Film Reviews by Steve

Not so much neo-noir as a tribute to the classic noir of the 1940s. Occasionally this gets close enough to Double Indemnity (1944) to feel like a spoof. Rather than the expressionist shadows, there is a heatwave... And crucially, no Production Code! This is a steamy thriller, though it's the coy, tasteful eroticism that most dates it now.

Kathleen Turner is the sexy femme fatale married to a short, wealthy man she never loved. Maybe she can seduce a slow, horny male- William Hurt- into murdering the inconvenient husband. But then, what will she do with the dumb schmuck? These were breakout roles for the two stars who look hot naked, but lack star charisma.

Still, there's all that atmosphere, with the smoke from burning buildings, the mist on the highway and dust in the sunbeams, intensified by John Barry's sleazy/romantic jazz score. A major plus is the lovely photography of both coastal Florida and the photogenic lovers. Plus there are some witty one-liners and effective suspense.

The sequence of familiar motifs from classic noir lead to a decent climactic double twist, which may already have been used by Raymond Chandler... Still, at least it borrows from the best.... even if it doesn't reflect well on crime scene forensics. This isn't in the same class, but is sure to appeal to anyone who loves Double Indemnity.

Alongside the spaghetti westerns, there was a surge of Italian gangster films in the 1960s-70s, usually backed with Hollywood stars and money. So this is towards the end of that cycle, though its ambition and critical acclaim now set it apart. It's a labyrinthine saga set in 1978 with long flashbacks to Prohibition, about Jewish mobsters in New York...

A street gang of feral kids learns how to get rich on crime. Then the repeal of Prohibition leaves a range of possibilities for the crooks who are now out of business, including taking their methods into legal commerce or politics. The boys grow up to be played by Robert De Niro and James Woods, and eventually choose separate paths in the third act.

There's a famous line of dialogue: 'This country is still growing up. Certain diseases it's better to have when you're young'. It reflects on crime as the virus in the blood of US capitalism. The killers went semi-legit! While this is the main interest, there's a relishable feel for the era, and decent star performances. Plus it's the last bow of a great director...

But even at 229 minutes, Sergio Leone had to slash the release edit, and what's left is erratic. Maybe this is why the flashback is from the perspective of De Niro smoking opium! It's extremely violent and there's the usual issue with mob operas; everyone's a lowlife scumbag. Yet despite these drawbacks... it's my pick of the post-Godfather gangster wave.

*including a distressing sexual assault.

Obviously the title is ironic, as this is about homicidal nutcases. But then so is the name of its nonfiction source, Wiseguys by Nicholas Pileggi, about a New York gangster who crosses the divide to give evidence for the state. Martin Scorsese says he was drawn to its authenticity, which is crazy. These criminals are like sociopathic children who grow up without rules.

And besides, the director doesn't convey much realism, aside from costumes and set design. This is a black comedy interrupted by sudden eruptions of extreme violence, which is actually an uncomfortable combination. And it isn't shot in a naturalistic style. In fact its signature is the ostentatious exuberance that Scorsese applies to many of his later pictures.

So that's the jump cuts/freeze frames/slo-mo/hyperkinetic editing. Plus the famous Steadicam shots. Also particularly how he imbeds a contemporary song into each scene. This gives the film momentum, but can also feel as ersatz as advertising. While it's pretty funny (but not like a clown) this is mainly because of how idiotic everyone is, which is inevitably awkward.

The main problem is- as often with mafia pictures by Italian Americans- this is on some level a tribute. Even if we assume the comic tone is irony, it treats these criminal parasites/cold hearted killers as an appropriate vehicle for nostalgia. Still, it's really well photographed and edited, with dynamic performances; and it's maybe Scorsese's best neighbourhood film.

Potent political intrigue about a Stasi official in East Germany back in in 1984, whose loyalties begin to shift while he carries out surveillance on a charismatic, liberal couple working in the theatre. It begins slowly, then builds to an astonishing crescendo of emotion, which haunts my memory...

It also creates a persuasive impression of Soviet controlled austerity during the Cold War, and this is intensified by the dismal desaturated colours. Even the eyes of the Stasi officer are deep grey! They belong to Ulrich Mühe who is outstanding despite the unlikely arc of his conversion.

