Review #182: 'Chariots of Fire' (1981)

As the 1924 Paris Olympics approach, two different but equally determined young British men prepare themselves for a chance at glory. One, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) is an English Jew attending Cambridge University, along with his friends and fellow athletes Aubrey Montague (Nicholas Farrell), Lord Andrew Lindsay (Nigel Havers) and Henry Stallard (Daniel Gerroll). The other, devout Christian and proud Scot raised in China, Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), seems to have the ability to leave anyone he races against in his wake. One is racing against prejudice, the other for the God he believes gave him the ability to run. But with the Americans dominating the sport, do they have a chance at taking the gold medal?

Because of the amount of times I've seen this film lampooned, with the use of its music played over something in slow-motion, I was expecting this film to have become a parody of itself. I was not expecting something as brilliant and profoundly moving as I did experience. From the opening scene that depicts the main characters running along the beach in slow-motion to that score, I was hooked. How a film that begins in 1919 and is steeped in period detail can work with a very 80's synthesised score is beyond me, but it works wonderfully, and was a massive risk that is pulled off.

Slight historical inaccuracies and tweaks from the sake of narrative aside, the film strongest point comes in its authenticity. For all the films that try and look wonderful in the period dress and detail, few actually feel like its set in the time. For example, Gangs Of New York (2002), was gorgeous and I'm sure the costumes and sets were very accurate, but it always feels like you're watching actors on a set. Chariots Of Fire convinces while seeming effortless, with the clothes and props having a 'lived-in' feel.

Apart from the visual delights, there are the two leads who both went criminally unrecognised at the Academy Awards. Ben Cross is all steely determination and frustrated rage as Abrahams, who is the inferior runner to Liddell. And Ian Charleson, a celebrated stage actor who tragically died nine years after this film was made, is just a naturally fine actor who plays the devout Christian Eric Liddell with such an ease and intelligence that he deserved an Academy Award nomination at the very least. But those Oscar voters don't get it right very often, although the film did bring home Best Picture.

It has been criticised for its inaccuracies. Lord Lindsay didn't exist and is a stand-in for the real-life Lord Burghley, and Aubrey Montague attended Oxford, not Cambridge. The note that is handed to Liddell just before his big race by the American runner Jackson Scholz (Brad Davis) that wishes him luck was actually given to him by an American masseur, and it is said that Abrahams faced very little persecution due to the fact that he was Jewish at Cambridge. They are others too, but, to me, this is a film about two great sportsmen using their ability to speak for what they believe in. If you want an accurate account of what actually happened, you can read a biography or look on Wikipedia. The film makes changes for more power and to get its point across, while keeping the majority of the true-life story correct.

A wonderfully intelligent film that is packed with great performances, stunning cinematography, and subtle period detail, with a distinct Britishness about it that seemed to have been lost in the 1960's. And as much as that score is made fun of, it still packs the same power and remains oddly stirring.


Directed by: Hugh Hudson
Starring: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell, Ian Holm, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Nigel Davenport
Country: UK

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #181: 'The Adjustment Bureau' (2011)

On the night of a failed senatorial bid by David Norris (Matt Damon), he meets the mischievous and beautiful Elise (Emily Blunt) in a bathroom whilst rehearsing his losing speech. They instantly share a connection before kissing, and Norris leaves her feeling inspired, and makes a landmark speech that will put him into pole position for the next election. The two happen to meet again on a bus, and again the spark is re-ignited. Yet Norris is being tracked by mysterious men in hats who seem to be controlling fate and keeping everything in line with 'the plan' of the big man upstairs, and the couple being together seems to go against this plan. Determined not to lose who he thinks is his true love, Norris defies the suited men, and finds himself watched and chased at every turn.

Adapted from a short story by Philip K. Dick, The Adjustment Bureau is a pretty solid idea that is confidently played out, but seems thinly spread out over the course of a feature-length running time. The idea that our fate is being tampered with to keep things 'on course', and that our fate is out of our own hands is something that was done much better in 1999's The Matrix. This film, however, focuses less on the sci-fi aspects and more on the idea of 'true love', as Damon's David Norris is convinced that if something feels so comfortable and right, then it simply must be how things should be. John Slattery and Terence Stamp's suited agents are compelled to feel otherwise, although they don't know why.

