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

Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), directed by Roger Michell (Notting Hill (1999), Changing Lanes (2002) and Venus (2006)) and written by playwright Richard Nelson. This started out life as a play on BBC Radio 4, and was inspired after Nelson had met Daisy Suckley, and then read her diaries, journals and letters after her death in 1991. It makes for a good period comedy-drama, but it paints an unflattering picture of it's lead character. In the spring of 1939, Daisy Suckley (Laura Linney) visits her cousin, who is American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Bill Murray), at the house of Roosevelt's mother Sara Delano (Elizabeth Wilson), known as Hyde Park in upstate New York. Daisy and Franklin form a close relationship, mainly because they haven't seen each other for a while. Meanwhile, Hyde Park is to play host to King George VI (Samuel West) and his wife Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman). King George believes the trip to America will help strengthen bonds with Britain, especially as there could be a potential war with Germany happening soon, meanwhile Franklin and Daisy's relationship grows. Parts of this feel a bit like a Robert Altman film, with the almost carefree staging and overlapping dialogue, it's a film which cares about it's characters, and there's some very good performances on display, (Murray does well as FDR), but the film feels quite cold at it's core, and there's nothing to really drive the whole show along. 3/5



The Great Gatsby (2013), Baz Luhrmann is back, unfazed by Australia (2008) not doing that well at the box-office, he's taken on a true American epic for his next film, this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel. It's been adapted for the screen before, but not like this. Baz has used 3D to bring 1920's New York to life, and he uses the glitz and glamour he used for Moulin Rouge (2001) to make it look magical, and it works, it's an emotional rollercoaster and beautiful to behold. New York, 1922. Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) has come to New York from the Midwest to work on Wall Street, he rents a little cottage in the Long Island village of West Egg, which is next door to the lavish mansion of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is a mysterious man and is subject to rumours. Across the water in East Egg lives Nick's cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) and her husband Tom (Joel Edgerton). Nick is invited to one of Gatsby's wild parties, and they meet, and Nick learns that Gatsby knew Daisy a few years earlier, and that Gatsby is wishing to reunited with Daisy, but they don't know how to tell Tom, who is very short-tempered. To those who say the novel cannot be adapted, they're wrong, Baz has done the novel justice here, complete with added Jay-Z music, which works. It looks absolutely stunning and it's compelling and an amazing accomplishment. 4.5/5

Exam (1st view) - 8 strangers applying for an unspecified job have 80 minutes to answer one question, but they don't know what that question is. The concept is intriguing but the film's a bit too clever for it's own good and some of the acting is laughable - 3/5*




Vanishing Point (1st view) - Existential road movies tend to be crap. This one wasn't. Soundtrack is ace and it makes me want to go and drive acrooss the American Southwest - 4/5

Let The Right One In (3rd view) - Whan I first saw this back in 2009 I said "Atmospheric and chilling vampire film, one of the best in a long time. A shame that the story mainly focuses on the children, as some of the adult characters are equally, if not more fascinating." I still kinda agree with that - 4/5




Gnomeo and Juliet (1st view) - A few humourous nods to other Shakespeare, a good vocal performance from Emily Blunt and the best ever advert for a lawnmower are the main reasons to watch this. Sporadically enjoyable - 3/5*

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1st view) - Satirical comedy about a sly efficiency expert who becomes Prime Minister. The main star is Peter Cook, someone who I've seen in relatively little and liked in even less but he's fantastic. It's a brilliantly judged performance in a wonderfully funny film - 4/5*

Y Tu Mamá También (2nd view) - An improvement from when I first it. The three leads are all on fine form and Cuaron's love for long takes is just an engaging here as it is in outer space. The best bit for me, as last time, is the narration especially when it goes off into tangents involving peripheral characters and future events - 4/5




Kung Fu Panda 2 (1st view) - Like many Dreamworks 'toons great visuals but personaility-free vocals. Some of the action scenes are amazing to watch but hard to care for what's happening - 3/5*

