For It Is Man's Number: September 2024

Monday 16 September 2024

Mubi Monday: My First Film (2024)

There are times when I get irritated by films that are described to me as "blending fact and fiction". Sometimes it can be a very good thing, but sometimes you end up wishing that the film-maker had found a way to either present everything in a documentary or a feature film, instead of some strange hybrid. My First Movie is one of those in-between films, but it's one that I really enjoyed watching for the look at the struggles that can work against anyone, but especially a young female, as they try to get a film made.

Odessa Young plays Vita, a young film-maker who is struggling as she attempts to spin the many plates that need to stay moving while she gets her first film made. There are limitations that feel hard to work around, personal problems that affect the work schedule, and even a tragedy that brings things grinding to a halt (perhaps temporarily, perhaps permanently).

Directed by Zia Anger, who also wrote the film with Billy Feldman, this feels impressively honest and surprisingly upbeat throughout. The earliest scenes show our lead going through some moments that they respond to with a great mix of indignation and wit, and the main plot about trying to get a first feature made is a potentially depressing experience offset by the youthful energy and optimism of people coming together to make a work of art that will stand as their tentative first steps into the film-making business.

Young is very good in the lead role, equal parts politeness, patience, frustration, and near-meltdown, and the young cast around her are all just as good, whether they are playing central performers, crew members struggling to get the technical side of things right, or people who just seem to be wandering around a bit aimlessly until they can choose to be supportive or unsupportive when things get tough.

It's interesting to consider the many ways Anger could have approached this material and the choices made to have it end up like this. There's humour, but it's not a comedy. There's pain, but it's not a tragedy. There's plenty of insight, but it's not a "how to" guide (or even a "how not to" guide). There's a confidence here, or perhaps a stubborn refusal to ever go back to the situation we see played out onscreen, and what is shown feels like a number of simple, unvarnished, truths strung together into a friendship bracelet that is best appreciated by those who have been through a similar situation.

I'll be interested to see where Anger goes from here. This feels like a catharsis, and that's a good thing, but it also often leaves people having to find their words again once they have turned to a new blank page. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'd also like to see what Young does next, but there's no wait required there (having seen that she is credited already in a couple of features released just after this). And if the two end up working together on something titled "My Second Film", well, I know I'll end up watching it.

7/10

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Sunday 15 September 2024

Netflix And Chill: Rebel Ridge (2024)

It's a familiar tale, especially when it feels as if it's paying homage to First Blood throughout, but Rebel Ridge is a solid and tense action thriller that deftly mixes some thought-provoking commentary with a full-blooded star-making turn from Aaron Pierre.

Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, things start off with Terry Richmond (Pierre) being harassed by a couple of small-town cops. He was on his way with bail money to keep a relative out of jail, but that money is seized by the cops. They are apparently allowed to do that, it's called civil forfeiture, but there's something fishy about the entire process, as becomes even more obvious when Terry tries to reason with the local Sheriff (Chief Sandy Burnne, played by Don Johnson). Terry doesn't have anyone around to lend him support, aside from a courthouse employee named Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), but the local police soon come to understand that Terry doesn't really need anyone to help him. He can handle himself, and he can handle the local police as they slowly figure out that they're in big trouble.

I can see some people being disappointed by Rebel Ridge because of what it doesn't do, but I hope more people really appreciate it for what it does. Saulnier maintains a great balancing act of keeping things tense and entertaining without ever resorting to the standard gunfights and combat that we've seen before. The hero here isn't just a man pushed to the edge and fighting back. He's someone who also has to think about the consequences of every word and move, well aware of how easy it could be for law enforcement to find an excuse to shoot a black man without anyone asking too many questions. The police, on the other hand, act in the knowledge that they can make a mess and figure out a way to clean it all up later. They are the only ones constantly using lethal force, and that's an important part of the message of the movie.

With no disrespect intended, I am glad that John Boyega ended up not being able to play the lead in this, paving the way for Pierre to come along and stamp his authority all over it. Pierre is cool, calm, and collected, but also looks as if he could find a dozen different ways to kill you while smiling and nodding politely as you get ready to shake hands. That's the essence of the character, and Pierre excels in a performance that allows him to be impressively physical, but also charming and able to handle an American accent disguising his native British tongue (which I only mention here due to my surprise when hearing him speak in some press interviews about the movie). Johnson is just as well-cast in the main antagonist role, his easygoing manner and charm covering an air of menace and growing discomfort. Robb gets a slightly trickier role, but the screenplay does well to make her a friend to our hero without forcing them into a full-blooded and passionate relationship. Various officers are played by David Denman, Emory Cohen, and Zsané Jhé, and all three enjoy roles that allow them to often be in the thick of any action, and James Cromwell plays a judge in a couple of scenes in which he delivers some exposition and mourns for the state of his town in that calm and measured Cromwell way he can do so well.

This isn't a throwback to the muscle-bound action films of yesteryear, which I think some may hope for when they hear First Blood mentioned as a main reference point, but it's all the better for it. Saulnier has honed his craft over the years, I have yet to see something from him that I didn't thoroughly enjoy, and I hope he keeps getting opportunities to tell the stories that he wants to tell. Few people do tension as well as he does (the sequence here with police waiting on an internet router being rebooted as they try to find out more about our hero is one of the most satisfying bits of setup and immediate payoff that I have seen in years). Every thing that he gets right here helps to overlook the slight mis-steps, such as the runtime and a slight problem with the tonal shift as things get darker and more dangerous.

