Binion

 

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Directed by Colin Trevorrow this film stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill. Four years after the events of the last film humans are trying to learn to live with dinosaurs roaming free in the world.

The franchise has lost all the wonder the original had and instead is some spy movie knock off for most of the film. Without the heart even bringing back old favourites can not carry this film. Everything is just too predictable right down to the finale dinosaur fight.

2/5

All heart

 

Paper Moon (1973)

Directed by Peter Bogdanovich this film based on the novel Addie Pray stars Ryan and Tatum O'Neil. In the 1930s a con man and a girl that may be his daughter travel across the US.

A little bit simplistic but with a lot of heart this is a very fun film. Not taking itself too seriously is the key to enjoying this film. There is a surprising amount of adult content slipped in for a film with such a young star.

3/5

Ren fair 1896

 

Dresde, vieux quartier a l'Eposition (1896)

Directed by Auguste & Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. We see a historical fair held in Dresden.

As street scenes of the period go this is a more unusual one in terms of subject matter however it lacks a stand out piece of action to focus in on. This is mostly just people milling about. Who knew they had historical fairs even in the 1890s?

2/5

Lazy sequel

 

Return to Real Kashmir FC (2020)

Directed by Greg Clark this documentary stars David Robertson. We return to see the progress of Scottish manager David Robertson at Real Kashmir.

As sequels go I am not sure this one adds a huge amount to the original. There are portions where the documentary becomes more of a travelogue which is not what I am here for really. Bit of a let down as a follow up in my opinion.

2/5

Not the next goal

 

Real Kashmir FC (2019)

Directed by Greg Clark this documentary stars David Robertson. We follow a Scottish football manager working in the disputed region of Kashmir.

You can see what this documentary wants to be, following in the wake of Next Goal Wins (2014) however it lacks some of the heart of that film. The film focuses on the manager to the exclusion of the locals which makes it feel like you only get part of the picture. Interesting but not remarkable.

3/5

Wishes it was Alistair MacLean

 

Code Name: Emerald (1985)

Directed by Jonathan Sanger this film stars Ed Harris, Max von Sydow and Eric Stoltz. On the eve of the Allied invasion of Europe a double agent has a save an officer with the invasion plans.

Taking well trodden ground for the subject matter this film is a disappointment that does not always make sense. This is a low grade Alistair MacLean knock off with not much beyond the cast going for it. For a film with Ed Harris, Max von Sydow and Patrick Stewart in it the whole thing is flat.

2/5

A body problem

 

The Green Man (1956)

Directed by Robert Day this film stars Alastair Sim, Jill Adams, George Cole and Terry Thomas. A man tries to carry out an assassination with his neighbours on his tail.

This is a decent farce that does a pretty good job of hiding the fact it is based on a play. Nothing is overly amazing about the plot but it is pretty fun. A little bit more energy would have really knocked this one out of the park.

3/5

Who the fuck is Alice?

 

Alice (2022)

Written & directed by Krystin Ver Liden this film stars Keke Plamer, Jonny Lee Miller and Common. A woman escapes slavery on a plantation in Georgia only to find out it is actually the 1970s and slavery is illegal.

I love the premise of this film, asking us how a slave would react to the civil rights movement and a celebration of blaxplotation films of the period. Unfortunately the film never really nails what it is going for, it is just too on the nose at times, especially with literally putting a Pam Grier movie in the movie. As much as I want to love this one I just can not despite how good Keke Palmer is in it.

2/5

Too gentle of a ride

 

Ride the Eagle (2021)

Directed by Trent O'Donnell this film stars Jake Johnson, Susan Sarandon, J. K. Simmons and D'Arcy Carden. A man inherits a cabin from the hippy mother who abandoned him.

I really wanted a bit more angst or drama from this film, while the gentle nature is very pleasant it is ultimately a bit empty. The protagonist has more than enough reason to be really angry with his dead mother we just never get a proper resolution to that conflict in my opinion. Lacking a bit in depth in my opinion.

3/5

Static streets

 

Place de l'Opera (1896)

Directed by Auguste & Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. We see a street scene from Paris.

A sea of people wander the street. Or they would do if the version of this film I saw had a few more frames to it, it seems this is not a well preserved one. Not the most interesting street scene in the Lumiere catalogue.

2/5

Is it Shane again?

