Loin des Hommes

 Loin des hommes 2014

• Director: David Oelhoffen
• Based on a short story by Albert Camus
• Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Reda Kateb
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Viggo Mortensen – Green Book, The Road, A History of Violence, Hidalgo, Lord of the Rings etc, Carlito’s Way, The Indian Runner, Witness
• Why?  It sounded interesting
• Seen:  30 January 2022 

Algeria 1954. A widowed teacher Daru (Mortensen) in an isolated mountain school is coerced into escorting an accused murder Mohamed (Kateb) to the city for his trial and execution.

This is as grim and harsh as one can expect from something based on a story by Camus. It is well-acted, the almost monochromatic visuals are stark and effective and the drama and tragedy is gripping.

Until is loses its way completely and resorts to unnecessary clichés. A real pity. It was heading towards a strong 4*. Instead: 

2 ½* of 5 *

The Secret Garden

 The Secret Garden 2020

• Director: Marc Munden
• Seen by this director: Utopia
• Based on novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Cast: Dixie Egerickx, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Isis Davis, Amir Wilson, Edan Hayhurst
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Julie Walters – Mamma Mia 1&2, Before You Go, The Hollow Crown Henry IV Parts One and Two, Henry V, Harry Potter 1-8, Becoming Jane, Driving Lessons, Wah-Wah, Calendar Girls, Billy Elliot, Titanic Tow, Intimate Relations, Prick Up Your Ears, Educating Rita
• Colin Firth – 1917, Mamma Mia 1&2, Genius, Before I Go to Sleep, The Railway Man, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The King’s Speech, Kick Ass Girls St Trinian’s II, Genova, Then She Found Me, Nannie McPhee, Girl with Pearl Earring, Love Actually, My Life So Far, Shakespeare in Love, Fever Pitch, The English Patient, Pride and Prejudice, Circle of Friends
• Why?  Maggie Smith, only I accidently bought the remake with Julie Walters and Colin Firth so that’s OK.
• Seen:  29 January 2022 

A little girl Mary (Egerickx), an orphan, is sent to her uncle (Firth) on his vast estate on the English moors. The housekeeper (Walters) is brusque and strict. The maid (Davis) is friendly enough but definitely not at Mary’s beck and call. There is a crippled boy, secrets, memories, hidden gardens. It follows the formula. Saccharine warning. Kids might like it. It is a kid’s film after all.

But quite enjoyable. 

3* of 5

 

The Battery

 The Battery 2012

• Director: Jeremy Gardner
• Seen by this director: Spring
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jeremy Gardner, Adam Cronheim
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jeremy Gardner – Spring
• Why? It sounded interesting
• Seen: 28 January 2022      

       Two young scruffy American guys wander through forests, across fields, into abandoned houses, avoiding, when possible, or killing, when not, zombies. Fine, zombies are fun.

       It could have been good but it’s not. All these two guys do is bicker and they both lack the slightest spark of charisma. Give me Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland or World War Z or Cockneys vs Zombies any day. 

 2 * of 5

 

Romper Stomper

 Romper Stomper 1992

• Director: Geoffrey Wright
• Seen by this director: Macbeth
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Russell Crowe, Jacqueline McKenzie, Daniel Pollock
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Russell Crowe – The Water Diviner, Winter’s Tale, Man of Steel, Les Misérables, Robin Hood, A Good Year, A Beautiful Mind, Proof of Life, Gladiator
• Jacqueline McKenzie – The Water Diviner, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
• Why? Russell Crowe
• Seen: 23 January 2022      

       Hando (Crowe) and his gang of Nazi skinheads attack a couple Vietnamese immigrants. Gabe (McKenzie), a pill popping epileptic who rebels violently against her sexually abusive father, catches his eye and she joins the gang.

       Parties and orgies with White Supremacist heavy metal. Reading aloud from Mein Kampf. Violent battles between the immigrants and the Nazis.

       It’s brutal, grim, well done, and well-acted but I’m not sure that the message – hopefully that Nazism and violence are bad – reaches the right people. 

