Letter alone

A (1965)

Written and directed by Jan Lenica this is a short animated film. A writer seeking to relax at home finds himself menaced by a giant letter A.

Taking a very simple idea this is a fun little distraction. The plot is not especially deep, nor is the humour but this short is not boring by any means. Made in black and white the animation style is fairly unremarkable as well.

3/5

Chess masters of Ugandan slums

Queen of Katwe (2016)

Directed by Mira Nair this film based on a true story stars Madina Nalwanga, Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo. A girl growing up in a Ugandan slum starts playing chess at a local chess club and turns out to be a formidable player.

When you see Disney and true story in the same sentence you worry you are going to be stuck with cheese cake but despite the fairly soft nature of the script this is not an overly sentimental film. While it does feel a bit like the script is just going through familiar beats it is still a decent watch. I expect there have been some changes to real events for the film but it does not seem like an egregious amount.

3/5

Communists on ice

Red Army (2014)

Directed by Gabe Polsky this is a documentary with contributions from many notable Russian ice hockey stars of the 1980s. We follow the all conquering Russian ice hockey team of the 1980s through their success and the fall of the Soviet Union.

I know nothing about ice hockey really but this was a fascinating documentary that shows how sport can be more than just a game. Mixing together well the narrative of the team and that of the nation. I loved the way the documentary makers managed to capture the mysteries and ambiguities of both the people and the country involved. There is some really slick editing as well which makes this documentary really stand out.

5/5

Shane called Joe

Joe (2013)

Directed by David Gordon Green this film based on the novel of the same name stars Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan and Adriene Mishler. In rural America a man trying his best not to get into trouble again takes a teenage boy under his wing.

Taking the classic Shane (1953) this is another tragedy of a man trying to escape his nature but pulled back by the obligations to those around him. I enjoyed the film and while it's not the best version I have seen of this story it's well up there. Nicolas Cage gives one of his best recent performances which makes the film worth seeing for that alone.

4/5

A North African first

Zohra (1922)

Directed by Albert Samama Chikly this film stars it's writer Haydee Chikly. A young French woman is washed a shore from a ship wreck and taken in by a tribe of Beduin.

Unfortunately this film only survives as a fragment so we do not get to experience the full plot but it is an interesting snapshot of life in North Africa in the period. As the first film made indigenously in North Africa the film has historical importance. For a first effort the film is fairly well made and not far off the standard of the period.

3/5

exasperatingly evasive

Mr. X (2014)

Directed by Tessa Louise-Salome this documentary is also known as “Mr. Leos caraX”. We look into the career of French director Leos Carax.

More interested in perpetuating rather than penetrating the myths around it's subject this is more of a loving tribute to the director's films than anything else. While the documentary provides a good over view of the director's films it never seems to scratch much beneath the surface or offer anything you could not get from watching those films yourself. In the end this is a bit of a missed opportunity really.

3/5

An odd duck

Mauvais Sang (1986)

Directed by Leos Carax this film stars Denis Lavant, Juliette Binoche, Michel Piccoli, Hans Meyer and Julie Delpy. A young magician leaves his girlfriend to join up with two men seeking to rob a medical company of a serum created to treat a new STD.

Undoubtedly this is an odd mix of genres and styles which at times is both entertaining and overly drawn out. I found the middle of the film gets far too bogged down in the protagonist trying to seduce the girl of one of his criminal partners. There are some real moments of directorial flair but the film is so uneven it leaves you scratching your head.

3/5

Porky vs Daffy

You Ought to Be in Pictures (1940)

Directed by Friz Freleng this short cartoon has voices from Mel Blanc. Daffy Duck convinces Porky Pig to give up his contract to work in cartoons to explore a career in motion pictures.

Cleverly mixing live action and animation this is a fun little cartoon. The plot is simple but remains entertaining and has a few good laughs. Live action and animated elements fit together well and do not seem out of place at all.

4/5

Viewer meets confusion

Boy Meets Girl (1984)

Directed by Leos Carax this film stars Denis Lavant and Mireille Perrier. A young man that has recently been dumped falls in love with a girl who has also just been dumped.

Clearly in the French New Wave style this film is about twenty years late and more frustrating than a late revival for the style. It takes forever for the plot to get going and it's not exactly easy to follow when it does. I suppose the performances are fine but not much stands out about this film in a positive manner.

2/5

The present by way of the past

A Touch of Sin (2013)

Directed by Jia Zhangke this film stars Jiang Wu, Zhao Tao and Wang Baoqiang. We follow a collection of stories of struggles, crime and violence in modern China.

