Angels One Five (1952)

I'll admit that when Angels One Five started I was all ready to tolerate the film with a smirk on my face throughout. The first act, showing a newcomer at a RAF fighter station making a bad impression when he has to hop his aircraft over another that is crossing his path, just felt a bit too jolly spiffing and quick to paint every character as a shining example of the stiff upper-lipped Brits who won the war for us. But, despite the 21st century seeming to increase our sense of cynicism on a daily basis, that's sort of, well, based in truth. Showing fantastic mettle in the face of a fearsome enemy, Great Britain really WAS great when it was needed most.

But let me get back to the actual film.

Pilot Officer T. B. 'Septic' Baird (John Gregson) is the poor sod who has to face his fellow airmen after that embarrassing near-miss. He's a rigid follower of the rules, and keen to get back in the cockpit. Unfortunately, he's forced to stay grounded for a while, to allow a minor neck injury to fully heal. While working on the ground, in the operations center, Baird begins to see why the chain of command needs every link to be in strong, working order. But that doesn't stop him from running to the planes when the opportunity arises. While Baird tries to do right by the men alongside him, Group Captain 'Tiger' Small (Jack Hawkins) empathises, Michael Denison, Andrew Osborn and Cyril Raymond portray various Squadron Leaders, and Dulcie Gray and Veronica Hurst ensure that the proceedings aren't completely male-dominated. Hawkins and Gray, in particular, stand out as two determined individuals who somehow manage to lead and motivate others even when admitting to their own failings.

Here's an interesting point that someone has placed on the IMDb Trivia page for this movie: "The film was used as part of the RAF Initial Officer Training at RAF Cranwell (at least until the 1990s), as it deals with the conflict of man-management of others versus having to perform the task as well, whilst put in a setting that would be relevant to future officers." I'm not sure if that's true, but if it is then a) it helps to explain what the movie provides to viewers much better than my jumbled plot precis above and b) many thanks to the user who submitted that information.

With major input from writers Pelham Groom, Derek N. Twist and director George More O'Ferrall, Angels One Five feels steeped in an authenticity that all of the cliched bantering and "by jove, skipper" statements can't destroy.The performances may not be the best, in terms of great acting, but they're absolutely in line with how the characters need to be, and what the storyline demands. As is the script, and the pacing (which starts to ratchet up the tension in the final third).

And that is, ironically, how to best view the movie. Everyone, and every thing, is there to best service a story that celebrates the men and women who helped defeat Germany in a battlefield surrounded by clouds. As the end credits roll, you will remember just how much they all deserve celebrating. Which makes Angels One Five a success.

7/10

Angels One Five has been given a top notch re-release to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The disc itself may not be packed full of extras, but a restoration featurette shows how much work has gone in to sprucing the film up, and "Max Arthur on the Battle Of Britain" allows viewers to receive an interesting, and highly informative, summary of the war up to that point, in approximately 11 minutes.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U8RHBUC?keywords=angels%20one%20five&qid=1439915968&ref_=sr_1_2&s=dvd&sr=1-2

Precinct Seven Five: An Interview With Michael Dowd

Anyone who managed to make their way through my full coverage of EIFF 2015 should already know that I was seriously impressed, and blown away, by Precinct Seven Five, a documentary that tells the incredible true story of a New York police officer named Michael Dowd. Dowd managed to lead an exhausting double life, as both cop and valuable asset to a major drug dealer, for the better part of a decade until the house of cards came tumbling down around his ears.

I was thrilled, therefore, and also a little bit nervous to grab an interview spot with Dowd (and please read up a little on the situation, or see the documentary, before reading the following interview). I had so many questions racing through my mind, but I wondered just how I would phrase them. How did he survive when things turned sour? How did he keep a clear conscience when his actions surely kept him from making the maximum possible impact as a policeman? Considering his losses, was it all worthwhile?

But everything changed when I walked into the room to meet this smiling, chatty New Yorker. I was at ease within minutes. By the end of the interview, hell, I was hoping we could go out for a few beers. That’s not to say that my questions were forgotten. I just didn’t know how to ask them politely, and I had no need once Michael Dowd got into the full flow of the conversation. Also, it’s worth noting that some of my questions were answered without being asked. Dowd gives his own view of events, of course, and it soon becomes clear just how he feels about things, and how he continues to justify his actions to himself.

Kevin Matthews (AKA me): When did you first see the finished film?

Michael Dowd: Oh, I saw it, it’s actually changed a few times since I saw the original release, which I guess you would call the premiere release, which was October past. It was stunning, but I’ve heard they’ve changed a few things. I don’t know if they’ve just shortened it or adjusted a few things.

KM: So you’ll be looking at it again to see what’s changed?

MD: Yeah, I think I noticed a few things but, you know, I’ve seen it seven times. So I’m good. I’ve lived it and now I’ve seen it seven times. It might not be exactly my life but it certainly is a persuasion of it.

KM: You think it’s an overall fair representation, they’ve had to squeeze in a lot from those ten years.

MD: Yeah, in an hour and forty two minutes they’ve done what they could. It’s a fair representation overall, yes.

KM: The starting point, for me, from the point of view of a film fan, made me immediately think of Serpico. That was my reference point. This started a decade after the events depicted in that movie. In that time, had nothing really changed? Or had the corruption just become so different?

MD: It changed, it changed. The way it was handled. And I’m gonna tell you why, this is a learning process. For me, as well as other people. And the police department, as well. What happened was, and this is deep shit, Serpico showed that they had a chain. There was a chain in Serpico that actually went up the ladder. And then we were taught in a secret society, let’s say, not to let it go up the chain. Keep it amongst you. Don’t ask me who taught me that. I’m just telling you, that was how it was taught. Because then what you were doing was insulating the police department brass. Because they never really did anything anyway. They were just collecting over the years from the people in the street who were bringing the corrupt gains. Back then they had what you call bag men. In Serpico’s day there were bag men. In fact, one of my uncles was a bag man. He became a detective. Go figure. So the corruption changed though, it became more street level corruption, and co-ordination amongst co-workers rather than the superiors and the underlings. Does that make sense?

KM: Yeah. Totally. Like any workplace, you get told that this is the rulebook but HERE are the rules.

MD: EXACTLY. You got the book over here and the street over here. We don’t live in the book, okay, the other people do. We live in the street. We respond to what the street tells us. I like that analogy. That’s accurate, that’s accurate.

