One Battle After Another (2025)

At the start of One Battle After Another, the main character, Pat (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), is shown helping to free immigrants from a detention centre. He is part of a revolutionary group, The French 75, but it's soon revealed that he became part of the cause because of his love for Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). The group make a powerful enemy in Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), but the Colonel also becomes immediately infatuated with Perfidia. Things go wrong, years pass by, and Pat is now going by the name of Bob, and is now raising his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti) as a single father. He's often busy drinking or smoking weed, and he's paranoid about the past catching up with him. Being paranoid doesn't mean he's wrong though. The past soon starts catching up with him, and Lockjaw uses all of the military resources at his disposal to target Willa.

Before I get into some of the substance of the film, I'll mention all of the main cast members. DiCaprio gives another performance that taps into his talent for comedy, although it's different from the comedy he's done in other movies from the past decade. He's a burnt-out loser, but he at least had one or two shining moments in his past. Infiniti is so great in her first film role that I wouldn't hesitate to call this a star-making turn. And as for Penn, he gives what could well be his best turn in a very long time, somehow making his character buffoon-ish, but also constantly dangerous and threatening. Taylor makes a hell of an impression in her role, as powerful and majestic as she needs to be, and there's also time for brilliant work from Regina Hall and Benicio del Toro, the latter a calm and smart operator nicely juxtaposed alongside the frantic shambling of DiCaprio.

The tenth narrative feature film from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, and his second developed (loosely?) from source material written by Thomas Pynchon, One Battle After Another shows a film-maker absolutely confident in his abilities to juggle tone, explore some interesting themes in complex ways, and deliver moments of cinematic joy. This is a long film, the runtime is 161 minutes, but anyone who finds it pressing the right buttons for them won't be bothered. In fact, I was happy to spend as much time as possible revelling in this mix of madness and mayhem.

Despite taking a hell of a long time to finally get to the screen, Anderson had wanted to make this for years, this is a film that feels very much of the here and now. It shows the huge divide between the strong and the vulnerable, shows the ripple effect emanating out from acts of political violence, and also takes time to show that those with the real power and money will ultimately do their utmost to seek ideals of racial purity that would be laughable if it wasn't so deadly. While Anderson appears to plant his own flag very much in territory that would try to fend off the likes of Lockjaw and co., he has both a protagonist and an antagonist who end up as extremists due to dishonest motivations. But whatever the reasons, when you make major decisions based on either love or hate then you have to deal with the repercussions of those decisions for the rest of your life. It's not enough to be an occasional tourist in the kind of lives that we're shown. Commitment is necessary, for better or worse.

Taking time to let us know all of the main players, and the stakes, Anderson then has fun with a premise that keeps the characters constantly on the move. Accompanied by another great Johnny Greenwood score, there's an ongoing pursuit of our addled hero, gorgeous Michael Bauman cinematography and camera moves that you'd expect (although it never feels as if it is calling attention to itself), and at least one cracking car chase sequence in the third act. I've seen many rush to praise Anderson for his ability to handle action though, and I would warn potential viewers not to expect too much. But when you do get some unadulterated adrenalin-pumping moments then, oh boy, it IS good stuff indeed.

The more I think about One Battle After Another, the more I am impressed that the end result feels so completely satisfying. This is a film that features both pratfalls and a sequence showing Americans being executed by military personnel, it has horrible racists shown to be as absurd as they are deadly, and it paints a bleak picture of modern American scenarios we can see unfolding on the news daily while somehow also pointing out the characters and tactics that should give us some optimism. 

I came away from this first viewing thinking that I really REALLY liked it, but didn't think it was quite the masterpiece some were already calling it. I'm already not so sure about that, and I can see myself considering this another slice of cinematic perfection from PTA whenever I get around to a rewatch, which I could happily indulge in right now. 

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 

Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023)

Sometimes you allow your expectations to dictate your viewing experience, which is how I set time aside to start 2024 with a viewing of Killers Of The Flower Moon, a film I was very much hoping to really enjoy. I ended up loving it. I'd even go as far as calling it another masterpiece in the extensive filmography of Martin Scorsese.

