was my favorite review of yours back before the Blipocalypse. Just gave me the warm fuzzies.

[@ShadeMeadows]

Woah... i want this movie now! BLURAY GUYS!

[@Andulsi]

Watched as a kid. Great fun

[@LibraGamesUnlimited]

I just watched this movie on KZbin the other day, so I guess it was natural this would come up. :)

[@BodaciousWench]

Josephus wasn't a genie till he went into the lamp so hanging with Big J wasn't obsurd. Remember Jesus helped out at his brother's wedding. And he did indicate that the Girl could survive the knife throwing.

[@Shiirow]

Merry Paradoxmas, Everyone.

[@Andulsi]

British comedies tend to have characters that are way easier to believe than American ones. I never met anyone that reminded me of anyone out of "Friends". I ve met plenty that remind me of Peep show characters.

[@ChromeDestiny]

I first saw this I think some time in the late 90's or early 2000's on Canadian TV, I think it was probably Bravo or Showcase when those used to be different and better channels. I'm so glad it's still up on KZbin. Fun review too!

[@craiglister7110]

It’s a great movie 🍿 we try and which it every Christmas 🎄 classic

[@mfitzburger5137]

This, for whatever reason, this is a huge Xmas staple in my family. My dad says Rowan Atkinson's lines on a regular basis. The friendship/romance was really wholesome, really emphasizing the give and take aspect. Alan Cumming is practically a fetus here.

[@BenHurren]

Oh come on! Boastyee boastyee!

[@corydotjpg]

Crazy theyre remaking this Melissa McCarthy. Curious how theyll compare.

[@tacotoosday42]

They gave him the Brendan Frasier Mummy curse: punished to have unlimited power

[@agentleman4610]

Matt Brown Except Imothep could use his powers freely. A genie can't really.

[@lordvlygar2963]

Every time I hear the name Bernard, I think of Black Books. Making a Bernard and the Genie starring Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) would be an outrageous movie. Bill Bailey as the genie would be head-explosion inducing.

[@lynndavinci4753]

I don't know how I missed this when you first reviewed it, but I really want to see this movie now!

[@madahad9]

Flaws in logic aside this is a very charming Christmas special. The chemistry between Lenny Henry and Alan Cumming overrides all the flaws. I saw this when it aired on the A & E Channel when it still had a diverse line-up of programmes before showing mostly crime related topics. All the problems Alison addresses are valid, a few I never thought of. But it doesn't detract from my enjoyment. Lenny Henry is hysterical and steals every scene he is in. Everyone has their moments,especially the elevator operator. I recorded it but sadly the tape was either eaten by the VHS machine or was a tracking nightmare when I undertook transferring my VHS tapes over to DVD. I was glad to find it available (as of April 19,2022) on IMdB. Unfortunately it is not for sale on digital download.

[@murphy7801]

Seemed pretty cheerful by British standards

[@agentleman4610]

Infinite power that you can never use for yourself, only at the behest of others and for their gain, only free once you have a master then back in the bottle you go till someone else finds it, and when you have a master you have to give them what ever they wish for regardless of what your feelings are on the matter. So congratulations you're an omnipotent being with minimal if any autonomy over your own destiny waking up once every few centuries or longer enslaved to another's will having to use your god like powers from absolutely mundane tasks to horrifically evil acts. Yeah sounds great to me too.

[@PeterStawicki]

Sorry i seriously love this movie and watch it every year and sing all the bad 80s songs.

[@Tortoiseshel]

This seems like a real cute little movie!

[@Fatamorgana420]

Uhmm... how does the dude know what a toaster is, and how is he going to use without this little, insignificant detail that is electricity...

[@tacotoosday42]

Jim Henson Leonardo wow!!!

[@NitpickCritic]

2:55 Stephen King's IT (1990) is in Alan's newspaper XD

[@Onychoprion27]

It was this review that made me wanna see the movie, and I'm so glad I did. Such a great Christmas movie! Thanks, ... er ... Obscurus? Or is just Lupa? I dunno. Anyway, thanks for pointing it out!

[@U014B]

11:11 Is this what Daphne Moon did before becoming a physical therapist?

[@jaysonpressley8642]

The. Original. 1990. Live Action. Leonardo. GREATEST! MOVIE! EVEEEEEEEEER!!!

[@masonjam]

Hey Lupa, Do you remember a sitcom from the late 90s about a single mom and her son who buy a rug and there's a genie in it? Maybe that'd make for a good manic episodes? i'm pretty sure it was around sabrina the teenage witch era.

[@culwin]

You Wish

[@gilgaloregames1066]

I'd love to watch this someday ^_^

[@JaapioNL]

13:57 is one for the books!

[@LaDracul]

At least this is more watchable than "True Colors". Hey, isn't that one detective from "Downton Abbey"?

[@mnicolemortensen7]

I actually like this movie. I love Lenny Henry

[@RainBird88x]

How is he going to power that toaster?

[@mrshadowbright4041]

Genies cant use there own power ... oh and no paradox when he left as a genie he came back a few min later as seen in the end of the movie

[@brendakrieger7000]

😹

[@HarleyQuinn257]

Was that a golden girl, at the end there?

[@Valdagast]

He *really* looks like a young Paul McCartney.

[@SilentPrayerCG]

I thought he gave him tickets that can allow him travel inside movies.

[@pspence9569]

You think that's got terrifying parts? Check out Watership Down (1972). It's a kids cartoon about rabbits. That traumatised an entire generation. It's fcuking brilliant.

[@seanmatyas3938]

So this might be the better TMNT Christmas movie?

[@danielwilliamson6180]

Josepheus (Lenny Henry) became The Genie when the wizard trapped him in the lamp for centuries.

[@vickygarnett7623]

Have loved this film ever since it debuted on the BBC in 1991. Watched it obsessively and wore the video tape out so much I started to know when the warps in sound were coming up. I still know it word for word, and still use phrases from it (‘not amusing?’ *does little dance*). It never ran in the cinema, was done mostly as a short Christmas film for the BBC. I do find it odd hearing the American pronunciation of Bernard, though, when you’re talking about this film! You make it sound so fancy with the stress on the second syllable, when Bernard (stress on first syllable) is meant to be a plain ‘everyman ’ character, and the name ‘Bernard’ in Britain is kind of a boring name so it suits that character. BerNARD sounds a little pretentious to British ears, and that’s not who he is.

[@dreamlandnightmare]

Yikes, that product placement makes an Adam Sandler movie look subtle.

[@nomduclavier]

'Transvestite' means 'cross-dresser'. Trans = across. Vest/ments = clothing.

[@hollyhobgoblin8838]

Except he wasn't cross-dressing. That was Lupa's entire point there. Or do you just really enjoy sharing etymology with the world through KZbin comments?

[@kidkunjer]

wow.... there's a lot of gay stuff in this movie!

[@murphy7801]

Pretty normal for the UK even in the 90s, it was kinda ok not ok being gay. It's hard to explain.

[@BodaciousWench]

There was?