Friday, 15 May 2015
Freeview film of the day : frirday 15th of May
Cape Fear (1991 122min.) [ITV 10.40pm &+1]
Thriller starring Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange. After 14 years behind bars, brutal rapist Max Cady is free to exact revenge on the man who could have kept him out of jail, lawyer Sam Bowden. Too clever to attack his victim directly, the devious ex-convict begins a reign of terror that threatens Bowden's wife and teenage daughter. Determined to crush the family, Cady's sadistic campaign causes underlying tensions to explode with devastating results.
The J.Lee Thompson 1962 version of the story (starring Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Polly Bergen) is a masterpiece of tension as Mitchum's truly disturbing villain hunts down the family of the man responsible for sending him to jail, with brutal results.
Scorsese's version suffers by comparison, especially when it attempts to open out the story from the original's very basic and linear narrative; inevitably some of the claustrophobic, mounting fear is lost as the running time expands.
That said : there's a very neat touch in this remake as the Bowden family are changed from an apple pie perfect nuclear family into a bawling mass of unresolved issues and barely functional relationships.
Juliette Lewis is outstanding as the flirtatious yet naive teenage daughter and Jessica Lange is always watchable, but especially so when she's cast as a strong female lead.
Flawed but very watchable.
La Casa Del Fin de los Tiempos / The House At The End Of Time (2013)
Venezuela : directed by Alejandro Hidalgo - 101 minutes
In 1981, Dulce (Ruddy Rodríguez) lived in an old house with her sons Leopoldo (Rosmel Bustamante) and Rodrigo (Hector Mercado), and her husband Juan José (Gonzalo Cubero). During that time, she experienced multiple cases of strange supernatural phenomena, most notably an elderly woman who kept on warning her that Juan José would soon murder their children. Dulce desperately tries to prevent this from happening but ultimately fails to do so. She is completely shocked and ruined when the police arrive and find that her husband has also been killed. As there are no other people in the house, Dulce is arrested and imprisoned for the triple murder. Thirty years later, an elderly Dulce has been released from jail—under the requirement that she serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest in the very house where the murders took place. Once settled, Dulce is visited by a local priest (Guillermo Garcia) who wants desperately to get her to turn back to God as Dulce has lost all her faith in religion. She successfully manages to enlist his help in discovering what exactly happened in her home thirty years ago.
An effective and well made ghost story which had echoes, for me, of Alejandro Amenábar's The Others (2001) and the low budget sci-fi drama Coherence (2013).
Smartly done with a few well staged "jump" moments it's a neat little genre film that has quite a few interesting ideas packed into it's minute running time.
Monday, 13 April 2015
Freeview film of the day : monday April the 13th
North By Northwest (1959 130min.) [BBC Four 10.00pm]
Classic spy thriller starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. Advertising executive Roger Thornhill finds his life in deadly peril when he is mistaken for the mysterious "Mr Kaplan" by a ruthless espionage organisation. Failing to convince them of his identity, Thornhill tracks down the one man who can prove his story only to find himself accused of murder.
Thoroughly satisfying action mystery thriller with Hitchcock in typical mischievous form mixing sly innuendo, a well crafted story and outstanding action sequences into a perfectly realised final product.
Cary Grant is outstandingly good in the lead role, by turn suave and sophisticated then mystified and terrified as the nightmare world in which he finds himself spins further and further out of control.
Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Leo G. Carroll head a top-class supporting cast and the whole thing is delivered with enormous skill, wit and aplomb.
A true giant of fifites mainstream Hollywood film making and one in which deserved to be rewatched on a regular basis.
Classic spy thriller starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. Advertising executive Roger Thornhill finds his life in deadly peril when he is mistaken for the mysterious "Mr Kaplan" by a ruthless espionage organisation. Failing to convince them of his identity, Thornhill tracks down the one man who can prove his story only to find himself accused of murder.
Thoroughly satisfying action mystery thriller with Hitchcock in typical mischievous form mixing sly innuendo, a well crafted story and outstanding action sequences into a perfectly realised final product.
Cary Grant is outstandingly good in the lead role, by turn suave and sophisticated then mystified and terrified as the nightmare world in which he finds himself spins further and further out of control.
Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Leo G. Carroll head a top-class supporting cast and the whole thing is delivered with enormous skill, wit and aplomb.
A true giant of fifites mainstream Hollywood film making and one in which deserved to be rewatched on a regular basis.
