The Roses (2025)

If you have forgotten The War Of The Roses (1989) then I encourage you to revisit it. Based on the book by Warren Adler, directed by Danny DeVito (who also gives himself a fun supporting role), and starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, who are both clearly having a blast in their main roles, it's about as dark and twisted a black comedy as you could hope for. Don't watch it if you're planning to check out The Roses though, which is a "reimagining" starring Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead roles. 

The Roses isn't bad. It just doesn't hold up when you compare it to the original film. 

The story is all about a married couple who seem to fall out of love. A lot has changed since they first met, and resentment grows into something that eventually makes them toxic and dangerous to one another. Some may want them to stay together, but many eventually realise that they'd be better separating. The lawyers (played by Allison Janney and Andy Samberg) look set to be the only real winners though.

It's odd that this was written by Tony McNamara, who must have seemed like a great choice after his recent work with Yorgos Lanthimos. In fact, I'll take the rare opportunity now to recommend the wonderful The Rage In Placid Lake, his directorial feature film debut, adapted from his own stage play. While this is passable entertainment, I can't really recommend this. It lacks real bite, which is even more of a shame when you get the feeling that both Colman and Cumberbatch would have enjoyed leaning even further into anarchy and viciousness.

While they're not on top form, I cannot blame either of the leads for their work here. They both do quite well with what they're given, although Colman easily outshines her male co-star in the second half of the film. Janney is very good fun as the out-for-everything lawyer, Samberg is fairly amusing as a more timid member of the legal system, and there's some fun to be had with Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Zoë Chao, and Jamie Demetriou. The actors who play the Rose children also do well enough, but their characters are generally passive observers to the disintegration of the relationship between their mother and father. The biggest disappointment comes from Kate McKinnon, someone I often enjoy seeing in comedies. Her character here feels like she's been dropped in from a completely different movie, or (more accurately) a very weak SNL skit.

The main person I blame for this being such a disappointment is director Jay Roach. Roach can do comedy, but he has come unstuck before when trying to add some edge to the laughs. The fact that he also doesn’t have strong enough comedic talent here (with no offence intended to the leads) just undermines his decision to try to keep things more fun and funny until lurching sideways for the grand finale. 

Casual viewers should find enough to enjoy here, especially if you like either of the leads, and, despite my criticisms, I really cannot call it a bad film. It just feels completely neutered and toothless, which is something that could have been avoided with a bolder individual at the helm.

6/10

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Paddington In Peru (2024)

I do try to avoid listening to too many other opinions and/or reviews before checking out films for my self, but it's sometimes very difficult, especially when it comes to a big release like Paddington In Peru (the third film in a series that has proved to be both delightful and hilarious so far). A lot of people seemed to say the same thing. This wasn't as good as the previous two films, and part of the reason for that stems from taking Paddington back out of London. I would have to agree. The joy of watching Paddington in movies has been the joy of watching him seem confused about British life while also managing to embody the kind of pride and good nature that we should all aspire to.

Having received an alarming letter about Aunt Lucy and her health, Paddington and the Brown family embark on a trip to visit her at her retirement home in Peru. Unfortunately, Aunt Lucy has disappeared by the time they get there. There are one or two clues pointing to where she might have gone, and Paddington knows that he must do whatever it takes to find her. The Brown family will help, of course, and they might also be assisted by Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman), a not-suspicious-at-all nun who keeps clarifying this by mentioning how unsuspicious things are, and a riverboat captain named Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas), as well as his daughter, Gina (Carla Tous). 

Dougal Wilson is now in the director's chair this time around, someone who seems to have spent a lot of time over the past two decades making music videos and short films for the likes of John Lewis and Apple (I say short films because they are sometimes a bit precious about their adverts, but they're adverts). And it's Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont responsible for the screenplay, with the latter two having spent some time writing for Paddington in his TV adventures. Nobody does a terrible job. They're just not great. There's nothing here that comes even close to rivalling some of the set-pieces or laughs from the previous two movies, and that's a real shame.

