Cinema - Reviews by Magic Marmalade

Cinema - Reviews by Magic Marmalade

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Magic Marmalade 2nd Sep 2021		Cinema The Forgotten (2004) (2004)	Rated 7/10 Feels like a made for TV production... ...A bit cheap, with ideas above it's station. There's moments of pretty wobbly (literally!) camera work early on, and it feels like it's setting itself up to rehash an old idea of a psychological thriller about what if everyone forgot about someone you knew except you, and presenting itself as something more profound, but with that whole NCIS vibe going on. For this reason, I was not impressed early on, feeling it was miles below where it thought it wanted to be... ...At the same time, I was perplexed at the truly astonishing cast in this, for such a cheapo production... contractual obligation? .... tax loss enterprise? ...But no, as it very soon answered all my queries, and allayed my fears, by showing itself for what it truly was... an extended Twilight Zone episode... now it all makes sense! And judged on that basis, it got better and better in the watching, using that basic premise merely as a platform for a mystery / conspiracy film. And especially the rather cruddy music score over the top, suddenly it made all the sense in the world: I mention Twilight Zone, when actually, this has all the hallmarks of The X-Files! It is basically that... a not overly long (hour and a half) episode of the X-files, which, if you love that series, you'll more than probably like this> In fact, I'm certain you will. A few twists, some nicely genuinely surprising moments, and a good evening watch on the TV. (Probably suffered on a cinema screen by virtue of it's shortcomings in this regard, but on the TV, late night... much more at home!) 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 23rd Aug 2021		Cinema Peterloo (2018) (2018)	Rated 8/10 An extraordinary film. An historical piece, which serves to record a shameful event in British history, it centres around the immediate aftermath of the victory at Waterloo, where proud and preening aristocracy and ruling classes overtaxed, and underserved the struggling people of Manchester, Lancashire, who having basically delivered this victory through the expense of their blood, sweat, and indeed, tears, were all but forgotten in their demands for some basic subsistence, and the representation in Parliament that would give it to them... ....Naturally, they began to get more than a little agitated, and were threatening to rise up against their government if they did not get what they wanted. The uncaring government, and the subordinate landed gentry, Industrial magnates and company sought to "Quell" this unrest by sending the Yeomanry (Soldiers / police of their day) to supress and disperse an event held in St. Peter's Field, where the ordinary people of the towns and villages had gathered to hear Henry Hunt speak concerning their rights, and it ended up with an overzealous cavalry charge through a crowd of men, women, and children that left 18 people dead... and so was recorded as the "Peterloo Massacre" of 1819 thereafter by the media of the day. While this is one of those historical stories that is basically no more than a short article's worth to convey the essential facts, Mike Leigh delves deeper, by fleshing out the story with characters representing the people of the time and place, in a series of home-stead conversations, and set piece public speaking events. ...It is presented, therefore, as a series of discussions a lot like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, with each conversation more like a small treatise on Civil Rights and Liberties, from home spun philosophies to great speeches and pronouncements on the subject, all leading up to the titular catastrophe, and which serve to give it context, and underline it. This is not a conventional "drama", or period piece therefore, and is a thinking person's film, like a mediation on civil rights.... a "speaky" - "Talky" film.... ...A serious study of a serious subject. There is no music score, only the occasional piece of contemporary folk music played by characters in the film, and each frame of this movie is shot like an old oil painting by Rembrandt, or Vermeer... truly stunning cinematography! The "everyday-ness", and ordinariness of the characters, in presenting them as people you might know, and speak to them, and their almost festive mood on the occasion of a day out to journey to the event only serves to heighten the horror of the final disaster, as it too, is unscored, and filled with only the awfulness of the various screams, and random, jutting movements of horses, people and soldiers flashing across the screen in the grim confusion of the situation as the mood turns, and it descends into hideous chaos. An important film, therefore, and one which people, especially here in Britain ought to see, although wherever you are in the world, it's themes and events may be all too Universally understood. If there is a criticism I have of it, it's that the film ends rather too abruptly... with no follow up of what becomes of the various characters, almost like they've served their purpose, in telling the story, then ditched... even though they have been well built up, and moulded by the actors through the rest of the film.... seems a little callous, and odd, given the movie itself is about the indifference of some sections of society toward others. Would make a nice double feature, by way of contrast, to more mannered and reverential: The Madness Of King George... or maybe Blackadder III, as these also feature fat git parasite The Prince Regent (Later: George IV :). 