Film Reviews by TB

Kiss of the Dragon is a film which is, above everything else, brutally efficient & stripped down. It is for those viewers who know exactly what they want from a marital arts film: minimal but impactful story, bone-crunching violence, spectacular stunts/set pieces and a final showdown which delivers the big payoff. And this film delivers that in spades, further cementing Jet Li's credentials as one of the greatest martial arts performers/actors in the world.

Liu Jian (Li) is a Taiwanese detective sent to France to assist in the undercover sting of a crime lord, Mr Big, using prostitutes as part of the operation. He is partnered with Richard, the highly unstable & violent French chief of police. The operation goes awry & Liu is framed for murder by Richard. He then attempts to clear his name, joining up with one of the prostitutes who was herself forced into sex work by Richard.

This film was primarily created by Li's determination to bring back genuine stunt work & combat scenes, after a slew of films which had lost these elements, substituting them for CGI & wirework. This is in many ways why this film is so impactful. It is so so brutal in both it's fight scenes & stripped-back production. There is one scene in particular involving a room full of martial arts students which literally has your jaw on the floor. The level of technical ability combined with choreography is at its pinnacle here. Alongside that, just before the Bourne films made this one of its signatures, there are many uses of ordinary objects utilised in fight scenes to devastating effect...

Li is always dependable as the man who has every odd stacked against him & yet still feels both believable & stoic. Fonda fares less well, in one of her final screen roles. Whilst she looks every inch the broken woman whose life has been destroyed after being forced into the horrors of the sex trade, as a character she is quite thinly written, never breaking out of the "hooker with a heart of gold" cliché. And Fonda is absolutely an actress who could have elevated a properly written role like that.

But for me, this film belongs to Tchéky Karyo. To be clear, his performance is absolutely outrageous. No-holds barred instability & insanity. We are in the presence of one of the greatest overacting & megalomaniac portrayals of a villain ever seen. For many, it will be too much, too far-fetched (I remember one reviewer writing "With Mr Karyo's performance, never before have the French police been portrayed as so incompetent & idiotic.")

But the reason I love it so much is because both Karyo & the director have totally committed to the insane world that these sorts of films exist in (where characters do the most idiotic things for no reason or make decisions which defy logic.) Within a few minutes, Richard kills 2 of his men, the 2nd of which is due to his seemingly total ignorance of the existence of gravity. Later on, he is part of a car chase in which he kills both his colleagues & ordinary members of the public with absolutely no consequences... For me, he is the best thing about this film. Karyo is sheer genius & obviously having an absolute ball.

But if you buy into this crazy world, there is so much fun to be had here. This is an "unplug your brain & have a riot" film, agog at the action scenes and laughing at the ludicrousness of it all. Just don't cross Jet Li, especially when he is armed with chopsticks...

In 1989, Daniel Day-Lewis & director Jim Sheridan worked together on the nano-budget film My Left Foot. A small little Irish production (which was repeatedly nearly shut down due to lack of money,) about the celebrated disabled artist Christy Brown became a cultural behemoth, winning Day-Lewis his 1st Oscar and making megabucks at the box office, as well as being for me Day-Lewis's best film. Following this success, Sheridan was given the budget and power to make anything he wanted & there had been a shattering, seismic miscarriage of justice involving Irish nationals which was a story he had to tell.

Ireland, the 1970's. The Troubles are ripping the two countries apart, with British military in the thick of it, trying to keep the peace but inflaming the tinderbox. In the midst of this is Gerry Conlon, a ragamuffin petty thief who is working several scams in Belfast & just about getting away with it. One day, whilst stealing lead, he is mistaken for a sniper and nearly shot. After this, his father desperately sends him away to England, trying to force him to change his ways & remove him from the carnage of his homeland. The same time period he arrives, the Guildford pub bombings occur. Conlon & 3 others are arrested and forced into making false confessions, which also wrongly implicates his father & extended family. Jailed for life, they desperately fight to clear their names against impossible odds as well as the deliberate sabotage by the UK Government.

This film, like Mr Bates Vs the Post Office, leaves you furious. White-hot anger. It shows viscerally what happens when a desperate political & legal system makes a catastrophic series of mistakes, which due to the massive pressure to catch the perpetrators, it continues to pursue, even after proof emerges that the wrong people are being accused. For a large number of people, including me, the Troubles & the violence of that time are something we don't really remember, due to when we were born. But for decades, Irish republicanism & the violence it inspired was huge.

The story takes pains to show the truth about Conlon & his early life. He is sometimes an unlikable protagonist, especially in his early days as a petty thief, but never is reduced to a single character trait. He has a solid heart & is in many ways a victim of his circumstances. When people live around constant tension & the threat of violence, some cave in whilst others become rebellious and fight back. Conlon is a free spirit looking for fun & adventure, but is never for a second someone who would pick up arms & fight.

