Children of Men

Children of Men 2006

• Director: Alfonso Caurón
• Based on the book by PD James
• Cast: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pam Ferris, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Peter Mullen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Clive Owen – Elizabeth the Golden Age, Derailed, Closer, King Arthur, Gosford Park, Croupier
• Michael Caine – Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, The Dark Knight, Sleuth, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Last Orders, Get Carter, The Cider House Rules, Little Voice, Educating Rita, Sleuth, Get Carter, Alfie
• Julianne Moore – The Hunger Games 3&4, The Kids Are All Right, The Privates Lives of Pippa Lee, The Hours, Far from Heaven, The Shipping News, A Map of the World, The Big Lebowski, Safe, The Fugitive
• Chiwetel Eijfor – The Martian, Dancing on the Edge, 2012, Kinky Boots, Love Actually, Dirty Pretty Things, Amistad
• Pam Ferris – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Our Mutual Friend, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Middlemarch
• Clare-Hope Ashitey– soon to be seen in Doctor Who
• Peter Mullen – Sunshine on Leith, Top of the Lake, The Liability, Tyrannosaur, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows 1, The Magdalena Sisters, Stone of Destiny, Boy A, Young Adam, My Name Is Joe, Trainspotting, Braveheart, Riff-Raff
• Why? Remember it as being good.
• Seen: Once before. Now 24 May 2020      

       In 2027 children are no longer being born. The world is in turmoil. In fascist Great Britain immigrants are blamed for everything, hunted, caged, beaten, shot, forcibly deported en masse.

       Theo (Owens), a high up bureaucrat, is a cynical pessimist who thinks it’s too late for the human race even if a cure is found.

       His ex-wife Julian (Moore) is leader of a guerrilla group fighting for equal rights. She coerces him into helping Kee (Ashitey), a young immigrant woman, get out of the country safely.

       It doesn’t go well. They are attacked violently and take refuge with the guerrilla group. Theo discovers that Kee is pregnant and that they are in danger.

       It’s not as good as I remember it being. Essentially, it’s an adventure-escape story disguised as a serious dystopia. Caine is entertaining as a hippie, semi-hermit pot-smoking ex-scientist and Ashitey is good as the sharp-tongued refugee but as a whole it doesn’t work as well as it should. It’s trying too hard and its message is muddled.

3* of 5

Born Romantic

Born Romantic 2001

• Director: David Kane
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jane Horrocks, Adrian Lester, Craig Ferguson, Catherine McCormack, Jimi Mistry, David Morrisey, Olivia Williams, Paddy Considine
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jane Horrocks – Absolutely Fabulous, Sunshine on Leith, Gracie, Little Voice, Life Is Sweet
• Adrian Lester – London Spy, Hustle, Merlin, Bonekicker, As You Like It, Day After Tomorrow, Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost
• Craig Ferguson – Saving Grace
• Catherine McCormack – Sherlock, 28 Weeks Later, Braveheart
• Jimi Mistry – 2012, Blood Diamond, Ella Enchanted, The Guru, East is East, Hamlet
• David Morrisey – The Hollow Crown, South Riding, Nowhere Boy, Doctor Who, The Other Boleyn Girl, Blackpool, Hilary & Jackie
• Olivia Williams – Victoria and Abdul, Hanna, The Ghost Writer, An Education, X-Men the Last Stand, Tara Road, To Kill a King, Friends
• Paddy Considine – The Journeyman, The Girl with All the Gifts, Macbeth, Pride, The World’s End, Hot Fuzz, My Summer of Love, In America, 24 Hour Party People
• Why? Horrocks and Lester
• Seen: Twice before. Now 23 May 2020

        A dance school, a failed robbery, a cabby who watches and listen and sometimes converses and advises, a search for a lost love and London by night. And day.

       It’s just a collage of slightly connected love stories, looking for love stories, used to be love stories, avoiding love stories, happily (maybe) married love stories.

       The film is bittersweet. Many of the actors are favourites and it is pleasant entertainment but sadly, I’m not romantic.

3 ½ * of 5

PS No doubt I’ll watch it a fourth time someday, and maybe a fifth.

The Book of Eli

The Book of Eli 2009

• Director: The Hughes Brothers
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beales, Frances de la Tour, Michael Gambon, Tom Waits, Malcolm McDowell
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Denzel Washington – Philadelphia, The Great Debaters, Antwone Fisher, The Siege, Devil in a Blue Dress, The Pelican File, Much Ado about Nothing, Malcolm X, Mississippi Masala, Mo’ Better Blues
• Gary Oldman – The Space Between Us, The Dark Knight Arises, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Friends, The Fifth Element, Immortal Beloved, Léon, Romeo Is Bleeding, True Romance, Dracula, JFK, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Prick Up Your Ears, Sid and Nancy, Meanwhile
• Mila Kunis – Jupiter Ascending, Black Swan
• Ray Stevenson - Thor
• Jennifer Beales – The Last Days of Disco, Devil in a Blue Dress, Flashdance
• Frances de la Tour – Vicious, The Lady in the Van, Into the Woods, Hugo, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Love Actually, Cold Lazarus
• Michael Gambon – Fortitude, Victoria and Abdul, The Hollow Crown, Quirke, The Quartet, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, The King’s Speech, Cranford, Amazing Grace, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Gosford Park, Longitude, Sleepy Hollow, Mary Reilly and more
• Tom Waits – Coffee and Cigarettes, Short Cuts, Mystery Train, Ironweed, Down by Law, Rumblefish, The Outsiders
• Malcolm McDowell –so many I can’t remember them all but here are some: Doomsday, Hidalgo, My Life So Far, Bopha!, Voyage of the Damned, O! Lucky Man, A Clockwork Orange, If…
• Why? Washington and Oldman
• Seen: Once before. Now 17 May 2020      

       Just today I saw on IMDb that this film is on a list of films that bombed but have become cult, or got bad reviews abut are very good. Or something. I remember liking it.

