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

Leo deserves an Oscar just for having a candle stuck up his bottom in the film!!  That's commitment!!

The Tree of Life (2011), Terrence Malick's first film since The New World (2005), one he's been working on since the late 1970's, and when he did get it made, it took 5 years of production, 3 of them in post. The result is totally unique, quite beautiful and gorgeous to look at, but that's about it, but you know Malick's intentions are good. The film focuses on the life of Jack O'Brien (Hunter McCracken as a boy, Sean Penn as an adult), who grows up sometime in the 1950's/1960's in Waco, Texas. His father (Brad Pitt) is a loving man, who can be quite hardened and harsh when he shows his true colours, maybe because he wanted to be a musician but that never happened. Whereas Jack's mother (Jessica Chastain) is a free spirit, a loving mother but one who encourages them to play and be free. But, adult Jack looks back on his life as a lost soul, having lost one of his brothers back then, and he thinks about his dead brother alot. This is also interspersed with footage showing the beginning of the Universe and life of Earth and how human emotions and instincts all came together, this runs alongside Jack growing up and understanding about human emotions. It's a complex film, (2001 set in Texas), but Malick has a brilliant visual eye and he gets the best out of his cast too. It will require more viewings to fully understand it all, but for now, it's one of the best of 2011. 4.5/5



To The Wonder (2012), Terrence Malick returns, wasting no time after directing The Tree of Life (2011), which divided critics. Here, he divides them again, with this slow meditation on life and faith. Malick started work without a script, instead just a rough outline and filmed hours and hours of footage, and then made it in the editing suite. This is not a film for everyone, as it will test people's patience to the limit, but stick with it, and it's a rewarding experience. American Neil (Ben Affleck) has fallen in love with Marina (Olga Kurylenko) in France, she has a daughter Tatiana (Tatiana Chiline) from a previous marriage, but Neil convinces Marina to move to America, and back to his hometown in Oklahoma. But Marina struggles to cope with life in America, and she and Tatiana move back to Paris. Neil reconnects with childhood friend Jane (Rachel McAdams), but soon Marina comes back to America to give their relationship another go, but they struggle, and Marina seeks for advice from Spanish priest Father Quintana (Javier Bardem), who is struggling to find meaning within his vocation. This is a difficult film to rate, as it's beautiful to look at, but it only makes sense to one person, and that's Malick. But, it is beautiful and soothing to watch, and it puts the view at ease, which is a good thing. But, it does make you wonder what Malick has planned with his next 3 films. 4/5

15 Minutes (2001), written and directed by John Herzfeld, (Two of a Kind (1983), 2 Days In The Valley (1996)), this thriller grew from a character in The Preppie Murder (1989), a TV movie Herzfeld directed, this character inspired the lead in this film, which is intended to be a dark satire on the media, but most of it is unintentionally funny, and it is a sleazy and dirty film which will leave it's viewers feeling very unclean indeed. It begins with Eastern European convicts Emil Slovak (Karel Roden) and Oleg Razgul (Oleg Taktarov) coming to New York to collect money from a bank heist they committed in Russia. While in New York, they steal a camcorder, and when their contact Milos Karlova (Vladimir Mashkov) admits he's spent the money, they kill him and film it, and they burn down the apartment to make it look like an accident. Arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns) and NYPD detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro) arrive on the scene, and deduct it was no accident. Meanwhile, slimy TV news anchor Robert Hawkins (Kelsey Grammer) wants the video of the crime commiitted. There's too much going on in the film, and it jolts between storylines and it would have been boring if it had been a longer film. It could have benefited from a tighter, leaner script with more focus on the heroes and less on the nasty villains, who are loathsome. Plus, there's a shocker of a killing half way through which brings the film down. 2/5



Machete (2010), this has been a pet project for Robert Rodriguez for well over 15 years, a taster was given as a fake trailer in Grindhouse (2007), fans wanted a film of it, Rodriguez delivered. And it's one of his best films to date, with a fast and furious attitude and pace, and see's the most fun Rodriguez film since his early days with El Mariachi (1992), Desperado (1995) and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). This has Machete (Danny Trejo), a renegade Mexican Federale, who now roams Texas looking for work. He's offered work by local businessman Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey), he wants Machete to kill Texas Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), who wants illegal immigrants sent out of Texas. However, before Machete can do it, he is hit by a sniper. He's been set up, as Booth planned it so McLaughlin would get more support. Now, Machete wants revenge, and he finds it with the mysterious Shé (Michelle Rodriguez), U.S. Immigration officer Santana Rivera (Jessica Alba) and Padre (Cheech Marin), however, Machete also has to face mad vigilante border officer Von Jackson (Don Johnson) and drugs lord Torrez (Steven Seagal). It's a silly yet enjoyable action film, with more sex, violence and nudity anyone could ask for!! It has moments where you feel like cheering Machete on, it's such great fun, and Trejo is excellent as our hero. Rodriguez has made a hero for all time with Machete!!  4/5

