Shawn Levy directs Ashton Kutcher, Brittany Murphy and Christian Kane in this romantic comedy where a nightmare honeymoon destroys a couples’ happy relationship.
Blunt force trauma fluff – won’t even satisfy its lowest common denominator target audience. Murphy sparkles with minimal support but she can’t save a vacation movie that even The Griswolds would find dumb and far fetched.
The Coen Brothers direct Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and John Goodman in this Sixties set drama following a feckless folk singer as he tries to find his place in the world, as a solo artist, after he loses his partner.
Lots to love here but not quite as perfect as I remember from its big screen release. The idea of Joel and Ethan in entropy, to the point of separation, was inconceivable back in 2013. Even with the rare and occasional iffy one in their back catalogue. Now it is hard to watch this without wondering if even subconsciously we are seeing them work through what creative divorce proceedings might look like. Or like all the symbolism and dropped stitches in a Coen Brothers joint, whether it is just included for their own personal amusement and now history has taken over and, the unthinkable happened, and they take a break from working together. The mournful tone, accentuated by guest cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, wintery, makes this their saddest, bleakest film… even more so than No Country For Old Men or Barton Fink. They are both pulsed with a mordant sense of playfulness… this is just unremarkable tragedy after unremarkable tragedy, grinding us and our untethered anti-hero down. The constant refrain of the funereal folk ear worm, Far Thee Well, smooths the sadness. Is the song a suicide note from a beloved brother in music or a deadly Dear John from a departing lover? Oscar Issac’s gives a poker faced performance. Turning the potentially rejectable and difficult Llewyn into a being whose malaise you truly invest in. He gets a glimpse of how random, cruel, lonely and fated his world is and will be. Yet he ploughs his furrow, selfishly. Like The Coens themselves, a unique path of great art, that it is hard to “see a lot of money” in. Keep carrying that cute cat Llewyn, watch the world go by at a speed you can’t fathom, and jump up off at any stop that doesn’t feel like home. There’s always a parallel you, caught in an even more destructive path, one who always has Llewyn Davis to blame.
Tommy Lee Wallace directs Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin and Dan O’Herlihy in this horror spin-off, unrelated to The Shape saga, where a doctor investigates the horrific going ons around a popular Halloween mask making company; Silver Shamrock.
“It’s almost time, kids. The clock is ticking. Be in front of your TV sets for the Horrorthon, followed by the Big Giveaway. Don’t miss it. And don’t forget to wear your masks. The clock is ticking. It’s almost time.”
People think I’m being contrary when I say this is my favourite Halloween but there is so much I love. The intensity of the countdown to Samhain. The basement hanger with an ancient secret… Quatermass and The Stone Tapes creator Nigel Kneale wrote the first draft of this. Isn’t an advert kinda like a spell casting? Tom Atkins’ drink driving, ass pinching everyday hero. The horny atmosphere generated entirely from his big white fluffy moustache and his pockmarked skin. The automaton henchmen and their matter of fact deaths. The last moment twist about a certain character. The hysteria of the final scene – real Siegel Invasion Of the Body Snatcher vibes. Just how nasty the masks are when triggered. Dean Cundey’s rich primary colour lighting. Dan O’Herlihy blarney fuelled smooth fanatic. The fact this would make an excellent “My First Horror Flick” for any and all pre-teens… I picked the skeleton mask this year.
“No more days ’til Halloween/ Halloween/ Halloween/ No more days ’til Halloween/ Silver Shamrock. No more days ’til Halloween/ Halloween/ Halloween/ No more days ’til Halloween/ Silver Shamrock.”
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 