Restless (2024)
Directed by Jed Hart this film stars Lyndsey Marshal and Aston McAuley. A middle aged woman gets a new neighbour who turns out to be an anti social yob.
Goes about as you would expect and still manages to hold a decent amount of tension. A really solid genre effort, shows what you can do with a low budget. Good work all round.
3/5
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
Directed by Kenki Kamiyama this animated film has voices from Brian Cox, Gaia Wise and Luke Pasqualino. Civil war in Rohan after the king kills a lord with one punch.
Fits more then anime than it does with Tolkien's mythos in my opinion, the writing is just too modern in feel. As a stand alone piece it is fine, nothing special. Somewhat of a disappointment given all the praise I saw for it.
3/5
Flood in YY Neighbourhood (1899)
Directed by Emile Lauste this is an early short film. A man with a hose pipe sprays a large can.
Not exactly a flood really as promised by the title. Fine for what it is, nothing that special. Fairly decent image quality.
3/5
A Tram Crowd on Sunday in Dam Square (1899)
Directed by Emile Lauste this is an early short film. People mill around at a tram stop.
Lacks a little bit of action, you would expect more people getting on or off the tram as it appears to be at the stop. Lots of people, little to pick out. Nothing special really.
3/5
Arrival of the Peace Conference at Haarlem, 4 June 1899 (1899)
Directed by Emile Lauste this is an early short film. A group of delegates walk past the camera.
Not a huge amount to this one, especially when you do not really know who the people are. Image quality is about average. More interesting as a historical record I expect.
3/5
The Island of Marken (1899)
Directed by Emile Lauste this is an early short film. Several shots of young Dutch children.
I like the combination of scenarios here, rare to get more than a single shot from a film of this era. The image quality is really sharp in the version I saw. Fun and has plenty of personality.
3/5
Orphanage Question (1899)
Directed by Emile Lauste this is an early short film. A group of orphans are paraded by the camera.
A very short clip of kids out of a walk, you do not really get the full scale of the group because the clip cuts off too soon. Pretty decent image quality. Fairly average short, lacks some personality.
3/5
Lumbu (2023)
Directed by Billy Dosanjh this short film stars Shaan Akhtar, Shipra Jain Khanna and Ethan Kudhall. In 1994 a teenager discovers his father is having an affair.
Not exactly The 400 Blows but still a decent short film. I am not sure it offers anything that new or unique. Still decently made for what it is.
3/5
The Surfer (2024)
Directed by Lorcan Finnegan this film stars Nicholas Cage. A man tries to take his son to surf a beach but a gang tells him it is for locals only.
Not exactly subtle this film is fine for what it is. To be honest I was expecting something a bit more out there given how Cage has gone recently, this is fairly tepid in that regard. In the end not that memorable really.
3/5
Catching the Ferry in Amsterdam (1899)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson and Emile Lauste this is an early short film. A bunch of people get on a ferry.
The people in this short are far more excited to get on a ferry than I would be. While the action is good the shot is too close in to give an idea of the location where it is happening. Pretty decent short, good image quality.
3/5
Dutch Fishing Fleet (1900)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson and Emile Lauste this is an early short film. A flotilla of fishing vessels at sea.
An impressive amount of boats arranged before the camera. A nice shot with good image quality. Nice to see something a bit different.
3/5
Captain Deasy's Daring Drive, Ascent (1903)
Directed by Emile Lauste and Walter R. Booth this is an early short film. A man drives a car on railway tracks.
Much like the Descent version of this film there is not a lot going on. It is hard to tell from surviving footage whether you have watched the Ascent, Descent or a mixture of the two. Either way seems to only survive partially.
3/5
After the Children's Fair in the Circus Carre, 13 September (1899)
Directed by Emile Lauste this is an early short film. People leave the circus.
Not a lot to this street scene, the back drop is not that special. A short clip of people coming of a building and not much more to it. Decent image quality.
3/5
Flower Parade in Haarlem (1899)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson and Emile Lauste this is an early short film. A parade of carriages that have been decorated with flowers.
Pretty nice short, decent image quality. A piece of history preserved. Not like anything you would see today.
3/5
Captain Deasy's Daring Drive, Descent (1903)
Directed by Emile Lauste and Walter R. Booth this is an early short film. A man drives a car down a railway.
Does not appear that daring really. A couple of nice little shots capturing the landscape but that is about it. The title over eggs the pudding slightly.
3/5
Saturday Night (2024)
Directed by Jason Reitman this film inspired by real events has a large cast including Gabriel LaBelle and Rachel Sennott. Lorne Michaels struggles to hold together all the moving parts for the first episode of the show that will become Saturday Night Live.
