View From The Top (2003)

I am not sure if others felt the same way, but after reading Ayoade On Top (well, listening to the Audiobook, which I highly recommend) I knew that I had to see this film. In case you aren't aware of the connection, Ayoade On Top is a book in which Richard Ayoade critiques View From The Top in a very funny, very tongue-in-cheek, way, comparing the directorial choices and the performances to great moments in cinematic history. You could watch the film before reading his book, but I assure you that enjoying the book first is the best way to go about things. And don't worry about spoilers, as View From The Top is a film so predictable and bizarre that it's pretty much impossible to spoil.

All you need to know about the plot is that Gwyneth Paltrow plays Donna Jensen, a young woman who dreams of being a flight attendant, aiming for a coveted, classy, route that will take her to Paris. She also develops a nice little romance with Ted Stewart (played by Mark Ruffalo), but that might have to be pushed aside as she focuses on her career goals, all the while following the guidance in a book written by Sally Weston (Candice Bergen), who is essentially the queen of all flight attendants.

It's no surprise to see that this is the first, and so far only, movie script written by Eric Wald. It strives to be so inoffensively bland, and fits everything together like a jigsaw made for 4-year-olds, that it somehow becomes a film that you start to actively dislike. The tone just isn't right either, with the gentle humour (oh Mike Myers and your inward-looking right eye, chortle, chortle) married to material that has Paltrow smiling and winking at viewers, as if everyone is in on "the joke" together. We're not. Mainly because it never feels like there's a proper joke there.

Director Bruno Barreto has an eclectic filmography, and there are certainly other films from him that I am sure I will check out one day (although not because they sound great, they just sound like they could be more fun than this one). Hailing from Brazil, another consideration for the strange experience of View From The Top COULD be something lost in translation. Barreto may have wanted to make something quite different from the final product, it's hard to tell, but we can only judge what we're left with. And we are not left with anything good.

Paltrow doesn't do well in the lead role. Her performance is patronising (considering the kind of small town girl that she's playing) and she doesn't help the comedic tone by simply putting on her big eyes and being overly earnest for most of her scenes. That earnestness affects everyone, however, and Ruffalo is also doing far from his best work here, although he's a bit more likeable, mainly due to his ability to not slavishly follow some set guidelines for a rigid career path that could lead to losing out on love. Bergen does well in her few scenes, nicely fitting into the role of air flight royalty, and Christina Applegate is quite fun in her scenes, as she's the only character in the film who doesn't feel as annoyingly goody goody as everyone else. Myers is allowed to indulge himself with his cross-eyed schtick, and he's not good. He's not good at all, but that tends to be the way with Myers, he will fully commit to something and it either works or it doesn't.

I am sure that someone could enjoy this. There are maybe even quite a few people who would defend it to others. Change just a few details and it's not entirely unlike a thousand other stories of "young woman/man overcomes odds to achieve dream". It just makes enough strange choices, from script to casting, from the music selection to the overall direction of the film, to feel worse than so many of them. By any sane measurement, this is a long way from the top.

3/10

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Prime Time: Crocodile (2000)

A cheap 'n' cheerful creature feature directed by Tobe Hooper, Crocodile is a film that makes up for a number of failings with some sly wit and fun sequences showing the titular creature terrorising a decent number of potential meals/victims. While it's no classic, it's actually one of the better films from the latter part of Tobe Hooper's career.

A group of friends are on their spring break holiday. They decide to rent a houseboat, planning to spend their time drinking and cruising leisurely on a lake. Unfortunately, a very big crocodile decides to spend the same time eating as many people as it can. You have a small amount of tension within the group, due to one character trying to keep a past infidelity secret from his girlfriend, but all of the non-crocodile moments feel like too much filler in between the highlights.

Written by Jace Anderson, Adam Gierasch, and Michael D. Weiss, from a story by Boaz Davidson, this definitely isn’t the kind of thing you expect so many writers to have worked on. A lot of the main character interactions are slightly inane, although once the film starts to jump between the teens, the lurking croc, and a local Sheriff on their trail (played by Harrison Young), things do improve. This film may be a mess, but it’s an entertaining one. So entertaining that it is easy to overlook the highly varying quality of the CGI used to show the crocodile on the rampage.

Hooper knows what he has to do, and he does it well. He’s not shy about showing off the big beastie at the heart of things, for better or worse. Even better is the fact that he intersperses the moments of creeping stealth with entertaining sudden scares (the first main attack on one of our partying youngsters if a great moment). While some may view this as Hooper “slumming it”, the man himself never seems to act that way, instead opting to do the best he can with whatever limited resources were available to him.

Although few of the cast really stand out, Mark McLachlan and Caitlin Martin are just fine as Brady and Clare, the couple you think may make it to the very end. I am surprised that Martin doesn’t have too many more film credits, as she’s cute and likeable. The others worth mentioning are Chris Solari, as the semi-comic character looking like he has just been kicked out of a Crazy Town music video, and he just about manages to avoid becoming too irritating, and Young, that Sheriff, being a great mix of tough authority and understandable concern for people holidaying without full awareness of the trouble they could land in.

You may not ever need to put this as a top priority on your viewing schedule, and you shouldn’t pay a high price if you ever want to pick it up in any form, but it’s just ahead of so many other creature features that you can find every day on the SyFy Channel. As a bonus, it also feels like a stepping stone for Hooper to find his feet again, which would lead to him delivering a superb horror in the shape of his The Toolbox Murders remake. 

6/10

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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)

A tale of an intelligent and powerful man unable to heed the warnings of people who want him to reconsider just how far he wants to push things in the pursuit of his main obsession, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an interesting and entertaining movie, not least because of how the main storyline seems to run so nicely illustrate the unchecked ego (at that time) of director-star Kenneth Branagh. In fact, considering the lessons he may have learned along the way, I'd love to see what Branagh would do with this material today. Would he keep it much the same, albeit elevated with some superb CGI, or would we end up with a very different beast? I suspect the latter, but I'm not displeased to realise that Branagh could easily make all the same mistakes. Or even some all new ones.

I don't even need to summarise the story here, do I? No. Branagh plays Victor Frankenstein. Helena Bonham Carter is his beloved, Elizabeth. Robert De Niro is the Creature. And you have supporting turns from Tom Hulce, Aidan Quinn, Ian Holm, Richard Briers, John Cleese, Robert Hardy, and many others. Victor Frankenstein wants to conquer death, he wants to create new life, and the end result of his experimentation leads to a great deal of unpleasantness. That's all you need to be reminded of.

With Branagh having made such a big deal at the time of telling everyone that this was going to be a more faithful telling of the Frankenstein story, a film that would get closer to the source than any others that had come before it, it's easy to forget that the script is by Steph Lady (his first and only one, to date) and Frank Darabont. Structuring the whole thing to frame the main, more familiar tale, with bookends that have Victor Frankenstein explaining his woes to an Arctic explorer (Walton, played by Quinn), Lady and Darabont try their best to freshen up the well-worn formula. They're sadly fighting an uphill battle. Having the Creature be intelligent and able to speak, for example, may show us something closer to how things were in Shelley's novel, but it doesn't feel right here. There are over eighty years of Frankenstein on film to be pushing back on, and that's a hell of a lot of cinematic weight. Fortunately, Branagh is ready to take his shirt off and flex some muscles as he attempts to hold his movie as high as he can.

