Film Reviews by PV

This 1969 film has a star cast - with a young Anthony Hopkins being historionic and moral in the face of callous spy-handler Ralph Richardson and his upper crust M16 bods.

It starts in Finland, then moves to the UK and finally East Germany (with some unusual scenery of the place).

It's all a bit like a B-move Day of the Jackal - and based on a John Le Carre novel too. But it's still a good. effective thriller.

The handsome star - Christopher Jones - is excellent, but seems to have disappeared without trace soon after this movie (apparently he was drugged against his knowledge whilst in Ryan's Daughter in 1970, and left acting to be an artist after that).

This movie is a bit preachy at times, in line with the late 60s anti-war 'love n peace' shtick - however, it's still a good watch and unlike modern movies does not have a booming soundtrack. Also, the actors - all British - get their foreign accents pretty spot-on (take note lazy BBC drama producers!).

4 stars.

This is an enjoyable film for music fans - esp those of Hendrix - and all the more impressive as the film makers were not allowed to use any of Jimi's songs (hence the use of standards, Beatles songs, the Troggs' Wild Thing etc).

The period is evoked well and on a budget - and some interesting issues are raised.

But somehow I just do not believe that Jimi Hendrix was in effect created by his then girlfriend (Hendrix always played like Hendrix) and growing his hair was the fashion of the age - not his posh totty g/f's idea.

Also, not sure I believe in the cartoon policeman of the day stopping people and confiscating their clothes.

I wonder how much else is made up therefore.

But anyway, a good cast, great central performance, and thankfully not the usually glossy Hollywood biopic.

Sadly no subtitles; but anyway, cue up the Hendrix CD to play after this film finishes because it does miss the music (thanks to Hendrix's family's refusal of a request for the music to be used, apparently).

4 stars.

This film reminded me of the cheapo airport thrillers and especially the sort of thing that was popular in the 50s and 60s - and the credits at the end reveal it's based on a novel by a pretty much unknown writer. I suspect they got the big acting talent on board by having Ridley Scott as Exec Producer - but really, this is a B movie pretending to be a top feature, It's not. it's a B movie.

Very silly really, and this film also manages to be utterly irritating and annoying at several points. The main character is a pain.

I found a lot of it pretty predictable. Those who enjoy a good love story/sob story will like it, no doubt. Me, I was glad when it finished - and despite the fact it's only 88 minutes, it felt MUCH longer.

There are 2 really bad things about this film: a terrible soundtrack of the sort of music one may see on some 4th rate corporate training video, and secondly, the fact there are no subtitles on the DVD!

Otherwise, I loved this film. Great acting from great actors (Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, the late David Hemmings and the late Bob Hoskins plus Helen Mirren) illuminates a slice of social history as we see how people's lives were affected by events and attitudes of the 20th century.

What's more, it is just about the only film I know to feature Margate, Chatham and Rochester.

This is a film to wallow in and contemplate; if you want fast paced plotting, this is not for you.

But I loved it. Such a shame the music is so rubbish. So glad this film avoided what would happen these days, especially at the hands of the pc BBC (unnecessary female characters and storylines tagged on; loads of token black and Asian characters to up to diversity quotient).

Good old-fashioned film-making and none the worse for that - and it's from a best-selling award-winning novel.

4.5 stars rounded up

This is one of the most moving films about the Second World War that I have ever seen.

I wasn't sure at first if it was a children's film (it isn't) but it didn't matter - the plot and characters soon had me gripped (thou at first I was unsure about the 'Death' narration - by Roger Allam AKA Thursday from ITV;s Endeavour - but yes, that works too).

Some genuine surprises in the plot which no Hollywood movie would ever choose make this even better.

Excellent acting, script, atmosphere. And how great to watch a movie about books too - and some beautiful language and stories.

I haven't read the 2007 book, so no idea how this compares. But this film really is lovely and deeply moving too - and it's unusual too see a film considering World War II from the German side.

5 stars.

I haven't read the William Faulker novel this film is based on, but suspect it is way superior to this movie.

Some problems with this film: the annoying split-screen - which is very pretentious film-school-student-level and Goddard 1970s (this is what happens when you let an actor direct). Plus the fact I simply do not believe the James Franco character at all (maybe he just cannot act?). The long lingering on a metropolitan American imagining of what it is to be amongst the rural poor in the 1920s/30s - overdone really. And the use of monologues by characters - which clog up and lengthen the film (no film needs commentary from characters to tell us what is happening if it's filmed well).

