Film Reviews by GI

Director David Lynch's dark, sinister and distinctly unsettling thriller is an absolute masterpiece of modern cinema. On first viewing this will baffle and astound in equal measure but you'll want to go and watch it again very soon afterwards. I recommend you do because the clues to what is going on are all there if you are careful enough to spot them. If you are familiar with Lynch's work then this will be a bit easier as there's a narrative structure here that can be seen in some of his other work including his TV series Twin Peaks. Naomi Watts plays Betty, an aspiring young actress who arrives in Hollywood hoping to make it big in the movies. She takes up residence in her Aunt's apartment whilst her Aunt is away but is surprised when she finds the glamorous Rita (Laura Harring) hiding there. Rita has lost her memory after a mysterious car crash and Betty agrees to help her find out who she is and what has happened to her. This starts a nightmare chain of events that involves a film director (Justin Theroux) and his struggles with casting his new film under pressure from some nasty bad guys. There's a host of strange characters throughout the story and it involves murder, dark erotic sex and corruption. To give you a slight clue Lynch is obsessed with dreams and nightmares so bear that in mind when you're watching. I cannot recommend this film enough. Watts is superb, the story and vision unique and it's a film that will get you talking for hours after having seen it.

A routine thriller that benefits from a topnotch cast. Michael Caine effortlessly plays an aging man on the run chased by Tilda Swinton in a story that is loosely based on real events. Swinton is Annemarie, a French Judge tasked with tracking down Broussard (Caine) a former nazi collaborator who personally selected and executed seven jewish men during the Second World War and who managed to escape justice. It turns out Broussard is protected by a secret cabal of catholics who fund and hide him. Also after him is a high ranking government official who Broussard can implicate in war crimes. All this leads to a film that has little excitement, hardly any action or suspense and where a series of incompetent agents fail to capture this angina ridden old man who outwits them time and time again to the point of tedium. All this is a shame too because with this cast and as director Norman Jewison's last film it had all the ingredients to be something rather good. But sadly this is no Marathon Man (1976) despite Ciarán Hinds, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Northam and Alan Bates also in his last theatrical film.

A chilling dystopian action film from director Alex Garland, a director of unique vision, and a film that will possibly divide audiences although as a cinematic experience it's visceral and an assault on the senses. Set in the near future the USA is embroiled in a civil war where the states of Texas and California have united to fight a tyrannical President (a cameo from Nick Offerman). The film doesn't give us much if any political context for the causes off the war although there's the inevitable allegory to Trump albeit a tentative one. This is a narrative around the effects of conflict and close proximity to combat. Kirsten Dunst plays Lee, a veteran combat photo journalist, who has become somewhat immune to the violence she witnesses although she is haunted by the past. She and her colleague are intent on a perilous journey across America to try and get an interview with the President, a risky enterprise as journalists have been summarily executed in Washington DC but as the President appears close to defeat they want the scoop. Tagging along are a fellow veteran journalist (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and Jess (Cailee Spaeny). Jess is terrified by what she sees and Lee becomes a reluctant mentor to her and the film focuses on Jess' emotional arc as she becomes more and more a war junkie. With a road movie structure the travellers go from episode to episode some of which are very traumatising and violence is ever present. This is a violent and at times uncomfortable film and the combat scenes and set pieces are realistic both visually and aurally. This film captures the chilling and terrible momentum of war in a way that Saving Private Ryan (1998) did for the war film genre and in the character structures it reminded me of The Hurt Locker (2008) in the depiction of the numbness to horror and the addiction to the rush of combat that both Lee has and regrets and Jess is obtaining on the journey. An impressive film and one that I'm sure will gain accolades as time goes on.

There's been a few adaptations of this famous 1930 children's novel by Arthur Ransome possibly the most famous being the 1974 film with Virginia McKenna. This latest one doesn't really offer much that's new or particularly amazing other than a very good adult cast and the addition of a spy subplot that wasn't in the original novel. I'm unsure where the drive to remake this period nostalgic adventure has come from as it's a story directed at children in an age of superheroes, the MCU and very realistic computer games that the young seem much more involved in than a 1930s story of children pretending to be pirates on an idyllic English lake. Anyway, the story here is of the Walker family who led by their mother played by Kelly McDonald (the father is away at sea) go on holiday to the Lake District and stay in a local farmhouse,. The four children spend their days sailing a small boat on the nearby lake and have a mock pirate battle with two local girls, go camping, get into a few minor scrapes and eventually come up against a grumpy man (Rafe Spall) on a houseboat who accuses them of stealing his stuff. Added to this rather worn out and unexciting stuff there's a couple of Soviet spies roaming around and thereafter the grumpy man. Andrew Scott is the lead bad guy, and typically very good as the charming but cold villain. There's a small set piece involving a seaplane but other than that this is a routine children's adventure film that has a charm but that's about all.

