Film Reviews by griggs

Welcome to griggs's film reviews page. griggs has written 292 reviews and rated 1575 films.

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Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.

Scrappy, Energetic Charm

(Edit) 24/03/2025

Just Another Girl on the IRT has a scrappy, energetic charm that makes it hard not to root for. Ariyan Johnson is magnetic as Chantel, a motor-mouthed Brooklyn teen with big dreams and zero filter, owning every scene with breezy confidence. Her cheeky fourth-wall asides land effortlessly; however, when things take a sharper turn, and her world is thrown off-kilter, the rawness of the performances suddenly feels more fragile. Still, there’s a gutsy honesty throughout—a fierce, funny, and quietly radical take on Black girlhood and ambition, balancing humour and rawness to keep you entertained and emotionally connected.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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French Connection

Pillar of Gritty 1970s Filmmaking

(Edit) 24/03/2025

The French Connection is a film I’ve seen four, maybe five times, but this was the first time I experienced it on the big screen. Strangely, though, it was this viewing that impacted me the least. It's a curious feeling, considering it’s set in New York, my favourite city in the world. Though I’ve lived in London for the absolute vast majority of my life, New York always feels more like home to me, even if my visits have only been as a tourist. The city’s chaos, grit, and unrelenting energy perfectly mirror the film itself, which makes it all the more puzzling that it didn’t hit as hard this time. Technically, the film is almost flawless. William Friedkin directs with a kinetic style that pulls you into the frenetic pace of Popeye Doyle’s pursuit of the elusive French drug smuggler. With its screeching wheels and life-or-death stakes, the infamous Subway chase remains one of the most thrilling sequences ever committed to film. It’s a masterclass in editing and tension, and no amount of rewatching can dull its impact. Yet, the story itself doesn’t hold up quite well to repeated viewings. It’s not the strongest plot; it's more of a framework to hang moments of brilliance on. And that might be why, this time, the experience felt somewhat diminished. There’s also the challenge of caring about the characters. Nobody here is particularly likeable. Popeye Doyle, Gene Hackman’s iconic antihero, is a racist, arrogant, and deeply flawed man. But that’s also what makes him unforgettable. He’s not someone to root for, but you can’t look away. This is still an incredible film, a pillar of gritty 1970s filmmaking. But perhaps it’s one that loses a little something each time you return to it. Or maybe it’s just me.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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Madeline's Madeline

No shortage of ideas

(Edit) 24/03/2025

I watched Madeline's Madeline, mainly because I liked Josephine Decker's later film Shirley. This one's trying to do a lot—race, mental health, coming of age, mother-daughter tensions, plus a whole meta-theatre layer—whilst bold, it often felt like it was trying too hard to be important. That said, Helena Howard is phenomenal. It's a breakout performance full of rawness and intensity; she holds the whole chaotic thing together. Miranda July felt oddly constrained by the direction, somewhat hemmed in a film that encourages improvisation and emotional looseness, which is her bread and butter but denied to her here. There's no shortage of ideas here, and it's definitely interesting. Still, it left me admiring the ambition rather than enjoying the ride.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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Touki Bouki

Scrappy, Rebellious Energy

(Edit) 24/03/2025

Touki Bouki is a strange, stylish trip through ’70s Dakar, following two young lovers desperate to get to Paris. It’s got that scrappy, rebellious energy—lots of quick cuts, pop music, and surreal moments that give it a real French New Wave feel. But it’s not just fun and games. The slaughterhouse imagery is appropriately grim and sticks with you, casting a dark shadow over the whole thing. Mambéty’s saying something big about escape, identity, and what’s lost chasing a dream.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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Microhabitat

Bleakly Funny, and Oddly Moving

(Edit) 23/03/2025

Microhabitat is quietly funny in that dry, blink-and-you'll miss it sort of way. Jeon Go-woon's debut is a subtle but assured sly satire about how utterly absurd adulthood turns out to be. The story follows Miso, played with pitch-perfect restraint by Esom, a character whose struggle to afford life's small pleasures in a world that demands too much and gives too little is all too relatable. Her choice of cigarettes and alcohol over her flat is a stark reflection of the compromises many of us make. What follows is a sofa-surfing odyssey through the crumbling dreams of her so-called friends, now the so-called 'adults'.