 

The Hanging Sun (2022)

Directed by Francesco Carrozzini this film based on the novel “Midnight Sun” stars Alessandro Borghi, Jessica Brown Findlay, Peter Mullan and Charles Dance. A man on the run from his crime boss father goes to an isolated island with a strict religious community.

Brooding on a level you would expect from modern Scandinavian literature I am not sure this film ever really goes anywhere. You could definitely make a case for filling this one under another Shane (1953) remake although it does have a different ending. Sadly we never get to see Peter Mullan and Charles Dance in the same scene.

3/5

Slow burn

 

Fire Down Below (1957)

Directed by Robert Parrish this film based on the novel of the same name stars Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum and Jack Lemmon. Two friends help smuggle a woman from one island to another.

There is not a huge amount to this film, it is a love triangle that mostly plays out how you would expect. Rita Hayworth gets to show off her dancing skills in an extended sequence but otherwise this film is not very remarkable. Nice to see Bernard Lee rock up in the second half of the film.

3/5

Nothing to lose

 

Toulouse, rue Alsace-Lorraine (1896)

Directed by Auguste & Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. We see a street scene from Toulouse.

As street scenes go there is a fair amount going on. The film is well timed so as to catch a passing tram and some other traffic. A good example of the genre.

3/5

Dandies and lies

 

Beau Brummell (1954)

Directed by Curtis Bernhardt this film stars Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Ustinov. The original dandy befriends the Prince of Wales.

No one lets history get in the way of a mediocre story here. The plot is pretty bland and honestly fairly contradictory, the main character makes little sense. About the only good thing here is seeing Ustinov as the Prince of Wales.

1/5

Men and a woman

 

She, a Chinese (2009)

Written & directed by Xiaolu Guo this film stars Huang Lu, Wei Yi Bo, Geoffrey Hutchings and Chris Ryman. A young woman travels from her village in China to live in London.

You can really see the influence of Godard in this story. I enjoyed the film even if it does remain a little distant from the viewer at times. An unsettling look at the way a woman is treated by men.

4/5

I'm blue.

 

Eiffel (2021)

Directed by Martin Bourboulon this film stars Romain Duris and Emma Mackey. We see Gustave Eiffel as he attempts to build the famous tower named after him.

Is there anything more French than a man building a huge phallus to impress a married woman? Unfortunately a lot of this is fictional rather than historical which rather puts a dampener on things. I would have rather seen the truth than a made up love story.

2/5

Evil Bacon

 

One Way (2022)

Directed by Ben Conway this film stars Colson Baker, Kevin Bacon, Storm Reid, Travis Fimmel and Drea de Matteo. A man on the run with a bag of money and a gun shot wound gets on a bus.

As crime thrillers on a budget go this one is fine. It makes decent, if not amazing use of the constrained space. The highlight of the film is seeing Kevin Bacon transformed into a real evil dude.

3/5

Too settled

 

The Estate (2022)

Written & directed by Dean Craig this film stars Toni Collette, Anna Faris, Kathleen Turner, Rosemarie DeWitt and David Duchovny. Four cousins fight over convincing their dying aunt to leave them her estate.

As comedies go this one is fine, it stumbles through sign posted plot beats with a decent amount of humour. You would never call this comedy riotous, it does just about enough to get by. A little more effort on the writing would have really elevated this one.

3/5

Dog eat dog world

 

Amores perros (2000)

Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu this film stars Emilio Echevarria, Gael Garcia Bernal and Goya Toledo. Three peoples lives are connected by a car crash.

You can pick a lot out of this film when looking at the themes, mostly about the way people treat each other and their dogs. Some of the scenes are hard to watch, mostly the dog fight ones so this film is not for everyone. Definitely thought provoking and well constructed.

4/5

At the beach

 

The Children's Seaside Frolic (1897)

Directed by Auguste & Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. We see two children and their mother at the beach.

There is definitely a very human element to this short, the part where the girl throws rocks is very familiar. This falls more into what we would consider today a home movie rather than a piece of drama or documentary. A nice snap shot of a personal moment.

3/5

Body horror of the future

 

Crimes of the Future (2022)

Written & directed by David Cronenberg this film stars Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux and Kristen Stewart. In the future a couple perform art by public surgery to remove new organs.

I will be honest and say I have no idea what the movie is getting at but it is sufficiently creepy for a Cronenberg film. There is plenty of body horror here to make you uneasy. Worth watching even if I can not figure it out.

