What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again

Big Hero 6 (1st view) - Liked this an awful lot. I want a Baymax - 4/5*




Ant Man (1st view) - Not the best MCU film, not even the best MCU film this year but a good entry to the series. It finds a clever way to link into the Avengers films, has a playful sense of fun and set-pieces that strive to stand out from other scenes from the series. Paul Rudd is a perfect fit for the role of Scott Lang but a few other main roles are less well-cast. Michael Douglas seems uninterested and if Corey Stoll had a moustache he'd be twirling it with aplomb. Still, some quibbles. As a comedy heist/superhero origin film it's about as good as it probably could be - 4/5*

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (4th view) - The best in the series. Love it - 4/5




Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (1st view) - The second best in the series. Nice that there's a sense of continuity with more characters returning and past events mentioned, a trend I hope that continues. They need to bring Rebecca Ferguson back if there are any more films, she was ace - 4/5




X-Men : Days Of Future Past - Rogue Cut (2nd view) - SERIES SPOILERS - I can see why the Rogue subplot was cut, it doesn't add that much at all but it's good to see it back in the film. I still think it's weird that they decided to wipe out all events from 5 previous films - 4/5

21 Jump Street (2nd view) - Didn't hold out much hope for this when I first saw it but it proved to be funnier than I expected and it holds up well - 4/5




22 Jump Street (1st view) - Not quite as good. I found it to be funniest when it was being very unsubtle in making references to the fact it was a sequel. The "inexpensive" car chase cracked me up and the credits sequence is the best bit from either film - 4/5*




The Maze Runner (1st view) - It takes the best bits from The Hunger Games and makes them worse, has some truly bad performances (Will Poulter, can't stand him) and the script seems to spend half the time with the hero asking what something is, being given the name of what he was querying - Blades, The Changing, Grievers etc - but not being told what such things actually are. It's infuriating. But I really liked it - 4/5*

Seven Days in May (1964), directed by John Frankenheimer (Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), The Train (1964)), and based upon Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II's 1962 novel, adapted here by Rod Serling (The Twilight Zone). This is a tense political thriller which is as relevant now as it was when it opened back in 1964. At the time, it opened nearly 3 months after President Kennedy had been assassinated, and it captured the mood of a traumatised and scared public. Set in the 1970's, it has U.S. President Jordan Lyman (Fredric March) signing a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. But this doesn't go down well with the American public, many of whom don't trust the Soviet's at all. Pentagon insider Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey (Kirk Douglas) becomes suspicious about what's going on amongst the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Indeed, Air Force General James Mattoon Scott (Burt Lancaster) is planning a coup d'etat to remove President Lyman and his cabinet within 7 days. Casey goes to Scott's mistress Ellie Holbrook (Ava Gardner) to stop Scott's plans. It's a tense and very well filmed thriller, and Frankenheimer had touched upon the same forms of political paranoia with The Manchurian Candidate, it's also a comment on the effect of McCarthyism too. 4/5



The Living Daylights (1987), after Roger Moore's Bond had run his course, producer Cubby Broccoli, director John Glen and writers Michael G, Wilson and Richard Maibaum all agreed on a change of Bond and a new direction. Timothy Dalton was introduced as the new James Bond, a darker, grittier Bond, more human and vunerable. There was more emphasis on action, and it would be closer to Ian Fleming's James Bond. The result is one of the most engaging and exciting Bond films. The film follows James Bond (Dalton), as he helps Russian General Georgi Koskov, (Jeroen Krabbe, who nearly steals the film), defect to the west, from Bratislavia, Slovakia to Austria. But, Koskov is seemingly recaptured after a raid on a safe house. The mission takes Bond back to Bratislava, where he meets up with Kara (Maryam d'Abo), a cellist/sniper whom Bond had refused to kill because she was a woman, she has links to Koskov, and Bond also investigates Koskov's claims that Russian General Puskin (John Rhys Davies) has ordered the killing of British Agents. It's a Bond set in a real 1987, when the Soviets were still in power, (albiet not for much longer), but it's got some good action on display, and Dalton put in a realistic and confident performance. He only did one more Bond after this. Shame really. 4/5

White Heat (1949), directed by Raoul Walsh, (The Roaring Twenties (1939), They Died With Their Boots On (1941) and Gentleman Jim (1942)), and from an original story by Virginia Kellogg, which was adapted by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts (Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) and Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)), this film noir gangster film is a tense piece of work, mostly renowned for it's final line, but it's actually a good story, and it's got one hell of a powerhouse lead performance in it. Gangster Arthur "Cody" Jarrett (James Cagney) is a demented gang leader, who has devotions to his wife Verna (Virginia Mayo), but he's even closer to his mother "Ma" Jarrett (Margaret Wycherly), who seems to comfort Cody when he gets headaches. Cody pulls off a train robbery where 4 people die, Cody confesses to a lesser crime which happened at the same time as the train robbery, and he's sentenced to 3 years in prison. However US Treasury investigator Philip Evans (John Archer) isn't convinced, and sends in undercover agent Hank Fallon (Edmond O'Brien) to spy on Cody in prison. It's a good, intriguing plot and Cagney was having the time of his life in this part. There's real tension, menace and grit in his eyes, and it's his performance that puts this above and beyond most gangster films being made at the time. 4/5