Jokes about his willingness to get shirtless as often as Matthew McConaughey aside, Branagh simply never feels as suited to the lead role as he should be. He's too interested in showing off the production design and making some nice speeches whenever possible, making it harder for viewers to see the gleam in his eyes and the overwhelming obsession that pushes every sane thought out of his mind. It would be silly to call Branagh a bad actor, in my opinion, but he should have, as director, given the lead role to someone else. There's a similar sense while watching De Niro, although he's hampered by the fact that he's depicting the Creature in a way so alien to film viewers. De Niro does quite well in the role, but it doesn't help that he always feels like what he IS - a version of Robert De Niro overlaid with a variety of prosthetic make up. Carter does well enough, and really sells her final moments in the film brilliantly, and Hulce is an enjoyable presence as a friend, ally, and someone hoping to save Frankenstein from himself once the full madness and terror is revealed. Quinn certainly has presence in his relatively minor role, Briers is sweet and likeable as a blind man, and everyone else does well with what they're given, including Celia Imrie, Trevyn McDowell, and a disappointingly underused Cherie Lunghi (as well as those already named above).

Quality emanates from every frame, from the practical production design to the CGI work, from the wonderful matte paintings to the sharp and impressive music from Patrick Doyle. It is, for the time, a remarkable achievement, in film-making terms. Where it falls down, sadly, is in the casting of the most important roles. Perhaps Frankenstein and his Creature need to be played by people who can fully immerse themselves in the roles. This is a very handsome adaptation of a classic tale, but it's not one that really shows Frankenstein and his Creature. It shows Branagh and De Niro in the middle of a wonderful playground. Which is all well and good . . . as long as you like Branagh and De Niro. And I do.

6/10

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Mubi Monday: Howard's End (1992)

Although it is easy to roll your eyes at the lifestyles of the rich and super-repressed depicted in Merchant/Ivory movies, especially while now removed so far from their original warm receptions, it is also easy to sit back and let them work your magic on you. You have a story told well with a cast of British stalwarts helping things along by basically being very British, and stalwarts.

Emma Thompson plays Margaret Schlegel, a woman going through life with less propensity for dramatic declarations than her sister, Helen (Helena Bonham Carter). But it is thanks to Helen that the Schlegel family become associated with the residents of Howard’s End, a lovely country house. Margaret becomes close friends with the ailing Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave). After the passing of Mrs Wilcox, Margaret then, very unexpectedly, grows increasingly close to Mr Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins). Meanwhile, Helen becomes obsessed with helping a Mr Leonard Bast (Samuel West) and his wife, a couple places in dire financial circumstances from incorrect advice offered to them, via the Schlegel sisters, by Mr Wilcox.

Directed with the usual elegance and patience by James Ivory, this is a familiar clash of principles and viewpoints, drama made all the more important for the impact it could have on someone’s standing in society. The script, by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, adapts the E. M. Forster source material in a way that preserves everything precious, from the characters to the time period and setting, without forgetting that it should entertain and mesmerise viewers. Of course, this kind of fare isn’t for everyone, but those who love such costume dramas should find a lot to appreciate and enjoy here (although it should be noted that this feels a notch or two below the excellent The Remains Of The Day).

Thompson is as wonderful as ever, giving yet another one of her high-spirited turns that allow her to navigate the nuances of differing social strata without completely erasing her own personality and opinions. Hopkins also does something he does so well, the flawed man who knows little more than how best to maintain his social standing, and his reserved manner is interspersed with moments of brutal honesty, conflict, and an openness that is hard to recognise until it is underlined by his response to certain major events. Carter has to play the more annoying character, which she does well, a woman who wants to right some wrongs in the world without considering some of the better ways to get results (or maybe her direct approach is best, it’s complicated by a further revelation that changes the film once again). Everyone else does their best, all very polite, and often entitled, but the others worth noting are West and Nicola Duffett (playing his wife). Both are victims of of circumstance, with one trying to stubbornly refuse more help while they believe they can improve things on their own.

This is, in many ways, cosy fare. Things look bleak, there are highs and lows, but the story always seems poised to lead towards a better destination for the main characters. The technical side of things may be spot on throughout, but it is the casting that makes this as good as it is, particularly Hopkins and Thompson, two greats who seem to bring out the best in one another.

Recommended, but only after you have treated yourself to The Remains Of The Day first.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: Boiling Point (2021)

Let's get the negative out of the way first. I can see why some people might really dislike Boiling Point. I can see why they might get bored by it, and view it as a film in which "nothing happens". If you're after some standard entertainment then this may not be your first choice. I don't think this review will change your mind on it. Having said that, I LOVED this film. Technically impressive, full of actors doing flawless work, Boiling Point will also resonate strongly with anyone who has ever worked in a busy restaurant/service environment.

Stephen Graham plays Andy Jones, the head chef in a restaurant that is about to have its busiest night of the year. That would be tough going at the best of times, but Andy isn't having the best of times. He has recently separated from his partner, his mind isn't where it should be, and the only reason the restaurant has been doing as well as it has for the past few weeks is down to his second-in-command, Carly (Vinette Robinson). The front of house manager, Beth (Alice Feetham), doesn't really know enough to do her job properly, tensions soon start to rise in the kitchen, especially as Freeman (Ray Panthaki) is ready to call Andy out on his conduct, and various customers provide various problems, from general rudeness to a nut allergy. To make matters worse, a celebrity chef Andy used to work for, Alastair Skye (Jason Flemyng), is in to dine. And he's brought along a famous food critic, Sara Southworth (Lourdes Faberes).

Expanding a 2019 short, that version clocked in at about 22 minutes, Boiling Point is notable for being shot in one take, with a good chunk of the dialogue improvised around certain plot points that had to be hit at certain times. It's not the easiest way to approach a movie, but director Philip Barantini, who also co-wrote the script with James Cummings, helps himself immensely by using some of the best actors he could have hired. Say what you like about the film itself, if you can point to one weak performance here then I'll buy a hat, wear it for a week, and then eat it. The camerawork here is smooth enough to avoid any eye pain, but also constantly moving and taking viewers right into the heart of every important interaction that shows how the evening is going for various people.

Graham, already praised for years now as one of the best British actors of his generation, shows once again that he's one of the best British actors of his generation. He IS the head chef here, even if he's also ready to fall apart. The big surprise here is that everyone around him also feels as if they have genuinely just been caught on camera getting through a busy restaurant shift. Robinson conveys concern, support, strength, and anger in a perfect mix for the character she plays, Panthaki is spot on as the reliable chef who can easily keep doing his part to keep things running smoothly, but also isn't close enough to the head chef to overlook a series of frustrating errors. Feetham, as unlikable as her character is for most of the movie, is also VERY good in her role, the manager/hostess who will frustratingly side with the customer on every issue, and who likes to make every problem one that is caused by the kitchen, rather than maybe a front of house error. And then we have Flemyng, being a brilliantly smiling "snake in the grass" to our main character. It feels unfair to not mention everyone - Hannah Walters, Taz Skylar, Malachi Kirby, Izuka Hoyle, Lauryn Ajufo, Daniel Larkai, Áine Rose Daly, Gary Lamont, the aforementioned Faberes - so that list of names will have to suffice as acknowledgement for their consistently superb work.

What really sets this apart though, aside from the performances, is the recognition in almost every main moment. The arguments between the chefs and the front of house staff/manager, the bar staff always seeming to have the most fun, the table that can be perfectly pleasant to one waitress and utter horrors to another (for a variety of reasons, although the one here makes the head of the table particularly repugnant), the biggest douchebags who want to order off-menu, and the biggest of the biggest douchebags ordering his steak very well done, the list goes on and on. Seeing these things onscreen is like seeing a movie set in a busy bar that has someone ordering a busy round and asking for their pint of Guinness last (yes, my fellow bartenders know what I mean, those people are loathed). 

