Netflix And Chill: The Northman (2022)

There are some key words and phrases that I try to avoid in my movie reviews. I don't ever say "we stan *insert whatever performer/director/selling point here*". It's ridiculous, and reduces an opinion to something that seems to be revelling in how much it can lack objectivity. I also try to avoid referring to any films as "just vibes", but I'm not as staunchly against that descriptor. Sometimes films are that way, they can be sumptuous mood pieces, washing over you and being appreciated for the fact that they're . . . just vibes.

The Northman is a muddy and bloody Viking tale. It has the usual gorgeousness you'd expect from director Robert Eggers, who also co-wrote the film with Sjón (based on a classic tale by Saxo Grammaticus), and there's a cast that includes Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Bjork, among others (keep your eyes peeled for both Kate Dickie and Ralph Ineson in small roles, making this a bit of a The Witch mini-reunion). The Northman is all of that, but it's also . . . vibes.

A King is killed. That happens near the start of The Northman. Many years pass. A young child grows up to be a strong man (Amleth, played by Skarsgård), and that man wants revenge. His mother (Kidman) has become the wife of his father's murderer (Fjölnir, played by Bang), which may make things tricky as Amleth plans to slaughter anyone who gets in his way. He's helped in his resolve by Olga (Taylor-Joy).

While the dialogue is fine throughout, and delivered with a wonderful emphasis on the accents that feel as if they are natural in the onscreen world, The Northman is a film all about the visuals. The story is very simple, and the cast are all more than up to the tasks given to them, which allows Eggers plenty of time to indulge himself throughout the 137-minute runtime. This may well be his most beautiful film, and that is really saying something. The main narrative allows for a stark, almost monochromatic, visual style throughout, and there are set-pieces that play out like animated tableaux.

If you don't think Skarsgård can do this kind of role in his sleep then I would argue that you've never seen him in any of his other acting roles. He's superb, and absolutely brilliant in a role that makes excellent use of his presence, talent, and physicality. Kidman and Bang aren't quite as good, but that's mainly due to how the screenplay leaves them slightly underserved. Taylor-Joy is as good as always, however, and Dafoe does enough in a couple of scenes to steal the spotlight momentarily away from our leads. Eggers is the real star though, carrying viewers through the tale with a combination of his refined eye and the ability to pace everything perfectly.

It may be a mid-tier film when ranked alongside others from Eggers, but a mid-tier Eggers film is head and shoulders above many others. I look forward to rewatching this, being fully immersed in the world once again, and I am kicking myself for not having managed to see this when it was on the big screen, when I could have also had my entire body shaken by the score by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough. 

8/10

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Prime Time: Being The Ricardos (2021)

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, Being The Ricardos is a film I was keen to watch for the past few years. A look at the career and relationship between Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem), I was interested in everything to do with this. Lucy and Desi were huge stars who helped to reshape the landscape of television comedy, the casting intrigued me, and Sorkin is often a brilliant writer able to convey a lot of information in entertaining and sharp dialogue. 

The framework here is quite simple. We are shown a hectic time, and an important time, in the lives of Lucy and Desi. We also cut to some footage of people in the present talking about what they remember from their days witnessing the power couple make their show. Alongside our main stars are a couple of important supporting characters (played by J. K. Simmons and Nina Arianda), there’s a young writer (Alia Shawkat) who looks up to Lucy, but also has an idealism that doesn’t always take into account the diplomacy sometimes required to get the show made, and Jess Oppenheimer (Tony Hale) keeps trying to find a balance between the instincts of his stars and the feedback from the money men.

I won’t say that this is a bad film. The structure is a good choice, the key moments stringing the plot together work well, and it manages to celebrate the two main characters while also showing their problems. It isn’t great though, and that comes down to both the casting and the writing.

I really enjoy Kidman in many of her movie roles, but there’s a reason why she hasn’t had much success when trying her hand at comedy. Admittedly, this isn’t a comedy, but you have to believe how funny Lucille Ball can be when you see some of her famous moments being recreated onscreen, and Kidman just cannot manage it. Perhaps wary of looking too silly, or maybe not directed well enough by Sorkin, Kidman never really feels like Lucy when she has to be LUCY, although she does a perfectly good job of showing us the woman behind the TV persona. Bardem has a similar issue, although he also feels a bit weak whether portraying Desi the performer or Desi the man. The better performances come from Simmons and Arianda, both convincing as people and comedic performers, and Shawkat, who spends a lot of time being depressed by the constant crush of reality as she attempts to convince those around her of the importance of their platform. Hale is fine, but his character is the least interesting of the main bunch.

