Film Reviews by GI

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.

This is a crazy, screwball road movie comedy that is simply great fun. It's sharp and sexy even when it's all obviously flimsy and daft. Directed by Ethan Coen this has all the hallmarks of a Coen Brothers film even though Joel Coen wasn't involved. Jamie (Margaret Qualley), a free spirited and spontaneous girl, has just broken up with her tough girlfriend so she decides to accompany her friend, Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), on a road trip to Florida. Marian is the polar opposite and although also a lesbian she's much more sexually repressed and Jamie is intent on getting her laid. But in the car they hire is a the film's McMuffin that starts the zany plot when they are pursed by a bunch of villains out to recover it. What is in the car you will be totally surprised by I guarantee. A cheerful, nonsensical caper film that will make you laugh and has the benefits of two leads who give great comedy performances and aided by a cameos by Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal.

An existential science fiction film that is so drab and uneventful it just seems to drag itself along. The most interesting character is the alien and even it is a tad disappointing. Adam Sandler, certainly a very underrated actor, here in a serious role as Jakub, a Czech astronaut on a solo mission to study a huge particle cloud located near to Jupiter. He's six months in and the mission is taking its toll on him mostly due to the isolation and he longs for his wife back on Earth. He's also been having strange dreams. All these emotional strains culminate in his finding an alien hiding in his ship. This takes the form of a dog sized spider that can talk and basically provides therapy to the intrepid traveller. There's lots of chatter about love, relationships and what it all means etc etc and not much else really. Carey Mulligan as the wife has an underwritten part, although she gives it her all, and the film's littered with Jakub's memories and hallucinatory images from his past mixed up with the present. Of course the alien spider maybe a figment of his imagination and probably is depending how you read the text here. But, for me, this is a tiresome film, trying to be something profound but really it's dull.

A comedy/horror that is resplendent with Pythonesque blood and gore and has Nicolas Cage having a ball as Count Dracula, no doubt a role he has wanted to play for his entire life! There's some neat homages in here not least to the Bela Lugosi Dracula in a small recreation of a classic scene from the 1931 film and at one point Cage looks remarkably like Lon Chaney from the 1927 film London After Midnight. Fans will no doubt spot a host of others. Here we have a modern day reworking of the characters from the Dracula novel chiefly Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), the humble law clerk who is a servant to Dracula and has been given some limited powers in order to provide his master with food. Nicholas Hoult shows he can manage comedy quite well and he plays the tortured young man who has looked after his master for decades now finding themselves in New Orleans where Dracula is recovering from his last fight with priests. This cues a daft story of organised criminals, a dedicated cop (Awkwafina) and a self help group all coming up against Dracula intent on world domination and Renfield who has to decide whose side he's on. There's some funny lines and scenes dotted throughout and everyone is clearly having fun but it's all fairly lacklustre and forgettable.

Relentlessly violent this is a British crime film that lacks any subtlety or characters that you can feel anything for. It's based on true events and is structured around one main character for most of the film before deviating into a controversial real murder case. Carlton Leach (Ricci Harnett) is a street thug who rises in the world of football hooliganism in the 70s & 80s, his life basically one big violent ruck with just about anyone. The film depicts this particularly unpleasant world as bloody, frightening battles that take place on the London Underground and on the streets as Leach and his gang travel to indulge their addiction on brutal fighting. This is not just fists either, here we get the full scale use of machetes and axes and all the fearsome injury detail that accompanies their use. Leach's infamy in this world leads to bouncer duty at local Clubs and into the world of organised drug gangs. His friendship with one dealer, Tony Tucker (Terry Stone) brings him into the circle of ever increasingly psychopathic criminals epitomised in Patrick Tate (Craig Fairbrass). Tucker, Tate and another man are eventually brutally murdered in a quiet Essex wood. Into this loose story of disturbingly unpleasant people the film shows Leach in failed relationships, including his very short temper that offers up marital abuse, drug abuse and lots of grimaces. The best thing about the film is the depiction of the murders in which three separate potential scenarios are shown. A film that seems to have no real clear narrative thread as it meanders from violent set piece to the next and almost gives up on the Leach character to concentrate on the murders. It's an unpleasant film, far too gratuitous and glorifying the world it seeks to portray and the justification for the final killings is really just a way of trying to give some honour to these despicable people.

