Robot Overlords

Robot Overlords 2014

• Director: Jon Wright
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Ben Kingsley, Gillian Anderson, Callan McAuliffe, Ella Hunt, James Tarpey, Milo Parker, Craig Garner, Steven Mackintosh, Tamer Hassan, Geraldine James
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Ben Kingsley – House of Sand and Fog, Ender’s Game, Hugo, Shutter Island, Elegy, The Sopranos, Good Vibrations, Twelfth Night, Death and the Maiden, Schindler’s List, Dave, Gandhi
• Gillian Anderson – The Fall, Great Expectations, The Last King of Scotland, Bleak House, Tristram Shandy, The X-files and both films
• Callan McAuliffe – The Great Gatsby, I Am Number Four
• Milo Parker – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
• Steve Mackintosh – The Thirteenth Tale, Our Mutual Friend, Twelfth Night, Karaoke, Prick Up Your Ears
• Geraldine James – Rogue One, Alice in Wonderland, Sherlock Holmes + Game of Shadows, Made in Dagenham, Little Britain, Calendar Girls, White Teeth, Gandhi
• Why? Gillian Anderson
• Seen: 23 February 2020      

       We are, to be sure, still in the midst of watching The Sarah Connor Chronicles but you can never have too many evil robots, right? And that’s what we’re in the mood for.

       Three years ago, robots invaded the earth. They mean no harm and will leave as soon as they have what they want, (yeah, right). Their only demand: humans must stay indoors, on pain of death.

       One day, three teenagers and a little kid accidently manage to switch off their implanted tracking devices. Off they go to explore the great outdoors.

       The concept is interesting, and it’s excitingly executed.

       Rest assured, it’s not Terminator (though the giant robots are almost identical) so we won’t mix them up. There is, however, a single male hero destined to save the world, a concept I dislike on principle, despite all the superhero films I watch and enjoy.

       I enjoyed this one too.

3 ½ * of 5

High-Rise

High-Rise 2015

Director: Ben Wheatley

Based on the book by J G Ballard

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elizabeth Moss, James Purefoy, Keely Hawes

Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

Tom Hiddleston – The Night Manager, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Hollow Crown, The Deep Blue Sea, Thor, Wallander, Cranford

Jeremy Irons – The Man Who Knew Infinity, Their Finest Hour, Beautiful Creatures, The Hollow Crown, Kingdom of Heaven, Being Julia, The Merchant of Venice, Longitude, The House of Spirits, Waterland, Kafka, Reversal of Fortune, Australia, The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Sienna Miller – Stardust, Factory Girl, Alfie

Luke Evans – The Girl on the Train, Robin Hood

Elizabeth Moss – Top of the Lake, Madmen, Girl Interrupted, Anywhere but Here, A Thousand Acres

James Purefroy – The Hollow Crown, A Knight’s Tale, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Keeley Hawes – The Hollow Crown, Doctor Who, Upstairs Downstairs, Macbeth Re-Told, Tristram Shandy, Our Mutual Friend, Cold Lazarus, Karaoke

Why? Both book and DVD passed on by friends

Seen: 11 January/22 February 2020 with Hal and YW in our read-book-see-film group.

      

       The book was awful. If we hadn’t already agreed to see the film, I wouldn’t have finished it. The cast is good, though. Maybe they can make something worthwhile out of it?

       The first time we tried watching it the DVD kept getting stuck, so we gave up and watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s instead. I bought a new DVD so more than a month later we’re trying again.

       Doctor Robert Laing (Hiddleston) has bought a flat in an all-service high-rise at the edge of London. The time is the near future.  He soon learns that there’s a strict social hierarchy in the building and a bitter class conflict between the haves on the top floors and the haves-less on the lower floors. There are technical problems with the lifts and the power, and everything rapidly disintegrates.

       It has a vaguely retro-futuristic feeling, also surrealistic, confusing and ominous. Like the book, it’s very pessimistic and violent. I didn’t like The Lord of the Flies either, for the same reasons. I’m sure there’s a message here but it’s not one I want to listen to.

       However, it’s quite beautifully filmed, Hiddleston is very good, and it’s grimly fascinating. The use of ABBA’s ‘SOS’ was almost amusing.

