I went to see this movie 11/01/2019 on release. When the opening credits came up and as soon as I saw "BBC Films" I knew I was in for something quite special. This film is a masterclass in how to make great movies. The actors are, to put it quite simply, amazing. John C Reilly and Steve Coogan _are_ Laurel & Hardy. They are so convincing that at times it was hard to believe that it wasn't really them in the flesh. They seemed somehow to summon up the spirit of L&H and allow them to possess they're bodies, it was remarkable to watch. John C Reilly's Oliver was absolutely incredible, he had it all, the voice, the mannerisms, the body movements and the singing voice. It was an incredibly moving performance that had you smiling and teary eyed at the same time. This is one not to miss, and one which i'm sure will become a classic. 10/10 from me

12 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

West End Jungle is a fake documentary with staged scenes. Set in the West End of London it is a morality story with the intention of showing titillating sex scenes and nudity. Due to the time this film came out there is no real nudity shown just a few underwear shots.

The film mainly features men going to clip joints, seeing prostitutes and it ends with a street walker being picked up by the police. All sleazy stuff backed up by a cynical albeit excellently written narration track.

The version I saw was the Strike Force Entertainment DVD release from the UK. It is rated 15 and features a superb print and good sound which could do with being a bit louder. This is a 50 minute film and it is a bit expensive at £10+

Director Arnold L Miller went on to make London in The Raw and Primitive London which are more of the same and worth watching. The cinematographer was Stanley Long who made the forgettable British Sex Comedies series The Adventures of...

9 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Anouska Hempel bought the rights to this film to stop it being released. A lot of actresses change careers, but acknowledge the fans that put them were they are today. Sam Fox doesn't get them out anymore, but she still appreciates stripping off and being a huge personality put her on the map. Luckily a VHS release on the Jezebel (which put-out cult sexploitation films) imprint of Salvation Films was released in the late 90s.

The film is based off a British comic strip, about a sort of female spy with St Trinians-esque capers. The film is absolute rubbish. Sure, most of these British sex films weren't funny or sexy, but at least most like Confessions Of A Window Cleaner weren't boring. There is very little nudity or sex in this film despite an overly-zealous BBFC 18 rating and very little action. I've heard the similar film The Big Zapper is better, but I've not seen it. To me it seemed like the budget was too small or Pete Walker had his hands tied in some way, maybe the budget or the source material.

I watched this as Pete Walker completest and as a fan of crappy British cult films. The version I saw was a rip of aforementioned VHS tape. I can't recommend this to anyone as a film experience apart from for its scarcity and cult status.

9 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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?

Virtually unheard of, Welcome to Arrow Beach is an entertaining thriller, and the last film from Laurence Harvey, who also directs. It hardly compares to his previous masterpiece, The Manchurian Candidate, but never mind that.

The story begins with a very cute hitch-hiking hippy chick (Meg Foster) who ends up in the quiet title beach community. After a nude swim in the beach, she meets and becomes friends with Jason (Harvey), who happens to have been watching her through his scope. He has a dark past from his days in the Korean war which has managed to integrate into his world back home where he lives with his sister, who just happens to be his lover. Their beach-front home is a good location for spotting pretty young runaways or drifters, which is our setup.

Harvey helmed this thriller while deathly ill and some parts certainly suffer from whatever he was going through dealing with stomach cancer while directing and starring in a cannibal opera. Good supporting cast and an unusual title song by Lou Rawls that draws creepy parallels to the story, despite the initial impression of being awkward and unfitting.

In a perfect world, Warner Bros. would restore the full version of the film and release it on home video, but that's not likely to happen any time soon, if ever. Major studios had never dealt with an extreme topic like cannibalism in 1974, so this only played in a few test-market cities -- sometimes with alternate names -- ultimately getting shelved due to either drab boxoffice figures or embarrassment. I was lucky enough to see a brand new, uncut 35mm print (in a big, oldschool N.C. movie theater) and enjoyed it a lot. But that was based on the fact that I didn't measure the film by how gory it was or wasn't, so if that is your criteria, you may love or hate the film, depending on your disposition. Even with some plot holes and abandoned side stories, it worked for me. Meg Foster certainly played a part in the film's appeal with her haunting, innocent beauty.

