Film Reviews by GI

Clint Eastwood's companion film to Flags of Our Fathers (2006) both of which tell the story of the bloody battle for the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. Whilst Flags... is a bloodier war film and tells the story from the American perspective Letters... is the arguably superior film and takes it's stance from the Japanese side. This is a tender, moving war film which focuses on General Kuribayashi played with great sensitivity by Ken Watanabe who arrives to take command of the defence of the island. The lack of resources forces him to make difficult and controversial decisions essentially forbidding his men to indulge in suicidal attacks and digging in to force the enemy to root them out bunker by bunker. The narrative also follows a young conscript, Saigo, a reluctant soldier who wants to survive and has to face as much danger from fanatical officers as he does from enemy fire. These stories are told via a narrated series of letters home giving the film a warmth and humanising the Japanese soldier as just young men thrust into the maelstrom of war. This is one of Eastwood's finest directorial efforts. A war film that will sit in the mind for sometime after watching it. It's at its heart a study of cultural difference that forces young men to war where ideology, patriotism, even fanaticism count for little. Presented in a watered down sepia colour this is actually one of the best films about the Second World War for sometime. Highly recommended viewing.

The inevitable sequel to the 2019 film and I'm afraid one that doesn't do much except continue the tired old tropes of superhero movies. Whereas the original brightened up the DC comic world and had some very funny lines this one goes for the overly long destruction of many buildings scenario. So once you get over the joke about immature teenagers having super powers the rest is just about any comic book superhero film you'll have seen before. The odd joke sticks in the mind, in particular a cheeky 'Avengers' one, but sadly the teenage Billy (Asher Angel) is more mature and less puerile than his alter ego, Shazam (Zachary Levi). The story is that a group of fostered children have been given super powers when they say 'Shazam' and they fly around rather ineptly attempting some crime fighting. But three god like women led by Hespera (Helen Mirren) turn up to cause all sorts of mayhem and......blah, blah, blah; cue loads of flying around, monsters, teenage puppy love, and lots and lots of smashing up of buildings. It's too long, too dull and lets hope that's the lot.

One of the great Ealing Studio comedies and a thoroughly delightful heist film where a meek bank employee (Alec Guinness) and a hapless and eccentric souvenir maker (Stanley Holloway) dream up a plan to steal £1million in gold bullion and smuggle it out of the country as small Eiffel Tower souvenirs. They recruit two professional criminals (Sid James & Alfie Bass) to help them but the plans go awry when some of the souvenirs are accidentally sold to some schoolgirls and they have to get them back before the police get ahold of them. It's quintessentially British, very funny, and wonderfully scripted. An absolutely lovely film and a must see for all film enthusiasts and you can have fun spotting cameos by Audrey Hepburn and Robert Shaw (blink and you'll miss them!)

A comedy that will actually appeal to adults who will get the double entendres some of which are very, very funny. Overall this is not really a children's film although I suspect most adults will see it only as they escort their young, mostly female, children to the cinema. So this is a satire about relationships, love and above all gender wrapped up in a comedy fantasy that will have you laughing out loud but perhaps a little disappointed that it fails to maintain the courage of its convictions. 'Stereotypical' Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives in Barbieland with all the other Barbies and the Kens. Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling) forever moons over her while feeling jealous every time any other Ken gets her attention. One day Barbie has thoughts about dying and is sent into the 'real' world to find the reason. Ken tags along for the ride. While Barbie is seeking the person who has lost their mojo Ken gets a flavour for male dominance and heads back to Barbieland to turn it into Kenland. There's songs, dancing, great scripted monologues about the role of women in society and film homages to savour including an early 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) one and you'll spot others too. Gosling is excellent throughout and has all the best lines and Robbie was made for the role of Barbie. The support cast are good including Will Ferrell, Rhea Perlman and Michael Cera. The film is a two hour commercial and there's no doubt Mattel will sell lots of dolls on the back of this and whilst it's bold enough to attack the meaning behind the product it was disappointing that the young girl that shuns everything Barbie represents ends up converted to the cause as it were. An interesting comedy that is better than I was expecting.

