Coco-nuts

His Majesty O'Keefe (1954)

Directed by Byron Haskin this film based on a true story stars Burt Lancaster, Joan Rice, Andre Morell and Abraham Sofaer. During the 19^th century an American is ship wrecked on an island in the South Pacific and schemes to earn his fortune from the island's natural resources.

The plot of this film walks a dangerous line between older suspect ideas about race and imperialism but eventually comes out on the right side by suggesting the negative affects greed have on both the protagonist and the natives. While the plot does eventually take the right take it could have been bolder and more obvious in showing how greed is bad. Mostly the film is well made, it stays in the general area of historical events if not exactly telling the whole truth.

3/5

Nicole Kidman wears a fake nose

The Hours (2002)

Directed by Stephen Daldry this film based on the novel of the same name stars Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Ed Harris. Three women affected by the same novel in different time periods live out a day in their lives.

At the time of release this film won a lot of accolades and it is easy to see why as this is as well constructed story with a good number of themes that are reflected through out the different stories. The plot works well and the lives of the different characters echo each other and that of the character in the novel Mrs Dalloway helping re-enforce the underlying themes at work here. Having an all star cast helps the film, Kidman may have won an Oscar but Ed Harris should have as well and the direction excellently manages the differing time periods without getting confusing.

5/5

Failure to branch out

The Karate Kid, Part 3 (1989)

Directed by John G. Avildsen this second sequel stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita and Robyn Lively. Daniel and Mr Miyagi open a bonsai tree store while a friend of the antagonist from the first film seeks revenge.

Essentially the plot for this film is just a rehash of the plot from the first film as it seems the writers had run out of ideas. There are several elements of the plot that are just plain silly or do not really make sense which does not help either. While there is one nice sequence where the two protagonists practice on the top of some cliffs there is not much else to write home about otherwise.

2/5

Fraternity

Three Colours: Red (1994)

Directed by Krysztof Kieslowksi this film part of the Three Colours trilogy stars Irene Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant. A young woman living in Geneva and working as a model becomes friends with a retired judge.

The plot of this film is a great musing on the nature of our interconnected lives, the unforeseen consequences of our actions and the philosophy of law. There is also more than a hint of a religious undertone to this film with hints at the idea of destiny, life repeating itself and the judge character as a potential god figure. This may be my favourite film of the trilogy and there are some nice visual elements included by the director such as the repeated use of characters looking up or down on each other.

5/5

F wording impressive

Burning Man (2011)

Written and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky this film stars Matthew Goode, Bojana Novakovic, Essie Davis and Kerry Fox. A non linear unfolding of the story of angry man where we slowly find out more about him.

This film is probably best watched without knowing anything about it so it is hard to discuss without dropping even a small spoiler but what the film does tell a fairly common story in an impressive way. The plot captures some deeply human moments without indulging over sentimentality or melodrama. Some may find the non linear nature of the story a little frustrating but it is not just a gimmick and helps make this a beautiful way to tell a touching story that really sets this film apart from a crowded genre.

4/5

Ugly Undertones

Beautiful Creatures (2013)

Directed by Richard LaGravenese this film based on the novel of the same name stars Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum and Emma Thompson. Boy meets magic using girl in a story seems more than a little similar to a certain vampire based franchise.

Initially this film starts off with a lot of promise, from it's cast to looking at small town Southern conservatism and banning of books. All this early promise however is thrown away in favour of a run of the mill story that seems intent on pushing the idea that female sexuality is bad which is distasteful to say the least. Given all the talent involved with this film it ends up being a rather large disappointment.

2/5

Three colours: Bland

Three Colours: White (1994)

Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski this second part of a trilogy stars Zbigniew Zamachowski and Julie Delphy. A Polish man is divorced by his French wife and returns home to Poland pennyless.

The plot of this film is supposed to work as a political allegory for the experience of Poland integrating into the EU and struggling to catch up economically but I do not think it works as well as a film like The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979). On the superficial level the story is fairly entertaining, if a little ambiguous at times but otherwise is nothing special. While the direction hints at similar use of colour to the first film in the trilogy it is not as striking or impressive as the first film.

3/5