What I've Just Watched: Part 3 - The Search for Spock

Jinks wrote:

Nice review Donnie, you should really do this professionally mate! Seriously.

Indeed!



The Lego Movie (1st view) - 12 hours ago I probabaly would have given this two stars. About 90 minutes into the film, I could feel the euphoria and goodwill I had for the film drain away by events on screen. I can't recall, ever, watching anything that so took me out of a film. And upon leaving the cinema it was only this I could dwell on. But looking back, there first hour and a half was pretty much perfect and that's what this rating is based on - 4/5*






Gravity (2nd view) - Happy to say this stands up to repeat viewings on the small screen. Amazing film. Can't fault it at all really. Tense and emotional in equal measure. Loved the performance from Sandra Bullock. Great score from Steven Price. Also happy to note that Ed Harris made an appearance, even if it was voice only. He's now in the three best space films ever made - 5/5

If only I had the patience!!

White Lightning (1973), directed by Joseph Sargent (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), MacArthur (1977) and Jaws: The Revenge (1987)) and written by William W. Norton (The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973), Big Bad Mama (1974) and Brannigan (1975)), this is a tough and down and dirty exploitation action film, which helped put it's star on the map shortly after the success of making Deliverence (1972). In Arkansas, Bobby "Gator" McKlusky (Burt Reynolds) is serving time in prison for running moonshine between counties. While in prison, Gator learns that his younger brother was murdered by corrupt Sheriff J.C Conners (Ned Beatty). While he tries to escape from prison to get even, he's caught by the law, but they tell him that Conners is being investigated, and they offer Gator the chance to go undercover to bring down Conners. Gator joins bootlegger Roy Boone (Bo Hopkins) and they try to get close to Conners. However, it's not long before Conners finds out about Gator, and he sends Big Bear (R.G. Armstrong) to put a stop to Gator. It comes across as a hillbilly take on Yojimbo (1960), with the lone stranger coming to down to bring down a baddie, only here, the baddie is the law. It has some unbelievable car chases throughout, and Reynolds has a rugged charm. Plus, Charles Bernstein's score was lifted for Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds. Oh, Quentin!! 4/5



Gator (1976), 3 years after the surprise success of White Lightning (1973), United Artists wanted to do a sequel, but Burt Reynolds, now REALLY famous, was reluctant, United Artists made him an offer they couldn't refuse, Reynolds took them up on that offer, but only on the condition he could direct the film as well. While Reynolds shows he has what it takes behind the camera, the film is overlong and sags badly. Gator McKlusky (Reynolds) now lives a quiet existance in a swamp in Arkansas with his father (John Steadman) and Suzie (Lori Futch) making moonshine. However, it's not long before he's smoked out by the Feds, but it turns out they need him again, this time to bring down corrupt politician Bama McCall (Jerry Reed), a small time racketeer who has got lucky, and has managed to become a politician, working in the county of Dunston, Georgia. As Gator knew McCall years ago, he reluctantly agrees to help out, but he's soon lured into a game of set-ups and skulduggery, but he's helped by TV reporter Aggie Maybank (Lauren Hutton). It's a shame this sequel doesn't match up to White Lightning, as it started off with one hell of an amazing boat chase, but after this, it just sort of fizzles out and there's not enough action this time around, but Reynolds and the film's second unit director Hal Needham would work together the following year.... 2/5

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), after the success of The Wild Bunch (1969), Sam Peckinpah shocked audiences again, by doing a gentle and cheeky western which was in complete contrast to the ultra-violence of his previous film. Peckinpah always claimed this was his favourite film of all his films, and it showed he didn't have to resort to ultra-violence to make his films interesting. In this one, he resorts to comedy. Prospector Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) is abandoned by his partners Taggart (L. Q. Jones) and Bowen (Strother Martin) in the middle of the desert with no water. On the verge of death, he stumbles on a muddy pit, and digs to find a spring of water. As it's the only source of water for miles, Cable is able to make a business of his little water hole, his first paying customer is the Rev. Joshua Duncan Sloane (David Warner), who helps Cable out with making the place livable. Cable goes into town to get money for his water hole, while that's quite hard, he ends up with local prostitute Hildy (Stella Stevens), and the two become lovers. It's a very compelling film, and it manages to be very funny in places, with some moments channeling Benny Hill and the Carry On films, It's well made with good performances, but Peckinpah's reckless behaviour got him sacked from Warner Bros. Undeterred, Peckinpah headed over to England to make Straw Dogs (1971). 4/5



