Film Reviews by TE

This is an unexpected delight, a genuinely funny film that doubles as an ironic take on the whole process of film-making (especially slasher-gore film-making).

Jean Dujardin and the ever-brilliant Adele Haenel are excellent in the two lead roles, and Quentin Dupieux's direction is very sure-footed. He keeps the narrative tight and, at 73 minutes in length, he doesn't overplay the central metaphor of the deerskin jacket.

The humour builds satisfyingly and there are many laugh-out-loud moments. Some telling points about film are made along the way, but the main pleasure is in not taking any of it too seriously.

And don't let Georges see you wearing a jacket...!

Suffering the pains of grief after losing a loved one? Just get yourself down to your local S&M boutique and discover the masochist inside you (whilst giving sadists pleasure by allowing them to pull your teeth out with pliers). Masochistic asphyxiation to the point of near-death is this film's queasy remedy for all ills.

The best thing about this film is the title. In fact, it all goes down hill fast after the opening titles.

In retrospect, I wish I had pressed 'stop' after the early scene where Juha masturbates wildly with his dead wife's nightie over his head (having first drenched the garment in her favourite perfume). It becomes car-crash viewing as it goes along, though I'll refrain from any jokes about rubber-necking.

This film (also known as 'Mayak') has had to be restored from a 35mm print but it still looks hauntingly beautiful. It is a fine testimony to the talent of director Mariya Saakyan, and a reminder of what a loss World Cinema suffered when Saakyan died of cancer at the age of 38.

The film is set in the time of displacement caused by the Azerbaijan - Armenian war and is a must for anyone with even a passing interest in Armenian history and culture.

The blu-ray disc also contains two excellent short films by Saakyan.

The comments by a previous reviewer about the colour quality of this dvd are spot on. Even so, the washed out colours cannot detract from the power and the purpose of this very fine movie. John Sayles is at his best here, and there is a string of superb performances from the whole cast, led by Chris Cooper, Mary McDonnell, James Earl Jones and a magnetic David Strathairn.

The events depicted are a true history of the Matewan Massacre, part of an episode in America's violent past that needs to be better known. In the first decades of the twentieth century, employers and state authorities routinely hired armed thugs to break strikes and to stop the formation of trade unions. Matewan was the site of one particularly bloody campaign. It marked a temporary victory for the mining families, but the aftermath was further vicious repression.

The narrative is backed up by an excellent soundtrack of stark mountain music.

One point of extra interest is the sight of Will Oldham, later the musician and singer Bonnie Prince Billy, playing a righteously angry teenage preacher and union activist.

This film is a fairly free adaptation of Jack London's novel of the same name. The narrative is intercut with colour-filtered scenes of various symbolic passages in the historical background to Martin's story.

The strongest sections are the earlier ones, where Martin is battling passionately for acceptance as a writer. Once he becomes famous and wealthy the film seems to speed up too much, with lots of significant scenes and words crammed into too small a space.

Politically there is a theme of socialism versus individualism. Martin seems to be spilt between the two, haranguing whoever will listen about the individuality of the artist, whilst giving lots of money to the socialist cause.

The personal relationships also feel as if director Marcello is trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot. We see vivid glimpses of Martin's courtship of the aristocratic Elena, but very little of the relationship with the woman he actually ends up with.

The cinematography is excellent, and there are many set piece scenes that linger in the memory. However, the overall impression is of a film that might have worked better as a box-set type enterprise.

It's hard to know quite what to make of this flawed but fascinating enquiry into the role of alcohol in our contemporary society. On the one hand we see how damaging excessive drinking can be, leading to death, relationship breakdown and professional disgrace, but on the other hand it is shown as helping a student to pass a crucial exam and providing riotous fun for everyone. Thus the film is pitched at an uncertain space between seriousness and glib commentary.

This ambiguity is summed up in the final frame (I will avoid making a spoiler!).

Perhaps Vinterberg, the director, is trying to reflect society's ambivalent attitude towards alcohol. That's fine, but it makes 'Another Round' a bit of a tease. In the end it seems as if the message is: alcohol is fine and dandy but only if the drinker limits consumption to a fairly small amount.

The performances are good, Mads Mikkelsen especially, but the set-up is far-fetched: would a group of four intelligent, socially integrated school teachers really embark on such a ludicrous binge?

Once that shaky proposition is accepted, the film barrels along enjoyably enough as a dark comedy.

There is a good "making of" piece in the extras on this blu-ray disc that shows the time and care put into achieving the high level of realism in 'Beasts of No Nation'.