It's rare enough to find any version of this film, but if you do, it will likely be an edited copy. Some prints have chopped out the cannibal element entirely, leaving behind a jumbled mess. I own two different versions and neither is technically complete. Maybe we'll get lucky and Criterion, or one of several Blu-ray labels who specialize in limited editions will take on this project.

For the time being, if you find the DVD from Luminous Video, that's the edited 85 minute version, despite its claim of being uncut. The (assumed) uncut version can only be had from an old VHS tape from Magnetic Video (who later became CBS/Fox), but even that version is full screen (1.33:1) and is fairly washed out, coming from the infancy of the home video market.

9 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I streamed this movie last night and fully agree with Quad5point1 that this is a truly wonderful movie. Steve Coogan and John C Reilly excel in the roles as Laurel & Hardy and whilst there are great moments when the "live" comedy performances are portrayed, it is the story behind the characters where they both get it so right.

The story revolves around the latter years of the famous duo and the struggles they encountered trying to reignite their movie careers. It gives an insight to their personal lives and more importantly how each character interacted away from the camera.

As said, it is at times a very moving movie but also one that has you smiling through the watery eyes.

A must see!

9 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Life is a Journey and we're all in for the ride. Tempting as it may be, none of us can fully ride off and away from the entrapments of the establishment. Not even when you're lucky enough to have a bosom buddy who is willing to ride along with you on this road to freedom. Along the way there will be many encounters with all sorts of characters, some good, some ordinary, some evil, from whom one will learn and take a part of them along for the ride. All who are striving towards a place, they too think will give them complete freedom, only to find that fate will have the final say on the matter. Hopper finished his ride 9 years ago, Fonda this August 2019. And this year's the 50th anniversary of this Ride.

9 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

An excellent snapshot into the Welsh language music scene. Presented as a road movie in which Huw Stephens discovers a bright yellow Anorac in a Cardiff charity shop and then sets off to explore his homeland. The film is made to look as if the journey took 4 days but the film actually took years to make, the yellow anorac providing continuity so you don't notice Huw's changes of footwear and quiff.

It's not a comprehensive history of all Welsh language music, which is probably a good thing otherwise it may have been a dry old Welshcake of a documentary. Instead it focuses on artists making Welsh language music now and mixes it up with the pathfinders who made this possible (Y Blew, Meic Stevens, Datblygu and Anhrefn as examples)

The two main things that both hold the film together and make it a cut above a standard music documentary are 1. Huw Stephens - His love and enthusiam for Wales, the language and the music is obvious, heartfelt and therefore completely infectious and 2. Wales itself - with some beautiful shots of the remote and picturesque far corners of the country. The cinematography is good enought that it even manages to make Cardiff city centre look quite magical !

9 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Seems fitting to watch this on Friday 13th

A true cult classic. A no-budget horror film. Terrible acting. Cheap 'special' effects. Lousy script.

BUT... Amazing lo-fi synth soundtrack which makes it all worthwhile.

Interestingly this film features heavily in Adjust Your Tracking as it's one of the most collectable VHS tapes in the USA and they interview the maniac who paid $700 for a copy!

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Not a bad film, very atmospheric. Talky rather than all-action.

Segal manages to get where he needs to go and meet the people he needs to meet rather quickly but the film has a finite running time so I suppose that's fair.

Lovely John Barry score, as you'd expect, with a relatively unknown Matt Monro theme song only heard once, briefly and distorted, in the background.

60s Berlin by night and day makes an excellent backdrop and, as mentioned in IMDB, needed little enhancement, with bomb damage still evident.

:happy:

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Class Of 1984 has a notorious reputation. In the UK it was banned for its cinema release and later heavily cut for VHS, fortunately it was released uncut on DVD. Some theaters in USA refused to show it and it had MPAA cuts for an R rating.

Mark L. Lester is undoubtedly a B-Movie director, but he hit paydirt with Commando thanks to Arnie being one of the biggest actors of the late 80s\early 90s and it's a genuinely good film. Class of 1984 is also fondly remembered garnering cult status on VHS.