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 9th Aug 2021		Cinema Unsane (2018) (2018)	Rated 8/10 Another one flew over the cuckoo's nest... ...But the premise of being an otherwise sane person in a psychiatric institution among people who are not is where the similarity ends. .....Well, other than it becomes difficult to tell the difference between sane and insane, which is a device well utilised here. This is basically your standard nightmare scenario: You're suffering somewhat, so seek counselling, and they say: "Sign here" and admit you to an institution for what you think is a day or so, not realising that the term of the contract you've signed is at least a week, and everyone thinks you're nuts... And of course, the more you protest, and the more strenuously you do so, the more nuts you seem. In this case, Sawyer is suffering from paranoia due to an experience with a stalker, and when she sees his presence everywhere, decides to get help, but ends up getting "committed". Obviously, this examines the idea that many women face of not being believed when they assert that they are being, or have been victimised, stalked... or worse. Indeed, she is convinced her stalker is one of the staff in the institution, with whom, and under who's power, she now finds herself. ...Is she right, or is she genuinely paranoid, and suffering from mental health issues? This ambiguity is maintained for just long enough, before taking a few twisty turns, such as is her institutionalisation been part of a conspiracy among health care and insurance companies... a scam, of sorts... Or is that part of her delusion too? Queue the "Kafka-esque" oppressive nightmare situation label. This is brilliantly conveyed by virtue of being shot (I think) on VHS tape, with that over-saturated look, and in a standard aspect ratio (There's bars down the sides of the screen), with very carefully crafted shots from strange angles, showing strange, or slightly "off" and unsettling scenes that would otherwise look crushingly normal... And almost fish-eye lens shots on occasions. ...But it's more than that, as you get the impression this is a bit of a pet project, or labour of love for Steven Soderbergh, as there are a dozen or more influences you can readily pick out, and which have been chucked in a bag, given a shake, and created this... ...Such as the look, and feel of the movie being very reminiscent of George A. Romero's seventies / eighties Day Of The Dead films, and there's more than a hint of Silence Of the Lambs, Michael Mann's Manhunter, a good helping of John Carpenter / Halloween vibe, and done in a kind of hand-held camera, Blair Witch way, with a seventies style title and end credit shot. Not overly long, and an hour and a half, but uses the time well, being constantly tense, suspenseful and claustrophobic, and keeps kicking into different gears as it thickens it's plot at certain intervals. Occasional gore, and violence, some pretty grim (Would make a nice double header with: Joker!). Claire Foy carries the film, brilliantly conveying her character's turmoil through the ordeal, and the rest of the cast are great too. If you are a fan of those seventies and eighties thriller / horror nuggets, you'll love this, as it has one of those cult classic, shown in the dead of night gems feel about it, which I don't think the poster or cover of the DVD does justice to... (Actually, I think it's a case of mis-selling, as that poster art makes it look like a slicker, bigger budget affair / vehicle for upcoming starlet, which this isn't). [YouTube Video] 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 1st Aug 2021		Cinema Napoleon Dynamite (2004) (2004)	Rated 7/10 Bit of a Marmite movie this one... ...You will either appreciate it's wild eccentricity as a subtle form of brilliance, or you will be one of those people who say: "I don't get it". I found this on one of my old recordable DVDs during lockdown, and forgot I had it. It had been a while since I last watched it, and wondered if it was still as funny as I remembered... And I believe it is. ...It's humour may not be for everyone, as these are boldly drawn, even stereotypical characters, centring around the titular Napoleon Dynamite, who is a "socially awkward" chap to say the least. A guy who is a bit "bully fodder" in his school, and on the extreme outer fringes of nerd-dom among his contemporaries, ...However, he is not the only one, as he begins to gather a couple of outsiders / oddballs as friends, one of whom... Pedro, he tries to get elected as class president. Also, less aided, and more impeded by his own equally odd family, when his grandmother, who he lives with, goes away for a spell, leaving creepy and developmentally arrested Uncle Rico comes to "babysit" Napoleon and Kip, and decides to try an make the most of the opportunity. There are some really laugh out moments in this, including, my favourite part, the dangers of using a mail order time-machine :), and of course, the pay off moment, when, with the aid of a funky Jamiroquai track, and teach yourself to dance VHS cassette, Napoleon saves the day, and has a genuinely uplifting sub-urban super-hero moment. An odd movie, for odd people, like me! :) [YouTube Video] ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 1st Aug 2021		Cinema Bumblebee (2018) (2018)	Rated 9/10 The best Transformers movie by a mile! In fact, you don't really need to buy into the whole Transformers thing to enjoy this superb movie. ...And that's because this is more properly to be considered a retro eighties family fun movie of the kind Spielberg used to make back in the day... ...It just happens to have a Transformers character (s) at the centre of it. It's basically an origin story of how the Transformers came to earth, by way of a sending a scout robot (Bumblebee), who unfortunately has lost not only his voice, but his memory also, and is hunted and pursued not only by the bad guy robots, but by the earth-man military. Having parked up in an old scrap yard, he is found by Hailee Steinfeld's (is there anything this girl cannot do.... best actor of her generation?) outsider / misfit eighties teen to be her first car. Of course, she's got all of the usual eighties teen angst issues going on, and befriending the alien robot helps her work through a lot of these issues, in addition to throwing her into an intergalactic struggle to help Bumblebee recover his wits, and accomplish his mission, while evading his many adversaries. There is, other than the couple of evil robots, predominantly only this one Transformer here in this movie, which makes for a more focused film, and it is more about the relationship between her and Bumblebee. Very warm, great fun, and unlike many of the transformers movies, well pitched, in terms of tone, the humour isn't "off" (it knows who it's audience is). ...It will have great appeal to the original transformers fans, who grew up with them in the eighties, as this is, essentially, and eighties film that has somehow escaped into this horrible new millennium to remind us all what fun used to look like. Drenched in an incredibly well chosen eighties pop / alt soundtrack... (There's even a Smiths song here!) ...This is an absolute gem,,, shame I left it so late to watch it, I think I was put off the prospect by having been beaten into despondency by the previous Transformers movies... ... Real great popcorn Saturday night movie. Thoroughly enjoyable! :) [YouTube Video] ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 25th Jul 2021		Cinema Crawl (2019)	Rated 