KM: The other burning question in my mind, as things began to escalate. How did you have enough hours in the day? Days in the week? Were you operating on two hours sleep a night? And the cycle goes on and on. Trips to Vegas to clean money, trips accompanying drug deliveries.

MD: Yeah, yeah, how do you do it all? How do you do it all? Fun times. You lie a lot. You lie a LOT. You lie to your family, to your friends. When you go home you say “I won a trip”. You don’t tell them that you’re paying for it. You say that you won a trip. Or you say “hon, look what I found”. You don’t tell her that you just shook down a drug dealer for a hundred grand large. You just say “oh, I found this” or “this was left there and I had a choice”. You make excuses for every act. You tell your mother you got a big tax return. She says: “son, what are you doing with this and that? Your brothers ain’t got it, how the hell are you managing? What’s going on?”
“Oh Ma, I went to Atlantic City and I won $26,000”
You lie. And then you try to work, and you get this burning sensation from your head to your toe, and you pull into the side of the road wondering if it’s a heart attack or just stress. Then you pull an ambulance over when you’re at work, and you ask them to lay you down and put an EKG machine on you. Because if you go to the doctor, at only 27 or 29 years old, with a heart problem then they know it’s not your heart. It’s your lifestyle. I was keen not to do that. So the ambulance driver looks at me and she goes: “listen Mike, I don’t know what you’re doing but, whatever it is, you’d better stop. Burning both ends?” And then I’m just thinking that she knows. She knows. So it’s not an easy game to chase. The chase goes on and you don’t really live in comfort as you think you are, and you burn yourself out, and you end up in rehabs, and things of that nature, at a young age. And the cycle begins, and then you come back out and you think that you’ll try to walk a straight line, but when you try to walk the straight line you realise that no one wants to work with you, so you have to go back on the other side of the straight line. So now you can get a partner, and it just takes off from there. If you’re straight then they don’t wanna work with you. It’s a self-fuilfilling prophecy. I’m trying to do good. I wanna be a good cop, and then retire, and all of a sudden it’s like no one will work with me. And I’m a very social, gregarious person. I want people around me, whether they’re doing good or bad, or right or indifferent, I want a social environment. I’m one of seven, I’m an Irish kid, we got seven kids in the family and I wanted to be part of the party. Have a good time wherever I went.

KM: And it sounds like you did.

MD: I did, I did. But twelve and a half years is what it cost me. That party wasn’t so much fun

KM: When it DID all come to an end, what was your main motivation for going to the Mollen Commission?

MD: They came to me two or three times and I told them that I was not interested in working with them, because I didn’t want to hurt anybody else. I didn’t want any cops to be unfairly, or maybe rightfully so, arrested. I thought that the arrest of Michael Dowd, hitting the newspapers the way it did and blasting for almost two years every day over 400 newspaper articles, I thought that the cops would say to themselves “we’d better stop what we’re doing – cos they’re coming”. It was huge. And it was every day. Pounding and pounding on these cops. And then they came to me and said “how do we catch people like you?” and I said “fuck you, go away” and they came back, and came back again, and finally my lawyer told me that I needed a friend in that courtroom. “They’re looking to hammer your balls off you,” he said, “for basically shaking down drug dealers, essentially”. And I said “alright, let’s see what we can do for them”. And I sat down with the Mollen Commission, I taught them how to catch me, and I told them initially no because they were gonna kill off cops and people and individuals, and ruin families, and they said “fuck them, we don’t care”. And that’s why I was against them. And then after sitting in the courtroom and listening to the newspapers talk about how I murdered people, and this and that, and I knew it was ridiculous and untrue, and my lawyer advised me that I needed a friend. The only friend we could find was the Mollen Commission. So then I taught them how to catch me, which then let them take down the whole 30th Precinct. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the case, I don’t know if you followed it through, the whole 30th Precinct was arrested almost right after. As I testified, the next day they took the whole 30th Precinct midnight shift and put them in prison. The whole shift. How that played out was very interesting. They had me testify, and I don’t know about anything else going on, I’m just doing what I do. I go back to my prison cell. I see the newspaper the next day – 30th Precinct: 30 People Arrested. The whole midnight shift. And I don’t know what that has to do with me. And then the next day they go back to the commission hearings, and the commission tells them how they did it, why they did it, how they were ABLE to do it. So they were justifying their existence by portraying me a certain way, taking down a whole other precinct that was doing what I was doing, based on how I taught them how to catch me. So, the whole point for the purpose of this discussion, is that I wasn’t the only one doing this. There was a large organisation of police officers doing this at the level of patrolman. The ironic thing is that I met a woman who hailed from Brooklyn, at a screening in New Jersey, and people can get up and speak after the screening, and she said: “I just want you to know that we knew what you were doing. We knew what you all were doing. We didn’t give a shit. All we cared about was that you guys were there to protect us. We didn’t care that you were taking their money and stealing their drugs. I’m from Hell’s Kitchen [30th or 34th Precinct in Manhattan] and we knew what you were doing. But, dammit, you kept us as safe as you could.” This woman, I wanted to hug her. She got it. We were wrong. We knew we were wrong. But they knew what we faced out there on a daily basis. I was clearing $310 a week. You see a paycheck onscreen, one of mine, for $615 – that’s for TWO weeks. That’s a bi-weekly check. I never got $615 a week. I still don’t. The layers of the onion can unpeel even further in the book that is coming out, there are so many layers and that goes even deeper. What Kenny did to me, the betrayal, was beyond what you see. He was retired with a disability pension. We was collecting a pension. I had no influence over him, over his life. You would think that he was in the patrol car with me, from the way the film portrays things, and that he just decided to turn on his partner. No, he was retired and living at home with his wife and kids, on the couch. He dealt drugs for six months and went down like a fucking . . . . . buffoon. I just stuck my hand in it for a minute to help him out and, bingo, they wrap me up in it. That’s what you don’t get from the film. I hope they can fill it in elsewhere, I think Sony is going to do a little version of some of the things that the documentary couldn’t get into, because there’s a lot of life there to cover.

KM: Yeah, as soon as it finished I thought that someone would surely snap it up to develop a movie.

MD: Yeah, Sony grabbed it, and I’m doing the book that will hopefully lay it all out in detail. Because it’s really an in-depth story. You know, he was retired with a disability pension that I got him. I got him this pension. I lied for him, and got him a pension. So he’s home, retired, and I end up paying to keep his pension. I pay.