If the romantic angle seems all a bit soppy, it's actually more convincingly done than the science fiction. Damon, although not the greatest actor in the world, is certainly likeable as always, but it is Emily Blunt that comes out of the film most impressively. Her sweetness and laid-back quirks combined with her natural beauty makes for a love interest worth caring for, and you can understand the lengths that David goes to be with her. The magic hats, doors leading to anywhere, time freezing and fate maps are certainly quite interesting, but are so casually executed that often just seem silly, although these shady characters are played well by The Hurt Locker's (2008) Anthony Mackie, the ever-reliable Terence Stamp, and John Slattery, who I'm a big fan of from TV's Mad Men.

After 90 minutes of romance and the odd foot chase, I was expecting a thrilling climax that would perhaps throw in the odd surprise or two as well. But what I experienced was a half-arsed effort that rarely got the pulse racing, and a final scene that could be easily described as cop-out. It almost rendered everything I had seen prior to it pointless. However, this is still an enjoyable film with likeable performances all round, and an intriguing idea at its heart, but very far from the best Dick adaptation.


Directed by: George Nolfi
Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Terence Stamp
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #180: 'Biggie and Tupac' (2002)

In 1996, the music industry was rocked at the news that multi-million selling rapper Tupac Shakur was gunned down in his car after attending an event in Las Vegas, and later died from internal injuries. A year later, another giant in the rap industry, Notorious B.I.G., was also murdered in similar circumstances from a drive-by shooting. To this day, their murders remain two of the most famously unsolved murders in history. Documentary film-maker Nick Broomfield starts his own investigation, and starts asking questions and sticking his nose in where other people dare not, and reveals some alarming truths and circumstances.

The most alarming thing about this documentary is not the sight of the intimidating Suge Knight in the climatic prison interview, or the revelations about the sheer incompetence of the police during their investigation and their possible connections to the murders, but the apparent amatuerish way that director Nick Broomfield goes about his business. He barges into locations with his microphone and headphones, asks probing questions, and in one scene, actually runs out of sound recording and cuts the interview short. But it actually works in his favour. His seemingly bumbling approach allows his interviewees to feel more at ease and see Broomfield as less of a threat. And working on charm and determination alone, manages to bank an interview with rap mogul Suge Knight after he had already turned down the interview after simply turning up at the prison.

The documentary itself is as riveting, fascinating, and surprisingly sad as you would hope. Broomfield gets answers that even the police officer taken off the case for 'asking too many questions' is impressed with. It reveals a glamorous and terrifying world where these multi-millionaire musicians wanting to play gangster got more than they were expecting, and their links with the 'bloods' and 'crips' of the L.A. gangland. It's clear that Broomfield's suspicions lie with Knight, who seems to have a finger in every pie, and is the instigator of the East-West Cast rivalry that seemed to hit its peak in the mid-90's. A quality documentary, and a rather damning insight into the rap industry.


Directed by: Nick Broomfield
Starring: Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Suge Knight
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #179: 'Anthropophagus' (1980)

An island-hopping group of young tourists pick up a woman looking for a boat ride to a nameless Greek island. Upon arrival, the island is eerily quiet, and nobody seems to be around. They look into houses which are also deserted. They eventually come across a young blind girl who is found stood in a barrel of blood, aimlessly waving a knife around, and also find a woman alone in a large mansion, who kills herself almost straight away. The group must survive the night and find a way back of the island after their boat sails back out to sea, and must deal with a cannibal killer who is stalking them.

I don't know what it is about Greek islands and their ability to cause blood-lust in people, but a similar thing happens in the dire Island Of Death (1977), another beloved video nasty. Although Anthropophagus (kudos goes to the title) isn't anywhere near as bad as Island, it comes extremely close. Director Joe D'Amato, a legend amongst fans of bottom-of-the-shelf shitfests and soft-core porn/horror crossovers, clearly demonstrates his breathtaking lack of anything remotely resembling film-making ability. His set-pieces, apart from a couple of memorable scenes near the end that I will discuss in a second, are devoid of any atmosphere, build-up, or, most notably, sense. One fine example of this is when two of the group have the idea of going back to the ship to speak to the pregnant lady who has stayed behind. Do they travel back on the path from wince they came? No, the next time we see one of them he's climbing up a mountain. Why? No idea.

