Film Reviews by GI

Great White Shark's don't cut the mustard in movies today, now we get giant prehistoric sharks, Megladons and that's what this creature feature has pootering around harassing an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The film's title is also a euphemism for oil of course as there's a daft interwoven theme here around unscrupulous oil companies damaging the environment and in this case invoking the wrath of said giant shark. Josh Lucas plays Paul, an oil rig inspector, sent by his company to do the annual inspection on a rusty old rig. Paul takes his family with him for a bit of a holiday only they find themselves stranded on the rig that has no comms, only two surviving workers and lots of body parts floating around. Every so often the creature comes patrolling looking for its next meal and Paul must work out how to get everyone to safety, which of course involves killing the shark. There's the inevitable and a bit too obvious homage to Jaws (1975) with a line from that classic. The budget was obviously a little tight and the creature is mostly glimpsed in the dark, murky waters very briefly. The theme of oil companies being very, very bad for the environment is slapped on a little too heavily after all this is a giant shark narrative and not a climate crisis drama. This has a degree of entertainment value and one or two great moments but think about the plot too much and you'll soon begin to groan.

After 25 years since this lovable character hit our screens we now have a rather poignant and more subtle fourth film that eschews the pratfall comedy (for the most part) and this time around deals with a variety of modern issues such as grief, loneliness, parenting and finding love again. The film cleverly includes nearly all the beloved characters from the previous films albeit often too briefly in some cases and I was left with the feeling that some parts of the film have been edited out (an early scene with Isla Fisher is never fulfilled and she is never seen again in the film for instance). However we join Bridget (Renée Zellweger) four years after her beloved husband Mark (Colin Firth, seen in Bridget's grieving imagination) has been killed while working overseas. Living on the idyllic edge of Hampstead Heath and with two primary school children who she is trying to nurture as a single parent, but who yearns for some comfort from a possible relationship although she feels guilty about trying to find one. She does eventually get a fling with the super handsome Roxster (Leo Woodall), and Rock Star being the obvious play on words here. He's a lot younger, she has great sex but knows it's never going to amount to much. Woodall here is the objectified male body required to get his shirt off a few times, often while wet as a sort of homage to D'Arcy from Pride & Prejudice and the link of course to Firth. Eventually romance blossoms for Bridget in the form of her children's science teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) following a school trip to the Lake District. Along this journey the film deals with the children's reactions to their father's death, although it's soon revealed it's Bridget who is coping less well with this. The heart of the film comes from her friends, the 'gang' who have supported her over the years and from Hugh Grant's Daniel, the womanising cad who is given a real grounded character here and is almost the soul of the film with a heart wrenching scene where he lays out his connection to Bridget. This is not an especially complex or sophisticated film it's more like a reunion for the characters and for us the audience to catch up with these lovable, flawed group and see how they are all getting on. But in that sense it's a joy, a gentle comedy of manners vibe with laughs, tears and plenty to smile about. And a final shout out to Emma Thompson who is a real treat here as the no nonsense gynaecologist who gets to advise Bridget routinely throughout the film.

Here we have a reasonably entertaining science fiction adventure that could have been exceedingly good but is somewhat spoilt by the course of the narrative that opts for a rather daft romance over interesting tensions and rivalry. The set up here is good fun if a little derivative and it reminded me of Annihilation (2018), a far better film, with influences of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island and some Aliens (1986) vibe thrown in for good measure. Miles Teller is Levi, a former elite army sniper now on the skids and haunted by his kills, who gets recruited by a shady spook in the form of Sigourney Weaver. His job is to guard a mysterious fog covered gorge somewhere in the world for one year. He has to prevent whatever is in the gorge from getting out. On the other side is his Russian counterpart guarding that side and both have strict instructions not to interact with one another (for reasons unexplained). But as the Russian turns out to be Anya Taylor-Joy soon romantic sparks across the gorge do fly eventually resulting in Levi finding a way to get across for some nooky. And yes you guessed it events conspire to ensure that they end up in the gorge where they find some very strange and nasty things. It's the romance that actually spoils this film. It never rings true and is actually unnecessary even though we get a Bourne Identity type ending. Whilst this is entertaining and the film ramps up nicely once we get into the gorge itself it's one of those films that could have been very interesting indeed. What's here is ok though, it just lacks the vital ingredients to to great.

