Film Reviews by sb

FILM & REVIEW Went into this with low expectations as it got really slated and died at the box office but was pleasantly suprised how much I enjoyed it. Affleck plays Rourke a cop whose daughter was kidnapped a few years back but even though the kidnapper is caught has no recall of what happened. He comes across a bank robbery in progress but it’s an odd one in that one man (Fitcher) has the power of auto suggestion so gets various bank employees to do it on his behalf. He is only after a single safe deposit box every time and this one is revealed to contain a photo of Rourke’s daughter and the words Find Delrayne. His investigation leads him to Diana (Braga) who is a psychic who used to work for a shadowy Govt organisation called The Division led by Delrayne who is seeking a secret weapon called Domino. Not going to give away any more but it’s very clever the way each reality is just a construct within a construct and each plot point is a clue to revealing the true nature of what is going on, Sure it can be seen as a shopping list of influences with Total Recall, The Matrix and loads of nods to Chris Nolan but Rodreguiz keeps the whole rattling along and in an age where all movies seem to exceed the 140 minute plus running time this is a success at a smidge under 90 minutes. Well worth a look - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW The mid 60’s saw brief Noir revival with films like Point Blank and Harper and this fits in nicely. Sinatra plays the world weary, laconic Private Eye who to avoid a scandal is called to a local Miami hotel to take care of a girl who is passed out on booze. She is Diana (Lyons) the daughter of Rudy Kostermann a property developer and major player in town. Diane was wearing an expensive diamond pin which now missing and some local hoods are hired as they suspect Rome has it. He denies all knowledge and then is hired by Kostermann to find it and hush everything up. This brings Rome into the orbit of Rita - Kostermann’ wife ( a terrific Rowlands) he seems to know far more than she is letting on. He also hooks up with a good time girl (Jill St John) who also seems connected and Rome is soon up to his ears in fake jewellery, strippers, drug dealers , hoodlums and blackmail. He does this while staying one step ahead of the local cop (Conte). It’s very good at showing the sleazy underbelly of Miami and Sinatra is all always very good in the lead. The plot can be a little over conveluted at times with just too many red herrings but it ticks all the requisite boxes for a Noir - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Robert Bresson was the Master of French Minimalism and this is his finest film. LaSalle plays Michel whose life is going nowhere and who decides to undertake a life of crime. His first effort fails and he gets arrested by a kindly Police Inspector (Pelegrí) who cannot prove the case and let’s him go. With practice his skills improve and soon he is lifting wallets on the Metro with aplomb. He hooks up with another thief and with a third accomplice turn picking pockets into an art form. He also has a sickly Mother who he never visits and this brings him into contact with Jeanne (Marika Green) and slowly an affection builds. The Inspector has kept in touch and they debate the idea of the Nietzschian idea of a superman who society should not judge with elements of Raskolnikov to add another element. Of course it’s only time before he is caught which he accepts with philosophical resignation and this brings out the true love he has for Jeanne. It’s a real little masterpiece without a single wasted shot or word with LaSalle in his debut very good as the remote detached lead with Green bringing a softer human quality to the film. Spookily she is the spitting image of Natalie Portman and is in fact Eva Green’s Aunt. It turns up in various best ever lists and Paul Schrader admits he has basicly made a career out of it - quire superb - 5/5

FILM & REVIEW Cracking Italian political thriller has Nero (sporting a tremendous 70’s porno moustache) as a film director whose latest film is a thinly disguised expose of a well known Sicilian judge up to his ears in Mafia corruption and local politics. The film ends with the judge being gunned down - his wife (Fabian) hates it and wants it banned but the real life judge is amused by it all and let’s it’s slide. On the way to the airport back to Rome Nero discovers the real life judge has also been shot dead as life imitates art. He returns to try and uncover what led to this and is soon immersed in Mafia corruption, crooked politicians and bent coppers. He also gets involved with the judges widow which takes him down paths he never expected as it becomes apparent that nothing is quite what it seems. Both leads are excellent and is the way the whole of Sicilian society is so deeply in thrawl to the Mafia. This the third of director Damiani trilogy so much seek out the others - very good indeed - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Very odd British crime thriller has Frank (Bridges) an ex-GI returning to London to rekindle a wartime old flame Pauline (Lister) now a successful actress. She is supposed to pick him up but instead a fellow passenger gets shot by a sniper on the tarmac. This appears to be known criminal Kendal Brown who the police soon trace as a contact to Pauline. She at first denies this to Frank but it’s obvious she has much to hide. The police also track down Browns ex-wife a threate singer who maintains they have been separated for years. Paula admits to an affair with Brown and using her motor launch to assist in his smuggling enterprises and who is now being blackmailed by the ex-wife. Several red herrings and plot twists later and it’s all coming nicely to the boil then a real WTAF ending…….you have to wind it back to make sure you haven’t missed something but no …bizarre…. Up until then it’s very good with solid performances and great use of the river around Rotherhithe when it was a working port. So 3.5/5 overall.

