Beats

 

Beats 2019

• Director: Brian Welsh
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Cristian Ortega, Lorn Macdonald, Neil Leiper
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Lorn Macdonald – The World’s End
• Neil Leiper – The Angel’s Share
• Why? Possibly interesting
• Seen: 10 October 2023                     

             Two Scottish lads, Johnno (Ortega) and Spanner (Macdonald), love rave music but this is the 90s and rave gatherings have just been outlawed.

       Johnno is timid and inhibited. His stepdad seems a decent sort but he’s a police constable. Spanner is cheeky, rebellious, a trouble-maker, with a cruel and criminal brother Fido (Leiper).

       In a desperate attempt to break all the rules and achieve magic, they steal money from Fido and run off to an illegal rave party.

       It’s social realism at its grimmest but it’s also a tender and sometimes humorous portrait of teen angst and the vital role of music for rebellion and identity for every generation.

 4* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ring Two

 

The Ring Two 2005

• Director: Hideo Nakata
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, Sissy Spacek, Simon Baker
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Naomi Watts – The Ring, The Glass Castle, The Impossible, King Kong, Ned Kelly
• Sissy Spacek – The Help, North Country
• Simon Baker - I Give It a Year, Red Planet
• Why? The Ring
• Seen: 9 October 2023  

             This makes even less sense than the first one but the visuals are so strong, especially those magnificently antlered but nasty stags, that it’s oddly captivating, while the first one was not.

       It’s still not scary though. Just kind of cool.

 2 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

Ruby Jand's Film Blog: The Ring (rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ring

 

The Ring 2002

• Director: Gore Verbinski
• Seen by this director: The Lone Ranger, Rango, Pirate of the Caribbean, The Weather Man
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox, David Dorfman, Jane Alexander
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Naomi Watts – The Glass Castle, The Impossible, King Kong, Ned Kelly
• Martin Henderson – Everest, Battles in Seattle, Little Fish
• Brian Cox – The X-Men and I’m sure, many others
• Jane Alexander – Terminator Salvation, Fur, Warm Springs, The Cider House Rules, Playing for Time, Kramer vs Kramer
• Why? Who knows?
• Seen: 8 October 2023  

             Journalist Rachel (Watts) is drawn into a report about a video tape which kills the people who watch it. She watches it and has seven days to live. Ditto her ex Noah (Henderson). Ditto her kid Aidan (Dorfman).

       OK, this is a scary movie, but scary movies based on the supernatural don’t scare me. They should, however be interesting. This is, just barely, enough, anyway, so that I watch it to the end.

       Damn, it’s a cliff-hanger and I bought the second one at the same time. Now I have to watch that too.

 2* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moonlight

 

Moonlight 2016

• Director: Barry Jenkins
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes, Alex R Hibbert, Janelle Monáe, Duan Sanderson, Jaden Piner, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Mahershala Ali – Alita Battle Angel, Green Book, Hidden Figures. The Hunger Games, The Place beyond the Pines, The Predator, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Naomie Harris – No Time to Die, Black and Blue, Our Kind of Traitor, Spectre, Mandela, Skyfall, Small Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, After Sunset, Dinotopia, 28 Days Later, White Teeth
• Trevante Rhodes – The Predator
• Alex R Hibbert – Black Panther
• Janelle Monáe  - Hidden Figures
• Why? Rave reviews
• Seen: 7 October 2023       

       Chiron (Hibbert, Sanders and Rhodes) is bullied at school. Drug dealer Juan (Ali) takes him under his wing to keep him off the corner. Chiron’s mother Paula (Harris) is a drug addict who buys from Juan.

       Chiron in struggling with his sexuality, not wanting to accept that he’s gay. We follow him through his teen years and into adulthood. It’s essentially a coming-of-age story, not my favourite genre. The acting is good but it’s slow-going to the point of being boring at times. My expectations were, of course, sky-high from the hype so it’s no surprise that they couldn’t be met. It’s certainly not bad but it’s not the heart-wrenching masterpiece I thought it would be.            

3 * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My One and Only

 

My One and Only 2009

• Director: Richard Loncraine
• Seen by this director: My House in Umbria, Richard III
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Rene Zellweger, Logan Lerman, Mark Rendall, Kevin Bacon, Nick Stahl
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Rene Zellweger – many.
• Logan Lerman – The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Butterfly Effect, The Painted House, Riding in Cars with Boys
• Mark Rendall – Stockholm
• Kevin Bacon – Crazy Stupid Love, The X-Men, Frost/Nixon, Mystic River, JFK, Footloose
• Nick Stahl  - Terminator
• Why? Zellweger
• Seen: 6 October 2023  

             Anne (Zellweger) is no longer as young as she once was. When she finds her husband, bandleader Dan (Bacon), in bed with one of his singers, she packs her bags, fetches her sons from school and takes off. Her plan is to find a new husband with money. She’s disappointed time and again but she hides the hurt with her sweet Southern Bell smile and undiminished optimism.

       This is the 50s, with all its despicable treatment of women. It’s loosely based on actor George Hamilton’s teen-age years. It’s not great but Zellweger can play anything and does this role very well indeed.

 3½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mug (Twarz)

 

Mug (Twarz) 2018

• Director: Malgorzata Szumowska
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Mateusz Kosciukiewicz, Agnieszka Podsiadlik, Malgorzata, Gorol
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? Awards
• Seen: 5 October 2023  

             Jacek (Kosciukiewicz) is a welder, employed on a project to construct the largest Jesus statue in the world (it really exists), has long hair, listens to heavy metal and lives with his ultra-Catholic family on a farm in Poland. He is severely injured and hideously disfigured in a work accident. He’s given a face-transplant but remains blind in one eye and unable to speak clearly enough to be understood. His fiancée (Gorol) leaves him, his mother believes he’s possessed by the previous owner of the face and everyone in the village shuns him.

       It’s called a comedy. Could’ve fooled me. It’s depressing. Absurd with deserved pokes at the Catholic Church and family greed, but depressing.

 2 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Rain

 

After the Rain 1999

Director: Ross Kettle

• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Ariyon Bakare, Paul Bettany, Louise Lombard
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Paul Bettany – many.
• Ariyon Bakare – Life, Doctor Who, Jupiter Ascending, Dancing on the Edge
• Louise Lombard – Grim, Hidalgo
• Why? The subject
• Seen: 4 October 2023  

          Apartheid, South Africa, the 80s. Stephanus (Bettany) is an Afrikaaner soldier who was raised to defend ‘us’ from ‘them, to hate and despise ‘them.’ His girlfriend Emma (Lombard) is a dancer, who, when Steph is on a three-month mission defending the apartheid from black rebels, befriends the light man at the theatre, Vusi (Bakare). Friendship between whites and blacks is dangerous.

       Steph starts to hate the killing and see the rebels as humans. He deserts and heads home.

       Good acting and a complex triangle in a volatile racist society make this a strong and important film.

 4½ * of 5