Film Reviews by GI

Vicky Krieps gives an intense yet subtle performance here in a fictional account in a year in the life of Elisabeth, Empress of Austria in 1877. The narrative is concerned with loneliness and the female as object rather than human being. Elisabeth's life is one of being constantly under the gaze and as she turns 40 years old she is officially deemed 'old' and consequently she begins the tiresome process of trying to maintain her youth, if only figuratively. This is an interesting period drama and study of controlled femininity under the strange conditions of monarchy, where adultery is condemned but rife and image tops intelligence and passion. Yet in many ways this is a study of how women, regardless of status, are isolated and imprisoned by cultural image.

Heartwarming and yet bittersweet comedy now much applauded and with an award nominated performance by Ellen Page as the titular Juno. As an offbeat 16 year old Juno finds herself pregnant after a one night stand with her friend Bleeker (Michael Cera). The films then manages with an awesomely clever script to look into issues as deep as abortion, teenage pregnancy, adoption and moving ever deeper into the meaning of parenthood, love and relationships. All of this is told in a period covering four seasons beginning one Autumn in Minnesota. It's by far Page's best role and she exudes personality here in a laugh out loud look at modern life for a young person having to navigate sexual awakening and trying to understand her feelings. There are subtle hints around sexuality too although I may be looking too intently here considering Page later came out as gay and has since transitioned. But the fact remains the script is so audacious yet brilliantly structured this remains one of the best teen comedies ever made. The film is further enhanced by the brilliant support cast of Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as potential adoptive parents with their own problems and Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons as Juno's parents. If you've never seen this great film then it's a must see.

Junior Bonner is one of the great unsung American films of the 70s. A wonderful elegiac film that continues Sam Peckinpah's themes of the loss of a past age. On the surface this is a story of Junior (Steve McQueen in one of his best roles), a washed up rodeo rider desperate for one last victory, who returns home for a tournament but also to reconnect with his wayward father, Ace (Robert Preston in a superb performance) and lonely mother Ellie (Ida Lupino). Underlying this narrative is a story of changing times, of modernity destroying the old ways (you can find this theme in many of Peckinpah's best films). An early scene shows Junior witnessing the bulldozing of his father's ramshackle ranch house with the rodeo standing in for the simple yet tough life of the cowboy. Using split frames and altering ratios Peckinpah employs a rich and nostalgic vision of a dying past. Joe Don Baker plays Curly who represents a borderline corrupt but definitely materially greedy future while Junior and Ace are the past, and it's a past doomed to be lost. This is a marvellous film, you'll be hard pushed to find a movie as good as this today.

An interesting, at times very moving and yet flawed documentary about the popular film and TV actor and his struggle with Parkinson's Disease. It's an affecting portrait of Fox but at times goes for cutesy American media imagery rather than a detailed insight into the actor and in particular his past. For instance it glibs over his renowned promiscuity before settling down with his wife, actress Tracey Pollan, whom he met on set. The worst decision of the director was to edit scenes from Fox's roles to represent key moments in his real life. This is distracting, pointless and undermines the message. The film is at times sad especially when seeing Fox struggling with his disease which he kept silent about for several years effectively hiding his symptoms within his acting but in the clips included they can be clearly seen. Fox is himself humorous and warm in the interview sections and shows how likeable and magnanimous he really is. There's bleak moments, funny moments and huge gaps, which is a shame and leaves the film wanting.

