Film Reviews by GI

The eccentricity of director Wes Anderson's films is never better exemplified than with this hilariously funny and thoroughly delightful one. Anderson's love of art litters through this and even if you neither care nor worry about spotting the many references it's that love that directs the style of this film. In a way this is a sort of 1930s picture postcard depiction with influences of silent cinema and early animation methods yet visually exceptional film. At times it's like a child pop up picture book and other times a dark mystery novel all rolled together. Set in a fictional Eastern European country at a huge, prestigious hotel starting in 1968 when an author (Jude Law) meets the hotel's owner (F. Murray Abraham) who, over dinner, tells the story of his early employment at the hotel in the 1930s when it was a magnificent and famous place. The main part of the film is how he is befriended by the influential concierge, M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) who runs the hotel with efficiency and discipline but becomes embroiled in the death of a dowager (Tilda Swinton), imprisoned for murder and escapes to clear his name. The plot surrounds a valuable painting and there are Agatha Christie influences throughout. It's the fact that the film is one giant gag reel, from the script to the visuals this is just a treat and if your comedic tastes stretch to the slightly off-the-wall then this is a genuine treat. I've seen this many times and still spot something new and highly funny every time. Many of the performances are exaggerated and vaudevillian and the cast list is impressive which shows the keenness that actors have to work with Anderson. Here you will Tom Wilkinson, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan and Léa Seydoux and more. And they are all note perfect throughout. A simply marvellous and original film, a genuine piece of cinematic wonderment.

This is the sort of film that would have been straight-to-video a few years back, it's based on a graphic novel and is essentially a hyper violent load of tosh. A pity because when you have an actor of the gravitas and versatility of Mads Mikkelsen there's an opportunity to make something far better than this. Here he plays Duncan, an expert assassin who works for a shady company run by a grotesque clown named Blut (Matt Lucas). Duncan is due to retire, has invested wisely and is due to receive a large pay out for his years of service. Except Blut doesn't want to pay and sends his young assassins to bump Duncan off. And yes of course that's a big mistake. The subplot involving Duncan's neighbour is pointless. There's a lot of far better films about hitmen retiring and finding themselves the target. Here we have a film that just wants to show gratuitous and nasty violence for the sake of it. The film rips from loads of other films and it looks like it's trying to cash in on the John Wick success. Matt Lucas is thoroughly ridiculous, not only in his casting but in characterisation too, an over-the-top Bondian villain who reminded me of Clint Eastwood's boss in The Eiger Sanction (1975). There's nothing worth your time here unless you're into prolonged torture scenes and graphic sex for graphic sex' sake. A puerile film.

This is an amiable and very watchable historical drama mostly due to the screen chemistry of Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones who are reunited after appearing together in The Theory Of Everything (2014). A fictional account of scientist James Glaisher's (Redmayne) attempts to prove aspects of weather predictability. He's a true character although Jones plays the completely fictional one of Amelia Rennes, a balloonist and carnival performer. Together they go on a ballon trip to try and go higher than ever before so Glassier can make various studies. Of course they nearly die and the bulk of the film is there surviving the hazardous ascent having to face extreme cold and storms. There's some beautiful visuals on show here and the film has some flashbacks which seem to be to flesh out the running time as they count to little. There's a good support cast that is mostly underused including Robert Glenister, blink and you'll miss him Tim McInnerny, Himesh Patel and Tom Courtney. As I said it's a very watchable film with some tense moments so worth checking out.

Had this been Clint Eastwood's final screen role it might have been a fitting end to his acting career and the screen persona that he has become known for. He has of course appeared in films since and yet this still seems to be a concluding chapter in some aspect of his cinema appearances. It was at one tome reported this was to have been a final 'Dirty Harry' film and I don't know if that was ever the case but here Eastwood has the gravelly voice and hard bitten crustiness of several of his previous characters including Harry Callahan or Gunnery Sgt Highway or even Ben Shockley. Here he plays Walt, recently widowed, grumpy and bigoted, a Korean War veteran who decries the changes to American society he sees around him including the influx of immigrant families into his neighbourhood. In many ways he epitomises the generation of older people who struggle with multiculturalism and the attitudes of younger generations who they see as lacking moral fibre and respect. So Walt is horrified when an asian family move into the house next door to him and he is less than surprised when the young son Thao (Bee Vang) attempts one night to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino car. But forced by his family to make amends Thao has to do chores for Walt and soon they bond with Walt finding a relationship he has never had with his own two sons. When Thao and his sister are harassed and assaulted by a local street gang Walt decides to act. The set up is therefore for a revenge/vigilante narrative but Eastwood, as director, defies expectations and the film concludes in a way that plays against type. There's conflicting issues at play here and perhaps the bigotry of Walt is overplayed making his actions more contrasting than they needed to be. Eastwood also plays with issues of the role of the church in American society, in this case the Catholic Church, but Walt's initial cynicism is overcome in a way that jars with the character and story arc and I'm unconvinced this works. In any event whichever way the film is viewed as either a scrutiny of generational bias and bigotry or a story of redemption for past sins it's an interesting film in Eastwood's canon.

