Film Reviews by GI

A powerful and compelling Second World War drama. It's gripping, frightening and superbly directed, edited and with a fantastic central performance from Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler. Bookended by interview footage with the ageing Traudl Junge, Hitler's personal secretary, the narrative is, for the most part, focused on her account of events in the final days of the European war in Berlin and in particular the bunker where Hitler desperately tried to control events. Ultimately though this is a film that looks closely and in many scenes scarily at how ideology takes a grip on people and destroys them. Ganz as Hitler is maniacal, deluded and clearly very ill as he rages at his generals who fear telling him the truth of the situation as the Soviet army advances on the city. Scenes of the chaos and the plight of the civilians trapped in the ruins litter the film interspersed with the collapse of reason within the security of the bunker itself. There are claims of very close historical accuracy based on accounts of those who were there but it's also clear that the film is meant as narrative cinema, a drama that not only show the horrors of war but the madness of those that start, control and wage them. A remarkable film and at times an uncomfortable watch especially in a key scene where a mother poisons her six children as she does not want them to grow up in a world without nazism. It's horrific and yet is a key moment in the film's thematic goals. This is a modern masterpiece and most definitely a film to see if it's passed you by.

Embarrassingly shoddy horror film that tries to be Se7en (1995) with a corrupt cop story and gory torture porn horror and fails at all of them. Chris Rock, who's idea this apparently was, plays the most clichéd cop in cinema history channelling a sort of poor man's Axel Foley along the way. The wisecracking black cop has been done before Chris and far far better. To ground this in the Saw franchise seems only an excuse to feature convoluted contraptions that rip apart victims for the sick pleasure of anyone who relishes this. The original series was only popular because of the more eccentric ways the film makers devised to kill people. Here we have crooked cops kidnapped and placed in various contraptions that rip off parts of their bodies and Rock's detective gets the case. The police, including Rock, are totally incompetent riding roughshod over basic police procedures because it's the torture that the story wants to focus on. The bad guy is pretty obvious quite early on and confirmed far too early by shoddy story telling. Samuel L. Jackson supports and plays just about the same character he so often plays so he offers nothing new at all. Give this a miss, it's a misfire of gargantuan proportions and the final scene sadly signposts a sequel.

In his first documentary director Edgar Wright paints a loving portrait of Ron and Russell Mail better known as the pop group Sparks; described in the film as a band that are successful, underrated, hugely influential and criminally overlooked. It was certainly a surprise to me, a music lover, just how prolific and interesting they are and just how much music they have released including some extremely ahead of its time stuff. If you're a fan of Sparks this will be sheer heaven to you in its coverage of their lives from the early 60s to today. Their ability to always switch style and direction and told here mostly by the two brothers in a quite humble and humorous way makes for a really interesting music documentary. The various talking heads, mostly collaborators from over the years sing their praises as innovators and really sweet guys and yet this doesn't make the film cheesy or dull. In fact it makes you want to immediately check out all these albums you never knew existed. Wright clearly loves his subjects and the film reflects the passion with which their fans hold for them and if like me you just remember a couple of hits and appearances on Top Of The Pops this will open your eyes.

An attempt to update the demonic possession horror sub genre. It's not a film that works particularly well mainly because it posits that demonic possession is a fairly routine event whereas the impact of such stories is that they are extraordinary in nature. The fact that Guy Pearce stars here is what makes the film appealing but he fails to raise it enough to make it memorable. He plays Father Peter, a cynical and world weary priest who once as a young priest took part in a traumatic exorcism and now is the Roman Catholic Church's number one demon hunter. He's tasked with training young priest, Daniel (Vadhir Derbez) in the art and they have to deal with a young boy who murdered his family with an axe. There's a twist in the tale that signposts itself a bit too easily so overall this is an underwhelming film.

