Film Reviews by HM

Eternal Beauty was about a girl suffering Schizophrenia but the film lacked a storyline of any interest and seemed pointless. This film is more engaging, but is Schizophrenia a fit subject for exploitation? Not for me. The film doesn't shine any light on the condition, just uses it as a means of telling a horror story of a girl's descent into self deluded madness. Voices in her head convince her of her need to please 'God'. Schizophrenia is an illness deserving better treatment than this. It puts a sufferer into a horror genre for shocks rather than exploration. A shallow motive for a film really, so 'exploitation' is the way I read it. However, if you like sadistic films about medical conditions, go ahead!

Having said all that it has momentum and is well constructed. Up to you if you want to risk this unpleasent treatment of the subject

A look at what happens when a supethero form another planet/dimension turens up powerless on Earth. however, the battle from his home turns up here. Is he a superhero or a deluded drunk? We find out of course in an engaging conflict between alien forces in volving befuddled humans. Not a blockbuster, but a good idea played out at Dr Who level theatrics and budget.

Entertaining and worth a view. I got fed up with superhero blockbusters covering the same old territory so this, Brightburn and similar explorations of the genre woke me up to a more interesting slant on a tired genre.

An unlikely romance blossoms between an ugly disabled man and a much younger woman who is pretty but has a mental health condition. Lingering shock moments in the slaughterhouse where they work seem irrelevant and a bit East Europeon (Hungarian film so to be expected) which distract from the story line of these two people sharing the same dream. Interesting idea. Interesting film? No, very dull and at times boring. Could have been a 1960/70s Russian film e.g. little attempt made to capture an audience just eat your cabbage and behave citizens!

My heart sank when I saw National Lottery funded and that the Welsh film industry (?) was involved. A TV drama slot would have been better for this really, not much life in it or movie craftmanship. A repetative 'she's bonkers' theme carries on with little development of it. Repetative and dull, it drags on. A movie has to be entertaining and this certainly isn't. The subject may be serious but so would a movie about gardening at my place.

The irish subsidised industry does a little better and let's not discuss the Australian attempts at film making. I turned this dross off after 40 minutes, I was in a state of depression having started Friday night off so badly!

Risk boredom if you dare.....

This is a kind of Magnificent 7 without the 7. A village in Brazil is under siege from a bunch of Sacarios seemingly hired by a corrupt politician. The villagers fight back. That is about it really. Attempts at Tarantino dialogue between the Sicarios or groups of village folk don't really work (subtitles don't help to be fair). A lot of padding makes for dull moments, but the action springs the movie to life but doesn't deliver scenes for the squeamish!

Ecentric moments of nudity surprised this viewer, not least because the bodies are not ones you relly want to see! Overall a bit of a mish mash of ideas and unclear motives, so not the most skillful scripting, but you will forget that as the tale keeps you guessing what the hell is going on.

Entertaining? Mostly, yes. Worth seeing? Yes, but not with your granny.

OK I admit it, I am fed up with superhero films, but I did think this may have had more about it. Thinly disguised Trump baddy steals the equivelant of Aladin's Lamp and becomes the granter of wishes to the world for no particular reason. Plot creaks and is very childish; meantime her dead boyfriend (see previous film) comes back and inhabits someone elses body! No discussion about the killing of the original occupier's mind, so shallow from the outset.

Action? Yes. Intelligence? No. Frankly apart from looking at Gadot, there isn't much to recommend this dull film. Wished Ihadn't bothered.

Coogan is a talented chap and carries off the Phillip Green impression very well, a selfish go getting barrow boy. However, he understands the art of the deal. The driven go getting nasty personality is in your face from minute one. Plenty of laughs, based mainly around Greedy McCreedy's explosive put downs of those around him over whom he has hire and fire power.

His mother is a horrible but entertaining leprechaen of an Irish woman, given to put downs her son would have been proud of. The film revolves the arrangement of his ludicrous birthday party and flashbacks as to how he got where he is.

