Review #958: 'Snowpiercer' (2013)

Studio interference is certainly nothing new in the movie business, but it's sickening to think that, with all the disastrous films that have been the result of suits sticking their noses into an artists vision, an experienced and extremely successful studio head like Harvey Weinstein can demand edits on a finished product that had already tested well with audiences. And so, Snowpiercer limped onto the big screen in selected cinemas and performed well with the small audiences that were actually able to see it, and is still unreleased in many countries, including here in the UK.

The English-language debut of genre director Joon Ho Bong, Snowpiercer mixes post-apocalyptic spectacle with social and political commentary with equally mixed success. Set on board of the eponymous, self-sufficient train that navigates the globe once every 365 days in a world thrown into a new ice age by our attempts to halt global warming, our scruffy hero Curtis (a steely-eyed Chris Evans) has spent the last 17 years cramped inside of the lower-class carriage. Fed nothing but 'protein bars', which consist of questionable ingredients, and occasionally having their young children taken from them by armed guards, Curtis, along with leader Gilliam (John Hurt), plan a revolt.

The revolt will hopefully lead them to the front carriage, where the upper classes live in luxury and with plenty of space. Backed by his loyal second-in-command Edgar (Jamie Bell), Curtis plans to release security expert Namgoong (Kang-Ho Song) to aid his path through the many carriages, eventually gaining control of the engine held sacred to most. However, their progression is met with resistance by Minister Mason (Tilda Swinton), a Margaret Thatcher-type who demands social order with a small army of masked men with an assortment of nasty weapons, and who answers only to the train's creator, Wilford (Ed Harris).

Snowpiercer is at its best when at its most ferocious. A carriage fight involving Mason's terrifying guards and Curtis's beaten-down group of peasants, played out mostly in darkness, is a moment of nightmarish horror. Evans, having done little of note since he became Captain America, gives it his all throughout, showing us the darker side of his persona now so synonymous with the clean-cut and morally righteous Steve Rogers. However, these injections of ferocity switch to outright comedy within the blink of an eye. Ho Bong has always been good at mood shifts - the swings from comedy to tragedy in his Memories of Murder (2003) is what made the film a masterpiece in my humble opinion - but Snowpiercer struggles to blend these moments together.

Almost immediately after the bloody battle, Curtis finds himself in a classroom teaching 'train babies', where we learn the history of the train and how they are being taught to worship the 'sacred engine'. It is filmed with a Terry Gilliam-esque absurdity, all bizarre angles and close-ups of an over-the-top Alison Pill as the violence turns into slapstick, jarring with the brutality that came before. For the most part, this is grim stuff, and Ho Bong is keen to keep reminding you. Along with the heavy violence throughout, we also get a monologue about eating babies that is too ridiculous to be taken with a straight face. There are some interesting comments regarding the use of fear and chaos to control a populace at the end, but the film doesn't seem to know when and how to finish. A very hit-and-miss experience.


Directed by: Joon Ho Bong
Starring: Chris Evans, Kang-Ho Song, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell
Country: South Korea/Czech Republic/USA/France

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #957: 'It' (1990)

Throughout the Stephen King adaptation boom of the 1980's and 90's, one aspect that kept writers and directors scratching their heads was how to stay faithful to the sprawling text, while condensing the story into one digestible sitting. While movies such as Carrie (1976) and The Shining (1990) were masterful, they had to stray away from the source in order to avoid becoming a rambling mess. With It, King's hugely successful novel about a shape-shifting entity who preys on young children, the story plays out over two made-for-TV 90 minute episodes. While this format allows the characters and dense plot to breathe, it also highlights a noticeable drop in quality come part two.

The first part takes place mainly in the cursed town of Derry, Maine, in 1960. The younger brother of Bill Denbrough (the late Jonathan Brandis) is approached by a clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry), who lures the little boy into a storm drain with promises of candy and balloons before attacking and killing him. Bill becomes the leader of the Losers Club, a small gang of sorts that consists of outcasts, most of whom have long been the target of a notorious bully. All the kids have problems of their own at school or at home, but they have all been approached by the sinister being who calls himself Pennywise, who terrifies them by feeding on their fears. As they learn the history of the monster who is terrorising their town, the Losers Club decide that it is down to them to end the horror once and for all.

The young cast portraying the Losers Club (along with Brandis, they consist of Brandon Crane, Adam Faraizl, Emily Perkins, Marlon Taylor, Seth Green and Ben Heller) surprisingly outshine their adult counterparts, forging a chemistry with each other strong enough to convince that these are real friends united by shared experience. The opening segment is expertly paced, juxtaposing the events in Derry 30 years ago with the group as adults, all leading their own lives apart from one another, who will find their fates intertwining once again as they learn of children going missing in their home town once again. As they prepare to return home to face an enemy they thought had been destroyed, they think back to their life as children and the bond they once shared.

While the first half brings to mind the heart-warming nostalgia of another King adaptation, Stand by Me (1986), and is genuinely terrifying at times, the second half sinks into strung-out melodrama. The adult cast, consisting of mainly of TV alumni (Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Dennis Christopher, Annette O'Toole, Tim Reid, Harry Anderson and Richard Masur), look like they're sleep-walking through their roles and, as well as sharing little in the way of physical resemblance to the kids playing them, they share little of their natural chemistry also. I haven't read the novel, but I cannot imagine the climax being quite as ridiculous and underwhelming as it is here. More than likely a victim of its TV budget, the three hour-plus running time ends on a whimper. If the quality had been maintained throughout, this could have been one of the most effective King adaptations to date. Instead, it lies somewhere in the middle. However, Curry deserves high praise of his portrayal of what is surely cinema's scariest clown.