Class of 1984 does a number of thing rights. It is basically a "home invasion" movie set in a school. It adds slasher elements towards the end with some truly nasty death scenes and good special-effects. Mark L. Lester can undoubtedly craft good action sequences.

A big deal has been made about Michael J. Fox being in this film. Ignore it, he is very young and unrecognisable. Instead focus on Timothy Van Patten as the intimidating and intelligent bully and gang leader Stegman. Roddy McDowall also puts in a scene stealing performance as the broken science teacher. Perry King is very good as the idealist, turned vigilante music teacher, but he doesn't half chew the scenery. That said he was already a veteran of sleazy B-movies by the time this film came out.

Class of 1984 is a violent and scary trip of a film. I think it is love it or hate it, but it delivers on white knuckle thrills and it's a darn site more entertaining than the dull box office smash "Dangerous Minds".

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Back in the day a few of my friends had been to see Jubilee, and they were all in agreement that it was a bore. Being into punk like my friends, I just couldn't understand how a punk film could possibly be boring - until I saw it, that is. Maybe my friends and I weren't expecting such a theatrical approach, or maybe we were just not sophisticated or patient enough to 'get' it.. either way, the experience wasn't a good one. Dull in extremis, and pretentious to boot; matters were not helped by the fact that the projector broke down about halfway into the film, and the cinema manager came out to ask the audience for patience as it 'really is worth your time' (or so he said). Resigned to having travelled and paid to be there at this flea pit in Soho to see it, my girlfriend and I stayed put but all we got for our efforts were heavy eyelids and numb backsides. Three memorable moments however linger in my mind; the first is Adam Ant's inability to suppress his laughter during one scene - no doubt because he realised how daft the whole thing must look and he was amused by the concept of people parting with good money to watch this nonsense. The two others are musical ones - Adam And The Ants performing "Plastic Surgery", and Maneaters doing "Nine To Five", where an almost unrecognisable Toyah ends the song by spitting directly at the screen. I know exactly how she felt.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I am not a fan of Troma films for a number of reasons. "Creep Van" is a Detroit-based low-budget Troma wannabe, but it manages to capture all the contrived, unfunny magic of its influences. (Lloyd Kaufman even makes a cameo!) Attempts at humor miss 99% of the time, while the weak cast and their attempts at acting are campy at best and cringe-inducing at worst. The weakest link is the half-baked screenplay which, among other sins, never explains why any of this carnage is happening, instead relying on inconsistencies, plot holes and meandering dialogue. And there are three credited writers! The gorehounds will appreciate the creative kills which are more reminiscent of 80s slashers rather than modern day torture porn and found footage rubbish, but that doesn't forgive the tepid filler that ties it all together. And it's never scary, tension and suspense never make so much as a cameo.

Good movie? Not a chance. Loads of gore (no CGI!) with some nudity and mildly twisted sex? Check. I believe Scott McKinlay may have a good film in him one day, but he needs to at least start with a professional script, followed by actual acting talent. "Creep Van" is better than most of those direct-to-video cheapies found on those gutter trash compilations, but that doesn't make it a thumbs up.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Although the film is notionally a biography of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and associates, it is derived from a work of fiction by novelist Pierre La Mure, which means the true facts, dates, and events are mostly dispensed with in order make way for an entertaining but somewhat different story.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Jeez, where to begin! Made at the tail end of Al Adamson's freaky career, Carnival Magic was never released and was only discovered after his death when police searched his residence (another freaky situation on its own.) From the opening credits, you know you're in for sloppy incompetence. It's the only film I've seen where the final credit is not the director, but the producer, which may be a quibble, but it's just not done. After the end credits are superimposed over a local parade, the screen turns black and text appears announcing that next summer will be a sequel, More Carnival Magic (!) as a vocal music number begins, only to drop out and fade away a few seconds later. Huh?

Mind you, I'm not sharing any of the ineptitude from the actual movie itself, mainly because it's boring -- and sometimes wildly inappropriate, especially for what appears to have been aimed at an audience of tykes?!? As it all unfolded (slowly), I kept thinking how hokey it all was, like the many local films produced in the area where I live. Lo and behold, it actually was shot in my backyard, which explains plenty. Coupling that with the already questionable skills of Sir Adamson and the end result is one of Al's more bumbling efforts.

