Film Reviews by PV

First of all, let me say that the massive flaws in this film - the second half - are due to flaws in the original Roald Dahl book. Fact is, by the 80s his writing and ideas had gone downhill a lot and books like the BFG are not a patch on early works such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dahl is really 'jumping the shark' by this point.

Spielberg does a great job, as expected, and the special effects are amazing and seamless.

And the first half of the story is really enjoyable - though the odd northern accent of the little girl made me wince (the character of Sophie is based on Dahl's grand-daughter and future model Sophie Dahl, now married to Jamie Cullum and living in Roald's old house too). A lovely idea about dreams works well and is well realised.

However, after about the half-way point things go OTT and then some - which is a real shame though is the fault of the book not the film director. It's all heading for a typically huge Hollywood ending with everything thrown in (no spoilers). A decent John Williams soundtrack though not as memorable as previous ones. And Mark Rylance is always very annoying for me, for some reason.

The first half is worth 4 stars but the last half 1 star, so 2.5 stars overall rounded down to 2.

Little known fact? Edmund Gwenn became the first Welsh actor to win an Oscar for his role as Kris Kringle here.

OK, so this has dated quite a bit since 1947 (there is a newer version from the 80s with Richard Attenborough in the Santa role). I can imagine feminists spitting feathers at the portrayal of women and their aspirations - one wife wishes at one point she'd married a baker or a butcher and not an overcomplicated publisher.

And it's amusing (and sad) to see how much better society used to be in terms of manners, courtesy and people trusting their neighbours. These days the little girl here would be wrapped in cotton wool, never allowed to talk to strangers or go out, and would be sat for hours in her room staring at her screen (and probably obese too).

The legal scenes are funny and intelligent - well-paced too.

Anyway, this is still a fine Christmas film - the ending is weak and unrealistic. But apart from that I enjoyed it all. Not as good as It's a Wonderful Life or Alistair Sim in A Christmas Carol. But a top 10 Christmas movie.

4.5 stars rounded down.

I usually very much dislike American movies that wallow in psychobabble and focus on people's feelings and problems. This does that - sort of. But what it also does is show us portraits of believable people in interesting situations with snappy and intelligent dialogue - and so as this feel-good film progressed I warmed to it more and more.

It's not perfect but it's WAY better than most Christmas movies and I really enjoyed it.

The dog is great too BUT didn't really believe a certain aspect of that.

The old people here steal the show rather than the kids too.

I can imagine that if this had been done by the BBC on UK TV it'd all be full of noisy northern women and domestics - but here THANK GOODNESS they focus on character and telling a good story.

So 4 stars

I was expecting a kooky little indy comedy with dogs when I rented this out. What I got was a character study of a lonely, deranged and rather disturbed woman who oversteps the mark regarding her animal welfare concern SO far that if she had been a man she'd have been spending several Christmases in prison!

It all starts rather well. Then descends into what the writer and director no doubt thought would be a sympathetic portrait of a woman who was something of a heroine. Well, my impression was the opposite and I had no sympathy for her character - and lots for the poor people who have to suffer her.

Some neat character studies are fun though, but this women is JUST as bad as her neurotic sister in her puritanical zeal to help animals no matter how much it hurts everyone else.

So 2 stars JUST - and it was almost 1.

This knock-about comedy was just what I was looking for at Christmas - when you don't want to think TOO much and want a comedy to just wash over you.

The great Kevin Spacey plays a heartless billionaire who after an accident which leaves him in a coma finds himself in the body of a cat.

Christopher Walken (himself a big cat lover in real life) plays a mysterious pet shop owner SO this film is basically a new version of all those old spooky Hammer films where someone buys something from a mysterious magic toyshop and then THINGS HAPPEN. Gremlins and Karate Kid also use this trope.

Much fun ensues though much is also CGI - some really silly scenes of cats falling onto their backs and drinking alcohol - neither of which any cat would ever do.

But, despite these niggles, and despite an ambiguous ending (we need to know more about what happens to ALL characters!) this is still great fun. I could watch it again now! It's only the inaccuracies about cats that make this a 4 and not a 5 star review.

Some points: 1) FINDING NEMO was a classic bit of animation which, for once, would match (in the script more than anything and the characters) classic Disney; 2) this is no FINDING NEMO.