3* of 5.

 

Cats

 Cats 2019

• Director: Tom Hooper
• Seen by this director: Les Misérables, The King’s Speech, Daniel Deronda
• Based on the poetry of T S Elliot
• Cast: Francesca Howard, James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Robbie Fairchild, Mette Towley, Daniela Norman, Rebel Wilson, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• James Corden – Yesterday, The Lady in the Van, Into the Woods, One Chance, Doctor Who, Starter for 10, All or Nothing, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
• Judi Dench – All Is True, Murder on the Orient Express, Victoria & Abdul, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Hollow Crown, Bond etc, Hotel Marigold 1&2, Philomena, Vicious, My Week with Marilyn, Jane Eyre, Cranford, Nine, Notes on a Scandal, Mrs Henderson Presents, Ladies in Lavender, The Shipping News, Chocolat, Tea with Mussolini, Shakespeare in Love, Mrs Brown, Hamlet, Henry V, A Handful of Dust, 84 Charing Cross Road, A Room with a View, Macbeth
• Indris Elba – The Mountain Between Us, The Dark Tower, Molly’s Game, 100 Streets, Mandela the Road to Freedom, Prometheus, Pacific Rim, Thor, 28 Weeks Later, The Wire, Crocodile Shoes
• Rebel Wilson – Jojo Rabbit, The Hustle, Absolutely Fabulous the Movie, Pitch Perfect
• Jennifer Hudson – Dream Girls
• Ian McKellen – All Is True, Vicious, The Hobbit etc, X-Men Days of Future Past etc, King Lear, Extras, Richard III, Cold Comfort Farm, The Ballad of Little Jo, Macbeth
• Why? The cast. I love cats. I’m curious about why everyone hates it so much.
• Seen: 22 January 2022      

       Well, there’s Idris Elba, the villain. And Rebel Wilson. And James Corden. And Judi Dench. And Ian McKellen. Oh, and Grizabella is Jennifer Hudson, of course!

       Why don’t people love this? They must be allergic to cats. They’ve certainly never had a cat for a pet.

       The costumes are brilliant. How do they wave their tails and twitch their ears? The staging, the colour, the dancing, the music – I love it!

 4 ½ * of 5.

 

 

 

QEDA

 QEDA 2017

• Director: Mark Kestner
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Carsten Björnlund, Sofia Helin, Marijana Jankovic, Stina Ekblad, Joseph Mawle
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sofia Helin – The Snowman, Tusenbröder
• Stina Ekblad – Tusenbröder, August Strindberg ett liv, The Tempest (on stage in Stockholm).
• Joseph Mawle: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, Birdsong, The Awakening, Made in Dagenham, Merlin
• Why? Sci fi. Lots of *
• Seen: 22 January 2022      

       The year is 2095. The Earth is mostly covered in ocean. Time travel is possible but the dangers of disrupting the time vortex are so great that QEDAs are forbidden. But one remains. He returns to 2017 to save the scientific research that will stop the disaster and save his daughter’s life.

       It’s sombre, complex and fascinating. I don’t quite follow all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff but that doesn’t matter.

       It’s not every day one sees a Danish sci fi film, but I hope they make more. This one is world-class. 

4 ½ * of 5.

 

The Man Who Knew Too Much

 The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956

• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Seen by this director: Torn Curtain, Marnie, The Birds, Psycho, North by Northwest, Vertigo, The Trouble with Harry, Rear Window, Rope, Notorious, Spellbound, Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, The 39 Steps
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie, Bernard Miles, Ralph Truman, Daniel Gélin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• James Stewart – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Greatest Show on Earth, Bell Book and Candle, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, Harvey, Rope, maybe others
• Doris Day – Midnight Lace, others
• Brenda de Banzie – The Pink Panther
• Why? James Stewart.
• Seen: Probably once before. Now 21 January 2022      

       A bumbling American doctor (Stewart), his wife (Day), a very famous former stage star, spies, assassinations, a kidnapped kid.