A romance about lost love and a film that asks What if?, a question amplified by the power of social media giving people the ability to reconnect. It also is suggesting, in my mind, that that is not always a good thing. Two young children live in South Korea and become friends and have a funny little date arranged by their mothers which leaves the boy thinking they are destined to be together. But then the girl's family emigrate to Canada and they lose contact. Years later and Nora (Greta Lee) is now living in New York, a budding writer, and through social media she gets in touch with Hae Sung (Tae Woo) and they begin speaking via Skype but Nora then feels the past is intruding in her future and cuts off the communication leaving Hae Sung feeling hurt and distraught. More years go by and Nora, now married to Arthur (John Magaro) , and Hae Sung reconnect again and this time he comes to the US for a visit. This opens up emotions and issues for all three of them. This is a simple and yet sophisticated relationship drama that looks at childhood crushes and their impact that can be exacerbated by the ability to connect very easily with persons from years ago and many miles away. This is a sad film in many ways and the narrative doesn't allow you to take sides as you'll see the heartbreaking issues that the three adults here struggle with. No one is being 'bad' or even unfaithful and the film opens up the debate about repressed feelings based on images and affections long since suppressed. In this it's a gentle and warm film and a love story for the modern age.

This biopic about the soul legend Aretha Franklin suffers from the multitude of clichés that dog the genre. Here these are played out in a reverential but seriously too long film that tries all too hard to be kind and amplify the singing, not a bad thing, but skimps over the traumas and demons that Franklin's life was loaded with. What was needed here was a concentration on the issue of relationships because they are the central issue that the script leans towards but the film flies through them without grounding them in any meaningful way. Firstly there's Franklin's (Jennifer Hudson) father (Forest Whitaker), a bible thumping preacher who flits between smothering affection and exploitation of his daughter's talent and indeed when she is clearly raped and made pregnant aged 12 by a family friend the trauma and crisis this must have caused is barely mentioned and we get no reaction from the father to consider. There's a slightly deeper narrative focus on Franklin's marriage and abuse by her first husband played brilliantly by Marlon Wayans in a cleverly smarmy and aggressive performance. But like music biopics must do there's the performances and Hudson does a first rate job as Franklin and the film keeps these as central even including her drunken attempt at a concert during the inevitable struggle with drink phase. Another cliché! Apparently this film was first conceived as a theatrical musical and you can see why and perhaps it would have fared better because as a film it does it's job but it's typical and underwhelming as a film. If you're a fan of this singer then there's something of interest to be found but ultimately it follows the standard narrative arc of such films.

In this study of the banality of a family living their lives in a large house and with a beautiful garden, spending their time swimming and picnicking in the gorgeous countryside, comes an oppressive soundtrack and a disquieting editing from the family laughing and conversing to sudden night scenes and strange colours. Because this is the Höss family, the father Rudolf is the commandant of Auschwitz Extermination camp and the film is set in 1943 at the height of the Holocaust. The sounds of random gunshots, screams and the all pervading thump of the industry of the camp permeate the film from over the huge, barbed wire topped wall that boundaries the family garden and from where the constant black smoke billows from the tall crematorium chimney. Director Jonathan Glazer doesn't show the atrocities that are occurring within the camp he simply shows the everyday life of this abhorrent family as they go about their lives ignoring and eventually not noticing the sounds. The narrative also follows Rodolf Höss' career as he is promoted and moved back to Berlin to plan more horror and his wife, Hedwig's (Sandra Hüller) demand that she and the family stay in their house as it's the best place to raise the children. For a film where little happens other than watching the coming and going of a family privileged under the Nazi regime who talk as if the activities on the other side of the wall are normal and only provide good things for them (there's a conversation about clothes that the family have that have been confiscated from the prisoners) this is an uncomfortable film to watch. It's a disturbing study of the Holocaust and interwoven into this banality are night scenes shot on a thermal camera giving the images a ghostly quality of a young Polish girl who hides apples at the construction sites that in the day the prisoners are forced to work in. The combination is a fascinating film that leaves a big impression even though it's a difficult and emotional one.

