Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves direct Andy Serkis, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Toby Kebbell, James Franco, John Lithgow, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman and Woody Harrelson in this sci-fi prequel trilogy where primates gain greater intelligence and freedom while the human world dies off from disease.

We care about Caesar and Caesar suffers. Orphaned. Rejected by the human society that raised him. Escaped from cruel bondage. Losing friends and family members. Suffering a coup that almost kills him. Driven to murderous vengeance. His tribe captured and put to slave labour. Fighting for freedom one last time. You tell me of a human character that endures so much? You tell me of a human character that develops so much? It is an unprecedented 3 movie arc. All delivered by Andy Serkis in oft convincing mo-cap drag.

The movies themselves aim for a relative realism within the epic. After the sunny yet superior first entry these are dour, wet, sodden movies. You feel the elements, the cold. For something largely CGI reliant it proves a very tactile universe. So when bridges become battlefields or avalanches destroy armies there’s a real world psychics and a real world threat that binds with the emotional connection. The set pieces wallop with both feels and spectacle.

The first entry holds up as one of the finest, if most unlikely, tentpole blockbusters of the 21st century. There is no fat to Rupert Wyatt’s storytelling pace, he moves at a tremendous yet successful narrative clip. The second film, which I loved at the cinema, drags a little in the third act and doesn’t feel wholly necessary to move the story forward despite Koba’s predictable villainy. When War For The Planet Of the Apes came out I was a smidge disappointed that Reeves leant so much in on obvious references to other landmark epics from cinema history. The jukebox nature of the homages does seem to be his raison d’être (his ‘Batman goes Fincher’ if in doubt). Yet it is an ambitious concluding chapter. Woody Harrelson’s military dictator makes for a terrifying final form of humanity. And the apes eventual exodus feels hard fought for and mightily satisfying. A fantastic big budget trilogy.

10 / 8 / 9

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Wim Wenders directs Kōji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto and Arisa Nakano in this slice-of-life drama following a quiet toilet cleaner as he makes his rounds about Tokyo and enjoys his downtime.

Could have quite happily just watched him do five or six daily work / rest cycles with minimalist plot. The second hour does bring in some drama, tangible interactions and hints of his past. The final piece of IMDB trivia has Wim Wenders reveal Hirayama’s unseen back story. Don’t read that. Even after. Keep your own mysteries. Take pride in your work. Enjoy books and music you love. Favourite scene: When a character talks about a portentous Patricia Highsmith story I had just finished reading about moments before the lights went down and the movie begun.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Alice In The Cities (1974)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Zelda Williams directs Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse and Carla Gugino in this Eighties-set comedy horror romance where a nerdy teen turns murdery queen after she resurrects a hot Victorian corpse.

Diablo Cody’s second stab at this territory is a little sweeter, a little less judgmental and whole lot spacier. Lisa Frankenstein has an off kilter pace and quite a pleasing loose end. As a vehicle for Kathryn Newton this is a major success – she is going to win over hearts and minds here. She sells a broad protagonist who undergoes a fair few character reinventions with charm and abandon. The look is neon and lace and tat and gothic. Yeah, yeah, yeah! Not groundbreaking or particularly tight, Lisa Frankenstein is ultimately a pretty ambient genre mash-up exercise that hit my buttons rather effortlessly.

7

Perfect Double Bill: My Boyfriend’s Back (1993)

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Denis Villeneuve directs Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Javier Bardem in this epic sci-fi sequel where Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.

More of the same. No complaints. The action is a little more robust and paced. Like Spielberg’s War Of The Worlds there’s a certain perversion in seeing a whitebred Poster Boy be turned into a dispossessed Jihadi freedom fighter. Yet whether he’s a messiah or a very naughty boy you can’t trust the aristocracy with power. I think this will be unpacked in many a dissertation since the parallels between the destruction of the Fremen and current global events are blatant. Fantastic cast but such small portions. Only Bardem and Austin Butler feel like they jump the rails. Tame the machine with bigger performances than demanded. The visit to the Harkonnen’s monochrome world is going to be hard to beat this year for massive screen awesomeness. The third act does drag. Also I’ll never believe Dave Bautista being terrified and running away from Chalamet. Yet these are quibbles. Roll on Children Of Dune!

8

Perfect Double Bill: Dune: Part One (2021)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Ingmar Bergman directs Pernilla Allwin, Kristina Adolphson and Börje Ahlstedt in this period drama where two children experience the ups and downs of their extended family in well-to-do Uppsala.