What you have here is a story of greed and white privilege, all stemming from the oil that was discovered under Osage Nation land in 1920s Oklahoma. Not necessarily trusted to manage their new wealth on their own, the government created a system that would allow the Osage people to spend their money while safeguarding the potential for white men to infiltrate, and benefit from, the community. William Hale (Robert De Niro) is a man who claims to be a friend of the Osage people, but he's trying to feather his nest while viewing himself as some kind of criminal mastermind. A grand plan is set in motion when his nephew, Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns from WWI, leading to Ernest eventually courting Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), with the intention of marrying her and getting himself in line for a very nice inheritance. Things inevitably don't go to plan.

Based on the non-fiction book by David Grann, Killers Of The Flower Moon was crafted into a brilliant and brilliantly intelligent screenplay by Scorsese and Eric Roth. Not only does it tell the story that deserves to be told, Scorsese also acknowledges the problematic nature of the material. It's an important travesty/tragedy packaged for entertainment, to some degree, and it's being told via the perspective of a privileged white man, which is almost a constant issue being explored throughout the hefty runtime. Scorsese actually makes an appearance in front of the camera at one point, and he comes very close to just outright apologising for sharing this tawdry slice of American history in the only way he can.

If you watch the film and don't consider how important, and how unfair, the perspective is, it's worth remembering that many of the characters onscreen are idiots. Some are more obviously idiotic than others (DiCaprio's character being the simplest, but De Niro undermines almost all of his serious and scary moments with ridiculous attempts to maintain a sense of self-importance and a facade that so many around him can already see through), but you could throw a ball of paper at this assembled cast of characters and have a 98% chance of hitting a moron.

It feels like I don't even have to say how good the main cast are. Aside from DiCaprio giving another performance up there with his very best, and De Niro doing what he has done so well for Scorsese over the years, Gladstone is just sublime. She's helped by the fact that she gets to be smarter than so many of the people around her, and there's a sad desperation sighing in her soul as she views a "coyote" as a better option than many other men in the community, thinking that an open admission of greed and laziness will make her situation safer than it could be. Scott Shepherd is also very good, playing Ernest's brother, and also someone even more brazen about his criminality and abuse of others. There are many others who step on screen to steal a scene or two, including Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow, but the other real stars are Cara Jade Myers (playing the beautifully spirited and unrelenting Anna) and Ty Mitchell (who seems acutely aware of the idiocy of the criminals he ends up working with, but is unable to avoid them).

Every element here is as carefully considered as it needs to be, from the bursts of violence to the score and soundtrack, from the moments that make the bittersweet humour more obvious to the growing and stifling air of tragedy and horror, and I personally felt the three and a half hour runtime fly by (although others have seen this as a major failing). As I said at the start of this review, this is another Scorsese masterpiece.

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

Mubi Monday: Gangs Of New York (2002)

Despite owning Gangs Of New York for at least a decade, I have a strong suspicion that I haven't actually rewatched it since first seeing it on VHS back when it was first released. I believe my opinion was one shared by many other people then. Daniel Day-Lewis was brilliant as the main villain (well, sort of the main villain, I'll expand on that soon enough), Leonardo DiCaprio was good, but not great, and Cameron Diaz was the weakest of the stars onscreen. The film was typical Scorsese, forming another chapter in his ongoing series about violent people creating things that then become bigger than them. Goodfellas is about a man making himself into a mobster, and a monster. Casino is about the mob building Las Vegas. Gangs Of New York is all about the thuggery and violence that was used to shape, I'll give you two guesses, yep, New York.

DiCaprio plays Amsterdam Vallon, a man we see returning to the bosom of New York many years after watching his father be killed in a huge street battle. The man who killed him is Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting (Day-Lewis), a figure who basically runs the city. Amsterdam has to bide his time before avenging his father, which allows him to get closer and closer to Bill, but he also gets closer to a young woman named Jenny Everdeane (Diaz). It might take a village to raise a child, but it takes some rough time on the streets to make a man. Or something like that.