The One That Got Away (1957), directed by Roy Ward Baker (Quatermass and the Pit (1967), The Vampire Lovers (1970), and Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), and based on the 1956 book of the same name by Kendal Burt and James Leasor, and adapted by Howard Clewes (The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960)), this is a tense, suspenseful and exciting World War 2 Prisoner of War thriller, which was about the only Luftwaffe pilot to have escaped from the British. In 1940, during the Battle of Britain, Luftwaffe fighter pilot Franz von Werra (Hardy Krüger) is shot down, and he's captured by the British. He makes a bet with his RAF interrogator Captain Henderson Bell (Michael Goodliffe). Werra escapes from Grizedale Hall in the Lake District, he's captured. He escapes from another prison, and attempts to make a getaway posing as a Dutch pilot claiming to be on a top secret mission for the Raf, he's captured again. He's sent to Canada to be detained in a prison there, but he manages to escape and has to face the snowy wilderness to freedom. It's a very good POW film, showing the action from the other side, and Werra was a man of determination and ingenuity, and how he survived the escape attempts is nothing short of inspiring. Kruger puts in a likable performance as well. 4/5

Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964), directed by Gordon Douglas, (Lady in Cement (1968), They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970), Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)), and written by David R. Schwartz (The Bobo (1967)), this is a Rat Pack musical reimagining of the Robin Hood legend, transposed to a 1930's Chicago gangster setting. It's a sweet, innocent affair though, despite the crime that goes on, and while it is a little tame, there's some good musical numbers on display by the cast. After Chicago crime boss Big Jim Stevens (Edward G. Robinson) is disposed off by his lieutenant Guy Gisborne (Peter Falk), he orders all other gangsters in town to pay him protection money, which doesn't go down well. Big Jim's friend Robbo (Frank Sinatra) and he recruits pool hustler Little John (Dean Martin) and card shark Will (Sammy Davis Jr.) decide to get even against Guy Gisborne. Big Jim's daughter Marian (Barbara Rush) also joins forces with Robbo to get even against Gisborne too. Robbo becomes famous, especially donating his money to Alan A. Dale (Bing Crosby), who runs an orphanage. It's typical family musical fare from the 1960's, and it's an amusing and entertaining enough story, although it's a tad overlong, but it was a good idea to transpose the Robin Hood legend, and filter it through the Rat Pack. 4/5



Paul (2011), Simon Pegg and Nick Frost ride again, this time without Edgar Wright (who opted for Scott Pilgrim), but they got Superbad's Greg Mottola to direct this funny sci-fi comedy based on a screenplay what Pegg and Frost wrote. Although it spoofs alot of sci-fi films, deep down, the film is a passionate love letter to Spielberg's classics of old. It has aspiring sci-fi writer Clive Gollings (Frost) and sci-fi artist Graeme Willy (Pegg) attending Comic-Con, then completing their trip to America by taking an RV and going cross country looking up famous UFO spots. On the way, they witness a car accident, at the wheel of the car is an alien called Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), who is a wise-cracking, laid back alien, he immediately bonds with Graeme, while Clive takes time to get used to him. However, hot on Paul's tail is Special Agent Lorenzo Zoil (Jason Bateman) who is working for "The Big Guy" (Sigourney Weaver). Turns out Paul has escaped from the facility he's been held at for years, as they want to learn about his powers. So, Graeme and Clive, along with bible-basher Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig) to get away from the feds. It's a very silly film, less subtle than Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but it is very enjoyable and very funny with Rogen stealing the film voicing Paul, and some amusing appearances from Bill Hader, Jane Lynch, Blythe Danner, John Carroll Lynch and Jeffrey Tambor. Spielberg will be proud of this, in face, he makes a cameo!! 4/5

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), After winning a Best Screenplay Oscar for Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino teamed up with his new best friend Robert Rodriguez, whose double whammy of El Mariachi and Desperado made him the next big thing in Hollywood, to make a film straddling two genres. It's great fun entertainment, and it's got a brilliant script and good performances. It begins with two violent crooks, the Gecko brothers, Seth (George Clooney) and Richie (QT), who go across Texas, evading the police. At a motel, they take hostage the Fuller family, ex-paster Jacob (Harvey Keitel), Chinese American stepson Scott (Ernest Liu), and daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis). The Gecko's get the Fuller's to smuggle them into Mexico in the family RV, where they go to a rendezvous called The Titty Twister, a sleazy strip/bikers/truckers club, where the Gecko's are to meet their contact Carlos (Cheech Marin) at dawn, which means they have to wait there. But, it's patrons are not of this world, and it becomes a tale of survival. It's a very entertaining and exciting film, Clooney and QT make a good double act, but it's the cameos at the Titty Twister, including Marin, Danny Trejo, Fred Williamson and Tom Savini, that are the most entertaining. And the creatures in the Titty Twister are well designed. 4/5



Mission: Impossible II (2000), after the success of the first Mission: Impossible film, a sequel was inevitable, but Tom Cruise wanted it to be different in look and tone to the first film, and called in action director John Woo to do it. Another winning combination, combining action-adventure with romance added in too. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is assigned to look for a deadly virus known as Chimera and its cure, Bellerophon. Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich (Rade Serbedzija) helped create the virus, and was killed in a plane crash going from Sydney to Atlanta with someone he thought was Ethan. Turns out it was renegade agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who has been planning to use Chimera to his advantage. Ethan assembles a team, including Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Billy Baird (John Polson) and professional thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton), as she once had an affair with Ambrose. Ethan and his team have to stop this virus from getting into the wrong hands, and stop Ambrose from causing any more damage, and causing a worldwide epidemic. It's as the title suggests, but Ethan and his team can get it done. Woo's usual visual flair is on display here, doves and all, with a jaw-dropping mountain climbing, a car chase in Seville, Spain and a bike chase through the suburbs of Sydney. Cruise delivers the goods, doing all his own stunts. It's not perfect, but it does work, also starring Brendan Gleeson and Anthony Hopkins. 3.5/5

