andy-evans-54-293461 Reviews

Road House (2024)

Superior Action Movie

[8/10 · 24 March 2024]

I grew up with the original Road House - a movie remembered with greater fondness than it deserves. This remake is a significant improvement.

Firstly, the script is knowing: it's smart enough and funny enough. The action, as one would expect from a Liman/Silver movie, is inventive, visceral, and fun. And the performances, particularly with Gyllenhaal in the lead, are very, very good. Despite reports to the contrary, even Conor McGregor ably acquits himself in what is his acting debut.

In particular, the switch in tone in the final third was surprising and well executed. That's the moment that elevated this movie above the standard B-movie action faire.

And so all in all, this was a really enjoyable surprise which showcases the sheer versatility of Gyllenhaal.

Hunger (II) (2023)

Film of two halves

[5/10 · 9 April 2023]

This is a film of two halves - unfortunately, these two halves belong in different movies.

The first half has the tone and feel of scabrous satire, clearly wanting to deliver social commentary. Here we are skirting really, really close to the same territory explored by The Menu. The second half discards this and, instead, mimics the dynamic and arc of Wall Street - only with restauranteurs. Which is a shame: the first half was visually arresting and had the potential to be both provocative and interesting. The second half less so.

This is another one of those movies which cause me to scratch my head: what did this want to be? What does the film maker imagine this film to be about?

If you're interested in writing, film-making or whatnot, there is such a thing as the elevator pitch. You're in a lift with some hotshot producer. You've got until those elevator doors ping to pitch your movie. This film, alas, fails that simple test.

Don't Worry Darling (I) (2022)

Visually arresting, high concep sci-fi

[7/10 · 17 March 2023]

I genuine do not get the hate with this film.

Don't Worry Darling is a high-concept, mind-bending sci-fi of the kind that might once have formed an episode of The Twilight Zone or Outer Limits, with strains of Philip K. Dick (it falls short of that high bar), Charlie Kaufman, and Ira Levin. The basic premise is that group of men create a virtual world in which they trap their partners within a mock 1950s America of cocktail parties, picket fences, and sports coupes.

Naturally, the heroine, well played by Florence Pugh, begins to question this reality, threatening to pull the entire thing down.

Director and co-star, Olivia Wilde, keeps all of this moving at a decent clip, and the style is distinctive and visually arresting. I saw that Harry Styles took some criticism for his performance, but, for me, he was good - charming, charismatic, with the right kind of nervous anxiety. Were it not for the controversy around on and off set shenanigans, this would likely have been lauded as a (movie) star making performance.

And that, for me, is the crux of the problem here: I strongly suspect that the rumoured relationship issues (particularly that between Wilde and Styles) damaged the movie. Which, I suppose, is sadly ironic. A movie which endeavours to deal with misogyny is then badly received, in part, because of misogyny: that an older female director would dare have a romantic entanglement with her younger male romantic lead - in a world where older male directors still regularly bed younger female stars.

Don't get me wrong, Don't Worry Darling is not perfect, the 'twist' isn't wholly satisfying, begs more questions that it answers, and - ultimately - feels a little insubstantial. More particularly, this does fall short of other comparable movies - most notably, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. However, the film is well made, looks great, is well acted, and delivers enough of a punch to fall on the right side of memorable. I hope Wilde gets to do something on this scale again, and soon.

This England (2022)

Classic Dom

[7/10 · 15 March 2023]

There is so many takeaways from this, but the stand out is the realisation that Dominic Cummings is just not very bright. In fact, I'd suggest that he is a bit of a twonk.

More generally, this is well done - it is well written, well performed, maintains a decent pace, covers the key moments of the pandemic in way that is very easy to follow. Dramatically, it generally delivers.