Sorkin’s dialogue just doesn’t work here though, and perhaps he would have been wise to get the structure in place and then pass the framework along to someone else. Everything that reveals actual truth about our leads is often presented in a heavy-handed and underlined way, and the mention of how Desi helped to revolutionize the TV sitcom is so horribly shoe-horned in that it feels like a clumsy segue in an improvised skit. The direction is disappointingly flat and lifeless, ensuring that Sorkin can be blamed for this being far below par for almost everyone involved.

There are still moments that work, especially when everything starts to tie together on the way to the final scenes, and Lucy and Desi are certainly worthy of the 131-minute runtime, but I won’t ever want to rewatch it. Maybe a book or documentary will serve them better, and I intend to find out when I have the time (so any recommendations are welcome).

5/10

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Babygirl (2024)

You've got to hand it to Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, the stars of Babygirl. This isn't an easy gig, as it never is when trying to explore adult sexual dynamics in a way that feels authentic and intriguing, but they rely on writer-director Halina Reijn to help them avoid looking like idiots. I'm not sure Reijn manages that though.

Kidman plays Romy, a powerful CEO who is dedicated to her job, has a loving husband (Antonio Banderas) and two daughters (Esther McGregor and Vaughan Reilly), and generally seems to have her life exactly as she wants it. She's unfulfilled sexually though, missing something that she can't define. And that's how she ends up risking a hell of a lot when she becomes drawn to a young intern, Samuel (Dickinson), who seems to make her want to submit control to him.

There are things to like about Babygirl, even things to admire. It has moments that show two people figuring out exactly what they want in a way that is as awkward and funny as any communication can be when individuals are exploring their sexual preferences and how they want to best complement one another. Occasionally embarrassing, and definitely bewildering to those who have gone through their life in complete vanilla mode, the film shows a good selection of conversations and situations that inform the consent and power-sharing between the two main characters. This subsequently allows the moments of passion to feel more heated, and it shows an escalation as they push for an ever-increasing thrill.

Reijn is clever enough to know that there are an awful lot of nerves and wariness before reaching the level of trust and confidence that these people need to have in one another, and that's where Babygirl excels. It's a lose-lose situation though, because those scenes have an inherent cringe factor for anyone simply looking on from the sidelines, as we all are while the movie plays. Where Reijn really stumbles, however, is in the ongoing, and quite tiresome, trope of always aiming to defend/support an extra-marital affair when the lead character engaging in one is female. There's no doubt that Kidman is causing harm, to herself and the ones she loves, but it's also seen as stemming from her lack of fulfilment, which is supposed to make it understandable. 

Kidman and Dickinson are excellent in their roles, especially when navigating their more vulnerable moments, but their work is undermined by other elements in the script. The timeline gets a bit murky, some tensions don't really seem too bothersome in the grand scheme of things, and it's hard to remember that sensation that they're after, tied to the subterfuge and coding of their indiscretions, while they both become so relatively brazen in their behaviour. Banderas does well as the emasculated husband, helped hugely by the fact that he's Antonio Banderas, McGregor and Vaughan are fine as the two daughters who inevitably sense when things start to go sour, and Sophie Wilde does very well in the role of Esme, a PA to Kidman's character who wants to go to the next stage in her career.

It's, ironically, hard to put a finger on just why this doesn't quite work. The performances are all very good, there's an eclectic and enjoyable soundtrack, and it's refreshing to see someone even attempting to seriously explore this subject matter in a way that is responsible and quite authentic. Maybe it can't ever work in a straightforward film though, and that might be why we should be happy when we get wonderfully strange delights like Secretary and The Duke Of Burgundy.

5/10

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Netflix And Chill: A Family Affair (2024)

If you liked The Idea Of You then you should like A Family Affair, a rom-com with a similar age and status divide getting in the way of the potential romantic relationship at the heart of things. Unlike the former film, this gets a better balance of both the rom and the com elements, but it suffers slightly from a lack of any real chemistry and heat between the leads.

Zac Efron plays Chris Cole, a vain and selfish actor who constantly makes life difficult for his young assistant, Zara (Joey King). When he eventually goes too far, once again, and has Zara walking out on the job, Chris knows that he has to make things up to her. He heads to her family home, where he meets Zara's mother, Brooke (Nicole Kidman). Things quickly get hot and heavy for the two of them, which makes things very awkward when Zara eventually walks in on them in flagrante. Not only could this complicate things if Zara returns to work for Chris, but it puts Zara on edge as she waits for the moment when Chris inevitably hurts her mother. Because Chris eventually hurts every girl that he's been in a relationship with. It's what he does.