Dracula (1931), Universal had found fame and success with The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). However, when producer Carl Laemmle, Jr. read Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, he knew it would make for a brilliant film, Tod Browning (Freaks (1932)) was hired, and even though they used a 1924 stage adaptation of Dracula by Hamilton Deane & John L. Balderston as the template, it's still an effective horror film. Here, lawyer Renfield (Dwight Frye) travels to Transylvania to sort out a property lease in London with Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), who is eccentric but charismatic. Turns out he's a vampire, and he hypnotises Renfield into becoming his slave, and they travel to England. Renfield is admitted to an asylum ran by Dr. Seward (Herbert Bunston), who is intrigued by Renfield's odd behaviour. Meanwhile, Dracula makes the acquaintance of Seward, and he meets Seward's daughter Mina (Helen Chandler), her fiancé John Harker (David Manners) and the family friend Lucy Weston (Frances Dade). Renfield's behaviour attracts the attention of Dr. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). It's done with the style of the German Expressionism films, with heavy shadows and high contrast lighting, you can see where film-noir came from with films like this. But it is a creepy film, and it still manages to be quite effective, and it has an eerie air of the supernatural about it, but Hammer did the best Dracula. 4/5



Frankenstein (1931), immediately off the success of Dracula (1931), Universal went ahead with the screen adaptation of another great monster, by adapting Mary Shelley's 1818 novel of the same name, one which had shocked readers for a century. To direct, Universal hired English theatre director James Whale to do this, and it would be his biggest hit, he would direct a few more horrors for Universal, but non more successful than this. Young imaginative scientist Heinrich "Henry" Frankenstein (Colin Clive) goes around with his assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) stealing corpses from graves, fresh ones preferably. He believes he can bring body parts back to life using electricity. However, his actions worry his fiancée Elizabeth (Mae Clarke), who can't understand why he's spending so long doing his experiments, so she and friend Victor Mortiz (John Boles) go to see Frankenstein's mentor Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan) about this. They all go up to see what he's up to, and he's created a man (Boris Karloff) who, despite his lumbering and violent nature, is actually innocent and simple at heart. This film spawned numerous sequels, remakes, spoofs and tributes. Karloff's Frankenstein is an imposing and tragic figure, often copied but never bettered. At a lean 70 minutes, this take on Frankenstein flies in, but it's beautiful to look at and there's some good sets and photography on display, and it still holds up for an audience today. 4/5

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Wes Anderson's third film, and his first one made outside his native Texas. This is a huge ensemble piece with an all star cast made in New York, it's well made, and it has Anderson's usual flair for odd visuals and camerawork, but it has heart, emotion and humour. It begins with the Tenenbaum family, father Royal (Gene Hackman) and mother Etheline (Anjelica Huston), who have 3 gifted children who were brilliant child prodigies, but they found failure and hardship in later years. Chas (Ben Stiller) was a brilliant financial whiz, but has since become a widower, very over-protective of his two sons, Azi and Uzi. Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a brilliant playwright, but now she spends 6 hours a day in the bathtub, her husband is neurologist Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray), and Richie (Luke Wilson) was a brilliant tennis pro, who now sails around the world. Royal has been estranged from this family for years, is determined to get them back together again, by any means necessary. It's very offbeat, but everything Anderson has done before and after has been. It's got a dry, old-fashioned narration by Alec Baldwin, and the cast are brilliant, (also including Danny Glover, Kumar Pallana and Owen Wilson) It's quite dark and depressing in places, but once you get past that, it's an enjoyable and entertaining film. 4/5



The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), After 3 quite successful films, Wes Anderson went to Italy for this quite ambitious film he'd had in mind since his debut, Bottle Rocket. It's an oddball little ensemble piece, heavily inspired by the underwater films of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, well, it acts as both a parody and a homage to the legendary oceanographer. It's visually unique and has some great performances, as well as Anderson's incomparable eye for visuals. It follows once famous documentarian Steve Zissou (Bill Murray), who is off on an expedition to find a 'jaguar shark' which ate his best friend Esteban du Plantier (Seymour Cassel). On board are his crew, including second in command Klaus Daimler (Willem Dafoe), reporter Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett), Zissou's could-be son Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) and Bond Company Stooge Bill Ubell (Bud Cort), they encounter pirates, money woes and personal tragedy. But it brings them all closer. It's a very offbeat little dramedy, Murray is wonderfully deadpan as Zissou, and the rest of the supporting cast, (including Anjelica Huston, Jeff Goldblum and Michael Gambon) are wonderful too. It's very imaginative, (the interior of Zissou's ship is quite cool), and there's a bit of stop-motion animation from Henry Selick as well. 4/5

The Butler (2013), directed by Lee Daniels (Precious (2009) and The Paperboy (2012)) and written by Danny Strong (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Parts 1 and 2 (2014/2015)), this thoughtful and somewhat preachy drama has a brilliant ensemble cast, and it is partially inspired by a true story, much emphasis on partially there, as some parts are a bit too far fetched to believe, but it is powerful and is watchable, but it can be mawkish. Cecil Gaines (Forest Whittaker) started his life sharecropping in rural Georgia in the 1920's, before he became a house servant, trained up by Annabeth Westfall (Vanessa Redgrave), from there he manages to move north to Washington, where marries Gloria (Oprah Winfrey). In 1957, he gets the offer to become a butler in The White House, and it's the chance of a life time, and he works there for over 30 years, and Gaines witnesses the actions and power of successive presidents including Dwight D. Eisenhower (Robin Williams), John F. Kennedy (James Marsden), Lyndon B. Johnson (Liev Schreiber), Richard Nixon (John Cusack) and Ronald Reagan (Alan Rickman). It's a good film, but you get the impression it could have been a better film, and sadly, not enough time is given to his time with the Presidents, and it focuses on the political forthwrightness of his older son, which mars the film. Despite all good intentions, the film got it's priorities wrong, shame really. 3.5/5