The most laughable thing about the film is the actual killer himself. Looking like an overgrown extra from Deliverance (1972) with some extremely bad, and pointless, make-up, he shuffles along biting and eating his way through the faceless cast who make their typically pathetic and futile attempts to fight back. D'Amato's attempt at a backstory for him which is supposed to be a window into why he is like he is, is just ridiculous. I won't ruin it, but it's priceless, and the complete lack of trying almost makes the film better. Gore-hounds and stoners alike will enjoy the sickening horror at the end, which were no doubt the key reasons why the film was placed on the video nasty list by those simple-minded Daily Mail readers. One involves a fetus (or a skinned-rabbit, if you look closely) being removed and devoured. Mmm, tasty. Low-budget tripe, as expected, but worth seeing for the last 15 minutes alone.


Directed by: Joe D'Amato
Starring: Tisa Farrow, Saverio Vallone, Serena Grandi
Country: Italy

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #178: 'The Face of Another' (1966)

Mr. Okuyama (Tatsuya Nakadai) is a physically and emotionally wounded man. After an industrial accident at work, his face has been scarred and mutilated beyond recognition, and even his wife rejects him, even though she says his physical appearance doesn't matter. It has left him bitter and angry, until his psychiatrist Dr. Hira (Mikijiro Hira) comes up with a way to fashion a 'face mask' that will give him the appearance of having a completely normal face, albeit with a few joining marks. Hira doesn't do this just out of kindness, he is fascinated how this new face will alter Okuyama's personality and way of life.

The Face of Another is a fascinating film that highlights the social attitudes to physical appearance. There are hundreds of films and morality tales that teach you that it is inner beauty that counts, and once you allow this to shine then your physical attractiveness becomes irrelevant. Everyone knows that this is bullshit, so its refreshing to see a film that makes it clear from the outset that physical appearance has a massive part to play in society. Okuyama's new face, which is an attractive one, changes him so much that he takes on an almost dual identity. Dr. Hira delights in telling him that he has bought flashy new clothes, something he was never concerned with before. It becomes clear that whilst before Okuyama merely wanted to be normal again and fit back in society, his new face is engulfing him, and to be 'normal' simply isn't enough anymore.

As with many of the Japanese New Wave film-makers of the 1960's-70's, director Hiroshi Teshigahara takes some bold steps and sneaks in some surrealist and art-house values in a movie that is otherwise played relatively straight. A 'fictional' character appears every now and then throughout (she is first imagined by Okuyama's wife as a character in a movie); one side of her face is scarred and burned. She appears quite rarely, but seems to serve as an alternative to Okuyama's increasingly vain soul. Another scene seems a ball of hair that floats in the air, unnoticed by the people in the laboratory. I have no idea what it meant, and couldn't really admit to it being wholly successful, but it certainly got my attention nonetheless.

A powerful, disturbing, and poignant drama/horror from the greatest era in Japanese cinema. The film seems all the more important now, 45 years on, in a world where a botox injection can be as easy as buying a pack of cigarettes, and where physical 'beauty' is less a bonus than a necessity.


Directed by: Hiroshi Teshigahara
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Mikijirô Hira, Kyôko Kishida
Country: Japan

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #177: 'Enter the Void' (2009)

Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) is a small-time drug-taker and dealer living in the neon-lit Tokyo. The film begins with him tripping out on DMT as he relaxes in his apartment, only for him to be called to make a drop off for Victor (Olly Alexander). He makes the journey to a bar called The Void with his friend Alex (Cyril Roy), and they discuss the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which Alex has loaned Oscar. Upon arrival at the bar, it is clear that Victor has set him up, and the police chase Oscar in the toilet, only to shoot him dead. Oscar rises out of his body, reflects on his early life, his separation and eventual reuniting with his sister Linda (Paz De La Huerta), who is now with him in Japan, and how the people around him deal with his death.