Although he has numerous directorial credits already, I am not overly familiar with the filmography of Richard LaGravenese. I have seen some of the features that he has written, including the fantastic The Fisher King, but nothing of his work that had him sitting in the big chair on set. Writer Carrie Solomon is also someone I am not too familiar with, but that's because this is her first big feature after holding a few production assistant roles on various projects (which is something to make you wonder how much of this is based on a strange reality that us normal people struggle to comprehend). I hope to see much more from Solomon in the future, she's got a great writing style that blends the melodrama with some good laughs, and just a pinch of raunch to keep things skating close to the realm of the spicy (relatively speaking).

The cast helps though, in many ways. While they don't have sparks flying between them, both Efron and Kidman are beautiful people who you could imagine falling for one another. The problem maybe lies with Kidman having to spend some time pretending she can hide her light under a bushel, and also having her character being a bit too restrained to allow herself to have as much fun as possible, but Efron doesn't need to worry about that. He has a blast portraying his character as the most ridiculously selfish and needy star you could imagine, although it's nice when the script also allows him to have just enough self-awareness to also occasionally poke fun at his lifestyle. King is also a lot of fun, very good with the sharp dialogue and the physical comedy she is given, and Kathy Bates pops up to play the wise and kindly grandmother in a turn so sweet and lovely that you can almost forget that time she hobbled a stranded writer in her home. Almost. 

This kept me chuckling throughout, it gave me a central relationship that I eventually felt invested in, and there were a few big laughs sprinkled throughout the 111-minute runtime (which felt nice and brisk, compared to the stream of movies that seemingly have to hit the 2-hour mark nowadays). The soundtrack is decent, the visuals help to keep things romantic (there's even a holiday sequence, because Christmas trimmings always add to the dream of an ideal love, for some reason), and the finale is as predictable and satisfying as you'd expect.

I'm not sure whether I would necessarily recommend a double-bill of this and The Idea Of You, but you could certainly do a lot worse. I rate both of them equally, but for different reasons, and if you had a good time with one then you're unlikely to hate the other.

7/10

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Bombshell (2019)

A film about the eventual, and long overdue, downfall of Roger Ailes, the man at the very top of the ladder at the Fox News HQ for many years, Bombshell plays out with some very interesting points that don’t just target the abuser at the heart of the story. It is also about toxic work environments and the repercussions of not taking a stand sooner, although that is a lot easier said than done (for many reasons).

Nicole Kidman is Gretchen Carlson, a presenter at Fox News who knows her days are numbered. She is too old now, apparently, and has taken a stance on certain subjects that has angered Ailes (John Lithgow). Once she is fired, Carlson decided to sue Ailes, bringing up his problematic (to put it mildly) behaviour with the female staff. Many employees rally round Ailes, showing a unified front, but there’s a notable silence from one of the top channel stars, Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron). While all this is going on, Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie) has just started her employment with the company, and soon finds out exactly how she is supposed to act around certain people. 

Written by Charles Randolph, who was also a co-writer on The Big Short screenplay, the first thing you may notice about Bombshell is . . . how similar it is to The Big Short. The character played by Theron introduces viewers to the situation, and the world shown, by breaking the fourth wall, and there are some tangents that rapidly and clearly explain how the company structure works, and what the main policies were.

Director Jay Roach makes life easy for himself by casting well, all treated perfectly by the hair and makeup people, and doing well by the script. Everything moves along well enough, but certain lines of dialogue and individual moments are given the time and space needed to really sink in.

Theron, Kidman, and Robbie are all excellent, playing women at very different levels within the very sexist structure of Fox News, as dictated by Ailes, whether their position is to do with age, experience, savvy, or all of those things. Lithgow is excellent in his role, bullish and arrogant, and very often completely repugnant, even before the level of his abuse of his position is made apparent. The supporting cast includes some great performers, such as Allison Janney, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Liv Hewson, Rob Delaney, and Mark Duplass. Not everyone works though. Richard Kind, for example, doesn’t feel close enough to Rudy Giuliani (although my view has maybe been tainted by seeing how far I think Giuliani has fallen in recent years). Generally, however, the cast feel like a good fit.