8/10

Saturday 14 September 2024

Shudder Saturday: All You Need Is Death (2023)

There have been many films made about people on a search for art that contains dark power, but I cannot think of one that has also focused on traditional folk ballads. Until now. I may be missing something, perhaps even something obvious, but All You Need Is Death certainly feels original enough, despite using the elements within it to provide a fairly familiar warning to the curious.

Simone Collins and Charlie Maher play Anna and Aleks, two people who are part of a strange collective aiming to collect traditional ballads and turn them over to someone (Agnes, played by Catherine Siggins) who then makes a decision about their ultimate fate. Things take a dark and mysterious turn for all three of these characters when they hear a song sung to them by Rita Concannon (Olwen Fouéré), although Aleks is initially kept out of earshot, due to it being a song passed from woman to woman over the years. As the power of the song starts to overshadow each of them, there's also a looming danger in the form of Rita's son, Breezeblock (played by Nigel O'Neill).

It's appropriate that the leads here aren't necessarily great, but are good enough to be effective vessels for the message being delivered. Collins is a standout, but both Maher and Siggins fail to match her in their performances (although they are stuck together in some of the stranger scenes in the movie). O'Neill and Fouéré are both very good, giving the kind of strong supporting turns that you expect from them if you've seen pretty much anything else they have done onscreen.

Writer-director Paul Duane has a solid reputation already, thanks to a few documentaries that have received high praise from those who saw them (sadly, I have yet to get around to those), and a lot of his past work shows his interest in the stories behind various pieces of music. This fictional piece allows him to intertwine various horror movie moments with a premise that both celebrates traditional art and comments on the appropriation of it by people who may not always afford it the respect it deserves.

The visuals don't match the powerful audio moments, predictably enough, and there are only one or two moments that really seem to hit the target that Duane is aiming for, but this is consistently interesting and atmospheric enough to hold your attention throughout. Those who enjoy folk horror should certainly seek this out, as well as those who have enjoyed numerous other British and Irish horror movies from the past decade. It’s no earworm hit single, but I suspect it will become a dark and lyrical deep cut album track for those it resonates with.

7/10

Friday 13 September 2024

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)

The mighty destroyer born from the nuclear age facing off against a creature that has evolved from mass pollution? As soon as I heard the premise of Godzilla vs. Hedorah I was hoping to find it enjoyable. That optimism was rewarded, and this feels like a return to form for Godzilla after a couple of films that kept the focus squarely on fantastical antics and children's adventures (although those who know me will know that I also had lots and lots of fun with those).

There's still a small child at the heart of this. His name is Ken Yano (Hiroyuki Kawase) and he starts to figure out that a big problem needs a Godzilla-sized solution before almost anyone else, even his parents (Dr. Toru Yano, played by Akira Yamanouchi, and Toshie Yano, played by Toshie Kimura). Initially resembling a large tadpole, then something not entirely unlike an oversized blobfish, Hedorah causes some mayhem at sea before moving on to dry land and heading towards somewhere that could end up being a catastrophic setting for a giant monster battle.

One of only a handful of films to be directed by Yoshimitsu Banno, this is, quite frankly, a shot in the arm for the series that balances the lighter tone of the more recent instalments with a hint of the dread that was present throughout the very first Godzilla movie. The script, co-written by Banno and Takeshi Kimura (credited as Kaoru Mabuchi), paces everything perfectly, especially while Hedorah is an unknown danger. There's a real sense of menace, a few moments of major destruction, and people being completely flummoxed as they try to stop the entire country being flattened. Basically, everything you want and need from a Godzilla movie.

While Yamanouchi and Kimura are both fine in their roles, as are Toshio Shiba and Keiko Mari, it has to be said that young Kawase does wonderful work in a role that allows his innocent viewpoint to lighten the darkness of the tale (and this is a movie in which revellers start partying near Mount Fuji as a way to say goodbye to their world) without stealing scenes away from the big beasts due to battle one another. That is largely due to the script, but it helps that Kawase delivers a performance that lands right in a sweet spot. If you disagree with me, I encourage you to revisit some of the other child performances in various kaiju movies over the years.

This feels surprisingly fresh, considering how much it still manages to work through the checklist of things to see in a Godzilla movie, and maybe that's why Banno didn't get the support and reaction that he would have hoped for when it was initially released. It apparently got enough bums in seats, but reactions from many contemporary critics ranged from a shrug to strongly disliking it. That's a shame, I would have loved to see more Godzilla films from this director, but Banno essentially had the last laugh . . . proving to be a vital figure negotiating permission from Toho that would lead to the Monsterverse, finally giving us some American Godzilla movies that made good use of a well-defined and superbly-designed Big G.

9/10

Thursday 12 September 2024

Volcano (1997)

As much as I love the craggy face and dour demeanour of Tommy Lee Jones, I have never looked at him onscreen and thought "that man needs to be a blockbuster star". That isn't to say that I don't like seeing him in films, and he's been great in some blockbuster fare, but he just doesn't feel like the kind of person who would be comfortable carrying a major event movie on his shoulders. Volcano proves that.

The plot is silly. A volcano starts to rise up in the middle of Los Angeles, causing the kind of mayhem that you would expect. Jones plays Mike Roark, the director of the city's Office of Emergency Management (which you get some information about in the opening scenes), and he's about to have one hell of an emergency to try and manage. Anne Heche is Dr. Amy Barnes, a seismologist who spends most of the movie giving people warnings that they tend to ignore until the volcano makes it impossible. And Mike is supposed to be spending time with his young daughter, Kelly (Gaby Hoffmann), of course, which gives us one more main character to watch being put in lava-centric peril.

