Men (2022)

Men. Men, men, men, bloody men. Some might rush to say "not all men". But it is. It is all men. We know that it's all men. Not all the time, and perhaps not all with bad intentions, but, yes, all men. It is, I hope, a situation that is improving over time, but I would suspect that many women might disagree with me there. The best we can hope for is that attitudes continue to be checked and adjusted in ways that just weren't even considered a generation or two ago. There will still be those who just can't accept change, but they can wallow in their tar-pits and wait for extinction like the dinosaurs they are.

Now let's get to this film. Men is the story of a woman (Harper, played by Jessie Buckley) trying to enjoy some vacation time in a small English village. Unfortunately, she cannot seem to escape the main problem that she is trying to forget. Men. And, just in case you didn't understand the size of the problem, writer-director Alex Garland has nearly ever male character in the film played by Rory Kinnear (assisted by either make-up or CGI trickery). What unfolds is a nightmarish journey through a landscape plagued by awful men. Even the ones who don't seem overtly awful are quite awful.

Although not entirely successful throughout, and I think the central conceit is just a bit too clumsy and obvious, there's so much to enjoy and admire in Men that I am surprised by the opinions I have seen from people who have claimed to be pretty disappointed by it. I knew what to expect, pretty much, as soon as the film began (the trailer certainly made the premise obvious), but it was still able to surprise me, from the increasing level of dread throughout to the moments of wince-inducing gore. And when I started to wonder if we were being shown a reality or a vision filtered through the fevered brain of the central character, as I wonder often with horror movies full of such startling imagery, I realised what a wonderful extra little button Garland had put on his material. Accept the horrors, empathise with the lead, and consider the implications of every awkward exchange and encounter . . . or doubt the lived experience of the woman who is suffering in the midst of various problematic men.

Buckley is superb in her role, giving her best performance so far (although I am basing this on my own exposure to only a few of her movie roles, some), and she is more than up to the task of plumbing the depths of pain that her character has gone through, and carries around with her. It would seem rude to praise Kinnear more than Buckley so I will try not to, but he certainly deserves a lot of credit for allowing his visage to be used as a universal symbol of patriarchal problems and the predatory male gaze. Paapa Essiedu has a small, but pivotal, role, and he's very good, and Gayle Rankin allows viewers an occasional sigh of relief whenever she is onscreen, being a friend to Harper, despite having to settle for being on her phone screen as opposed to physically being there to provide extra comfort and support.

I agree with some who have mentioned that it may have been even better for Garland to write this script and then hand it over to a female director, but he certainly handles everything with an effectiveness that makes up for the lack of subtlety. And maybe the time for subtlety is long gone, so why not put together a collage of potent horror imagery that gives just a hint of the many micro-aggressions and 24/7 nightmares that women go through every single day. And if you're rolling your eyes and wanting to yell "not all men" at this review then you're part of the reason WHY subtlety had to be thrown by the wayside. Because it is. It is all men. We know that it's all men. Even if a lot more are trying to change for the better. I'm qualified to say that, being a man who has worked hard on changing my own language and attitudes over the years, and there are billions of women around the world even more qualified than me to correct your wilful ignorance.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Peterloo (2018)

Yes, I got to enjoy another movie at the cinema thanks to Mubi Go, and here is the review of it.

Peterloo starts in a battlefield, pretty much ends in a battlefield, and never really leaves a battlefield for most of the runtime. It's just often a battlefield that people walked through every day, throughout a war that continues right now. A class war, a war that endeavours to make the poor even poorer while the rich get richer, and to keep the working masses in their place.

Based on the true story of a peaceful rally in 1819 Manchester  that became the scene of a massacre, writer-director Mike Leigh uses that horrific event to show the clashing mindsets of those involved, emphasising the chasm between the viewpoints. Those who work hard and can barely make enough to live wanting something to change in the system that gives them no voice and those who look down from above and view any such intentions as ingratitude and insurrection.

Although there are some key figures here (speaker Henry Hunt, played by Rory Kinnear, being the powerful orator who charges up every crowd he speaks to), Leigh takes his time to show how various individuals are motivated and drawn further to the extremes of their respective causes. This care, and the many telling character moments, add to the lengthy runtime, just over two and a half hours, but I doubt many viewers would begrudge the runtime devoted to such a dark chapter in British history.

Kinnear does an amazing job, in what is arguably the best role of his career so far, Maxine Peake is typically great as a concerned family matriarch, and there are too many great moments for the assorted players to highlight here, but I will namecheck Karl Johnson (a close second to Kinnear with the greatness of his performance), Philip Jackson, Tom Gill, Neil Bell, Ian Mercer, and Victor McGuire, not to mention the many actors being loathsome and downright Dickensian for all of their time onscreen.

There are small flaws. Some characters come and go too abruptly, some scenes feel a little bit clunky in the way they are shoehorned in between more extended sequences, and (the smallest niggle) the passage of time isn't always as clearly signified as it could be in the lead up to the dreadful day.

If you saw the documentary The 13th and were appalled while being reminded that the abolishment of the slavery of African Americans in the USA led to many more ways in which society decided to punish and enslave those it viewed as lower-case citizens, within a new selection of rules and regulations, then Peterloo will leave you with similar feelings. Because, no doubt about it, there may not have been another massacre like this in modern British history but the working class and the poor are still being killed off whole the rich get richer. The pen is mightier than the sword, which is why the weaponry used nowadays tends to take the shape of paperwork and legislation, such as zero hour employment contracts and Universal Credit.