FILM & WATCHED Really wanted to like this although some of it worked overall felt a little disappointied. Pine and Rodreguiz work well together (although Pine can overdo the smug bit too much) and Grant continues his late career schtic of sending himself up. Just felt the rest of the gang were far too bland and it seemed to takes ages to get anywhere. It meandered all over the place while filling in the back story and although they do pull out all the stops for the finale I found my attention wandering too often. I think it tries for The Princes Bride level of humour without being as funny so at a push 3.5/5

FILM & REVIEW I know the expression Expectations are Low is an oft used one on here but sometimes some thing will suprise you as it’s much better than expected. Houston plays Renfield - Dracula’s long suffering gofer - who takes to attending self-help meeting where people talk about being in a toxic relationship or I live with a monster. You have no idea Renfield ruefully remarks to himself. The reason he is there is Dracula is recovering from a previous encounter with the church so needs victims brought to him and Renfield reasons if he can bring the people causing the self help group misery then so much the better. This however brings him into the orbit of the Lobo’s New Orleans major drug gang who have most the cops on the payroll except for Rebecca (Awkafina). Dracula who is much better now decides rather than merely feed off humanity he wants to dominate it and will use the Lobo’s formidable matriarch (Aghdashloo) to achieve this. The whole thing is huge fun - Hoult very good as he begins to realise he can use all the self help platitudes of the group to free himself with fine support from Akwafina as the bad ass cop and Aghashloo as the take no prisoners gangster . Of course Cage as Dracula dialls it all the way up but can tone it down when required and the whole thing is soaked in comedy gore as bad guys are beheaded, disembodied and generally torn to bits. Subtle it is not but rattles along at full pace for its 90 mins - 4/5

FILM & WATCHED Been after this one for ages and it doesn’t disappoint. Just out in the UK so no real details but it’s the prequal to West and Goth’s X where she played the dual role including the old lady who goes on a murderous spree. This takes us back to 1918 with Pearl as a young girl growing up on a strict family farm while dreaming of a life in the movies….and heaven help anyone who tries to foil her plans…. It’s deliberately shot like a 1950’s melodrama so beloved of Douglas Sirk with soaring strings , wide screen vistas and screen wipes…oh and with considerable use of axes and pitchforks. Goth (who co-wrote it ) is superb as the wide eyed innocent with psychotic undertones just bubbling under the surface. It’s shot through with a very black humour and well worth seeking out -4/5

FILM & REVIEW Must admit quite a fan of the first three - each one topping its predecessor but did feel the third one had taken the whole Wick thing as far it could go . But box office tills do ring so here is number 4 and for the first hour I thought this could push things along. Wick kills the Elder who is above the Table while Winston (McShane) has his hotel confiscated and blown up the Marquis (Starsgard ) as?? a consequence. Wick ends up in Japan at another Continental but the Marquis finds out and has that deconsecrated as well leading to the death of Wicks friend. He also encounters another old friend a blind assassin played by Donnie Yen. Wick swears revenge and sets up a dual with the Marquis as per the Table rules. As mentioned the first hour is really good but then it just seems to fizzle out in endless fight sequences that never seem to move things along. He is tasked with killing a German club owner which begins quite well but it just goes on and on…and then he has to be at Sacre Coure for sunrise so they resuse the old bounty call from 3 which ends like an endless shoot em up video game which never seems to end. Ok the Spaghetti Western finale is worth getting to but it’s a real slog to get to it. Reeves is the same as he was in the previous 3 films and Yen brings a morally ambiguous element to his character plus MCShane has fun but Starsgard was just terrible playing the baddie as a petulant schoolboy - the role needed a much older actor…..oh and you have a tracker and his dog that adds nothing to the story and just gets increasingly annoying. It looks fantastic with gloriously lit interiors by Dan Lausten but at 163 minutes it’s way way too long - you have have easily made sizeable cuts to quite a few of the action scenes and lost nothing - so overall 3.5/5

FILM & REVIEW After the Brotherhood rewatch had a look at director Christoph Gans resume which is surprisingly light - 4 films in almost 30 years. This was his debut proceeding BOTW a stylish Yakuza assassin Manga adaption which has Dacascos as the crying killer of the title. One of his hits is witnessed by painter Emu (Kondra) who he is told to eliminate but they fall in love and having broken the code are hunted down. In the meanwhile his previous hit has unleashed a full on war with mega massacres along the way which involves corrupt cop Karyo which all leads to the bloody finale. It’s very well choreographed and Dacascos really looks the part but Kondra is just terrible in the role - although in real life they do have 3 kids together. But it’s all style over substance - he really overdoes all the guttering candles and blowing drapes - at several points you expect Bonnie Tyler to appear and burst into song. It isn’t helped by some lousy dubbing - at least Karyo gets Ron Pearlman to do him. Released in France in 1995 it only got a straight to Prime release in the US as recently as 2018….worth a look if you set the expectations - 3/5

