Collateral stupidity

Collateral Beauty (2016)

Directed by David Frankel this film stars Will Smith, Ed Norton, Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Micahel Pena, Naomie Harris and Jacob Latimore. Co-workers of a depressed advertising executive hire actors to try help him get over his daughter's death.

Taking a great cast this film dumps them in a festive cheese-fest that is simplistic to the point of mind numbing. The script is so obviously constructed as to be insulting to the viewer at times. It is hard to say who comes off worse here, the audience or the cast.

2/5

Braver than me

Neerja (2016)

Directed by Ram Madhvani this film based on real events stars Sonam Kappor, Shabana Azmi, Yogendra Tiku and Abrar Zahoor. In 1986 an Indian flight lands in Pakistan where it is hijacked by terrorists.

Taking the story of the head stewardess this is an interesting story about personal bravery in the face of adversity. While the film is not overly insightful and events are changed somewhat it is still a well handled story with a fair amount of tension. There are good performances from the cast and the direction is decent as well.

3/5

Home of the very odd

Burn Country (2016)

Directed by Ian Olds this film stars Dominic Rains, Melissa Leo, Rachel Brosnahan and James Franco. An Afghanistan fixer moves to California and starts working as a reporter but struggles to understand the local community.

While this is a slow moving film it is actually a pretty interesting look at small town American from the perspective of an outsider. I like the way the film side steps the obvious, simplistic stuff to look deeper into the underbelly of life. There are good performances from the cast but the slightly ambiguous nature of the film might not be for everyone.

4/5

A horse of course

Corral (1954)

Directed by Colin Low this documentary stars Wallace Jensen. An unnamed cowboy in Canada rounds up some horses and breaks one.

Very simple in it's execution this documentary keeps the film making out the way and lets the images tell the story. While the plot is basic this love letter to the cowboy's way of life is a good watch. Maybe there is not much depth or drama here but the landscape and music more than make up for that.

3/5

Dreaming of a tobacconist's life

Albert Nobbs (2011)

Directed by Rodrigo Garcia this film based on the short story “The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs” stars Glenn Close and Mia Wasikowska. In then 1890s a transman working as a waiter in a hotel dreams of buying a small shop and getting married.

While the events of this film are fairly predictable it is an interesting look at the life of a transman during a period when the issue was rarely spoken of. I enjoyed the film and it is well made but it could have been a deeper exploration of it's subject matter. There are good performances from the cast which carry the film.

4/5

By the numbers

The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)

Directed by Rudolph Mate this film based on the novel “Men of Iron” stars Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Barbara Rush. A young man and his sister discover they are not peasants and sent to live with a lord against the back drop of a conspiracy against Henry IV of England.

This is a pretty simple swashbuckler film that is high predictable and contains a lot of genre cliches. It seems the plot strays a fair amount from it's source material but neither version is a great work of entertainment. The film is fairly entertaining but the film is paper thin when it comes to depth and unremarkable in execution.

2/5

Conflict resolution via dance

A Chairy Tale (1957)

Directed by Norman McLaren and Claude Jutra this film has animation from Evelyn Lambart. A man reading a book attempts to sit on a chair, the chair is less than open to the idea.

Putting together an interesting mix of slapstick comedy and courtship via dance this is an entertaining little short. The simple message of conciliation behind the film works well and the on screen action is funny. While the camera tricks behind the animation are nothing special they are done well enough and do not stand out egregiously.

4/5