Film Reviews by LC

This film was a bit of a mixed bag for me - it's well shot, and builds a nice sense of unease, and the acting is generally good. Nicolas Cage delivers a typically eccentric performance, complete in thick white makeup and fright wig - it's so over the top it's as likely to cause laughs as scares, but it's certainly unique. The same goes for the storyline, which is so bonkers that the film is probably at it's most effective in the first half, when the audience doesn't have a clue what's going on - made explicit, it's tough to take any of this madness seriously. Still, it's good to see a film brave enough to attempt something unique, even if not all of it works.

This is a delightfully bonkers short horror film - zero dialogue, stylish cinematography, some pretty extreme content for the '50's, and a very off-kilter expressionistic feel. At times this almost feels like a precursor to a movie like 'Eraserhead' - recommended if you are looking for something unique.

I'm a fan of a lot of Romero's film work, but this later effort is unfortunately a bit of a mess. The central conceit is pretty bizarre, but has potential as an interesting horror in the unreliable narrator/how-much-of-what we-are-seeing-is-actually-happening mode. The tone, dialogue and acting however (especially when it comes to evil magazine mogul who is the central villain) is so over the top that it's frequently difficult to tell if the viewer is supposed to take this seriously or as a pastiche of bad B movies. One for the hardcore Romero completists only.

David Lynch's 1984 version of 'Dune' is certainly not without it's flaws, and splitting the story over two films certainly gives this new adaptation the edge when it comes to narrative cohesion. However, on every other level, this feels like a step down. Where Lynch's version was filled with eye-popping design, colourful cinematography, and bizarre characters, this all feels very dull and worthy. The monotone color palette is matched by monotone performances, bland design and languid pacing, making this a bit of a snoozefest in comparison. For all it's missteps, the 1984 'Dune' was always visually interesting - this tells the story faithfully, but is pretty boring in comparison.

This is a pretty solid film - it's slickly made, the plot moves along nicely, and both the newer and legacy cast are fine. If there's a slight downside, it's that it all feels slightly predictable, both in terms of the story beats and the call-backs to the original film. This ticks all the boxes you'd want in a sequel, but it doesn't really give you anything you haven't seen before. The Phoebe Spengler character probably gets the best development, with what appears to be a ghost/human lesbian romance subplot, though the resolution can be seen a mile away. Again, there's nothing really wrong with this film, but it does stick to the formula very closely. This is fine, but if there's another in the series, it would be nice if the makers had the confidence to stop looking back at the 1984 original, trust their new cast, and do something a bit different. [3.5 out of 5]

This is a disappointingly toothless and unnecessary origin story, which seems to have no reason to exist other than as an exercise in milking as much cash as possible out of an intellectual property. Willy Wonka himself has been stripped of any dark side (no terrifying boat-ride madness or glee at naughty children's comeuppance here), and the generic storyline shines little new light on his character. The story is set in France, but for some reason seems to be populated almost exclusively by either plummy-voiced upper-class English or cockneys. Olivia Colman does a solid comedy turn, and Hugh Grant makes a surprisingly good Oompa Loompa, but this is ultimately a pointless exercise that just trades off the goodwill of the original film.

There's a real 'back to basics' feel to this latest Predator film, however, whilst the setting and time period is new, there's really nothing here we haven't seen before. The storyline is so basic that this is almost a plot-free movie, just 100 minutes of 'native American vs. alien' action. It's also difficult to feel any real sense of jeopardy when it comes to the typical plucky empowered female lead, as she's clearly set-up as the aspirational heroine, and Hollywood doesn't like to buck storytelling formulas. Ultimately it's fine as it goes for some mindless entertainment, it's just a shame the novel setting isn't matched by a more novel storyline.