Directed by: Tommy Lee Wallace
Starring: Tim Curry, Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Annette O'Toole, Tim Reid, Jonathan Brandis
Country: USA/Canada

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #956: 'Entourage' (2015)

For eight seasons, HBO's portrayal of movie star Vinnie Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his three loyal buddies from Queens frequently introduced hints of game-changing plots - busted for drugs, dealing with a huge financial flop, being screwed out of work by a disgruntled movie producer - that would gradually fizzle out and get wrapped out in one inconsequential scene. Entourage the movie, an event that surely only die-hard fans were asking for, does very much the same. Like the majority of TV-to-movie adaptations, it does little more than whittle its characters down to their primary personality traits, but with better cinematography than its small-screen predecessor.

Anyone who watched the show (as I did), will be all too familiar with the romantic adventures of manager 'E' (Kevin Connolly) and the glamorous Sloane (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a tedious sub-plot that somehow evolved into the main focus. Here, they have broken up for the umpteenth time but Sloane is pregnant, and E (for Eric) is torn between the love of his life and casual sex with the sexy strangers his best friend, client, and superstar Vinnie Chase attracts. That the film climaxes with the birth of the tiny sprog speaks volumes about the kind of ambition creator and director Doug Ellin has. This is a world of fast cars, pool parties and celebrity cameos, and bromances that play as a metaphor to some insincere themes of family, so there is no danger of having the fun spoilt by anything happening of any real consequence.

The twist here is that Vinnie now wants to direct his next feature, and super-agent and newly appointed studio head Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) has enough faith in his old friend to put up the cash for his first venture. When the budget inevitably spirals out of control and Vinnie asks for more money to finish the special effects, Ari must convince one of his primary financiers, Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton), that Hyde, Vinnie's (ridiculous) sci-fi spin on the Jekyll and Hyde story, is worth more investment. Curious at just what his money is paying for, Larsen sends his skirt-chasing son Travis (a barely recognisable Haley Joel Osment - possibly the best thing in the film) to see the movie. But with Vinnie refusing to give a viewing and Travis's unpredictable behaviour, the film is in danger of total collapse.

There are story-lines for driver Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and half-brother Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) too, with the former doting on Ronda Rousey and the latter still being laughed out of auditions. For fans of the show, there are returns for the likes of David Arquette, Gary Busey, Bob Saget and Andrew Dice Clay, and for newcomers the entire eight seasons are summarised in minutes by Piers Morgan, playing himself. But whether you've seen the show or not, it still builds up to a familiar anti-climax that fails to justify having to spend 90 minutes with these four douchebags. Even Ari's rants and homophobic abuse of his assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee), always the highlights of the show, have grown stale. The film also fails to answer the biggest question of all - just how is Vince a superstar when he possesses the charisma of a paper bag?


Directed by: Doug Ellin
Starring: Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Haley Joel Osment, Perrey Reeves, Ronda Rousey, Billy Bob Thornton
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #955: 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II' (1988)

Starting almost immediately after the climax of the first movie, Hellbound: Hellraiser II catches up with Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Lawrence), now being held in a mental institution after the horrors she witnessed. Her stories of a magical puzzle box and the gateway to hell are dismissed as fairytales by her doctors and the police, all of whom believe her to be insane, apart from the shady Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham). Along with Channard's sympathetic assistant Kyle MacRae (William Hope), Kirsty discovers than Channard has be studying the world of the Cenobites for years, and is using a child in his institution with a skill for puzzles to open the Lament Configuration. Using the bloodied mattress stolen from the bloodbath at Kirsty's home, Channard inadvertently allows the re-birth of the demented Julia Cotton (Clare Higgins).

Hellbound is a collection of decent ideas clumped together without much thought for coherency. The first Hellraiser had a sketchy mythology and left many things unexplained, but it compensated for this by conjuring a gripping and nightmarish tone throughout. Instead, Hellbound moves along at a frantic pace from one set-piece to another, without offering any kind of insight into just how a bloody mattress could work as a gateway through which Julia could escape the confines of hell, or why a child prodigy is required to open a box solves easily by Kirsty the first time around. With little character development or time to reflect on the events that occur, the film is a bit of a mess.

Visually, it's quite stunning. We get to see more of the Cenobite world as Kirsty enters into hell and bumps into her old foe Uncle Frank (Sean Chapman), and although the sets occasionally appear a bit on the dodgy side, and with special effects and make-up encouraging more laughter than genuine terror, it manages to deliver some memorable imagery and wince-inducing gore when it is called for. Ultimately though, I found Hellbound to be a bit of a headache, and even the extended appearances of Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and his minions could not distract my attention enough to make me forgive the many narrative flaws. Perhaps it's because I love the first film so much, or maybe it's down to Clive Barker stepping out of the director's chair and being replaced by Tony Randel. Still, it's a damn masterpiece compared to the sequels that followed.


Directed by: Tony Randel
Starring: Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, Kenneth Cranham, Sean Chapman, Doug Bradley
Country: UK/USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #954: 'The Killers' (1964)

Originally intended to be the first 'TV movie', Don Siegel's brutally thrilling and ice-cool adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's story was deemed too violent for the small screen. With filming taking place as John F. Kennedy was assassinated and one key scene certainly bringing the incident in Dallas to mind, The Killers was tactically granted a cinema release instead. Such a talented and experienced cast, and a director who delivered at least one masterpiece throughout his career, The Killers was always going to be too good not to appear on the big screen. More of a re-make of Robert Siodmak's 1946 film than of Hemingway's text, Siegel drops the film noir tone in favour of bright and sunny exteriors, while somehow heightening the sense of pessimism throughout.