KM: Last question. Do you think with the tech in everyone’s pockets today, if you were a young officer nowadays, is this kind of thing even possible now? To this degree?

MD: Oh no, this couldn’t happen. No. For many reasons, besides cell phones and such. Because of my case, the police department has turned into a place where you can actually almost feel safe giving a guy like me up again. I tried to turn in a guy like me, and that’s what turned everybody against me. When Kenny says “I wouldn’t work with Mike, I was afraid to work with Mike” he wasn’t saying that because I was corrupt. He was saying it because I turned somebody in. I turned somebody in who was doing what I was doing. Because I was trying to turn over a new leaf. I found out that this guy threatens to kill me. There’s a lot of shit that goes down that people don’t even know about, and a 15 minute interview is not going to do us any justice. Even the documentary has to be ding ding ding ding ding. There’s a guy I turn in who threatens to kill me. Internal Affairs tells him who I am. He tells me on the phone that he’s going to put a bullet in my head. I hit the ground. I’m on the phone, and on the gound. My wife wonders what’s going on, I tell her to shut the fuck up. You don’t even know, this thing is crazy. It was fun though. It’s fun, exciting, exhilarating, at the same time it’s scary. But you don’t have that fear while you’re living it. You have no choice but to trudge through it. Accept it.

And there you have it. Michael Dowd. Unrepentant, entertaining, larger than life, fascinating. Accept it.

Precinct Seven Five goes on general release on 14th August, and is reviewed here. DO see it.

The man himself - Michael Dowd (and me - perhaps looking a little nervous)

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015: Post The First

Yes, it's that time of year once again. Prices double, population seems to quadruple, so many uncommon sights pile up that nothing becomes uncommon, and asking for a booking in any restaurant during the standard weekend peak times will have you sneered and laughed at as if you were Patrick Bateman trying to get a last-minute reservation at The Dorsia.

The usual highlights are in place. If you haven't been to see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo then I advise you to do so at your earliest convenience (I get the hesitation, especially when actually living in Edinburgh all year round, but trust me - it's a fantastic spectacle). The Ladyboys Of Bangkok have, in a way, become the flipside of the Tattoo. They have been coming here for many years now, and I'd be surprised if any of their shows weren't sold out. While I can't whole-heartedly recommend the show to all, I do think it's one of those experiences that you have to try once.

And, for those worried about money, the Free Fringe continues to grow and provide a wide selection of acts in an equally wide selection of venues (okay, most of them are pubs, but you have to make do with what ya got). Check out some acts, take a chance, and if you like someone then throw in a few quid. Even a fiver, if you really liked the show, will average out to be less than half the cost of a standard ticketed show. But be prepared to queue for quite a while if you want to see the good stuff. Word travels fast. If you're being offered free tickets for a show here in its second or third week - the sensible advice is to avoid it. Sorry, but it's a jungle out there.

I'm not sure what I'll be able to see this year, but I have already managed to get two shows under my belt. That may be it for me in 2015 - work is busy, money isn't limitless - but if I check out any more then I will once again bore folks with my opinion.

The first show I managed to see this year was a freebie. Edward Hilsum: Genie. This is a magic show designed, apparently, to remind people of how they felt when they really believed in magic, and wishes coming true, and maybe even happy ever afters. I think it would be good for children, but Hilsum just doesn't do enough to help the adults revert to the wide-eyed, childish state he wants everyone to get to. As nice as he appears to be, and I'm sure he's lovely, Hilsum just doesn't have any real stage presence. He also hasn't adapted a number of the more intimate moments to show off the tricks better to a wider audience (a cynic would almost think he was hiding too much). Worst of all, a number of his tricks work thanks to some very basic magic elements, which wouldn't be so problematic if Hilsum worked on the presentation to distract audience members a bit more. But he doesn't. There are a number of times during the show in which Hilsum implores the audience to not reveal any secrets of the show. I won't spoil things for anyone else, but I do suspect that anyone returning to the show will easily pick up on a few repeated "stumbles" amongst the smoother moves. It's clear that Hilsum fairly skilled when it comes to prestidigitation.. It's also clear that he has a long way to go before he creates a truly satisfying stage show for all.

Edward Hilsum: Genie is on at 1315 in The Voodoo Rooms most days during the festival - ***

Thankfully, the second show I saw this year was the astounding. Siro-A, who are, as far as I am concerned, unmissable, and unlike anything else you will see this year (well . . . . . . . . . . unless there's something similar here this year - which must be a 1 in 100 chance). Imagine if Daft Punk were Japanese and starred in an audio-visual stage show directed by Michel Gondry. I can't actually describe their act with words so either a) get your tickets for them NOW or b) at least watch this video.

Yeah. If that blew your mind then you're not alone. I was pretty gobsmacked by the time I left their show.

Siro-A is on at 1545, again most days, at the Assembly Theatre in George Square - *****

Midnight Sex Run (2015)

As intermittent as my blog posts/reviews have become lately, I was hoping that I would only pop up now and again to sing the praises of some lesser-known new release, or to just join in with the barrage of opinions that appear for every blockbuster (a la Terminator Genisys). Little did I realise that I would soon see a movie that would leave me compelled to warn others off it. A movie so horrible that I genuinely couldn't believe what I was watching at times (spoiler alert - and yet a certain degreee of technical competence still leads me to score it a generous 2/10). Midnight Sex Run is that movie.

I don't even know how it came to be on my radar. I had no idea what it was about. But you lucky people won't have to go in as blindly as I did.

The film starts with an animated sequence showing two kids bullying another kid at camp. One firecracker later and the bullied kid has no manhood. Fast forward a number of years and we meet Jordan and Ted (played by Jordan Kessler and Ted Beck, the two men who also wrote and directed this crap, with their obvious lack of imagination clearly displayed by the fact that they can't even create different names for themselves). Jordan and Ted don't seem to be having any luck with ladies, although a large part of that seems to stem from the fact that they're selfish assholes who don't deserve any female attention anyway. Yes, I get that this is all set up to show their journey throughout the movie as they potentially grow and develop, but I also get that, no, no it's not. Because they don't. Not really.