The original and still the best even after all these years the jokes still feel fresh and of course it's a total riot. The ad libbed script is brilliant and the cast are clearly having a great time especially Bill Murray who just seems to be doing whatever he wanted. The attempts to reboot the franchise have had mixed results and with those modern films it's so easy for audiences to forget this 80s classic. Three slightly barmy scientists are kicked out of their University for dabbling in paranormal research and set themselves up as a company who will sort out anyone's ghost problems. They get a call from a beautiful girl who seems to have a strange portal opened up in her refrigerator. Dank Ackroyd, Harold Ramis and Murray are a dream team and work perfectly in tune with one another. The ghost effects are funny and Sigourney Weaver as the damsel in distress goes from dowdy to ravishing allowing Murray to really push his one liners. A famous 80s film that is sadly pushed aside by an attempt at remaking/rebooting when really young audiences should be watching this classic.

A routine thriller that rattles along at a good pace, has a gutsy heroine and keeps it's run time appropriately short. Rachel McAdams plays Lisa, a hotel manager on her way home on a night flight to Miami. She is shocked to discover the handsome stranger in the seat beside her (Cillian Murphy) is actually a professional assassin who demands she call her hotel and arrange for a family to be moved to a specific room or her father (Brian Cox) will be killed. Lisa proves rather more clever than the baddie has imagined. There's some good surprises along the way and a neat chase scene and a predictable climax that works well. A good solid piece of entertainment, nothing particularly original but it does it all rather well.

A Christopher Nolan film that is extraordinary yet flawed, an epic story of the invention of the atomic bomb and its main architect, Robert J. Oppenheimer. This is an audacious film and structured in a way that occasionally reminded me of an Oliver Stone or even Francis Coppola film in its recreation and authenticity of American history and its convoluted timelines. I suppose this is a biopic but that description seems too limiting due to the sheer scope of this film. The narrative goes far beyond a story of one man's life. There is scenes of Oppenheimer's years at Cambridge University including a disturbing moment in which he considers and begins an attempt to murder a hated teacher but this is mostly a political drama centred around the race to build a new weapon before the Nazis build it, the scientific confrontations with the political power of the US including the military and the effects of using it against the Japanese. The mix of black and white scenes and the stunning colour used especially in the desert where an entire town was built to house the vast staff and their families is exceptional. The standout of the film is Cillian Murphy's towering central performance, it's surely an award winning one I would expect, as he channels Oppenheimer's enthusiasm, his doubts and his realisation at what he's given to the world. Matt Damon as the bullish General who oversees the project and Robert Downey Jr as the devious Lewis Strauss are both excellent too. The two main female characters are woefully underused but are absolutely magnetic when on screen. Florence Pugh as Oppenheimer's lover who he abandons and Emily Blunt as his wife Kitty, a complex personality that deserved more than just being in the background. There are two scenes in which Blunt is quite marvellous, one where she confronts Jason Clarke's boorish prosecutor at a hearing and another where she deliberately shuns a disloyal scientist. The main set piece is the first, risky, bomb test which Nolan delivers in an impactive way, the build up is first class cinema. An interesting, very long film from Nolan. Possibly a passion piece I would guess. It's not his best film and it may test many who will find it too character focused (and there are a lot of them) and perhaps tiring. Nonetheless this is impressive filmmaking and a film to experience at the cinema. I suspect it will lose it's power on the small screen.