Friday, 27 March 2015
Freeview film of the day : friday 27th of March
Orphan (2009 117min.) [Film4 11.20pm &+1]
Horror thriller starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, and Isabelle Fuhrman. When bereaved couple Kate and John adopt nine-year-old Esther from an orphanage, their dreams of family happiness soon descend into a nightmare.
Camp, ever so knowing cuckoo-in-the-nest thriller with an outsanding performance by Isabelle Fuhrman and multiplex pleasing direction by Jaume Collet-Serra.
Very stylish and very entertaining.
Horror thriller starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, and Isabelle Fuhrman. When bereaved couple Kate and John adopt nine-year-old Esther from an orphanage, their dreams of family happiness soon descend into a nightmare.
Camp, ever so knowing cuckoo-in-the-nest thriller with an outsanding performance by Isabelle Fuhrman and multiplex pleasing direction by Jaume Collet-Serra.
Very stylish and very entertaining.
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Freeview film of the day : wednesday 25th of March
13 Assassins (2010 120min) [Film4 10.50pm &+1]
Period martial arts adventure starring Koji Yakusho and Takayuki Yamada. A respected samurai must assemble an elite team of assassins to kill the tyrannical Lord Naritsugu, whose bloody rise to power threatens the peace in feudal Japan. But the brave warriors are vastly outnumbered, and the 13 assassins embark upon a monumental suicide mission.
13 Assassins is a fascinating film : it's a combination of straight ahead martial arts story in the traditional Japanese mould of The Seven Samurai and an arthouse film about notions of honour, loyalty and responsibility in changing times.
It's directed by Takashi Miike (probably best known for the unsettling horror of The Audition etc.) and he handles the material with an enormous amount of skill - the early sections are filled with beautifully shot little scenes as the warriors are recruited and assembled.
He then builds the story slowly towards a fantastic battle-scene payoff that lasts nearly three-quarters of an hour but never becomes boring or cliched. There's a genuine sense of engagement and threat, possibly due to the minimal use of wire work which means that the physical stunts have a 'real' or naturalistic feel to them.
If you enjoyed the likes of Crouching Tiger..., Hero and Red Cliff you are going to absolutely love 13 Assassins.
Period martial arts adventure starring Koji Yakusho and Takayuki Yamada. A respected samurai must assemble an elite team of assassins to kill the tyrannical Lord Naritsugu, whose bloody rise to power threatens the peace in feudal Japan. But the brave warriors are vastly outnumbered, and the 13 assassins embark upon a monumental suicide mission.
13 Assassins is a fascinating film : it's a combination of straight ahead martial arts story in the traditional Japanese mould of The Seven Samurai and an arthouse film about notions of honour, loyalty and responsibility in changing times.
It's directed by Takashi Miike (probably best known for the unsettling horror of The Audition etc.) and he handles the material with an enormous amount of skill - the early sections are filled with beautifully shot little scenes as the warriors are recruited and assembled.
He then builds the story slowly towards a fantastic battle-scene payoff that lasts nearly three-quarters of an hour but never becomes boring or cliched. There's a genuine sense of engagement and threat, possibly due to the minimal use of wire work which means that the physical stunts have a 'real' or naturalistic feel to them.
If you enjoyed the likes of Crouching Tiger..., Hero and Red Cliff you are going to absolutely love 13 Assassins.
Sunday, 22 March 2015
Freeview film of the day : sunday 22nd of March
Sleep Tight (2011 100min.) [BBC4 10.00pm]
Freeview premiere
Horror thriller starring Luis Tosar. A deranged janitor insinuates himself into the life of one of his tenants with horrifying and traumatic results.
Terrific thriller which takes as it's starting point the primal fear of Something Nasty Under The Bed and spirals it out into a nerve jangling story of obsession, paranoia and desire.
Luis Tosar's Cesar is a superb creation - darkly menacing as he carefully plots the next step in his campaign and utterly ruthless when it comes to dealing with those who stand in his way.
Marta Etura is really good as this object of his fascination : not a weak willed victim but a fully rounded character who reacts in a believable (but tough) way to the chaos in her life.
The film is directed by Jaume Balagueró , known for his work on cult favourites [rec] (2007) and Fear (2010) and he brings the same style to this work, adding flourishes borrowed from Hitchcock and Polanski as the plot twist and turns to it's unexpected conclusion.
Not a blood, guts and gore horror but one that relies on insinuation and psychological menace to create it's air of tension and dread.