It's easy to see why director Martin Scorsese would have been drawn to this story/script, written by Jay Cocks, Steve Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. It shows a bloody chapter in history that did just as much to help some people as it did to destroy many others. What is more surprising, especially when rewatching the film today, is just how it stealthily leads you towards an overview of a whole system that is imbalanced and riddled with injustice. People like Bill are able to hold on to their positions because they help those who are in official positions of power. Respectability is a mask, and often worn by those who can quickly call on others to do their dirty work for them, and for a ridiculously low price. And no matter where you think you are in the pecking order, your position is only there as long as those with much more money and power allow it.

Day-Lewis steals the movie, and rightly so. His character is a perfect blend of great writing matched by a flawless performance, and he's always a believable threat to those around him. While DiCaprio isn't as assured or memorable, he does enough to make his part work, and he just about manages to hold his own when sharing the screen with such a formidable co-star. Diaz isn't terrible, but she struggles to convince anyone that she was one of the best picks for the role, although she's not helped by a script that is much more confident with the many main male roles than it is with the lone woman. Elsewhere, the cast is stacked with great actors giving their best attempts at the accents (mainly Irish American). Brendan Gleeson and Gary Lewis are highlights, but you also get to enjoy John C. Reilly, Stephen Graham, Jim Broadbent, and Henry Thomas in some plum roles.

Where this succeeds is in the way it cuts into the corpses that helped to build a city, and also helped to build America, and then starts to show how even the strongest figures were so often puppeteered by those with limited patience for them. Where is falls down slightly is in the way it feels exactly like a film from the early 2000s. This comes through in the casting, it comes through in a score and soundtrack that is not up there with the best work of either composer Howard Shore or Scorsese himself (who often has a great ear for the best tunes to use), and it is there in a couple of moments that I would argue remain some of the most disappointing work from the usually flawless editor Thelma Schoonmaker. I am not a complete moron though, and there are still plenty of moments here where she shows off her consummate skill, but one or two big battle scenes are marred by editing choices - changes in the speed of the action, a lot of cross-dissolving and overlaid imagery - that feel very much from this time.

Despite these minor criticisms, and they are based on very conscious choices by the director, Gangs Of New York easily holds up as another absolute cracker from a director who has rarely put a foot wrong throughout a long and impressive career. And, despite very stiff competition, it’s quite possibly the best performance that Day-Lewis has ever given.

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

The Great Gatsby (2013)

It feels like a lose-lose situation when it comes to adapting The Great Gatsby into film form. Often in the conversation when people are considering the “great American novel”, it’s a fantastic tale that means many different things to many different people. I have read it, amazingly enough, and what I remembered most about it was the feeling of ennui and boredom that seems to cover the central characters like an umbrella, underlining the idea that money can’t buy happiness. There’s also a commentary on permitted behaviours in different social classes, and the fluidity of Gatsby’s personal history, a story people keep gossiping about, feels very much about the bemusement of those who have always had money and wealth reacting to someone new to their particularly privileged strata.

While the story is interesting, it’s also one that superficially appears to be one long sequence of parties that go on for a bit too long. Thinking back on The Great Gatsby, I think of those parties. I think of a feeling of haziness, that moment in between pure joy and paranoia, when the time seems too early to leave but you already know you have stayed up too late. You’re going to be in trouble the next day, but that doesn’t matter right now. Right now is all about the music and dancing and good company.

So who better to convey that feeling than Baz Luhrmann, the master of the numerous loud and brash cinematic equivalents of a party megamix? 

Leonardo DiCaprio is Gatsby, the enigmatic figure who changes the life of Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire). Their relationship is the heart of the film, although Gatsby has a yearning for Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), who is already married to the rich, but unrefined, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), and tension builds between all four characters as the story hurtles towards a finale that may change the lives of everyone forever. Or may prove merely a small bump in the road for those who can speed away from their problems in a fancy sports car.

Adapting F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work for the big screen, writer Craig Pearce and Luhrmann (who have collaborated on almost every other film that Luhrmann has directed) allow themselves plenty of time to unsurprisingly lead viewers into a world of indulgence and excess. That really is Luhrmann’s M.O. A lot of The Great Gatsby is as stylish and beautiful as you would expect from a film set in the 1920s, but Pearce and Luhrmann both do a great job of letting viewers sense something unpleasant beneath the polished veneer. It’s a grand hotel suite, full of flowers and pleasant scents, but one with a decomposing body hidden under the floorboards.

