Film Reviews by GI

The influences of David Lynch and Wes Anderson are on display in this rather weird, almost surrealistic tale of obsession adapted from a part autobiographical book by William S. Burroughs. Indeed the narrative plays out in ways that are quite surprising and very strange making for a puzzling film in many ways. The film can potentially be read in many ways including the idea that the drama and events are the visions of an old man on his death bed but this is just one of the readings that occurred to me while watching the film unravel. Set in the early 1950s the story follows Lee (Daniel Craig), a lonely alcoholic, heroin addicted gay man living in Mexico who spends his days wandering between various bars in a crumpled, scruffy white suit occasionally picking up young men for sex. He becomes obsessed with Eugene (Drew Starkey) a young American who appears on the scene and they embark on a passionate relationship although Lee is never sure if Eugene is actually gay or not. Lee persuades Eugene to accompany him into the jungles of South America in search of a doctor who he believes has distilled some sort of hallucinatory drug. Their experiences on this trip are bizarre to say the least. Craig dominates the film and there's a show stopping performance from Lesley Manville as the mad jungle doctor. However it's hard to enjoy this film in that for much of the first part it's Lee just wandering around bars, getting drunk, embarrassing himself and pondering his lot with a fellow American played by Jason Schwartzman. There are some fairly graphic sex scenes and the drug induced surrealism that comes in the latter half of the film is baffling at times. This is not a film I enjoyed but it's certainly one that offers something different!

Set in a dystopian future Rollerball remains a fascinating film. It sits within a sub genre of films that places futuristic and violent games at the centre of the narrative, for example Death Race 2000 (1975), The Running Man (1987), Battle Royale (2000) and the recent Hunger Games series. The links with the violent games of Ancient Rome being the obvious allegory centred around the idea that society and the populace can be controlled by a diet of violent entertainment. Rollerball continues this idea in a world where war has been eliminated and countries and nations abolished. The world is controlled by a single executive who have devised a violent and team based sport to satisfy the base aggressions of people and thus control them. But when a champion player emerges in the form of Jonathan (James Caan) the Executives become concerned and tell him he has to retire but his refusal causes chaos so they change the rules of the game to try and eliminate him. The set piece scenes of the actual game are exciting and violent. Played in a circular track arena with motorcycle and rollerskating players it's a goal scoring game but basically anything goes including killing opponents. There's an interesting vision of the future on offer here and the use of classical music in the soundtrack especially Toccata and Fugue by Bach harks back to the impact of similar music in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). This is a film that was very controversial when it was first released with petitions to have it banned in the UK and for its certification to be raised to X (what would be 18 today). In the event none of this happened and actually the film is not gratuitous nor particularly bloody and these calls simply increased the box office. Viewed today it's really captivating and quite exciting and well worth seeking out if you've never seen it. (Ignore the 2002 remake it missed the point completely and was ill-advised)

If you are a fan of the iconic original Robocop or indeed a student engaged in Film Studies this is a thoughtful, insightful and well made look into the modern film making process. 

Despite the various descriptions of this as a romcom it's really a romantic drama with very little actual comedy. In many ways it's a classic story of a woman torn between two men and hesitating over which to choose. In this case Dakota Johnson playing Lucy, a Manhattan based professional matchmaker much lauded in her company for the success she has in pairing wealthy couples. At the wedding of one, after dealing with the bride's sudden doubts, she meets the groom's brother, Harry (Pedro Pascal), a wealthy bachelor to whom she offers her services although he quickly asserts it's she in whom he is interested. However despite being the perfect catch at the same event she meets her old boyfriend, John (Chris Evans), a struggling, penniless actor moonlighting as a waiter and working at the wedding. A nasty incident involving two of her clients forces Lucy to look at the materialistic and cynical business she is involved in and hence decide whether love trumps material security. The end result is quite predictable and while Johnson, a rather beautiful and very natural actor with a great screen presence, is good the narrative is overall underwhelming and sometimes a little silly. It is good that the film doesn't fall for the cliché of the two male rivals having any sort of face off as it's focused only on Lucy's re-examining of what is important in forming life long romantic relationships. Watchable, entertaining and OK.

