Film Reviews by CD

I first became aware of this film at last year’s BFI Festival in London and wished I had seen it on the big screen.  The landscape of Iceland is austere but fantastic and the photography in this film truly does it justice.  The characters of all the cast are very well articulated and there is sufficient drama and surprise to keep the momentum of the film.  The main character Lucas (a Danish priest) is an anti-hero whose hardness comes out during the drama. Extra bonuses are the animals ( sheepdog and horses) and the songs. It is a longish film but I enjoyed it greatly by taking a break between the main chapters. Highly recommended.

This is a really good medieval tale, set in Normandy in the 11th century.  Charlton Heston and the cast are excellent and the story is well told.  The added bonuses are the musical score, film-set and the camera work, all excellent.  There is an exciting and convincing Castle siege and the film assumes Shakespearean proportions as it evolves.  Very impressive and much recommended.

I learnt virtually nothing new from this Crimean War documentary.  It plods along in a very old style way - even for a 2003 production -  with rather bland contributions from army, medical and historical specialists.  Apart from the paintings  I found little to spark interest and the war is explained very much  from a British perspective and does not include the view of other combatant nations except for references to the french.  The staged accounts of the campaign from actors as Crimean era soldiers are not great.  Hopefully there will be other Crimean documentaries or movies that will do this war greater justice.

It takes time to find any shape despite a lot of early action (I almost gave up after 20 mins) and is sometimes completely over the top,  but the film has fantastic energy and is a real treat for the senses.  Anybody who likes film will understand the emotion in the final scene.  Funny in parts and great performances from all the leads. 

I found this film very slow moving to begin with, albeit with fine actors. Once the violence starts and one discovers Harry's Royal Marines' background it is fairly obvious where this is heading. On the plus side, some of the scenes get into the sheer horror of drug gang morals and culture, but otherwise there is very little exploration of any of the characters, and it is a bleak film in a world where force prevails. Worth a watch, if only for Michael Caine in a UK film role.

I thought this film might be hard to watch, and so it proved to be.  Andra Day shines in the role and one longs to see more song performances.  Instead, as the title suggests, the film focuses on the political, racial and drug related issues, together with an unsettling array of rather menacing characters in grim situations. It’s no surprise that this is a 2021 film, and it sets out to tell a tragic story of racial discrimination and aggression against an amazing artist.  Well worth a watch.

This film has many pluses including the joy of seeing Carey Mulligan and Ryan Gosling acting together, the driving chases, classy camera work and overall good casting.  I would have rated it 4 stars but dropped to 3 stars due to the excessive violence in the second part of the film, which was a real negative for me.  Well worth a watch though for all the other good things about this film.

The early dialogue, and the difficulty in hearing it, does not fill one with hope: co-pilot to pilot - example (paraphrased)  “I assume you are English?”; pilot “I would not lower myself to that level - I’m Scottish”.  However, Gerard Butler’s pilot character develops well after that to be an interesting person who cares for his passengers (who are a real mixed bag of personalities).  The scenario of the crash on the Island is not altogether unrealistic and the action sequences on and off the plane are excellent.  The baddies are suitably bad and the momentum of the film is well maintained till the end - altogether a satisfying film to watch.

Bruce Willis puts in an excellent performance in this quite high action “shrink” film involving the psychology and therapist world.  I enjoyed the 1990s low technology LA setting (with Bruce Willis making calls from his car with a large corded phone).  There is also a good car chase and the famous sex scene which goes on so long you may be tempted to press fast forward.  The characters and plot leave a lot to be desired,  but if you like 1990s style cop films and TV serials, you might like this.

This film really exceeded my expectations. Excellent casting in all the roles and great acting by Clooney in particular. The storyline moves along well and at no stage compromises the characters. Clooney's character remains quite inscrutable throughout but the onion is peeled sufficiently for one to be able to glimpse what drives him (beyond the air-miles). A really worthwhile film that leaves you thinking.

I am not sure that the trailers really prepare the viewer for what is in store, which is quite sad and poignant. The photography is brilliant as is the way the focus is on the donkey's view of the world. The scenes are sufficiently strange to keep the film interesting. The lack of really developed human characters works well and keeps the sentimentality out of the film.

I was not expecting too much of this film, but from a slow and low key start it grows into quite a creepy and memorable film.  The acting is very good and the music score and arty film shots add a lot to the atmosphere.  The creepy cameo roles of the priest and the visiting young neighbour contribute to the film’s strangeness - well worth a watch.

A disquieting film which hangs together around the superb acting.  The flashbacks, hallucinations and dreams come thick and fast but the storyline hangs together okay  - psychological illusions and reality become blurred, but it is much better done than in many films.  An extra bonus is the superb filming of the landscape around the cliffs.  Recommended but rather dark, and perhaps best to take a breather half way through.

I was in two minds as to whether watch this film as the subject matter sounded grim.  I am glad I did because the actors are superb and the scariness and disorientation of dementia is really brought out both by Anthony Hopkins’ character and the family and helpers around him.  The tensions created by a person suffering from dementia are well shown as are the battle between being compassionate to the sufferer, acting is their best interests and carrying on with one’s own life.  The final scene is really transformative and very moving.  Hats off to the director, actors and everyone involved with this great film.

This film had good characters and fine acting, but the storyline is not strong enough and it moves at too slow a pace. It is pleasantly unpredictable, but unlikely and rather unconvincing as a result. Worth watching for the interplay between the two main characters and for the interest of the Russian train and its arctic environment. The culture difference between the Finn and the Russian is also interesting. Overall I would tentatively recommend but prefer many other "journey" films.