Alien (6th view) - Amazing in every way possible. Only the second time I've seen the film since about 2003. The cast are all excellent (special mention to Bilbo Baggins), and the visuals, sound, music, sets, everything works brilliantly to make something intensely thrilling. There are nitpcky moments I suppose (the laughably excessive self-destruct system feels like something that'd be in a spoof film) but are irrelevant in the long run. It really is one of the best films ever made - 5/5

Fantasia (1940), a labour of love for Walt Disney, hot off the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and while simultaneously working on Pinocchio (1940), this grew from a comeback for Mickey Mouse into something more epic, after Disney had consulted Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski about how they could pictures to classical music. The result was an animation which was unlike anything done at the time. The film is introduced in segments by American composer Deems Taylor, and the film begins with the orchestra playing Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, then an animated take on Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with dancing flowers and leaves. Then, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which needs no introduction. Then the big bang theory with Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky, after an interval, we have a take on Beethoven's The Pastoral Symphony with fawns. Then Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours with animals doing ballet, then the rise and fall of darkness with Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky and Schubert's Ave Maria. It was a brave thing to attempt a film like this back then. While it would have been groundbreaking back then, it does look twee and a tad dated now, especially when you consider where animation has gone since then. The episodic format works against it, but it is lovely to look upon at times. 4/5



Lost Highway (1997), directed by David Lynch, his first film since Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) which completely split his fans down the middle. Lynch teamed up with Barry Gifford, whose novel Wild at Heart had become Lynch's 1990 magnum opus. This is Lynch's take on a psychological thriller, and it was a sign of things to come in Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006), it's hypnotic and absolutely bonkers. Saxophonist Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) starts to have strange visions, seeing the face of a pale old man (Robert Blake) on that of his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette). After the mysterious man appears to Fred saying he works for Dick Laurent (Robert Loggia), Fred watches a video of himself apparently murdering Renee. He is tried and sentenced to death, but one day before his death, officers find the man in Fred's cell isn't Fred, but a young auto mechanic called Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty). He returns to work, and repairs a car for gangster Mr. Eddy (Loggia again), and Pete ends up having an affair with Eddy's mistress Alice Wakefield (Arquette again). It requires full attention, but even that might not get you anywhere. As you don't know where this story is going to go, it's just down right peculiar. But, Lynch gets the best out of his cast, and it's a film about identity and altered states of physical representation. It's a mad fever dream, but Lynch would shock audiences again. 4/5

Supergirl (1984), after the success of the Superman films, producer Alexander Salkind thought it would be a good idea to do a film based on the Supergirl series of comics, which started in 1958. It seemed like a good idea at the time, especially as Christopher Reeve was in no hurry to play Superman again. But Supergirl would prove to be a troubled production, filmed on the hoof and the special effects look rushed too, but it's just cheesy fun mostly. On the Kryptonian community of Argo City, Kara Zor-El (Helen Slater) accidentally loses a powerful orb known as the Omegahedron, which belonged to Zaltar (Peter O'Toole). Blown into outer-space, Kara follows it, and transforms into Supergirl along the way. The Omegahedron lands on Earth, and it ends up in the hands of witch Selena (Faye Dunaway), who uses to break her relationship with warlock Nigel (Peter Cook), and wreck power on the world. Kara arrives on Earth, and enrols at an all-girls school under the name of Linda Lee, quickly befriending Lucy Lane (Maureen Teefy). But when Selena wages destruction, Kara/Linda becomes Supergirl. It follows the same formula as the Superman films, but this was rushed into production to make a Summer 1984 release, but it ended up being delayed when Warner Bros. dropped it from distribution, and negative publicity saw it flounder at the box-office, which was a shame, as it's not as bad as it's made out to be. 3/5