A mediocre toy series tie in movie with lacklustre fights and gunfire that sounds like pea shooters. This attempt to give Henry Golding a big action franchise is a misfire. It fails to land anywhere despite it's mix of action, martial arts and fantasy. In deed this mix is what makes it all so tortally daft and underwhelming that even the 10 to 12 years olds that it's targeted at will probably groan. Golding is the titular hero, a man who has grown up boiling with the need for vengeance on the man who murdered his father. He gets the chance of course but first has to join a warrior clan and steal their precious and magical rock! This cues some feeble and long winded chases and bloodless sword play. If this is anything to go by the comic book hero film is definitely had its day.

A crime thriller based very loosely on a true story and one of director Tony Scott's best films. It has a frenetic editing style, a rock video vibe and a hallucinogenic colour palette mixing black & white with bright sun drenched yellows and oranges. Keira Knightley plays the title role, a British socialite and former model bored and rebellious who joins the modern bounty hunting team led by Ed (Mickey Rourke). Along with Choco (Edgar Ramírez) and Alf (Rizz Abassi) they work for bail bondsman Claremont (Delroy Lindo). But its when Claremont devises a scam to steal mob money for his granddaughters hospital treatments that the team get themselves into hot water. It's a story of double cross and has a plot that is told with the aid of flashbacks and fast paced camerawork intermixed with slow motion. And it really works, making for a modern crime thriller that is adult, funny and at times very gritty. It identifies Scott as a film maker with a distinctive feel and a unique visionary way of putting a film together. The cast are impeccable and include Jacqueline Bisset, Lucy Liu, Christopher Walken, Mean Suvari and a cameo from musician Tom Waits. The soundtrack is great and it's a film that deserves a fresh audience if for no other reason than to highlight Tony Scott as a great director.

An amiable comedy drama that is actually rather delightful. Written, directed and starring Cooper Raiff who plays the somewhat depressed Andrew, a 22 year old post graduate who's girlfriend has gone to Spain and he's been forced back to the family home of his mother (Leslie Mann), stepdad (Brad Garrett) and younger brother (Evan Assante) with whom he has to share a bedroom. In a dead end job and wanting to follow his girlfriend without a clear invitation to do so he becomes depressed but finds he has a talent as a 'party starter' at the Bar Mitzvah's in the local neighbourhood. There he meets the beautiful Domino (Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter, Lola (Vanessa Burghardt). Befriending Lola he also falls deeply in love with Domino who is engaged to the very serious lawyer, Joseph (Raúl Castillo). Raiff has a screen persona that some might find a little too much to bear but he plays Andrew as a young man who hides his personal issues and offers those around him the friend that many yearn. I found him a humorous and uplifting character even though the story takes him through levels of sadness that make the film a tender and at times moving experience. Johnson is note perfect and makes all the right moves as the slightly enigmatic Domino, she's arguably one of the most exciting actors working today, and between the two of them they make this film really work. It's charming and very watchable.

Set in Eastern Europe during the Second World War this is a gruelling epic about a young jewish boy's journey through a hellish world of almost unimaginable horrors in a land of suspicion, barbarism, paganistic superstition and the violence of brutal war. Joska (Petr Kotlár - in an astonishing first film performance) is a young boy who has been left by his parents with an ageing relative to avoid deportation by the Nazis. Deep in the countryside he yearns to return home despite having no idea how to get there. When his elderly aunt unexpectedly dies Joska sets off on his journey home encountering a host of characters along the way. He becomes subject to abuse and brutality as he wanders through an almost unearthly, sometimes dreamlike world. Shot in a documentary and period looking monochrome the film boasts some deep shocks and includes scenes of stark death and murder, rape and bestiality. In many ways Joska reminded me of the young Russian soldier in Sam Peckinpah's Cross Of Iron (1977) and mirrors the loss of innocence that war causes in children. It is a harrowing story and flawed by the occasional eroticism that creeps into the debased sexual scenes. Despite the horrific nature of the narrative there is a strange beauty to the film which has some superb support casting including Harvey Keitel as a kindly priest, Julian Sands as a nasty paedophile, Udo Keir as a tormented miller and Stellan Skarsgård as a German soldier. It is a long film but it draws you in almost with a bizarre fascination. Highly recommended.