An amiable comedy adventure that will appeal to anyone just wanting a film that requires no real thought but it's really just a lacklustre and vague remake of Romancing The Stone (1984) with the obvious influences from the Indiana Jones series. Indeed Sandra Bullock is playing a hybrid of Kathleen Turner from Romancing... and Kate Capshaw from Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom (1984). She's a bored novelist of romance adventure stories forced onto a book tour with the hapless male model, Alan (Channing Tatum) who plays her books hero on the covers. When she's kidnapped by an über rich maniac (Daniel Radcliffe) who thinks she can help find a lost city and its treasure on a remote island Alan sets off to rescue her. The film is not without its comic moments but overall it's all pretty tame with no real zest to it. the main joke seems to be Bullock navigating through the jungle in a spangly, pink jumpsuit. Radcliffe is a poor villain and a cameo from Brad Pitt lifts the thing only a tad although a mid end credit sequence is unfunny and pointless

Director Don Siegel, in many ways, pioneered the maverick cop movie in the 60s and 70s, bringing western stars into the city in what is basically a western structured narrative. Coogan's Bluff (1968) even blurred the two genres more closely and with Clint Eastwood moving on from that to Dirty Harry (1971). Many nominally western stars were lured to the cop genre as a result of the success of these films, even John Wayne had a go!. Here Richard Widmark plays the loose cannon cop, Dan Madigan, known for rule breaking who along with his partner, Rocco (Harry Guardino), makes a hash of an arrest letting the bad guy escape with their guns. The by-the-book Commissioner (Henry Fonda) is less than happy but gives the two detectives 72 hours to get their man. That's the basis of the story and it's a pretty straight forward one in truth and you always know they will get him by the end. But what sets this film apart is the exposure of the New York police life, the depictions and references to casual sex (even with minors), drug taking, corruption, marital strife and infidelities was all ahead of its time. There's little violence on show here and unlike the films mentioned above this is not a story of men born in the wrong time or that violence is the only way to do the job properly, this is a procedural tale designed to show the realities of police life and cops as flawed characters, there are no heroes here. Shot on the streets of New York with all its detritus and seediness on show it certainly was seen as a shocker in 1968. There are more gritty films to emerge in the 70s, for example Serpico (1973), that really dug down into the murky, dirty world of policing but Madigan is a film that started a trend. It remains an interesting example of the police thriller from this time.

Every time I watch this I am enthralled as just how funny and clever it is. As a romantic comedy it tops the tree in that it's also a serious scrutiny of middle class America in the 1960s and I'm sure will resonate today in many of its themes around expectation. Dustin Hoffman is perfect casting, in his first screen role, as the naïve young man, Ben, the son of wealthy parents who returns home after graduating as a top student. He's confused about the future especially being surrounded by his parents businessmen friends who offer him all kinds of options in which Ben sees he will be trapped and unhappy. Part out of boredom he allows himself to be seduced by his father's business partner's wife, Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft). Mrs Robinson is the lost soul of the narrative, a woman who gave up her dreams for the security of wealth and regrets it. Their affair continues unabated despite Ben hating himself for engaging in it but it's the arrival of the Robinson's daughter, Elaine (Katherine Ross) that finally allows Ben to see what he wants. With the fantastic songs by Simon & Garfunkel and the really sharp direction by Mike Nichols this is a real classic of modern cinema, it captures the essence of all powerful true love as a human experience and reveals that social acceptance and success comes at a price. It condemns the notion that each generation expects the next to follow their lead, this was a key challenge in the mid 60s and here was a film that brilliantly voiced the views of thousands of the young generation. Above all else this is hilariously funny, with clever camera work (watch the scene where Ben is running and seems to never get where he's going) and it's a joy to watch this each time. A film every cinephile should make sure they see.

A slow and complex film perhaps not unsurprising from Michelangelo Antonioni, a much heralded director although being a passionate lover of genre cinema I find his films atmospheric but tedious. This is no exception in a story that follows a film director (Tomas Milian) who after his wife leaves him embarks on a clunky relationship with a young woman (Daniela Silvario), who he thinks of as a bit snooty but when he receives threats to stop the relationship he is too stubborn to do so. Eventually she leaves him and he spends time mooning after her until he meets another young actress. I think that sort of sums the narrative up. There's some raunchy, for the time, sex that isn't particularly romantic in its depiction. The film did little for me, it's overly long, at times tiresome and I didn't get it.