But I digress. Jordan and Ted have their fathers kidnapped by Jeff (Dave Shalansky) and his mother (Florence C. M. Klein). Jeff is the boy with no working penis now all grown up. He tells Jordan and Ted that their fathers will be safe IF they can sleep with ten different women in 24 hours. They must get proof on camera, and Jeff's mother even gives them a roofie each to help them along. Yes, if you're already squirming uncomfortably then you might know how I was feeling at this point.

And so begins the sex run portion of the movie, which takes up the majority of the runtime. Things start off slowly, but just as horrible as anything else to come, when the two guys try to get up close and personal with a nurse. The vibe is pretty rapey, there's no other way to put it, and I only hoped that things would turn around. They didn't. Because next on the list is a homeless person, a horrible, crazy woman that Ted tries to ply with booze and get hot 'n' heavy with. I won't cover every single episode in detail, but they're all very similar, with "highlights" including the use of the roofie on a sweet-hearted older woman, an attempt to win the heart of a woman first seen searching around in a dumpster, and an encounter with a comedienne that moves from supposedly-funny-but-just-disturbing daddy/daughter roleplay to hilarity involving an enema. And the finale is arguably even worse than anything I've yet mentioned.

Kessler and Beck seem reasonably okay as directors. They don't overstretch themselves, although they don't manage to hide the low budget either. But as writers and actors? Whoah, that's where the trouble lies. Now, MAYBE this premise could have been turned into something fun in the right hands. Maybe. But to make something this consistently unpleasant, and try to label it a comedy, shows that either those involved were incompetent, or nobody seemed to recall the big difference between good bad taste and bad bad taste.

Many viewers will be offended by this. I tend not to get offended. I just get angry when my time is wasted, especially by something so incredulously misjudged and misanthropic.

2/10

http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Sex-Run-Jordan-Kessler/dp/B00WSD32N4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437999500&sr=8-1&keywords=midnight+sex+run

Comic-Con 2015: The Hits.

Here is the news you need to be up to date with, the big reveals from Comic Con this year.

First of all, the latest trailer for Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice made even those who disliked Man Of Steel think that DC might yet have a contender to outdo Marvel yet.

And then came the Suicide Squad trailer, which had some more points to criticise (mainly Leto and Smith) but still looked pretty damn good. I WANT it to be a blast, but the use of the song in the trailer reminded me of a certain major Marvel trailer from the past year. And I am unconvinced by that supporting cast (although LOVE Robbie rocking her Harley Quinn portrayal).

The Deadpool trailer was well received, to put it mildly, but the leaked footage has either disappeared for now, or what I could find wasn't worth placing here.

The latest Fantastic Four trailer still felt remarkably . . . . . . . less than fantastic.

And we also got some more X-Men footage, for X-Men: Apocalypse (again, only poor footage is online at the moment).

Those Star Wars fans eagerly awaiting the release of Episode VII were placated by this behind the scenes reel.

Is anyone feeling similar anticipation for The Man From U.N.C.L.E.? It's doubtful, but this extended trailer sure does pack in a lot of fun.

And then TV and deadites came together in the gloriously demented promo spot for Ash Vs The Evil Dead, a show I had very little interest in. Until now.

Oh, and someone tried to take the most superhero-filled selfie yet.

EIFF 2015.

I went along to cover the festival again, as usual. And here are links to all of the new reviews that appeared at Flickfeast. As well as some photos of my celebrity stalking victims. I mean . . . . . . . . coincidental meetings.

Like the time I bumped into Wedge AKA Denis Lawson

Bereave
Fresno

Aubrey Plaza also appears in Fresno, and I met her at EIFF 2014

Narcopolis
Scottish Mussel
Tu Dors Nicole
Swung
Labyrinthus
Misery Loves Comedy
The Wolfpack
You're Ugly Too
Blood Cells
The Summer Of Sangaile
Iona
Norfolk
Dope
The Pyramid Texts

James Cosmo. The man, the legend, and STAR of The Pyramid Texts

Brotherhood Of Blades
The Houses October Built
Chicken
Welcome To Me
Maggie
Dead Rising: Watchtower
The Road Within
Parasyte: Part 1
Liza, The Fox-Fairy
Chuck Norris vs Communism
The Sisterhood Of Night
The Incident
Manglehorn
Cut Snake
The Violators
Inside Out
Remake, Remix, Rip-Off
The Diary Of A Teenage Girl
Future Shock! The Story Of 2000AD
Turbo Kid
Precinct Seven Five

Two dodgy guys together? Me and Michael Dowd, the subject of Precinct Seven Five

That Sugar Film
The Hallow
The Messenger
Brand New-U

The lovely Nora-Jane Noone (stuck with me), who stars in Brand New-U

Paper Planes
Therapy For A Vampire
Cop Car
The Legend Of Barney Thomson
She's Funny That Way

Rhys Ifans, who starred in She's Funny That Way and a few other festival films this year

Every Secret Thing
Amy
Big Gold Dream: Scottish Post-Punk And Infiltrating The Mainstream
Hector

The ubiquitous Keith Allen, who appeared in Hector

And the lovely Natalie Gavin, who also appeared in Hector

600 Millas
The Closer We Get
 

And here is a photo of me and Karen Gillan. Just because.

Terminator Genisys (2015)

I DID say the hiatus may be temporary. While there definitely won't be a review here every day, my recent EIFF 2015 attendance spurred me back into some enjoyable writing.

Terminator Genisys didn't seem to have much going for it. There's that title for starters. A horrible mess that seems like nothing more than an attempt to blend in with the cool kids. And it was coming along after Terminator Salvation. I like Terminator Salvation. I am, however, aware that my positive view of the film (and my equal enjoyment of Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines) puts me firmly in a minority. And then we had that spoiler-filled trailer, which actually puts it on a par with Terminator 2: Judgment Day in the "potentially great twists ruined by the need to market to a wider audience" stakes.

Despite the fact that you may have already had plenty spoiled for you, I'll try to surmise the plot without giving anything major away. Jai Courtney plays Kyle Reese this time, and he's sent back (as we all know) in time by John Connor (Jason Clarke). But instead of finding a frightened and vulnerable Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) he finds a woman all-too-prepared for the battle that will affect the future of the planet. This is mainly due to the fact that she's had her own terminator (Schwarzenegger) serving as a protector for many years. She even calls him Pops. With everything so different, our leads hope to prove that the future is not set in stone, and that judgment day can be averted.