Rachel Getting Married (2008), directed by Jonathan Demme (Melvin and Howard (1980), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Philadelphia (1993)), after doing a few music documentaries, Demme was looking for his next film, and wanted to do something more intimate and smaller compared to what he'd done before, and he found it in this drama written by Jenny Lumet. It's a moving and powerful drama with a brilliant female lead. Kym (Anne Hathaway) has been in drug rehabilitation for a few years, but she's being allowed to go home so she can attend the wedding of her sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt). As soon as Kym gets home, the atmosphere around the house is tense, Kym's father Paul (Bill Irwin) notices this, and worries for Kym's well-being. Rachel finds out that Kym has told lies in rehab to try and shift responsibility away from her, and it all explodes into a full blown argument which Kym walks out of. She goes to the house of her mother Abby (Debra Winger), but Kym finds no solace or forgiveness there, and it just goes from bad to worse, and all this is the day before the wedding too. Filmed in 33 days in late 2007, this drama could have been a moody and gloomy film, but for some reason it's not, it's interesting and compelling and Hathaway gives a powerful and engrossing performance as the troubled daughter/sister of the family, it's Dogme 95 style does feel queasy, but it's something quite different. 4/5

The Town (2010), the second film directed by Ben Affleck after Gone Baby Gone (2007), this is based on the book Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan. This is a suspensful crime thriller, with a brilliant ensemble cast, and shows Affleck with great confidence as a director. Set in the Boston suburb of Charlestown, four friends Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), James "Jem" Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Albert "Gloansy" Magloan (Slaine) and Desmond "Dez" Elden (Owen Burke) commit raids and robberies on banks and security trucks. On one raid, they take bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) hostage, shortly after her release, Doug begins a relationship with Claire, but continues to commit crime. However, the FBI are onto Doug's gang. led by agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) and is looking to nail them. After a near miss on one job, where they were nearly caught by the police, Doug announced he wants out, and has aspiratons to move to Florida. However, he has one last big job to do, a raid on the counting room at the Boston Red Sox stadium, bit Frawley is onto Doug and his team big time, and Claire is yet to learn Doug's secret. It's very well made, with good performances all round, (yes even from Affleck, who'd have guessed!?) But, it's a good ensemble piece with a very powerful and suspenseful finale, rounded out with Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite. Affleck could be onto a good directing career... 4/5



47 Ronin (2013), this is one that Universal had in development hell for years before they finally took the plunge and decided to make it. It was also intended to be a comeback of sorts for it's star, and they employed advert director Carl Rinsch to make his directorial debut with the film. It should have been a doddle, but no-one knew what a troubled production it would turn out to be. But it's not that bad to watch, but it could have been better. Set in 18th Century Japan, Lord Asano Naganori (Min Tanaka) rules the village of Ako, and he ends up being cursed by evil witch Mizuki (Rinko Kikuchi), and he ends up trying to kill Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano), who he believes is having a relationship with his daughter Mika (Kou Shibasaki). Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) sentences Naganori to death, and banishes his men as Ronin. A year later, Naganori's head samurai Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is released, and with his son Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), set about reuniting the Ronin to save Mika, and that means recruiting half-Japanese, half-British outcast Kai (Keanu Reeves) to help. It should have been a success, but Universal originally ended up with a film they didn't want, so they interfered and recut it to make it more coherent and to the point, but in doing that, they've lost the point and spirit of the whole enterprise. It could have been a fun and exciting film, but it's only half that now, which is a shame. 2.5/5

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), directed by Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff (1983), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) and Henry & June (1990)), and adapted from Jack Finney's 1954 book The Body Snatchers, which became Don Siegal's 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This version is darker and has more body horror and blood on display, and it makes for very creepy and unsettling viewing, but it's bloody brilliant. In San Francisco, health inspector Matthre Bennell (Donald Sutherland) and his assistant Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) notice people close to them appear to be distant and soulless. It began when Elizabeth brought some pink flowers home, and she notices the changes in her boyfriend Geoffrey Howell (Art Hindle), Matthew suggests she see's his friend Dr. David Kibner (Leonard Nimoy) about it. Dr. Kibner claims that Geoffrey wants out of the relationship. Then things take a sinister turn when Matthew's other friend and aspiring writer Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum) and his wife Nancy (Veronica Cartwright) discover a deformed body in the mud baths they own... It's a rare instance of a horror remake working better than the original, the imposing skyscrapers of San Francisco add to the eeriness of the imposing and upcoming danger coming soon. It has some good horror make-up for it's day, and it's still effective now and a dark parable on 1970's America. 5/5