Back in 2002, when I was approaching 18, I was dealt a sledgehammer blow to the face with Gaspar Noe's Irreversible. The film was horrifying and almost unwatchable, yet at the same time it was beautiful and brilliant. That film almost single-handedly started my interest and fascination with extreme cinema. It was disappointing that I had to wait seven years for his next feature, Enter The Void, and even more disappointing that it is a relatively poor film compared to the brilliance of Irreversible, a film I felt was one of the best film of that year.

Much like Irreversible, Enter The Void is outstanding to look at. While the former made the most of it's loose, kaleidoscopic camerawork, Void does much of the same, but takes that experience and amplifies it a thousand per cent. The opening half an hour uses a POV shot, where we not only see what Oscar sees, but hear what he thinks and experience his quite beautiful drug trip. After he is shot, the camera develops a mind of its own, flying across town to see what other friends are doing, zooming into gun shot wounds, into dreams, and even inside a vagina to see a seed being planted. It really is an experience like no other, and takes voyeurism to a whole other level.

Yet, for all its technical brilliance, Enter The Void left me cold. Noe is undoubtedly a self-styled provocateur, but where Irreversible had a point to make behind all the on-screen horror (Time Destoys Everything), this film seems to have nothing to say. Yes, it's about re-birth and the body's spirit leaving the body after death, but it's not enough to sustain the 160 minute running time. It's not a particularly pleasant experience watching Oscar's sister Linda (the brilliant Paz De La Huerta, who was the best thing in HBO's relatively disappointing Boardwalk Empire) strip for sleazebags, struggle to deal with the death of her brother, and have an abortion (which we have the pleasure of experiencing). By the 2 hour mark, the visual were not enough to keep my interest and I genuinely struggled during the last stretch.

Gaspar Noe will still remain a director whose work I will look forward to and eagerly track down, but I hope he puts his genuine talent into something else rather than to merely torturing the audience. His early film Seul Contre Tous (1998) was a Taxi Driver (1976) -esque portrayal of an angry old man tortured by the overwhelming anger he feels for the world. It was certainly interesting, but again it was an extremely unpleasant experience. I wish I could have seen Enter The Void at the cinema to feel the full force of that soundtrack and colour, but I think I still would have found it an empty film. Worth seeing for the visuals alone, and for the outstanding opening credits which are possibly the most dazzling I've ever seen.


Directed by: Gaspar Noé
Starring: Nathaniel Brown, Paz De La Huerta, Cyril Roy
Country: France/Germany/Italy/Canada

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #176: 'The Fury' (1978)

Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) is happily holidaying with his son Robin (Andrew Stevens), when he is betrayed by his lifelong friend Ben Childress (John Cassavetes). He is attacked by missionaries with machine guns, only to kill a few himself before apparently being blown up. Ben escapes with Robin, a boy Ben believes to have a powerful telekinetic and psychic ability. As Peter begins his frantic search, fellow psychic Gillian (Amy Irving) is admitted to the Paragon Clinic under the supervision of Dr. McKeever (Charles Durning), who may be linked with Robin's disappearance. As Gillian's power becomes stronger, she feels a connection with Robin, just as Peter comes close to discovering the whereabouts of his son.

Brian De Palma's career is somewhat of a mixed bag. Highly influenced by Hitchcock, his films are packed with homages and winks to a wide range of classic movies. He was prolific with his quality output in the 70's and 80's (Blow Out (1981), Carrie (1976), Scarface (1983), Dressed To Kill (1980)), but his late 80's through to the present have been littered with the dodgy and the dire (Casualties Of War (1989), Mission To Mars (2000), The Bonfire Of The Vanities (1990), The Black Dahlia (2006)), albeit with a few decent films (Carlito's Way (1993), The Untouchables (1987), Mission: Impossible (1996)). 1978's The Fury, made just two years after the similarly-themed Carrie, lurks somewhere in between his very best and his worst.