Comparisons with Stephen King's It and the film adaptation (2017) are inevitable, indeed the style and story are almost a homage to King. The director Scott Derrickson describes this film as paranormal thriller and that's about right. It's a serial killer and ghost story combination that has its moments but the sheer implausibility of some basic areas of the story weaken its power and the end result is a watchable but unfulfilling film. A serial killer, dubbed 'The Grabber', is terrorising a 1970s Denver neighbourhood abducting boys (although there seems no attempt within the community to put in place simple cautionary measures and victims are easily caught wandering alone in isolated places... Der!). When shy, bullied and intelligent Finney (Mason Thames) is grabbed he finds himself locked in a dismal basement and taunted by the villain in a scary mask. When an old wall mounted and disconnected telephone rings Finney finds the ghosts of the previous victims on the end of the line and trying to help him avoid their fate. An intriguing idea thus begins and the voices on the phone gradually give Finney the means to escape. Although this involves a lengthy and detailed preparation which seems somewhat daft considering the daily visits of The Grabber to the basement. The ghostly aspects of the story are simply plot devices to allow a complicated way out gradually emerge creating the tension intended by the director. Meanwhile Finney's younger sister is revealed to have some psychic abilities and begins to help the police who seem to go along with this child psychic all too quickly and easily. As much as the film has a suspenseful atmosphere its narrative is dragged out a bit overly long and Hunt in a scary mask is not that frightening. It's ok but nothing memorable.

Hi-octane action thriller and the third in the series so you need the other two under your belt to know what on earth is going on! This carries on directly where No. 2 left off and from the opening it's fairly relentless with chase and fight scenes often combined which go on for quite a length at times. They're also bloody and after awhile can seem a tad tiresome. It's all totally comic book and choreographed like a computer game and if you've bought into the story from the previous two films then this will be a hoot. Fully entertaining and huge fun even when it's totally over the top. The story builds on that conspiracy theorist favourite that the world is run by a secret all powerful group of people, here called 'the high table' and former assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has committed the heinous crime of killing an enemy within the sanctuary of the High Table's hotel run by Winston (Ian McShane) and so he's now a hunted man. He has to call in some old debts to try and survive (Anjelica Huston in a nice cameo and Halle Berry showing off her action chops as well as a return of Laurence Fishburne). There's a few homages to enjoy spotting and I did smile at the The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966) one and a reprise of a famous line from The Matrix (1999) which fans should easily spot. There's also Blade Runner (1982) and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) ones in there as well. It has the cliffhanger ending to bring you neatly not No.4.

Very much like Steven Soderbergh's 2000 film Traffic this is a drama with the edginess of a thriller that follows three stories that more or less intertwine and that highlight the opioid epidemic in America. It's all rather well done and keeps you hooked throughout. Gary Oldman stars as a university biology professor who carries out drug trials for big pharmaceutical companies that help fund the university. When he discovers a new opioid drug may be harmful he finds the system and the big company are out to discredit him. Armie Hammer is an undercover DEA agent on a dangerous operation to trap a big trafficker ferrying illegal opioids across the huge open USA/Canadian border and Evangeline Lilly is the distraught mum of a teenager who dies of an overdose and who tracks the dealers down for revenge. Even without the obvious social attack on big pharma and the failure of a legal and regulatory system to protect and control the production and distribution of drugs this is a first rate, well acted, well told drama. The direction is sound and the winter landscapes add to the gritty realism of the story. This is rather good and very well much worth your time. The support cast adds to the mix and includes Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans and Lily-Rose Depp.

An interesting psychological horror that will appeal to anyone who can nostalgically remember the video nasty period of the mid 1980s when the media and occasionally the UK government was only too ready to blame the ills of society on some pretty ropey horror videotapes. The story here, set in 1985, follows Enid (Niamh Algar), a conscientious member of the British Board of Film Classification, who spends her days viewing horror and violent exploitation films deciding whether to pass them for the general public. When she watches a newly submitted film she becomes convinced it is reenacting the disappearance of her sister many years ago and becomes obsessed with finding the films elusive director. Here we have a horror narrative where fact and fiction are blurred as Enid is shown possibly descending into madness. The film opens the debate of years ago of how can the censor be spared the effects he/she is exposed to whilst arguing the public must be so spared. Enid's colleagues are shown conflicted too with the men less affected by scenes of rape and yet shocked when a film passed by them is reported to have caused a murder. This is an assured debut from this director and it does have the some gore. The change in aspect ratio is a clever trope to simulate VHS tapes but also to hint at what is actually occurring is dream or reality. There's a a bit of a Lynchian vibe to this and it's worth checking out.

