Andrew Niccol directs Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood and Zöe Kravitz in this disconnected war drama following a drone pilot’s self-destructive ennui.

Solid acting work from Hawke and Greenwood stop a didactic script from appearing worthy and hollow. Niccol paints his protagonist’s increasing alienation well and his lashing out, night driving and alcoholism evoke Taxi Driver – not a bad touchstone to have. There are powerful moments but it lacks the efficient satire and well articulated tension of the similar but more consistent drone drama; Eye In the Sky.

6

Rodney Asch directs this documentary featuring Jack Nicholson, Stanley Kubrick and Danny Lloyd that exposes the inanity of critical theory with The Shining as its example.

A series of interlinked voiceovers that profess their detailed theories on the hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece. All take deadpan glee in finding magic bullets in background props and forger’s notes in continuity errors. Taken at face value it can be a maddening experience watching your favourite film being torn apart and reassembled by academic freaks desperate to prove their own hypothesis about the Holocaust, the faked moon landings and genocide of the American Indians. Yet if you let their forensic deconstruction just wash over you then Room 237 occasionally dredges up an interesting fact, or even entire interpretation you can get behind. As their obsessions reveal themselves more and more then the sillier it all becomes, making the endeavour actually some kind of thinking man’s geek show comedy. Whether watching this has tarnished or improved my love of The Overlook Hotel I can’t say, only the next viewing will tell. The sequence where they overlap the normal and backward prints of the film has an inspiring beauty though.

7

Tate Taylor directs Emily Blunt, Haley Bennet and Rebecca Ferguson in this mystery adaptation about a damaged woman trying to figure out which one of her former neighbours is a killer.

A brilliant Emily Blunt performance is thrown in a sack and weighted down by the confines of a superficially glossy, awfully guessable whodunnit. All the men abusive, all the women addictive shrews, all the police seems to have forgotten about DNA tests and taking formal statements from key witnesses and suspects. Fantasy shit with no imagination, little illicit thrill and zero tension. But Blunt’s edgy alcoholic captures the mania, paranoia and blackouts of full time boozing perfectly. Oscar worthily even.

5

 

John Hughes directs Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling and Anthony Michael Hall in this teen comedy about a girl going through a nightmare weekend on her sixteenth birthday. 

Year Zero for Eighties teen movie – this is where John Hughes found his voice. Still fans of the far superior and heartfelt The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Some Kind of Wonderful and Pretty in Pink might find this first draft of the format in, awkwardly dated, bad taste. There is a whole HILARIOUS subplot centred around what looks to modern eyes very much like a date rape and the less said about Asian stereotype Long Duk Dong’s “clazy, clazy” parallel night the better. I guess it makes more sense when you realise this came in off the tail end of the Porky’s and Police Academy series, and John Hughes himself cut his teeth on the goofy and scatalogical Vacation movies; where bad behaviour was throwaway rather than a political statement. If you can get past the clunky humour that almost dominates then the soundtrack pops, fashion rocks and Anthony Michael Hall’s geek plus a silly recurring cameo by Joan Cusack improve those gone off, way past their sell by date flavours just about enough.

5

Jean-François Richet directs Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty and Diego Luna in this thriller where an estranged ex-con father and junkie daughter go on the run from a cartel hit squad.

Despite Mel embracing his advancing years (grey, grizzled and growling are the order of the day) this could have come out in 2002 -before controversy killed his box office power –  and easily carried on his $100 million plus powerhouse reputation. Mel was the King of the violent but emotionally aware action flicks back during his reign and Blood Father has all that unhinged charm and mad dog mayhem which even his classiest entries showcased with aplomb. Bottom line: If you own a Lethal Weapon or Mad Max boxset, then get ready to be entertained thoroughly. The set-up of Daddy saving daughter might reek of Taken (and there are worse things to smell like) but the heft of the journey seems closer to Leon or Matchstick Men with reprehensible father figure teaching his Lolita-esque ward some nasty but essential tricks of the trade. And just as Natalie Portman and Alison Lohman laid foundations to stardom in those breakthrough roles, Erin Moriarty proves almost as equally as interesting as Gibson here. I say ‘almost’ as to be honest the long awaited (by me) Mel comeback starts here, nothing else can be of any import for a boy raised on him. This hits the same nostalgic notes for me as The Force Awakens does for many. Whether he picks up a Mad Max motorbike, shaves and scrubs up to look like Payback’s Porter, or goes nuts and mouth savages a baddie’s ear a la Riggs, this lovingly repackages every aspect that made 80s and 90s Mel brilliant in a foul mouthed, self-aware, sensitive yet down and dirty thriller that will keep modern audiences gripped. A bruisingly fun night out.