The only writing credit for Jerome Armstrong, and one of the worst writing credits for Billy Ray, Volcano is, from my recollection, the weaker of the two major volcano movies released in 1997. Even when it is getting some things right, the earlier scenes of people discovering unexpected issues with heat building up under some L.A. streets, it's simply not as good as dozens of other natural disaster movies that I could recommend. The biggest problem is that the central idea never feels plausible, despite everyone involved having to keep a straight face. It also doesn't help when the script makes a clumsy attempt to show how working together on this emergency can . . . ummmmm . . . end racism?!?!?

Director Mick Jackson seems uninterested in the material, or maybe he's just not able to get the best out of it. That wouldn't be surprising, considering his filmography (although it should be noted that this is the man who helmed Threads, a TV movie often hailed as one of the bleakest and most terrifying TV movies ever made), but perhaps the fault can be shared between Jackson and those who gave him the job. There's nothing else that he's done that makes him seem like the right choice for a blockbuster like this.

I'd love to praise the cast, but I can't. None of them can overcome the horrible script, which also forces in some romantic longing between Jones and Heche in scenes that are truly cringe-inducing. Having said that, Jones still has a presence, as ever, and is very watchable in the moments that don't completely undermine him by forcing him into the box-ticking gruff hero moments. Heche is saddled with being the brains and exposition except whenever she needs to just stand back and look on at Jones being all heroic. Hoffmann is there to be kept safe, and nothing more. The supporting cast does have some treats, with Don Cheadle having some fun, and small roles for people like Keith David, John Carroll Lynch, Richard Schiff, and a decent selection of "where do I know them from again?" faces. I also have to praise Marcello Thedford, mainly because of his ability to tolerate some of the worst writing in scenes that show him helping out emergency workers who wouldn't necessarily be so ready to help him out if the roles were reversed.

I was trying to think of other things I might lightly praise, be it the score from Alan Silvestri of the cinematography by Theo van de Sande, but there's nothing. The special effects are generally okay, for the time, but it's a spectacle movie without enough proper spectacle, which wouldn't be so bad if it also had other stuff going on. It doesn't.

3/10

Wednesday 11 September 2024

Prime Time: Horror In The High Desert (2021)

The good thing about modern technology, and modern distribution models, is that anyone can get a movie made and get it out there. That can also be a bad thing, of course, which is a point I have made many times before. But it's good to finally stumble across a little movie that you've heard about from other film fans, as opposed to something that has had millions of dollars spent on an advertising push that is just trying to ensure some fraction of a massive budget is recouped, and there's quite the lifespan available to gems made by people who have the savvy to add layers of lore and sequel potential to their creations.

Horror In The High Desert is one of those movies, as I was made aware by friends discussing the impact of it, and also how much they had enjoyed the two sequels. I ended up pressing play on this one with less trepidation than I might otherwise have felt, and am happy to say that I can now add my own voice to the many who have already given this some praise

This is the tale of a man (Gary Hinge, played by Eric Mencis) who has gone missing. People are wary of the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, especially when some video evidence reveals some very interesting details from the last time he was seen by people. Writer-director Dutch Marich uses a mockumentary format to present this "unsolved case", presenting testimony from those investigating the case and those personally attached to it (such as Gary's sister, Beverly, played by Tonya Williams Ogden).

As you might expect from this style of film, everything is actually based around some found footage, but Marich does well to avoid using that style throughout the rest of the film. He instead takes time to build up a picture of someone fairly unremarkable, but someone who has become interesting due to the details revealed after their absence. I wouldn't say that everything here helps to build a sense of intrigue and growing dread, but there's enough done to prime viewers for a finale that is impressively eerie and rewarding for those who have been patient.

Everyone plays their part well enough, although neither Mencis nor Ogden are particularly mesmerising in their roles (but they don't have to be, considering the realistic nature of the way they act in front of the camera), and there's a decent central idea that is nicely developed within the runtime, as well as being primed for further development (aka sequels).

Suziey Block, David Morales, and Errol Porter also deserve a mention for filling out the very small core cast, with nobody giving a lesser performance that would easily unbalance something this small and relatively lightweight, and anyone who has enjoyed other films in this vein should find enough to like here. It's far from the best (with many feeling that something like Lake Mungo is at the top of that tree), but it's a well-made slice of faux-realism that leads you down a dark and dangerous path before the end credits roll.

7/10

Tuesday 10 September 2024

Minions (2015)

Thanks to the recent release of Despicable Me 4, I was able to buy a bundle of animated movies that included the previous Despicable Me movies and, of course, the Minions movies. And I am happy with that purchase. Because I am a grown man who often enjoys the fun and anarchy of animated movies like these ones.

I had previously seen both Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, but that's where my time with Gru and the gang had stalled. Thankfully, recent rewatches of both of those movies made me all the more eager to work my way through the rest of the franchise.

Minions is a quick overview of the little trouble-makers who now seem to remain solely employed by Gru. That wasn't always the case though, and a narrator (Geoffrey Rush) gives us a selection of people that the minions have tried to help over the years. We then get to see our lead minions (Stuart, Kevin, and Bob) get involved with the nefarious Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) and her husband, Herb (Jon Hamm). This kickstarts a chain of events that leads to Scarlet eventually dethroning the Queen of England (Jennifer Saunders). But is that a result that the minions are happy with, and will they ever be given proper courtesy and recognition from Scarlet?

