Movie Reviews: Game Night, A Wrinkle in Time, Unsane, Trumbo, The Death of Stalin and Match Point

Movie Reviews: Weeks ending Sunday 18 and Sunday 25 March 2018

This week: Game Night, A Wrinkle in Time, Unsane, Trumbo, The Death of Stalin and Match Point

If I was asked to eliminate one genre of film that I could never watch again, the chances are I’d pick Hollywood comedies. Over the last few years some of the worst films to be released have fallen into this category, from the likes of Daddy’s Home 2 and Rough Night to Let’s Be Cops and Movie 43 it’s hard to name a half decent American comedy of recent years (I can only really think of The Big Sick off the top of my head).

So, I arrived at Game Night with the lowest of expectations. The plot is pretty simple - competitive board gamers Max (Jason Bateman, who I love in spite of his terrible career choices) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) get involved in a murder mystery night that ends up being more realistic than they or their pals expected, mainly due to brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) not being all that he seems.

Maybe it’s simply a matter of rock-bottom expectations, but what a surprise to report that Game Night is actually pretty decent knockabout fun. Credit has to go to an excellent cast, from creepy policeman neighbour Jesse Plemons to the brilliant Sharon Horgan whose double-act with halfwit Billy Magnussen is one of the film’s highlights.

The writing is also pretty sharp, and I found Game Night genuinely amusing for most of its running time. There’s a brilliant early game of charades that had me laughing out loud while Jason Bateman’s ability to deliver throwaway lines as if he’s made them up on the spot will never get old.

The final act gets a bit daft (and a bit confusing) but it doesn’t detract from the fact that Game Night is one of the best studio comedies of recent years. I appreciate that isn’t saying much, but you take your pleasure where you can find it. 7/10

A big-budget Disney adaptation of a much-loved book directed by Ava DuVernay ticked a lot of boxes and so I had no trouble persuading the child to see A Wrinkle In Time. Newcomer Storm Reid plays Meg who is plodding through adolescence after the disappearance of her scientist father (Chris Pine).

That is until she meets three strange beings (Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling) who send both Meg and pal Calvin (Levi Miller) into space to try and find him. Strange encounters and mystical worlds follow, as Meg has to overcome self-doubt to become the person she needs to be to rescue her father.

There’s lots going for A Wrinkle In Time, most notably an excellent cast. Reid is excellent in the lead role, while Miller has already proven he’s a safe pair of hands after starring roles in both Pan and Better Watch Out. Winfrey seems to be essentially playing God here (not a bad casting choice, I suppose) while Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Zach Galifianakis and Michael Pena are great in small but significant roles.

The main problem with A Wrinkle In Time, though, is that it just doesn’t hang together very well. There’s clearly been a lot of cash and artistic design go into creating the various worlds (at times it reminded me of the James Franco Oz sequel) but it seemed to be at the expense of the story, which gets lost amongst the weirdness.

Perhaps it was simply too complex a book to adapt but there were entire scenes that seemed to add nothing to the plot (Reese Witherspoon morphs into a giant cabbage leaf at one point for no apparent reason) while at other times the story seemed rushed.

I’m as much of a fan of young adult fiction adaptations as the next man but left A Wrinkle In Time disappointed. There is certainly stuff to like and admire here, but overall it never quite hangs together. 5/10

It seems as if Steven Soderbergh has undone his retirement announcement, considering he follows in the footsteps of last year’s entertaining heist caper Logan Lucky with new psychological thriller Unsane.

Claire Foy is Sawyer Valentini, a seemingly together and successful businesswoman trying to escape the ordeal of having been the victim of stalking. When she seeks psychological help a chain of events lead her to being committed to a hospital facility where she believes her stalker now works. Does he, or is she actually going mad?

Much has been made of the fact that Unsane was filmed on an iPhone although I have to say I didn’t find this much of a distraction. Indeed, as it’s quite a claustrophobic film the narrow screen actually helped to create tension.

I liked Unsane very much. Claire Foy is absolutely brilliant in the lead role and is quickly developing a reputation for being one of the best actors currently working. I totally believed in her performance, and she gets some excellent support from fellow Brit Juno Temple as well as Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah and Amy Irving in a small but important role.

Soderbergh does a great job of ramping up the tension here, and while Unsane is essentially a thriller it also has much to say about the modern healthcare system and the way in which insurance and profit can come at the expense of patient care. It’s a small and low budget film, but I really enjoyed it. 8/10

Being a member of the Communist Party in 1950s America was no fun. Nowhere was this more apparent than in Hollywood, and Trumbo tells the tale of acclaimed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) and how he managed to ‘beat’ the blacklist despite no studio wanting to hire a communist.

Based on a true story which hardly seems believable in this day and age, I found Trumbo to be a really engaging telling of the tale. Cranston is a fine actor and is superb in the lead role; clearly an enormous talent but prepared to hold onto his beliefs even if it means ending up in prison. 

There is a great supporting cast including the great Michael Stuhlbarg as Edward G Robinson, while Helen Mirren chews plenty of scenery as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (I couldn’t help being reminded of Tilda Swinton’s twins in Hail, Caesar!).

Films about writers are not always the most engaging, but Trumbo’s is such an interesting story – he won an Academy Award under a pen name – that I was enthralled throughout. Trumbo is a really well put-together drama and I enjoyed it enormously. 8/10

Last autumn I arrived at my local Cineworld with a choice between two films, both showing at the same time and both about to disappear from the screens. I elected to see Call Me By Your Name – an excellent decision as it turned out – while it took until now to catch up with the other choice, The Death of Stalin, on DVD.