The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), directed by Martin Scorsese, who follows up his family film Hugo (2011) with the most adult film imaginable. Based on Jordan Belfort's 2008 memoir, this is a cautionary black comedy about the absolute corruption of absolute power. It's also the wildest film Scorsese has made yet, and also his funniest, with some moments which will shock. You can't believe all this happened, but it looks brilliant. 1987, and Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) becomes a stockbroker working for Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), after Black Monday, Belfort is out of work, but he starts his own company, Stratton Oakmont, out of an abandoned garage, selling penny stocks for outrageously inflated prices. It makes him and business partner Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill) millions in the space of a few years, and they lead an extravagant lifestyle, consisting of sex, booze and Quaaludes. But, it's not long before their activities catch the attention of FBI agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler), who starts investigating, and Belfort and Azoff have to find a way to hide their millions. There's some scenes here you cannot believe Scorsese would have his cast doing, but it makes for fascinating and entertaining viewing, DiCaprio gives maybe his best performance, this shows that he should stop doing serious, brooding roles and do more comedy, he has a brilliant talent for it. But, it's wild and absolutely brilliant. 5/5

The Man With The Iron Fists (2012), the directorial debut of Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eli Roth, and produced by Quentin Tarantino. This martial arts film homages a lot of the great kung fu films to come out of Hong Kong, as well as some of the more recent offerings likes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Kill Bill. It's nothing original, but there is quite a bit to admire in this film. Set in the late 19th Century, a shipment of gold is scheduled to pass through Jungle Village, but the gold's protector Golden Lion (Chen Kuan-tai), is betrayed by his lieutenants Silver Lion (Byron Mann) and Bronze Lion (Cung Le), who plan to steal the gold for themselves, but they come up against others wanting the gold or for other reasons. Including mystical mercenary Brass Body (David Bautista), Zen-Yi (Rick Yune), son of Golden Lion who seeks revenge, British mercenary Jack Knife (Russell Crowe) who has been charged to protect the gold, brothel owner Madam Blossom (Lucy Liu) and the village blacksmith from America (RZA), who holds one amazing feat of power. It is a very silly film, and there's so much going on, it becomes hard to follow what's going on, RZA's first cut was nearly 4 hours long, and he nearly split it into two films, which could have been better. However, it's worth it to see Crowe do his Oliver Reed impression, and the action is well choreographed and it is very imaginative. 3.5/5



Argo (2012), directed by Ben Affleck, who has proven himself magnificently as a director with Gone Baby Gone (2007) and The Town (2010), this is a taut and suspenseful thriller which also happens to be an unbelievable true story too. A rescue mission which you would never have believed have worked, but it did. Set within the lion's den of the most dangerous country on Earth, it captures the mood and feel of the time. On November 4, 1979, the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran was ambushed by militants. Most of the embassy staff were taken hostage, but six of them managed to escape down a passage and they found refuge in the house of the Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). Weeks pass, and the situation hasn't gotten any better, and the CIA are trying to think of a way to get them out of Iran, CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with a plan so crazy, it might actually work. With help from special effects man John Chambers (John Goodman) and producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), they go into Iran as a Canadian film crew, scouting locations for a sci-fi film called Argo, and try and get them out. It's on-the-edge of your seat stuff, but it's absolutely amazing, and it might even be the best film of 2012. Affleck shows professionalism as actor and director, with great support from Bryan Cranston as Mendez's boss at the CIA, who is watching what's happening. 5/5

Donald McKinney wrote:

Leo deserves an Oscar just for having a candle stuck up his bottom in the film!!  That's commitment!!

Ha, good point!   

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - (3rd view) - Best of the lot. I'd like to see the same gang return in a fifth film - 4/5





This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1st view) - Murderous undertaker Coffin Joe returns following the events of At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, still intent on finding a perfect woman to bear his children. This time he kidnaps six women and attempts to find the one most worthy to become a mother. It's a ghoulish and sadistic little film and one that manages to surpass its very good predecessor. The highlight is undoubtedly a sequence in which Joe, plagued by guilt over one of his particular crimes, experiences a nightmarish vision of hell. It's quite un like anything I've seen - 4/5*

The Vow (1st view) - A young married couple are involved in a car accident and the wife wakes up with no memory of the last five years. In her mind her husband's a stranger and she's engaged to someone else. Not quite so sickly as many romantic dramas, and it's carried along by the likeable charm of the two leads - 3/5*




Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1st view) - A man cuts his leg open and inserts a metal rod into the wound. Soon after he's hit by a car. And then things get very weird, very quickly. Not for the faint-hearted and it's best to stay away from it if you don't like weird films. The black and white cinematography, frenetic editing, whipfast chase scsnes, pounding score, amazing sound effects and bizarre stop-motion visuals all help to make this a nightmarish gem - 4/5*

