Prime Time: Bottoms (2023)

A comedy from the same people who delivered the acclaimed Shiva Baby to many happy viewers, Bottoms is the perfect mix of smart and silly that had me laughing from start to finish. It is the kind of film that I will unreservedly recommend to everyone, and if you hate it then I will know that we just don’t share the same sense of humour. Which will make me sigh. Because humour might be highly subjective, but it’s always nice to find something that allows you to share smiles and laughter with other people you know are on your wavelength.

Rachel Sennot and Ayo Edebiri play PJ and Josie, two uncool high schoolers who want a chance to turn things around. They’re not sporty, they’re lesbians, and they seem to be the only people rolling their eyes at a school system that treats douchebro football team members as unimpeachable royalty. So it’s hard to think of how they will improve their situation, but a fight club ought to do it. Yes, PJ and Josie start a fight club, a plan created just to help them get closer to the girls they are crushing on. But it soon starts to grow, giving club members more than a simple excuse to lash out and learn some self-defence.

Co-written by Sennott and director Emma Seligman, Bottoms has a great mix of characters, satisfying plotting that actually hews close to the standard plot of any well-known teen movie, and numerous lines of dialogue and individual moments that had me bursting out laughing.

It helps that the cast all feel so perfect in every role. Sennott and Edebiri can do no wrong at the moment, and the fact that they work so well together here is a huge plus. Kaia Gerber and Rose Liu do well as the cheerleaders not necessarily realising they are being crushed on by our leads, and Ruby Cruz steals a few scenes as the bomb-obsessed and brilliantly raging Hazel. When it comes to the guys, Marshawn Lynch has a lot of fun as a teacher who views himself as an ally, but wants to make as little effort as possible, and both Nicholas Galitzine and Miles Fowler are great as the two main football players who cause problems for the young women who don’t idolize them.

Seligman directs with great energy and a knack for balancing the silliness with very real and identifiable concerns, and there are moments here that were clearly conceived as both hilarious and cinematic, thanks to the shooting style and/or the soundtrack choices (and here is where I also congratulate Leo Birenberg and Charli XCX on a great selection of music to accompany many main sequences).

Easily one of the best outright comedies I have seen in the past ten years, Bottoms is brilliant, hilarious, violent, and deserving of becoming a firm favourite for those who appreciate it. The more I think about it, the less I can find to fault. In fact, yes, it’s perfect entertainment.

10/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

All Of Us Strangers (2024)

Whether it's conscious or not, we are all in constant dialogue with those who came before us, specifically our parents. Sometimes those conversations are satisfyingly fluid, changing as you grow up and the people around you adjust to the changing world around them. Sometimes those conversations are crystallized and kept within a snowglobe of a memory, something you think about again and again while knowing that the outcome wasn’t what you had hoped for, either because you didn’t know how to word things better or the people you were talking to weren’t quite who you hoped they were.

All Of Us Strangers explores this, allowing the central character (Adam, played by Andrew Scott) to process his memories and longing for conversations he never had with his dead parents (played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) by allowing him to meet them at the age they were when they died. There’s no explanation for this, and everyone decides against overthinking it, but the chance is there for everyone to have a kind of closure that reality denied them decades ago. Meanwhile, Adam also meets a young man named Harry (Paul Mescal), someone he starts growing very close to after initially refusing his awkward attempt to enter his life.

Director Andrew Haigh has been helming great films for quite some time now, but I am tempted to hail All Of Us Strangers as his masterpiece. Based on a novel by Taichi Yamada (this isn’t the first time it has been adapted for the screen), Haigh uses the supernatural framework to look at different kinds of love, different regrets, and how people might change their lives if they realised the butterfly effect caused by many of their actions. He also crafts a delicate love story between Adam and Harry that reminds every viewer of the kind of connection we want with those we care about.

The central quartet are all quite flawless. Foy and Bell play their parts well, young enough to be open and just old enough to have some insight and wisdom (possibly, bear in mind that they might just be projections), even while their view of their son is being reframed. Mescal is a sweet and welcome presence, an apparent chance of very real hope and happiness in the here and now. Then you have Scott, a man who has found a delicate gift he doesn’t understand, but doesn’t want to mishandle or break. Scott goes through a full range of emotions here, and Haigh knows how to complement the insightful and warm script with moments that just show everything via Scott’s face. The man can deliver dialogue brilliantly, but he also knows how to often say everything without saying anything.

There’s great use of a few classic pop hits, a visual style that mixes the everyday with heightened moments that celebrate a life suddenly buoyed by love, and a potentially-divisive ending so heart-achingly beautiful that it moved me to tears as the credits started to roll and I realised that this was going to be an early contender for one of my favourite films of the year.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Mubi Monday: My Sole Desire (2023)

When you make a film set largely in a strip club then you are, for better or worse, inviting comparison to a film so notorious that I don't even need to write the title here, especially for those reading this who Nomi so well already. This is a French film though, and the French can do much better with this kind of material. At least, that's what you would hope.

Louise Chevillote plays a young woman, Manon, who decides to try working at a strip club to make some decent money. She soon starts to enjoy herself, thrilled by the creativity and ability to control and manipulate the punters, helped by a colleague (Mia, played by Zita Hanrot) she starts to develop a strong connection with. Problems start to arise when it becomes clear that Mia already has a partner (played by Thimotée Robart), and when Manon starts to succumb to the seductive allure of higher earning potential from work outside the club.

Directed by Lucie Borleteau, who also worked on the story and screenplay with Clara Bourreau and Laure Giappiconi, this is a great mix of melodrama and eroticism. The lifestyle is shown in a surprisingly positive way, but it’s not completely safe and cosy. There are threats scattered around everywhere, from within and without the central group, but the way that the women deal with those threats allows viewers to see how they work together, maintain control, and grow closer as they metaphorically “circle the wagons” to ensure their safety.

Despite the obstacles and pitfalls placed in the script, the film generally feels like a positive one, in terms of both the sex work and the various ways in which the characters are motivated (some others frown while our lead keeps striving to earn more and more money, but she also does her best to help out someone she might not have any future with).

Chevillote and Hanrot are great in the lead roles, equally adept at handling the drama and the front and centre sexuality of their characters. They are always very believable, and the script allows them to be flawed without making them awful people, although I am sure some would argue that point. Robart also does well, but he’s saddled with a less interesting part to play. Everyone else works well. A handful of actresses portray other dancers in the club, each with their own style and/or problems, Pedro Casablanc runs the club with a steady and careful approach, and Sipan Mouradian is able to fall in love with our leading lady without seeming like a clueless schmuck.