Corridors of Blood (1958), A little known but still mighty and effective piece of horror from the 1950's. Directed by Robert Day, who had graduated from British TV after doing The Buccaneers and The Adventures of Robin Hood, and later to do Two Way Stretch and The Rebel. However, because of censorship problems, it wasn't seen by many until 1962. It is ahead of it's time, and it's a good gripping film with a complex plot. Set in 1840's London, it has Dr. Thomas Bolton (Boris Karloff), developing an idea to use an opium based anesthetic during operations, as this was in the days before that, and people had to suffer the pain during and after operations. However, he becomes addicted to his own anesthetic solution, and he falls in with a gang of local murderers, led by Resurrection Joe (Christopher Lee) and Black Ben (Francis De Wolff), who blackmail him when they learn of what he's up to, and use his signature to sell cadavers to the local hospital. Bolton gets worse and worse while under the influence. It's a film which weaves between a crime drama and horror. It's very well shot, and it's depiction of London is rather like something out of Oliver Twist, or even The Elephant Man. Karloff is amazing as always as the drug-addled doctor and Lee is brutal and frightening as Resurrection Joe. Check it out if you can. 4/5



Diary of a Madman (1963), adapted from Guy de Maupassant's 1887 short story "Le Horla", adapted and produced by Robert E. Kent (Rock Around the Clock (1956) and The Werewolf (1956)) and directed by Reginald Le Borg (The White Orchid (1954) and The Black Sleep (1956)), this is a psychological horror film which has a good story, and it gives it's star an excuse to be an old ham again, but in a good way. It's the sort of film American International would have killed to have made. Set in France in the 19th Century, it has Simon Cordier (Vincent Price), a French magistrate and amateur sculptor who meets condemned prisoner Louis Girot (Harvey Stephens) shortly before he's to be executed. Girot tells Cordier that he's been possessed by a demon known as The Horla. But, Cordier doesn't believe it, and soon after, he finds himself haunted by visions and he thinks he is going mad. He tries to take his mind of it by doing sculpting, and he finds himself falling for gold-digger Odette Mallotte DuClasse (Nancy Kovack), but it's not long before The Horla returns. It's the sort of film you'd expect Vincent Price to do, and he relishes the lead, and it's a good story, even if it does tend to sag a little bit in the middle. But, it's the sort of horror film you'd expect from this era, and it's better than some of them. 4/5

Inside Out (2015), produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Disney, this imaginative comedy-drama see's a return to form for Pixar after a lull in quality since the release of Toy Story 3 (2015), whatever caused their lapse over the past few films seems to have passed. Inside Out was the brain child of Pixar veteran Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Up (2009)), who noticed changes in his daughter's personality as she grew up, that was the genesis for this moving and beautiful film. The film takes place in the mind of 11 year old Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), whose emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader) and Anger (Lewis Black). When Riley and her parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) move from Minnesota to San Francisco. It causes Sadness to interfere with happy memories, which Joy tries to stop Sadness from doing, but they find themselves outside of their headquarters, and in a labyrinth vault containing Riley's long term memories, while Joy and Sadness try and find a way back. Disgust, Fear and Anger are in charge... It's a literally emotional film, but it's a visual feast, and one with a lot of imagination on display, quite literally!! It's also got humour and heart along the way too. It's good to see Pixar back on form once again. 5/5



Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), the 5th film in the Mission: Impossible series, and for this one, Tom Cruise turned to Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects (1995), The Way of the Gun (2000) and Jack Reacher (2012)) to write and direct this one. It's one which harks back to the tight suspense of the first Mission: Impossible film. With the team on their own and having to prove their innocence. Just when you thought the series couldn't get any better, it just did. After a decision by U.S. Senators to shut down the Impossible Mission Force and have it absorbed into the CIA on recommendation from CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), former IMF agent William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) tells Hunley he's made the wrong decision, but Hunley wants to find Ethan Hunt (Cruise). Hunt has been looking for an international criminal consortium called the Syndicate, led by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). Hunt recruits Benjie Dunn (Simon Pegg), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and the mysterious Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) to stop the Syndicate and bring it down. The action on this one is global. Going from Washington to London, Vienna and Morocco. But there's some good set pieces in it, and it's bouyed by a great ensemble cast led by Cruise, who is still brilliant at action, and the opening is his most daring stunt. More please!! 4.5/5

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), the 4th Mission: Impossible film in 15 years, this time with Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille) making his live action debut with this one, and he shows great confidence with this film, and it's the best of the series, with white-knuckle action sequences and a great cast to boot. The IMF team, led by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) are framed when the Kremlin in Moscow is  blown up in a terrorist bombing. The IMF team are disavowed, but the IMF secretary (Tom Wilkinson) let them escape to find out who is responsible, Hunt has no back-up and little technology, all he has is analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), techno whiz Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and fellow agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton). They're looking for Cobalt AKA Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), who was responsible for the Kremlin bombing. So, Hunt and his team head to Dubai and Mumbai in pursuit of Hendricks and his cronies before they can cause the end of the world with stolen satellite codes that can set off a nuclear missile, but it's not going to be difficult, it's almost impossible, but Hunt and his team won't give in. It's a very good spy action adventure, with some of the best action sequences in years, (Cruise climbing up the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is not for the faint-hearted), but Bird has fun with his first live-action film, and he gets the best from his cast as well and stages the action and drama well too. 4/5



