The Bear

 

The Bear 1988

• Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
• Seen by this director: In the Name of the Rose
• Based on the book by James Oliver Curwood
• Cast: Tchéky Karyo, Jack Wallace, Bart the Bear, Youk the Bear
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? I like bears.
• Seen: 24 September 2023                 

             In the magnificent mountains of British Columbia in 1885 a bear cub (Youk) is orphaned when its mother is killed in a landslide.

       Two bear hunters (Karyo and Wallace) stalk a great Kodiak bear (Bart), and wound it.

       The Kodiak encounters the cub, who wants to be adopted. At first the Kodiak is hostile but gradually comes to accept, then protect, the cub.

       From the safety and comfort of my armchair, I love bears, but I’m not foolish enough to seek out bears in the wood to cuddle with them. Still, anyone who doesn’t fall in love with little Youk is an evil curmudgeon.

       It’s exciting, cruel, filled with humour, charm and glorious mountains (according to the Washington Post, the Dolomites (I hiked in the Dolomites this summer!), not the Rockies).

Go, Bears!   

 4* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homicide the Movie

 

Homicide the movie 2000

• Director: Jean de Segonzac
• Seen by this director: Homicide Life on the Street, possibly other series
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Everybody from the series
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Daniel Baldwin – other series now and then
• Ned Beatty – something I’m sure
• Richard Belzer – He will never be anyone but John Munch for me
• Andre Braugher – The Mist
• Reed Diamond – Much Ado about Nothing, Good Night and Good Luck
• Giancarlo Esposito – Maze Runner, Breaking Bad, Rabbit Hole, Sherrybaby, Smoke, The Usual Suspects, Malcolm X, Night on Earth, Do the Right Thing, Desperately Seeking Susan
• Michelle Forbes – Hunger Games, Orphan Black
• Peter Gerety – Cymbeline, God’s Pocket, Public Enemies, The Wire, The War of the Worlds
• Isabel Hofman – various series
• Zeljko Ivanek – many
• Clark Johnson – always and ever Meldrick Lewis for me.
• Yaphet Kotto – Almost Blue, The Running Man, Alien, Live and Let Die
• Melissa Leo – Snowden, London Has Fallen, Prisoners, The Space Between, Welcome to the Rileys, Veronica Decides to Die, Frozen River
• Toni Lewis – The Wire
• Max Perlich – Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Darwin Awards, Blow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,  Feeling Minnesota, Beautiful Girls, Georgia, Drugstore Cowboy
• Jon Polito – several
• Kyle Secor – Veronica Mars

• Why? The series
• Seen: 24 September 2023                 

             As the series ends, Gee (Kotto) has just been promoted to captain. As the film starts, he is running for mayor, expected to win. At a rally, he is shot.

       The old gang gathers forces from near and far, even those off fly-fishing, teaching in a seminary, touristing in Europe, working in New York, still on the street. Even those who have died in episodes past are in the cast.

       It’s like a class reunion. Or a long re-run. Maybe they did it because the actors were waxing nostalgic. Or because somebody realised that somebody had allowed the series to be cheapened in the last two seasons.

       The film makers do the series justice, primarily thanks to Pembleton (Braugher) and Bayliss (Secor).

       For the film, and the whole series

 4 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Passenger

 

Last Passenger 2013

• Director: Omid Noshin and Ridoin Al Aissati
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Dougray Scott, Kara Tointon, Iddo Goldberg, David Schofield, Lindsay Duncan, Joshua Kaynama
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Dougray Scott – Doctor Who, My Week with Marilyn, United, To Kill a King, Ever After, Deep Impact
• Kara Tointon – Dinotopia
• Iddo Goldberg – The Tourist, Defiance, Dead Fish
• David Schofield – this and that
• Lindsay Duncan – many
• Why? Might be exciting.
• Seen: 22 September 2023                 

             Six passengers are left on a train when it is mysteriously hijacked. It stops at no stops. They are trapped.

       Not completely credible but entertaining enough for a Friday evening with a glass or two of whisky.