Armando Iannucci’s black comedy is based on the power vacuum that opened up in Russia in the aftermath of Josef Stalin’s death. With an all-star cast including Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough and Simon Russell Beale, the film tells the (mostly true) events in the battle to succeed the Soviet dictator.

I am a huge fan of Iannucci’s work and so the prospect of a political comedy from the man who brought us The Thick Of It was a no-brainer. While this isn’t as much of a knockabout farce as that show, this is a film which mixes jet black humour without shying away from the terrible things that were happening in the Soviet Union at the time.

The performances here are superb, from Rupert Friend’s hapless Stalin Jr. to Jason Isaacs' brash, no-nonsense army general. The casting is great and watching a load of great actors behave so hopelessly is really great to watch. The great Paddy Considine appears in a small role at the start of the film but his scenes set the tone perfectly for the chaos set to come.

I enjoyed The Death of Stalin very much. I’m not sure it’s quite as laugh-out-loud funny as some of Iannucci’s other work – it’s no Alpha Papa, for example – but it’s an entertaining and thought-provoking romp with some brilliant performances. 8/10

While remaining as prolific as ever, the quality of Woody Allen’s output has been startlingly variable over recent years. There have been good moments (Midnight in Paris) and utter stinkers (From Rome with Love) and plenty in-between. I’ve seen most of his recent efforts and so jumped back to the mid-2000s to catch up with British-set drama Match Point.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Chris Wilton, a sort of Tim Henman-esque former tennis pro who falls for American actress Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson). The problem is that Chris is engaged to be married to monied heiress Chloe (Emily Mortimer) while Nola is set to marry Chris’ soon-to-be brother-in-law (Matthew Goode).

The set-up is pure Allen, and Chris’ character is particularly well-realised as he clearly still has ambitions to be wealthy and powerful despite the end of his athletic career. The cast do a terrific job, and there are some great supporting performances from Penelope Wilton and Brian Cox amongst others.

Of course the narrative plays out in a typically Allen-esque way – a heinous crime is never far from his films – although there is a daring twist in Match Point that I honestly never saw coming. Narratively, the opening and ending work absolutely perfectly, and while the rest of the film does labour at times (it could have been 20 minutes shorter) I was actually really satisfied by it, even if you never really warm to any of the characters, most of who are just in it for themselves.

It’s not quite Allen’s best work, but it’s certainly among the top films of his 2000s output. 7.5/10

Next week: Ready Player One, A Quiet Place, The Party, The Hitman's Bodyguard, London Road and Annihilation

Movie Reviews: I, Tonya, Lady Bird, Black Panther, Red Sparrow, Miss Sloane and You Were Never Really Here

Movie Reviews: Week ending Sunday 4 March and Sunday 11 March 2018

This week: Black Panther, I,Tonya, Lady Bird, Red Sparrow, Miss Sloane and You Were Never Really Here

Having seen all the Marvel films to date there wasn't really a chance I'd avoid Black Panther, despite the fact I know nothing of the character or his story other than the brief snippet we learned in Captain America: Civil War.

Chadwick Boseman plays T'Challa, the king of a fictional African nation named Wakanda. He's also the Black Panther, a hero with superhuman strength. When exiled Erik Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) arrives back in the country seeking what he believes is his rightful place on the throne, T'Challa must act to restore order and to answer questions about his nation's role in the world.

Much has been made of the race and gender issues that Black Panther tackles – Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman are essentially the only white faces in the case – but actually it's done so well because it's a pretty decent film.

Director Ryan Coogler has assembled a great cast, and Forest Whitaker, Lupita Nyong'o and Daniel Kaluuya are all excellent here. Michael B Jordan is also one of the most watchable stars in Hollywood, and he's terrific.

What I liked was that even when the third act arrived, the film carried on moving forward rather than resorting to 30 minutes of bangy-crashy CGI. Yes, there was plenty of action but it felt integral to the story, rather than simply spectacle. Black Panther also has some interesting points to make about race, equality and the responsibilities of wealthy nations.

I liked it. Black Panther is really decent popcorn entertainment. 7.5/10

I, Tonya which tells the life story of the disgraced skater.

Over the last 25 years there have been few sporting scandals than the nobbling of ice dancer Nancy Kerrigan by, allegedly, her main American rival. This story ("the incident" as it's constantly referred to) is just part of new film

Filmed in a fake documentary style, we're told right at the outset that this is a film which has no reliable narrator. The story is told by Margot Robbie as Tonya, Sebastian Stan as ex-husband Jeff and the brilliant Allison Janney as LeVona, Harding's overbearing mother. A supporting cast add nuance to the story, but it's clear that you're never sure quite who to believe.

From the moment LeVona appears to Cliff Richard's Devil Woman, Janney gives a performance full of bile and spite. It's a bit of a one-note role, but she's electric on screen, as is Robbie in the central role. Harding must be delighted that a tiny, beautiful star is the one who is playing her, but she's really excellent here.

Of course the main think that Harding is infamous for is the 'incident' but I confess to enjoying the film more before the attack than I did after. The story of trying to break an institutionalised snobbery is really interesting, and her family life was always more engaging than the one story we already know.

Still, I really enjoyed I, Tonya. It's well-paced, spiky and thoroughly entertaining film-making with some really excellent performances. Whether any of it tells the honest truth is anyone's guess, but it's certainly a really enjoyable ride. 8/10

With the possible exception of Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, the main awards contenders this year have all rather failed to excite. I don't think that there is a great film amongst them, and the latest big Oscar hopeful to underwhelm was the directorial debut of Mistress America and Maggie's Plan star Greta Gerwig.

Saiorse Ronan plays the title role in Lady Bird, a story about a 17-year-old desperate to escape her home town of Sacramento and her loving but smothering mother (brilliantly played by Laurie Metcalf). It's a story about finding your own place in the world, and the prboblems that can occur in relationships between parents and their teenage kids.

