Film Reviews by LC

Well, that was...an experience. After the first 40 minutes, I came perilously close to turning this off, as I was find it physically painful to watch. A very mundane tale of a marriage breaking up, but told in such a ridiculously pretentious style - all the performances are ramped up to operatic extremes, and the direction is similarly over-the top, with every scene showcasing ostentatious camera movements and actors movements choreographed like dancers. And my god - the histrionics! So much screaming you can expect your neighbours to be knocking on your door asking if everything's OK.

Thankfully things improve the longer the film goes on, with the introduction of some Cronenberg-style body horror pushing the narrative away from domestic drama and firmly into the realms of the fantastical. In fact, the more unhinged and incomprehensible the narrative and dialogue becomes, the more the filming and acting style seem to make sense and complement it. By the time the film climaxes in total utter lunacy, I was actually quite enjoying it.

Certainly not for everyone, and I'm not sure I'd want to see it a second time myself - but this is certainly unique watch, and if you stick with it, you may find some rewards.

This is a flawed but very interesting horror/thriller. On the downside, it's clearly too derivative of 'Psycho', some of the acting is pretty wooden, and the film drags a bit in the middle, where the pace drops and we get a lot of exposition. On the positive side, despite a clearly limited budget there are some nice directorial touches here - the opening few minutes are great, and it's got a really audacious twist towards the end. Not a 'great' film, but definitely deserving a watch if you are a fan of the genre.

Essentially this is a female spin on 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', re-imagined in the David Cronenberg body horror style, as an aging fitness celebrity struggles with some extreme means of regaining her youth. It's a good, solid premise, with effective performances from the leads, and some very stylish direction and cinematography. At some point during the last third of the movie, it slips over from more psychological horror into extreme gonzo monster movie. Things become so over-the-top during the climax that it becomes impossible to do anything other than laugh. Part of me wishes the film had showed more restraint and ended earlier, but at the same time, it's hard not to admire the guts of any movie-maker that commits this hard to sheer lunacy, with the practical effects and litres of blood bringing to mind such '80's madness as 'Re-Animator' and 'Society'. Nutty, but fun.

This film was a bit of a mixed bag for me - it's well shot, and builds a nice sense of unease, and the acting is generally good. Nicolas Cage delivers a typically eccentric performance, complete in thick white makeup and fright wig - it's so over the top it's as likely to cause laughs as scares, but it's certainly unique. The same goes for the storyline, which is so bonkers that the film is probably at it's most effective in the first half, when the audience doesn't have a clue what's going on - made explicit, it's tough to take any of this madness seriously. Still, it's good to see a film brave enough to attempt something unique, even if not all of it works.

This is a delightfully bonkers short horror film - zero dialogue, stylish cinematography, some pretty extreme content for the '50's, and a very off-kilter expressionistic feel. At times this almost feels like a precursor to a movie like 'Eraserhead' - recommended if you are looking for something unique.

I'm a fan of a lot of Romero's film work, but this later effort is unfortunately a bit of a mess. The central conceit is pretty bizarre, but has potential as an interesting horror in the unreliable narrator/how-much-of-what we-are-seeing-is-actually-happening mode. The tone, dialogue and acting however (especially when it comes to evil magazine mogul who is the central villain) is so over the top that it's frequently difficult to tell if the viewer is supposed to take this seriously or as a pastiche of bad B movies. One for the hardcore Romero completists only.

David Lynch's 1984 version of 'Dune' is certainly not without it's flaws, and splitting the story over two films certainly gives this new adaptation the edge when it comes to narrative cohesion. However, on every other level, this feels like a step down. Where Lynch's version was filled with eye-popping design, colourful cinematography, and bizarre characters, this all feels very dull and worthy. The monotone color palette is matched by monotone performances, bland design and languid pacing, making this a bit of a snoozefest in comparison. For all it's missteps, the 1984 'Dune' was always visually interesting - this tells the story faithfully, but is pretty boring in comparison.

This is a pretty solid film - it's slickly made, the plot moves along nicely, and both the newer and legacy cast are fine. If there's a slight downside, it's that it all feels slightly predictable, both in terms of the story beats and the call-backs to the original film. This ticks all the boxes you'd want in a sequel, but it doesn't really give you anything you haven't seen before. The Phoebe Spengler character probably gets the best development, with what appears to be a ghost/human lesbian romance subplot, though the resolution can be seen a mile away. Again, there's nothing really wrong with this film, but it does stick to the formula very closely. This is fine, but if there's another in the series, it would be nice if the makers had the confidence to stop looking back at the 1984 original, trust their new cast, and do something a bit different. [3.5 out of 5]

This is a disappointingly toothless and unnecessary origin story, which seems to have no reason to exist other than as an exercise in milking as much cash as possible out of an intellectual property. Willy Wonka himself has been stripped of any dark side (no terrifying boat-ride madness or glee at naughty children's comeuppance here), and the generic storyline shines little new light on his character. The story is set in France, but for some reason seems to be populated almost exclusively by either plummy-voiced upper-class English or cockneys. Olivia Colman does a solid comedy turn, and Hugh Grant makes a surprisingly good Oompa Loompa, but this is ultimately a pointless exercise that just trades off the goodwill of the original film.

There's a real 'back to basics' feel to this latest Predator film, however, whilst the setting and time period is new, there's really nothing here we haven't seen before. The storyline is so basic that this is almost a plot-free movie, just 100 minutes of 'native American vs. alien' action. It's also difficult to feel any real sense of jeopardy when it comes to the typical plucky empowered female lead, as she's clearly set-up as the aspirational heroine, and Hollywood doesn't like to buck storytelling formulas. Ultimately it's fine as it goes for some mindless entertainment, it's just a shame the novel setting isn't matched by a more novel storyline.

The basic storyline here - a science fiction war over resources, fueled by a struggle for possession of the usual magical Marvel McGuffin - is fairly straightforward - but the script is a mess, and feels like it's been produced by AI. There's an overreliance on knowledge of multiple Marvel TV series, alienating anyone who hasn't seen them, and for all the high-stakes action it all feels terribly hollow. Captain Marvel just isn't that interesting or charismatic as a lead movie character, and her new sidekicks don't improve the situation that much. Ms. Marvel probably comes across best, although it's really just a repeat of Spider-Man-style teen hero material, and the constant unfunny wisecracks between her and her family get annoying fast.

Ultimately this feels like a pointless exercise - a movie that exists just to pass the time until the next on the Marvel conveyor belt. If you want SF-style Marvel action, then everything in this movie has already been done better before by 'Guardians of the Galaxy'.

Much better than it's reputation, far from being 'one of the worst movies ever made', I actually found this an entertaining watch. It's well-shot and directed, It has plenty of goofy moments, occasionally veering into outright bonkers (the climax in particular feels like a fever dream), but it's never dull, and feels almost charmingly bold in its lunacy. By no means a great film, I'd still rather have this entertaining nonsense than a 'play it safe' retread sequel. If you can roll with the madness, there's plenty to enjoy here.

There's a nice set-up here, with a hack writer getting caught up in a real life mystery allowing for a satire of the pulp thriller genre. Caine is in his '70's pomp and effortlessly cool throughout, and Mickey Rooney does an effective turn riffing on his own past as an ex-Hollywood gangster movie star. It's pleasant enough to watch,but the downside is that the central mystery plot just isn't strong enough, so when the denouement comes, the ending feels like a bit of a letdown.

60's slice-of-life drama focusing on two 'working girls', and their relationships with a willfully ignorant father, and a would-be lover who wants one of the girls to quit her job and settle down. The acting is generally good, especially an understate performance from William Hartnell, and it's shot well enough - if there's a problem it's that the story doesn't really develop much over the course of its running time. A solid and watchable kitchen sink drama, and the central culture clash is fine, but ultimately it doesn't feel as if it goes anywhere.

I found the 5th film in the series so underwhelming, I felt I was done with this franchise, but surprisingly this 6th installment is a much better film. Obviously by this point it's both formulaic and impossible to take these films too seriously, but the storyline manages a decent amount of character work to go along with the 'whodunnit' element, it's well shot and the cast are all solid. By no means a classic, but this is a fun and watchable installment, and one of the better sequels.