 2 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Swan

 

Black Swan 2010

• Director: Darren Aronofsky
• Seen by this director: The Wrestler, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Natalie Portman – many
• Mila Kunis – Jupiter Ascending, The Book of Eli
• Vincent Cassel – Derailed, Birthday Girl, Jeanne d’Arc, Elizabeth
• Winona Ryder – many including Looking for Richard
• Barbara Hershey – Daniel Derondoa, Swing Kids, The Last Temptation of Christ, Run for Your Life
• Why? I can’t remember if I liked it
• Seen: Once before. Now 21 September 2023        

             Nina (Portman) gets her dream ballet role as both the White Swan and the Black Swan in Swan Lake. She is technically excellent but her neuroses stop her dancing from being passionately expressive. Long story short – she can’t take the pressure and starts having paranoid hallucinations. Her neurotic mother (Hershey) and predatory director (Cassel) don’t help.

       Portman is often good and she won an Oscar for this role but I found her very one-note, always anxious and weepy. Why did the director choose Nina in the first place?

       Now that I see it again I seem to remember not being terribly impressed the first time. I’m not impressed this time either. It’s not bad, but it’s not as good as its reputation.

 2 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place beyond the Pines

 

The Place beyond the Pines 2012

• Director: Derek Cianfrance
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Mahershala Ali, Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne, Ray Liotta, Dane De Haan
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Ryan Gosling – Barbie, First Man, Blade Runner 2049, La La Land, The Nice Guys, Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, Lars and the Real Girl, Half Nelson, The United States of Leland
• Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Joy, American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, The Words, He’s Just Not That Into You
• Eva Mendes – Once upon a Time in Mexico
• Mahershala Ali – Alita Battle Angel, Green Book, Hidden Figures, The Hunger Games, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Ben Mendelsohn – Ready Player One, Darkest Hour, Rogue One, The Dark Knight Rises, Australia, Vertical Limit
• Ray Liotta  - this and that
• Rose Byrne – The X Men, I Give It a Year, 28 Weeks Later, Sunshine, The Dead Girl, Casanova, Star Wars
• Dane De Haan – Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
• Why? A good cast.
• Seen: 20 September 2023                 

             Three stories in one.

       Luke (Gosling), a stunt motorcyclist, learns that his ex (Mendes) has his baby. For no discernible reason she seeks him out even though she has a new man (Ali) and Luke decides he’s going to take over. He has no money. He robs banks. He gets caught.

       A rookie cop (Cooper) is the one to catch him, but there are crooked cops on the force and he exposes them.

       He becomes states attorney and powerful. His son meets up with Luke’s son.

       It doesn’t work. What a disappointment from these great actors.

 2* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Time

 

Good Time 2017

• Director: The Safdie brothers
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Robert Pattison, Benny Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Buddy Duress, Tahlia Webster, Barkhad Abdi
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Robert Pattinson – Tenet, The Lighthouse, High Life, Remember Me, Twilight, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Jennifer Jason Leigh – Annihilation, The Hateful Eight, Margot at the Wedding, The Road to Perdition, eXistenZ, A Thousand Acres, Georgia
• Barkhad Abdi – Blade Runner 2049
• Why? Pattinson. Forget Twilight. He’s a good actor.
• Seen: 19 September 2023                 

             Connie (Pattinson) and his mentally challenged brother Nick (Safdie) rob a bank. It doesn’t go well.

       Connie will do anything for Nick but everything he does just makes things worse. It becomes a dark urban nightmare. One absurd trippy mess after another ensues and there is no indication whatsoever that this can end well.

       The film has been compared with Dog Day Afternoon for its similar atmosphere of a desperate frantic situation with a desperate frantic loser. Pattinson is every bit as good as Pacino. Maybe even better.

 4* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing for Time

 