The inevitable sequel and an even bigger money maker leading to the making of two more. The trademark here is unchanged, a slightly weaker story, this is all about hi octane action and bright, arthouse visuals to create a relentless shoot 'em up that is pure entertainment. The story follows from the first with top assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) still on the final leg of his revenge to recover his coveted Ford Mustang. This sequence has it all, car chases, martial arts fights and lots and lots of shooting and all before the opening credits. Then we get into the new story and wishing to return to quiet retirement John is forced to honour an old debt and has to travel to Rome for one last hit but he finds he becomes the hunted and has to go on the rampage to get free of the life. This episode ups the story of the strange secret criminal society to which Wick belongs and has Ian McShane and, in this film, Franco Nero as two of the upholders of its rules and rituals. Laurence Fishburne has a cameo too. It's all comic book stylings, brash, bloody and fast paced but these films take their place in amongst Bond, Bourne and Hunt in the action franchise genre. There's homages galore so it's fun spotting them including Enter The Dragon (1973) and you'll smoothly roll onto watching the next instalment as this one ends on a cliffhanger. Great fun and best of all these films don't take themselves at all seriously.

A huge misjudged mess of a film. There's a lot of running and jumping in there that just distracts from the narrative that fails to exploit its own set up, which could have been very interesting. No wonder that the film was delayed and plagued with reshoots so it's anyone's guess what it looked like in its early edits. Anyway this science fiction story is set on a distant planet in the 23rd century. It's been colonised by humans many years ago who now live in a sort of 19th century frontier type existence and in one settlement only the men survive with the women mysteriously gone. The boss is a controlling bully (Mads Mikkelsen) who claims the women were all killed by the nasty indigenous aliens during a war. The strangest phenomenon of the planet is that all the men's thoughts can be seen and heard by everyone else, which they call the 'noise'. The women were not afflicted with this. When Viola (Daisy Ridley) crash lands in her scout ship she is found by Todd (Tom Holland), whose sexual yearnings are awakened but he has to protect her from the boss who covets the mothership he knows will eventually arrive for her. So they go on the run, hence the running etc through the woods chased by men on horses. There's a few special effects thrown in but not nearly enough and we're left with a basic story that throws in some religious craziness courtesy of a preacher (David Oyelowo) and the predictable yet scrappy finale. It's dull with a few interesting visuals and a film that will be quickly forgotten.

This second of Timothy Dalton's outings as James Bond was the most violent and darker of the Bond franchise up until that time. It's an interesting addition to watch today. Whilst it has all the usual Bond tropes and action set pieces you can see shades of the Connery and Moore films wrapped up in the narrative whilst Dalton brings a softer, more human and yet dangerous slant to the character. The very spoof nature of the Moore films has gone whilst maintaining some of the daft plot lines. And I have no doubts without Dalton there would not have been Daniel Craig as you can see now where the influence from this film has crept into Craig's version and Pierce Brosnan was a sort of Dalton clone. Licence To Kill hasn't the espionage roots that The Living Daylights (1987) brilliantly went back to, here we have a full on action/adventure film with Bond tackling a drug cartel in a vengeful mood when his best friend is cruelly maimed (that scene is a lift from the novel Live And Let Die by the way). There's sexual violence, some very nasty torture and deaths and colourful language chucked in for good measure. You can see that the producers were trying to reinvent the franchise. They nearly succeeded but it would not really work until Craig took over in 2006. In any case this and Dalton's previous film as 007 are worthy of re-evaluation as they represent a sea change in the approach to Bond after Roger Moore departed. I often think it's a pity Dalton didn't make more.