Boiling Point isn't just an enjoyable, and sometimes tense, drama. It's a highly accurate snapshot of restaurant life. I wish, but highly doubt, that everyone would watch this, and remember it the next time they are dining out. You still deserve the service and quality of food that you pay for, but it helps to remember that you are interacting with real human beings, all doing their job for a variety of reasons, and all often trying their best under difficult circumstances.

9/10

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Shudder Saturday: Violation (2020)

Co-directed and co-written by Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer, the latter also taking on the lead role, Violation is, as you may have guessed from the title, not an easy watch. It's a powerful one though, and a hell of a feature debut, after both Mancinelli and Sims-Fewer spent the past decade and a half honing their skills on a variety of shorts.

Sims-Fewer plays Miriam, a woman who doesn't seem to be in a good place with her husband, Caleb (Obi Abili). A trip to visit her sister, Greta (Anna Maguire), and her partner, Dylan (Jesse LaVercombe), takes Miriam through a life-changing experience, one that sees her seeking understanding, support, and ultimately revenge.

With events depicted in a non-chronological way, Violation is a carefully planned placement of brush strokes that build up to develop a devastating picture. The title refers to a number of different aspects, but viewers get to see how each separate violation is arguably almost as important as the sexual abuse that the plot hinges on . . . in terms of driving the main character to a point where she feels she has no other option than the murderous plan that she comes up with. Trust is violated, boundaries are violated, and familial bonds once thought unbreakable are violated when Miriam's "confession" is received with doubt and a defensive attack.

Sims-Fewer gives an excellent central performance, changing notably between the pre-attack and post-attack incarnations of her character. Earlier moments show her more carefree, even while not being perfectly happy with everything in her life, while later moments show her being fuelled by rage, able to confront people in a way that would have seemed previously impossible. LaVercombe is also very good, especially in scenes that have him discussing a terrible situation in a way that he seems to have no real awareness of what he's actually done. Maguire and Abili are strong in their supporting roles, although the former has a bit more screentime than the latter, the sisterly bond being more explored than any marital connections.

Those who have seen any film within this sub-genre before, and it can still be labelled as a rape/revenge film, will know what to expect. Mancinelli and Sims-Fewer deliver those moment, but they work to make the film more interesting by what they don't show. There's no sense of the content here being exploitative or gratuitous, not even when there is some graphic nudity and gore shown in certain sequences. The main ordeal that Sims-Fewer goes through is illustrated more by audio than visuals, the camera simply focusing on two heads close enough to one another to have a fractured, whispered, conversation. 

You should go into this with a warning of the content, but (again) I think the title is warning enough in itself, and those expecting a sleazy wallow in justified violence should look elsewhere. This is a film that shows a wound being formed, and it's one that may never heal, because other people didn't offer the right aid or assistance when it was most needed. It's sad to think of how many people watching will be able to identify with that feeling, but I suspect it will be the majority of viewers. You may not want to ever revisit this, you may struggle to get to the end of it in one sitting, but Violation is a film that deserves your time and strength.

8/10

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The Ledge (2022)

I, like many people, have a healthy fear of heights. Or, perhaps more specifically, a fear of gravity, to paraphrase Terry Pratchett (who said something about the height or fall not being the killer, it’s the impact at the end of your losing battle against gravity). Anyway, The Ledge is a simple thriller that makes good use of a healthy fear of heights/gravity/impact to provide a tight and enjoyable viewing experience. 

Kelly (Brittany Ashworth) and Sophie (Anaïs Parello) are two friends who have a climbing weekend planned. It isn’t just any climbing weekend. There is a special reason for them wanting to climb a certain rock face and prove to themselves that they can do it. Plans change, however, when Sophie meets some nearby men who also have weekend plans in the area. Drinks and fun take precedence, but everything changes when a bad situation takes a turn for the worse, leading to a sudden death. Desperate to cover things up, the remaining group members know that they cannot let one main witness go free. That witness, who caught it all on camera, is Kelly. With seemingly nowhere else to turn, Kelly starts climbing until she finds herself stuck on the titular ledge, enemies waiting for her both above and below.

There is backstory given here, an attempt to add motivation to our main character and build up the potential threat from the clearly very dangerous Joshua (Ben Lamb), but it’s very minimal. Things go from good to bad very quickly, which shifts the focus to the climbing and that haven/deathtrap that is the ledge. Writer Tom Boyle has managed to ease himself into his first solo work, striking a nice balance between the tension and the necessary character interactions that occur in between the thrills and violent acts.

Director Howard J. Ford is the more experienced party behind the camera, and has shown that he can get great results with limited resources (check out The Dead, 2010, but avoid the sequel). Ford manages to make things feel intense and energised, even while many scenes have characters figuring out how to get to one young woman trapped on a ledge, and he does well to include enough convincing climbing footage without highlighting the bits that have to be faked.

Ashworth is a likeable lead, and kudos to her, and everyone else involved, for whatever had to be done at any kind of height that would make me get all trembly (which is generally anything higher than a footstool). She shows grit and determination for most of the movie, and is helped by playing a character who has the wits and skillset to make her continuing survival believable. Lamb is an enjoyable nasty main villain, although he is hampered by the fact that he is written as Obvious Baddie from his very first moment onscreen. Everyone else does fine, but viewers will be waiting patiently for the expected final face-off between the characters played by Ashworth and Lamb, and I don’t think anyone will be left too disappointed by the time the end credits roll.

Although there are few things here that make this truly stand out, The Ledge does well enough on the strength of that core concept. It’s an easy way to create a scenario filled with tension and peril, and both the writer and director manage to make the most of it without making things feel as if plausibility has been stretched beyond its limits. 

7/10

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Entrapment (1999)

A blockbuster vehicle for Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones that hopes viewers are distracted enough by star power to overlook the sheer preposterousness of the plot, Entrapment isn’t a very good film, but it kind of works for what it wants to do.

Zeta-Jones is Gin, an insurance agent who becomes obsessed with catching the best in the business, Mac (Connery). She has been following his trail for a long time now, and she knows that she has a payday to tempt him. Mac is suspicious from the very beginning though, and so begins a wary dance of mistrust between them.

Directed by Jon Amiel, a man who spent a few years specialising in slick, forgettable, Hollywood product, Entrapment feels tailor-made for its stars. Writers Ronald Bass and William Broyles Jr. manage to play up the strengths of both, either deliberately or simply by writing a project that always aimed to have “charming male lead” and “sexy female lead” at the heart of it. 

Released in 1999, this felt dated within a year or two. The plot hinges on the millennium changeover, the age gap between Connery and Zeta-Jones felt like, even for Hollywood, it was stretching things a bit too far, and the most popular sequence (which I will highlight in the next paragraph) was shown again and again whenever the film was being discussed favourably.

Connery is allowed to be his roguish charming best, and he goes along with all of the nonsense with a wry grin and a twinkle in his eye, while Zeta-Jones works in his shadow, breaking out occasionally in sequences that gratuitously dwell on her classic beauty (case in point - the training sequence that has her contorting her body as she avoids “security lasers”). It is a fairly thankless role for her, but she acquits herself well enough to the task. Although the cast isn’t huge, there are also welcome performances from Ving Rhames and Will Patton, two great actors who earned some decent paychecks from this kind of fare while they were on the radar of the casting directors.

