Michael Curtiz and William Keighley direct Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Claude Rains in this classic Technicolor swashbuckler.
A joyous lark. Keeps things light, keeps things moving. Errol Flynn struts and peacocks through this with absolute insouciance. It is so consummately entertaining and out of time (even for the thirties) that the whole romp proves irresistible.
Bradley Cooper directs Will Arnett, Laura Dern and himself in this drama about a divorcee who discovers open mic stand-up.
Loosely based on John Bishop’s early steps in comedy (but transplanted from Liverpool to New York), this has all the authenticity of car boot sale Labubu bong. People don’t interact like this. Comedy doesn’t work like this. How do these people even know each other? The one genuinely good scene is when his 10 year old sons find his notebook and ask him why he writes such sad shit. The one genuinely genuine scene is when his parents find out and knee jerk shit all over his little victory of booking a 10 spot. (Editorial: This character as presented would never get a 10 spot offered to him based on his inconsistent 2 chuckles a set batting average). The director casts himself as a recurring (non stand-up) comic relief but comes across as an annoying middle class, middle aged Floyd from True Romance. Cooper and Arnett are visually so similar I thought they were playing brothers. There is a hatefully written black female character that doesn’t pass muster. I think it is swell that the very earnest stud, who is only famous because of The Hangover franchise, has decided to become an auteur. It has become clear over three wildly indulgent projects that his passion is to represent the arts as a noble, life affirming endeavour in various forms. But he is an irredeemable pretentious, tone deaf darling. Tracing over the sorta movie Noah Baumbach used to make ain’t going get you your Oscar. And as awkward as this all is… Is This Thing On? is somehow his best movie to date. I laughed at it a lot less than A Star Is Born.
Christophe Gans directs Jeremy Irvine, Hannah Emily Anderson and Robert Strange in this third film in the horror video game adaptation telling the standalone tale of a man who receives a mysterious letter from his lost love and is drawn to Silent Hill.
No… I haven’t seen The Bone Temple yet?! But I have gone to see this. I had a soft spot for Christophe Gans’ original Silent Hill flick from 2006. In my book it still is the best console to big screen adaptation. There are moments in it that are genuinely totalitarian nightmarish. Dread inducing and extremely disgusting. This hits those peaks around five times… briefly. There are transformations and apocalyptic stalking scenes that truly amp up the Lynchian / Yuzna atmosphere. But the story is very rote, naively blatant and once the big twist becomes obvious you still have 90 minutes of the movie ramming it down your throat like it is some transcendently mind blowing revelation. If you can switch off from everything but the icky creature moments then this is Fangoria worthy. There are very few multiplex releases this digitally ugly I’ll give a pass to. Memorably hellish.
Park Chan-wook directs Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin and Park Hee-soon in this Korean neo-noir where a recently laid off family man decides to assassinate his competition for a new opening at a paper plant.
Magisterial, wicked. A patient, coiled thriller with some of the most insane virtuoso visuals of the last 10 years. There’s that mordant sense of humour. That plotting which feels somehow both randomly squirrelish and fatefully composed. You can’t tame chaos, the best laid plans… etc. Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin put in two of my favourite performances of this Oscar season. Expressing emotions, frustrations and schemes that ironically go unsaid but are viscerally felt. I would have liked to have seen both nominated. As with all Park Chan-wook, this will infest my brain until the next watch.
Brian Yuzna directs Jeffrey Combs, Jason Barry and Elsa Pataky in this third flick in the H.P. Lovecraft inspired body horror saga.
West is in prison. And back to re-animating he goes. Almost everyone else involved is Spanish. It is a cheap limited production with some hilariously full on gore. This franchise deserved better sequels but this just about hits the spot as a one watcher.
Park Chan-wook directs Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun and Bae Doona in this Korean thriller where a recently laid off factory worker kidnaps a rich man’s daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister’s kidney transplant.
The first Chan-wook I saw at the cinema and the twisted, painterly house style is very much present and correct. Obtuse, almost elliptical storytelling. Mad nihilist twists. Class inequalities explored in a way he never truly came back to until No Other Choice. Zero shits about sensibilities. A very lively supporting performance from Bae Doona. Her minimum wage revolutionary is the only character who feels more complex than a chess piece on a board where all the moves have long since been fatally set.
Joe Roth directs Robert Carradine, Curtis Armstrong and Larry B. Scott in this teen comedy sequel where the nerd fraternity have to represent themselves on a Florida vacation.
Standard Eighties sequel. Get everyone back (Anthony Edwards in a reduced role). Repeat all the jokes (though no floppy javelin). Send ‘em holiday. Mix in some new girls and a few movie spoofs for the trailer. It ain’t rocket science, it ain’t even remedial science.
Tyler Spindel directs David Spade, Lauren Lapkus and Nick Swardson in this gross out comedy about a lonely guy who invites a horrific blind date on holiday with him by accident.
Off cuts from other Adam Sandler projects minced together and tossed at David Spade like scraps. He shrugs his way through this. Goes really hard on the nasty, has Nick Swardson in a prominent role. So… pretty distasteful. Lauren Lupkus sees her shot, doesn’t hold back and her cutely obnoxious grotesque idiot ends up being the flick’s saving grace. Eventually the story just gives up on itself and goes full romcom cookie cutter.
Alex Cox directs Roberto Sosa, Bruno Bichir and Vanessa Bauche in this Mexican indie about a newly graduated road cop trying to navigate endemic corruption for better and for worse.
Moral murk in the hot burning sunlight. Ten thousand miles south of Serpico. Cox’ second best movie after Repo Man is an unsung gem. There is those seesaw ethics, a horny sense of humour and just enough lo-fi brilliant set pieces. Even a few moments of gentle surrealism. True and soulful. Well worth a rediscover.
Paolo Sorrentino directs Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo and Teresa Saponangelo in this coming of age drama set in 1980s Naples.
Sorrentino mines his own teenage landmark year in this thinly veiled cinematic memoir. Maradona, sexual awakenings, complicated morality and a desire to make films all jockey for attention. There is the definite whiff of Fellini in the heightened Italian nuttiness of the extended family and new acquaintances. That has always been present in Sorrentino’s visions. Cinema Paradiso also feels like another touchstone but not in the way you might first imagine. Probably this beautiful filmmaker’s most accessible flick. Satire takes a backseat and tragic surprises rear up from nowhere. The magical realist prologue is absolute fire cinema. A little self contained fable that is unnerving and sexy.
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 