7/10 Too good a film for what it is. ...By that, I mean, this is a basic sea-creature feature type of thing, like you've seen a thousand times before, most notably in the shape of the original gold standard Jaws, through to Alligator (Remember that! :) - which this basically is, in new digitally enhanced trousers), Piranha, Sharknado perhaps, Mega Pirnaha, and etc. and etc. and so on, and so forth. - Except, the film-makers have gone about this with production values as if it was an Oscar contender! Mercifully, it's not over-long, and is very entertaining and enjoyable, with a basic set-up, of young woman... (Who purely coincidentally, happens to be a swimming prodigy... what are the chances!?!) ... venturing deep into a disaster area caused by a hurricane induced flood, to rescue / recover her dad, who has stayed behind, and become incommunicado... (meaning all the other locals have been evacuated, and the big nasty Alligator gang has had the opportunity to move in.... yikes!) But some very good decisions, make this film work, it doesn't try to encompass the whole weather / disaster movie epic scope, but keeps the action very tightly focused around the house, in which they are trapped with the big green meanies lurking around. ...This makes for a more claustrophobic movie based more on tension than the usual gore-fest you usually get from these movies. (There is some gore, but shot at a some distance for the most part, and artfully, and occasionally done.) And so it mainly rests on the two lead actors here, who really are good - Kaya Scodelario carries the full weight of the film convincingly, and Barry Pepper gives strong support. The thing that really sets this a cut above the rest, is the cinematography, staging / set design, and directing... films that look this good are usually reserved for more arty affairs, but it really does add atmosphere, because you are not distracted by unconvincing Hollywood cheapo weather affects, or comedy horror trying not to be. The only thing that possibly lets this down though is the CGI Alligators themselves, as I've yet to see convincing and realistic movement and behaviour of an animal in cinema created this way... but they are sparingly used for the most part, and the great cinematography conceals a lot of the short-comings of the beasties... (But oddly, also highlights them by way of contrast with the realism of the rest of the set.) ((Might even have been better tog o the animatronic route in some instances... might not have been the best, but I always appreciate the craft in creating a real alligator, albeit a stiff one, rather than just CGI-ing the thing)) So, Father and Daughter stuck in house basement which is slowly filling up with floodwater and Alligators, which they have to outsmart to survive... ... Worth an hour or two of anyone's time, and very enjoyable. Solid 7. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 30th Jun 2021		Cinema Upgrade (2018)	Review Bit of a RoboCop rip off, and with a few other movie elements mashed in, but an enjoyable film nonetheless... ... Little bit of action, some schlocky gore, and a few interesting ideas / twists on established sci fi themes. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 7th Apr 2021		Cinema (500) Days Of Summer (2009) (2009)	Rated 8/10 A boy becomes a man... ...the hard way. For as this movie makes clear, this is not a love story, it's a story about love... especially how young guys drag their adolescence into adulthood, before "love" or infatuation kicks it out of them... (sometimes) As Tom works in a greeting card company, and is basically a young guy with dreams of a life in architecture which seems destined to remain one of those dream not acted upon, all the while hanging out with his friends pretty much the same as he did at school, and with the corresponding level of maturity... ...Until, of course, the mysterious young woman arrives in the company, in the shape of Summer. Naturally, he gets all moody, goes overboard, and has his heart broken. The film jumps about across the titular 500 days, contrasting the good days of hazy romantic idealised memory, and juxtaposes them with the gloomy 20-something-noir days of his crushed existence because of her. And in so doing, he's trying to gain perspective on the events of the 500 days, and their relationship, and come out the other side... perhaps a little wiser. This film could easily be mistaken for a typical teen-angst, high school style melodrama for a younger audience, but actually, it's much more than that, as it is very innovative, witty, very sharply written, and very funny. probably for a slightly older 30 something audience looking back (And trying not to cringe at themselves). For me, at least, this was the role that hanged my perception of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an actor - no longer a "child star", and moved him into an area that allowed him to go star in Christopher Nolan films and such. And a brave role for Zooey Deschanel to take, as she is, at least on first viewing (And seeing as this is told from Tom's prespective), cast as the distant, remote ice queen villain of the piece... (Tom even muses at one point if she is in fact, a robot :) But you eventually realise that it's mainly Tom being a deluded douche, misreading, and misinterpreting through the prism of his youth. (So themes older guys and younger gals will recognise, and perhaps be all too familiar with) Over all, a very sharp, funny, and fun, romantic comedy that is a deprecation of a young guy who takes himself too seriously. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 23rd Mar 2021		Cinema Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) (2020)	Rated 7/10 Really enjoyable movie... ...As opposed to either, the usual over-wrought DC Zach Snyder style, made for adolescent-teen sludge, or the once in a blue moon Nolan ones or the recent brilliance of Joker. A nice, lighter tone that doesn't require a degree in comic book lore, and is actually entertaining. Great opening sequence, once again Zimmer delivers a knockout score, and a very playful, humorous tone mocking (or satirising) some aspects of the eighties, while acknowledging some of the darker cold war aspects. An eighties style millionaire (?)