Having seen Gerwig's previous films and the trailer for Lady Bird, I was expecting a really engaging, funny indie comedy but what struck me was just how straight and mainstream Lady Bird is. I didn't really see anything that I hadn't seen on screen before, although perhaps the fact that I've never been a teenage girl or had quite that relationship with my parents is the problem here.

There are some nice moments, and a great cast includes Lucas Hedges and Timothee Chalamet; two of the best young actors around. I was just struck at how unremarkable I found the whole endeavour, and while it's perfectly fine, I confess to being confused as to why it's generated such awards buzz. 7/10

A new Jennifer Lawrence film is always a good reason for a visit to the pictures as, with the grave exception of the awful mother! she is a actress that makes some interesting decisions. Her latest film is a spy thriller in which she plays Dominika Egorova, a former ballerina who is forced into an espionage training programme by her shady uncle Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts, channelling Vladimir Putin).

Having graduated from a school of seduction run my matronly madam Charlotte Rampling, Egorova gets involved with a twisty-turny spy plot featuring an American agent (Joel Edgerton) who may or may not be her actual lover. Can she get out alive, or at least before a series of well-regarded British and Irish thesps (Jeremy Irons, Joely Richardson, Ciaran Hinds) chew their way through all the scenery?

There's nothing particularly new or original in Red Sparrow but the one thing I would say is that this is a far more brutal and nasty thriller than you would imagine. It really pushes the boundaries of what a Hollywood blockbuster can/should do, and I actually couldn't watch some of the more gruesome scenes. It's about as top end a 15-certificate as you could get.

Lawrence is solid enough in the lead role although I was never particularly convinced by the storyline. Accents wander in and out, and the casting of the likes of Irons and Rampling meant you never really believed in any of the characters. There are also some giant holes in the plot which even the might of Lawrence and big budget production can't cover up.

An odd one. It's a broadly engaging watch but Red Sparrow never amounts to more than that, and it's certainly not one for the faint-hearted. 6/10

Having already seen Molly's Game I've been treated to a tour-de-force performance from Jessica Chastain already this year and, in many ways, there are many parallels between the poker drama and the political thriller Miss Sloane.

Chastain is Elizabeth Sloane, a ruthless and effective political lobbyist who is lured from her job to a small, rival agency run by Rodolfo Schmidt (Mark Strong) with a mission to fight the American gun lobby and bring in a piece of gun control legislation. As the stakes become higher and higher, what lengths will Sloane go to in order to win?

As with Molly's Game, Chastain is rarely off screen here, and she must have a hell of a memory to keep taking on these roles which must involve page upon page of scripts to learn. As ever she's brilliant as a tough, independent woman and there's a great supporting cast including The Newsroom's Alison Pill and Sam Waterston, John Lithgow, and the always brilliant Michael Stuhlbarg.

Of course this is a particularly topical subject matter also as the issue of gun control rumbles on in American politics, and it was also a fascinating insight into the tactics and horse trading that goes on in Washington.

For me, Miss Sloane is less of a political thriller and more of a heist movie. The late-film reveal is reminiscent of something like the Ocean's trilogy, and you're essentially watching someone undertake a massive long con before working out how and if she pulled it off. THat's not to diminish from the entertainment, though – I thought Miss Sloane was an intelligent and engaging watch and I enjoyed it very much. 8/10

Lynne Ramsey is not a prolific filmmaker and You Were Never Really Here is just her third film in 15 years. Joaquin Phoenix is Joe, a gruff veteran who tracks down kidnapped girls for a living, while wreaking whatever vengeance is required on the perpetrators. When a job suddenly becomes more than he was expecting, he's drawn into a wider and more dangerous world that puts his own life in danger.

The plot is not really the main concern with this film (such as it is) as Ramsey's more interested in the atmosphere and in Joe's character. Brief flashbacks give us an idea of why he has turned out the way he was - and why he's in his line of work - and there are outbursts of quite brutal violence at times.

Phoenix is good in the main role, although I did struggle to understand much of what he said as he mumbled it through an enormous beard. There are also some good supporting performances, most notably from up-and-coming star Ekaterina Samsonov as a kidnapped senator's daughter.

There's not much story here but I found this an intriguing film. I wouldn't say I loved it but, as ever, it's always nice to see something a little bit out of the ordinary even if it didn't knock your socks off. 7/10

Next week: Game Night, A Wrinkle in Time, Unsane, Trumbo, The Death of Stalin and Match Point

Movie Reviews: The Shape of Water, Jongens and The Cloverfield Paradox

Movie Reviews: Week ending Sunday 18 February 2018

This week: Jongens, The Shape of Water and The Cloverfield Paradox

One of the mainstays of this year’s awards season, The Shape of Water is the new fantasy adventure from acclaimed Mexican director Gullermo del Toro.

I’m not the del Toro obsessive that many are, and while there are films of his I have enjoyed (who doesn’t love Pan’s Labyrinth?) I have been underwhelmed by the likes of Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim.

This 1960s set drama tells the story of Elisa, a mute janitor working at an aquarium facility. When a top-secret specimen is brought to the centre (played brilliantly by Doug Jones), Elisa starts to care for the creature in a way that the facility’s security – led by a terrifying Michael Shannon – do not. Throw in a Cold War story of a Russian scientist stealing American secrets and you end up with a Beauty and the Beast-esque story which is both romantic and thrilling.

