Film Reviews by PT

McQueen and MacGraw play Doc and Carol, husband and wife, partners in crime, a kind of modern day Bonnie and Clyde.

There is superb sexual chemistry and tension ( Carol has prostituted herself to a corrupt politician for Doc to get out of prison) between these two stars. Doc must also mastermind a robbery for this bent politician as part of the deal. Straightforward though it ain't, and double crossing occurs. The lovers head for the Mexican border, pursued by men who want to stop their little excursion by putting them to sleep permanently.

McQueen and MacGraw are superb, as is Al Lettieri as a psychopathic bad guy who you hate with a vengeance.

Excellent direction by Peckinpah. The ice cool scene with Doc walking down the street with a pump action shotgun reminded me of The Wild Bunch. Totally cool film.

Having recently seen the film Rust and Bone and consequently being blown away by Marion Colltiard's talent I finally decided to watch this film. There are certain films that we are just not drawn to for whatever reason, this being one of them films for me.

OMG, how wrong was I, this performance by Cotillard will be in my head forever, she is extraordinary, one of the best female leads I have ever witnessed.

The real life story of Edith Piaf is fascinating, abandoned by her mother, raised in her early years in a brothel, then in the circus, then the street. The film charts her journey from child, to international diva, to her early death due to her burning out on the cocktail of drink and drugs she was addicted to.

Cotillard is totally hypnotic is this role, I could not take my eyes off her. Whether it be her cheeky grin as a young street singer, her outrageous diva behaviour, her portrayal of the older unwell Edith, in short the whole marvellous performance is a must see. The scene where she goes to dinner with the boxer Marcel Cedan is something else. The way she looks and smiles at him, we witness her falling in love there and then.

So after years of avoiding through my stupid brain, I now know why Marion Cotillard, as of now 2017, is the only actor to win an Oscar for a French speaking role. Extraordinary.

Ali a wanna be fighter is not a nice man, who views everybody who gets close to him as a pain, including his lovely little boy.

He meets Stephanie (Cotillard) in a nightclub where he breaks up a fight involving her through his role as a bouncer. Helping her home he leaves her his number, obviously attracted to her.

In the meantime Stephanie has an accident in work (she works at a Seaworld as a trainer of Killer whales), resulting in her having both her legs amputated below the knees. It is some months later that she contacts Ali and a relationship of sorts ensues. Ali does help her but he has no real feelings for her emotions and just offers sex when she wants it.

I think Marion Cottilard is one of the greatest actors alive today and seeing her cope with the tragedy, from total despair to slowly adjusting is a phenomenal performance from this huge talent.

Okay nobody can argue that the crimes of Aileen Wournos were not heinous, period. The director Patty Jenkins has made a film that tries to imagine the circumstances that led this woman to take the step into the void of inhumanity.

Charlize Theron captures this journey brilliantly, giving a stupendous Oscar winning performance as the explosive, reckless, crazy and murderous Aileen. Conversely, capturing her redeeming features of love, hope and compassion equally brilliantly.

Theron plays the part so well I really felt for the character, given her horrendous past, and the scene in the courtroom when she motions through tears to her girlfriend that its okay I found particularly moving.

This is a great character based film.

The wicked queen Ravenna sucks the youth out of young women to maintain her youth. One day though, after asking the mirror who is the fairest of them all (bet nobody guessed she would ask the mirror that) the usual reply of herself is replaced by Snow White. The mirror also informs her that if she gets the heart of Miss White her youth will be permanent.

She sends her brother to bring her Snow White, who she has imprisoned because of her earlier murderous machinations. Snow White escapes to the dark forest, where Ravenna has no power, thus enter the huntsmen, promised a reward by Ravenna to bring her back.

Of course Snow White has an agenda too, to wrestle back the kingdom that is hers by birthright.

Good special effects and enjoyable fairy tale for kids and adults alike. It is Charlie Theron who steals the show though, really turning it on as the wicked Ravenna.

This is not a remake of the Michael Caine film, although there are parts that are obviously taken from the original, like the minis used in the heist for example.

The team do a job in Italy, Venice to be precise, where they are double crossed and left for dead. The rest of the film sees the gang, all experts in their particular fields of villiany, plan their revenge. They draft in an expert safe cracker, Charlie Theron, who is emotionally involved through the double cross of the Venice job.

Great cast who all do well in this entertaining movie.

If you have read crime and punishment by Dostoyevsky you will know that Allen has too and is obviously a huge fan of the Russian authors work.

A deep film dealing with luck, love, lust and despair.

A young former tennis pro (Rhys Meyers) takes a job coaching the game, whereupon he meets a young aristocrat ( Goode) who befriends him and takes him into the bosom of his family's extremely affluent lifestyle. His new friends quickly become his family when he meets and falls for Goode's sister (Emily Mortimer) and thus is set financially for life. Of course it couldn't be this easy and a problem arises is his infatuation for Goode's fiance Scarlett Johansson.

Great acting by the predominantly Brit cast and a wonderful performance by Johansson as Nola Rice a wanna be actor who likes the drink.

I thought this film was profound and would thoroughly recommend it.

Do animals come into our lives to help us? Of course there are many who would say absolute nonsense. I on the other hand think animals have a much deeper understanding and relationship with their human guardians.

Luke Treadway plays a heroin addict who is on a methadone programme trying to beat the habit. Of course this is easier said than done given the terrible hardships of living on the street, resulting in him falling of the wagon. His social worker sees something positive in him and despite this setback finds him a small apartment.

Settling into his new abode he's confronted with a stray cat. From here on in his life changes. There are still plenty of hardships to face but his love for the feline Bob in his new strength in the fight for a better life.

Very enjoyable and touching true story.