The Money Pit (1986), directed by Richard Benjamin, (City Heat (1984), Mermaids (1990) and Made in America (1993)), written by David Giler (The Parallax View (1974) and Southern Comfort (1981)), and produced by Steven Spielberg, this is a remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), and this version is updated to the Yuppie Generation of the 1980's, and event through it's a product of it's time and it's still fun now. Lawyer Walter Fielding (Tom Hanks) and his girlfriend Anna Crowley (Shelley Long) have to quickly find their own place, they've been living in the apartment of Anna's ex-husband Max Beissart (Alexander Godunov), a pompous concert conductor. Through dubious real estate agent Jack Schnittman (Josh Mostel), Walter hears about a distress sale mansion, which has to be sold soon because the owner Estelle's (Maureen Stapleton) husband is in trouble. However, once Walter and Anna buy it, they realise they've been told a turkey, and the place starts falling down around them, and they fight a losing battle to fix it up, and Anna even goes to Max for help. It has some very silly gags, but some very good set pieces as well, but it has dated a bit since it was released, and it could do with another new version, (Are We Done Yet? (2007) doesn't count.) But, it's a product of it's time, and it helped put Hanks on the road to greater things, and it was at the height of his comedy years. 3.5.5

Stoker (1st view) - Watching this I was a bit WTF, not because of the usual "what's happening?" but more "why is this happening?" In a way that made the whole thing more enjoyable. Visuals, performances, music, all ace and add to that the total craziness that the whole film seems to be drenched in and you have a winner - 4/5*

Not Another Teen Movie (1st view) - I know I shouldn't but I found this pretty funny. I know the film's terrible and everyone involved must look back at it and think "Why?" but it's a damn sight more entertaining than 90% of what its spoofing - 3/5*

My Darling Clementine (1946), directed by John Ford, who made such great westerns like Stagecoach (1939), 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). This western is a telling of the story of Wyatt Earp and the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It's got some lovely cinematography and it's a great version of that true story, done with heart and a good sense of panache. In 1881, the Earp brothers Wyatt (Henry Fonda), Morgan (Ward Bond), Virgil (Tim Holt) and James (Don Garner), coming to the town of Tombstone, Arizona, which is lawless, and deaths are frequent. Wyatt is the only man who is determined to take on the lawless men who give Tombstone a bad name. But when James is killed while protecting cattle, enough is enough, and Wyatt takes on the job of Town Marshal, and along with Doc Holliday (Victor Mature), intend to bring law to the town. Meanwhile, Clementine Carter (Cathy Downs) comes into Tombstone from Boston, and she's staying in the same hotel as Wyatt and Doc. Which causes a love triangle. It's a classic old western, made with love and attention, but Ford's original cut was brutally re-cut by Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck, to tighten up the pacing and move the story along, however, Ford's version has been mostly restored. It's blessed with a good cast, good dialogue and some lovely location cinematography. 4/5



Whisky Galore! (1949), produced by Ealing Studios and directed by Alexander Mackendrick (The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955)), this was adapted from a 1947 book of the same name by Compton MacKenzie, who also wrote the screenplay here. It's an amusing tale of canny locals in a remote area taking advantage of something big that happens. The result has some very hilarious consequences. On the remote Scottish island of Todday in the Outer Hebrides in 1943, life has been happy for the villagers, and they haven't been affected by rationing. That is until their supply of whisky runs out, and they're left high and dry, and it leaves the villagers in a gloomy slump. That is until the S.S. Cabinet Minister runs aground. The villagers, including Sammy MacCodrun (John Gregson), storekeeper Joseph Macroon (Wylie Watson) and The Biffer (Morland Graham) go out to investigate, and discover the ship has a cargo of 50,000 cases of whisky. They pilfer as much as they can, but Captain Paul Waggett (Basil Radford) off the Home Guard is onto the locals. It's got a cheeky sense of humour, and it has a good script with some very funny dialogue along the way too. Unlike many of Ealings films, it hasn't dated at all, and it has a timeless feel to it. It has some really funny and offbeat performances, and it's tone was carried over into similar films like Local Hero (1983) and Waking Ned (1998). 4/5

