Film Reviews by RD

Some might not like the fact this is animation, but it doesn't for a moment matter because B5 TRH is exactly what B5 as a series ever was, yes, it's part of an intertwining story but it's always grounded in the characters and B5 TRH is just that from the first moment. B5 TRH is true in characterisation, storytelling and spirit to the original series. It tells a story that is compelling and accessible to someone new but to those that know the series it'll be infinitely richer and there's a sly pleasure in knowing where aspects of it is going to go straight from the off, even if we might not know the actual arc of the story. This is possibly the first of more stories that continue to tell the narrative of B5 and we should be so lucky to see more.

Polytechnique is beautifully and carefully filmed, clearly calculated to be horrifying but careful to avoid becoming gun/splatter porn. It is a film that is difficult to watch, as it should be but also flawed. Following three students, including the shooter, it allows the fictionalised horrifying attack to play out dramatically melodrama and also illustrates the longer term effects of the attack, including both hope and despair. That said it focuses too much on the attacker without ever really getting to gripes with what caused him to act in this way (all it shows is his shallow thinking). Arguably the film would have been better to have concentrated just on the students caught in the attack under the circumstances. There are also some issues with verisimilitude that make the attack itself partially unbelievable (someone didn't hit a fire alarm to force people from the building?). Still it is a sensitive and rightfully shocking film but imperfect and at 77 minutes, surprisingly overlong.

A fascinating snapshot of films that careen from the brilliance of the original to full on (though well-meaning) kids films to full on alien sci-fi yet as the 15 films on this boxset morph they are nevertheless fascinating and mostly a joy even if the later films betray a dearth of budget or ambition. Yet, apart from the terrible American version of King Kong vs. Godzilla the films are a lot of fun, even if some have a pre-requisite of removing brain before watching. No the original of course, which matches meaning with menace.

Boxing Helena, being rather notorious for being terrible and true, the first 40 odd minutes are purgatory, following our two protagonists, neither of which garner our sympathy. It doesn't help that Sands tells us a lot about his obsession with Fenn, but beyond some voyeuristic watching of her, given no particular reason to understand why he is obsessed except that he is, cos he is, and did you know that he is? Oh and he has some issues due to his parents, which are don't really add anything except to suggest, well, he has deep seated issues. Meanwhile, Fenn's Helena begins as a woman who clearly doesn't care a fig for what anyone else thinks or wants, and you suspect you maybe are meant to be consider her a free spirit, someone who lives in the moment but she comes across a spoiled brat who has grown up to be a spoiled brat. (Noticeably, she lives in a swanky apartment but doesn't seem to need to earn money, lucky Helena). At least you have some vague sympathy for Helena as Sands' Nick truly is unpleasantly obsessive and his attempts to please Helena are so clearly misplaced and you can understand Helena wanting him to just [expletive deleted] off and leave her alone. The latter half of the movie mainly improves, as it delves deeply into counterpointing how men obsess and try and control women (Sands obsequious obsessiveness vs Helena's ex in the shape of Bill Paxton, the more aggressive male who sees Helena as his property), yet despite what happens to her, Helena remains her own person - containing the strength they both lack in terms of character and self-assurance.

Then, sadly, like a film noir from the 40s with an enforced happy ending, Boxing Helena cops out. (You can probably guess how.)

That said the latter half of the film does provide an interesting view of disturbed masculinity and for those expecting violence, gore, explicit sex (though there's a bit of that but all a bit woolly soft-core) considering the subject matter it's mainly absent and mainly a character study.

Sadly though, Jennifer Chambers Lynch hasn't her father's ability as a director, but an ounce - at least as evidenced here. The performances are fine, in some ways better than you might think (though Art Garfunkel's character is utterly redundant) but Sands especially has a character that is so unsympathetic it's easy to consider his performance terrible when he is actually playing the part very well. Sadly, it's not a character that is compelling but it's the one that Lynch wants, the same applies to Fenn. Both do well, but their characters as written, are not the most appealing.

I saw Cypher at the cinema expecting a decent film on the back of the director's first film, Cube. Cypher was better. Ostensibly a sci-fi espionage thriller with more than the occasional twist, it's a film that works as much because of its mood and the skill of its actors. For all that it's occasionally slightly absurd nevertheless, Cypher is thoroughly compelling, sometimes thrilling and especially Northam and Liu are excellent and share genuine screen chemistry. For all that it is a relatively low budget film it's a real diamond in the rough and deserves more and your attention.

About all that can be said about Valerian is I watched it until the end. That said, the whole film is an exercise in average. The performances, even from Clive Owen, go nowhere but there's nothing for any of the actors to invest in. The characters are flaccid, plot insipid and action dull. The CGI has that gnawing unreality to it that works against the film and the sense fun and wonder that it so desperate wants, and so desperately fails, to provide. The leads have so little chemistry it's almost impossible to imagine why they were cast except it's obvious considering Besson's continued obsession with young models. At least Flash Gordon (4K restoration or no) though never a great film, generated a sense of outlandish fun, whereas Valerian (the film and the character) barely generates a shrug of the shoulders. Some might wonder if this film might in twenty years be re-evaluated but don't bet on it, it's just too average. It's not so bad it's bad, it's so average it's just plodding.

