Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011 97min.) [Film4 1.00am thursday &+1]
Drama starring Elizabeth Olsen. Lucy receives a phone call from her estranged sister Martha, asking if she can come and collect her from a bus station in upstate New York. When the pair return to the summer house Lucy shares with her partner, Martha's erratic behaviour suggests that she has undergone a traumatic experience while she has been away.
This is a really fine piece of film making by writer/director Sean Durkin, his cast and crew.
An enigmatic mystery drama about identity, self, love and loyalty (and misplaced loyalty) that plays out slowly and makes fantastic use of the simple trick of withholding all of the information from the viewer ; telling us only as much as we need to allow us to enjoy the ride - right up to the unresolved ending.
Elizabeth Olsen is superb in the title role(s) - disorientated, confused, changeable and seemingly capable of astonishing mood swings and emotional surges. It's a great part and Olsen grabs it with both hands and wrings every drop from it.
John Hawkes gives another in his string of startling supporting role performances (as in Winter's Bone) and Sarah Paulson does good work with the slightly underwritten part of Martha's sister.
One of those films that stays with you for a few days after watching. Highly recommended.
Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Tuesday, 8 August 2017
Freeview film of the day : tuesday 8th of August
The Strange World of Planet X (1957 71mins.) [Talking Pictures TV 3.15am wednesday]
(Sky 343, Freeview 81, Freesat 306 & Youview 81)
A team of scientists stumbles upon a method of creating powerful magnetic fields, unaware that a side-effect is the mutation of insects into giant killers. Sci-fi drama, starring Forrest Tucker and Gaby Andre.
Britain didn't go in for the Fear Of The Other paranoid sci-fi thriller during the Cold War to the extent that the United States did, which makes this an interesting film within a very small sub-genre.
There's a bunch of slightly mysterious scientists up at the big hall who are working on A Device that's supposed to Do Something Important For Some Reason but is, in fact, doing something else as well. Something that is Clearly Not A Good Thing.
There's a very pretty English village with a cosy pub, its own poacher and a school, with a newly arrived female school teacher (for added love interest).
There's Whitehall mandarins and sceptical defence staff; a handsome and dashing MI6 security specialist and Forrest Tucker as a square jawed North American (allegedly Canadian) on the staff to add a bit of Transatlantic glamour to proceedings.
And who is the mysterious "Mister Smith" who's lurking in the woods?
Some of the social attitudes on display are positively antediluvian (especially when one of the male scientists rants about his dislike of working with women - a position that's hurriedly reversed when the new recruit turns out to be a fizzy young French woman (Gaby Andre - giving plenty of verve).
In addition, some of the special effects are a lot less than special!
However, despite its obvious problems (and very low budget) the cast are full of energy and Gilbert Gunn directs the action very briskly and efficiently, making this an enjoyable hour and a quarter well spent.
(Sky 343, Freeview 81, Freesat 306 & Youview 81)
A team of scientists stumbles upon a method of creating powerful magnetic fields, unaware that a side-effect is the mutation of insects into giant killers. Sci-fi drama, starring Forrest Tucker and Gaby Andre.
Britain didn't go in for the Fear Of The Other paranoid sci-fi thriller during the Cold War to the extent that the United States did, which makes this an interesting film within a very small sub-genre.
There's a bunch of slightly mysterious scientists up at the big hall who are working on A Device that's supposed to Do Something Important For Some Reason but is, in fact, doing something else as well. Something that is Clearly Not A Good Thing.
There's a very pretty English village with a cosy pub, its own poacher and a school, with a newly arrived female school teacher (for added love interest).
There's Whitehall mandarins and sceptical defence staff; a handsome and dashing MI6 security specialist and Forrest Tucker as a square jawed North American (allegedly Canadian) on the staff to add a bit of Transatlantic glamour to proceedings.
And who is the mysterious "Mister Smith" who's lurking in the woods?
Some of the social attitudes on display are positively antediluvian (especially when one of the male scientists rants about his dislike of working with women - a position that's hurriedly reversed when the new recruit turns out to be a fizzy young French woman (Gaby Andre - giving plenty of verve).
In addition, some of the special effects are a lot less than special!
However, despite its obvious problems (and very low budget) the cast are full of energy and Gilbert Gunn directs the action very briskly and efficiently, making this an enjoyable hour and a quarter well spent.