If you've ever been unlucky enough to be out of work you'll know how accurate this film is. It has a gritty realistic feel this film, almost documentary in parts, a typical Ken Loach vehicle.

The system is made so difficult and demoralising it begs the question the film asks, is it that way to make people forget their claim. Of course there are people with money in between jobs, who can ride it out until their next employment, thereby avoiding the whole belittling ordeal. Conversely, there are the rest of society who must put up with all the obstacles as they need the states money to survive. The latter are then hit with sanction action (having their job seekers allowance stopped) for not honouring to the letter, their JSA agreement. Do the staff in job seekers allowance have sanction targets to meet?

Anyway, Dave John's and Hayley Squires play the lead roles in a wonderful understated way. The two characters desperate for their allowances to survive and both hit with sanction action. Their desperation leading these two honest and decent people into things they wouldn't ever have considered doing to survive.

Very realistic and very good.

Amy Adams plays Louise a linguistic expert drafted in by the army to try to understand what the aliens have landed here for. The pods of the aliens are all over the world. This leads to different interpretations of their intentions all over the world. So you've got paranoia of the aliens and paranoia of the different countries regarding each others moves.

Adams has baggage, haunted by the loss of her child, she obviously suffers intense memories of her daughter regularly. Aided in her quest by a caring scientist Ian (Renner}, who is concerned for her and attracted to Louise, the pair set about learning the alien language as quickly as possible.

Nothing spectacular in the special effects department, which strangely made it more real for me. Great emotional performance by Adams who steals the show here.

The ending really threw me and moved me to tears. I did not see it coming at all. A clever, emotional and terrific film.

Emily Blunt is phenomenal in this role, a bona fide tour de force.

Blunt plays Rachel, an alcoholic who is heartbroken by her failed marriage. She is so convincing as a tormented soul that her performance alone is worth the admission price. Having said that though, this is a great mystery thriller with stella performances all around.

Commuting daily to New York city Rachel fantasises about a couple she observes through the train window. This aforementioned couple live in the street where she used to live with her husband, who still occupies the premises with his new wife and baby.

She witnesses something concerning the couple she has built an idealistic life for in her addled mind, leading her to take a path thwart with danger.

If Emily Blunt doesn't win an Oscar in the future, I'll eat my hat and hat stand honest to God. Terrific stuff.

Based on a true story about an American student caught at a Turkish airport attempting to smuggle a relatively small amount of dope out of the country.

Initially sentenced to 4 years, his sentence is extended to life.

The Turkish jail's are a nightmare come true, making our jail's look like 5 star hotels in comparison. The brutality of the guards, especially "Hamid the bear" is a sadistic vision of hell, who can forget this beast of a man wiping his sweaty brow as he puts all his energy into a beating.

Brad Davis is stupendous in the lead and captures the deterioration of a healthy young man into a virtually broken spirit consummately.

Don't miss this train, it's a ride you'll never forget.

Voodoo child (slight return) by Jimi Hendrix blasts out as Gerry Conlon (D D Lewis) strips lead from a roof. Mistaken for a sniper by the British army they try to shoot him, miss, and Gerry flees for his life with the army hot in pursuit. This early scene is fantastic and shows how the Irish people rally around to take care of their brethren.

The IRA are fed up of Gerry's continuous antics and threaten to blow his knee caps off. Gerry's father turns up and the IRA give the young rascal a final warning.

So Gerry heads for England to get out of the dangerous situation in Northern Ireland. Once on the mainland Gerry just lives it up in a hippy commune, getting high and looking for the easy buck, which includes burglary.

Following the Guilford bombing Gerry and his Irish friends are fingered for the crime. His arrest prompts his father and other family members to come from Ireland to support Gerry.

What follows is quite unbelievable. No spoilers here, but it's jaw dropping stuff that lead to the convictions of all.

Gerry's father engages the lawyer Emma Thompson to prove his innocence. Gerry trusts no English people, period and at first doesn't want to know. A turning point comes for Gerry when he says to Thompson , "they fouled the ball". An important statement that has a double meaning, ie, he accepts the lawyers help, and secondly it's an admittance that his father was right about things (as you will get when you watch). So Thompson goes about her business trying to prove his innocence through police corruption.

Outstanding performances from Lewis, Postlethwaite and Thompson make this a cracking film.

Michelle Pfeiffer plays an ex marine who takes on her toughest challenge, teaching rebellious inner city kids English. The kids have so far driven one teacher to a nervous breakdown and the other quit before meeting the same fate. On her first day she turns up all prim and proper, like she's teaching at Eton. Five minutes of abuse and she walks out on the verge of quitting. Of course she digs in and returns next day in jeans and tailors her teaching to get the kids attention. Strangely she uses Bob Dylan's lyrics as the poetry to study, I say strangely as this is based on a true story and Bob just been given the Nobel prize for literature.

She starts earning some respect with her unusual methods, like throwing out candy bars to right answers and rewarding good work with a trip to the fairground.

There are some knock backs along the way but the teacher starts to spark an interest , and the intellect of these so called problem kids start to shine through.

Pfeiffer who is actually acting in a class here, is always a class act, making you like her for her compassion shown to the kids. Equally you get to care for the kids and want to see them reach their potential. Top marks.

Law man wants to quit and leave his violent life behind for the love of his woman. Of course the baddies never let it go when you've done something to anger them and are on their way to gun cooper down.

His wife, a brilliant Grace Kelly wants him to forego his ego, pride and courage and head for the hills.

In the end Cooper can't run with his tail between his legs and decides to wait for the inivetable, kill or be killed, putting Grace on the stage alone.

Top class film with some brilliant scenes, like watching his wife leaving on the aforementioned stage, their faces saying everything. The watching of the clock approaching high noon and the arrival of the train with the real menacing bad guys (including a very young Lee Van Clef), not to mention the shoot out itself.

Brill.