There are a mixture of views as to which version of Superman II is the better, Richard Lester's or Richard Donner's. There is little doubt that Lester's version is much more polished and arguably coherent as it had the benefit of being the film the studio released theatrically. However Richard Donner, the sacked director, had a chance to put together his vision of the film and it does have it's merits although there is an inconsistency in the structure of some scenes, with some tending to drift on a little too long and others being rather hurried and sharply edited. I offer no preference because viewed today this is a DC world film that lacks the vital ingredient of darkness that came years later. These early Superman films are vey comic book in style with cartoon characters and a little too much overt comedy that weakens the film. Carrying on from the first film this has Superman (Christopher Reeve) giving up his powers so he can have a normal life with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) only to have the inconvenient arrival of three villains led by Zod (Terence Stamp) from Krypton who are intent on enslaving mankind. Of course he finds a way back to super status and battles the bad guys. Gene Hackman has a good time as Lex Luthor and Marlon Brando is always good to see even though he's mostly a special effect here. Despite the various bouts of silliness this is probably the best of the Reeve films. Viewed today though it all seems a little puerile in style and structure even though many rate Reeve as the best cinematic Superman.

A fantastic drama with shades of thriller about it and one of Matthew McConaughey's best performances. A film that mixes a coming-of-age narrative with crime thriller and relationship drama and ends up as a top class film. Tye Sheridan is superb as the fourteen year old Ellis who, growing up on a big Arkansas river with his friend Nate, comes across the enigmatic and charismatic Mud. They mistake him for a bum but he tells them he's hiding out for killing a bad man and he's waiting for his woman to arrive in the area. This is the beautiful Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) who is soon found by Ellis and who then acts as a conduit between them. But it's soon apparent that both Mud and Juniper are being hunted by some ruthless bad guys and their story is not what it seems. Ellis is faced with conflicting emotions as he tries to understand who is telling him the truth. The film boasts a great cast that includes the brilliant Sam Shepard, Michael Shannon and a cameo from Joe Don Baker. If you have missed this film then it's one you should definitely seek out because it's very, very good.

This is a well meaning sports underdog story that highlights the homeless World Cup, a tournament set up in 2001 where teams of homeless people from different countries compete in a football (soccer) contest. Indeed the story of this would probably have been better told as a documentary because here we have a standard narrative of composite characters all with 'issues' and the story unfolds with various tensions in the England team designed to highlight the plight of homeless people. At the centre we have Bill Nighy who is here somewhat miscast but gets away with it due to his unique screen charisma, but as a former football manager with his own demons now managing this team he's a fish out of water although most of the amusement in the film comes from him. The main centre of the story surrounds Vinny (Micheal Ward) who is recruited by Mal (Nighy) to join the team in Rome for the finals. Vinny can't bring himself to admit he's homeless due to the breakdown of his marriage, he's also a former footballer who didn't quite make it as a professional and carries the stigma of rejection. Of course as the film progresses there's the inevitable healing and bonding and the finding of true self but it is all very standard and quite predictable. There's some deviations into the activities of some of the other teams, in particular Japan, that are never really pursued sufficiently to make them interesting. A reasonably entertaining if unsatisfying film.