Poltergeist remains an impressive horror film because it manages to look and feel like a family film but delivers on all the things a good and creepy horror film should. Firstly it taps deeply into the heart of the family and the home where safety and comfort are accepted and expected, subverts and corrupts those expectations and uses children as the victim as the horrors unfold. These were similar aspects to The Exorcist (1973) and are why both films are particularly unsettling. Director Tobe Hooper had impressed with the more violent The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) but Poltergeist feels much more like a Steven Spielberg film and whilst he is the producer here you can see and sense his influence all over the film. JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson are married couple Steve and Diane who live in a new housing development built by the company Steve works for. They have three children including five year old Carol Anne and they are a happy, comfortable family. Then Carol Anne begins to hear voices in the TV and soon strange things start to happen in the house. The narrative very cleverly taps into those childhood fears of thunderstorms, of something under the bed and how innocent things in the daylight take on some malevolence in the dark. This is a wonderful film, and a quite heartwarming story of family with the mother as its heart. Its also scary and worrying with some very good effects for its time. This is well worth seeking out if you've never seen it (I'd ignore the sequels though they were not necessary)

A stylish and effective thriller that draws on the high profile cases of uber rich men taking advantage of young women to the point of sexual assault and depravity. This is a film that fits into a group of film narratives such as Get Out (2017), Saltburn (2023) and Triangle of Sadness (2022) and is the debut directorial film of Zoë Kravitz who also co-wrote the screenplay. Naomi Ackie is Frida, a humble cocktail waitress, who dreams of better things and who gets the attention of Tech Billionaire Slater (Channing Tatum) who invites her and her friend to join a party at his paradise island retreat. Once there Frida enjoys a time of frivolity in luxury surroundings and Slater is obviously attracted to her but soon Frida begins to feel uneasy but can't really pinpoint what is causing her to suspect all is not right. The narrative here is obviously plugged into the case of Jeffrey Epstein and the wider #MeToo campaign and for the most part it's an effective thriller but some of the signs of what is going on are a little too unsubtle with the final climax feeling bit too contrived but overall this has a neat build up and a solid plot. The cast are great and include Alia Shawkat, Adria Arjona, Geena Davis, Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment and Kyle MacLachlan.

This very belated sequel to Tim Burton's second film, Beetlejuice (1988), is as eccentric as the first and would be a rather silly and pointless effort without Michael Keaton reprising the title character role. This comedy/horror has that same vibe as the reboot of the Ghostbusters series and the jokes are as intermittent as the Men In Black series too. In other words I just don't understand who these films are actually aimed at. There are some funny moments in this, not least a wedding sequence which had me laugh out loud a few times, yet overall it's a varied affair that showcases Burton's carnivalesque visions and Keaton's zany comedy persona. Winona Ryder returns now with her own daughter played by Jenna Ortega who gets into scrapes with ghosts and has to be rescued using Beetlejuice to get her home. Justin Theroux, Catherine O'Hara, Willem Dafoe assist in various roles along with Monica Bellucci and a cameo from Danny DeVito. A film you have to question as to why? It passes the time but overall it's all a bit lame.

The ultimate hi-octane thriller and one of the best films of the 90s. For some bizarre reason this was remade in 2015, pointlessly and stupidly because this film is a modern classic, a cult film that fans absolutely love. The remake is mediocre at best. Keanu Reeves is Johnny Utah, a rookie FBI agent who joins the LA Robbery squad partnered with the maverick and grumpy Pappas (the always brilliant Gary Busey). The squad are investigating a series of bank robberies committed by a gang calling themselves the Ex-Presidents on account of the masks they wear. Pappas believes the gang are linked to the surfing community so he sends Johnny undercover to learn surfing and to try and identify the bad guys. Johnny meets Tyler (Lori Petty) who teaches him to surf and she introduces him to Bodhi (Patrick Swayze in one of his best roles), an adrenaline junkie, and yes you guessed it, this is the very man he's looking for. Plot wise the film is fairly standard and it actually rests on an extraordinary coincidence that if you think about too much you'll groan loudly but narratively its about two men on opposite sides of the moral divide but who are closely linked. The film is overflowing with subtle homo-eroticism and the action set pieces are stunning and exciting, with chases, shoot outs, and gritty fights, although the James Bond moment is a little OTT. It's a wonderfully entertaining piece of cinema and always worth watching. Director Kathyrn Bigelow was emerging as a significant filmmaker with this movie.