The people to blame for abuse are abusers, and Bombshell doesn’t lose sight of that fact. But it also shows the importance of speaking up against those who are abusing power, despite the potential consequences. Because someone has to lead the way, someone has to try their hardest, if only to help warn others, and Bombshell is as much about the need to act and speak out, even if things thankfully didn’t go as far as you worried they would, as it is about Ailes and the power that had him thinking he could act however he wanted. 

7/10

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Prime Time: The Upside (2017)

Okay, some may dismiss The Upside because it is a glossy Hollywood remake of The Intouchables, a film based on a true story that has already remade a few other times since being so widely praised when it was released back in 2011. That's a shame. While it's not as good as the original film, it's a sweet retelling of it, and manages to retain the essence easily enough (the unlikely friendship forged between the two main characters).

Kevin Hart plays Dell Scott, an ex-con who needs to find a job, although some of the interviews he turns up for are for jobs he has no interest in, so he usually just asks for a signature that he can show to his parole officer. When he ends up in the home of a wealthy quadriplegic, Philip (Bryan Cranston), he figures that he won't be right for the job, so he asks for a signature. Instead, Philip offers him a job. It pays well, but comes with a lot of responsibility. Philip likes Dell because he doesn't patronise or judge him, but his assistant (Yvonne, played by Nicole Kidman) isn't so sure about the decision. Yvonne tells Dell that he will be out after three strikes. Dell, meanwhile, starts to repair his broken relationship with his ex (Aja Naomi King) and his son (Jahi Di'Allo Winston).

Director Neil Burger is at the helm here, working from a script by Jon Hartmere (his first feature, essentially following the structure of the original and allowing the casting to do all of the lifting). Nobody behind the camera seems to have too hard time of it. The story is strong enough to hold up, and there isn't too much to change when it comes to the main plot elements. Nothing is radically overhauled and there's no added style to let you know who is providing this vision. It's simple, solid, movie-making.

Thankfully, the casting is the part that they got spot on. I tend to enjoy Hart in movies, even when his movies aren't that great, and Cranston is almost always excellent. The two work well within their comfort zones (alright, Cranston has the harder job, but is easily up to the task) and also, more importantly, work well alongside one another, believable as two very different individuals who complement one another as their friendship develops through good times and bad. Kidman has a slightly thankless role, yet she does well enough with what she's given. Both King and Winston do well as the people Hart has let down in the past, Tate Donovan is a lot of fun in his small role (a wary neighbour), and there's a great small turn from Julianna Margulies, although the main scene that she's involved in is a painful one.

I would always recommend that you watch The Intouchables first if you've heard of the story and it sounds like something that would interest you, the original remains the best, but this is a perfectly enjoyable retelling of the tale, thanks largely to the work done by the two leads. Sometimes you're in the mood for a wonderful, original movie. And sometimes you're in the mood for the glossy Hollywood remake.

7/10

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Aquaman (2018)

Look, let me be clear, I don't have a dog in this fight. I have never been massively into comic books, with the exception of a couple of fun omnibuses that I had as a child (and the Knightfall storyline for Batman, which remains one of the best things ever), so I am not a person who has to stay in either the Marvel or DC camp. Having said that, it's almost impossible to argue with the fact that Marvel have set the gold standard in cinematic superhero adventures. I had heard good things about Aquaman though, so I was optimistic.

Hmmmmmm, yeah, that didn't last long.

Jason Momoa once again plays Arthur Curry, the half-Atlantean superhero who just wants to live his life peacefully, when he's not crashing into submarines that have been overrun by pirates and beating up lots of baddies. Unfortunately, plans are afoot underwater to wage war against those on land who have been polluting and changing the seas over the years. Those plans are being hatched by King Arm (Patrick Wilson). If only someone could turn up that has the potential to overthrow him and become the rightful heir to the throne. Mera (Amber Heard) knows that Arthur is that someone, even if he doesn't think it himself.

Although it has a runtime of over two hours, the best thing I can say about Aquaman is that it fairly flies by. The pacing is perfect, with the set-pieces nicely spaced out in between moments that showcase some fun exchanges between Momoa and Heard. Director James Wan, working from a script by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall, has a knack for making the potentially ridiculous into something enjoyable and entertaining, and he does it here once again.

Momoa is great in the lead role, Heard does well alongside him, and Wilson is suitably cold and dangerous in his villainous turn. Alongside those main players, you get some decent moments for Willem Dafoe (an advisor to Wilson but his loyalties may still like with Momoa), Nicole Kidman (being enjoyably badass in her few scenes), Temuera Morrison (the human father of Arthur), Dolph Lundgren (being Dolph), and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as an extra villain, Manta, seeking revenge.

