Change Your Image
michaelberanek275
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Poliziotto superpiù (1980)
It's not trash it's treasure!
This ultra-funky Italian concoction was a pure delight - true once my expectations were dragged down by a lot of reviews that didn't in retrospect have much of an essential sense of pure infantile honour in them. I'm over 50 now and only wished I had this on HBO at the time. Being older though allows you to enjoy some of the adult satire too laced through all the goofiness, like the gaggle of sour faced indigenous folk at the launch control centre - who had had to abandon their ancestral homeland glade for the atomic test - lauded as "such true blue Americans". There's all the grungy seventies crime cultural references to revel in, with Miami never having ever looked so tawdry on screen anywhere. The lead Terrence Hill is so chiseled and likeable and his sidekick Ernest Borgnine at his ebullient best. The colourful fast-paced cartoon-like character and scrappy editing is all very entertaining and easy in the eye & brain. The insane plot almost doesn't really matter, that's not the point, except that it is obviously insane. Actually the dialogue is surprisingly sharp, even poetic in places and survives the unfortunately very poor audio on the dubbing throughout. All I can say, if approached with an open mind and a kind heart this is less a turkey and more fine pop history that still sores well into the 21st century like an eagle.
Spanish Lake (2014)
"This is my life"... A Story for America
How surprised was I to find amongst countless low-grade purient crime documentaries on Rakuten TV this sensitive and thoughtful social, economic & political history of a proud and beautiful in part little province of Missouri, from it's origin in the early 19th century to recent years. Using countless interviews with first-hand experiences of real locals, and some intelligent expert & official analysis. The Spanish Lake story forms a microcosm of America over the period, with the merciless effect of deindustrialization, Regan/Clinton-era housing boom financialisation and the build-up to the inevitable crisis of 2008 affecting local mortgage holders. Apart from the economic narrative there's the cultural phenomenon of 'white flight', the effects of civil rights legislation and the impact of housing & integration policies on these poorer white working-class - identifying as ''middle class" - suburbs. You get a complex picture of flux - with a corresponding kind of black flight from poorly planned projects and slum developments in St. Louis into the neighbouring suburbs assisted by the Johnson administration voucher projects - "Section 8". It's an issue most complex and sensitive, but the ebullient stories of likable local people and their stoic humour helps to lift and humanise the discourse. My impression is that the main drivers of the cultural strife are the underlying tectonic socio-economic shifts affecting the population - both black and white - least empowered to do much about directing their own destiny and fostering more wholesome family & community life. The ensueing effects of chronic underinvestment in infrastructure & public facilities (apart from in police, at war with crime) are all made obvious in the story. It could have been a dream of a successful 'melting-pot', but in many respects became a nightmare. Now this mirrors the whole US political landscape today and informs the success of popular demagoguery tapping into the insecurities and fears of so many folk whose economy has been pulled out from under them by neoliberals who have for too long abandoned any proper national industral strategy for all the people. There are glimmers of optimism in more recent community activism and frameworks being built for supporting civil society, an inspiring Lakers tribute band, but sadness and regret seems to predominate.
The way such a multifaceted history is condensed in only 84 minutes is quite a tribute to the production team. I couldn't recommend this little family Polaroid snapshot of American political economy any higher.
Sous la Seine (2024)
Oh la la!
This little pulp genre product brings with it a extra French panache and good production values, being out of the Netflix stables, released just in time and appropriately for the Olympics - taking place partly in and around the great River Seine. The underwater work, open swimming, location shots and GCI is weaved together pretty well. The film's pacing sets off a little slowly but reaches increasingly blood splattered levels of mayhem, after first introducing a backstory for the main protagonist. Sophia is a traumatized marine biologist who lost her spouse and crew to our mutant shark some time ago. Berenice Bejo does well to possess the same kind of haunted ambivalent attachment to our fishy friends Roy Scneider famously did in the original Jaws movie franchise. All the actors bar none are sexy and stylish of course. There's plenty for genre fans here of interest: monstrous genetic aberrations, a chilling autopsy scene, the standard disaster movie survival rules i.e. The foolhardy, hippies, people of color, plebs & all minor characters' chances aren't too good, but also surprising justice in that the days of the 'nicest' may also be numbered. Also there are insane city officials bent on vainglory putting the public at risk. Stopping the show is the last thing they want considering the prestige & preparation money involved. I imagine this will go down well in the Paris 2024 olympic village this month... even the (real) cosmetic riverside cleanup and expensive special measures to prevent E.coli contamination gets a few mentions - just when you think it's safe to go back in the water! The environmental messaging is bearable, and I guess as relevant to the context as a sharks are with Paris. I believe the absurd title and mad overall premise both have some kind of nobility and true horror heritage in them, like the classic 'Sharknado' (2013) and its sequels (with sky-bourne sharks attacking aircraft.) So it's highly formulaic, minus a twist, but still a sufficiently entertaining watery slasher. The film builds to a frenetic final section and then an absurd unexpected epic finale that acts like an ironic icing on the proverbial gâteau.
