undercooked

Burnt (2015)

Directed by John Wells this film stars Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Daniel Bruhl. Finally sober an arrogant chef seeks to gain a three star rating.

Let down massively by it's script this film is a real struggle in places. Without much charm and seemingly several scenes missing for the drama to work this film is a really disappointing watch. There is an impressive cast left with not much to do in what comes off as a weak version of Gordon Ramsey the movie.

2/5

Uncomfortable underneath

McFarland, USA (2015)

Directed by Niki Caro this film based on a true story stars Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Morgan Saylor and Carlos Pratts. A white football coach gets fired from his job and the only one he can get is in a predominantly Latin-American community.

As you might expect from a Disney film this is a pretty cheesey, by the numbers effort that retreads familiar sports film territory with more than a hint of “white saviour” about the plot. Unfortunately it seems a fair amount of historical accuracy is thrown out the window in favour of fitting the usual genre formula. The direction and cast are decent but ultimately this is a let down really.

2/5

Mickey takes flight

Plane Crazy (1929)

Directed by Walt Disney this is the 4^th outing for the now famous Mickey Mouse. Using the animals and what items he finds around a farm yard our hero attempts to build an airplane.

Most impressive is the opening part of this cartoon which is filled with stuff going on all over the screen but the film does peter out into a more average effort after that. The plot is pretty simple as our the jokes. Not a lot stands out about the animation style after the first moments but this is still a fun effort.

3/5

Little preparation

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)

Directed by Christopher B. Landon this film stars Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan and Sarah Dumont. Three Scouts in a troop struggling to find new members are about to enter their junior year of high school and get caught up in a zombie apocalypse.

Nothing much is original about this coming of age horror comedy that riles on adult humour to carry the film. While the film may fail to live up to the promise of something a little more original hinted at in it's premise it does still manage to be a solid genre effort. Nothing much stands out in the execution of the film but it's not the worst way to spend ninety minutes.

3/5

Marauding over history

Merrill's Marauders (1962)

Directed by Samuel Fuller this film based on real events stars Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin and Andrew Duggan. We follow General Merrill and the 3000 soldiers that marched with him into Burma to attack behind Japanese lines in 1944.

Unfortunately this is a very surface level account of the horrible conditions and heroics of 5307^th Composite Unit in WW2. Historical accuracy is not always paramount to the film makers and the script itself is of the quality of a television effort. The battle scenes mainly seem to be just wave after wave of Japanese soldiers falling down which is not that realistic either.

2/5

Seduction via bickering

Les Combattants (2014)

Directed by Thomas Cailley this film also known as “Love at First Fight” stars Adele Haenel and Kevin Azais. Boy meets girl, girl and boy fight, girl wants to join the paratroopers.

While not being especially deep this film has a fair amount of personality which just about carries it. I found this to be an enjoyable watch and refreshing take on the coming of age/romance genre. The performances from the two leads are good and hold the film together.

3/5

Beyond the edge

On The Edge (1949)

Directed by Curtis Harrington this short film starts the director's parents. An old man walks through an industrial landscape and happens upon a woman sitting in a chair knitting.

I found this film to be a bit too experimental and out there for my taste. The plot had no meaning I could grasp which left me pretty cold to the film. While the landscapes are intriguing that was all the film had going for it.

2/5

Too familiar

White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

Directed by Gregg Araki this film based on the novel of the same name stars Shailene Woodley, Eva Green and Christopher Meloni. In 1988 a seventeen year old girl comes home from school one day to find her father alone and her mother having disappeared.

Taking many familiar genre elements there is not a lot that is original in this film and I am not convinced it even covers it's subject matter that well. Even the final twist feels like a token effort that does not really fit the rest of the film. As always Shailene Woodley continues to increase her rising stock as one of the best young actresses but that is about all I took from this film.

2/5

The small man in the land of giants

Ant-Man (2015)

Directed by Peyton Reed this film based on the comic of the same name stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll and Michael Douglas. Shortly after getting out of prison a thief with a knowledge of electronics struggles to get back on his feet.

It is really disappointing we never got to see the full Edgar Wright version of this film because the version we got seems to stumble a long without ever really being successful. There is plenty of potential but we end up with a fairly by the numbers film in the end. Paul Rudd's performance does not have enough charisma to carry the film as while as RDJ has in the Iron Man franchise for example.

3/5

A wolf begets a wolf

Theeb (2014)

Directed by Naji Abu Nowar this film stars Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen, Hassan Mutlag Al-Maraiyeh and Jack Fox. During the Arab Revolt in WW1 a young boy and his older brother help guide an English officer as well as his interpreter.

You could say this is Lawrence of Arabia (1962) done on the scale of an Italian Neo-realist film and not be that far off. The plot is a coming of age tale against the back drop of events the protagonist never really understands. I loved the way the film captured both the locations and the desert way of life.

4/5

Bone boogy

The Skeleton Dance (1929)

Directed by Walt Disney this is an early animated film that has been voted one of the 50 greatest cartoons of all time. Skeletons in a graveyard bust some moves.