A hugely satisfying experience from start to finish, My Sole Desire weaves a lot of artistry throughout what could have easily just been a sweaty and stain-covered mess of tired tropes and exploitation. Kudos to Borleteau, and all of her collaborators, for producing something far removed from that. This is, in fact, quite brilliant, and it’s just as equally about love and friendship as it is about sex and dancing.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Netflix And Chill: Maestro (2023)

There's a joke that I vaguely remember, featured in at least one sitcom (but perhaps not unique), about someone spending so much time obsessing over something, a skill they want to perfect or a mammoth task that they want to complete, only to then see their achievement completely surpassed by someone who seemed to do better in a way that also felt quite effortless. The character was obviously devastated, regretting all of the time and energy that now seemed wasted. I suspect Bradley Cooper may feel the same way if, as I suspect may happen, Maestro goes through the busy awards season without adding too many paperweights to his trophy cabinet.

Although this is all about the life of celebrated conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein (Cooper), with a strong focus on how he was supported by his wife, Felicia (Carey Mulligan), it's a strange and cold experience that allows Cooper to create a parallel between himself and his subject. As the end credits rolled, I found myself wondering whether or not Bernstein had lived a life that seemed worth turning into a 2+ hour movie. With the greatest of respect to his fans and loved ones, I don't think he did.

From the use of Bernstein's music throughout to the unnecessary directorial flourishes, from the black and white sequences that lead in to the colour of the second half, everything here signifies a star seeking approval. "Look at all of my great work," Cooper seems to be crying. "Look at the make-up on my face to make me look more like Bernstein and honestly not intended to offend people". "Look at what I can do to make this story as cinematic as possible." "Look at how I handle this complex character." It's desperate, and it's not enough to distract from the fact that the film just doesn't really work.

While both Cooper and Mulligan have been on the publicity trail, they have both been at pains to frame the film as being just as much about Felicia as Leonard. They might believe that, and they might believe that Felicia was strong and supportive to a husband who needed her in his life, but the film doesn't quite convey the relationship as well as intended. Leonard Bernstein was a selfish man who spent a lot of time having his cake and eating it, all while gaslighting a woman who seemed to put up with him because the circumstances sometimes suited her.

None of these failings would seem as bad if the lead performances were good enough, but they're not. It doesn't give me any pleasure to say that, having enjoyed Cooper and (particularly) Mulligan in numerous other films, but their performing here feels more like caricature than anything else. The film doesn't know this though, staying focused on them for almost the entirety of the tiring runtime, which is the fault of Cooper the director, working from a script co-written by Cooper and Josh Singer. The supporting cast are all wasted, which makes you wonder why Cooper even bothered casting Matt Bomer, Sarah Silverman (who tries admirably to make the most of her limited role), and Maya Hawke as extra flotsam and jetsam left bobbing in the wake of Leonard Bernstein's callous carelessness.

A lot of people will enjoy this for what it is. It's an old-fashioned film that has the benefit of being able to pluck various tunes from the many works of Bernstein. It's a shame that Cooper tried to show everyone that he was delivering the greatest work of his life, both behind and in front of the camera. I was bored, sometimes angered, and never once happy to be learning about a manipulative narcissist who I would prefer to always identify through the fine body of musical work that he left behind.

3/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Shudder Saturday: Amigo (2020)

I sometimes use other movies as reference points in my reviews, but it's a tricky proposition. You want people to get a sense of something, you want to convey certain elements, but you don't want everyone to start comparing every aspect. Which is why I almost decided against mentioning Caveat here, a film that kept popping into my mind as I watched Amigo.

This is the tale of two friends living together in a remote lodge. Javi (Javier Botet) is a man who can barely speak or move, and he is being cared for by David (David Pareja). There's been a bad accident, that much is clear, but the details are kept hazy, leaving it up to viewers to figure out if these two men are actually still friends, if someone is in danger, and what will happen as one, or both, start to question the reality of their current circumstances.

A feature directorial debut from Óscar Martín, who also co-wrote the script with Botet and Pareja, Amigo is an interesting and atmospheric thriller that manages to move around in very familiar territory without feeling tired and tiresome. A lot of that is down to the casting of the leads, but Martín has a superb visual eye that delivers scenes mixing beauty and grit filtered through a lens worked by the talented cinematographer Alberto Morago (trust me, keep an eye out for his name on other projects).

You may not recognise Botet here, but if you're a horror movie fan then you have most likely seen some of his work already (he's been in numerous big horror movies throughout the past couple of decades, including portraying THAT character at the end of [Rec]). He's not hidden under a lot of monster make-up here, but his physicality is still used to great effect, emphasising just how weak and vulnerable his character is. Pareja isn't quite as unnerving and captivating as an onscreen presence, but he works brilliantly alongside Botet in what is, for the most part, a taut two-hander. There are a couple of other people who pop in and out of the narrative, but everything stays tightly focused on the see-sawing dynamic between Botet and Pareja.

The runtime is a lean 83 minutes, and that's just about as long as it should be. There's not too much substance here, although the intriguing puzzle of the backstory is there for viewers to piece together and consider, but atmosphere and tension are poured over every main scene, leading to a finale that is as dark and satisfying as you might expect.

I look forward to whatever feature Martín helms next, and this is recommended to anyone who wants some nightmare imagery punctuated by fleeting moments of very, and I do mean very, dark comedy (because it is there). Unspectacular, but solid and chilling fare.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Bait (2019)

Finally getting around to this acclaimed debut feature from Mark Jenkin, I can now join the chorus of voices singing the praises of it. Okay, it's all too late, most people will have heard about this already, and rushed to see or avoid it, depending on their personal preference.

The film focuses on Martin Ward (Edward Rowe), a fisherman who is working with the distinct disadvantage of not owning a boat. He can still just about get by, but things are getting tougher as the Cornish village he grew up in keeps moving focus slightly away from the sea in favour of a new way of making money, renting properties to people looking for scenic and unique holiday homes. This increases tension and leads to a number of confrontations.

Bait has a number of different meanings, and all of them apply to this film. It can be the morsel placed on a hook to entice fish. It can be an annoyance or a taunt, something used to anger someone. There's also an older spelling, "bate", that means "an angry mood". And if Bait can be boiled down to one emotion running throughout most of the runtime, it's an angry mood.