Thanks of a Grateful Nation (1998)
Humble, pedestrian, nonetheless noble effort
A solid, perhaps sombre treatment of a literally toxic subject that many would, and did, try to ignore and brush under the carpet. The cast in the main are workmanlike and there's even a couple of recognisable faces like Ted Danson from Friends as Jim Tuite, and the substantial Brian Denney playing Sen. Donald Riegle. The screenplay and story arc are a kind of homage to All the President's Men, with its own Deepthroat in the shadows, stacks of paperwork, political stonewalling, etc and there's more than a bit of recreated Washington committee hearings, but these do lend some authenticity to the matter and provide the best bits as far as I'm concerned.... Okay it is a TV movie but I did have a problem with some of the production values in particular the sound architecture which was very strange and flat, and perhaps it was just my TV I don't know but the sound effects and the schmaltzy soundtrack did seem to overwhelm and indeed drown out some of the dialogue. As for the human drama of those affected, it was nice to have a human face on some of the people involved in this catastrophe. I note one reviewer was upset that the whole matter of the rectitude of the war itself wasn't dealt with, and indeed that might be a point that one draws from this. But of course that was not the remit of this particular movie and it strains to be largely pro-veteran, and patriotic, but it is cynical about politicians, and we never hear from President Bush. The "ghost of Vietnam" never leaves the story from start to the epilogue. The main arguement seems to be that one needs to create a future battlefield that's a lot more safe for the American soldier at least.
Unfrosted (2024)
American food heritage represented by gooey rectangle
This was a scream to watch. I can't think I experienced such a battery of countless gags-per-minute since the Zucker brothers' "Airplane!" but that was 43 years ago... except here the humour had more self-depricating wit, and cut closer to the bone with a wry take on American exceptionalism, mysogeny, peculiar 50s-60s culture, the current sugar apocalypse, even an irreverent Jan 6 Capitol insurrection-like segment led by Britain's national treasure Hugh Grant. So many lovable comedy stars to mention... Melissa McCarthy, Peter Dinklage does a great cameo as a menacing milkman cartel wiseguy and of course the genius mastermind himself Jerry Seinfeld. Irreverent impressions of Kennedy and Khrushchev... So stupid, yet so smart... Finally an American satire that is actually funny. And they say here in the UK yanks don't understand irony... Well here truly is an exception to the rule.
The Signal (2014)
Bit silly, but still a lot of fun
After having seen a few so-so science fiction movies available free with a certain free-with-ads service, I was not prepared to like this much, but was pleasantly surprised. It offered a bit more class than the usual pulp Sci-Fi overpopulating the offerings on streaming apps. Maybe it's the genre-switching and melding, maybe it's the handome young cast with the gorgeous young Olivia Cooke, I can't say. Firstly it starts out as a little Indie drama between our three hipsters, with some choice shots of Olivia, the angelic romantic focus for our hero, then it morphs a little with stunning desert locales into a road movie, then suddenly one third in it becomes something entirely different. A sci-fi thriller ensues, with a narrative that admittedly tends towards incoherence and absurdity, but I still enjoyed the ride. Those who like the less fantastical might not be too impressed; one might argue even science fiction should have some credibility, nevertheless, a moot point... The direction is pacy, the little ensemble of actors is great and the production economies don't show much, at least it's cleverly minimal with respect to portraying the antagonists. Also, perhaps, one reflects, it's also a little moral parable of the perils for youngsters of internet hacking & chasing anonymous quarries on social media! Anyway, like a quirky hitchhiker one might pick up on a Nevada highway - The Signal is a little dim, but still charming and quite engaging for the thankfully brief journey.
