WW2 spy games

Cottage to Let (1941)

Directed by Anthony Asquith this film stars Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim, John Mills, Carla Lehmann and George Cole. During WW2 one of the new arrivals at a scientists country estate in Scotland is a spy but who is it?

This spy film is pretty standard fare and fits in well with other period propaganda and paranoia pieces. Most of the plot is fairly simple and as you would expect, it is not an overly complex mystery but it does give away the game a little too early to be very gripping. George Cole in the child evacuee role has the potential to be an annoying no it all but actually works pretty well with in the film.

3/5

A big reject and lots of little ones

The Bad News Bears (1976)

Directed by Micahel Ritchie this film stars Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Chris Barnes and Jackie Earle Haley. An alcoholic former baseball player gets paid to coach a team of rejects in a childrens baseball league.

This is a fairly simple and uncomplicated film that brings a rough edge to an otherwise mostly light hearted genre. While the film is mostly well made and well intentioned it is a fairly easy watch that does not really challenge the viewer and is not exactly full of comedy. The film is largely well made but I am not sure it has enough personality to really carry the story it is telling.

3/5

Workers of the world unite!

Strike (1925)

Directed by Sergei Eisenstein this Soviet propaganda film was the director's debut film. Workers in a factory go on strike after a worker wrongly accused of theft is over come with shame and hangs himself.

As with all propaganda cinema you have to take the highly biased content of this film with a rather large pinch of salt. In the opening parts of this film there are some really nice use of image such as the repeated use of circles to imply unity and solidarity but this is not really sustained through out the film. There are some decent elements to this film but as with many first efforts it is a director still trying to establish a style.

3/5

Don't go into the long grass

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Directed by Steven Spielberg this sequel based on the novel of the same name stars Jeff Goldbulm, Julianne Moore and Pete Postlethwaite. Four years after the events of the first film dinosaurs have been living in peace on another island until now.

A lot of this film comes of as being a sequel made for the sake of having one, the final T-rex attack on the main land for example being a prime example of a superfluous addition for the sake of another action sequence. The plot has some interesting elements as scientists and big game hunts come to the island but any ideas of depth in the story are token efforts. Mostly of the special effects are well done here although at times it does seem the CGI has been pushed a little too far and it is obvious in places.

3/5

Ham fisted?

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

Directed and co-written by RZA this film features it's director, Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Lui and Byron Mann. In 19^th century China various gangs fight over control of a village and a government gold shipment.

This film is a mish mash of styles mostly in the style of a martial arts film but also with elements of exploitation cinema and spaghetti westerns. It might not be Tarantino but frankly who is and what we are left with a decent genre entry. Largely the film is well made but lacks any special flair to stand it apart from other films of this type.

3/5

A world thrown upside down

Flight (2012)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis this film stars Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly and John Goodman. Following a miraculous crash landing of a commercial air plane the pilot is revealed to have a drink and drug problem.

The plot of this film mainly focuses on addiction and the fact that a person needs to want help before they can face those problems. Script-wise the film is pretty well written and the early plane crash scenes are especially tense. Largely the film is well made, again especially in the early crash sequence, but maybe could have done with showing a little more of the struggles of withdraw symptoms.

4/5

Ruby, ruby, ruby

Ruby Sparks (2012)

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris this film stars Paul Dano and it's writer Zoe Kazan. A novelist struggling with writers block starts writing about his dream woman who suddenly appears in his life.

This is one of the more original and interesting romantic comedies that I have seen in a very long time. The script is both funny and intelligent, it looks at how having a fantasy version of a person stop us from seeing the real person. There is a good cast and unlike large swathes of this genre this film is well worth watching.

4/5