I'm not going to go through the technical side of things that Jenkin has explained elsewhere (you can find statements from him all over the internet, and both Wikipedia and IMDb have more information about the making of the film), but this is a unique experience, managing to be visually crude in a way that also feels beautiful and unusual, and making an interesting feature of the audio being recorded separate from the visuals. This isn't just a film. It's a texture-rich visit to a world that views interlopers as necessary evils, and Jenkin keeping us placed right alongside Ward clarifies exactly why resentment has built up over time as other ways to make a living fade away under the creeping shadow of seasonal tourism.

Rowe is fantastic in the lead role, such a natural fit for the role that it makes me think he was just a Cornish resident Jenkin persuaded to take on the role (he was actually trained at RADA before spending time as a stand-up, performing under the name Kernow King). He's intimidating in a number of key scenes, but there are many other moments that show him struggling to carry a burden that everyone else thinks he should just shrug off and leave behind him. The rest of the cast also do great work, even if they don't all feel like such a natural fit with the style of the film, but the other standouts are Simon Shepherd and Mary Woodvine, playing the couple currently residing in the childhood home of our lead.

It may sound a bit cheesy and pretentious, but Bait is an astonishing feature because it's more of an experience than a film. Jenkin has a surprisingly extensive filmography to explore, many shorts and a few other features in the mix, but it's hard to think of any of his other films matching this one. You can taste the saltwater spraying in the air, you can smell the sea (as well as the sweat and the blood), and you can imagine being handed a bagged-up selection of freshly-caught fish. Not quite perfect, but it comes pretty damn close. I'm already looking forward to rewatching it, even if I feel the urge to put on a waterproof coat and a big pair of wellie boots.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Dream Scenario (2023)

Nicolas Cage plays Paul Matthews, a fairly bland and passive professor who hasn’t ever pushed himself out of his comfort zone. His career path seems steady, his home life likewise, if a bit tired, and he tends to see others making progress while he stays in the same spot. This all changes when he starts to appear in the dreams of other people. He doesn’t do anything in these dreams, not initially anyway, but he becomes a presence in the nocturnal slumberland of many people, giving him a strange kind of celebrity. That is all well and good while the dreams are pleasant enough, but it’s not so good when things turn darker. 

Although it makes great use of dream logic and enjoyably cinematic vignettes, Dream Scenario is a very clever way of exploring the modern problem of “going viral”. If everyone views you in a certain context then they start to think they know you, and anything changing their perception of you, real or imagined, can lead to a real backlash. Keep being successful and many people will want to watch you fail. Make one mistake and many people will rush to judgement, a whole tide of opinion turning against you quicker than you can send out a carefully-worded video apology.

Writer-director Kristoffer Borgli has crafted one of the best movies of 2023 here, a clever and pointed exploration of our modern society that has us all putting ourselves into the lives of others, eager for connections and validations that can appear or disappear with one keystroke or touch of a phone screen.

Borgli is helped by another fantastic Nicolas Cage performance, once again performing the kind of schlub he has shown us in one or two of his other films. Cage perfectly embodies the full journey of his character, from curiosity to cockiness, from nervousness to narcissism, and the various dream incarnations of his character allow him to consider his waking life in ways he would never have done before. Julianne Nicholson and Lily Bird are very good as the affected family members, wife and daughter respectively, and there is an excellent supporting cast that includes Kate Berlant, Tim Meadows, Michael Cera, and Dylan Baker, but the film rests on the shoulders of Cage, and he admirably carries it with ease.

I thought I was going to like Dream Scenario since I heard of the concept. The trailer just made me even more keen to see it. It absolutely surpassed my expectations, and is a perfect blend of humour, drama, commentary, and movie magic. I would hope that people are now well aware of how great Cage can be onscreen (he is enjoying a recent renaissance, but I have been a fan of him for decades, regardless of the times when the bad movies far outweighed the bad). If you somehow still doubt his talent, this may very well convert you.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Prime Time: Primal Rage (1988)

You can be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Primal Rage before now. I certainly hadn’t heard of it until a friend messaged me about it just a few days ago. Then I wondered how it had stayed off my radar for so long. Perhaps it was the generic title, two words that feel as if they have been mashed together at least a dozen times for a dozen different movies (there’s certainly at least one more recent film with the exact same title). Perhaps it was the fact that the plot was buried by a certain other horror movie that used the same starting point to go in a wildly different direction.

There's a lab in which some monkeys are being tested with some kind of rage virus. One monkey escapes a cage and bites a man who is there trying to investigate the situation, and that starts off a chain of events that will lead to more people being attacked, and the virus spreading. Which is going to make the upcoming Halloween party quite a lively one.

Directed by Vittorio (son of Carlo) Rambaldi, making his feature debut, this is hugely entertaining nonsense. The runtime is a perfectly-paced 90 minutes (give or take), the characters are memorable enough to identify throughout, but not so good that you would mourn them if they succumbed to the effects of the virus, and there is a fun third act that brings all of the main characters together for a violent confrontation that shows off some more of the makeup and effects that have been utilised well throughout the rest of the film.

The script, written by Umberto Lenzi and James Justice (credited together as Harry Kirkpatrick), is as silly as you want it to be. Our hero is a bit smug, but the featured bullies (yes, there are Neanderthal bullies) are so despicable that you automatically keep rooting against them, and the two featured female leads are good enough to hold your attention.

Patrick Lowe and Mitch Watson play their roles in a way that makes you wish more charismatic performers were chosen (especially true in the case of Lowe, who is the nominal hero of the piece), but Cheryl Arutt and Sarah Buxton help to make things more watchable, and Doug Sloan is a great presence in the role of Lovejoy aka leader of the bullies. There’s also a fun turn from Bo Svenaon as Ethridge, an unethical scientist, and at least one fake monkey has a feature role in one of the most memorable scenes.

I had even more fun with this than I thought I would. It sets up the plot and characters briskly enough, leaving plenty of time to have fun with the main concept (as well as also having time to insert scenes with a sleazy professor being sleazy). Who would have thought that a film about rage-infected monkeys spreading a virus to unfortunate humans would be so good? 

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

I watched, and reviewed, King Kong vs. Godzilla many years ago, a very basic couple of paragraphs that summed up my thoughts without me knowing quite as much as I do today about the enduring cinematic legacy of the Godzilla movies. So if you get a sense of déjà vu while reading this review, there’s a reason for that.

Let's get the simple plot out of the way: Godzilla wakes up and starts heading towards Tokyo, where everyone knows he will just start tearing the place apart, so Japan decides to "borrow" King Kong when he is discovered living on a small island just off the coast of . . . ummm . . somewhere not TOO far away from Japan (the exact location escapes me even though they show it on a map quite a few times during the movie). King Kong is set upon by the mighty lizard, and it's a smackdown to see who will be left standing. 