A surprisingly influential film among other filmmakers with many citing it as one of their favourite films including the likes of Martin Scorsese. It's possibly the first real depiction of the professional assassin as a cool, laconic character which has been much utilised since in films such as The Killer (2023) and Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (1999), the latter being almost a remake. The hitman as a dedicated professional devoid of apparent emotional ties can be found in other films e.g. Collateral (2004) and so viewing Le Samouraï today it's easy to make more contemporary comparisons. Alain Delon, in one of his most famous roles plays the contract killer Jef. He's been hired to kill a club owner and carries out the hit but is unfortunately seen by some witnesses. But Jef has arranged his alibi very carefully and so when picked up by the police is able to quickly get himself released. Unfortunately for him he still has a worried employer out to kill him and a police detective who is convinced he's their killer. The narrative is a sort of cat and mouse scenario with police surveillance through Paris and especially the Metro (these are very reminiscent of the surveillance scenes that William Friedkin utilised in his 1971 The French Connection), the underworld's own killer is lurking around and Jef has to take action. It's a moody, atmospheric film, a modern crime thriller that is quintessential European in style and which would come to influence the American New wave directors that were soon to hit the mainstream. An interesting film when viewed today and certainly one film fans should ensure they check out.

This science fiction thriller is an entertaining science fiction/horror film which is heavily influenced by Alien (1979) and obviously a little derivative with a host of other films that can be cited as influencing or similar to this, e.g. Event Horizon (1997) where a spacecraft crew have to do battle with something unworldly. Here the six man crew of the International Space Station have to intercept a damaged probe returning from Mars where it's been collecting soil samples. On the safety and sterile environment of the station they are then tasked with examining the samples in the hope of finding evidence of life. And indeed they do, a micro-organism that causes immense excitement and prompts questions from schoolchildren back on Earth in a live link including 'Are you bringing the alien back to Earth?' which signposts the potential course of the narrative because the organism soon begins to evolve once nurtured in the space station and as it grows into something rather threatening and deadly the attempts to kill it fills the main body of the film. The film has some tense moments and the expected gore that usually accompanies this sort of plot. The 'alien' is interesting and far different from the 'xenomorph' of the Alien series and the film rattles along at a good pace. I suppose you have to like sci-fi to really enjoy this and it does its job here in a solid, well directed way. The cast give it their all led by Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson with Ryan Reynolds the most notable support. There's a predictability to the film's conclusion but that aside it's a very well made and watchable film that seems better on further viewings so if you were unconvinced the first time give it another go.

A perfectly watchable melodrama that is all a little depressing despite the out of place and quite unnecessary saccharine infused ending, which lets it down. Set in the early days of the First World War on a remote outer Hebridean island where the small community is close and dominated by the strictness of religion. An early sermon by the calvinist preacher about sins of the flesh signposts the plot. Bright and beautiful Kirsty (Hermione Corfield) lives on the island with her mother (the great Morven Christie) and younger sister and she yearns for adventure. Her young man Murdo (Will Fletcher) has been called up and on the eve of his departure the community holds a farewell dance but Kirsty is attacked and raped that evening setting the narrative up as a crime mystery too. She inevitably falls pregnant which she tries to conceal for fear of the retribution of her neighbours. The film focuses on her plight and of identifying the culprit. Corfield carries the film and is very good and is no doubt an actor we shall see more of. The various plot lines keep you watching as tragedy piles on tragedy but there comes a time when you'll guess how it all plays out including the identity of the rapist and as I said the final scene sort of spoils the overall film with it's quite daft conclusion.

Director Roman Polanski's seminal horror classic delves deep into the existential fears that one can have about trust and about whether the people around us are genuine or not. This slow building film of dread remains powerful and has hardly been diminished by the plethora of more visually shocking horror movies that followed. The fact that Polanski hints at events and shows just mere glimpses of what Rosemary goes through is where the power of the film lies. Rosemary (Mia Farrow), a naïve catholic girl, and her struggling actor husband, Guy (John Cassavetes) move into an old, dark New York apartment building and plan to start a family. They are soon befriended by the elderly eccentric neighbours (Ruth Gordon & Sidney Blackmer) who have a host of equally weird friends. After a night of very bad dreams Rosemary finds she is pregnant and soon under the control of the neighbours and a sinister doctor. It turns out of course she has been raped by the Devil conjured up by the coven of her fellow tenants and her husband has agreed in return for success as an actor. The themes of trust, isolation and the corruption of family are at the centre of this film and Farrow is first rate here and should have received an award for her performance. Polanski has taken a fairly pulpy novel and faithfully adapted it but added nuances and a growing sense of suspense that has made this film a key one on the horror genre. Some may find the film anti-climactic in the decisions to show very little of monstrous although the rape scene is still shocking today and very risqué for its time. This is certainly a film that you should check out if you've not seen it as it ranks as one of the best of American horror films.