       The doctor is a real jerk. There should be a law that James Stewart can only play nice guys. The story is so flimsy it’s almost irritating. I’m just waiting for the big ‘Que sera, sera’ climax. And I don’t even like the song.

       Not even James Stewart can save this lump of a highly overrated film. 

2 * of 5. 

PS Admittedly I’m in a bad mood today. I might be more merciful another time.

The Selfish Giant

 The Selfish Giant 2011

• Director: Clio Barnard
• Based on a story by Oscar Wilde (almost unrecognisably, I might add)
• Cast: Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas, Sean Gilder, Lorraine Ashbourne, Ralph Inneson, Ian Burfield, Elliot Tittensor, Rebecca Manley, Steve Evets, Siobhan Finneran
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Shaun Thomas – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
• Lorraine Ashbourne – Blinded by the Light, Breathe, Unforgotten, Adult Life Skills, London Spy, King Kong, Fever Pitch
• Ralph Inneson - Ready Player One, Harry Potter, Merlin, Another Year, Macbeth Re-Told, Black Books, From Hell, Shooting Fish
• Siobhan Finneran – Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Boy A
• Why? Sounded good
• Seen: 20 January 2022      

       Arbor (Chapman) and Swifty (Thomas) are growing up in a derelict corner of northern England. They’re drawn into illegal activities with the local junk dealer Kitten (Gilder) who has a trotting horse that Swifty longs to drive.

       That’s about it, really. Family troubles. School troubles.

       It’s almost impossible to understand their dialect. Luckily, we have the Swedish subtitles. The story, what there is of it, is confusing.

       There is drama, though. And suspense. And pain. Social realism worth being compared to Ken Loach. 

4 ½ * of 5.

 

 

Mid90s

 Mid90s 2018

• Director: Jonah Hill
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Sunny Suljic, Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges, Na-Kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin, Alexa Demie
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sunny Suljic – The House with the Clocks in Its Walls
• Katherine Waterston – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Taking Woodstock
• Lucas Hedges – Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri, Ladybird, Manchester by the Sea, The Zero Theorem, Moonrise Kingdom, Dan in Real Life
• Why? Great reviews with lots of *s
• Seen: 16 January 2022      

       Young Stevie (Suljic) has a violent and bullying brother (Hedges) and a mother (Waterson) he doesn’t get on with. He’s alone until he eases into a gang of teenaged skateboarders. He’s eager to belong but he skates very badly. Poor Stevie is just a naïve little kid, but he loves this new world.

       But there’s trouble in this Skateboard Paradise. Each of the kids has problems of his own. Leader Ray (Smith) tries to take care of them, especially Stevie.

       It’s a good coming-of-age films. The kids are terrific. 

4* of 5.

 

 

Icebound

 Icebound 2003

• Director: Roger Spottiswoode
• Seen by this director: A Street Cat Called Bob, Tomorrow Never Dies
• Based on the book by Jerri Nielsen
• Cast: Susan Sarandon, Aidan Devine, Cynthia Mace
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Susan Sarandon – Cloud Atlas, Emotional Arithmetic, Romance & Cigarettes, Alfie, Moonlight Mile, The Banger Sisters, Igby Goes Down, Anywhere but Here, Cradle Will Rock, Dead Man Walking, Little Women, The Client, Lorenzo’s Oil, Thelma and Louise, White Castle, The January Man, Bull Durham, Witches of Eastwick, Atlantic City, The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Aidan Devine – Suicide Squad, A History of Violence
• Why? Antarctica. Susan Sarandon
• Seen: 15 January 2022      

       Doctor Jerri Nielsen (Sarandon) flees the world and joins team od scientists at the South Pole. She suffers immediately from culture shock. She resents the equality and job-sharing of the team, the gossip and total lack of privacy, the fanatically strict rules on hot showers and recycling, the primitive and badly equipped clinic, the pranks and raw humour, everything but the doctoring itself.

       Gradually she comes to terms with everything and everyone and slowly they begin to appreciate her.

       Then she discovers a fast-growing lump in her breast. With sketchy Internet connection, the help of her colleagues and an emergency airlift, she is diagnosed with cancer. She treats herself.