Co-directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin (aka the voice of the minions), this is a fun animated feature that fits nicely in the franchise. Arguably a bit sillier, and a bit more fun, than the two movies that preceded it, writer Brian Lynch knows how to string together various set-pieces to give fans of our little yellow beings exactly what they want to see. The minions aren't actually malicious, nor are they rarely fully aware of any danger around them, and this keeps them as endearing mischief-makers, although the third act allows them to start worrying about their ultimate fate at the hands of a ticked-off super-villain.

Coffin is as entertaining as ever while voicing the titular characters, but both Bullock and Hamm are also a lot of fun. The former is so good that it makes me wish she would get involved with more animated movies that could benefit from her vocal talent. There are also fun turns from Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, the aforementioned Rush and Saunders, and one or two others (including an obligatory cameo from Steve Carell).

Whether you enjoy the spectacle, enjoy the amusing way in which the plot careens from one act of villainy to the next, or just enjoy hearing minions blurt out words like "banana", Minions should make you smile and laugh for almost every moment of the 91-minute runtime. The minions may not be big, and they may not be clever, but they're wonderfully entertaining to watch. I'm looking forward to getting through the rest of the movies in this series very soon.

8/10

Monday 9 September 2024

Mubi Monday: Golem (1979)

I know a bit about the legend of the golem, or perhaps I should be referring to that as The Golem, but I'm no expert. And I would say that I know even less about the history and variety of Polish cinema. But here we are, and I am going to do my best to roll up my sleeves and write a decent review of this Polish adaptation and subversion of the classic tale.

Marek Walczewski plays Pernat, a man who finds himself in a strange and surreal nightmare in which he is questioned repeatedly about things he claims to be ignorant of, struggles to create any relationships with others, and ends up engaged in activities that do little more than keep him going around in circles.

Based on a work by Gustav Meyrink, this has a screenplay co-written by Tadeusz Sobolewski and director Piotr Szulkin that makes us of the archetype at the heart of the story to explore humanity existing in dehumanizing conditions, as well as some obvious parallels and contemplation on a major part of world history that Poland has a particularly strong connection to. Sometimes things may seem too obtuse or disconnected from reality, but Szulkin always has an anchor point to watch out for, whether it is relating to the idea of someone being an empty vessel or highlighting something that shows the ultimate fate of those who are viewed and treated as empty vessels by others.

Visually in line with the bleak and bewildering tone, Golem is as rewarding as it is challenging. It doesn’t provide easy answers, but the fact that it asks so many questions throughout the runtime is enough, especially as viewers also keep working to connect the various dots. It's Kafka-esque, it's Gilliam-esque, and probably some more terms ending in "-esque", and it also calls to mind the work of Tarkovsky (in terms of the way the themes are explored) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (in terms of the verisimilitude and colour palette). While not a straightforward horror movie, there are certainly plenty of moments that are unnerving and disturbing, especially whenever characters are insistently questioning Pernat in a way that presumes some level of wrongdoing and guilt.

Walczewski is great in the lead role, suitably bewildered by everything both around and inside himself. There’s a solid core cast around him, including Krysyna Janda, Joanna Zólkowska, Mariusz Dmochowski, and Wieslaw Drzewicz all doing fine work, but the film really belongs to Walczewski.

I think that's enough for now. I don't want to push my luck here, considering the starting point mentioned in the opening of this review. There's a lot more to dissect and discuss here, and I'm sure this is a title that you could happily include in any comprehensive discussion of film history, but I will leave others to take the baton and run with it (which I am saying with the firm belief that there are already a number of fine essays out there that you can, and should, check out about Golem, and the filmography of Piotr Szulkin).

8/10

Sunday 8 September 2024

Netflix And Chill: The Deliverance (2024)

I have been aware of director Lee Daniels for years now, but not actually gone out of my way to watch any of his movies. The one exception to that is The Paperboy, a wonderfully odd and trashy murder mystery. But, when I saw people sharing screenshot of Glenn Close uttering THAT line in this movie, I knew that I had to see The Deliverance as soon as possible. I'm glad that I did. It's a well-made horror movie that doesn't feel the need to be witty, snotty, or constantly winking at horror genre fans, and I'd say that it's a better exorcist movie than at least four movies in that franchise. It's certainly miles better than the dire Exorcist: Believer.

The plot is standard stuff. Ebony (Andra Day) is struggling to maintain a healthy household that includes her own mother, Alberta (Glenn Close), and her three children. There's the eldest boy, Nate (Caleb McLaughlin), a daughter named Shante (Demi Singleton), and a pre-teen boy named Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins). Ebony has a history of alcohol abuse, which has fuelled incidents of violence, and therefore has the added pressure of being visited by Cynthia (Mo'Nique), a caseworker representing Child Protective Services. When things start to get strange, and dangerous, in their home, Ebony has to try to keep her family safe while convincing others that she isn't the root cause of everything.

Clocking in at just under two hours, The Deliverance is deliberately paced to give some time to the main characters, and to show how many difficulties they have in their lives even before something evil starts to play havoc with them. Daniels has been quoted as being slightly unhappy with having to placate Netflix in the final structuring of the film, but it seems as if the two have worked together well to achieve something impressive. This is grounded horror that also has the time to explore some non-supernatural issues that many of us have experienced, and it keeps increasing the stakes incrementally on the way to a climax that features someone battling for a soul that you actually really hope to see saved.