Each stop is a mini-tragicomic gem. Her sister, in the glamourous corporate job, which turns out to be little more than serfdom, held together by intravenous supplements, for which she undertook a nursing qualification to administer (the most valuable training she's taken). The joyless new parents, the pitiful man-child, a 50-year-old living with his parents, who support his attempts of abduction in order to marry him off. There's bleak satire in every corner—an unflinching look at how adulthood has failed us all. Never cruel—just painfully recognisable.

Miso's drifting detachment has hardened into something more radical. She begins to see those who've conformed as traitors—sell-outs to a broken system. Her lifestyle becomes a quiet manifesto, a rebellion against the rat race. Her freedom unsettles those who've buckled down, exposing their choices as cowardice. What begins as a story of survival turns into a powerful critique of societal norms. It's bleak, funny, and strangely empowering, leaving the audience enlightened and thoughtful.

The third act lands with a quiet, aching finality. As Miso's boyfriend confesses he's trading his dreams for stability, the film crystallises its core heartbreak—not just that adulthood is disappointing, but that even the dreamers eventually surrender. His choice isn't cruel, just crushingly ordinary. It's the slow erosion of hope that stings most. The time jump that follows is disorienting, deliberately so. Her old bandmates speak of Miso at a funeral with the hollow nostalgia of people who've long buried their idealism. Their words are polite, rehearsed, meaningless—revealing more about their own resignation than about her. And then, in a wordless, lingering moment, we glimpse a woman—greying, solitary, and still moving forward. Whether it's truly Miso or just her ghost doesn't matter. What matters is the sense that she never gave in. In a world that wears everyone down, her continued existence feels like a quiet act of defiance.

Microhabitat brilliantly mocks the illusions of adulthood with a knowing, bitter chuckle. Bleakly funny, oddly moving, and wonderfully observed.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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The Chase

Stylish & Moody - But Doesn’t Fulfill it’s Promise

(Edit) 22/03/2025

Stylish, moody, and full of noir atmosphere, The Chase delivers strong performances and some genuinely suspenseful moments, even if Peter Lorre is oddly relegated to a minor role. Visually, it’s stunning—those shadowy, expressionist touches draw you in. But the dream twist feels like a cop-out, undercutting the tension it works so hard to build. Add to that a back-seat driver plot device that borders on the ridiculous, and the film’s promise never quite comes together in the end.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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Weekend

All a bit Much

(Edit) 22/03/2025

Maybe it was my mood or tiredness, but Weekend didn’t click with me. I couldn’t get into Godard’s style or the film itself. I get the point he was trying to make, the politics and the artistic flair, but it all felt a bit much. I couldn’t find any humour amidst the chaos unravelling on the screen to make it bearable. One to mark down as experience—I’ll give it another go.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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District 9

Gritty, Super Inventive, then runs out of Ideas

(Edit) 22/03/2025

District 9 kicks off with a bang—fun, gritty, and super inventive, like Starship Troopers meets The Fly. It’s made with love for those influences, almost like a tribute, and that energy shines early on. Sharlto Copley is excellent—awkward, believable, and increasingly unhinged—and Neill Blomkamp’s direction is sharp, especially in the mockumentary-style opening. With some of the production touches, you can feel Peter Jackson’s backing too.

But somewhere around the halfway mark, it loses its grip. What starts as a clever allegory for apartheid and xenophobia kind of forgets its own message in favour of action and CGI chaos. It ends on a strong note with an unmistakable anti-capitalist sting, but you’re left wishing it had stuck the landing a bit more. Still, it's worth a watch.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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Frida

Not a Bad Film - Not a Great one Either

(Edit) 22/03/2025

Frida isn’t a bad film, but it often floats around the edges of its subject. We learn more about Diego Rivera—the man who painted walls—and the famous figures orbiting her, like Trotsky and Rockefeller, than we do about Frida Kahlo herself. There’s not enough insight into what drives her, what fuels her art, or who she truly is beneath the striking imagery. The most insightful moment comes in a brief exchange—less than 20 seconds—as she talks to Trotsky atop Mayan ruins. But even that is quickly reframed through his interpretation of her story before he shifts the focus to his family, stripping her of agency once again. The direction is lively and visually creative, and Salma Hayek is strong in the lead, but the film never quite digs deep. It feels more like a guided tour of those around her than a portrait of the woman herself.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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Walker

Weird, Pacy and Bold

(Edit) 21/03/2025

Walker is a mad, fascinating ride — part biopic, part political piss-take, and unlike like anything else of its time. Alex Cox takes the true story of William Walker, an American who rocked up in 1850s Nicaragua and decided to make himself president and turns it into a wild dig at US meddling during the Contra War. It starts playing it straight, then the modern touches sneak in — Zippos, machine guns, Coke bottles — until the whole thing turns into bonkers, brilliant chaos. It’s loud, proudly political, and properly strange.