Compared to other con/caper movies in the same wheelhouse, this is pretty bad. Compared to the slick blockbusters of this time that put star power ahead of logic and plotting, many being Simpson and/or Bruckheimer productions, this is pretty bad. Compared to other films starring Connery or Zeta-Jones, well, they both have filmographies that fluctuate wildly in quality. Just accept the general badness of this anyway, and then allow yourself to enjoy it nonetheless. Because sometimes nonsense involving attractive a-list stars is enough to keep you entertained for an hour or two. And this still manages to entertain me, despite me knowing that it’s generally bad.

6/10

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Prime Time: Stormswept (1995)

A dark and stormy night. A group of people together in an isolated location. A past ready to impinge on the present. We are in classic slasher movie territory with Stormswept, which makes it a bit strange, and surprising, when it turns into more of an erotic thriller. That surprise lessens when you realise that this is from David and Svetlana Marsh, the pair behind many other, more straightforward, sex films of the 1980s (and it is also telling that this feels like a 1980s movie, despite being released in the mid-1990s).

Apparently, according to the plot synopsis of this film that can be found on IMDb, and elsewhere, this is all about six people “haunted by the spirit of a demented slave master with an insatiable erotic appetite”. You can accept as much, or little, of that as you wish. It doesn’t really change the movie, which simply throws together people who want to have lots of sexy time, adds some sub/dom scenes here and there, and at least tries to keep things nicely atmospheric for most of the runtime.

I am STILL unsure what my final thoughts are on Stormswept. In some ways it was an odd mess, but part of that stems from me not knowing what to expect from it. As a tame horror film with an emphasis on erotic moments, it actually works (and the genre blend is certainly better here than it is with more pornographic horror works . . . just never let curiosity get the better of you when it comes to The XXXorcist). It doesn’t really matter that the characters are pretty interchangeable, or that the script is weak. It doesn’t even matter that the slim plot feels as if everything has been made up on the spot. The fact that the final scene ends with some kind of sitcom-style punctuating dialogue? It doesn’t matter.

Justin Carroll is the male lead, but he’s obviously second fiddle to all of the main females. Melissa Moore and Julie Hughes do well enough in their roles, Lorissa McComas was very pleasing on the eye, and Kathleen Kinmont tries hard, having to play someone who spends the entire movie hiding away in the basement. There are others onscreen, with Hunt Scarritt being arguably the only other male to make any impact on the plot, but Moore, Hughes, and McComas are the ones who are given the most to do.

David Marsh directs competently enough, he does better there than he does in his co-writing role, and he knows how to keep the camera flattering the women as they start to lose items of clothing. That may be all you want from this kind of film, but it’s admirable that it at least tries to do a bit more. I don’t think it is being too hyperbolic to mention that the film feels as indebted to something like The Haunting as it feels indebted to so many other films from the decade preceding it.

I must, however, finish with a word of warning to all, taken from the IMDb trivia section for this movie - “absolute no owls appear, are heard or are referenced in the film, despite the poster”. I am sorry to be the bearer of such bad news, especially those of you who read this review and thought you were due to get the sexiest owl-filled horror movie of your life.

6/10

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Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

If you have made it this long without having Spider-Man: No Way Home spoiled for you then I congratulate you. I'll also try not to spoil anything here, although that makes this review a little bit trickier. I AM going to work on the assumption that most people saw one or two of the trailers, revealing some familiar villains coming back to our screens.

The basic plot concerns Peter Parker/Spiderman (Tom Holland) having quite a miserable time of things, all because of the repercussions from his battle with Mysterio. Everyone knows who he is, and everyone has a view on his actions. Some of them believe the lie fabricated by Mysterio. Some don't. What's worse is that it's not just affecting Peter, but also the ones closest to him. His friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and his girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), are guilty by association, which leads to them being unable to get into the colleges they have applied for. Desperate for things to go back to how they were, Peter heads to Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and asks him to cast a spell that will make people forget who he is. The spell goes just a bit wrong, resulting in our universe being invaded by characters who have met other incarnations of Spiderman in other universes.

Director Jon Watts and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers may not have been the only people shepherding this Spiderman through his latest cinematic trilogy, but they have certainly been there for each instalment, helping to maintain the balance of light fun and major peril that our friendly neighbourhood Spiderman has dealt with over the past few years. This is the darkest of the new Spidey films yet, but it still allows plenty of time for humour, and it still incorporates a bright, solid, colour palette for the majority of the runtime. It helps enormously that Holland has a brightness to him that lights the screen further whenever he's not being beaten down by overwhelming odds.

Holland does his best work yet here (in these movies, I'm not talking about his entire career), moving from lighter moments to moments that are all the more heartbreaking because of his vulnerability, and it's hard to imagine what the bigwigs will plan next for the character. They clearly have to keep making the most of having Holland in the role, but this feels like a tough one to top. And yet, somewhat paradoxically, it's far from the best Spiderman movie. It's overlong, it's overstuffed, it's all just a bit overdone, and the third act has to ensure that every single character gets at least one satisfying moment. And the CGI is equally overdone, even if it is generally at a very high standard.

As well as Holland, both Zendaya and Batalon are as good as they have been in the previous movies. Cumberbatch has fun, playing a strong supporting role. And there’s pure joy in seeing the return of characters played by Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, Jamie Foxx, Thomas Haden Church, and Rhys Ifans, with each actor appearing to relish the opportunity to give their character a better resolution. Marisa Tomei remains an excellent Aunt May, doing her best to help and protect her nephew as danger crowds around them. And there are at least three other cameos/supporting turns that will have fans enthralled and delighted while the screen is loaded up with one treat upon another.

It’s clear that this has been made with the aim of really pleasing fans of the web-slinger, especially those who have enjoyed every one of his modern cinematic outings. Pretty much every big rumour you already heard about is true, but that doesn’t lessen the impact of every wonderful moment, whether big or small. It’s just a shame that it feels like a bit too much, this is a film that would have worked better split into two. It’s stimulation overload, just barely allowing the quieter, more sombre, moments time to breathe. That doesn’t mean that it’s not great, it just also feels slightly exhausting as you move towards the inevitably super-busy third act.

With great film-making tools comes great responsibility. The people putting this extravaganza together have been very careful to treat the characters with care. They just weren’t quite so careful with the pacing and the excess of visual effects.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: The Reflecting Skin (1990)

The story of a young boy, Seth Dove (Jeremy Cooper), who becomes intrigued by the idea that someone in his local area is a vampire, The Reflecting Skin is a strange, but also quite wonderful, coming-of-age story that uses a light touch throughout to blend darkness and sunshine until an end scene that hits you like a punch in the gut.

Enjoying hijinks with his friends, including a horrible trick in the opening sequence that involves an inflated frog and a catapult, young Seth is a very typical, spirited, lad. His life starts to take a turn, however, when children start to go missing, and then turn up dead. While the local law enforcement suspect Seth’s father, Seth himself starts to suspect a neighbouring single woman, Dolphin Blue (Lindsay Duncan). She could well be a vampire, and that is much more worrying when his brother (Cameron, played by Viggo Mortensen) returns from his military service and begins to develop a connection with Dolphin.

Written and directed by Philip Ridley, who also did the excellent, and underseen, Heartless (2009), as well as a few other movies well worth your time, this is a sun-kissed journey towards a face to face encounter with pure evil that brings to mind the work of various people, from David Lynch to Stephen King, while also feeling resolutely unique.