The scenes of him being arrested, tortured & then imprisoned when you know that he is totally innocent are excruciating to watch. And then to see his hopes raised & destroyed repeatedly rubs salt in the wound. But there is incredible poignancy amongst the hell, especially in the scenes with his father. And that's where this wronged man starts to become the legal juggernaut who, alongside his legal team, eventually exposes the evil miscarriage of justice to the world.

Day-Lewis is staggering, as is Postlethwaite. Their chemistry is electric, their father-son relationship heart-breakingly real. As Conlon Snr grows weaker, you feel the fear that he will die inside jail as a wronged man. And rounding it off is Thompson as the electric Gareth Pierce, the lawyer who was dogged in her determination to exonerate her client, who she knows is innocent. As the film builds to the final courtroom showdown, the momentum & energy is electric, such is the power of the acting & direction. But also, when the inevitable happens, followed by the credits which detail the subsequent events where not 1 of the people responsible within law enforcement are held to account, you are left with a bitter taste in your mouth. Which is exactly how it should be.

Powerful & incredible filmmaking

One thing with Sean Baker that you will always get is stunning visuals & bright colours, combined with a zesty energy which courses through the film. Irrelevant of what happens on screen, your eyes will have a feast. And this really makes a difference in Red Rocket, a look at a deplorable but undeniably charismatic hustler who returns in desperation to his hometown.

Mikey Davies is a washed-up, burnt out & out of luck ex-porn star who turns up again on the bus in Texas City, Texas, having fled California beaten, bruised & with just $22 to his name, along with the clothes on his back. He heads to the home of his estranged wife Lexi, who lives with her mother and both of whom share a visceral hatred of Mikey, due to his treatment of & subsequent abandoning of her. He then attempts to get his life back on track, as well as a chance meeting with a 17 year old girl whom he falls in love with.

There is plenty to like here, mainly the vibrant energy, which as I said earlier, spills out of the screen. The world this film creates and invites us into is a real & beautiful place which is filled with dynamic & genuine people, almost all of whom are non-actors. Speaking of performances, as much as Simon Rex got most of the plaudits, for me the real star here is Suzanna Son. It would be so, so easy for her to play Raylee as a beautiful "bimbo" who simply falls in love with & is ambivalent to the obviously horrendous traits Mikey has. But Raylee is a genuinely complex young woman, headstrong & in control of her own destiny. I also liked the fact that the script shows her to be a "real" woman who has explored & experimented with her sexuality, not just a clichéd character who has been "waiting her whole life for a guy to come along & show her what she's been missing out on."

Mikey himself was someone I didn't much care for, as well as starting to tire of him & his narcissistic personality. It is clear, both from the way the film treats him as well as the reviews which cannot stop praising him, that we as the audience should be equally as enamored with him. But for me he was basically a tic, scampering around & leeching the goodwill and generosity of everyone around him. And alongside that, the manipulation he tries to do towards Raylee is seen by the writer/director as this almost scallywag trait which makes him more charming, when the opposite is true.

However, the narrative of this film is one which I think can be at times quite dull. We have a lot of montages of Mikey cycling, as well as random meetings between characters which doesn't further the plot that much. I do however admit that some of the situations he gets himself into are sometimes quite funny, plus the ending is one which, although it can be read in many ways, I actually think is simply a prelude to everything catching up with him.

An interesting movie and one which hopefully will see Suzanna Son go on to bigger & better things.

In 1987, Timothy Dalton took over as James Bond from Sir Roger Moore. By the end of Moore's tenure, despite him being my favourite Bond, the film series was in a pretty atrocious state. A View To A Kill is by some distance the worst Bond film ever made, to the extent that Bond himself didn't intentionally kill a single person in it (even the shotgun he used was full of rock salt.) Many critics were openly speculating that the Bond franchise was now too tarnished & past it's sell-by date.

Fortunately, Dalton came to the rescue with the brilliant The Living Daylights, which introduced a world-weary, almost burnt-out Bond but one which had an extremely dangerous air about him, with a capacity for violence. There was also a radical departure from the Moore era, with Dalton's insistence on doing as many of his own stunts as possible. When it came to the sequel, especially with the rise of drug lords in the USA, Licence to Kill had found it's new story, but also the driving force of Dalton to make this an extremely dark & violent film (to this day, it is still the only Bond film to be released rated 15 for the violence, something not done before or since.)

James Bond manages to, with the help of his friend Felix Leiter, capture Franz Sanchez, an extremely dangerous & lethal drug baron. However, after a significant betrayal, Sanchez escapes and enacts a terrible revenge against Leiter & his new wife. Bond, furious and seeking to avenge his friend's maiming, then deserts MI6 after they refuse to bring Sanchez to justice, launching a one-man crusade against him & his criminal organisation.

Make no mistake, this is in many ways the true Bond film, as inspired by the novels. We are in the "take the gloves off & get honest" territory, whether it is with psychotic drug barons feeding their enemies to sharks, killing people they think have betrayed them in horrific ways or Bond slaughtering villains so all that is left is a red mist & the echo of a scream. 007 himself is also brutalised & beaten, Dalton really making you believe why his Bond is the burnt-out wreck only hinted at in later films such as Skyfall.