Pig (2021)
Sublime, as emotionally indulgent as fine dining should be
A movie to remember that cleverly sets out at the start with its cards held closely to its chest, then just unravels so gracefully and with such a profusion of deep themes like love, loss, regret, forgiveness, truth and even reflection on the obscure things like the emotional power of culinary experience, to mention only a few of the facets of this deeply moral and dignified film. This is a lot down to the exquisitely tuned performance from Nicholas Cage, who just seems to get better and better nowadays, but also to the handful of supporting cast members. The chalk-and-cheese pairing throughout with Alex Wolff the truffle buyer is for me a central sub-drama, but like lots of this film you won't get a tidy exposition or resolution, there's lots of work for the viewer to do to process events and performances with their own experiences, to recall how life is rarely straightforward, that there are gaps and lingering feelings, animosities, injuries, failures, but that there is peace and redemption in pardon, in acceptance, and everything to learn from nature. Beautiful.
Hard Candy (2005)
Loved this maybe way too much
For me, with the reverse Red Riding Hood motif in the final coda reminds me of another genius unhinged movie 'Freeway' (1996) with the dangerous delectable Drew Barrymore, which to be fair is a proper movie when this is more of a wobbly-filmed two hander play, still Hard Candy is no less visceral and gut wrenching a pleasure to watch. Also Ellen (now Elliott) Page is just so fantastic: a mix of cute schoolgirl petulance and wirey pugnaciousness... I now love him in whatever he does, what a superstar. Back then Ellen's psychotic yet vulnerable performance is for me one of the most outstanding things I've seen in over 400 films I've seen in 12 months. The screenplay is the other star, tight, smart, and deliciously sardonic. I love it too much maybe, as it feels such a guilty pleasure with the frisson of exploitation & sexual curiosity that impossibly fuses with a righteous revenge story. I almost wanted to walk the plank myself after enjoying it so wholeheartedly. If winsome Elliot insisted I do so, I would gladly.
The Presidents: Reagan (2024)
Rose tinted
"One of the most memorable and iconic presidents in American politics ...." This kind of prevaricating meaningless voiceover dominees this program. Don't expect this to be a rigorous hard critical examination of the president's work. The failure of Reaganomics for instance is dealt with by a passing remark. How to say that honestly have learnt no more about this man from watching this documentary. It's quite pretty in places and smoothly produced. However, it really starts to get rather treacly and hagiographic especially towards the end where I was beginning to suffer some nausea. I would recommend watching it if you really cherish his memory.
How the Internet was Stolen (2022)
Tailor made by the few for the exploitation of the many
An essential eye-opening and methodical exposition of how freedom & solidarity-destroying capitalism both dug out, filled, and then took to the internet like a duck to water. As time goes on in the exponential expansion of the sphere, 'consumers' have less and less excuse to be naive to the fact they have become the consumed - raw material for the new techno-bourgeois. It's about another kind of colonialism that denies the actually existing history and reality of the concrete world - a potential 'Realtopia' - in which we otherwise would have a fair chance of living together in, and forging forwards together for a more egalitarian society. This is a rallying cry to wake up and rise up and to expose the utopian pipe dreams of that 1% that are merely selling the same snake oil that put the Rockefellers at the top of the pile in tthe 20th century. Beware, once you hear this you won't consider the so called convenience and personalisation of the internet in the same way ever again. Oh, and go those bravely working "in the cracks": LINUX-interoperability, Wikipedia & Open Source communities, and the political goal of social ownership of the internet!
Top Secret (1952)
Hearty chuckles defy gloomy Cold War milieu
A most delightful film with Cole excellent as the likable stooge in this very British kind of cold war satirical romp through a range of class and national stereotypes, specific to the 1950s cultural landscape. The perils of The Bomb and Communism are sent up with English understatement and in the camp machinations of a host of excellent supporting comic actors. The farcical but oddly understated farce drives along with a brisk pace & under clever noir-like art direction. Much of the material is most topical for its time and so provides an interesting time capsule of British life emerging in the wake of war, including of the ubiquity of "high" indedible guest house kippers.