8/10

There's a book all about the horrific incident available here.

iBoy (2017)

Simple, silly, moderately entertaining for most of its runtime, iBoy is a film that somehow feels both over the top and never able to fully realise the potential of the central gimmick. It doesn't seem to know where it wants to go in terms of grit and tone, leaving it disappointing to those hoping for some kind of urban revenge tale with a twist and equally disappointing to those seeking pure escapism.

Bill Milner plays young Tom, a boy who runs into a vicious gang incident and is shot in the head while trying to call for help as he flees. When he comes out of a coma, Tom is informed that bits of his smart phone are now stuck inside his head. It soon becomes clear that this freak accident allows Tom to access the internet, and thus any other gadgetry, with the upgraded power of his mind, and he doesn't waste any time setting about to deal with the general crime problem in his neighbourhood, and the specific gang members who changed his life.

Although Milner isn't asked to do any more than wear a hoodie and look sullen for many parts of the movie, he's good enough in the lead role. Maisie Williams also does okay, as Lucy, the object of Tom's unvoiced affection, although it's an underwritten role that seems to have been offered to her in order to use her name as a selling point. Jordan Bolger is also good as Danny, a friend of Tom who starts to wonder about the changes in him, and both Miranda Richardson and Rory Kinnear do good work, with the latter coming in to steal the movie in the last few scenes. The rest of the cast consists of young rent-a-thugs who simply hang around onscreen until our hero can deal with them.

Based on a novel by Kevin Brooks, the screenplay, written by Joe Barton, Mark Denton, and Jonny Stockwood, is busy moving from one nonsensical tech-reliant set-piece to the next (seeing how Tom views the world and makes his connections to the devices around him) without any real attempt to actually flesh out the rest of the characters beyond the level of inferior teen drama (think of a cross between Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, but with some added gang presence).

Director Adam Randall doesn't do enough to make up for the script problems, although it's hard to fault him for his basic approach to the material, especially when considering the fact that the budget must have come in at the lower end of the spectrum, and the entire movie ends up playing out on one standard level of engagement when it really should have been a mix of satisfying highs and temporary setbacks for our hero.

Like a lot of the other Netflix-branded content, this is something that isn't awful and isn't great. It's just there, available to you as you lounge on your sofa and push the button for it (either accidentally or on purpose). Nobody involved will hold it up as the shining star on their CV but it's not the worst way to spend 90 minutes.

4/10

iBoy isn't on shiny disc yet, so why not buy Johnny Mnemonic instead.
Americans can get Johnny Mnemonic here.

Cuban Fury (2014)

It's an age old story. Boy loves salsa dancing. He excels at it. He is then bullied on the way to a major competition and falls out of love with salsa dancing. He grows up to be a man without fire in his belly (Bruce, played by Nick Frost), but finds his passion reignited when he falls for a woman (Julia, played by Rashida Jones) who, yep, enjoys a bit of salsa dancing. That leads him to finding his old salsa dance instructor (Ian McShane), and also pits him against a repugnant colleague (Chris O'Dowd) who has also taken a shine to the lovely Julia.

Okay, maybe it's not quite the same old story that we've seen/heard so many times before, but the structure of this film is obvious and predictable. Yet, it's also none the worse for it. This is absolutely wonderful, crowd-pleasing stuff. The predictability of the plotting makes it as comfortable as the favourite sweater that you look forward to wearing whenever the temperature starts to drop, and the script and performances provide some big laughs.

Nick Frost is a very likable lead, Jones is an entirely believable object of affection, and O'Dowd has a lot of fun as the asshole making everything more difficult for the main character. McShane is wonderful as the gruff, grouchy dance instructor who resents Bruce for what he threw away in his youth, but the supporting cast also includes some fun turns from Rory Kinnear, Olivia Colman, and, especially, Kayvan Novak.

The script by Jon Brown is full of great lines, with one of the first comments made by O'Dowd about the loveliness of Jones actually making me howl with laughter for a good while, thanks to the unexpected crudity and inventiveness of it. And it wasn't the only bit of dialogue to make me laugh aloud. You might think that's the minimum requirement for a decent comedy, and you'd be right, but it's also increasingly rare to watch something that hits the funny bone so precisely throughout, especially a romantic comedy. James Griffiths doesn't have to work too hard in the role of director, or so it would seem, but he puts everything together well and certainly helps to make the most of the expected touchstones (the montage moment, the inevitable dance-off, the grand finale, etc.).

The other big plus point for the movie is that everyone, to a certain degree, sells it so well. I'm well aware that a mix of techniques will have been used to achieve the desired final effect, but there are plenty of moments that show how nimble on his feet Nick Frost can be. The same goes for Jones, Wilde, and O'Dowd. Considering the fact that the whole movie is focused on salsa dancing,  everyone looking as if they CAN actually salsa dance makes it easier to enjoy the whole thing as it spins and twirls you to a satisfying conclusion.

Don't rush to see Cuban Fury when you want to see something challenging and/or unique. But definitely give it a go if you fancy keeping a smile on your face for just over 90 minutes.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Cuban-Fury-Blu-ray-Ian-McShane/dp/B00JAQLMO8/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1404965560&sr=1-3&keywords=cuban+fury