Michael Haneke directs Christian Friedel, Ulrich Tukur and Leonie Benesch in this period arthouse drama where a school teacher remembers a series of minor tragedies that mysteriously plagued a small town in the build up to World War One.

Like Childhood of the Leader we are watching fascism, the Nazi mindset, taking root in a generation. The drama never explicitly spells this out, but the shy romance and minor crimes power a slow yet meditative ensemble drama that achingly alludes to broader, bigger insidious ideas. Beautiful monochrome photography by Christian Berger too.

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Joachim Trier directs Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins and Henrik Rafaelsen in this Norwegian supernatural thriller where a closeted Christian girl with psychokinetic powers goes to college and discovers drink, girls and loneliness.

A classy Carrie. Moves at a stately pace, never really tips into full horror. We get an uncertain lesbian romance (Is Thelma mind controlling the wavering affections of her love?) and lots of shots of people crossing the campus square like ants. Well produced, just very slight.

5

Olivia Wilde directs Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever and Billie Lourd in this teen comedy where two bookworms decide to party hard the night before graduation.

Sold as a Femme Fresh superior Superbad and with a cast I had enjoyed in lots of other things I went into Booksmart with high hopes. Yet the first hour didn’t really click. I chuckled and smiled, appreciated the energy of the leads, loved it whenever Billie Lourd or Skyler Gisondo gatecrashed a scene. They were brilliant in Scream Queens and Santa Clarita Diet respectively, they capitalise and evolve that goodwill here. But I hadn’t laughed hard like Superbad had got me a decade a go. There the bad behaviour felt organically moronic, didn’t have the fun dampening spectre of identity politics floating around every line, action and pratfall as this does. Comedy kinda has to fake spontaneity and that’s very hard to do if you know every creative decision has noticeably passed through the filters of “Is this feminist?” and “Is this positive?”. Just as I was about to write Booksmart off as a comedy, it suddenly became its own thing… at the final party the emphasis on awkward gags, nerdy cool and epic pratfalls gave way to something a bit more emotionally relevant, cinematically true. The final party shifts gear into drama and romance, not only do these elements resonate but within the alienation and self-realisation the lower gag rate yields better results. In the final stretch you laugh at every joke attempted rather watch a film tie itself into knots about whether it is woke enough. So once we are burning leather and racing to graduation we are in, there in the driving seat with our protagonists, loving them like we always wanted to, looking forward to their closure as much as we do the spirited support players. Booksmart turns it around, finishing neck and neck with its inspiration Superbad. The thumping soundtrack and fluid visual sensibility doesn’t hurt.

7

Guiliano Carnimeo directs George Hilton, Charles Southwood and Erika Blanc in this spaghetti western where Sartana and a dandy circle a gold shipment everyone wants a piece of.

Regular Sartana actor Gianni Garko is replaced by a bland nobody. Erika Blanc does noticeable work as the town’s flame haired Madame in the wings. Charles Southwood’s parasol sporting white hat is a strange enough presence in the action legs but he can’t carry the character off in close-up. An overly complicated plot loses the attention, Franco de Masi’s rhythmic guitar score does all the heavy lifting in terms of excitement. Wearying otherwise.

3

Graham Baker directs James Caan, Mandy Patinkin and Terrence Stamp in this 80s buddy cop actioner where the rookie detective happens to be an alien.

Alien Nation is a strange film… just for how normal it is. The first 30 minutes set up the visiting extra terrestrials’ culture and backstory well, without skimping on actions and FX. But once the playing field is in play, it falls back into a standard mismatched cops take down society bigwig who is dealing drugs formula. It seems more relevant that our seashell headed hero has an aversion to salt water than he is a former otherworld slave settling into the lifestyle of a Los Angeles cop. The fanatically reprised cliches don’t come from sci-fi but from Eddie Murphy films. Like 48 Hrs, we roust a “Newcomers” bar and the gruff Caan softens his prejudice to the different yet capable second. Like Beverly Hills Cop we visit a softcore strip club and everyone who isn’t a society bigwig dealing drugs ends up like a happy family. The ride along action and banter isn’t as good as either of those high points of the genre, the alien make-up often is the only hint that this is meant to be anything quirkier than a Lethal Weapon clone. But as a clone, with a high concept twist, it works. Caan and Pantinkin do nice work with rote material, the film looks the part. It could definitely exploit its alien immigrant prejudice angle more, be more adventurous in general but that doesn’t mean it is not ultimately a gritty and glossy mid-range throwback.

7

Daniel Minahan directs Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant and Gerald McRaney in this late in the day continuation of the finest TV show ever made, revisiting the Wild West mining town a decade after its troubled formation.