While things are weakened by the relocation of the main characters, they're also undermined by some strange casting choices. Emily Mortimer has taken over the role of Mary Brown from Sally Hawkins. I like Emily Mortimer, and she does well in the role, but I think it's particularly odd to recast such a central character in a film aimed at younger viewers, especially when everyone else manages to return. It may lead to parents being asked a few questions as children learn about the fickle nature of scheduling and movie roles, whereas a better screenplay might have been crafted around some premise that had Mrs. Brown absent (a journey through loss and/or grief could have been an interesting parallel with the physical journey through jungle environments). Bonneville puts on his Henry Brown persona like a comfortable sweater, and he's very good, while both Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin portray the now-young adult Brown children. I have nothing against Harris and Joslin, but if any characters could be recast without anyone really noticing then they were the most likely candidates. It might even have made sense to keep the children at a younger age, allowing them to seem more vulnerable and ill-equipped as they joined Paddington on his Peruvian adventure. As for the titular bear, it's hard to think of anyone other than Whishaw voicing him now, which makes his return to the role essential, and every line of dialogue that he speaks is a comforting little hug. Colman is fun, if a little underused, and Banderas is also a welcome addition, and especially entertaining when he also portrays a number of his ancestors who plague him in spirit form.

It doesn't feel right to spend too much time being critical of a Paddington movie. There are good intentions throughout all of them, it's just that this time around those good intentions aren't matched by the dialogue and plotting. There's still enough here to enjoy though, especially when you get around to a speech in the finale about the idea of home, family, and being able to embrace the idea of being firmly British and being a Brown. And the end credits provide one or two delights that ensure most people will have one last chuckle.

Worth a watch, and maybe a repeat viewing will see it grow on me, but I doubt anyone will revisit it as often as either Paddington or Paddington 2. Part of me hopes, and assumes, that this is the final part of a two-thirds-brilliant trilogy. Part of me also knows that I would still be optimistic about any fourth outing for our marmalade-sandwich-loving little pal.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: Joyride (2022)

Don't let the title here fool you. Despite having the word joy there, this isn't exactly the most carefree and cheery fare to watch. It's a mix of comedy and drama with the emphasis very much on the latter, but it's also one of those wonderful modern features that underlines an important point about being able to pick and choose your own family. Many may be aware of my own push back against the many "blood is thicker than water" and "you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family" sayings that have caused more harm than good throughout the decades, and Joyride presents a brilliant example of people finding their own strong familial bond after spending so much time pulling away from others.

Charlie Reid plays Mully, a young lad who ends up running away from his father (played by Lochlann O'Mearáin) after catching him stealing a load of charity money. Mully takes the money with him, determined to stay ahead of his father until he can figure out how to give it back. That's how he ends up driving away in a taxi that he thinks is empty, but it actually contains a small baby and one unhappy mother (Joy, played by Olivia Colman). Joy is heading to hand her baby over to her sister, she just doesn't think of herself as the maternal type, and Charlie decides they can stick together as he keeps thinking about how to put back the money that his dad stole. The baby needs care, the car needs fuel, and both Joy and Mully need to see a time when they can face the consequences of their actions.

This is actually the second film I have seen helmed by director Emer Reynolds, but the first was a fine documentary (The Farthest, which I recommend). Considering I had already loved Patrick's Day, the Terry McMahon film on which she was an editor, it seems that I was already quite the fan of Reynolds without realising it. I am not familiar with writer Ailbhe Keogan, but the fact that they also wrote a couple of episodes of the celebrated Bad Sisters leads me to believe that this well-constructed and occasionally beautiful screenplay is nicely in line with their other work.

It still essentially all boils down to the two central performances though, and both Reid and Colman are excellent. I generally expect excellence of Colman every time I see her now, even while she's working with an Irish accent (which I think she nails), and she doesn't disappoint, particularly in a scene that has her relating a moment from her childhood that explicitly ties in to every fear and worry that has become part of her character's DNA. Reid is the pleasant surprise, and it will be interesting to see whether or not he can continue getting good enough roles to maintain a positive trajectory in his acting career. He manages to be both sweet and foul-mouthed, sometimes in the same moment, and also shows the vulnerability barely hidden by his youthful cockiness and anger. O'Mearáin is happy to be depicted as a constant threat, the main villain of the piece, and does well in scenes that help you to root for the leads to keep themselves away from people you know will just ruin their fleeting moments of happiness.