A highly recommended euro-thriller that will keep you entertained and engaged for 100 minutes.
Wednesday, 24 December 2014
Films on Freeview TV : wednesday 24th of December
WALL-E (2008 94min.) [BBC1 11.00am]
Animated sci-fi comedy featuring the voices of Sigourney Weaver, Ben Burtt and Elissa Knight. On a refuse-covered Earth of the future, a lonely robot called WALL-E is carrying out its function to compress and form litter into towers, a task it was programmed to do by the humans who abandoned the barren planet centuries ago. Then a visit from a probe called EVE brings hope that Earth could be populated once more.
Pixar's Oscar winning eco-message animation starts with a very long dialogue free section that is absolutely beautiful to watch. The 'love' story between is Wall-E and Eve is touching and the film only sags a bit when the human characters turn up. A absolute joy and a pleasure.
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005 81min.) [BBC1 1.45pm]
Animated comedy adventure featuring the voices of Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter. As the annual Giant Vegetable Competition approaches, enterprising Wallace and Gromit cash in with their humane pest-control outfit, "Anti-Pesto". But business turns sour when a huge, mysterious beast begins destroying every garden in the area.
Wallace and Gromit are as charming as ever in this affectionate horror movie send-up. The cheese-loving inventor and his dog (not just a loyal hound but business partner, housewife, fixer) try to catch the mutated rabbit that's threatening to devour the village's annual crop of giant vegetables.
The painstaking stop-motion, Peter Sallis' Yorkshire accent, vicars and village fêtes all hark back to Watch with Mother, though children’s TV was never this stuffed with puns, double entendres and so many pop culture references you'd need several viewings to catch them all.
The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938 101min.) [Ch5 1.50pm&+1]
Classic swashbuckling adventure starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Robin Hood and his band of followers fight to protect King Richard's throne from evil Prince John and his villainous accomplice Sir Guy of Gisbourne.
The Grinch (2000 100min.) [Ch4 2.45pm &+1]
Comedy fantasy based on the book by Dr Seuss, starring Jim Carrey. It's Christmas in Whoville and preparations are well underway. Meanwhile, up in his mountain lair, cold-hearted hermit the Grinch sits alone resenting the Whovians' happiness. But then he's befriended by a little girl.
Scrooge
(1951 86min.) [Ch5 3.50pm &+1]
Classic British version of Charles Dickens's Christmas tale, starring Alastair Sim. On Christmas Eve, a tight-fisted businessman is visited by three ghosts who remind him of the true spirit of Christmas.
Says here they are showing the black and white original rather than the vile ‘colorised’ version which keeps popping up elsewhere. In which case it’s pretty much unmissable.
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946 125min.) [More 4 4.10pm&+1]
Frank Capra's classic fantasy drama, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore. George Bailey is a small-town businessman who believes he has been a failure. Contemplating suicide, George meets his guardian angel and discovers what life in his home town of Bedford Falls would have been like had he never lived.
One Hundred And One Dalmatians (1960 76min.) [BBC1 4.45pm]
Freeview premiere
Disney's classic animated adventure based on the novel by Dodie Smith, featuring the voice of Rod Taylor. When love blossoms between Londoners Roger and Anita, the same also occurs for their dalmatian dogs Pongo and Perdita. But when the two pooches have a litter of puppies, Anita's old schoolfriend Cruella De Vil is determined to have them at any cost. Her purpose: to make a coat from their pelts.
Cruella De Vil is one of the great Disney character creations and the ‘midnight bark’ sequence is an absolute joy. This is a film made by a studio working at the top of their game and a stand-out work in their canon. Despite the advances in animation technology since there still lots to enjoy in this hand-drawn classic and, at 76 minutes, hardly a moment is wasted.
Muppet Christmas Carol (1992 85min.) [Ch4 4.50pm &+1]
The inimitable puppets are joined by Michael Caine for their own special interpretation of the classic Dickens Christmas tale in which miserly Scrooge is visited by ghosts to help him mend his selfish ways.
Genuinely funny retelling of the Dickens classic with the added bonuses of some great songs and Michael Caine as Scrooge.
Toy Story 3 (2010 98min) [BBC1 6.25pm]
Animated comedy adventure sequel, with the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. Andy's heading off to college and plans to give most of his toys to a day-care centre. But when Woody and the gang are accidentally donated, too, they must embark on a daring and dangerous mission to escape.