Interestingly mixing crime and the struggles of modern China with a style of violence harking back back to wuxia cinema such as A Touch of Zen (1971) it is a real surprise this film made it past China's censors. The stories the film is based on offer a variety of view points based on real events which helps keep the film ground. This is a fascinating look at mundane China through the lens of it's more fantastical past.

4/5

More of the same

Cafe Society (2016)

Written & directed by Woody Allen this film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively and Steve Carell. In the 1930s a young Jewish man heads to LA and gets in a love triangle with his uncle and his uncle's younger secretary.

Woody Allen rarely strays far from familiar subjects these days and this film is pretty much a well trodden path in terms of his previous films. While the film is pretty well made it offers nothing new and feels very safe. Even the performances seem some what pedestrian for such a good cast.

3/5

Swanning around

The Ugly Duckling (1939)

Directed by Jack Cutting and Clyde Geronimi this cartoon has duck noises from Clarance Nash. A baby duck struggles to fit in with his birth family and goes on an adventure to find his place in the world.

Taking a classic tale this is a simple but effective story of a baby duck that is really a swan. This was the last in the “Silly Symphonies” series and it brings together everything Disney had learnt in it's previous efforts for a quality cartoon. The simple morale and the animation work well together providing good entertainment.

4/5

Unleash the dogs of arms trading

War Dogs (2016)

Directed by Todd Phillips this film based on a true story stars Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas and Bradley Cooper. Two young guys from Miami start selling arms to the US government.

It seems that the truth is not overly valued in the plot of this film as the script seeks to put at least one of it's protagonists in a good light. Having a light and comedic take on the subject matter does not really offer any depth on the subject and the film comes of as a worse version of Lord of War (2005). Despite the good cast there is not a lot to recommend this film on.

2/5

When dignity dies

Radiator (2014)

Directed by Tom Browne this film stars Richard Johnson in his final role as well as Daniel Cerqueira, Gemma Jones and Julia Ford. A middle aged man heads to a rural part of England to help his ageing parents in their decrepit house.

This film does a great job of capturing the loss of dignity and sometimes anger that comes with failing health. I really enjoyed the the way the film shows the toll caring for an elderly person can have on a spouse and children. There are some really nice shots of the Lake District to go with the good performances.

4/5

Knock down and resurrection

An Extraordinary Cab Accident (1903)

Directed by Walter R. Booth this is an early short film. Out for a walk with his lady a gentleman is trampled by a horse and cab.

Simplistic is the best word to describe this film that runs for less than a minute. The plot is very basic even with the “twist” at the end. Even the special effects are not that impressive compared to what else was about at the time.

3/5

Youth in isolation

Shell (2012)

Written & directed by Scott Graham this film stars Chloe Pirrie, Joseph Mawle, Michael Smiley and Iain de Caestecker. A seventeen year old girl lives with her father and they run a remote petrol station.

This is a minimalist coming of age tale set in the Scottish highlands, a back drop that does provide some lovely landscapes. I found the plot to the fairly sparse and while entertaining not overly remarkable as a coming of age film. The film is well made but a little creepy on occasion.

3/5

Mike and Dave are not nice people

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)

Directed by Jake Szymanski this film stars Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Adam DeVine and Aubrey Plaza. Two immature brothers are told they must bring dates to their sisters wedding to curtail their stupid behaviour.

Claiming to be based on a true story I can only hope that is a very loose claim as the plot of this film features a bunch of terrible people that learn very little. I found the story mind numbing and the characters unlikeable. The film lurches from one set piece to the next with little stringing it together and not much humour.

2/5

Not Dredd remake material

The Raid 2 (2014)

Written & directed by Gareth Evans this film stars Iko Uwais, Cok Simbara, Arifin Putra and Tio Pakusadewo. Our hero is sent to jail to infiltrate a crime family and bring down the corrupt system protecting them.

I found this film to be a bit of a let down compared to it's predecessor as the plot proves to be cumbersome where the previous one was so slick. At times the script gets bogged down in a fairly derivative story and the action set pieces feel forced at times. The action sequences are still the highlight but at 150 odd minutes I found the film dragging.

3/5

Swirly wirly

Tusalava (1929)

Directed by Len Lye this is a short experimental film. We see various swirling shapes of an abstract nature.

No doubt there is something to this film but what exactly is a bit a of a head scratcher. The content was just a bit too out there for me but it was some what interesting to watch at least. I found the animation style to be nothing special for the era.

3/5

Over cooked

An Over-Incubated Baby (1901)

directed by Walter R. Booth this is a short silent film. A woman puts her baby in a machine that should age it by one year but the machine goes haywire.

Taking a simple plot this one minute film is not the deepest film you will ever see but manages to fill out it's run time. There is basically one gag but enough action to hold your attention. Unlike a lot of the early films there is not a lot of trick photography.