I doubt this will be remembered in a year or two, it's a small-scale movie showing the external effects of ongoing internal struggles, but I hope that people will catch it while it's pretty easily available. Nothing is spectacular, aside from some of the acting, but it's all done very well, and both Reynolds and Keogan deserve praise for providing enough dry humour and little victories to make it easier to handle the more intense and downbeat moments.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Wicked Little Letters (2023)

Based on a true story, one that scandalised at least parts of the UK, Wicked Little Letters is all about, well, exactly what the title says. It's the 1920s, and people in the Littlehampton start to receive anonymous letters full of choice insults and hatred. Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) is the pious spinster who seems to be targeted by these letters, which makes her foul-mouthed neighbour, Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), the number one suspect. The police believe they have their criminal, although one officer (WPC Gladys Moss, played by Anjana Vasan) thinks there may be cause to look elsewhere.

Having been documented in the press of the time, and subsequently in a couple of books on the subject, writer Jonny Sweet has a good central premise to work with. I don't know how close to the truth this gets, it may be as far removed from it as we are from the moon, but there are many moments that certainly play out as you can imagine, reflecting prejudices and behaviours as sadly prevalent today as they were decades ago.

Director Thea Sharrock knows the value of her talent pool, in both the writing and the cast, and everyone involved knows the value of some cracking swear-words sprinkled liberally throughout every scene. I am not saying that swearing is big or clever, but it can be bloody funny, especially when the words are being uttered by people seemingly unable to comprehend the flavour of the language being used.

Both Colman and Buckley are very good, as you would expect. The former gets to act very still and oppressed for the majority of the runtime, the latter is an enviable free spirit looking to enjoy a new life that should make things more comfortable for her daughter (played by the very talented Alisha Weir). Vasan is on par with the two leads, her expressions often showing her true reactions to the prejudice she has to deal with on a daily basis. There are also wonderful performances from Timothy Spall (being entertainingly loathsome), Hugh Skinner and Paul Chahidi (as unimaginative members of the police force), and Eileen Atkins, Lolly Adefope, and Joanna Scanlan, playing women who also want to help uncover the true identity of the letter-writer. Malachi Kirby also does well, and has some surprisingly sweet moments amidst the rudeness, and viewers will spot familiar faces such as Gemma Jones, Tim Key, and Jason Watkins joining in with the profane fun. 

While it is all about letters filled with rude words, this is a film also all about the danger of jumping to conclusions, and just how easily someone can use their position in society to demonize and ostracize someone they view as being a lesser member of the community. It shows how little it takes to turn people against others, while using some truth, some half-truths, and a whole lot of lies. Sound familiar? Because it does to me, especially during a time when the UK has seen such rioting and disruption caused by almost the exact same tactics. Wicked little social media posts, you might say.

8/10

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Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

I may be out of the loop, but I didn’t think people were crying out for another Puss In Boots movie. Mind you, I didn’t think people were crying out for the first Puss In Boots movie, or a fourth Shrek movie, both released over a decade ago, so what do I know? Not a lot, that’s for sure. 

Despite this film feeling completely unnecessary, I figured I might enjoy it. The character IS fun, the voice cast could work well, and I wanted something light and pretty to watch for a while. In that regard, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish seemed to fit the bill.

The story is enjoyably simple, although more characters are added in the mix to ensure that it stays busy. Puss (Antonio Banderas, once again being a perfect fit for the role) realises that he is on his ninth, and final, life. This makes him very afraid, which leads to him sheltering in a home full of normal house cats (and one small dog, Perrito, voiced by Harvey Guillén). But there’s a chance for Puss to get more lives, if he can find his way to a fallen star that will grant someone one wish. That means snatching a map from Jack Horner (John Mulaney), staying ahead of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the three bears, and potentially pairing up with, or competing against, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault).

Written by Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I actually prefer it to the first movie, because it feels as if it focuses on the central characters and themes more than twisting classic nursery rhyme moments into punchlines. Taking away the natural bravura of Puss puts him on the obvious journey of finding it again, which makes him more interesting (although he has always been entertaining enough).

Directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado do well, packing the first act with most of the better jokes before allowing things to balance out on the way to a third act that plays out as you expect. There’s also a LOT of positive messaging going on in the script, and Crawford and Mercado wrap that up in a way that saves it from being sickeningly sweet or tiresome. It’s an excellent bit of family entertainment.