After a routine hit in which race-car driver-turned-teacher Johnny North (John Cassavetes) is gunned down at a school for the blind, hired killer Charlie (Lee Marvin) and his partner Lee (Clu Gulager) discuss the strange way Johnny allowed himself to be killed and offered no resistance. Deciding the circumstances are too strange not to warrant further investigation, and with the possibility of recovering a missing $1 million, the two thugs interview Johnny's former mechanic friend Earl (Claude Akins). He tells them of Sheila (Angie Dickinson), the femme fatale who stole Johnny's attention, and her lover, the fearsome mob boss Jack Browning (Ronald Reagan), who embroiled Johnny and his skills behind the wheel in a million-dollar heist.

Appearing in his final movie role before moving into politics and becoming one of America's most infamous presidents, Reagan steals the movie as the slimy gangster Browning. He apparently hated the role, and had always played the hero during his career, but he proves to be surprisingly apt at playing a loathsome criminal. The Killers is remarkably tough, emphasising the roles of Marvin and Gulager's heartless brutes, who both have no qualms about dangling a woman out of a high-rise window. Despite Marvin's hulking presence, its actually Gulager who steals their scenes, with his mix of all-American handsomeness, preening narcissism and emotional coldness giving dimension to his stock character. The sickly brightness of it all does little but highlight the film's budget constraints, but The Killers thrills thanks to Siegel's unfussy direction and terrific performances all round.


Directed by: Don Siegel
Starring: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Clu Gulager, Claude Akins, Ronald Reagan, Norman Fell
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #953: 'Spectre' (2015)

Now the longest-running franchise in cinema history, Daniel Craig's James Bond is back for a fourth outing, and the British super-spy's 24th 'official' adventure overall. Also back is director Sam Mendes, who, after the phenomenal success of 2012's Skyfall, was always going to return to the franchise that brought him both critical and box-office embraces in equal measures. Now that Craig's Bond has been seen as a hot-headed maverick and evolved into the invincible agent with a license to kill as depicted by Connery, Moore et al, the re-boot that kicked off in 2006 is now up to speed and ready to relax into the formula that proved so successful these past 50 years.

Sadly, all Spectre seems to be is formula. It opens in Mexico during the Day of the Dead, where Bond is on a mission following a recorded tip-off from Q (Judi Dench) to assassinate three men who are plotting a terrorist attack. One man escapes, and Bond chases him through a crowd dressed in macabre costumes and into a helicopter. The opening set-piece is easily the most thrilling part of the movie, and Mexico City, beautifully captured by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, proves to be an inspired location during one of its most visually illuminating festivals. Straight after the rather hypnotic opening credits, which plays over the sound of Sam Smith's mediocre theme, the plot kicks in and it turns out MI-5 is becoming a redundant outfit; old men in suits who seem like small potatoes in a world of drones and high-tech spy software.

Spectre's ultimate goal is seemingly to prove that this is far from the case, that old-fashioned heroes who can sip martini's and bed beautiful women between taking down criminal organisations are far from gone. Judging by the box-office takings, the film makes its point and then some. It's just a shame that the quality takes a rapid decline after the exciting opener, and insists on establishing itself as a serialised franchise, with all the films from Casino Royale onwards linking into one another. Bond finally finds himself face to face with his greatest foe of all, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), and it's revealed that previous villains Le Chaffre, Dominic Greene and Silva were no more than puppets under his control. The revelation is illogical, ridiculous and ultimately pointless, serving no purpose other than to cash in on the recent trend of having films take place across a shared universe (started by Marvel).

At two and a half hours, the thin plot is stretched out as far as it can go. Bond tracks the illusive terrorist organisation Spectre to Rome, Austria and Morocco, accompanied by the daughter of a former Quantum agent, Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) and relentlessly pursued by hulking henchman Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista). By the time the quite bizarre extended climax comes, it feels as if the film should be wrapping itself up. Familiar cast members Ralph Fiennes and Ben Whishaw are back in their respected roles and are given enough screen time to actually effect the plot, but Naomie Harris's Moneypenny is sadly underused, as are Bautista and Monica Bellucci. Still, with a budget of around $245 million - one of the most expensive ever - Spectre is one of the most handsome films I've seen and is why I can't be too hard on the film with my star rating. But with the hype that came with the film upon it's release, it's a bitterly underwhelming experience.


Directed by: Sam Mendes
Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #952: 'Ex Machina' (2015)

Long-time movie scribe and author Alex Garland has taken a surprising amount of time to get into the director's chair. After penning scripts for Danny Boyle with The Beach (2000), 28 Days Later (2002) and Sunshine (2007), in addition to the haunting and highly underrated sci-fi drama Never Let Me Go (2010) and 2012's slightly underwhelming but suitably bad-ass Dredd, Garland's creativity must have surely been simmering when watching other directors bring his visions to life. The wait was well worth it, as his debut Ex Machina is a complex and bleak study of humanity and identity in a world where technology is evolving at rapid speed.

Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a programmer at a Google-esque corporation called Bluebook, the world's most popular search engine. He wins a competition to spend a week with the company's founder, the reclusive yet enigmatic genius Nathan (a typically intense Oscar Isaac), and is whisked off to the multi-billionaire's home in the mountains. Nathan's attitude towards Caleb is in turns welcoming and passive aggressive, encouraging the wide-eyed young man to make himself at home yet quick to point out that certain areas of the house are strictly out-of-bounds. Caleb learns of his purpose when Nathan unveils his technological breakthrough - a robot with artificial intelligence named Ava (Alicia Vikander) - and is tasked with performing a Turing test to confirm Ava's ability to convince an assessor that she is human.

The tests are to be carried out in various stages, and consist of one-on-one conversations between Caleb and Ava between a glass window. Ava's beautiful and entirely human face betrays her hollow shell of a body, but she appears to be entirely human nonetheless, and her exchanges with Caleb bristle with a suppressed sexual tension. When she puts on a dress and a wig, he is reluctantly intrigued by her form, and she seems infinitely fascinated by him. Nathan clearly doesn't see anything wrong with such urges, as he made her with sexual organs capable of feeling pleasure after all. These themes of female identity and masculine desire play out against a backdrop of something more sinister. Frequent power cuts that befuddle Nathan and a fist-shaped crack in the glass allow the film to gather a momentum of building uncertainty.

As Nathan, Isaac is subtly intimidating. The type of man who walks around his spotless house in bare feet and shakes off hangovers by working out and chugging fruit juice, he is also unpredictable, arrogant, careless, and way more intelligent than anybody else. He may be small in stature, but Isaac's charisma chokes the screen. He also rocks an impressive beard and knows how to dance (as seen in one of the film's most bizarrely brilliant moments). Gleeson too is proving himself to be one of the most reliable young actors, holding the screen opposite the luminous Vikander is some of the film's most gripping scenes. Ex Machina depicts a dark future where the danger lies not with the seemingly limitless technological possibilities of today, but man's ability to exploit it. One of the most intelligent works of science-fiction in recent memory, Garland may just go on to do great things.


Directed by: Alex Garland
Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac, Sonoya Mizuno
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #951: 'Hellraiser' (1987)

Upon its release in 1987, Stephen King was quoted as saying, about Hellraiser, "I have seen the future of horror, and his name is Clive Barker." The backing of such an icon of horror is high praise indeed, and the fact that Hellraiser still holds up today, 28 years after its release, is a testament to the quality of Clive Barker's hellish vision, based on his own novella, The Hellbound Heart. In an era full of horror movies fronted by broad, almost comic villains, and audiences preferences leaning towards bland American slashers, Hellraiser took a stance as a serious piece of work - rich in atmosphere, disturbing in tone and visually arresting - the foundations on which horror classics are built.

Contrary to popular belief (and his over-exposure in the - currently - 8 sequels), Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and his entourage of grotesque Cenobites remain in the background for the majority of the first instalment. The plot instead focuses the grisly fate and gradual re-birth of thrill-seeking scumbag Frank (Sean Chapman), who, in seeking the ultimate sexual enlightenment, purchases a mysterious puzzle box from a Chinese man which opens the gates of Hell when solved. Frank manages to do so, and is impaled by hooks and dragged into a world of torture, mutilation and degradation. Some time later, Frank's brother Larry (Andrew Robinson) and his second wife Julia (Clare Higgins) move into the home previously inhabited by Frank. While moving furniture, Larry cuts his hand on a protruding nail, inadvertently bringing Frank back from Hell and igniting his gruesome re-birth.

The plot treads carefully between being mysterious and plain confusing. There are no attempts made to explain just why Larry's blood brings Frank back into the real world and what exactly Frank was hoping to achieve by experiencing Hell, but these small details become insignificant in the wake of such visual splendour and immersing atmosphere. It can also be forgiven for some soap-opera dramatics as Julia's previous infidelity with Frank is exposed, and her manipulation into bringing Frank bodies to feed on while her suspicious step-daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) keep her a watchful eye. Hellraiser employs a slow, careful build-up, so when the true horror springs into life near the end and the Cenobites rear their ugly heads, it is all the more effective for it.

Now a fully-fledged horror icon, Pinhead and his cronies are a strange manifestation of deformed monsters and bondage fetishism. They arrive with skin pinned back in various abominable positions, parts of their face and torso pierced with all manners of tools and devices, and all twisted beyond the point of no return by their experiences searching for the ultimate pleasures of the flesh. Part BDSM nightmare and part body horror, Hellraiser's climax is still one of the most disturbing things ever filmed without being particularly scary. Despite its narrative flaws and wobbly plot explanations, Clive Barker's film stands out as one of the finest of its era, spinning a complex and dark mythology around a low-key plot, with the uncanny ability to creep under your skin and stay there for a significant amount of time afterwards.


Directed by: Clive Barker
Starring: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Doug Bradley
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #950: 'Ant-Man' (2015)

When the news broke that Edgar Wright, the visionary writer-director who had been working on adapting Ant-Man for Marvel since before Iron Man (2008) and the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, dropped out citing creative differences with the studio, things didn't look promising for the miniature hero. Still, Wright and co-writer Joe Cornish's story remained in tact and the directorial reigns were passed to Peyton Reed, director of such routine genre fare as The Break-Up (2006) and Yes Man (2008). Although we can lament the loss of Wright's take on the character - a version we will now never see - Ant-Man turned out better than anyone could have expected.

One of the Marvel's biggest problems is constantly setting up their heroes to face a big bad with a plan to destroy the world in one shape or another, leading to a special effects-laden showdown in which all is saved (bringing down a building or ten in the process). The motivation for strapping on the suit for cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is not to prevent global destruction, but to redeem himself in the eyes of his young daughter, whose growing-up he has missed the bulk of due to a stretch in San Quentin. Following his release, Lang tries to go straight and gets a demeaning job, which he soon loses when they discover his criminal past. Unable to pay child support to his ex-wife (Judy Greer) and her new cop hubby (Bobby Cannavale), he takes a big job suggested to him by old criminal acquaintance Luis (the scene-stealing Michael Pena).

