An Albanian dinner

Barefoot in the Park (1967)

Directed by Gene Saks this film based on the play of the same name stars Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Mildred Natwick and Charles Boyer. The honeymoon period is over as a newly wed young couple move into their first apartment together.

The plot of this film is a fairly standard romantic comedy which follows the usual rules and features the plot points you would expect. On the comedy side there are a couple of chuckles but this is not a riotously funny film. Unlike many play to film adaptations this film does do a slightly better job than usual of shifting the action away from all being in one location.

3/5

The land before CGI

The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen this film based on the novel of the same name stars Barret Oliver, Noah Hathaway and Tami Stronach. A young boy that struggles to deal with his real world problems steals a fantasy book.

There is not a lot that is subtle about this film and it seems that it only covers the first half of the book which greatly reduces the thematic resonance of the story. I liked when the story becomes slightly more meta towards the end but I think it waits too long to tackle this. The special effects are not that impressive to the modern eye but are not as bad as you might expect.

3/5

New state-ment of intent?

Red State (2011)

Written and directed by Kevin Smith this film stars Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Kyle Gallner and Kerry Bishe. Three high school boys use an online service to find a woman to have sex with them but get more than they bargained for.

You could say this is anything but your standard Kevin Smith film and it is nice to see a writer/director moving so far out of their comfort zone. Depending on your point of view the problem or success of this film is that it never really fits into any genre as it is neither gory or scary enough to be a true horror film or insightful enough to be a political film. Michael Parks is really good as the bizarre pastor but in the end this film does feel like it needs to be a lot darker or scarier to work.

3/5

In the jungle the Connery snarls tonight

Medicine Man (1992)

Directed by John McTiernan this film stars Sean Connery, Lorraine Bracco and Jose Walker. A female biochemist is sent into the Amazon rainforest to find a reclusive and eccentric scientist.

Nothing about this film is very subtle and it is a classic example of what you might call 90s cheese. The plot largely consists of the two main characters shouting at each other with an after thought of preserving the rainforest as we do not know what we might lose. Lorraine Bracco did not win any plaudits for her performance in this film and at times her accent seems to stretch to almost a parody of a New York accent it gets so thick.

2/5

Pain & insane

Pain & Gain (2013)

Directed by Michael Bay this film based on a real story stars Mark Walhberg, Dwaune Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Ed Harris. Three body builders from Florida seek to get rich through criminal means during the mid 90s.

As with any story based on real events there are inevitably questions to be asked as to how close the film sticks to real events and in this case if the central characters are portrayed as stupid rather than ruthless. Inevitably the story has been simplified some what and while a fun watch I am not sure that it is much beyond that. I would not have guessed that this was a Michael Bay film but I do think the film has some questions to answer in playing for laughs what are pretty gruesome events as this is a real life story rather than fiction.

2/5

Kiss confuse bang rewind

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Directed by Shane Black this film based on the novel “Bodies Are Where You Find Them” stars Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan. A small time thief goes to LA, meets an old friend from his childhood and gets caught up in bizarre criminal antics.

Hilarious moments are always just round the corner in this film that manages to both entertain and send up the genre of detective novels/films at the same time. The story delights in both making use of and subverting genre expectations so that you never really know where you are going. There are many laugh out loud moments and great performances from the lead actors.

5/5

Idle by name, idle by nature

8 Minutes Idle (2012)

Directed by Mark Simon Hewis this film based on the novel of the same name stars Tom Hughes, Ophelia Lovibond and Montserrat Lomard. An idle call centre worker from Bristol is kicked out of his mothers house and spends ten days living at work.

This is a fairly pedestrian, low budget British film that fits into the lazy youth genre with a hint of coming of age about it. Occasionally there are funny moments but in general this film does little to impress or disappoint. The cast is decent but too many characters are not fleshed out, about the best thing about this film is that it does capture the local flavour pretty well.

3/5