Film Reviews by GI

An amiable comedy drama that is actually rather delightful. Written, directed and starring Cooper Raiff who plays the somewhat depressed Andrew, a 22 year old post graduate who's girlfriend has gone to Spain and he's been forced back to the family home of his mother (Leslie Mann), stepdad (Brad Garrett) and younger brother (Evan Assante) with whom he has to share a bedroom. In a dead end job and wanting to follow his girlfriend without a clear invitation to do so he becomes depressed but finds he has a talent as a 'party starter' at the Bar Mitzvah's in the local neighbourhood. There he meets the beautiful Domino (Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter, Lola (Vanessa Burghardt). Befriending Lola he also falls deeply in love with Domino who is engaged to the very serious lawyer, Joseph (Raúl Castillo). Raiff has a screen persona that some might find a little too much to bear but he plays Andrew as a young man who hides his personal issues and offers those around him the friend that many yearn. I found him a humorous and uplifting character even though the story takes him through levels of sadness that make the film a tender and at times moving experience. Johnson is note perfect and makes all the right moves as the slightly enigmatic Domino, she's arguably one of the most exciting actors working today, and between the two of them they make this film really work. It's charming and very watchable.

Set in Eastern Europe during the Second World War this is a gruelling epic about a young jewish boy's journey through a hellish world of almost unimaginable horrors in a land of suspicion, barbarism, paganistic superstition and the violence of brutal war. Joska (Petr Kotlár - in an astonishing first film performance) is a young boy who has been left by his parents with an ageing relative to avoid deportation by the Nazis. Deep in the countryside he yearns to return home despite having no idea how to get there. When his elderly aunt unexpectedly dies Joska sets off on his journey home encountering a host of characters along the way. He becomes subject to abuse and brutality as he wanders through an almost unearthly, sometimes dreamlike world. Shot in a documentary and period looking monochrome the film boasts some deep shocks and includes scenes of stark death and murder, rape and bestiality. In many ways Joska reminded me of the young Russian soldier in Sam Peckinpah's Cross Of Iron (1977) and mirrors the loss of innocence that war causes in children. It is a harrowing story and flawed by the occasional eroticism that creeps into the debased sexual scenes. Despite the horrific nature of the narrative there is a strange beauty to the film which has some superb support casting including Harvey Keitel as a kindly priest, Julian Sands as a nasty paedophile, Udo Keir as a tormented miller and Stellan Skarsgård as a German soldier. It is a long film but it draws you in almost with a bizarre fascination. Highly recommended.

A ludicrous B movie horror thriller, all tongue in cheek, that throws in just about everything it can find and squashes it into a short 80 minute film. Chloë Grace Moretz cons her way onto a B52 plane with a top secret case and finds the sexist crew are having none of her equality bullshit and essentially lock her in the gun turret. But she manages to get into all sorts of adventures from there including fighting a creature, shooting down Japanese fighters, flying the plane and rescuing her baby from said creature. Yes you heard that right. This is one of those films that will either have people raving about how great it is or moaning at the utter ridiculousness of it all. I found it all very well put together and it made me smile....a lot, mostly because I spotted the influences not least the famous Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner.

One of the most original of British films, a psychological thriller that has an almost unique sense of the macabre and a gothic milieu. This confirmed director Nicolas Roeg as one of the most interesting, stylish and innovative film makers working in the UK in the 70s. Often placed in the horror genre this is certainly a film that has a sense of dread from the very beginning and it's a film famous for its use of motifs to amplify the terrible deaths that bookend the story. The colour red being the obvious one here. Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland play married couple Laura and John Baxter who following the tragic death of their young daughter move to Venice where John is restoring an old church. Their lives are still haunted by loss and grief and when Laura meets two strange sisters, one of whom claims to be psychic and can see and hear their daughter, John becomes angry at Laura's instant belief in what they tell her. But they also warn that John is in danger. The film has a grim and fatalistic view of life with the only compensations being sexual fulfilment and memory. There's a celebration of the benefit of sexual relationships in a touching and, for it's time, detailed sex scene but it signposts that horror is always never far away. The wintry Venice setting sets a grim visual style that reflects the narrative that is focused on death. A masterpiece and a film worthy of repeated viewings.

Director Richard Kelly's surreal, fantasy masterpiece, an existential exploration of reality played out as a teenage drama. It's funny, enigmatic and fascinating even after repeated viewings and with the aid of Kelly's 'Special Edition' which offers some explanations along the way. Jake Gyllenhaal is the titular Donnie, a High School teenager with behavioural and emotional problems that manifest as sleepwalking and strange visions. His concerned yet liberal parents send him to a psychiatrist who medicates him. Then events take a weird turn as an aircraft engine falls from the sky onto the Darko's house. This is the mystery element of the narrative as the engine cannot be identified and Donnie begins to see a strange man/rabbit creature called Frank who gives him instructions including committing arson and vandalism. Everything is for a reason as the plot unfolds and Kelly has interwoven a story about dreams, hallucinations running alongside the theory of alternate universes. It all sounds complicated and the film does leave lots of questions to be asked but this is what makes the whole thing so intriguing and downright fun. The cast are great with Jena Malone as Donnie's girlfriend, Mary McDonnell as his mother, Maggie Gyllenhaal as his sister and support from Katherine Ross as the psychiatrist and Patrick Swayze in a role that goes completely against his screen persona (Seth Rogen can also be seen in an early role). A really original film that harks back in some ways to Harvey (1950), it's utterly enthralling and endlessly watchable and a film everyone should watch and watch again.

A drug addiction drama that has good intentions, a couple of good performances but makes an uneasy lurch from drama into thriller and lets itself down as a result. What's left is a middling film that is unfulfilling. One Christmas Eve wife and mother Holly (Julia Roberts) is overjoyed at the sudden arrival of her eldest son, Ben (Lucas Hedges), a recovering heroin addict who has been in rehab. His appearance is not welcomed by Holly's new husband nor Ben's sister both of whom urge Holly to be very wary. She's mostly deaf to their entreaties although she hides her jewellery and pharmaceutical drugs! This is where the film is strongest in dealing with the emotional pulls and tensions within the family and wondering how much Ben is lying to them or genuinely wanting a new life back home. Unfortunately the film moves into thriller territory after Ben is spotted by all his old drug pals and he's forced back into their world. The major trouble here is the film tries and fails to establish a relevancy and set in small town America within a relatively well to do family destabilises any strength in the drug addiction themes. Roberts and Hedges do well with the script and they are the reason to give this a watch but ultimately it's a film that won't be remembered that much.

A meandering sci-fi drama that loses it's way if indeed it ever knew where it was going. Set in the near future in an experimental psychology unit on a remote island where smarmy scientist Dr Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) is testing experimental drugs that can affect a persons emotions from love to fear and even make them lustful for another. His patients are all volunteer prisoners who've agreed to have these drugs pumped into them in return for a shorter sentence. One of them, Jeff (Miles Teller) begins to question the experiment and uncovers Abnesti's true motives. There's elements of voyeurism and fetishistic behaviour as Hemsworth watches his patients have sex after inducing them to fancy each other even toying with homosexuality in heterosexual people. The film doesn't seem to have much to say other than give the stars a reason to demonstrate their range of acting out emotions as they are injected with the various drugs. After awhile you'll not really care what happens or who to because it all becomes a bit laborious.

This crime drama from master director Sidney Lumet has a naturalistic style with a feel and pace as if you are watching a real event. Overall though it's an actor's film with a famous performance from Al Pacino aided by John Cazale, Chris Sarandon and Charles Durning in particular with a script they were mostly encouraged to improvise. This results in a set of characters that feel 'real' and you end up caring and sympathising for all of them. The story and script is key here despite the encouragement of Lumet to allow the improvisation. It's a tragedy but one that is downright funny even though it's not written to get laughs they just come from the total absurdity of the situation as it unfolds. This makes the film so enjoyable and it's a key American film of the 70s. Based on a true story (making the whole thing seem even more absurd) it follows three men who one summer afternoon attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank. One of them chickens out within the first few seconds leaving Sonny (Pacino) and Sal (Cazale). They think they have a fool proof plan and all will be done and dusted within a few minutes. But it all starts to go wrong and unravel from the very start. Soon surrounded and besieged by the police and forced to negotiate with cop, Moretti (Durning) it quickly becomes a media circus which Sonny begins to relish as he becomes the image of rebellion to a cheering crowd. Contrastingly Sal struggles with the position in which he finds himself and begins to withdraw within himself. As Sonny is revealed to be gay the film is ahead of its time in its depiction of gay men. It avoids a stereotypical image and a moving telephone conversation between Sonny and his lover, Leon (Sarandon) is taken as a normal emotional talk between two persons in a relationship. All Sonny's family seem to just accept the way he is and there is no overt judgement levied by the film about their sexuality. Interestingly Sal gets very emotional when he finds the media thinks he's gay too and is desperate for that to be corrected. This is one of the great American films of the 1970s and a crime drama that should be on your list if you haven't seen it.

A fantasy action adventure film from the MCU, full of martial arts, spirited and entertaining with fun roles and an overlong punch up climax. This will appeal to young teenagers desperate for more Marvel stuff and the makers oblige with nods and references to previous films in the franchise and the inevitable sequel (check the mid credits sequence). This one has an introductory prologue about a medieval power hungry warlord, The Mandarin (Tony Leung) who has ten mystical rings which give him power to conquer and long life. A thousand years later he is mellowed by falling in love with a woman from a magical, hidden village, has two children and trains them in martial arts...like you do! Then said wife dies, he grieves, becomes a nasty guy again but the children move away and live humble lives. Then the eldest, Shang-Chi (Simi Liu) and his girlfriend (Awkwafina - in a neatly funny performance) are attacked by bad guys and their adventures begin which will involve lots of kung fu fights and strange monsters. Ben Kingsley has an MCU linking cameo and Michelle Yeoh adds some gravitas as a kindly warrior with all the answers. This is a typical MCU film, it's ok especially if you like this sort of thing and as I say it's entertaining as far as it goes but it's really nothing overly stimulating or new.

When this was initially releasedI was not convinced we needed a sequel to The Shining (1980). But on further viewings (and with the benefit of a Director's Cut) this adaption of Stephen King's novel, a sequel to his original book that mixes elements of King with the original film directed by Stanley Kubrick (a film that King notoriously hated), a rather interesting, fascinating even and in depth horror movie emerges. You still have to have a rather full knowledge of the original film to get involved with Doctor Sleep so if you are unfamiliar with it you'll need to watch that first. This is a horror/thriller in which a grown up Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) has suppressed his 'shining' powers after being haunted by the events at The Overlook Hotel all those years ago. He's drifted around and faced his demons with alcohol until he connects with a young girl who can shine, Abra (Kyliegh Curran). She is being hunted by a group of parasitic nasties led by Rose (Rebecca Ferguson) who murder children with the 'shine' and ingest their life-force (there are clearly ideas from the 1987 film Near Dark at play here). The final confrontation leads back to The Overlook where the film finally settles issues from The Shining. Admittedly the film lacks big scares, and even the attempted sense of dread is lacking at times, this is a film that does have a disquieting atmosphere to it and there are some shocking and disturbing scenes including a sacrificial child murder that is horrific. The film tries to recreate the unique atmospheric feel of the original film and I'm not convinced that truly succeeds. Overall this is a film that deserves a reappraisal as it has a lot going for it. Rebecca Ferguson is a beautiful, seductive evil being, almost like the female vampires of the Hammer films, and McGregor gives the film his all. Give this another try and I think you'll be even more intrigued and satisfied than before.

A rather dull kitchen sink drama set in a Scottish fishing town. The story focuses on Finnie (Mark Stanley), a thirtysomething family man married to the plucky Katie (Amy Manson) and with two sons. He's grown disillusioned with his mundane life and after one tense evening he 'borrows' his eldest son's car and goes on a joyride trying to recapture his youth. He even considers running off with his son's girlfriend! The performances are no doubt good but it's a laborious narrative and you never get to care about anyone.

Quentin Tarantino's 'slave' western inspired by his love of spaghetti westerns and the exploitative 'Mandingo' films of the 70s is a treat even though it's clear he has been unrestrained in the making of this. Firstly it's a film that could do with exorcising some scenes that make the film start to feel laborious, the section that involves Tarantino himself is a good example. This self indulgence taints his work of late and could be seen again in his next film. However that said Django Unchained is joy and is a really good example of Tarantino making movies to be really enjoyed and yet he casually throws in traumatic scenes to jolt, shock and make an audience sit up. This western is set in 1858, an unusual time for the genre, and in the south where slavery is prevalent. It follows the character of Django (Jamie Foxx) freed by bounty hunter Dr Shultz ((an excellent Christoph Woltz) who needs him to track three wanted brothers. They form a partnership and Schultz agrees to help Django to find his wife who s a slave on the plantation of the nasty Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). The violence is typically excessive with gouts of bloodshed that is typical of Tarantino and the screen charisma between Schultz and Django is fantastic. Tarantino gives some of his favourite, and often forgotten actors, roles such as James Remar and Don Stroud and his use of his favourite soundtrack segments from other films along with good songs allows a knowledgeable viewer the chance to spot the homages. As mentioned this film has some difficult stuff to negotiate including a bloody fight between two slaves for the enjoyment of Candie and his killing of a runaway slave by setting dogs on him. These are examples of way Tarantino can blend extreme violence with his representation of his cinematic passions. Overall this is an entertaining epic with some great set pieces and a fun story even if you cringe at the language and the bloodshed.