The animation is great THOUGH they achieved the same effect in the 1940s by actually filming sets with 3 or 4 layers rather than on a computer.

The story is good too with some really funny parts.

But the awful political correctness spoils it - like most Hollywood movies it's all about ' a girl being herself and not needing men - girlpower yeah!'

I HATE that stuff - Frozen etc - no need for such trite promotion of so-called 'gender equality'.

But I am being too harsh maybe - this is better than most animations and most movies. 4 stars then, but FINDING NEMO gets 5!

First of all, I'd like to say that this movie is not awful - it has a stellar cast including Jim Broadbent and Simon Russell Beale. It has some great lines - and the usual goodie/baddie character arc progression.

It is achingly politically correct though and is historically a mess.

The fact is that 1) the USA banned slavery decades later than Great Britain and it was the British and the pressure from ordinary British people who exposed the scandal in the Congo; 2) native Africans are not all lovely cuddly people - they had and have a thriving slave trade, kill local wildlife and are massively corrupt (it is native Africans who have destroyed Congo, NOT nasty whities from Europe).

Some very silly animal fights with Tarzan made me laugh actually. And the CGI is so annoying - it's basically a computer game and with those awful delayed action shots that are popular in far eastern cinema (which is where the film-makers aim to market this - maybe that's why there is no reference to the way China is raping Africa with its greed and corruption? It is the Chinese making elephants extinct because of their greed and hunger for ivory - white Europeans actually managed farming and wildlife well in Africa and the British were not corrupt, unlike all African leaders).

A far better film is GREYSTOKE from 1983 and the best of all are the old black and white Tarzan films from the 1930s and 40s starring Johnny Weissmuller who will always be Tarzan to me.

3 stars. Just.

When I rented this title I thought KRAMPUS would be just another horror movie, with clichés, shocks, gore etc for the teenagers.

But oh no, this film has various dimensions thanks to the grandma character who is German, and a wonderful animated section in the middle of the film lifts this into intelligent territory.

Now, I know most teenagers won't have heard of KRAMPUS before but it's a Germanic tradition - and that ties in with the film throughout. If you want gore, rent out SAW or something - this movie is grown-up fun with some superb one liners that made me laugh out loud.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The best Christmas film I have seen for years. Probably better for grown-ups though as hyperactive kids will want more trashy horror nonsense rather than intelligent films like this.

5 stars.

This is a so-so film which is also very irritating.

Things I didn't like about this movie include: it was VERY derivative (scenes nicked from many films - like big jump into water; vehicle about to fall; car chases galore); the way the animals are all basically people - they refer to places and the names of other animals (like butterflies) - where it'd be far more clever to see things from the animal point of view more; I disliked the silly car chases especially; I disliked the rap culture references; the ending was so weak I cannot even remember it. Yet again, cats are shown as the villain and yet another movie focuses on dogs - this is getting very boring!

Things I did like: certain scenes and jokes (the sea monkeys); certain characters - esp the Eagle. so it's all better as a series of vignettes and sketches rather than a coherent movie. One thing: the film makers VERY wisely use already-famous songs in this instead of getting some 4th rate song and slotting it in - that was a great relief! So we have Queen and a few other classic songs (esp the one over the sausage dream sequence).

So all in all 3 stars and no doubt little kids with love the loudness of it all and the cartoon chases. But the person I was with said after it ended: thank goodness I didn't pay money to go to the cinema to see that.

Bizarrely, this is mostly made in France to take advantage of tax breaks. Bizarre. But nothing French about this film - it's 100% loud American. 3 stars. Watchable but just that and just once!

OK, so this movie is not groundbeaking - well, biopics tend not to be. They are easy meat for the studios as are adaptations of video games and cartoons, and remakes of old films or sequels, or filmed books. But then most movies from the risk-averse studios fit into one of these categories.

As a simple biopic of a woman who was probably off her rocker, this is great fun. I loved the pianist character - so true to life, when I compare with several camp classical pianists I have known. I'd award him the best supporting actor Oscar right now.

Hugh Grant redeems himself and has a career comeback with this too. I often find La Streep irritating, but she ticks all the boxes here - and it is VERY hard indeed to deliberately sing or play a musical instrument flat. Les Dawson was the master. But for singing, Streep is spot on.

I loved the images of New York in 1944 - to be honest, I wish I'd been able to go there then and not now.