The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013), written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, whose works include Delicatessen (1991), The City of Lost Children (1995) and Amélie (2001). After Micmacs (2009), Jeunet wanted to do something different, but something he could use his flights of fantasy on. When he was given a copy of Reif Larsen's 2009 book The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, Jeunet found his next film. The result is one of his best films, heartfelt, ambitious and beautiful to watch. T.S. Spivet (Kyle Catlett) is a child prodigy who lives on a farm in Montana with his beetle obsessed mother (Helena Bonham Carter), coldly nostalgic father (Callum Keith Rennie) and his moody 14 year old sister Gracie (Niamh Wilson). T.S. invents a perpetual motion machine, and he gets a call from G.H. Jibsen (Judy Davis) from the Smithsonian Institution telling T.S. that his invention has won the Baird Award, and he's to collect it in person. T.S. packs up a suitcase, and travels across America on a freight train to the Smithsonian in Washington to collect his award. Filmed in Alberta and Quebec, Canada. This is Jeunet's second English language film after Alien: Resurrection (1997), it's a lovely film, and there's simply not enough films like this, quirky little adventure films. It's perfect material for Jeunet, and it shows what an original director he is. Jeunet has a peculiar way at looking at the film, and it's a brilliant vision!! 5/5

The Core (2003), directed by Jon Amiel (Sommersby (1993), Copycat (1995) and Entrapment (1999)), and written by Cooper Layne (The Fog (2005)) and John Rogers (Catwoman (2004) and Transformers (2007)). This is a batshit insane sci-fi disaster film which is full of scientific inaccuracies and is so far fetched and steeped in fantasy that non of this could possibly happen in real life. But it manages to be watchable and enjoyable against all the odds, you won't get another film like this ever. After a series of global events which range from people with pacemakers dropping dead to swarms of birds attacking people in Trafalgar Square, London. Geologist Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) and scientists Serge Leveque (Tchéky Karyo) and Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci) determine that the Earth's molten core has stopped rotating. They go to rogue scientist Ed "Braz" Brazzelton (Delroy Lindo) has developed a metal called Unobtainium, and a craft is built to go to the centre of the world to start the Earth's core rotating, piloted by the scientists and Major Rebecca Childs (Hilary Swank). It's an insane film, and a lot of the CGI is a bit dodgy, and it had it's fair share of production problems and delays. But it manages to be good cheesy fun, but it's easy to see why director Amiel did the scientifically accurate biopic Creation (2009) as his follow-up. 3/5



Danny Collins (2015), written and directed by Dan Fogelman (writer of Bolt (2008), Tangled (2010) and Last Vegas (2013)), this comedy-drama was inspired by the true story true of English folk singer Steve Tilston, who found out about a letter written to him in 1971 by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Tilston didn't know about the letter until 2005. That was the genesis for this film, and it makes for an entertaining and warmly funny film, and it shows that it's leading star can still surprise audiences. Danny Collins (Al Pacino) is an aging rocker who is living off past glories and old hits, and seems to appeal to older women. He's got fame and fortune, but something is missing in his life. His his manager, Frank Grubman (Christopher Plummer), uncovers a 40-year-old undelivered letter to him from John Lennon, and Danny has an epiphany. He decides to change his life. He goes to New Jersey to reconnect with his estranged son Tom Donnelly (Bobby Cannavale), who he's never met. Danny moves into a nearby hotel, ran by Mary Sinclair (Annette Bening), where he writes new songs. It's a good little character piece, and it's got a good little cast at it's core, and it's message is that it's never too late for a second chance at life, no matter how old you are. There's plenty of musicians like Danny Collins who could learn something from this film. 4/5

Mr. Turner (2014), written and directed by Mike Leigh, who is best known for dark and realistic kitchen sink dramas, he does a biopic, not the first time he's done one, he did Gilbert and Sullivan with Topsy-Turvy (1999), here, he takes on the life of landscape painter J. M. W. Turner. Something like that might have come across as boring, but it has some brilliant performances and some beautiful cinematography. The film focuses on the last 25 years of the life and times of Joseph Mallord William Turner (Timothy Spall), renowned painter and a bit of an eccentric. He has a close relationship with his father William (Paul Jesson), who helps sell Turner's paintings to high bidders, and he has a on-off relationship with his housekeeper Hannah Danby (Dorothy Atkinson). But after visiting Margate to paint seascapes, he becomes a regular visitor of a boarding house owned by Sophia Booth (Marion Bailey), and Turner becomes infatuated with Sophia, and they become lovers after her husband dies, but Turner's work starts to suffer. It's a very well made film, maybe a tad overlong, but it's worth it for the lead performance by Timothy Spall, who relishes the role, and plays the gruff eccentric card in his favour, and its a powerhouse performance, (Spall learnt to paint over 4 years to an expert level), and Leigh keeps it focused on Turner and the people he encountered. 4/5