I found the newest Star Wars trilogy of films to be somewhat hackneyed in their plotting and far too spectacular for their own good. To be honest the Skywalker story was neatly completed with Return Of The Jedi (1983) and by focusing on trying to keep fans pleased by extended it some big opportunities were lost. But then came Rogue One and in a nutshell we were given exactly what was needed for a new wave of Star Wars films. Indeed if this had been the only film made we would not be disappointed. This one is hands down better than any of the last trilogy. Cleverly the filmmakers opened up a story that is only briefly mentioned in the very first film, Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) and gave fans and new audiences a fantastic spin off that is one of the best films in the entire franchise. You have to be familiar with the original trilogy to understand what is happening but it's a safe bet anyone going to see this will be, and for real fans there are some wonderful links to A New Hope and you tend to spot more of them each time you watch this. Set just before the events of that iconic first film the story concerns the struggling rebellion against the oppressive galaxy empire discovering that a new super weapon is being built. Desperate to find out about it and hopefully how to destroy it they turn to criminal Jyn (Felicity Jones) who's estranged father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen) is the chief designer of the Death Star. Jyn agrees to help as she believes her father is not guilty of siding with the empire. She along with rebel fighter Cassian (Diego Luna) go on a mission to find Galen but both have different agendas. There's plenty of action, humour and some new and old characters especially the fantastic recreation of Peter Cushing as Governor Tarkin. A superb slice of sci-fi entertainment and now they've got that average trilogy out of the way perhaps we can have some more like this, after all there's plenty of other spin-off stories to be mined from the original trilogy.

Watching Michael Bay films is usually like ordering a cocktail only to find it looks fantastic but tastes like water. The Rock is an exception. Don't get me wrong it's nothing more than an action thriller but it is really entertaining and not least because of the screen chemistry between Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. The script is humorous and it's rumoured that Quentin Tarantino was involved with it. With Ed Harris as the bad guy and a good support cast including Michael Biehn and William Forsythe you can't help but sit back and just enjoy this lovely slice of Hollywood hokum. Harris plays a disaffected Army General who is mightily annoyed so with his team of loyal soldiers steals some chemical weapons, sites them on Alcatraz and threatens to fire them at San Francisco unless the government pays its dues to the families of soldiers killed on covert missions. The only surefire way to stop him is to send in a team but no-one knows how to infiltrate the old prison until the FBI admit there is one man, John Mason (Connery), a British SAS agent who has previously escaped from Alcatraz. It turns out Mason has been incarcerated for 30 years by the US for some dodgy reasons. They also need to send in a chemical weapons expert so Stanley Goodspeed (Cage) is recruited. Suffice to say the plan quickly goes awry but cue chases, gun battles, and a neat twisty plot. Cage and Connery engage in some great banter and the set pieces especially in the bowels of Alcatraz are brilliant. The film boasts the typical Bay action set pieces, car chases with slo-mo crashes, fast shoot outs and also puts aside any trashy romances. Connery gets to send up his 007 persona with exactly the right dose of wry humour. Sometimes all you want in a film is just a couple of hours of sheer excitement and fun, look no further, this fits the bill perfectly.

A strange film recently restored and released set in Ireland in 1810 depicted as a land of mud, barren where everyone is poor and superstitious. In a small community a woman, Maura (Mary Ryan), is bullied by a neighbouring family for being a bit different but when strange events happen Maura is suspected of being a witch but helped by a strange travelling minstrel. It's all a little bizarre in what is a folk horror type of film and often hailed as an authentic vision of early 19th century Ireland. It may well be but as a film its low production values and somewhat weird narrative make this for dedicated fans of the genre rather than as a film that offers others anything particularly enthralling.

A stylish and effective haunted house story that is probably influenced by Henry James The Turn Of The Screw and its various film adaptations. A fog bound, isolated old country house scenario with creepy shadows and subtle happenings to keep the tension switched on. However the film has a neat twist that sets it apart from your usual film of this kind and it avoids unnecessary sudden jump scares. Nicole Kidman is excellent here as Grace, a mother who awaits in her Jersey country mansion with her two young children, Ann (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley) for the return of her husband who's been away fighting in the Second World War, which is now over. The arrival, unannounced, of three new servants begins a chain of spooky events leading Grace to believe the house is haunted. The mystery element of the narrative is neatly scripted and keeps you guessing and even if you have previously seen this film it's worth another look in order to spot the subtle hints that litter throughout. A solidly entertaining ghost film that is clever and well presented.