Hawkins is on top form here as the moral heart of the story, and her relationship with neighbour Giles (the superb Richard Jenkins) is at the heart of this tale. Octavia Spencer is great in that supporting-friend role she plays so well, while the ever-dependable Michael Stuhlbarg is terrific, even if his storyline is the least interesting. Michael Shannon towers over the film in his role as the heartless security chief tasked with looking after the aquatic man, and some of his scenes are too brutal to watch.

As you’d expect from del Toro there’s plenty of beautiful design and production to look at, and the creation of the 1960s is beautifully realised, from old-school cinemas to the almost steampunk aquarium.

I liked The Shape of Water. It’s arguably the most mainstream of all of del Toro’s films (except perhaps Pacific Rim) but it’s a magical fantasy story told with love and affection. I’m still not sure that it’s a masterpiece – indeed I’ve really yet to see any film bar Dunkirk this awards season that has truly blown me away – but it’s certainly an enjoyable watch. 7.5/10

It turns out there are plenty of little and interesting films hiding away on Netflix, and that’s where I found Dutch coming-of-age drama Jongens (Boys).

Gijs Blom plays Sieger, a budding athlete living with his father and unruly older brother Eddy (Jonas Smulders). When Sieger is promoted to a superior relay squad, he meets Marc (Ko Zandvliet) and the pair are mutually attracted, despite Sieger’s reluctance to admit to himself how he really feels.

Jongens is hardly an original tale as it deals with a young gay man’s internal turmoil and the difficulties teens face in facing up to who they really are. Saying that, this is a heartfelt and believable story, with some nice performances.

Jongens never outstays its welcome and while the story is easily predicted, it’s made with care and attention and tells a well-worn story in a fresh and modern way. It’s hardly groundbreaking stuff, but I enjoyed it very much. 7.5/10

After 2016’s claustrophobic drama The Bunker was subsumed into the Cloverfield universe at the eleventh hour – it became 10 Cloverfield Lane – much the same has happened to The God Particle which has now arrived as The Cloverfield Paradox.

Dropped onto the Netflix service with no warning, The Cloverfield Paradox is a big budget, star-laden sci-fi set on a space station desperately trying to get a particle accelerator to work in order to save humanity who are engaged in a deadly war back on Earth.

When the system finally does work, it also rips a hole in space and time, leaving our astronauts stranded and facing a set of weird and oddly unrelated problems on their own ship.

There’s clearly been plenty of money spent here. The visual effects are excellent and an impressive cast includes David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daniel Bruhl, Elizabeth Debicki and Chris O’Dowd. It’s also a pretty decent premise, clearly taking some of the concerns raised ahead of the tests of the Large Hadron Collider about quite what the outcome of splitting the atom might be.

It’s a shame, then, that The Cloverfield Paradox is such a shambles. From moment to moment it’s a decently watchable effort but the plot, screenplay and story are all utterly ludicrous, and very little of it actually makes any sense whatsoever. The events that happen on the ship are so random that they don’t seem to have any link – it’s clearly all in the name of ‘chaos’ – but it means it’s impossible to engage with the story as it’s so daft.

Crowbarring the story into the Cloverfield universe also doesn’t quite work, other than to open up the possibility of any future film ever made being dragged into the franchise, such are the dramatic possibilities opened up by this tale.

I’m perhaps not surprised that Netflix released this as a surprise. It would certainly have tanked in the cinema, and perhaps they got decent viewing figures as we all watched it hoping it would be another 10 Cloverfield Lane. It really isn’t. 4/10

Next week: Black Panther, I,Tonya, Lady Bird, Red Sparrow and Miss Sloane

Movie Reviews: Early Man, Downsizing, Phantom Thread, Status Update and Okja

Movie Reviews: Weeks ending Sunday 28 January, Sunday 4 February and Sunday 11 February 2018

This week: Early Man, Downsizing, Status Update, Phantom Thread and Okja

At the movies

It’s been almost 30 years since Wallace and Gromit set off for the moon in their first adventure A Grand Day Out. Since then, Aardman has been responsible for some of the finest animation the world has produced, from Shaun the Sheep shorts to Chicken Run, the highest-grossing stop-motion animation film of all time.

I have never seen an Aardman production that I didn’t enjoy, and even when they don’t hit the heights (The Pirates! Flushed Away and Arthur Christmas) they are still a cut above the vast majority of animated fare.

Their new film is Early Man which begins with a laugh-out-loud funny Ray Harryhausen-esque sequence in which we see the evolution of life on Earth (‘near Manchester’) and the footballing prowess of the very earliest humans. We then meet Dug (Eddie Redmayne) and his tribe who are living peacefully in their lush valley until they are conquered by a strangely-accented doofus (Tom Hiddleston) from the Bronze Age.

Early Man then becomes a plucky underdog movie as they have to work together as a team to beat Real Bronzio in a football match to reclaim their home.

As you’d expect from Aardman the animation here is brilliant. There are visual gags at every turn – including a great gag about perspective – and both the characters and the locations are beautifully made.

It’s also chock full of gags. Many of them are, in truth, pretty obvious but it’s the balls involved in telling a cringeworthy gag with such conviction that means it invariably works. A great voice cast (Maisie Williams, Tim Spall, Rob Brydon) also help keep the engagement levels high.

I’m not sure that Early Man will go down as a true Aardman classic, but it’s funny, charming and quintessentially British. A real family-friendly treat. 7.5/10

Over the years I have really enjoyed Alexander Payne’s films and the trailer suggested there was much to like about his first foray into science-fiction, Downsizing.

Matt Damon plays Paul Safranek, a ‘just about managing’ occupational therapist who decides to undergo a revolutionary new process known as ‘downsizing’. By being reduced to a few inches tall he’ll use less natural resources and live in the lap of luxury in a carefully designed neighbourhood.

