Not so slow

Slow West (2015)

Written & directed by John Maclean this film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Caren Pistorius and Ben Mendelsohn. Innocence and experience travel across Colorado together in search of the same girl but for different reasons.

Taking a simple coming of age tale set in the Old West this film plays out it's story against a stunning back drop. While the plot is enjoyable and has a decent exploration of some moral quandaries it is always the landscape that shines through here. The photography does an excellent job of showing New Zealand standing in for Colorado and is breath taking through out.

4/5

Second album slump

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Written & directed by James Gunn this film stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel. God makes man, man and his gang of misfits kill god.

Picking up where the last film left off this is a fairly fun film about a group of outsiders becoming a family but always feels like it lacks depth. The plot does the usual MCU trick of moving the plot no a little but still feeling like treading water. Decently made but lacking a little something from the first film I really think the plot needed more of a timer on it to put more energy into the film.

3/5

The worst beach vacation ever

Dunkirk (2017)

Written & directed by Christopher Nolan this film based on real events stars Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard and Kenneth Branagh. We follow the battle of Dunkirk from the land, sea and air as British forces try to evacuate from the beach.

Taking everything he has learned from making his previous films this evolution in Nolan's film making is the perfect mood poem for Dunkirk. Instead of focusing on details and historical figures instead this film attempts to capture the emotions and universal experiences. I really enjoyed this film even if it was 106 minutes of pure anxiety that is exactly what it needed to be.

5/5

Not a trip to Stockholm

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Directed by Bill Condon this film which stars Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Luke Evans is live action adaptation of Disney's previous animated version. A peasant girl from a small village in faux France is locked up in the castle of an aristocrat cursed into beast form.

This is a very safe adaptation of previously existing material that manages to avoid some of the pitfalls in the original folk tale. The relationship between the two central characters is always difficult to handle but I think this version does a decent job. Of course the highlight of the film is Emma Watson but largely the film is as you would expect it to be.

3/5

Batman makes friends

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

Directed by Chris Mckay this film has voices from Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson and Ralph Fiennes. Our hero needs to learn to play with others.

Taking the humour of the first Lego film and grafting it onto an odd ball version of the Batman universe this is a fun ride through out. The message behind the film is pretty simple but the script is chock full of jokes and references to keep even adults entertained. Some of the action sequences get a little hectic but over all this is a really well made effort.

4/5

The Shane of mutants

Logan (2017)

Directed by James Mangold this film stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook and Dafne Keen. Many years in the future an aged Wolverine is called to help a young mutant girl as he tries to look after Professor X who is suffering from a brain disease.

Continuing the sequence of every stand alone Wolverine film being better than it's predecessor this is the best X-Men film in some time. What I love most about this film is the way it brings something new to the genre, a look at what happens to our heroes once they are past their prime. While I do believe that everything is Shane (1953) this film does occasionally get a little too close to being heavy handed in drawing parallels. There are some great performances from Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman, it will be a real shame that Jackman is retiring from the role but this was a great way to go out.

4/5

Baby is all grown up

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Directed by Robert Aldrich this film based on the novel of the same name stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. A child star grows up to find her sister has the more successful career and torments her in her twilight years.

Somewhat more famous for the behind the scenes feud between lead actresses this is still an entertaining thriller. While the plot is not overly deep it is a fun fight between two great actresses. Compared to modern thrillers this may be no great shakes but it was ground breaking in it's day.

3/5

Hidden History

Hidden Figures (2016)

Directed by Theodore Melfi this film based on real events stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner and Kirsten Dunst. We follow three African-American women working at NASA in the 1960s.

Unfortunately as with nearly every “based on a true story” this film takes an important narrative and goes on an expedition to tell the story it wants to rather than necessarily the one hundred percent truth. While this is not a bad watch far too often it feels obviously constructed. In the end this film comes off as a bit too much of a self congratulatory, feel good film at the cost of the real achievements of some very important people.

3/5

Wick-ed

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

Directed by Chad Stahelski this film stars Keanu Reeves, Common, Riccardo Scamarcio, Laurence Fishburne and Ruby Rose. An Italian crime lord calls in a marker owed by John Wick.

Essentially the plot of this film is a pretty thin excuse for our protagonist to go on another mega killing spree. While the action sequences are well done it feels like everything else in this film is an after thought. This film would have been much better off had the script gone through a few more drafts.

2/5

A shock from the past

The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918)

Directed by Winsor McCay this is an animated short film. We see the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German submarine in 1915.

Clearly this is a propaganda film, there is no ambiguity in the tone of the film but it is still a decent recreation of events. What stands out most is the animation which is very impressive for early cinema. Slightly oddly the film breaks the 4^th wall in the introduction but this is not really an egregious mistake.