Comfort and Joy (1984), Bill Forsyth was always a very underrated director, whose early films of the 1980's like Gregory's Girl (1981) and Local Hero (1983) displayed a wonderfully gentle dry wit to their name, and this one is an underrated film made around the height of his success, this one should have seen him go on to greater things, but after this, Forsyth went to America, and his promising career stalled, which is a shame. Set one Christmas in Glasgow, it follows local radio DJ Alan "Dicky" Bird (the always wonderful Bill Paterson), having the week from hell. His girlfriend Maddy (Eleanor David) leaves him, taking all the furniture with her, and then gets caught in the middle of a rival war between two ice-cream sellers, Mr. Bunny (Alex Norton) and Mr. McCool (Roberto Bernardi), and he finds himself acting as a middle man between the two feuding retailers, and he also to deal with his long-suffering boss Hilary (Rikki Fulton) at the radio station. It's a very subtle comedy, which was actually based on a real life Ice Cream War going on in Glasgow in the early 1980's, but if you look closely, the film has a very loose structure to Alice in Wonderland about it all!! ;)But, it's also a good timepiece of Scotland in the 1980's, it's got a good strong lead from Bill Paterson, one of the most underrated actors still working today, and Forsyth brings out the best in him, oh and it's got a good score by Mark Knopfler.  4.5/5

Sideways (2004), directed by Alexander Payne, who had made a name for himself with Election (1999) and About Schmidt (2002), along with co-writing partner Jim Taylor took on this adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel, which Payne had optioned before it was published. It's a sunny yet melancholy look at middle age life during a week long break round wineries. The film makes for an entertaining and amusing little journey. Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) is a struggling writer who has had one book published and he's divorced and bordering on the verge of alcoholism. To take his mind of things, he takes his college roommate and voice over actor Jack Cole (Thomas Haden Church), who is a week away from getting married, on a week long trip around Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country, where Miles, a wine connoisseur, wants to educate Jack on the pleasures of wine. On the trip, Jack one last fling before marriage, and he finds it in winery employee Stephanie (Sandra Oh), who they meet through waitress Maya (Virginia Madsen), who Miles once had a relationship with, and he still has feelings for. Payne has a knack for making brilliant films about people which on the surface look like comedies, but they're actually dramedies, which have moments of awkwardness which you feel guilty for laughing at. But this has some brilliant performances throughout and a very witty and clever script. 4/5



The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), based upon the 2005 novel by Michael Connelly, which was the first in a series of novels about defense attorney Mickey Haller. This adaptation was written by John Romano (Intolerable Cruelty (2003) and Nights in Rodanthe (2008)) and directed by Brad Furman (Runner Runner (2013)), this is a good legal thriller which has some good twists and turns and some good performances. Defense lawyer Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) operates most of his business out of the back of his black Lincoln Town Car, and he usually defends criminals in and around Los Angeles. However, he gets the opportunity to defend Beverly Hills playboy Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), who has been accused of beating up prostitute Regina Campo (Margarita Levieva). Haller and his private investigator Frank Levin (William H. Macy) sum up the evidence, and discover the beating bears a similarity to a previous case of Haller's where he defended Jesus Martinez (Michael Peña), who was locked up for murder. Things aren't what they seem. This is a good character piece, with McConaughey giving a brilliant performance as the lawyer, and the film is buoyed by a good plot, which may not be new, but it has some similarities in structure to Hitchcock's I Confess (1953), where an uncomfortable truth is told, but our protagonist can't tell it to anyone. 4/5

Spanking The Monkey (1994), the directorial debut of David O. Russell, this ultra-black comedy was made in Pawling, New York during the summer of 1993 on a shoestring budget of $80,000, (funded from grants usually reserved for short films), and it has a plot you cannot believe Russell concocted out of his head, as it's SO WRONG. But it has heart and some good characters too. Against the odds, it's a very good film. It begins when medical student Raymond Aibelli (Jeremy Davies) is forced to return to his family home by his salesman father Tom (Benjamin Hendrickson) to look after his mother Susan (Alberta Watson), who has a history of depression and has recently broke her leg. Raymond isn't happy as he was due to do a medical internship in Washington. So he's stuck at home looking after his mother, who is briefly incapacitated and unable to move around. Losing the internship and eventually his girlfriend Toni (Carla Gallo), Raymond starts feeling emotionally confused and one evening, while giving his mother a massage, he starts getting feelings of an illegal nature. It's a good character piece, but you'll be left shocked and offended by this film, as it touches upon the touchy subject of incest, although you see the intentions, it doesn't go all the way, which would have been wrong. But, it got Russell's career off to a brilliant start, and it was off to Hollywood next. 4/5