However, things don’t go to plan when he arrives in Leisureland where his life seems to be little different to how it was before. When he meets Vietnamese dissident Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau) and wheeler-dealer Dusan (Christoph Waltz) his life begins to change in unexpected ways.

For an hour, Downsizing is an absolutely gripping and hugely entertaining sci-fi drama. Its central premise is really cleverly realised, and the film ends up being part-satire, part relationship drama as Payne’s writing really makes us believe in this alternate reality.

The second half of Downsizing, however, is much less satisfying. The quantity of new ideas being introduced starts to become overwhelming, and the films pulls in a huge number of different directions, meaning that there’s never any through narrative for us to follow. There are some interesting things here, but they never gel in quite the way you want them to and it means that certain scenes look as if they are from a totally different film.

The film also suffers at the point where the action shifts to the ‘downsized’ world. The humour and interest lies in the difference between large and small, meaning that once everything is back in proportion you often forget that you’re living in a miniature environment.

I thought there was enough here to ensure that Downsizing wasn’t a complete failure. It does really lose its way, and it is a frustrating watch at times, but I admire its ambition and it just about makes it over the finish line. 6/10

My daughter and I have seen dozens of films over the years, moving from the standard animation fare into more interesting territory as she’s got a bit older. It struck me recently that we’ve never been to see a film aimed squarely at teens – precisely her demographic – and so I suggested we went to see a true teen High School film.

Status Update focuses on surfer dude Kyle who is struggling to fit in at his new school having moved half way across the country. But, help is at hand from a strange mobile phone repair hippie who adds an app to his phone that makes whatever status he posts comes true. Soon, Kyle is the toast of the school, both captain of the ice hockey team and the star of their musical ensemble. But is he really happy?

The joy of many a teen movie is that they follow a strict formula. There’s got to be an underlying moral message – just be yourself! – while characters also have to realise that what they actually want isn’t what they thought they wanted at the start.

The question is therefore whether a film can pull off these clichés in a fresh and entertaining way, and, in the likes of Mean Girls and The Edge of Seventeen, for example, they can. Status Update, however: not so much.

There are one or two giggles here and some committed if fairly unremarkable performances, but this is a largely forgettable and silly addition to the teen genre. The film makes a common mistake in making the ‘plain girl next door’ far too desirable and it takes some completely unbelievable narrative leaps.

At the end, I asked the 14-year-old (the target demographic) what she thought. “That was the worst film I’ve ever seen,” she said. I don’t think that’s true, but she’s right: Status Update is really not very good. 4/10

Considering that his stellar career has seen him win three acting Oscars – only Katherine Hepburn has more – no one can begrudge Daniel Day-Lewis his retirement. His final film sees him nominated for yet another major gong, this time for his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, Phantom Thread.

Day-Lewis plays Reynolds Woodcock, a celebrated dress designer in 1950s London. Sister Cyril (Leslie Manville) looks after the day-to-day running of the business while Woodcock creates old-fashioned gowns. His latest muse is Alma (Vicky Krieps), a strong-willed woman whose love for Reynolds means she’s not going to be easily tossed aside when he becomes bored with her, as has been his habit in the past.

Unlike many, I’m no huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson’s work and find his films sometimes a little impenetrable. There are certain things to admire in the likes of The Master and Inherent Vice but I can’t say I have ever walked away having loved oone of his movies. And, the same can be said about Phantom Thread.

I do think that this is perhaps at the ‘accessible’ end of the PTA spectrum, and it’s certainly worth watching for the quality of the performances, and the production design. The costumes and period detail are sumptuous, and while the dresses may hardly be the height of chic the film does look tremendous.

Day-Lewis is excellent as the idiosyncratic designer while Lesley Manville is the soul of understatement as sister Cyril, in a performance where a raised eyebrow or curt tone is as powerful as a scream. I do also feel slightly sorry for the excellent Vicky Krieps who has been largely ignored this awards season despite her performance being as good as anything in the film.

Phantom Thread is a strange little story, but it’s certainly not without its pleasures. It’s occasionally slow, but it’s probably my favourite of all of Anderson’s films and features some really great quality acting. 7/10

Another Netflix original production that found its way directly to the streaming service is Okja, a strange eco-parable from South Korean director Boon Jong Ho.

In an attempt to create a more eco-friendly opinion of their business, a US conglomerate led by Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) genetically engineers a ‘super pig’ and creates a contest whereby a number of these animals are sent around the world to be reared by local farmers. Out in Korea, Okja is one such pig and is adopted by Mija (An Seo Hyun), a young girl who treats Okja as you would any pet.

However, when the corporation comes to take its prize specimen back to America, a group of eco-warriors step in to help reunite Mija with her porcine pal.

There’s certainly a lot going on in Okja and it has plenty to say about animal rights, vegetarianism and multinational corporations. In many ways it’s a simple “would you eat your pet?” story, and director Boon takes great pains at the start of the film to build up the close relationship between Okja and Mija.

After that Okja is a film that starts to leap between a range of story strands, some of which work better than others. For example, there’s a startlingly odd turn by Jake Gyllenhaal as Johnny Wilcox (apparently based on Johnny Morris), an excitable presenter of a wildlife TV show. It’s a performance that looks as if it’s wandered in from a completely different film and I’m still not entirely sure what it was meant to signify.

Overall, Okja is a film that is completely all over the place, but there’s just about enough interesting stuff going on here to hold it together. It’s about as weird as a big-budget film gets but boasts some stunning visual effects (the creation of Okja is incredible) and enough story to keep you engaged to the end. 7.5/10

Next week: Jongens, The Shape of Water and The Cloverfield Paradox

Movie Reviews: The Commuter and Darkest Hour

Movie Reviews: Week ending Sunday 21 January 2018

This week: The Commuter and Darkest Hour

At the movies

The success of the original Taken film ushered in an odd late-life career change for Liam Neeson. Since we discovered the Schindler’s List and Michael Collins actor could run around and punch people really effectively, his career has been defined by a range of similar roles in films of hugely varying quality.