However, whilst Branagh, as Boris, captures the voice, the prosthetics are a problem. Winterbottom, et al, would have done well to consider Anthony Hopkins' performance as Nixon. Whilst they look nothing alike, Hopkins captured the physically of Nixon very well and built the performance up from that. I suspect that the prosthetics were an impediment and, sometimes, the physical performance, the hunch of the shoulders, the wave of the hands, the shake of the head, comes too close to parody to quite work.

The dream sequences, just to cement that Boris is a bad Dad, detracted. It was off point, added nothing, it should have been cut.

Finally, Contagion. In the first or second episode, Carrie and Boris are sat watching TV and there we find Kate Winslet explaining the reproductive properties of an imaginary virus, which just served to remind me how much better Soderbergh delivered all of this. Where this was baggy - multiple characters introduced, just to kill them off - Contagion was rigorous, tight, taut, and all the better for it. I understand what Winterbottom was trying to do: to give the hidden victims a voice - but, ultimately, Contagion delivered a greater punch through maintaining focus.

Oh, and some of those politicians - Hancock, and the like - really do belong in prison. That Tory Government really is stained in blood.

The Pogmentary (2022)

Ill advised and narcissistic.

[1/10 · 24 June 2022]

Paul Pogba makes Mourinho look like the good guy. Something I thought impossible.

His performances for United were consistently abject. To then leave, whining that the club wouldn't pay him even more money is, frankly, insulting. Mourinho allegedly called him a virus, and, sadly, I can see why. The very last thing anyone wants to see is a preening Paul Pogba pratting around.

Ill advised and narcissistic.

Invasion (2021–2024)

Dull and meandering

[4/10 · 28 December 2021]

On a positive note, the creature design is really good and some of the set pieces work well. On the downside, the writing is poor, the pace plodding, and the plot non-existent. Genuinely, the entire series gave the impression that the creators were writing episode to episode.

It's very rare to see money thrown at something quite so underwritten and pedestrian. Very, very disappointing, and very, very poor.

The Wheel of Time (2021– )

A load of old trollacs

[2/10 · 22 November 2021]

It's difficult to fathom quite how poor this is. The story is derivative, sub-Tolkien nonsense; the production is low rent; the dialogue excruciating; and the performances falling short of what you might expect to find in a cheap daytime soap.

But worse still, it's full of trollacs: badly designed, laughable, ridiculous trollacs.

Quite how this got made...

Dune (2021)

Perfect adaptation of a difficult epic

[10/10 · 22 October 2021]

I rarely leave reviews, but I've just come out of an early showing of Dune and all I can say is, 'Wow'. This is easily the most spectacular movie I've seen, the cinematography, the design, the visual effects, the choreography, and the set pieces are just jaw dropping.

The casting is near perfect, even for roles which have limited screen time and the world design matches my own imagings borne from reading the novels as a teenager.

The adaptation itself is really well handled. The film paints in broad strokes and so you always know where you are, and yet there is enough detail there for the Herbert devotee.

Watching this, it's really apparent the degree to which popular fiction owes Herbert a great debt: Game of Thrones, and Star Wars being two later universes heavily indebted to this work.

Strongly recommend: in fact, I may go see it for a second time.

I Care a Lot (2020)

Appallingly conceived

[2/10 · 19 February 2021]

It's rare for me to take against a movie to this degree.

There are multiple issues with I Care A Lot.

Firstly, it doesn't understand what kind of movie it is trying to be. It begins in the vein of Thank You For Smoking, careens off into schlock thriller territory, before trying to pull it back with Gone Girl type moves. It doesn't work.

Secondly, the film is profoundly stupid. On every level. Every decision taken by every character is the most moronic of all available options.

Thirdly, the film appears to be rooting for the Marla character. But the Marla character is unredeemably hideous in ways to which the film makers seem utterly oblivious.

Finally, the film is as shallow as a puddle. Despite the pretentious posturing, it has nothing to say whatsoever. And even the thing I think it may have been trying to say, just isn't worth saying.

Pike is excellent as always. I can see why they pulled her into this movie. But even she cannot salvage this objectionable, odious mess.