Hong Khaou directs Ben Whishaw, Cheung Pei-Pei and Peter Bowles in this drama where a bereaved gay partner reaches out to the elderly mother of his deceased lover.
A gentle, charming tale of grief, communication and acceptance. Possible a little too thin and practiced to really seduce.
Benedict Andrews directs Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn and Riz Ahmed in this adaptation of David Harrower’s play Blackbird where a victim of child abuse tracks down her seducer decades later.
Well acted and sensitively shot drama which flirts with shifting into thriller territory. Definitely not interested in being a black and white study – Mara’s damaged adult is often explicitly sexualised, the flashbacks to the abuse have humanity towards both participants and Andrew’s captures the everyday threat of port towns and cul-de-sacs. A little too dry and elliptically ended to demand repeat viewings but this is a solid attempt to explore issues without passing the obvious judgements.
Gary Nelson directs Barbara Harris, Jodie Foster and John Astin in this body-swap kid’s comedy where mother and daughter spend a hectic day in each other’s skin.
Spirited performances and a very, very busy plot cover up the fact this often is all set-up and very minimal punchline. The all-action car chase and water-ski finale is pretty impressive but it is in the smaller… possibly unintentional… details like the oblivious family dog and Barbara Harris’ bubblegum blowing that make this frequently still pleasurable.
Cary Fukunaga directs Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender and Jamie Bell in this interpretation of Charlotte Brontë’s ‘governess adrift in a house of secrets’ classic romance.
A very tactile, handsome sensitive drama. Every element is gorgeous to look at, yet has a real world heft from the set dressing to the human players. Adriano Goldman’s cinematography captures misty trudges and candlelit hauntings with an expert fascination. Both Wasikowska and Fassbender do sterling work, it might not be completely text appropriate but they are fantastic on the eye. A recent high point in British period cinema, this is a potent and sensual adaptation.
Benedikt Erlingsson directs Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir and Jóhann Sigurðarson in this eco warrior drama were a middle-aged choir master disrupts the power supply to a factory that threatens the Icelandic environment.
Better than I expected. The terrorist actions have a rugged survivalist thrill that apes The Fugitive on a low budget. Erlingsson’s direction is playful, the minimalist orchestra who score Halla’s crusade often appear on camera with her. A rebellious, quirky nod that reminds one of Jim Jarmusch or Wes Anderson or John Michael McDonagh. The final sequence makes its point with impactful cinematic confidence. No speeches needed. Our hero matches this. Geirharðsdóttir’s lead performance is sympathetic without pleading, quietly layered. She elevates a solid indie polemic that does its campaigning with wit and action.
A list of the biggest flops of all-time… studio destroyers, millions losers and star tarnishers every single one… some underserved, others not even that!
Ted Demme directs Matt Dillon, Timothy Hutton and Natalie Portman in this ensemble drama where a bar pianist returns to his hometown to find his working class school friends are all still stuck in a rut over their adolescent ideas about love, relationships and women.
A wonderful film right down to its ensemble cast and its jukebox soundtrack. Both contain picks that promote less obviously recognisable names but still are quality decisions. The entire movie has a tangy mix of hangover and seduction, regret and hope. Sure, the men are all idiots, lusting after childish ideals (in Hutton’s case the most blatantly as he starts a sweet platonic flirtation with the precocious teen next door). It is easy to mistake the film for being about men finally growing up a decade too late but I see it as them giving up the ghost on their high school fantasies of dating a super model or a immaculate sitcom girlfriend. They already know Uma Thurman’s perfect 10 and Natalie Portman’s flashback to first love or Lauren Holly’s glory day prom queen are no longer really options for them, and even if they were they wouldn’t be the right choice for these adults anyway. Desirable as they are unobtainable. Distracting as they don’t (yet) require the work and commitment a real woman does. They are faultless only on paper, lacking the care and empathy and affection and security and equality a long-term relationship brings. So we witness one last flirtation and then the come down. Reality gives these men all a good hard shake, a kicking, a cold wake-up over the course of Willie’s visit. But they already knew what the right thing to do was, who the beautiful girls they should embrace and treasure were. I wore this VHS out in the 90s. The bonhomie and running jokes were extremely comforting. This was my first watch of it after a very long time, also my first watch were I was older than the characters. The constant wit and the unshowy sophistication and the genuine heart they are written with (this is screenplay is one of Scott Rosenberg’s enviable triple run with Things To Do in Denver When You’re Dead & Con Air) still stands up. This is THE underrated jewel of 1990s cinema. With the exception of Natalie Portman and Uma Thurman just about everyone involved does their very best work. The smorgasbord of indie character actors chime wonderfully together. For once not playing serial killers, junkies or flunkies but believable flawed humans you meet down the pub. Magical.
Chris Columbus directs Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton and Keith Coogan in the kids action comedy where a reluctant babysitter drags her underage wards into a night of scrapes, chases and horrendous luck in the big city.
After Hours… but you know, for kids! When I made my first ever list of favourite films in felt tip in a reporter’s notepad at a tender 10 years old… this… THIS… made the Top 20. And to be honest it holds up pretty well thanks to a spirited lead turn by Elisabeth Shue. She looks great here (I believed in the running joke where she is constantly mistaken for this month’s Playboy centrefold) and her nascent starpower keeps the energy going no matter how contrived the nightmare situations they find themselves in. Or jokeless some of those set pieces are. Only Penelope Ann Miller’s night in the bus station from hell produces consistent laughs. It is ultimately a throwaway children’s film. It ain’t perfect. Some of the most enjoyment we sifted from this cautious return viewing was figuring out what swears and derogatory terminology Disney+ had wobbly censored with more innocent words. Yet it spins its shaggy dog story with a slick persuasiveness. Very 1987… well worth a 3 night rental 😉
Don Chaffey and Don Bluth direct Sean Marshall, Helen Reddy and Jim Dale in this Disney kid’s film where an orphan and his animated dragon cause chaos in a fishing village.
Nostalgia covers up a lot of cracks here. The film is sweetly innocent (even when often accidentally dark as fuck) and Elliot the clicking invisible best friend is an extremely loveable creation when visible. But aside from that the plot is all over the shop, the overlong movie is a showcase for various light entertainers many of whom’s disjointed musical interludes have a tenuous relationships with the main hook. And yet this is a fine menagerie of daft and flighty personas: Dale, Red Buttons, Shelley Winter and Mickey Rooney. Watching them ham it up in a ramshackle but good natured enterprise is its own reward. If you didn’t grow up with Pete’s Dragon it is possibly best advised to just give it a pass but we had a giggle-filled evening revisiting it.
Raoul Walsh directs James Cagney, Priscilla Lane and Humphrey Bogart in this prohibition gangster flick following Cagney’s demobbed hard man rising and falling as a bootlegger through all they key events of the era.
A fine period piece of brute glamour and pinstripe tumble. Cagney races through a decade of outrageous fortunes – rejected by society, seduced by crime, falling for a good girl who isn’t interested and ignoring the bad girl with a heart of gold (an outstanding Gladys George as Panama Smith.) As time marches on skyscrapers melt and Cagney’s mind falls apart. It is the kinda of destruction of a man that doesn’t really need the studio mandated death in the gutter to close the film, though they one they give him here is the most iconic I’ve seen. Bogart plays one of his very last third banana tough guy role, his ascending star is becoming obvious by this point… but he never steals Cagney’s limelight. The script is sharp, the direction fluid.
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 