       The filming and Hiddleston = 5*. The possible sort of message = 2*. The violence and confusion = 0*. So I guess

2 ½ * of 5

Once upon a Time in Holloywood

Once upon a Time in Hollywood 2019

• Director: Quentin Tarantino
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Julia Butters, Bruce Dern, Al Pacino, Damian Lewis, Nicholas Hammond and many others
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Leonardo DiCaprio – The Great Gatsby, Inception, Shutter Island, Blood Diamond, The Aviator, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs of New York, Beach, Titanic, Marvin’s Room, Romeo and Juliet, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, This Boy’s Life
• Brad Pitt – World War Z, The Tree of Life, Inglourious Basterds, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, Babel, Troy, confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Friends, The Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Meet Joe Black, Twelve Monkeys, Seven, True Romance, Thelma and Louise
• Emile Hirsch – Taking Woodstock, Milk, Into the Wild, Third Rock from the Sun
• Bruce Dern – Silent Running, They Shoot Horses Don’t They, The Wild Angels, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, TV series
• Al Pacino – The Merchant of Venice, Insomnia, Donny Brasco, Heat, Carlito’s Way, The Scent of a Woman, Glengarry Glen Ross, Frankie and Johnny, Sea of Love, Author Author, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Panic in Needle Park,
• Damian Lewis – Our Kind of Traitor, Wolf Hall, Queen of the Desert, Much Ado about Nothing
• Nicholas Hammond – Sound of Music
• Why? Highly recommended by good friend MR (would have seen it anyway)
• Seen: 21 February 2020      

       It’s 1969. Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) is an actor in popular western and action films. Cliff Booth (Pitt) is his stunt double and gofer. Sadly, Rick is a has-been and is advised by sleazy producer Marvin Schwarz (Pacino) to go to Italy to make spaghetti westerns. Rick is devastated but then he gets a serious role with director Sam Wanamaker (Hammond) himself (pre-Shakespeare and Globe, but he likes to encourage Rick to give a Hamlet performance). But he’s still a loser. Or is he?

       Bruce Lee, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Steve McQueen, Mama Cass and many others make an appearance. Flashbacks take turns with now so it’s a bit confusing and nothing much really happens for a long time but if you’re nostalgic for 60s music and TV series and the less-than-glamourous glamour of Hollywood it’s very cool.

       It’s Tarantino but it almost has the feel of the Cohen brothers. Which, of course, is high praise indeed.

       Twists and turns, weird side stories, some actually creepy, it’s not exactly a feel-good film.

       The ending? Well, it is Tarantino and it could have happened like this.

       But it didn’t. So, it’s not really a happy ending.

4 ½ * of 5

The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner

The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner 1962

• Director: Tony Richardson
• Based on the story by Alan Sillitoe
• Cast: Tom Courtney, Michael Redgrave, Avis Bunnage, Alec McGowen, James Bolam, Topsy Jane, Julia Foster, John Thaw, James Fox
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tom Courtney – The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Literary Society, The Unforgotten, The Quartet, Last Orders, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?, The Dresser, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Doctor Zhivago
• Michael Redgrave – The Go-Between, Oh What a Lovely War
• Avis Bunnage – Inspector Morse, Gandhi, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tom Jones
• Alec McGowen – Gangs of New York, Longitude, Henry V, Never Say Never Again, Twelfth Night
• James Bolam – To Kill a King, As You Like It, O Lucky Man
• Julia Foster – Richard III, Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3, Alfie
• John Thaw – Inspector Morse, Chaplin, The Life and Death of King John
• James Fox – London Spy, Downton Abbey, Merlin, The Kid, Sherlock Holmes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Remains of the Day, As You Like It, Absolute Beginners, Isadora, Thoroughly Modern Millie
• Why? A real classic
• Seen: Twice before. Now 16 February 2020      

       Young Colin (Courtney) comes from a family of runners, mostly from the police. The film opens with him being brought to Borstal prison.

       A series of flashbacks show Colin’s life before prison. His father, a labourer and union activist, is dying, then dies. His mother is having a hard time coping, then with the factory’s death insurance she ups her standard of living. She and Colin do not get along. Colin himself carries on with stealing cars, charming the girls and burgling a bakery.

       In prison he is sullen, bitter and disrespectful, but one of the Governor’s (Redgrave) favourite theories of rehabilitation for the inmates is sports. A public school has agreed to a meet and the most interesting is the long-distance running event. And Colin is a runner. He’s chosen to represent Borstal and on the surface he becomes compliant and eager to please. But he has his own agenda in this bitter class conflict.

       No spoilers, but the first time I saw this film in the 60’s the ending hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s still the best of the angry-young-man films from the Britain of the 60’s and it’s still one of the most powerful films of all time. The black and white photography is beautiful and young Tom Courtney shows all the signs of his continued greatness.

       See it.