The Strange World Of Coffin Joe (1st view) - Great Brazilian horror anthology. Depraved, deranged, sadistic, explicit (quite so I'd imagine for the time), brutal and really, really good - 4/5*

Dazed and Confused (1993), written and directed by Richard Linklater, whose homemade $23,000 debut Slacker (1991) got critical acclaim and made a tidy profit. Linklater was approached by producers Sean Daniel and James Jacks, who had a deal at Universal, whose independent arm Gramercy was looking to make low-budget indie films. Linklater gave them this, pitched as a druggie American Graffiti, it has a good little ensemble at it's heart. Set during one day on May 28th 1976, and in one suburb of Austin, Texas, it's the last day of school at last day of school at Lee High School. The school's star football player Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London) has signed a contract saying he won't take drugs during the summer break, meanwhile the Seniors are hunting down Freshmen coming in in the next school year, two Freshmen Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins) and Carl Burnett (Esteban Powell) avoid a paddling by Senior Fred O'Bannion (Ben Affleck), but Fred catches up with Mitch later. Injured, Pink gives Mitch a ride home, but they end up driving into the night with David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey). It's a nostaligic piece of 70's counter culture and the music that people were listening to then. It was partially based on real events and stories shared by Linklater and his friends from that era. It helped put a few young actors on the map, and it would help put them on the road to superstardom. 3.5/5



3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), from music video director Demian Lichtenstein (Lowball (1996) and Venus & Vegas (2010). This crime caper has an original idea, and it was pitched somewhere between Ocean's Eleven (1960) and True Romance (1993). It had a great cast, but it's all wasted on cliched action set-ups and it didn't help that neither the director nor the stars could get the tone right, and the film was recut by the producers. It begins when Michael (Kurt Russell) has just come out of jail, and he meets single mother Cybil (Courteney Cox) at a motel, and he sleeps with her. But, Michael is part of a crime gang, along with Murphy (Kevin Costner), Hanson (Christian Slater), Gus (David Arquette) and Franklin (Bokeem Woodbine). They all plan to go to an Elvis convention in Las Vegas, and rob the casino that's holding it and use their disguises as the cover. The heist is pulled off, although there was a very violent shootout at the casino. However, Murphy double crosses the others, and tries to kill them, leaving Michael on the run, with Cybil in tow and a share of $100,000 as well. It should have been a good film, and you'd expect good things from a cast like that, (Russell actually played Elvis), but stuff like this has all been seen before, and you don't know if it's meant to be a black comedy or a violent action film with third rate witty dialogue, the mixture is jarring, which is a shame considering the plot. 2/5

Grudge Match (2013), directed by Peter Segal (Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994), Anger Management (2003) and Get Smart (2008)), this sports comedy has a very old fashioned feel to it, and while it is a good idea bringing two screen legends, best known for iconic roles as boxers, together for a bout. It does feel like a tough guys version of a Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau film, with bickering and moaning making up for the laughs. In the 1980's, boxers Henry "Razor" Sharp (Sylvester Stallone) and Billy "The Kid" McDonnen (Robert De Niro), both from Pittsburgh, gained a rivalry for two matches they had, where one beat the other, and vice versa. But the rematch to determine champion never came. Henry retired, leaving Billy fuming. Cut to present day, Henry is approached by promoter Dante Slate Jr. (Kevin Hart) to do some boxing moves for a computer game, but when he arrives to find Billy there, a fight breaks out, which becomes a viral sensation on YouTube. Hence a Grudge Match is organised, to determine champion once and for all. Henry recruits his old trainer, Louis "Lightning" Conlon (Alan Arkin) to get fit, while Billy gets back into shape with help from his estranged son B.J. (Jon Bernthal). While it's worth it for the match at the end, something like this should have been made 15-20 years ago, as it does feel like a comedy from the 1990's. Not all of it is perfect, but there are some laughs to be had, and it is a little better than some have made it out to be, but don't go expecting Rocky or Raging Bull. 3/5



12 Years A Slave (2013), directed by Steve McQueen (Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011)) and adapted from Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir by John Ridley (U Turn (1997), Three Kings (1999) and Red Tails (2012)). This is a harrowing and heavy-going look at slavery in the Deep South before it was abolished in America, sort of like the anti-Django Unchained, because this is REAL. However, it's so compelling and moving to watch. 1841, and free negro Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) lives and works in Saratoga Springs, New York. But he's tricked into going to Washington D.C. where he's imprisoned and sent into slavery where he's sold to plantation owner William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), and they manage to get on well, but after Solomon attacks's Ford's carpenter John Tibeats (Paul Dano), who in turn tries to Lynch him. But, Ford see's Tibeats off, and to protect Solomon, sends him to work with cotton plantation owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), who is brutal and very racist. Solomon tries to survive, but an encounter with Canadian Bass (Brad Pitt) might be his salvation. It makes you angry that stuff like this went on in the Deep South, but throughout the film, there's an everlasting glimmer of hope that our hero will escape from this hellish life and get home. McQueen gets the best from his cast, and it's not an easy film to watch, but it's a very thoughtful yet upsetting and painful history lesson. 4/5