Great performances come from young Cooper, as well as everyone else onscreen, but it can be hard to recognise how well they are doing as Ridley uses people to enact moments in a slightly artificial way at times. Mortensen and Duncan become the focus of the film in the second half, but they are often being watched by Cooper’s character, which means some things are played up to show his interpretation of what he is seeing. Sheila Moore and Duncan Fraser play their characters, the parents of our lead, with obvious signs of problems in their lives, and they make a hell of an impression, especially when you think of their relatively small amount of screentime.

The Reflecting Skin is shot beautifully, with Dick Pope due some extra kudos there, and it seduces viewers with a constant sense of innocence as things move closer and closer to that innocence being lost. It shows the “silly” things that children decide to fixate on, and be afraid of, while other dangers lurk in plain sight around them. It manages to still play out like a vampire movie, but it puts forward the idea that vampirism takes on many different forms as people have their life energy reduced by various factors, both external and internal.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Weekend Away (2022)

When I selected The Weekend Away as my next viewing choice I had no real idea of what to expect. I'd had it recommended to me by one or two people who had really liked it. And I'd been warned away from it by some other people. I knew it would be a slick, probably quite tame, thriller. When I saw that it was written and directed by women (Sarah Alderson adapting her own novel for Kim Farrant directing) then I started to hope that it might at least put an interesting spin on movie tropes that we usually see filtered through the male gaze.

That was not to be the case. In fact, and I know this is a wild claim to make, I'd argue that the lead female character in this movie is one of the most useless I have seen in a long time. With the exception of one important moment, and even that moment is her following advice given to her earlier by a man, the character either has to have her circumstances improved by a helpful man or blind luck, or both.

Beth (Leighton Meester) is that main character. She has been invited for a girl's weekend away by her BFF Kate (Christina Wolfe). Kate wants the two of them to let their hair down and recapture some of the spirit of their past glory days, which will help her keep the thought of her divorce out of her mind and perhaps get Beth remembering that she deserves more than a marriage that hasn't incorporated a sex life for more than a year. Beth is also a fairly new mother, which means she can offer to show baby photos to men she doesn't want attention from. She also gets drunk far quicker, which is why she ends up crashing out while Kate parties on. Then Kate disappears. Beth starts to retrace their steps from the night before, with the help of a friendly taxi driver (Zain, played by Ziad Bakri). The local police don't seem too bothered, probably because they have already made their minds up on the kind of people they are dealing with.

It's easy, almost infuriatingly so, to see The Weekend Away as an easy viewing choice for many. It has a mystery at the heart of it, it has dark events taking in a sunny, foreign, location, and it has the layer of gloss that will allow it to catch the eye of many a potential viewer browsing their streaming options. In fact, in theory, there isn't much wrong with it. But if you're like me, if it doesn't ever engage you as it wants to, then everything will start falling apart very quickly. The characters are sketched out to be paper-thin, it's hard to really care about anything (as you know that the lead will somehow piece things together by the very end), and everything feels as if it was written and directed to be as patronising as possible to anyone watching it. Imagine if Agatha Christie was placed in a Seth Brundle teleporter pod while Aaron Spelling snuck into the other pod and you have some idea of the final result here. I'm going to put most of the blame on Alderson here, but Farrant seems unable to improve the material with her direction. The film may well be the successful translation of a shared vision, which means both Alderson and Farrant will view it as a job well done, and that's an even sadder thought.

I guess some of the cast do okay. Meester has to spend a lot of the film either being too unsure of herself and vulnerable or hiding away in bathrooms while she tries to surreptitiously use a phone. She does fine with both of those main jobs. Wolfe is onscreen for much less screentime, of course, but is perfectly okay when she's present. Bakri is good as the helpful Zain, but he also has to pause at times to look like a potential prime suspect. The same goes for Luke Norris, in the role of Beth's husband, Rob, and Adrian Pezdirc, playing a very shifty "landlord" named Sebastian. The less said about the two main police officers, played by Amar Bukvic and Iva Mihalic, the better.

Will some people be able to find enjoyment in this? Yes. Absolutely. Will I smile politely while silently judging them for doing so? Yes. Absolutely.

3/10

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Shudder Saturday: The Bunker Game (2022)

If there is one word that could sum up The Bunker Game it is "urgh". I have seen worse films, much worse films, but there's something about this that makes it tiresome and annoying for almost every minute of the runtime. It's a film I would have much preferred if it had been made by Dark Castle at the turn of the century, because at least they would have punctuated the tedious first half with a few more genuine scares and gory moments. And you might have found a character or two that you felt was worth caring about.

I suspect something may have been lost in translation, as it is an Italian and French co-production with everyone speaking English, but there's also a lack of experience behind the camera that could explain the mistakes made throughout.

A group of people are in a big bunker, all taking part in a very strange Live Action Role Playing game that seems to be set during a nuclear war, and also seems to be creating a narrative about the resurgence of Nazism, and the need for a eugenics program that will ensure the successful survival of the human race. Something goes a bit wrong. Someone goes missing. All of the players are asked to leave, and it's up to the staff to explore the bunker to find the missing person. But they're not alone in the bunker. Of course.

I almost smashed my computer screen while writing the above paragraph. Who thought this was a good idea? Of all the ways to get people into a bunker and create a backstory that could create something supernatural from the past impinging on the present, who actually sat down and thought "yes, let's make a nuclear war scenario that also involves Nazism and eugenics"? Nobody is throwing down their wooden swords and elf ears for that one, surely. I know which scenario I'd prefer . . . I just generally tend to go for the games that don't need me to stay onside with Nazis. Manuel Cacciamani, Francesca Forristal, and Davide Orsini obviously thought otherwise, however, with Cacciamani coming up with the idea that the other two, plus the director, turned into a screenplay. It's a terrible starting place for the story, and even worse when you realise that it isn't going to be twisted entertainingly enough in the second half of the film. If this had leaned into things, if it had gone "full Death Ship" at some point, then I wouldn't have been so bothered. But it doesn't, and there are easily a dozen different ways this scenario could have been set up.

Director Roberto Zazzara has a background made up of mostly shorts and documentary features, and I am struggling to see why he thought this was the best project to put out as his fictional feature debut. He clearly doesn't see the weakness and problems in the script, a script he helped write, and he manages to do nothing visually to distract viewers from the more awful elements.

I've already said enough bad things about people involved in this, so I'll just namecheck the main cast members. They are Gaia Weiss, Mark Ryder, Makita Samba, Felice Jankell, Lorenzo Richelmy, Tudor Istodor, and Amina Smail. Weiss gets the lead role, Samba gets one memorable scene, and that's all I will say, mainly because I don't want to be too rude to people who may simply have been unable to help salvage a film that seems to have been doomed from the ill-conceived first draft.

If you didn't want to read everything in between, and skim down here to see the rating, I'll just say that there is at least some decent camerawork saving this from being the worst of the worst, but . . . urgh.

3/10

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Maverick (1994)

Springboarding from the old TV show (not one I have ever actually seen), Maverick is a comedy Western that coasts along on the charm of the leads, rejigs a lot of the classic Western tropes in ways that subvert them for comic effect, and entertains from start to finish. It's the kind of film that has the feeling of good humour and camaraderie emanating off the screen, and I think it's one that too many people seem to have forgotten about already.