The Shock of the New (1980)
Rich and cogent narrative, and a televisual feast
Although the passage of time has this great body of work of '... the New' now becoming an historical artefact in its own right, it's nonetheless a fascinating and absorbing gallop through a century between around 1880 and 1980. The sheer literary brilliance is something to bask in while, considering the constraints of the time, the visual imagery and editing is so extremely rich. One is treated as an intellectual equal and never talked down to. I suppose nowadays you might have to give it that standard trigger warning of some "outdated cultural references", these instances for me make this even more interesting as an epic monument of television history.
Amanda (2018)
Nice, but oddly obtuse
Amanda is unarguably pleasing to the eye, with a visual menu ranging across many pleasant albeit clichéd Parisian locations, with reasonable performances from the cast of stereotypical French characters. This film works well as a kind of emollient to the central tragedy and steers well clear of any sharp edges that a more psychoanalytical or political investigation would have turned up in this essentially anodyne fairy tale about loss and recovery. At times the syrupy score seemed too much, where silence would have served better, but all the stops have been pulled out to create something deliberately optimistic. However, in doing so it plays loudly over a lot of situational complexity that would have been worth exploring, so ultimately leaving this viewer at least feeling a bit mollicudled. I hesitate to be too critical, but there is a certain amount of paint-by-numbers to the plot & dramatic scenarios and a thinness and shallowness to the overall narrative. Still, there's a lot to like in the unspoken interactions between David and Amanda, David and his injured friends for instance which really, in spite of the film as a whole do feel profoundly humane and genuine. Perhaps the key to enjoying the film is to stay with the epynominous weather-vane character Amanda, and her naive perspective on events, as besides that, there's not much grown-up reality here anyway to trouble you.
Evge (2019)
Poingant tale puts Crimean Tartars on the map.
One can easily say that this is the best Crimean Tartar road movie/dirge/family drama/religious film/contemporary Ukrainian war commentary that you might to get ones hands on! The fact that the dialogue in the film consists of Ukrainian Tartar, Ukrainian, and Russian gives one a clue to the cultural complexity of life in Ukraine today and indeed right now in all of Eastern Europe from the Baltic sea to the edges of the lesser Caucasus mountains of Nagorno-Karabakh. This this is a beautifully filmed movie that has a not-unfamiliar story arc, picking up on various social archetypes and focused mainly on the tight family unit of father and son and immediate relatives in the wake of what looks like the untimely torture & death of an elder son, on the front, of the interminable war by Putin on Ukraine. It is unfortunate that the average western reader using subtitles, like me, cannot understand the transitions here in the dialogue between the use of different languages. I suppose one could have had different colours for subtitles. Never mind. The exosition is all show and no tell - The father is angry his would-have been daughter in law has Christian Orthodox icons... Being spoken to in Russian is a bit like a proud Welsh person being given instructions in English. It may be understood, but it can feel disrespectful. The boy sheepishly mentions to Dad he's now learning to speak Ukrainian pretty well. The fact is that ever since the beginning of the 20th century, the Crimean indigenous population, the Muslim Tartars, have faced annihilation including the near erasure of their culture & language and indeed their significance in contemporary Ukrainian life. These kinds of powerful undercurrents are all eluded to within this deceptively simple coming of age & travel drama. The divisions that surface within the protagonist's family to some extent reflect the cultural and ethnic complexity of contemporary life in Ukraine. One doesn't have to be a genius to pick up on these notions, or to have to have done a degree in modern European history but I kind of wish I knew a bit more to appreciate the movie at a greater depth. Nevertheless, as I say, it's a beautiful film with stunning if bleak location filming in areas like the waterways of the Kherson oblast in the stunning finale, which could not be filmed at this present time due to the escalation of the war which would have made it way too dangerous now. Quite an insight into the new Europe - unstable if not openly tumultuous.
Oppenheimer (1980)
Drama cleverly conjured from heaps of fact
What's the production lacks in genuine locations, cinematography and special effects is amply made up by the excellent performances of the cast and the intelligent screenplay. Sam Waterston portrays the complexity of the epynominous subject's life and work, perfectly sparred with Manning Redwood as General Groves, and showcasing the skills of David Suchet as Edward Teller, and many more great actors make this quite an upper echelon undertaking. The screenplay is intelligent and almost dispenses with the need for the brief narration by mixing plenty of hard fact with drama and human emotion. There is so much fact laid out here within the drama, such an amount of working through the controversy and contradiction, that at the end of the exhausting ride I concur with the esteemed Mark Kemode here that I'm now hardly interested in seeing a Hollywood blockbuster version of this history.
