Yuen Woo-ping directs Sammo Hung, Kwan Tak-hing and Yuen Biao in this Hong Kong Kung Fu farces where a headstrong butcher finds himself in escalating danger from leaping into fights without knowing the causes of them. 

A supremely daft action comedy clearly in the Jackie Chan mould. Sammo never matches the delirious slapstick magic of that star’s output but he is a likeable clown and an amazing exhibition fighter. There’s some nice bits of business; a drunk chicken, an assassin who might be a crazy cat and an elegant calligraphy brush fight. But there’s also a rape and murder sequence that sticks out like barb wire in a playground. Nasty interlude for what is, in the main, highly physical, family fun.

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My Top 10 Kung Fu Movies

1. Kill Bill (2003/2004)

2. Snake in Eagle’s Shadow (1978)

3. The 36th Chamber of the Shaolin (1978)

4. Enter the Dragon (1973)

5. The Street Fighter (1974)

6. Drunken Master (1978)

7. House of Flying Daggers (2004)

8. Police Story (1985)

9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

10. Ong Bak (2003)

 

Peter Bogdanovich directs Ben Gazzara, Denholm Elliott and himself in this character study of an easy going American pimp in Singapore.

“Alright boys, let’s get it over with before I dropkick this little cocksucker down the hill.” The only time Jack raises his voice in anger is when he is surrounded by knife wielding hoods led by a disingenuous midget. A highlight from a forgotten gem, full of great moments. A mood piece following a few years in the life of very likeable colonial bottom feeder – an immoral good guy who cares for his girls, wants to be mates with his johns and knows all the angles. Gazzara imbues the doomed John Flowers with a relaxed masculinity and a charming apoliticism. It plays like a beloved Simpsons character has been parachuted into the murky, feverish world of Graham Greene thriller and has decided to actively overlook the preordained espionage and crime plot unless it lashes out directly at him. The warm chemistry between him and the always impeccable Elliot’s stuffy but corruptible auditor is delightful. This was originally a Playboy production (Hefner’s name is on the credits) but Cybil Shepherd was awarded the book rights in a dispute over unauthorised nude photos of her the magazine published. There still is nudity and sleaziness but it feels completely desexualised, almost pointedly considering the exploitative milieu. Also the impressive authentic location shoot was done on the sly. Knowing the Singapore authorities would not approve the dank themes and unflattering presentation of their home, Bogdanovich cooked up a dummy romantic comedy screenplay for the locals to think they were supporting. A move worthy of Saint Jack himself.

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Alex Garland directs Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tessa Thompson in this cerebral sci-fi adventure about a group of scientists who enter into an alien anomaly. 

Stalker for kids. A very beautiful movie. Everything shimmers in ‘The Shimmer’ like an oil slick on a hologram. The gorgeous cast pull inquisitive yet determined faces as they march through the overgrown fantasy fauna, heavily armed in tight, sweaty olive green vests. Phwoar! The final act is a trippy confluence of HR Giger inspired wombs, dance sequences with Henry Moore invoking doppelgängers and burning crystal trees. In fact, the last forty minutes with its further mysteries, and its dazzling imagery and its ominous threats finally delivered on, salvage an opening hour of damp character work and unambiguous clue dropping. Like Ex Machina, Garland here is a bit too in love with the obscured solution to make the sum itself particularly audience friendly. Portman and Leigh are unstretched by their roles but, as always, never bore. Proper movie stars. Annihilation clearly is a film with hidden depth. These ambiguities slow it down as a casual entertainment but perhaps like Blade Runner, The Shining or The Thing the unanswered puzzles may drag it up into classic status long after Black Panthers and Wonder Women seem played out, dated and old hat. I’m not sure it will be worthy of the longetivity or high status. But the potential is there. And the sequence with the refracted bear is a creepy treat.

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My Top 10 Natalie Portman Movies

1. Leon: The Professional (1994)
2. Black Swan (2010)
3. Beautiful Girls (1996)
4. Mars Attacks! (1996)
5. Closer (2004)

6. Vox Lux (2018)

7. Annihilation (2018)
8. Garden State (2004)
9. V for Vendetta (2005)
10. My Blueberry Nights (2007)

Peyton Reed directs Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly in this Marvel superhero caper that focuses on a thief who steals a suit that allows him the shrink to the size of an insect. 

A light and fluffy romp, benefitting from what is easily the starriest topline cast a Marvel production has paid for upfront. I have a lot of time for Ant-Man. Rudd is a cheeky, amiable and self aware lead. The set pieces are dotted with the inventive cartoon flourishes that you know came from Edgar Wright’s decade of pre-production storyboarding rather than journeyman’s Reed efficient yet bland directing. It actually escalates with nimble pace too. We go from origins to training montage to caper to massive action finale act without ever losing sight of its core strengths; the scale shifting shenanigans and plunging the smirking Rudd into this derring-do silliness. I’m often hard on Marvel but this jazzy little number has enough thrills, laughs and character work to make it a more than worthy blockbuster.