The dark, period gothic style is very Hammer films in structure and feel with the addition of Alien (1979) clearly having been used as a key narrative source, even the main character's name is Clemens, a name used in Alien 3 (1992). This takes a chapter from the Dracula novel by Bram Stoker and fleshes it out into a full story. I found myself liking it the longer it went on and I especially liked the depiction of Dracula here, as a somewhat desperate, feral creature that needs food. The creature design is based on the vampire from Nosferatu, A Symphony Of Horror (1922) and Salems Lot (1979) rather than a distinguished Christopher Lee type. The story is that on his journey from Transylvania to London Dracula sleeps in boxes of his sacred soil on board a ship, The Demeter. But at night he awakens and needs to feed, carefully killing the crew one by one. As fear and suspicion on board grows the ship's doctor, Clemens (Corey Hawkins) and the Captain (Liam Cunningham) try to find the cause and discover a young woman (Aisling Franciosi) on the ship who was to be Dracula's blood supply but now rescued warns the crew about the monster they are facing. Those familiar with the book and various Dracula film adaptations will know the end of this story but it's told here with a few neat twists, some scary moments and a great creature barely glimpsed for most of the film. The epilogue is especially clever here. This is not ever going to be the greatest vampire film but it's a great addition to the Dracula story, entertaining and certainly better than the recent Nosferatu (2024).

This is a solid, violent, well directed crime thriller based on real events although at times it drifts into glib territory and has a climax that seems very contrived and perhaps a little daft. Jude Law plays a weary FBI agent. You'll recognise the type of character as one who has seen it all, has emotional/relationship problems and a history that has resulted in his posting as the lone agent in a small Idaho town in the early 1980s. He begins looking into a series of violent robberies and explosions suspecting that the culprits are not normal criminals but a band of ultra right wing white supremacists. They are led by Bob, a cold fanatic played by Nicholas Hoult, who has broken away from a mainstream group which he views as all talk/no action in order to build up to an insurrection. This overarching plot plays into the current issues in the USA and indeed there's a post credit reference to the 2006 Capitol Hill events. This film has some great set pieces including a bold highway armoured car robbery and a gripping chase sequence. Unfortunately there are some slip ups along the way including the final stand off that pushes the boundaries of credibility a little too far. Hoult is good here as the unsettlingly bland Bob as is Law as the agent hunting him. Attempts to draw emotional parallels between the characters is a mistake but can be forgiven. Tye Sheridan as a young cop recruited to help the FBI does solid work as he's caught up in the violence but the women characters are a little underused. Overall this is an entertaining crime thriller with a nice blend of story and action and it's well worth watching.

This is a somewhat strange film, a period drama cum comedy that was based on a stage play and feels like it too. Set in Depression era southern USA in a small hick town where the eccentric Amelia (Vanessa Redgrave) runs the local store, dishes out homemade remedies as well as moonshine. She's both feared and loathed by the community for her strange ways. The town is most surprised when a diminutive hunchback (Cork Hubbert) arrives claiming to be her cousin and that she takes him in and seems to dote on him. His influence has her convert her store into a cafe where the locals enjoy dances, food and liquor and all is merry until Amelia's estranged husband (Keith Carradine) returns leading to big tensions. Directed by Simon Callow, indeed his only film as director, this runs like a play and its plot seems very forced and at times faintly ridiculous. There's no doubt Redgrave in particular gives solid performance and the presence of Rod Steiger as the town priest is interesting although he has only a cameo role. This is not a film I enjoyed particularly but its recent return to BluRay might make it a film people want to check out.

A taut, smart and tense thriller that recounts the coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympic tragedy by the American ABC Sports news team who were suddenly faced with this internationally important news event happening in fast time right before their eyes. The film captures the speed at which the events unfolded and the decisions made in the team to get the story covered including negotiating the satellite time allocated and the sudden realisation that the terrorists maybe watching the live broadcast they are sending out including the police preparations to raid the rooms where Black September terrorists were holding members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage. It cleverly utilises real footage with recreated scenes to great effect. The film deals with issues of national animosities, misogyny and the moral dilemmas faced by the journalists over what to show on TV. Historically it's a really interesting docudrama and a reminder of this horrific terrorist crime that shocked the world. The cast are exceptional including Peter Sarsgaard, Ben Chaplin and especially John Magaro as the ABC studio manager and Leonie Benesch who plays a fictitious German assistant who faces the antipathy of colleagues over the German guilt of the Holocaust. One of the best films about journalism for awhile.