It's been several years since I watched this and my biggest memory is just hating the damn thing. How I awarded it a whopping 4 stars is as much a mystery as the film itself.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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?

The hopeless romantic in me wanted to love this almost paint-by-numbers comedy-drama. I knew the critics were unimpressed, but I don't mind the monotony that the intelligentsia so loathe. I even looked forward to swimming upstream of their jaded dismissals of life, love and the human condition. I stayed true to this defiance for the majority of Elizabethtown, but as the final act wrapped up the loose ends, I found myself in that crucial aha! moment. Everything I loved about the film was tossed away into the miasmic stench of sentimental denouement. I felt as if I was in a relationship, each day filled with discovery and fulfillment until the facade revealed itself just when I'm ready to commit. Love gone spoiled sour.

I'll dispense with the storyline and characters since I don't want to give the impression of recommending this affair. Anyway, those details are easily attainable, so instead, a brief plus & minus bit:

Strengths:
· charming Southern quirks in small town USA
· humorous side characters that don't overplay their hand
Weaknesses:
· being pummeled with greeting card philosophies
· a soundtrack that feels like a playlist from a smug Rolling Stone magazine list-maker

The road trip home caused my grade to start its descent, ultimately flipping from 8 stars to 5 by the time Drew is baptized by the history of Memphis -- a sequence so hackneyed that I had to turn away from the sacrificial (and predictable) lessons.

Better stick with the Hallmark rom-coms, at least they have the courtesy to wallow in their banality instead of springing it on you like a jack-in-the-box.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Rob Zombie is about as cutting edge as an episode of "Joanie Loves Chachi".

As usual, we get a "thriller" bereft of any original ideas and bankrupt of any vocabulary shy of the f-word. I keep hoping each of his films will be his last. I keep watching them in the futile hope that Zombie will come up with any idea of his own, which may release him from the obligation of reviving the careers of oldschool actors (hey - great idea, Rob! You should try to get a Sweathog in one of your films!...and be sure to populate it with a smart, edgy soundtrack replete with a mix of classic rock and obscure oldies...how about a disc jockey thrown in for no good reason.)

Ultimately, we are left with enough misdirection to completely distract from the emaciated excuse for a storyline and from there, a withered leaflet of brutal kills.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The fourth entry into the spectacularly nasty Men Behind The Sun series of films, based on war atrocities. In this case the Japanese invasion of Nanjing in 1937. I'm not a history buff and I'm not that familiar with what was dubbed the "Rape of Nanking". What I do know is a good trashy exploitation film when I see it and unfortunately this isn't one.

The film was rated Category III (Cat III) in Hong Kong the equivalent of 18+ or NC-17. Other films to be rated with this certificate are the excellent The Naked Killer and a few other rape and revenge films, as well as some Triad films. Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre has gained notoriety in the internet age as one of the film's most memorable scenes: a soldier cutting a bloody foetus out of a pregnant woman and holding it up, was used as an internet GIF. There's also scenes of gory decapitation and a few fights and some scenes of corpses being set on fire. These scenes are fairly rare and the bulk of the film is dialogue heavy and unfortunately it has a rather dry script, presumably for educational purposes.

To put it simply Black Sun is no more a serious historical document highlighting the horrors of war than Goodbye Uncle Tom is a serious critique of racism or Antichrist is a feminist study. They are all tacky, sleazy films that are designed to get bums on seats by showing extreme scenes. However, they have their place in the vast pantheon of cinema. Goodbye Uncle Tom has a stunning soundtrack and some incredible fantasy sequences. Antichrist is powerful and bold with convincing acting. Black Sun has an OK soundtrack, cheap-ish production values; bearing in mind this film was made in 1995 and comes across as cheaper than earlier Cat III shocker Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991). The few gore scenes there are are good and that's it raison d'être. There's something about it I like, but it manages to be dull which is worse than being offensive.

