Film Reviews by GI

A great social comedy/drama that cleverly manages to be very funny whilst also dealing with some very serious issues including racism, forced child circumcision, domestic violence, arranged marriage and homophobia. That sounds quite a list but as this is a story of a mixed race family in early 1970s Salford the issues are treated as everyday occurrences and in some cases just an accepted part of their lives. For instance the racism elements here are the continual use of racist name calling that pervades society and was the norm in 70s Britain. This is essentially a clash of cultures narrative with family patriarch George Khan (Om Puri), a Pakistani immigrant, who has married an English woman, Ella (Linda Bassett) and they've had seven children. The couple have built a small fish and chips shop business but live in a small terraced house with no bathroom or inside toilet, a common thing in England at this time. George expects his children and his wife to be obedient to him but the issue is the children are fully English and reject his control. This leads to some serious problems in the family as Ella has to try and keep her family together whilst restraining George from losing control as he struggles with the loss of status in the local Pakistani community. His attempts to marry his sons to the daughters of other families is met with failure, a major catastrophe for him personally. The children who range is age from mid 20s to the youngest of 10 are constantly on their guard against their father finding out the little ways they revolt against his wishes. There are laugh out loud moments but also some very serious scenes as George more and more loses his control. This is a very thoughtful and clever film and viewed today it really hits home with the frightening impact of the cultural clash and the rejection of religious dominance over the lives of young anglicised children of immigrants. This is often a film billed as comedy, and in many ways it is yet it's also a serious family drama. It's definitely a film to revisit if its been awhile since you've seen it.

Shot entirely on smartphones this indie horror road movie is a bit of a chore. Admittedly it has a very good soundtrack, which occasionally drowns the actors, but it lacks a coherent script and as much of the film is of the two lead actors interacting together in their car it soon becomes tiresome. With the odd moment that makes you sit up and take notice the ending is inconclusive and a let down. Leo (Joey Millin), a man with his own family problems, is implored by his mother to find his estranged drug addict sister, Virginia (Madison West). he soon does and suspects she has binged on drugs but she claims she's clean but a strange group that helped her have fused her feelings and thoughts with a man who she must find. The siblings go on a chatty road trip in search of him. There's a couple of incidents on the way but for the most part this is the two catching up, arguing, laughing etc etc. It failed to interest me even when the climax threatened to.

A great British war film that blends history, drama and character into two intertwining stories that emulate the story of the British defeat at Dunkirk in 1940 and which has gained a legendary status for its story of British pluck in the face of dire events. John Mills plays a cynical British army corporal, Tubby, who is in France as the German advance begins. He and his small band of troops get separated from the main body and have to navigate their way across enemy territory to the evacuation area on the beaches of Dunkirk. It's a dangerous journey and Tubby finds leadership skills he didn't know he had. The second story arc, wonderfully edited together with the first, is about the legendary 'small boats' of ordinary people who took the risk to head over to France to help lift the troops from the beach under heavy shellfire and aerial bombardment. This story is told through two men who have slightly different views on the tragic affair, Richard Attenborough, a local businessman who is profiting from army contracts, and who doesn't really want to get involved and Bernard Lee, a journalist, who feels it's his duty to help even though he recognises the situation is a mess. These two eventually go across in their pleasure boats and get caught up in the battle and meet up with Tubby and his soldiers. The film is gripping and very realistic with tough, sometimes despairingly sad scenes of war including the strafing of refugee columns and the random bombing of the beaches where thousands of soldiers lie waiting escape. Director Leslie Norman seamlessly weaves actual documentary footage into the shot scenes ensuring the war is depicted in all its horrors. For its time this is gritty and compelling stuff made great by the first class acting, direction and editing. The recreated scenes of the troops queuing on the beaches are identical to photographs of the real event. Ok it has elements of flag waving and the Germans are portrayed as the evil hun whose actions drive everyone to want to murder them but this is fairly typical of the British war films of the 50s. This particular film is an example of British cinema at its height and viewed today it manages to convey a sense of nostalgia for the times. It's a great film and one well worth seeking out, you maybe surprised just how good it is.