Tuesday, 1 August 2017
Freeview film of the day : tuesday 1st of August
Force Majure (2014 114mins.) [Film4 11.10pm &+1]
Freeview premiere
A man on a skiing holiday in the French Alps flees for his life during an avalanche - leaving his family to their fate. While everyone survives, he soon finds his relationship with his wife and children unraveling as they struggle to forgive him for abandoning them.
Drama, starring Johannes Kuhnke and Lisa Loven Kongsli. In Swedish, English, French and Norwegian.
A clever twist on the "what would you save from a burning house?" question that's played as a dark comedy but has strong trace elements of domestic drama and social comment.
Neatly done by all concerned but special mention for Lisa Loven Kongsli whose performance hits all the right notes as the wife and mother who suddenly finds a lot of the certainties in her life rearranged.
Interesting, intelligent and very well constructed.
Freeview premiere
A man on a skiing holiday in the French Alps flees for his life during an avalanche - leaving his family to their fate. While everyone survives, he soon finds his relationship with his wife and children unraveling as they struggle to forgive him for abandoning them.
Drama, starring Johannes Kuhnke and Lisa Loven Kongsli. In Swedish, English, French and Norwegian.
A clever twist on the "what would you save from a burning house?" question that's played as a dark comedy but has strong trace elements of domestic drama and social comment.
Neatly done by all concerned but special mention for Lisa Loven Kongsli whose performance hits all the right notes as the wife and mother who suddenly finds a lot of the certainties in her life rearranged.
Interesting, intelligent and very well constructed.
Saturday, 29 July 2017
Freeview film of the day : saturday 29th of July
Sleep Tight (2011 100min.) [BBC2 12.40am sunday]
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.
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, 28 June 2017
Freeview film of the day : wednesday 28th of June
Battleship (2012 125mins.) [Film4 6.25pm & +1]
A reckless slacker joins the Navy, hoping to win the respect of his girlfriend's father, a stern admiral. He and his shipmates are put to the ultimate test as part of a force of vessels that must battle an invading fleet of powerful alien spaceships.
Sci-fi adventure, starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgard.
The lazy review is "Transfomers At Sea" but director Peter Berg remembers the thing that Michael Bay often forgets : these big budget sock 'em rock 'em blockbusters are supposed to be fun for the viewer ; to this end he keeps the action moving forward, with plenty of set-pieces (which are kept to a sensible length) and some moments of humour in the interactions of the characters.
Of course it's stupid and utterly unscientific in every way but the decent cast and spectacular CGI at least make it an entertaining watch.
Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgård are the nominal stars but they really get very little screen time, they're there to provide a little depth and acting gravitas in support of the younger cast members who do most of the actual work.
Taylor Kitch and Jesse Plemon (both off of TV's Friday Night Lights) are reunited as the young officers suddenly having to Save The World from The Bad Things From Space rather than boozing, chasing girls and cracking wise.
There's the novelty casting of Rihanna as a senior weapons specialist (no, really!) who actually does quite well with a badly underwritten part and some good work by Tadanobu Asano.
Obviously it was never going to win any awards or be hailed as a cinematic masterpiece but it does enough to keep you engaged and entertained for a couple of hours - and really that's the whole point of films like this.
And there is a reference to the classic pen and paper game of Battleships at one point which made me smile as the grid appeared on a computer screen and Captain Nagata shouted "B9! Fire!"
A reckless slacker joins the Navy, hoping to win the respect of his girlfriend's father, a stern admiral. He and his shipmates are put to the ultimate test as part of a force of vessels that must battle an invading fleet of powerful alien spaceships.
Sci-fi adventure, starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgard.
The lazy review is "Transfomers At Sea" but director Peter Berg remembers the thing that Michael Bay often forgets : these big budget sock 'em rock 'em blockbusters are supposed to be fun for the viewer ; to this end he keeps the action moving forward, with plenty of set-pieces (which are kept to a sensible length) and some moments of humour in the interactions of the characters.
Of course it's stupid and utterly unscientific in every way but the decent cast and spectacular CGI at least make it an entertaining watch.
Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgård are the nominal stars but they really get very little screen time, they're there to provide a little depth and acting gravitas in support of the younger cast members who do most of the actual work.
