Shinya Tsukamoto directs Asuka Kurosawa, Yuji Kohtari and himself in this Japaneseerotic thriller where a repressed counsellor is blackmailed into committing sexual acts in public.
Memorable, and not just for it unique silvery blue monochrome beauty, this is hot and creepy in equal measures. Like all Tsukamoto features I’ve seen so far A Snake Of June is weird, icky and grows repetitive. Yet Asuka Kurosawa central performance is captivating, she is both embattled and curious, and it really sticks it to the voyeur. Us! Tsuksmoto himself! Hard to dislike, impossible to forget.
Hirokazu Koreeda directs Arata Iura, Erika Oda and Susumu Terajima in this Japanese fantasy drama where in a drab building the recently deceased must choose a memory from their life to be recreated and relived for eternity.
A beautiful film. Deceptively simple. Quaintly ordinary. People must decide which memory they want to relive. Some really struggle with the process. The case workers try to make sure their decision is timely but also a good one. Then we get to the “videoing” of the memory where the moment that a person’s life is boiled down to is recreated on a small lo-fi set. These re-enactments precede Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind. Ultimately this is an ignition movie. What are you doing with your life? Do you find value in your work? Have you made the right relationships? Don’t settle even if settling can sometimes be the only option. It really works on multiple levels.
Ridley Scott directs Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal in this historical action epic that serves as a belated sequel to the ‘Russell Crowe goes from Roman general to inspiring gladiator’ smash.
The original Gladiator was a blockbuster I always admired rather than loved, enjoyed rather than embraced. It never entered into my regular rotation after its triumphs. So personally I had no hunger for a belated sequel with no Russell or Joquain. I always have time for Ridley… world building Ridley… historical Ridley… but he has been in this mode a fair bit recently and built this exact world to scale already. At least he brings Denzel along for the rerun and Mr Washington eats with a fey, aggressive and relishable sorta fairy godmother, sorta villain turn. I spent a lot of the generous running time ticking off the differences. They all felt like devaluations. Mescal is a fine actor and a good looking spud but he doesn’t fill big Russ’ macho sandals well. There is one scene where he is led away from a battle defeated and he looks like an overpaid footballer who is disappointed by a red card decision that didn’t go his way. Better, more appropriate roles in Hollywood await him. There are way too many set pieces that rely on naff cgi animals. Bad for two reasons – the FX works is shoddy and I struggle seeing animals harmed, even distractingly fake ones. And as it follows the basic narrative of Gladiator on a rail there are few surprises… which is not what you want from 150 minutes of butt numb-er. Quibbles maybe, but enough to make me shrug on exit. I wanted hell unleashed (did they forget the best Gladiator quote!?), I got purgatory as IP holding pattern.
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods direct Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in this elevated horror where two young Mormon missionaries attempt to convert a reclusive man, only to realise his house is a trap and their faith is about to be put to the test.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but with “Introduction to” textbook arguments instead of meathooks. Reality and belief are given a jolly good university dissertation going at by Hugh Grant in charmingly malevolent form. Are there good twists? Oui. Does the tension ratchet the whole way through?… For 90 minutes or so, Heretic does a fantastic job. Yet it is wordy, demanding, didactic. Continually “ON”. The developments in the final stretch are wobblier. When did that character get so erudite and well read, hey? Kinda outsmarts itself. A one-watcher.
Steve McQueen directs Saoirse Ronan, Elliot Heffernan and Kathy Burke in this WWII drama where an East End single mother and her mixed race son are separated as German bombs pummel London.
This is in many ways McQueen’s most anonymous, mainstream work. Reminding as much of Titanic in structure as anything else… strong emotional core, living history museum tour, rollercoaster ride final act. And I have always been kind of dumbfounded there aren’t more movies that tried to be Jim Cameron’s Titanic. The scale isn’t there. This is arty, edgier, more self aware. But here is a history lesson tearjerker adventure that strings together a series of episodes and interesting forgotten disasters into one condensed narrative. Some of the mini plots (escaping a railway depot, a run in with a band of evil body robbers) could belong in a prestige CBBC big Christmas miniseries. Others (Rita’s song over the radio, Mikey Davis’ socialist shelter, the bombing of the Cafe De Paris, the flooding of a tube station) are absolutely enthralling moments of sincere reenactment with greater purpose. And no matter how plummy or cosy a sequence feels, McQueen is never too far away with a startling abrasive shock. He say a lot here about British society and its schisms, often heavy handed. But as immersive history lessons (and Saoirse starrers) go, Blitz was very welcome, tactile and involving. I didn’t expect quite so much Paul Weller though.