A plodding and at times senseless police procedural thriller that is somewhat pretentious and certainly the director, John Lee Hancock, can't make up his mind whether he's making a genre mystery/serial killer story or some deep and profound arthouse piece. Denzil Washington tries his best with the material but you can sort of tell he's struggling at times. Rami Malek is woefully miscast here or his range is too limited and Jared Leto plays another dark twisted character in his usual over exaggerated way, he looks the part but also slips into parody as a Hammer Horror Rasputin type. Washington is a small town and tired old cop sent to LA to collect some evidence but finds he gets embroiled in a case involving the ritualistic murder of prostitutes. It seems he was once a big detective in LA but left when a case, possibly linked with this latest one, went haywire. Malek is the bright young detective working the case who kowtows to the experienced older man whose mantra is that it's all in the little things where the case gets solved. Leto is the Charles Mansonesque suspect. The plot goes all over the shop, there's lots of talking and the cops do some startlingly stupid things. It's a dull film really and disappointment.

Arguably Martin Scorsese's best film and a landmark one setting a high standard as the 1990s began and completely reimagining the gangster film. Even the Godfather trilogy had an air of romanticism in it's depiction of the mafia possibly owing to the historical vision of the 40s and 50s but Goodfellas, mostly set in the 60s and 70s sets a scene of extreme violence with uncouth characters who covet only the power to do exactly what they want without constraint. They have no style, in fact they are simply materialistic with no idea that they indulge themselves with ugliness. This stretches to their marital relationships and homes and even to the loyalty of friendship they hold so dear and which in this film is utterly betrayed and exposed as false. Based on true events this is the story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). It's a fairly straight forward rise and fall story that follows Henry from a young man who is seduced by the life of crime when he joins the 'family' of Paulie (Paul Sorvino in a cold, frightening performance). His rise to loyal gangster with the help of two psychopaths, Jimmy (Robert De Niro) and Tommy (Joe Pesci in a defining and memorable role) and his marriage to Karen (Lorraine Bracco), an innocent who is also seduced by the gangster life but who has to accept the loss of her morals as a consequence. It's ultimately all about greed which overcomes all moral boundaries in these characters who achieve it through bloody murder. The violence is shocking, it's possibly Scorsese's most violent film and it gives the film an emotional power. Scores uses his camera in some eloquent ways to tell his story including a now famous tracking shot and bringing the background closer to simulate the closing in of the world against these criminals. There are no heroes here and you cannot root for anyone, not least Henry, who eventually succumbs to the ultimate humiliation to save his own skin. Scorsese has Henry break the fourth wall to talk direct to the viewer as he commits the final betrayal. This is a key film, a powerful one and if you've never seen this it will make you gasp on occasion but it's one of the best of American crime films of the past thirty years.

I'm assuming this is written for nine year olds and presumably by them too! Another video game tie-in movie that is a load of tosh. It has had some money invested in it but the whole thing from clunky, teeth grindingly bad script to the obvious rip-off from Game of Thrones to LOTR via Alien is an example of how money could be better spent. Director Paul W.S. Anderson clearly needing to put his wife into something after the Resident vil franchise petered out so we now have this rubbish. A land of monsters (well three or four) exists alongside the real world and a strange storm generated by a tower (think Mordor and you'll get it) opens up a gateway into which gets sucked Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her team of cocky but super hard Rangers. They all get killed quick enough except the intrepid and gutsy Artemis who teams up with a local warrior (Tony Jaa) but not before they beat each other to a pulp for what seems like three hours. They then fight some monsters....yawn....and head for the strange tower in the distance before bumping into a weird looking Ron Perlman, who must need his swimming pool repaired or something....what was he thinking? So we have a sort of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island meets The Lost World meets Mirkwood with a GoT dragon flying around, and big swords and machine guns. This is awful.

An interesting film that mostly ignores the surface drama of war to delve into the cultural conflicts and character attractions of individuals thrust together in a Japanese POW camp. Set in 1942 it deals with the tensions between the young, traditional and idealistic camp commandant, Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto) and a strange British officer, Jack Celliers (David Bowie) who refuses to kowtow to the regime that the Japanese insist upon. In the middle and attempting to navigate a way for all is Colonel Lawrence (Tom Conti) who attempts to avoid bloodshed by a policy of appeasement. There is the hint of sexual attraction between Celliers and Yanoi which is left for the viewer to interpret and it's easy to see why Bowie was both attracted to the part and ideal for it as he portrays Celliers as a man of mystery who is beautiful and challenging. In many ways he's channeling a similar version of the upper class British officer that Peter O'Toole encapsulated in Lawrence Of Arabia (1962). It's well acted throughout and includes an early dramatic performance by Takeshi Kitano as the tough camp guard, Hara. This garnered several awards particularly in Japan where it was celebrated and it has a famous score by its star Sakamoto. This is not a POW narrative that fits easily into the expected format and it has no action adventure plot like The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) for example, so in that sense it is unique and remains an interesting study of a conflict of cultures.

