Nepotism of the West

Young Guns of Texas (1962)

Directed by Maury Dexter this western stars James Mitchum, Alana Ladd, Jody McCrea and Gary Conway. A young man tries to recover stolen army gold that his brother is accused of taking.

There are really too many story elements for the short run time of this film meaning none get enough screen time to be used properly. What seems like the main story line ends up taking a back seat for a lot of the time to a weak “forbidden love” piece. The film stars the offspring of several famous actors and there are good reason why none of them went on to have successful careers themselves, it also shows that this film was clearly made on the cheap.

2/5

The girl and her bear

Brave (2012)

Directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman this film features the voice talent of Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson. In Scotland during the dark ages a young princess fights with her mother over getting married.

The plot of this film is a fairly decent mother/daughter story focusing on the fight for independence as a woman that never really hits the heights of some of Pixar's other films. By going into the world of fairy tales takes off the unique shine that Pixar usually bring to cinema as we are more familiar with this sort of thing and often the story does tend to rely on cultural stereotypes. Despite of a change of director part way through making the film the film is well made and has one or two sequences that do a great job of capturing the Scottish countryside.

4/5

Not a miracle

Salvation Boulevard (2011)

Directed by George Ratliff this film based on the novel of the same name stars Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Connelly and Marisa Tomei. A parishioner witnesses an evangelical minister accidentally kill someone and ends up the fall guy.

The plot of this religious satire never really goes anywhere interesting, sticking to pretty standard farce territory. There is a surprisingly good cast but they have little to work with. While Brosnan does his as the slimy preacher he never really has the right sort of charisma to pull it off.

2/5

Bear necessities

Ted (2012)

Directed by Seth MacFarlane this film stars Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and the director's own voice. A 35 year old man with a magic talking teddy bear struggles to balance his relationship with his girlfriend and his friendship with his bear.

This film gets by on the comedy of a foul mouthed teddy bear alone and is funny throughout, although some may find it offensive at times. The plot is fairly average and has a somewhat weak resolution where the characters never end up really making any hard choices. Using CGI for the teddy bear works well with a good balance between physical and computer effects.

4/5

Open the pod bay doors HAL

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick this film inspired by the short story “The Sentinel” stars Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood and William Sylvester. A strange object is discovered on the moon and astronauts are sent to investigate what it might be communicating with.

All throughout this film is filled with stunning visuals and special effects, often accompanied by classical music. While the plot of the film is not especially dense there are some iconic moments within what is more of a slow meditation of a film. The film is open to interpretation and has elicited much discussion but seems pretty clearly to have a main theme of man's evolution, raising questions about our future.

5/5

Thud and blunder

The Conqueror (1956)

Directed by Dick Powell this film stars John Wayne, Susan Hayward and Pedro Armendariz. A Mongol warrior fights various tribes to gain power and a woman.

This film is littered with poor decisions from casting John Wayne in the lead role to filming on a former nuclear weapons test site which has allegedly lead to many cast and crew dying of cancer. While the plot is a fictional version of the rise of Genghis Khan there it is not that much different than many similar historical films of the period. It is hard to find much to praise about this film and it was considered one of the worst films of the decade by critics of the time.

1/5

The nun and the marine

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)

Directed by John Huston this film based on the novel of the same name stars Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum. During World War II a US Marine and a nun are stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean.

This is a fairly standard odd couple film where the two main characters learn to work together and appreciate each others life style choice. The plot does not offer much insight or growth beyond the comparison of being a Marine and a nun but is a fairly decent watch otherwise. Shot in the Caribbean the film is well made as you would expect from any John Huston film but does little to stand out.

3/5