Sean Baker directs Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn and Yura Borisov in this romantic comedy caper where a sex worker marries a Russian oligarch’s spoilt son and has to deal with the families heavies when the brat runs away.
Very much hugs the shape of the Hays Code screwball comedy. If there weren’t so many boobies and butts it would be rather traditional. The excellent sugar rush hedonism of the first act does dominate the experience. There is a single setting middle act that grows repetitive and, even with everyone’s best intentions, feels dangerous. If this were truly reality our Anora would be in major peril yet it plays out as slow farce. The third act brings things back to a pleasing road movie vibe closer to New American Cinema. The strange little bleak whistle stop quest the players go on to wrap things up recalls The Last Detail and Paper Moon. While still clinging to that long lost 1930s genre structure. So… an uneven ride. Probably not on a par with Sean Baker’s Red Rocket or The Florida Project. Yet one with a more accessible pre-existing shared plot (Pretty Woman) that mainstream film critics and multiplex audiences can dip their toes into his gorgeously lit vistas of sex worker and crushed dreams without feeling lost. The strip bar and Vegas are the American dream now. Rigged games of glamour and salesmanship where intimacy is temporary ownership. As a character study Anora rocks, I hope Mikey Madison keeps getting roles this deep and rich as she’s a real one of a kind.
Uli Edel directs Natja Brunckhorst, Eberhard Auriga and David Bowie in this hard hitting true tale of a 13 year old who gets hooked on heroin and then turns to prostitution in Berlin.
When Christiane first goes to the Sound nightclub blatantly underage, her cooler friend tells her nobody is seen carrying a carrier bag around with them there. By the end the only thing she has left is a wispy carrier bag she never seemingly lets go off. This is a grubby film. Wine vomit. Blood being sluiced out of syringes. Scabby forced handjobs. The descent into drugs is realistic. There is no villainous peer pressure. It is part of the subculture these kid enters into, and after a couple half hearted objections from those a few months further down the tracks she just starts doing it. A little heartbroken, she feels alienated, there is nothing else to do. Same with the prostitution and the squalid living. It is a pattern that already exists, a crack that many just fall into as it is… there. Some fun at the start – rebellious freedom and young love. The final trudge through the underground station full of underage zombies feels inevitable. Surprisingly non political given Berlin’s unique situation in the Seventies, the one moment of explicit commentary is what happens on the morning after her first whole night out. The mother of her friend punishes her child, admonishes our doomed protagonist unfairly for being a bad influence. At home, Christiane avoids any noticeable consequences. Well made, stark, you wouldn’t rush to watch it twice.
Piers Haggard directs Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden and Michele Dotrice in this folk horror where a village is taken over with hysterical devil worship.
The original. Ceremonies deep in the woods. Diabolical seductions. Deformities. It plays like three or four Amicus anthology shorts blurred and blended together. The confusion of not having a central protagonist or much narrative focus is it feels like society is spinning out of control. Not the scariest horror flick ever made but very atmospheric.
Daniel Kokotajlo directs Matt Smith, Morfydd Clark and Sean Gilder in this British folk horror where a family trying to make a new life on an inherited farm suffer a tragedy.
Overqualified cast, gets the vibe right, almost to a textbook degree.
Jacques Rivette directs Dominique Labourier, Juliet Berto and Bulle Ogier in this French arthouse classic where two women (possibly strangers) get lost in intimate, fantastical play around Paris.
The first 90 minutes of this are quite lovely. Lo-fi stalking and joyful muck around. We are in whimsical Fight Club / Mulholland Dr territory where personalities blend and merge and swap with minimal adherence to reality. Dominique Labourier really sells her character’s clownish physicality and she always achieves an extra bonus on top of what any scene tries to achieve. A walking tautology, her vivid performance is an all-timer. The second half gets lost down the rabbit hole. Trippy sucking candies, time warp houses, a white telephone drama on a loop. It gets ultra repetitive. Maybe if you were fully seduced by it then you would mop up all the rerun enigma with a big slice of bread. Here’s the thing though… I started out seduced and by the end bored and utterly distracted. I’m guessing this needs to be seen in a cinema where you are locked in.
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 