The interesting thing about the two Venom films is the basic use of body horror in a family oriented comic book film. This sequel is more of the same as the 2018 first film, with the bonus of Tom Hardy really working hard to get something going in what is really another tired MCU film. They are certainly pushing the boundaries of patience at times with more and more obscure characters that don't really push the genre anywhere new. Here Hardy's lovelorn journalist Eddie is still trying to come to terms with the creature, Venom, that he now has integrated with. Their banter is the comedy of the film as they act as a sort of Odd Couple, best of pals but consistently frustrated with one another. Eddie is distraught that his ex girlfriend (Michelle Williams) is engaged to another but when he gets the chance to interview the a notorious serial killer his career may be on the up. Unfortunately the killer (Woody Harrelson) gets infected with a Venom of his own, and carnage results. There's a committed support cast including Stephen Graham as a cop, and it looks like he'll be important in the next in the series. Overall this is nothing new, another comic book film that is ok but nothing special.

Playing a fictionalised version of himself Paul Hogan is fed up with always being called Mr Dundee and badgered by movie executives to make another Crocodile Dundee film. Living in Los Angeles this comedy has Hogan content to live quietly but unable to escape the film legacy for which he's most known and offered a knighthood by the Queen is told by his agent to stay out of trouble. This obviously cues him getting into lots of trouble and some of the incidences are funny and others fall resoundingly flat. Essentially the joke is that Hogan is an old man unable to understand the modern world, but its when the film veers into political issues that it fails miserably including where he rejects the suggestion of Will Smith playing his son in a new Dundee film stating "because he's black"! He's then berated for saying that. The attempt to highlight a world of woke around the racism issue is a glaring error. There's a few celebs cameo including John Cleese, Chevy Chase and Olivia Newton John who are either big mates with Hogan or needed the money, probably both. There are others that pop up too but mostly the film is one of those old person struggling with life comedies that isn't that funny. This is a silly film that has the odd moment but overall it's one to avoid.

An interesting British drama about passion and jealousy marked by the two outstanding lead actors. John Mills plays lonely and miserly Parker, a widowed farmer who likes his drink a little too much and lives in borderline squalor on his large but rundown farm in the West Country of England. Carol White plays local girl, Dulcima, who takes pity on Parker one day and helps him to clean his house. She's the eldest of a large family and put upon by her parents and she dreams of a better life. When she discovers Parker has hordes of cash she begins to manipulate him including with sex to get her hands on it. But she's unprepared for the deep passions she awakens in the elderly farmer. White is a first class actor, often forgotten nowadays, as her career was short due to her own personal problems that resulted in an early death, partnered here along with the great John Mills lifts this drama into a story of passions that threaten to engulf all around them. The film captures the age where England still struggled with the shadow of the Second World War right into the 60s and 70s especially in remote rural communities where a patriarchal lifestyle was the norm. Dulcima represents the awakening of women to a better life than one of drudgery as wife and housekeeper. In the film Dulcima resists the marriage proposal of Parker but not totally, she's torn between the safety of his wealth and the dream of escape to a better life. She comes to life when she buys new clothes for herself almost reaching the mystical world of which she dreams. In that sense this is a most interesting social study and a film that has been mostly forgotten. It's well worth seeking out.

Director Ridley Scott's film debut and a remarkable, astonishingly beautiful one too. Famed, even possibly notorious, for his dedication to the visual presentation of his films this is a film highly detailed in every scene and the soft focus hues create a landscape of autumnal beauty that is rarely matched. The mise en scene throughout is fantastic with every scene carefully and meticulously constructed like a classical painting. Set in the early 19th century this tells the tale of two officers in Napoleon's army, D'Hubert (Keith Carradine) and Feraud (Harvey Keitel). When the fiery Feraud takes offence at D'Hubert for delivering a message from their superior he insists they fight a duel. This starts a lifelong animosity between them which is realised through a series of duels. Each becomes more intense and violent as the years go by until Napoleon is eventually deposed and D'Hubert retires to a quiet life in the country but Feraud soon returns. As a period drama this is a film that exudes a romantic time tinged with constant war, a story of honour, obsession and love. It marked Scott as a filmmaker of great skill and unique style and in many ways it's a film that paved the way for his later classic films, especially in the amazing detail applied. The support cast are excellent and include Albert Finney, Edward Fix, Diana Quick and Cristina Raines. Highly original, great story and wonderfully directed this is a masterpiece.

