Film Reviews by Alphaville

A peculiar good/bad mixture of a film based on true events little known in the UK, and the less you know about them the better. We spend the first half of the film in cliché land getting to know the all-men crew who fight fires in the Arizona desert. It’s all bog-standard male bonding with lots of family drama and line dancing and ‘love you bro’ schamalz. And do they really have to feminize a fire and call it ‘bitch’?

The firefighting techniques and jargon are nevertheless fascinating, the scenery is gorgeous and plot is obviously building to a huge climax. Joseph Kosinski directs with a real sense of place and community and when the climactic fire fight arrives it packs a visceral punch. In fact its emotional power leaves such an indelible impression that it makes you re-evaluate everything you’ve been watching. A film of mixed merits but a wow of an ending.

The DVD also contains a number of interesting extras, including a moving film commentary by Kosinski and star Josh Brolin that adds to the film’s impact.

Katherine Bigelow used to make interesting films such as the classic Near Dark. Now she’s got side-tracked into message films. Never mind what’s happening on screen, just listen to the MESSAGE. The message here is about some racist white cops terrorising some innocent black victims. The medium? In-your-face docudrama.

We begin with a scatter-gun approach to the Detroit rioting, looting and arson of 1967 then focus in on the racist cops. It’s based on true events and the reality of it is grim, especially when we see the real-life people speak to camera at the end, but the film should be judged on its own merits.

As an historical document it has value, even though parts of it are fictional, but as a film it’s wearing. It would be better suited to a TV documentary. Once we get the gist of what’s happening, you can predict every single beat of the screenplay. Do you want to spend two hours having your expectations realised and getting the message rammed down your throat? As if realising the problem, the trailer makers decided to make the film seem more interesting by showing virtually none of the long, drawn-out central apartment-building section with the cops.

As one producer says on the DVD extras, this film is about the performances. Unfortunately, and not for the first time, main protagonist Casey Affleck is an acquired taste. He acts as though he’s just walked out of a Method Class, but Brando he isn’t. Barely an emotion creases his face. His voice never varies. The deliberately paced direction is equally staid, lacking dynamism. Pointless flashbacks slow momentum to funereal pace.

After an hour something dramatic actually happens. Until then there’s not even been a score to carry us along, but now it’s even worse as we’re bombarded by bog-standard classical and wailing choral music. Please make it stop!

This vastly over-rated film then unexpectedly turns into a mismatched buddy movie . There are even a few humorous scenes, which seem oddly out of place after what’s gone before, but again the plot goes nowhere. Never mind, it’s all about the PERFORMANCES, stupid. To reinforce this point, the making-of featurette on the DVD is a vomit-inducing actor’s schmooze-in. Instantly forgettable.

Twisting, fast-moving spy thriller about a plot to release a biological weapon in London. Noomi Rapace is the CIA agent caught up in one scrape after another as the bodies pile up. Smoothly directed by experienced hand Michael Apted, the film plays like a 70s thriller (Three Days of the Condor, Marathon Man). It’s constantly intriguing and its plentiful action scenes are deliberately and mercifully free of OTT rapid-editing and frenzied in-your-face camerawork.

At times, like 24 on speed, it’s too densely plotted for its 94min run time, and it does lack oomph in places, which is perhaps why critics found it underwhelming on the big screen. Or maybe they just saw the suspense-killing tell-all trailer first. Moral for modern times: stay away from trailers. If you’re looking for an intelligent high-class

This travesty of cinema is based on a stage play and looks like it. Deliberately worded and acted, its emphasis is on script and thespianism rather than any visual interest. As such, it lacks naturalism and dynamism, which renders it slow and contrived. What passes for action takes place mostly on one set (a house) and the talking heads are filmed with a mostly static camera. As to what they have to say, you could fast forward whole screeds of it and miss nothing. The stagey dialogue often goes nowhere.

Many critics give it a good rating, but only because of the actorly performances. There’s a germ of an idea here, but cinema it ain’t. If you’re not convinced, watch the trailer, which opens with the one brief and unnecessary nude scene, as if the distributors know that what follows is backside-numbing.

In this well-intentioned French Afghan War (2014) film we follow a squad of troops as they go about their mission. Some critics found it haunting, but most viewers will find it hard to care. Its score-free, documentary-style approach renders it deliberately undramatic and lifeless. Unless you have utmost patience, it will lose you long before a plot sets in.

Having been conscripted into the German army during WW2, Estonian fencer Endel is now on the run from Stalin’s secret police in Leningrad. He hides away as a teacher in a small rural village, where he teaches the children to fence using wooden sticks. Then the school hears of a fencing competition in Leningrad…

This is a superbly realised and warm-hearted thriller-drama with fascinating teaching scenes, like School of Rock with swords instead of musical instruments. With a suspicious headmaster, there’s an undercurrent of tension throughout as we get involved in the lives of Endel and the children and the plot will hook you in as it builds to an irresistible climax.

A taboo-breaking film about independent young Arab women seeking freedom from reactionary social constraints in modern-day Tel Aviv. Traditional, naïve Nour moves in with girls-about-town Laila and Salma. Cue sex, rape, Lesbianism, drug-taking and chain smoking – a rousing cry for freedom in the face of primitive Middle Eastern male attitudes to women.