I can see why some people really enjoyed this, and why some were saying it was the best DC film yet. The fun parts are more . . . fun than most of their live-action output has been so far. The world-building is impressively epic, a lot of lovely details are scattered throughout every scene, and the action beats aren't all dark and gritty. But all of that comes at a price. For every gorgeous moment (and few are more aesthetically pleasing than a scene in which Momoa and Heard fight back some dangerous fishmen as they dive into the depths of a dangerous underwater trench) there are many that aren't. Either due to the screen being too busy or just some bad cinematic choices, far too many scenes are just messy. People can't always use the right eyeline when it comes to looking at whatever is supposed to be in front of them, some of the design work is unintentionally laughable, and so much is made snazzy and complicated when it could so easily have been kept clean and simple.

While this is far from the best of the recent DC movies, at this point I am tempted to pick Suicide Squad as my own favourite, and to hell with the adverse reactions (although Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice got more right than wrong), it's also not the worst. That honour stays with Man Of Steel for a little while yet (although, for the sake of perspective, I rate both that movie and this one the same, with all of the others just edging a point ahead).

6/10

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Destroyer (2018)

Karyn Kasuma may actually be one of my favourite female directors. She's managed it quite stealthily, and not without a mis-step here and there, but when I look over her filmography and realise how much I like the films that I have seen from her then I realise that I should be bringing her name up a bit more often. I may not have liked The Invitation quite as much as many other people but I DID like it, and the fact that I still rate Jennifer's Body highly helps to make up for that.

I could say something similar about Nicole Kidman, who has spent the past couple of decades building up a very interesting body of work. The fact that she wasn't right for a few of the roles that she took on meant that I perhaps dismissed her filmography as nothing more than a series of bad calls and bad movies. That's not the case at all, and Destroyer, a film that may once have been considered yet another mis-step for her (by me anyway), reinforces the fact that Kidman is, and has almost always been, an actress willing to take risks as she works with challenging material.

Kidman is Erin Bell, a detective who has been burnt out for a number of years after an undercover job went horribly wrong, although we're not exactly sure how until the movie is ready to reveal everything. She believes that a major baddie (played by Toby Kebbell) is back in town, needing stopped, and she'll do anything to make that happen. Meanwhile, her daughter (played by Jade Pettyjohn) seems to hate her guts, her partner (Shamier Anderson) is constantly kept in the dark, and her world is contracting around her as she focuses obsessively on exorcising past demons and getting the result that she wants.

If you read that and just found it to seem like a whole lot of familiar clichés then I couldn't say you were wrong. There's a lot here that we've seen many times before, usually with a male character at the heart of everything. The burnt-out cop who doesn't play by the rules, the tragic past that created their attitude in the present, the personal stakes when it comes to dealing with the villain, writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi are unafraid to use these elements liberally, relying on some other twists and turns to keep things feeling fresh, as well as the strength of the cast.

And what strength the cast show. Kidman is almost unrecognisable during her first few scenes, and it's not just the impressive make-up changing her. The physical side of her performance, her mindset affecting everything from her walk to her dead-eyed observance of the hazy world around her, ensures that there are very few moments that have you watching and thinking of her as anything other than Erin Bell. The version of Kidman we all know really disappears, and this may be her best performance yet (although I am now keen to catch up on the rest of her filmography). Sebastian Stan is also excellent, playing the other officer involved in the undercover operation, and there are solid turns from Tatiana Maslany, Scoot McNairy, Beau Knapp, Bradley Whitford, Zach Villa, and others. It's a shame that the one performance that doesn't feel right is Kebbell, playing someone who swaggers around like the lead singer of a big-haired '80s metal band, and shown to be charismatic and persuasive without anything to actually show why people view him that way. The fault there doesn't lie with Kebbell, it's an issue with the script and direction, but any scenes that have him as the focal point suffer when they should have been clear highlights.

One or two minor issues aside, like the one just mentioned, Kusama directs with confidence and a precision that isn't always obvious, considering the many flashbacks used to detail the story and the many secondary characters who are only integral to the story due to them being integral to the lead character getting closer and closer to her desired end result, but it is always there. Viewers know that there's not necessarily going to be a happy ending here, yet the finale remains both impactful and satisfying. Great work from Kusama, a consistent talent and a name that everyone should be, or become, familiar with.

8/10

The DVD link is here.
Americans can use this link for a shiny blu.