When Lang successfully breaks into the high-tech safe, all he finds is an old suit and some jars containing various coloured liquids. Curious, he tries on the suit (kudos to costume designer Sammy Sheldon for the steampunk creation) which shrinks him down to the size of a pencil tip. Guided by a strange voice in his ear, he escapes a bath filling with water, a packed dance-floor and a hungry rat, eventually working out how to grow to normal size again. It turns out that the voice belongs to Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who perfected the ability to shrink down the size between atoms while maximising speed and strength, but who hid his formula from the world in the hope of preventing its misuse. Pym hopes to employ Lang, with the help of his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), to break into his own company's headquarters and steal a similar suit developed by his mentally unstable former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). Or, as he puts it, "break into a place and steal some shit."

One of the key reasons that led to the abdication of Edgar Wright was Marvel (and Disney's) desire to see Ant-Man woven into the bigger Universe. While I have no doubt Wright's version would have been a stand-alone treat full of the visual splendour seen in the likes of Hot Fuzz (2007) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), the final product of Ant-Man in no way suffers from referencing events of Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) and the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, and manages to maintain a low-key feel. Anyone who knows anything about the comics will know what a huge character Hank Pym is, so leaving him out of the bigger picture would have certainly been a missed opportunity. It also leaves room for one the film's funniest scenes, in which Lang inadvertently arrives at the new Avengers base to steal a piece of technology, and finds himself up against the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) in the process.

Rudd works those puppy-dog eyes overtime and gains abs to rival Chris Pratt's recent transformation for Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, helping make Lang one of the most loveable reluctant heroes of all of Marvel's 'Phases'. He is one of the most effortlessly endearing comedians working at the moment, but its Michael Pena who stands out the most as his fast-talking criminal sidekick. Douglas also brings experience and emotional weight as the complex Pym, and Lilly demonstrates some untapped physical prowess while rocking a bob. It isn't perfect of course - Cross isn't a particularly interesting villain although Stoll performs well, and perhaps the script tries to tell one joke too many at times. But any film that successfully convinces you that its protagonist can talk to ants without drawing immediate laughter (even getting us to care for Lang's winged favourite Anthony) is doing something right. Roll on the recently-announced sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp.


Directed by: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Judy Greer, Anthony Mackie
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #949: 'Frankenhooker' (1990)

Cult director Frank Henenlotter's particularly offensive sense of humour is given free reign in Frankenhooker, his extremely loose adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein novel. Any hints of misogyny during the bulk of the film's build-up can be forgiven thanks to an enjoyably daft climax, during which a female creature made up of various prostitutes body parts and the head of its mad creators wife runs rampant around New York taking vengeance on the various scum-bags encountered earlier in the film and any sleazy perverts who fancy a bit of the stitched-together would-be centrefold model (she is played by Penthouse model Patty Mullen).

Medical school drop-out and whiny-voiced genius Jeffrey (James Lorinz) is about to marry the woman he loves, Elizabeth, when she is accidentally killed by a lawnmower he built. The grisly incident leaves he scattered around the garden, but Jeffrey manages to steal a few body parts and preserve them in a solution of his own making before the authorities arrive to clean up the mess. Distraught at losing his fiancée, he plans to re-build her using the body of a beautiful prostitute, gifting the plump Elizabeth the body she always desired. However, executing his plan proves harder than he realised thanks to a psychopathic pimp named Zorro (Joseph Gonzalez), and so develops a dangerously potent form of crack to lure his potential victims.

Despite being a loathsome and extremely disturbed central character, Jeffrey remains oddly likeable thanks to a lively performance by Lorinz, who delivers monologues to himself in a thick New Jersey twang and maintains an infectiously high energy level throughout. Jeffrey's acts represent the darkest of male fantasies, and the film may have come off as repugnant had Henenlotter not soaked every scene with a knowing absurdity. The scene in which a group of prostitutes explode into pieces one-by-one after smoking Jeffrey's powerful crack particularly treads a fine line between offensive and hilarious. Despite the few laughs to be had, Frankenhooker is still poorly acted (Lorinz aside) and some special effects, which mainly consist of stiff mannequin limbs, leave a lot to be desired. Depending on your exploitation experience, it may go too far or not far enough, but there's plenty of giddy fun to be had along the way.


Directed by: Frank Henenlotter
Starring: James Lorinz, Patty Mullen, Joseph Gonzalez
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #948: 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1' (2014)

Following in the footsteps of fellow hit book franchises Harry Potter and Twilight (and arguably The Hobbit), the final entry into The Hunger Games series splits the final book in two, no doubt causing the producers to rub their hands together at the idea of doubling their profits while arguing that the decision was ultimately a creative one. While it would be cruel to state that the result is half a complete movie, Mockingjay Part 1 doesn't feel finished because, well, it isn't. So we get a build-up without a satisfying climax, while the action remains suitably thrilling and Jennifer Lawrence again demonstrates why she is the most powerful actress in the world right now.