But despite the extremely heavy subject matter, this also delivers everything you could possibly want from a Bond film. The stunts are incredible, the women beautiful, the locations stunning. We dash all over the world, from the USA to the UK to Mexico. The locations, especially Sanchez's mansion & the Olympia drug factory, are amazing. There is also, amusingly, a Western-style bar brawl which is brilliantly choreographed.

But for me, this film is made by it's cast. Robert Davi is absolutely sensational as Sanchez. The monster he creates is genuinely terrifying, a demonic & pure evil abomination who you totally believe as this unchained, vicious psychopath. In one of his first starring roles, Benicio Del Toro is equally horrific as Dario, Sanchez's right-hand man, with brains as well as brawn. Talisa Soto is the beautiful & fiercely free-willed Lupe, who steals Sanchez's then Bond's heart, with Carey Lowell as Pam, the fiery & highly competent CIA agent Bond joins forces with. The cast is absolutely perfect in every way.

However, the most praise has to go to Dalton. His singular vision, as confirmed by the other actors, to make Bond the lethal killer he was written as, really laid the ground work for the series to reinvigorate itself, as well as what in many ways Craig carried on. Bond is probably here the most human he will ever be, really showing us as the audience that all the violence & brutality he has endured has a devastating impact. This is 007 at its most pure, which despite some scripting & pacing issues, is the most honest the character will probably ever be.

The biggest tragedy is that we never got a third film. I so wish we could have seen where Dalton's Bond went next...

"The good parent necessarily fails."

To slightly cannibalise the famous quote by Freud, this statement is a warning shot about the need to let your children go, that there is only so much you can do to protect them before your want to keep them with you turns into something far more dangerous & sinister. It is this theme & many others that Yorgos Lanthimos examines in brutal & distressing detail.

The film enters the world of an unnamed family (mother, father, 2 daughters & a son,) looking at what appears to be the mundanity of their lives: they live in a beautiful big house with a swimming pool in the Greek countryside and are outwardly happy. But the slightest scratch below the surface reveals the horror beneath: the children (who are in their 20's & fully physically developed,) are brainwashed prisoners, told nothing but lies about the outside world by their parents & the house is surrounded by a fence, kept inside by the lie that they cannot leave except by car. The children spend their days playing endurance games as well as being taught "survival skills" at how to deal with the danger they face.

This film can be looked at in so many ways. There is the element of cults and mind control, as well as the extreme perversion of trying to control & suppress burgeoning youth sexuality. On this point, one of the most effective elements of this film is the extremely disturbing way sex is used, with highly explicit intimacy to really make you as the viewer uncomfortable with just how wrong the world you are looking into is. Whether it is the outside woman paid by the father to satisfy the son's sexual wants, through to the parents sat naked deciding about the next change they are going to bring into this world whilst hardcore pornography plays in the background, it is skin-crawlingly unsettling. The children also rarely wear anything more than skimpy outfits, ratcheting this tension up still further.

And alongside this is the constant threat of violence, whether it is sudden, mindless brutality towards each other or attacking what to most people is the most sweet & innocent animal you could imagine. This tension is heightened by the way the film is shot, with poor framing as well as a group of actors who have committed fully to this vision of hell.

After all I have written, for many people this movie would be an unwatchable & uncomfortable endurance test. But it was absolutely gripping. It reminded me in many ways of Isabella Eklöf's film Holiday, another highly disturbing but brilliantly made look at a beautiful paradise where there is hell just beneath the surface. You watch transfixed as a group of people slowly sink deeper into a living nightmare, both entertained & enthralled by seeing their journey.

The one thing this film wasn't for me, which it seems to have been for others, was funny. Whilst there were a couple of slight laughs, this was in no way the comedy which others have called it. Whilst I have a dark sense of humour, finding films such as American Psycho absolutely hysterical, here I was just horrified.

Lanthimos has created an original, horrible world which I entered passively & was glad to leave, having been changed irrecoverably by seeing it. Never will I look at a beautiful Greek house or a toy aeroplane the same way again...

Michael Mann is, without question, one of the most influential writer/directors who has ever lived. Heat, The Last of the Mohicans and Collateral are each films which, if anyone had even 1 of them in their filmography, would make them iconic. But he has also been responsible for some almost indescribably terrible films, where you wonder how the same man can be responsible for them. After the extremely poorly received Miami Vice, which should have been a triumph (given Mann produced the wildly successful TV series,) but was almost unwatchable, Mann announced he was working on a true-life story which almost had been sent by the gods for him to adapt: the life of infamous bank robber John Dillinger & the relentless pursuit of him by the FBI.

Then add into the mix the casting of 2 of the hottest actors working at that time (Depp and Bale,) alongside a massive budget, being able to film in the actual locations where the events happened & the incredible production team Mann can assemble, this was set to be an epic film. The early, overwhelmingly positive reviews reinforced this, so I was pumped as I sat in the cinema. Then the film started...