The Judge (2014), directed by David Dobkin (Shanghai Knights (2003), Wedding Crashers (2005) and Fred Claus (2007)), and written by Nick Schenk (Gran Torino (2008)) and Bill Dubuque (The Accountant (2016)). This legal drama is a different direction for director Dobkin, moving away from comedies and trying more mature material. It's a good film, yet a bit melodramatic and slushy in places, but it's got a good, cast at it's core, and it's a better film when it's not in the courthouse. Hotshot Chicago lawyer Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) returns to his hometown of Carlinville, Indiana to bury his mother. He's been estranged from his family for a couple of years. He's reunited with brothers Glen (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Dale (Jeremy Strong), and his father Joseph (Robert Duvall), who is the local county judge. After the funeral, Hank just wants to get back to Chicago, his relationship with his father has soured further. But, when Hank is told that his father killed someone with his car, and it happens to be someone Joseph jailed some years before. It's a good potboiler, but it works better as a character piece rather than a legal thriller. But it benefits from good performances, lovely cinematography by Janusz Kamiński and a good score by Thomas Newman. It's not a classic, but it's well made. 3.5/5

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



Absolutely Anything (2015), Terry Jones hasn't directed a film since The Wind in the Willows (1996), now he's back with a sci-fi comedy he co-wrote with Gavin Scott (The Borrowers (1997) and Small Soldiers (1998)), and Jones has got together a massive cast as well as reuniting his fellow Monty Python members as well. It's certainly not as bad as some critics are making it out to be, it's a funny little film, not a masterpiece by any stretch. But it's a good little low-budget British comedy. A group of extra-terrestrial aliens (voiced by John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Jones and Michael Palin), plan to destroy the Earth, but they decide to test humanity by giving one human on earth the power to make anything happen. School teacher Neil Clarke (Simon Pegg) is chosen, and he soon finds he has the power to make things happen. Such has making his neighbour Catherine (Kate Beckinsale) interested in him, and he makes his dog Dennis talk (Robin Williams). But, not all of his wishes go to plan, and the extra-terrestrials are more persuaded to destroy Earth as a result. It's a very silly film, but it's no disaster, and it's good to see Jones behind the camera once again. He's been away from making films for far too long, and let's hope he makes more films soon. Plus, it's got a great cast, and it's well worth a look. 4/5

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, (Down by Law (1986) Mystery Train (1989) and Broken Flowers (2005)), this is a vampire film, but not as you know it, this is Jim Jarmusch's take on a vampire film, and it's going to be anything but normal. Vampire films are everywhere these day, and just when it seems like there was too many of them, along comes Jarmusch who, pardon the pun, injects new blood into a tired old genre. It's a weird kind of love story, well made though. The film focuses on two vampires, Adam (Tom Hiddleston), who lives in a Victorian house in Detroit, and his estranged wife Eve (Tilda Swinton), who lives in Tangier with Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt) who has been a vampire since the 16th Century. Adam and Eve married in the 19th Century, and Adam has spent his life influencing scientists and musicians for years, but now he's bored, in a rut and suicidal. Eve comes over to Detroit to cheer him up, and to rekindle their love. But, tensions are raised when Eve's younger sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska), also a vampire, turns up from Los Angeles. It's a very peculiar film, but in a good way. It's an original and clever take on the tired old vampire movie genre, this is a very independent film, with lots of music references and a good head of intelligence about it as well. 4/5



Frank (2013), directed by Lenny Abrahamson, (Adam & Paul (2004), Garage (2007) and What Richard Did (2012)), and adapted by Jon Ronson from his own experiences as keyboard player with the Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band. Frank Sidebottom being the comic persona of Chris Sievey, who wore a giant papier-mâché head while performing as Sidebottom. The film is a fictionalised take on Sievey's life, with the lives of other offbeat musicians like Daniel Johnston and Captain Beefheart thrown in. It begins with aspiring songwriter and wannabe musician Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) witnessing a man trying to drown himself in the sea. Turns out the man was a keyboardist in an experimental band known as the Soronprfbs, led by the mysterious Frank (Michael Fassbender), who wears a giant papier-mâché head. Jon is invited to join the band, and they decamp to Ireland to work on their first album, which takes a year. There's tensions between Frank and the other band members, including theremin player Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Jon gets the band gigs in Texas too. It's a weird little film, and Fassbender is a good sport for wearing the head for most of the film, but it's an original idea for a film, even if it does sag a bit towards the end. It's a very quirky film, and we need more films like this, it's one of a kind. 4/5

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988), from brothers Charles, Edward and Stephen Chiodo, who had got into film and TV by doing models and special effects for films such as Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) and Critters (1986). By the mid-1980's, they got the clout to make their own film. It was made for a meagre $2 million, most of this was spent on the puppets and special effects that the Chiodo Brothers and their team devised. Despite the crew flying by the seats of their pants, a good, cheesy film was made. Set in the small town of Crescent Cove, California, teenagers Mike Tobacco (Grant Cramer) and his girlfriend Debbie Stone (Suzanne Snyder) see a comet crash landing in nearby woodland, they go to investigate. They come across a circus tent, they go inside, and they discover it's a spaceship where alien clowns are harvesting humans in cocoons. The local police, led by Curtis Mooney (John Vernon) and Suzanne's ex-boyfriend Dave Hanson (John Allen Nelson) think they're making the whole thing up, then the alien clowns unleash carnage on the town of Crescent Cove. It's a very silly film, but it struck a chord with audiences at the time, and it managed to be a financial success. Sequels were planned, but were never made for various reasons, mainly financial. But, it's worth a look if you want to. 3.5/5