Never Goin' Back (2018)
Like Cheech & Chong but young, and a lot prettier
This winsome pair of hapless protagonists are such the sweetest characters, or potentially hideous characters if not for the perfect chemistry and inbuilt comedy genius sparking off between Maia Mitchell and Camila Morrone in this offbeat little gem. Approaching this without much expectation I was delighted to find this just gradually more and more hilarious, effects starting with a knowing smirk, through to a fixed grin, to steady LOL fits as I watched this great reboot of all those tired male stoner movies... Comfortingly predictable, it goes through the genre paces, winning every time Camila and Maia are on screen. Less enthralling, inevitably, are thier male sidekicks who seem a bit cut-out and weak entities compared, but there's some good work in some other fleeting authoritative roles, like the long suffering boss at the diner for instance, who really likes these girls and why not, as he says to them as he fires them, they're intelligent and a lot of fun, and that's exactly what transcends the whole tawdry milieu - these girls - so cocky, so strangly naive but louche at the same time, cute, and above all, they really love each other and are so sweet and tender with each other. You've got to have a heart of stone not to find something inside you that's sympathetic to them. It's a case of not laughing at the chaotic pair, but kind of with them.
A Song for Europe (1985)
A minor movie, but fascinating, challenging.
First impressions with movies are not always correct as I found with this obsure film that there's hardly a single decent professional review for in the known web-a-verse. My first viewing six months ago left not much impression at first, and indeed I was largely underwhelmed. I just registered one reviewer who said he'd tried to watch this but kept falling asleep, as is the effect I imagine quite widely. But hang on...! Perhaps it was the general atypical mood of the work, it's solumnness, solemnity or just the titanic David Suchet playing this admirable but unlikeable protagonist Mr Dyer that stuck with me like a barb and I had to give it another shot and was well-rewarded. Yes there is a docudrama style in that the exposition is rather pedestrian and painfully along factual lines, but there is art within this little TV movie that sets it apart. First off there's the orchestral score, haunting and nicely balanced which covers the inevitable cracks in this thrifty production. We have full-centre a great performance by Suchet, and writing that is careful not to polish out the broken, oddly imperious personality of Mr Dyer, and eventually one begins to see more than a simple case of good guy verses the rest and question some of the protagonist's decisions especially in respect of his family life. The viewer's impression of dullness in the story is in a way warranted as there's hardly world-shattering stakes involved, no obvious mortal danger, no sex, but this true life tale does unfold with really tragic personal repercussions that takes the movie in a yet further level of melancholia as if it wasn't grim enough from the start. This is not a feel-good movie obviously, but is still oddly compelling in it's seriousness and sense of import way above its standing. Now I think about it there is not the slightest attempt at humour. There's also for me some cultural interest along the way with that mid-eighties hardness and big money obessions, maybe the begining of the end of too-big-to-fail businesses, not to mention those clunky phones and monitors, the ubiquity of the ashtray and all that eirie florescent lighting. But perhaps the determined character lies in the unrelenting nature of the story-telling, the bravery in serving up such unsympathetic characters and The integrity of a lack of any easy redemption. Notwithstanding the fleeting views of stunning Swiss scenery, this is a movie of in a maze of countless colourless offices and corridors and I imagine Kafka would have given it a salute. In the end, there remain real existential questions that are left for the viewer: what was the story really about? Was there any point in any of it? Was it worth it?