Quite rightly acknowledged as one of the funniest British comedy films ever made it is still surprising that it remained banned in at least one English county until 2009. With accusations of blasphemy from the christian world it garnered strong opinions but ultimately showed that the fiercest of critics didn't actually watch it or at least didn't do so carefully enough. Of course it ridicules the Sunday school bible story myths that children have had thrust down their throats for decades and that's because at its heart Python was always about exposing hypocrisy and ridiculousness in British society. Highlighting their great comedy skills not only as writers but also the six Pythons play over 40 roles between them. Graham Chapman is the titular Brian, an insecure young man growing up in Judea during the Roman occupation. It's when he joins a group of hapless insurrectionists led by Reg (John Cleese) and gets mistaken for the Messiah that his life takes a turn for the worst. Highlights are Michael Palin's ex-leper (Jesus cured him!) and Pontius Pilate, the 'big nose' fight, the stoning and of course the singing 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' by the crucified criminals. Certainly very ahead of its time with it's look at the roles of women in society and in a way predicting modern day issues over trans rights with one of Eric Idle's characters wanting to be a woman and have babies! This never fails to make me laugh and it's a film to revel in time and time again for it's sheer bravado and hilarity.

Here we have an indie American social drama with comedic overtones and a film that becomes more and more tedious as it traverses it's two hour plus runtime. There's an ironic study here of the Trump era MAGA mantra highlighting the underbelly of American society and it's weird, dysfunctional and at times reprehensible obsessions. The story follows Mikey (Simon Rex), a washed up porn film actor, charismatic and with the gift of the gab who has left Los Angeles and turned up at his estranged wife's house in a small Texas town. He inveigles his way back into her affections with lots of promises, including getting a job which proves rather difficult so he ends up selling weed for a local drug dealer. But it's when he meets the 17 year old 'Strawberry' who works in the local donut shop that Mikey's true colours are brought forth. He essentially seduces her with the intent of getting her into the porn film business and hence his return to his profession where he feels he has some standing. This story whilst at time intriguing is dragged out somewhat over a swear riddled and sex scene heavy narrative that, in my mind, loses its thematic goals. There's something seedy and unpleasant about every character here making the film seem sordid and creepy. Perhaps that's the aim but whatever the intentions it's a film with an interesting purpose and a difficult experience for the viewer.

This is a gripping and tense espionage thriller adapted from a John Le Carré novel. Like the novel on which this is based the film is not an action film but a convoluted psychological story about intelligence agents working against Islamic extremism. It's like some of the great conspiracy thrillers from the 1970s such as All The Presidents Men (1976) and it's a worthy spy film for the modern age. The great Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Günther the seedy head of a German intelligence team who using coerced informants discover a Chechen extremist has arrived in Hamburg and is seeking access to a huge sum of money hidden in a bank run by Brue (Willem Dafoe). The trail leads to civil rights lawyer Annabel (Rachel McAdams) and Günther sees an opportunity to nail the top Al Quada money man in Germany. But he's up against rival intelligence agencies including the CIA in the form of Robin Wright. What this results in is a tale of modern intelligence work and the difficulties of manoeuvring around politics, restrictive laws and the conflicting priorities of agencies and allied countries. It really is a first class film not least to see Hoffman in one of his last great performances before his sad and untimely death. His character is unpopular but sees the benefits of operating outside the law for the greater good. It's a remarkable performance. Not a film for thrill seekers but if you like a good quality thinking man thriller then look no further.

A star vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence who pushes boundaries with her onscreen persona with the graphic sex and nudity. But none of it is particularly gratuitous and it belongs in the plot that surrounds the training and deployment of a Russian 'honey trap' spy. Lawrence plays a Bolshoi ballerina, Dominika, who after a crippling leg injury is no longer able to dance and is recruited by her manipulative uncle (Matthias Schoenaerts) for training in the security services. Dominika proves adept at the role of spy and is deployed to seduce an American agent (Joel Edgerton) in order to find a mole at the heart of Russian intelligence. But the plot soon thickenes and we have a tale of double cross which has some neat twists where you're never sure who is on whose side. The film is entertaining although it's overly long and relies on lots of exposition that slows it down somewhat and ultimately spoils the film's pace and your patience. But Lawrence is excellent and the support cast are impressive including Ciarán Hinds, Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling and Joel Richardson. The film will probably be more renowned for Lawrence's nude scenes than anything else and there is a fair bit of tough to watch torture but this is a solid espionage film that is worth checking out.