The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), directed by Guy Ritchie, having finally broke Hollywood after his Sherlock Holmes films. Here, he makes a new adaptation of the hit 1960's TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. A film adaptation of show had been in development for nearly 20 years, going from directors like Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh attached. Ritchie saw excellent potential in the project, and it has a nice, cool visual panache, and it captures the early 1960's really well too. Set in 1963, professional thief turned spy for the CIA Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) helps Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) escape from East Berlin, they only just escape, but they're chased by KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Solo's boss Saunders (Jared Harris) tells Solo that he's to team up with Kuryakin, to stop Nazi sympathisers Alexander and Victoria Vinciguerra (Luca Calvani and Elizabeth Debicki) from developing nuclear weapons. Solo, Kuryakin and Teller go undercover to put a stop to Vinciguerra's plans, but they're being watched by Alexander Waverly (Hugh Grant)... It's a good spy film, very retro and it has a good sense of humour too. It's not a perfect film, and it's a little too glossy and the plot is a tad too complicated, but Cavill and Hammer manage to do well, and the manages to work, only just though. 3.5/5

Chef (2014), written and directed by Jon Favreau, now best known for directing Iron Man 1 & 2 (2008/2010) and Cowboys & Aliens (2011). But this comedy-drama is closer in tone to his debut Made (2001), and it's a contrast to Favreau's big budget film, this one has heart and warmth. With a low-budget, it seems to have revitalised Favreau and it's well worth it for the food that's being cooked in the film. In Los Angeles, Chef Carl Casper (Favreau) wants to show off his cookery skills when he learns that critic and blogger Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) is coming to the restaurant, he wants to cook up a special menu, but the restaurant's owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) tells him to stick to the set menu. It doesn't go well, Michel gives a bad review, Carl attacks him on Twitter, then shouts at him in the restaurant, and it ends up on YouTube. Carl loses his job, he takes his son Percy (EmJay Anthony) to Miami where he gets a ramshackle food truck, which he and Percy clean up, and then drive across America to help Carl rediscover his love for cooking. It's a very good character piece, and the film has a sharp and funny script with a lot of heart and humour, it's a film which shows how food can bring people together. It has a brilliant supporting cast including Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr. 4/5



Next (2007), directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors (1994), Mulholland Falls (1996) and Die Another Day (2002)), and ever-so-loosely adapted from Philip K. Dick's 1953 short story The Golden Man, and adapted by Gary Goldman, (Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and Total Recall (1990)), this is a derivative sci-fi action thriller which gives it's star/producer a chance to have a dodgy haircut again. It's a shame he wasn't a gold mutant though, like in Dick's story. In Las Vegas, Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage) can see into the future, but he can only see 2 minutes into the future at a time, and only his future. He works as a small-time magician in Las Vegas, and he uses his powers to win in the casinos. After foiling a robbery, Johnson is hunted by FBI agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore), who wants Johnson's powers to stop terrorists from detonating a nuclear device. Meanwhile, Johnson has ended up with Liz Cooper (Jessica Biel), a woman he had a repeated vision of, and for some reason, Johnson is able to see further into the future, and see the outcomes his actions will have. Johnson and Cooper end up on the run. It should have been a good film, parts are good, but if you're going to adapt Philip K. Dick, for God's sake, try and be as faithful to his work as you can, and don't give it a throwaway title!! There's so many wasted opportunities in this film, Dick would be spinning in his grave!! 2/5

It Follows (1st view) - Brilliantly creepy. Maika Monroe was the best thing about The Guest and she's excellent as the lead here - 4/5*




Fantastic Four (1st view) - Easy to see why everyone on the planet seems to hate this. Probably part of why I quite liked it - 4/5*

Inside Out (1st view) - The trailers didn't impress me that much and for whatever reason I was in no great rush to see this, which is why I caught it on the last day before it disappeared from my local cinema. Probably should have seen it sooner as it's excellent. I mean it's not Pixar's best (maybe their 8th best), both of Docter's two other Pixar films are better and it's not as good as any film in the run run they had from Ratatouille to TS3, but it's still great. I think maybe it hits home more for people who have children, or at least like children. (Saying that, Riley was a completly likeable character) and it only got emotional for me with Bing Bong, but it's a very clever, sweet and funny tale. Pixar always seem to match character and voice excellently and this is no exception, with Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith giving two of the best turns from the Pixar canon. Anger stole the show though, really cracked me up - 5/5*





Shorts

Lava (1st view) - Not quite a geologically accurate representation of volcanic life cycles, but a fantastic short - 5/5

Starry Eyes (1st view) - An aspiring young actress sells her soul in order to get a dream role. How come all the best horror films of late have an old school vibe - 4/5?




Whiplash (1st view) - JK Simmons deserved all the accolades he received, he was superb - 4/5*




Spring (1st view) - Mourning the death of his mother a young men travels to Italy and falls in love with a local woman, but she's not what she seems. A very good, genre-shifting film - 4/5*

Byzantium (2012), directed by Neil Jordan, who returns to horror after tackling it in The Company of Wolves (1984), Interview With The Vampire (1994) and In Dreams (1999). This vampire horror film was written by Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe (2010) and Jane Eyre (2011)), and it was based on a 2008 Buffini had wrote called A Vampire Story. Here, Jordan makes a chilling film set in an offbeat location, it's not for everyone though. The film focuses on teenage vampire Eleanor Web (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother Clara Webb (Gemma Arterton), who have lived since the early 19th Century, and survive through killing people for their blood. They seek sanctuary in a run down hotel in Hastings known as Byzantium, where Eleanor meets waiter Frank (Caleb Landry Jones), where she tells him her story about how Clara had a relationship with two Royal Navy officers, Captain Ruthven (Jonny Lee Miller) and Midshipman Darvell (Sam Riley). When Clara was dying from tuberculosis, she went to an island with Ruthven where Clara becomes a vampire, when Eleanor also becomes a vampire, both their lives are at risk. It's a very ambitious film, and it shares a lot of DNA with Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), only Byzantium is a lot more straight faced. There's some good imagery in it, but it requires patience. 3.5/5