Taylor Kitch and Jesse Plemon (both off of TV's Friday Night Lights) are reunited as the young officers suddenly having to Save The World from The Bad Things From Space rather than boozing, chasing girls and cracking wise.
There's the novelty casting of Rihanna as a senior weapons specialist (no, really!) who actually does quite well with a badly underwritten part and some good work by Tadanobu Asano.
Obviously it was never going to win any awards or be hailed as a cinematic masterpiece but it does enough to keep you engaged and entertained for a couple of hours - and really that's the whole point of films like this.
And there is a reference to the classic pen and paper game of Battleships at one point which made me smile as the grid appeared on a computer screen and Captain Nagata shouted "B9! Fire!"
Tuesday, 20 June 2017
Freeview film of the day : tuesday 20th of June
Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2003 97mins.) [Sony Movie Channel 10.50pm &+1]
(Sky 323, Freeview 32, Virgin 425)
Directed and written by Robert Rodriguez.
In this sequel to 'Desperado', a Mexican drug lord pretends to overthrow the Mexican government, and is connected to a corrupt CIA agent who at that time, demands retribution from his worst enemy to carry out the drug lord's uprising against the government.
Rodriguez revisits his El Mariachi hitman character (played again by Antonio Banderas), the titular star of his breakthrough self-financed film and his first US film ("Desperado"). The obvious question is - why? Did he have anything new left to do with the character? and the answer is a resounding no.
This second or third (depending on how you're counting) El Mariachi film has a plot that either makes no sense whatsoever or is overly complicated that it defies untangling. There's a whole mass of well known faces in the cast list who don't really have an awful lot to do and the dialogue seems to exist only to link the set-pieces together.
However, the action sequences are remarkable : Rodriguez has a real talent for choreographing fight scenes and gun battles ; each one is slightly more frenetic than the last and they give the film a real sense of momentum.
There's some small splashes of humour in among the killing sprees : the undercover CIA man wearing a CIA branded T-Shirt to a bull fight for example.
And there's another winning, slightly off-kilter turn from Johnny Depp who walks away with the acting honours despite the presence of Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe, Eva Mendes, Salma Hayek and Danny Trejo among the sprawling cast.
An utterly superficial film but still enormous fun for the 100 minutes or so that you're watching it.
Perfect viewing for a hot and sticky tuesday night.
(Sky 323, Freeview 32, Virgin 425)
Directed and written by Robert Rodriguez.
In this sequel to 'Desperado', a Mexican drug lord pretends to overthrow the Mexican government, and is connected to a corrupt CIA agent who at that time, demands retribution from his worst enemy to carry out the drug lord's uprising against the government.
Rodriguez revisits his El Mariachi hitman character (played again by Antonio Banderas), the titular star of his breakthrough self-financed film and his first US film ("Desperado"). The obvious question is - why? Did he have anything new left to do with the character? and the answer is a resounding no.
This second or third (depending on how you're counting) El Mariachi film has a plot that either makes no sense whatsoever or is overly complicated that it defies untangling. There's a whole mass of well known faces in the cast list who don't really have an awful lot to do and the dialogue seems to exist only to link the set-pieces together.
However, the action sequences are remarkable : Rodriguez has a real talent for choreographing fight scenes and gun battles ; each one is slightly more frenetic than the last and they give the film a real sense of momentum.
There's some small splashes of humour in among the killing sprees : the undercover CIA man wearing a CIA branded T-Shirt to a bull fight for example.
And there's another winning, slightly off-kilter turn from Johnny Depp who walks away with the acting honours despite the presence of Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe, Eva Mendes, Salma Hayek and Danny Trejo among the sprawling cast.
An utterly superficial film but still enormous fun for the 100 minutes or so that you're watching it.
Perfect viewing for a hot and sticky tuesday night.
Monday, 19 June 2017
Freeview film of the day : monday 19tth of June
Seance On A Wet Afternoon (1964) [Talking Pictures TV 6.30pm]
(Sky 343, Freeview 81, Freesat 306 & Youview 81)
Written by Bryan Forbes from the book by Mark McShane, directed by Forbes.
Somewhat overlooked and partially forgotten British film that takes the realistic style that was popular at the moment and overlays it with an air of the supernatural and other worldly to extraordinary good effect.
