David Lean directs Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd and Nigel Patrick in this drama “recreating” the untrue story of the test pilots who broke Mach One.
Stodgy bit of patriotism with a decent third act shock. Considering the yanks had achieved this feat a different way before the movie was put into production I’m just not sure what it’s reason for existing is aside from using some leftover jet stock.
Tarik Saleh directs Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Kiefer Sutherland in this action thriller where a private contract job goes sideways.
Dour real world Bourne rip-off with few surprises. The action plays pretty hard when it ignites and then is sustained well. A classy cast elevates this. You can aspire to be The Hurt Locker but sometimes you have to accept you are Taken and just have a laugh with it.
Will Finn and John Sanford direct Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly in this Disney animated comedy western where some cows save their farm.
Hear me now! There’s two psychedelic minutes where a yodelling rustler hypnotises a herd of beef that calls back fondly to Dumbo’s Pink Elephants. And Tilly earns her keep. Everything else is pap. Who is this for?
Jean-Jacques Annaud directs Jane March, “Big” Tony Leung and Jeanne Moreau in this erotic period drama covering the illicit affair between a teenage French girl and a wealthy Chinese heir in colonial Vietnam.
All hail The Sinner From Pinner. Jane March. She’s is actually very good here – carrying the complex emotions and, of course, she looks amazing in every state of undress. As sensuous as this is lensed both on-location and in the bonking studio, the international dubbing does let it down. It aligns something quite artful and poignant with a seedier, cheaper product. We wouldn’t want our sex films being tawdry now would we? If a subtitled version existed in the U.K. then this might improve on another revisit. The histrionic scenes with her manic, parasitic family really grate in their current state. We are supposed to hate them… but maybe not THIS much?!
Joe Carnahan directs Frank Grillo, Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts in this sci-fi action comedy where a retired special forces soldier tries to escape a never-ending time loop that results in his death.
The movie I suspect people think they are watching when they love a Deadpool movie. Leans into the video game vibe – the best moment being a sword training session with a cameo from the glorious Michelle Yeoh. Gibson feels a little underserved in the villain role, Grillo has long since established his chops as the grizzled anti-hero with one eyebrow slightly cocked towards exasperation. Action-wise, this is more about spectacle than tension… and while I often have beef with that attitude… here it fits the tone neatly.
Juraj Herz directs Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlasta Chramostová and Jana Stehnová in this Czech satire where a crematorium worker rises up the ranks by selling out everyone close to him to the Nazi regime.
A delve into a sick mind. Sleazy montage crash cuts. Repugnant morals given the sheen of mundane respectability. Pretty much entirely filmed with a fish eye lens, which only adds to the grotesque central caricature’s monstrous world view. We are all in cages, all fucking the dead, all justifying our evils. Am I right? Is this thing on? Bleak.
Paul Michael Glaser directs D.B. Sweeney, Moira Kelly and Roy Dotrice in this ice skating romantic comedy.
Surprisingly good. Sweeney ain’t no Spencer Tracy but Kelly makes a good fist of replicating a Muppet Baby Kate Hepburn. Feels like watching a whole series of some forgotten sitcom… in the nicest way that sentence can be interpreted.
Max Barbakow directs Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti and J. K. Simmons in this time loop romantic comedy.
An epic for beercan drinkers. Our Lawrence of Arabia. Very much Groundhog Day 2.0 but super cute whether colouring inside or outside the lines. Having other people actively sharing the loop is the masterstroke. Definitely the movie that finally sold Andy Samberg to me. He is very much a millennial Bill Murray… softer, slightly more excited by the world but has the right energy. Choice of location, costumes and pitch perfect cinematography makes this one of the best looking comedies of the decade. Get the feeling I might revisit this a fair bit…
Davy Chou directs Ji-Min Park, Oh Kwang-rok and Guka Han in the French Korean drama where a young woman casually investigates her Korean biological parents who put her up for adoption over in France.
Solid arthouse drama with well observed culture clash and generational clash moments. The disruptive time leaps sometimes can seem a bit fantastical but Ji-Min remains consistent in character and attitude as she suddenly ages, shifts milieu. Probably would have gone up a point if I watched this in a cinema.
6
Perfect Double Bill: Flirting With Disaster (1996)
Ridley Scott directs Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby and Tahar Rahim in this historical epic depicting the French leader’s rise to power as well as his relationship with Empress Joséphine.
Big, weird and moving at a tremendous clip. There’s lots to love here, it feels like karaoke Kubrick in the very best ways. Phoenix puts in a strange, spoilt, almost alien performance as Bonaparte and that means we connect with the historical figure’s fears and desire far more intimately than if he were played straight. His own petulant confusion when he is ejected from his own coup. His little horny horse noises when he is gearing up for meat-and-potatoes sex with Josephine. Kirby has the showier part as the mercenary by default wife and lover of the Emperor. Ridley can be trusted to give his leading ladies the most flattering limelight. Battle sequences up the wazoo, the flow of history is managed just right. We know where we are, who is who, what is what without having to have read a 1000 page biography in advance or reams of studied exposition. Just a great time at the movies, roll on the four hour streaming version.
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 