The cycle continues

Harpya (1979)

Written & directed by Raoul Servais this film stars Will Spoor, Fran Waller Zeper and Sjoert Schwibethus. Upon hearing the cries of a woman a man saves her life but gets more than he bargained for.

Strange but fun this black comedy has a simple plot that is pretty entertaining. With a style that echoes the silent era nicely the images keep you as entertained as the story. There is certainly plenty to this short and it is well worth a watch.

4/5

Was it real or not?

Me and Kaminski (2015)

Directed by Wolfgang Becker this film based on the novel of the same name stars Daniel Bruhl, Jesper Christensen and Amira Casar. An ambitious journalist wants to make his mark by writing a biography about an ageing painter in the hopes he dies soon so the book is a big success.

There is a lot of fun in this semi serious film and the charm certainly comes from the characters. Looking at art and ageing I found this to be an interesting film well worth a watch. There is some pretty good make up to age some of the actors and in general the film keeps a good tone through out.

4/5

Love across the street

George and Rosemary (1987)

Directed by Alison Snowden and David Fine this cartoon is narrated by Cec Linder. An single old man pines for the old lady across the street who also lives alone.

This is a quaint little love story about two older people who it turns out are both nervous about making a move on the other. While the story is basic it does have some charm to it. The animation and narration both fit the story adding to the gentle charm of the piece.

3/5

A nearly modern fable

American Fable (2016)

Written & directed by Anne Hamilton this film stars Peton Kennedy, Richard Schiff, Kip Pardue and Gavin MacIntosh. During the Reagan era an 11 year girl living on her family's farm finds a man trapped in a disused grain silo.

As a coming of age tail this is a pretty nice little effort that mixes in a few fairy tale elements with a more realistic, grounded story. While I enjoyed the film the protagonist did seem a little old and I wish the ending was a little less ambiguous on what happened to the girl's family. The film is well made and acted, a very good debut from Anne Hamilton.

3/5

An island unto herself

Iona (2015)

Written & directed by Scott Graham this film stars Ruth Negga, Ben Gallagher, Douglas Henshall and Tom Brooke. A woman travels with her teenage son back to the remote Scottish island she grew up on.

While a little on the short side this is still an interesting little independent film about small communities and the relationships between the people living in them. There is a lot to enjoy here in this simple drama built around people failing to share things with each other. I also really enjoyed some of the shots of the landscape as well as the director's confidence in using silence.

4/5

A failed spin

The Last Dance (2016)

Written & directed by Amanda Sharp this film also known as “Sticky Notes” stars Rose Leslie and Ray Liotta. A dancer struggling to find success in LA has to head home to help her immature father who has cancer.

For most of the film this is a fairly bland cancer film that works fine but the “twist” in the finale does not work and then tries to rub itself in your face. Without the final miss step this would have been an average film but the “twist” is a real off note you can not ignore. There are decent performances from the cast but there is not a great deal of depth to the story.

2/5

Puff piece padre

Flying Padre (1951)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick this is a short documentary. A Catholic priest in rural New Mexico tends to his flock by flying round in a small plane.

While you always expect big things from Kubrick this early effort is a very straight forward and simplistic piece. There is not really much narrative or insight here and this is your classic short news piece of the time. You might not have expected a puff piece from Kubrick but that's what we have.

3/5

Not cutting

Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016)

Directed by Malcolm D. Lee this film stars Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Regina Hall, Anthony Anderson and Nicki Minaj. Staff at a Chicago barbershop shoot the shit and show concern about the state of their neighbourhood.

While this much belated sequel does raise a number of really important issues it deals with them in a very lightweight manner. The comedy is predictable at times, often going for the low hanging fruit but does at least raise a chuckle at times. There is a good cast but this does feel like some what of a lazy effort at times.

3/5

Fails to swing

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Directed by David Yates this film stars Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz. Our hero and his wife travel back to Africa with an American diplomat to investigate the Belgian king's exploitation of the Congo Basin.

While this film does attempt to acknowledge the major problems of racism and sexism surrounding the character as well as colonialism in general it never seems to go far enough in moving past these. Inevitably this was going to be something of a minefield to enter and the generic plot does not have much going for it. Most of the action sequences are good but the CGI does occasionally raise an eyebrow.

2/5

Mouse about town

The Country Cousin (1936)

Directed by Wilfred Jackson this cartoon is inspired by one of Aesop's Fables. A mouse from the countryside comes to visit his cousin who lives in the big city.

This is a pretty simple cartoon that has some fun exploring the excesses of city living. Not really sticking closely to it's source material this is still an entertaining short. The animation style is good but on par with the Disney style of the period.

3/5

Building fencers in Estonia

The Fencer (2015)

Directed by Klaus Haro this film stars Mart Avandi, Ursula Ratasepp and Hendrik Toompere. In 1952 a fencer wanting to hide from Soviet authorities begins working as a school teacher in Estonia.