Director Walter Hill made a series of very cool films in the 70s and 80s, many have reached cult status and viewed today they exude a European arthouse vibe even though they're deeply rooted in traditional American genres. Once described by Quentin Tarantino as one of the coolest movies ever made The Driver is a superb example of Hill's film style. Sharply edited, low on exposition, little if any character background, fast paced action and a tight plot. Written by Hill with Steve McQueen in mind (he turned it down) this stars Ryan O'Neal, not an actor normally associated with tough action cinema, as the titular Driver (all the characters are unnamed in the film and referred in the credits by their role), a professional getaway driver for hire. He has a fixed fee, only works with top level criminals and accepts no mistakes. He's also the obsession of Bruce Dern's Detective, who will do anything to catch his man even setting up a bank job and ensuring the Driver is hired. It's a cat and mouse game with the story concerned with who is the cleverest. Great chases, gutsy action and well directed this is a fantastic 70s crime film, one of Hill's smaller but better for it films and worth seeking out if you've never seen it. Dern is great as the very unpleasant cop and it's the first American film role of Isabelle Adjani, who later regretted her involvement. A major influence on Drive (2011).

First class crime thriller, gritty, stylish and really quite astonishing as it takes the genre into unexpected directions. Ryan Gosling, in one of his finest performances, is the Driver (he has no character name in the film). By day he's a stunt driver on film productions and a mechanic for Shannon (Bryan Cranston) who is also an arranger for the Driver's work at night where he is a coolly professional getaway driver for hire. Despite being taciturn and cautious he befriends his neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her little boy and their feelings for one another slowly begin to grow until her husband (Oscar Isaac) returns home from prison. He is in debt to some very nasty bad guys and is ordered to commit a robbery for them. The Driver agrees to help him but it all goes awry forcing the Driver to take action. The film has all the hallmarks of a Michael Mann film, ultra cool nighttime scenes of LA, close up camera angles and quick and realistic violence. The support cast are impeccable and include Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks. Russ Tamblyn has a cameo too. As the baby faced yet frighteningly tough Driver Gosling is a fresh take on the American anti-hero that litters the crime and western genres, and in many ways he reminded me of the stranger in High Plains Drifter (1973) and I'm sure the influence of Ryan O'Neal's character in The Driver (1978) is behind this film. The set pieces are exciting and realistic including a car chase sequence. This is a superb film and Gosling is spot on casting. A must see film.

Big budget, hi octane and full on action doesn't always make for a satisfying experience. Here the Russo Brothers attach their Avengers credentials to a Mission Impossible/Michael Bay style action fest that ultimately feels very silly. Ryan Gosling plays a CIA assassin recruited from prison by Billy Bob Thornton who becomes his surrogate father and becomes an anonymous agent. Known only as Sierra Six he globe trots killing for the CIA until he discovers there's some rogue management in the agency and he has the evidence in a microchip which acts as the film's MacGuffin. He then finds himself hunted by psychopath agent and torture expert Lloyd, played with obvious relish by Chris Evans. This cues set piece after set piece of chases, fights, shooting as Gosling channels his JohnWick/Ethan Hunt/Jason Bourne/James Bond hybrid personality. The trouble is it all feels a little flat and uninspiring and everything has been done before and I have to say better. Ana de Armas struggles with the limited role she's given, a shame as she showed what she's capable of in No Time To Die (2021) in a much smaller role. You'll end up laughing at much of it and the very clichéd ending as Evans and Gosling go mano a mano is a damp squib and a tired way to end a film like this. It's difficult to see where this is pitched, it's probably a teenage film as its too violent for kids and too daft for adults. Disappointing it certainly is and I'm guessing a franchise is in the offing.

Hammer Films third in its Dracula series yet the second to star Christopher Lee as the titular Count (the second film Brides of Dracula made in 1960 didn't feature Dracula himself). It's a typical Hammer horror release renowned for it's blood and cleavages all of which are in abundance here although apparently the British censor insisted on cuts. Tame by todays standards and very studio set bound although this has some outside scenes. Whilst essentially a gothic tale it's a quite bright and colourful film and Dracula runs about with his swirling black and red cape. The camera turns away from anything too gory or salacious making the whole thing almost funny. Lee, a great actor, has little to do, he doesn't appear for at least 45 minutes and has no lines apart from the odd hiss and his eventual demise is anti climactic. It's strictly B movie stuff and all very dated but the Hammer horror film cycle is of interest if only from a film history perspective and this film features Peter Cushing in a prologue and a solid British cast including Andrew Keir and Barbara Shelley.