Director Ishirô Honda returns to helm this new instalment, although you wouldn’t think this was the same person who gave us the darker and brilliant first film. This isn’t as concerned with the potential lives lost, nor does it take much time to explore the ramifications of the destruction wrought while two giant monsters fight one another, but it tries to give decent moments to each of the fighting beasties. And if you need to see King Kong picking up a tree and ramming it into Godzilla’s mouth then this if the film for you.

The cast all do what they need to do, there’s a young woman in danger while a couple of men fret and plan to keep her safe (that’s all they need to do), and the plotting makes use of them to position the titular characters ready to fight one another. 

If you're a fan of this type of stuff (and I never even realised that I was until I found myself enjoying this so much) then this is just more happy viewing for you. The charmingly unrealistic miniatures, the rubber-suit monsters, the mix of poor trick photography and re-re-recycled footage. Many moments in the film provide laughs (some intentional and some unintentional) and there's never a dull moment, but it's like the cinematic equivalent of a Marmite sandwich; cheap and not very filling, but you either love or hate it.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Mubi Monday: Fallen Leaves (2023)

My second Kaurismäki film in a fortnight, and one that many had near the top of their lists of favourite movies of 2023, Fallen Leaves is another strange alchemy that has the writer-director mixing together the bleak and the bad into something that becomes sweet and affecting. Containing less black humour than some of his other works, this still manages to navigate some treacherous territory without making viewers feel too nervous. Because, wherever he ends up taking us, Kaurismäki is a considerate and careful "ship's captain".

Alma Pöstyi plays Ansa, a lonely woman who also ends up struggling to stay in full-time employment. In the same situation, but for quite different reasons, is Holappa (Jussi Vatanen). Meeting by chance, Ansa and Holappa seem to find a connection, and perhaps see a chance to grab some fleeting happiness with one another, but fate has other plans. Viewers aren't given detailed backgrounds on each of the main characters, but there are little (and some not so little) details to notice and extrapolate from.

As low-key and gentle as so many other Kaurismäki movies, Fallen Leaves is the kind of film you might get if Ken Loach was tasked with delivering a romance that showed some silver linings in the many clouds gathering overhead. It’s grounded in a daily drudgery that could easily subsume someone, a struggle that many will be able to at least partly identify with, and news reports detailing the war in Ukraine serve as a reminder to enjoy the small breadcrumbs of happiness that are sometimes laid down for us. The radio is delivering bad news, but it's also a voice available to people who may not hear from anyone else throughout their day.

Pöstyi and Vatanen are both fantastic in the lead roles, the two of them showing their characters dealing with their pain and loneliness in very different ways. Although others appear for very brief moments of screentime, this is essentially a two-hander for most of the runtime, making it vital that the leads are up to the task of carrying the film. They certainly are.

Whether or not you are familiar with Kaurismäki may help you to decide whether or not to bump this one to the top of your viewing schedule. I would recommend it though, as long as people approach it with some idea of what style and commentary the director likes to serve up. He puts scar tissue under a microscope and magnifies it until it looks like a moving and surreal work of art. The more I think about this since seeing it, the more I appreciate how delicate and perfectly-crafted it is.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Netflix And Chill: Lift (2024)

I don't dismiss every movie that debuts on a major streaming service. I believe, at least most of the time, that people keep trying to do their best to make a proper movie, and if their budget for it comes from a major streaming service then so be it. But there are some times when the films feel much more like "content" than actual movies. Lift is content, and it feels as if it has been worked on to cover every possible main demographic quadrant that Netflix wants to lure in.

Kevin Hart stars as Cyrus, a master thief leading a team of talented, but good-hearted (of course), criminals. Cyrus is so good that he is always three steps ahead of everyone, never getting caught with his fingers in the cookie jar, until he's caught with his fingers in the cookie jar. And he's caught just in time to be forced to conduct a major robbery on behalf of a government agency looking to screw up a deal being brokered by a dangerous criminal named Jorgensen (Jean Reno). Looking to get some extra insurance for his team, Cyrus agrees to take on the job as long as they are also joined by Abby (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), an Interpol agent he has some history with. And blah de blah de blah blah blahhhh.

The second film written by Daniel Kunka, who started his film career with the screenplay for the mediocre 12 Rounds (although maybe I will be more favourable to that film if I revisit it one day when in a better mood), this is flat and predictable throughout. Every time some obstacle cropped up to throw off the plan, I was able to figure out how it had already been considered, and incorporated, by our lead, because this is the kind of film in which the main character is always the smartest person in the room and the best person to be beside when the journey gets turbulent AKA the kind of role that Vin Diesel loves to play.

Although slightly better than the awful Heart Of Stone, the fact that F. Gary Gray is the director means that I should warn people that this is even worse than The Italian Job remake from 2023 (a film I know many people actively dislike, although I don't mind it). The action isn't staged well, the massive implausibility of each main sequence is glossed over with the standard editing techniques you'd expect and moments of the characters being cool, and a lot of the comedy falls flat.

Hart can be a lot of fun in movies, but it all depends on who he spends most of his screentime with. Put him alongside Dwayne Johnson and you get some great blockbuster entertainment. Put him in the midst of this motley crew and . . . not so much. Mbatha-Raw is a welcome presence, but saddled with the thankless role of being the authority figure who has a love/hate relationship with our lead. The other women (Úrsula Corberó and Yunjee Kim) are also slightly underused, with better moments written for the likes of Vincent D'Onofrio, Billy Magnussen, and David Proud. Jacob Batalon also does well, thanks more to his sheer force of personality than anything in the screenplay, but Sam Worthington, Jean Reno, Burn Gorman, and Paul Anderson all seem to be present to do nothing more than mess up the robbery in ways that Hart's character has already accounted for.

I'm sure that this will be an easy viewing choice for people who are browsing their many options and looking for something simple, fairly inoffensive, and entertaining. It's certainly simple, but I would argue that it's offensive in how it treats the viewer, and it's sadly not that entertaining. But I'll be generous with my rating, taking into consideration how much I enjoyed some of the smaller moments for the supporting cast members.

4/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Shudder Saturday: The Passenger (2022)

Quite a few people have been praising a film called The Passenger lately. It's a 2023 film that features Kyle Gallner in a central role, and I am very much looking forward to seeing it. That's why I clicked on the thumbnail for this when I saw it on Shudder. It didn't seem to be any imagery I'd seen previously, but I was curious. It soon became clear that this film titled The Passenger was not THAT film titled The Passenger, but the image and summary had me intrigued.