5* of 5

The House with a Clock in Its Walls

The House with a Clock in Its Walls 2018

• Director: Eli Roth
• Based on the book by John Bellairs
• Cast: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Kyle MacLachlan, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Colleen Camp, Sunny Suljic, Lorenza Izzo
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jack Black – Be Kind Rewind, Margot at the Wedding, Holiday, King Kong, School of Rock, High Fidelity, Cradle Will Rock, Mars Attacks!, Dead Man Walking, The X Files, Tenacious D
• Cate Blanchett – Cinderella, The Hobbit etc, Hanna, Robin Hood, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Elizabeth the Golden Age, Elizabeth, I’m Not There, Notes on a Scandal, Babel, Little Fish, The Aviator, The Shipping News, The Gift, The Man Who Cried,
• Kyle MacLachlan – Dune, Hamlet, The Trial, Twin Peaks, The Doors
• Colleen Camp – Joy, Factory Girl, Die Hard
• Why? Black and Blanchett
• Seen: 16 February 2020      

       Young Lewis (Vaccaro) is orphaned and taken in by his uncle Jonathan (Black). Jonathan is eccentric. He lives in a haunted magical mansion and is a warlock himself. His neighbour and friend and insult partner Florence Zimmerman (Blanchett) is a very powerful witch. Geeky Lewis begs his uncle to teach him magic. It turns out that he’s very good at it.

       Harry Potter it’s not and sadly the child actors are not very good at all (oh Radcliffe, Watson and Grint, not to mention all the others – how I miss you!) but Black and Blanchett are enjoyable in their roles and the film seems to grow on me. It’s quite sweet.

3* of 5 (Hal says 4)

Serendipity

Serendipity 2001

• Director: Peter Chelsom
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Piven, Bridget Moynahan, Eugene Levy, John Corbett, Molly Shannon
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• John Cusack – The Butler, 2012, 1408, High Fidelity, Being John Malkovich, Cradle Will Rock, The Thin Red Line, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Grifters
• Kate Beckinsale – Absolutely Anything, The Aviator, The Last Days of Disco, Shooting Fish, Cold Comfort Farm, The Prince of Jylland, Much Ado about Nothing
• Jeremy Priven – Angels Crest
• Bridget Moynahan – John Wick
• Eugene Levy – Taking Woodstock
• Why? John Cusack
• Seen: Once before. Now 9 February 2020      

       Romantic comedies are really not my cup of tea but if I remember correctly Cusack pulls this one off. And right now we need something light-weight.

       Jonathan (Cusack) falls hard for lovely British Sara (Beckinsale). They both have partners but Sara convinces him to leave everything up to fate. If they’re meant to meet again, they will.

       A few years later. They’re both about to marry someone else.

       Well. It’s a romantic comedy. A silly one. But yes, Cusack carries it off. And I really can’t feel sorry for a jilted bride who says, ‘All my life I’ve dreamed about the perfect wedding.’ I mean, get a life.

3* of 5 (Hal says 1½)

Lore

Lore 2012

• Director: Cate Shortland
• Based on the book by Rachel Seiffert
• Cast: Saskia Rosendahl, Nele Trebs, Ursini Lardi, Kai Malina
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them but they were all very good
• Why? It sounded good.
• Seen: 8 February 2020      

       The war is over. The Germans have lost. Fifteen-year-old Lore (Rosendahl) and her younger siblings are deserted by their Nazi parents and they must make their way across a war-torn Germany to their grandmother.

       Fate brings them together with a young Jewish man Thomas (Malina) and a kind of love-hate relationship ensues.

       It’s very slow with a lot of close-ups of nature and staring people. This is a style of filming that generally does not appeal to me. Nor does it here. I’m disappointed. The subject is so important, the potential for a brilliant film is so great. It should provoke deep feelings. It seems that in most viewers it does, but not in me.

       The strongest part is the showing of a German people in denial, still loving their Führer.

3* of 5 (Hal says 4½)

Ready Player One

Ready Player One 2018

• Director: Stephen Spielberg
• Based on the book by Ernest Cline
• Cast: Tye Sheriden, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Hanna John-Kamen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tye Sheridan – X-Men Apocalypse, The Tree of Life
• Ben Mendelsohn – Rogue One, Black Sea, The Dark Knight Rises, Black and White
• Simon Pegg – Star Wars the Force Awakens, Absolutely Anything, The World’s End, Hot Fuzz, Doctor Who, Shaun of the Dead, Black Books, 24 Hour Party People
• Mark Rylance – Dunkirk, Big Friendly Giant, Wolf Hall, Twelfth Night, The Other Boleyn Girl
• Why? Mark Rylance and Simon Pegg
• Seen: 7 February 2020      

       Wade (Sheridan) was born in 2027 when people had stopped trying to solve problems. Reality is a bummer. Everyone wants to escape. They get in on Oasis, where the limits of reality are your own imagination. James Halliday (Rylance) was the inventor of it all and is now the owner of the world’s largest company. He is almost a god. Only he died. He left behind a hidden egg and three hidden keys with clues on how to find it. The first person to find the egg will inherit everything.

       Let the game begin.

       Fantastic virtual reality takes turns with real grim reality. The evil corporation IOI is a terrible enemy, both in reality and in virtual reality. They’re after the egg too.