It is almost impossible to describe just how badly this film has been made. From a technical standpoint, the sound is by some distance the worst of these things: you simply cannot hear properly what is being said. In the opening prison escape, you are straining to hear the dialogue over the gunfire or, once the action moves to the car, the engine noise. The ADR (actor recording their lines in post-production for clarity,) either hasn't been done, or the sound engineer needs to be sacked. And this isn't just in this one scene. Throughout the whole film, the sound will sometimes be undecipherable. Depp's accent, which I have no doubt he worked hard on creating, is so low in pitch it simply adds to the problems.

And then we come to the cinematography & camera work. Handheld cameras/Cinéma Vérité can, when used properly, be one of the best ways to film, especially in battle scenes, such as in Saving Private Ryan. But Mann made 2 inexplicable choices: to film in the highest quality crystal-clear 4K HD, and for the camera to be thrown about all over the place. So, in many ways, it looks like this film was shot with a smartphone by a 5 year old child. The insanely high quality just looks terrible, in the sense that you have perfect time-period sets & costumes, which then is filmed like you are a documentary crew shooting a behind-the-scenes feature.

And the camera itself is never still, constantly twitching & jerking. The action scenes are all but unwatchable, especially the shootout in the lodge, where the DP several times seems to not be sure who he is meant to be filming, so keeps flitting between actors.

In terms of acting, so much damage is done with how the film is shot that actually no-one really stood out for me. Depp is perfectly watchable, and the one meaty scene that he & Bale share (where for once the camera is relatively still & the sound alright,) hints at what could have been. Others aren't so lucky. Stephen Graham plays a mobster who is shown as so psychotic & unstable that it becomes idiotic. Again, a phenomenal actor who is reduced to screaming & shooting as his character's memorable traits.

Over 2 & a bit hours, this film lumbers on, with minute flashes of brilliance which are quickly shut down by atrocious production. The one massive highlight was the Elliot Goldenthal soundtrack, a beautiful mixture of orchestral magnificence. But this is one bright spark amongst the dreck.

For a film that had so much going for it, in so many different ways, this is a total waste of time, energy & potential. I used to think it was just the worst film of 2009, but now it is without question one of the worst I've ever seen, when you consider what it truly could have been...

Michael Mann can be so frustrating as a filmmaker. This is the man who wrote & directed Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, Collateral and Blackhat, films which are absolutely incredible & visceral in their impact. And this is the same person who has also created Public Enemies and Miami Vice, 2 films which were complete misfires and duds (still to this day I cannot believe that Public Enemies was allowed to be released with what is by some distance the worst sound mix I've ever heard in a major Hollywood film, closely followed by some of the worst cinematography.) And unfortunately, Ferrari can be added to that list, although for entirely different reasons.

The film looks at a key time in the life of Enzo Ferrari. 10 years after the creation of his company, his business is in crisis and on the verge of going bankrupt; he loses his best driver in a catastrophic test-track accident; his personal life of multiple affairs & secret love-child is at constant risk of being exposed and his wife Laura is shown as highly unstable but also controls 50% of his business, so is intractably involved in the company. In a last roll-of-the-dice, he enters into the Mille Miglia race to gain glory as well as save his business.

There is a massive elephant in the room when watching this film: a couple of years ago, the magnificent Ford V Ferrari/Le Mans '66, looking at another significant part of the Ferrari history involving racing, was made. It was a flawless, gripping & stunningly-made story which managed to, incredibly, make both the boardroom politics AND the racing sequences exhilarating, perfectly complimenting each other.

And when it comes to this balancing act, Mann should be in his absolute sweet-spot. Whether it is the frantic hunt by the police to catch a contract killer (Collateral,) or hunting a bank-robbing gang (Heat,) Mann made the dark backroom chats with spooks or the police scoping out a potential robbery site thrilling. But all of that skill was nowhere to be seen in the hour I watched Ferrari before turning it off.

This film is so boring, so so boring. Literally, we watch a series of events which whilst they somewhat effectively communicate the situation Ferrari is in, just aren't in any way interesting. We watch Ferrari lackadaisically move through the scenes, showing some emotions when visiting a family grave, looking a little shocked when a gun is pointed & fired close to him and acting like a child when he is told that his company will go bankrupt if he doesn't secure more funding, which will inevitably mean giving up some control.

Adam Driver, excellent in What If, The Last Duel & House of Gucci, struggles with this role, although I think that even original choice Christian Bale would not have fared much better. Driver is clearly trying his best to inject some power & prowess into his performance, but this is totally lost in a dull & turgid film. Penelope Cruz fares a little better, but again, any flashes of interest were extinguished pretty quickly. There are a few small bit-parts which could have potentially been good, including Jack O'Connell turning up as an English racer, but they all get lost in the mush.

Of course, being a Mann film, the sets, design, cinematography ect is also world-class, but this is like polishing the silverware on the Titanic as she goes down. None of it makes any difference to the final product.

