Hotel Mumbai

Sky’s record of making their own films has been mixed, however Hotel Mumbai is a step up.

Based on the real life, horrific terror attacks in 2008 the film focuses on the siege at the Hotel Taj.

This is not an easy watch, but of course it’s not meant to be, as it attempts to capture not only the terror and tension, but also both sides of humanity, one with a complete disregard for life, while the other has a complete disregard for their safety to save the lives of others.

Dev Patel as always is hugely watchable in the lead role and provides our bridge between the local population and the opulence, wealth and of course terror at the Hotel Taj.

He’s well supported by Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher and Jason Issacs.

It’s a well told, if shocking story, which kept me invested from start to finish showing humanity at it’s very best and worst.

13th Oct 2019 0

Joker

One of the problems of films that come with a lot of hype is the inevitable disappointment when you finally see them. It’s the reason I try to avoid reviews until I’ve seen a film. However, the buzz around Joker has been tricky to miss and most of that has hyped this up into something special.

Inevitable disappointment then? Not a bit of it, what an incredible film this is. If you are expecting a comic book film then that’s not really what you get, instead you get a dark and brooding portrayal of a man on the edge, desperate, depressed, deluded and as he pointedly says later “what do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that doesn’t care?”.

It’s fantastically shot, with a brilliant musical score, well paced and well timed at 2 hours, never letting itself get distracted by long ponderous diversions and although it has graphic violence, it is limited to moments.

But most of all what it is, is an incredible performance by Joaquin Phoenix constantly and menacingly close to the edge, as life persistently chips away at him, one crushing disappointment at a time. His balance between control and unhinged madness is fantastic, delivering a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

While some critics seem to have taken this film as some kind of cynical and manipulative exercise, for me it’s an incredible piece of work which owes a bit of a debt to American Psycho. It is not a comic book origins film, but a really well made portrait of someone descending into psychotic madness, an incredible film with an outstanding central performance.

6th Oct 2019 0

Booksmart

Finally caught up with this last night, really enjoyed it, smart, funny and offered some nice twists on the well trodden high school high jinks genre (may have just invented that genre!).

Carried along by two smart and charming central performances from Kaitlyn Dever (Amy) and Beanie Feldstein (Molly). The story centres around two girls who ditched high school fun for hard work and study to ensure they get into their chosen colleges, but when they find that other kids who’d partied also got into those colleges they decide they need to have some fun the night before graduation.

As you can imagine American Pie style fun ensues. But to its credit it offers more than that and for me it focussed on the problems of pre-judging those we don’t really know, across the film not only do we discover different sides to everyone but also we see how others don’t percieve Amy and Molly in the way they assume they do.

While it’s not earth shatteringly original, it provides some nice twists on the formula and it is packed with humour, charm and plenty of heart.

6th Oct 2019 0

Judy

I think it’s easy to take against this film, it doesn’t really explore anything different and if like me you don’t know much about Judy Garland, it’s hard to judge whether it’s an accurate reflection of the end of Garlands life.

But that said, what this film has is a wonderful central performance by Renee Zellweger, she dominates the screen with a powerful and nuanced portrayal of Garland.

The film shows the sadness of Garlands life from young star through to troubled superstar where years of drink and drugs have taken a heavy toll, a life of broken marriages, hangers on and people keen to hang their hat from Garlands star.

There’s plenty of touching moments in her performance, sadness, loneliness and maybe most touching of all those little bits of happiness that come when she performs and moments she gets to live a normal life.

While the film is no earth shattering expose and treads a well warn path of movie of a tragic star (dying at just 47) it is definitely elevated by a captivating performance by Zellweger and well supported especially by the increasingly watchable Jessie Buckely. There’s also a lovely final moment, when she sings.. well you know what she sings…

Won’t rock everybody’s world, but if you’re like me and get drawn into the central performance you’ll go with it and find a touching and tragic story.

5th Oct 2019 0

Rambo:Last Blood

On my way to see this I was hoping for more of a First Blood, which I always felt was a decent film, looking at the isolation of someone who was mentally scarred by what he’d seen in the armed forces. The problem with the Rambo films was that they became increasingly ridiculous as the series progressed, taking on tanks with a crossbow by the time 3 rolled around.

The other hope was that Rambo would be treated to the kind of send off Rocky is getting, especially in the excellent Creed films, sadly what we got was Rambo jumping a Rambo sized shark!

I didn’t hate this film, I enjoy Stallone on screen and of course there is the pleasant feeling that comes with some 80’s nostalgia, but that said, Rambo deserved better than this. The plot has more holes than the bad guys when John finishes with them, the premise makes no sense even though the whole story is signposted in 25ft high letters from the start.