Let's cut to the chase here. Nostalgia. That's what proves to be the best thing about this movie, and also proves to be the worst. This is a film, arguably more than any other franchise instalment I can think of in recent years, that is reliant on the nostalgia of fans to carry viewers through a number of weak scenes. Newcomers are brought up to speed quickly enough, and will enjoy seeing everything unfold, but it is the older fans who will get the most from this. Scenes are either replicated from the first two movies or they are inverted in ways that writers Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier clearly think are clever. They're not. Every Terminator movie has had paradox problems (indeed, it's almost that way with every time travel movie, period), but this would seem to be the first movie in the series to take the paradox and just heap more and more complications on top of everything until viewers realise that this is one knot destined to never be undone. There's no satisfying explanation for that first major plot twist, which would surely already be known to everyone if the script wasn't cheating, and then we have Kyle Reese and his "impossible memories", people careening into the lives of others without any more notable ripples of cause and effect, and also a surprising lack of any sense of real threat while everyone moves from set-piece to set-piece.

Arnie makes it all worthwhile. Some will view him as Conan, some will always think of him fighting against the Predator, but he'll always BE The Terminator to me. Showing him as an older model here is the best idea that the film has (and the explanation doesn't entirely suck). Occasionally pitting him against the younger version of himself provides the best moments in the film, simply because the CGI doesn't feel overused or overly familiar in those moments. Jason Clarke is a decent John Connor, but that is the best I can say about the leads. Emilia Clarke isn't necessarily bad, she's just not believable as a tough woman who has been primed for her role as warrior and potential saviour of the planet. And how the hell Jai Courtney keeps getting work is a mystery that even Scooby Doo and co. couldn't get to the bottom of. I charitably mentioned to others that he wasn't as bad as usual here, but then I remembered that he was supposed to be portraying Kyle Reese. No. No, no, no, no. He doesn't work, which is pretty much how you could sum up his performance in every movie he's starred in. J. K. Simmons does well with a character who doesn't need to be in the film at all, and Lee Byung-Hun deserves more than the small amount of screentime that he's given.

Director Alan Taylor feels as if he's playing things very safe, allowing himself to be led by the script, and the movies that have come along beforehand, instead of putting any kind of personal stamp on the material. It's a savvy move, I guess. This instalment will inevitably make money so why take risks? Yet it's hard to stop thinking about just how much better things could have been if everyone involved had attempted to move slightly off the beaten path. How much more enjoyable could the action scenes have been if they didn't feel so familiar to scenes from the first two films, especially when they suffer in comparison? The FX work here varies in quality, and nothing delivers that impact that most of us felt when we first saw Terminator 2: Judgment Day (which was almost twenty five years ago now - a quarter of a century). And don't even get me started on just how lame the entire finale is. The writer in me wanted to think of a better word than "lame", the realist in me knew that it was the most appropriate adjective.

Although I've already seen a wide range of opinions on this movie already, from the outright hating of it to the pleasantly surprised, I have to say that I think most people will at least enjoy parts of it. Despite the many complaints I have about different aspects of the movie, I was entertained for most of the runtime, and a few of the action beats were very enjoyable. It's just a shame that this is the blandest and safest Terminator movie yet. AND it has Jai Courtney in it.

6/10

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That's all, folks.

That is that.

It MAY be temporary, but I suspect it will be permanent. The blog is no more.

And the reason for stopping the reviews is quite simple - I just found myself spending more and more time sharing links and engaging in (admittedly enjoyable) conversations with other film fans, to the point where I would have to plan my days and weeks as far in advance as possible. Believe it or not, I haven't actually written a full review in about 5 weeks. All of the preceding blog entries were already done by the time I'd decided to stop blogging.

I may not have given that much thought if it hadn't been for an incident that occurred a few weeks ago. It was just one of those typical internet snowball affairs, most of us have been involved in one or two if we're online for the majority of our time. But that one incident led to this blog receiving a record number of traffic. A record number of people coming here to see what I'd written, all because of a quick, offhand joke/insult that I made on Twitter. I don't regret that tweet, and I certainly don't mind getting lots of banter from it, but I was extremely saddened to see how easy it can be to boost figures with that kind of approach, unintentional or not. It made me realise that all of the hours I'd spent trying to find the right word or phrase didn't actually matter. I could have just as easily written an inane stream of consciousness, gone on social media to bait people with any comments that would stir them up, and sit back to watch the numbers jump up and up and up. Nope, I may not have any solutions but I didn't want to be part of THAT problem.

On the plus side, that means even more actual viewing time, I've started to use Letterboxd to maintain my OCD levels, and I may still be tempted to cover a few festival releases for Flickfeast.

In the meantime, many of you will know where to find me. Now, excuse me while I line up my next movie viewing choice.

Mr. Turner (2014)

Written and directed by Mike Leigh, Mr. Turner is a film that looks at the artist known as Turner (don't you know). Although it's far from a definitive look at the life of the man, it certainly feels like it. This is a hefty investment of your time, clocking in at about two and a half hours, but those minutes fairly fly by.

Timothy Spall gets the title role, and if you can tell me a bad performance that he's given in the last two decades then I'll be interested to hear your thoughts. As far as I'm concerned, Spall is one of those actors who always seems to be on top form, and this film gives him what could be considered his best role yet. Gruff and grunting, yet also amusing, learned and polite, Turner is always shown to be equal parts man and artist. He may mingle with the upper-classes, but seems to prefer avoiding recognition in favour of anonymity during times when he is free to live his life, seek out inspiration, and not have to worry about exhibitions or sales.

I don't know exactly how much of this movie is true, or based on truth, but it certainly feels authentic. This is a world in which works of art are enhanced with a little bit of spit mixed in to the paint. It's a world in which you can smell, and even almost feel, the materials.

A great cast lends Spall their full support, with standouts being Paul Jesson (as William Turner), Dorothy Atkinson (as Hannah Danby), Marion Bailey (as Sophia Booth), and Martin Savage (as Benjamin Robert Haydon). All of these people contribute something important to Turner's life, even if it's just a healthy sense of perspective afforded by seeing the failings and misfortunes of a fellow artist.

Like all good biopics, this keeps the viewer engaged throughout and encourages further exploration of the subject once the end credits have rolled. The times may have changed, of course, but the drive remains the same in the mind of all artists. As does the turbulent times that can alternate between feast and famine.