Ramiro Blas plays Blasco, a driver who has offered his services as a driver for people who then realise they may have made a mistake as soon as he pulls up in what looks like far from the most reliable transport (a slightly older and beaten up minivan). His first passenger on this particular trip is Mariela (Cecilia Suárez), but he then picks up Lidia (Crisitina Alcázar) and her daughter, Marta (Paula Gallego). Tensions quickly rise as Blasco manages to upset everyone in turn, but he's so unremittingly uncaring about what others think about him that young Marta starts enjoying his behaviour. And then they hit someone in the middle of the road. Putting her in the back of the van starts a wild night for everyone involved.

Co-directed by Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez (the former making his feature debut), The Passenger is a really fun and enjoyably gloopy sci-fi horror. Luis Sánchez-Polack, Asier Guerricaechebarría, and Javier Echániz are the main writing team, and they have a wealth of experience between them. In fact, Guerricaechebarría should already be known to Spanish horror movie fans for his work on the absolutely superb Errementari: The Blacksmith And The Devil, where he is credited with a slight different spelling of his surname. The dialogue throughout the first half of the movie is entertaining enough, developing each character in little ways that helps to add a bit of impact to the third act, and a final scene that feels hugely satisfying thanks to the constancy of one character's attitude to everything around them.

Blas gives an excellent performance (there's a hint of Luis Tosar about him, which is no bad thing), but he's easily matched by Gallego, who becomes the main person that he interacts with most during the journey. Both Suárez and Alcázar are very good, but they have to spend a lot of time eye-rolling to underline the ridiculousness of what Blas is saying throughout the first half hour.

I don't want to name the many similar titles that are better than this. That would give you even more of an idea about how things play out, and it would make it seem as if I didn't really like this. I had a lot of fun with this, more fun than expected, and I'm glad I stumbled across it. The special effects are great, the pacing is perfect, the characters are rounded enough to keep you interested, and there are one or two moments of real tension. It doesn't quite do enough to be great, but it's very good. I highly recommend it to people looking for something that hasn't been put on everyone's radar already.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

And here we are at the second full Godzilla movie, and me realising why I haven’t before attempted to watch and review so many of these movies in a particular space of time. So many of them work to a very familiar pattern, and the affection for them stems from knowing what you are going to get.

Godzilla is back, of course, but this time they’re not alone. A giant creature, Anguirus, is also on the prowl, which sets the scene for an eventual fight between the two gigantic beasties. But even if the fight leads to the end of one monster, one will still need to be dealt with by some puny humans.

Takeo Murata returns as a main writer, joined this time by Shigeaka Hidaka, apparently adapting a novel, “The Volcano Monsters”, into something that serves as a very important second star vehicle for a character who would become the most famous, and celebrated, kaiju in cinema. The human side of things isn’t quite as involving as it was in the first film, but there is a good enough blend of melodrama and stomping action.

Director Motoyoshi Oda knows what is needed, and delivers. There’s already a slightly lighter tone to the unfolding events, but the threat remains impressively rendered, in terms of destruction and the knock-on effect it has on the people who find their everyday routines completely disrupted, to say the least.

The cast includes Hiroshi Koizumi and Minoru Chiaki, as a pair of pilots who prove integral to the efforts undertaken to defeat Godzilla, and Setsuko Wakayama, as a young woman named Hidemi who feels like a covalent bond between those two. But everyone coming to this already knows who the real star is.

Not as good as the original movie, and very few of them are, but an excellent development of the franchise, interestingly showing the monster madness impacting lives and livelihoods in equal measure (something that would develop in interesting ways throughout subsequent decades).

If this review seems much shorter, and even less substantial, than usual, it probably is. As much as I am looking forward to fully exploring the Godzilla filmography (at long last), it would be easy to summarize most of them with the same few sentences. I will keep trying my best though, for what that is worth. 

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

In The Line Of Fire (1993)

There was a lot of love given to The Fugitive last year, tied to the fact that it was 30 years since it was released and it received the 4K disc treatment, and I am one of many people happy to see it. I have always loved that film, but seeing all the praise it was receiving last year kept making me wonder why In The Line Of Fire wasn’t getting the same treatment. Although a very different movie in many ways, it also feels like the other great all-star thriller from 1993.

John Malkovich plays a man who intends to assassinate the President Of The United States. He is smart, he has a background that helped him form a particular set of skills, and he is very determined to see his plan through to the very end. Things get more interesting for him when he realises that he can engage in a battle of wits with a Secret Service agent named Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood). Frank has spent his time in the service of numerous Presidents, and he was there on the day that JFK was assassinated. Did he hesitate at the moment he was supposed to act selflessly? He may just get a chance to live through that moment again, a chance to figure out if he can take a bullet for someone under his protection.

Written by Jeff Maguire (that’s it, just Jeff, no need for a team of writers interfering with the work), In The Line Of Fire is just top-tier entertainment from start to finish, plotted well enough to keep viewers from overthinking the implausibilities, making use of a great cast of characters, and maintaining a brilliant game of cat and mouse that has you wondering if you will get a happy or downbeat ending.

Director Wolfgang Petersen proves to be a great choice to steer the ship. In fact, you could easily argue that Petersen had an amazing little run between the early 1980s right up to the year 2000 where he basically did no wrong, although I say this without having rewatched Outbreak since I owned it on VHS. He mixes the old-fashioned star casting and interplay with set-pieces that benefit from his ability to step up the tension, and there are one or two scenes that wander very close to outright horror territory.

Eastwood is frankly superb in a lead role that allows him to both be the tough guy and remember that he is no longer a spring chicken. It’s a performance full of wry humour, worldly wisdom, and inherent courage. Malkovich, always an intense screen presence, gives us one of the villains for the ages, someone who is smart and determined and also not entirely in the wrong to have such a major axe to grind. Every scene that has Malkovich talking on the phone with Eastwood is much more electrifying than any moment simply depicting people on the phone should be. Rene Russo is a welcome addition, playing another agent who catches the eye of Oor Clint, and Dylan McDermott is the typical trope of the younger partner who ends up in a lot more danger than he can handle. Others who get some screentime include John Mahoney, Gary Cole, Fred Thompson, John Heard, and both Tobin Bell and Steve Railsback appear for a few minutes.