It’s a predictable, plodding story that exists only as the platform for the last 30 minutes of full on insanely graphic Rambo revenge action, which introduces a range of new and intriguing killing methods that makes Tarantino look like Walt Disney.

If this is to be the last outing of John Rambo it’s a disappointing one, a bit of a mess, with a ridiculous plot, but not without a splash of full on Rambo for good measure and it is only 89 minutes long!

20th Sep 2019 0

The Hate U Give

Didn’t manage to see this at the cinema so only just caught up with it.

I don’t pretend to know the world this film is set in however, the fact that this story has any ring of truth to it at all is saddening (and it feels safe to say, it has more than a ring of truth to it).

Reading the background to the film, based on a young adult novel by Angie Thomas, perhaps explains some of its less balanced elements.

The story is a complex one and while the complexity is well realised, especially in the central performances of Amandla Stenberg as Starr and Russel Hornsby as her father, who is in a constant battle to find a way to teach his kids the delicate balance between embracing their heritage while realising it is also seen as a threat to some, it does occasionally slip into over simplification, making it feel a little tonally unbalanced.

But that said, while it’s not perfect, the central story is so powerful its easy to forgive those slips, Stenberg captures Starrs struggles brilliantly, drawing you in to her internal challenge to decide on what’s right for her, her friends, future and community.

It is also not afraid to ask questions about why Starrs community is seen as it is and how the community itself can perpetuate dangerous misconceptions.

A film that doesn’t always quite work, still presents a powerful and complex story, not a film made to “enjoy” but one to watch and appreciate that as difficult as it is to comprehend, the story does portray a very real problem and for that is well worth the watch.

7th Sep 2019 0

The Kid Who Would be King

Trouble with watching a lot of films is when you are on a plane and looking for something to entertain away a couple of hours you’ve invariably seen most of what’s on offer and you have to search the lists looking for something you’d missed at the cinema.

The Kid Who Would be King, was one such gem, apparently had some sniffy reviews, but genuinely can’t see why.

A good hearted old school adventure, built around the legend of King Arthur, updated and set in contemporary England, where a group of school kids step up as modern Arthur and his knights.

While the story arc doesn’t take you anywhere surprising, its warm heart and likeable central performances keep you cheering the kids on in their adventures. As with all good legends it comes with a message “working together and for one another can make a difference” , it also has a thick slice of social commentary but just about stays away from been too preachy.

Don’t think it was a huge cinema hit, which is a pity as it deserves an audience for bringing a proper old school family adventure to the screen, go find it and give it a watch.

28th Aug 2019 0

Dora the Explorer and the Lost City of Gold

I’m not exactly the target audience for this and my kids a little old for Dora now, but my daughter in particular, enjoyed the adventures of Dora, Backpack and Boots when she was growing up, so how would Dora the movie stack up?

Pretty well it would seem, a really enjoyable, warm hearted and fun big screen, live action transition for everyone’s favourite young explorer.

Dora played with a real charm by Isabela Moner, sees the film mixing smart nods to the original cartoon with a fun Indiana Jones, Tombraider adventure, making full use of and knowing nods to the Explorer adventure movie genre.

Moner is well supported by a good central cast, who all bring the necessary fun and energy to the film.

A really well done and lovingly handled film version of the cartoon, plenty of fun for kids and grown up kids alike.

26th Aug 2019 0

The Breadwinner

On a bit of a mid week home film night I wanted to try something on my watch list, so up popped The Breadwinner.

Some of my favourite films are animations and not just the gorgeous work of Pixar but also those you’d class as “world cinema”, think Ponyo and Kubo and the two strings.

The Breadwinner falls into that category, beautifully telling the story of Parvana, a young girl in Taliban controlled Afghanistan who finds herself the titular Breadwinner when her father is imprisoned.

It follows her struggle to see him again and takes her on a journey filled with stories of friendship, love and kindness in the face of violence and oppression, she is carried along and given strength by sharing a magical story of a small boy and an evil elephant

A gorgeous animation told with a real charm, covering a difficult story with the tenderness and magic only animation can really do. A lovely watch.

21st Aug 2019 0

Beautiful Boy

A tough one this, not a film to enjoy, the topic doesn’t really allow for that.

As a parent Steve Carell captures the desperation and feeling of hopelessness as he watches the catastrophic impact of drug addiction on his son, Timothee Chamalet is fantastic as the titular beautiful boy, portraying the slip into addiction, the problems of trying to quit and the personality shift from nice kid to selfish self destructive addict.

The issues for me perhaps come from it been based on the books of both Nic and David Chef, making it sometimes feel a little disjointed as it attempts to portray both sides of the addiction story.

It is a tough story which makes it a hard watch at times, but glad I did.

18th Aug 2019 0