Banderas, Pinault, and Guillén are an enjoyable trio to spend time with, and both Mulaney and Pugh seem to be having a lot of fun in their roles, the latter conversing with bears voiced by Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, and Samson Kayo. The fact that I am not having to reel off a list of more celebrity names, cameos crammed in for the sake of having cameos, is also a plus. There are some other supporting characters who add to the fun, but this is all about our leads, and the characters pursuing them.

I am still not convinced that this was necessary, or wanted. I guess children of the perfect viewing age may have been watching the previous adventures of Puss In Boots at home, although many might see this first (it works well enough as a stand-alone film) and then work backwards from it. I’m glad it was done though. I liked it well enough, anyone else liking it is just a bonus.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022)

It can be hard to decide on your favourite ever movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol - there's the lure of Alastair Sim, the lure of Albert Finney in a musical, and the lure of muppets, of course - but it's quite easy to identify the less impressive examples. The ones that feel more like a serving of lumpy gravy than a mix of the gravy and the grave, if you will. Excluding the most low-budget and independent movies, my own personal least favourite is Christmas Carol: The Movie, with the 2009 Jim Carrey vehicle sitting not too far above it. And now they can be joined by Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, a film that commits the crime of feeling even more lifeless than the spirits that visit the central character, despite the fact that it is, apparently, an animated remake/reworking of the 1970 Albert Finney movie (although that maybe explains the main problem with it, I have never been the biggest fan of that film either).

Luke Evans voices Scrooge. The ghost of Christmas past is voiced by Olivia Colman, a highlight, while Trevor Dion Nicholas voices Christmas present (and the third spectre says all that needs to be said without speaking aloud). Jonathan Pryce is Jacob Marley, James Cosmo is Mr. Fezziwig, Jessie Buckley is Isabel Fezziwig, and Johnny Flynn is Bob Cratchit. 

I am not sure if I can do much more here, naming the main cast members seems to be the closest I can come to being nice about this film.

Directed by Stephen Donnelly, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Leslie Bricusse (who also provided the songs dotted throughout the narrative, or wrote them back when the 1970 movie was being crafted, and who sadly died just a couple of months before the film was released), this is a flat and dull retread of a story that viewers can watch in at least a dozen better movies. Easily. As much as I like many of the cast members, very few of them get to do anything that helps their performance stand out. The notable exception is Colman, who has a voice and manner that turns out to be a great match for her character.

The animation throughout is nice enough, it's clean and neat, but there's a lack of real artistry, and the same can be said of the songs, unfortunately. I dare anyone to get to the end of this and then relay one of the musical numbers back to me. Not exactly, just hum a rendition at me. I doubt anyone could manage it, even if you tried while the end credits were still rolling, because they are so unmemorable.

As disappointed as I was with the visuals and the songs, I was much more disappointed by the script. I can only assume that Donnelly wanted to present a film that felt like a mix of the fresh and the familiar, but he omits all the best phrases that fans of the story will be waiting for. Either use the animation to complement a beautifully traditional adaptation or use the bare bones of the tale to give viewers an enjoyably fresh new spin on it (love or hate Spirited, at least it tried the latter), but don't land smack bang in the middle. That just ends up pleasing nobody, although complete newcomers may find just enough here to enjoy. 

Maybe I'll revisit this one day, and I might view it a bit more favourably, especially if it just stays available to stream while I'm full of hot chocolate and mince pies, lazily browsing for something that won't require me to overthink anything. That's a big maybe though.

3/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Lost Daughter (2021)

Marking the feature directorial debut of Maggie Gyllenhaal, who also adapted the novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante into script form, The Lost Daughter is very much a film looking at an experience common for most of the female population. It's about motherhood, the expectations placed on women to be the main care providers for children, and the thoughts that people process when they see those expectations being dismissed, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Olivia Colman plays Leda, a professor out to enjoy a bit of a working holiday. She will do some reading and writing, but most of her studying can take place on a sunny beach. Potential peace and bliss is spoiled, however, when a large family take over part of the beach. They aren't nice people, apparently, but Leda refusing to give up her own spot on the beach makes her a curiosity. In turn, Leda cannot stop watching young Nina, a woman struggling with her own daughter. When Nina's daughter goes missing one day, Leda saves the day by finding and returning her. But the child is unhappy, her favourite doll having gone missing while she was on her wanders. Different tensions rise, within Nina, within the extended family, within Leda, and there's a sense that things may go very badly. Perhaps the present is connected to the past, which we see as a younger Leda (played by Jessie Buckley) struggles with motherhood while trying to develop her learning and career.