FILM & REVIEW Andrew Mclagen’s American Civil War epic set in rural Virginia towards the end of the War. Stewart plays Charlie Anderson who after his wife passed away these 15 winters gone has raised 6 sons and a daughter. The war is coming over closer but he refuses to get involved - we built this land and have worked on it on our own - we never needed no slaves and i ain’t looking to buy any. Some of his sons feel it’s their duty to Virginia but he refuses. His daughter gets married off to handsome Confederate captain but he is called away as soon the wedding is over. Charlie is particularly doting on his younger son Boy even though his birth killed his mother and then due to a misunderstanding Boy gets taken by some Union soldiers as a prisoner. This finally goades Charlie and his boys into action to rescue him and they find themselves plunged into a war none of them wanted. An excellent large cast including McLure, Ross and Wayne Jr but it’s Stewart who is just superb. A firm but fair man who sticks to his principles but with a self deprecating humour and when you realise just what his actions will cost it becomes a much darker film - very good indeed 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Another cracking taut Walter Hill movie - Paxton and Sadler play Vince and Don two fireman who discover a map and some old newspaper clippings about a church that was robbed 40 years earlier. From the info they work out it is in hidden in an old disused factory in East St Louis - all they have to do is find the treasure and they are rich. Except - the same venue is set for a confrontation between 2 rival drug gangs and the two fireman witness one gang leader KJ (Ice- T) kill the other . They can’t leave any witnesses and in the initial melee KJ’s younger brother is taken hostage and a full on siege is set in place. The whole thing takes place in the warehouse with crumbling walls and staircases with a real sense of claustrophobia as each side tries to outsmart the other. Vince and Don find an old man (Evans) who lives there and reluctantly agrees to help them. On the one hand the gang are straight out of Yo Mutherfucker central casting athough Ice-T (augmented by his rival Ice-Cube) do add some heft to the roles. It doesn’t have an ounce of fat in it with some really spectacular action scenes - unfortunately it came out just after the LA riots so the studio took fright and scaled back the release which is a shame as it’s another fine entry in the Hill canon - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109688/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_ashes%2520of%2520time Wong Kar-Wai’s haunting visually stunning martial arts movie has Cheung as Feng a master swordsman for hire who waits for people who require someone to be killed call on him. He also encounters various other fighters passing though some of whom he engages with - others leave the next morning. There is no real narrative structure as such more like chance encounters over a year including a brother and sister who turn out to be the same female person, a peasant girl who seeks her brothers killers and a village who needs protection from some maurading bandits. We also discover Feng couldn’t commit to the woman he loves (Maggie Cheung) who marries his brother to both of theirs bitter regret. None of this is at apparent at first and the film is more a shifting tonal poem with musings on love, honour and regret. There are flashback sequences and voice over narrations although it’s not always clear whose memories we are seeing or even which character is telling the story at each point. It’s shot by Chris Doyle who was Wong’s regular cameraman and each frame is like an impressionist painting - it’s just breathtakingly beautiful. You do need to work at it as it can be quite difficult to follow but there is much reward to be had - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Terrific and very droll family coming of age story - Dolan plays Sue a somewhat frumpy middle aged librarian whose husband upped sticks for Florida for a new wife and baby. The plan was that their son Daniel would fly over for the summer but they decide it’s all a bit much so he is stuck with Sue. The problem is that Daniel (Earl Cave - Nicks son) is the worlds surliest , apathetic Goth/Metalhead who just wants to be left alone with his music. Sue tries to jilldey him up but all attempts are rebuffed with a indifferent shrug. He has another metal friend but spends most of time locked in his bedroom and nothing seems to get through. Even a day at the seaside in Leigh-on-Sea falls flat. In he meantime Sue is wooed by Daniels history teacher ( a very creepy Rob Bryson) while the summer rolls onward. On the one hand it’s a very slight film but the performances and interplay between the leads are excellent with real laugh out loud moments. He auditions for a local band and the reveal is priceless and a lot off the small glances between say more then pages of scripts. Lovely score by Belle & Sebastian acts almost as a Greek chorus and the film avoids any hint of cloying sentiment. As mentioned both leads are terrific and will strike a cord with parents used to slamming bedroom doors. Well worth seeking out - 4/5

FILM & REVIEW Roger Cormans cheap and cheerful black comedy/political satire set around the annual American TransContinetal road race. The barb being it’s not the driver who finishes first that wins it’s the one who can kill as many hapless pedestrians on the way. It takes some none too subtle swipes about a society so steeped in violence that this is the only way to keep the population docile with a toothy cheesy commentator hitting all the right notes so beloved of American TV. Apart from Carradine the acting is terrible (Stallone is especially awful) but with spills and thrills as a rebel group try and sabotage the race it zips along nicely. The ending is less than convincing and it’s interesting that it shares a similar viewpoint as Rollerball which came out around the same time…a piece of 70’s trash cinema - 3/5