Where Carrie announced the arrival of a potentially brilliant horror/thriller director, with its high tension, gore-drenched climax, and that jump ending that bred a thousand horror copycats, The Fury tackles the same supernatural themes, but just comes off as a bit silly. One half a badly staged action film, with an old Kirk Douglas outwitting a mass of secret agents, and one half a nicely plotted, but rather unspectacular supernatural horror. Although there are few glimpses, it certainly lacks De Palma's knowing cinematic style, best displayed in balls-out Hitchcock homage Dressed To Kill.

Although the film is sporadically entertaining, it's about twenty minutes too long, and seems to slow down to a snail's pace in the middle. It takes too long developing a story which is pretty straightforward, and characters that aren't particularly interesting. However when the climax comes, it's a lot of fun, and is just mad enough to save the film. I don't recall ever seeing a man exploding repeatedly from so many angles before, which is always a bonus. It literally happens about fifteen times. For a more defining telekinetic/exploding bodies film, seek out Scanners (1981).


Directed by: Brian De Palma
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Amy Irving, John Cassavetes, Charles Durning, Andrew Stevens
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #175: 'Strike' (1925)

In the Soviet Union in 1903, the workers of a factory are tired of poor wages, hard living, and harsh treatment by their superiors. Talk of a strike is rife, and when one innocent worker is accused of theft, he hangs himself on the production line and unwittingly becomes a martyr. The strike is decided, and the workers gather in masses to discuss their terms. Meanwhile, the fat cats upstairs are in uproar that the strike has been called, and employ a number of secret agents with animal code names to infiltrate, brutalise and spy on the strikers. As the workers begin to fight amongst themselves, the bosses tactics become increasingly brutal, especially when the police are called in.

Sergei Eisenstein is one of the Soviet Union's greatest ever filmmakers, and arguably one the world's greatest. This was his first feature-length film (he made The Battleship Potemkin (1925) later that year, one of the best and most influential films ever made) and his trickery and style is awe-inspiring, given his inexperience and the fact that cinema was still in its early stages. The most effective technique Eisenstein plays is in the early scenes, where he juxtaposes different animals with the key players (Eisenstein was known as the 'King of Montage'). For example, there is an owl, always watching, thinking and cunning, turning into a wild-eye spy; a fox, misleadingly beautiful and sly, becoming a shapeshifting and handsome con-artist - and dancing bears, that portray the workers. The use of this is at its most powerful at the end, when the police move in to overthrow the strike, cut with scenes of a cow having its throat cut, blood gushing out of its wound as it slowly dies.

It's an incredibly stylish piece for its day and moves along at an alarming pace, even when compared to some films today. It never slows down to develop any characters, instead using its revolutionary and Communist themes to play the main role, with the characters being mere pawns in a more important overlying theme. It's clear where Eisenstein's stance is, which does also work against the film. The factory bigwigs are no more than faceless fat men in expensive suits, drinking champagne and smoking cigars all day, laughing at the misfortune of the workers. There is also a scene where one wipes his shoes clean with the workers wage demands. By today's standards, it seems a bit stereotypical, and the metaphors quite obvious. But this is an alarmingly stylish debut from a truly great film-maker, that is both exciting, and come the end, really quite shocking.


Directed by: Sergei M. Eisenstein
Starring: Grigori Aleksandrov, Maksim Shtraukh, Mikhail Gomorov
Country: Soviet Union

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #174: 'Bobby Fischer Against the World' (2011)

I'd never heard of Bobby Fischer before this film. What I discovered before viewing, was simply that he had beaten Boris Spassky, of the Soviet Union, in chess in 1974. Perhaps not the greatest of subjects for a film. Apart from the obvious cold war conflicts and show of power and intelligence. This was an opportunity for both the Soviet Union and the USA to show they have the most powerful citizens. After the space race had been "completed" after America had landed on the moon, they needed to focus on something else. In Eastern Europe, chess is seen as the ultimate form of intelligent gaming - and a perfect allegory for war. However, this is not the focus of Liz Garbus's film.