The first thing to note here is the superb cast. Although I wasn't as won over by Buckley as some others seem to be, she's fine, this is generally a cast of great actors delivering great performances. Colman has been consistently superb for a long time now, way before any awards were handed over to her, and she continues to be arguably flawless in her main roles. Johnson has also been delivering great work over the past few years, outwith her work in the awful "Fifty Shades" movies, and she's excellent here. Ed Harris is a delight, playing the landlord/porter/islander who sees something in Leda that he responds to, and Peter Sarsgaard is enjoyable enough in a few scenes showing his character forming a strong connection with Leda over a shared love of linguistics. There's also a good supporting turn from Paul Mescal as Will, a young man who works at the sunny resort to earn some money in between terms. It's Will who warns Leda about the true nastiness of the people she got away with crossing once, and his character becomes more important in the third act. The story stays with Leda though, meaning most of the scenes focus on either Colman or Buckley.

It's the performances and the ideas in the script that helped to make this bearable. I'm afraid to say that very little else worked for me. Gyllenhaal does well in her choice to not spoonfeed the audience, allowing characters to behave erratically at times without making their motives obvious, but she indulges herself too often with an artistic and "breathy" approach to the shooting style that detracts from the bittersweet core of the film. Everything that isn't the actual acting, from the Dickon Hinchliffe music to the cinematography by Hélène Louvart, seems to be trying hard to undermine the acting. The film is a well-cast piece of work almost entirely undone by the pretentious errors of an earnest first-time feature director behind the camera.

As hesitant as I am to recommend this to people, it also remains just about worth your time. For now. There's a better film to be made about this, a film for anyone who has ever felt the urge to throttle someone saying "any children?" or "never mind, plenty time yet to start a family". Images of women defined only by motherhood are everywhere, it's a societal bias that I don't think will ever disappear, and art that fights back against that is important. It gives a voice to those who don't have that maternal urge, for whatever reason, and it reminds people that women are more than JUST wives and mothers.

The Lost Daughter could have easily been called The Lost Mother, The Lost Years, The Lost Love, The Lost Chances, or any of a dozen other titles. But it could also be referred to as The Lost Opportunity, subjectively speaking.

5/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Mitchells Vs The Machines (2021)

Sometimes you cannot stop hearing about a new movie that everyone has been watching, and enjoying, and that was the case with The Mitchells Vs The Machines. I tried to keep my expectations in check, but I must admit that hearing almost unanimous praise for it made me think I was going to really like it. I also thought it was made by producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, considering how many people had to mention them while discussing the film (and I guess I just joined them). It's actually directed and co-written by Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe, although it definitely fits nicely within the selection of brilliant animated movies that Lord and Miller have delivered to audiences over the last decade or so.

Young Katie Mitchell is an aspiring film-maker who has just been accepted into a film school in California. The night before she is due to head off, however, her technophobic father, Rick, breaks her laptop, which could be the final nail in the coffin for their already-strained relationship. Desperate to think of a way to make amends, Rick decides to cancel Katie's flight, and packs up the car for a road trip for the whole family. That's him, Katie, Linda (Katie's mother), Aaron (Katie's younger brother), and a goofy dog named Monchi. As they drive on their lengthy trip, it eventually becomes apparent that there's an apocalyptic robot uprising taking place, all because a tech guru made a show of dismissing some super-smart computer AI for an upgraded line of robots that he assures everybody would never turn evil and try to destroy humanity . . . mere seconds before they all turn evil and try to destroy humanity. 

With an energetic animation style that may put some people off, and a runtime that is closer to two hours than ninety minutes, there's a feeling here that this is a film made by people who were allowed to have as much fun as possible, and incorporate a multitude of gags and homages within the storyline. It generally works really well though, and that approach allows the wide range of references and in-jokes to play out without feeling dated (not something I would always say about a film that features a Kill Bill reference, for example, although the fact that it's also very much playing on the Lone Wolf & Cub imagery also helps).

