Film Reviews by GI

The Superhero film genre has become arguably one of the most popular cinematic film genres in the last fifty years and it continues to grow. So it was inevitable that films that seek to subvert the genre and the narrative tropes would come along eventually. Most that have looked into the genre as a social phenomena have often opted for comedy as a way of understanding the appeal but Watchmen, based on a popular graphic novel, attempts to look at superheroes as flawed, as essentially people with power and how it corrupts or emotionally damages them. Set in an alternate 1980s where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and who then spawned a new generation that take on the American Dream and open it up for scrutiny. Here the heroes, known as The Watchmen, have inevitably become political and corrupted. Assisting Richard Nixon to stay in power, ensuring that America wins the Vietnam war (indeed making Vietnam a new state of the USA) until eventually the public begin to turn against them so some opt for obscurity and retire to private life, and some publicly become good Samaritans, the most powerful, Dr Manhattan (Billy Crudup), helping the USA to build a new energy system. With a nuclear war brewing between the US and USSR, one of the most violent of the Watchmen is murdered which brings others out of retirement to find out who's behind it. The superheroes here are all unique creations although they are based around the DC comic book heroes, Dr Manhattan is the Superman of this world for instance, but they are viewed here as violent, morally flawed, emotionally as conflicted as normal people and shown enjoying fighting and killing and having sex. There's a convoluted plot on offer here that is quite involved and there's plenty of very gutsy violence on offer which does make the film very exciting. Overall this is a very clever look at the genre and cult of superheroes and although the film is epic in length and quite complex at times, it is a bold, entertaining and stimulating film. Repeated viewings reveal lots of details that are not immediately obvious the first time of watching

A terrific cult action film, a fantasy story with a Greek mythology based storyline. In director Walter Hill's 'ultimate edition' it's a comic book styled story that is great fun and very stylish. Set in New York the leader of the biggest street gang tries to organise all the rival gangs to control the city but at a gathering to arrange this he is murdered. A gang from Coney Island, The Warriors, are mistakenly blamed and the word goes out the eight members at the meeting are to be caught or killed. They have to fight their way back home. This cues one big chase movie with violent action set pieces as they encounter various gangs along their journey. The different gangs all have an individual identity and many dress in bizarre uniforms such as the Baseball Furies, who paint their faces and arm themselves with baseball bats. It's all a bit daft but works really well, mainly due to the great use of iconic camerawork to capture the night time rain soaked streets reflecting the lights of the city. The fights are great and Hill employs an effective use of slow motion at key moments. This is one of those films that has a huge fanbase because it's creates an exciting mystical image of gang life, no-one is attempting to make a realistic documentary-drama here this is an adult fairy tale, a story of young men who live by a code and it is, in short, absolutely fabulous.

Despite its many flaws this science fiction film, adapted with a high degree of accuracy from the famous novel by H.G. Wells, is actually very entertaining and does have some of director Steven Spielberg's innovative flashes of genius. The main problem is actually in the writing. Moving the setting from Edwardian England to modern day USA is a clever move and works well but the narrative never seems to make up its mind what it wants to focus on so there is a mix and match of themes and story lines going on that don't always work well. Wells is probably responsible for the idea in fiction that any visiting aliens will be malevolent and alien invasion stories are nothing new in cinema and TV, indeed this story has been adapted for both before. Spielberg sets the action through the eyes of one dysfunctional family trying to survive and principally the experience of Rachel (Dakota Fanning), the young daughter of Ray (Tom Cruise). Unfortunately the narrative doesn't stick to this and the film veers about somewhat. But there are some great scenes too not least the first reveal of the alien 'tripods' (based very much on the original novels description), the sinking of the Hudson River ferry and also the multiple bodies seen floating down the river and a speeding train totally afire hurtling through a town. These are all impressive. On the downbeat is a rather weird relationship crisis between Cruise' unconventional father and his teenage son (Justin Chatwin) which reaches a peak at the most ridiculous time and it's a story arc that detracts from the film's essential motives. In short, a massive lightening storm heralds the arrival of alien invaders who, in giant machines, hunt, kill and feed on humans. Ray and his two children, who he is looking after for a weekend hit the road to try and escape with a plan to get to the children's mother, from whom Ray is divorced. Like similar films the main drama comes from the actions of other survivors rather than the aliens but this film has an interesting take on the book and where some scenes appear implausible they are actually lifted from the novel. Perhaps trying to be too respectful to the novel has flawed the film a little too much. I get the impression that budget restraint may have restricted some of the set pieces being fully realised and as a result they lack the suspense necessary to work well. But if you like a well made science fiction film this remains very watchable.