The original 1934 novel by James Hilton has been adapted for film and TV on several occasions and this version is probably the best. It is certainly the best at creating the sense of nostalgia for a past age of England, a time of class perpetuated by the unique public boarding school traditions. Basically this is a period drama as an elderly schoolteacher at a prestigious English public school remembers his sixty three years as a Latin master. Beginning in 1870 this is the story of Chipping, a painful shy and socially inept young man who arrives at Brookfield School as a new teacher and struggles with the traditions which he soon embraces. Public School stories are found throughout British cinema from Tom Brown's Schooldays (1940, 1951 & others) to The Happiest Days Of Your Life (1950) as examples. Chipping's life involves his meeting his beautiful wife, Katherine (Greer Garson - in her first role and academy award nominated) whilst on holiday in Austria with his German friend and colleague. The latter friendship being particularly relevant later when the First World War begins. 'Chips' as he becomes affectionately known suffers disappointment, love and tragedy before he becomes the Headmaster at the school when the war has killed teachers and pupils alike. It's a story that revels in the class traditions that were an intricate part of society at the turn of the twentieth century but it's old in a warm and affectionate way for those times even though they are mired by heartbreak and huge loss. Robert Donat carries off the central role aging the 63 years as it progresses from a young, handsome to a frail but sharp witted old statesman like seer of the school. It's a quite lovely film and worth seeking out for it's very effective and balanced look at those times.

If there's one genre that you'd think would evade Ridley Scott it's the romcom. His primary dedication to the visual doesn't lend itself to a genre that relies on character and script. I'll admit that I have a fondness for this film. Yes it's clumsy in the comedy, in the development of the romance and in it's real theme of redemption and Russell Crowe maybe miscast but in there is a charm that gives this film a warm hearted resonance long after it's over. That's possibly because Scott's prowess for the visual makes the south of France such a romantic, balmy, beautiful place that everyone watching it wants to pack their bags and head off to live in a Chateau with a vineyard preferably into the arms of Marion Cotillard too. Actually Crowe isn't bad here as the money obsessed London commodity broker who revels in his ability to make millions everyday. He's a shallow man with a keen eye for a beautiful woman and so he resents it when he has to head off to Provence to sort out his recently deceased Uncle Henry's estate; an old, slightly rundown Chateau and a vineyard that makes awful wine. Determined to sell it as soon as possible he faces obstacles from the resident worker and his wife, from a young American girl (Abbie Cornish) who turns up claiming to be Henry's illegitimate daughter and his falling for a local waitress (Cotillard). It's all fairly predictable and is more about rediscovering the important things of life rather than money and materialism or though inheriting a huge chateau helps! Overall this is a nice, gentle romantic film that leaves a lovely feeling and isn't trying to be anything other than what you see. And it has Albert Finney as Uncle Henry.

A film that is a success story all round, from the excellent and first time script by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to the unpretentious direction by Gus Van Sant to the award winning performance of Robin Williams. This heart warming drama remains a firm favourite with many and it never ceases to impact even after several times of seeing it. It's actually a very clever story too and one that doesn't fall into the trap of overplaying it's central plot device but uses it to expose the real focus of the film, which is the pain of an abused young man struggling to fit in the world. Will (Damon) is a janitor at the prestigious M.I.T. school at Harvard University. His life revolves around hanging with his best friend (Ben Affleck), drinking and fighting. But he happens to be a mathematical genius, a gift that comes naturally and when he writes the solution to a complex problem on a blackboard at work he comes to the attention of a top professor (Stellan Skarsgård) who sees huge potential in him. But being on parole for assault Will must attend counselling sessions. He resists those and the efforts of everyone to help him change the course of his life. He harbours deep seated pain from his past that only Sean, the counsellor (Williams), understands. The essence of the story is in the relationship between Will and Sean, a father & son dynamic, that is nurtured only very carefully and skilfully by Sean who harnesses his own demons. When Will meets and falls for Skylar (Minnie Driver) he begins to see what Sean is trying to do for him. It's a touching film with all the key performances being exemplary. Williams is the stand out here though in a film where he puts aside his comedy for a serious and moving role for which he rightly won awards. It's his best and most memorable film and he is the rock that the whole narrative revolves around. The narrative only uses the genius of Will to expose the pain he hides and to save him from his past. This is a clever aspect of the story and whilst there are elements of the class differences here especially seen when a Harvard student attempts to embarrass Will and his friends and finds that this lowly janitor knows more than he does, it's not a film that dwells on this. It has an uplifting theme that one should use one's talents whatever they maybe to gain life's full potential. A quite wonderful film and one to check out again if it's been awhile since you've seen it.