In fact, even in terrible films Neeson is often a really watchable screen presence, which is why I took myself off to see his latest effort The Commuter in which he gets to punch a lot of people – but this time on a train.

There is a plot hidden in here somewhere but it’s hardly the reason you go and see a Liam Neeson movie these days. After a reasonably interesting beginning the film soon develops into a silly punch-em-up, in which Neeson’s newly-redundant insurance salesman (!) has to determine which of a motley band of people don’t belong on his daily commute.  When a major plot development involves someone revealing they have a travelcard, you know the plot isn’t what’s keeping us involved.

To be honest, The Commuter doesn’t make an awful lot of sense. The question is whether there’s enough to keep your attention and the answer is, “well, no not really”. Having punched people on boats, aeroplanes (and pretty much wherever else you care to mention) The Commuter is essentially affording Neeson the opportunity to do his thing…just on a train.

The film also suffers from a very odd third act, where the pacing of the film shifts in an unexpected way that largely kills any momentum it had built up.

It’s by no means the worst action film ever, but The Commuter is a daft and confused film that suggests it’s perhaps finally time for Neeson to move his career in a new direction. 4/10

A convincing performance as a great historical character is a shortcut to a major acting award and so it’s no surprise that Gary Oldman looked nailed-on for an Oscar for his turn as Winston Churchill in new drama Darkest Hour.

Joe Wright’s film concentrates on a relatively short period in British history, namely Churchill’s elevation to Prime Minister to shortly after the Dunkirk evacuation. Kristen Scott-Thomas plays wife Clemmy and there’s a strong ensemble cast including Lily James, Samuel West and Ben Mendelsohn, who is excellent as King George VI.

As often happens in cinema, Darkest Hour comes on the back of a couple of years’ worth of films and TV covering similar topics. Both John Lithgow and Brian Cox have been Churchill on screen in the last year, while both Dunkirk and Their Finest covered Operation Dynamo in varying levels of detail.

What this meant for me was that there was little here that I felt I hadn’t already seen – and quite recently. Making a film about stuffy Cabinet rooms and old men arguing would be tricky enough at the best of times, but when you’re really familiar with the subject matter I honestly found myself quite unengaged with Darkest Hour.

Add into the mix an awfully contrived and misjudged late sequence on the London Underground and I came out of Darkest Hour impressed with the performances and production, but rather less enamoured with the film itself. I think it’s solid enough, but no more than that. 6/10

Next week: Early Man, Downsizing, Status Update, Phantom Thread and Okja

Movie Reviews: Molly's Game, Coco, All The Money In The World, Brad's Status and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Movie Reviews: Weeks ending Sunday 7 and 14 January 2018

This week: Molly's Game, All The Money In The World, Brad's Status, Coco and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

At the movies

Over the years I have really enjoyed Aaron Sorkin’s writing, most notably his terrific TV series The Newsroom and films including Moneyball and Steve Jobs. He both writes and directs new movie Molly’s Game, based on the true story of Molly Bloom, a young woman who ran a high-stakes poker game before eventually being arrested by the FBI and investigated for money laundering and mafia collusion.

The brilliant Jessica Chastain plays Molly in a fast-paced film where (as ever with Sorkin) the screenplay is the star. The amount of dialogue here is quite dizzying, from a breathless opening sequence about Molly’s early career as an Olympic-level skier, right up to some fizzing scenes between her and her sceptical lawyer (an excellent Idris Elba).

Sorkin does an excellent job of keeping up the pace while explaining some quite technical poker language for those of us who don’t know a lot about the game. There’s a great ensemble cast including Evil Michael Cera and Kevin Costner, and I found it a really interesting story.

Never less than engaging and with some great performances – it’s the best thing I have seen Elba do – Molly’s Game is a really entertaining story. 8/10

Few films have arrived in the cinema with as much publicity as Ridley Scott’s new movie All The Money In The World. Scott himself took the late decision to recast one of the main roles in the film just a month before release (with Christopher Plummer replacing Kevin Spacey) and since then there have been plenty of stories about the difference in re-shoot fees charged by the film’s other two stars, Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams.

All this, of course, is excellent PR for the film which tells the true story of the kidnapping of 16-year old John Paul Getty III and the battle his mother faced to convince his grandfather – the world’s richest man – to pay the ransom.

The first thing to say about All The Money In The World is that Plummer is, unsurprisingly, brilliant. He does a superb job as the cantankerous, penny-pinching billionaire and it’s to Scott’s credit that you honestly can’t really see the joins where the reshoots meet the main film.

Beyond that, though, I found All The Money In The World a bit of a slog. As the drama progressed I genuinely started to side with the kidnappers, and when your sympathies end up with some bad people, you do think something might have gone drastically wrong.

Michelle Williams does an OK job with what she’s given, but quite why Mark Wahlberg’s character is in this film is anyone’s guess. It’s hard to know what purpose his character serves, and with the best will in the world while he’s a decent action hero, his acting simply isn’t up to the challenge of a serious drama.

I was somewhat disappointed by All The Money In The World. In principle it’s an interesting story, but I felt it was laboured and occasionally downright boring, and I spent the second half just wishing the Italian mafia would blow Getty Jr’s head off. 5/10

When he’s not doing big-budget Zoolander-type dross, Ben Stiller has made some interesting choices in recent years. I don’t think all his films have worked but at least the likes of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and While We’re Young he’s tried to do something different.