Do yourself a favour & rent Le Mans '66 instead.

Gladiator was in many ways a cultural behemoth, transforming the cinematic landscape & electrifying the sword & sandals genre. With an Oscar-winning performance from Russell Crowe, inspired direction from Ridley Scott & a now-iconic soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, it will forever be a classic. For years there was talk of a sequel, with some occasionally crackers ideas floated about, but never amounted to anything.

But, after years of development hell, we now have Gladiator 2. And boy was it worth the wait.

What stands out for me, more than anything, is just how much old school fun there is to have with this film. The action scenes in particular are incredible, with brutal combat & bone-crunchingly violent battles. Whether it is a fight to the death in a Roman palace which ends up destroying half the room, or a full-on showdown in the Colosseum, you sit in open-mouthed wonder & giddy joy at the spectacle in front of you.

The story takes many cues from the 1st film, but also is very much it's own beast. The story of Lucius (the young boy from the previous movie,) it follows his life from his evacuation from Rome/separation from his mother, then his capture in battle defending his new home, through to being sold into slavery & his part in the meltdown of the last days of the Roman Empire.

The other factor that makes this film soar is the incredible cast. Paul Mescal is someone who, despite the acclaim from previous roles, never really resonated with me. I was also skeptical as to whether he could have the same impact as Crowe did (although I always reserve judgement until I see the finished film.) In this, he is revelatory, effortlessly taking the role on & making Lucius a compelling man & someone you root for every step of the way. I can see why Scott cast him after a brief video call.

However, despite all the other excellent performances (I have a limited amount of words I can write, so won't go into them,) the common consensus is this is Denzel Washington's film. Macrinus is everything you could ever want from a film character, especially one who immerses himself not only in the brutality of buying gladiators to fight to the death, but also Roman politics as well. Covered in rings & jewellery, swathered in outrageous gold robes & openly bisexual, Washington is clearly having the time of his life. After recent roles playing serious & emotionally scarred men, it is great to be reminded just how well Denzel can transcend through any genre you throw at him.

As the story unfolds, we as the audience are treated to not only the brilliant action but also the small moments too. The quiet opening of Lucius with his wife leading their simple life before that is shattered, through to frantic secret political meetings as power is fought for. This film is also one which does not shy away from protecting characters, whoever they may be. Everyone here is fair game.

When it comes to production, we are spoilt as an audience. The fight choreography is absolutely fantastic, brutal & violent. The cinematography beautiful & the locations amazing. The soundtrack, with Harry Gregson-Williams taking over, blends the themes of the old with the new. I was able to watch this in IMAX, which took everything to the next level.

And at the center of all of this, is Ridley Scott. Despite some misfires (I cannot believe this is written by the same man who wrote the fairly dreadful Napoleon, again directed by Scott,) with this film he once again proves why he is one of the best directors working today, without question. At 86, the energy, power & adrenaline he puts into every second on screen is inspiring. He takes us on a brutal & emotional saga, never losing us with long boring scenes (which these sorts of films frequently collapse into.)

See this and be reminded of the power of film & storytelling, by one of our best.

I so clearly remember Brokeback Mountain being released, mainly due to the intense media interest surrounding it, which I always felt was totally overblown & stupid. Although there had, leading up to 2005, been other films which had gay romances, these had never been the main subject of a major film in this way. I will also never forget when I saw it at the cinema. I watched it in Brighton, surrounded by mainly older gay couples, and the emotion & tension in the room was something I had never experienced, such was it's power. But for me, the best thing about this film is quite simply it is a phenomenal story, beautifully photographed & perfectly acted.

In 1963, Ennis Del Mar hitchhikes to Wyoming in search of work. He ends up at the offices of Joe Aguirre, a formidable & uncompromising farmer, where he meets Jack Twist, a rodeo bull-rider who is also searching for work. The two begin to fall in love after spending time working & camping together on Brokeback Mountain, guarding sheep. Despite the deep connection, they know that they would never be able to be together, due to the rampant homophobia/dangers of being in a same-sex relationship. The film charts the 20 years of their lives as they struggle to manage this secret love.

There are so many things that I could say about this film, but what still sticks with me more vividly than anything was the cinematography & Ledger's performance. This film is simply incredible to look at. Every shot is beautiful, from the sun beating down on the rich green grass, through to the roaring fire round the campsite in the night. The colour palette is also a treat to watch. I so desperately want there to be a 4K remastered version of this film, as it would take something beautiful & elevate it to the next level.

And then we come to Ledger's performance, which for me is & always will be his best work. Whilst I don't want to in any way denigrate Jake Gyllenhaal's acting, I cannot adequately describe how moving & seismic Heath is in this film. This is a character who has, at most, half a page of dialogue over the entire film. And yet, due to the hauntedness & power of Ledger's acting, we know everything about what Ennis is feeling & his thoughts.