Writers David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum may not be the first people you would think of when it comes to something both so effective and weighty, but they do a very good job of showing a loving family working hard to repair the cracks in their relationships as some external force tries to keep them apart as it makes use of their bodies to commit some horrible acts. There are a number of expected moments, hard to avoid with this sub-genre of horror, but also one or two moments that still manage to surprise and impress.

The cast also play a major part in making this a success though, handling the material with a straightforward and serious approach that allows it all to feel creepier and more dangerous for everyone involved. Day has one or two moments in which she has to act drunk, or almost cripplingly overwhelmed by the urge to drink, and those aren't her best scenes, but she's otherwise excellent and completely believable as the mother who has to dig in and find more reserves of strength when she is starting to suspect that she has nothing more left in her. Close enjoys playing a very unrestrained and bawdy character, and she gets to deliver the most memorable piece of dialogue, and Mo'Nique does well in portraying someone who gets to become more than just a potential villain by the time the end credits roll. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is also very good, playing the typical character who knows what is going on ahead of everyone else. The younger cast members may not always match their adult co-stars, but Jenkins, McLaughlin, and Singleton certainly don't let anyone down, and Jenkins is used particularly well for that youthful innocence that demonic forces are so often more eager to corrupt.

I'm sure that some (many?) will watch this and consider it a bit unsatisfying. I think the natural drama and the supernatural elements are blended together really well, but I can imagine some people being impatient with it. Stick with it though, be patient, and I hope you will feel rewarded by the time it ends. And if this does well, who knows, maybe we could get more horror movies like this, ones that don't feel as if they have to focus on teens or the latest trends and technology. I might sound like an old fart here, but it's oddly refreshing to watch something now that doesn't seem to be trying hard to hold the attention of viewers who shouldn't be the target demographic for it anyway. The parameters of the sub-genre still work against it, but Daniels and his entire cast and crew work hard to keep pushing right up against them.

7/10

Saturday 7 September 2024

Shudder Saturday: When The Screaming Starts (2021)

Sometimes I know so little about a film that I like to look around online to find out the general consensus. When The Screaming Starts has quite a few reviews scattered around that give it credit for being a decent little comedic thriller presented in mockumentary form. I wish I agreed with those people, but I thought this was unexciting, unfunny, and, most of all, unoriginal.

Jared Rogers plays Norman, a documentarian who thinks he has landed a great story when he meets Aidan (Ed Hartland), a wannabe serial killer. Aidan is supported by his enthusiastic and morbid partner, Claire (Kaitlin Reynell), and he ends up ultimately planning to be more of a Charles Manson figure than a Leatherface, assembling a "family" around him that he starts to train and prepare for their murderous activities. Things don't quite go to plan though, especially when Aidan starts to have his position threatened by the more determined Amy (Octavia Gilmore).

The mockumentary has been done well over the years (so well, in fact, that I'm not even going to mention the comedy masterpiece that most of you will be thinking of when I mention that word), and there have been some great uses of the format to explore serial killers. Okay, having our main character wanting to be the head of a "family" rather than kill with his own hands is a slight twist, but not enough to fully separate this from a number of much better movies it could be compared to. I would encourage anyone to watch Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon, Man Bites Dog, Sightseers, Diary Of A Bad Lad, and The Last Horror Movie ahead of this, and those are just five films I thought of while typing out this paragraph. I'm sure there are other options worth your time ahead of this.

It's not surprising to see that this is a first feature from writer-director Conor Boru. It's not surprising to see that he hasn't yet directed anything else after it (although, to be fair, he was probably busy enjoying the positive reception that this received in various festivals and horror communities). It's even less surprising to see that star Hartland is also credited with some writing work. This feels like the work of people who think they have a great idea, but don't actually know how best to translate it from page to screen. I laughed a couple of times at a few obvious gags, but there was a real lack of sharpness to it all, and a depressing predictability once it entered the third act.

The acting throughout is fine, but some do much better work than others. Hartland, Reynell, and Gilmore are highlights, and Vår Haugholt and Ronja Haugholt are wonderful as Viktoria and Veronika, twin sisters looking to get as far away from their dull upbringing as possible. Yasen Zates Atour is a bit too broad in his role, a criminal Jack the lad named Jack (to really nail down his character), Kavé Niku is just used for a running gag as someone who just meant to end up at a yoga retreat, and Rogers becomes more disappointing as his character starts to inevitably get caught up with the events that he's only supposed to be observing.

I didn't hate this while it was on, and Boru at least does enough in most scenes to distract you from the elements that don't really feel as if they are staying in line with the documentary format, but it's not one I can recommend to people. Of course, the general consensus seems to disagree with me . . . so I'd be interested in hearing from friends who ended up really liking this.

5/10

Friday 6 September 2024

Guest House Paradiso (1999)

AKA We All Know That It's Really Bottom: The Movie.

Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson star as Richard and Eddie, a couple of absolutely deranged individuals who are somehow running what is clearly the worst hotel in the UK. Richard is rude to many of the guests, although always has time for the long-term resident Mrs. Foxfur (Fenella Fielding), but he also just wants plenty of spare time to perv on any females that he hopes to see naked. His heart soars when the hotel is visited by Gina Carbonara (Hélène Mahieu), a gorgeous woman who is wanting to stay hidden away from her callous and abusive husband (Gino Bolognese, played by Vincent Cassel).