       The Walker (Washington wanders the dystopian world of ruins after a catastrophe some thirty years ago. He kills people who threaten him. He listens to his M3Player. He reads a Book.

       He comes to a town run by Carnegie (Oldman) whose gangs bring him books, but never the right one. He also kills people.

       It’s very taut and atmospheric, filmed mostly in muted sepias. Religion is a theme which makes the film problematic. In a way it’s interesting, in a way it’s banal and silly. It feels profound but isn’t really. Still, it’s fascinating and visually brilliant. Besides, any film with Sirius Black, Madame Maxine and Dumbledore gets an extra *.

4* of 5

Bandslam

Bandslam 2009

• Director: Todd Graff
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Gaelan Connell, Aly Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Scott Porter, Lisa Kudrow
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gaelan Connell – Chocolat
• Scott Porter – Music and Lyrics
• Lisa Kudrow – The Girl on the Train, Friends, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
• Why? Feel-good rock music film. I liked it the first time.
• Seen:  Once before. Now 16 May 2020

        Being a teen-aged misfit in Cincinnati, Will (Connell) survives by writing letters to David Bowie and the support of his cool mum Karen (Kudrow). They move to New Jersey. Will it be better being a misfit there?

       Well the town has a thing called Bandslam and Will finds himself the manager of a group of misfit rock musicians.

       Like I said, a feel-good rock music film. What more can one ask on a Saturday evening? Just don’t analyse it too much.

4 * of 5

Johnny English Reborn

Johnny English Reborn 2011

• Director: Oliver Parker
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West, Tim McInnerny, Daniel Kaluuya, Stephen Campbell Moore
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Rowan Atkinson – Mr Bean’s Holiday, Johnny English, Keeping Mum, Love Actually, Black Adder, Mr Bean, Four Weddings and a Funeral
• Gillian Anderson – UFO, The X Files, The Fall, Robot Overlords, Great Expectations, Last King of Scotland, Tristram Shandy
• Rosamund Pike – What We Did on Our Holiday, A Long Way Down, The World’s End, An Education, The Libertine, Die Another Day
• Dominic West – Genius, Testament of Youth, From time to Time, The Wire, Mona Lisa’s Smile, Chicago, 28 Days, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III
• Tim McInnerny – Sherlock, Hustle, Doctor Who, Casanova, Longitude, Black Adder, Notting Hill, Richard III
• Daniel Kaluuya – Black Panther, Doctor Who
• Stephen Campbell Moore – The Lady in the Van, Amazing Grace, Hustle, Bright Young Things
• Why? It was in the DVD box with the first film
• Seen:  11 May 2020

       The first Johnny English film was no masterpiece, but I do enjoy Atkinson’s absurdity.

       Johnny English, in case you didn’t know or had forgotten, is a spy, in fact the only spy left, or at least he was in the first film.  I won’t bother to tell the story, it’s no doubt minimal and unlikely. I’ll just enjoy it and get back to you with a rating.

       One hour and 37 minutes later…

       It was laugh-out-loud. Better than the first!

3 * of 5

Un sac de billes

Un sac de billes 2017

• Director: Christian Duguay
• Based on the book by Joseph Joffo
• Cast: Dorian LeClech, Batyste Fleurial, Patrick Bruel, Elsa Zylberstein
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Elsa Zylberstein – Il y a longtemps que je t’aime, Modigliani
• Why? A classic
• Seen:  3 May 2020

        Two young Jewish brothers, Maurice and Joseph, flee Paris in 1941. This is their story, filled with danger, courage, friendship. Moments of relative safety then new dangers, new flight.

       Based on Joseph’s book. The film is very good.

4 ½ * of 5

Dawn of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead 2004

• Director: Zack Snyder
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Matt Frewer
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sarah Polley – Slings and Arrows, My Life Without Me, eXistenZ,
• Ving Rhames – Pulp Fiction, Dave
• Jake Weber – Meet Joe Black, Amistad, The Pelican Brief, Born on the Fourth of July
• Mekhi Phifer - 8 Mile, Homicide Life on the Street
• Ty Burrell – The Darwin Awards,
• Michael Kelly – Man of Steel, The Sopranos
• Matt Frewer – Orphan Black, Taken
• Why? A classic
• Seen:  3 May 2020

             An epidemic of zombies breaks out in Milwaukee (we’ve been in Milwaukee, dangerous place!) and a group of survivors make their way to a mall where they run into zombies and gun-toting right-wing thugs.

       And that’s just the beginning. It’s a remake of the 70’s version, which we haven’t seen. Unfortunately, our viewing was disturbed by a DVD that hung itself up now and then, but we got most of it. It’s exciting with relatively well-done characters so what more do we want? Well, more. It’s entertaining but I expected it to be better.

2 ½ * of 5

La danse

La danse 2009

• Director: Frederick Wiseman
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: No cast, a documentary.
• Why? Dance
• Seen:  2 May 2020

             Rehearsals, instructions, administration, meetings, casting, costumes, maintenance, glimpses of Paris – it jumps back and forth in a rather jerky collage.

       The best parts are the clips of modern dances, the short discussion on retirement (age 40 for dancers), the meticulous work on costumes, the few seconds of the cleaner in the empty theatre. But all this isn’t enough to save the film from being too long, too slow, boring at times and very impersonal. The dancers themselves are almost never heard. So much more can be done with a documentary and should have been done with this one. It has received some glowing reviews, so I expected a 5* film but sadly it was a disappointment.

2 ½ * of 5