Drowning By Numbers (1988), written and directed by Peter Greenaway, (The Draughtsman's Contract (1982), A Zed & Two Noughts (1985) and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989). This is a pitch black comedy only Greenaway could have dreamed up, and it has his usually arty touches. Sex and death are usual hallmarks in his films, but it has a compelling quality but for the most part, the film is absolutely bonkers. The film follows 3 women called Cissie Colpitts, a Grandmother (Joan Plowright), her daughter (Juliet Stevenson) and her niece (Joely Richardson). Cissie 1 caught her husband Jake (Bryan Pringle) having sex in a bathtub with local girl Nancy (Jane Gurnett). She drowns them both, and she's able to convince local coroner Madgett (Bernard Hill), to cover up her crime. Cissie 2 then murders her boorish accountant husband Hardy (Trevor Cooper) in the sea overlooking their house, then Cissie 3 murders her new beau Bellamy (David Morrissey) in a local swimming pool during a night time swim. Madgett feels bad for doing this, but he finds himself falling for the 3 Cissie Colpitts. It's a very weird film, and to add to the mood, Greenaway has the numbers 1 to 100 appear in order (or not at all) throughout the duration of the film, either on screen, or spoken by the character in that scene, making the film a sort of arthouse Sesame Street. It's not a film for everyone, but it is good to look at with good performances. 3.5/5



...And Justice for All (1979), directed by Norman Jewison, (In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Fiddler on the Roof (1971)), this legal drama was written by then husband and wife writing team Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson. It does feel a bit dated now, (the music and fashions do look and sound suspect now), but it has some brilliant performances throughout and a very well written screenplay. In Baltimore, defence attorney Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) has had a fierce rivarly with Judge Henry T. Fleming (John Forsythe), who refuses to reopen a case regarding Kirkland's client Jeff McCullaugh (Thomas G. Waites), who was sent to jail for a minor traffic offense. Kirkland's life is in disarray at the time, his grandfather Sam (Lee Strasberg) is going senile, while his legal partner Jay Porter (Jeffrey Tambor) goes mad after a client he got off murders someone. Then, Kirkland is told that Fleming has been arrested for rape, and Fleming wants Kirkland to represent him. Kirkland is now stuck between a rock and a hard place, then he hears something shocking. Jewison gets the best out of his cast, and it does have some very offbeat characters, including a young Tambor, and Pacino turns in another powerhouse performance as a man stuck between doing whats right and what's legal. It's a product of it's time, but it's also a good timepiece of the legal process in the late 1970's. 4/5

I'm So Excited! (2013), Pedro Almodóvar rides again, and after nearly 2 decades of making serious films, dramas, powerful romances and even a body horror film, he returns to the outrageous comedies that made him famous. It's a small and focused character piece set in almost one location, however it is quite dodgy in it's character's motives, and you do get the nagging feeling at times that Almodóvar is sending his own films up. The action takes place on a Peninsula Airlines flight from Madrid to Mexico City. The crew consists mainly of bisexual pilots Benito (Hugo Silva) and Alex (Antonio de la Torre), and gay flight attendants Ulloa (Raúl Arévalo), Fajardo (Carlos Areces) and Joserra (Javier Cámara). The passengers in first class include Bruna (Lola Dueñas), Norma Boss (Cecilia Roth) and Ricardo Galán (Guillermo Toledo). However, on the way over the Atlantic to Mexico, the pilots discover there's a malfunction with the landing gear, and soon the flight attendants and the passengers get to hear about the problem, and not knowing what's going to happen, make the most of what could be the end. If this had been made in the 1980's, it would rank along side Almodóvar's best films, however, this seems tame and safe compare to what Almodóvar does, but there is some daft laughs to be had along the way, including Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz making cheeky cameos. Apart from that, it's all camp and no meaning for it all. 3/5



Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom (2013), adapted from Nelson Mandela's 1994 autobiography, adapted by William Nicholson (Shadowlands (1993) and Gladiator (2000)), and directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)). This moving and thoughtful biopic of the great South African leader does him justice, and it has some good performances, it doesn't shy away from how nasty apartheid South Africa was either. Nelson Mandela (Idris Elba) was a defense lawyer in Johannesburg, who in the 1950's joined the African National Congress, which was against the apartheid imposed in 1948 by the National Party of South Africa. Using methods of terror to intimidate the government to dropping the apartheid, Mandela gets recognition, but he pays the price for his crimes when he is sentenced to life imprisonment in 1963. On Robben Island, Mandela is told he will never be freed from prison, but what he didn't count on was the people of the world fighting his cause and campaigning for his release. His wife Winnie (Naomie Harris) goes through her own hell, but comes out fighting. It's a tough film to watch in places, but it has some very good performances and it was even filmed on many of the real locations where the real events happened, including Robben Island. It has a powerful feel, and it has some lovely cinematography too. It is well worth a look and it's a shame Mandela didn't live to see this. 4/5

True Romance (1993), this was the first screenplay Quentin Tarantino ever wrote, this was back in the 1980's. However, he made Reservoir Dogs (1992) as his debut, he decided to let Tony Scott direct this film, which QT has called "his most autobiographical film". Maybe that's why he couldn't direct it, but it is a brilliant film, with an amazing cast and made a great director. It has movie buff Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) meeting call girl Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette), who was hired by Clarence's boss as a birthday present. Alabama falls in love with Clarence, and they marry. Clarence tells Alabama's pimp Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman) that he's married, and wants to cut ties. It ends in murder, and Clarence ends up with a suitcase full of pure uncut cocaine, who they decide to give it to Clarence's actor friend Dick Ritchie (Michael Rapaport) living in Hollywood, he has contacts, such as actor Elliot (Bronson Pinchot) who knows movie producer Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek) who will have it, but unknown to Clarence and Alabama, gangster Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken) is hot on their tail, looking for the cocaine. This is a smart, savvy film with great dialogue and some brilliant performances, also including Val Kilmer as Clarence's mentor Elvis Presley, Brad Pitt as junkie Floyd and Dennis Hopper as Clarence's Dad Clifford, who gives a brilliant speech in the film. Filled with Scott's usual flair for amazing glossy visuals and fast editing. This is a clever, funny and surprising film that never gets boring. 5/5



Sightseers (2012), directed by Ben Wheatley, (Down Terrace (2009), Kill List (2011) and A Field in England (2013)) and produced by Edgar Wright. This black comedy puts a neat little spin on the road trip movie, this sort of thing you'd expect to see in America, in England, we just don't have the roads or mileage to do that, Wheatley manages to do that, and the result is one of the best comedies in years, and one of the funniest too. Tina (Alice Lowe) and her new boyfriend Chris (Steve Oram) are in love, even though Tina's elderly mother Carol (Eileen Davies) doesn't like him at all. Tina and Chris go on a caravan holiday around tourist sites in England, beginning at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, where Chris runs over a litterbug (Tony Way) who riled him. The police rule it was an accident, but it clearly wasn't, yet Tina and Chris carry on with their holiday, and the body count goes up nearly everywhere they stop off at, and even Tina gets in on the act, as they head north into the Lake District, but Chris starts having nightmares, while Tina really gets into the holiday spirit. Stuff like this shouldn't be funny, but under the right circumstances like here, murder can be funny. Wheatley has great fun with the story, which was written by stars Low and Oram after exchanging holiday stories. There are some laugh out loud moments throughout here, and it also has time to take in a lot of local sights too. 5/5