Still, things to enjoy: the superb performance by the open-mouth rotten-toothed father character with the authentic dialect and accent (thank Faulkner for that). Some spooky sound and music. The atmosphere of the poor south. The 'disaster' scenes of various types.

For those who like wallowing in nostalgic poverty porn misery, this'll be like heaven.

For me, my reaction is 'neh'... it passed a couple of hours when there was nothing on the telly. Ho hum. 2 stars.

The marvellous Terry-Thomas stars in this - and I could watch him in anything and be happy! But apart from his talents, this film is actually really good fun. A little dated, yes - and lots of that farce the French love so much, with lots of gaff-prone people around and some very old visual jokes.

However, it did make me laugh and has a really impressive ending though it does lag a bit in the middle.

I had never heard of this film until I read a newspaper article on war films - and can't remember it ever being on TV.

Think Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines in French - and then add lots of jokes from silent comedy - and that's about it really. And always OK to make fun of the Nazis too.

4 stars at least.

This movie is just great - and like all those old Disney films, works on two levels, so both little kids and adults can enjoy it. There are loads of jokes and also dialogue that will fly right over little ones' heads - but the animation and perfectly-paced story are so great, they won't mind! I am SO glad they screenwriters didn't dumb down for the kids and take out the French dialogue or big words, for example, or the references to drinking and drugs (the chances are, children's book editors would).

The movie doesn't shy away from the realities of the ocean - in that fish and eggs are eaten, for example. (Sadly of course, by now the Chinese will have caught and eaten most of the sea life on display here and made some larger creatures extinct...90% of sharks have been killed in the last 15 years for their fins in the vile and disgusting Chinese shark fin industry.)

I think of tedious animated movies with awful songs (That Frog Princess one...) and can't help wishing they'd make more movies like Finding Nemo, though I can't see how they could make a sequel.

The animation is just glorious - attention to detail wonderful. Perfect characterisation, esp with Dory and the sharks (voiced by Barry Humphries AKA Dame Edna, no less) and snappy, intelligent dialogue.

My only slight criticism is the 'huggy' American-style father-son relationship - all self-esteem and therapy-speak - and the pc 'single father' shtick. BUT it doesn't lecture and it's not TOO schmaltzy, thank goodness, and is countered by events and the dry wit of the dialogue.

A thoroughly enjoyable movie. I could watch it again right now. 5 stars!

This film has NO subtitles available but possibly the quietest volume of any DVD I have ever watched - not a good combination!

Having said that, it is a highly interesting and unusual film, with a superbly understated performance by the main character, a mixed-race police officer.

The landscape of smalltown Australia (Queensland) and Aboriginal community issues make an unusual backdrop and a welcome change from the usual LA and New York set cop dramas and the endless harping on about racism in the USA.

Having said that, the film is confusing - it tries to pack too much in, with undeveloped subplots of a 'Hound of the Baskervilles' type dog, and what happens to the main character's daughter. The plot is at times vague and confused, involving missing Aboriginal girls, drug dealers, dog breeders etc in a way I never truly understood.

The end packs a punch, however unrealistically.

A movie I'd like to watch again (with subtitles!)

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This is billed as a comedy - well, Hitchcock considered Psycho a comedy! If you find theatrical deaths and disembowelling of horses funny, then this is a laugh-in for you! It's a tragi-comedy, perhaps!

The plot is as thin as a Rizla - all about some man with a pretty white horse who two local women have their eye on (the man not the horse). A very laboured analogy and metaphor comparing people to horses clunks through the script...

I notice it won a prize in a Spanish film festival - well, maybe because it has a chirpy and resourceful Spanish character!

All in all, this is a weird film - portraying small-town Iceland as a place of oddballs, alcoholics, prim and jealous peasant farmers.

A curio. Worth watching for its uniqueness. I particularly likes the scenes of the Russian ship and the swimming horse...

Remind me never to visit the awful place portrayed in this film, though. 3 stars.

This film is foodie fun - and worth a watch. Like a fantasy or a fairy tale about how the American Dream is just wunnerful... The US is good at these short comedy films - they don't drag like so many UK film comedies.