Walkabout is an important modern film, a poetic, almost dreamy survival film that looks at the role of nature and of man's loss of connection with it. There's a beauty in the cinematography of the Australian outback and the dilapidation and corruption of the modern world. A teenage girl (Jenny Agutter - in her first film) and her younger brother (Lucien John) are taken on a picnic into the outback by their geologist father. He abandons them there and they are left wandering, lost and without food and water. Nearly dying they are found by a young Aboriginal boy (David Gulpilil) who is on his ritual 'walkabout', a separation from his tribe in preparation for adulthood. They tag along with him and find the world around them has more to offer than just death. There's a magical element to this story and there's a theme of sexual awakening in the girl and her saviour, but the clash of culture leads to tragedy. British director, Nicolas Roeg, here making his first solo directorial film, adds that unique style he often displayed that subverts the images so you aren't sure what is real and what maybe imagined. But this isn't a confusing film, far from it, this is a impressive story of modern day survival, against the odds, and a rediscovery of our place in the world. Highly recommended if you've never seen it.

Archive is a science fiction film that owes a fair bit to Blade Runner (1982), has similarity in theme and vision to Ex Machina (2014) and has a neat visual homage to Metropolis (1927). It's an entertaining film and has a very unexpected twist that I didn't see coming. The story links two separate future technologies into a paranoid thriller plot that works quite well. Theo James plays George, a genius robotics and AI scientist, who is installed in a remote laboratory deep inside a Japanese forest. Loads of things keep going wrong with the building so he's often distracted by having to conduct repairs. His work is the development of android robotics and he is assisted by his first two prototypes while he builds a much more advanced third. But George is also grieving for his wife recently killed in a car accident and at the laboratory he has an 'Archive' box in which the consciousness of his wife is retained for a limited time. This is a technology run by a sinister corporation who routinely arrive to inspect the box. What they and his own boss don't realise is George is planning to break all the rules by transferring his wife's consciousness into the new android he's developing. Even the new android is against the idea! The support cast of Stacy Martin as the wife and Toby Jones as the Archive boss assist in lifting the film even further. This is an enjoyable look at issues of what is real, and 'I think therefore I am' philosophy wrapped up in a good, solid film that works on several levels. Well worth checking out.

This is most definitely not up there with Woody Allen's best films and his sheer productivity is going to shove up some clunkers occasionally but this isn't that bad either. It's a gentle, occasionally witty romantic comedy, a little contrived, sometimes a bit flat and sometimes quite funny. Much of the good in it comes from Elle Fanning who gives her usual intelligent and fun performance as Ashleigh, a student who has been given an assignment to interview a film director for her college newspaper. The interview is to take place in Manhattan so her wealthy and fey fellow student boyfriend, Gatsby (Timothée Chalamet) plans to go along so they can have a weekend in New York together. But once there they end up separated and get into a series of encounters which affects their relationship. There's a good support cast including Liv Schreiber, Jude Law, Rebecca Hall and Selena Gomez but they fail to lift the film beyond a mildly amusing, reasonably pleasant comedy which is ok if that's what you want.

This is still one of the loveliest and funniest of romcoms and its clever avoidance of cliché makes it still a refreshing film to sit and watch even after you've seen it so many times. The beautiful autumnal scenes and views of New York are neatly balanced to be interpreted as romantic or symbolic of loneliness picking up on the emotions of the two central characters played by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. Being single and thirty-something is viewed here as being trapped in a wilderness where only true love can reveal the way out and the journey of the two and indeed to a lesser extent their two friends (Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher) shows the difficulty in recognising where your true happiness lies. Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) meet as two young people just leaving University when they share a ride to New York together. On the journey they disagree and annoy each other mainly over Harry's assertion that men and women can never be friends because sex always gets in the way. Years later they meet again and having both recently ended a relationship they become friends but resist the obvious love that each of them has for the other until one day.....! With a great script and of course a very famous and still uproariously funny scene in a restaurant this is a film that is heart warming, hilarious, and one to watch on a cold evening snuggled in front of the fire and if you've never seen it?...well you need to asap.