The Hunger Games - which pitted a member of each of the lower-class districts against each other in a fight to the death - are now over, and full-scale rebellion is under way. Katniss Evergreen (Lawrence) has been whisked off to District 13, where freedom fighters are holed up as they plan to finally overthrow wealthy dictator President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Under the leadership of rebel leader President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), Katniss is groomed by former Hunger Games Gamekeeper Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to be the face of the rebellion and places her in propaganda videos, only Katniss can't act for shit. In the hope of drumming up support, Katniss is sent out into the field with a group of film-makers to witness the destruction inflicted on her people in her absence.

My main gripe with the Hunger Games movies (I haven't read the books) are that the 'good guys' we are meant to root for are little more than a collection of one-dimensional generic heartthrobs. Noticeably lacking charisma are Katniss's two love interests, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), now a soldier in the rebellion, and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), survivor of two rounds of the games and now a prisoner of Snow. Out of the young actors on show, it's only Lawrence who manages to sell her character, evoking sympathy as she is forced in front of the camera as a tool of war to spout ridiculous speeches that she struggles to deliver with any earnestness. On the other side, Snow is placing Peeta in front of the camera as he interviewed by TV host Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) pleading with the rebels to put down their weapons and end the fighting.

The focus on the artistry of propaganda from both sides is one of the most intriguing aspects of the film. Like the themes of class divide and capitalism from the first movie, the way the adult themes are weaved into an action movie made mainly for young adults works well, helping to give the story a gravitas rarely seen in blockbusters franchises. Sadly, scene-stealers Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks are given very little to do as the story struggles to fit them in, but the introduction of Moore as the straight-talking Coin adds class and Sutherland positively purrs his way through his role as the big bad, a character deserving of more development and screen-time. The film is dedicated to Philip Seymour Hoffman, who tragically died during filming, and it's humbling to see the great actor deliver a masterclass when the role doesn't even call for it. As half of a finished movie, Mockingjay Part 1 is as entertaining as it is frustratingly unsatisfying.


Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #947: 'Just Imagine' (1930)

Here's a first for me - a pre-Hays Code science-fiction romantic musical comedy. Just Imagine, directed by David Butler, envisions a 1980 where everybody flies rather than use cars, are given numbers instead of names, eat food and drink alcohol in pill form, and have their life partners decided by a judge. Just Imagine is a true oddity, and should be seen by anybody interested in obscure curiosities or the evolution of sci-fi in cinema. Despite the wonderful Oscar-nominated set design, the film is also very, very bad, plagued by wooden acting, forgettable songs, and some plain old weirdness.

J-21 (John Garrick) is in love with LN-18 (Maureen O'Sullivan), but the fact that he has reached the peak in his field - aviation - is stopping him from achieving greater things. Due to the limits of his field. the judge deciding on LN-18's ideal partner is the favouring smug and loathsome aristocrat MT-3 (Kenneth Thomson) instead. After witnessing a successful experiment to bring back a man, who dubs himself Single O (vaudeville performer El Brendel), back to life after being frozen in 1930, J-21 is approached by a scientist who has perfected a 'rocket plane' capable of reaching Mars, and wants J-21 to be the pilot. Joined by Single-O and his best friend RT-42 (Frank Albertson), J-21 sets out on a mission into the unknown in the hope of becoming a hero and winning the hand of his true love.

Some early moments of Just Imagine are truly wonderful. Riding high above the city in their aircrafts, R-21 parks up next to LN-18 for a mid-air chat amidst the backdrop of skyscrapers. The special effects throughout are wonderfully charming and hold up well 75 years on. These brief delights are sadly few and far between, and the film spends the majority of its hefty 110 minute running-time churning out blandly-filmed song-and-dance routines, including a bizarre number about never killing a fly because it may be in love with another fly, Brendel's tiresome and unfunny shtick, and taking its sweet time to actually get into outer space. When we finally lands on Mars, we are in Ed Wood territory, with scantily-clad natives and plonky fight scenes. It flopped upon release due to the decreasing popularity of musicals at the time (pre-Busby Berkeley), but Just Imagine at the very least deserves to be seen once and never again.


Directed by: David Butler
Starring: John Garrick, Maureen O'Sullivan, El Brendel, Frank Albertson, Marjorie White
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #946: 'L.A. Confidential' (1997)

Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential is a now long-established movie classic, regularly featuring in the various Top 100 lists drummed up by magazines and websites. But despite the impeccable performances from the film's three leads and writers Hanson and Brian Hengeland's firm grip on the labyrinthine plot, something about the film has never quite sat right with me. Don't get me wrong, I still think this is fantastic cinema and I've adored the few James Ellroy novels I've read (L.A. Confidential is adapted from the third book of his 'L.A. Quartet'), but some corny dialogue and flat cinematography weigh down what is ultimately an absorbing character piece.

There are a million stories in the city and it is the job of Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito), the editor of trashy magazine Hush-Hush, to find them. Celebrity cop Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) works on the side as 'technical advisor' for cop show Badge of Honor and is paid by Hudgens to bust celebrities in all sorts of compromising situations. It's Christmas, and Bud White (Russell Crowe) is buying liquor for the station when he stops by a house and beats on a man for doing the same to his wife. At the station, ambitious young cop Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is determined to live up to his father's reputation and refuses to be drawn in to the various exploits of his corrupt colleagues. When a group of Mexicans are brought in for assaulting two officers, the drunken officers assault them and the story hits the newspapers.

It's difficult to summarise the plot as the film is always moving forward, putting many pieces into play to the point where you struggle to figure out how it will all link together. The main crux of the film lies with a massacre at a diner called the Nite Owl, where many are killed along with White's ex-partner Dick Stensland (Graham Beckel) and a girl White met at Christmas. She looked beaten up, but Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) assured him it wasn't what he thought. Also, with her at Christmas was Pierce Patchett (David Strathairn), a millionaire who runs an agency of hookers made to look like movie stars by plastic surgery. After the incident with the Mexicans, Exley becomes despised by his colleagues for testifying against those involved, particularly angering White after Stensland was shown the door, and forcing Vincennes to testify by threatening his work on Badge of Honor.