A gentle British comedy from the classic period of British film and comedy in particular. It also boasts Alastair Sim, one of the greatest of British actors and a comic genius. Here he is one of four relatives who are set to inherit a large amount of money from a recently deceased uncle. But the old fella was a notorious practical joker in life and in his will he sets each of the four a task they much complete to get the cash. Sim's character is a writer of trashy novels who has to get himself imprisoned for 28 days, which will risk his engagement to his fiancé (Joyce Grenfell). Another has to rob his own bank; the cad and shameless womaniser of the bunch has to marry the first woman he meets and the fourth, a nasty snob, has to get a job as a chambermaid. Their attempts to complete these tasks sets up the films basic story arc. Whilst the various storylines are sometimes not as funny as perhaps you'd expect they do highlight different aspects of British society in the 50s, aspects of which may make the film seem very dated today. This is one of those films you'll have a nostalgia for or it will seem a bit limp. It boasts John Laurie of Dad's Army fame and an early bit part for Audrey Hepburn.

A great, gutsy adventure film. It's a really entertaining historical action adventure film with a 'clash-of-cultures theme'. There's plenty of great sword fighting and a great climactic battle. In between there's a blossoming romance that is nicely understated and some wonderful scenes of rural Japan. Tom Cruise plays a PTSD suffering Army Captain in the late 1870s who is haunted by the massacres he participated in against the Indians. Despite being a drunk he's recruited by the Japanese Government to train their virgin army who are being prepared to suppress rebels who are against the modernisation of the country. But captured at the first battle he soon learns he may be on the wrong side. Ken Watanabe, in his first American film, is the samurai leader who teaches Cruise's drunk soldier the meaning of life. The narrative has been told oft times before, Dances With Wolves (1990) for instance, but this film goes for pure entertainment with some neat Kurosawa and John Ford homages thrown in for good measure (Billy Connolly in a small role channels his Victor McLaglen Irish Sergeant Major homage rather nicely). A story of heroism and honour and well worth a rewatch if you haven't seen it in sometime.

This is an atmospheric pagan horror film that excels at creating a tense, doom laden feel but lacks a little narrative focus. This is made up for by the creative use of sound and a first class performance from Tom Hughes as a lonely, guilt driven man who maybe descending into madness. He plays Eric, who along with his dog, takes a job as a shepherd on an isolated storm tossed Scottish island. He's grieving for the death of his wife, whose death maybe more convoluted than at first thought. Taken to the island by a one-eyed local played by Kate Dickie, who represents the voice of his fears and conscience as he soon begins to have visions of a strange ghoulish shadow and strange things happen in the run down cottage he inhabits. The slow build tension builds to an unravelling of the shepherd's past with a mix of great visuals of the island and the use of sudden strange sounds. There's some good effects too in what is a decent ghost story that keeps you hooked.

I suppose you could argue this is Scream 5. It's an interesting debate as to whether this is a further sequel that stretched back to the 1996 original or is it a reboot for a further franchise? It has been referred to as a "requel" or in other words a sort of hybrid between the two. Really though it's a new Scream film for a new generation and unlike the rebooted Halloween series this one is surprisingly playful and entertaining and continues the theme of a movie within a movie type of story where the killer kills according to the rules of slasher/horror films. This film really does have fun with the audience utilising all the tropes of the genre in a very unsubtle and obvious way but by doing so makes the film tongue in cheek and quite a joy at times. Combining all this with the gory scenes just makes for a fun viewing experience. The two directors, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, go out of their way to homage Wes Craven's legacy of the first four films whilst enjoying a new vision for the film. The story is simple enough. The 'GhostFace' killer is back in the small town of Woodsboro. His first attack on a young girl brings her sister and boyfriend to help her which cues more killings and the inevitable mystery as to who it is. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette return to create a neat link to the original and despite myself I found this to be enjoyable and good fun.