A taut, suspense thriller with the undertones of gothic horror and two remarkable central performances. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford play two ageing sisters, Jane and Blanche, who live together in a decaying Beverley Hills mansion. Jane was a child vaudeville star with their father who doted on her but she failed to make it as an adult movie actress. Whereas Blanche, ignored by her father, did become a much beloved film star but after an incident in their car was left paralysed from the waist down. Now Jane, out of a deep rooted jealousy, embittered, alcoholic and bordering on psychosis torments Blanche who is unable to leave her room. As Jane's madness becomes more extreme Blanche is desperate to get help but has no way of communicating with anyone outside the house. Filmed in black and white the film has the feel of a haunted house story and Davis' caked make up makes her a grotesque and frightening figure whilst there are elements of her performance that draw in sympathy, it is an outstanding performance. The story is a dig at the Hollywood lifestyle and the destruction that celebrity and fame can cause and in that sense there's a sort of irony in the casting of two of America's major female stars from the classic years of Hollywood. Crawford is equally good here, a former glamour actress she almost plays herself but shows the vulnerability of her character in her desperation to control her sister's more violent rages. This is a dark tale, wonderfully directed and controlled to build the tension. It's a masterpiece of 60s American cinema and definitely a film you should see.

This 70s science fiction film looks very dated today especially the scenes of futuristic technology but its still a remarkable idea and its influence can be found in many, often more famous, films that followed. The Terminator (1984) is an obvious one, as well as The Truman Show (1998). John Carpenter has admitted its influence in Halloween (1978) in the relentless character of Michael Myers for instance. What is interesting is Westworld's prediction that film as an entertainment will develop where the viewer becomes a participant (obviously computer gaming has almost achieved that). Set in the near future the film concerns a holiday resort called Delos which offers three amusement parks for adults where they can interact with realistic robots to recreate the 'worlds' on offer, namely Roman World, Medieval World and Westworld. The latter places the holidaymakers in a western town that represents a fairy tale/Hollwood image of the American West. The robots act as all the characters and can be shot, punched and even made love to. Two businessman John (James Brolin) and Peter (Richard Benjamin) spend a fortune on two weeks in Westworld and soon enjoy the fun of being in gunfights, bar brawls, and generally living like a cowboy in the 1880s but then the robots begin to malfunction and start to murder the guests. Peter finds he is stalked by a gunslinger robot (Yul Brynner - homaging his own character from The Magnificent Seven) and has to use his wits to defeat the advanced brain of the machine. Novelist Michael Crichton wrote and directed this and his inexperience as a director is very evident as the film is often scrappily put together (he later developed the idea of a futuristic park in his novel Jurassic Park) but it has a unique vision and has some humour and great set pieces not least the slow motion gunfights. Whether you're a fan of the recent TV series of the same name or not this film is worth checking out, it's not as deep, cerebral or as philosophical as the series but a fairly straight forward action sci-fi masquerading as a standard western and it does entertain.

This is a quite unusual film in the Ealing Studio canon, renowned more for their comedies this is a wartime drama made at darkest time of the war and, whilst probably intended as a morale boosting film it is rather an unsentimental story. It's also the only film made during the war years that deals with the, then, serious fear of German invasion. It's also a prescient masterpiece and one of the finest British films of the 1940s. In the small picturesque village of Bramley End a company of soldiers arrives seeking billets from the accommodating villagers. But they are German parachutists in disguise preparing the area for the German invasion that is soon to begin. The plucky villagers soon smell a rat and prove to be a force to be reckoned with. This results in a gritty battle and shows the worth of the Home Guard who eventually arrive to save the day. It's a tense story especially as there's a traitor in the midst of the village and the Germans prove to be quite ruthless. In many ways there's the expected stereotyping of the characters, the Germans are all cruel and the villagers include the vicar who refuses to obey the invaders, the local constable, the courageous sailor on leave etc etc but it's the exciting story that marks the film as an exciting drama. Jack Higgins later used it as the basis for his novel, The Eagle Has Landed. A film about betrayal, disillusionment and courage. In many ways it's an odd war film but its clever and exudes a sort of factual look and feel marking it as a landmark British film.