If this were remade in Britain it'd star Lenny Henry playing himself as per usual, and Sanjeev Baskar, be about curry or West Indian food (not really all that great IMHO)and the race relations polemic would be rammed home continually in a smug and worthy BBC fashion. Happily, this movie puts the story and characters first - and the food, of course.

It's part road trip and part 'little man takes on the world and wins against all odds'.

Truly unbelievable though - food critics are really not like this in all ways. And wives of unemployed chefs do not live in mansions either...

This is the first film I have seen to feature Twitter as a major plot point though...

An odd soundtrack - maybe just the director's favourite mix tape! Bizarrely, A Message to you Rudie is used (though this is all about restaurant and then Cuban food). Weirdly, one scene features two men singing a Hispanic version of Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye to a 10 year old boy. (People have been arrested under operation Yewtree in the UK for less!)

3.5 stars - I enjoyed some jokes and the frustration of the main character of talentless venomous critics - and the food, despite not being a big fan of that Cuban-style food. Watch and get hungry!

After the initial speech, this film is almost wordless (a bit unrealistic because I think most people would be swearing a lot and talking to themselves in such a situation).

A chance collision with a container lost from a ship knocks a hole in the side of Robert Redford's boat. From there, the jeopardy is pumped up with misfortune piled on misfortune.

I would expect his survival kit to be better - but maybe they're like this (with but one fishhook and just 2 flares).

Anyway, it all gets very wet and miserable, until the end (which is the only part I disliked). Quasi-religious ambiguity isn't my thing really.

All in all, a watchable movie. Maybe not as good as Open Water, and clearly influenced by that. But still good. 3.5 stars

This is the sort of movie (and story) I call 'emo-porm' - emotional pornography for women. It is basically a soggy Mills and Boon romance, sprinkled with criminality and baked in a great big pie of schmaltz. I expect the novel it comes from was full square aimed at the escapist romance reader...

The story is utterly unbelievable - I just do not believe a chance encounter would happen like this. I do not believe in the characters reactions either. In a word, it's unbelievable and makes Jurassic Park look like a documentary...

By the last scene (so shameless schmaltzy it should carry a health warning) I was ready to burst out vomiting at the sheer awfulness of this silly romantic story. I was hoping for a murder, especially of the Kate Winslet character, but no such luck...

Having said that, there are some good scenes with tension and the younger actors do well. So 2 stars - just about.

Get this for the woman in your life, then hide under the bed and put the headphones on to block out the blubbing...

This is such a weird film - I found it rather disturbing but it did stick in my mind for ages afterwards. It's the sort of film whose images could give those of a nervous disposition nightmares...

As you'd expect from former ad-man Glazer, it is beautifully filmed, looking like a pop video in parts.

Set in 2014 Referendum Scotland, with some incomprehensible Glasgow accents (use the subs), it went completely into weirdness at the film seduction - which is surprisingly explicit. I shall never look at Celtic fans the same way again...There then follows another seduction and another and really disturbing weirdness.

I am not a sci-fi fan and am not really sure what it was all about (maybe I shall find someone who's read the book to tell me). I think it's about an alien who wants to be human - but who knows?

But I would really like to have seen this on the big screen because the visuals deserve it. But maybe I'd have a stiff drink first...

This film does what a lot of French and continental movies do, and veers off into surrealism. Not sure if this comes from the original novel (by an Italian) or is the result of the writer/director Luc Besson going for the Grand Guignol uber-violent plot (esp in Act 3) because he can't work out how else to end the movie. And the plot point that leads to Act 3 is just about the most unbelievable one I have ever seen.

Whichever it is, this makes the movie unbelievable, and means the viewer has no sympathy at all for the amoral characters (compare with the wonderful Wolf of Wall Street to see how it is possible to make an amoral key character sympathetic so the audience roots for him).

Still, it's an interesting watch, even if it is a confused film which can't decide if it's a comedy or a mob movie. There are silly subplots aplenty to pad out the film to its overlong length.

The big problem here, however, is the fact that very few members of an audience will be able to suspend disbelief here or sympathise with the amoral and violent, nasty characters. The plot is simply incredible - I simply cannot believe the shtick that despite all the violence and deaths and explosions, this family would be able to move from house to house in France with new identities: it's like a plot from a first year film student, frankly, and with more holes than Swiss cheese!

Worth a watch, but to see some really funny mafia moments, stick to The Sopranos.

2.5 rounded up to 3 for the good acting and some funny scenes.