This is a performance of fearful looks, hats pulled down low & shrinking inside his clothes to make him as hidden as possible, such is the trauma & internal pain he is dealing with. But whilst he tries to hide away, he is also prone to bursts of furious anger & violence when threatened or upset. The pain of this film is often simply watching a man who cannot be himself trying to exist, whilst managing the deep love he feels for another man, which would be suicide to be open about at that time in America.

The other actors are also sensational. Michelle Williams brings real pain to the screen as she tries to manage her failing marriage & discovering her husband's secret. Anne Hathaway also brings a steely but painful presence to her role, as the straight-talking businesswoman who finds her love slipping away from Jack.

This is for me in many ways one of the most heartbreaking films about love I've ever seen, but also I want to clearly say that, as much as it is a story about 2 men falling in love, I never see it as simply a gay movie. For me, it was & always will be a story about love, which happens to feature a same-sex relationship. It's themes are timeless & the pain of not being able to love who you want is not just reserved for gay love. This film shows the destruction of people's very being when they are not able to love who they want.

Heartbreaking perfection

Falling Down is a film which it is clear is many different things to many different people. Fiercely controversial on its release, it still today is one of the most prominent & praised of Michael Douglas's career, mainly due to the enormous risk he as an A-List actor took with the subject matter. For me, it is many things, including a black comedy & morality tale, but there is one thing which stands out above everything else & which elevates the film from good to great: the total lack of enjoyment the protagonist has in/during his rampage.

William "D-Fens" Foster is a seemingly mild-mannered & dull middle-aged man. One day, in the scorching hot LA heat whilst stuck in a neverending traffic jam, his car air conditioning fails. For him, this is the final straw, resulting in him abandoning his car & setting off on foot across town to get to his daughter's birthday party. Along the way, he encounters the many trivial annoyances which are a part of life but which Foster will no longer tolerate, whether it is being harassed for money or given poor & demeaning service in a restaurant. He also repeatedly laments the state of the world, whether in constantly rising food prices or criminal behaviour.

In other "revenge/rampage" films, what you often find is that the protagonist will, whilst at first be hesitant or uneasy in some ways about what they are doing, begin to enjoy the violence/terror they inflict on others. But Falling Down offers no such adrenaline rush, as well as no easy answers. And in our protagonist, we have a man who is not only full of boiling rage, but also unbearable sadness & patheticness.

And as has been commented on by Douglas & the screenwriter Ebbe Roe Smith, what Foster is over & above everything else is what so many in America at that time were: precariously employed/only a couple of paychecks away from poverty, coupled with an anger that they had done everything right & had nothing to show for it.

The other point which the story hammers home, alongside Foster's total disenfranchisement of his actions, is how disgusted he is by the sort of people whose opinions & views would normally be associated with this type of behaviour. So when a racist & homophobic Neo-Nazi praises him, Foster quickly & clearly tells him exactly what he thinks of him & the evilness of his beliefs. This again makes this so much more than just a simple revenge film.

But despite Douglas's incendiary performance, don't think for a second that Robert Duvall is sidelined. In what could have been the standard, clichéd burnt-out cop on his last day before retirement is turned on its head. Prendergast very quickly realises that the situation is far more dangerous & combustible than his superiors understand, as well as knowing he is far more competent & able than his colleagues treat him. The pursuit becomes a genuine cat-and-mouse chase, resulting in a showdown which you genuinely don't see coming.

And when you get to the final scene, again there is no catharsis, no rush of adrenaline. You find yourself taking a step back, looking at your own life & thinking that if the cards had fallen differently, you could be that guy (just to be clear, I don't mean going on a violent rampage, I mean being in those circumstances with no hope.)

Falling Down is a film which takes a great big mirror & firmly turns it on you, forcing you to not only examine the world around you, but how you react to it. Which is what great cinema should always do

Denzel Washington is a stalwart of cinema & the screen. Since the beginnings of his career in the early 80’s, which then exploded at the end of that decade with his Oscar win for Glory, he has built a reputation as a brilliant actor, even in the films which were misfires. But it was only in 2014 that he was finally persuaded to take part in an action film with the potential of it turning into a franchise/series. However, he has chosen wisely & this is not a simple case of taking the cheque & starring in something rubbish. For starters, he is reunited with his frequent collaborator Antoine Fuqua & also with a great cast including Chloë Grace Moretz & Martin Csokas. And he also has a great script, which importantly & actually quite rarely for an action picture, really allows time for character building to be done.

Robert McCall is a retired US Marine & DIA officer. He has left his life of espionage, combat & violence behind him and now works a menial job in a hardware/DIY store. It is also shown in subtle ways the enormous internal pain he goes through, a combination of PTSD & loss, the latter being the premature death of his wife after he left the military. One side-effect of this trauma is his inability to sleep, meaning he spends a lot of time reading at an all-night diner. Over time, he strikes up a friendship with a Russian prostitute called Teri & they bond. However, one night Teri is confronted by her pimp in front of McCall, then later ends up in hospital after being savagely beaten. McCall then begins to wage a 1 man war against the Russian mafia.