 Cox directs with swagger, making great use of Nicaragua’s dusty, sun-scorched backdrops. Rudy Wurlitzer’s script has bite and even manages to land a few laughs. Ed Harris is all intensity as Walker — half madman, half true believer. Sure, it’s weird and rough around the edges, but it’s pacy, bold, and never overstays its welcome.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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The Devils

Pure theatre

(Edit) 21/03/2025

The Devils is absolute madness — part history lesson, part full-blown nightmare — and still feels dangerous over 50 years on. Ken Russell doesn’t hold back, throwing everything at the screen in this wild, visually bonkers fever dream. Censors and studio execs butchered it when it came out in ’71. Warner Bros still won’t touch the fully uncut version, even though the missing bits were found and restored in 2004. The infamous “rape of Christ” scene? Still locked in the vault.

At its heart, The Devils is a furious, no-holds-barred rant about what happens when religion and politics get too cosy, and how those in charge can whip people into a frenzy to keep their grip on power. Oliver Reed is pure charisma as Grandier, swaggering through the chaos, while Vanessa Redgrave is hypnotically unhinged. Russell directs like a man possessed, and Derek Jarman’s sets are weird, stark, and unforgettable. It’s messy, noisy, and suitably uncomfortable — which is entirely the point. Despite all the drama around it, The Devils still hits hard today, especially in a world where truth feels optional and politics is pure theatre.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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The Order

Dark, Moody and Relevant

(Edit) 21/03/2025

The Order might be set in the ’80s, but it’s got the grit and mood of a ’70s crime thriller—bleak, tense, and uneasy silences. Jude Law is surprisingly great as a burnt-out FBI agent sent to a quiet town to keep an eye on a bunch of neo-Nazis who’ve been keeping their heads down—until they don’t. Law plays it with just the right amount of world-weariness, like a guy who’s made too many mistakes and knows it. Nicholas Hoult is properly unnerving as the white supremacist’s ringleader, cold and unhinged in a way that never feels over the top. The plot dips occasionally, and a few moments are verging on the ridiculous. Still, when it kicks off, it really kicks off. The Order is one dark and moody film that is sadly very relevant to today’s world.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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Shoplifters

Typical Kore-eda

(Edit) 21/03/2025

Slow, calm, and quietly intriguing, Shoplifters gently pulls you into a makeshift family, only to unravel a darker truth beneath the warmth. The twist creeps in, never loud, just unsettling. It makes you wonder: are laws and morality always right? Maybe love’s messier but somehow more honest. Thought-provoking.

0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.

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Sweet Bean

Okay, very okay

(Edit) 21/03/2025

Sweet Bean is lovely, gentle, pretty, and quietly acted, but I just wasn’t pulled in. It sort of drifts along, never quite gripping me or making me care much. I don’t regret watching it, but it left me feeling flat. It’s fine, it’s okay. Just very, very okay.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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Prince of the City

Gripping Slow Burn

(Edit) 20/03/2025

Sidney Lumet proves yet again he’s the king of New York City thrillers. Prince of the City is a gripping, slow-burn dive into police corruption, following Treat Williams as Daniel Ciello, a narcotics detective who turns informant—only to realise he’s over his head. Unlike Serpico, which digs deep into one man’s personal struggle, this plays out more like a meticulous police procedural, laying bare the tangled web of corruption, bureaucracy, and betrayal. Williams is phenomenal, shifting between cocky, paranoid, and completely unravelled as the pressure mounts.

Nobody films New York like Lumet. The city isn’t just a backdrop; it’s alive—loud, chaotic, and pulsing with tension. From sweaty police offices to dimly lit bars and soulless courtrooms, every scene oozes authenticity. The slow-burn pacing pulls you deeper into Ciello’s world, where every decision feels like a trap. A relentless, nerve-wracking must-watch.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
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