Summer of Sam (1999), written and directed by Spike Lee, who went to make a very personal film, but unlike his recent films of the times like Girl 6 (1996), Get on the Bus (1996) and He Got Game (1998), it didn't have African-Americans at it's centre, it had Italian-Americans in the Bronx, it was the summer where this was set that Lee decided to become a filmmaker, so it had a personal touch and it's a good film as well. In the summer of 1977, New York City has been gripped by the fear of a serial killer known as Son of Sam, who has targeted people making out in parked cars. A group of friends in the Bronx, Vinny (John Leguizamo) and his wife Dionna (Mira Sorvino) and his half-sister Ruby (Jennifer Esposito), Richie (Adrien Brody) and Joey (Michael Rispoli) are plagued by fear and distrust, as they soon begin to suspect one another as to who the Son of Sam really is. Meanwhile, Detective Petrocelli (Anthony LaPaglia) of the New York Police Department turns to notorious local mobster Luigi (Ben Gazzara) to help find out who the Son of Sam killer really is. It's a good thriller, and it owes a debt of gratitude in a way to the films of Martin Scorsese, and it has the seediness and darkness of William Friedkin's Cruising (1980). It shows Lee crafting a good character piece, and the seeds of distrust being placed amongst them all, it's dark and moody but it captures the era well. 4/5

Cable Hogue is Peckinpah's best


Ruggles Of Red Gap (1st view) - Charles Laughton plays Marmaduke Ruggles, impeccably efficient manservant to the Earkl of Burnstead. Lost during a poker game to Effie Floud, an American who wishes Ruggles to both smarten up her husband and improve her status in society, he travels with the Flouds to the boomtown of Red Gap where he is mistaken for English Colonel and becomes something of a celebrity. It's superb, wonderfully played by all and with a fantastic script. Few films could make the line "Spats, Sir, mark the difference between a man well turned out and a man merely dressed" hilarious, but this one does - 4/5*

The Croods (1st view) - More fun than I expetced based on the awful trailers - 4/5*

The House On The Edge Of The Park (1st view) - A video nasty, and not a very good one - 2/5*





Guru The Mad Monk (1st view) - Low budget horror from director Andy Milligan, set in the Lost Souls’ Church of Mortavia, a place in which criminals are both absolved of their sins and executed, one member of the staff ones to save his former lover who has found herself imprisoned. It's not quite so bad it's good, nor is it so bad it's bad - 3/5*






Bruno (2nd view) - Not as funny as Borat and whatever point there is seems to be lost, but it's one of those rare modern comedy films that makes me laugh and the Harrison Ford bit has me in stitches - 4/5

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? (1st view) - Michael Shhannon is always worth watching and he's the main draw to this film. Well, him and the little scene stealing turn fron Brad Dourif. One of the lesser Herzog films from recent years - 3/5*




House Of Clocks (1st view) - Italian horror in which three youths break into the house of an elderly, wealthy couple and end up murdering the couple, but don't count on the supernatural, time reversal that will bring the two back to life - 4/5*




The Land That Time Forgot (1st view) - In WWI, a British merchant ship is sunk and the survivors end up onboard a German U-Boat, which then finds the undiscovered and dinosaur-inhabited island of Caprona. This kind of thing's been done better in dozens of other films but it passes the time well enough - 3/5*

Phantom of the Paradise (1974), a weird but enjoyable horror/musical/comedy written and directed by Brian De Palma. A fusion of the tales of Faust, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and of course, Phantom of the Opera. It's got a very likeable and insane charm, and it does take more than one viewing to 'get it', but it's got a very slight touch of Rocky Horror about it, which came out a year after this did. This has disfigured musician Winslow Leach (William Finley), who tried to get his revenge upon the corruptly Satanic record mogul Swan (Paul Williams), who stole Winslow's music. Now behind a mask after his disfigurement by a record press, Winslow tries to sabotage Swan's acts, then Swan calls a truce and Winslow signs a contract with Swan, but Winslow's soul now belongs to Swan, who betrays Winslow yet again, and even tries to groom young Phoenix (Jessica Harper) for stardom with Winslow's work, Winslow has had enough and sets his target on Swan's new signing, flamboyent and slightly fey glam rock star Beef (Gerrit Graham). One of the better mad rock films from the 1970's, but it has good music, written by Williams, it is a world away from De Palma's darker films such as Carrie, Scarface and The Untouchables. However, it's a pity we don't get odd rock musical films like this anymore, but they were products of their time, they probabily wouldn't work now. 4.5/5