This is another classic 1970s melodrama that formed part of the New Wave in Hollywood and looked with a condemning eye at the 'American Dream' and found it wanting. It's an outstanding film that can be viewed as a true auteur film under the directorship of Peter Bogdanovich, a director from the film school generation that spawned Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and others. This is the story of a dying town in Texas and a lost way of life. It sets up the time honoured confrontation between a generation contented with their lot and a newer one who are not. The sexual awakening and coming of age narrative identifies that despite the conflicts of society the emotions and passions of people remains the same. Set in 1951 in the dusty town of Anarene Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) live a bored life centred on the local cinema and pool hall run by Sam (Ben Johnson). The boys all boast and yet fret about sex and girlfriends while the local girls especially Jacy (Cybill Shepherd) worry about pregnancy, being virgins and their reputations. In this mix is played out a heady cocktail of human passions of guilt, obsession and love. This is a remarkable film that garnered Academy Awards for Hollywood stalwart Johnson and for Cloris Leachman as the wife of the school sports coach with whom Sonny has a complicated affair; both well deserved. This is a key American film of the 70s that resonates into the modern day, it's a must see and one that deserves a modern audience.

Flawless, timeless and an absolute classic from the Ealing Studios. A simply wonderful black comedy with Alec Guinness demonstrating his sheer brilliance of comic timing and characterisation. Made at the height of Britains golden film production era and from a studio that produced so many classic comedies as well as other films. Set in London in the aftermath of the Second World War when much of the war damage was very evident there's a great nostalgia to be felt in watching these wonderful films, sadly they are not seen enough nowadays and deserve a modern audience to discover just how great they are. A dotty old lady, Mrs Wilberforce (Katie Johnson), lives alone in a lopsided house near the railway. She takes in a new lodger, Professor Marcus (Guinness), who she believes is a musician along with his four friends. But they are a criminal gang planning an armed robbery and when she rumbles them they decide they'll have to kill her but it turns out to be harder to do than they thought. With a support cast that includes Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Cecil Parker and Jack Warner this remains a delight. Funny, dark and simply perfect. If you've never seen this then it's an absolute must.

This prequel to X (2022) is a better film. I was underwhelmed by X and whilst its homage to 70s horror was evident and fun it was a basic slasher film. However Pearl is a far more interesting and entertaining film for one specific reason and that's the performance of Mia Goth as the title character. In a narrative that is fairly average in that it's a 'birth of the killer' story she makes this film highly watchable as she combines a sort of earthy Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz with a Jack Torrance from The Shining. It's 1918 and the First World War is coming to an end. Pearl is an 18 year old girl living and working on her parents farm. Her husband is still overseas in the army and Pearl resents the confines of her life dominated by her German immigrant and very devout mother (Tandi Wright) and she dreams of escape and becoming a dancer. A casual affair followed by rejection of a local man pushes Pearl over the edge into a psychopathic rage. Her descent into this is hinted at from the early stages of the film almost like a fuse is lit and we watch her gradually push away any restraints. There is gore and when it comes it's a shock as the film resists too much for quite awhile. This is a more accomplished and interesting film than its predecessor and Goth's grandiose performance is captivating. She deserves an award for the 8 minute horrific monologue she delivers and the forced facial smile she delivers during the closing credits. An actress that dominates this film and raises it above its otherwise routine narrative. If like me you didn't rate X that highly you maybe surprised by this film, it's rather good.

It might seem strange today to think that the films that Jack Nicholson made from the late 60s to the mid 70s are some of the best of American cinema of that period. He personified a sort of fractured machismo of the American male and The Last Detail is one of the best examples. It's the story of three US Navy sailors, two of them, played by Jack Nicholson and Otis Young, are lifers who have grown cynical as to why they joined the navy and resent the task they are given to take the third, Randy Quaid, across the country to jail. Their plan is to drop him off as quickly as possible and then use the remaining time getting drunk before reporting back. But they soon bond with the naïve youngster who has been given a harsh sentence for a petty crime and decide to show him a good time before prison. The film has a bleak sense of humour and shines a dark light on masculinity and American values. The perpetual cold of winter signifies the bleakness of the 'American Dream' revealing an America that is cynical, depraved and dominated by a class structured 'establishment'. The two main characters hate it but embrace whatever it can provide. It's a very sharp condemnation of a society. Ahead of its time it holds up very well today and is arguably one of the great American films of the 70s. It most certainly is a film that every film fan must see.