       A most unusual feel-good, disease-of-the-week film. Based on a true story, although the real Nielsen didn’t like Sarandon’s portrayal of her. Too grouchy and unlikeable at the beginning. I think Sarandon is terrific and her character seems much deeper than the real life one (sorry).

       Maybe I also connect so much because I’ve also been treated for breast cancer, fortunately by professionals in Stockholm in one of Europe’s best hospitals, and I cringe at everything she went through. But she didn’t lose her eyelashes. I did. Every single hair on my head and body – poof! Gone.

       The visuals and the rest of the cast are great. 

4* of 5.

 

 

The Scent of Green Papayas

 The Scent of Green Papaya 1993       

•  Director: Anh Hung Tran
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Man San Lu, Nu Yên-Khê Tran
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? Good reviews
• Seen: 15 January 2022      

       A beautifully filmed work of art about the daily life of a young Japanese servant with wonderful music and mouth-watering food preparations.

       But oh! So unbearably slow and boring! I’m a great fan of minimalism but sadly this did nothing for me. I guess I’m just an insensitive Philistine. Pearls before swine and all that. 

2* of 5. Hal liked it and gave it 4*

 

 

Back to the Future Part II

 

Back to the Future Part II 1982

• Director: Robert Zemeckis
• Seen by this director: Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Contact, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Romancing the Stone, I Wanna Hold Your Hand
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michael J Fox – Mars Attacks, Light of Day
• Christopher Lloyd – Wit, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• Why? It’s in the box
• Seen: 14 January 2022

      

       Marty (Fox) and Doc (Lloyd) go back to the future to fix problems there but even more problems ensue, so they have to go back to the past to fix problems so that the present… you know, wibbly-wobbly timey wimey.

       After a shaky start it pulls together to a story of sorts, thin to be sure but there are some amusing moments and some that are exciting. And some that are far too long. There’s a lot of same old same old.

       Entertaining enough but not as good as the first one. The curse of sequels.     

 

2 ½ * of 5

 

Mission to Mars

 Mission to Mars 2000

• Director: Brian de Palma
• Seen by this director: Carlito’s Way, Bruce Springsteen Anthologies, Hi Mom
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Tim Robbins, Gary Sinise, Don Cheadle, Connie Nielsen, Jerry O’Connell, Kim Delaney
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tim Robbins – Tenacious D, War of the Worlds, Mystic River, Human Nature, High Fidelity, The Shawshank Redemption, Jungle Fever, Twister,
• Gary Sinise – The Human Stain, The Green Mile, Forrest Gump, Of Mice and Men
• Don Cheadle – Hotel Rwanda, Crash, The United States of Leland, Bulworth, Devil in a Blue Dress
• Connie Nielsen – Wonder Woman, Perfect Sense, Battle in Seattle, Gladiator, Rushmore
• Jerry O’Connell – Stand by Me
• Why? Sci fi. Tim Robbins
• Seen: 13 January 2022      

       A rescue mission on Mars discovers a statue. Proof of a previous civilisation on the planet.

       Why do some people hate this film so much? It’s dramatic and visually beautiful. The characters are well enough developed to be engaging. Granted, the acting is mediocre with the exceptions of Robbins and Cheadle who are always good. The dialogue is lame at times, yes, and there are too many US flags but all in all, it’s a solid, entertaining sci fi film. Don’t let the bad reviews stop you from seeing it. 

3 ½ * of 5.

 

The Running Man

 The Running Man 1987

• Director: Paul Michael Glaser
• Seen by this director: nothing else that he directed but he played the romantic lead in Fiddler on the Roof!
• Based on the novel by Richard Bachman (a.k.a. well, you know)
• Cast: Arnold Schwartznegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Richard Dawson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Arnold Schwartznegger – Terminator etc, Dave, Twins
• Yaphet Kotto – The Wire, Homicide Life on the Streets, Alien
• Richard Dawson – TV series
• Why? I remember liking it.
• Seen: Once before. Now 9 January 2022, 5 years after the film takes place.      