The point of the film is to show the life of Fischer, who after beating Spassky, became incredibly erratic, and his behaviour was increasingly odd. He had been raised by an incredibly intelligent mother who didn't really have time for him. So Fischer's focus, and obsession from a very early age, was chess. Bobby lived chess. unfortunately, this absolute focus had an adverse effect on his mind in later life. After all, chess is possibly the most paranoid game; the object is to predict what your opponents moves are, long before they occur. This constant focus on over-thinking people's movements, was translated into his everyday life, and this bred increasing paranoid delusions. After his erratic behaviour effected a re-match with Spassky in 1974, he wandered the world, mostly for being deemed an enemy of America, and banished.

This created an intrinsic hatred of America, and this was an opinion that was broadcast on Filipino radio when he commented on the 9/11 attacks; Fischer stated that this was good, and it was about time the USA had a taste of their own medicine (he has a point). This is a very interesting documentary, that digs deep into a very flawed, but incredibly intelligent person. It shows high delicate the human brain can be, and could also illustrate that old cliche that there is a fine line between genius and madness.


Directed by: Liz Garbus
Starring: Bobby Fischer
Country: USA/UK/Iceland

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy

Review #173: 'Rango' (2011)

After the debacle of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Gore Verbinski needed a project that would possibly rejuvenate his reputation (he did some interesting work on films such as The Ring (2002) remake, and the little-known, but very effective comedy, Mousehunt (1997). So we come to Rango. another collaboration with Johnny Depp, and written by John Logan (Gladiator (2000), The Aviator (2004)). This delightfully animated film, tells the story of a chameleon (Rango, voiced by Depp), who is a wanna-be thespian, who wants to escape the confines of his glassed habitat. This dream comes true as he is knocked out of the back of a travelling car, onto a desert road.

Rango wanders into the small "wild west" town of Dirt. a town that needs a sheriff. Here Rango decides to perform a character (as he realises there is no need to be himself). His stories of bravery infect the population and they take him on as sheriff. He then becomes involved in a conspiracy that endangers the lives of all the locals, as the water supply is dwindling, and Rango has to investigate to get to the bottom of the situation, with many ideas "lifted" from Chinatown (1974).

The film is a western, and certainly the writer knows his films, as there are many references to the Hollywood classics, as well as the more well-known Spaghetti westerns (there is even a scene with Spirit of the West - a character that is quite obviously Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name from Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy. In the opening sequence, Rango attempts to cross a very busy road (clearly in this story the animals are somewhat behind than the humans - there are roads and cars in this universe, but the animals live in a rickety town of the post-civil war era), and when he is flung into the air, he lands on the windscreen of Hunter S. Thompson: "It's another one of those damn things!". Thompson is on his voyage of gonzo-discovery, fearing and loathing on the way to Vegas.

Like Thompson's journalistic travels, Rango is looking for the American dream. Whether he finds it or not is irrelevant. This film is utterly delightful. A fantastic cinematic experience, beautiful animation, a collection of interesting (some obviously cliched) characters, and a simple, yet strong story. All delivered in a package that works incredibly well for both adults and children.


Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Voices: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Stephen Root, Harry Dean Stanton, Timothy Olyphant
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Marc Ivamy

Review #172: 'Little Monsters' (1989)

After moving house and witnessing his parents' marriage crumbling in front of him, Brian (Fred Savage) investigates his brothers claims that monsters keep coming from under his bed and scaring him at night. After swapping rooms, Brian is visited by a big blue monster, and the next night Brian manages to trap him in his room using his engineering skills. The monster turns out to be hyperactive troublemaker Maurice (Howie Mandel) who befriends Brian, and shows him the wonders of the monster world under his bed, where every night, the monsters reek havoc in the homes of young children. But the mysterious monster Boy (Frank Whaley) wants Brian for himself and keep him under the bed until the sun comes up, and thus turning him into a monster.

Apart from the first four Rocky films (1976-1985), Little Monsters was hands down the main film I watched religiously as a child, my face no further than two feet from the TV screen. I remember finding it strangely eerie amongst all the fun, and being genuinely disturbed by some scenes. Boy's henchman Snik, a giant, hunchbacked monster with large bottom teeth, really frightened me, and the scene where he breaks one of Maurice's horns always shocked me. Re-visiting the film, roughly around fifteen years later, I can see that I was right to feel unnerved.