A complex relationship drama that seems a little self indulgent and mildly pretentious from director Anthony Minghella who is well respected but this film seems be a reflection of modern London and those that inhabit it that drifts into a story of selfish and entitled characters. The performances are all spot on but as the narrative progresses you end up not rooting for anyone at all as they all pursue their own emotional and occasionally materialistic needs. Jude Law plays Will, an architect for a posh firm working on a major redevelopment of parts of the city. The firm is burgled by some young men including Miro (Rafi Gavron) working for a mobster. Will, who is in a troubled marriage with an autistic daughter, discovers Miro's address and ends up in a relationship with his mother (Juliette Binoche), which leads him to have to make some difficult decisions which will affect all around him. The complexity of the plot that is centred around the relationships as they ebb and flow makes for some interesting ideas but the film always feels a little hollow. Robin Wright as Will's wife, Ray Winstone as a cop and Vera Farmiga as a local prostitute all contribute admirably to the overall structure of the story but it's not one that ultimately leaves you satisfied. I want to admire this but I struggled to feel at all concerned about the fate of anyone.

With plenty of swagger and panache this, supposedly, last in the Guardians series making a neat trilogy, is a fun filled, overlong but simply great entertaining sci-fi fantasy spectacular. As a cinephile that is less and less attracted to the superhero genre and especially the MCU films I still have a great fondness for the Guardians films. They stand apart from the complex Avengers films and are all the better for it and much of this is to do with the injection of laugh out loud humour. Chris Pratt has cemented himself as a movie star with these films and he carries on admirably here as the lovelorn Peter Quill mourning the loss of his beloved Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) who has to rouse himself to save his friend Rocket (Bradley Cooper) who is badly wounded and dying. This sends the Guardians on a mission to retrieve a life saving code held by the big baddie and sends the story into the secrets of Rocket's past. This cues loads of great effects and space battles with Dave Bautista especially brilliant as Drax. A big spectacular comic book science fiction film that is pure entertainment.

Cutter's Way fits into the cycle of American films of the 70s and early 80s that can be described as conspiracy narratives. It's also a relationship drama and taps into the American obsession with the Vietnam War and the dark underbelly of society centred around the haves and the have nots. Jeff Bridges, who is riveting here, plays Rich, a young gigolo and drifter who is temporarily staying with his alcoholic friends Alex (John Heard) and Mo (Lisa Eichhorn). Alex is a traumatised Vietnam veteran who has lost an eye, arm and is partially crippled, and Mo is his unhappy wife who is attracted to Rich. The setting of California with its sunny and wealthy lifestyle creates a contrast with these three who are all struggling in one way of another. The drama is set off when Rich inadvertently sees a man dump a woman's body in an alley and the two men become convinced the culprit is a very rich and powerful oil baron. With no evidence Alex comes up with a plan to blackmail him proving he's the killer if he pays up. It all goes tragically wrong. This is less a film about the crime than one about obsession over injustice and unfairness centred around money, sex and, indeed, human beauty. There is little doubt it has three wonderful central performances particularly Heard and Bridges. Viewed today it's somewhat of a challenge as the themes are not as relevant and the film loses its meanings in a narrative that drifts along and is focused on character rather than plot. But it's an interesting film worthy checking out if you've not seen it.

Timothy Dalton's first outing as James Bond is a neat crossover from the Roger Moore series and predicts the style of the Pierce Brosnan films and ultimately to Daniel Craig's interpretation. It's interesting that the film was conceived for Roger Moore and when he stepped down Brosnan was to be the next 007. Contractual problems led to Dalton who had been on the cards to take the role way back in 1969. The Living Daylights contains nearly all the tropes you'd find in the earlier films especially Moore's; gadgets, bevies of bikini clad girls, an Aston Martin and the odd comedic quip but also in here is a dark espionage film, sometimes struggling to get out but definitely there if you watch closely and some brutal violence from Bond to remind us he is after all an assassin. Dalton was an excellent Bond and could've gone onto some great future films with the right scripts. This one lacks a decent arch-villain, Joe Don Baker as an overweight arms dealer doesn't really cut it but the twists in the story of a Soviet defector and the move across the world from Bratislava to Afghanistan (then under Soviet control) make up for this. A worthy addition to the franchise and certainly a Bond film to re-evaluate in light of the series today with Craig.