Great fun and a fascinating story of a one-off woman - I suppose she was maybe the Jade Goody of her age time ten. Never forget however that Florence was super rich and people like that can do ANYTHING they want in the arts - I could name several writers, actors, film makers and performers who owe their entire careers to the fact they're from a rich background. Money trumps talent every time.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. The notes at the end of what happened to these people are fascinating and they play an actual recording of Florence Foster Jenkins at the end too so we can all hear how bad she truly was! Btw the same thing happens these days with Russian Oligarchs investing millions into trying to make their talentless young wives pop stars. Plus ca change...

This film was apparently shot in just 9 days on a shoestring budget - which just shows what can be done with talent, despite lack of funds.

Vinnie Jones - ex-footballer with Welsh roots (who played for Wales back in the day) - really makes this thriller. It is HIS movie and he dominates every scene he is in.

It's a simple revenge drama, basically, and is a lean 86 minutes though no bad thing considering how flabby, long and drawn-out so many Hollywood thrillers are.

An excellent theme tune ends the movie - which I give 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This movie is basically based on a photo - the most requested one in the US archives, namely the one of Elvis and Nixon when he visited the White House in 1972.

It's all a really funny romp, with some laugh-out loud lines, and some hilarious riffs on the early 70s (eg King Fu culture etc). Clever writing and - unusually for Hollywood - a movie that is less than 90 minutes long! Hoorah! I am sick or 120-180 minute yawn-fests!

I am SO pleased they didn't just choose someone who looked just like Elvis to star - the actor playing Elvis inhabits the role wonderfully; he doesn't just give a cheap impression.

The masterful Kevin Spacey gets Nixon off to a tee too. And the supporting cast are great as well.

This is a clever and very well-written film, though based on a slight premise with little plot (and the subplot of E's assistant and his girlfriend is never cloying or schmaltzy). Great music too.

Hugely fun and enjoyable comedy. 4 stars.

This is a hyper-violent and bloody movie, full of Grand Guignol (a la Sam Pekinpah) so the squeamish should avoid. Ditto with the sequel Blue Ruin - also very violent and most people end up dead.

Surprising to see Patrick Stewart in this small indie movie, but the script is original and good, so maybe that's why/ Star Trek fans will be baffled though - no aliens or space ships here!

Some interesting music choices - worth watching to the credits to see who wrote the tracks and did them originally (Dead Kennedys etc). Awful music generally, but... Good acting and script.

The only thing I didn't really believe is that a neo-Nazi white power base cab exist like that in the USA with no-one being interested.

But a good fil of its type. 4 stars.

The first thing to say about this film is that it is Belgian. And Belgium is famous for its surrealism (eg Matisse) and its bureaucracy (The European Union is based there. Nuff said).

But it is MORE than just Belgian - it is from Wallonia, the southern half of Belgium, with a third of the population, formerly heavily industrialised area, and vehemently anti-Flemish (the very Catholic Belgian northerners who speak Flemish, a dialect of Dutch). Walloons are well-known for being a bit, how you say, 'individual' and 'quirky'. Well, that shows in this film.

Basic plot as on the DVD blurb - God is real and lives as a bureaucrat in Brussels, European HQ of cold faceless bureaucracy. However, he is not the main character - his daughter Ea is. And it's a change to see a movie narrated by a small girl really - and watch her adventures (though I do not agree a world ruled by women would be full of love and peace LOL!)

It all gets very silly, especially the 3rd act, but there are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments before then - and it's all warm-hearted in the style of AMELIE (but more imaginative and less schmaltzy).

Recommended viewing. 4 stars.

The first thing to say is that this movie is very dated. Why? Because nothing ever dates as fast as a vision of the future - which this is (indeed, it's set in 2017!!!)

Arnie has his usual funny one liners - a couple make me laugh out loud.

It's nice NOT to see endless CGI too - but real special effects with stunt men etc.

This is basically all about a TV show which kills people - so like Rollerball and a blueprint for The Hunger Games which is the most unoriginal story series ever IMHO.

I am giving this 5 stars because it is HUGELY enjoyable and fun in a way most movies now do not seem to be. It's violent yes, but all in a cartoony way. And that goodness there was no love story subplot or any need to parachute various ethnicities into every role and make it all about racism or something (I get sick and tired of being lectured to by the pc gestapo).