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (1st view) - I've spent most of my time since I saw this trying to figure out if I missed something of if there really is a very silly time-related plothole in the film. Branagh seems to be having fun on screen but not that much behind the camera. Not as good as Red October or Patriot Games but I enjoyed it a lot - 4/5*





We Are What We Are (1st view) - Mexican horror in which a family of cannibals have to try and survive after the father dies - 3/5*

Awakening Of The Beast (1st view) - A group of intellectuals are discussing the negative effects of drugs and they each cite examples, which we then see. A woman strips and dances in front of a group of leering men. A schoolgirl smokes marijuana at a party full of men and they attempt to undress her using their teeth. She finally dies when one man dressed as Moses uses his staff (not a euphemism) in ways never intended. Other such weird scenarios play our for the first half of the film. The second half is taken up by an experiment in which four human guinea pigs take LSD so a doctor can evaluate what will happen. Once the the drugs kick in. I'd probably need to be on LSD myself to try and explain what the bloody hell happens next. It's the least of the 4 Coffin Joe films I've seen so far but the sheer oddball nature of the film is entertaining - 4/5*

Stir Crazy (1980), directed by Sidney Poitier, who had moved from acting into directing during the 1970's, and found success with Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Let's Do It Again (1975), he took up this comedy written Bruce Jay Friedman (Splash (1984)), and reunited the comedy duo from Silver Streak (1976), who had sparked off each other well. It was a good choice, and it makes for a daft and engaging buddy-buddy film. In New York, store detective Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) and waiter/aspiring actor Harry Monroe (Richard Pryor) are fired from their jobs for various incidents. Skip is an aspiring writer, and suggests he and Harry move on out to Hollywood to find fame. Along the way, their van breaks down in Arizona, so they take a job promoting a bank, however they get framed for a bank robbery they didn't commit, and they're sentenced to 125 years in jail. They struggle to adapt to jail life, and they try to act insane to get transferred, but that doesn't work. However, when Skip passes a test on a mechanical bull, he's entered into a prison rodeo, and Skip and Harry plan an escape. It's a daft comedy, but Wilder and Pryor were at the height of their fame at the time, and they're a brilliant double act. It's a product of it's time, but it struck a chord with cinema audiences, and it became the third highest grossing film of 1980. But, it would be another 9 years before Wilder and Pryor teamed up again. 4/5



How To Make An American Quilt (1995), directed by Australian Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof (1991) and A Thousand Acres (1997)) and based on the bestseller by Whitney Otto. This character led drama, which has some good performances and is very moving. But, it's very episodic, and the only central core weaving it together, (pardon the analogy), are the quilts the title suggests, but it doesn't manage to outstay it's welcome. Finn (Winona Ryder) is a young graduate student who has just completed a master's thesis and is due to be married to Sam (Dermot Mulroney). However, before that happens, Finn wants to spend one last summer of freedom with her great aunt Glady Joe (Anne Bancroft) and grandmother Hyacinth (Ellen Burstyn), who have a family tradition of making quilts, which has been passed through the family and friends including Sophia Darling (Lois Smith), Em Reed (Jean Simmons) and Anna (Maya Angelou). As the older generation pass around stories of their love lives and their hardships in love. Finn begins to question whether Sam might be right for her, and her course too. It's a soppy chick-flick which mixes love, heartache, a splash of humour and haberdashery too. But it's another romantic film that shows love isn't perfect, and neither is life. It has some great actors in it too, with appearances from Jared Leto, Rip Torn, Richard Jenkins, Claire Danes, Adam Baldwin and Kate Capshaw. 3/5

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), directed by Ronald Neame (Tunes of Glory (1960), Gambit (1966) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972)) and adapted from Muriel Spark's 1961 novel, which was adapted into a play by Jay Presson Allen in 1966. It wasn't long before Hollywood came calling. It manages to be a powerful film, and it was quite daring for it's day, and it did cause trouble with our censors, but it has some brilliant performances. In Edinburgh in the 1930's at Marcia Blaine School for Girls, Jean Brodie (Maggie Smith) is an idealistic teacher who tends to stray away from the school's curriculum, much to the ire of headmistress Miss Mackay (Celia Johnson). Jean romanticises political dictators like Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco as heroes. 4 of her students are heavily influenced by her teaching, including Sandy (Pamela Franklin), Monica (Shirley Steedman), Jenny (Diane Grayson) and Mary (Jane Carr). However, Jean still has feelings for her ex-lover, Teddy Lloyd (Robert Stephens), who is art teacher at the school. Then her teachings begin to have a negative effect. It's a powerful and moving film showing that teachers can be the most important people in our early lives, and in some instances, the most dangerous. Smith is brilliant and rightfully won an Oscar for her turn, she's not a bad person, but just ill-informed. Neame gets the best from the cast, and it's got brilliant cinemtography by Ted Moore. 4/5