       Totalitarian society. The most popular TV show is ‘Running Man’, convicted criminals who are released to be chased by really nasty brutes. If they win, they survive and have a good life. If they lose, well, you can guess. The audiences go mad, cheering for the brutes.

       Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) is supposedly a good guy who gets into trouble and is forced to become the Running Man.

       Why did I like this? It’s 97 % action (yawn), 1% Schwarzenegger’s stupid muscles, 1% Schwarzenegger’s even stupider one-liners and 1% stupid sexist love story.

       This film has aged very, very badly. But for the 80’s hair 

1 * of 5

 

Back to the Future

 Back to the Future 1985

• Director: Robert Zemeckis
• Seen by this director: Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Contact, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Romancing the Stone, I Wanna Hold Your Hand
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Tom Wilson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michael J Fox – Mars Attacks, Light of Day
• Christopher Lloyd – Wit, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• Crispin Glover – Nurse Betty, Alice in Wonderland, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Doors, Wild at Heart, Twister
• Why? Michael J Fox
• Seen: 8 January 2022      

       Marty (Fox) is a hard-rocking high-schooler whose best friend is the crazy scientist Doc (Lloyd) and who has dorky parents (Glover and Thompson).

       Doc invents a time machine.

       Such adventures. You probably know the story.

       We’ve been doing a lot of time travelling in the Tardis lately with the sophisticated (ahem) Doctor, so this is pretty tame stuff.

       But funny. Good 80’s time travel humour. 

3* of 5

 

 

Blackboard Jungle

 Blackboard Jungle 1955

• Director: Richard Brooks
• Seen by this director: Looking for Mr Goodbar, In Cold Blood, Lord Jim, Elmer Gantry, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• Based on the novel by Evan Hunter
• Cast: Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier, Anne Francis, Margaret Hayes, Vic Morrow
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Glenn Ford – Teahouse of the August Moon, probably others
• Sidney Poitier – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, To Sir with Love, A Patch of Blue, Paris Blues, Good-bye My Lady
• Anne Francis – The Forbidden Planet, TV series
• Why? Sidney Poitier (20 February 1927 – 6 January 2022) RIP
• Seen: 8 January 2022      

       Rick Dadier (Ford) gets a job teaching English in a NY high school known for its problem hoodlums. It’s his first teaching job. To Sir with Love a couple of decades earlier with Poitier as a student instead of Sir.

       The film’s intentions are good. We were even told that in the beginning. It was made to combat and bring attention to juvenile delinquency in schools. It’s a classic, not only for the opening music, Chubby Checker’s ‘Rock around the clock’.

       For some reason I’m not convinced. For all it’s realism it tries too hard. The kids are good, but Mr Dadier is a terrible teacher who never would have won over any problem students with his method. The vampy Miss Hamilton (Hayes) and wimpy weepy wifey Anne (Francis) are irritating, even taking into consideration gender stereotypes of the 50s. But Sidney Poitier is good, as always, and the message, after all, is still relevant. 

3 ½ * of 5.

 

Garden State

 Garden State 2004

• Director: Zach Braff
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Ian Holm, Jim Parsons
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Natalie Portman – Annihilation, Thor, Black Swan, The Other Boleyn Girl, Darjeeling Ltd, Paris je t’aime, V for Vendetta, Star Wars, Closer, Cold Mountain, Anywhere but Here, Mars Attacks!, Beautiful Girls, Léon
• Peter Sarsgaard – An Education, Elegy, Dead Man Walking
• Ian Holm – The Hobbit/LotR, Day after Tomorrow, From Hell, eXistenZ, A Life Less Ordinary, The Fifth Element, The Madness of King George, Frankenstein, Kafka, Hamlet, Henry V, Dance with a Stranger, Chariots of Fire, Alien, O What a Lovely War
• Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory, Hidden Figures
• Why? Natalie Portman
• Seen: 7 January 2022      

       Andrew (Braff) has been on tranquilisers most of his life so he’s more than out of it. He returns home for his mother’s funeral after ten years in Hollywood. He meets up with old friends and a new friend, flaky Sam (Portman).