His latest film is the low-key indie Brad’s Status in which he plays a middle aged, neurotic man who takes teenage son Troy (Austin Abrams) on a tour of possible colleges only to run into some old friends who make him feel inferior and insecure about how his life has turned out.

Writer/director Mike White’s output is mixed – for every School of Rock there’s an Emoji Movie – but this is a really well-written and well-played indie drama.

Ignoring the daft title, Brad’s Status is the best thing Stiller has done in years. It’s an excellent and nuanced performance as a man having a midlife crisis simply because his friends appear to be more successful and financially secure than he is. Michael Sheen, Jemaine Clement and Luke Wilson are great as these friends, while Austin Abrams is really impressive in a totally underplayed role as Stiller’s talented teenage son.

It’s a film that is certainly cringingly uncomfortable in places, but in a really good way. It’s a quiet little film that seems to have slipped under the radar, but I found Brad’s Status to be honest and engaging, and I really enjoyed it. 8/10

In recent years, Pixar have set a new benchmark for animated films. After debuting with the brilliant Toy Story in 1995, the studio enjoyed a period of largely unbroken critical and commercial success, bagging eight Best Animated Feature Oscars and earning more than £8 billion at the worldwide box office.

Over recent years though there have been concerns that the quality level of Pixar output has been falling. 2011’s Cars 2 was the first real misfire, and since then the likes of Monsters University, The Good Dinosaur and Cars 3 have failed to reach the heights of genuine classics such as Wall-E, The Incredibles and Up.

For their first original film in three years, Pixar have headed to Mexico to base their new film Coco around the annual Day of the Dead celebrations. The story centres on 12-year-old Miguel, whose dreams of becoming a famous musician are being crushed by his family because of the ‘curse’ his great-grandfather inflicted upon them.

When Miguel discovers that he may be related to Ernesto de la Cruz, the greatest musician of them all, he is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead where he must seek the help of his deceased relatives to return home before the sun rises and he remains stuck in the afterlife forever.

The modern touchpoint for this film is Jorge Gutierrez’s 2014 animation The Book Of Life; the Guillermo del Toro-produced film which also featured on a young Mexican being stifled in his career ambitions and having to embark on an afterlife adventure to win his family’s approval.

Having not been wowed by the trailers, The Book of Life came as a complete surprise to me. It’s a charming, beautiful, and entertaining family film with a great voice cast, a lovely message, and some superb mariachi interpretations of chart hits. While Coco shares some common themes with Gutierrez’s 2014 film, it certainly stands on its own as a great piece of entertainment.

As you would expect from a Pixar production, the animation here is quite something. Both Miguel’s Mexican village and the fantasy world of the afterlife are beautifully rendered, and an enormous amount of care has gone into creating colourful and vibrant characters.

The story itself is also surprisingly emotional, touching on issues such as loss, grief and memory while also presenting an underlying message of family and ‘fulfilling your dreams’ ambition. The third act of the film is really well done, and I admit to being moved by quite how powerfully its messages resonated.

My one caveat is that, on the evidence of my viewing, I’m not sure that Coco will play particularly well to a very young audience. While there are some moments of excitement and slapstick, and one or two cute characters, the themes are likely to be appreciated by a slightly older audience and the very young kids in my screening did get a little restless.

All in all, Coco is a lovely piece of work. While I don’t think it can compete with the very best of Pixar’s output, after a couple of recent disappointments it’s certainly a return to form for the Disney-owned studio. Charming, moving, and beautiful to look at, it’s perfect family entertainment. 8/10

(This review originally for Left Lion).

It’s no exaggeration to say that the McDonagh brothers have made some of the best films of recent years. John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard and Calvary are both superb, while Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges is arguably the best of the lot.

The In Bruges director’s follow-up Seven Psychopaths didn’t really work for me but he returns to form with his biting and black new film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Frances McDormand plays Mildred Hayes, a woman who tries to deal with the guilt and grief of her daughter’s death by questioning the local police department’s commitment to finding her daughter’s killer in the form of three enormous billboards.

The police department in this case mainly consist of the chief (Woody Harrelson) and his awful, racist sidekick (Sam Rockwell). Throw in Mildred’s ex-husband and a cast of other locals and you end up with a dysfunctional community all dealing with both their own and other folks’ problems.

There’s lots to enjoy here. McDormand is brilliant as Mildred, playing a grieving woman with very little to lose. It’s a fiery and feisty performance, punctuated with moments of real emotional depth. The supporting cast are also great, most notably the great Lucas Hedges as Mildred’s son and Rockwell who commits wholly to his hateable character.

What I liked about Three Billboards is that it found humour in even the darkest of subject matter. Even when bad things are happening life has a way of throwing in a laugh, and it’s a film where you find yourself laughing even though you’re not sure you should be. I also really liked that no one here is completely as they first seem, and that character arcs move in sometimes unexpected ways.

I don’t think Three Billboards is a perfect film as I think that one character does very little to deserve their somewhat redemptive arc. It’s also a film where much is made of the age gap between two characters in a relationship while no mention is given to the obvious 20-year age difference between two of the other main characters (Hollywood really does need to start casting age-appropriate wives for leading men).

I liked this film. I’m not sure it’s quite the awards-dominating masterpiece that some think, but I enjoyed Three Billboards very much. 8/10

Next week: The Commuter and Darkest Hour

The Top 25 Films of 2017

The Top 25 Films of 2017

2017 was another great year for films. While I may not have seen quite as many as previous years, there was plenty to enjoy. In a year when the likes of Get Out, It, Denial, The Zookeeper's Wife and Logan Lucky miss out on the top 25, you know that quality has been pretty high.

Here are my top 25 movies of 2017.