A pleasant enough Harry Potter type fantasy film based on a series of books. This is an Australian production from Jim Henson's company and boasts a strong cast with Christoph Waltz and Sam Neill giving it their all. Miranda Otto is in the mix too but is rather underused but is riveting when oil screen. The story centres around plain and ordinary Paul ((Patrick Gibson) who somehow gets a job as an intern at a venerable city company where he quickly witnesses rather bizarre things going on and falls for fellow intern Sophie (Sophie Wilde). Going along with all the weirdness he sees he is enamoured when the big boss (Waltz) gives him a secret task to find the door of the title which is missing in the labthyrinth that makes up the building. Magic, wizards, goblins are all here for the Potter fan although the stories a bit laboured and occasionally crosses into dark territory. It's a decent family film for those that like this sort of magical fantasy although I'm not convinced it'll lead to a long series.

Director Paul Verhoeven's dark, comical sci-fi film remains a real treat, it's a very sharply observed satire on corporate America and well ahead of its time. Thematically it foresees the obsession with technology and materialism and condemns capitalist consumerism observing the decline of morality and basic human goodness. Set in the near future and crime has overrun 'Old Detroit'. The dominant corporation that controls almost everything is OCP who have taken over management of the police. Murders of officers is on the rise and they are threatening to strike, which will damage OCP's plans to build a new modern city. The company Vice President Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) has plans to introduce robots to replace the police but unfortunately they keep malfunctioning. His rival Bob (Miguel Ferrer) sets into operation an alternative, his cyborg Robocop program. All he needs is a suitable cop to get murdered in order to get a suitable subject for his creation. Officer Murphy (Paul Weller) is viciously murdered on duty and his body is turned over for transition into a cyborg. But Bob's plans soon go awry as his creation has retained some human emotions and Jones is out for revenge for having his own plans upset. What most people will remember about this film is the graphic violence and in the 'Director's Cut' it is even more gratuitous. But Verhoeven was clever here because the cuts that were made to the film rendered the violence shocking whereas his exaggerated violence becomes darkly comic and satirical which is the intention of the film. Quentin Tarantino, for example, has since grasped this concept extremely well. In any event there are some highly memorable scenes especially the infamous murder of Murphy and when one of the bad guys falls into a vat of toxic waste. A hugely clever film and a very influential one. A film to definitely rewatch and certainly to check out if you've never seen it. (Please ignore the pointless 2014 remake it missed the whole point by miles!)

Robin Hood has been an enduring film character from the silent film age and into the 21st century. This is an interesting addition in that it takes the legendary story and tells us what happened after those events ended. Director Richard Lester showed in his 'Musketeers' films that he had a unique style in the historical adventure genre with his roustabout humour and a modern twist in presenting the narrative. This film isn't as funny nor as enjoyable as the Musketeer ones but it is still a solid romantic adventure with a top cast. Robin (Sean Connery) returns to Sherwood twenty years after his outlaw days fighting the Sheriff of Nottingham. He's aging and tired having been in the army of King Richard (Richard Harris) fighting in France. On his return he finds that the Sheriff (Robert Shaw) still commands the area and his old flame, Marian (Audrey Hepburn) is now a nun. But soon events force Robin once again to take on the tyranny of the Sheriff in defence of Marian. The film is beautifully shot and has some muted fight scenes but overall it's an enjoyable adventure film with Nicol Williamson, Denholm Elliott and Ian Holm as support. It's a quite clever idea to tell a story of these protagonists and lovers as they've become older and utilises some aspects of the ancient legends to weave a good story.

An interesting British film especially for it's setting in the early 80s and notable as the film debut of Gary Oldman. It's a social drama that follows a group of young Royal Navy seamen who are due to go on a six month tour and are spending the few days before departure in Plymouth and in particular a notorious club and bar area where they encounter violence, rivalries and grapple with their relationships with each other, their parents and the locals. It's recently been restored and made available and is styled similar to the work of Alan Clarke and Ken Loach. Gritty, coarse and with a documentary feel this is a film worth discovering and it boasts Timothy Spall in an early role and several actors who later made their name on British TV. A tough drama that really nails the time.