Maguire and DiCaprio are perfectly cast, with the former acting wide-eyes and easily manipulated by those around him while the latter simply embodies what you think absolute charm and charisma wrapped immaculate clothing should look like. Mulligan and Edgerton aren’t as natural a fit in their roles, but both do well, and it’s always believable enough when Mulligan plays someone beloved by those around her (she has had amazing screen presence in every single role of her career). Jason Clarke and Isla Fisher do decent work in their roles, but the real star amongst the supporting cast is Elizabeth Debicki, who I wanted to see much more of. Debicki feels the most at ease in the trappings of the time period, and her character sits nicely in between the extremes of the other personalities in her circle of friends.

I haven’t seen any of the other film versions of The Great Gatsby (I THINK there are about 4 or 5), but it’s hard to imagine them rivalling this. As usual, Luhrmann creates a complete audio and visual blend that both bombards and immerses viewers. He directs his movies like he’s presenting a magic show, plenty of misdirection and distraction delivering straightforward fun in between the moments that show what he was really up to all along.

This may not be one of THE great American films, but it’s a damn fine adaptation of the source material. And it’s a damn fine film. I recommend it to everyone. If you don’t enjoy it then all I can do is apologise, old sport.

Note - I HIGHLY recommend seeing this in 3D if you can. I have the 3D Blu-ray and it was even more brilliant and bedazzling than expected. Although, knowing Luhrmann, I should have known he would have a blast with that format.

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

Netflix And Chill: The Departed (2006)

Although I had seen The Departed before, and I watched it more than once (between a cinema visit and viewings when I picked it up to add to my movie collection), I realised that my last viewing of it was over a decade ago. So now was as good a time as any to give it a revisit, and once the end credits rolled I knew that I wouldn't leave it over a decade until my next viewing. Because The Departed is an absolute triumph for everyone involved, and serves as another reminder that not all remakes are inherently bad (although I also need to rewatch Infernal Affairs soon, which I've ALSO not seen for well over a decade).

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon play Billy Costigan and Colin Sullivan, respectively. Both are cops, but both are very different, and they don't know one another (which is very important for the plot). Costigan is judged to have the right background and character to be used as an undercover agent, tasked with the job of getting close to a criminal kingpin named Costello (Jack Nicholson). That's difficult enough, but Costello also has a cop who helps to keep him one step ahead of most investigations. And that cop is Sullivan. As things start to heat up for Costello, everything gets much more dangerous and intense for Costigan and Sullivan, and it looks likely that things will end up with even more names being added to the list of the recently departed. 

Director Martin Scorsese has good form when it comes to picking material to remake, having also done an absolutely stellar job with his version of Cape Fear. He arguably has stronger material to work with here, and an even more impressive roster throughout the cast (not to cast any aspersions on those he cast in Cape Fear at all, this just has more roles available due to the bigger canvas being painted on), and the script by William Monahan adapts the 2002 original with skill and care for each member of the cast being able to shine in their role. I'd still recommend that anyone watching, and enjoying, this film should check out the original, but this is so well reshaped towards the Boston setting and cast that I feel it's actually the superior telling of the tale (only just though). And it's worth noting that I have yet to watch the other two movies in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, despite owning the boxset for a number of years.

Nicholson may be a bit daffy, perhaps giving off an air of someone having too much fun in a very dangerous situation, but I think his performance works very well. He is a thug who at times tries to wear a cloak of civility, and he is always uncomfortable doing so, making him almost desperate for his own reign to come to an end. Damon is excellent, a really sneaky sonofabitch who you want to see get his comeuppance, but also end up thrilled by as he constantly pulls out audacious moves to keep his role a secret from those around him. DiCaprio owns the movie though, playing someone who is both tough and brave without ever taking anything for granted. You somehow never forget that he is the good guy, even during the scenes that have him participating in some awful criminal activities. Elsewhere, Vera Farmiga is superb as a police psychologist who becomes strongly attached to both men, all while remaining oblivious to them actually working on opposite sides of the law, Ray Winstone is once again a very convincing tough guy, and both Anthony Anderson and James Badge Dale are a couple of cops who may end up being played like pawns by those who know much more than they do. Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, and Mark Wahlberg are cast appropriately, playing characters who know more than the young leads, and both Baldwin and Wahlberg (always a main choice for any Boston cop role) bring a lot of humour to the film, trading insults, riling people up, and happy to physically assault anyone they think isn't taking any of their major investigations as seriously as they should. There are also great supporting turns from David O'Hara, Mark Rolston, Kevin Corrigan, and Kristen Dalton.