3/5

Lost in Belfast

'71 (2014)

Directed by Yann Demange this film stars Jack O'Connell, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Paul Anderson and Charlie Murphy. In Belfast in 1971 a British soldier becomes separated from his unit in a Catholic controlled region of the city.

While this film is pushing an agenda it does a really good job of balancing realism and tension to provide a good thriller. The action sequences never get over the top and the plot embraces the complicated, confused nature of Belfast in the time period. While this is not The Battle of Algiers (1966) it is not fair behind in terms of quality.

4/5

The most famous of races

The Tortoise and the Hare (1935)

Directed by Wilfred Jackson this cartoon is based on Aesop's fable of the same name. Facing off in a big race it's a battle between the slow and steady versus the fast, show off.

Taking a familiar story this cartoon adds on some decent jokes and fills out a decent cartoon. The classic moral stays intact and works well with Disney's humour. While the animation is not a big stand out it is one of the early uses of cell animation and works well.

4/5

A simple winged trick

The Pigeon Fairy (1906)

Directed by Segundo de Chomon and Gaston Velle this is an early short film with hand tinted colour. We see a young woman do some tricks with pigeons.

Using a simple reverse play back to create the visual trick this is a fairly decent short. There is not a lot to it but the combination of trick and colour is enough to hold the viewers attention. This fits in well with Chomon's other fantastical early films.

3/5

Way out of line

Lights Out (2016)

Directed by David F. Sandberg this film stars Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Maria Bello and Alexander DiPersia. A woman helps her younger brother deal with the monster their mother is bringing into the family house.

Taking a clumsy monster as mental illness metaphor this film ends by suggesting those with problems can protect their families by killing themselves which is pretty messed up. Wheeling out simple horror tricks the film is not too bad but the underlying implications are not cool. At times it also shows that this is a short film stretched out to feature length as there is not a lot to the plot.

2/5

Dancing round the world

Danses algeriennes 1. Danse des Ouled-Naid (1902)

Directed by Segundo de Chomon this is an early short film. We see short clips of a few different types of dancers from different nationalities.

The hand tinting adds a nice tough to this otherwise not very remarkable short. While the dancing styles are some what interesting there is not much of them and little connection between them. As a piece of historical record this is probably better than as an entertainment film.

3/5

Not making a big splash

The Fantastic Diver (1906)

Directed by Segundo de Chomon this is an early short film. We watch a man instantly jump in and out of water with a variety of magical costume changes.

Essentially this film relies on two simple camera tricks and is not overly remarkable. The content is entertaining but not overly so. While I enjoyed this short it does not have a huge amount to it.

3/5

Twice as much Hardy as usual

Legend (2015)

Written & directed by Brian Helgeland this film stars Tom Hardy (twice), Emily Browning and David Thewlis. During the 1960s in London we follow the life a celebrity gangsters the Kray twins.

I am not sure how factually accurate this film is, no doubt some liberties have been taken, but it does show a pretty good look into family and the criminal world. Clearly the main draw here is Tom Hardy in dual roles and he does an excellent job of showing the different natures of the twins. While I enjoyed the film I am not sure how much depth it really has.

4/5

Jack Runaround

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

Directed by Edward Zwick this film based on the novel of the same name stars Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders and Danika Yarosh. Heading to DC our hero finds his buddy sent to jail for a crime she didn't commit and a girl claiming to be the daughter he never knew he had.

Taking a highly predictable plot this film rattles through the motions without much thought for having any sort of character arcs. Introducing Cobie Smulders as a female counterpart to the protagonist offers a brief flicker of interesting content but is quickly swept under the carpet in favour of the protagonist doing it all himself. I suppose the stunts are fine but the fact that nearly every scene opens with the characters running somewhere gets kind of silly.

2/5

Less than the sum of it's parts

Rythmetic (1956)

Directed by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart this is an animated short film. Numbers appear on the screen and get into mischief doing athematic.

Of the McLaren/Lambart collaborations I have seen this is not one of the more entertaining or visually appealing. It has a decent premise and while not too bad to watch comes across more as a simple educational video rather than entertainment. Even the animation style is not that interesting.

2/5

The journey to death

Last Cab to Darwin (2015)

Directed by Jeremy Sims this film based on the play of the same name stars Michael Caton, Ningali Lawford, Mark Coles Smith and Emma Hamilton. A taxi driver with only 3 months to live drives 3000km to where euthanasia has recently been legalised.

Inspired by a true story this film does a good job of exploring the desires of someone with a terminal illness who wishes to die with dignity. Easily this film could have been overly melodramatic but it handles the topic sensitively without drawing any heavy conclusions. There are decent performances from the cast but it is the script that stands out the most.

4/5