A strange title for this very cold, dark (literally) and quite bleak thriller, I counted quite a few shots so I'm not sure what the meaning is meant to be. Sam Rockwell is a backwoodsman/poacher, down on his luck and pining for his wife (Kelly Reilly - sadly v underused here) and child who've left him. One morning while out poaching for deer he accidentally shoots a young woman and finding her campsite he discovers a horde of cash and greed overtakes guilt. You can guess what happens, and you'd be right. The bad guy is played by Jason Isaacs (again underused) and there's some equally good support from Jeffrey Wright and William H. Macy. But the film drags and goes round and round not keeping the narrative tight and interesting and the climax, when it comes, is a damp squib. Considering the talent this is a disappointing film, it looks drab and it feels it too.

A bittersweet drama that tells the true story of Laurel & Hardy's last performances together in a tour of the UK in 1953. It's beautifully played with flawless performances from Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy. The film starts when they are at the height of their fame in the 1930s but in dispute with movie producer Hal Roach (Danny Huston) over money. Stan leaves for another studio expecting Ollie to follow. Then sixteen years later, now showing their age, with loss of popularity and Hardy in poor health they stage a comeback tour in Great Britain. It goes poorly at first but soon their old spark returns and the theatres fill up. Stan is trying to get a new film deal going which is proving difficult. Ultimately this is a story of friendship and the bond between two men who have old wounds never healed between them and these come to the fore as the tour takes its toll. The film manages to convey the tensions and deep affection the men have for one another even whilst their respective wives (played with aplomb by Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda) have a brittle relationship with each other. There's humour in the clever reconstruction of the duo's famous sketches which Coogan and Reilly carry off to perfection. There's an inherent sadness throughout this story and it is a moving film that is a joy throughout so I highly recommend it.

This is a fantastic adventure war film, a story of derring do with the tension and atmosphere that submarine films have to have and it culminates in a neat land based battle. John Mills plays the commander of a British submarine sent out on a mission to hunt a German battleship. They eventually become the hunted as German destroyers try and sink them and by the time we get to that there's been the introduction to the lives, loves and friendships of the crew members so that the audience is caught up in their desperate attempt at escape and survival. They have to come up with a daring plan to get home leading to a clever final section of the film that's as good as any war film of any age. What is especially entertaining about this film is it seems to be less about flag waving and more focused on being a good war story and like all these films made during and immediately after the war there's the marvellous nostalgic images of England in the 40s. This is an exciting and superb war film, one of the great submarine combat films and well worth seeking out.

A routine whodunnit procedural, a British film, bizarrely set in Pennsylvania, and with plot implausibilities that will make your jaw drop. Excellent Irish actor Andrew Scott is garbage man, Donnie, who exhibits some form of autism, in a small US town when a young boy is found drowned. When the boy's mother tells Donnie that the death wasn't an accident he embarks on an obsessive investigation despite threats from the local police chief to desist. The entire plot is fairly straightforward and offers no real surprises except in some of the sudden things that Donnie does as part of his investigation and they are as surprising and extreme as you can imagine. But for the film they just mark it as rather preposterous, only Scott's dedicated performance makes the film watchable.

This spin-off film based on the Saturday Night Live characters created by Mike Myers remains superbly funny even if you realise it's very silly and occasionally a little childish. The TV format of small 10 to 15 minute sketches worked brilliantly, stretching into a full length feature has resulted in moments of uproariously funny comedy in between sections that can be a bit tedious and especially Myers performance as Wayne. But as a showcase for Myers brand of comedy this is a film that will have you laughing out loud. Wayne and his best friend Garth (a superb comedy creation from Dana Carvey), are rock music fans who run their own public broadcast TV show from the basement of Wayne's parents house. Its popularity leads to a seedy TV producer (Rob Lowe) to con them out of the rights to the show and exploit them and steal Wayne's new girlfriend. It's all anarchic, daft and didn't quite live up to the hype but still worth a trip down memory lane if you remember it fondly.