Matteo Garrone directs Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall and Issaka Sawagodo in this African drama following two teenage cousins journeying across their continent to reach Europe.
Had fears this was going to be gruelling, worthy. Instead it is a really strong adventure. A quest. Noble protagonist, near fantastical vista, episodic peril. All based on a reality we choose to ignore. Garrone sees the magic in every location, every step of the journey. Even at its nastiest, most perilous and most emotionally draining sacrifice there’s a sense of goodness, purpose and hope to what you are watching in comfort. Great cinema puts you within the perspective of someone living an extraordinary life. Io Capitano puts you right deep in there.
Michael Mohan directs Sydney Sweeney, Simona Tabasco and Álvaro Morte in this indie horror where a devout American nun arrives at an Italian convent where there is a conspiracy to impregnate her with something ungodly.
There is something quite classy about Immaculate. It ratchets up the tension with a mature steady crank. The camera moves insidiously through gorgeous locations but never in a way that shows off and takes you out of the milieu. There are visual callbacks to giallos. The ending is full fat extreme horror that goes all the way. Crucifixion nails are gouged into soft bits and motherfuckers are deservedly set a light. It ends on a transgressive splat. I clearly had a great time at a late night showing with my illicit gins in tins. So why not a higher score? Sydney Sweeney. She might very well be the first AI generated star snuck in by stealth so we can’t complain when avatar actors are our only future. There is an uncanny flatness, a glitch of dead emotions to her ‘acting’. Luckily before her big escape while in labour, all she has to do is look pretty in a series of nun cosplays. Every habit a sister of the lord might ever wear is squeezed into. And then we get the scenes where the nudity is implied or teased behind wet vestments. Certain boys and girls are gonna discover new kinks.
Arkasha Stevenson directs Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson and Sonia Braga in this big studio legacy horror prequel where an American woman hoping to become a nun arrives at an Italian convent where there is a conspiracy to impregnate her with something ungodly.
One week later and The Omen franchise is revived with pretty much the same movie as above. So many story beats, character types and shock deaths are repeated here shot for shot that it can feel like a bad joke has been played on Disney. It clearly is the bigger budgeted project with ambitions towards prestige and future entries. The period setting encompasses the political and sexual turmoil of the early Seventies and there be plenty of Omen-head Easter eggs to crack. The kills are good if not anywhere near as elaborate as Richard Donner’s finest. There are moments where the studio has obviously mandated reshoots or edits. The finest moments are truly shocking. There are at least two creature FX that are more transgressive than anything you’ve glimpsed in a studio release for a long old time. Think gynaecological Jacob’s Ladder. And Nell Tiger Free is a convincing and attractive presence. She acts the toddler with massive jugs who leads Immaculate off of the screen. But her Margaret has none of the survivalist agency of Sweeney’s Cecilia and here you know what the movie’s endgame has to be to get us to The Omen.
The below scores could easily be swapped around depending on which movie you watch first.
Scott Cooper directs Christian Bale, Harry Melling and Gillian Anderson in this period mystery where a young Edgar Allen Poe and a grieving detective investigate grisly murders at a remote military academy.
Strong production values and a couple of fantastic on location shot compositions. Much like Sleepy Hollow and The Raven there’s something of an inert exercise in gothic style to this handsome potboiler. Both Melling and Bale are going for laboured, busy performances. When together their scenes can be incoherently daft. Nutty line readings akimbo! There is a tasty twist at the end of the mechanical whodunnit motions, well set up in the first volley of clues, but I was bored waiting for even that closing turn.
Takeshi Kitano directs Beat Takeshi, Omar Epps and Claude Maki in this gangster thriller where a rejected Yakuza travels to LA and takes over the town.
Fish out of water. An near silent, blank faced Mick Dundee. A movie of moments. Some wonderful, some blunt and clumsy. The gangster stuff is very cartoon-ish. Lost in translation pastiche. Yet there are slabs of Takeshi’s absurdism and heartfelt visual poetry. Feels like a redundant stumble after all the palpable evolutions the director / star / writer / editor went through in the Nineties. Not that this loses the game, it just sullies the perfect batting average. At the very least has a lush Joe Hisaishi score. That incongruous aspect and Epps’ central role does give this a lot of spiritual overlap with Spike Lee’s Clockers.
Renny Harlin directs Holly Goss, Matt Stokoe and Luke Albright in this found footage horror where amateur documentary makers travel to the Russia to explore the remote site of an unexplained tragedy.
A rich man’s Blair Witch with minimal tension and teen sitcom acting. Bungs a fair few Fortean theories against the wall in trying to come up with a compelling explanation of the true life mystery. Eventually… and I really mean eventually… resorts to entry level horror shocks without much gore, tension or impact. Was this meant to be PG-13? Hard to see Harlin’s imprint here on the direction.
Todd Haynes directs Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman and Charles Melton in this drama where decades after their scandalous relationship made headlines, a couple starts to unravel when a TV actress arrives to research them for her new film.
Erotic mystery masquerading as melodrama. Consummately acted and sumptuous to look at. There is little resolution here. Unresolved subplots and interactions open to multiple interpretations. The kind of pastel coloured movie where everyone exists in a moral grey area. One of the last of this year’s Oscar contenders I needed to catch up with.
Sammi Cohen directs Adam Sandler, Sadie Sandler and Idina Menzel in this teen comedy where two childhood friends fall out before their big celebrations.
Nice, smart and colourful but you miss Adam whenever he’s offscreen which is too often.
Rich Moore and Phil Johnston direct John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman and Gal Gadot in this Disney animated adventure where Ralph and Vanellope leave the arcade and go online.
A sequel that makes me feel like the culture has now passed me by. You can feel the writers’ desperately trying to cram in one more skit, hoping to strike gold and get that hyper relevant trailer moment. And you are left with a kid’s movie constantly grasping at nothing when it could just be… fun. There was a point where all plot threads felt like they were wrapping up and when I checked the remaining time there was still nearly an hour to go!?
John Boorman directs Linda Blair, Richard Burton and Louise Fletcher in this horror sequel where a faltering priest investigates the death of Father Merrin and the fate of Regan.
As with many a sequel to a classic that underwhelms, this has a toxic reputation. And to gives the haters their due ExII is silly, unpredictable and features acting that feels press ganged out of its stars. It rarely works as a horror. And yet I enjoyed camp moments like Burton doing a terrible job of putting out a small fire and Blair’s completely inscrutable revival of Regan. Is she still possessed by Pazuzu or is it just awkward acting? Whenever Boorman veers into epic fantasy the project is fascinating. Vivid, demented. Just not very The Exorcist. The IMDB trivia page is defined by everyone’s excuses as to why they did it and why it isn’t their fault. I kinda liked it.
Peter Greenaway directs Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman and Anne-Louise Lambert in this Restoration period British arthouse gem where a much-requested draughtsman is hired to make drawings of a country estate and his fee includes full sexual access to the lady of the house.
Gloriously unconventional. I did prefer it when it was flat, passion-free sex comedy told in a series of still tableaux. A criminal intrigue is introduced and lives are destroyed. That comes a little left of field. Much like life. Memorably idiosyncratic.
7
Perfect Double Bill:The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 