       Drugs and parties ensue. Boring.

       Zack Braff wrote and directed this as well as starring in it. It’s clearly a labour of love and I’m glad for him that the critics liked it but sorry, it doesn’t do much for me. Nice cats, though. 

2* of 5.

 

 

Tamara Drewe

 Tamara Drewe 2010

• Director: Stephen Frears
• Seen by this director: Victoria & Abdul, Philomena, The Queen, Mrs Henderson Presents, Dirty Pretty Things, High Fidelity, The Van, Mary Reilly, The Grifters, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Prick Up Your Ears, My Beautiful Laundromat
• Based on the graphic novel by Posey Simmonds
• Cast: Gemma Arterton, Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam, Bill Camp, Tamsin Grieg, Jessica Barden, Charlotte Christie, Bronagh Gallagher
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gemma Arterton – Their Finest, The Girl with All the Gifts, 100 Streets, A Song for Marion, Kick Ass Girls 2 St Trinian’s, The Boat that Rocked, Quantum of Solace, Lost in Austen
• Luke Evans – The Girl on the Train, High-Rise, The Hobbit etc
• Dominic Cooper – Mamma Mia 1&2, The Lady in the Van, Summer in February, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, My Week with Marilyn, Starter for 10, From Hell
• Roger Allam – Endeavour, The Lady in the Van, The Tempest, The Politician’s Husband, The Angel’s Share, The Woman in Black, Pirates of the Caribbean, Henry IV, The Queen, V for Vendetta, Tristram Shandy
• Bill Camp – Molly’s Game, The Leftovers, 12 Years a Slave,
• Tamsin Grieg – Friday Night Dinner, Hotel Marigold, Doctor Who, Black Books, Shaun of the Dead
• Jessica Barden – Far from the Madding Crowd, Hanna
• Charlotte Christie – Pauly Shore Is Dead, Stand by Me
• Bronagh Gallagher – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Tara Road, Pulp Fiction, The Commitments
• Why? Gemma Arterton and Roger Allam
• Seen: 6 January 2022      

       An authors’ retreat in the English countryside run by Roger Allam and Tamsin Grieg. What could be better? However, being an author myself, I’m usually sceptical of films about authors and here I’m proved right. Allam’s character is a womaniser, Gemma Arterton’s character, a journalist, is a maniser? I think I just invented a new word. Anyway, lots of bed-switching. Yeah, yeah. Alas. All these terrific actors in this lame story? And Stephen Frears?

       A word of advice. Avoid films about authors.

 2* of 5.

 

 

The Lost Boys

 The Lost Boys 1987

• Director: Joel Schumacher
• Seen by this director: The Phantom of the Opera, Flawless
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest, Barnard Hughes, Edward Herrmann, Keifer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jason Patric – Speed 2, Geronimo
• Dianne Wiest – Rabbit Hole, Dan in Real Life, I Am Sam, Practical Magic, The Birdcage, Little Man Tate, Footloose
• Kiefer Sutherland – Melancholia, Dark City, A Time to Kill, Stand by Me
• Jami Gertz – Twister, Crossroads
• Corey Feldman – Pauly Shore Is Dead, Stand by Me
• Why? A kind of classic.
• Seen: 2 January 2022      

       When I bought this DVD, I didn’t realise it was a vampire film. That’s OK, vampires are cool.

       Can be cool. But this is so macho, so juvenile, so embarrassingly boring that it’s hard to even continue watching.

       Maybe it worked with kids in the 80s but now it’s just lame, the dumbest vampire film I’ve seen. 

1* of 5.