Yule Love It: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

When it was released in 1999, Eyes Wide Shut was, for many people, hard to simply review as a movie. This was, after all, the final film from director Stanley Kubrick. He had died just days after handing over his final (?) cut to the studio, the shooting schedule had gone way over schedule (to the point that it’s still recognised as having the lengthiest ongoing shooting schedule ever), and it placed THE Hollywood power couple of the time – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman – in the centre of what seemed to be an erotic thriller.

In some ways, it’s still hard to simply review the movie. It still is the final film that Kubrick directed, it still has the legacy of that whirlwind of speculation and criticism that came about before anyone had seen the thing, and some said it contributed to the disintegration of the Cruise-Kidman marriage (they divorced in . . .  2001, which could be viewed as an amusing irony).

What's it all about though? Well, Cruise plays Dr. William Harford and Kidman plays his wife, Alice. They seem to be happy, successful people, yet Cruise is troubled when his wife confesses to him about a time when she was almost unfaithful. Having to head out to deal with a patient, still processing what he has been told, Harford finds himself drawn into a world of temptation, lust, and hedonism.

When it gets things right, Eyes Wide Shut is an interesting and frank look at how quickly adults can get themselves tied up in knots over sex, the chance to explore new sensations, and what can occur when wearing a cloak of anonymity compared to how we weigh things up when wearing our public persona. It shows how easily you can want to chase something, how a fire can start raging within from just one or two tiny sparks.

But when it gets things wrong, as it does here and there, it's a bit of a mess. The treatment of various female characters (mainly those played by Vinessa Shaw and Leelee Sobieski, but almost every female onscreen is dealt with in an unfairly harsh way while the men get off largely scot-free) is problematic, to say the least. Cruise and Kidman aren't doing their best work, although kudos to them for taking on these roles and placing themselves entirely in the hands of Kubrick. And then there's the music, which is so bad at times that it's hard to imagine Kubrick ever thought it good enough, especially when you consider his knack for picking the perfect audio choices to accompany his visuals over the years.

The lengthy runtime also doesn't help either, although there are very few scenes that I would want to see removed. Everything feeds into the main idea(s) being explored, even if a lot of it feels unnecessary. It's hard to keep track of the amount of time that's supposed to be passing onscreen, but I think that works well as a sign of the bewildered and overly-stimulated mindset of the main character.

This may not be the masterpiece that fans would have hoped would cap the end of a magnificent directorial career but it's another film aimed squarely at adults by a director who almost always picked his projects based on his own passion for the material. And it has a decent role for Sydney Pollack, a fever-dream atmosphere throughout, and ends a glorious career in cinema with the word "fuck".

7/10

Here's a great way to get most of Kubrick's movies in one set.
Americans may want to splash out on this option.

How To Talk To Girls At Parties (2017)

It's the 1970s and three young lads (Enn, played by Alex Sharp, Vic, played by Abraham Lewis, and John, played by Ethan Lawrence) want nothing more than to revel in anything that retains the essence of pure punk and be allowed to revel in the company of girls that they fancy. Lost on their way to an after party, they end up in a building that houses a number of aliens. But they don't realise that the inhabitants are aliens. Enn meets the lovely Zan (Elle Fanning), who then runs away with him to see more of the outside world, and to experience some punk.

Based on a short story by Neil Gaiman, this is a blend of genres that will be familiar to anyone who has had the pleasure of reading his work. Gaiman loves to throw together different ingredients to create his own new recipes, and I am sure that the source material of this is very enjoyable. It's unfortunate that the film doesn't get things right when translating the material to the screen.

Director John Cameron Mitchell, who also worked on the script with Philippa Goslett, doesn't seem to know what to do with the story. Unable to decide on whether to focus on some comedy, the sci-fi elements, or the romance, or even the desperate need of the youngsters who found a voice in the sound of punk, he fails to find the right approach to anything, and is unable to compensate for it with required style and energy. To make a film that is so based around punk rock without a sense of energy is just, well, it would seem to be a difficult thing to do. Yet Mitchell manages it.

The script works when providing shorthand notes on the alien life cycles, but falters in so many other scenes, either by not making the dialogue sharp enough or just giving characters lines to say that feel tonally jarring compared to other moments in the film. Not that it's entirely unsuccessful. There ARE some genuinely good moments (most of the scenes featuring Nicole Kidman are great, and the very end of the film is surprisingly effective) but they make the lesser scenes all the more disappointing.