... (modelled on nobody in particular I'm sure ...ahem) ... Is up to something, with a too good to be true business empire punted constantly on TV, and an interest in a particular object which has found it's way via the FBI, into the museum where Wonder Woman works, alongside Kristen Wiig's rather downtrodden low self esteemed multi- ologist. Dreams are offered, but perhaps at cost... or maybe it's all fake news? :) If there are a few downsides to this, it's that maybe there are too many strong ideas competing in here, each of which, might have been worthy of it's own film... female empowerment in the face of antiquated sexual predation (Metoo), and where that goes, amongst other things... ...And also, the effects, with regards fight / action sequences, which in interior settings, are quite brilliantly done, but look pretty shoddy, unrealistic, and preposterous in exterior locations for some reason.,,, the physics of it all, especially outside doesn't really work at all, especially as it has that contrast of the realistic interior work to underline just how bogus it looks. But minor quibbles, really, in an otherwise excellent, entertaining film. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 18th Mar 2021		Cinema Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) (2004)	Rated 8/10 Sci-Fi Romantic tragi-comedy. Given this was written by the baffling genius that is Charlie Kaufman, and directed by the quite singular Michel Gondry, this was always going to be a double bonkers brain scrambler... ...And so it is... ...In fact, that's the plot too! Jim Carey's grim and miserable Joel is suffering, for reasons he can't quite put his finger on, until he meets Kate Winslet's super-flake Clementine at a train station... and the two feel drawn together, almost like they've met before. And that's because they have. Turns out, they had a doomed, and fractious relationship, that made both so miserable, that Clementine had Joel erased from her memory, causing double despair to Joel, so he decides he can't live with that, and resolves to have her erased from his memory too. Until, of course, he changes his mind... unfortunately, while the procedure is taking place. The movie follows Joel being chased through his own mind and memories by this erasing procedure as he tries to preserve the memory of Clementine in the most obscure corners of his brain. It is, of course (consistent with the subject matter) quite a confusing film from the outset, using an almost Christopher Nolan-esque chopped and re-sorted time structure, but gradually, it pulls together and makes sense. It's all very clever, and seems a very writer-ly piece of zany philosophical, meditative madness, but what emerges at the end is sense of real warmth, and heart... and there's plenty of laughs along the way. This was one of my pre-lockdown charity shop DVD purchases, which I've watched a couple of times since, and it is growing on me more and more. One for the 21st century romantics. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 12th Feb 2021		Cinema T2 Trainspotting (2017) (2017)	Rated 7/10 Oh no... a sequel to Trainspotting! ...I thought, on discovering this follow up to the quintessential mid nineties brit-pop era brit-flick defining movie masterpiece, but now having seen it (there was nothing else on telly), I am very very pleasantly surprised. While there are of course, allusions to the original, it is a clear progression of that story, and feels just like a continuation of it, while having many of of it's own original elements, to make it work on it's own (not just relive old glories). Mark Renton's life has hit the buffers since running away with the cash he stole from his friends last time we saw him, and has returned home to face the music. Finding his old friends either having grown up and moved on... or refused to do so in some cases! Begbie is in prison, but not for long if he has anything to do with it, and he's after Mark with a genuine vengeance. So it's a reckoning for the events of the original, just as it is set in the context of melancholic nostalgia for the past, and being psychologically stuck there... while trying to move on. (I'm sure nobody on this site recognises those themes! :) Danny Boyle brings his fresh, snappy, and innovative directing style to the mix, to make a worthy Part II. 8 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 8th Jan 2021		Cinema Cold In July (2014) (2014)	Rated 9/10 Violent, grim, disturbing, but really quite brilliant. This is one that has you sitting mesmerised and mostly open mouthed, unable to take your eyes away from the screen as this deeply atmospheric journey into darkness sets out apparently as one kind of film, but gradually mutates into an altogether different movie over is duration. In the face of it, it's about a man struggling to deal with the aftermath of having shot an intruder in his own home while his family slept... So you think it's going to be an anti gun meditation piece... But then it shifts into a kind stalker horror revenge movie, as someone was clearly but happy with him for his actions, before shifting even more, by turns, into a conspiracy mystery, then finally an all out revenge movie, with savage twists that are not for the feint hearted. I sat and watched it first time round having known nothing about it going in, but found it a brutally refreshing, and compelling watch. Strange that more was not made of it at the time, but in time, I think this will be considered an absolute classic of its era. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 6th Jan 2021		Cinema Tenet (2020) (2020)	Rated 6/10 Sci-fi James Bond style time heist palindrome movie ...Basically, a complete mind - f*&k in a can :) And while this nothing less than we have come to expect from Christopher Nolan - his usual twist on otherwise long established ideas make you look past the fact that a lot of what is here, you've seen before. It does borrow heavily from, or allude to modern, Daniel Craig era James Bond movies, both in terms of style, character types and presentation, replete with stereotypical (almost offensively broad) characterization of Russian baddie... (gives Kenneth Brannagh a chance to show off his more exotically terrifying slices of acting ham! :) John David Washington is hugely impressive in the "Bond" style lead character, with huge prescence, even though he is playing opposite Elizabeth Debicki's giraffe. The problem really is about the subject matter... in that you're always on thin ice when trying to make sense of time travel, especially in the face of a savvy audience, who's prime occupation these days is to pick holes in the shaky physics of it all (rather than enjoy the movie)... ...And after all, the ones that work in this area of sci-fi hit the sweet spot, of giving just enough physics (explanations thereof) to give the impression you know what you are talking about, and to set up the dramatic potential of the story, but without degenerating into