A ludicrous B movie horror thriller, all tongue in cheek, that throws in just about everything it can find and squashes it into a short 80 minute film. Chloë Grace Moretz cons her way onto a B52 plane with a top secret case and finds the sexist crew are having none of her equality bullshit and essentially lock her in the gun turret. But she manages to get into all sorts of adventures from there including fighting a creature, shooting down Japanese fighters, flying the plane and rescuing her baby from said creature. Yes you heard that right. This is one of those films that will either have people raving about how great it is or moaning at the utter ridiculousness of it all. I found it all very well put together and it made me smile....a lot, mostly because I spotted the influences not least the famous Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner.

One of the most original of British films, a psychological thriller that has an almost unique sense of the macabre and a gothic milieu. This confirmed director Nicolas Roeg as one of the most interesting, stylish and innovative film makers working in the UK in the 70s. Often placed in the horror genre this is certainly a film that has a sense of dread from the very beginning and it's a film famous for its use of motifs to amplify the terrible deaths that bookend the story. The colour red being the obvious one here. Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland play married couple Laura and John Baxter who following the tragic death of their young daughter move to Venice where John is restoring an old church. Their lives are still haunted by loss and grief and when Laura meets two strange sisters, one of whom claims to be psychic and can see and hear their daughter, John becomes angry at Laura's instant belief in what they tell her. But they also warn that John is in danger. The film has a grim and fatalistic view of life with the only compensations being sexual fulfilment and memory. There's a celebration of the benefit of sexual relationships in a touching and, for it's time, detailed sex scene but it signposts that horror is always never far away. The wintry Venice setting sets a grim visual style that reflects the narrative that is focused on death. A masterpiece and a film worthy of repeated viewings.

Director Richard Kelly's surreal, fantasy masterpiece, an existential exploration of reality played out as a teenage drama. It's funny, enigmatic and fascinating even after repeated viewings and with the aid of Kelly's 'Special Edition' which offers some explanations along the way. Jake Gyllenhaal is the titular Donnie, a High School teenager with behavioural and emotional problems that manifest as sleepwalking and strange visions. His concerned yet liberal parents send him to a psychiatrist who medicates him. Then events take a weird turn as an aircraft engine falls from the sky onto the Darko's house. This is the mystery element of the narrative as the engine cannot be identified and Donnie begins to see a strange man/rabbit creature called Frank who gives him instructions including committing arson and vandalism. Everything is for a reason as the plot unfolds and Kelly has interwoven a story about dreams, hallucinations running alongside the theory of alternate universes. It all sounds complicated and the film does leave lots of questions to be asked but this is what makes the whole thing so intriguing and downright fun. The cast are great with Jena Malone as Donnie's girlfriend, Mary McDonnell as his mother, Maggie Gyllenhaal as his sister and support from Katherine Ross as the psychiatrist and Patrick Swayze in a role that goes completely against his screen persona (Seth Rogen can also be seen in an early role). A really original film that harks back in some ways to Harvey (1950), it's utterly enthralling and endlessly watchable and a film everyone should watch and watch again.

A drug addiction drama that has good intentions, a couple of good performances but makes an uneasy lurch from drama into thriller and lets itself down as a result. What's left is a middling film that is unfulfilling. One Christmas Eve wife and mother Holly (Julia Roberts) is overjoyed at the sudden arrival of her eldest son, Ben (Lucas Hedges), a recovering heroin addict who has been in rehab. His appearance is not welcomed by Holly's new husband nor Ben's sister both of whom urge Holly to be very wary. She's mostly deaf to their entreaties although she hides her jewellery and pharmaceutical drugs! This is where the film is strongest in dealing with the emotional pulls and tensions within the family and wondering how much Ben is lying to them or genuinely wanting a new life back home. Unfortunately the film moves into thriller territory after Ben is spotted by all his old drug pals and he's forced back into their world. The major trouble here is the film tries and fails to establish a relevancy and set in small town America within a relatively well to do family destabilises any strength in the drug addiction themes. Roberts and Hedges do well with the script and they are the reason to give this a watch but ultimately it's a film that won't be remembered that much.

