Film Reviews by GI

Dark, gothic avenger narrative based on a comic strip and set in a dystopian cityscape. It's all very atmospheric and fun to watch although the film is infamous in that it's star Brandon Lee died as a result of an on set incident making the film rather poignant in some ways. He plays Eric, a guitarist, who is murdered along with his fiancée, the night before their wedding by a violent gang. A year later Eric is resurrected and guided by a mysterious crow to avenge their deaths. He hunts down the gang killing each in turn eventually leading to the big baddie played by Michael Wincott. There's plenty of violence, the addition of the supernatural element gives the film an edge and I suspect the influence of Highlander (1986) may at play here and I'm convinced the character of Eric and the style of the violence in turn influenced John Wick (2014). In any event this is an adult comic book film that entertains and has that wet, moody visual style that makes it like a goth metal rock video.

One of the greatest westerns ever made and an important American film in its own right. Beautifully filmed mostly on location with the back drop of snowy mountains and constant storm tossed clouds. This is essentially a range war narrative with a big cattle baron attempting to chase away humble homesteaders who resist him. But thematically this is a film about the forging of community and in that sense it has a political and moral slant to it. Ultimately the need for violence to resolve matters is the climax of the story. The plot follows a relatively standard and classical story line of a land disrupted by powerful forces the people cannot resist until the arrival of the stranger who, by violence, restores the peace but cannot himself share in it. Joe Starrett (Van Heflin) is a small farmer living with his wife (Jean Arthur) and son (Brandon De Wilde). Along with other farmers they are harassed by Ryker (Emile Meyer) a rich cattle man who wants the farmers off the range. He uses intimidation and threats but Joe keeps the community together but it's beginning to crack. Then a stranger, Shane (Alan Ladd) rides out of the wilderness and finds some solace with Joe and his family. Ryker hires a ruthless gunfighter (Jack Palance) to start murdering the homesteaders but Shane is also a gunman and decides to stake all to protect the community. Ladd was a strange choice for the central role and this is probably his best film, he's not an actor that you'd think has the depth to play a western anti hero but it's difficult to think of anyone else playing it now and its interesting how the character maintains a mystery even at the end. Director George Stevens also amplified the gunfire to make it more realistic and the shootings are very realistic for the time and showed death by gunshot far more grittily than previously seen in films. Hugely influential on film makers such as Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah and Martin Scorsese this is a significant film and certainly one you should check out if it's somehow passed you by.

A dark, brooding story of toxic masculinity and ultimately vengeance set in the Irish countryside where two sheep farming families harbour grudges while dealing with their own family strife. American actor Christopher Abbott, impressively able to speak Irish here, plays Michael, who seems unable to ever please his bullying and ailing father (Colm Meaney) especially as there's past trauma in their family. Michael also has to deal with neighbouring farmers Gary (Paul Ready) and his son Jack (Barry Keoghan). There's an old hatred between the two farmers aggravated by Gary's wife formerly being Michael's girlfriend. When Jack stupidly steals two of Michael's best rams it sets of a chain of events that leads to violence. The film has an interesting structure and you get to see the events from different perspectives which makes the film all the more engaging. There's a savage and impressive music score too in this great first feature from director Chris Andrews although I found the ending a little underwhelming.

Director Nicolas Roeg's bizarre exploration of a mismatched relationship and told within a survival narrative that includes romance and bitterness and a journey of self discovery. Loosely based on a true story this has Amanda Donohoe as a young, bored woman, Lucy, who answers a 'lonely hearts' advertisement of a middle aged man wanting a 'wife' to spend a year on a tropical desert island alone with him. She warms to Gerald, a hedonistic and somewhat contradictory character and accepts his invitation. Oliver Reed plays Gerald in what is very clearly an interpretation of his own personality. And whilst this adventure is Gerald's idea and dream it's Lucy who embraces the island and the freedom it offers. However they are both unprepared for the rigours of the experience and whilst Gerald still harbours the fantasy of a free love sexual life on the island Lucy is more for the nature and pleasures that the isolation brings causing significant strain on their strange relationship with each other. The film charts an interesting relationship though and Roeg is clearly attempting to highlight the contrast between a dream and reality. Certainly a film for fans of this director although it lacks his trademark surrealistic story telling.