Saoirse Ronan is absolutely mesmerising with a powerful, even fierce performance as an alcoholic struggling with recovery amidst a dysfunctional family and an almost overwhelming desire to return to the happiness that she found in drinking. The film's title refers to the name given to any area of coastal farmland in the Orkney Isles that is barren due to the extreme weather conditions. It is a metaphorical reference to the violent and destructive themes that run through the film as well as the possibly pain and invigoration that healing brings too. Either way this is a compelling study of addiction with Ronan really delivering especially with her ability to reveal the hedonistic drunkeness contrasted with the blankness she feels as she realises she has to part ways with a lifestyle that gives her joy. She plays Rona, a post graduate student living in London with her caring boyfriend (Papa Essiedu), but her increased drinking results in violent episodes and she loses him and friends and is forced to return to her home on the Orkneys in order to try and deal with her alcoholism. Her parents are living apart but still run a sheep farm on the islands, her father (Stephen Dillane) being a bi-polar drinker prone to episodes of emotional withdrawal from everything around him and her mother (Saskia Reeves) has turned to christianity. Getting a small job with the RSPB Rona has to try and survive her desire to drink and find the joy again that it brought to her by being isolated and involved in the wild and lonely island wilderness. This is a sobering addiction drama, disturbing, frightening even and utterly superb.

There is an element of 'marmite' about this film, you either love it or hate it. It certainly was a massive box office hit back in 1991 and as everyone probably remembers it spawned a huge No.1 hit for Bryan Adams for its love song (only heard over the end credits). A song that is remarkably good but it stayed so long at the No. 1 spot it became increasingly tiresome! Anyway, Kevin Costner, at the time, a huge star, is Robin and controversially he kept his American accent for the part which still causes some consternation in England but really it doesn't matter because the film is actually great fun. It's a fantasy Hollywood retelling of the legend of Robin Hood and adds some great humour, some dark magic and plays fast and loose with the myth. It adds the muslim character, Azeem (Morgan Freeman) (actually stolen from the BBC TV series), and creates a different back story for Robin. The film is best remembered for the outstanding, comic performance of Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham who apparently ad-libbed many of the now famous lines. In this version Robin is a nobleman who escapes capture in Jerusalem and with his new friend Azeem returns to England, discovers his father has been murdered and that tyranny reigns under the evil eye of the Sheriff. Declared outlaw Robin meets a band of peasants hiding in Sherwood Forest, decides to lead them in rebellion and falls in love with the beautiful Marian (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) who is also coveted by the nasty Sheriff. There's plenty of great sword fights and battles, a good support cast of Christian Slater as Will Scarlett and Sean Connery pops up in an uncredited cameo. This is a great matinee adventure film and in the 4K UHD BluRay release scenes have been reinserted that were removed against the director's wishes in order to get to a more family oriented film. Even back in this is still good family entertainment and it will make you laugh and it's a worthy addition to a film character story that has endured for decades.

I have to admit to leaving the cinema somewhat underwhelmed after seeing this on its initial release. Then I was persuaded sometime later to watch the released 'Director's Cut' on BluRay and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. With 15 minutes of extra footage the film managed to gain a grittier feel and the decision to mix more history and forsake the perhaps tired old myths of the Robin Hood story actually works very well. Ridley Scott is a master at the grand epic historical drama and he lets rip here with the huge battle scenes, the spectacular rendition of medieval England and whilst there's restraint in the violence (the extended cut is bloodier) it is still a film made for adults. As the oldest actor to have played the title character Russell Crowe sort of channels his Maximus persona rather well and derision over his accent is all very well but who cares, this is a Ridley Scott film and you just have to immerse yourself in it. Robin is an archer in Richard The Lionheart's army battling in France. When the King is killed the army disperses and Robin and his friends make their way to the coast coming across an ambush of Sir Robert Loxley carrying the King's crown. Robin assumes Robert's identity to get a ship home and the ruse becomes the main plot device as he meets Robert's wife Marian (Cate Blanchett) and his father (Max Von Sydow). The story is actually rather well thought out and the blossoming romance between Robin and Marian is quite touching. A good support cast including Mark Strong as the principal baddie, Oscar Isaac as King John, Matthew Mcfadyen as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Danny Huston as King Richard and William Hurt and Léa Seydoux add support. Visually spectacular this is a film worth rediscovering. A pity that the expected sequel has been abandoned but if like me you were unimpressed the first time then try again it'll be worth it.