Lila Neugebauer directs Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry and Linda Emond in this drama where a veteran struggles to rehabilitate herself back into civilian life.
Two very strong lead performances in a perfectly adequate drama. Neugebauer paces scenes strangely, holding on to nothing after the text has finished, immersing us in Lawrence’s brain damaged vet’s warped world view. You want to like it for more than it is.
Agnès Varda directs Bill Brent, Huey P. Newton and Stokely Carmichael in this short documentary charting the motivations and public reactions to the Black Panther movement.
Not even handed… but suits my personal politics… so I’m not going to criticise this snapshot time capsule.
Hope Dickson Leach directs Ellie Kendrick, David Troughton and Jack Holden in this British mystery where an estranged daughter returns to the family farm after a tragedy.
Stephen King directs Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle and Laura Harrington in this sci-fi thriller siege movie where machines, especially trucks, start killing off humanity and one gas station stands alone in the fight to survive.
Much better than its stinky reputation – this delivers everything you want from the premise. Essentially Dawn Of The Dead with an AC/DC soundtrack and a lot of trucks instead of zombies. Yeah, the movie probably does get a little distracted by the 18-wheelers. The first act where anything and anything electrical can kill you is easily the best. But the rest of the movie is perfectly adequate Saturday night second rental fodder. Estevez makes for a fine anti-hero. There are some decent set-pieces and a great grafting montage sequence where they broker peace with the killer vehicles. The bad boss truck, a Green Goblin Toy delivery truck, is pretty iconic. I think the main issue some have with Maximum Overdrive is with some of its more extreme choices at the the peripheries of what works. Kids die graphically, everyone is sweaty, fat characters who take dumps sweat even more, most walls are stained or covered in ripped centrefolds, both Yeardley Smith and Ellen McElduff put in screechy, histrionic performances. So Maximum Overdrive is abrasive, it has snags the critics can get caught up on to easily. The core is robust. It still delivers energetic horror and hits the spot.
Elia Kazan directs Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and John Garfield in this drama where a journalist poses as Jewish for half a year to root out everyday anti-semitism among his WASP brethren.
An Issues movie with a capital “I”, so wears its heart on both sleeves, but manages to be as thorough as it is preachy. Very good support performances from John Garfield and, especially, Celeste Holm.
Kenji Mizoguchi directs Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi and Kyōko Kagawa in this adaptation of a Japanese folktale where two aristocratic children are sold into slavery.
Ripples in the water. A humanist epic. Every scene has a powerful emotional effect but with seemingly minimal editorial prodding. It is a big movie that sneaks up on you. Once the second half starts taking form, and we drill down to the eponymous protagonist, it starts justifying its “Greatest Film Of All Time” status.
Mel Smith directs Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson and Rowan Atkinson in this British romantic comedy where a struggling American actor in London falls for a no-nonsense nurse.
You can see a lot of that virulent Richard Curtis DNA here in this early script from him but The Tall Guy is a jot spikier and has a bit more reality to it. Goldblum isn’t your traditional romantic lead, Thompson takes zero shit from him and that’s quite refreshing. Atkinson plays an utter bastard and I like it. The Elephant Man: The Musical is an extended comedy highlight, as is the messy bonking sequence. Certainly less abrasive than those Love Actually Factory’s later trifles. Nice Soho / Camden / Hampstead location work.
Maybe it is a little slight. Maybe the two kids in the leads are a bit too bland for the band. But the scorched, bloody atmosphere of Near Dark is hypnotic. Having the Aliens reunion of Vasquez, Bishop and Hudson as a gnarly tribe of campervan vampires was always going to make this a cult item… but boy, oh, boy does the whole thing thump. Like an electrical fire in a slaughterhouse, only really funny. I can’t see a situation where I wouldn’t instantly rewatch this seconds after the end credits roll. Tangerine Dream soundtracks for every film, ever, please! “Finger lickin’ good!”
M. Night Shyamalan directs Dave Bautista, Ben Aldridge and Jonathan Graff in this apocalyptic thriller where four strangers invade a family’s holiday home asking them to make a sacrifice to save the world.
Like most Shyamalan movies this is about taking a twisted leap of faith. If you can’t – your world turns to hell. If you can put aside your logic and cynicism, well… M. Night can keep making his extended spins on The Outer Limits / Twilight Zone. And I want him to. As even though he is very hit and miss, even though the deadpan, declarative style of acting he encourages is off putting and even if he’s not really given a chance by a big corner of film fandom… there is something quite worthwhile in the niche he furrows. The opening sequence between Bautista (exemplary) and seven year-old Kristen Cui is electric, full of foreboding and tenderness. Jarin Blaschke’s celluloid cinematography is lush and deep. The title theme by Herdís Stefánsdóttir and choice of credit font really sets the tone. Think Eighties VHS shop era sleeper. I’m not saying Shyamalan manages to sustain the thrills or keep you out of your own headspace throughout. But it’s a pretty rattling thriller at its peaks, one that could easily inspire the next generation of Jordan Peeles or Robert Eggers.
7
Perfect Double Bill: The Cabin In The Woods (2011)
Jean-François Richet directs Gerard Butler, Mike Colter and Tony Goldwyn in this action movie where a pilot and a prisoner must rescue the passengers of a crashed commercial flight.
Surprisingly good. The action is handled with a rare sustained straight face – closer to a really good pair of episodes of 24 or Arnie’s swing at drama in Collateral Damage. Certainly Plane is never cute and that helps the intensity. Pretty much every movie Jean-François Richet has made has scratched a genre itch for me… and that makes me want to revisit his Assault On Precinct 13 remake with evolved expectations.
7
Perfect Double Bill: Assault On Precinct 13 (2005)