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Jennifer Kent directs Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman and Daniel Henshall in this psychological horror where a widowed mother struggles with a son who believes in a children’s book monster. 

A very dense, unrelenting 90 minutes. Essie Davis is superb as the mother at the end of her tether. You feel the oppression of her situation and align yourself with her so closely (that illicit ice-cream break is appreciated by everyone) that when things twist away from us  unexpectedly it is wrenching. The horror is handled deftly, well designed and achieved. The weight of the threat and creep strain us. One moment that caught me by surprise, chiggered under my skin, was a time lapse shot capturing Davis’ restless R.E.M. in almost alien close-up.  And Noah Wiseman’s hyper kid is perfect as both innocent victim and insanity inducing hellion. I never want kids. Thank fuck I don’t have kids. Kent conjures up an impressive adult experience but also one that is inherently grim and misery inducing. I cannot fault The Babadook as an artistic achievement but doubt I would want to revisit its exhausting emotional grinder again anytime soon. A modern day Repulsion.

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Howard Zieff directs Anna Chlumsky, Austin O’Brien and Christine Ebersole in this coming of age sequel where Vada Sultenfuss travels to LA to learn more about her belated mother. 

An inoffensive sequel that didn’t really need to exist but passes the time nicely. I have a massive soft spot for the original but here Anna Chlumsky is given a diluted version of Vada, lacking all the gangly sass, sensitivity and drive. Equally Austin O’Brien, while adequate, isn’t really the heartbreaker that Macaulay Culkin’s Thomas J was. Neither a legacy destroyer, nor essential, whether you waste time on My Girl 2 will depend on whether you have a spare afternoon. There’s no gold here to be panned.

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Dee Rees directs Jason Mitchell, Carey Mulligan and Garrett Hedlund in this wartime saga about a white and a black family struggling to coexist on a patch of flooded farmland in racially segregated Mississippi.

A good solid drama. The mosaic narration sometimes smothers the chance for the actors to inhabit their roles. It is a narrative way more comfortable with stating the obvious rather than letting us experience it. Still it homes a quality ensemble who reach an affecting crescendo of tragedy. Rob Morgan, in particular, is memorable as the good father striving to keep his children safe, proud and ambitious.

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Shōhei Imamura directs Ken Ogata, Mayumi Ogawa and Rentarō Mikuni in this thriller following a true life Japanese con man and serial killer – his life, crimes and loves – while the official manhunt closes in on him. 

Vengeance is Mine starts as a procedural but becomes slightly unhinged by inexplicable visual similes as it reaches its inevitable conclusion. There’s lots of sex, even more shocking unrequited desires and a fair slice of violence. Suprisingly though, after the bloody initial attack the murders move to the background and become matter of fact. It is the uncontrollable emotions – lust and seduction and mercy and understanding- that seem like the aberrations. Ken Ogata is a fantastic chameleon in this. Some scenes he is a affable ingratiating impression of a regular man, others the cold blooded killer and others still a thuggish, ego driven brute. Always convincing no matter what persona he chooses to wear. Maybe the point is we’ll never truly understand a human – their actions can be wildly contradictory, their history may suggest a pattern of cause and effect for their behaviour but that cannot definitively dictate how they’ll always relate to the other individuals they have to exist with.

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Lynne Ramsey directs Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov and Judith Anna Roberts in the neo-noir where an Iraq vet works as a gun for hire, tracking down missing teens and exacting “brutal” vengeance on their abusers.

An unmissable mood piece funnelled through the eyes of a broken vigilante, this is the unkempt son of Taxi Driver, the New York cousin of Drive and the arthouse bastard of Taken. Ramsey finds her beauty in the grimness, Phoenix gets physical in a near-silent turn with a mundane exactness, Johnny Greenwood’s schizophrenic score pushes us stumbling down fire escapes we don’t want to be on. Do you really want to know more before watching?

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Terry Jones directs Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and John Cleese in this spoof of biblical epics following the man born in the manger next to Jesus. 

Not my favourite Python, lacking the hilarity of The Holy Grail and the uncontainable scale of The Meaning of Life. I smile knowingly whenever I watch Life of Brian yet it rarely gets me laughing. I don’t think it has anything to do with me being raised a Catholic, the humor is just a bit too obvious yet somehow snobbish. The live action Christmas Card opening sequence, in which Brian is born in a manger next door to Joseph and Mary’s, is very beautiful until John Cleese in black face arrives (trans sensitive people also be aware, there’s stuff that’s “of its time” for you too) and the credit sequence has a satisfying Bondian excess. Terry Gilliam’s fingerprints are embedded deep into these moments unsurprisingly. And the classic closing musical number of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” sung by a chorus of crucified chaps is a pleasing topper to a joke that long ran its course 30 minutes earlier. The production values are higher than most comedies, and there is an irascibility to the amount of targets the Oxbridge players takes wild shots at. In fact, the movie works better as a satire on political movements and rebellions, rather than the Jesus story. Palin’s conciliatory and sympathetic crucifixion administrator is the highlight in the cast.

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