Playing for Time 1980

• Director: Daniel Mann and Joseph Sargent
• Seen by this director: Mann: Teahouse of the August Moon. Sargent: Warm Springs, Out of the Ashes, Maybe I’ll Come Home in the Spring, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,
• Based on the book by Fania Fénelon
• Cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Alexander, Maud Adams, Christine Baranski, Robin Bartlett, Marisa Berenson, Viveca Lindfors, Melanie Mayron, Max Wright, Shirley Knight
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Vanessa Redgrave – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, The Thirteenth Tale, The Butler, A Song for Marion, Coriolanus, Atonement, The Pledge, Girl Interrupted, Cradle Will Rock, Lulu on the Bridge, Deep Impact, Mrs Dalloway, Wilde, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Howards End, The Ballad of Sad Café, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Prick Up Your Ears, The Devils, O What a Lovely War, Isadora, Blow-Up, Camelot
• Jane Alexander – Terminator Salvation, Fur, Warm Springs, The Cider House Rules, Kramer vs Kramer
• Maud Adams – Radioskugga, James Bond
• Christine Baranski – The Big Bang Theory, Mamma Mia 1&2, Into the Woods, Chicago, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
• Robin Bartlett – The Glass Castle, Inside Llewyn Davis, Shutter Island, Postcards from the Edge, Moonstruck, Sophie’s Choice
• Marisa Berenson  - Colour Me Kubrick, Cabaret
• Max Wright – The Norm Show, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Snow Falling on Cedars, Alf, Reds
• Shirley Knight – The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, As Good As It Gets, The Outer Limits and many other series
• Why? A good film.
• Seen: Once before. Now 18 September 2023        

             Fania Fénelon (Redgrave), a celebrated and renowned musician from Paris, ends up in Auschwitz. She’s Jewish and a member of the resistance.

       She’s recruited into the prison women’s orchestra. They play for the pleasure of the Nazi guards, they play as other prisoners arrive at the camp and are separated into queues, as they are marched off to work, as they are marched to the gas chambers.

       The other prisoners hate them.

       Fania struggles to keep her sanity and humanity in the midst of the horror.

       It’s perhaps the best film about Auschwitz I’ve seen and in an excellent cast, Redgrave is nothing less than phenomenal.

 5* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Giver

 

The Giver 2014

• Director: Philip Noyce
• Seen by this director: Gone Baby Gone, Rabbit-Proof Fence
• Based on the book by Lois Lowry
• Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Taylor Swift, Alexander Skarsgård, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush, Cameron Monaghan
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Brenton Thwaites – Pirates of the Caribbean, Maleficent
• Jeff Bridges – True Grit, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Seabiscuit, The Big Lebowski, The Fabulous Bake Boys, The Last Picture Show
• Meryl Streep - many
• Taylor Swift - Cats
•  Katie Holmes – Woman in Gold, Batman Begins, The Ice Storm
• Alexander Skarsgård  - Big Little Lies, Melancholia
• Odeya Rush – Lady Bird
• Why? The book.
• Seen: 17 September 2023                 

             In a future society, complete equality is mandatory. Feelings are strictly controlled, colours, music and beauty are forbidden. Memories of cruelty, crime and war have been supressed so that only one of the Elders, the Giver (Bridges) has access to humanity’s memories.

       At the transition to adulthood ceremonies, Jonas (Thwaites) is assigned the position as Receiver, the next keeper of memories.

       I quite liked the book but the film is jam-packed with platitudes. Love is beautiful, colour and music is beautiful, feelings are beautiful. Sure war and all the bad stuff that Jonas is shown is bad but come on.

       Read the book. It’s more believable, less preachy and more enjoyable.

 2* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Soil (Rouge)

 

Red Soil/Rouge 2020

• Director: Farid Bentoumi
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Zita Hanrot, Sami Bouajila, C´line Salette
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sami Bouajila – London River
• Why? It sounded good.
• Seen: 16 September 2023                 

             Nour (Hanrot), a nurse, gets a job with her father’s (Bouajila) help at the chemical factory where he and most of town work. She’s happy to be with her family again but dismayed and increasingly upset by the lack of the employees’ health care, the shoddiness or absence of safety equipment, and most alarming, the factory’s dumping of toxic waste nearby. Everyone, including her father, tells her to leave it alone, the factory is breaking no laws.

       Her continued investigation shows otherwise but she’s blocked at every turn by the factory bigwigs who are afraid to lose their state subventions and permits, by the workers who are afraid of losing their jobs, by her family.

       There have been many good whistle blower films. This is among the best.