4/5

Ten years have not been kind

Borat (2006)

Directed by Larry Charles this film stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell, Pamela Anderson and a host of unsuspecting members of the public. A Kazakh journalist travels to the US to make a documentary on the country but becomes obsessed with meeting Pamela Anderson.

Constantly going for the low hanging fruit this film is not clever and about as subtle as being smashed in the head with a brick. Taking all sorts of stereotypes as the basis for this film I'm not sure that there is any way this film can be seen as not offensive. For my taste the film is too obviously constructed to pass as satire and pretty disappointing over all.

2/5

In need of a recall

The Recall (2017)

Directed by Mauro Borreli this film also known as “Final Recall” stars Wesley Snipes, RJ Mitte, Jedidiah Goodacre and Laura Bilgeri. A bunch of attractive, young, white people go to the lake for the weekend, also an alien invasion happens.

Oh boy, this film is not good, not good on any level. The plot is mind numbing with plenty of holes in it and the characters as bland as could be. Both the performances and the direction veer towards parody at times so there is nothing to recommend this film on.

1/5

A tale of two sons

Gunman's Walk (1958)

Directed by Phil Karlson this film stars Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, James Darren and Davy Hackett. A tough rancher that helped tame the west finds his adult sons have gone in different directions, one too far into the old ways and one too civilized for him to understand.

While it may start with some slightly ropey dialogue in the end this is a fairly decent western that actually has something about it. Set in the coming of civilization/end of the west period as so many great films of the genre are this may not be an astoundingly unique film but it does it's job well. The performances and direction are adequate but unremarkable.

3/5

Reflections on Reflections on Black

Reflections on Black (1955)

Directed by Stan Brakhage this short film stars Don Redlich, Lee Cole, Helen England, Ken Mecham and Pat Cleveland. We see moments from several relationships.

As you would expect from an experimental art film this short is more about abstract sequences rather than clear narrative. At times things are a little too on the nose but as an experiment this is not too bad. Some of the filming techniques are a little rough around the edges which does not make this the easiest film to watch ever.

3/5

A fight to sit through

Fist Fight (2017)

Directed by Richie Keen this film stars Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Tracy Morgan and Jillian Bell. One the last day of school a mild mannered teacher falls foul of a more aggressive teacher and gets challenged to a fist fight at the end of the day.

Nearly the whole way through this film feels forced, from the jokes to the plot everything is trying just too hard. There are some funny moments but not enough to carry this film which needed fleshing out beyond it's basic concept. The cast is pretty decent but too often they are over doing it for the camera.

2/5

The Korean Revenant, Kind Of

The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale (2015)

Written & directed by Park Hoon-jung this film stars Choi Min-shik, Jung Man-sik, Kim Sang-ho and Sung Yoo-bin. During the Japanese occupation of Korea an old hunter is ordered to help kill the last tiger living on Mount Jirisan.

I really enjoyed this film which has some stunning shots of Korean landscape. The plot is interesting and offers a fair amount of nuance when it comes to the tiger's relationship with the hunter. Largely the film is well made but a little more restraint on the action sequences would have kept the tiger attacks more believable.

4/5

Racism all the way down

Rastus in Zululand (1910)

Directed by Arthur Hotaling this is an early silent film. An African-American man ends up sent to Zululand where he is offered a choice of marrying the chief's daughter or going in the pot.

Well this is essentially a horribly racist short built around a single “joke” that comes late in the film. It is hard to find a redeeming feature here as even for the period the film was made in this is pretty distasteful. If I were you I'd just give this one a miss.

1/5

'Dam rain

Rain (1929)

Directed by Mannus Franken and Joris Ivens this is a short documentary. We see the city of Amsterdam as it gets rained on.

Fitting in with the genre of city symphonies this film extends the genre slightly by adding the weather to it. The shots capture both the city and the effect the weather has on it nicely. While this may not stand out a huge amount it is still a worth addition to a more lyrical genre.

4/5

Contemptible

9/11 (2017)

Directed by Martin Guigui this film based on the play “Elevator” stars Charlie Sheen, Whoopi Goldberg, Gina Gershon, Luis Guzman and Woody Harris. During the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center a group of people are trapped in an elevator.

It is hard to see this film as anything other than attempting to cash in on a major terrorist attack and what tiny shred of credibility the film has is taken away by casting a “truther” in the leader role. To be honest there is nothing to praise about the paper thin script and the manipulative use of real events. Who ever thought making this film was a good idea needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

1/5

A lemon

Lemon (2017)

Directed by Janicza Bravo this film stars Brett Gelman, Judy Greer, Michael Cera and Nia long. An unsuccessful middle aged actor's life begins to fall apart when his girlfriend leaves him.

This is an offbeat comedy that likely requires a specific taste to enjoy. While not a terrible watch I found the plot a little slow and lacking any real character arc. The performances and direction are okay but this was not my cup of tea.

2/5

More German Visulaisation

Lichtscpiel Opus I (1921)

Directed by Walter Ruttmann this is an experimental animated film set to music. We see various shapes and colours dance around on the screen in time to the music.