I was really disappointed when I first watched Guest House Paradiso. I somehow thought that Edmondson and Mayall would find a way to translate their characters into something that would retain the essence of their comedy while also expanding the size of their onscreen world. Although there are some exterior shots here, Guest House Paradiso largely takes place in the titular hotel. There's a bigger supporting cast, and some impressive practical effects, but the film-makers are more interested in just spending some more time putting our leads through the wringer than in seizing the opportunity to be a bit more cinematic in between people being on the receiving end of some major testicle trauma.

Perhaps that was always to be expected. Edmondson stepped into the director's chair, working from a screenplay co-written by the two leads, and it's understandable that they would want to keep things quite simple and within their comfort zone, especially as this was all being done after the quad bike accident that very nearly killed Mayall, leading to him being hospitalised for quite some time.

Anyway, revisiting the film all these years later, after buying a new physical media release of it, ended up being a very good idea. I still have problems with the film, it's not exactly a misunderstood classic, but it's actually a lot better than I remembered. That's partly to do with a cast full of now-familiar faces who were relative unknowns to me back in the late 1990s, it's partly to do with not having anything around nowadays that has that particular brand of Mayall-Edmondson comedic violence, and it's partly to do with me now appreciating a few more of the gags. And the set-piece that has Mayall running around the hotel in a red and spiky rubber set of underwear is impossible to watch without at least chuckling every time the situation gets worse for him.

While both Mayall and Edmondson can play these characters in their sleep, their commitment to the lunacy is always admirable. I don't know how anyone can keep a straight face while acting opposite them, but both Mahieu and Cassel manage, and both gain brownie points for wholly getting into the spirit of the thing. Cassel is particularly enjoyable as he commits to playing someone so repugnant and awful that both Rich and Eddie seem like a better companion. Which is really saying something. Fielding is delightful, and it's fun to see Bill Nighy, Kate Ashfield, and Simon Pegg cast together in a pre-Shaun feature (although they don't all share the screen at any one time). Lisa Palfrey also suffers some indignities for the sake of the comedy, and Steven O'Donnell is a very weary, angry, and drunken chef.

There's still something that holds this back though, something that stops it from being on a par with the TV show it stems from. I couldn't put my finger on it years ago, but now I know what the problem is. It's all too well-realised. The dirt, the body fluids, the stains . . . they're never as funny when you can almost smell them through the screen. It's a similar problem with the violence. Watching Mayall and Edmondson pretend to hurt one another is all well and good, and still works here, but there are some practical gags (one relating to eye damage and one that puts a fishing hook through the nipple of a sleeping victim) that lose some of the humour because of the painful detail shown. And don't get me started on the excessive amount of vomit filling up the screen during the third act.

You might never want to check in to the Guest House Paradiso, but you should definitely check it out.* It's gross, funny, and gross. But also funny. But very gross.

*IF you're a fan of Mayall and Edmondson.

7/10

Thursday 5 September 2024

Space Amoeba (1970)

It seems that I just can't see one of these kaiju movies that I don't really enjoy recently. I'm either in the midst of a golden period for these things or I'm just completely accustomed to what they deliver, and how they meet the expectations created by the film-makers over the years.

While the title of this film is Space Amoeba, and while it does contain something that could indeed be called a space amoeba, this is a great adventure that presents a variety of giant creatures, all made powerful and aggressive by the titular entity. The main human who ends up endangered by these creatures is a photographer named Kudo (Akira Kubo).

While it seems like the obvious choice to once again praise director Ishirô Honda for his work here, and he always deserves praise, Space Amoeba has a very fun premise fleshed out by prolific writer Ei Ogawa. Starting with the sci-fi element that almost feels like a curveball once the alien lands on Earth, Ogawa knows exactly what people want to see, but he delivers everything in a way that feels more playful and interesting than some of the movies that just recycle a lot of footage from earlier monster battles.

Kubo is a perfectly decent lead, and I'll also give nods to Atsuko Takahashi, Yukiko Kobayashi, Kenji Sahara, and Yoshio Tsuchiya. They're all good at looking on in disbelief, and/or panic, as giant creatures get busy causing havoc.

The featured beasties here include a giant cuttlefish, a giant stone crab, and a giant mata mata (which I really wanted to use in some groan-inducing pun, but I will behave), and it's a pleasant surprise to find that they are all equally enjoyable to watch.

I didn't think I would have too much to say about a film titled Space Amoeba, and I was correct. It's not as slight and silly as the title may suggest, but it's also not re-inventing the wheel. The effects are nicely done, it feels like it attempts to fulfil the potential of the premise, and the heroes struggle to come up with a plan that will turn any sea/shore-dwelling monsters into sushi. Basically, it does everything that you hope it will.

8/10

Wednesday 4 September 2024

Prime Time: DC League Of Super-Pets (2022)

While I don't consider myself any kind of expert on the vast history and array of comic books, I am aware that super-pets have been a thing for some time. Which makes this animated movie an obvious choice for those wanting to appeal to younger viewers wanting to continue, or begin, their journey through the landscape, one full of masks and capes, that has dominated the box office for most of the past decade. It should be an easy enough recipe, and it is, but it's a shame that those involved didn't add just a bit more flavour.