Hunger (2008), the directorial debut of British artist Steve McQueen, whose art work, short films and video installations had made a name for himself. For his first film, he chose a difficult subject, the IRA Hunger Strike of 1981, and it makes for harrowing viewing on screen. While these men were terrorists for what they'd done, what the guards, authorities and government of the day did to them in prison was even worse. Set in Maze Prison between 1980 and 1981, it focuses on a group of prisoners who are all part or connected with the Provisional Irish Republican Army, partake in a no wash protest, over the British Government revoking the IRA's political status. They refuse to wear prison clothing and they smear the walls of their jail cells with excrement, this only riles the fury of the prison guards, who have to wash it. But, things take a dangerous turn when IRA M.P. and prisoner Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) partakes in a hunger strike, and Father Dominic Moran (Liam Cunningham) can't talk Bobby out of his plans, as Bobby has already made his mind up. It's a grueling and uncomfortable film to watch, but Fassbender is absolutely brilliant, and he went method for this film, plus it has a brilliant scene where he and Cunningham talk about the morality of the strike in one 17 minute long uncut take, which Fassbender chuffs through 3 cigarettes. Talk about staying in character. 4/5

People On Sunday (1st view) - An afternoon in the life of four Berliners during the summer of 1929 - 4/5*





Nemesis (1st view) - Lame futuristic sci-fi - 2/5*

Amistad (1997), after the blockbuster antics of The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Steven Spielberg quickly turned his attention to this historical drama, which was the most unlikely film for him, as it was a slow-paced historical drama based on a true story about a sea mutiny which led to a legal battle which went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. As slow paced as it is, it's got a great cast all on top form. In 1841, a Spanish ship called La Amistad carrying slaves from Sierra Leone to be sold into slavery in Cuba. However, a mutiny led by Cinqué (Djimon Hounsou) puts them in control of the ship, but the slave owners trick them into sailing onto the coast of America, where the slaves are arrested, and the courts try to determine who owns the slaves. Meanwhile, abolitionists Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman) and Lewis Tappan (Stellan Skarsgård) feel the slaves should be sent home, and get the help of young lawyer Roger Sherman Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey) to argue that the slaves belong to nobody and should be free. It's a powerful drama without being overtly preachy, but Spielberg turns what could have been a dull history lesson into a compelling and complex legal drama, it benefits from a brilliant supporting cast including Anthony Hopkins, Nigel Hawthorne, Pete Postlethwaite, Anna Paquin, David Paymer and a young Chiwetel Ejiofor. 4/5



Lincoln (2012), Steven Spielberg's pet project for well over a decade, based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and Spielberg wasn't going to let this one go. But trying to get the script right took ages, but he and screenwriter Tony Kushner narrowed it down and focused on the most important decision of Lincoln's career. It's a powerful yet talky biopic, but it has some brilliant performances in it. In January 1865, President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) is determined to get the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed in the United States House of Representatives, the Amendment would see the abolition of slavery in the United States, and Lincoln feels that it's passage will help end the Civil War, Lincoln asks Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn) to help secure the votes to get the Amendment passed, by any means necessary, but Lincoln has the support of Republican Party founder Francis Preston Blair (Hal Holbrook), Republican Congressional leader Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field). It's beautifully made, and it shows Lincoln as a leader, but also a human being. While there are a lot of length scenes in darkened rooms negotiating the Amendment, it's still compelling, with brilliant dialogue and brilliant performances throughout. 4/5

The Winner (1996), directed by Alex Cox, this was initially intended to help him get back into Hollywood after 8 years on a self-imposed blacklist. Even though he was a director for hire on this film, he was to have followed this with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, however when a new score was put on, it killed Cox's chances of a comeback, which is a shame, as there are inklings of what could have been. Phillip (Vincent D'Onofrio) is a small time gambler who has an unbelievable knack for winning a lot, and after a winning streak in Las Vegas which lasted a few weeks, and his winning streak get the attention of a lot of low-lifes, who want Phillip's money. These include lounge singer Louise (Rebecca De Mornay), Phillip's brother Wolf (Michael Madsen), who was once married to Louise, while Louise's new boyfriend Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) also wants a cut of Phillip's winnings, and Las Vegas loan shark Kingman (Delroy Lindo) also wants a piece of the winnings too. Phillip seems to be backed into a corner, but he has his own secret agenda. It's not a perfect film, but it does have a dark and blackly comic sense of irony to some of it's scenarios and scenes, adapted from Wendy Riss's play A Darker Purpose, it does have a theatrical kind of staging to it, but no thanks to it being recut, we only get a slight glimpse of what could have been in Cox's eyes. 2.5/5