After my latest rewatch of this, I facetiously stated that In The Line Of Fire jogged alongside a Presidential motorcade so that Se7en could run. I still think there’s a grain of truth in that, considering how Clint’s character becomes such an important part of Malkovich’s endgame, but the best thing about this film is that it makes use of so many familiar elements while very much being its own thing. When it comes to smart and entertaining mainstream thrillers, this one really hits the mark.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Prime Time: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)

Based on a very popular book by Judy Blume, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. might be aimed more at girls of a certain age, and all the women who can remember what they were going through at that time, but it should also appeal to everyone who has gone through their own awkward moments as they navigate the path through childhood into the turbulent teen years. Anyone unable to empathize with the events that unfold here is someone you should probably give the side-eye to.

Abby Ryder Forston plays Margaret, a young girl who has her life turned upside down when her parents (played by Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie) move from the city to the suburbs. Margaret misses her grandmother (Kathy Bates), but she quickly makes one or two new friends (mainly Nancy, played by Elle Graham). Attaching your loyalty to someone so fully though, as children are wont to do, can lead to problems when you realise their imperfections. To make things a bit more complicated, Margaret is also starting to wonder about her potential religious faith. Her mother is Christian, her father is Jewish, but neither pressure Margaret into making a choice. It feels like something she wants to explore though. When she’s not thinking about boys and the strange experience of wearing a bra.

Directed, and adapted from book to screen, by Kelly Fremon Craig, this is a delight from start to finish, thanks to the warm and rounded characterisations, the identifiable life events used as main touchstones, and the full journey that we watch the main characters take.

It helps that the cast is so perfect, giving the kind of performances that either establish firm love for well-known faces or create an instant fanbase for the relative newcomers. While it’s odd to see McAdams now playing the mother figure, she’s great at being an understanding parent who tries to maintain a balance between being cool and being a reliable role model. Safdie has a bit less to do, but pairs up brilliantly with McAdams to provide a picture of an enviable marriage. Bates has the easiest role, she’s the gran who agrees with her granddaughter that the change in circumstances isn’t good. Forston is a delight in the lead role, playing her part with a natural style that would have been far too easy to set aside in favour of exaggerated emotions. There are exaggerated emotions, because everything feels life or death at that age, but Forston presents them exactly as any young girl would in real life. Graham is also very good, and becomes part of a talented ensemble of younger actors including Amari Alexis Price, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Aidan Wojtak-Hissong, Simms May, Zack Brooks, and Isol Young.

While I am not familiar with the source material, unlike so many others who will be keen to see the movie, I appreciate that Craig made something that strings together a number of vignettes into something that feels so focused and still containing a firm narrative arc. A lovely soundtrack helps, there’s a nice selection of period detail in the fashions and furnishings, and the whole thing is just like a big hug, something I wasn’t sure I actually wanted until I was smiling while in the midst of that cinematic embrace.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

The Creator (2023)

With a basic narrative that will feel very familiar to fans of popular media (a man has to ferry a child from A to B while trying to stop people from realising how important/powerful the child is), I can see why The Creator didn’t really make the impact that writer-director Gareth Edwards would have been hoping for. That’s a shame though, because The Creator is a visual feast that ends up being more than just the sum of its parts. 

John David Washington plays Joshua, a former soldier who is tasked with heading into enemy territory and taking ownership of a weapon that could turn the tide in an ongoing battle between humans and A.I. robots. The weapon doesn’t look like a weapon though. It looks like a child (Madeleine Yula Voyles), albeit a robo-child, and details are revealed that make the situation increasingly complicated for Joshua.

The cast is a big plus here, and Washington continues to deliver great performances in everything he’s attached to. Voyles is also very good, playing her innocent and powerful character with just the right amount of constant vulnerability. Gemma Chan doesn’t get much screentime, but she plays a pivotal role in the proceedings, and Allison Janney once again shows how effortlessly badass she can be, this time playing a badass military figure. Other familiar faces include Amar Chadha-Patel, Ralph Ineson, and Ken Watanabe, all being as reliable as our lead.

The other big plus, and the main selling point, is the gorgeousness of the full world that has been realised onscreen. Edwards knows how to stretch every dollar of a budget, and the spectacle he presents here rivals that of many movies that would have cost two or three times what this cost, if not more. Although it doesn’t take time to dwell on every detail, this is a film that feels as if a whole world keeps on turning just beyond the edges of the frame. The score from Hans Zimmer works in perfect harmony with the visuals, and sci-fi fans should find plenty to soak up and enjoy here.

The script is where things fall down. Working with Chris Weitz, Edwards is unable to craft any dialogue or set-pieces worthy of the world that the characters inhabit. There are very good moments here and there, and it’s still engaging thanks to the central characters, but things are dragged down by a mix of predictability and stretched plausibility. The backstory for Joshua doesn’t seem to fit pieces together as well as it’s supposed to, but maybe that’s just me being cynical.

Weakness be damned though. I loved The Creator. The strengths ultimately outweigh the weaknesses, and I am happy we have this kind of originality to savour, even if it’s as derivative and faltering as some other movies I might judge more harshly, depending on my mood and the timing.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Mubi Monday: I Hired A Contract Killer (1990)

Every time I watch another movie from Aki Kaurismäki, I remember that I have enjoyed almost everything else I have seen from him. He already has many fans, so I would probably be preaching to the converted with a lot of the praise I could put here, but I Hired A Contract Killer is another feature in his filmography that is well worth your time, as long as you can accept the dark material being mined for some even darker comedy.

Jean-Pierre Léaud plays Henri, a man who is let go from his job after fifteen years with the company. He immediately plans to end his life. This is when his luck goes from bad to worse, subjectively speaking, and viewers get to see Henri fail in his attempts to commit suicide. The obvious next step is to hire someone to kill him, which he does, but he then meets a woman (Margaret, played by Margi Clarke) who gives him something to live for. That's not necessarily of any concern to The Killer (Kenneth Colley) though.

Written and directed by Kaurismäki, from a story idea by Peter von Bagh, this is one of those films that could head off in any number of different directions. It could be a dark thriller, and there are certainly moments here that feel quite noir-ish. It could be a much more obvious comedy. It could be turned into a decent little action film. Or it could be turned into numerous other final forms, many of them seeming more familiar without that particular Kaurismäki stamp on things.

Léaud is impressively quiet and blank in the main role, a man being moved by the tide, as opposed to making any effort to swim against it, and Clarke has enough screen presence to convince as the woman who instantly changes his whole mindset. Colley, the spoke in the wheel, but also the essential component making our leads quickly develop such a strong bond, is also perfectly cast, a menacing figure with an air of fallibility to allow viewers to keep rooting for things to turn out well for Henri and Margaret.