Very similar to the work of Oskar Fischinger this is a film from a similar time period in Germany as Fischinger's work. Enjoyable but not overly deep this is a decent example of this genre of film. More something to put on in the background rather than something to hold your attention.

3/5

Flat beats

Heartbeats (2017)

Written & directed by Duane Adler this film stars Krystal Ellsworth, Paul McGillion, Daphne Zuniga and Amitash Pradhan. An American girl steals from her parents so she can dance instead of go to law school then gets dragged to a wedding in India by her parents.

Oh boy, this film is a poor attempt to string together a bunch of dance numbers. It's hard to say if the dialogue or heavy handed direction is worse but it certainly is hard to find much to like about this film. I suspect even the dance numbers will be unimpressive to those that actually know anything about dance so that does not leave much here as everything else is mind numbing.

1/5

At least the black guy doesn't die first

Life (2017)

Directed by Daniel Espinosa this film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds and Ariyon Bakare. The crew of the International Space Station reanimate life from Mars but then it tries to kill them.

It is inevitable this film will be compared to Alien (1979) and it is always going to come off the worse for that. As a horror film this is an average effort and it's no great shakes as a sci-fi film either. The cast do the best they can but there is no character growth for any of the characters which does not help them much.

3/5

It's alive

Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

Ditected by Winsor McCay this short film mixes sections of live action and animation. Two men bet over if one of them can make a dinosaur move or not.

It takes a little while for this short to get to the animation but when it does this turns into a charming little short. One of the earliest animated films out there this film shows a surprising amount of the potential the genre had. While a little rudimentary to modern eyes this is still an impressive early effort.

4/5

In debt to the land

The Debt (2015)

Written & directed by Barney Elliott this film also known as Oliver's Debt or The Debt stars Stephen Dorff, Elsa Olivero, Amiel Cayo and Marco Antonio Ramierz. We follow three stories from Peru that eventually cross over.

There is a lot of great scenery in this film but otherwise it is a fairly average film attempting to moralise about putting one's self first. The plot is average at best and does not offer any really surprises. It is a bit of a shame this film is so pedestrian but at least Peru looks amazing in it.

3/5

Middle of the road

Detour (2016)

Written & directed by Christopher Smith this film stars Tye Sheridan, Emory Cohen and Bel Powley. A young law student has a grudge against his step father and runs into a criminal that wants to exploit him for money.

As thrillers go this is not really a remarkable one but does use a non-linear narrative to at least keep the audience in the dark a bit. You could say this is an enjoyable distraction but it won't linger in the mind. The execution and performances are solid but like the rest of the film nothing special.

3/5

Blue

Eaux d'artifice (1953)

Directed by Kenneth Anger this film stars Carmilia Salvatorelli. A woman dressed in fine 18^th century garb wanders through the gardens at Tivoli to the music of Vivaldi's “Four Seasons”.

While the blue tinted imagery of this short film is interesting enough I found this to be an average film in general. There is no real plot and I could not fathom much depth to the film. Nicely made but keeps the viewer at arms length too much for my taste.

3/5

The English finale?

This is England '90 (2015)

Directed by Shane Meadows this mini series has a large cast including Thomas Turgoose, Vicky McClure, Joe Gilgun and Andrew Shim. We follow the familiar characters through rave culture and dealing with the fall out of events from previous series.

I found the series to take a long time to get going with the second episode in particular feeling like filler before we could get to the character stuff. While it was enjoyable to check back in on these characters I did not think this was the strongest entry in the series. There are good performances from the cast but the slow motion montages were a bit heavy handed in my opinion.

3/5

Magic mayhem

Willie's Magic Wand (1907)

Directed by Walter R. Booth this is an early short film. A young boy steals his father's magic wand and causes havoc about the house.

This is a simple but well put together special effects film. Unlike a lot of early films this film has a good pace and gets through a solid number of jokes. The film is well made but does lack a narrative ending.

3/5

You can keep it

Mine (2016)

Written & directed by Fabio Guaglione and Fabio Resinaro this film stars Armie Hammer, Tommy Madison, Clint Dyer and Annabelle Wallis. A US Marine lost in the desert steps on a mine and finds himself stuck without help.

What could have been an interesting survival film is instead a pseudo-philosophical film that relies on a “magical negro” trope. Unfortunately this is both boring and at times frustrating to watch. The direction over eggs the pudding at times and parts of the film make no sense.

2/5

Two heads, three times

Dimensions of Dialogue (1983)

Written and directed by Jan Svankmajer this is a three part animated short film. We see three different “conversations” between two heads.

I found the contents of this film a little abstract for my taste, the social commentary being beyond me. Where the film does shine is in it's impressive and varied use of stop motion animation. If for no other reason this film is worth watching for it's impressive animation.

4/5