As other reviewers have noted, this makes it an uncomfortable watch at times. However, the issue of child soldiers is one that needs highighting and addressing, and this film does a good job on that score.

The abuse of the children involved is physical, emotional and sexual, though the latter aspect is played down here.

Abraham Attah is excellent as Agu, the rapidly brutalised main character. It is helpful to witness the possibility of redemption and recovery at the end, but the film is honest in its assertion that hope and optimism will remain fragile.

This is a film that shows how boys can be de-humanised into a hellish form of macho masculinity, and it can make one feel despair at the human race. Its one weakness is that it tends to suggest that all this is down to evil individuals, like the Commandant (an impressive Idris Elba). There is no real analysis of the dystopian political context, but the power of the action is riveting.

This is a joyous musical, full of energetic dance and song, a parade of simple visual pleasure.

All too often the description of a film as "a feel good movie" means that it is the bland and boring equivalent of so called 'easy listening' music. Here, however, the freshness and slickness of the whole film creates a genuinely 'feel good' factor.

What's not to like about watching a fantasy version of the shiny, happy people of New York's Latino community do their thing? The dance sequences alone are fabulous.

The first film in this franchise (Part 2 ends with plenty of scope for further sequels) had originality and some genuinely different twists on the almost redundant horror movie genre. There was even room for some character development and audience investment in the family's survival.

This second instalment is much more of a routine affair, with some clunking leaps of credibility that make it just another schlock horror piece.

It's nice to see Cillian Murphy getting a good payday just for rolling his eyes a lot and looking like a hillbilly, but such pleasures have their limits. Emily Blunt seems robotic compared to her committed performance in the first movie.

'A Quiet Place 2' sums up the Hollywood ethos: rather than develop something fresh, push an idea beyond its limits and turn it stale.

A carefully paced, insightful take on the ancient theme of the married man who leads a double life.

Joanna Scanlon is excellent as the UK-based wife who follows the trail of her late husband's text messages to Calais. Scanlon often plays comic roles on television but here she grabs the chance to show her acting skills.

The story hinges on an outrageous decision she makes when her husband's mistress mistakes her for a cleaner. At first this decision seems to unblance the film, but the implications are built up in a subtle and absorbing way by director Aleem Khan.

The film is at its best when telling the inner story of the relationships portrayed. There seems to be some implied comment about post-Brexit Britain, symbolised by the white cliffs of Dover tumbling into the sea, but the meaning is obscure and it is the emotional journey of the three main characters that stays with us.

My eccentric twin brother must have ordered this disc....I have no idea why I listed it (or IF I listed it)!

I managed about 15 minutes and then cut to the final 5 minutes. The genre of Western movies has thrown up many fine classics, but the "comedy Western" was always a bad idea (except for 'Blazing Saddles'). This film appears to be a low budget comedy Western set in the present. It's terrible.

This is both an important film in the history of cinema and a wonderfully energetic tale that resembles a medieval allegory.

Ousmane Sembene directs a lively assault on crude capitalism, the legacy of imperialism and the way that poverty forces people to act in selfish, cynical ways. And all this is achieved amidst a wonderful array of colour and physicality, making it reminiscent of the best Chaucerian tales transplanted to Senegal in the post-colonial era.

This blu-ray release of the brilliant Quay Brothers animated works contains some excellent extras.

This is animation at its surreal, satirical best, often laced with dark archetypal motifs and disquieting fairy tale themes. There is a strong resemblance to the work of Jan Svankmeyer and other Czech film artists.

In addition to the absorbing visuals, the Quay Brothers make great use of avant-garde music.

The setting for 'Windom's Way', the British exploitation of Malaya and the eventual revolution against it, is intrinsically interesting. However, the film doesn't do the subject matter justice. It comes across as hastily edited and uncertain as to where its sympathies lie.

Peter Finch's popular, liberal-minded doctor is caught between the pressures of Empire, local bureaucracy, aggressive British plantation owners, and the needs of the impoverished local population. He also has to contend with a brittle marriage and a friendship with a young worker who joins the communist rebels.

The doctor, like the film itself, ends up failing to negotiate a credible path through all of this.

Excellent version of the Beauty and the Beast theme.

The aesthetic here is very much in the origional tradition of the darker 'fairy tales', much more Angela Carter than Walt Disney. Czech New Wave films are always well worth watching and range from sassy comedies to insightful political allegories. And then there is the strain of inventively filmed borderline horror fables, like this one.

Transfers to blu-ray do not always seem to work well when a film's predominant lighting is very subdued. This is an unfortunate feature of this disc, but it doesn't detract from the engaging energy of the overall experience.