Acting out almost like vignettes, the various pieces of the puzzle stay apart for the majority of the film, and it's difficult to figure out what the plot actually is. But the way all these elements ingeniously blend together at the end is the film's main strength. Somehow, Hanson also manages to retain his grasp on the film's trio of complex leads, who are all heavily conflicted and psychologically scarred in some manner. Even Exley, who is a determined straight-arrow, concludes that circumstances often call for one's dark side to be embraced. It's a film noir more invested in the driving force at the core of its central characters than any crime committed, and a crime story more focused on the politicking of the higher-ups and the corruption that comes with it. Despite the occasional wobble, L.A. Confidential is still thrilling cinema 18 years on.


Directed by: Curtis Hanson
Starring: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, David Strathairn
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #945: 'Fantastic Four' (2015)

Unless you have been living under a rock these past few months or pay little attention to online chatter, Fantastic Four arrived with the heavy stigma of delays, on-set bust-ups, last minute re-shoots, and overwhelmingly negative reviews from both critics and the few people that actually paid to see it. Sadly, the film is every bit as bad as you've heard. The Fantastic Four have had a troublesome history, with Roger Corman's infamous 1994 film never being released at all and Tim Story's colourful but soulless 2005 effort getting a panning from the critics, and Josh Trank's follow-up to the excellent anti-superhero flick Chronicle (2012) carries on this trend, getting lost amidst a forced darkness and a tug-of-war of control between director and producers.

The ambitious Reed Richards (Miles Teller) struggles to get backing for his new teleportation device despite the assistance of his dim but loyal best friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell). At a science fair, he is finally noticed by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his adopted daughter Sue (Kate Mara), who are also working on a similar device but are struggling to perfect it. Teaming up with rebellious technician Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) and morbid hacker Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell), Reed and his crew set out to develop a 'Quantum Gate' which will transport them to another dimension. Fearing their limelight will be stolen by NASA, Reed, Johnny, Ben and Victor suit up and are travel to a mysterious planet covered by a strange energy source. When they return, they are transformed forever.

The young cast do their very best with their often cringe-worthy material, with Teller and Jordan in particular proving charismatic stand-outs. But they are kept apart for the majority of the film and given very little time to bond as a group both before and after the accident that turns them into superheroes. Instead, we get a lot of lonesome brooding and superficial angst during a frustratingly drawn-out build-up, with Mara and Bell given little attention at all. Then the film decides to skip over what is usually the most part of a superhero origin flick - the heroes learning to use their powers - as Reed escapes the compound now controlled by shady supervisor Dr. Allen (Tim Blake Nelson) and the team spending an extended period trying to track him down. After all the procrastinating, the foursome struggle to generate any chemistry at all.

The producers were apparently unsatisfied by Trank's final cut and ordered heavy re-shoots for the film's climax. Never has behind-the-scenes tampering been so obvious in a finished product, as we are given a rushed and confused final set-piece and a film that feels somehow overlong despite a slim 90 minute running time. In a hastily deleted tweet, Twank informed fans that there was a final cut that would have garnered good reviews and improved its terrible box-office return, but we will never know if this is true or not. What we are left with is a limping and unnecessarily grim experience that will hopefully allow the film rights to be passed back to Marvel, who seem to be the only company capable of doing their characters justice. Fantastic Four will no doubt be a irremovable stain on the careers of its talented cast and director.


Directed by: Josh Trank
Starring: Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson
Country: USA/Germany/UK/Canada

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie

Review #944: 'Inside Out' (2015)

A film will come along perhaps once every few years that has a profound effect on me to the point that I view the world slightly differently than I did before. Inside Out - the majestic and extremely moving latest effort from Pixar - is one of those films. Pixar's back catalogue is a stellar line-up of classics, with even the lesser titles having something going for them, but I believe Inside Out is there finest to date. It's a brave, emotionally complex story that will likely leave some children depressed and adults even more so, but this is mature film-making of the very highest order.

A girl named Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) is born into the world, and her mind instantly starts to develop her core emotions. Joy (Amy Poehler) is first to arrive and forms an instant bond with Riley. Soon enough, she is joined by Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling), as Riley's personality begins to develop. Joy rules the roost during Riley's happy childhood, but as the years go by and Riley moves to a new city, the other emotions start to influence her actions. After a minor breakdown in front of her new classmates, Riley struggles to adapt to the changes, and Joy and Sadness find themselves whisked off into the deepest regions of her mind while the others struggle to steady the ship.

Pixar have never lacked visual imagination (they are the great innovators of computer animation after all), and they have worked overtime with Inside Out. What begins as a playful portal into the mind of an immature girl, the setting becomes more layered as she grows. Branches stretch out to reveal various aspects of Riley's personality, core memories are collected and stored in glowing spheres, and there is a literal train of thought that runs throughout the mind. The creativity is truly let off the leash when Joy and Sadness get caught up in the abstract thought region, and find themselves quickly morphing from a Picasso-esque form to two dimensional to nothing more than a straight line. The fearlessness of which directors Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen approach the subject matter is one of the many endearing things about Inside Out.