Leigh may have produced a movie that seems to wander aimlessly from one seemingly disconnected moment to another, but the broad strokes do eventually receive some fine detailing. You can really start to appreciate how everything falls in to place in the second half. The full picture IS here. You just have to take a few steps back to fully appreciate. Which is often the way with great pieces of art.

9/10

Eager to pick up Mr. Turner? Then this UK disc is the only option for now - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Turner-Blu-ray-Timothy-Spall/dp/B00OZJ2W0I/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1420306412&sr=1-2&keywords=mr.+turner

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And/or you could also buy my e-book, that has almost every review I've written over the past 5 years. It's very reasonably priced for the sheer amount of content.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

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As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

Magic In The Moonlight (2014)

Although there are still delights to be found, a modern Woody Allen movie seems to have the same template. The writer-director will include some lovely jazz on the soundtrack, he'll use the movie to explore one main topic, with love always either helping or clouding the issue, and an assorted cast of great names will have some fun in some picturesque European locations (although New York is also an acceptable setting). I'm not saying that every film he has made over the past couple of decades is EXACTLY the same (Blue Jasmine happened to take place in San Francisco, for example). I'm just saying that he's almost become a genre unto himself. Gone are the days when his movies were either funny or serious, gone are the more interesting/fun ideas (such as those explored in Zelig and Sleeper), and gone is the sharpness. It can appear, at times, as if Allen is giving people an impression of an Allen movie. Allen-lite, if you like.

Colin Firth plays Wei Ling Soo, a master stage magician who can also remove the clothing and make-up to move around more inconspicuously as . . . . . . . Stanley. Stanley is famous for his cynicism and ability to disprove psychic phenomena, which is why his friend (Howard Burkan, played by Simon McBurney) enlists his aid when he thinks that he has met a young woman (Emma Stone) who has a real gift. So begins a battle of wits, with Stanley soon coming around to the fact that he may actually have met someone with a very real, very astonishing, psychic ability. He may not even notice the fact that love is in the air, so intent is he on trying to expose the girl for the fake that he assumes her to be.

Firth and Stone are both delightful here, although neither are at their very best. The fault doesn't lie with them, but rather with Allen's sadly flat script. Early scenes have a few great lines scattered throughout them, Firth is much more acerbic in the guise of Wei Ling Soo than he is as Stanley, and then it starts a gentle slide downhill from there. All is not lost, however, thanks to some solid support from Eileen Atkins, Jacki Weaver, Marcia Gay Harden and Hamish Linklater. And those leads.

The main theme being looked at here is whether or not lying is good, especially when it can make people so much happier. It's not a bad subject for Allen to explore, it's just a shame that he does so in a way that feels too lightweight for even just one feature. This leads to many scenes in which people just talk about their own views of the universe, and the possibility of spirits and magic, or Firth and Stone dance around one another, figuratively speaking. The latter scenes are far more enjoyable than the former.

You can always tell when a movie is being made by Allen about something that he feels passionate about. There's a story that he feels compelled to tell. With the lacklustre approach he takes here, it's clear that this story could have been pushed aside for something better. It's light and frothy, nothing more and nothing less. Worth a watch, especially if you're a fan of the director and cast, but not necessarily one that you'll be revisiting a few years down the line.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Moonlight-Colin-Firth/dp/B00O0292GW/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1418905545&sr=1-2&keywords=magic+in+the+moonlight

Frank (2014)

Christopher Sievey was a talented, creative artist who many people, including myself, would never have recognised if we passed on the street. That's because he became better known as Frank Sidebottom, a character easily recognised by his oversized, paper-mache head. Frank would still sing, but was more often to be found delivering comedy to audiences who would be equally amused and bemused by such a quirky character.

This movie is based on him, but not JUST him. The main character is an amalgamation of Sievey/Sidebottom and one or two other notable musicians. A lot of material was gleaned from the writings of Jon Ronson, who helped to craft the script, but it's also set in the here and now, instead of the late '80s and early '90s (when Frank was, arguably, at the height of his popularity). So it's a fictional biopic about a man, with some other personality traits added from other unique artists, all embodied by someone wearing a large, paper-mache head. Clear enough? Good.

Domhnall Gleeson plays Jon Burroughs, a young man who strives to work at his music when he's not stuck in the drudgery of everyday life. It looks as if fortune has smiled upon him when he's in the right place at the right time - near the beach where a keyboard player is trying to drown himself - to be invited to play with an eccentric pop band, fronted by Frank (Michael Fassbender, face hidden from sight for most of the movie). But perhaps he should have spent more time considering just what would drive the previous band member to a suicide attempt. If there's a choice between an easy path and a hard one it looks as if Frank wants the band to take the hard path every time. But Jon thinks he can change things for the band. He thinks that, thanks to his updates on Twitter and YouTube, he has created a decent following for them. He's not the first person to think that he can change the direction of the band, and Frank seems receptive to things, but the others warn him against the move. And it would seem that the others have been through this sort of thing before.

I know how ridiculous it may seem, but this film benefits immensely from yet another great performance from Fassbender. He may well be hidden away under that fake head, but his voice and body language convey plenty. Gleeson does well to keep a straight face opposite him, as do the rest of the band members (Francois Civil, Carla Azar, Scoot McNairy and Maggie Gyllenhaal). In the role of Clara, Gyllenhaal is probably the most important supporting player. Her character is often hostile, sometimes violent, but always with the best interests of Frank at heart.

Crucially, the film creates a great aural landscape to accompany the visuals. It may not be a great soundtrack, in the classical sense, but I found many of the tunes and sound mixes very enjoyable. I'm not sure how many, if any, are based on actual works by Frank and co. but they certainly feel in line with the spirit of the artists.

Capturing the essence of someone isn't always that easy. Director Lenny Abrahamson has managed to do it here. Helped by the script, from Ronson and Peter Straughan, this is a look at a particular type of creative mind. It tries to peek behind the mask of one unique individual, despite the fact that the individual incorporates characteristics from a few different people, and then shows that maybe it's best just to stop prying. If the man maketh the mask, and the mask then maketh the man, why even try to disturb the balance by separating the two?

8/10

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Unbroken (2014)

Jack O'Connell stars in this look at the incredibly tough life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete who was shot down during WWII, survived for 47 days in a raft, and then ended up in a Japanese POW camp where he became the target of a particularly vicious authority figure there. It's a story that shows the very best and worst of human nature, and the movie is highly recommended, even to those already familiar with the tale.

