Film Reviews by PV

The first thing to note about this is that Nina Simone's daughter and estate was involved in making it - so there is no mention of her arrest a couple of years before her death (for shooting a pistol at local kids who were scrumping apples from a tea in her garden in the south of France).

No mention either of her view, shaped by racist black power activicts, that there should be a black-only state in the USA where whites were banned.

It's fair to say really that the glory days of Nina Simone (born Eunice Waymon) were in the 50s and early 60s. By the late 60s she was taken advantage of by black power activists who filled her head with racist and violent nonsense, and bucketfuls of Mao-ist Marxist dogma. So instead of playing great music, she ranted at audiences with parroted slogans.

Like many a great musician, she then fell on hard times - and the redemption of her later comeback years are eye-opening, if sad.

So, not perfect. But Nina Simone is the piano player's piano player - the favourite musician of so many other musicians.

Her story is one of racial segregation in the USA from both racist blacks and racist whites - so, in that, the division seems just as much, if not more, today.

A must-see for musicians.

This movie stands out as one of the very best modern Westerns - set in the rust bowl of West Texas (a huge state the size of France) we see at first hand the sort of struggling people who voted for Trump, who often live in poverty without prospects and who are often well and truly shafted by the banks who repossess their homes and farms as part of a deliberate police, it seems.

These people feel betrayed by everyone - all politicians incl Democrats (Hilary take note!), banks, schools, their whole nation, actually. All they have left is their bruised pride backed up with guns.

As one old Indian character makes clear at one point: the white man stole the land from the Indians, and no the banks are stealing it from the white man! The little man is a nothing when the banks think only of their own profits.

This story and the characters are all utterly believable too as the inevitable, almost-Greek tragedy plays out for a bitter-sweet ending in the 'flyover' state of (west) Texas.

I don't think I have watched a film where I sided with the criminals and bank robbers more since Bonnie and Clyde - and you'll be rooting for them too: the film is so clever in achieving that. It's a rare things to achieve.

A truly intelligent film that makes you think and raises some huge issues about what it means to be American today - or to be anything, under the thumb of heartless banks.

It should win Oscars maybe but as it has no black characters probably won't in this diversity-worshipping 'affirmative action' age - but note how many white people are poor in this rustbelt America, and realise how oppressed they are. This movie should be compulsory viewing for anyone who thinks there is any such thing as 'white privilege' (and 'male privilege; too).

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This is a superb film - a courtroom thriller - starring some real legends: the great British actor Charles Laughton who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Henry VIII in the 1930s, and even Marlene Dietrich too!

The lead Tyrone Power is a bit odd - with an American accent yet he served in the RAF in WWII which is never explained, but the demands of box office audiences meant producers then (and now) pandered to what they (and esp the female audience) wanted and Tyrone Power was a heart-throb of his day.

The plot is pure Agatha Christie - based on a short story original called 'Traitor Hands' - it has typical twists, mistaken identity, and the last minute reveal JUST like a magician's trick. This is Christie's hallmark. It makes for unrealistic drama (NO British court would allow last-minute reveals like this) but riveting drama.

Apparently, Ben Affleck is in talks to a direct a new movie version with Matt Damon - one wonders how much these over-rated Hollywood types with mess it up (and the great big lie that was 'Argo').

But anyway, a fine drama. The BBC made a drama with Toby Jones broadcast on 26 and 27th December 2016 which totally changed the ending and added unnecessary female characters (which writers are ordered to do now to placate the diversity departments and attract the easy meat female viewers). No need for all that though as this is the better version, and the one to watch.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This is a hugely entertaining film - maybe a tad long at 2 hours 15 minutes but great fun, nonetheless. It's got great music and Bette Midler performances and James Caan is great too - it's a real showbiz movie, for anyone who's at all theatrical.

The changing face of the USA shown from the early 40s to Viet Nam is also done well, and there's a beautiful version of John Lennon's IN MY LIFE too.

I somehow didn't want this till now even though it's a 1991 film. A bit like THE ROSE in being a fictional biopic - the female singer character is a sort of amalgam of various singers of the period. Loved the quick fire Jewish banter too.

Just HUGE fun and massively entertaining - a good old-fashioned movie and none the worse for that.

4.5 stars rounded up.

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.