I don’t think I would recommend this film for those new to Kaurismäki, it’s maybe a bit too dark and strange for those not acclimatized to the director, but I highly recommend it to anyone already aware of his work. He has a knack for weaving together disparate elements into something wholly satisfying and resonant, and this time around he shows how quickly someone worn down by impersonal environments and crushing loneliness can find themselves again with the right motivation and sliver of hope. There is a whole other conversation to be had about how fair that is, considering the pressure on the person embodying that new lease of life, but the film sets that aside in favour of something a bit less complicated, until you keep thinking it all over after the end credits.

And that seems as deliberate as everything else here, because every Kaurismäki film tends to keep you thinking it all over after the end credits.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Netflix And Chill: Leave The World Behind (2023)

Based on a novel by Rumaan Alam, Leave The World Behind is arguably just as well-known now for being produced by Barack and Michelle Obama as it is for being written and directed by Sam Esmail. It proved quite divisive when released just over a month ago, but I'm going to say that it's definitely worth your time, if only for the fact that none of the main cast members put a foot wrong with their performances.

The premise is quite simple. Amanda and Clay Sandford head away for a peaceful vacation, two teenaged kids in tow. Things soon start to get a bit strange though, particularly when some time at the beach is interrupted by a huge ship crashing into the shore. They get even stranger, and more tense, when G. H. Scott and his daughter, Ruth, turn up on the doorstep of the holiday home, claiming to be the owner in need of shelter after a major incident has caused havoc in the city. Clay is quite welcoming and easygoing about the whole thing, but Amanda immediately has her guard up.

If there's one major criticism I could directed at Leave The World Behind it's the fact that nothing seems as interestingly ambiguous as it could have been. The first half is much more interesting than the rest of it, although there's plenty of decent individual moments to still make it worth the 138-minute runtime. Of course, some of that may be down to my response to the casting, and the way that Esmail is happy to have certain characters be so cold and spiky that you automatically hope for others to prove their misanthropy wrong.

Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke are the Sandfords, and their children are played by Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans. Everyone is perfect in roles that allow them to have a number of fun and interesting interactions with others onscreen, even if Mackenzie's character is motivated most of the time by a surprisingly understandable need to find a way to watch the final episodes of Friends, something familiar and comforting as the situation around her grows more chaotic and alien. Evans has the least to do, although even he gets to make an impact in the third act with the journey that his character goes on, but both Hawke and Roberts are as watchable as ever, with the latter seeming to relish a role that allows her to retain a cool and spiky demeanour for most of her screentime. As the Scotts, both Mahershala Ali and Myha'la are brilliant, dealing with a spiralling situation that they know is going to be exacerbated by the attitudes and prejudices of people acting rashly while driven by fear. Ali's character really knows the value of keeping people calm and pro-active, but he struggles to keep others on the same page. There's also a good little turn from Kevin Bacon, delivering one of his best performances in a while as someone else preparing for what he sees is a major storm brewing, to put it mildly.

The first big project from Esmail since his huge TV success (and I encourage everyone reading this to check out the brilliant and thought-provoking Mr. Robot), Leave The World Behind is enjoyably ambitious and messy. It's a melting point of talking points, with at least one scene sticking in your mind because of it being impressively terrifying for the cinematic strangeness and horrific implications, but doesn't ever really turn into something completely satisfying. I started to suspect that would be the case at about the halfway mark though, and I'm not sure of any other way the film should have ended. 

It may make you a bit more anxious than the latest world news and ongoing daily dumpster fires going on around us already do, but I still think people should give this a go. It doesn't ever become more than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts are simply brilliant.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Shudder Saturday: Destroy All Neighbors (2024)

While not the first feature film from Josh Forbes (that was Contracted: Phase II, back in 2015), Destroy All Neighbors feels like a more pure vision. It's a horror comedy that you just know wouldn't be made if everyone involved didn't have a firm belief in the fact that they were making something unique and worthwhile. As the repeated mantra throughout the movie states: "not everyone will get it, but the right ones will." 

Jonah Ray plays William Brown, a struggling prog-rock musician who believes that he has a great album bubbling just beneath his skin, but isn't quite able to get everything in order to get a recording that matches his thoughts. His partner, Emily, (Kiran Deol), tries to remain as supportive as she can, but there are signs of strain. And that strain increases when William is perturbed by a very noisy new neighbour, Vlad (Alex Winter, under a lot of impressive make up). Eventually arguing with Vlad about the situation, William then accidentally kills him. That isn't the only death he ends up causing. What's worse is that the dead people seem to be just as active as they were when alive.

Written by Charles A. Pieper, Jared Logan, and Mike Benner (the latter two already credited with a decent selection of comedy material), Destroy All Neighbors is a film you could probably most accurately describe as daffy. Everything is over the top, from the main characters to the wonderful practical effects, and the plot is a simple mix of gore gags and Tenacious D. In fact, this would pair up surprisingly well with Freaked (although that is a better film), and I think that makes it obvious why Winter got involved. It's a shame that things weren't shown in a way that could make us doubt the viewpoint of the lead character a bit more, although some might argue that the inherently wild nature of the unfolding events should make us doubt that viewpoint anyway, but this is a very fun time for those who don't mind their horror comedies taking the time to be extra silly.

Forbes directs well enough, and helps himself immensely by delivering a runtime that clocks in under the 90-minute mark. The pacing isn't perfect, it feels as if each main act has at least one scene that runs a bit too long, but everything and everyone is moved into place nicely enough, helping to build up the many gags and underline the impact of a very satisfying finale.

Ray is very good in the main role, the typical schlub who ends up in a big mess he has to pro-actively deal with after years spent simply reacting, or not, to various levels of mistreatment from those around him. Deol has less to do, but she's rewarded with a couple of moments at the very end of the movie that allow her to add to the fun of the whole thing. Winter is having a blast (whether covered in all that make up or making a cameo as our lead's lawyer), as are both Thomas Lennon and Ryan Kattner (who play a sound studio engineer and volatile musician, respectively), and there are also decent performances from Randee Heller, DeMorge Brown, and Christian Calloway, all playing other people who end up reaching their "final destination" as things get progressively worse and worse for our lead character. I'll also mention Jon Daly, Pete Ploszek, and, making an unexpected and unnecessary, but enjoyable, cameo, Kumail Nanjiani.

