Film Reviews by HM

Begins with humour tongue wedged in cheek. It takes an unexpected twist then wears the viewer down as one action scene after another piles on the cgi. The script gets dumber and dumber and we end up with a video game shooter exprience. I have had it with super hero movies; Deadpool was a welcome semi-send up but this is just a clod hopping mess. End this series NOW!

Don't bother is my advice, they will just make more of this bilge.

A one hour tv drama dragged and padded out to movie length. Give it a miss if you want entertaining. This story doesn't belong on film and I doubt it has got a cinema release which is all you need to know.

The life of Mary Anning was one of relentless toil scouring the coast of Dorset England for fossils. A drama about her would centre around her work, perhaps family background illustrating the death of siblings, her unlikely survival and then her emergence from the shadows as a major contributor to natural science. However, the writer and director Francis Lee chooses to make up a story about a lesbian relationship between her and another woman. This is entirely fictional. What is the point of this film? It is misleading about her life, character and distorts other relationships she had; not as far as is known sexual ones.

Lee has made another gay film, so he obviously likes the subject. Sadly the film lingers on close to pornographic bedroom scenes. The two woman 'go it it' in an urgent rush which takes the characters as painted leading up to this in a differnet direction of temperement and character. Gratuitous sex really.

Having said all that it is an enjoyable drama and rather touching: just not about Mary Anning.

Tim Burton likes his concepts and redesigining trodden paths. This is a romantic journey through a dying man's life supposedly the truth that is too crackers for his son to believe. Do we believe it? Well it doesn't matter. The quirkey outlook of Burton keeps it colourfull and interesting. When you stop to think about it: why tell this heavily contrived story in the first place? No idea, but if you liked the barmey Edward Scissorhands you won't have much trouble enjoying this.

Entertaining yes, fairytale? Well yes that is what this is and what's wrong with that?

Part one got some momentum up but it all thins out in a routine punch up conclusion and yet another version of how Two Face originated. Dissapointing and let part one down.

A Covid era film. The story follows a female in a time loop. She is caught in an experiment involving another dimension. She tries to get to the bottom of it as she has no knowledge of what is going on. Desperate to locate the scientific establishment that seems to be responsible for her plight she makes progress each time she returns to the scene of her detention in an abandoned house tied to a chair.

OK it is a low or no budget SF thriller. It kept me interested despite the murkey plot. One of the better 'not many people' Covi era films. Doesn't set the world on fire frankly.

Things go bump in the night. 'It's behind you' kids etc. Based on a stage play you won't have heard of because it probably wasn't much good. Neither is this film. Badly connected tales of ghosts and things of the forest, it attempts to make sense of itself at the end but only succeeds in being irrelevent and makes the preceeding events redundent in meaning.

Not up to the job of intelligent horror and not messy enough to be a really horrific experience.

An intelligent build up to the next installment; looking forward to it. The script has more going for it than many of the rather dumb superhero films around. Plenty of action and character development. The graphics are not the Cgi we are used to or Pixar but you sink itno its world easily enough.

A lady customs officer who looks like a Neanderthal can sense and smell peoples emotions and actions. She bumps into a man who looks just like her. A relationship develops and she finds out more about herself and works with police to locate paedeophiles but revelations turn in darker directions.

A movie that passes thorough love, revelation, intrigue, police thriller and ultimatley fairy tale horror. Brothers Grimm could have written this for adults to enjoy and be oppressed by as it becomes a hard watch at times. It will leave an impression on viewers.

Although there are many more true stories of SOE operations, this film concentrates on the early days and specifically on an American operative and those that were in her orbit in France. The story is all the more compelling as it doesn't bull up the events to overkill. There is a compelling feeling of dread throughout without resorting or being attracted to tales of shoot outs. Fine performances all round and an air of reality.

The Germans are for once not shown as brutal dumb goons, but all the more beleivable for that. A good drama all tound and sincere.

The story takes place in a nurse's kitchen and occasionally adjoining rooms. A man is convinced he knows identity of his child's rapist, captures him and takes him to the nurses home as she treated his daughter. Weird. Torture of alledged perpetrator begins, however, other parties get involved in a way that doesn't make sense. A mass chase round the house results in explicit carnage. I haven't seen this much cringe making violence before.

It is an exciting film but has not got its feet in the obvious reality of calling the police at some point, or neighbours hearing world war III taking place in the neighbourhood doing so. Where are the cops when you need them?

Exciting yes, but not for the squeamish.

After the English Civil War, a puritan couple living in the countrside are invaded by a naked young couple running from the law. Charming at first, they become threatening and the mood darkens. Apparently there was a conflict at that time between the austerity of Cromwell's regime and libertarians having orgies in pubs which the young couple have indulged in. Pull the other one, the young invaders behave more like 70's punks than people of their time. I had a feeling of watching a clash of modern and ancient cultures, but the criminal behaviour of the young couple drains any credibility from their presence in the film. It ends up as a 'liberation for women' tale, liberation from men that is as the puritan life oppresses her and so does the sexual nature of our punky friends.

A mess of a film frankly with any real story buried under violence and comically bad officers of the law.

Trapped in house with a weird old couple. Violent horror stuff. Proceeds in the way horror fans would expect. A well trodden path, so none horror fans may get more out of it not being used to the formula. Entretaining thrills and chases etc.

Ruffalo and Hathaway are superb in their roles. Erin Brockovich situation; a big corporate company side steps its responsibilities for polution and harming its own employees. The story unfolds as a lawyer changes sides from working for corporations to battling one. A true story and one which confirms everyones worst suspicions about ruthless big business, perhaps other organisations (Catholic and other churches?) covering up their actions from the public and their victims. Not a life affirming story; grim and grinding. The years go by as our hero is banging at the walls of cover-up culture. Recommended for those that like real life stuff, always more intelligent and engaging than the usual holywood fare.

No surprises here. Lots of noise and cgi. Worn out plot, wooden acting essential to stay at same level as banal story. Studios churn this stuff out regularly. OK now and then but anyone wanting intelligence with their entertainment is going to struggle these days. This stuff best watched on big screen or good home cinema, I suppose this keeps money rolling in now that Netflix etc have got the market and churn out average dramas but cannot provide sound quality.

Cartoons and cgi are the sad future of the industry, but if you keep paying for this stuff they will just keep making it.

Help, I need good movies!

Kong gets knocked out, he revives in nick of time etc. Little kid uses sign language and Kong gets it. Pardon me, is a little girl the only one with sign skills? Give me a break.