 

Miss Congeniality

 Miss Congeniality 2000

• Director: Donald Petrie
• Seen by this director: Grumpy Old Men
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt, Candice Bergen, William Shatner, Heather Burns
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sandra Bullock – Gravity, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Crash, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, 28 Days, Practical Magic, A Time to Kill, While You Were Sleeping, Speed
• Michael Caine – Tenet, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Harry Brown, Flawless, The Prestige, Children of Men, The Weatherman, Last Orders, Get Carter, The Cider House Rules, Little Voice, Mona Lisa, Educating Rita, Sleuth (both versions), Alfie
• Benjamin Bratt – Doctor Strange, Thumbsucker
• Candice Bergen – Gandhi
• William Shatner – Star Trek
• Heather Burns – Manchester by the Sea, You’ve Got Mail
• Why? Good cast
• Seen: 2 January 2022      

       Good cast, yes, but can it make this spy comedy worth watching?

       Gracie Hart (Bullock) is an FBI agent (OK, not a spy story), a real toughie but a bit of a maverick. Against her will she’s forced undercover as a contestant in the Miss USA Pageant because of bomb threats to the event. Mr Vic (Caine) is stuffy and highly competent and is forced through unfortunate unemployment to turn her into a potential Miss in two days.

       They both hate it. And each other.

       Beauty pageants, yuck. This is annoyingly sexist despite Gracie’s comment on feminism but there are some good digs at the whole beauty pageant thing. And it’s often very funny.

       So, all in all, it’s quite sweet, a film to enjoy in spite of everything. 

3* of 5.

 

Requiem for a Dream

 Requiem for a Dream 2000

• Director: Darren Aronofsky
• Seen by this director: Black Swan, The Wrestler, The Fountain
• Based on the book by Herbert Selby Jr
• Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Ellen Burstyn – Interstellar, The Fountain, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, The Exorcist, The Last Picture Show, TV series
• Jared Leto – Blade Runner 2049, Suicide Squad, Chapter 27, Panic Room, American Psycho, Girl Interrupted, The Thin Red Line
• Jennifer Connelly – Alita Battle Angel, American Pastoral, Winter’s Tale, Creation, He’s Just not that Into You, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Blood Diamond, House of Sand and Fog, A Beautiful Mind, Pollock, Dark City, Labyrinth
• Why? Good film
• Seen: Once before. Now: 1 January 2022      

       Harry (Leto) neglects his mother Sarah (Burstyn), a widow and pathetic recluse in her Brooklyn flat. Harry and his girlfriend Marion (Connelly) mess with drugs but they have a dream of starting a boutique with her clothes designs. Sarah wins an appearance on a TV show and starts dieting to fit into her favourite dress. Dieting is agony. She starts taking diet pills. Harry and his mate Ty (Wayans) start selling heroin, sure that they’re headed for the big time.

       In hallucinatory nightmarish sequences we see them all descend into hellish addiction and their dreams come crashing down around them.

       This must be one of the most depressing films ever made and a really bad choice to start the new year with.

       But it’s awfully good. 

4 * of 5.

 

 

 

Wild Rose

 Wild Rose 2018

• Director: Tom Harper
• Seen by this director: Misfits several episodes
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okonedo
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jessie Buckley – Judy, The Tempest (on stage at the Globe in London with Roger Allam and Colin Morgan, also the DVD recording of same)
• Julie Walters – Mamma Mia 1&2, Brooklyn, Effie Gray, One Chance, The Hollow Crown, Harry Potter, Becoming Jane, Driving Lessons, Wah-Wah, Calendar Girls, Before You Go, Billy Elliot, Titanic Town, Intimate Relations, Stepping Out, Prick Up Your Ears, Educating Rita
• Sophie Okonedo – The Hollow Crown, The Slap, After Earth, Doctor Who, Skin, Hotel Rwanda, Dirty Pretty Things, Go Now
• Why? The cast
• Seen: 31 December 2021       

       Rose-Lynn (Buckley) is released from prison and returns to Glasgow, to her kids and her mother Marion (Walters). She’s determined to continue her career as a country singer but everything and everyone is against her. She’s not exactly easy to get on with and life on the outside is pure hell at times.

       She gets a job cleaning for wealthy Susannah (Okonedo) who takes an interest in her music and encourages her.

       Dreams are so painful when they meet reality. For being a feel-good film, this is awfully depressing. But very good and Buckley is outstanding. 

4 * of 5.