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Majestic little creation
OK, it's not much to look at in the beginning, a B-movie sequence with a reckless youth drag race and a crash, apart from some clever graphic of the film credits swirling on the deadly Kansas River, but then the wooden dialogue and mismatched audio syncing. But patience!... everything real starts slipping away into nightmarish melodramatic alt-reality (David Lynch eat your heart out), so beautifully photographed and so artfully and ever so economically constructed. Who needs blood and gore when subtly unnerving sound & vision, cranked up slowly like a medieval torture wheel, and a smattering handful of goulish countenances is far more traumatic in the end. This is a testament to how much can be done with so little i.e. A shoestring budget and a fleeting shooting time of a few short weeks. The economy of special effect, the reliance on a fantasticly disturbing organ score, even the woodeness of the supporting acting only in the end enhances the horror aesthetic and the point-of-view-perspective of our emotionally detached protagonist as she gradually discovers her frightening lack of agency and uncanny attraction to the titular place. The actual location, the Saltair pavilion, the second of three iterations, on the receeding shore of the Great Salt Lake, abandoned not four years before after a fire, is just perfect, with its allusions to the Victorian gothic original pavillion of the late 19C, with some of the original ruined piling featuring in the final scene, protruding from the mud. The haunted place almost films itself as a kind of brooding existential stage. I think the genius of the movie was this desolate place, and the repeated metaphor of a cycle of loss and re-emergence in thick watery mud. The moment our girl, who is perfectly cast as a dizzy lost soul, the moment she appears at the beginning from the river all wet and psychically set apart, in her unreachable intensity, I knew this was going to be a real cracker of a film, and it sure was! Hats off to the small team that crafted this small yet perfectly formed movie monument.
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Flawed but significant
This film I've uprated owing to its cultural & historical status despite flaws that are perhaps too easy to pick at in the early 21st century where, thank God, we have moved on a bit regarding xenophobia. However in any case, as many reviewers pointed out, it could read quite well now on other minorities, like gay people today. I personally don't mind a propaganda movie, or a message-movie as long as it's well crafted, and entertaining alongside it being thought-provoking. One only needs to look to Spike Lee's for e.g. The vibrantly sweltering Do the Right Thing, or Britain's own Ken Loach managing an intelligent political thriller in Hidden Agenda. There's a lot of chatter and not much action in Gentleman's Agreement, but the writing is smart and does manage to peer into the hidden kind of prejudices of Anglo-Saxon middle class society then and now through some great characterizations -- they were then and would still today remain Oscar-winning class, principally of course, from Gregory Peck, who alone is worth the price of the ticket. The biggest cringe moment for me was watching Gregory's character (pretending to be Jewish) berate his young Jewish secretary for being anti-semitic (!), without the slightest sense of recognising her having spent a whole life herself at the end of real life prejudice. It was this kind of total reality blank which for me is like noticing the whole scenery wobbling. Also he just took on his character rather suddenly it appears, too easily, at a whim, and it doesn't appear that the protagonist did any kind of research into the life of a Jewish person or into Jewish religion or instance, or much about the personal experience of Jewishness itself apart from sone chats with his old mate Dave one has to assume. The ruise was simply to sometimes say to people in passing that he was Jewish, or just use a Jewish form of his name. But, flaws aside, as I said some account needs to be taken of the seminal importance of this work of which kind was rare at the time, on and its effect on film culture. And after all, with the excellent acting, the screenplay and some great cinematography like dramatic shadows, I found it quite watchable and for a number of reasons, quite memorable, both good and bad.
Living (2022)
Bittersweet, intelligent and very English adaptation
Top marks for this highly polished gem with Bill Nighy in a curmudgeonly but sympathetic role for a change who hardly needs to move an eyebrow to act like superstar. There's a great bunch of supporting actors not least a sparkling Aimee Lou Wood as the young confident who for me earned the extra point for a full house. I've not seen the 1952 Japanese original but the so very English dramatic scenes emphasising awkward indeed absurd understatement and emotional reserve makes me wonder if Japanese culture might have some deep resonance with Old Blighty in some respects. I did worry this might be cloyingly sentimental but somehow the mixture of dreamy wishfullnes and hard-nosed rather dark nihilism formed the perfectly balanced cocktail. Eventually it just drew a couple of tears, only of wry existential recognition.
Hidden Agenda (1990)
Downbeat Loach thriller
The distinctly pedestrian and realist style to this little caper was quite refreshing as it avoided most clichés of the thriller genre like sexy protagonists and high energy gun battles etc etc to give something a little like a racy cigarette smoke-filled real-life documentary. The miry setting, in the midst of the sectarian wars of Ireland, and including within the tawdry bowels of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, also Republican bars, minor hotels, and humble households was most intriguing, but then the 'hidden agenda' plot panned away some distance from the psycho-realism onto a rather disappointing vein about incredulous or just uninteresting high level parliamentary dirty tricks, ho hum... Thatcher (of course), well not her exactly, anyway... It felt great in the main though, in the unique way the drama was directed, somewhat over the shoulder camera positions where the context is always in view, and conjuring easy naturalistic performances - with Cox doing a great turn as kind of big Yorkshire terrier. The story muddled its way along in a way that felt pretty convincing as a slice of real life in all its convolutions and routine failures of trust, up until the final segment which as I say pulled back I feel a little far, with its ambition to be a big Political thriller, somewhat betraying the best bit, the human narrative of the everyday fog of war and enduring terror that was no doubt an everyday reality for the citizens of northern Ireland.