The voice cast is pretty perfect throughout. The Mitchell family are made up of Danny McBride (Rick/Dad), Maya Rudolph (Linda/Mum), Mike Rianda (Aaron), and Abbi Jacobson (Katie). They interact so well as a family unit that there are times when you can easily forget this is an animated movie. And the rest of the cast is full of delights, from Olivia Colman as PAL, the AI, to Fred Armisen and Beck Bennett as a pair of confused robots. There's a "perfect" set of neighbours, with the adults voiced by Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, a small role for Conan O'Brien, and some great Furby sound effects for one main sequence.

The lessons learned are ones that we've mainly seen before, but there's a rather unique viewpoint offered when Mr. Mitchell finally realises just how good the creative work of his daughter is, and why she puts so much energy into something that it turns out a lot of other people enjoy. It's something that a lot of young viewers will relate to, and maybe even a number of adults who have yet to realise that the only thing that matters when doing something you love is that YOU enjoy doing it (case in point . . . this blog).

Well worth seeing, and with definite sequel potential, The Mitchells Vs The Machines could have been a perfect 90-100 minute movie. It is, instead, a really good 113 minutes. That time spent in the company of it isn't wasted, but it notably affects the pacing, mostly in the first half.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: The Favourite (2018)

We're very lucky to have Yorgos Lanthimos. He's been making consistently great cinema for the past couple of decades now, and I recommend everything that he's done (although there are still one or two I have yet to see from his filmography, with the big omission being Alps).

The Favourite, from a script by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, is another jet-black comedy, not as deliberately strange as The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (in terms of both content and acting style) but still far enough removed from the norm to be a heady brew of laughs, nastiness, and occasional bemusement.

Olivia Colman is a frail and petulant Queen Anne, a woman who allows herself to be manipulated by her closest friend, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz). The relationship between the two women allows Lady Sarah to effectively rule over the country, by proxy, and that displeases some (especially Harley, played by Nicholas Hoult, a member of parliament trying to put an end to a war with France). Things start to change, however, with the arrival of Abigail (Emma Stone), a young woman who is a cousin of Lady Sarah, yet now seems a world removed from her due to a life of misfortune and hardship caused by her gambling father. Abigail sees an opportunity to get back all that she lost over the years, but she will need to ingratiate herself with the queen, push Lady Sarah out of her privileged position, and deal with the likes of Harley, a man happy to help or hinder anyone, depending on what they might be able to offer him.

Based on actual events, amazingly enough, The Favourite somehow works in every way that it can be viewed: comedy, political thriller, period drama. It works best as a mix of all three, obviously, but anyone who doesn't appreciate the other aspects of it should at least find one main strand they can appreciate. Lanthimos weaves it all together with an expert touch, allowing the more modern and unflinching presentation to play up the way in which all of the main characters are happy and quick enough to roll around in effluence, sometimes literally, as long as they know it's a way to eventually rise higher up than before. There are times when the more modern sensibility threatens to pull viewers out of the experience, but they aren't frequent enough to become a major issue.

The acting is equal to the material, with Colman already receiving plenty of deserved praise for her wonderful portrayal of Queen Anne. Weisz and Stone shouldn't be lightly dismissed though, and it's worth celebrating the fact that we get a film giving us three such fantastic portrayals of such enthralling female characters. Hoult has a lot of fun in his role, Joe Alwyn is fine as another gentleman who ends up involved in the scheming, and Mark Gatiss is fitting in his small role (almost a cameo, really).

Not for the prudish, The Favourite is a fascinating look at various people trying to influence one another in a variety of ways. It's about power, about reputation, about love, and it's about Lanthimos cutting further and further into the heart of things once again with the precision of a skilled surgeon.

8/10

You can buy The Lobster (still his best movie) here.
Americans can buy it here.

Murder On The Orient Express (2017)

There's nothing inherently wrong with this all-star version of Murder On The Orient Express, the classic whodunnit from Agatha Christie that has an ending already known to most people even if they haven't read the book yet (a large group that includes myself). It's rather fun, polished, and certainly throws enough stars into the mix to help things along.

Kenneth Branagh directs, and he also lets himself take on the lead role of Poirot, the greatest detective in the world (who isn't named Sherlock Holmes, I guess). Poirot ends up on the titular train, there's a murder, and he tries to figure out who did it. Everyone has a motive, it seems, and Poirot wants to discover the culprit before the train moves on to the next station. Because the train has also been derailed by a small avalanche, ensuring that the characters are unable to flee while the detective gets his little grey cells working on the case.