The World's End (2013), the final part in Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, after battling zombies in Shaun of the Dead (2004) and fighting crime in Hot Fuzz (2007)), they're with this very British comedy about reunions, saving the world and going down the pub. It's requires a second viewing to get it, but it's their take on Village of the Damned (1960) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), and there is a lot of fun to be had, and there's some very good laughs. Gary King (Pegg) has just turned 40, and is recovering from a breakdown and alcoholism, and he wants to complete a pub crawl he attempted in 1990 with 4 friends. King gets in touch with Peter Page (Eddie Marsan), Oliver Chamberlain (Martin Freeman), Steven Prince (Paddy Considine) and Andrew Knightley (Nick Frost). They're all reluctant to go, but Gary convinces them, mainly because they can't convince him he's wrong. They return to their hometown of Newton Haven, where they begin the crawl, and they meet up with Oliver's sister Sam (Rosamund Pike), who had a relationship with Gary back in 1990. But, there's something not right about the town, the locals seem a bit cold and distant, a bit alien. But, Gary won't let that get in the way of the pub crawl. It has a lot of surprises, (including a funny cameo), but the film does have a melancholy feel about it, regarding lost youth and reliving old times. But, Wright has fun with the concept, (he came up with it back in 1995), and there is fun to be had, and a second viewing may benefit, as this is the sort of film with a lot going on that you have to pay attention to take it all in. 4/5

The Manchurian Candidate (1962), based upon the 1959 novel by Richard Condon and directed by John Frankenheimer, (Seven Days in May (1964), The Train (1964) and Ronin (1998)), this is a suspenseful thriller which came out when the Cold War was at it's peak, and it opened when the Cuban Missile Crisis was at it's peak, capturing the mood of the times. It set the template for most paranoid thrillers that would follow suit. It begins in 1952, when a U.S. Platoon are kidnapped during the Korean War, and sent to Manchuria in Communist China, where they're brainwashed. Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) saves their lives, when the platoon are sent home, their captain Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) begins having recurring nightmares of the torture he underwent. Army intelligence begins to investigate, meanwhile Sergeant Shaw's mother Eleanor Iselin (Angela Lansbury) has a secret agenda all of her own, and it involves brainwashing of her own son. While it may look a little dated now, especially as Communism isn't a threat anymore compared to what's out there now, it makes for a good, suspenseful thriller, and along with The Man With The Golden Arm (1955), it showcased Sinatra's range as a serious actor, he should have done more films like this. 4/5



Jaws 2 (1978), Universal Pictures were determined to make a sequel to Jaws (1975), but when both Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss turned down the offer in favour of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Universal got Jeannot Szwarc (Extreme Close-Up (1973), Supergirl (1984) and Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)), to do the sequel. The fact is the film isn't that bad, and it's the best of the Jaws sequels. A few years have passed since the shark attack on the coast of Amity Island, and there have been a spate of sea related deaths and injuries around the island, when a water skier and the speedboat driver are killed, Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) believes there's another great white shark in the waters, but Amity's Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) doesn't believe this can happen again, and urges Brody not to make it public. When Brody's two sons Mike (Mark Gruner) and Sean (Mark Gilpin) sneak out to go sailing in the waters with their friends, they soon find themselves under attack by the shark, and Brody has to save them. It is a very silly film, and quite far fetched that it would happen again in the same area, but the film was memorable for the tagline, "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...", which was parodied many times since. It does have some good moments, but it's not as good as the original. 3.5/5

8mm (1999), you could easily say Joel Schumacher was in a dark place after the mauling and death-threats he got for Batman and Robin (1997)), it could explain his mood for picking up this seedy and dirty murder mystery written by Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en (1995) and Sleepy Hollow (1999)), it delves into the world of illegal films, and it's a tale of obsession ultimately, and it's actually a chilling and dark thriller. Private investigator Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) is contacted by widow Mrs. Christian (Myra Carter) to look at an 8mm film found in her late husbands safe, which seems to depict a real murder of a girl. Mrs. Christian wants to know if the murder is real or not, Tom promises to investigate. The girl turns out to be Mary Ann Mathews (Jenny Powell), who went missing 6 years previously, her mother Janet (Amy Morton), wants closure on what happened to her daughter. The search takes Tom to Los Angeles, where he is thrown head-first into the world of underground, illegal films, with adult video store employee Max California (Joaquin Phoenix) as his guide. It's not a film for everybody, and it does spend a little too much time setting up the plot and the leads Cage follows, but for Schumacher, it was a breath of fresh air for him after his ill-fated superhero films, it would also lead to Schumacher making a slew of small budget films, to help rebuild his creative energy. 4/5



