Shattered

Glass (2019)

Written & directed by M. Night Shyamalan this film stars James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Sarah Paulson. Three people that believe they are super heroes are put in the same psychiatric hospital.

Bringing to conclusion the director's trilogy of superhero films this film is steeped in the world of comic books but has little of interest to say about them. There is a message to the ending of the film but honestly the ending is a bit of a dramatic dud. Once again there are some eyebrow raising moments about the way mental health is used in this film.

2/5

Measure for Measure Pakistan style

Rahm (2016)

Directed by Ahmed Jamal this film based on “Measure for Measure” stars Sanam Saeed, Rohail Peerzada and Sajid Hasan. The governor of Lahore pretends to go on holiday and leaves a strict disciplinarian in charge.

Measure for Measure is not a Shakespeare play I am familiar with but I know enough of this playwrights work to quickly twig where this adaptation was going. Sticking fairly well to the source material this film does a good job of moving the plot to modern day Pakistan. Maybe not ground breaking but a decent adaptation none the less.

3/5

Magic charity

The Magician's Alms (1905)

Directed by Alice Guy-Blache this is an early short film. A magician uses magic to help a homeless man.

A very simple story which wraps up into a nice little moral. The special effects are not ground breaking but well done. All in all this is a decent short.

3/5

Not exactly cryptic

Crypto (2019)

Directed by John Stalberg Jr. this film stars Beau Knapp, Alexis Bledel, Jeremie Harris and Kurt Russell. An anti fraud investigator at a large bank is sent to his small home town branch as punishment.

Explaining crypto currency on the big screen is never going to be easy and this financial thriller falls well short. The plot is fairly predictable while offering no real insight into the future of banking. Some of the dialogue, especially from the protagonist, was actually fairly hard to hear which does not say much for the sound mix.

2/5

Doggos

Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs (1902)

Directed by Alice Guy-Blache this is an early short film. We see a popular act involving a woman and her trained dogs.

Pretty simple in terms of concept this is a few set pieces cut together. Entertaining but not with much depth this is an easy watch. Fairly typical of similar films of the period.

3/5

Don't mention the syndrome

Bel Canto (2018)

Directed by Paul Weitz this film based on the novel of the same name stars Julianne Moore, Ken Watanabe, Sebastian Koch and Christopher Lambert. In the late 1990s dignitaries from various countries are held hostage in South America.

I found this to be somewhat of a disappointment, a film dripping with Stockholm syndrome that never tackles the subject matter. For all the on screen talent I really expected something more from the script. The direction and acting are fine but can not carry a bland script.

2/5

Playing dumbo with history

Trumbo (2015)

Directed by Jay Roach this film based on real events stars Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Hellen Mirren and Louis C. K. Following WW2 a communist writer in Hollywood finds himself on the blacklist.

It seems that the makers of this film did not let a little thing like historical accuracy get the way of the story which is a real shame. As always Hollywood is more interested in being self congratulatory rather than focusing on the darker sides of it's own history. There are some fun parts to this film but in the face of real events it is hard to praise this one.

2/5