All in all, entertaining fun. However, at the end of the film we get a scolled lecture on the evils of the fashion industry; how much money fashion houses turn over and the low wages of workers in Sri Lanker and other third world economies. So what is suppose to happen? Tell factories in the rag trade to double their wages? All MrCreedy does is offer a price and sweat shop owners agree or not, it isn't the fashion houses, or any other industries job to establish the general wage rates in other countries. In any case everybody gets, what by our standards are low wages in these countries so they pay 10p for a coffee costing us £3.50 in the west, comparing service prices in one country with another is all about what you have to spend outside your own economy not the value of your wages in your own. I could have done without this sanctimonious nensense.

The film is entertaining and amusing. Iexpect Phillip Green won't want to see it!

A few early laughs then a sentimental soap. Goes downhill from about 40 minutes in and never recovers. Give it a miss.

A none stop shoot out, not a single scene where people are not screaming at the top of their voice. Worn out plot and a million miles from studio Ghibli quality in animation and humanity. Too much violence for a young audience and too stupid for adults. An ordeal watching it.

Had to check it was GITS 2 as it looked like the same story and a slight rehash of previous original film scenes. Felt cheated really. It could stand up on is own if you haven't seen the original, which is better than the none animi version. But why would you not see the original first? Avoid this if you have seen first version and skip to watch original if you haven't, so basically don't bother with this rip-off.

James Bond meets science fiction. Glossy and loud enough to drown out the dialogue in parts the movie is an eye candy treat. The story is a time loop cliché first done by Robert Heinlein in his short story 'By His Bootstraps' published in 1941. I may be wrong somebody else may have got there first.

The cast is studded with top quality actors, Kenneth Branagh for one, who plays the baddy very well indeed. Unfortunately the story loses the viewer pretty quickly. What is it all about and how did the time shift phenomenon actually happen? Well you won't be any the wiser as the plot unfolds. Speaking of which, the baddy won't let his ex be owned by any other man and this seems to be his mindset in wanting to destroy the whole of humanity which he cannot own either. Not much of an incentive to work for him eh? Not much of a plot either frankly.

A big old idea poorly executed. Don't build up your hopes; big budget, small return. Tenet? A character in name only, just an action man going through the motions.

It is as it says a 'thriller'. Dad tries to find missing daughter by entering her world via her laptop. This strings the scenes of the movie together and sees the plot progress in episodes. Police are on the job and he forms a relationship of trust with head detective (female). Things develop keeping viewer interested and trying to work out the girl's fate. Enjoyable and seductive; you will be drawn into the story as it unfolds one puzzling bit at a time. Recommended.

Brilliant film! An amazing true story; human interest, courage, disaster movie for real! Actual life events are always more interesting that fiction; mountaineer movies about actual climbs for example are always more captivating. In 5.1 the rocket take off is a cracker, it fills the room and makes you realise how dangerous it is to be sat on a giant bomb.

Direction is well paced and the story convincing, nothing needs to be exaggerated and is one of the most gripping disaster stories ever told. See it and marvel!

Hawke performs out of his skin as do the rest of the cast; a fine display of American character acting, wonderful in itself. The story however concerns two psychopaths; An environmental campaigner at the end of his tether is counselled by a Vicar at the end of his due to possible ailment and alcoholism. Humanity is missing in their lives and the society around them. These two desperate characters motivate each other in a destructive way until things get violent.

This is not an action thriller or even a deeply plotted tale, just the descent of two people exasperated by the cynical political behaviours around them and hypocritical Church bowing to the needs of big business. What is a sincere God believer or a committed planet saver to do? Find out; it is emotionally grinding and a hard watch sometimes but rewarding as it makes you confront these things and ask what do you think or what would you do? Maybe love is an answer?

Mossad (Israeli intelligence) is trying to find a Belgian companies' factory making nerve agent gas for Syria. Syrian agents are active in Belgium to protect their interests. Ben Kingsley is a gnarled old Mossad agent prone to falsifying reports to make fraudulent intelligent claims pocketing the reward money himself. Now, having been found out he must investigate the situation or else his bosses will have him imprisoned. A complex web of intrigue and action drive the film along. A few twists and turns revolving around who is deceiving who keep the interest level up. Interesting seeing the lengths Mossad will go to in order to spin a yarn to fool (they hope) their enemies.

Worth a watch and a more intelligent type of spy story than Bond etc