Those who haven’t watched Deadwood “suck cock by choice”. So goes the parlance of David Milch’s Shakespearean revisionist Western. A show about a community forming in the face of violence and corruption as much as it was about whores and shootouts. The intricate poetic foul mouthed language, the gorgeously stitched, aged and muddy costumes, the thriving ensemble of note perfect performances have all been revived. Everyone looks a fair few bar fights older, yet the key joy for a fan is watching how swiftly Milch sets out the board. Not only within 15 minutes has the masterful screenwriter deftly reminded us where everyone was left by the cliffhanger of unexpected final episode but… cancellation and huge swathe of time be damned… he manoeuvres nearly all of the beloved pieces back into the same position of conflict with an elegant turn of his hand. Only the since passed Powers Boothe’s diabolical Cy Tolliver feels absent. To accomplish such a respawning point with so little clunky exposition or belief tugging falsity is a magic act of writing, a type written miracle. What plays out then is magisterial. Greed and wrath battle justice and order. The sophisticated characters fight their natures and history for the greater good. There’s gunplay, coarse threats, monologues to the gods and even Wu’s pigs get a feeding. Every actor is on top form, to single one out would be a crime. To say I love Deadwood is an understatement, and I realise this movie only works if you watch the 30 or so hours of televised perfection that preceded it. It is no Firefly > Serenity in that respect, Deadwood 2019 is not a feature continuation that exists on its own merits. But those 36 episodes are readily available. I started rewatching them again the day after I wolfed this reunion down. The entire and now complete narrative is an experience that grows and gives back on return visits, it is so dense and rich and full blooded. The finest piece of screen writing ever achieved now has a closing chapter. An two hour epilogue that works as well as There Will Be Blood’s milkshake coda or LaLa Land’s alternative reverie. Heaven… or, more appropriately, gold.

10

My Top 10 Revisionist Westerns

Simon Kinberg directs Sophie Turner, James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult in this final X-Men film where Jean Grey goes off the rails when her powers go off the scale… again.

I’ve made clear in previous posts… I’m a fan of this franchise. I can forgive wobblier and weaker entries as enough goodwill has been built up throughout the past two decades. I personally feel Marvel, DC and Fox’s now defunct Mutant films have the same batting average in terms of enjoyment, if not hype and critical approval. Shame to see this brand go out on such a duff one. It wears its compromises on its sleeve… two of its more unique actors take pointed early baths, Michael Fassbender’s Magneto only joins in at the midway point, possibly only the lad who plays Nightcrawler seems happy to be there and giving his A-game. The reshot ending is bolted on at a noticeable but not inappropriate juncture of the final act… and actually is the action highlight. There’s another space set rescue that is passable… maybe fantastic in 4DX but standard on a regular screen. So two good set-pieces and an ensemble already powering down. It was never fated to be the classic final chapter of a saga. Why does it have to be so joyless? So miserable? Anyone’s guess, really. The director / producer / writer Kinberg has mistaken solemnity for depth, arguing for conflict. Leaving us on a whimper not a Logan.

4

My Top 10 James McAvoy Movies

Don Sharp directs Edward Woodward, Russell Hunter and Eric Porter in this big screen adaptation of the pilot episode of the downbeat British 60s spy show.

A reluctant assassin delays and further delays killing the gunrunner who works next door to him. That’s about it. Good London location work, rare bursts of action, Woodward is enjoyably capable. Russell Hunter’s miserable thief makes for a downtrodden sidekick… a self-loathing mixture of E.B. from Deadwood and Grandad in Only Fools and Horses. You don’t usually see such petty misery at the cinema, it almost exclusively exists at Wetherspoons and William Hills. But my good bloody God, this is 90% chaff! For fans of dubbed David Prowse only.

3

Woody Allen directs Scarlett Johansson, himself and Hugh Jackman in this comedy where a gauche journalism student receives a tip from the afterlife that an upperclass Englishman is a serial killer… romance ensues.

The plot of Scoop is so random that it is hard to précis. The above description completely leaves out Allen’s magician character who acts as partner, father figure and comic foil to Johansson geeky naïf. Their scenes make up the meat of the film, and are the best. Both have a genial nervy energy together, Johansson particularly making a good fist of being the comedy lead. Aside from that this is quite a forgettable film… even when that ungainly story settles, you never get a sense Woody has planned out a satisfying ending to it. Jackman, usually a scene stealer in his lead roles, feels forgotten about and idle. Infamous for being filmed in London yet never released in the UK, it is a watchable little film. I particularly enjoyed revisiting the recognisable back streets of Paddington and Kensington.

6

Mike Dougherty directs Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga and Charles Dance in this monster mash blockbuster where Godzilla protects humanity from a series of destructive titans.

You ain’t seen nothing until you’ve seen a firey Rodan pursue a stealth carrier into the multi-jaws of Monster Zero. Well I have and this was right up my alley. Massive scale, gorgeous creature design, epic carnage and kinetic set pieces. The human cast is busy, their dialogue blunt… there’s only space for reductive awe and guesswork exposition. Their linking scenes are exactly that… though Brown, Dance, Watanabe and especially Farmiga make a little of a lot. They’ve found themselves in a classy, visually rich evolution on the 90’s Roland Emmerich style blockbuster. The humour has been dialled back, the gargantuan trailer moments brought to the forefront. I need at least one of these releases out of a summer season. A film where you feel the weight of mountains crumbling, the contact burn of laser breath, the blinding light of a nuke going off. I want it big, nasty. I want the largest screen to be used, to barely contain the fantasy action. This hit every engorged, dumb cinematic receptor I have. Gave me the jolt of FX driven entertainment I need… and the inconsequential cast mirrored my amazement as the big canvas danger marvelled me. Ken Watanabe says “Let them fight”… I agree. This is the main meal after Gareth Edwards’ preceding amuse-bouche. Tuck the fuck in, leave your cynicism at the door.

8