Working from a script by Michael Green, Murder On The Orient Express is a film both helped and hampered by how familiar and comfortable it all feels. It's easy to enjoy but not so easy to get properly drawn into. The snowy setting, the familiar faces, the family-friendly nature of most of the main scenes, this is something that feels more like a lavish BBC production scheduled for the Christmas holidays than a cinematic experience.

My other main complaint about the film is how the resolution comes about. It all makes sense, from what I can tell, but it would have been better to see a few more links being placed in the chain by Poirot as he started to formulate his main theory. This may be a case of elements from the book that were harder to put on film, or it may be a case of Poirot simply being a character who holds all of his cards close to his chest until he is ready to set them down. My limited knowledge of the character is gathering dust in a small recess of my memory banks, sadly. Either way, and I know it would have been difficult to balance the reveals with the attempt to keep the mystery intact until the end, one or two more pieces of information would have been appreciated as viewers watched Poirot put everything together.

I'm not going to pick apart every performance by the cast. I'll just say that all of them have fun at various points. Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer, Leslie Odom Jr, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, Josh Gad, Penelope Cruz, Olivia Colman, Derek Jacobi, and Tom Bateman are the main players, but they all have to work under the long shadow of Branagh, clearly having a ball as Poirot.

If you're unfamiliar with the resolution to the story then be sure to see this before you have it spoiled for you. Also give it a watch if you like most of the main players (and why wouldn't you?). But it's surprisingly disposable and forgettable, especially considering the talent involved. I'll still end up watching the next adventure, however, teased at the end, and I'd even be tempted to watch some less famous mysteries featuring Branagh's take on the main character.

6/10

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Cuban Fury (2014)

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

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

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

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

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

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

7/10

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

The Iron Lady (2011)

There are many times when I watch a movie because I am keen to see it, many times when I just watch a film that I know nothing about and many times when I watch something that has been recommended to me and sit there, hoping that I will like it as much as whoever gave me the heads up. The Iron Lady is a film that I didn't really want to watch, but circumstances have kind of pushed it up my "to view" list and I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go.

It stars Meryl Streep, almost unrecognisable at times, as Margaret Thatcher (played in her younger incarnation by Alexandra Roach), the Conservative MP who became the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain and changed the country, for better or worse (I know how I feel about her changes, but I'm going to do my best to avoid getting into any potential heated debate here). Jim Broadbent plays her husband, Denis (younger version - Harry Lloyd), and Olivia Colman is daughter, Carol.

Anyone expecting a warts 'n' all look at the life of a highly controversial figure will end up highly disappointed. This is a film designed to show its main character bathed in a warm glow, showing her as a tough woman who may have made some mistakes, with emphasis on the word "may". In fact, it skirts around so many big moments that there are many scenes which may leave you wondering just what the point of the film is until you remember that the point is to remind everyone of how great Margaret Thatcher was.

Streep is superb in the main role. She nails the voice - though anyone who has read my review of Lincoln will know that I don't rate any performance that I feel is JUST an impression - but also gets the mannerisms and strength of character just right. In fact, she made me like the character (which I certainly didn't expect). Broadbent is a cheery supporting figure throughout, giving a typically Broadbentian (which is now a word) performance. Olivia Colman does well and the supporting cast contains great names such as Richard E. Grant, John Sessions and Anthony Head.

The script by Abi Morgan is safe and sweet at every turn, and the direction from Phyllida Lloyd goes exactly the same way. This is a film made by people who watched The King's Speech a few too many times and just decided that they could insert Margaret Thatcher into the template and get away with it. Well, that's easier than actually making something that actually has some substance and thought-provoking moments. The end result doesn't impress, certainly not this viewer anyway.

I'm sure that this will play well in America, where people seem to love this portrayal of Britain onscreen (the absurdity of British politics, the conversations that take place with tea and biscuits, etc). It will also play well to fans of Margaret Thatcher. But it won't appeal to those who don't like the woman all that much and it won't appeal to fans of great movies. Because it isn't one. Streep deserves all of the praise heaped upon her performance, it's just a shame that she wasn't given a better film around her.

4/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Iron-Lady-Blu-ray-Meryl-Streep/dp/B008MUJ9S4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1366083248&sr=8-3&keywords=the+iron+lady