A meandering sci-fi drama that loses it's way if indeed it ever knew where it was going. Set in the near future in an experimental psychology unit on a remote island where smarmy scientist Dr Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) is testing experimental drugs that can affect a persons emotions from love to fear and even make them lustful for another. His patients are all volunteer prisoners who've agreed to have these drugs pumped into them in return for a shorter sentence. One of them, Jeff (Miles Teller) begins to question the experiment and uncovers Abnesti's true motives. There's elements of voyeurism and fetishistic behaviour as Hemsworth watches his patients have sex after inducing them to fancy each other even toying with homosexuality in heterosexual people. The film doesn't seem to have much to say other than give the stars a reason to demonstrate their range of acting out emotions as they are injected with the various drugs. After awhile you'll not really care what happens or who to because it all becomes a bit laborious.

This crime drama from master director Sidney Lumet has a naturalistic style with a feel and pace as if you are watching a real event. Overall though it's an actor's film with a famous performance from Al Pacino aided by John Cazale, Chris Sarandon and Charles Durning in particular with a script they were mostly encouraged to improvise. This results in a set of characters that feel 'real' and you end up caring and sympathising for all of them. The story and script is key here despite the encouragement of Lumet to allow the improvisation. It's a tragedy but one that is downright funny even though it's not written to get laughs they just come from the total absurdity of the situation as it unfolds. This makes the film so enjoyable and it's a key American film of the 70s. Based on a true story (making the whole thing seem even more absurd) it follows three men who one summer afternoon attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank. One of them chickens out within the first few seconds leaving Sonny (Pacino) and Sal (Cazale). They think they have a fool proof plan and all will be done and dusted within a few minutes. But it all starts to go wrong and unravel from the very start. Soon surrounded and besieged by the police and forced to negotiate with cop, Moretti (Durning) it quickly becomes a media circus which Sonny begins to relish as he becomes the image of rebellion to a cheering crowd. Contrastingly Sal struggles with the position in which he finds himself and begins to withdraw within himself. As Sonny is revealed to be gay the film is ahead of its time in its depiction of gay men. It avoids a stereotypical image and a moving telephone conversation between Sonny and his lover, Leon (Sarandon) is taken as a normal emotional talk between two persons in a relationship. All Sonny's family seem to just accept the way he is and there is no overt judgement levied by the film about their sexuality. Interestingly Sal gets very emotional when he finds the media thinks he's gay too and is desperate for that to be corrected. This is one of the great American films of the 1970s and a crime drama that should be on your list if you haven't seen it.

A fantasy action adventure film from the MCU, full of martial arts, spirited and entertaining with fun roles and an overlong punch up climax. This will appeal to young teenagers desperate for more Marvel stuff and the makers oblige with nods and references to previous films in the franchise and the inevitable sequel (check the mid credits sequence). This one has an introductory prologue about a medieval power hungry warlord, The Mandarin (Tony Leung) who has ten mystical rings which give him power to conquer and long life. A thousand years later he is mellowed by falling in love with a woman from a magical, hidden village, has two children and trains them in martial arts...like you do! Then said wife dies, he grieves, becomes a nasty guy again but the children move away and live humble lives. Then the eldest, Shang-Chi (Simi Liu) and his girlfriend (Awkwafina - in a neatly funny performance) are attacked by bad guys and their adventures begin which will involve lots of kung fu fights and strange monsters. Ben Kingsley has an MCU linking cameo and Michelle Yeoh adds some gravitas as a kindly warrior with all the answers. This is a typical MCU film, it's ok especially if you like this sort of thing and as I say it's entertaining as far as it goes but it's really nothing overly stimulating or new.