Film Reviews by sb

FILM & HMMM Ok - I really wanted to like this as a lot of people did but I just found it a complete mess. I got the concept that her life is in chaos but that is nothing compared to the chaos about to be unleshed on her- the idea of a multiverse where she is the most important figure but she has no idea about any of it does have a nice Matrix touch about it ….and the way the entire thing is a metaphor for her dysfunctional life … But it’s so overdone and overplayed all this just gets steam rollered and the editing style is so abrasive it’s almost impossible to work out what is going on…. Yeah is very good with some sly references to her own career and I know Curtis is suppose to be terrible but overall the whole thing just gave me a headache and at 140 minutes more than overstays it’s welcome. So not for me I’m afraid - 2/5

FILM & REVIEW The first of 5 films that Eastwood and Siegel would make together - it’s the story of maverick Arizona Sheriff Coogan sent to New York to bring a felon back to face trial. Once there he gets bogged down in paperwork as Ringeman (Stroud) has overdosed and is now in hospital. Coogan bluffs his way into getting him released but along with his friends escapes . Coogan has already arroused the aminosity of NYPD cop Macelroy ( a suitably gruff Cobb) but sets out to hunt his prey down regardless. It’s the old fish/cop out of water scenario and Eastwood with that hat and cowboy boots plays it to the hilt. It’s interesting that Coogan is a proto Harry Callahan so they were working on that persona even then. Th film does get bogged down with a romance with a pretty probation officer (Clarke ) which really stalls the pace considerably with some really clunky dialogue but picks up with a cracking chase sequence on real life Coogan’ Bluff a promitory that overlooks New York City. It’s also worth to see the long closed PanAm helicopter shuttle that flies from the roof of the PanAm building to JFK. - so overall a 3/5

FILM & REVIEW Jesus Christ - what have I just watched ? - superb brutal British revenge thriller has Maskell as Bull an enforcer for a bunch of Essex gangsters led by Norm ( a chilling David Hayden). Bull is the guy they use if someone needs a little extra persusion regardless of the consequences. He’s also married to Norm’s daughter and they have a son together which seems to the only thing Bull cares about. Things have gone seriously south and Bull is fine about walking away but he wants to take the boy with him . This will never happen and events lead up to a point that should finish things…..but 10 years later some-one is carving up the gang members to track down the location of the boy…. None of this is apparent at first as there are 2 parallel narratives - one sent in the present day and one ten years ago and as the film progresses the two dovetail. It’s brilliantly made with a real stripped to the bone feel to it and is not for the faint hearted as the violence if off the scale with fingers and hands lopped off on a regular basis. I suppose it has some moral point at its core (and it’s implied at the end other forces are at work) but you really need a stiff drink and a shower to wash it all away by the end - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Charlotte Colberts astounding gothic drama has Krige as Veronica an ageing actress recovering from cancer surgery and with her paid nurse Desi (Eberheart) travels by train to a remote Scottish retreat. She is under the impression it’s a solitary retreat but due a mix-up the booking she is saddled with all manner of new age crystal fixated odd-balls precided over by a very camp Everett. She is horrified by this development and retreats to a cottage with just Desi. It’s revealed she had a break through role at 13 playing opposite Malcolm McDowell and it’s made pretty obvious it’s was not a healthy experience and it seems he is remaking the film again with another 13 year old to be cast. The landscape is very heavily peaty and it’s explained that they burned so many witches that their ashes mingled with the soil which seems to have supernatural qualities. Not going to give away any more as it has to be experienced - the brooding atmosphere , the growing sense of dread and an extraordinary sound scape/ score by Clint Mansell ( I can only compare it to Under the Skin in effect). Both leads are excellent but it’s the brooding landscape and the effect it exerts that stays with you - exec produced by Dario Argento it’s a truly astounding debut 5/5

FILM & REVIEW Had this on my watch pile for a while as it’s a slow burning character study…and 179 minutes long….and yes it is both but it’s also utterly hypnotic. In the pre- title sequence ( that’s the pre-title sequence that lasts 40 minutes) we meet Yusuki (Nishajimma) an actor and theatre director specialising in Beckett and Chekhov. He is married to Oto ( Krishima) a screen writer who tells him her ideas for stories during sex and gets him to re-tell them the next morning. She introduces him to Koji ( Okada)a handsome arrogant young actor that Yusiki discovers having sex with Oto but he leaves without them realising and nothing is said. Time passes and Oto tells him they need to talk but he delays coming home to find her dead from an anurysm. He is stricken with grief and retires from the stage. After the title sequence it’s 2 years later and he is directing Checkov’s Uncle Vanya is a small town outside Hiroshima . It’s a language blind version in that not all the actors speak Japanese - in fact one is mute and uses Korean sign language but they manage. One of the actors is Koji whose out of control behaviour has got him fired but Yusikzi hires him in the title role even though he is several decades too young. Yusiki is also assigned a young female driver Misaki (Muira) for his beloved Saab Turbo - he refuses but is told it’s part of the insurance. She is taciturn af first but over time the two form a bond as they have both lost someone and blame themselves for their inaction…. As I say it’s a real slow burner but each character fills an important role with some really touching scenes - one is when it’s discovered that the mute Korean actress is a actuality the wife of the theatre manager who didn’t want to prejudice her casting. Although it seems to be heading in a romantic direction it’s revealed that Yusiki and his wife lost a child and Misaki is the age the child would have been so it’s a much a surrogate Father /Daughter relationship with a real emotional pay-off. It looks beautiful with all the night driving with the lights gleaming off the red Saab and whilst not for everyone it’s well a watch as there is much to reward. It’s the kind of film where once all the kit is packed away you can imagine the characters just quietly getting on with their lives - quite remarkable - 5/5