The Top 25 Movies of 2017

25. The Big Sick

Kumail Nanjiani's bittersweet comedy about love and family is both touching and funny. Ray Romano and Holly Hunter steal the show as Emily's parents Beth and Terry.





24. Raw

No film stayed with me longer than Julia Ducournau's horror (and not always in good ways. Reminiscent of the equally troubling The Tribe, there's a breakout performance from the brilliant Garance Marillier.



23. Kedi

A charming and really likeable documentary about street cats in Istanbul touches on issues such as gentrification and spirituality by sharing stories of the human lives  affected by the felines.






22. Their Finest

An unexpectedly touching and funny story about Ministry of Information films, especially considering I'm no Arterton or Claflin fan. A scene involving Bill Nighy singing at a piano is surprisingly moving.







21. My Life as a Courgette

Brilliant stop-motion animation which delicately handles some really complicated issues. Funny and beautifully animated, it's something older kids and adults will love.






20. Lady Macbeth

Florence Pugh is magnificent as the repressed lady of the house refusing to accept her place in the pecking order. William Oldroyd's superb direction also deserves a special mention.


19. Wind River

The third part of a loose trilogy about people living on the margins, this snowy whodunnit is less about the crime than it is about the lives of those involved. A great character drama.





18. A Ghost Story

Nudged up the list by its superb soundtrack, this strange film from director David Lowery (who I like very much) is a peculiar and meditative look at life, death and everything in between, with Casey Affleck wearing a bed sheet for most of it.




17. The Lego Batman Movie

With a gag rate that it's impossible to keep up with, Lego managed to completely demolish DC's chances of making a decent superhero film ever again. There will never be a better Batman than this small plastic one.



16. The Red Turtle

Another masterpiece from Studio Ghibli (a co-production), this almost silent tale is both beautifully animated and completely heartbreaking. A real achievement to do so much with so little.






15. Hidden Figures

Crowd-pleasing, punch-the-air-with-joy drama focusing on the 'forgotten' women of NASA. Funny, warm and with some excellent performances from its central protagonists.






14. Blade Runner 2049

I'm no massive fan of Blade Runner but Denis Villeneuve's sequel both reveres the original and takes it in interesting directions. It's a stunning film to look at and features Harrison Ford's best performance in years.






13. Gifted

Perhaps the surprise of the year. Far from being a syrupy 'precocious child' drama, this is a really well-written film that's funny and engaging with some really likeable performances. A hidden gem.





12. The Handmaiden

Director Chan-woon Park relocates Sarah Waters' book Fingersmith to 1930s Korea with superb results. A twisting and turning film that looks stunning and has some great central performances.





11. The Disaster Artist

I finally saw The Room in 2017 and James Franco manages a great balancing act by celebrating Tommy Wiseau's terrible film while not sugarcoating the less palatable aspect of the director's personality.




10. Colossal

Another hidden gem, this strange and brilliant film manages not to be about huge robots and monsters, even when they are tearing down downtown Seoul. Jason Sudeikis is brilliant in an against-type role.



9. Mudbound

A grim but hugely impressive 1940s drama about race and young people trying to find their place in the world. A superb ensemble cast and writing that's so electric every scene means something in a wider context, even if it seems like an intimate drama.






8. Call Me By Your Name

A luscious, sun-drenched film with a really great central turn by Tomothee Chalamet. It's a really good film elevated by the most amazing and gut-punching final 10 minutes or so that you'll see in any film this year.






7. Manchester By The Sea

A wonderfully crafted film about grief and survival that won Casey Affleck an Oscar. Michelle Williams and Lucas Hedges are also excellent and, while it's hardly upbeat, it's a film with searing emotional honesty.







6. God's Own Country

Francis Lee's low-budget British drama is about love, and acceptance, and Brexit, and countless other subjects. Josh O'Connor and Alec Secareanu are brilliant as chalk and cheese young men who realise they have much to offer each other.




5. La La Land

From its great opening number, La La Land had me hooked. I love the musical numbers and while the ending initially made me sad, I think it was necessary to the story. La La Land is what cinema is for.







4. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Exhilarating, fun and visually brilliant I honestly don't see what the naysayers' problem is. Rian Johnson did what he had to do and moved the story on in interesting ways, and I absolutely loved all most of it.





3. A Monster Calls

I was nervous when I found out that one of the greatest books of all time was going to be adapted for the big screen, but I needn't have been. Brilliantly realised, this film is every bit as powerful as Patrick Ness' book.







2. Paddington 2

A film that ends the question "Has there been a better sequel than the original?" debate once and for all. I laughed til I cried, and then cried. Moving, hilarious and with Hugh Grant at his finest, the world would be a better place if we were all a bit more Paddington.





1. Dunkirk

There was no better cinematic experience last year than being immersed in Christopher Nolan's clever and gripping World War 2 drama. Nolan puts you right in the middle of the unrelenting action for 100 minutes and Dunkirk is simply brilliant from start to finish.


...and now the worst!

The Worst 10 Films of 2017

10. The Mummy - Cockney Russell Crowe makes my eyes and ears bleed
9.  Kingsman: The Golden Circle - Horrible and completely charmless

8. Daddy's Home 2 - Mel Gibson is a comedy vacuum

7. Assassin's Creed - Unbelievably boring

6. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword - Cor blimey, Merlin!

5. The Book of Henry - Tonally unhinged and utterly ridiculous

4. The Emoji Movie - Poo emoji

3. mother! - Yes, I get it, and yes, it's still complete rubbish

2. Rough Night - Let's kill a stripper for comedy lols!

1. Transformers: The Last Knight - the only film I have ever walked out of.

Next week: 2018 begins with Molly's Game and All The Money In The World