Directed by Angelina Jolie, this is a film that ticks all of the boxes. There are many moments here that we've all seen before, but they all add up to an impressive final product. And I guess this is one of those many occasions when truth seems stranger than fiction. It certainly has moments that feel very much like traditional Hollywood moments, but this is almost necessary to outweigh the darker sequences.

Using the book by Laura Hillenbrand as a template, the screenplay has been put together by William Nicholson, Richard LaGravenese, and the Coen brothers. Yes, you read that right. The Coen brothers. While no part of this ever feels like a Coen brothers movie, it's interesting to wonder just how much they contributed, and whether their presence is the reason that the film doesn't gloss over some nastier incidents that will make viewers flinch.

O'Connell is fantastic in the lead role, even if his accent isn't exactly spot on. Going through an incredible transformation between the beginning and end of the movie, he manages to keep showing inner strength and some kind of hope (sometimes for rescue and sometimes, I guess, for death), and keeps you rooting for him even as the odds of him surviving look to grow bigger and bigger. Domnhall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund and Finn Wittrock do well in their supporting roles, and Jai Courtney even manages not to irritate me during his brief time onscreen, but the other major figure in the movie is the nasty Watanabe, played by Takamasa Ishihara. He does superb work, creating a monster who has no real rhyme or reason to his actions. He takes a dislike to Zamperini from the very beginning and that is that.

Jolie does a fine job in the director's chair. As by-the-numbers as it is, there are a number of ways in which she refuses to go for the most obvious approach. The score by Alexandre Desplat is used more sparingly than you'd expect, for example, and the material is supported mainly by those central performances and some reliably fine work from Roger Deakins.

Unbroken doesn't rewrite the rulebook. It's a great story, and it's told well.

7/10

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Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead (2014)

I quite enjoyed Dead Snow. There were many who liked it even more than I did, but what was there to dislike about a horror comedy featuring Nazi zombies out to reclaim their treasure stash? Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead actually manages to top the first film. It's brisker, it's gorier, and it's a damn sight funnier.

Following immediately on from the events of the first movie, Martin (Vegar Hoel) continues to fight off Nazi zombies until a serious car crash lands him in hospital. The police have questions for him, of course, but the doctor at least gives him some good news. They've managed to reattach the arm that they assume he lost in the car crash. Unfortunately, he didn't lose his arm in the car crash. Evil Nazi zombie Herzog (Orjan Gamst) did. Martin now has a super-strong, evil, right arm. If he can get it under his control then it may prove useful in his attempts to stop whatever the undead soldiers have planned. He might also be able to enlist the help of the Zombie Squad. Will it be enough?

Full marks go to Tommy Wirkola here (who also helped to write the script again, this time with Stig Frode Henriksen and their leading man, Hoel). Everyone was obviously on the same page, and every scene feels as if there have been as many gore gags as possible slotted in. You're unlikely to see more intestines pulled out, heads smashed and limbs ripped off in any other major 2014 release. And the running gag with a zombie who keeps being killed and resurrected again and again creates some big laughs and also, amazingly enough, affection for the poor thing being used in such a disposable way.

Barring one or two scenes, this is a movie equivalent of a juggernaut heading down a steep hill with no brakes. It doesn't let up, and once plot details are revealed you know just where it's heading, making the anticipation of the climax almost as much fun as the actual playing out of the thing itself.

The only thing that doesn't really sit right is the Zombie Squad, made up of one guy (Martin Starr) and two girls (Jocelyn DeBoer and Ingrid Haas). As happened with the first movie, this film stumbles when making use of characters that are best labelled as nerds. Hey, I'm a nerd. I'm not using it as a negative label, but I also don't think the stereotypes used here (youngsters who use Star Wars quotes and spend a lot of their time online) would necessarily be the most heroic when thrown in to a situation involving real zombies. I know that I've always told my wife that in the event of a zombie outbreak, despite my love for her, I would be trying to race ahead of her, simply to guarantee my own life for a bit longer.

Hoel has a lot of fun in the lead role, especially in the early scenes that show him struggling with a new arm acting out of his control, and Gamst is once again great at simply glowering and emanating evil. Starr, DeBoer (who looks a LOT like Rashida Jones here . . . . . or maybe that's just me) and Haas do okay, considering that they're stuck with the poorest characters, and writer Henriksen also joins in with the onscreen fun, doing well enough in the role of Glenn Kenneth, an innocent bystander who ends up helping to defeat the zombie menace. Hallvard Holmen and Amrita Acharia play a couple of police officers who can't believe what they end up seeing, and Derek Mears is once again under heavy make-up, playing a Russian zombie named Stavarin (hence the title of the movie).

If you liked the first movie then you'll love this sequel. If you didn't like the first movie then there's still a chance that you could like this. It's splatstick comedy at its best.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Snow-Red-Vs-Blu-ray/dp/B00OBDKO1W/ref=sr_1_3_twi_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1420143375&sr=1-3&keywords=dead+snow

You know how you can show your appreciation for bloggers? If you share and share then every additional reader helps. Connect through Google or Blogger or any way you can, and rest easy in the knowledge that you've made little ol' me a very happy man.

And/or you could also buy my e-book, that has almost every review I've written over the past 5 years. It's very reasonably priced for the sheer amount of content.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

Non-Stop (2014)

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Liam Neeson is a badass. He's a potential hero, but also very troubled. There's a plane full of people, with one of them being a nasty criminal type trying to grab a LOT of money. And he/she is not only trying to commit a major crime, he's also hoping to frame our hero for the job.

Yes, Non-Stop is a . . . . . non-stop selection of cliches and familiar action thriller movie moments. Which doesn't make it any less fun. A large part of the enjoyability is down to Neeson, who has been taking on this kind of role so often in recent years that he may well end up in The Expendables 10, whenever that comes along.

Things don't start off too well though. If you're not rolling your eyes when you watch Neeson use a toothbrush to stir his breakfast whiskey then you'll have a second chance to do so when he passes by a roster of usual suspects on his way to boarding his flight. There's also Julianne Moore, playing someone desperate to sit in a window seat. Everything is easily forgiven, however, as soon as Neeson gets some text messages telling him that he needs to get $150M in to a specific account or someone is going to die in 20 minutes. That starts a race against the clock, with Neeson growing increasingly desperate, and perhaps out of control, as he determines to catch his quarry.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (the man responsible for a couple of fun horror movies in the past decade or so - namely Orphan and House Of Wax), and written by Christopher Roach, John W. Richardson and Ryan Engle, Non-Stop is a film that probably shouldn't work. The fact that it does, and does so well, is testament to the zippy script and the fact that Collet-Serra directs with no small amount of style and inventiveness.