FILM & REVIEW Aka The Quiet Girl - beautifully understated film set in the rural countryside in 1981. Catherine Clinch plays Cait a number of siblings on a farm on the poverty line. The Mother is about to give birth to yet another child so Cait is farmed out to a remote cousin Eibhlin (Crowly) and her husband Sean (Benett) who are far more prosperous and live in a large farmhouse. At first Cait is a bit lost among the space and silence but Eibhlin looks after her and makes sure she settles in. Sean however is a remote taciturn man who more or less ignores the newcomer but over the summer the two begin to bond. It’s revealed that the couple had a child of their own but he drowned so Cait becomes a surrogate…and that’s about it… But first class performances especially from Clinch and a refusal to wallow in sentiment lift this way above its kitchen sink origins as does the photography and sound design. - a little gem really - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Cracking Korean movie set among true events in Somalia in 1990. Both North and South are desperate for UN recognition but both sides powerful backers cancel each other out. Only independent African nations hold enough voted to sway the results so both sided are in Mogadishu to lobby/bribe the Government. Starts off quite lightweight as all manner of diplomatic skullduggery enfolds but things darken when a full scale rebellion breaks out trapping both sides. Concepts like diplomatic immunity no longer apply and both Koreans realise they will have to work together to survive. Remembering that is still no peace treaty so both sides are still at war so decades of mistrust must be overcome. Meanwhile the streets become ever more lawless and violent…. Each side Is led by Han (Yoon - Seok) and Rim (Joon-Ho) and it’s up to them to keep both of their teams in order while they plan an escape. Top-rate action scenes are intercut with sly humour as both sides see a common humanity in the face of adversity and the final car convoy goes full on Mad Max in its intensity- a real edge of the seat movie - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Really odd but interesting Hammer movie - Hardy is Baron Zorn whose bloodline is full of madness and violence. To break this he marries a peasant girl but the wedding night is one of bloodlust. She bears him two children Emile and Elizabeth (Briant and Hills) before cutting her own throat but Hardy suspects his madness has been passed to them . He keeps them locked up as there is a more than a hint of incest between them and engages sinister Doctor (Magee) to try his unconventional methods for a cure. Meanwhile local girls are being murdered and dumped in the lake…. It’s all very overdone with loads of hamming it up - add in Horden who spends his time shouting at the forest with a neat sideline in giant burning crosses and a finale which is beyond demented - it really is an overlooked gem - 4/4

FILM & REVIEW AKA The Weapon, The Time, The Motive Effective Giallo has handsome Priest (Bonoglia) who is having a passionate affair with married Orechedia (Morrati) but breaks it off as its sin against God and the Church. In reality he is fed up with her and is now bedding her friend - needless to say its not long before he is found stabbed to death in his church - so you have two jealous women, their husbands and even a nun who who seems to have had the hots for the priest as well. Soon the bodies and red herrings mount up leaving the investigating Policeman Montagaini having to reset his theories each time and things are complicated when he begins an affair with Orchedia as well. Add in a small orphan boy who seems to know more then he lets on and a bunch of nuns who self-flagelatte to orgasm and it rattles along nicely - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Third film in the Norwegian disaster trilogy and its another cracker. Set among the oil fields that have made Norway one of the worlds richest nations we have Sofia (Thorp) who has designed this funky flexable underwater robot. She is assigned the task of exploring a collapsed rig for survivors and during the mission it appears that the small land slip that caused the rig to sink is part of a much bigger issue. A decision is made to shut the whole field down and evacuate and this involves her boyfriend Stein (Belljand) having to manually close a stuck valve but as always things go south and he is trapped. Sofia uses her robot to find him and sets off on a rescue mission. Meanwhile a cascade of events has resulted in a the largest oil spill in history and to save the coastline of several counties a decison is taken to set fire to and burn off the oil before it makes landfall - needless to say one of the rigs in the coming conflagation is the very rig in which our heroes are currently stuck. It uses all the disaster movie tropes - takes its time to build so the audience can identity with the characters and puts them in a series of endless jeopordies but it grips throughout. Like the previous films it cost a fraction of what Hollywood would throw at it and as all the better for it - 4/5

Wonderfully demented 80's sci-fi cop thriller which opens with a ferocious bank robbery followed by an even more ferocious car chase through LA.