Mel Gibson plays Bret Maverick, a cowboy who lives for the thrill of the draw. The draw of cards from a deck. He’s a gambler, and one who makes more money by acting naive. He also stays alive by acting cowardly, avoiding fights whenever he can. But being unwilling to fight everyone who wants a fight doesn’t mean that Maverick is incapable. He’s actually quick and sharp with a gun, and his wit. Alongside a couple of other main characters (Annabelle Bransford, played by Jodie Foster, among them), Maverick is aiming to get his place at a major poker tournament set to take place on a riverboat. He needs his entry fee, he needs to avoid people who are dead set against him taking part, and he needs to keep lady luck on his side.

Directed by Richard Donner and written by William Goldman, the marriage of expertise both behind and in front of the camera makes this a real treat. It’s easygoing - the more tense and dangerous encounters remain focused on being cinematic, without needing to add grit or any complete revisionism - and the story hits all of the expected beats without feeling tiresome. Goldman has given us better scripts, undoubtedly, but this is a film that really plays to his strengths, and subsequently rewards anyone who appreciates his writing skills (which should be pretty much everyone).

Gibson gives a star turn up there with the best of his star turns, charming and cheeky and always one step ahead of people who think he is two steps behind. He’s a reluctant hero, always making time to sigh and roll his eyes before endangering his life to help others. Foster isn’t quite as good, playing her scheming “Southern belle” character in a way that fails to light up the screen as it should. She improves as the film goes on though, and her comedy chops work better whenever she is verbally sparring with Gibson. James Garner is welcome in his strong supporting role, especially as he brings the baggage of his performance in the main role when it was a TV show, and the rest of the cast is stuffed full of great actors and faces from the Western genre. James Coburn, Dennis Fimple, Denver Pyle, Leo Gordon, and many others are all given some screentime. There’s a great villainous turn from Alfred Molina, a very fun cameo from Danny Glover, and a hilarious sequence with Graham Greene helping the main character to scam some money from a rich hunter. Add in small turns from Geoffrey Lewis, Art LaFleur, Dan Hedaya, and Max Perlich and you have a non-stop parade of great turns.

There’s also a playful Randy Newman score, a number of impressive stunts (including an excellent runaway coach sequence), players winning poker with hand that defy astronomical odds, and occasional glimpses of classic cowboy gun-handling. And it all adds up to a fun time, one that doesn’t even feel overlong with a 2+ hour runtime because you are rarely left without a smile on your face as things play out.

8/10

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Evil Bong (2006)

If you are wondering just what you might get from a film called Evil Bong then you may have already spent too much time in the company of an evil bong. It's not a hard concept to figure out, not really, and the fact that it is directed by Charles Band means that you're unlikely to find a lot of hidden depth here. 

David Weidoff plays Alistair, a young (nerd) man who moves into shared accommodation with, as you may have guessed, a bunch of guys who like to get stoned. Alistair doesn’t personally indulge, which is why it takes much longer for him to be caught in the clutches of . . . the Evil Bong. In fact, Alistair only sets out to get stoned when he figures out what is happening to those around him, including Janet (Kristyn Green), a woman he has taken quite a shine to.

As silly and light as you should expect, Evil Bong isn’t actually as bad as it could be, thanks to the idea of people being transported to a “bong world” that is basically just a strip club where they are eventually killed, or have their souls temporarily held from their bodies. It is also a place where other characters from the Full Moon stable of movies can appear, for no other reason than allowing fans to recognise them and smile. Jack Deth, Gingerdead Man, Ooga Booga, and more appear onscreen for a few seconds. They add nothing to the plot of the film, but I cannot deny that it was fun to recognise them (and remember other Full Moon movies that I had already enjoyed or endured).

Band directs with his usual approach, take an idea that can be milked for years and throw everything together as cheaply as possible. He is helped by Domonic Muir’s script, which leans into the silliness of it all just enough to be slightly charming, as opposed to smug and offputting, and the “guest role” for Tommy Chong is an easy way to attract the right viewer demographic.

Weidoff isn’t the best actor around, but he is also far from the worst,  as are the other main stars.. Everyone knows what kind of movie they are in, and everyone does just fine by the material. I would say that this is actually one of the better casts I have seen Band put together, with Green a very likeable potential love interest, and Brian Lloyd, John Patrick Jordan, and Mitch Eakins, are amusing enough as the non-nerd flatmates ready to gently mock the new nerd in their midst. Robin Sydney also does fine, playing the girlfriend of Lloyd’s character, while the voice of Michelle Mais works well as for the Evil Bong aka EeBee. There’s also a small supporting role for Phil Fondacaro, someone who has appeared in many Full Moon movies, and who I always enjoy seeing.

This is silly, it is put together carelessly, and you may well start forgetting it even before the end credits have finished. But it’s also moderately amusing, at times, and keeps throwing enough elements around onscreen that some of them manage to stick.

4/10

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Prime Time: The Unknown (1927)

A film that almost feels like a practice run for one of his most notorious titles, Freaks (which would come along five years later), Tod Browning's The Unknown is almost the equal of that better-known horror, thanks in no small part to the excellent performances from Lon Chaney and Joan Crawford. A dark tale of unrequited love, murder, and body modification (yes, body modification), this may be a tad predictable in the third act, but that makes it no less enjoyable.

Lon Chaney plays Alonzo, an armless individual who uses his feet to entertain people with his circus act. He's very skilled with them, being able to throw knives and fire weapons, as well as many other tricks. Alonzo has strong feelings for Nanon (Crawford), the daughter of the circus owner. You'd think that this pairing would be perfect, as Nanon has a fear of men grabbing and pawing at her, so she feels comfortable with the armless Alonzo. Malabar (Norman Kerry) is the circus strongman, and he also has feelings for Nanon, but the fact that he has two strong arms keeps Nanon from reciprocating any feelings toward him. Things change when Nanon's father, Zanzi, is murdered, allowing Alonzo to be a more comforting presence, perhaps even paving the way to their marriage. But one major change will have to happen, because it turns out that Alonzo DOES have arms, and he used those arms to kill Zanzi. A dark secret that is only known to Alonzo and his friend Cojo (John George), a plan is hatched to have his arms removed and live happily ever after with Nanon.

Absolutely incredible stuff from start to finish, and the runtime is under 50 minutes (sadly, the only surviving prints today are missing about a quarter of the footage, although it remains a cohesive and flowing work), The Unknown is a film that any fan of Tod Browning should definitely see ASAP. Despite being released 95 years ago, it is still a disturbing and chilling experience, the dark material complemented by the performances and style. Browning knows the world he is leading us into, and he is working with a superb cast.

Chaney is someone I haven't seen many performances from, despite his reputation, but this must rank up there with one of his best (the only other turn I have seen from him is his brilliant "Phantom" in The Phantom Of The Opera). I'll definitely be looking through more of his filmography soon, and his turn here is a masterclass is how to show every possible thought and emotion via facial expressions. Crawford is the typically sweet and beautiful woman needed for her role, performing well and convincing viewers that she can feel safest when being comforted by Alonzo. Kerry and Nick De Ruiz are both just fine, the latter playing Zanzi, and George is unforgettable in his role, his impact onscreen in inverse correlation to his diminutive 4'2" height.

It might be too melodramatic for some, and there are people who simply won't want to watch a silent movie from almost a century ago, but I rate this as a damn near perfect film. Despite the limitations of the time, it's a powerful blend of love, treachery, and outright horror. Please make some time for it in your viewing schedule, you only need a spare 50 minutes.

