Have a proper gander

The Cross of Lorraine (1943)

Directed by Tay Garnett this film stars Jean-Pierre Aumont, Gene Kelly and Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Following the fall of France in 1940 a group of French soldiers are taking to a POW camp and find life is not as they expected.

Loosely based on the real life experiences of Hans Habe this film was clearly a propaganda effort made to help explain to American audiences the conditions in occupied Europe. How realistic the story is is probably open to question but it is a fairly similar to a number of other POW films set in the era. The film does open up some questions on the harsh choices between resistance and collaboration but is never really in a position to explore these fully due to the propaganda nature of the film.

3/5

seven times three

Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)

Directed by Paul Wendkos this second sequel stars George Kennedy, James Whitmore and Monte Markham. Mexicans fighting against the corrupt government seek the help of American gun fighters to free one of the leaders of the revolution.

Compared to the first sequel this film at least tries to use a different plot which is not bad but hardly distinct from a number of similar westerns. It is hard to imagine anyone replacing Yul Brynner and while George Kennedy does nothing wrong he just does not have the same or a similar screen presence. The execution of the film is mostly good apart from an over reliance on the musical score for the original film which does not necessarily fit the action here.

3/5

straight to video hell

Sacrifice (2011)

Directed by Damian Lee this film stars Cuba Gooding Jr, Devon Bostick, Lara Daans and Christian Slater. An undercover drugs cop in Canada returns to work shortly after the murder of his family and gets involved in investigating a heroin smuggling ring.

A spectre hangs over this film in the form of having been released “direct to video” and unfortunately it is not one of those gems that some how slipped through. The plot of the film is pretty average filled with stock characters from any number of similar films. When it comes to production quality the film seems cheap and the script has some pretty weak character motivations.

2/5

Being someone else

The Passenger (1975)

Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni this film stars Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider and Jenny Runacre. A journalist travelling in a North African country decides to escape his life by taking the identity of the man who died in the hotel room next to his.

Compared to many American films the pace of this film is really slow and may not be something that is to the taste of everyone but the final long take-tracking shot is very impressive. The plot of the film is about identity and the desire to escape ones self and works well. There are a number of great locations and the minimal use of dialogue really helps add to the atmosphere of the film.

5/5

Maybe not forever

Batman Forever (1995)

Directed by Joel Schumacher this sequel to the Tim Burton films stars Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey and Nicole Kidman. Batman takes on two of the well known elements of his rogues gallery.

This is a film of a very mixed nature, it takes a decided turn towards the less serious elements of the franchise but still has enough action and visuals to be a bit of a guilty pleasure. Unfortunately the script comes across as a bit disjoint, lurching from one set piece to another rather than having a more natural flow. When it comes to the villains both come off as over the top rip offs of the Joker.

3/5

Birds

The Big Year (2011)

Directed by David Frankel this film stars Steve Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Rosamund Pike. Three men join a competition to see who can see the most species of birds in North America during a single year.

Adapted from a book this film acknowledges that it is very loose adaptation which is a lot better than claiming to be true facts. Despite the fairly light tone of the film it actually has some decent themes of the price of obsession and mortality running under the surface. Where the film is a bit weak is that it really lacks the laugh out loud comedy you would expect from a film with Jack Black and Steve Martin.

4/5

Twin tripe

Jack and Jill (2011)

Directed by Dennis Dugan this comedy stars Adam Sandler (x2), Al Pacino and Katie Holmes. A man has his annoying twin sister come to visit for the holidays while he tries to get Al Pacino to star in a commercial.

Much like any other comedy written by Adam Sandler this film uses all the easy “jokes” and manages to sneak in some racism too. The premise of the of the film is as thin as it's characters and I am not entirely sure the plot even works from a character stand point. Despite the disaster going on around him Al Pacino gives a good performance and you have to wonder what he is even doing in this film.

2/5