       Not being gamers we’re probably missing loads of fun stuff but it’s fun enough anyway, until the big battle scene, which I slept through. It loses the film a *. But the references to 80’s culture – Joan Jett’s ‘I Hate Myself for Loving You’, Springsteen’s ‘Stand on It’, Ted and Bill, Blondie’s ‘One Way or Another’ – that’s fun. And Rylance as the geeky Halliday lifts it back up a *. Unfortunately, Pegg’s role was minimal.

3* of 5

Johnny English

Johnny English 2003

• Director: Peter Howitt
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Ben Miller, Tim Piggot-Smith, Nathalie Imbruglia, John Malkovich
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Rowan Atkinson – Mr Bean’s Holiday, Keeping Mum, Love Actually, Black Adder, Mr Bean, Four Weddings and a Funeral
• Ben Miller – What We Did on Our Holiday, Doctor Who
• Tim Piggot-Smith – Victor & Abdul, Jupiter Ascending, Bletchley Circle, Alice in Wonderland, Quantum of Solace, V for Vendetta, The Remains of the Day, Henry IV Part One, Measure for Measure
• John Malkovich – Burn After Reading, Colour Me Kubrick, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Libertine, Being John Malkovich, Mary Reilly
• Why? Rowan Atkinson
• Seen: 2 February 2020      

       Suave Agent One is dead and all remaining British agents are killed in an explosion at the funeral. All but one.

       Johnny English.

       Mr Beans meets James Bond.

       Predictably, this is very silly. But then most of the early James Bonds films were very silly. If you like Mr Bean and spoofs of 007, you’ll enjoy this.

       It is rather funny. Malkovich is a bonus.

2½* of 5 (Hal says 1½)

My Cousin Vinnie

My Cousin Vinny 1992

• Director: Jonathan Lynn
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Fred Gwynne, Ralph Macchio, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Pauline Meyers
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Joe Pesci – JFK, Lethal Weapon
• Maris Tomei – The Lincoln Lawyer, The Wrestler, Alfie, The Guru, Only You, Untamed Heart
• Ralph Macchio – Crossroads
• Mitchell Whitfield – Dharma and Greg, Friends
• Fred Gwynne – The Munsters, Ironweed
• Pauline Meyers – Lady Sings the Blues, many TV series
• Why? An old favourite
• Seen: 1 February 2020      

       Too young NY hotshots, Bill (Macchio) and Stan (Whitfield) are driving their convertible through Alabama and are mistakenly arrested for murder (what they’re guilty of is inadvertently shoplifting a can of tuna).  A bit of a misunderstanding that carries the death penalty. The boys need a really good attorney. What they get is…

       My cousin Vinny (Pesci) and his black-leather mini-skirted girlfriend Lisa (Tomei). Vinny is a lawyer. Of sorts. He’s been practicing for six weeks and has never had a court case. He’s a cocky, smooth-talking liar. Working class New York Italian meets formal, hostile rural deep south judge (Gwynne) and some real redneckedness.  Vinny is seriously a loser and he’s scared.

       Fortunately for all, Lisa is sharp. Very sharp.

       It’s just a fun film. Tomei is terrific.

5* of 5

BlackKklansman

BlackKklansman

• Director: Spike Lee
• Based on the book by Ron Stallworth
• Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Michael Buscemi (I thought sure it was Steve!), Robert John Burke, Corey Hawkins, Ryan Eggold, Jasper Pääkkönen, Ashlie Atkinson, Topher Grace, Harry Belafonte, Alec Baldwin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Adam Driver – Star Wars, What If, Tracks, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Robert John Burke – The Miracle at St Ana’s, Good Night and Good Luck, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Robocop 3, various series
• Ashlie Atkinson – The Invention of Lying, Margot at the Wedding
• Topher Grace – Interstellar, In Good Company, Mona Lisa’s Smile
• Harry Belafonte – Bobby, Swing Vote, Kansas City
• Why? Spike Lee
• Seen: 31 January 2020      

       Ron Stallworth (Washington) is the first black cop on the Colorado Springs police force. He’s sent undercover to keep an eye on the crowd at a Kwame Ture (Hawkins), a.k.a. Stokely Carmichael, speech. His eyes are opened.

       Against all odds he infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan chapter. Yeah, yeah, there’s a catch. And so Flip (Driver) pretends to be Ron when facing the KKK face to face.

       You know, it’s based on a true story.

       I think it’s meant to be kind of funny and it is. But also very scary. It’s still happening in Trump’s America. And the world.

       I’m scared. The Klan, and Trump, and Boris Johnson, and the SD of Sweden and all over the world, scare me. Racism really scares me.

       The film? See it.

5* of 5