Some great new characters, especially the villainous Lotso the bear, and a strong script helped the Toy Story franchise end (or pause) with some style.
Stand out moments include Barbie’s growing frustration with Ken and Buzz Lightyear becoming stuck in Spanish language mode.
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993 73min.) [ITV2 7.20pm &+1]
Animated musical drama featuring the voices of Chris Sarandon and Catherine O'Hara. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, longs to escape the routine of Halloweentown. Through a door in a tree, he stumbles upon Christmastown where he engineers the kidnapping of Santa Claus and wreaks havoc among the inhabitants.
Top quality stop-motion animation with some great songs, sets, characters and voice work. Not just for kids and goths!
Superb set of songs by Danny Elfman too.
The Raid (2011 96min.) [Film4 11.40pm &+1]
A cop joins a SWAT team as they undertake a deadly mission - to infiltrate the tenement that contains the lair of a powerful drug kingpin. However, they soon learn they have walked into a trap - all routes out of the building are blocked, the gangster's henchmen are surrounding them and they will have to fight their way out. Action thriller, starring Iko Uwais and Joe Taslim.
Gareth Evans film is a superbly constructed mixture of Die Hard, Assault On Precinct 13, the Hong Kong action films of John Woo and any number of role-playing shoot em up video games.
Every second of the running time is filled with action : there's no attempt at telling backstory or character development ; the plot is lightweight and there's minimal dialogue.
But the film still has the ability to grip the viewer from beginning to end ; there are some superb action sequences and a genuine air of peril and danger.
It's bloody and violent and, if that's not your sort of thing, you should steer well clear as you won't enjoy The Raid at all.
However if you think you would enjoy a tense thriller with a pounding electronic soundtrack set in a claustrophobic space with some dazzling martial arts sequences and superbly done shoot outs then you'll have to go a long way to find a better recent example than this film.
Rare Exports From The Land of the Original Santa Claus (2010 79min.) [Ch4 1.55am &+1]
Dark seasonal fantasy starring Jorma Tommila and Onni Tommila. Santa Claus's tomb is unearthed in Lapland, just before local children begin disappearing. It seems he isn't quite the jolly soul of Christmas legend.
Wonderfully bonkers Finnish horror-comedy that messes around with the Santa Claus story and creates a brilliantly realised alternative universe in which an evil Santa rules despotically over a world of ensalved elves and helpers.
Terrific fun!
Animated sci-fi comedy featuring the voices of Sigourney Weaver, Ben Burtt and Elissa Knight. On a refuse-covered Earth of the future, a lonely robot called WALL-E is carrying out its function to compress and form litter into towers, a task it was programmed to do by the humans who abandoned the barren planet centuries ago. Then a visit from a probe called EVE brings hope that Earth could be populated once more.
Pixar's Oscar winning eco-message animation starts with a very long dialogue free section that is absolutely beautiful to watch. The 'love' story between is Wall-E and Eve is touching and the film only sags a bit when the human characters turn up. A absolute joy and a pleasure.
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005 81min.) [BBC1 1.45pm]
Animated comedy adventure featuring the voices of Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter. As the annual Giant Vegetable Competition approaches, enterprising Wallace and Gromit cash in with their humane pest-control outfit, "Anti-Pesto". But business turns sour when a huge, mysterious beast begins destroying every garden in the area.
Wallace and Gromit are as charming as ever in this affectionate horror movie send-up. The cheese-loving inventor and his dog (not just a loyal hound but business partner, housewife, fixer) try to catch the mutated rabbit that's threatening to devour the village's annual crop of giant vegetables.
The painstaking stop-motion, Peter Sallis' Yorkshire accent, vicars and village fêtes all hark back to Watch with Mother, though children’s TV was never this stuffed with puns, double entendres and so many pop culture references you'd need several viewings to catch them all.
The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938 101min.) [Ch5 1.50pm&+1]
Classic swashbuckling adventure starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Robin Hood and his band of followers fight to protect King Richard's throne from evil Prince John and his villainous accomplice Sir Guy of Gisbourne.
The Grinch (2000 100min.) [Ch4 2.45pm &+1]
Comedy fantasy based on the book by Dr Seuss, starring Jim Carrey. It's Christmas in Whoville and preparations are well underway. Meanwhile, up in his mountain lair, cold-hearted hermit the Grinch sits alone resenting the Whovians' happiness. But then he's befriended by a little girl.