4/5

Lasting disappointment

 

The Last Son (2021)

Directed by Tim Sutton this film stars Sam Worthington, Colson Baker, Thomas Jane and Heather Graham. A man murders his own children because he believe in a prophecy that says one of them will kill him.

Attempting to be dark and moody this film just lacks the depth required to pull off the tone it is going for. At least one scene has completely unusable sound. All in all you can see what this film wants to be it just never gets close to it.

1/5

Left handed acting

 

The Left Handed Gun (1958)

Directed by Arthur Penn this film stars Paul Newman and John Dehner. Billy the Kid seeks revenge on the men who murdered his boss.

With all the talent involved here I had big expectations for this one and it fell far short. Uncharacteristically Paul Newman over acts his way through this film. The whole thing is just too juvenile at times, there are much better films on these characters out there.

2/5

Shat

 

Les Chats Boxeurs (1898)

Directed by Auguste & Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. Two cats in a ring have a mock boxing match.

I do not mind some of the early films involving trained animals however this one just comes across as animal cruelty. Even with wearing boxing gloves I am not a fan of seeing cats forced to fit. That is a no from me.

1/5

Made mincemeat of it

 

Operation Mincemeat (2021)

Directed by John Madden this film based on real events stars Colin Firth, Kelly Macdonald and Matthew Macfadyen. The British attempt to make the Germans believe they will invade Greece not Sicily.

We already have one film on this subject matter and I am not sure we needed a second given the changes made here. We get a love triangle added in and Bond bait in the form of bigging up Ian Flemming. Just stick with the original film on the subject in my opinion.

2/5

Boxed in

 

Boxing Day (2021)

Written & directed by star Aml Ameen this film also features Aja Naomi King, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. A Caribbean-British author returns home for Christmas to introduce his American finance to his family.

A very reductive description of this film would be to call it a Black version of Love Actually. I could enjoy this film more if it did not signal every single plot element from miles off. There is the potential for decent drama here that is unfortunately completely squandered in favour of easy genre tropes.

2/5

Choo choo

 

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896)

Directed by Auguste & Louis Lumiere this is an early short film. A train pulls into the station at La Ciotat.

Very simple and somewhat of interest to film historians as it was not part of the official Lumiere catalogue. A decent bit of action as the train pulls in and people go about there business. Good for the period.

3/5

A new era of revisionism

 

Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)

Directed by Simon Curtis this film based on the television show of the same name stars Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery. A film is made at Downton Abbey while most of the family travel to the south of France.

I found this film to be too gentle, it lacks conflict and any critical eye of the class system. The whole thing is pleasant fantasy for those who do not wish to engage their brains. One for fans of the show, not the general viewer.

2/5

Barely any bark, no bite

Hounded (2022)

Directed by Tommy Boulding this film stars Samantha Bond, Malachi Pullar-Latchman and James Lance. Landed gentry hunt urban burglars in a faux fox hunt.

Wanting to be social commentary in the style of The Purge or Get Out this film does nothing interesting with a set I have seen done better in the comic The Invisibles. We plod through the predictable plot hitting inevitable story beats. Just needs more character and more thought put into it.

2/5

A guilt pleasure?

 

Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In (2021)

Directed by Jason Ferguson this documentary has contributions from a number of members of the Ferguson family. We follow the career of Sir Alex Ferguson as framed by a recent health scare.

I am a United fan and even I expected this to be a some what self indulgent documentary as it is directed by the subject's own son but it does do a fairly decent job of not over indulging in sentimentality. Now I am probably the target audience for this film so my views should be taken with a grain of salt. I really enjoyed seeing how Sir Alex's upbringing and early years shaped the man he became as well as all the vintage footage.

4/5

Harvey finally gets caught

 She Said (2022)

Directed by Maria Schrader this film based on real events stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan. Two New York Times reporters investigate and expose Harvey Weinstein's history of abuse.

Taking on a serious subject like this and setting yourself up against the pantheon of investigative journalism films is a bit ask. The film does a good job of tackling the subject matter, using some harrowing real life testimony without ever being gratuitous with it. Unfortunately I do not think this film is as good as the giants of the genre or as good of a film on the subject matter as The Assistant (2019) is despite this film not doing much wrong.

4/5