ever more desperate logical justifications that cause characters to give on screen lectures about it while the premise dissolves like wet tissue paper just as quickly as the audience begins looking at their phones instead. (Nobody questions the time travel of Back to the Future for this reason... it don't get in the way of the yarn!) ...But even this would be too simple for Mr. Nolan, and has, instead, attempted a movie as technical exercise in constructing a narrative palindrome... and it really does seem he's finally bitten off more than he can chew here. I think he's buried the fact that he doesn't know the logical inconsistencies here in obscurity and obfuscation: Give a a couple of mind bending explanations using big words and people will believe it means something, even though it's clearly horseshit. But, it's something new, and makes you work as a viewer (a blessed relief in today's movie terms), and oddly, given the subject matter, unpredictable, and there's enough action and suspense to keep you interested, and distract you from probing too deeply into how the magic trick is done. Two outstanding issues though (perhaps they are the same issue?), is that this seems to be set up as being only half the story (palindrome), which could be why it doesn't quite work as such, as is, so a sequel should be on the cards, or resolution at least... and this is even more suggested by the fact that the huge set piece at the start, which has a couple of unexplained moments in it does not appear, or referenced at all at the end... which is where I suspect any potential sequel would end. Notably, no co-writing credit on this movie for Nolan's brother, and frequent collaborator (probably could have helped square this up a bit more), and no Hans Zimmer score this time... but instead a very experimental backwards, Aphex Twin does 1980s Tron soundtrack jangle and scrape fest... which is both consistent with the images on screen, and really interesting ! (one to seek out I think!) So possibly a case of Christopher Nolan's reach finally exceeding his grasp... (and makes you wonder what he has to do to up the ante for his next movie from this!) ... And is a thrill to see first time round, but I don't think it will be as good to watch in the necessary repeat viewing. 9 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 22nd Nov 2020		Cinema Love Actually (2003) (2003)	Rated 2/10 Ooooh I HATE this film!!! It fills me with a wretched pulsing fury of loathing and detestation for it's crass, moronic script writing, "characters", and mostly for the fact that a couple of the story threads could have been made into potentially great films by themselves, but are swamped in the rest of this s&t.. A steaming fetid turd of a perverted, over-sugared quasi -Hallmark card sentimentality that makes my eyes bleed, my ears clench and my anus twitch with rage so much I nearly lose a sofa cushion to the unknown! ...but as it happens, I find that that's quite cathartic, and I feel clean afterwards... ....And so I watch it every year :) (I shall be hating it doubly hard this year... I may even pop something!)* 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 12th Nov 2020		Cinema White Men Can't Jump (1992) (1992)	Rated 8/10 Not sure how this stands up to political correctness these days... ...It was a bit edgy and controversial way back when it first came out, and there's the odd moment Woody Harrelson may now have cause to regret, but that said it is kind of the point of the movie, saying things that people ought not to say, both explicitly and by implication, in an unflinching, naturalistic way. It came out of the same time frame as Boyz 'N' The Hood, And Spike Lee's films like Do The Right Thing etc., and has that kind of feel and sensibility. But while I would venture to suggest that perhaps those others have begun to show their age a little, this still feels fresh, due to the razor sharp humour, lean and kinetic plot, and an absolute refusal to apologise for itself, in what it is.... it just goes with it. It centres on two basketball court hustlers with problems in their lives who team up to hustle everyone else... and each other, and the film just explores their relationship as they do so. Very funny in places, and generally good fun throughout. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 28th Sep 2020		Cinema Léon (The Professional / Léon: The Professional) (1994) (1994)	Rated 10/10 A Nineties masterpiece, later ruined by a "Director's Cut". Now I understand why this has not been getting any shows on terrestrial TV... ...Having come across the "Director's Cut" DVD that I had been so determined to avoid, for fear of ruining the experience of the original theatrical (US and elsewhere) version I was familiar with, I finally decided to bite the bullet, and see what was up with it... ...And it only served to confirm my worst fears. Leon, the story of a ruthless, yet lonely hitman with a very childish naivety, who crosses paths with an intelligent, yet overly precocious 12 year old girl, Mathilda, when her crappy family are killed by a truly terrifying, corrupt, psychotic DEA agent and his crew... (Gary Oldman in his scariest ever role (makes Dracula look like a swell guy!)) ...Leon takes her in, and a friendship begins to develop between them. Already, you can see the problematic nature of this arrangement, in that it gets you shifting uncomfortably in your seat, but that's OK, it's supposed to, as it plays on the audience's natural scepticism and cynicism in order to undermine it, as this, at it's heart, is really is a story about the recovery, and preservation of innocence in a corrupt and horrific world... both Leon and Mathilda finding in each other, the companionship that would provide this, all the while trying to evade Oldman's nutcase, hunting Mathilda in order to tie up the loose ends of his dodgy dealings... ...In the end, a kind of redemption is sought by both, and you find yourself sitting a little easier in your chair.... ...Until, that is, you see this "Director's Cut", which adds quarter of an hour or so of footage which completely torpedoes this fragile knife edge innocence, as Mathilda accompanies Leon on a few "hits" in order to learn how to become a "cleaner" like him, and the nature of their relationship goes a little too far the wrong way because of a couple of, admittedly dramatic scenes between them, and the Innocent nature of these characters is shattered from that moment on...effectively yanking the heart out of the movie, and making you feel grubby watching it. The other thing is, that by adding those extra minutes right