Willy's Wonderland (2021)
Bloody funny
This has to be the funniest horror comedy I've seen since Anna and the Apocalypse and on reflection it's not just the stellar stoic performance of Cage but also a lot to do with the whole creepy art direction not including some very disturbing party music. It has a simple satisfying story arc just built for genre conisures - let's face it there is a niche and it's just been blown away here - with black oily splatter mixed with blood. It's an acting masterclass for the star most known for his verbal mania signing up to a wordless supercool OCD 'tough hombre' persona. His flint-faced performance is only transcended momentarily in an ecstatic scene over a pinball machine game and a religiously regular indulgence in cans of soft drink. This movie has reminded me just how much I love this sub-genre when it's done so nicely. Blood and creepy humour - murderous children's animatronics - it shouldn't really work, but by golly it can, and thank God Nicolas Cage is here to carry it through.
Grace Quigley (1984)
Strange & somber defeatist comedy
This little unpolished gem from Cannon films almost defies definition with its frankly depressing premise and it's superannuated director and actors. It's no surprise it never found mainstream box office or even critical success at least in the mangled form it was largely released in. Talking Pictures TV ran the Ultimate Solution of... version - generally considered a good later screenplay fix. What can I say, it's one for movie nerds perhaps but with the spirited work of the great Nolte and Hepburn one can be assured it gets carried through safely, even over the several rough patches in a production that has the rather cheap and gaudy feel of 80s television, but don't let that disguise the fact this is a deadly serious drama about the futility of old age, with some jokes. There are just enough minor gags and sweet moments to prevent the viewer from sticking one's own head in the proverbial oven before the movie is out. Of course there's tongue in cheek elements and it's ultimately ambiguous morally, and even with Katherine's rather disturbing real-life Parkinson's on display, playing a desperate suicidal granny, one might forget she went on to live for two more golden decades, well after this film sort of had quietly died in its sleep with hardly a trace of collective memory. There's enough humour in the history of this much maligned film alone to give it a patient and respectful look. I admire it's quirkiness and subversive attitude, giving the polite finger to the whole entertainment film establishment in a way, an anti-epitaph for many of the crew, but done in such a humane and quietly charismatic way.
The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970)
Groovy and spooky
The look of the film has a certain tawdry gloss, like Moore's ruffled polo neck or an overflowing crystal ashtray and it's well worth a watch to peek at the tail end of 1960s culture and the rise of petroleum addiction. The story is way out there man, but there's something supernatural too about the film in a meta sense, with Moore's character saying early on that 'intrigue is not about James bond and his Majestys secret service' years before he became Bond himself, and another spooky thing is that, according to Winnert, the director died in a crash not long after the film's theatrical release, on a section of the M4, near Brentford, weirdly close to the initial reckless driving scene location. I suppose Basil Dearden is the man who haunted his own movie.
Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
Craziest Christmas movie ever!
This is a delightful weaving of comedy, earnest teen coming-of-age drama, perky spontaneous music & dance, err... horror, obviously, and above all delicious black humour. I can't stand zombies really but in a comedy context like this, and yes of course in the legendary Shaun if the Dead, it's a real hoot to have them stumbling around. Top marks for the geniuses who managed to balance all the elements here together so well. It also feels so very British a film and the writing is smart and sassy and the jokes and characters so nicely self-deprecating. The scene with the beautiful young Ella Hunt blissfully singing and dancing in the street with her earphones on whist bloody mayhem plays out behind her is a real keeper and one can imagine this was a scream to make - with all the extras in bloddied up in work uniforms and Christmas garb. The little chase just after this by a single snow-man zombie in the playground, and so many other little compositions, like the dangerous passage through the high street Xmas tree emporium, worked to elevate the absurd beyond the sublime through to the ridiculous. Arguably virtually every horror movie is laced with humour, but this one confidently, carelessly wears it in its furry sleeve.