A highly entertaining thrill ride. Ninety minutes of pure excitement that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. Blake Lively plays Nancy, a surfer who has had dreams of surfing off the idyllic Mexican beach that her late mother loved but doesn't count on being trapped just 200 yards from shore when a predatory shark begins to stalk her. Ever since Jaws (1975) cinema has occasionally returned to that morbid fear of being in the sea with a hungry shark and there have been some dodgy films as a result. But this is simply fantastic fun. The narrative is essentially a survivalist thriller with one character (some minor players come and go!!) who becomes trapped on a small rock whilst a very large shark circles around and the tide is rising meaning she'll soon lose her sanctuary. The film is quite tense and Lively is really good, with minimal dialogue and a simple plot that does go in some unexpected directions. I really recommend this because it really entertains.

Danny Boyle's first film and what a belter it is too. A British thriller with three flatmates Juliet (Kerry Fox), David (Christopher Eccleston) and Alex (Ewan McGregor) who all live in a spacious Edinburgh apartment. They are looking for a someone to join them as they have four bedrooms and eventually take on the enigmatic Hugo (Keith Allen). Unfortunately Hugo dies in his room leaving behind a suitcase stuffed with money. After much debate the three decide to keep the money and dispose of Hugo's body. A fateful decision as soon some nasty thugs come looking for the money and the friends begin to fall out especially David who is the most affected by their actions. A serious film but with distinctive dark comic undertones exploring the moral dilemma of whether to keep a life changing amount of money but by doing so means committing a horrendous criminal act first. The narrative never lets you know how things will turn out as the three friends change allegiances as circumstances unfold. The film is chillingly sinister but also smart, stylish and very original. All the performances are superb including Ken Stott as a nosy police detective and this is a film that shows just how good independent cinema can be. A must see film.

Like all rock music documentaries it's an easier watch if you're a fan of the subject. Here is another Blur documentary, there's been a few over the years, which covers a year when they got back together, made a new album after eight years and went on tour culminating at Wembley. The four are all affable lads with Damon Albarn looking like a scruffy street trader (Albert Steptoe!!), Graham Coxon moaning about his dodgy knees and sounding like Dudley Moore, Alex James chain smokes the whole time and Dave Rowntree ends up on crutches! They all reflect and have opinions on various aspects of life and being English but the apparent deliberate decision to truncate all the songs lets the viewer and fan down aa tad. An interesting and engaging documentary from a very talented band although Pauline Black of Selecter has the most meaningful and thought provoking comment regarding the state of English society.

Highly impressive British gangster film that almost defies categorisation but is essentially a redemptive love story. It's a very unique narrative falling into various genres including crime, heist, romance and even horror with some of its more surreal moments. It's certainly a visionary film from a very talented director in Jonathan Glazer. Ray Winstone, in a stunning performance, is 'Gal' Dove, a former London criminal who now lives in happy seclusion in Spain with his wife, Deedee (Amanda Redman) and their two friends Aitch (Cavan Kendall) and Jackie (Julianne White). They form a sort of small family unit and live a contented existence in the sun. Then, without warning, Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) arrives to recruit Gal for a big robbery back home. Gal refuses the offer but Don is a psychopath and won't take no for an answer. Kingsley is very memorable as the mad and unhinged Logan, he's one of the great screen psychos and quite frightening as you can imagine that there's a real Don Logan out there somewhere! Glazer has constructed this film in a wonderfully refreshing style, with images and scenes designed to express the very deep love of Gal and Deedee and how they have found redemption from their previous lives together. Into their idyllic world comes the destructive force of Don Logan, his arrival is foretold in the film's opening scene and in various dream sequences. The central heist of the film is also exciting with a gang led by the dark, depraved and sinister Teddy Bass (Ian McShane). The film is littered with great moments, it's funny, shocking and highly entertaining. James Fox also has a cameo. This is a top end British crime film that I guarantee you'll enjoy. If you've never seen this then it's a must see. Highly recommended.