Scrooge
(1951 86min.) [Ch5 3.50pm &+1]
Classic British version of Charles Dickens's Christmas tale, starring Alastair Sim. On Christmas Eve, a tight-fisted businessman is visited by three ghosts who remind him of the true spirit of Christmas.
Says here they are showing the black and white original rather than the vile ‘colorised’ version which keeps popping up elsewhere. In which case it’s pretty much unmissable.
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946 125min.) [More 4 4.10pm&+1]
Frank Capra's classic fantasy drama, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore. George Bailey is a small-town businessman who believes he has been a failure. Contemplating suicide, George meets his guardian angel and discovers what life in his home town of Bedford Falls would have been like had he never lived.
One Hundred And One Dalmatians (1960 76min.) [BBC1 4.45pm]
Freeview premiere
Disney's classic animated adventure based on the novel by Dodie Smith, featuring the voice of Rod Taylor. When love blossoms between Londoners Roger and Anita, the same also occurs for their dalmatian dogs Pongo and Perdita. But when the two pooches have a litter of puppies, Anita's old schoolfriend Cruella De Vil is determined to have them at any cost. Her purpose: to make a coat from their pelts.
Cruella De Vil is one of the great Disney character creations and the ‘midnight bark’ sequence is an absolute joy. This is a film made by a studio working at the top of their game and a stand-out work in their canon. Despite the advances in animation technology since there still lots to enjoy in this hand-drawn classic and, at 76 minutes, hardly a moment is wasted.
Muppet Christmas Carol (1992 85min.) [Ch4 4.50pm &+1]
The inimitable puppets are joined by Michael Caine for their own special interpretation of the classic Dickens Christmas tale in which miserly Scrooge is visited by ghosts to help him mend his selfish ways.
Genuinely funny retelling of the Dickens classic with the added bonuses of some great songs and Michael Caine as Scrooge.
Toy Story 3 (2010 98min) [BBC1 6.25pm]
Animated comedy adventure sequel, with the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. Andy's heading off to college and plans to give most of his toys to a day-care centre. But when Woody and the gang are accidentally donated, too, they must embark on a daring and dangerous mission to escape.
Some great new characters, especially the villainous Lotso the bear, and a strong script helped the Toy Story franchise end (or pause) with some style.
Stand out moments include Barbie’s growing frustration with Ken and Buzz Lightyear becoming stuck in Spanish language mode.
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993 73min.) [ITV2 7.20pm &+1]
Animated musical drama featuring the voices of Chris Sarandon and Catherine O'Hara. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, longs to escape the routine of Halloweentown. Through a door in a tree, he stumbles upon Christmastown where he engineers the kidnapping of Santa Claus and wreaks havoc among the inhabitants.
Top quality stop-motion animation with some great songs, sets, characters and voice work. Not just for kids and goths!
Superb set of songs by Danny Elfman too.
The Raid (2011 96min.) [Film4 11.40pm &+1]
A cop joins a SWAT team as they undertake a deadly mission - to infiltrate the tenement that contains the lair of a powerful drug kingpin. However, they soon learn they have walked into a trap - all routes out of the building are blocked, the gangster's henchmen are surrounding them and they will have to fight their way out. Action thriller, starring Iko Uwais and Joe Taslim.
Gareth Evans film is a superbly constructed mixture of Die Hard, Assault On Precinct 13, the Hong Kong action films of John Woo and any number of role-playing shoot em up video games.
Every second of the running time is filled with action : there's no attempt at telling backstory or character development ; the plot is lightweight and there's minimal dialogue.
But the film still has the ability to grip the viewer from beginning to end ; there are some superb action sequences and a genuine air of peril and danger.
It's bloody and violent and, if that's not your sort of thing, you should steer well clear as you won't enjoy The Raid at all.
However if you think you would enjoy a tense thriller with a pounding electronic soundtrack set in a claustrophobic space with some dazzling martial arts sequences and superbly done shoot outs then you'll have to go a long way to find a better recent example than this film.
Rare Exports From The Land of the Original Santa Claus (2010 79min.) [Ch4 1.55am &+1]
Dark seasonal fantasy starring Jorma Tommila and Onni Tommila. Santa Claus's tomb is unearthed in Lapland, just before local children begin disappearing. It seems he isn't quite the jolly soul of Christmas legend.
Wonderfully bonkers Finnish horror-comedy that messes around with the Santa Claus story and creates a brilliantly realised alternative universe in which an evil Santa rules despotically over a world of ensalved elves and helpers.
Terrific fun!
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