Never Let Me Go (2010), based upon the 2005 novel by Kazuo Ishiguru, adapted by Alex Garland (The Beach (2000) and 28 Days Later (2002)) and directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo (2002)), this is a dark dystopian sci-fi film which is like a low-budget take on Michael Bay's The Island (2005), only with no visual effects, and set in the remote English countryside. It's a bleak film, but blessed with a good cast. It tells the story of Kathy H (Carey Mulligan), Tommy D (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth C (Keira Knightley), who all grew up as part of an experimental organ donor program. They grew up at a boarding school called Hailsham in the late 1970's, ran by Miss Emily (Charlotte Rampling), and instead of learning maths and English, they were encouraged to do artwork. They move to The Cottages in 1985, where they are to stay until they're needed for their individual fates, and by 1994, they reunite, Tommy and Ruth now affected by their fates. It's a low-budget film which, despite it being set in an alternate history, could easily still happen in our future, which is a scary throught.. The film is a slow-burner, but Romanek gets the best from his actors, and it's a shame he hasn't directed more films, as he has a good visual style, which he honed from his music videos. 4/5

BASEketball (1998), directed by David Zucker, who hadn't directed a film since The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991), and had been mostly writing and producing since then. Here, he stepped back behind the camera for this admittedly funny spoof on sports films and all the conventions and cliches those films usually follow. You could argue this was the last great movie spoof to be made before Scary Movie ruined everything. Friends since childhood, Joe Cooper (Trey Parker) and Doug Remer (Matt Stone) have invented a backyard game, which is a hybrid of baseball and basketball known as BASEketball, which becomes a local phenomenon. Billionaire Ted Denslow (Ernest Borgnine) makes a deal to Cooper and Remer to make it a national sport, and within 5 years, it's a massive success. But Denslow's rival Baxter Cain (Robert Vaughn), has plans to make money, which involves changing the rules of the game, which has always prohibited players being traded, teams moving cities and major sponsorship deals. Cooper is against this, but Remer is lured by Cain's promise of money. It's a very silly film, and South Park creators Parker and Stone prove to be very funny actors, but they ended up being disillusioned buy the publicity of the film, and have only stuck to their own projects, which is a shame. Plus, this is Zucker's last great film, before he jumped on the Scary Movie bandwagon. Oh, well... 4/5



Machete Kills (2013), it was bound to happen, the first film was a small hit considering it was made on a shoestring budget, so that was enough for Robert Rodriguez's Mexican hero to have a second outing, (the end of the first film promised 2 sequels.) So, Rodriguez delivers here, it's more of the same, with a lot of bonkers action and insane cameos. It really shouldn't work, but it manages to be good fun, only just though. Machete (Danny Trejo) is saved from a hanging by U.S. President Rathcock (Charlie Sheen), who needs Machete to go down to Mexico to stop demented psychopath Marcos Mendez (Demián Bichir) from firing a missile at Washington D.C., in return Rathcock will give Machete U.S. Citizenship. Machete agrees, but he finds that Mendez has the missile's launch device hooked up to his heart, which he releases, giving Machete 24 hours to stop the missile from being launched. It turns out that the missile was actually developed by weapons manufacturer Luther Voz (Mel Gibson), who has a plan of his own to rebuild society in space. It's a very silly film, which ends up being little more than a Grindhouse and Mexploitation take on Moonraker (1979), but there is a lot of fun to be had along the way, including Walton Goggins, Cuba Gooding, Jr. Lady Gaga and Antonio Banderas all playing the same character!! Plus, there's Machete Kills Again... In Space to come...  3.5/5

War Horse :: National Theatre Live (1st view) - Is the Spielberg film disliked by so many because of the way the 'Berg approached the story, or is it the story itself? Would those who hate the film also hate the stage show? I have no idea as I loved the film but this weas something else entirely. A few blips with the photography, blurring once or twice and a few times the camera seemed to remember it should be pointing somewhere else, but the actual production was magnificent. Clever use of lighting, projection, music and of course, the puppetry for the horses. Brilliant.

Kick Ass 2 (1st view) - Enjoyable sequel - 4/5*

The Conjuring (1st view) - Good horror with a greater reliance on atmosphere over silly scares - 4/5*






Hugo The Hippo (1st view) - BIzarre but great 70s animation about a youthful hippo who finds himself on trial - 4/5*

Forbidden Zone (1st view) - An absolutely bizarre musical comedy from Richard Elfman, brother of Danny, who himself wrote the music and also appears. It involves a portal in the back of a familys house that leads to a mysterious realm, the 6th Dimsenion. I've never seen anything quite like it - 4/5