A similar British film would be sullied by social realism and Ken-Loach-type politicking, but In Between frees its characters from any agenda save personal independence. It gives them the space to be themselves and gives us the space to become involved in their plights. Unlike the similarly-themed and coruscating Mustang its message will be blunted for some by making its heroines chain-smoking drug-takers, but you’ll soon be rooting for them in their fight for the right to be whatever they want to be. Like Mustang, it’s a character-driven movie that draws in, holds you in its thrall and leaves an indelible impression

An impressionistic, mostly wordless, drama about the Allied retreat from Dunkirk in 1940. There’s little new in its depiction of aerial dog-fights, sinking boats and evacuation logistics, nor any one lead character to root for, yet it works.

An initially confusing time conceit soon works beautifully to interleave events in the air (covering one hour), at sea (one day) and on the beach (one week). The main criticism is that there’s too much intercutting between different story lines. Letting a scene play out in its own time would have better enabled our involvement in it to grow.

Unlike in Saving Private Ryan, scenes of heroism and tragedy are shown in an understated way, given dramatic force by their matter-of-factness, allowing the viewer to supply the emotion. This gives space for the incredible story to speak for itself, aided by a rousingly strident Hanz Zimmer score that avoids his usual pomposity. The movie isn’t a classic but, in the hands of imaginative writer/director Christopher Nolan, it’s a stirring watch.

Godzilla ravages Tokyo while the authorities discuss what to do. Unfortunately they talk and talk. And talk. To call the film dialogue-heavy would be an understatement. It’s more concerned with bureaucracy and politics than with action and thrills. Shots of Godzilla are few, brief and repetitive. There’s no hero or heroine in peril to root for. The ropey monster effects hark back fondly to the heyday of Godzilla films, but this is a hopelessly bungled opportunity to bring the excitement of then to the audiences of now.

What do you want from a Gerard Butler disaster film? Well, a disaster for a start. The title promises such but it never arrives. How about action? Well, there’s precious little of that too. A global warming control system is malfunctioning and Gerard spends the whole movie trying to find out why. He’s also saddled with parenting issues (yawn) and sibling rivalry with his brother (yawn, yawn).

What we end up with is an underpowered plot, clichéd dialogue and prosaic direction by woeful writer/director Dean Devlin. There are a few flash-bangs in the final half-hour, but none are exciting or surprising. An attempt to up the tension with a countdown-to-geostorm finale merely highlights the lack of imagination on show here. Will Gerard save the world? Will the family be reconciled? Will there be cheering? Will you feel nauseous?

This indie film, about light and dark forces battling inside our unconscious, has imagination to spare, but it’s a tough watch. It’s like an experimental student film, overly keen to play with the mechanics at its disposal – light, colour, texture, frenzied hand-held camera, freeze-frame etc. Little of this is to any purpose. Instead of letting narrative drive take over, the film presents a complete mish-mash of pointless image manipulation. The narrative fails to grip and the acting fails to convince. There’s plenty of cinematic imagination here, but if only it had been harnessed to better effect.

The original Skyline was a terrific underrated alien invasion extravaganza of 2010 directed by a couple of cgi wizards. Critics unaccountably preferred this ragbag sequel. With a different director, it continues the fight against the aliens on the Underground, in their spaceship and in the Indonesian jungle of all places. There’s little in the way of plot to connect the three, especially the jungle setting, which introduces a late irrelevant subplot and seems to belong to a different film. The characters are so sketchily drawn that we never really care what happens to them anyway.

What remains of interest are the special effects, and it has to be said there’s some imaginative visual imagery on display here. At times the screen is a kaleidoscope of colour and movement. This can’t be called a successful film, but there’s certainly enough here to keep hard sci-fi fans engaged.

The ultimate high-concept movie. Just as you can’t dislike real-life ski-jumper Eddie himself, you can’t dislike this film. There’s a feel-good story, Taron Egerton strikes the right affectionate note as Eddie, coach Hugh Jackman adds a mismatched buddy-movie vibe, the dialogue sparkles, the ski-jumping is exciting and the scenery is picturesque. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to cheer when Eddie tackles the climactic jump.

What could have been another boring slice-of-life bio becomes in director Dexter Fletcher’s hands a lively and irresistible film. There’s not a dull moment in it. Even if you think you won’t like this film, it will win you over. It’s an antidote to cynicism.

Equally inspiring and watchable are the three Making Of features on the DVD. One shows legendary action director Vic Armstrong’s thrilling work on the ski jumps, which includes him sending two skiers with bodycams down the jumps at the same time.

Our man goes back a day in time and confronts his past self. Plus he’s on the run from a killer. It’s a neat beginning for a time-travel conundrum of a film, but the middle-aged man is sooo boring and a lack of realism makes it hard to take the fantastical elements as anything but a screenwriter’s game. Our man doesn’t even RUN from the killer and never seems worried at all. Maybe that’s why there’s some gratuitous nudity thrown into the mix to spice things up. Write/director Nacho Vigalondo, who here plays the time-travel machine scientist, would go on to better things with Colossal.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean there’s not some enjoyment to be had here. To maintain the viewer’s interest the plot needs to keep moving.. and it does so, with one twist after another. After a sticky middle act it picks up again and you’ll want to stay with it to see where it’s going. The whole adds up to a reasonably diverting 88 minutes. If only the characters were more realistic and engaging.