This is a pretty simple cartoon that involves little more than skeletons dancing around. While there are a few clever bits I would not say this is an overly funny cartoon. The animation style is not especially impressive but this is not a bad watch either.

3/5

Not peaking

Crimson Peak (2015)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro this film stars Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain. The daughter of an American industrialist falls in love with a struggling English aristocrat but is he all he seems?

Taking it's cue from many great Gothic books and films it feels at times this film forgets to be something itself as it is too busy respecting the genre. Containing many familiar genre elements the plot does not really stand out or have a lot of depth to it. As you would expect from the director the production values are excellent but maybe this is too much style over substance.

3/5

Not ei8ht

Solace (2015)

Directed by Alfonso Poyart this film stars Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Abbie Cornish and Colin Farrell. On the track of a serial killer an FBI agent brings in a retired doctor with psychic powers to help with the investigation.

Originally intended as a sequel to Se7en (1995) this script was reworked to be a stand alone film that is essentially a poor man's version of an episode of The X-Files or Millennium. The plot has some interesting ideas but never connects them together and the characters often fail to be believable. It seems like both cast and director are just making a token effort to get through this film.

2/5

Lost in the notes

An Optical Poem (1937)

Directed by Oskar Fischinger this is an animated short film. Various shapes move around in time with Franz Liszt's second Hungarian Rhapsody.

Starting off well I though that the animation lost steam as the music becomes more complicated. The early parts really fit the music well but by the end it did not feel like the animation was truly a representation of what we are hearing. Compared to the other Fischinger film I have seen I would not say this is one of my favourites.

2/5

Climbing catastrophe

Everest (2015)

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur this film based on real events stars Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes and Emily Watson. We follow climbers that were caught up in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster as they attempt to climb the famous peak.

Taking what appears to be a fairly accurate stab at the story of what happened in 1996 this film really captures the danger in climbing Everest. Through out there is plenty of tension as you know disaster is looming and frankly this film was enough to ever put me off wanting to climb a mountain. There are decent performances from the cast but the stand out is the direction which provides some amazing landscape shots.

4/5

Stealing space to perform

The Walk (2015)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis this film based on real events stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley and Charlotte Le Bon. A young French wire walker dreams of performing a wire walk between the Twin Towers in New York.

Essentially this is a heist film and it is pretty entertaining as it is a lot less serious than other films in that genre. My only criticism is that the protagonist is just a little bit pretentious and the film never considers the role of his ego in the events. Certainly if you have a healthy concern for falling the final wire walk sequence will put you on edge as the film is well directed.

3/5

The fault in our comparisons

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon this film based on the novel of the same name stars Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke and RJ Cyler. A high school student who keeps his distance from others is forced by his mother to befriend a girl from school recently diagnosed with cancer.

Somewhat unfairly this film/novel is always unfairly compared with The Fault in Our Stars, the two are very different beasts and I actually much prefer this story. This is a coming of age tale that I could really identify with and is told with a lot of humour. Olivia Cooke gives a stand out performance that really holds the film together but RJ Cyler is also excellent.

4/5  

Tense thriller, 1908 style

A Narrow Escape (1908)

Made by Pathe this early film is probably directed by Ferdinand Zecca. A doctor is sent a wild goose chase to give criminals the chance to menace his family.

This is a simple film that uses a basic narrative to build up tense climax through editing. It is an early example of the sort of thing we are very familiar with today as good guys race to save the day at the end. While little stands out about the film now it was probably ground breaking in it's time.

3/5

Theory of nothing

The Frankenstein Theory (2013)

Directed by Andrew Weiner this film stars Kris Lemche, Heather Stephens and Timothy V. Murphy. A young professor convinced that Frankenstein was based on a true story hires a documentary crew and a guide to help him hunt in Northern Canada for the monster.

Nothing much separates this film from any number of found footage films. The plot has little depth and does not build on the themes or ideas of the original Frankenstein source material. There are some nice shots of the snowy locations and the cast do their best but this is not a scary film at all.

2/5

Trappist troubles

Of Gods and Men (2010)

Directed by Xavier Beauvois this film based on real events stars Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale. During the 1996 Algerian Civil War a group of French monks struggle with the decision of leaving Algeria or staying under the threat of Islamic terrorists.

This is a well crafted film about men struggling with both their commitments to their religion and the local community. While the film may fall a little too far into the pro theist camp for my liking it does remain fairly even handed through out. There are some lovely landscape shots and for the most part the direction handles the the subject matter with considered restraint.

4/5

No symphony

Symphonie diagonale (1924)

Directed by Viking Eggeling this is an early animated silent film. Various strange shapes appear and disappear on the screen.

There is no narrative to this short film and the connection between the shapes seems to be just in style. The film did not really catch my attention and is not one of the more interesting abstract shorts that I have seen. Nothing is very special about the animation style either.