Dark Skies (1st view) - A bit X-Filesy, but not as good - 3/5*

Reindeer Games (2000), directed by John Frankenheimer (Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Ronin (1998)), and written by Ehren Kruger (Arlington Road (1999), Scream 3 (2000) and The Brothers Grimm (2005)), this is a daft heist thriller with too many twists and turns for it's own good. It should have been a good film, but it is hammed up when it simply doesn't need to be, which is a sad shame. Convicted prisoner Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) is cellmates with Nick Cassidy (James Frain), who tells Rudy about his correspondence with Ashley (Charlize Theron). After Nick is killed in a brawl, Rudy is released and he takes Nick's place, meeting Ashley and her brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise), who has a plan to rob the casino Nick worked at. However, Rudy has to bluff his way through the con, but luckily for him, Ashley and Gabriel have no idea what Nick looked like, however Rudy is forced into this against his will, when it's revealed that Ashley and Gabriel are really lovers and partners in crime, but Rudy decides to get even with them and make a getaway. It should have been a good film, but it does have a lot of cliches and over acting, and this was done back in the days when Affleck would either overact or just phone it in, before he finally got the knack of it. The saddest thing is this was Frankenheimer's final film, he shouldn't have gone out on a bum note. 2/5



King Rat (1965), written and directed by Bryan Forbes, (Whistle Down The Wind (1961), Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) and The Stepford Wives (1975)), and adapted from James Clavell's 1962 novel. This is a tough and down and dirty prisoner of war film. It was also Forbes' first American film, filmed in Southern California, Forbes was lucky to get the very best of British actors to go to America to work on this film. Set during World War II in South East Asia on a POW camp ran by the Japanese, there's a mixture of British, Australian and a handful of American troops on site, one of the American's is Corporal King (George Segal), who always seems to be better kept and smarter than the soldiers suffering under the labour and heat of the camp, and that's because he's running a black market operation on camp. He becomes friendly with RAF officer Peter Marlowe (James Fox), who acts as a translator for King, but this puts Marlowe at a disadvantage, and it puts him at loggerheads with Lieutenant Grey (Tom Courtenay), who can't stand King. It's a heavy going film, and shot in a stark black and white, this is a compelling and engaging character piece, and Forbes also has the likes of Denholm Elliott, Leonard Rossiter, Geoffrey Bayldon and John Mills in the film, and they give this Hollywood production a distinctively British feel, although Forbes had to fight to cast them. 4/5

The Beguiled (1971), directed by Don Siegel, (Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Coogan's Bluff (1968) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)), and adapted from Thomas P. Cullinan's 1966 novel A Painted Devil. This is a claustrophobic slice of Southern Gothic, with Siegel working again with Clint Eastwood, having both found success together. It's a dark chamber piece, but it has some good acting and an offbeat kilter. Set towards the end of the American Civil War, wounded Yankee soldier John McBurney (Eastwood) is found by 12 year old Amy (Pamelyn Ferdin), and she takes McBurney back to the boarding school she studies at, which is ran by Martha Farnsworth (Geraldine Page). With Confederate soldiers on the prowl looking for McBurney, Farnsworth and the rest of the girls have to keep his presence a secret. As McBurney recovers, he begins a romance with Farnsworth, then a couple of the other girls, and an unpleasant atmosphere of jealously and betrayal descend over the house, which isn't helped by the fact that McBurney has become an alcoholic. It's a good character piece, and it gives Eastwood to show a more sensitive side too, as well as exploring a tortured side. Siegel gets the best out of his young cast, even filming on location in an actual house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Next for Siegel and Eastwood, a little cop film called Dirty Harry (1971). 4/5



Joe Kidd (1972), directed by John Sturges, (The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963) and Ice Station Zebra (1968)) and written by Elmore Leonard. This is quiet revisionist western, in the mould of the films Clint Eastwood had made in Spain with Sergio Leone. It doesn't add anything new to the genre, but this one has a few familiar faces in the cast, and a few crew members who would work with Eastwood later. Joe Kidd (Eastwood) is a former bounty hunter in prison for trespassing on Indian territory and hunting. In the town of Sinola in New Mexico, Mexican revolutionary Luis Chama (John Saxon) has come to town, and is organising a peasants revolt against the local landowners. To stand up against Chama, a posse is financed and formed by landowner Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall), who persuades Kidd to join. Kidd is reluctant, but joins after his own land is attacked, to take down Chama won't be an easy job, but the union between Kidd and Harlan's posse doesn't last long, and Kidd decides to go solo and find Chama and his men in his own way. There's nothing really memorable about this western, although it's key sequence involves Eastwood driving a train off the tracks and through a saloon. It was a difficult production, with Eastwood hospitalised with bronchitis during production and Sturges and Leonard arguing over the script. But it's good, just not great. 3/5