Along Joy and Sadness's journey, they encounter Bing Bong (Richard Kind), a ridiculous amalgamation of cat, elephant and dolphin with a candy-floss torso, who turns out to be Riley's childhood imaginary friend. As she has matured, Bing Bong has slowly been forgotten, and spends his time watching old memories. Providing welcome comic relief as well as providing an insight into a more innocent and care-free time of Riley's life, Bing Bong may just be Pixar's most ingenious creation. Well aware that his time may soon be up as he is forgotten completely, he selflessly aids Joy and Sadness (as well as hindering their progress with his constant bumbling). He is an immensely loveable but ultimately tragic character, and Pixar gracefully avoids intensely pulling the heart-strings in favour of something more emotionally honest, achieving a harder gut-punch in the process.

If you go in expecting a cuddly family movie then you may be disappointed. The opening third is more interested in developing its vast, intricate world and developing the bond between the host and her emotions than delivering prat-falls and goofy voices. The human brain is a wonderful, fascinating place, and Inside Out revels in exploring its endless possibilities. It also teaches a thing or two about how we work by lumping Joy and Sadness together, two complete opposites of the same spectrum who could not exist without the other. Children's movies have always leaned towards pure escapism, a world in which true horror is either non-existent or easily defeated, but Inside Out shows us that its normal, healthy, and ultimately inevitable, to experience sadness. I don't like to throw the term 'masterpiece' around, but this is the closest Pixar have come to pure perfection.


Directed by: Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
Voices: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #943: 'Planet of the Vampires' (1965)

The crews of two giant interplanetary ships. the Galliott and the Argos, head to an unexplored planet shrouded in fog and mystery after intercepting a distress signal. When landing the two crafts lose contact with each other, and the Argos, lead by the experienced Captain Markary (Barry Sullivan), lands safely after some brief but heavy turbulence. Upon arrival, the crew of the Argos inexplicably attack each other, with only Markary able to resist the strange urge to kill. After they've been knocked out of their trance-like state, they travel to the nearby Galliott to find the entire crew either missing or dead. They bury the dead they find and set out to explore the vast wasteland, but Tiona (Evi Marandi) keeps having visions of the walking dead.

Though far more experienced in horror, gialli and sword-and-sandal pictures, the great Mario Bava turns Planet of the Vampires into the most gorgeous sci-fi of its era. The planet, Aura, is desolate but strangely beautiful. Using bold primary colours and going overtime on a smoke machine, Bava infuses the planet with a suitably otherworldly atmosphere, which helps distract from the relatively formulaic plot. The director's love for horror can barely be contained as the crew start to rise from the dead. Placed in makeshift tombs and wrapped in a plastic sheet, they rise like blue-faced ghouls. Free from any distracting edits and backed by Gino Marinuzzi's eerie score, it is the most visually arresting moment in the film.

It often gets cited as one of the inspirations for Ridley Scott's Alien (1979), though Scott and writer Dan O'Bannon claim to have never seen it prior to making the film. While Markary and his crew's discovery of giant humanoid skeletons does bring to mind the space jockey found in Scott's masterpiece, the two share little else in common. Behind the visual splendour, Planet of the Vampires suffers from a cheesy script and wooden acting, the common bane of the B-movie. Aside from an exciting set-piece involving an escape from a locked room having its oxygen sucked out, the film is actually quite plodding when it forces us to spend time with its collection of cut-out archetypes. Beautiful, certainly, and perhaps inspirational, but mark this amongst Bava's more mediocre efforts that are still worth checking out.


Directed by: Mario Bava
Starring: Barry Sullivan, Norma Bengell, Ángel Aranda, Evi Marandi, Stelio Candelli
Country: Italy/Spain

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #942: 'John Wick' (2014)

Ever wondered what The Matrix's bullet-stopping Neo (Keanu Reeves) would be like in the real world? He would probably be like John Wick, the eponymous former assassin of co-directors Chad Stahelski and the uncredited David Leitch's refreshing action movie, which puts coherency back into set-pieces and polishes its simplistic premise with buckets of style. There's a key scene in the middle of the movie where Wick sledge-hammers his way through the concrete floor of his basement to reveal a hoard of buried weapons. He is literally digging up his past, and is symbolic of the films refusal to have its protagonist brood over heavy themes and its willingness to simply let him get down to business.

That business, unfortunately for a gang of Russian mobsters, is of a highly skilled assassin. Mourning the recent death of the woman he left his life of crime behind for, John Wick receives a puppy, who his wife arranged to be sent to him upon her death, At a gas station, the cocky Iosef (Alfie Allen) - the son of a mob boss - spots Wick's '69 Mustang, and when Wick refuses to sell, Iosef and his cronies break into his house, kill his dog, and leave him battered and bloodied. Iosef's father Viggo (Michael Nyqvist) finds out and begins to contemplate the inevitable - Wick's warpath of revenge and the death of his son. Taking residence at a hotel that caters for men of his ilk, Wick finds himself waste-deep in the life he thought he had left behind.

There's a lot of joy to be had with the boldness of John Wick. Operatic, overblown and featuring a scene of Viggo muttering a tale of the boogeyman to himself in a room lit by a roaring fireplace, it transcends its straight-to-DVD plot with some outlandish and truly thrilling set-pieces. Free of shaky-cam and rapid editing, Wick shoots, stabs and strangles his way through an endless Russian hoard, and allows a flowing camera to capture his ass-kickery. Reeves is at his best when he says little, and he's virtually silent here, delivering a performance of endearing sullenness. It is by no means a great film - it's hampered by genre conventions and a wafer-thin plot - but you certainly get what you came in for.


Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Adrianne Palicki, Ian McShane
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie