Film Reviews by GI

A very typical BlumHouse horror production. Uninspiring, unscary and so poorly lit you'll struggle to make out what's going on half the time. This is a lame attempt to reinvigorate the werewolf film. It's poorly paced, highly clichéd and at times boring. The creature ends up looking more like the Caveman character from the British TV comedy series Ghosts!
Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner star as married couple Blake and Charlotte. Blake is basically a failed writer and house husband looking after their daughter whereas she is a successful journalist. None of these facts are of any relevance to the subsequent plot but are typical of how this entire film fails to deliver. Blake inherits the Oregon house of his father who disappeared while hunting years before. He decides they all need to go to this house which lies deep in a deep dark forest. On arrival they are attacked by something or other, he gets bitten and begins to change into something or other.
There's a half baked transformation that is shown in bits and pieces, lots of running through dark rooms or dark woods ultimately ending in nothing much.
It totally lacks any scares or horrific scenes unless you include Blake eating his own leg!
In short disappointing.

As a drama that recognises and explores the sacrifice and emotional turbulence of motherhood this is a thought provoking and at times intense film enhanced by a superb lead performance from Amy Adams. However the dark comedy elements of the narrative that describes the angst and anger of women who surrender their passions and achievements to be mothers is more restrained to the detriment of the film. What begins as a body horror and transformation story to highlight the themes of the film gives way to a far too light metaphor that fails to convince.
Here Adams plays 'mother' to a lively two year old boy. She has given up a flourishing artistic career to be a stay at home mum while her husband (Scoot McNairy) disappears to work and when he's at home proves to be fairly useless. Mum, as her anger and frustrations grow, begins to sense she's turning into a dog, wild and free to live a life previously dreamed of.
At times these scenes seem rather silly and override the very powerful message the film attempts to tell.
There's much to admire here but it feels let down by a reluctance to push the boundaries with the use of the werewolf tropes to get the message across.

A bizarre fantasy thematically focused on death and grieving but told in a truly baffling way saved somewhat by a riveting and committed performance from Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
She plays Zora the mother of fifteen year old Tuesday (Lola Petticrew) who is dying from a terminal illness. Zora has sold many of their possessions to pay for a nurse at home and has become depressed and frightened by the thought of losing her child. They are both shocked and surprised when death, in the form of a shape shifting macaw, arrives to take Tuesday. But Zora manages to delay this in a most unusual way!
The film at times feels silly and then switches to being most profound in it's dealings with the trauma of loss. This peculiar switch is jarring and renders the film watchable but confounding. There's moments of joy in this and Dreyfus' performance is sensitive, intuitive and at times remarkable aided by an equally solid Petticrew. But the bizarre hints at a major apocalypse going on too is bewildering and at odds with the film's attempts to explain death and even what comes afterwards.
A failed experiment.

A big British cult film and a pagan horror that has a huge fanbase. It is actually a quite unusual film and despite being placed in the horror genre it's more a psychological thriller as its creepy atmospheric build up leads to a frightening climax.
The film has a complex message about organised religion and challenges the dominance of christianity arguably mocking it in it's narrative themes of old religions being discarded for the more accepted, but equally ridiculous, religions.
The plot begins as a police mystery with religiously devout and humourless Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) arriving on the private Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate an anonymous report that a young girl has gone missing. The residents act strangely to his questions and he gradually uncovers what he believes is a cover up by the islanders of the girl's murder. The island's owner Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) seems to exert some control over everyone and Howie is disturbed by the free loving ways that the locals follow. He soon discovers he has been duped and that he has been set up as part of a sinister plan.
There's no real scares to be found here as this is more a moody, unsettling story where the main protagonist seems unable to escape and even has a unique opportunity to make himself ineligible for the islanders plans if only he'd accepted a sexual invitation from Willow (Britt Eckland). Watching the film will unravel this for you.
This is one of those films that you should see at least once as it's unique in the sub-genre of pagan horror and it remains an interesting and unsettling experience.

Stand out performances mark this British drama as a film to check out. It's a classic narrative in many ways, one where a disturbing outside influence arrives to shatter the harmony.
Here the story centres around happy couple Dawn (Claire Foy) and David (Benedict Cumberbatch) who have recently moved to David's childhood village where they are renovating an old country house and they are trying to start a family. The unexpected arrival of David's brother Nick (Shaun Evans), a former soldier suffering from acute PTSD, opens up old emotions in David and starts a chain of events that effects the couple and various friends and neighbours too.
This is an emotional film with a complexity given to the various relationships as they are exposed by Nick's presence. It's centred around Dawn's position within the various male posturing and emotional rollercoasters including opening up issues in her relationship with David as well as revealing how others see her.
This is quite a compelling British drama and highlights the two leads as exceptional talents.

An independent British social drama that is an impassioned indictment of a social care system that seems to be a labyrinth of bureaucracy designed to brickwall those in most need.
Molly (Posy Sterling) is released from prison after serving a short sentence but is immediately shocked when she finds her alcoholic and dysfunctional mother with whom she left her two children has handed them over to social services. The film charts Molly's emotional journey to try and get her children back. It's a journey where she is stifled by conflicting demands of the system, some uncaring staff and equally some very sympathetic staff who are restricted by the system. At one point in absolute frustration Molly abducts her children which makes her plight even worse. It's only through her friendship with Amina (Idil Ahmed) that she finds a path to be a family again.
Ultimately this is a story of friendship aligned with a story of a care system that is a minefield to navigate for those trapped within it. The film is stylishly like a Ken Loach film such as I, Daniel Blake (2016). A powerful and at times moving British drama with a strong lead performance from Sterling.

A typical madcap British comedy of the mid 1960s, the era of the Carry On series and the sort of comedy that harked back to the Ealing ones but unfortunately ended up being more silly than funny. There's the benefit of the nostalgia of the Swinging Sixties and the host of popular British character actors on show.
This is a slapstick farce that highlights the popular theme often found in these films of the class structure and conflicts in British society here exemplified in the British military with it's officers and other ranks scenario.
A batty Army psychologist (Terry-Thomas) has devised a plan to identify the quintessential soldier by having a selected group sent out into London with a list of bizarre objects they have to obtain. These include a rare rose, an electric hare of the greyhound racing variety and lastly the famous Lutine Bell from Lloyds of London. For reasons unexplained they soldiers picked are a motley bunch of incompetents and include an American (Michael Callan).
Lionel Jeffries gets to play his martinet Sergeant Major Scot, often treated as a foreigner by the various Londoners he encounters. Bernard Cribbins is the reluctant ordinary soldier who can't get past the first hurdle and Denholm Elliott is the smarmy officer who gets everyone around him to do all the work. The cast includes cameos from some great British talent such as James Robertson Justice, Arthur Lowe, Clive Dunn and Leslie Phillips.
Viewed today it will come over as a novelty perhaps childish and clichéd and it certainly doesn't hold up as well as other British comedies of this time and type.

This science fiction thriller is like an extended episode of the TV series Black Mirror. It's quite entertaining yet vaguely unoriginal as if you've seen all this sort of thing before.
The big reveal isn't really one because it's entirely obvious from the trailer or any number of reviews so I'm not giving anything away when I say this is a robot story, a contemporary narrative looking at the advancement of AI and delving into the abuse that such developments will receive in the hands of humanity.
The plot follows Iris (Sophie Thatcher) who is the robot companion to Josh (Jack Quaid). She is programmed to love him unreservedly but is basically a glorified sex robot there for his every need. The thing is Iris has implanted memories and doesn't know what she is. The two of them head out to a remote lake house owned by Sergey (Rupert Friend) to join him and three other friends for a weekend. But things go awry when Sergey tries to have sex with Iris who reacts adversely and against her programming.
This cues a fair amount of bloody violence and a sinister plot that gradually gets revealed.
The film has obvious nods to the Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) and AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) but has more connections narratively with Ex Machina (2014), all of which have more about them than this. But it's all presented very well and the cast are solid. It's definitely worth checking out.

A heartwarming and tender film about kindness and empathy that has a fairy tale quality and by the end an emotional impact.
Helen Mirren bookends this family drama as a celebrated artist in the US who confronts her moody teenage grandson who has been expelled from his school for bullying and is struggling to fit into his new one. She does this by telling him the story of her schooldays in France during the Second World War. The main narrative of the film is then told in flashback to the small town in Nazi controlled France in 1942 where Mirren's character Sara (Ariella Glaser) is a popular student and Jewish and has her eye on a handsome fellow classmate. But the rise in anti Jewish rhetoric and the banning of Jews from shops is a shock to Sara and especially when some of her friends begin to shun her. Then the Nazis arrive one morning to round all the Jewish children up, Sara manages to escape and is helped by Julien (Orlando Schwerdt) who hides her in the family barn. He is a fellow student who has a deformed leg and has been routinely bullied and shunned by his classmates including Sara. Julien and his family risk their lives in hiding her for the rest of the war despite incidents that bring fear and tragedy to them all.
The film boasts beautiful cinematography and delves into how a child's imagination helps survive the frightening circumstances the film depicts. There's plenty of inspiration here that resonates today in a world that polarises people with extreme views and a fear of difference. It's also a wonderful film about friendship, affection and how acts of kindness resonate on through the years.
Gillian Anderson costars as Julien's mother.
A rather lovely film and suitable as a family experience.

Hilarious romcom with big doses of adult humour and sex with a great central pair in Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson who have a great screen charisma together and are well supported by a great cast.
They play Jeremy and Jack, two friends and business partners whose idea of fun is crashing big weddings to enjoy the food, entertainment and above all pick up girls when they are at their most romantic. They have a winning formula by following a set of rules. But when they decide to crash the wedding of the eldest daughter of a wealthy US senator things go awry as the two become involved, in hilariously different ways, with his two other daughters.
Christopher Walken is the senator, Jane Seymour his horny wife and Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher play the two daughters. Bradley Cooper supports and there's some good cameos.
There's the inevitable formulaic romance that the narrative focuses on but it's the whip smart dialogue between the two main characters that lifts this into a really funny and watchable comedy.

I suspect this is a film that will divide people, not the subject matter as much as the film's first person POV filming style and the often bizarre editing and structure.
Set mostly in the 60s showing TV newsreel of the first moon landing for example to create a comparison between the advancement and achievements of America and the film's main story in a brutal Florida reform school for boys where black boys are routinely beaten, killed and written off as runaways. Early on the film shows the different treatment of black inmates to white inmates as this is a film about stark racism.
It follows Elwood (Ethan Herisse), a bright young man on his way to a new school but who inadvertently accepts a lift in a stolen car and in an obvious miscarriage of justice is sent to the farm like reform school. The film charts his friendship with Turner (Brandon Wilson) as they deal with bullying, beatings and try to find some ways to survive the experience culminating in them attempting to escape. There's a twist at the end.
Unfortunately this important and dramatic story gets lost in the jarring style of the film which I found very distracting and ultimately off putting. For me it led to the main thrust of the narrative being marred by my trying to keep track of what was going on. So in my opinion the film whilst ambitious is too flawed to work.
A shame as it had great potential to highlight a forgotten and shameful part of America's racist history.

Interesting haunted house / ghost story from director Steven Soderbergh that has the camera give us the ghost's point of view as it glides around the spacious suburban house watching the family who have recently moved in.
This is the Payne family of dad (Chris Sullivan), mum Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and teenagers Tyler (Eddie Maday) and Chloe (Callina Liang). They have some issues going on and the film presents a sort of family drama situation watched by the supernatural presence which only Chloe vaguely senses. She has recently lost two friends who have died in mysterious circumstances and so has some emotional issues. There is eventually some poltergeist type incidents as the presence moves things and even throws them about when it's stressed or upset. But it's purpose as potential protector becomes evident when Chloe begins a hesitant relationship with Tyler's friend, Ryan (West Mulholland).
Soderbergh's camera movements and scarcity of cuts gives the film a theatrical vibe, it's certainly an intelligent film that has some innovation behind it but it's a little slow and perhaps doesn't deliver the impact expected. It's much more subtle than films of. similar type.

A funny romcom with a tip towards adult humour that is a delight to watch with the strong cast even though the story is totally predictable and somewhat formulaic.
Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) after breaking up with his girlfriend a year ago is still miserable and cynical about love. At a party he strikes up a conversation with Chantry (Zoe Kazan) and whilst there's an obvious attraction she's in a long term relationship and so they agree to be just friends. Only his best friend sees that Wallace should tell Chantry his true feelings but he fears losing the friendship with her. But eventually true love wins after a series of setbacks.
Adam Driver is hilarious as Allan, the best friend and the other support cast include Mackenzie Davis, Megan Park and Rafe Spall who are all good here.
Plenty of laughs but it's all been done before.

Visually impressive especially in the big scenes of the Swiss countryside and epic in structure this is one of those mythological sword & sandal action adventures about the legendary Swiss warrior of the title. William Tell is basically the Swiss version of Robin Hood and you'll find all the similar characters from both legends on display here with the famous longbow of Robin Hood replaced with the crossbow of the Tell stories. The famous shooting of the apple from his son's head is presented here as a major plot point. William Tell (Claes Bang) is a huntsman and former soldier living quietly and humbly with his wife and adopted son. Switzerland is under the control of Austria (read Normans in the Robin Hood version) led by a tyrannical king (Ben Kingsley replete with golden eyepatch). He bleeds the Swiss with taxes and repression under his nasty No.1 Gessler (Connor Swindells as the Sheriff of Nottingham lookalike). By saving a fugitive hunted by Gessler Tell is forced to reluctantly join a rebellion against the oppressors. This cues some bloody sword and axe fighting and big set piece battles which are all done very well but the film, despite a great cast, is let down by a clunky script, often incoherent and occasionally downright silly. There's the inevitable inspirational speech by the hero that is very lacklustre and the climax is underwhelming possibly leaving room for a sequel. Rafe Spall, Emily Beecham, Jonathan Pryce and Golshifteh Farahani support. There's some entertainment to be had by this overly long medieval adventure but it's overall a bit disappointing and clumsy.

A heavily stylised gothic romance with the bleakness dialled up to ten in a film visually looking like the pages of a graphic novel. The foggy moors of Yorkshire are the backdrop for this latest adaptation of the famed novel although this version only utilises the first half of the book. It's a pseudo-erotic bodice ripper with lots of rain soaked wanderings of the two main characters and I'm surprised neither of them died of pneumonia considering all the times one of other of them is out on the moors in dire weather! Anyway this is the obsessive love story of Cathy (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). They are thrust together as children when Cathy's father (Martin Clunes), on a whim, brings home a young waif he rescues from the streets and he effectively becomes Cathy's step brother. But as adults they soon develop lustful feelings for one another that feel forbidden and when Cathy eventually marries her rich neighbour to save the family from financial ruin Heathcliff is bereft and rides off into the night. Returning years later as a wealthy and well groomed gentleman he and Cathy begin a tempestuous and doomed affair. At times the film feels very camp and if you blink you might suddenly think the film has turned into a gothic horror movie. The whole thing simmers with sexual frustration and I suppose the darkness and danger of the novel do show through especially as Heathcliff being denied his true love turns into a frightening and abusive man effectively sexually torturing Isabella (Alison Oliver) Cathy's sister in law whom he marries to spite Cathy. Martin Clunes is the stand out actor here as the drunken, pitiful father and Hong Chau as the story's effective narrator Nellie is also very good. But overall this feels a cold and ineffective adaptation a little too over produced for its own good.