The youngsters all do decent work, even if Fanning feels less convincing when she's called upon to try her hand at singing like an actual punk, but it's the older cast members who help to save this from being unwatchable. Kidman, sporting a decent British accent too, is absolutely wonderful as an older punk who has sacrificed a hell of a lot in the hope of being present during great moments in punk history, Joanna Scanlan is good as the mother of Enn, and Ruth Wilson is great fun as a dangerous alien who seems to enjoy all of the life cycle her species goes through.

Some people may get more out of this than I did, of course, but it was hugely disappointing for me. Not being sure of the tone and focus is one thing, not making the best use of Fanning is another, but to not even have a good enough soundtrack to detract from those failings . . . well, that should have been avoided at all costs, considering the wild, strong spirit at the heart of the whole thing.

4/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017)

Colin Farrell plays a surgeon named Steven Murphy. He seems to have the perfect life. A lovely wife (Anna, played by Nicole Kidman), a teenage daughter (Kim, played by Raffey Cassidy), and a younger son (Bob, played by Sunny Suljic). He also has a rather strange friendship with a young boy named Martin (Barry Keoghan), and it's this relationship that starts to change things in his life, leading to a disturbing and thought-provoking third act.

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who also co-wrote with his regular collaborator Efthymis Filippou, The Killing Of A Sacred Deer is yet another brilliant slice of cerebral oddness from the Greek provocateur. It's even more potentially divisive than his last film, the absolutely brilliant The Lobster, and a number of stylistic choices may aggravate viewers who aren't drawn in by the macabre central ideas that come to the fore as the narrative unfolds.

Farrell gives another fantastic performance (if he decides to work with Lanthimos every other year then I'll be very happy with that), as does everyone else involved, but the speaking style is very strange and almost as if these people are struggling to weigh up the impact of every word they speak, even in the most innocuous of sentences. Kidman, Cassidy, and Suljic all seem a bit more passive, although that's not necessarily the case as you see everyone struggle with the main choice forced upon them, and Keoghan is a wonderful mix of childishness and quiet intensity. Fans of Alicia Silverstone might be surprised by her small role, but I was just happy to see her in a film again, having not seen her in anything for many years (has she been in much lately?).

Less immediately appealing than his previous movie, Lanthimos consistently fills this film with characters who interact in a way that very rarely allows for any actual warmth and humanity. The behaviour is matched by the environment and shooting style, with the situation demanding a fair share of hospital shots, for example, and a detached and clinical camera. What we are shown, and how we are shown it, makes the experience much more voyeuristic and discomforting than many other movies from the past year.

If you have seen some of the previous films from Lanthimos then you will know, to a degree, what to expect here, although that doesn't mean that you will be guaranteed to like it. It has less dark humour than many of his other features, which makes it slightly less entertaining but no less intelligent and interesting. I recommend it to everyone, and I'll be just as happy to hear from the people who hated it as I will be to hear from those who share my own opinion.

8/10.

You can buy it here.
Americans can buy it here.

Paddington (2014)

I've never read any of the original Paddington Bear stories, but I did grow up watching some of the delightful stop-motion TV episodes, narrated by Michael Hordern. I liked the little bear, initially because he was an identifiable figure (he is, after all, a small, curious child with an addiction to a certain type of sandwich), but later on I viewed him with enduring affection because he was a quintessentially charming British creation. Despite hailing from deepest, darkest Peru, Paddington is as synonymous with the UK as red telephone boxes, a good cup of tea, and people who will do anything to avoid social embarrassment.

And it is this quaint, and largely bygone, view of Britain that makes Paddington such a great success on the big screen. It celebrates many of our idiosyncracies, while also viewing them with the look of puzzlement that they probably deserve.

The basic plot sees Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) arriving here on our shores and hoping to find a new family. He is eventually approached by the Browns, ending up being allowed to share their home until he finds somewhere else to settle. While making many strange new discoveries, Paddington causes numerous accidents (some minor, some pretty big). He soon starts to outstay his welcome. Meanwhile, a taxidermist named Millicent (Nicole Kidman) finds out about this rare beast arriving in the UK and wants to add him to her collection.

Directed by Paul King, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Hamish McColl, this is the very definition of fun for all the family. Kids will love the central character and many of the jokes. Adults will also enjoy many of the jokes, while also being able to spot a myriad of subtler gags and references strewn throughout the film (a personal favourite of mine involves the Brown family in a reversed "Evolution Of Man" tableau). The pacing is perfect, the rendering of Paddington feels very real, and a number of set-pieces ensure that you'll be hoping to see more antics in a sequel even as the end credits are still rolling.