As with pretty much every Scorsese movie, another main character is the soundtrack, with "Gimme Shelter" and "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" being the two to make the biggest impact. You also get the expected directorial flourishes, a load of profanity, and outbursts of violence that will make you wince. The final 20-30 minutes is an extended bloodbath, with every loose end being tied up by a number of fatal shootings and sudden deaths, and even those used to movie violence may be taken aback by scenes that seemingly dance from one major death to another.

Once again, I want to make one final clarification that I think the original film is superb. I NEED to revisit it. I used to have some problems with The Departed, mainly with the tone of a couple of the performances (Nicholson and Wahlberg sometimes seeming a bit out of place with the outbursts that made me laugh). I no longer have those problems. It all just works for me. While I expect few people to rate this as highly as I do, most should really like it, especially if you're already a fan of the director and/or stars. I now view it as a modern masterpiece. It's perfect, and I could happily rewatch it again right now.

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 

Netflix And Chill: Don't Look Up (2021)

People denying facts that are literally about to hit them in a major death-strike, a three word slogan rallying round those who decide to politicise a major problem for the entire human race, and media that is complicit in helping to keep the masses placid and uninformed. Don't Look Up is a comedy that foregoes subtlety in an attempt to present something that is horribly close to the truth of our present times.

Written and directed by Adam McKay (from a story co-created by David Sirota), who has made a number of superb comedies in the past decade that use humour to probe major societal problems with surgeon-like precision, this may be an obvious allegory for the many people trying to deny climate change, but it's also yet another McKay movie clearly showing how so many ills of our world are rooted in the same place as every evil, money. A news team (Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry) want to keep their audience happy for the ratings. A president (Meryl Streep) and her son (Jonah Hill) want to stay high in the polls, and nothing upsets people more than a potentially Extinction Level Event. There's also Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), a Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg/Elon Musk amalgamation, a very rich man with just enough scientific knowledge, and smart people on his payroll, to think he has all the answers.

The two lead characters, however, are scientists. Kate Diblasky (Jennifer Lawrence) spotted comet, which is then named after her, and Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) helped to work out the trajectory of it. It is these two people who spend the movie trying to warn everyone of their impending doom, helped by Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), but hindered by so many other people who have their own take on things, in defiance of the truth.

As well as those already mentioned, this packed cast includes roles of varying sizes for Melanie Lynskey, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Himesh Patel, Michael Chiklis, Robert Joy, and Paul Guilfoyle. Everyone is doing great work here, but the leads are surprisingly perfect in their roles. DiCaprio is allowed to be a very nervy individual, prone to anxiety attacks and a lack of confidence whenever he is in the spotlight. Lawrence's character is less nervy, but also less "media-trained", which works against her trying to warn people of impending doom. She doesn't care about who people are, she doesn't care about who gets upset, and her spiky demeanour is very funny, especially when she is arguing against a typically couldn't-give-less-of-a-shit Hill (who is both the son of the POTUS, and her Chief Of Staff). Morgan is the old hand at playing the game, as frustrated as the other scientists, but able to think up more strategic options to get the message out there. Streep isn't bad, she's certainly a lot of fun, but her character is the one who suffers most from the writing. She's a bit inconsiderate, trying to spin things the best possible way, but the comedy would have been strengthened by making her a complete idiot who couldn't stop herself from saying the dumbest stuff every time she had an opportunity to talk to scientists and people making serious plans. I guess sometimes you can't write anything stranger/funnier than reality. Blanchett is excellent, all super teeth and hair, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by Perry working so brilliantly in his co-anchor role, showing a real talent for being able to play comedy well by simply playing it straight (unlike the style of histrionics on display with his Madea character). Lynskey is a sweet and calm presence whenever she's onscreen, Rylance is amusingly unsettling in his constant awkwardness, and Chalamet is a great addition to the second half of the movie, as sweet and calming as Lynskey, in a way. Grande enjoys herself, and has a very amusing main scene talking to a character played by Kid Cudi, Perlman is hilarious in his very small role, and Patel is, well, his character feels completely extraneous, but he's as good as ever.