9/10

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The Beta Test (2021)

The third feature film from Jim Cummings, this time co-directed and co-written with co-star PJ McCabe, The Beta Test is both darkly hilarious and highly disturbing. A lot of viewers may not want to identify with most of the behaviour shown, but it's impossible to deny the truth at the heart of it.

Cummings plays a Hollywood agent named Jordan Hines. He may not be one of the biggest names in town, but he seems to be doing okay. There's a potentially very big deal lined up, Jordan is set to marry a lovely woman named Caroline (Virginia Newcomb), and, to top it all, he has just received a message with the offer to meet a compatible stranger in a certain hotel room for blindfolded, anonymous, sex. That confidence boost, an added swagger, soon turns ugly, as Jordan starts to become more and more desperate to find out who his sexual partner was in that room.

Let's not pretend otherwise here, The Beta Test puts the male ego under a microscope and finds it to be seriously lacking. The main character is shown to be too fragile, too insecure (for no good reason, other than his self-perception), too entitled and demanding, and too easily taken down a slippery road of secrets and lies for the promise of a good, sweaty, sex session. The main character is, despite how you may protest, representative of many men. Which is why The Beta Test (a frankly superb title, with that loaded double meaning) works as well as it does.

While it obviously explores sex, both in terms of what people desire from one another and the way it can affect every part of your life (a confidence boost, a lingering afterglow that others view in you as something positive, a journey to keep exploring and doing better with any new partner), The Beta Test also, and in a more straightforward way, explores toxic masculinity and the culture of brutish bullshittery that makes up many different career sectors. Cummings plays a Hollywood agent, but he could have easily been a stockbroker, a salesman, a police officer, or someone in any number of typically male-dominated environments where shows of strength and the ability to shout others down can win out over more refined approaches.

Cummings is great in the lead role, once again perfectly embodying a man at war with his own expectations of how a man should act. His antics, his rants, his horrible abuse of others around him, everything veers constantly between the hilarious and the horrendous, and Cummings happily makes himself more and more of a monster as circumstances slip further out of his control.  McCabe also does well, playing the best friend/colleague who tries to help the main character get himself back on the right track. Newcomb has less to do, but gets to basically play someone with the patience of a saint, and many others make strong impressions in smaller, but no less vital, roles in the proceedings.

Often very uncomfortable, even the opening scene is a horrible and lingering gaze at fatal abuse committed by a male with a wounded ego, The Beta Test is yet another film that feels a bit depressing because it is so relevant and necessary. It’s another winner from Cummings, working brilliantly in collaboration with McCabe, and one that I would recommend to everyone. Sadly, I fear that those who should take heed of it most will not see anything of themselves onscreen. But they are there. And they are clearly seen.

9/10

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Mubi Monday: L'Amant Double AKA Double Lover (2017)

Another intriguing erotic thriller from director François Ozon, L’amant Double covers a hell of a lot of ground, veering between Hitchcock and Clouzot to Breillat and Cronenberg, and is yet another prime example of his mastery of blending genre thrills and psychosexual exploratory journeys.

Marine Vacth plays Chloé, a young woman who finally decides to try and help her mental state by seeing a psychoanalyst. That psychoanalyst is Paul (played by Jérémie Renier). Chloé and Paul eventually start developing a full relationship, one obviously full of gray morality and the potential for messy mind games, and things get more confusing when Chloé finds out that Paul has a twin brother, Louis, that he doesn’t ever acknowledge. Louis is also a psychoanalyst, and Chloé decides to start seeing him for therapy. And more. Louis is very different from Paul, he’s brusque and aggressive, something that is initially appealing to Chloé, but soon becomes very offputting.

Based on a Joyce Carol Oates novel from the 1980s, Ozon takes something which could easily be worked into sleazy, pulp, entertainment (and I am not saying that would necessarily be a worse adaptation) and crafts a study of intimacy, boundaries, and self-identity. It would seem to be easy for directors to work interesting imagery through any story dealing with twins, which makes it unsurprising that Ozon (who has so often explored characters projecting themselves upon others) fills almost every scene with ambiguity, reflections, and moments of people being both naked and covered in layers of what they hope is the armour needed to get them through tough periods in their life.

Vacth is very good in her role, showing alternating moments of strength and vulnerability, confused by those around her and unable to trust her own perspective. Renier does even better, although he also gets to have more fun in his dual roles. Distinctive enough in the two separate personalities, he also gets to confuse Vacth’s character by occasionally pretending to be whichever twin she wants to spend most of her time with. There are other people here, and some of the supporting characters are very important, but the film really belongs to Vacth and Renier.

If you have seen one film about twins who are polar opposites, and very manipulative, then you have seen them all. Sort of. But most of them are well worth your time. Ozon uses the ideas here to take viewers on a journey that becomes increasingly disorienting and harmful, which is a way of also saying that he works the material into a typical Ozon movie. If, like me, you are a fan of his work then that is no bad thing.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Adam Project (2022)

A time-travel action comedy with a number of lovely moments of sweetness throughout, The Adam Project is a film that manages to deliver what you expect from it, yet also makes one or two decisions that prove mildly surprising, considering how by-the-numbers you may expect it to be.

Ryan Reynolds is Adam, a man who travels back in time to 2022. His vehicle is damaged, as is he, and it won't begin the self-repair program until a healthy Adam can command it. Which means Adam needs help from his younger self (played by Walker Scobell). Young Adam is currently being a bit of trouble for his mother (Ellie Reed, played by Jennifer Garner), mainly due to him grieving the loss of his father (Mark Ruffalo) just over a year before. There are bad people trying to capture Adam and take him back to his own timeline, headed up by Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener), but Adam has made his leap into the past because he thinks the timeline has already been corrupted. He doesn't want to be in 2022 though. He wants to be in 2018. And young Adam may need to join him on the next part of his journey.

Director Shawn Levy has been delivering easygoing hits for a couple of decades now, giving us films such as Cheaper By The Dozen, The Pink Panther, the three Night At The Museum movies, Real Steel, and, most recently, Free Guy. That's not to say that you necessarily view him as a great director, and let's not be too quick to forgive him for The Internship, but he's a relatively safe pair of hands who manages to work well with comic actors. Between their previous collaboration and this one, he may well be the person who helps Reynolds deliver his best, non-Deadpool, work (although he's also now directing the third Deadpool movie, which doesn't feel like an obvious match, but let's wait and see how that goes). This is definitely up there with his better films, and it's easily one that provides a bit of something for almost everyone.

Writers Jonathan Tropper, T. S. Nowlin, and Jennifer Flackett have a very mixed filmography between them, from The Maze Runner movies to Nim's Island, and TV work that includes Banshee and Big Mouth, but they seem to have worked well together to craft something that provides a perfect mix of laughs, action, and heart, with enough science to allow for cool tech, and to allow for the plotting to work, without getting bogged down in too many conversations about the timelines. There IS a set approach to time-travel here, explained well enough, but it's an approach with rules that allow the whole thing to be feasible. And also allows Reynolds to enjoy another big magnet set-piece, as he does seem to love his big magnet set-pieces.

People seem to complain nowadays about Reynolds doing the same thing in every movie he makes. That's a fair comment, in some ways, but it's also something you could say about any comedic actor in their "bread and butter" roles over the past three or four decades, at least. I like his work, and he's excellent here. Scobell, in his first film role, gives him a good run for his money though. Often just as quick-witted and quick to open his mouth, Scobell has all the smart-ass attitude, but with the attitude of being a cute young kid to underline the occasional punchline/insult. Garner and Ruffalo do very well in the role of the loving parents, viewed in very different ways by the two Adams because of how the loss of one parent affected their lives. Keener is a great menace, flanked by a strong and capable fighter named Christos (played by Alex Mallari Jr), and she has a great way of trying to persuade older Adam that things can be fixed, they can go back to how everything was, while prepping weaponry to destroy him if he continues to disobey her requests. There's also a small role for Zoe Saldana, once again being a perfect combination of loveliness and badassery.