Ultimately just not as sharp as it could be. The thin plot stumbles from one gag to the next, and somehow the moments of inventive gore will make many viewers wish that everyone had tried to push things even further in the direction of insane bloodshed and comedy deaths, but it's enjoyable and endearing throughout, and the fact that it's so eager to please should gain it some goodwill from most people who decide to check it out. Not great, and I wanted to enjoy it more than I did, but best summed up by saying . . . "not everyone will get it, but the right ones will".

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Prospect (2018)

Sci-fi often feels like it only comes along in two forms, at least in the movies. You get the small-scale movies that allow people to make the most of one or two great ideas, and you get the big-budget spectacles. It isn’t often that you get something that seems to land between the two, especially something that actually succeeds in what it sets out to do. Prospect is one such movie though, and I was genuinely impressed by the world-building in this. It is all about ideas and people, but everything onscreen also presents a believable and well-realised future without ever feeling cheap.

It all starts with Damon (Jay Duplass) and his daughter, Cee (Sophie Thatcher), landing in a remote alien environment where they will spend time carefully harvesting gems from the dangerous environment around them. It’s not the easiest job, but the great risk offers great reward. Everything changes, however, when Ezra (Pedro Pascal) muscles his way into the picture. It soon becomes clear that Ezra and Cee will have to work together if they want to get things in order for a homeward bound journey.

Written and directed by Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl, expanding from their 2014 short film, this is a perfect mix of interesting ideas, good characters, and tech and alien life that is both believable and impressive. That doesn’t mean that the movie itself is perfect, which I will get back to soon enough, but everything is here in just the right proportions to deliver a tasty recipe for those willing to drink it all down.

The small cast is uniformly excellent, but both Pascal and Thatcher stand out, working so well together that it seems to solidify the notion of Pascal being the best choice for any story that requires a reticent father figure to help a youngster on a perilous journey. Both have good reason to mistrust one another, but both also choose to be surprisingly optimistic as they work together towards a common goal. 

Caldwell and Earl do what they need to do, focusing on characters and numerous small details to hint at the texture of a bigger and stranger universe onscreen, but there are a couple of small touches that stop this from being as great as it could be. A bit more time spent setting up the relationship between Damon and Cee could have helped, as well as some more context for the other characters that our leads interact with (e.g. how/why are they dangerous? what are the usual rules of engagement? etc). I enjoy not having everything spelled out for me, but I can’t help thinking that Prospect would have been improved with just a bit more information filling in some of the gaps.

Despite my nit-picking, this is a great bit of sci-fi, and a brilliant feature debut. I hope to see more from Caldwell and Earl soon, and it’s a shame that they haven’t already been attached to any other feature since this, although fingers crossed that we aren’t left waiting too long for whatever they decide their next feature will be. 

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Godzilla, King Of The Monsters! (1956)

Although not the second film in the series, chronologically, I decided to continue my journey through the filmography of Godzilla with this instalment because it is the film that rejigged the original film and repackaged it for mainstream Western audiences. It's probably the first Godzilla movie I ever saw, and I would say that applies to many other Brits and Americans of my generation.

The plot is the same as it was in Godzilla, with the main difference between the two films being a new character (an American reporter named Steve Martin, played by Raymond Burr) who narrates everything in a way that removes the need for subtitles. Most of this is accomplished by simply editing footage from the original film around the exposition delivered by Burr's character, but some of it is accomplished by a variety of stand-ins allowing moments to be reframed with our American at the heart of the the Godzilla carnage.

Put into the hands of Terry Morse for this interpretation, Godzilla, King Of The Monsters! isn't a terrible film. It works exactly as it is intended to work, and I would still mention it as an ideal introductory film if you have younger viewers who are interested in giant monster movies and the history of cinema. It suffers greatly in comparison to the original (because it's constantly patronising, and let's kindly and euphemistically refer to it as mired in some of the attitudes of the time), and those who have already moved through the majority of the classic Japanese films will probably view this as something to sneer it, but it's okay for a gateway film.

Burr is Burr, happy to have his hair mussed up as he tries to stay alive while a city is being ruined around him. It's hard not to take on that central role and not realise what it is, and he willingly takes on that task, being the narrator providing what is basically a summary of a much better movie. Everyone else is, well, I already commented on their performances in the original movie. Are they just as good here? Sadly not, but that's not their fault. It's the fault of the editing and the clumsy way some of the footage is altered to include Burr.

The good thing about Godzilla, King Of The Monsters! is that I can barely remember it after the end credits have rolled. It's a very small critter that stays resting peacefully in the shadow of a roaring titan. It's the Godzooky of the film series, if you will. There's space for Godzooky, in the grand scheme of things, but it will never be a rival to Big G.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Prime Time: Foe (2023)

It is the future. Stuff has happened that isn’t great, although it also doesn’t seem to be anything plunging the world into a violence-filled apocalypse. A married couple, Hen (Saoirse Ronan) and Junior (Paul Mescal), are trying to move through what seems to be a slightly strained and difficult period while they continue to work on the land that surrounds their remote farmhouse. Things aren’t helped by the arrival of a stranger (Terrance, played by Aaron Pierre) who is tasked with preparing them for a major change in their living arrangements.

Although I hadn’t heard many glowing notices for Foe, there were/are one or two people who decided to champion it as an unfairly-neglected work. Considering the talent of the two main leads, I decided to check it out. I wish I hadn’t bothered. This is massively disappointing, with a cast stuck working with highly unoriginal material and a lack of any real vision.

I would be more forgiving if this was the first film from director Garth Davis, but it isn’t. He made a splash a few years ago with the celebrated Lion, but this is a very different beast (no pun intended). Here he adapts a book by Iain Reid, with Reid himself also assisting in the move from page to screen, but neither writer is able to do enough to flesh out the backgrounds of the main characters or keep the sense of a bigger world turning around them. If you want a well-done character study then this isn’t it, I’m afraid. Then again, if you want some smart sci-fi, this is also lacking in that department. So it is hard to think of anyone who will be fully satisfied by this.

Ronan and Mescal are still both very watchable, overcoming the script to make their characters more interesting and sympathetic than they otherwise would be. They are the big draw, and I suspect this would have been unbearable with lesser stars in the main roles. As for Pierre, he is fine. His character adds tension and intrigue, but he also highlights the many problems that litter the screenplay, from dialogue exchanges to the entire structure of the thing.

I am sure everyone involved in this had good intentions, and there are choices made that I can appreciate even as I continued to dislike how I saw the film was playing out, but this isn’t worth your time. In fact, it would work far better as a minimally-staged play, something that keeps the focus on the performances instead of the tired ideas at the heart of it all. Don’t rush to see this film. But if it does get the stage treatment at any point, do give that a go.

4/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share