Ultimately this is a disappointing film that juggles the facts with often ridiculous side stories that effectively undermine this story. The biggest issue here is the performance of Rami Malek, An actor who always seems to play everything the same way and here he's faintly ridiculous and almost cartoonish, with the script attempting to make his character a moral hero with silly side plots. He plays Douglas Kelley, a US Army psychiatrist who is drafted in to interview the high ranking Nazis captured at the end of the Second World War and to nominally assess their ability to stand trial but really to discover what defence they may put forward at what will be the biggest trial of the times. The film focuses on his relationship with Hermann Göring played deliciously by Russell Crowe. Göring is a clever manipulative character who uses Kelley to plan his strategy to outfox the prosecutors. However the film drifts off into a plot where Kelley disobeys orders and seeks out Göring's wife and passes letters between them as he begins to feel they have developed a friendship. A friendship he is forced to betray. The film plays fast and loose with the actual events and it's very focused on American attitudes and assumptions. This is a shame as it lets the story, a potentially much more interesting one, slide. History shows Göring committed suicide before execution and this is portrayed in the film as a cause of huge rage to his American captors who feel they've been robbed of the chance to hang him. But in some unpleasant revenge of the film maker the film can't help but show the deeply nasty execution of another prisoner, a scene that is entirely gratuitous and unnecessary. Equally the film's coda gives Kelley a speech that is blatantly designed to send a warning to modern Trumpian America. All this weakens the film and makes it one that is disappointing. There is the inevitable focus on the Holocaust with some unpleasant real footage and in this the film omits other issues that were directed at the Nazis on trial. Crowe gives his role everything and is strangely very good casting. Michael Shannon also excels as the lead American prosecutor aided by Richard E. Grant as his British deputy. Overall a film that doesn't fully deliver and one that is spoilt by Malek's twitchy, over played performance.

A cliché ridden and disappointing biopic of Alan McGee, the famed Glaswegian record producer who had bands such as Oasis, Primal Scream and The Jesus & Mary Chain on his books. Ewan Bremner plays the drug addled and alcoholic McGee as the film tries to be one long and ultimately frustrating music video sadly concentrating more on McGee's addictions and his hallucinations that it fails to get across his talent for spotting exciting new bands. It's there but lost somewhat in multiple scenes of wild and mood driven tantrums. There's an attempt at comedy but it's just not that funny as it potentially tries to repeat the originality of 24 Hour Party People (2002) which hit all the right comedy targets. There's no doubt this is an interesting story and fans of the Briut Pop revival of the 90s will possibly enjoy the story of McGee but ultimately it's a bit of a let down as a film.

It may have allegedly achieved some kind of cult status but this is simply a silly and puerile 80s teen comedy that is so overloaded with slapstick jokes that it becomes increasingly tiresome. It's as if the director, Savage Steve Holland, thought that was what a comedy needed. There's no sense of subtlety or even any well written comedic set pieces, it's just an onslaught of utter childishness. John Cusack is Lane, a high school student who becomes depressed when his girlfriend dumps him for the school hunk. He has some suicidal thoughts as he tries to deal with the rejection until he meets Monique (Diane Franklin), the French student staying with his awful neighbours. There's not even any attempt and anchoring the issue of teenage love and loss within the comedy. It's a complete load of tosh.

The films of Ingmar Bergman are very celebrated and this one is possibly his most famous. It's a moody, dark and brooding film that visually shows the influence of the films of Akira Kurosawa. There's complex mix of ideas here about the meaning of death, the questionable influence of religion and has a range of perspectives driven through the various characters. Set in the 14th Century during the Black Death and a knight (Max Von Sydow) and his squire (Gunnar Björnstrand) are travelling across Sweden on their way to the Knight's castle in a journey of return from the Crusades. The Knight encounters the Grim Reaper (Bengt Ekerot), who has come for him, and challenges him to a game of chess which if he wins he can live on. As their journey across country continues they are joined by an entourage of fellow travellers and witness death, suffering and all the range of human emotions until the chess game is finished and all their fates are then decided. In many ways the themes outlined here are timeless and the allegorical structure of the film makes it contemporarily significant so it's worth seeking out if you've never seen it.

This is a real action epic with a driving narrative energy even though it's a very long film and considering when it was made. The story has taut pacing, an innovative editing style and cinematography utilising multiple cameras, a sharp sense of humour and swift, violent action. It's a real masterpiece of film and one that you should see at least once. Set in the sixteenth century in feudal Japan and a humble and poor farming village is plagued by a bandit gang who annually rob them of their precious food supplies. The village elder implores them to hire samurai warriors to protect and fight off the bandits. But the villagers have little to pay and are suspicious of samurai who they don't trust and have murdered in the past. Some of the villagers recruit Kambei (Takashi Shimura) after they see him rescue a child held hostage by a thug and he agrees to help them. With his guidance they set about hiring six more and these seven help train the villagers to fight a battle with the bandits who have the advantage of numbers, horses and guns. This film builds gradually but surely towards the climactic battle fought out in torrential rain and mud splattered streets. It is an exciting film and tempered with a sense of melancholy and there's a poetic serenity to the story even when it explodes into action. Akira Kurosawa uses some slow motion to emphasise the lyrical nature of his story at moments of violent death. Well ahead of its time and much applauded since this really is a fantastic film, shot on location and featuring Toshiro Mifune who is probably one of Japans greatest actors. The theatrical acting style may appear unusual when viewed today but look past this and you'll see some fantastic characters. A real treat and highly recommended if you've never seen it. Many will of course recognise the story as it was remade by Hollywood in 1960 as The Magnificent Seven.

Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons are excellent in Yorgos Lanthimos' conspiracy surreal thriller that taps deep into the plethora of zany conspiracy theorist ideas that litter the world and in particular the USA; from flat earthers to scientologists to deep state, it's all sort of referenced here in subtle and in some obvious ways. This is a dark comedy that explodes in shocking ways and concludes in a way you'll either have guessed, be surprised by or reject completely. Stone plays Michelle, an icy CEO of a big Pharma corporation who has a self focused regimented life and is one day kidnapped by two has beens, Teddy (Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis), with Teddy especially convinced that Michelle is an alien and is responsible for the fate of his mother (no spoilers!). They shave her head believing hair is the way she communicates with her spaceship which is due to arrive in a few days. Teddy is a beekeeper and believes Michelle's species are responsible for their decline and hence the slow death of the planet. But Michelle is very clever and to escape her predicament plays her own mind games against her two abductors. The film is a little laboured in the middle section as the main protagonists verbally spar with each other but in many ways the wait is worth waiting for if you can deal with how the film plays out. There is though little doubt that this is a really interesting and original film that fans of this director will be familiar with. I'm sure a second viewing is required to seek out the clues that are no doubt littered throughout.

With some complex themes that take a bit of unravelling this is a film that has the hallmarks of a contemporary erotic thriller but leaves you questioning whether it's hit the marks. There are some 'thriller' vibes although this is best thought of as a drama that tries to key into the sexual passiveness of a woman who has fallen into the role of simply pleasing her husband. Nicole Kidman plays Romy, a very successful executive of a major company, married to Jacob (Antonio Banderas) and with two teenage daughters. She is confident and successful but is sexually unfulfilled even though her and Jacob have regular sex, after which she scurries off to the bathroom to masturbate. Romy is drawn to a new intern at her company, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), who may have an agenda, but he certainly manages to tap into her needs and they begin a bizarre affair, with him occasionally hinting at the power to expose her if she doesn't play his game. That game is the film's disappointment in that we never are given any confirmation of what he is actually about. In the final analysis Samuel disappears from the story while Romy picks up the pieces of her life at work and home. Where the film really slides is in the lack of menace and sense of danger. There is the affair of a female boss having an affair with a young employee, a situation she is acutely aware is a risk for her, but the film hints that that risk is all she needs to be sexually fulfilled and while Samuel is a manipulator it's left unclear what he gets from the encounter other than getting an older woman to lap milk from a saucer! Kidman brings her usual sophisticated performance to the role and Dickinson excels too but the narrative is doesn't deliver the thrill and danger that the film implies.