There's a decent score by Nicholas Britell and a number of songs that work well in the soundtrack, although the best one is the fake "Justt Look Up" song by Grande, as well as excellent sound design throughout, but this is a film mostly about the visuals, from the first sighting of the comet to the unavoidable ending. It's also a film about having your own kind of faith, something that McKay makes a hell of a case for in the third act.

The news keeps telling us how we can do better in our daily lives, with recycling, going vegetarian, using our car less, etc. Don't Look Up serves as a reminder that individuals aren't the big problem. The big problem comes from those with the money, with the power, and it is reassuring to think that their long-term plan for money to buy their way out of everything is a delusion. Because it is. That's not to say that we shouldn't all play our part in trying to ensure that we avoid being the species to destroy the entire planet. It's just that, as well as doing our small household part, we really do need to do whatever it takes to create a massive shift away from the unrelenting damage being done by companies headed up by people who will never make enough money to satisfy them. The irony being that this review will be shared on Facebook and Twitter after I wrote it on my beloved Macbook Pro, and you can all choose to read it on your smartphone of choice. But at least I have never been flown by private jet to a climate change conference. So, y'know, everything in moderation.

But I digress. This is a great comedy that consistently stays on point when it comes to the serious issue at the heart of it (the nonsensical equality that has developed between opinion and facts). A lot of the cast are giving brilliant performances, with the two leads absolutely perfect in their roles, and McKay continues his run of great films that have started to make his filmography a real treat for fans of comedy and social commentary.

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

Mubi Monday: This Boy's Life (1993)

A fairly standard coming-of-age/memoir tale, This Boy's Life is a film you may have heard of before, mainly because of the celebrated performances from Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. And it's highly recommended to fans of any of the leads (Ellen Barkin being the third central character).

DiCaprio is Toby, who often likes to be called Jack, a young boy who is used to tagging around with his mother, Caroline (Ellen Barkin), as she tries to make a good life for them both. Caroline meets Dwight (Robert De Niro), a man who initially seems pleasant, if a bit uncool. It doesn't take long to see that Dwight is happy to lie and manipulate to keep himself in a good light, while also keeping everything in his favour, and he and Toby start to clash in increasingly violent confrontations. Toby seems to be a good kid, at heart, but often runs with some of the wrong crowd, but Dwight is not necessarily the good man he keeps trying to make himself out as.

Based on the book by Tobias Wolff, the Toby of the main story (this is his life), and adapted into screenplay form by Robert Getchell, this is a consistently solid drama that is elevated by an absolutely fantastic cast. Michael Caton-Jones directs well, dropping a number of pop hits from the era throughout the soundtrack, allowing the dialogue to reveal so much about all of the characters, and framing many of the confrontations in a way that focuses on the imbalance of power and the physical threat posed by Dwight.

But it's all about this superb cast. DiCaprio makes one hell of a large move away from the daffy fun of Critters 3, easily holding his own alongside the adults, and shows the talent that would put him on the radar of so many other directors. De Niro gives another fantastic turn, unafraid to play a character who is so jealous and petty that he will go to any lengths to make himself look like "the big man". Barkin may have less to do, but she's an essential layer in between the two main men in her life. Jonah Blechman is also wonderful, playing a young man named Arthur Gayle, and you have the cast list filled out by the likes of Eliza Dushku, Chris Cooper, Tobey Maguire, and Gerrit Graham (many of them onscreen for just a few minutes).

The focus throughout stays on Toby and Dwight. The story belongs to the latter, but is so clearly moulded and overshadowed by the former. It's almost like coming up for air when you are reminded that Toby obviously did something to eventually get his story told, and it's extremely satisfying to watch Dwight devolve, little by little, from angry man to whining baby. It is, essentially, the way that so many men like him really are. And not everyone is lucky enough to escape their pleas and clutches.

