kinsmanivan Reviews

The House That Jack Built (2018)

I found this film rather intriguing

[8/10 · 25 January 2019]

I was interested in this film after reading about its reception at Cannes where I believe half the audience applauded and the other half booed.

It has been criticised for the extreme violence but I am prepared to give von Trier artistic licence here as the protagonist is a serial killer after all. I rather liked the Dantesque Inferno format to the plot's structure, as well as the focus on Jack's view that all the most evil men in mankind';s history have only been fulfilling William Blake's vision of man 'the Tiger' as opposed to 'the Lamb'. Whereas man is capable of extreme compassion, he is also capable of extreme cruelty as von Trier shows in this film.

Matt Dillon puts in an excellent performance, worthy in my opinion of an Oscar nomination. Riley Keough and also Uma Thurman are also very good in their cameo roles.

To me, Lars von Trier is back to his best here. This is not a film for everyone, but it is nice to see controversial films like this still being made as an antidote to the sugar-candided Hollywood pulp that is being churned out nowadays. So it gets a strong thumbs up from me.

The Bookshop (2017)

This is a beautifully crafted and well-acted film

[9/10 · 24 December 2018]

I was surprised by how much I liked The Bookstore. When I first read the newspaper reviews, I thought there was not much to it. However, I watched its premiere on NC+ and it is a beautiful gem.

Firstly the East Anglian scenery is spectacular. Secondly, the plot reminds me of Jane Austen with its focus on small vilage society and the petty spitefulness and kow-towing to the local bigwigs. The olot may be slow and meandering but this is part of the film's charm.

So, fine character acting, wonderful scenery and a plot which pulls the viewer means this film should have a much higher than many reviewers have given it in my opinion.

The Last Witness (2018)

For all discerning film viewers this is a film well worth seeing

[8/10 · 13 May 2018]

Being an Englishman who has been living in Poland for the last 16 years I was interested to see this joint Polish-Anglo production and it is definitely worth it for those viewers who are interested in this period of history just after the end of World War II.

The film, based on a true story, covers the British and American cover up of the Katyn massacre in 1940 by the Russian NKVD of around 22,000 Poles from the intelligentsia, military, church i.e. the country's elite. The victims were shot in the back of the head and buried in mass graves in the Katyn Forest, to be discovered a year later by German forces who were building a road thru the forest. In efforts to maintain the Russian commitment to defeating the Nazis, the massacre was blamed on the Germans.

Alex Pettyfer is very convincing in the role of Stephen Underwood, the young journalist who sets out to discover the mystery of why so many Polish soldiers are committing suicide in his area of Bristol. This is a mission that is of no interest to his editor (Michael Gambon) and he meets several obstacles along the way in his quest to find out the truth.

He is assisted in his quest by his lover, Jeanette Mitchell (Talulah Riley) who gives a good (but a times a little stilted ) performance and his efforts are being monitored by the British, headed by Mason Mitchell (Jeanette's homosexual husband played by Henry Lloyd-Hughes, who also puts in a convincing performance). The witness is played by the well-known actor, Robert Wieckiewicz, and his role is at the crux of the film's plot.

So, all in all a definite recommendation to see this film. Piotr Szkopiak (born to Polish parents in London - they were deported from Poland in 1939), who is both the film's director and co-writer, looks like a promising young director to watch out for.

Atomic Blonde (2017)

A definitely over-rated film in my opinion

[6/10 · 23 August 2017]

I think many reviewers, including the mainstream media, have been far too generous to this film.

Basically, the plot line is rather thin so there is a lot of emphasis on style. Charlize Theron ponces around in a lot of different designer outfits - she seems to be wearing a different one for each scene - and, despite knocking back bottles of Stolichnaya vodka and chain smoking, she still seems to be able to beat the crap out of every man who tries to kill her.

Percival, the British agent heading up Berlin, is another hard boozing, hard smoking spy who likes to drive at top speed around the city in his Porsche (wanting to blend into the local environment apparently, plus his short haircut).