You need a hugely enjoyable B movie type action film every so often and this delivers brilliantly. It's a glorious, bloody war based film that has the stamp of Quentin Tarantino all over it (it has 'chapters' that QT often uses), and I'm sure he'll be a fan, as well as the hallmarks of films like First Blood (1982) and the John Wick series. Set in Finland in 1944 where a grizzled gold prospector avoids the war living in the remote Lapland area. Finding a rich vein he sets off with his gold to the nearest city to cash it in but on the way he's accosted by a company of SS soldiers who try to steal it. A big mistake as the old miner has a past and a skill set that is awoken to dire consequences for the Nazis. This is brutally violent with some crazy set pieces. The main character hardly says a word until the film's final moments and this is part of makes this film work so well. Like John Rambo he's man after some calmness and peace but once aroused to action he's simply unstoppable. Great fun, and rattles along at a solid pace and is wrapped up in a tight 90 minutes.

This famous tale of political corruption is probably a film that all US senators should be made to watch before taking up their seats! It was certainly a controversial film back in 1939 where it was feared the USA maybe damaged by it's portrayal of the machinations of government and those that would subvert them in their own interest and it also has a big dig at the press who play along when directed by corporate blackmail. James Stewart in a scene stealing performance is the naïve Boy Scout leader Jefferson Smith and all round good guy who is selected to represent his state as senator. Those behind his selection, including his father's best friend played by Claude Rains, believe he will be easily controlled especially as they have plans for a big dam in the state which will make them all richer. But Jefferson proves to be no pushover once he cottons on to what is happening and he as a counter plan to build a camp for under privileged boys on the same land. But he hasn't prepared for the extent to which his character and life will be attacked. The film has a lot of humour especially in the first third of the film as it plays for laughs with Jefferson the classical fish out of water when he's thrust into the maelstrom of the political world but then the film settles into a compelling political drama that highlights the control of rich business over the elected officials. There's the necessary Hollywood romance thrown in with Jean Arthur as the worldly wise secretary who guides Jefferson through his troubles and falls for him in the process. Personally I find the film's ending a little anti-climactic as the bad guys don't get seen to get their comeuppance but this is small criticism. With a prestigious cast including Harry Carey and Thomas Mitchell this is a film that all cinephiles should ensure they see. It has themes that resonate very strongly today!

There is a small chronological link with this film and the rest of the series, indeed you're best to watch this one after Fast and Furious 6 (2013) where the storylines can be better followed. Like most of the series this one is narratively similar in its basic plot and action. To that end it's nothing overly original and is probably great for fans but ultimately it's a rehash of the fast & Furious tropes. The story features new characters and here we have Sean (Lucas Black - remarkably similar to Paul Walker and no doubt purposefully), a young American street racer who after an encounter with the local police is sent to live with his father in Tokyo. Under his father's rules there's to be no car racing! That parental rule lasts about a day and soon Sean is hooked up with the locals and street racing where he has to learn a new way of driving called drifting. There's the usual girl involved and some nasty street thugs to race against and the driving stunts are the film's main attraction. Otherwise this is a routine action film for the video gaming age, it's reasonably entertaining but offers nothing overly original. The final cameo from Vin Diesel creates a story link to Fast And Furious 7 and no doubt is there solely to reassure the franchises fans.

The fourth Python film has been derided as the weakest of their cinematic output but I think this is massively unfair. There's some genius in this film, a sketch based structure with the title's theme running through it. But the familiar Python satire on religion, Britishness and tradition is full on here, from the catholic attitude to sex and birth control to military class snobbery. And it's genuinely hilarious as well as subtle yet silly, the essence of Monty Python. The opening mini film 'The Crimson Permanent Assurance' directed by Terry Gilliam is a sharp satirical attack on modern greed and corporate dominance and it segues cleverly into the meaning of life sketches which cover from birth to death. There are many highlights including the delivery ward where the expensive equipment is more important than the patient, Michael Palin's laugh out loud Sergeant Major who just wants to "march up and down the square", and the 'Every Sperm is Sacred' song and of course the unforgettable Mr Creosote. There's slapstick, surrealism ('find the fish') and the teams genius exposure of hypocrisy and stupidity of social attitudes and institutions. A British comedy film that deserves a re-evaluation and certainly, if you want a good laugh, a film to check out.