Much like many Hollywood films on the entertainment industry this one is edging into self indulgence. We never really get to the how the show came to be and there are just too many characters to give them all a fair shake. No idea how accurate the film is, gives the impression of condensing events down a lot.
2/5
Mills from the Zaanstreek (1898)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson and Emile Lauste this is an early short film. We see a series of windmills from a boat on a river.
No tilting at the windmills here. A nice little scene of life from a bygone era. Pretty enchanting for what it is.
3/5
Home Life of a Hungarian Family (1897)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. A short scene of traditional domestic life in Hungary.
Pretty much what it says on the tin. A nice little scene of a family going about their daily life. Probably staged for the camera but does have charm to it.
3/5
The Boulevard of Scheveningen (1898)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. A simple street scene.
The film focuses more on the people milling about than it does anything unique about the location. Fine for what it is even if it could have been filmed anywhere. Solid example of this early genre.
3/5
Tram Journey through Southampton (1900)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. A camera is placed on a tram for a short journey through a city.
Not bad for what it is however it is a little on the short side. A couple of nice moments of the city are captured. One for the historians I think.
3/5
Cairo Conspiracy (2022)
Written & directed by Tarik Saleh this film stars Tawfeek Harhom and Fares Fares. The son of a fisherman from a small village gets a scholarship to attend a prestigious religious university in Cairo.
Looking at the conflict between church and religion this is a pretty decent thriller. I thought maybe it went on a little too long once the main conflict of the film is resolved. Does not do a huge amount to rise beyond the sum of its parts.
3/5
The Room Next Door (2024)
Directed by Pedro Almodovar this film based on the novel “What Are You Going Through” stars Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore and John Turturro. A woman reconnects with an old friend who is dying of cancer.
About what you would expect given the subject matter, does not get melodramatic where it could. There might not be much new or original here, still a decent watch. The stand out is Tilda Swinton's performance as a dying woman.
3/5
September 5 (2024)
Directed by Tim Fehlbaum this film inspired by real events stars Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Leonie Benesch. The ABC sports team covering the 1972 Olympics grapples with broadcasting unfolding events as Israeli athletes are taken hostage.
More the story of telling the story than the story itself. At times the film highlights the issues with reporting on live events but does not really go into great depth on the topic. A pretty good reconstruction of events from the eyes of those watching.
3/5
A Bar Room Scene (1894)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. A fight in a bar.
Unfortunately seems to only survive as two stills so not much of a film. A bit hard to make out what is going on from what is left. Not the best.
1/5
Four Warships in Rough Seas (1900)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. Four warships sail in choppy waters.
To my eye the sea looks choppy but not that rough. Still a nice little short capturing warships at sea. Pretty good for what it is.
3/5
Les Parisiennes (1897)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. Four women dance.
I like the hand colour tinting here, very subtle addition of colour to a black and white film. The image quality is decent as is the dancing. Fun little short.
3/5
Panoramic View of the Vegetable Market at Venice (1898)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. We see people at a vegetable market.
The camera is a little bit far from the market to be able to pick out all the details of what is going on. Decent image quality on the film. Captures a slice of life from the past.
3/5
Venice, Feeding the Pigeons in St. Mark's Square (1898)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. People feed pigeons.
Does what it says on the tin. Not a huge amount to this one, has a little charm and some decent image quality. Solid holiday video.
3/5
The Thicket (2024)
Directed by Elliott Lester this film based on the novel of the same name stars Peter Dinklage, Juliette Lewis, Levon Hawke and Esme Creed-Miles. A young man recruits help to recover his sister who has been kidnapped by a wanted criminal.
Nice to see someone making a western even if there is nothing that new about this one. The snowy landscapes are decent as is the action and the acting. Despite best effort nothing really stands out as anything to write home about.
3/5
Long Gone Heroes (2024)
Written & directed by John Swab this film stars Frank Grillo, Josh Hutcherson, Eden Brolin, Andy Garcia and Melissa Leo. A veteran puts together a team to go rescue his niece from Venezuela.
Straight to dvd is written all over this film. While there is a plot it is just something to hang a few limp action scenes on. Not worth seeking out at all.
2/5
Irish Mail – L.& N.W. Railway – Taking up Water at Full Speed (1898)
Directed by William K. L. Dickson this is an early short film. A train speeds along the track.
Pretty impressively done shot of running parallel with a speeding train. Good image quality and a fair amount of action. Nicely done for the period.
3/5