There is a huge amount to like in this film, especially the work of Washington, Moretz and Csokas. Denzel’s ability to command the scene is used to perfection here, whether it is the trauma of trying to deal with the nightmares and visions inside his head, or his fury at seeing a vulnerable woman being disgustingly exploited. Moretz also does great work, really making a profound impact with what is often treated as a story point to give the hero the reason to start his crusade. As noted on the special features, Moretz spent considerable time talking with prostitutes in order to fully inform her performance. One of the other reasons for the impact is, as I mentioned earlier, the fact that we are allowed to spend a decent amount of time with her as a character. And rounding this up, we have Marton Csokas as Teddy, although in no way is he a cuddly bear or harmless. A monster in human form, he is sent by the head of the Russian Mafia to clean up, following the initial attacks by McCall against the pimps who harmed Teri. 

The subsequent story, where McCall slowly eliminates everyone connected with the Mafia, leading to the big showdown, is great. And the whole film itself is really good as a whole as well. Direction is good, music/soundtrack great & stunts brilliant. It also nicely lays the ground for part 2, which is just as good. 

After the brilliant & surprisingly good 1st film, plus the large box office haul, it was only a matter of time until we got a sequel. But welcomingly, the standard of quality has been maintained & number 2 is again a great film, doing everything that a good sequel should: honour the themes & tone of the first film, don't mess with what worked, don't change too much and improve on what the initial film started. Another massive positive in this film's favour, although it isn't always a guarantee of a good film when this happens, is that the entire crew/director & the main cast have returned. And finally, another element of the series which has been kept & expanded upon is the amount of time given with characters/allowing the world we are in to be fleshed out. The different people McCall meets, from the young man teetering on the edge of joining a gang to the older gentleman who he regularly see, are all allowed breathing space & time to actually be real people.

After the events of the 1st film, some things have changed. For starters, Robert McCall seems in many ways slightly more at peace. He also has grown out his hair, wears more comfortable clothing & changed his job. Now working as a taxi driver, he spends his time driving round the city, encountering many of the inhabitants. Most are lovely, but as is the way, some are scumbags. However, his new-found peace is shattered when one of his friends is murdered & the circumstances just don't feel right. McCall is then pitted against new foes who are even more dangerous than the Mafia he took out in the previous movie.

Washington again is magnificent. I was watching this film with my best mate & part way through the film he said to me "I could just watch Denzel drive around all day, interacting with the different people he meets." And I felt the same way. McCall is such an interesting & dynamic individual, so it is a pleasure to be in his company. Melissa Leo, McCall's handler & close friend, is also great, giving him one of the only constants & comforts in his life. But we also have some new characters as well, front & center Pedro Pascal's Dave York, one of McCall's old colleagues, who has no idea he was still alive. Finally, there is Miles Whittaker, a young black man whose brother has been murdered & is teetering on the edge of falling down the dark & violent rabbit hole of gang culture/violence. The scenes of McCall taking Miles under his wing, whether as a gentle calm man or, when he catches Miles arming himself with the gang, roasting him & threatening to take his gun and shoot him, are all powerful.

There is much to love in these films & there is still a freshness to them. The final showdown also makes excellent use of the various deadly skills McCall has learnt during his military service. And welcomingly, things are set up perfectly for a 3rd film, which has just been released & which I'll be seeing tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be the send-off the character deserves.

But number 2 is powerful, great filmmaking from a cast & crew at the top of their game.

The only film I'd seen Mathieu Amalric in was as the villain in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, in which he played a one-note baddie whose primary trait was that he was a slimy Frenchman. But in the lead-up to the film's release, I remembered a lot of people talking about him being one of France's premier actors (and thus judging him only on that performance was unfair.) When scrolling through his IMDb, this film jumped out as not only did he write, act & direct it, but it also won awards at Cannes. I am always interested in seeing small-budget films, especially with writer/director/actors in them.

Unfortunately, this is a boring & surprisingly dull film, considering it having as it's subjects a troop of burlesque dancers. Amalric stars as Joachim, a washed-up former premier talkshow host/producer who had left France to go to the States but comes back with a company of burlesque dancers to put on shows around the French Republic. The dancers are extremely strong-willed & have no interest in listening to Joachim, preferring instead to mainly cause chaos in the hotels/towns they stay in.

In the 40 minutes I watched it, I simply saw a sequence of events which only tangentially connected to each other, but was in no way interesting. Joachim was shown either screaming down his phone at someone or standing around with a glazed expression whilst various people insulted him. There was some attempt to build characters out of the (real-life) dancers which amounted to almost nothing, even though this could have been extremely interesting.

But by far the worst thing about this film was the sound mix, which was absolutely atrocious & at times impossible to understand. For most of the part I watched, I had to turn my TV up to maximum volume simply to hear what was being said, but then the music/show sequences were "normal volume," so all of a sudden loud music would blare out, meaning I had to turn the volume down, before another dialogue scene which was quiet, meaning I had to turn it back up again.