A well paced action thriller with a good solid story and very entertaining. Angelina Jolie, in a surprising casting choice, plays angry Montana firefighter Hannah, she is a specialist in fighting forest wildfires. She has some PTSD from an incident that is shown in flashback a couple of times. On duty in a watch tower deep in the forest her comms are knocked out by a lightening storm and she finds a young boy, Connor (Finn Little) wandering alone. He's actually fleeing two ruthless hitmen (Aiden Gillen & Nicholas Hoult) so Hannah has to help him and a huge wildfire is coming down on them at the same time. There's some flaws in the plot but these can be excused because it's a bit of a thrill ride and Gillen and Hoult are superb as the cold ruthless killers, whenever they're on screen there's an intensity as they calculate their plans for murder which they carry out with cold efficiency. Jolie does her part well and carries off the tough firefighter part well. Assisted by Jon Bernthal as a local cop this is a gutsy thriller that is well worth your time.

Based on the character from the long running British comic series 2000AD this is a violent action thriller set in a dystopian future where the world is a vast desert and people live in gigantic cities overrun with crime. The law is represented by the 'Judges', tough police officers who have the power to act as judge, jury and executioner. After arresting a murder suspect the uncompromising Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) and his trainee, Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) become trapped inside a massive skyscraper run by the criminal warlord Ma-Ma (Len Headey) who is desperate to to get her man back before he talks and reveals her drug manufacturing operation. This cues plenty of shooting! It's certainly exciting stuff and originally released as a 3D film it has the telltale scenes designed to heighten that experience but viewed today it is still a highly entertaining and bloody action fest that really rocks. Clearly influenced by Blade Runner (1982) Robocop (1987) and Death Race 2000 (1975) it paints a picture of a neo-facist future where state violence is the order of the day to suppress uncontrolled crime and life is little valued. Urban is great in the role, all mood and serious grimaces and he's clearly doing a solid Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry impression. The film doesn't offer much in the way of visuals of this future as the narrative is mostly confined to inside the skyscraper where the very bloody battle takes place but it doesn't really matter because this is a shoot em up on a grand scale with gut wrenching slow motion violence. It's a real treat actually and I'm surprised there's not been a sequel. Interestingly this was written and edited by Alex Garland and rumoured to have been mostly directed by him although Pete Travis is credited.

Presented as a dark, gothic love story this adaptation is probably the most faithful to Bram Stoker's celebrated novel although it does deviate from the book in many ways including the prologue which links the fictional Count with the historical figure of Vlad The Impaler. This is however a seductive, almost ravishing, tale of lost love that drives a warrior to renounce the God he serves to live beyond the grave constantly in search of redemption but increasingly becoming a monster. Director Francis Ford Coppola shuns the use of special effects (other in one instance) to use 'old style' in camera effects that give the film a sense of nostalgia for cinema itself. He concentrates on the power of obsessive love as the focus for the characters, it being so powerful that it pushes them into the realm of darkness. Gary Oldman is inspired here as Dracula, changing from old to young, man to monster and has all the best lines, his support cast are interesting to say the least with Anthony Hopkins on top form playing the slightly manic Van Helsing, assisted by Winona Ryder, Sadie Frost, Richard E. Grant and Keanu Reeves. Much has been made of Reeves casting yet his performance isn't that bad, slightly wooden though it is due to the forced English accent, and there were probably better choices available for the role but it doesn't detract from the sheer beauty of the film. The usual 'Hammer' type tropes of the vampire movie are either dispensed with here or utilised in a refreshing way. Overall this is a sexually charged, mystical retelling of a familiar cinematic story and a version that stands as one of the best. Worth checking out again if you were not convinced previously.

This sequel to the previous years Dr Who & The Daleks benefits from the bigger budget with better sets, more outside location filming, a bigger cast and some pretty good model work and effects. Peter Cushing returns as the bumbling inventor of the TARDIS time machine joined this time by Bernard Cribbins and Jill Curzon as Roy Castle and Jennie Linden from the earlier film were unavailable. Police Constable Tom (Cribbins) unable to stop a burglary stumbles into the TARDIS thinking it to be a police box and finds himself whisked off to London in the year 2150 by the Doctor, his niece (Curzon) and granddaughter (Roberta Tovey). There they find the Daleks have invaded and the plucky time travellers join the rebellion. For a children's matinée film this is entertaining, if a little dated by today's standards, and is well worth modern Dr Who fans checking it out even though the two films aren't included in the Dr Who canon. There's lots of continuity errors and loads of rough edges, and the sci-fi sets are still a bit ropey, all flashing lights and bleeps but the model spaceship is great even if you can spot the wires! Andrew Keir supports as an angry rebel leader and there's a few famous British TV actors littered throughout the cast. The biggest laugh is that the Daleks have invaded the Earth and the reason lies in leafy Bedfordshire, unlucky for them because the plucky English are soon rallied to fight even if they need a scientist from 90 years earlier to tell them how.