The basic storyline here - a science fiction war over resources, fueled by a struggle for possession of the usual magical Marvel McGuffin - is fairly straightforward - but the script is a mess, and feels like it's been produced by AI. There's an overreliance on knowledge of multiple Marvel TV series, alienating anyone who hasn't seen them, and for all the high-stakes action it all feels terribly hollow. Captain Marvel just isn't that interesting or charismatic as a lead movie character, and her new sidekicks don't improve the situation that much. Ms. Marvel probably comes across best, although it's really just a repeat of Spider-Man-style teen hero material, and the constant unfunny wisecracks between her and her family get annoying fast.

Ultimately this feels like a pointless exercise - a movie that exists just to pass the time until the next on the Marvel conveyor belt. If you want SF-style Marvel action, then everything in this movie has already been done better before by 'Guardians of the Galaxy'.

Much better than it's reputation, far from being 'one of the worst movies ever made', I actually found this an entertaining watch. It's well-shot and directed, It has plenty of goofy moments, occasionally veering into outright bonkers (the climax in particular feels like a fever dream), but it's never dull, and feels almost charmingly bold in its lunacy. By no means a great film, I'd still rather have this entertaining nonsense than a 'play it safe' retread sequel. If you can roll with the madness, there's plenty to enjoy here.

There's a nice set-up here, with a hack writer getting caught up in a real life mystery allowing for a satire of the pulp thriller genre. Caine is in his '70's pomp and effortlessly cool throughout, and Mickey Rooney does an effective turn riffing on his own past as an ex-Hollywood gangster movie star. It's pleasant enough to watch,but the downside is that the central mystery plot just isn't strong enough, so when the denouement comes, the ending feels like a bit of a letdown.

60's slice-of-life drama focusing on two 'working girls', and their relationships with a willfully ignorant father, and a would-be lover who wants one of the girls to quit her job and settle down. The acting is generally good, especially an understate performance from William Hartnell, and it's shot well enough - if there's a problem it's that the story doesn't really develop much over the course of its running time. A solid and watchable kitchen sink drama, and the central culture clash is fine, but ultimately it doesn't feel as if it goes anywhere.

I found the 5th film in the series so underwhelming, I felt I was done with this franchise, but surprisingly this 6th installment is a much better film. Obviously by this point it's both formulaic and impossible to take these films too seriously, but the storyline manages a decent amount of character work to go along with the 'whodunnit' element, it's well shot and the cast are all solid. By no means a classic, but this is a fun and watchable installment, and one of the better sequels.

Stylish direction, gorgeous cinematography, eye-popping colours, and a masked black-gloved killer dispatching numerous victims in macabre ways - it's easy to see how much of an influence this film was on Dario Argento. True, the storyline is a fairly standard whodunit, and the way the red-herring suspects are entirely dropped from the narrative once the killer is revealed is not very satisfying, but every frame is amazing to look at, and it's so stylish it really doesn't matter. Recommended, especially in the new 4K UHD version, which is amazing visually.

Whilst Price, Lee and Cushing are the headline stars, they do not have huge roles in this film (Cushing in particular only gets a single scene). That said, the film is still worth watching as it's such a bizarre ride. It starts with three seemingly totally unconnected storylines, which only begin to dovetail very late in the narrative. This is a film that plays its cards close to its chest, and I'd recommend knowing as little as possible before watching it (I'm glad I never even read Cinema Paridiso's spoiler-filled synopsis). Part horror, part Cold War thriller, and part sci-fi, this is a real genre mishmash, and though the story doesn't really work in the final analysis, it's so unique that it's worth going along with the madness. The groovy 70's feel of it all just adds to the charm. Totally bonkers.

Six completely unreleated short stories packaged together as one movie. With an average run time of about 20 minutes each, these short stories lack the space to provide any real depth and are unlikely to reward repeat watches. That said, they are all well made, and entertaining in a 'Tales of the Unexpected' fashion - dark subjects, but tackled with a wry sense of humour that stops this from becoming too heavy. A fun watch, and recommended as such, but ultimately nothing more.