Stoker (2013), the English language debut of South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003) and I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006)), produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and written by Prison Break actor Wentworth Miller. This is a dark, gothic psychological horror film. Park Chan-wook makes a great American debut with a tale that Hitchcock would have killed for. On her 18th birthday, India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) has her life shattered when her father Richard (Dermot Mulroney) is killed in a horrific car accident. Both India and her mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) are left emotionally shattered, but when Richard's brother Charlie (Matthew Goode) turns up and announced he's staying to help the family through their mourning, Evelyn welcomes this, but India is less than pleased. Most people are scared of Charlie, from housekeeper Mrs. McGarrick (Phyllis Somerville) to India's Great Aunt Gwendolyn (Jacki Weaver), who mysteriously disappears when she's about to tell India some information about who Charlie really is. It's a very good film, and it has some dark moments in it, but it's well acted, and there's a sense of menace throughout. There's a good attention to detail throughout, and for a horror film, it's beautifully shot and it's well directed too. 4/5

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014), directed by Miguel Arteta, (The Good Girl (2002), Youth in Revolt (2010) and Cedar Rapids (2011)) and loosely adapted from Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz's 1972 story of the same name. This is a lightly amusing family comedy, which has it's heart in the right place but it does descend into comedic zaniness a lot, but it does have some good gags on display throughout. 11 year old Alexander Cooper (Ed Oxenbould), who the day before his 12th Birthday, has a very bad day. where nothing goes his way at school, when he gets home, he finds that neither his father Ben (Steve Carell), mother Kelly (Jennifer Garner), brother Anthony (Dylan Minnette) or sister Emily (Kerris Dorsey) are interested. So, before he goes to bed. He wishes his whole family would all experience having a very bad day. The next morning, that happens. Ben has to take baby Trevor (Elise/Zoey Vargas) to a job interview, Kelly has an embarrassing moment in front of Dick Van Dyke, Emily comes down with a cold, while Anthony is suspended from school after accidental destruction, meanwhile Alexander has a good day. It's a silly film, but it makes for pleasant enough family viewing, but you do get the vague impression they've tried to cram too much into the film. Then again, the original book was 32 pages long. 3.5/5



Vacation (2015), the directorial debuts of screenwriters Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Horrible Bosses (2011) and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)) This is a continuation of the Vacation franchise that began with National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). It's last theatrical outing was Vegas Vacation (1997), and this is part-reboot and part-sequel. Some of it works, some of it doesn't. Shame really. Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) is a pilot for a budget airline, and he'd feeling estranged from his family. Including wife Debbie (Christina Applegate), shy older son James (Skyler Gisondo) and foul-mouthed younger son Kevin (Steele Stebbins). To reconnect with his family Rusty organises a road trip to Walley World, as his parents had done with him 32 years earlier. He buys a baffling Albanian car known as the Tartan Prancer. Along the way, they end up stalked by a truck driver, a visit to Rusty's sister Audrey (Leslie Mann) and her Conservative husband Stone Crandall (Chris Hemsworth) doesn't go to plan, and they end up nearly being killed on a rafting trip. It's a very silly film, and while the Vacation franchise was a good franchise back in the day, a lot has changed since then. Not all of it works, and a lot of the slapstick is laboured and has been seen before, but it's worth it for Hemseworth's turn!! 3/5

Village of the Damned (1960), based upon John Wyndham's 1957 book The Midwich Cuckoo's. Directed here by Wolf Rilla (Pacific Destiny (1956) and Bedtime with Rosie (1975)), who co-wrote the screenplay with Stirling Silliphant (In the Heat of the Night (1967) and The Towering Inferno (1974)). This is a spooky and genuinely scary British horror/sci-fi, but it keeps true to Wyndham's book, and it manages to be an engaging film. Set in the English village of Midwich, everyone in the village falls unconscious, the army investigate and can't explain it, then everyone regains consciousness. Then 2 months later, all the women in the village find out they're pregnant, and their pregnancies are faster than normal pregnancies, and they all give birth on the same day, plus all the children look the same with blonde hair and golden eyes. Professor Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders), whose wife wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley) gave birth to one of the children., has a meeting with British Intelligence, and finds out similar pregnancies occured, and the children are telepathic. It's a good film, and it's the sort of stripped back, down to earth sci-fi film you don't get anymore, and who knew that children could be so creepy? It's got a good cast, and Hammer would have killed for a film like this. 4/5



Children of the Damned (1964), 4 years after the success of Village of the Damned (1960), MGM went ahead with this loose sequel. American TV director Anton Leader (Get Smart, The Twilight Zone and Rawhide) was hired to direct with a screenplay by John Briley (Gandhi (1982) and Cry Freedom (1987)), it's a different kind of sequel, and it's not as engaging as the original, plus the tables are turned here. Set in London, 6 children are brought together by a team of UNESCO researchers, as these children show brilliant levels of intellect and can complete difficult puzzles as well. Psychologist Tom Lewellin (Ian Hendry) and geneticist David Neville (Alan Badel) take an interest in one of the children, a boy called Paul (Clive Powell), whose mother Diana (Sheila Allen) claims she was never touched by a man. The children are all from different countries, China, India, Nigeria, the Soviet Union, the USA, and are being kept at respective embassies in London, but they all manage to escape and they hide out in an abandoned church in Southwark, and they use telekinesis to survive. It's a darker film, and the children here don't want to hurt anyone, unlike the children in Village of the Damned. It does tend to drag, and it does make a comment on the Cold War, and the fear of outsiders invading us. 2.5/5

