Film Reviews by MP

Shame this could have been intriguing, but just very poor writing, none of which made any psychological sense. Far too much use of simple unlikely twists which challenge the goody and suggest British spies were rubbish. And an ending which was so facile and done to death, St tge level of kids drama, that you couldn't believe any of it. Good cast but even they couldn't do much with it.

Gay movies are what I personally seek out and I am pretty over tolerant of LGBT+ queer work. But this movie had little going for it, unless you like simple movies which have songs in at key moments. None of if was either memorable or anything but old gay issues, which have been done a lot before at that level of simplicity. Arguably it was in the style of a gay Book of Mormon, but I wasnt a fan of that either. Personally I find Panto offers more depth and usually a lot funnier. I guess musicals for me come into two categories, simple stories punctuated by songs that are fairly mindless, and musicals that somehow combine song, dance (where included), and acting in such a way it touches something deeper. These kinds of musicals can be thrilling and really memorable. Needless to say this musical didnt make the second category for me. To be fair I don't enjoy USA mainstream movie humour much generally, there are exceptions and this wasnt one of them. The theme of gay men in New York doing theatre and trying to have a career in theatre a bit hackneyed, and depressing. Not a patch on Angels in America, Boys in the Band or indeed A Chorus Line. I guess I'm glad Ive seen this movie, but it got close to turning it off midway.

Well this is an intriguing if disappointing film. Great to see, if distressing, black racial issues in America explored in this story, with some well cast black actors. Interesting twist to the story which didn't quite make sense to me, but a good idea for new directors starting out. The script does not have great dialogue, or the weighty content that these black characters and actors deserve. It felt like the directors had a rather simple narrow glossy view about what being a successful woman is. The successful black people I see in real life are much much better than these likeable if simple American TV roles. Certainly glossy, and a good thriller, some simple evil white villains, and plenty of violence for those who need that in their entertainment, to be fair it does reflect the real violence of the racial issues, but something I don't usually want to watch too often.

The animation, as its stop frame using models, is extraordinary, and the whole design really wonderful. However, I struggled with the story. I might love magic, and dark is fine, but either this is cultural story I cannot reference, and it's a bit complex and odd if you cannot, or it's just an odd story without a clear sense of root for me to give it real depth, just a weird made up story. I might have gone along with it but the modern bright and cheerful in your face American accents of the characters, were at odds with my personal experience of Japan and certainly traditional Japan. So with matching resonance of story seemed like any old mediocre Disney film but difficult to follow not anything that felt like it came from mythic Japen where its set. All that amazing animation work..... And let down by the writing that inspired the film in the first place. Perhaps like Fantastical Beasts if you let the technical wonder dominate and reflect that in the creative team you don't bring in sufficient rigor to deeper film creativity that gives a more rounded satisfying film. Worth a watch but may not watch again.

Harriet was such an awesome person and so courageous. The character wonderfully portrayed. Good straight forward story telling which makes a great, if necessarily tense film to watch. This is one of those stories that we should all know. Without knowing it you are depriving yourself of seeing some really important history of not only the USA, but by implication much of the world. A legacy we all need to understand fully in current world politics.

Would it be up to the Blake Edwards films. Yes it was very funny. Steve Martin did a great job with Inspector Clousseau without trying to imitate. Fresh new, revived an old favourite series as something new to enjoy.