Myra, a fake medium, tired of eking a living "contacting" the dead on behalf of her tiny group of adherents once a week, devises a plan to find fame, fortune and celebrity for herself and, with the aid of her down trodden husband Bill, sets about putting it into practice.
There's all sorts of themes and ideas being explored here : the nature of self-deception, the lure and pull of fame (long before it became fashionable to comment on), insanity, loss, delusion and desperation.
Kim Stanley as Myra is utterly astonishing. She holds the centre of the film and turns in a magnificent performance; by turns dominating, beguiling, wheedling, cunning and (ultimately) broken. Nominated for an Oscar (she lost to Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins) it's a fine piece of work, even down to an almost note perfect English accent.
She was to be nominated again in 1983 for her supporting role as Jessica Lange's chillingly dominant mother in Frances (1982) (losing again) - in between times working only fitfully and then mainly in TV; another example of a woman of enormous talent that Hollywood found difficult to slot into it's rigidly stereotyped casting moulds.
The other lead role - the defeated and compliant Bill, Myra's husband - is taken by Richard Attenborough, again giving one of his quiet unshowy performances that he was capable at one time. Meekly sublimating himself to his mentally scarred wife's every whim and command until, in the final reel, she pushes him just a little too further bringing about the hugely satisfying climax to the film.
Good support work from Nanette Newman as a clutching-at-straws young mum, Mark Eden as her husband and Patrick Magee as the investigating superintendent, all charm and urbanity.
A quick word for John Barry's score which is not only excellent (as you would expect) but adds superbly to the general air of strangeness that pervades the film.
And special words for director Bryan Forbes whose best film this is by some comfortable distance. He builds tension into every scene by the use of unusual camera angles (there's a lot of low angle shots), some well used extreme close-ups and constructive use of lighting. He subsumes the entire film in an aura of other wordiness and drops in the shocks and surprises with a deft touch.
Finally praise for the location shots of London just on the edge of becoming "swinging". A document of lost times including some great scenes shot in and around the Underground system.
A truly excellent and thoughtful film.
(Sky 343, Freeview 81, Freesat 306 & Youview 81)
Written by Bryan Forbes from the book by Mark McShane, directed by Forbes.
Somewhat overlooked and partially forgotten British film that takes the realistic style that was popular at the moment and overlays it with an air of the supernatural and other worldly to extraordinary good effect.
Myra, a fake medium, tired of eking a living "contacting" the dead on behalf of her tiny group of adherents once a week, devises a plan to find fame, fortune and celebrity for herself and, with the aid of her down trodden husband Bill, sets about putting it into practice.
There's all sorts of themes and ideas being explored here : the nature of self-deception, the lure and pull of fame (long before it became fashionable to comment on), insanity, loss, delusion and desperation.
Kim Stanley as Myra is utterly astonishing. She holds the centre of the film and turns in a magnificent performance; by turns dominating, beguiling, wheedling, cunning and (ultimately) broken. Nominated for an Oscar (she lost to Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins) it's a fine piece of work, even down to an almost note perfect English accent.
She was to be nominated again in 1983 for her supporting role as Jessica Lange's chillingly dominant mother in Frances (1982) (losing again) - in between times working only fitfully and then mainly in TV; another example of a woman of enormous talent that Hollywood found difficult to slot into it's rigidly stereotyped casting moulds.
The other lead role - the defeated and compliant Bill, Myra's husband - is taken by Richard Attenborough, again giving one of his quiet unshowy performances that he was capable at one time. Meekly sublimating himself to his mentally scarred wife's every whim and command until, in the final reel, she pushes him just a little too further bringing about the hugely satisfying climax to the film.
Good support work from Nanette Newman as a clutching-at-straws young mum, Mark Eden as her husband and Patrick Magee as the investigating superintendent, all charm and urbanity.
A quick word for John Barry's score which is not only excellent (as you would expect) but adds superbly to the general air of strangeness that pervades the film.
And special words for director Bryan Forbes whose best film this is by some comfortable distance. He builds tension into every scene by the use of unusual camera angles (there's a lot of low angle shots), some well used extreme close-ups and constructive use of lighting. He subsumes the entire film in an aura of other wordiness and drops in the shocks and surprises with a deft touch.
Finally praise for the location shots of London just on the edge of becoming "swinging". A document of lost times including some great scenes shot in and around the Underground system.
A truly excellent and thoughtful film.
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