His role is mostly silent gestures, but he dominates the cast, including Martina Gedeck and Sebastian Koch as the cohabiting lovers whose destinies diverge under the pressure of state scrutiny. Director Florian Donnersmarck creates considerable suspense from the unorthodox situations...

While these are compelling, this is more a drama than a thriller. There are no chases or musical cues. It's a procedural film about a real dystopia. After Edward Snowden, clearly these issues are still in play. And this film has influenced the context of how we talk about surveillance and freedom.

Seminal sci-fi which is the prototype for many later films about a large mass about to impact with our world. So it might be called earth-shattering... even if it's not quite in execution... South African astronomers are convinced a distant sun and its circulating planet (Zyra) are set to end all life on the pale blue dot in a few short months.

Some pre-NASA boffins plan to hop onto the incoming globe, with its helpfully compatible atmosphere. Obviously the head scientist (Larry Keating) has a very lovely daughter (Barbara Rush) attractively photographed in Technicolor. And to offset the wan space brainiacs there's a red blooded pilot (Richard Derr) on romance/hero duty.

The storyline doesn't explore in any detail the interesting possibilities of who gets to go. The rocket is mostly loaded with a sociopathic financier (John Hoyt) and whoever is close to the project leader. Plus an annoying kid with a dog! This is principally an effects picture, an early '50s blockbuster produced by SFX pioneer George Pal.

And these still look okay, as the gravity of the rogue planet floods the US... except for the final artwork representing Zyra, which is poor. There's a breakthrough role for Ms. Rush but the characters are flimsy, and the dialogue is uninspired. Its value now is mainly as screen history, and for inventing the enduring- and fun- genre motifs.

Nostalgic juvenile delinquent picture set in a middle US industrial town. It was directed by Francis Coppola the same year he made The Outsiders, both adapted from novels by SE Hinton, then a popular author with teenagers. Rumble Fish is more an arthouse film, shot in an expressionist style in b&w with weird tilts and extreme closeups....

Other than for SE Hinton aficionados, it's the creative visual riffs backed with Stewart Copeland's spiky New Wave score which make this worth watching today. The pessimistic adolescent melodrama might appeal to youngsters, but presumably kids now have JD stories of their own. Still there's plenty for fans of neo-noir atmosphere.

This is contemporary but the studio sets give it a '50s feel, the golden age of the JD picture. The actors are dreadful, but Matt Dillon as the crazy mixed up kid and Mickey Rourke as his cool older brother are crucially both doing impressions of Marlon Brando in The Wild One (1953). Nicolas Cage is doing Elvis, so maybe he missed a meeting.

It's the artistic flourishes which still give this cult appeal, such as the deep shadows painted onto the walls, like in German silents. Or the time lapse photography which tells us that youth is/was ephemeral. It's basically Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending revised for an '80s teen audience, and performed by their favourite pinups.

Wim Wender's unique fantasy is an incredibly compassionate, lyrical eulogy to the sensual and spiritual experience of being. This is hardcore arthouse with very little narrative but considerable poetic reflection on what it is to be alive

This all takes place in an expressionist b&w Berlin, still in ruins from WWII and divided between east and west. Bruno Gantz plays one of the eternal angels who watch over the skyline of a city of wretched dreamers, bringing invisible solace.

He trades in his immortality to feel what it is to be human, to experience gravity and contact and various sensations we are rarely even aware of... and to return the romantic longing of a lonely, melancholy acrobat (Solveig Dommartin).

Then bizarrely, share cigarettes and coffee with Peter Falk, and see Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds live! It's lengthy and leisurely and some may say pretentious. But for many others, Wender's masterpiece is a peak in the poetic reach of cinema.

Not the best of Patricia Highsmith on the big screen, but this BBC co-production captures the psychology of her novels unusually well: with the true nature of an alarming sociopathic outsider obscured by a docile exterior. Plus the flawed-but-innocent bystander dragged under by an inexorable vortex of dumb bad luck/fate.

It's a loose adaptation which loses its way, but for over an hour this is genuinely strange, especially the odd, intermittent romance between the sad washout and the volatile, emotionally insecure loose cannon... who are both poignantly alone. He is recovering from mental breakdown while being divorced by a vindictive wife.

All this is raised above the level of a TVM by the lead performances. So that's Paddy Considine as the diffident stalker who obsesses on Julia Stiles as an island of normality in his void of disappointment; except she turns out to be even crazier than he is. Okay, this has now become a familiar plot riff, but still makes a reliable hook...

Besides, the cruel wife is the real freak... Writer-directer Jamie Thraves creates more neo-noir melancholy than actual suspense but the stars make the ambient hysteria quite immersive. Plus there are decent small town Canadian locations. This should interest Highsmith buffs or anyone in need of outré late night melodrama.

Yes, it's the last rites for Christopher Lee as Dracula in the series for Hammer Studios, which- since 1958- has strayed far from Bram Stoker's gothic novel. This is a sequel to Dracula AD 1972, so it is contemporary, with the aristocratic vampire now established in a modernist office block in London rather than a scary castle in Transylvania.

But he still keeps sexy brides in the cellar and is pursued by Peter Cushing, as a descendent of Van Helsing. Lee- whose role is reduced to little more than a cameo- complained this Dracula is more like Dr. No (1962). In attempting to breath new life into the undead, the rules have changed. Now he can be killed by hawthorn, or a silver bullet.

So if you miss, you can still eliminate the Wolf Man. Now the Prince of Darkness seeks to destroy mankind with a more virulent strain of the Black Death... for reasons never satisfactorily explained. But this begins to get close to what is interesting about the final Dracula; as a reflection of its time, with the UK in a long economic recession.

So a cabal of rich, disillusioned and out of condition dignitaries plan to take charge. This impression of a deep national malaise might be undermined by the dire dubbing, blurry photography and horrible lighting... yet the shoddiness actually seems appropriate! And so, the series ends with neither a bang, nor a whimper, but with a pass.

Offbeat medieval adventure which imagines Robin Hood (Sean Connery) returns from the Crusades to reunite his band of freedom fighters/bandits for one last time to resist feudal oppression and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw). And rekindle the embers of his long ago romance with Marian (Audrey Hepburn).

Now they are much older and a little wiser. The humour dwells on the absurdities, but the film mainly resonates because of its melancholy. Robin reflects on a life thwarted by the ambitions of idiot kings, the murder in the name of god and all the senseless slaughter and persecution. Plus regret for his great lost love.

It's an arthouse adventure with more dialogue than action. There's a sweet score from John Barry, ambient locations (in Spain) and an authentic feel for the period, despite obvious budget constraints. Also, an immense cast of British actors as the legends who have grown weary and shabby. There's Richard Harris as the Lionheart...

Nicol Williamson is Little John... with Ronnie Barker as Friar Tuck! And many more! But Connery dominates. It also addresses Robin as a mythic figure. Some momentum is lost in the last third, but recovers for a lovely, elegiac finale. There's a trace of Monty Python in the comedy, but also bass notes of loss and mortality.

This remake of John Frankenheimer's seminal conspiracy thriller (1962) is surprisingly decent, with more realism and still plenty of suspense. Denzel Washington is now the army vet investigating Leib Schreiber's old money war hero with his eyes on the White House; and both are marginal upgrades on Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey.

While Meryl Streep isn't quite the equal of Angela Lansbury as the conservative psycho-mother driving the whole crazy intrigue; she's still quite creepy even if not as scary. Some new themes are introduced, like the malign influence of party donors, the entrenched political divisions and an impression of the constant cycle of 24 hour news...

Only now this is the aftermath of the war in Kuwait rather than Korea, so some contrivance is required to retain the title. The plot is faithful and while it mostly still functions, the twist will inevitably amaze fewer viewers now, if only because of the massive influence of the original and Richard Condon's novel, which are part of the wider culture.

Besides, how dystopian can any conspiracy seem once Trump has been president for real? Unbelievable tweets now constantly flood the zone... Still, there is some interest in the reflections on US society, like the poverty of the Gulf War veterans and the hypocrisy of their exalted media status. It's a must... for anyone who won't watch b&w films.