8

 

Gary Ross directs Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mahershala Ali in this true story of a Civil War deserter who sets up his own racially equal state in Reconstruction Era America.

A disappointment. All the ingredients are here – thrilling war time battles, a historically accurate forgotten moment recreated, a fine central McConaughey performance, a strong supporting cast and a top notch writer and director working on a passion project. Yet it spins out in directionless loops, never really progressing or getting to any tangible destination. You leave the film unsure what impact such anachronist adventure and heroism had, nor what really eventually happened to the rebellious Jones county’s hard fought for sovereignty. Maybe that’s the point – despite the best efforts nothing has changed – but as a moral writ large that makes for a terminally redundant final hour. Wafts between exciting and depressing in the most frustrated way, then depression wins out.

4

 

Peter Berg directs Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and John Malkovich in this gripping recreation of the recent oil rig disaster.

Masterful storytelling setting up the physics and corporate malpractice of the tragic incident give way to a furiously intense hour of characters you care about surviving (or not surviving) the credibly realised inferno. To be honest, that opening half of working men and profit margin driven suits operating at knowingly dangerous cross purposes is so naturally acted and excitingly paced that when the hellish spectacle finally butts in you are almost disappointed we have to leave that talkier, more intelligent drama. If you were marvelled by Captain Phillips then this works a very similar high-end, top quality groove… although obviously a rather fine Wahlberg lead turn is still no match for Hanks. Emotionally captivating big budget cinema.

9

Sam Fuller directs Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan and Gene Barry in this western where a cattle woman with a town at her feet falls for the alpha male who begrudgingly cleans things up.

A bizarre mixture of the Wyatt Earp legend and a Great Expectations style gothic romance, this is a strangely endearing film. I’m still wrapping my head around Sam Fuller as an auteur and his punk-ish, pop art sensibilities here grinds hard against the more interesting themes of the tale. He shoots everything from experimental angles via gun rifles and between legs (Leone’s trademark eye close ups arrive here 5 years early too) – and it is the kind of drumbeat speed melodrama where anything and everything can happen quickly. The energetic action, storytelling and framing is infectious but this isn’t your father’s Western despite its vintage. So many powerful moments deserve mention…. including a 5 minute tracking shot leading to a suicide, Stanwyck’s horseback posse introduction, a tornado that chases our heros into a tryst and a town riot that feels more like a cowboy themed angel dust party. Sexually aware and with some hinky gender politics, this is a real curate’s egg for the viewer to pick through. Fun though.

7

Simon Wincer directs Billy Zane, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Treat Williams in this stodgily faithful adaptation of the 1930’s comic book avenger.

A movie in concept you want to hold onto and cuddle but which proves so lacking in any meaty curve or satisfying edge in reality that it is difficult to gain any meaningful traction with it. The intention is clearly to play this as straight as possible, and period true also, but achingly so. It means everything is po faced and slowly paced – an anomaly from the era that gave us Con Air and Independence Day. In his stringent avoidance of camp Wincer’s face value direction neuters both Billy Zane and Treat Williams (two usually unsubtle but distinctive actors who could easily wink this into a more fun movie given a bit more rope) and leaves you begging it to just amp things up a notch. The derring-do is well staged (Vic Armstrong stunts with 90s budgets are always going to catch the eye) and it all looks like it should be a romp despite itself. Spielberg showed with Raiders and Jurassic Park he uniquely understands that no matter how much realism you instill into these revivals of the cliffhanger adventure series, you still need a touch of modern anarchy and self-awareness to make it flow.

4

 

David Fincher directs Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter in the modern masterpiece rejecting consumerism, soft masculinity and sanity.

No matter how many times you watch it, this pitch black comedy can become a bit of an achy blur. Fincher just directs the fuck out of it using digital effects confidently to take us out of a fear receptor through an Ikea catalogue into a chemical burn fever dream and leave us in our pants with our brains spilling out of our cheeks. And being pummelled in the face like that with so much quality cutting edge filmmaking, anarchic humour and gleeful misanthropic destruction can leave even the keenest viewer only remembering the final twisty blow and not all the colourful, vivid bruises and scars earned throughout. Norton and Pitt have a lovely chemistry making you wish they would reunite on a project with similar vision and ambition. A massive “go fuck yourself” to corporate led studio filmmaking (Three Kings, Being John Malkovich… what was in the Hollywood water coolers in 1999?) that set everyone involved up on a pedestal you’d need a long hard reach to knock them down off of to this day.

10