 4 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How I Live Now

 

How I Live Now 2013

• Director: Kevin Macdonald
• Seen by this director: State of Play, The Last King of Scotland
• Based on the book by Meg Rosoff
• Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, George MacKay, Harley Bird, Anna Chancellor
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Saoirse Ronan – Little Women, Mary Queen of Scots, Lady Bird, Brooklyn, Hanna, Atonement
• Tom Holland – Wolf Hall
•  George MacKay – 1917, Pride, Sunshine on Leith, Defiance
• Harley Bird – Doctor Who
• Anna Chancellor – Testament of Youth, Hysteria, Hustle, Breaking and Entering, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Longitude, Cold Lazarus, Karaoke, Four Weddings and a Funeral
•  Why? Ronan
• Seen: 14 September 2023                

             Teen-aged American Daisy (Ronan) is neurotic, hostile, unhappy, and sent by her newly re-married father to step-cousins in England. She’s vegan, germ-phobic and appalled by her wild, unsupervised, rural step-cousins, from the pesky Piper (Bird) to the fit Eddie (MacKay). Their mother (Chancellor) is a high-ranking peace negotiator who is never home because war is about to break out.

       War breaks out. The kids are separated and the rest of the film is escape and survival. It’s a good film in which young Ronan’s acting prowess is already evident.

 3 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inescapable

 

Inescapable 2012

• Director: Ruba Nadda
• Seen by this director: Taken
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Alexander Siddig, Marisa Tomei, Joshua Jackson, Oded Fehr, Saad Siddiqui
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Alexander Siddig – Game of Thrones, The Fifth Estate, Primeval, Merlin, Doomsday, Kingdom of Heaven, Vertical Limit, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid
• Marisa Tomei – Crazy Stupid Love, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Wrestler, Alfie, My Cousin Vinnie
•  Joshua Jackson – Fringe, Battle in Seattle, Bobby
• Saad Siddiqui - Taken, Orphan Black
• Why? The cast.
• Seen: 14 September 2023                 

             Syrian Adib (Siddig), living in Toronto for twenty years, returns illegally to Syria when his eldest daughter goes missing on a mysterious visit to this dangerous and chaotic country. It’s more a slow journey into Adib’s political and romantic past than a thriller. Many compare it to Taken with Liam Neeson as a father looking for a daughter. I haven’t seen it but it’s described as a violent shoot-‘em-up film, in which case I don’t need to see it to know that this is much better.

       The story is so-so, with a few moments of excitement, but Siddig is so intense and gorgeous and Tomei, as Adib’s Syrian fiancée from twenty years ago, is so convincing as an Arabic-speaking Syrian, that the film is more than well carried by them.

 3 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

Love, Rosie

 

Love, Rosie 2014

• Director: Christian Ditter
• Based on the book by Cecilia Ahern
• Cast: Lily Collins, Sam Claflin, Christian Cooke, Jaime Winstone
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sam Claflin – Adrift, Their Finest, Hunger Games, Pirates of the Caribbean, United, Pillars of the Earth
• Christian Cooke  - Cemetery Junction, Doctor Who
•  Jaime Winstone – Tomb Raider, Elfie Hopkins, Made in Dagenham
• Why? I don’t really know
• Seen: 12 September 2023                 

             Once in a while I like rom coms, if there’s a good twist, or quirkiness, or favourite actors. This film has none of that, although I do like Winstone, and Claflin has been in some decent films.

       Alex (Claflin) and Rosie (Collins) have been besties since they were five years old. As teen-agers they’re in love with each other but neither of them reveal their true feelings. Things happen that keep them apart but three minutes into the film – no, three seconds – we all know they’ll end up together.

       I’m bored. It does, however, keep me just curious enough to keep watching it so

 2* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

Land of Mine (Under sanden)

 

Land of Mine/Under sanden 2015

• Director: Martin Zandvliet
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Roland Möller, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? Good reviews
• Seen: 11 September 2023                

             Denmark 1945. A group of German boy soldiers under the command of a vengeful Danish sergeant Carl (Möller) are forcibly recruited to clear a stretch of beach of land mines planted by the German army.

       From hating and mistreating the boy POWs, Carl slowly starts stealing food for them and defending them against Danish and American soldiers who would rather see them dead.

       Quiet and slow, this complex film shows a different aspect of the war from what we usually see, another tragic and cruel consequence of the bestiality of war, as well as the resilience of humanity.