I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), Robert Zemeckis made his directorial debut with this film, produced by Steven Spielberg. A cheap and cheerful loveletter to the craze of Beatlemania that hit America in 1964. It's an underrated and slightly obscure little comedy which deserves a little more recognition, while the film may not be a classic, it's a cheerful Beatlemania take on American Graffiti, and there's some good set pieces on display. It follows a day in the life of a few High School teenagers from Maplewood, New Jersey, as The Beatles prepare to make their American TV debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York. The teenagers are Pam Mitchell (Nancy Allen) who is soon to be married, but wants to bed one of the guys before she does. Then there's Rosie Petrofsky (Wendie Jo Sperber), a very huge fan who gets involved with another huge Beatles fan Richard 'Ringo' Klaus (Eddie Deezen), and there's Grace Corrigan (Theresa Saldana), who wants to get some photos of the boys. They travel from New Jersey to New York, and then into the Plaza Hotel, where the Beatles are staying at. It's a very gentle but fun comedy which sums up the craziness that was going on at this time, it does decend into slapstick farce alot of the time, but it's got a bubbly innocence in it's blood. Much of the cast here reunited a year later for Spielberg's 1941 (1979), which was co-written by Zemeckis. 3.5/5

Highway Patrolman (1991), after Walker (1987), director Alex Cox was blacklisted from Hollywood, not only for attacking American foreign policy in that film, but also for breaking the WGA strike in 1988. Aside from doing introductions for BBC2's Moviedrome, he struggled to get films made, but his producer from Walker, Lorenzo O'Brien, had wrote a script, which Cox liked, however it was set in Mexico. But language barriers didn't bother Cox a bit. It begins with Pedro Rojas (Roberto Sosa) joining the Mexican highway patrol, he's young but eager to learn, and do right for the community. He works in the rural north of Mexico, which has wide open spaces but is open to all sorts of corruption, which Rojas wants no part of. However, his patrol partner Anibal Guerrero (Bruno Bichir) frequently takes bribes, which Rojas is scornful of. But, it's not long before Rojas starts turning to a life of crime, he cheats on his wife Griselda (Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez) with a local prostitute called Maribel (Vanessa Bauche), and it's Rojas who gets the money for it, not Maribel. But it's not long before this corrupt lifestyle catches up with Rojas big time. Even in Spanish, you can recognise Cox's stylistic direction and offbeat set-ups. It makes for an interesting moral tale about about the trouble corruption and power can land some people in, it should have seen Cox return to cinema, but he's struggled with trying to get films made ever since. Shame. 4/5



Three Businessmen (1998), directed by Alex Cox, who around this time had had trouble making The Winner (1996), which had been recut by the producers, and he missed out on making Richard III (1995) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) due to creative differences. However, he'd been gathering funds to make this quirky comedy, written and produced by Cox's wife Tod Davies. It's very weird, but it's a rewarding experience. We begin in Liverpool, where American art dealer Bennie Reyes (Miguel Sandoval) arrives at a labyrinth of a hotel where he struggles to find his room. However, in the abandoned restaurant of the hotel, he meets fellow art collector Frank King (Cox), who suggests they go out on the town to look for better food. However, this is difficult because Frank is a vegetarian, so they look for food in Liverpool, but they soon find themselves in a districts of Liverpool which looks just like Rotterdam, Tokyo, Hong Kong and rural Spain, in search of something to eat, they cross paths on their odyssey with another arts dealer Leroy Jasper (Robert Wisdom) as well. There's something a little bit pretentious about this film, but part of it see's Cox back in his native Merseyside, which he would revisit for his historical/futuristic acid trip Revengers Tragedy (2002). But there's something oddly amusing about the whole film, it's not perfect, but you can make out what Cox's intentions are thoughout the film. 3.5/5

Club Paradise (1986), directed by Harold Ramis, who had broke into directing from writing with the double whammy of Caddyshack (1980) and National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), after writing and producing Ghostbusters (1984), he was offered this silly comedy which reunited Ramis with a lot of people he worked with on the Canadian sketch comedy Second City Television. Some jokes work, some just don't, but it's a massive ensemble here. Chicago fireman Jack Moniker (Robin Williams) gets injured on the job and uses his disability money to retire to the Carribean island of Saint Nicholas. There, along with struggling local reggae musician Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff), they make a holiday resort known as Club Paradise, with help from British governor Anthony Croyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole) and Jack's new girlfriend Phillipa Lloyd (Twiggy). On holiday at Club Paradise are Barry and Barry (Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy) and writer Terry Hamlin (Joanna Cassidy). There's trouble when Saint Nicholas' Prime Minister Solomon Gundy (Adolph Caesar) wants to shut Club Paradise down for a big resort, but Jack fights back. It's a very silly comedy, sort of like an 1980's version of those Ealing comedies where a small group of people fight back against authority figures. Williams somehow feels restrained in places, when he should have been let off the leash in a comedy like this, but it's the supporting cast that manage to do better. 3/5



Unlawful Killing (2011), the most controversial film to play at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and one that can't be shown in it's current form in the UK, unless you have YouTube.  Directed by Keith Allen, written by TV critic Victor Lewis-Smith and produced by Mohamed Al-Fayed. This documentary explores what really happened on the night of August 31st 1997 when Princess Diana died. It's very one sided, but it is convincing in places. This film explores the motives and the inquiry into how Princess Diana died, with Allen planting a mole inside the inquiry to find out what was said. The film also alleges that the British and French authorities covered up uncomfortable facts about the crash, some evidence which could compromise the British Monarchy, and how the Monarchy used the law to their advantage to allegedly get away with murder. It has interviews with Al-Fayed, Tony Curtis and Piers Morgan, who all agree that there's something not right about the death, and that key facts were ignored by the investigators, and that evidence mysteriously vanished and the Royals knew something. This is a film for Daily Express readers and conspiracy theorists, with Allen in the Jim Garrison position, alleging this evidence. It's definitely biased in Al-Fayed's favour (he funded the film), and you can see why this won't be shown in the UK anytime soon. It is a dangerous film, but it proves it might not have been the Royals who were responsible. 3/5