Based on a true story it's hard to say how factual the plot of this film is but given that towards the end it sticks very closely to the genre conventions of sports films I somewhat doubt it is fully factual. The plot is decent but lacks depth when it comes to looking at Soviet occupation and the protagonists time as a conscript in the German army. I enjoyed the performances but there are not really any stand out sequences even when it comes to the fencing.

3/5

Not a recommended trip

Summer Camp (2015)

Directed by Alberto Marini this film stars Maiara Walsh, Diego Boneta, Jocelin Donahue and Andres Velencoso. Three Americans head to Spain to work at an English language immersion summer camp but something in the water starts temporarily turning people into killers.

This is a light weight horror film with a premise that is barely stretched out to fill the run time. Lacking in both quantity and quality of characters there is little to get you invested in the story. As far as the horror elements go the film is rarely scary and has little going for it in terms of atmosphere.

2/5

Shallow survival

The Shallows (2016)

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra this film stars Blake Lively and a CGI shark. Visiting a beach in Mexico a surfer training to be a doctor gets bitten by a shark and trapped on some rocks.

Mostly this is a decent, if short, survival film with out a ton of depth to it. Towards the end things get a little questionable but otherwise it is a fairly well made effort. Some of the CGI near the end is not the best either but for a large part it is fine.

3/5

Pluto problems

Mickey's Grand Opera (1936)

Directed by Wilfred Jackson this cartoon has voices from Walt Disney, Pinto Colvig, Clarence Nash and Florence Gill. Our hero Mickey attempts to conduct an opera while Pluto causes trouble and Donald is not the perfect star.

This is your typical Disney hijinks and while not the best it is a solid example. Chaos breaks out and there are some decent gags a long the way. The animation is solid and the cartoon in general entertaining.

3/5

Cinema of a doomed youth

Ivan's Childhood (1962)

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky this film based on the short story “Ivan” stars Nikolai Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Evgeny Zharikov and Valentina Malyavina. During WW2 a young Russian boy orphaned by the war works doing behind the lines reconnaissance.

Contrasting our expectations of childhood with the horrors of war this is a pretty good film showing the Eastern Front in WW2. I found the side plot with the doctor to be an odd distraction but otherwise this is a good film. There are some haunting images and nicely framed shots that really help put you in the world of devastation.

4/5

The emptiness of space

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Directed by Justin Lin this film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and Simon Pegg. After docking at a new star base the crew of the Enterprise head into a nebula on a rescue mission.

While this is a fun ride of an action adventure film it really lacks any heart or brain. The plot rips a long at a fast enough pace you do not get time to sit and ruminate on the films inadequacies too much but afterwards it does feel a bit hollow. There are some impressive special effects and action sequences but make no mistake this film is all bells and whistles.

3/5

The main spring

Clock Cleaners (1937)

Directed by Ben Sharpsteen this cartoon has voices from Walt Disney, Clarence Nash and Pinto Colvig. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy attempt to clean a clock tower.

As you would expect there are some shenanigans as our heroes attempt to clean the complex inner workings of a big clock. There is the odd chuckle here and there but this is not an overly funny cartoon. The animation is decent as you would expect from Disney but again not especially remarkable.

3/5

Living as an artist in dark times

Andrei Rublev (1966)

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky this film loosely based on real events stars Anatoly Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko, Nikolai Sergeyev and Ivan Lapikov. We follow the life of a painter of religious icons in 15^th century Russia.

It is impossible to watch this story of an artist living in oppressive times without drawing parallels to life in Russia under the communists, especially Stalin. As a historical biography the film may not be perfect but as an exploration of religion, Russia and oppression it works really well. This film will not be to the taste of everyone, it is slow moving and hard to get into but still a good film.

4/5

Iranian language vampires and skateboards

A Girl Walks Hole Alone at Night (2014)

Written & directed by Ana Lily Amirpour this film stars Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh and Dominic Rains. In an Iranian city a young man with a drug addict father meets a female vampire.

As fusion of styles this is a pretty interesting film but I found the actual story to be one of the least interesting parts of the film. Looking and sounding really good it is often hard to pin down what this film actually is one of it's strengths. While I enjoyed this film it did drag just a little towards the end.

3/5

Maid in Singapore

Ilo Ilo (2013)

Written and directed by Anthony Chen this film stars Chen Tianwen, Yeo Yann Yann, Angeli Bayani and Koh Jia ler. In 1997 a Singaporean family hire a Filipino woman to be their live in maid.

While I'm not overly familiar with the 1997 Asian financial crisis this film does do a fairly good job of personifying the financial problems of the region through one family. The story works well showing how desire for success leads to financial problems. I enjoyed the performances and the direction is suitably low key.