Dwayne Johnson voices Krypto, the pet dog of Superman (voiced by John Krasinski). All seems to blissful, until Superman starts to think more about making plans with Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde). Meanwhile, a group of animals living in a shelter are far removed from bliss. Those animals include a dog named Ace (Kevin Hart), a guinea pig named Lulu (Kate McKinnon), and a few others we will get to see more of as the story plays out. Take some kryptonite, the fact that Lulu wants to impress the man who once ran tests on her (Lex Luthor, voiced by Marc Maron), and a bit of soul-searching, and you have the movie. Krypto loses his super-powers, but Ace and friends gain some, which leads to them trying to resolve some issues that will get in the way of them working together as a team.

Co-directed by Sam J. Levine and Jared Stern, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Whittington, this is strangely better than I expected it to be, yet also full of unrealised potential. If the writers had found a way to focus on the animals without even needing (super)human characters involved then it may have been a much more enjoyable experience, able to play around in the DC universe without feeling attached to anything else. Sadly, the other characters are given some time, even if it is limited in comparison to the animals. And there's a cameo at the end of the film that is both sad and hilarious for a reminder of the hubris that Dwayne Johnson had in 2022.

Johnson and Hart are both fine in their roles, both managing to use nicely intertwine their onscreen personas with the essence of their canine characters, and I cannot think of any of their many film collaborations that I have completely disliked. McKinnon is great fun as the nefarious Lulu, an evil mastermind contained within a decidedly non-evil-looking guinea pig physique, and Maron makes a very good Lex Luthor (so much so that I think he'd be great doing it in live-action form). As for the other main animals, you have Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, and Diego Luna having a lot of fun in their roles (playing, respectively, a potbellied pig, a short-sighted turtle, and a very nervous squirrel), and cameos from Keith David, Thomas Middleditch, and Ben Schwartz to listen out for. Krasinski and Wilde do fine, but the other superheroes are entertainingly voiced by Jameela Jamil, Jemaine Clement, and, best of all, Keanu Reeves (who is a surprisingly great fit for the Batman voice).

Younger viewers will enjoy the animal antics and silly jokes. Older viewers will enjoy the voice talent. I don't think anyone will enjoy everything about it though. The animation style is cute, but not on par with the seemingly effortless brilliance from other studios, the plot is as predictable as it is ultimately inconsequential, and it's the kind of thing you can watch and rewatch as a harmless distraction, rather than any beloved classic.

But hey, no matter what I have said here, it still probably sits above most of the live-action DC features we've seen in the past few years.

6/10

Tuesday 3 September 2024

Kinds Of Kindness (2024)

It is time, once again, for director Yorgos Lanthimos to present a dark, and darkly comedic, film for fans to be equal parts entertained and repelled by, helped again by writer Efthimis Filippou. If you've ever wondered just how much Yorgos Lanthimos could fit into a film directed and co-written by Yorgos Lanthimos then this might just definitively answer that. ALL the Lanthimosity is here, and it runs through three equally bizarre tales that are presented in 164 minutes of "kindness".

Don't take this the wrong way, but there's not much point in covering the three stories presented here in great detail. I initially considered it, viewing them as separate from one another, but then I came to the conclusion that they are all basically the same story told in slightly different ways. People have their loyalty tested, and they are often in pursuit of someone they believe will fix anything that has suddenly gone wrong in their life. There's also at least one moment of wince-inducing violence.

There are four main cast members - Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Mamoudou Athie, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, and Hong Chau - used to portray various characters throughout the three tales, with three of these performers having already worked so well with Lanthimos in Poor Things. Everyone seems to put complete trust in their director, giving the kind of strangely mannered performances that run through the entire Lanthimos filmography, but it's Plemons who feels like the newcomer excelling in a way that will surely see him added to the core group of regulars.

The script is about as odd as anything else that Lanthimos and Filippou have given us, and I am aware of what I am measuring it against. Few things are fully explained, which can lead to a small amount of irritation, but also one or two brilliant surprises, and there's never a feeling of this being in anything close to the real world. It's a Lanthimos world, although this time he seems to have applied a filter to his work that mixes in some David Lynch and Rod Serling. It's a big gamble, and if you don't like the earliest scenes then you are unlikely to enjoy any of it, but it will satisfy those who may have been worried about recent successes softening the edges of the director.

For something so lengthy and strange, there's not actually that much more to say about it. It's . . . lengthy and strange. I think it's a bit over-indulgent, but I was also happy to be entertained and bewildered by every minute of it. It also made me want to revisit his past few movies, which kind of shows how well it fits in with his developing filmography, despite the anthology format making it feel like a bit of a departure from what he has done previously.

Some directors give their fans what they want and it then turns out that they wanted something a bit different. I don't think that is the case here. Lanthimos has found a fanbase receptive to his art, which has afforded him more opportunities to make more of it, and the end result is a win win. I am already growing impatient to see what he delivers next.

8/10

Monday 2 September 2024

Mubi Monday: Saint Frances (2020)

An impressive feature debut from director Alex Thompson, helped enormously by the script, which was written by lead actress Kelly O'Sullivan, Saint Frances is one of those films that could easily just disappear after garnering lots of praise and plaudits at various film festivals. I hope that doesn't happen though, and it may avoid that fate thanks to two external factors. One, Thompson and O'Sullivan seem to have impressed people with their next collaboration, Ghostlight. Two, the main themes of the film, which intelligently explores the reality of motherhood, the issue of female bodily autonomy, and the choices made by people as they prepare to be "the responsible adult" in day to day life.