Whishaw is a perfect vocal fit for the main character, helping Paddington to remain very much the furry child that still has so much to learn. The Browns are nicely portrayed by Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville (as the mother and father), and Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin (the daughter and son). Bonneville gets to have the most fun with his role, but Hawkins also has some great little moments, while Harris and Joslin both react very differently to the presence of the little bear in their home. Julie Walters is the housekeeper who seems unfazed by anything, and even thinks that the Browns may benefit from Paddington's presence, and Peter Capaldi is a nosey neighbour, providing some more laughs in the second half of the film. This may not be the kind of film that you'd expect Kidman to do well in, but she does. Her villain is perfectly balanced, she's a genuine threat to Paddington without ever being TOO terrifying for younger viewings. And the motivation for her character is surprisingly brilliant.

With cameo appearances from many other fine British performers (Jim Broadbent, Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton in voice form, Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Matt Lucas, Geoffrey Palmer and Simon Farnaby being the main ones), a lively score by Nick Urata, plenty of iconic imagery and clever use of pesky pigeons, this is a film that easily proves more than just bear-able.

Oh come on, I got all this way without one groan-inducing pun. There had to be one.

9/10

The movie won't be out on shiny disc for a while, so treat yourself to some nostalgia here - http://www.amazon.com/Paddington-Bear-Complete-Classic-Various/dp/B004HI79LY/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1419689429&sr=1-1&keywords=paddington+dvd

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

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

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

The Invasion (2007)

It's a shame that The Invasion was either ignored or loathed by most people when it hit the cinemas because most of the reviews forgot to mention one little detail - it's actually very good. There may be some people that say we've already had enough adaptations, both official and unofficial, of the novel by Jack Finney ("The Body Snatchers") but I think that maybe it's a tale we need to keep reminding ourselves of. A sci-fi fairytale reminding us that we must keep our emotions and core humanity, no matter how far technology progresses or what the negatives are.

This time around the horror is all brought about by a virus that comes from outer space, a virus that takes hold and changes people when they fall asleep. The good news is that the virus is only spread through bodily fluids but the bad news is that those already infected do whatever it takes to spread their fluids as far and wide as possible (that sounds far worse than it actually is but at least you're now prepared for one or two gross moments). Nicole Kidman plays a psychiatrist named Carol Bennell who starts to get suspicious when she sees more and more strange behaviour and starts hearing about people not acting like their usual selves. As the epidemic becomes more obvious and more dangerous she sets out to find her young son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), who is spending some time with his father (Jeremy Northam). Thinking of a cure would be great but her son is her number one priority and Daniel Craig plays Ben Driscoll, the man who cares about Carol enough to help her even as society starts to break down around them and martial law takes effect.

Written by David Kajganic and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, the sad fact is that a lot more names were thrown in the mix at one point or another to "save" this movie when the studio wasn't happy with the result. That's a real shame because the general updating of the premise is very well done and I think that the others involved in changing the final product make it difficult for a reviewer to allocate praise and/or criticism.

For the sake of argument, let me just judge the movie based solely on the fact that David Kajganic wrote the script and Oliver Hirschbiegel directed the thing. Let's just forget about the interference of others because I have no specific details about what the added or took away from the finished film. Well, Kajganic provides a very good script that makes the premise more believable than ever while still keeping everything rooted in the more unsettling details of the original tale. The slow but inevitable development of events as more and more people are taken over is executed perfectly. Hirschbiegel directs capably enough, with a few flashy bits of editing here and there but his focus always staying on the ideas raised by the invasion and the continual battle that rages between emotion and intellect.

The cast are also very good. This may not be Kidman at her very best but she's still a great female lead and easy to root for. Daniel Craig is as likeable as ever, Jeremy Northam is excellent (as ever), Jeffrey Wright gets to relay the scientific mumbo jumbo, Veronica Cartwright is very good in her small role as a woman convinced that her husband has changed and young Jackson Bond is a talented young man.

Admittedly, this isn't as good as the past adaptations of the story but it IS a good film and it's nice to see that there's still a way to adapt it for modern audiences without everything feeling tired and overdone. I really enjoyed watching this and I know that I'm going to stay in the minority with this opinion but I'd urge other fans of intelligent sci-fi horror to at least check it out on the small screen because it's most certainly not deserving of the bad reputation it has.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Invasion-Blu-ray-Region-Free/dp/B00102JLMU