To be fair the distributor, Network, in the run up to releasing this film didn't suggest it was any lost classic. They may have called it demented and observed a fair few of the cast looked more than a little bit embarrassed and they'd probably be right. Nevertheless, Gonks go Beat does have a bizarrely charming titled sequence - arguably the best bit of the film and is somewhere between Saul Bass and The Clangers - the remainder of the film are a series of musical acts with some sequences that try and tell some form of story. Does the story matter? Not really, but there's some 60s R&B energy to some of the Beatland acts (Beatland? you ask, well the story is about a conflict between Beatland and Balladisle that needs resolving), and some quite average Balladisle balladry but there are some pleasing inventive moments, like the musical invasion and all in all it's an intriguing historical relic. Relic it is, because the story itself isn't good enough and nor is the music, but at least for all it's cheapness, it's never staid. It's not dated though very much of its time and an intriguing bit of cinematic history. As long as you take it for what it is and expect no more, than it's a somewhat bewildering 90 minutes but at least the film tried to do something - even if it has some terribly judged moments, the dance sequence anyone? - different and for that better than another 100 superhero movies.

Considering that the Female Prisoner Scorpion movies are essentially exploitation films (though interestingly it seems the concept doesn't exist in Japan), Jailhouse 41 is the one that breaks all the rules. It functions certainly as an exploitation film but moreover is startlingly art-house and innovative, for instance in how it tells the back-stories of lead characters. (I won't spoil how.) And at the centre is a near silent Meiko Kaji who does more with her expression than a million lines of dialogue could ever hope to convey. True, there are some scenes that are not pleasant (but intentionally so) and the men are almost all cartoonishly terrible human beings but this a true diamond in the rough and a film that you hope to find: unique, remarkable and that you want to watch time and again.

Defence of the Realm is a real sleeper. It has a cast that most people would die for, including the underrated Byrne as the lead but most importantly it's in many ways an old fashioned thriller. Despite the 80s action-thriller boom, this eschews action for plot and for character. It's not perfect though, the main offender being the film has a bizarre 80s soundtrack that doesn't really fit with the film but otherwise I've always felt this to film to be a real diamond in the rough.

...perverse and hypnotic, for a Corman production. Masque of the Red Death is for me a real diamond in the rough, it's a film that belies its low cost interior and manages to seduce, in part because Price lowers some of the hamminess and what's there fits with the feel of the film. It also has an appropriate perverseness to it, again helped by the performances from Court, Asher and Magee, especially Asher. The 'hero, well, ignore him, he doesn't matter in the least, just sit back and enjoy a surprisingly hypnotic Corman movie that is far more than the sum of its parts and actually, its parts are pretty damn good.

Gangsta shows real promise in the first two thirds. It treats its subject in a more adult manner than most, with focus on characters and a life lived skating on thin ice. Sadly towards the very end it degenerates into anime tropes and blandly generic storytelling that suggests no one really knew what to do with all the treads the story had started to weave. Maybe it's best described as: the first disc made me think this was buy it territory but by the end I was fast forwarding as I was so frustrated at how they could suddenly get it all so... ploddingly generic.

It's not quite your average Gialli, which is unsurprising coming from the director of Footsteps on the Moon and The Possessed, though this film feels more in tune with that genre than say The Possessed, which is as much arthouse as it is a thriller. The performances are definitely a cut above in The Fifth Cord and there's more than a hint of Argento at his best about the film though it is a bit slow to get going, but nevertheless there are moments of visual brilliance throughout. Despite its slight shortcomings it is a film that definitely leaves you feeling enriched for having watched it, which is more than you can say for most films than exist as entertainment. Alongside his other work, it is a film that makes you wish Bazzoni had just made more films.

It seems this is actually the second series, the first not yet released and is meant to be superior to this. Nevertheless a good dose of 30s Marlowe, no attempt to update the stories, which is definitely a good thing. The best thing though is Boothe, who plays a Marlowe somewhere between Mitchum and Bogart - but never tries to imitate them. There's something in Boothe's manner that fits the part. You can tell that there's been some money spent on the series by the nascent HBO, no wobbly sets and the acting is mainly fine - occasionally there's the odd weakness of scripting but it hits the right feel. Generally I found this got better as it went along, with the best episode being the final one, the claustrophobic Red Wind. What lets it down though is the print is very much early DVD better than VHS but not crisp like we'd expect if this was pressed today. Shame, really. 3 1/2 out of five.

...but flawed here by a poor print and only a terrible English dub, though a German film. Disappointing because there is a lot of well sustained mood but eventually undermined by a poor release. Though to be fair, some people call this twisty and it's not. the Who Did It is obvious not that that matters because it feels to me to be more of a mood piece. Still worth watching for the atmosphere, you just wish you could watch it in the original German and in a shiny new transfer that the film probably deserves.

The title says it all. The print is an unwatchable, sub-VHS rip. it's shaky, blurry, the sound is bad. Wait till someone releases a version of the film that deserves viewing.