O'Sullivan plays Bridget, a young woman in her early thirties who doesn't really have a plan for her life. She ends up hooking up with a young man named Jace (Max Lipchitz), which leads to an unwanted pregnancy. Quickly deciding that she needs an abortion, Bridget does what needs done and tries to move on with her life. But Jace seems to want more than just a casual thing, her body is releasing more blood than it should, and she's due to become quite stressed when employed as a nanny by Maya (Charin Alvarez) and Annie (Lily Mojekwu). Their young daughter, Frances (Ramona Edith Williams), proves to be quite a handful, but also helps Bridget to reconsider her own approach to things.

Low-key and delicate, that's how best to describe this. It has the obvious moments that show Bridget learning to be a better nanny to young Frances, but it also spends just as much time showing Bridget struggling to navigate her way through territory that everyone assumes you should already be prepared to handle by the time you leave higher education (don't worry younglings, that is very rarely the case). You get awkwardness, you get mistakes made that may have you wanting to shout advice at our lead, and you get the expected strengthening of bonds as Maya, Annie, and Frances grow more used to having Bridget in their lives. This is a film that meets expectations, but it also does enough in one or two moments to subvert those same expectations, especially in a third act that should leave everyone glowing on the inside and smiling on the outside.

Thompson doesn't bother with too many unnecessary tricks. His direction is straightforward, allowing the performances room to breathe as everyone gets a fair and equally-impactful amount of the screenplay to work with. O'Sullivan has laid the groundwork, and brilliantly, which leaves Thompson in the position of just having to avoid ruining it. Thankfully, he handles the material with due diligence.

The acting isn't quite on par with the quality of the writing, but it's all good enough. O'Sullivan is, yet again, the star, and not just because of her being in the lead role. She's very easy to keep rooting for, even when making the kind of horrible choices many of us can recognise from our own checkered pasts, and somehow manages to play up her youthful ignorance without making you want to give her a damn good shake. Lipchitz is also great, but is often sidelined in favour of the more revelatory relationship that Bridget ends up in with young Frances, and both Alvarez and Mojekwu do well in roles that need a warmth underneath the apparent coolness and restraint that they present for most of the movie. As for Williams (billed here with as the hyphenated Edith-Williams), she's cute and good, although, oddly enough, it takes a while for her to feel as natural and authentic onscreen as her adult co-stars.

I would happily rewatch this any time, and I highly recommend it to everyone able to track it down, but I am equally keen to see what is next from Thompson and O'Sullivan (but mainly O'Sullivan, who seems to be a considerable talent that other film fans should keep very much on their radar). As Saint Frances proves, she's bloody fantastic. I'm not sure that pun was in good taste, but I metaphorically ran out of the road while still driving this review towards some unknown destination.

8/10

Sunday 1 September 2024

Netflix And Chill: Joyride (2022)

Don't let the title here fool you. Despite having the word joy there, this isn't exactly the most carefree and cheery fare to watch. It's a mix of comedy and drama with the emphasis very much on the latter, but it's also one of those wonderful modern features that underlines an important point about being able to pick and choose your own family. Many may be aware of my own push back against the many "blood is thicker than water" and "you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family" sayings that have caused more harm than good throughout the decades, and Joyride presents a brilliant example of people finding their own strong familial bond after spending so much time pulling away from others.

Charlie Reid plays Mully, a young lad who ends up running away from his father (played by Lochlann O'Mearáin) after catching him stealing a load of charity money. Mully takes the money with him, determined to stay ahead of his father until he can figure out how to give it back. That's how he ends up driving away in a taxi that he thinks is empty, but it actually contains a small baby and one unhappy mother (Joy, played by Olivia Colman). Joy is heading to hand her baby over to her sister, she just doesn't think of herself as the maternal type, and Charlie decides they can stick together as he keeps thinking about how to put back the money that his dad stole. The baby needs care, the car needs fuel, and both Joy and Mully need to see a time when they can face the consequences of their actions.

This is actually the second film I have seen helmed by director Emer Reynolds, but the first was a fine documentary (The Farthest, which I recommend). Considering I had already loved Patrick's Day, the Terry McMahon film on which she was an editor, it seems that I was already quite the fan of Reynolds without realising it. I am not familiar with writer Ailbhe Keogan, but the fact that they also wrote a couple of episodes of the celebrated Bad Sisters leads me to believe that this well-constructed and occasionally beautiful screenplay is nicely in line with their other work.

It still essentially all boils down to the two central performances though, and both Reid and Colman are excellent. I generally expect excellence of Colman every time I see her now, even while she's working with an Irish accent (which I think she nails), and she doesn't disappoint, particularly in a scene that has her relating a moment from her childhood that explicitly ties in to every fear and worry that has become part of her character's DNA. Reid is the pleasant surprise, and it will be interesting to see whether or not he can continue getting good enough roles to maintain a positive trajectory in his acting career. He manages to be both sweet and foul-mouthed, sometimes in the same moment, and also shows the vulnerability barely hidden by his youthful cockiness and anger. O'Mearáin is happy to be depicted as a constant threat, the main villain of the piece, and does well in scenes that help you to root for the leads to keep themselves away from people you know will just ruin their fleeting moments of happiness.

I doubt this will be remembered in a year or two, it's a small-scale movie showing the external effects of ongoing internal struggles, but I hope that people will catch it while it's pretty easily available. Nothing is spectacular, aside from some of the acting, but it's all done very well, and both Reynolds and Keogan deserve praise for providing enough dry humour and little victories to make it easier to handle the more intense and downbeat moments.

7/10