This is the sort of blockbuster adventure that drives home the necessity to see films at the cinema and not rely on home turf channels. Big, brash, endlessly exciting Top Gun: Maverick is exactly what you'd expect it to be. Whilst it comes 36 years after the first film it manages to recapture the essence of what made that film so popular, with its rocking soundtrack, macho posturing and sheer spectacle. The various links back to the original story work well and for those who loved Top Gun it becomes a real treat. The homoeroticism, so evident in 1986, is toned down to almost nothing here although a beach football match mirrors the famous volleyball episode with the sweat shining and muscle ripped bodies all on display. Politically the film will appeal to American audiences who are tunnel visioned enough believe that they are out there protecting the world and comparisons with Team America: World Police (2004) can't be helped as here we have a story about attacking a uranium plant in some unnamed country, it's war without there actually being one officially. For the rest of the world this is a good old Hollywood adventure film, pure hokum but plenty of panache and all the better for it. Tom Cruise returns as Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, still a lowly Captain but a top fighter pilot. Not popular with his superiors who are trying to get him to retire quietly. But then this uranium plant needs destroying and it's a nigh impossible task so Maverick is called to train a set of young hotshots for the mission including the son of his former partner played by Miles Teller. Of course Maverick ends up on the mission himself because he's still the best and the film turns up the action in the flying sequences where we have a story very reminiscent of 633 Squadron (1964) and a pretty obvious Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) section even turning "Use the Force Luke' into "Don't think, just do". Jennifer Connolly is the new love interest (her character is linked to the first film) but is somewhat underused and Jon Hamm and Ed Harris are the disapproving bosses but the cherry on the top of the casting is Val Kilmer cameoing in a touching scene as Iceman, now an admiral and maverick's friend and protector. It's all great entertainment and absolutely best seen on the biggest cinema screen you can find where you can sit back and remember why you fell in love with cinema in the first place.

A big cult spaghetti western that gained a lot of quite unfair and frankly ridiculous controversy over violence resulting in its being banned in many countries. Viewed today it's clearly a ludicrous imitation of Sergio Leone's far superior A Fistful Of Dollars (1964), with a clumsy script, often identical characters, set pieces and story and Franco Nero barely containing his Clint Eastwood impersonation especially in the film's first half. A mysterious gunfighter arrives in a squalid US/Mexico border town pulling a coffin behind him. He's lightening fast with his gun and has an agenda involving the two warring factions that use the town. With it's whipcrack gunshots, comic book deaths and torture this is the ultimate example of the extreme spaghetti western. This is simply cinema exploiting cinema, Leone did it far more subtly but here it's just done for laughs and style. Yet it has it's big fans and of course its the inspiration of Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), and it's an interesting example of how the Italian western changed. Audiences of the day loved this and yet it took directors like Sam Peckinpah and even Clint Eastwood to channel the feel of the Italian western and remould it back into the genre in their revisionist yet grounded vision of the west. It's quite fun to watch Django today, there's nothing to think about, it's offers nothing new to the western other than pushing a new film movement just a little bit too far.

A tragicomedy that looks at the absurdity of life. It's a wry, existential study set in a remote naturist campsite in the Ardennes forest of Belgium. This is where Patrick (Kevin Janssens), the son of the owners, is the handyman. He's a shy, unassuming, almost a Forrest Gump type chap who happens to be a very talented carpenter but is overshadowed by his domineering father. When one of Patrick's hammers goes missing he becomes obsessed with finding it and after his ailing father dies he becomes more focused on his quest. The campers think he's avoiding grief by his hammer search and a takeover of the campsite by some of the regulars who seek to take advantage of Patrick begins. There are some very tender and touching moments here as well as the farce of the situation. Anyone expecting titillation from the nudity will be disappointed as this is a tale of the human condition and the nakedness of the characters becomes a uniform that highlights the sheer ridiculous ness of modern life. It shifts from sad to absurd quite suddenly making for a very interesting and at times uplifting film. Well worth checking out.