Time Bandits (1981), after the success of Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), Terry Gilliam teamed up again with Handmade Films to produce this family fantasy adventure with a black sense of humour and brilliant visual panache, which he co-wrote with Michael Palin. It would help put Gilliam on the map as a director, (it went down a storm in America), and it has a brilliant all-star cast, and a brilliant gang of dwarves. It has 11 year old Kevin (Craig Warnock) who loves history, but his parents always ignore him. One night, 6 dwarves appear in his bedroom, (Randall) David Rappaport, Fidgit (Kenny Baker), Strutter (Malcolm Dixon), Og (Mike Edmonds), Wally (Jack Purvis) and Vermin (Tiny Ross). Kevin's bedroom is a portal to places in space and time, and it takes them to historical locations including Napoleonic France, Sherwood Forest, Ancient Greece and the Titanic. Watching them is the Evil Genius (David Warner), who wants the map of space and time they have. It's a brilliant film, with all of the best ideas and set-pieces Gilliam has ever dreamt up, complete with the most shocking ending of them all. The dwarves are brilliant to watch, and it's always enjoyable to watch. It's one of the best films of the 1980's, and the all star cameos from John Cleese as Robin Hood, Sean Connery as King Agamemnon, Ian Holm as Napoleon and Ralph Richardson as Supreme Being. It's a perfect introduction for anyone who has ever wanted to know about Gilliam's films. He was on perfect form in the 1980's!!  5/5



Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), written, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, who followed up their blockbuster western True Grit (2010) with something altogether smaller, a music drama ever so partially based on the life of folk musician David Van Ronk. It makes a good companion piece to O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), while that was a comedy musical caper, this is moody, bleak film showing the hardships of fame and music. Greenwich Village in New York, 1961. Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is a struggling folk singer and musician whose musical partner committed suicide, he wants to make it big, but he can't get a break. He ends up with a ginger tomcat belonging to Mitch Gorfein (Ethan Phillips). He crashes at the house of husband and wife folk singers Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean Berkey (Carey Mulligan), Jean is furious because she thinks Llewyn has made her pregnant. Then, Llewyn hitches a lift to Chicago with beat poet Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund) and pompous jazz musician Roland Turner (John Goodman), with the cat to audition for impersario Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham). It's close in tone to Barton Fink (1991) and A Serious Man (2009), with a hapless hero struggling to make sense of the world he's living in, and just wanting to get a break and get along in life. While it might be bleak, there's some brilliant flashes of Coenesque humour, with great songs and brilliant performances. 4.5/5

Welcome to Collinwood (2002), written and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (You, Me and Dupree (2006) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)), this is an Italian film called I soliti ignoti (1958), directed by Mario Monicelli. It's like a lighter-hearted version of Fargo (1996), with a bunch of criminals who don't have a brain cell between them. It is a very funny film, and it has a brilliant little ensemble cast all closely knit together here. In Cleveland, imprisoned small time crook Cosimo (Luis Guzmán) has a plan for a perfect heist, known as a Bellini, To do it, he calls upon his partner in crime Toto (Michael Jeter) to put together a team of criminals to pull off the perfect heist, which involves cracking into a safe belonging to a jewelry store owner by using the apartment next door to break into the store. The team consists of boxer Pero (Sam Rockwell), struggling father Riley (William H. Macy) and small time crooks Basil (Andrew Davoli) and Leon (Isaiah Washington) to do it. They get help from Cosimo's girlfriend Rosalind (Patricia Clarkson) and safe-cracker Jerzy (George Clooney), but nothing goes to plan. It's a very silly comedy, but there are some good laughs to be had along the way, and it has a brilliant little ensemble at it's heart. It does have an old world feel to it, and Cleveland seems to be a city lost in time, and it does look and feel old fashioned. Once things start going wrong for the team, it gets funny. 4/5



The Master (2012), written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, his first film since the nightmarish and haunting There Will Be Blood (2007), this one is an ever-so-loose take on the origins of Scientology, although certain names and companies have been given different names. It's a very powerful drama, which focuses on the plight of soldiers coming out of World War 2, rather than the controversial beliefs of the group at the film's core. After World War 2, veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is struggling to adjust to life, and he turns to alcohol to cope with life, but he gets fired from various jobs. One night, after getting drunk, he ends up on board a boat belonging to Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a charismatic and enigmatic leader of a philosophical group known as The Cause, which he runs with his wife Peggy (Amy Adams). Freddie becomes deeply involved with The Cause, and Lancaster uses aggressive and disturbing questioning known as Processing to get to the root of Freddie's problems. Freddie becomes close to Lancaster and his family, but his drinking ruins everything. It's a very powerful and moving drama, and it says a lot about war veterans today than it does then, it's beautifully filmed in Super Panavision 70mm, which brings out a lot of the richness and colour, and it helps capture the time period perfectly, and it has some brilliant performances and a nicely honed screenplay. 4/5



RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman   

Pain and Gain (1st view) - I've always liked Michael Bay films but his trio of robots beating each other up got old fast. Although undeniably a Bay film (watch any 5 second clip and you could tell who directed it and it's a directing style that does seem at odss with the story) there are fewer guns and explosion that almost all of Bay's other films. There are also three genuinely good performances. In fact, The Rock's pretty damn great in the film. It's a very dark comedy, which is at times both depressing and funny and probably could have done better in both departments with a director less intent on visual flair and more on the main trio of characters. In terms of sheer loathsomeness, Wahlberg's character takes some beating. Even Leo in Wall Street's more likeable. Bay's best film since The Rock, probably - 4/5*

I like what Mark Kermode said about the film...  

Haha, that's a great review. I disagree, but he's fun to listen to.



The Place Beyond The Pines (1st view) - Almost dreamlike crime melodrama, richly atmospheric and filled with hazy but compelling characters. The first two thirds of the film work the best an d both Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper being very good (surprised by how good Cooper was) - 4/5*





The Paperboy (1st view) - From the director of Precious, thriller in which a reporter (Matthew McConaughey) tries to exonerate a man on death row (John Cusack), who has started a relationship with Nicole Kidman. Zacv Efron is the paperboy of the title. Some good performances which are better than the film deserve - 3/5*

Sweeney! (1977), between 1974 and 1978, The Sweeney was the most popular police drama on British TV, getting over 15 million viewers at a time. As a result, EMI Films offered them the chance to make a film version, which they thought would make them famous overseas. They couldn't refuse, while that didn't work, it was still a very successful film in the UK. It still holds it's own to this day as a gritty and powerful police drama. DI Jack Regan (John Thaw) and DS George Carter (Dennis Waterman) are part of Scotland Yard's Flying Squad, they have a tough stance on crime, acting like the criminals they're sent out to nab. Here, they get involved in something very high up, involving government minister Charles Baker (Ian Bannen), who is in the middle of a deal regarding Britain's position in the world oil market, Baker's American Press Secretary Elliot McQueen (Barry Foster), is a shady character whose clients are dubious people. When a prostitute turns up dead, Regan begins to think that Baker and McQueen are involved, and the deeper Regan and Carter get, the body count goes up. While the TV series was quite tame, here they had they opportunity to add sex, violence and bad language, it's well made and it's a who's who of British film and TV of that time, it's success enabled them to make a sequel a year later, which was more of the same. 4/5 



Charade (1963), directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain (1952), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Bedazzled (1967)) and written by Peter Stone (Sweet Charity (1969) and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)), this romantic comedy mystery is very bright and bubbly, and it's a prime example of the sort of film that doesn't get made anymore, it has a brilliant cast to it's name, and it's very offbeat as well. Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) has just returned from a holiday to her home in Paris to discover her husband Charlie cleared out the apartment, and that he's been found dead on the side of a railway track. However, Regina discovers Charlie had a double life, and he had his fair share of secrets in the past, and she's told by CIA administrator Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau) at the U.S. Embassy in Paris that 3 men, Tex Panthollow (James Coburn), Herman Scobie (George Kennedy), and Leopold W. Gideon (Ned Glass) are after money they stole during the way. Regina is helped by the mysterious Peter Joshua (Cary Grant), who has a few aliases. It's not a film to be taken seriously, but it's aided by a very good cast, and it has a lot of mystery and suspsense along the way, a lot of critics claim this is the best film Hitchcock never made, and they're right, it has the glamour, the suspense and the twists, only Donen got there first, and it's one of his best films to boot. 4.5/5

Homicide (1st view) - A Jewish detective confronts his heritage when he's tasked with solving the murder of an elderly Jewish woman. Like a lot of David Mamet's work it sounds scripted but it works and Joe Mantegna has probably never been better - 4/5*




The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1st view) - One of the weirdest and most fascinating documentaries I've ever seen. Filmed over a period of 5 years in the 80s, it follows Kenzo Okuzaki, a Japanese former soldier who served in the New Guinea campaign in WWII. Since the war he'd spent over a decade in prison for murder and plotting to kill the Prime Minister. He's a man obviously deeply scared by the war. In this film he wants to find the truth about two soldiers who were killed, apparently executed for desertion, 23 days after the war ended, so he goes and speaks to former soldiers and olf colleagues to try and figure out what happened. He takes along family members of the dead soldiers to some of the meetings and when they decide to not accompany him any more, he asks his wife and friend to pretend to be relatives. He's unrelenting in his questioning and more than once physically attacks the interviewees, including one man who's paralysed (but poliet as ever, he then offers to call the police). It's an incredible film about a fascinating man, but it's also about the horrors of war (cannibalism crops up quite a bit) and its effect on soldiers. It's hard not to want Okuzaki to find out the truth - the lies, contradictions and buck-passing he encounters is massively infuriating. Anyone with an interst in WWII, or just somone who wants to see a great documentary should watch this - 5/5*