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

Critters 3 (1991)

After two movies set in the same small town, it was time for the Krites to head to the city. But how do you make a movie about critters in the city without going way beyond the small budget you have? Well, you set most of the action in one apartment building, keeping everything manageable and also allowing people to refer to this instalment as “Die Hard with critters.”

I cannot really consider it worth my time to write a more detailed summary. That first paragraph sums up the plot. One or two characters return, but the majority of the action involves some youngsters (Aimee Brooks, Christian and Joseph Cousins, being used to portray one character, and a teeny tiny Leonardo DiCaprio). There’s an attempt to make things a bit more tense, as opposed to the gag-filled second movie, and that’s all you need to know.

Written by David J. Schow, a writer with a decent body of work to his name, Critters 3 may move towards a slightly darker tone, only ever so slightly though, but it remains consistent in all the most important ways, with the general main aim of entertaining viewers and the M.O. of the creatures.

Director Kristine Peterson makes the most of her limited resources, giving a decent overview of the simple geography of the building while moving at a decent pace between set-pieces of critter carnage and her talented young cast.

DiCaprio may be the biggest name in the cast nowadays, and he is fine in his role, but he’s a supporting player, overshadowed by both the impressive puppetry on display and the lead performance from Brooks. Cousins and Cousins do just fine as the cute little brother of Brooks. Don Opper returns, although his role is smaller this time, but no less pivotal, and John Calvin is the father of Brooks and Cousins, a father who seems to have let his get up and go . . . get up and go. 

Not as good as the first two movies, this is still a fun creature feature. And for a third entry in a low-budget sci-fi horror series, with a nice line in gentle comedy through it, it remains one to highly recommend.

7/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

J. Edgar (2011)

Written by Dustin Lance Black and directed by Clint Eastwood, J. Edgar is the biopic of J. Edgar Hoover and it's a pretty decent film. The sad thing is, however, that it could have been a great film. It seems that Eastwood is content with sitting on his laurels lately instead of delivering the quality of movies that he was giving to audiences not more than five years ago.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays the main character, starting the movie made up as an old man. It's an important time in his life, time to think back over everything that he's done and to get his memoirs written and as he tells his story to a young man typing everything out the audience gets to see many episodes from his life. They may not all be true interpretations of events, sometimes J. Edgar Hoover would say whatever would place him in the best light, but they all add up to paint a picture of the man who started off with great ideas and ended up with great, many would say too much, power. As Mulder might put it he "put the eye in FBI."

Considering the subject matter, this is a surprisingly dull movie at times. Various episodes do, of course, provide some excitement, but when it comes to the central character it does seem as if the script, and in turn Eastwood, is content to just barely scratch the surface. Perhaps he didn't want to upset those who are now working in the house that Hoover built.

It's a shame that the script and direction are so unimaginative and unexciting because the cast all do well and have the potential to do better. DiCaprio, in particular, is excellent in the main role. His performance isn't unlike the performance he gave in The Aviator, especially as Hoover becomes more and more driven and paranoid. Naomi Watts is fine as Helen Gandy, the woman he takes on as his secretary and also the one person he seems to trust completely. Armie Hammer is superb as Clyde Tolson, the man who may or may not have been Hoover's lover, but was certainly a close, dear friend and colleague. Then we have Judi Dench, who may not be in the movie for all that long, but does her usual great work as the mother who casts a long shadow over Hoover's life. Small, but enjoyable, turns from Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney, Stephen Root and Denis O'Hare help keep boredom at bay, but only just.

J. Edgar is certainly not a bad movie, in my opinion, but it feels like a wasted opportunity for almost all of its two-hour plus run-time even though it has enough interesting elements throughout to make it worth at least a one-time watch - the look at Hoover's self-aggrandising version of events, the rumours about his sexuality, the film even takes one moment to hint at the alleged cross dressing. I don't think many people will love it, but some people may like it a bit more than I did.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/J-Edgar-Triple-Blu-ray-Region/dp/B005RYA5XQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361915312&sr=8-1