Harrowing account of the lifelong trauma suffered by survivors of sexual abuse. Some critics protested this might potentially be of interest to the predators, but for most of us, this is impossible to know. It more obviously extends profound empathy to the victims.

And it has rare value as it cut through to a wider audience via the arthouse circuit. There's a breakout role for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as a swaggering, charismatic rent boy who retains memories of being abused as an eight year old by his baseball coach.

He is matched by Brady Corbet as an emotionally frozen teenager who has suppressed his memory with nightmares of alien abduction. And this leaves a surreal, dreamy impression, enhanced by the woozy shoegaze soundtrack and weird '80s midwest atmos.

This is clearly not for everyone. There are explicit descriptions of gay sex and some violence. It's especially disturbing in the earlier scenes... But it is sensitively directed by Gregg Araki, who creates an imaginative and illuminating insight into the lives of strangers.

This spectacular adaptation of Edmond Rostand's classic romance (1897) is surely destined to remain the definitive version. It's a lyrical tour de force in couplets (subtitles translated by Anthony Burgess) of a moral and immensely moving story. On the screen this is then elevated by Gérard Depardieu's huge performance.

This is a historical drama on a grand scale, with breathtaking artistic design of Paris in 1640 and Oscar winning costumes. Plus the magnificent orchestral score. But it's primarily a vehicle for its star, as the poet, wit and soldier; a romantic, raconteur and loyal friend with a colossal heart who reserves his true genius for his life.

Cyrano secretly courts the lovely, swooning Roxanne for his military comrade (Vincent Perez), assured his own abnormality- yes, the prodigious nose- makes him an unsuitable lover. Anne Brochet is so heartbreakingly beautiful as the inspiration for his unrequited love, viewers may also be moved to compose verse, in couplets.

It received 13 César nominations and its ten wins is still a record. This is the ultimate interpretation of perhaps the greatest love story ever told. It's astonishing that Rostand loaded all this romantic mythology onto an actual 17th century writer/libertine. And leaves us an eternal model to aspire to, even if it's only a dream of life!

Aside from the mild body horror... this is most like a late Victorian gothic fairytale. It seems an oddity it originated in 1990. Tim Burton's signature film is the story of a sad boy who grows up alone in a scary castle with scissors for hands... but is rescued by a kind Avon lady... and given a home among the more familiar absurdities of suburbia...

But his novelty to the community as a sculptor gives way to suspicion and then fear. And finally leads to the angry mob which winks at the other main influence; Universal horror. The outré ideas are enhanced by the impressive craft of the production, with the expressionist art design and Danny Elfman's haunting, hyper-romantic score.

The commonplace is distorted to emphasise its weird artificiality, but still provokes a real emotional response; deepened by Johnny Depp's sensational performance as Edward, nearly silent, mostly acting via his scared, inconsolable eyes. Yet Dianne Wiest escapes his shadow as the compassionate but bizarrely conventional saleslady.

There are reflections on loneliness, disability and suburban orthodoxy, and the unusual storyline surely lends itself to allegorical interpretation... maybe that only the true artist can live a pure life free of the corruption of the mortal world; yet may elevate us all... It's also an eternal romance. And a classic of both US cinema and gothic fiction.

This gets called a romcom, though the love story- between two women- is mostly in the background. And the humour is very abrasive. It's more of a rites-of-passage, except the point-of-view character is 30 years old, and doesn't learn any life lessons…

While the title refers to the postcode for central Reykjavik, surely 101 is intended to evoke George Orwell's concept of the ultimate terror. So maybe what this is- most of all!- is a satire on liberal bohemians seeking release from the freezing Arctic darkness.

Also... it's a sombre black comedy about an aimless deadbeat (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) who can't engage with life on any level. The brutal northern winter seems to freeze his soul. Mercifully, Victoria Abril sparks a little warmth as his mother's Spanish lover.

This is adapted from an Icelandic best seller and retains the first person narrative; its focus is on how the misfit sees his world. As a look at an alien culture, there is interest. But actual engagement may depend on identifying with the sociopathic anti-hero!