The DVD from Unearthed Films has a nice print with some slight archive damage and only 2.0 sound. Probably as good as it gets unless a BR or HD broadcast does the rounds. The discontinued UK DVD on Tartan Grindhouse (Tartan DVD\Films spin-off) is hen's teeth. I've never seen a copy in the wild and importing the US is cheaper.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Finally got around to watching this today and what a surprise. Watching it I started to feel like I had seen this before but in actual fact I had never seen it. I felt like I had just been watching an episode of The Avengers so I looked through all the names involved in it's production and found six people who had all been involved with the television series.
John Krish (Director)
Julian Wintle (Producer)
Albert Fennell (Producer)
Harry Pottle (Art Director)
Geoffrey Haine (Production Director)
Frank Hollands (Assistant Director)
Just shows how things evolve and develop over time. The movie itself was very enjoyable, there's worse things to watch. All in all I would recommend it, especially if you're a fan of the sometimes weird plots and storylines of The Avengers

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A Welsh schoolteacher (Harry Secombe) moves to smalltown Australia and tries to train the local kids to become a prize winning choir. A sweet, understated and warm hearted film. It's not a cinema great but it's a pleasantly cosy way to spend a dark Autumn afternoon. Any film that includes someone being called a Drongo and a man crying over his lost beers is alright by me.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What's not to love about this under-appreciated genre classic? It's from AIP, Fred Williamson and Pam Grier top the cast in full campy glory, Thalamus Rasulala shines as the corrupt Chicago heavy, and wonderful support roles from Bernie Hamilton, Tierre Turner and Art Lund. Carl (Rocky) Weathers is also on hand as a thug, along with the charismatically sinister Tony King, and Jim Bohan ("Phantom of the Paradise" and "American Graffiti" bit player) as one of the evil honky bullies. Johnny Pate's soundtrack is also a bonus. Probably my fav blaxploitation flick.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

One of the worst movies I've ever sat through. Saw it in its original release and hated it then, but over the years, many of my film buddies have insisted that I missed the train, that it was a satire rather than horror film, insisting that I re-evaluate and give it the cult movie cred it deserves.

Tobe Hopper himself defended the film (and its comedic tone), stating that the original had black comedy which the audience was too shocked to acknowledge. I have always been aware of the sick humor from the characters in the first film, which indeed kept the viewers stunned. But this sequel, arriving way past its sell date, isn't marinated with black comedy, it's smothered in cartoon-ish, un-funny nonsense from start to finish. Bill Moseley's character, Chop-Top, is so over-played and annoying that any sense of menace is mangled away. And yet even that low-brow performance is eclipsed by one of the worst pieces of acting imaginable: Caroline Williams, whose agonizing screaming and hackneyed delivery is as unbearable as the goofy screenplay. Even the music soundtrack comprised of all artists from IRS Records feels contrived, filling the soundscape with artists / songs simply to promote that label's roster.

So anyway, I decided to put my opinion of the film on hold until I gave it another spin; perhaps I did misjudge it and after all these years, I can make a better assessment through the prism of 30+ more years of film-going under my belt. And my opinion HAS changed...I hate it even more than I did in 1986.

At the end of the long, miserable day, no part of this film works, it's just blobs of spoiled meat smelling up the place.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Compellingly dreadful

A ludicrous plot involving two ex-public school boys who meet by chance in Menorca and agree upon a rogue's deal involving a thousand cases of aphrodisiac wine.

I know 'things were different' in the seventies but this is at best ridiculous and at worst offensive (The gay photographer Juan is 'cured' upon drinking the wine)

I've always hated the term 'guilty pleasure' but seen as I actually quite enjoyed this stinking turd of a film I think this fits the bill!

hee hee

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Set in the underbelly of Florida within the shadows of a Disney World that seems more of a fantasy land than ever. This is a story of people doing whatever they need to do to get by, a day at a time.

The film focuses on a group of urchin children who live and play around a seedy motel. The kids are somewhat feral but loveable underneath their foul mouthed bluster. The child actors are excellent and at first the film is as close to a feel good comedy as you can imagine given the poverty involved.

Slowly though, the underlying hardship and desperation comes to the surface and you are left with an uneasy feeling of dread, waiting for something terrible to happen. Without giving too much away it's fair to say that it does and it doesn't and the last quarter of the film is pretty heavy going unless you have no human empathy.