2/5

Mission: Average

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

Written & directed by Christopher McQuarrie this 5^th film in the franchise stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson. IMF agent Ethan Hunt returns looking for a spy organisation that no one believes exists while his own organisation is shut down.

While this is a perfectly serviceable entry into the franchise it is not much more than a reworking of familiar elements from previous films and the spy genre as a whole. Entertaining through out there is not really substance beyond the action sequences. Simon Pegg is about the only one that shows any real personality in the film while everyone else goes through the motions.

3/5

Stumbling to a close

Spectre (2015)

Directed by Sam Mendes this is the 24^th film in the Bond franchise staring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux and Ben Whishaw. Following up on a lead left by M after she died Bond finds himself investigating a shadowy organisation.

There is a lot of potential in this film but it fell completely flat for me despite it's attempts to be both politically relevant on surveillance and move Bond forward as a character. Nothing ever really hits home and this feels like a tired, token effort to close up a plot thread that has been running through the Daniel Craig films. Sam Mendes brings a good look and some nice locations to the film but that is not enough to carry things.

3/5

Home time

Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory (1895)

Directed by Louis Lumiere this is one of the earliest films ever made. At the end of the day workers pile out of the factory on the way home.

Pretty much just what it says on the tin this is a very simple film with no real narrative to it. I suppose you would say this is more a documentary than anything but there is not a lot to read into the content. There are several versions of this film floating round which at least provides some variety I suppose.

3/5

Olden day rich people problems

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Directed by Joe Wright this film based on the novel of the same name stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Rosamund Pike and Donald Sutherland. The second eldest daughter in a family of five girls struggles to navigate the world of love and marriage.

I found it hard to relate to the characters at times as they are often superficial and judgemental, condensing the novel to the film also means the relationships between the characters did not fully have time to grow. There are some differences between novel and film as well which may annoy book readers. The cast is excellent and I did enjoy some of the shots of rural England as well as the framing used by the director.

3/5

Something goes bump in the M. Night

The Visit (2015)

Written & directed by M. Night Shyamalan this film stars Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Denna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie. Two young teenagers go to spend a week staying with the grandparents they have never met on a farm.

While this film works as a horror film I was left slightly uncomfortable by essentially using dementia as the basis for the film. You can see the twist in the film coming a long way off and the film never really connects the over all theme of ageing and mortality with the characters. There are good performances from the cast both young and old but I do not think this film ever really hit it's stride.

3/5

The train that never really arrives

The D-Train (2015)

Written as well as directed by Jarrad Paul & Andrew Mogel this film stars Jack Black, James Marsden and Kathryn Hahn. A man with no friends seeks to get the most popular kid in school to return for a reunion so his peers will respect him.

Starting off with a fairly decent premise the film never really gets to grips with the ideas of middle age regrets, loneliness or only seeing the highlights of the lives of others. It is disappointing because the film shows a lot of promise but ends up being another half baked comedy. Jack Black gives a good performance but Kathryn Hahn is wasted in a small supporting role.

3/5

Betty bothered by night

Mysterious Mose (1930)

Directed by Dave Fleischer this cartoon stars the voice of Margie Hines. Awoken in the night Betty is haunted by the mysterious Mose who turns out to be Bimbo.

This is a fairly simple early cartoon that marries song and image in a vehicle for Paramount's two main characters. The plot is fairly simple but works well with the song used. While this is not an overly remarkable cartoon it is not a bad watch.

3/5

Regressive

Regression (2015)

Written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar this film stars Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson and David Thewlis. In Minnesota in 1990 a police officer investigates the case of a 17 year old who accuses her father of sexually abusing her.

Taking on both the Satanic cult panics that gripped the US and the use of regression hypnosis this film comes off worse than at least ten episodes of The X-Files that touched on similar topics. The plot never convinces and the ending is a decidedly uncomfortable victim blaming. I suppose the performances are not to but the script does not work at all here.

2/5

Lies, damn lies and social prejudices

About Elly (2009)

Written & directed by Asghar Farhadi this film stars Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini and Mani Haghighi. A group of middle class university friends travel with their families to the coast bringing a young woman to match make with one of their single friends.

I enjoyed this film a lot more than A Separation (2011), the plot here is a great exploration of social pressures and lies spiralling out of control. The way the characters react to events breeds an interesting web of lies, emotions and motives that makes the second half riveting despite the low key direction. There are good performances from the cast that bring a realism to the emotions.

5/5

An early American remake

Life of an American Fireman (1903)

Directed by Edwin S. Porter this short film was made for the Edison Manufacturing company. A sleeping fireman dreams of a woman and child in danger shortly before the fire house alarm goes off.

Clearly taking inspiration from the earlier British film Fire! (1901) this is a simple narrative of firemen performing a rescue. While the plot is simple the story is easy to follow and the action pretty entertaining. Some of the editing is really impressive for the time but there are questions over if the film was re-edited at a later date to it's present form.

3/5