The suspect survives despite being shot numerous times and its revealed in hospital that he is carrying a slug like alien parasite which he passes onto the next person to continue the murderous rampage.

Local LA cop Beck (Noiri) has no idea what is causing all this carnage and is less than pleased when he gets partnered by a rookie FBI man Gallagher (Maclaughlin) - especialy when it appears that Gallagher knows far more than he is letting on.

Meanwhile the destruction builds with a stripper becoming the next carrier (Cristian who would go on to become one the leads in Babylon 5).

The action is unrelenting and its shot through with a sly humour with Maclaughin's deadpan FBI man an almost dry run for Agent Cooper in Twin peaks.

Terrible 80's hair and fashion add to the charm as does the pounding rock soundtrack (car chase with Anthrax on the stereo? - check)

an absolute blast throughout - 4/5

Having been blown away by Hunted earlier in the week - a follow up screening of Peter Cranes full lenth debut - and a much chillier and enigmatic work it as well.

Hendry plays an un-named assassin who is a Callan-esque hitman employed by some shadowy Govt department that is given jobs even MI5 won't touch.

The latest target is an Air Ministry official Stacey (Windsor) who is to best man at a colleagues wedding and the hit is planned for then.

Its never explained why he is a target - Control (Judd) asks Hendry if he wants to know - would it make a difference he snaps back.

Control also hires two other figures - one older and austere and the other young and arrogant whose role seems to shadow Hendry but like a lot of the film this is never made clear.

We also see previous hits but Crane edits it like Boorman in Point Blank so you are never sure if what is happening in now or before.

There is a brief dalliance with a sad lonely girl but as soon as she suggests to see him again - its clothes on and out the door - this is a man without any personal encumberances.

Things get even more complicated when its revealed the wrong target has been selected so the race is on to stop the hit regardless of the cost.

Hendry is excellent in the role - a man of few words but much violence and it used the icy North London locations to great effect.

As mentioned before Crane spent years in US TV - he seemed to direct entire seasons of Murder She Wrote - a real waste of a talent - 4/5

Been after a copy of this for ages as it got a very limited release but spotted it as part of the Prime BFI Player subscription - so was it worth the wait? - too bloody right it was.

A real slow burning atmospheric chiller has Tomaz (Secaraueau) a migrant worker in London who we learn in lenthy flashbacks was a soldier in an unnamed European war who undertook a good deed only for it to spiral out if control leaving him wracked with guilt.

The hostel he is living in gets burnt down and he is taken in by a kindly nun (Staunton) who places him with Magda (Juri)as a general handyman as she is looking after her termenially ill mother who lives in the attic.

It soon becomes apparant that there is more going on than at first appears...

That is all I am going to say as you need to experience the rest for yourself - as mentioned it takes its time to build the atmosphere but stick with it as its well worth the payoff.

Excellent cast with a growing sense of dread that can only end one way - 4/5

A story so improbable it must be true - which it is....

Broadbent plays Kempton an elderly political agitator in early 60's Newcastle. His current campaign is for free TV licences for OAP's that gets him 14 days in pokey for non-payment.

He becomes aware that Goya's painting of the Duke of Wellington has been saved for the nation at vast cost and he figures how many TV licences the reward money will buy - so on a whim he steals it.....

The police suspect an international gang of professional thieves rather than a slighty doddery pensioner - I shall leave how the rest of the story plays out - just to say it takes some very unexpected turns.

Broadbent uses his twinkly charm to great effect matched by an almost unrecognisible Mirren as his long suffering wife.

Its drolly amusing throughout but at the same has a family tragedy from the past that has built a wall between the couple that gives the film a poignancy that gives the film a real heft.

Its got an old fashioned almost Ealing Comedy feel to it (you can imagine Alec Guiness or Stanley Holloway in the role and ultinatly restores your faith in humanity - marvellous stuff - 4/5

AKA Brothers Till We Die - another Lenzi cop thriller - Thomas Milian was in several of his films and has previously played the twin Marrazi brothers but in seperate films.

This brings them together and gives Milian the chance for a dual role- he plays El Monnazza a small time crook and car mechanic and El Gobbo his hunchbacked brother who is a much more big time crook.

On his return from Corsica he gets the old gang together for a major bank robbery but they betray him and leave him for dead.He hides out with his heart of gold hooker girlfriend while plotting his revenge and uses his brother as a dupe to keep the cops off the scent.

Milian is very good in both roles with his goofier brother supporting his superior sibling as events spiral out of control.

There is one key scene where the hunchback takes his girl to a posh nightclub where the rich and famous mock him but he soon turns the tables and does a full on Tony Montana several years before Pacino - its of Milians best roles - 4/5