We watched the five hour mini series edit over a long weekend. I’m not going to say this finally unlocked Bergman for me. My resistance to his pretensions and obtuseness are still there. Yet at a more leisurely pace and with a more joyous ensemble coddling the misery there were few scenes I didn’t enjoy. There’s a lot of oppression, mythology and meta going on here. But you can approach it as a big Christmas movie that doesn’t know when to quit. I was never lost by Bergman’s intentions. There were three or four characters I genuinely cared about. The lurches into horror and broad comedy were effective. The ultimate point that the connection people make with us shapes us long after their deaths was felt. Perspective is very important. Beautiful compositions, overpopulated and sparse. Every type of Swedish honey too.

8

Perfect Double Bill: … Plenty!

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Fred Walton directs Charles Durning, Carol Kane and Tony Beckley in this thriller where a babysitter begins receiving calls from a killer.

The opening 25 minutes of When A Stranger Calls are seminal. You can see their clear influence on Scream’s game changing prologue with Drew Barrymore. A lone teen keeps getting unwelcome phone calls. Each time the phone rings it disrupts the tension yet amps up the peril with perfect manipulative timing. We begin to share the hopeless fear of her situation. Kane sells the vulnerability of her character and carries the movie solo for the entire first act. She should be talked about in the same breath as Jamie Lee Curtis when ranking the best acting amongst Scream Queens. Then, after a shock, the movie tags out. We follow Durning’s retired detective as he hunts a just released psycho seven years later. What was intimate and claustrophobic becomes expansive and labyrinthine. Tony Beckley plays our monster. He’s no mastermind or relentless killing machine. He’s a bottom rung strange wimp. Too weird to socialise, homeless and just as vulnerable as any of his prey. Over this unexpected sequence we get a real sense of urban alienation. A city where nobody cares if you live or die even in a populated bar or the full mission bunkhouse. The set pieces have a grim real world grain and grit to them. And then the misanthropic movie returns full circle and starts to deliver the slasher horror we’ve been promised all along. I can see why this cult item is a bit of a Marmite experience for many. It takes the sleazy road less travelled. I kinda loved that about it. Imperfect but always fascinating.

7

Perfect Double Bill: When A Stranger Calls Back (1993)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

David Butler directs Doris Day, Howard Keel and Allyn Ann McLerie in this musical that proves a heavily sanitised take on the story of Calamity Jane, her saloon, and her romance with Wild Bill Hickok.

Technicolor cartoon-ish fun. A million miles from Deadwood.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Cat Ballou (1965)

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Carl Franklin directs Denzel Washington, Jennifer Beals and Don Cheadle in this detective thriller where a black war hero is hired to find a mysterious woman and gets mixed up in a murderous political scandal in 1948 Los Angeles.

I have always wanted to read one of Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins mystery novels. I haven’t yet so I couldn’t tell you if Denzel is perfect casting for the role. It is Denzel though so you go find anyone better. He’s pretty relaxed here. Looking hot in a vest and terrified in a shoot out. The corkscrew plot is garbage though. Hard to care about and ends exactly where you’d expect it to after much misdirection. More focus should be put on Rawlins and the psychopathic Mouse’s risky friendship. Looks good. Wish they got a second shot at this world.

6

Perfect Double Bill: No Sudden Move (2021)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Peter Weir directs Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke in this period boarding school drama where an inspiring teacher faces down conformity with his mad improv skills.

Dead Poets Society is a handsome little flick from one of my favourite directors. The reputation and box office success of the thing would have you think it is a modern classic. Weir adds a sense of the timeless mythic to the visuals. Caves. Mists. Hooded midnight meetings. There’s no arguing with that iconic ending. “O Captain! My Captain!” Williams is boss if a little incongruous. His funniest moments are also the most wildly anachronistic. Yet there’s a problem of POV here. Too much focus is on the interchangeable lacklustre milk boys. If you are into preppy teen honkies then this is damn near pornography. Yet the minor rebellions and mercilessly repressive villainy of the older generation just don’t click for me. As an adult, DPS is pure of heart and hopeful yet no longer all that impactful.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Good Will Hunting (1997)

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Roberto Rossellini directs Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders and Maria Mauban in this Italian drama where a married couple visit a villa in Naples they have inherited.

Culture clash, languid loneliness, the end of a marriage. A fish-out-of-water couple separate over their holiday. They bicker, they tour, he tries to cheat, she feels the overbearing crush of history on her soul. They watch a man be rebuilt from a hole in a volcano. Then a miracle…Journey To Italy was a failure on release. Butchered and stitched back together in various forms by various distributors to try and turn a profit from its bankable stars. Saunders is his trademark attractive brute, Bergman vulnerable yet misanthropic. I like the cynical poetry of this, it feels game changing even now.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Stromboli (1950)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/