The Green Berets (1968), co-directed by John Wayne and Ray Kellogg, this project came about after Wayne visited South Vietnam in 1965, and wanted to do a film about the work the U.S. Army were doing there, he optioned Robin Moore's 1965 book of the same name, and set about producing the film out of his own pocket. Despite good intentions, it's now incredibly dated, and Wayne seems incredibly out of place in the film. It begins at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where newspaper reporter George Beckworth (David Janssen) is critical of the American presence in Vietnam, but Green Beret Colonel Mike Kirby (John Wayne) who is about to be shipped out with his platoon to South Vietnam, invites Beckworth along, to see for himself first hand what the Green Beret troops do out in the field. Kirby is sent out with his team to intercept the Communist forces, while out there, they meet Sgt. Petersen (Jim Hutton) from another platoon, who Kirby asks to join. Kirby's team also give aid to the South Vietnamese Army, dealing with Colonel Cai (Jack Soo) and Captain Nim (George Takei). It's essentially an out and out propaganda film, which comes across as very heavy-handed and jingoistic. While this may have been a passion project for Wayne, it was denounced after the Vietnam War ended, and the likes of Apocalypse Now and Platoon showed what it was REALLY like. 2/5



Mud (2012), written and directed by Jeff Nichols. (Take Shelter (2011) and Midnight Special (2014)), this is a dark coming-of-age drama which has a hint of the tales of Mark Twain, and more than a pinch of Stand By Me (1986). Nichols had planned the film since the 1990's, but worked on the story and put the characters first. It's a good film, and it's blessed with a good cast and it manages to be compelling too. Set in De Witt, Arkansas. Two 14 year old boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) sail out to an island on the Mississippi River, where they find a boat up in a tree. They find that the boat has recently been inhabited, and when they return to the island, they find a drifter called Mud (Matthew McConaughey), who has been living in the boat. He asks them to get supplies for him and equipment to get the boat out of the tree. Turns out Mud is on the run from a gang of men in Texas led by King (Joe Don Baker), who want revenge as Mud murdered King's son, who had impregnated Mud's girlfriend Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Made for a meagre $10 million, it shows a world lost in time, where people seldom have new materials, and they just have to make do with what they find lying around, especially in Mud's case, as he plans to make a getaway. It does have an old fashioned feel to it, especially with youngsters getting outside having adventures. 4/5

Carry On Teacher (1959), the third Carry On film, following on immediately from the successes of Carry On Sergeant (1958) and Carry On Nurse (1958), the series was starting to gain momentum, and for the third film, producer Peter Rogers, writer Norman Hudis and director Gerald Thomas decided to lampoon the formalities of the education system. It's a good little comedy, but still innocent compared to what was to come. Set at Maudlin Street Secondary Modern School, the headmaster William Wakefield (Ted Ray) has been there for 20 years, but he has seen an advert looking for a head of a brand new school which he applies for. But first, he has to oversee a Ministry of Education Inspector Felicity Wheeler (Rosalind Knight) and child psychologist Alistair Grigg (Leslie Phillips). Wakefield tells the teachers, including English teacher Edwin Milton (Kenneth Williams), music teacher Michael Bean (Charles Hawtrey), Maths teacher Grace Short (Hattie Jacques) and P.E. teacher Sarah Allcock (Joan Sims) of his plans to leave, but the pupils have other ideas. It's a very silly film, but it's a Carry On film with a heart, even though this is a school where the antics of the pupils would make the pupils of St. Trinians look like saints, they're doing it because they don't like change. There are some funny pranks and antics, and it's a joy to see the regulars having fun and being good sports. 3/5



A Time To Kill (1996), directed by Joel Schumacher and adapted from John Grisham's 1989 legal thriller. Schumacher had just come off the success of another Grisham adaptation The Client (1994), not to mention the blockbuster Batman Forever (1995), and this seemed like a perfect follow-up. It's a film where racial tensions reach melting point, and spill over into the streets of small town America, and it has a brilliant cast as well to it's name. In rural Mississippi, 10-year-old black girl named Tonya Hailey (Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly) is brutally raped and beaten by Billy Ray Cobb (Nicky Katt) and Pete Willard (Doug Hutchison). Tonya's father Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) gets vengeance by shooting them both dead and injuring Deputy Looney (Chris Cooper). Lawyer Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) agrees to defend him, with help from liberal student Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock), they're up against tough prosecuting lawyer Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey) but Billy Ray's brother Freddie Lee (Kiefer Sutherland) reforms the Ku Klux Klan, and decide to get even with Brigance for standing up for Hailey. It's a tough and sprawling legal epic, one that's gripping and powerful to watch, it has good support from Brenda Fricker, Donald Sutherland, Oliver Platt, Ashley Judd and Patrick McGoohan. It's a shame Schumacher followed this with Batman and Robin (1997). 4/5