This is without doubt an awful film. From script, acting, music score, plot it's amateurish, poorly directed and you'll find yourself laughing more out of embarrassment than anything else. This horror film is out of the Andy Warhol Factory group with director Paul Morrissey a leading figure. Despite some smatterings of solid production values the overall film is a mess. Count Dracula (Udo Keir - who at least did go on to a renowned acting career) is ailing and in need of virgin (pronounced wirgin here!) blood so he trots off to Italy where his faithful servant assures him there's a plethora of virgins to satisfy his needs. Toting his coffin on the roof of the car the two find a villa with four virgin daughters for him to ravish. But the gardener (Joe Dallesandro) has been shagging most of them causing some frustrations for the Count and plenty of blood vomiting. This is a film that is an excuse for plenty of female nudity, some incestuous lesbian sex and the rape of a fourteen year old (to protect her from the vampire of course!!). The climax is more reminiscent of Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975) than any horror film and even the worst of the Hammer Horrors is nowhere near as bad as this.

This is one of the greatest American crime thrillers of the 1960s and it holds up very well indeed. Tough, violent and tense with a superb plot and an intriguing use of timelines, flashbacks and editing it makes for several different readings of the narrative. Essentially it's a story of revenge. The great Lee Marvin plays Walker who is double crossed by his friend and partner Mal (John Vernon) and his wife Lynne (Shirley Acker) during their robbery of mob money. Mal leaves Walker for dead but a year later Walker suddenly reappears seeking revenge and wanting his share of the money. Mal is now part of an organised crime group led by three men. Assisted by Lynne's sister, Chris (Angie Dickinson) Walker goes on the rampage causing massive disruption and chaos along the way. This is a film that takes the basic American thriller and gives it an arthouse structure and European style of narrative. It's a film that has a rich text which continues to deliver even after multiple viewings. A riveting, hugely stylish film and ahead of its time it's a modern masterpiece and it identified director John Boorman as a major talent. This is one of my all time Top 10 films and I hugely recommend it if you've never seen it.

With two highly compelling lead performances from Léa Seydoux and George MacKay this futuristic drama holds your attention even though the long runtime and somewhat impenetrable plot makes it occasionally a trial. In 2044 the world seems controlled by AI which sees human emotions as a harmful thing and consequently people are encouraged to have their DNA purified of emotions. To deal with her anxiety Gabrielle (Seydoux) agrees to undergo the procedure which amounts to her reliving past lives where she has a strong emotional connection with Louis (MacKay). There are two other timelines that she has to revisit, one in Paris in 1910 during the Great Flood and the second in 2014 in Los Angeles where she is a model and actress who its stalked by a psychopathic Louis. It's a confusing narrative and the whilst the performances are truly excellent the film doesn't really allow you to grasp its intent. In many ways the influence of David Lynch seems in evidence and there are some tense and disturbing set pieces but by the end I found the film very tiring.

This is a provocative, quite daring thriller that defies expectations and a film that I found myself increasingly compelling. It has the hallmarks of Tarantino or even Tobe Hooper in its jarring plot twists, structure and the quiet setting of the American backwoods. Basically a serial killer narrative but one that goes in some uncomfortable and surprising directions that in fact make this an undeniably intriguing film. The plot is divided into six chapters that are told out of linear order, with each chapter having a title that hints at the macabre events to follow. The off-kilter structure adds to the sheer brilliance of the plot. The film opens with some onscreen titles explaining how a few years ago a serial killer went on an extended killing spree and the film to follow will show the final part of those events. This information leaves the impression the film is based on real events (it's not) and this adds to the horrors to follow. We then cut to a young woman (Willa Fitzgerald) fleeing an armed man (Kyle Gallner), she is clearly badly hurt and he hunts her as she flees through the forest to an isolated house and begs for the help of the aging couple who live there. Then we cut to the same man and woman in earlier events as they arrive at a motel and discuss having casual sex eventually beginning a night of kinky sex that sets the scene for an uncomfortable ride for the rest of the film. As the events jump back and forth in time we get revelations in the story that will shock and surprise in what is a first class thriller and a film that is highly recommended.