 4* of 5  

 

 

 

The Fourth Kind

 

The Fourth Kind 2009

• Director: Olatunde Osunsami
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, Hakeem Kae-Kazeem, Corey Johnson, Enzo Cilenti
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Milla Jovovich – Cymbeline, Jeanne d’Arc, The Fifth Element
• Why? Possible interesting.
• Seen: 10 September August 2023.      

       We’re told from the beginning and throughout the film that this is a true story, authentic interviews with the victims and everything. The DVD box tells us that it’s about aliens.

       It must be true, right?

       It’s not without interest or drama but we’ve seen it all before. 

2 ½ * of 5

  

 

 

 

 

 

The Perks of Being A Wallflower

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower 2012

• Director: Stephen Chbosky
• Seen by this director: Dear Evan Hanson, Wonder
• Based on the book by Stephen Chbosky
• Cast: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Ruud
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Logan Lerman – The Butterfly Effect, Riding Around with Boys
• Emma Watson – Little Women, The Circle, Beauty and the Beast, Colonia, My Week with Marilyn, Harry Potter
• Ezra Miller – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Suicide Squad
• Paul Ruud – Ant-Man, Friends, Cider House Rules, Clueless, Romeo and Julia
• Why? Good film.
• Seen: Once before. Now 9 September August 2023.         

       It’s still another bourgeois, rich, white American suburban high school films but it’s better than most. It might just be the best one.

       Charlie (Lerman) is a freshman in high school, alone, scared, bullied, nerdy. Step-siblings Patrick (Miller) and Sam (Watson) take him under their wing and bring him into their own little gang of weirdoes. They all have traumatic, painful backgrounds.

       It’s not really a feel-good film. Or a coming-of-age film. It’s just a very good film about kids with pain. 

4* of 5

  

 

 

 

 

Solo - a Star Wars Story

 

Solo – A Star Wars Story 2018

• Director: Ron Howard
• Seen by this director: Eight Days a Week, Frost/Nixon, A Beautiful Mind, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, EDtv
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandiwe Newton, Paul Bettany, Erin Kellyman
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Alden Ehrenreich – Hail Caesar, Beautiful Creatures
• Woody Harrelson – many
• Emilia Clarke – Last Christmas, Game of Thrones
• Donald Glover – The Martian
• Thandiwe Newton – 2012, Crash, Beloved, Gridlock’d, Interviews with a Vampire
• Paul Bettany - many
• Why? It’s Star Wars
• Seen: 8 September August 2023      

       No great expectations here but I hope it will at least be entertaining. Han Solo is my least favourite SW character but I’ll try to have an open mind.

       I’m not going to tell you the story because frankly, I can’t be bothered to figure out what it is. A big deal is made out of Han Solo meeting Chewbacca for the first time but, to coin a phrase, what’s the big deal?

       As usual with SW, there are a lot of spaceship battles –yawn! – and non-Earthians and bars and parties. Han Solo is just as obnoxious here as the Harrison Ford versions (it must be said, however, that Ford seems to be a good guy IRL).

       You may have guessed that I’m not a huge SW fan but I have liked the most recent ones. This seems to have reverted to the first babbly six or so.

       L3 is fun though. 

2* of 5

  

 

 

 

 

Barbie

 

Barbie 2023

• Director: Greta Gerwig
• Seen by this director: Little Women, Ladybird
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Michael Cera, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Margot Robbie – The Suicide Squad, Once upon a Time in Hollywood, Mary Queen of Scots, Terminal, I Tonya, The Wolf of Wall Street, About Time
• Ryan Gosling – First Man, Blade Runner 2049, La La Land, The Nice Guys, Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, Lars and the Real Girl, Half Nelson, The United States of Leland
• Michael Cera – Molly’s Game, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Juno
• Rhea Perlman – This and that
• Will Ferrell – This and that
• Why? It’s a sensation.
• Seen: 7 September August 2023 at the cinema with friends B-IS and ÖB      

       Dolls aren’t my thing. I have never owned, or even held, a Barbie doll. I have scorned the whole concept. Discussions about this film have changed my mind. All the different career Barbies have perhaps been a good role model for little girls. Or?

       The film is a delight from start to (almost) finish. I didn’t like the ending but up until that I love it. Witty, clever, colourful, astute, acerbic. See it, even if you hate the whole idea of Barbie. 

4 ½ * of 5