A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012), the directorial debut of Kula Shaker frontman Crispian Mills, (son of Hayley Mills, grandson of John Mills), this is a very loose adaptation of Paranoia in the Launderette by Bruce Robinson. It's a very peculiar black comedy, which looks arty and off-kilter on the outside, but it has a weird charm about it, although it's not perfect, and it does get a bit repetitive and weirdly dark towards the end. Children's writer Jack (Simon Pegg) gave up on his marriage because of his obsession of his characters, so he abandoned the children's writing and became a writer of books about Victorian serial killers, and has written a script about it. He gets a call from his literary agent Clair (Clare Higgins) that American producer Harvey Humphries (Simon Kunz) wants to read his script. But, Jack has to get some clean clothes together, and he becomes paranoid that Humphries is related to Dr. Crippen, and he really wants to kill him, but that's not all. Attempts to clean his clothes fail, meaning he has to visit the one place he fears the most, the launderette. It's a bit too quirky to be totally enjoyable, and it's tone is all over the place, and not in a good way. Pegg jumps around screaming looking like a deranged Matthew Corbett, it's a shame, as this could have been enjoyable, and it is at times, but after about an hour, it sort of loses it's way, and starts repeating itself and goes sinister. 2.5/5



Silent Running (1972), the directorial debut of special effects whiz Douglas Trumbull, (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)), this is an amazingly sparse and beautifully moving science fiction film. It cost only $1 million to make and was shot in 32 days, and Trumbull claimed this was his answer to 2001, it manages to be an awe-inspiring adventure with a gentle edge and 3 robots who steal the film. In the future, plant life on Earth has become extinct, and spaceships with glass ecodomes carry what remains in order to preserve and hopefully restore Earth. The forests on board the spaceship Valley Forge are maintained by botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern), who spends most of his time in the ecodomes, while getting teased by crew members John Keenan (Cliff Potts), Marty Barker (Ron Rifkin) and Andy Wolf (Jesse Vint). However, when an order comes from command headquarters to jettison the ecodomes and destroy them with nuclear charges, something snaps inside Lowell, already taunted to breaking point, and he rebels. It's an amazing film, with Bruce Dern giving a brilliant performance, his character may have done something wrong, but you understand his intentions and side with him. It's also an indictment of what could happen to the world if we don't protect the environment, but it isn't preachy. It's a moving and engaging. 5/5

Ice Station Zebra (1968), directed by John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Great Escape (1963)) and based upon the 1963 book by Alistair MacLean, which was inspired by an actual operation that occurred in 1959. It was intended to reunite the cast of The Guns of Navarone (1961), but delays put the kibosh on that. It tries to be suspenseful, but it's overlong and quite dull. Commander James Ferraday (Rock Hudson), who is in charge of the U.S. nuclear attack submarine USS Tigerfish, which is stationed at Holy Loch in Scotland. Ferraday is asked by Admiral Garvey (Lloyd Nolan) to take the Tigerfish into the Arctic, to save the survivors of the British research station Ice Station Zebra, which suffered an accident. Ferraday is told to take along British intelligence agent Mr. Jones (Patrick McGoohan), Combat Commander Captain Anders (Jim Brown) and Russian Defector Boris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine), who will aid with this mission. However, once they break through the ice and get to the station, priorities and plans change. It should have been a good spy thriller, but too much time is spent on the submarine, and by the time we get into the Arctic, the film has already been smothered. It has a good cast as well, but the film is overlong, it could have done with half an hour trimmed from it to speed things along and keep it tighter and to the point. 2/5



Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013), directed by Sam Raimi, who has picked himself up after being dumped from doing Spider-Man, he took on prequel to The Wizard of Oz, which is taken from elements of L. Frank Baum's Oz novels, and he makes a visually stunning film that has some good moments of fantasy and even a good sense of humour about it. Plus, it is very respectful to the mythology and characters of the land of Oz. Kansas 1905, and small time magician and con man Oscar 'Oz' Diggs (James Franco) escapes from a mob in a hot air balloon, which is sucked into a tornado, and transported into the colourful and unusual land of Oz, where he's guided around by Theodora (Mila Kunis), who believes him to be a wizard prophesied to overthrow the Wicked Witch, if he does that, he'll become King of Oz. In the Emerald City, they meet Thedora's sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) who doesn't trust Diggs. But Diggs goes off to find the Wicked Witch, who happens to be Glinda the Good Witch (Michelle Williams), who tells Diggs the truth of what's really going on and that he's the only one to stop it. This is a very inventive film, which has a heart, it does feel a bit like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), but Raimi is able to finds new things in Baum's stories, and it would be great to see more of Oz, plus Bruce Campbell has an amusing cameo. 4/5

Rebecca (2nd view) - Not Hitch's best but still brilliant. Fontaine, Sanders and Anderson are all superb. The fact it only won two oscars is proof that the Academy have always been silly - 4/5




American Hustle (1st view) - Some great performances - Adams, Bale, Lawrence. Some not so great - Cooper. Certainly a film that relishes its 70s trappings. Never gets better than the opening wig bit with Bale and Cooper but the Delilah sequence and the science oven bits were great. So much zooming. It seemed like every time Adams was on screen the camera zoomed in from across the room. But very good overall - 4/5*




At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1st view) - Apparently Brazil's first horror film. And quite a good one. Evil undertaker Coffin Joe goes on a killing spree as he tries to find a perfect woman to bear his children. I particularly liked the opening in which a gypsy woman tells the audience not to watch the film. Looking forward to seeing the character of Joe in more films - 4/5*




Monty Python and The Holy Grail (6th view) - One of the funniest films ever made. It's hard to think of any film with more memorable moments, every scene is a classic and every joke works. The madness on display is genius - 5/5

Glengarry Glen Ross (2nd view) - Fantastic cast all on top form - 4/5

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (1st view) - Steve Carell is great at comedy. I know this because I've seen The Office. His performances in comedy films tend to leave a lot to be desired and this is one of them. As the titular magician, the character for the most part is quite unlikeable and it's only when the humanity shines through that Carell actually seems to be trying. Steve Buscemi and James Gandolfini are both wasted. But there's some fun to be had watching Jim Carrey's eccentric street magician, Olivia Wilde has little to do but she does it well and the always great Alan Arkin steals the film as a retired conjurer - 3/5*

Nazi Zombie Death Tales (1st view) - An anthology horror featuring three half hour tales, all set during the second world war. The title is misleading; one story features no zombies, there are very few nazis and no actually nazi zombies. Apparently it's also know as Battlfield Death Tales, but there are no battlefields either. One great, one poor and one decent story - 3/5*

Iron Man 3 (2nd view) - Last year at the cinema, during a rather divisive moment in this film there was an audible gasp and foul-mouthed outburst from a group of people in the cinema, a reaction which made me like the onscreen revelation even more, and it's even enjoyable the second time. "Don't hurt the face! I'm an actor" really cracks me up. Probably the best of the Marvel universe films that isn't the Avengers, but I do love them all - 4/5

Mission: Impossible III (4th view) - Almost the best one in the series, and the first one in which it feels like Cruise's Hunt is in any actual danger. Lots of fun - 4/5




Also saw Marvel's Agent Carter with the lovely Haylwey Atwell. I'd like to see the character get her own film.

The Wolf Of Wall Street (1st view) - There was a time when I didn't like Leonardo DiCaprio and I still find it hard to believe that I'm now always looking forward to his next film. He's utterly superb in this, his best performance yet that I've seen, and deserves an Oscar for the Quaaludes scene alone (I honestly don't think I've ever heard a cinema audience laugh so much at any one sequence). Still not keen on Jonah Hill as a serious actor, but I don't like him as a comedy actor. I don't rate him as an actor at all really but he wasn't as bad in this as I excpected. For a three hour film it kinda flew by, a few scenes here and there dragged. A great film overall. I'd say it was Scorcese's best since King Of Comedy, but then I remember I like Gangs, Shutter Island and Hugo probabaly just as much, so this last sentence is all a bit pointless - 4/5*