4/5  

Early Magic

The Magic Sword (1901)

Directed by Walter R. Booth this is an early silent film. A young knight goes to visit a lady and gets menaced by various super natural beings.

When it comes to the plot of this film we have a fairly simple narrative but there is at least a narrative and it is easy to follow. Where the film shines is in that it is a cornucopia of early special effects. Highly impressive for it's age the film mixes lots of special effects in one shot with a great back drop.

4/5

Skype slasher

Unfriended (2014)

Directed by Leo Gabriadze this film stars Shelley Hennig, Moses Jacob Storm, Renee Olstead and Will Peltz. A group of friends sharing a Skype call are terrorised claiming to be a girl that committed suicide a year ago.

Using a very simple revenge slasher plot as the back drop this film actually does a couple of interesting things. Firstly the film does a really good job of capturing cyber bullying and ugly teen behaviour. In showing the entire film from the point of view of one characters computer screen the film does something pretty unique and puts you into that cluttered world of cyberspace.

4/5

There is no reason for watching this film

Welcome to Happiness (2015)

Written & directed by Oliver Thompson this film stars Kyle Gallner, Olivia Thirlby, Nick Offerman and Keegan-Michael Key. A children's author lives in an apartment with a magic door in it that strangers go through for a second chance.

Taking a heavy handed religious allegory this film attempts to hammer home the disappointingly weak message that “everything happens for a reason”, even terrible things. I found the plot pretty weak and it's off beat tone just a poor attempt at a Wes Anderson style. The cast do the best they can but this is not an impressive film.

2/5

The first flight on film

The Conquest of the Air (1901)

Directed by and starting Ferdinand Zecca this is an early short film. A man uses his latest invention to fly over Paris.

This is a very short film that does not really have a plot to it and is pretty much a single special effect. The flying craft depicted is decently odd but there is not even a hint of a narrative here. I suppose the effect is decent for the era but is slightly flawed.

2/5

The disappointment of 1901

Dream and Reality (1901)

Directed by Ferdinand Zecca this is a short film from the silent era. A rich man drinks with an attractive young woman, kisses her then wakes up next to his wife realising it was a dream.

This is a very simple short that runs for less than a minute in duration. There is not much to the plot but it does work as a narrative even if it is questionable in content. As early films go this is pretty basic and it's hard to say much about it.

2/5

Conan the bland

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Directed by Marcus Nispel this film based on the character of the same name stars Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang and Rose McGowan. After his father is killed a barbarian goes on the hunt for revenge.

In a breathless pursuit of action and plot this film never has time for story or character. Ultimately this is more like a collection of highlights rather than a narrative. Despite the large budget some how the film still manages to look cheap as well.

2/5

Cold and wet

Winter (2015)

Written & directed by Heidi Greensmith this film stars Tommy Flanagan, Tom Payne, Stacy Martin and Judith Godreche. A widower artist struggles with alcoholism, his eldest son struggles with his father and his youngest son is stuck in the care of the state.

Unfortunately this is a pretty weak film that bumbles around and does not have much going for it. I found the plot slow and the characters often do things which make no sense. Equally perplexing was trying to nail down where the film is supposed to be based as the actors are doing an odd mix of accents.

2/5

Concert calamity

The Band Concert (1935)

Directed by Wilfred Jackson and Walt Disney this cartoon has voices by Clarence Nash. Mickey Mouse tries to conduct his band while Donald Duck is intent on making mischief.

Doing a great job of mixing classical music and silly behaviour this is one of the highlights of early animation. The action builds to a suitably crazy climax and is well worth watching. While the animation might not stand out to modern viewers it is certainly strong for the period it comes from.

4/5

Not wait until dark

Don't Breathe (2016)

Directed by co-writer Fede Alvarez this film stars Dylan Minnette, Jane Levy, Stephen Lang and Daniel Zovatto. Three friends break into the house of a blind man to rob him of a large cash settlement but get more than they bargained for.

I was worried that this would just be a poor version of Wait Until Dark (1967) but it certainly has a twist that makes it a film in it's own right. Towards the end there maybe a further twist or two that I found unnecessary but this is certainly a decent thriller that manages to juggle it's morally ambiguous characters well. While not perfect this is a decent attempt to do something different in a genre that sees a lot of lazy efforts.

3/5

Failure to land

Moonwalkers (2015)

Directed by Antonie Bardou-Jacquet this film stars Ron Perlman, Rupert Grint, Robert Sheehan and Erika Sainte. A CIA agent is sent to London to hire Stanley Kubrick to direct fake moon landings in case the real ones fail but is tricked into hiring a bunch of hippies instead.

Supposedly a satirical comedy someone left the humour out of this film. The plot seems to be just an excuse to have a bunch of naked hippy girls running around and never goes anywhere. Neither the cast or director add much to this limp, predictable affair.

2/5