The film does have some good fight scenes and what makes it credible is the West and East Berlin backdrop that is very authentic and captures the mood of the time, and I also enjoyed the 1980s background music. However, the whole film is a bit of a tongue-in- cheek romp that has a very thin veneer of depth to it.

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

This is the movie of 2016

[10/10 · 1 December 2016]

The standout feature of Tom Ford is his ability to bring visual art to the cinematic screen - the film has a fantastic glossy feel to it in terms of the panoramic scenery and the many close ups of the individual actors in this film. The opening scenes of the film are extraordinary and you remain totally gripped as the plot slowly unwinds.

The plot is a very clever story within a story combined with a revenge theme. Amy Adams (American Hustle) puts in a very strong performance as a hard-soft woman who leaves her 'sensitive' writer husband in the lurch to fall for a business tycoon-type who also, as she finds out, is leaving her in the lurch. Jake Gyllenhall plays a dual role as Edward, a young writer, and also Tony, the husband and father of two women who are savagely raped and murdered on a road trip through West Texas. However, for me the stand-out performance is by Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire) who plays are hard boiled Texas policeman who, with Tony's assistance, is determined to find the killers and bring them to justice, either within or outside the law.

This is a must-see art house-,style film that is the product of one of the best current directors (along with Derek Cianfrance ['Blue Valentine', 'The Light between Oceans'] and also similar in style to Jonathan Glazer ['Sexy Beast'/Ray Winstone]) making extremely appealing films.

If.... (1968)

One of my favourite all-time films

[10/10 · 21 November 2016]

This is a brilliant film for depicting the clash between authority and youth in the 1960s counter-culture. Malcolm Macdowell puts in an excellent performance as the leader of a gang of 'crusaders' who are out to take on the oppressive authoritative regime at their public school, with overreaching authority placed in the hands of the whips.

There are some extremely powerful scenes such as the beating given to the three school boys by their elders for their bad attitude, the classic cafe scene and the acrobatic scene when an elder boy (Richard Warwick) goes through a gymnastic routine on a bar watched and admired by a younger boy (Rupert Webster). Richard Swann also stands out for his performance as the cynical and emotionally restrained head whip - Rowntree, as does Arthur Lowe as the downtrodden housemaster, Mr Kemp.

The film slowly tracks the growing resentment of the crusaders to their treatment and ends in a stunning climax.

This Sporting Life (1963)

A good gritty northern England drama

[8/10 · 21 November 2016]

Lindsay Anderson's first film, Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts put in two strong performances. The film successfully depicts the class snobbery between a working class rugby player and those who seek to use his talents for their own personal gratification.

Frustrated by the absence of anything truly meaningful in his life, the rugby player seeks some kind of meaning in his love for his widowed landlady, who has a young son and daughter. She tries to fight his advances, clinging on to her memories of her husband who either died or committed suicide in an accident for Weaver's Engineering firm. Finally she succumbs but is upset by her status as a kept woman, and the strain proves to be too much for her.

Similar in style to that other great classic, 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning', This Sporting Life is very watchable, even just for seeing a young Richard Harris displaying his acting talent.

The Light Between Oceans (2016)

This is a beautifully shot and acted film

[10/10 · 21 November 2016]

When I read this on Wikidpedia I was amazed:

Critical Review The Light Between Oceans received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 59%, based on 133 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Light Between Oceans presents a well-acted and handsomely mounted adaptation of its bestselling source material, but ultimately tugs on the heartstrings too often to be effective."

This is a brilliantly acted film with some stunning scenery filmed in New Zealand. Both Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander put in two very strong performances, along with Rachel Weisz in a supporting role, and the film completely captures the period after the First World War. To me it seemed very much in the mode of 'The Piano' and equally as strong in terms of its dramatic dynamics and conflicts.

I saw this film with my wife who was equally impressed so I think it has an appeal for both a female and male audience. Definitely should be an Oscar contender and both actors deserve a gong for their performances.