Neeson is as Neeson as ever. He's a brand by this point, but a bloody good one. If you're going to invest in a Nesson then treat yourself to the original and best. Acccept no substitute. Moore does well with a role that could have easily been completely thankless, and both Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong'o do well as two air stewardesses. The former has more to do, but it's nice to just see Nyong'o in a situation not half as harrowing as her most famous role to date. Scoot McNairy, Nate Parker, Corey Stoll, Omar Metwally and Quinn McColgan do a decent job with their roles, despite often being asked to act nervy, or aggressive, or whatever suits the mood of the crowd as they react to Neeson's actions.

This is not a film that will blow your mind, or change the face of cinema. It doesn't have to. Few films do. This simply takes some pleasing ingredients and throws them together to make something that stands up as a piece of superior blockbuster entertainment. Translation = it's not that hard to build a decent movie around Liam Neeson kicking ass.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Non-Stop-Blu-ray-DVD-DIGITAL-UltraViolet/dp/B00HLTD49C/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2_twi_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1419274222&sr=1-1&keywords=non-stop

'71 (2014)

Okay, now is not the time for a history lesson. Neither is it the place. But to be fully aware of the tension running through '71 you have to at least be slightly aware of the situation that tore apart Northern Ireland, and sometimes spilled over into areas of the UK, known colloquially as The Troubles. It was a war over the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, with the Unionists (who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK) on one side and the Republicans (who wanted to break away and form one united country of Ireland) on the other. A heavy military presence, with most soldiers transferred over from the UK mainland, was required, which didn't go down well with those living in the region. Religious views also helped to keep the battle raging, and that's about all I'll say just now. Please take this paragraph as nothing more than an attempt at a VERY brief overview of a complicated situation that scarred Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom for decades. There's plenty of material out there, by much smarter people, for those who want to read up further on it.

'71 stars Jack O'Connell as Gary Hook, a young British soldier who finds himself isolated from his unit on the streets of Belfast. It's 1971, hence the title, and he is in serious danger. The republicans will kill him if they find him, and there's even a chance that some of the undercover personnel on his side will turn hostile if they think that he could undo all of their hard work. It's going to be a long night for the young lad. IF he's lucky enough to survive it.

Director Yann Demange has been doing some great work on TV over the years (including being at the helm of the superb Dead Set) and he makes the transition to the big screen with no small amount of confidence and skill. It helps that the script, by Gregory Burke, is as good as it is. Although it mixes moments of immediate danger with moments showing characters grappling with choices that they must make, the tension remains high for every minute that keeps our main character in such dangerous territory.

O'Connell has been a rising star for a good few years now and this is yet another fantastic performance from him, with the movie making the most of his youthful looks to underline just how out of his depth he is. He carries most of the movie, despite not always being the focus of every scene, but he's helped by some other great actors. Sean Harris lends his usual intensity to proceedings, Paul Anderson and Sam Reid do decent work, and Corey McKinley makes a strong impression, portraying a boy who is shown to be much more than just your average young lad.

'71 is a film that requires patience and concentration, but it rewards viewers with a movie experience that mixes visceral thrills with intelligence and a roster of well-sketched characters. In other words, it's highly recommended.

8/10

This is the disc available just now, from right here in the UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/71-Blu-ray-Jack-OConnell/dp/B00O7LYMIO/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1420307913&sr=1-2&keywords=71

You know how you can show your appreciation for bloggers? If you share and share then every additional reader helps. Connect through Google or Blogger or any way you can, and rest easy in the knowledge that you've made little ol' me a very happy man.

And/or you could also buy my e-book, that has almost every review I've written over the past 5 years. It's very reasonably priced for the sheer amount of content.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

Bad Girls Go To Hell (1965)

Written and directed by Doris Wishman, Bad Girls Go To Hell is sensational tittilation of the highest calibre (or lowest, depending on your view). It's often technically incompetent to such a degree that you end up mesmerised by how awful it all is, eventually falling down a wormhole that brings you out the other side as a fan. Easy to ridicule, but hard to hate, this is strange and fascinating stuff.

The presence of the lovely Gigi Darlene in the lead role helps a lot. She's a beautiful woman, whether cleaning the house in her nightdress or performing spontaneous acrobatics (yes, you need to see it to believe it). Her problem is, apparently, that she's so beautiful and sexy that she drives many around her wild with lust. The movie starts off properly after her husband leaves for work. It's not long until Gigi is being assaulted by a neighbour. When he comes to her home to enjoy a second bout of rape she defends herself, killing the rapist in the process. Worried about repercussions, she flees the scene and spends the rest of the movie trying to settle down into a new life, only to be constantly upset by people who end up abusing her in different ways.

If, mathematically, two negatives make a positive then that helps to explain how this movie ends up being so enjoyable. Negatives pile up on negatives until the sheer number of them seem to cause a collapse that forms one new positive.

Wishman may not direct her movie with any skill, but she's also hampered by her own incompetent script. The movie barely scrapes over the 60-minute mark, yet it still feels padded out. Paradoxically, the ridiculousness of the premise also makes it feel far too light in places. Is this central character really such catnip for everyone around her? Are we supposed to feel that she deserves her fate? Is she the bad girl of the title? The answer to all three questions, worryingly enough, is probably yes. None of these things are explored or developed in an interesting way throughout the movie. You just have to assume everything because, well, women being all unashamedly sexy = very, very bad.

There are other people onscreen here, including Charles E. Mazin, Sam Stewart, Gertrude Cross and Alan Feinstein, but the supporting cast could have been made up of store mannequins for all the impact they have. No, this is all about Darlene. She's not a great actress, but she's absolutely the right person for this role, for obvious reasons.

I sat through many scenes of Bad Girls Go To Hell with my mouth agape. It was such a curious, flawed, uptight, moralising piece of nonsense. And once it had finished I knew that I'd happily revisit it one day, thanks to the fact that those qualities saved it from ever being too dull.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Girls-Hell-Another-Day/dp/B00004W190/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419860062&sr=8-1&keywords=bad+girls+go+to+hell

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As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.