in the middle of things, it's a while before you see Gary Oldman again, and his large, looming presence begins to slip from your mind, so his character is less menacing through having his impact diluted... and as for the ever brilliant Danny Aiello, his character is all but pushed out to the edges through this. In this day and age, This Director's Cut would never make it on to the TV, and rightly so. You are better off getting a masterpiece of cinema in the shape of the original theatrical cut on DVD, and chucking the tainted "Director's Cut" in the bin. Sometimes the Director himself does not know best. [YouTube Video] 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 18th Aug 2020		Cinema Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) (1997)	Rated 9/10 A great black comedy / rom-com... with hit-men! This is one I'm looking out for to get again on DVD, as it is great fun, and also, at the distance of some years now, notable for pre-figuring the Bourne Identity for an astonishingly realistic / brutal fight sequence. Basically, it centres around a troubled hit-man going back home for his school reunion of all things, where he confronts the girl he ditched to run off and join the army many years back, and all the people he used to go to school with: "And what do you do now Martin?".... "...er..." :) ...Unfortunately, his present occupation follows him back there in the shape of government officials, and and assortment of deranged fellow hit men, one of which, Dan Akroyd, is trying to get him to join a hit-men's union... or die. :) Great fun, and a bit of a nineties classic now I'd say. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 3rd Aug 2020		Cinema The Favourite (2018) (2018)	Rated 8/10 Post Period Punk Movie! This is a film with a real sting in it's tail, ...On the face of it, it seems like just another set piece period drama / excuse to get bodiced up and visit a country mannor / Oscar opportunity (which it turned out to be!) ...But there's happily, more to it than that, as it is odd in both tone and style. It probably sits comfortably on the shelf between the surreal Tilda Swinton movie: Orlando. Shot largely with fish eye lenses and having a dream-like hallucinatory quality, and also, having a caustic wit, is more in keeping with a kind of Withnail and I sensibility... lots of swearing, sex, and bad vibes as the chilling Rachel Weisz and the subtly scheming Emma Stone vie for the attentions of the tragically comic Queen's attentions in the shape of Olivia Colman. It's a doomed lesbian love triangle tragedy, which once it has won you over by being very funny in it's nastiness and absurdity, drops these surreal tactics in the final third to play it straight, and become just plain tragic and awful... a cunning tactic from the film-maker, that works to devastating effect. It has a modern punk-ish sensibility transplanted onto the period setting which jars and is refreshing to say the least. Great film. (In addition, this is capped off by a great end credits song, which sounds an awful lot like Elton John...Because it is! - I'd not heard this one before, but turns out, it's from his early album Empty Sky, and is called: Skyline Pigeon - However, this is not the version on that album it seems, but rather a Harpsichord version, which simply brilliant - don't know where that version is available on disc) 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 12th Jul 2020		Cinema Glass (2019)	Rated 7/10 A film with a lot to live up to... ...And doesn't quite get there. The final instalment - (spoiler... ah, everyone must know by now!) - in the Unbreakable trilogy, and which has to conclude and deliver on the promise of the second part: Split, which didn't have much expectation but exceeded all such bounds by some distance, so a couple of big cheques to cash in this one... ...And it is by this measure that it trips slightly, a very good movie on any other day, but those two overshadow it, and maybe overthought this one a little, and it lacks a little of the wow factor they had. The ending is certainly surprising, if more than a little disappointing, but I'll probably get over that with another viewing now I know what to expect. But a largely good film, if not the great film, the other two seemed to promise. As a trilogy though, probably among the best in the superhero area you can see, along with Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and the first two Raimi Spiderman films (third one again, slightly letting the enterprise down). 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 30th Jun 2020		Cinema The Invisible Man (2020)	Rated 9/10 This is a masterpiece. Finally nailed the character of The Invisible Man for this generation. The real stars are Moss, the subject of Mr. Invisible's attentions. the cinematographer and director, who together, create that character of the invisible man. Big shocks, twists at well timed moments, bags of atmosphere and unsettling suspense and tension in a psychological horror that is almost perfect. Elisabeth Moss is being stalked and tormented by the invisible enemy, and can't convince anyone that his subtle manipulations are not all in her mind, making her think that she is going crazy... and probably making her so by virtue of this torture... ... #Me Too associations are likely to be made by the audience, and appropriately too, but there is even more than that going on here... Because of how it ends, I feel the need to go back and watch it again, uncertain if I just saw the movie I thought I just did, and it leaves it open to you as to whether you did... ...Difficult to see what the case may be, clearly :) 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 14th Jun 2020		Cinema Ghostbusters (2016)	Rated 7/10 Despite the furore of the sacrilege of having rebooted the Ghostbusters t-shirt and mug business, this is actually a very entertaining film in it's own right. The fact that it was almost deliberately shunned and has gone the short route through to TV to recoup losses makes me predict it will probably get repeated showings, and more people will watch it over time, and conclude, in spite of what they expected (wanted to expect), it's a very good, funny movie that is generally liked, Perhaps the only real downside is that they tried to show too much reverence for the original Ghostbusters... constantly offering slavish nods to it - obviously in a vain attempt to appease them that could not be appeased. But the response means that this franchise is a dead duck, and now.... they are rebooting it again!!!! This new coming one looks more like a hazy romanticized JJ Abrams style Spielberg nostalgia kick... like Stand By Me meets Goonies with comedy ghosts, and more of a sequel to the original Ghostbusters films, judging by the trailer. But, wait and see though, I suppose. ...just a shame they didn't have more courage to go with this incarnation, and let them do entirely their own thing with it. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 5th Jun 2020		Cinema Color Out Of Space (2019) (2019)	Rated 7/10 Good old fashioned body horror / mind scrambler horror movie! Based on an H. P. Lovecraft story, and starring Nicolas Cage... (Each of these two names is probably a genre in themselves, over and above author and actor respectively) ...So that should tell you what you're in for to some extent! Basically, a glowing meteor falls from space, and lands on Nicolas Cage's rural farm, then weird colours begin to manifest all over the place, and some increasingly bizarre events start occurring, culminating in some gruesome body horror and psychedelic mind warping sequences. Fans of David Cronenberg movies will probably love it, as will John Carpenter fans (especially: "The Thing"), as this has that kind of good old fashioned horror movie effects thing going on that we all know and love, as opposed to too much CGI... and it has the look and feel of a Carpenter movie, only perhaps... more colourful!. Suspenseful, spooky and unsettling when it needs to be, mildly disturbing, and plenty of gross-out effects... everything you want from a sci-fi / horror movie basically! :) 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 30th May 2020		Cinema Anonymous (2011) (2011)	Rated 7/10 Roland Emmerich... eurgh! ..,conspiracy theory movie......Eurgh! .....Actually a well crafted movie, that's probably among Emmerich's best. (I lost interest after Stargate) It's about whether William Of Shakespeare was the real author of some plays that some of you may have heard of, or some other dude.... and it's about him. Just don't expect Independence Day style popcorn fare... this is Shakespearian wordiness and drama (with some light comedic moments from Rafe Spall). More like... Ivory Merchant of Venice or summat, :) 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 24th May 2020		Cinema 1917 (2019) (2019)	Rated 8/10 You get those movies sometimes that give the wrong impression of themselves in the ad campaign and marketing, and this is one of those. I think the reason I didn't look any further into it at the time is that it just felt like a band-wagon movie, cashing in on other recent war movies made to "commemorate" (not cash in on.. ahem) notable anniversaries regarding the two world wars. I just got the impression it was a paint by numbers war flick that someone at studio HQ said: "We need another one of those war movies to sell!" ...But thankfully, it's not. It's more than that, by being, in a very particular way.... less. As Henry's comment tells you, if you are expecting a massive epic scale set piece with thousands of extras fighting on the beaches across multiple story threads, then you will be disappointed, because this is instead, more of an Odyssey type of movie... ... or perhaps, an ordeal movie about two soldiers trying to get through to a front line position by morning, to deliver an order to stop an attack that would see swathes of British soldiers walk into certain death resulting from an enemy trap designed for this purpose. (Sounds a bit like Gallipoli doesn't it?) As such, it follows just these two as they go through all manner of horrors to get where they need to go... And it really follows them! The first twenty minutes are presented as one single shot close up to them as if from just one single, floating camera, and it barely changes camera angles after that... so you're right therewith them in "real time" (some liberties are taken with time, but most are accounted for with some plot devices) from field to front line. It feels, therefore, less epic, and more personal. More sweary, gruesome, and shocking in places than your average WW1 film (War Horse it ain't!) But certainly worth watching.. excellent film. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 9th May 2020		Cinema The End Of The Affair (1955) (1955)	Rated 4/10 This is not a Romance... It's an essay on romantic tragedy. I've not read the Graham Greene novel that this was based on, but I have read some of his work... ...And although this is said to have been based on his own experience, and the character of Bendrix based on him, if you were to take this as any measure, you'd say love or romance was not his strong point. The novel itself seems to be highly regarded as a tragic romantic novel, but this film, it's screenplay, the composition of the film, the direction, and even the lead performances are very clunky, cold, and unconvincing. Van Johnson effectively plays his character like Sam Spade in a stock Private Eye movie, and Deborah Kerr is as wooden, cold, and unsympathetic as you can get... at least, for the first half of the movie. Because that's how the film is divided, into two perspectives, the later one revealing certain facts that cast a new light on what you've just seen previously, but it would take a much better film-maker to make this work, as it jumps across years at a time, having realised it doesn't have the stamina to go into too much depth on passages it embarks on, as the dialogue is essentially what appears to be what Greene narrated in the book...Johnson basically delivers sermons at Kerr's face, about the nature of love, her love, their love, and the mystical and philosophical nature of love, while she stands mostly mute and expressionless. It does warm up a little when the ever reliable Peter Cushing has a little more involvement, and John Mills enters the scene as a Dickens character inspired Private Detective (Ironic) that Johnson hires to follow Kerr... both of these two bring a naturalness and warmth we know, but in doing so, only serve to highlight the extent of the wooden nature of Johnson and Kerr's performances and characters. Mostly, it's tedious, and other than seeing what other adaptations there are, and how well they do, maybe reading the book itself might be a better bet, as Greene is a much better writer than this weak film shows. But if you're looking for a swoony romance, look elsewhere, this is like reading the phone book. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 4th May 2020		Cinema Charade (1963)	Rated 7/10 All Kinds Of Everything. This was on telly the other day, so decided to finally watch it, so that I could tick it off my mental 'to see' list. I wasn't too convinced from the outset, I have to say, because it had an air of "too good to be true" about it... what with the stellar cast, clothes by Givenchy (no less) a gently groovy Henry Mancini score (which is excellent!) it seemed a little like a film that was more 'designed' than inspired... ...Like someone sat down and constructed a movie based on what sells, for the sake of the box office. But while that certainly is true I think, thankfully the story, kind of saves the day, and wins you over by gradually absorbing you in the intricacies of the plot. ...And the plot, indeed, the whole film, is a rather eclectic mix of different movie genres and film-making styles that in all honesty have no business being together, and give the movie a slightly odd feel: Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn play through the middle of this whodunnit encased in a spy thriller rendered in a gloriously Technicolor Film Noir as a light-hearted rom-com adventuring bantering couple, for which both are usually known (and doubtless, for why they were cast here). ...As Audrey Hepburn's character seeks to learn why her husband, who she learns after his demise, was possibly a spy, was apparently killed, and almost immediately, enters a rogue's gallery of villains and shady characters at his funeral who begin gathering around her to discover if she knows where 'the money' her husband stole from them is... Cary Grant helps her dodge these schemers along the way, as the film moves from the usual rom-com fluffiness from these two, to something more like the Third Man noir-ish-ness with some of the most well made cinematographical noir sequences you'll see... in colour (!) Very good homage to Hitchcock suspense thriller type of thing all round, even with a very strong whiff of Vertigo in the opening credits... and there's even a rooftop struggle to boot! All round, a curious bag of disparate bits that shouldn't ought to sit well together , but, strangely, do. And in a way that makes this film feel like it must have been something altogether 'new' for the time, and certainly feels ahead of it's time on occasion... curiously more modern than the 1963 it was made in... it even makes the contemporary James Bond (Another film style this was trying to cash in on) films of the era feel a little dated. But a very good, entertaining film. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 23rd Apr 2020		Cinema 2 Days In The Valley (1996) (1996)	Rated 9/10 This felt, at the time (to me at least), to be one of the films quietly cashing in on the still then new "Tarantino style"... ...And as such, felt a bit of a pale imitation. But over the years, it's really grown on me, having a warmth in the characters lacking in some of Tarantino's movies. It's based around a murder plot, that draws all the characters together and is an excuse for a light hearted (occasionally violent) comedic drama... A lot like a Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Crash etc.) Movie, being driven, as it is , by disparate characters converging around this premise... but not perhaps, as draining, or serious. James Spader gives the full creepy eighties villain he made his name with originally, and Teri Hatcher was fresh out of Superman tv series, using it, as I recall as her platform for a stellar movie career (ahem)... but also.... "who's that steely blonde girl with the supermodel looks who steals a scene or two along the way...Charlize... erm... Theron, or something... never heard of her, and I doubt she'll amount to much!" (we thought, at the time :) Eric Stoltz, Danny Aiello and Jeff Daniels, give reliably excellent performances too. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 23rd Apr 2020		Cinema Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) (2017)	Rated 8/10 Quite a grim premise for an enjoyable movie... ...A deeply bitter, angry (nasty) mum, played brilliantly by Frances McDormand, who has lost her daughter in an unsolved case of rape / murder, and seems to be taking it out on everyone around her, especially Woody Harrelson's local Sheriff character (The only reasonably nice character in the movie!), who she primarily blames for the lack of resolution. It's an evolving drama with many objectionable characters including Sam Rockwell's mostly dim, racist deputy, and other broken people who's lives are turned upside down by her actions. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 21st Apr 2020		Cinema The Hard Way (1991)	Rated 9/10 A fantastically over the top satire of the buddy cop movie genre and Hollywood actors in them. Razor sharp wit, balanced with some good drama and plenty of action. Stephen Lang (later of Avatar) plays a perfectly psychotic serial killer that James Woods' hard nut miserable cop is trying to catch, while at the same time lumbered with a spoiled Hollywood Brat trying to learn to be an 'authentic cop" for an upcoming movie role, played by a a suitable hammy (and very funny) Michael J. Fox. One of my favourites for a high energy and entertaining couple of hours. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 20th Apr 2020		Cinema I Am Legend (2007) (2007)	Rated 6/10 This promised much, with a great "last man on earth" concept , but fell foul of the lazy storytelling phenomenon of just turning it into a monster movie with cheap unconvincing CGI. ,,,However, it was only this year, when I finally got around to reading Richard Matheson's brilliant original story in Gollancz SF Masterworks series, that the exact reasons this disappoints becomes apparent: The book is about vampires (so it was a kind of monster movie story anyway - you live and learn :), but about a man hiding in his home from the growing vampire threat outside, and tormented by one vampire in particular. And it is also, in it's essential genius / original conception, a story with a.... payoff, or to put it another way: A Punchline. And it so happens that that punchline is what gives the story it's title.... and bizarrely, the exact element of the story has been excised from this movie! (eh?) This is too long, and too much of nothing in particular, except a vehicle for then megastar Will Smith to continue to be seen kicking (semi) alien ass (again)... The book, however, is slim, tightly plotted, extremely well written, and you can get through it quick and get much more from the experience! So my advice: Don't bother watching this, read the book instead... it'll be worth your while. (Look at that... a book review and a movie review at once - Blimey, that's value!) 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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