8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Genius film, back when he was still funny!
The use of old film (noir) stock was brilliantly innovative for the time although it's been done to death since (even in adverts).
Martin's deadpan deliver of corny old film lines showed his true comic timing.
Probably not as rewarding as The Jerk but still worth catching!
:happy:

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

It's hard to review this without spoiling it for a first time viewer but let's just say that it's an engaging short film which deals with the anxiety of change and ultimately the refusal to deal with it.

The film is based around true events and what is even more remarkable is that the filmmakers were able to use the actual location and actual physical 'props' from the time.

Often short films feel too short to really delve into the characters involved but I think in this case that it's such a simple tale that it makes sense. The ending is suitably abrupt too. Worth 27 minutes of any film buff's time.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Now this is better!

Having been disappointed by The Maltese Falcon, I started watching this with some trepidation but was pleasantly surprised!

Howard Hawk's direction seemed less... stilted than that of John Huston: is it me?

Also, there was a (hell of a) lot more chemistry between Bogey and Bacall (natch) than he and Mary Astor!

Also, the standard of everything just seemed higher, from the acting to the support cast (Hoagy Carmichael for God's sake!!!) to the settings...

Walter Brennan! Superb!

:happy:

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

It’s like West Side Story meets Jason and the Argonauts on crack!

...And with a heavy feel of Escape From New York and idea or two borrowed from Vanishing Point (The DJ).

I watched this by mistake the other day when it was on telly late night...

...The programme I was watching had ended and this started, while I was playing with my phone; when the deep seventies Carpenter-esque vibe of the music and visuals came on I looked up and thought: “WTF is this!?!”

Very atmospheric, but absolutely mental!

It drew me in, and I was mesmerised by it right through to the end.

Preposterous and absurd plot and premise, with identikit gangs from someone's surreal nightmare punctuated with some of the worst acting you've ever seen...

All the reasons I loved it! :)

I mean, there's even a gang on roller skates!!!

As they battle to journey through the city to get back to their turf after being accused of assassinating the “Big Cheese” of the gang world, and the word gets out to the other gangs to get them, I wondered if the people who made it were totally or stoned, or I was!

...And the amount of early / first time actors in this that you recognize from later fame is incredible (even saw Mercedes Ruehl in this)... and it took me a while to figure if the lead actor (Mr. Beck, of course) may or may not have been Jon Bon Jovi or not.

Nuts... Wonderfully bonkers and nuts!

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Difficult one for me to review because I really wanted to enjoy it, but there's too much about it that annoyed me. I'm not a horror film snob and this year I enjoyed My Bloody Valentine (1981) and Happy Death Day 2U. I think Us fails to live up to the hype. On one hand it wants to be gory home invasion movie on the other some sort of intelligent neo-slasher, to me it is an over long messily plotted borefest.

The main source of annoyance was the ham-fisted horror film references. The son is called Jason, I'm guessing Freddy and Issac were also in the running. Then you have a bad patchwork quilt of 90s pop culture. One of the brats says "what's Home Alone?", "what's Micro Machine?" Then there's the soundtrack: NWA, Luniz "I Got 5 On It" - both overused and not really obscure or interesting enough to make anyone over the age of 30 to take notice. You can clearly see when love and care has gone into a soundtrack if it is personal: The Sopranos TV series being the obvious example.

It's tries so hard to be clever and funny, but it just fell flat for me. Hearing the Ice Cube on the soundtrack say "bloodbath" to gory scissor stabbings. Please spare me. That said, the name of the Yacht was funny, I will give them that.

Maybe it's ennui on my part, but I don't know were Us fits. If you want an intelligent Home Invasion movie: Funny Games (1997) while not quite brilliant is still the business, de-constructed horror post-80s Wes Craven, for a solid gory horror French film, Inside.

Two hours of people being stabbed with scissors, obvious pop culture references to the 80s and 90s by people with a PhD in reading Wikipedia and a bunch of bad gurning guys who sound like they have strep throat. Not my idea of fun.

I know a film isn't great when I check the runtime and I want it to end and there's nearly an hour left. Even worse I was thinking "what I could be watching instead?" Martin, The Exorcist, American Werewolf.

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