After a while, I paused the film to use the washroom & saw it still had an hour to go, so switched it off. Whilst it may get better, I had run out of patience. Why it won awards at Cannes is beyond me...

After the incredible first John Wick film, made on a small budget with an original idea, did huge business at the box office, a sequel was inevitable. But unlike many follow-ons which simply repeated certain elements of the formula which worked & tried to introduce some new ideas which wouldn't alienate the fans, it is clear that the writers/director really took their time to work out exactly what they wanted to do & where they wanted the series/story to go. The result is an excellent & at times incredibly shot & choreographed sequel which builds on that world, as well as giving adrenaline junkies world-class action scenes to salivate.

John Wick visits a mob garage where his car is being held, slaughtering the mobsters & brokering a peace with the brother of Viggo, who he killed in the previous film's finale. He is then visited by Santino D'Antonio, whom he swore an unbreakable blood oath with, to carry out a killing. Wick refuses, then is attacked & forced to carrying out the contract. By doing so, he becomes a wanted man & has to fight against the army coming to attack him.

There are so many great things with this film, which is my favourite out of all of them, but the one which stands out more than any is quite simply how well-made it is as a film. As in, a genuinely thrilling, engrossing & exciting action film. Whilst Reeves is of course impeccable with his stunt abilities/choreography, the team surrounding him is also at the top of their game. Whether it is car chases or hand-to-hand combat, everything grabs you & makes you marvel at what is on screen.

But then the film goes into the top tier with the finale, nowhere more so than in the pursuit & fight in the mirror maze. The level of planning & CGI required to pull off that scene & actually make it work is almost beyond my comprehension. I sat open-mouthed at what was in front of me, really believing that Wick would not be able to fight his way out of this one.

Casting wise, alongside Reeves, it is fantastic to see Laurence Fishburne alongside him. Although their screen time is limited, the shorthand they started in The Matrix is back & you can tell how pleased they are to be back together again. Ian McShane & Lance Riddick are of course flawless, plus we also have a fantastic new addition in the form of Ruby Rose. I am a massive Rose fan, as the presence she brings is almost unmatched. Her stunt work is also incredible & she really needs a franchise of her own to truly show.

This film is a blast. I absolutely loved it & it is to me the pinnacle of the John Wick films.

The first Bridget Jones film was in many ways perfect. It took the romcom structure & really did wonders with it, creating a protagonist in Bridget Jones who was relatable whether you were a woman or a man. Partly this was down to the excellent performance by Renée Zellweger, but I also give huge credit to Sharon Maguire, the writer & director. Like Mary Harron with American Psycho, she took an extremely popular novel & character, writing a perfect script-to-screen transition which fleshed out everything you could possibly want.

But unfortunately, the inevitable sequel then did huge damage to all the hard work that was so hard fought for in the first film. It was a dull, boring & also lazy film which seemed to think that simply bringing back some of the greatest hits of the 1st film (such as having ANOTHER fight between Mark & Daniel, not a patch in any way on the genuine built-up animosity of before,) would service the fans and also disguise the flaws/thin story. And despite the big box office, it received mainly negative reviews.

So, when it was announced that Sharon Maguire was returning for the 3rd film, I was genuinely hopeful that the magic would return & undo some of the damage done by the previous entry. Unfortunately, this film is even worse than Edge of Reason, so much so I switched it off after 30 minutes.

And one of the biggest issues is with Zellweger herself & something I feel is the elephant in the room which cannot be discussed, but needs to be in an honest way. Zellweger has, between the 2nd & 3rd films, had some kind of procedure cosmetically. For the record, I AM NOT, IN ANY WAY, passing judgement or criticising anyone who wishes to change their appearance in whatever way they choose to. My opinion here is based solely on the character in this film series. And in the previous films Zellweger was, as Bridget Jones, a completely believable woman who was ordinary-looking/had the same worries about beauty as pretty much every other woman in the world.

But, in this film, quite simply it looks like Bridget Jones has had plastic surgery. Gone are the looks that we as the audience fell in love with because they were the same flaws we have. We don’t have the every-woman (as was so notably shown in the first film, even having as a signature song “I’m Every Woman,”) but someone whose face is found in every high-end beauty magazine. And this is the anthesis of who Bridget Jones is. And this is not in any way referenced or noted by anyone else. Zellweger is simply put back into this world, looking totally different, and the film just acts as if nothing has changed.

Once you get past this, you then have a script/story which just isn’t interesting. We have the usual set-ups, including the introduction of a new character who is designed to be this mystery new man who could change Jones’s life forever (and who is conveniently a billionaire, because these people just randomly wander around, with no security, at music festivals.) Mark Darcy is also brought back, but the events of the previous film, where they were basically about to walk down the isle, seem to be totally forgotten here.

To be honest, I didn’t get much further than that. I just lost interest. It was massively disappointing, having been such a fan of the 1st film and honestly hopeful that having the original team back would give this film a shot in the arm, for this to be the result.