The Martian (1st view) - Castway meets Apollo 13. On Mars! Or, if you prefer, All is Lost meets Marooned. On Mars! It follows all the beats of an isolation/survival drama and a rescue mission film but blends them both together more successfully then most, althoguh there was one instance in which you'd think there's absolutely no way such a thing could be overlooked. The best film Sir Ridders has made since Kingdom Of Heaven and he's probably only made two or three that are better. Being stranded on Mars never looked so good. Also, any films which references both Elrond and Glorfindel is fine with me - 4/5*





I saw just 5 films in September, the fewest films I've seen in a month since May 1995!

Funny Games (1997), written and directed by Michael Haneke, (Benny's Video (1992), The Piano Teacher (2001) and Amour (2012)), this psychological thriller was originally intended to be Haneke's first film set in America, but due to budgetary reasons, it was filmed and set in Haneke's native Austria. It's a dark film about the effects and consequences of violence. Haneke creates a dark, tense and unusually offbeat film here. It has husband Georg (Ulrich Mühe), wife Ann (Susanne Lothar) and son Georg Jr. (Stefan Clapczynski) going for a two week holiday to their lake side holiday home in Australia. Their peaceful holiday is interrupted no sooner than they arrive by two psychotic young men Paul (Arno Frisch) and Peter (Frank Giering), who they spotted on the way to the holiday home at their neighbours house. They come over to their house, and end up breaking all their eggs and breaking their phone. Paul and Peter have made a twisted wager that non of the family will make it through the night alive. There follows a horrific night, full of mind games and twisted violence throughout. It's a very nasty film, with some trickery which Hitchcock would have been proud off, but Hitch would never have made a film as nasty and as brutal as this, and Haneke relishes with playing with film cliches throughout. 4/5



Ninja Assassin (2009). after James McTeigue and The Wachowski Brothers had a big success with V for Vendetta (2006), they teamed up to make another film, this time, an original film with a screenplay by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski. It's a very violent martial arts film, but it's still very enjoyable film, and it's good that someone is making a film like this. It's main focus is a league of ninja assassins known as the Ozunu Clan, led by Lord Ozuno (Sho Kosugi), who trains orphans severely and brutally into becoming lethal killing machines. One such orphan is Raizo (Rain), who gets his first professional kill out in Berlin, Germany. Which gets the attention of Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) and her boss Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles). However, there's a nasty piece of work within the Ozunu Clan, with Takeshi (Rick Yune), who killed his own sister Kiriko (Kylie Goldstein), when she betrayed the clan as a child when she tried to escape. With Europol now going after Raizo, and with the Clan wanting him back, there will be blood, and alot of it. But, Mika seeks to protect Raizo. It's a very good action film, better than what alot of the critics have said, and I can see better things to come from McTeague though, and the action is very well staged, and it's good to see violent kung-fu action like this in a big Hollywood film. It would be good to see more like this. 4/5

To Die For (1995), after the nightmarish production of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), Gus Van Sant opted for something easier for his next film. He settled on this adaptation of Joyce Maynard's 1992 novel of the same name, adapted by Buck Henry (The Graduate (1967), Candy (1968) and Heaven Can Wait (1978)). The book was based on a true story, but Van Sant makes a deliciously pitch black comedic satire on media and fame with this. In the seaside town of Little Hope, New Hampshire, Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman), craves to be famous, and wants to be a world famous news anchor. She marries wealthy Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), whose family wealth she believes will help her become famous. She gets a job as a local weather girl at the local cable station, WWEN. But, when Larry wants Suzanne to stay at home more, she plans to get rid of him, and after giving a talk at the local high school, she encounters disturbed local teenager Jimmy Emmett (Joaquin Phoenix) and his delinquent friend Russell Hines (Casey Affleck), and together, they come up with a plan to get rid off Larry. It's a very dark film, but it fits into Van Sant's ethos of making dark films about the growing pains of America's youth. Kidman relishes in the lead role, and it helped get Van Sant's career back on track too. 4/5



That'll Be The Day (1973), directed by Claude Whatham (Swallows and Amazons (1974) and All Creatures Great and Small (1975)), produced by Sandy Lieberson and David Puttnam for their company Goodtimes Enterprises, this was the screen debut of author Jim Connolly. This was the first of a two part saga of a toung aspiring musician, and it complimented the rise in 1950's nostalgia that occured during the 1970's. im MacLaine (David Essex) was abandoned by his father as a young boy, as a teenager, he drops out of school and discovers Rock 'n' Roll. He travels to the seaside, where he works as a deckchair attendant, not getting paid much money at all. That's until he meets Mike (Ringo Starr), who gets him a job as a barman then an attendant working at the local funfair, where he meets rock musician Stormy Tempest (Billy Fury) and wild drummer J.D. Clover (Keith Moon). This transforms Jim from a shy teenager into a cold, heartless batchelor, unable to settle down and sleeping around with many women, even when he goes home, he's still restless to rock 'n' roll. It's a truer depiction of the 1950's than the bubble-gum, candy coloured Grease (1978) would depict. This is down and dirty, and being set in the UK, the clash of classes is more evident. A sequel, Stardust (1974) would follow in quick sucession. 4/5