It's an overused compliment when it comes to modern family entertainment, but this really does feel like something that could have been made in the late 1980s. The quality shines throughout, from the music and cinematography to the performances, and the sweetness is offset by the sense of fun, and the odd swearword thrown around. There are also one or two moments that may make you cry, even as you realise how easily you're being emotionally manipulated. This is definitely a film worth making some time for.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: The Seed (2021)

It's time to break out the tiny violins. Being a constant viewer of movies and a constant blogger is a fairly thankless task, especially for those who decide not to keep finding the right level of hyperbole to make an opinion go viral. It takes up a lot of time and energy, and you're never really sure if anyone else is going to care about what you have to say. Which is why I usually write for my own satisfaction, it is my own strange way of finding a little bit of extra happiness and of keeping my mental health on an even keel (an empty day on the blog is a bad sign). There are some positives though. You can get involved in some great discussion with people who have similar, or very different, opinions on the movies watched. You can also, very occasionally, be given an opportunity to check out a film before many others. This happened to me with The Seed, a situation that both pleased me enormously and also gave me extra anxiety (in case I hated it). The version of the film that I saw some time ago wasn't quite the finished and polished version now available on Shudder, which is why I waited to rewatch and review the thing properly.

I was also keen to share my opinion on the film because I certainly DIDN'T hate it.

Written and directed by Sam Walker, The Seed is basically the tale of three women (Deidre, played by Lucy Martin, Heather, played by Sophie Vavasseur, and Charlotte, played by Chelsea Edge) enjoying a weekend away. They're going to watch a meteor shower, both Deidre and Heather using the event to build up their social media influencer profiles while Charlotte remains steadfastly away from that kind of nonsense. Something lands on the property during the meteor shower, something repulsive, but also possibly just a little bit cute, and things start to get very strange.

Part body horror movie, part sharp comedy about vanity and narcissism, and part potential alien invasion movie, The Seed is an assured and polished feature debut from Sam Walker (who first came to my attention almost a decade ago when I was lucky enough to see his short, Bite Horse, at a horror film festival). With the potential to go in any number of different directions, and it would have been very easy for Walker to retool this and have a group of disposable teens in the main roles, it's admirable that this stays interested in exploring the various personalities of our central trio, and how they are changed, as opposed to just lining up people to wait for their turn to be a victim.

Walker is helped enormously by his cast. Martin is perfect in her role, always trying to maintain a higher energy level when she has to turn "on" for her online viewing audience. Vavasseur is similar, but shows why she is lagging behind. The two women work well together, always considering how things can be shown off best, what prospects they have to make their latest strong impression, and how the whole weekend can be a productive time for them, in terms of developing their online followings. Edge is allowed to roll her eyes at all of this without feeling like a grumbly killjoy, and she's easy to root for as things start to become more creepy and dangerous. And I also need to mention Jamie Wittebrood, only onscreen for a couple of minutes, but he's so much fun in his very small role.

The FX work is another big help, with the central creation absolutely managing to be both occasionally cute and downright ugly and terrifying at the same time. There are a couple of moments as confusingly visceral and gloopy as some of the final scenes in Society, which is another reason to recommend this, and the gore and flesh is all very well realised.

Everything comes back to the script and direction though, with Walker managing to make a horror film that tonally weaves from the sharp and witty to the darkly disturbing with surprising ease. The bright and sharp look throughout helps the juxtaposition (and it's a great job on the cinematography by Ben Braham Ziryab), and the fairly minimalistic score from Lucrecia Dalt does a fine job, but Walker seems to have maintained a clear vision from start to finish, allowing him to deliver a film that feels different from many others you could choose from, yet it's one that still provides the genre moments you want.

8/10

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Rounders (1998)

Not actually a film about the British game that resembles a kindergarten version of baseball, Rounders is actually another fun film basing most of the action around card tables. It's all about poker, and the people who make their living from it. It's also helmed by John Dahl, a director who very rarely put a foot wrong for his first full decade or so of moviemaking, before he then started picking up much more work int he world of TV (helming episodes of shows as varied as Fear Itself, Breaking Bad, True Blood, Justified, Ray Donovan, House Of Cards, and Yellowstone).

Matt Damon plays Mike McDermott, a promising young law student who has a pretty good life. He has a lovely partner, Jo (Gretchen Mol), and has decided to try and leave his days of poker behind him, after losing a BIG chunk of money in a foolish move to earn himself a route to the World Poker Championship. Abstaining from the lure of poker proves to be almost impossible, sadly, when Mike welcomes his old friend, Worm (Edward Norton), back into his life. Worm has just finished a prison sentence, and he immediately wants to make up lost time and earnings. Not trusting the playing method of Mike, Worm is happy to win via some underhanded methods. He's also happy to borrow a lot of money with Mike as his guarantor. 

Considering what it is, poker makes for a fair amount of fun and tension, cinematically. Part of that is because movie poker often has people sitting around a table with hands that are often astronomically near-impossible to have dealt from the deck in the same game session, let along the same tense head to head, and part of that is to do with the interesting ways in which great poker players can be shown to be able to read their opponents and quickly calculate odds. Writers David Levien and Brian Koppelman make the most of this latter aspect, having Damon's character be quite the card savant. This is best illustrated by a superb scene in which he helps a judge (Martin Landau) bet high against his colleagues, explaining who is holding what cards in their hands. The use of Worm is another way to make things more exciting though, ensuring that the card games have real stakes. More than just chips and pride, a loss could lead to a lot of pain. And Worm's approach to the game, trying every grift possible to ensure a win, helps to make the lead character seem more like a true sportsman, an expert looking to relearn some lessons after being humbled by a major loss.

Dahl knows what he's doing here, easily keeping things lively and fun for viewers. You get to see cards, you get a peek at the mechanics of some of the trickery, and voiceover narration from Damon keeps everyone informed about the rules, the odds, and the methodology. The film maintains an energy and level of cinematic cool for almost the entire runtime.

While the lead role isn’t really a stretch for Damon, he does well playing another brand of genius without the social lubrication to keep a position in an upper-class world. Norton is very easy to dislike, also doing well as the kind of character destined to forever try too hard for success in a way that guarantees failure after failure. Mol is as underserved here as she has been so often, but she gives a performance so good that it makes you wonder why she never seemed to get a bigger break that others got, although she has built up a great body of work over the years. Landau steals the few scenes he has, John Turturro gets to play a fairly nice guy, for once, and John Malkovich is fun, with an added accent, as Teddy KGB, the big poker player who needs beaten on the way to a complete turnaround of fortune. There is also a small role for Famke Janssen, who is always welcome, and a cameo from poker superstar Johnny Chan.

It’s quite easy to see where this is going, and the lack of any major surprises in the third act is a bit of a shame, but Rounders doesn’t want to be a gritty and bleak film. It is a by-the-numbers sports movie, a tale of someone having faith in himself as others fall by the wayside. That sport may be poker, as opposed to any number of more energetic pursuits, but every other trope and story beat you expect is right here. Which ends up being a good thing, because this is one of the better sports movies I have watched in a while, but that may be to do with my love of poker.

8/10

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