Yes, the film is certainly childish and playful, but has a surprising line of darkness flowing through it from beginning to end. From early on, where Brian finds an overturned TV in the darkness of his closet that is showing the climax of The Fly (1958), to the finale that sees Boy's face burned off to reveal a hideous face underneath, the film often steps out of the childhood safety area. It's certainly refreshing to see, and this sort of atmosphere can only be found in the Golden Age of kiddie flicks, the 80's, where films like The Dark Crystal (1982) and The Goonies (1985) showed creepy creatures and foul-mouthed kids that the target audience could really enjoy and relate to.

Not to say that Little Monsters quite matches up to the two films just mentioned - it has some annoying child characters and Maurice does become slightly tiresome - but it is certainly an imaginative, funny and exciting little film. It's sad to see another of the key child stars of the era, Fred Savage, come out of the decade and dissolve into the woodwork, similar to the likes of Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. Although his maniacal behaviour does occasionally become exhausting, Howie Mandel's performance is certainly energetic, and you can't help but love him when he drinks a bully's apple juice, only to refill it with piss. Hardly a classic, but certainly a film I will absolutely cherish from my youth, and will enjoy revisiting once every decade or so.

Directed by: Richard Greenberg

Starring: Fred Savage, Howie Mandel, Daniel Stern, Frank Whaley, Ben Savage

Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #171: 'Mid-August Lunch' (2008)

Gianni (Gianni Di Gregorio) spends the majority of his time looking after his elderly and demanding mother (Valeria De Franciscis). His bills are way overdue and his fellow tenants are becoming uneasy with the fact that he never puts into the kitty. A friend offers to help him out only if he takes his mother and aunt for a while, and soon his once-quiet apartment becomes overrun with chatty and restless old ladies. After a medical check-up, he agrees to take his doctor's mother on board as well. Soon Gianni is struggling with keeping up with the ever-increasing demands and mischievous behaviour from his new inhabitants.

Ending at around the 71 minute mark, this film does quite a lot in a relatively slight running time. It manages to be sweet, funny and moving in a very subtle way, that doesn't completely hit home until after the film has ended. While a film of similar theme may patronise old age and add sentimentality, Mid-August Lunch portrays old age as something to cherish. The old ladies seem to come to life when together, when previously Gianni's mother had been almost melancholy on her own. The bubbly Marina (Marina Cacciotti) sneaks out at night and a panicked Gianni finds her drinking and smoking in a bar, only for Gianni to have trouble putting her to bed later as she flirts and demands to play cards. Grazia (Grazia Cesarini Sforza) uses it as an opportunity to eat baked pasta, something her doctor son has banned her from eating.

I really got a feel for Italian life from the film - family, friends, great food, fine wine. In fact, the whole film washes down like a glass of chianti. This is a lovely little gem from actor-director Gianni Di Gregorio, and it's dealt with in an unfussy and sensitive manner. Di Gregorio also co-wrote the screenplay for 2008's Gomorrah, which I would also highly recommend.


Directed by: Gianni Di Gregorio
Starring: Gianni Di Gregorio, Valeria De Franciscis, Marina Cacciotti
Country: Italy

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #170: 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' (1954)

When a geology expedition headed by Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) uncovers the fossilised hand of a giant sea/man creature, Maia recruits marine biologist Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson) on another expedition back to the Amazon to find the remaining skeleton of the strange beast. They get the funding they need, and take a journey aboard a steamer along with a ragtag gang including Dr. Williams (Richard Denning), who may be in love with Reed's lady Kay (Julia Adams). When arriving at the site, they find the former camp decimated, and a dead body. An ancestor of the fossilised 'gill-man' may be lingering in the water with murder and terror in mind.

Of all the monster 'creature-features' that flowed out of the 1950's, that mainly consisted of a man dressed up in a badly made suit or a leftover from a previous films' wardrobe department, the most iconic has to be the image of the gill-man carrying Kay, or coming out of the water. These films were quick and cheap to make, always had an eager marketplace, and were ripe for over-elaborate posters that were usually always far better than the film was ever going to be. The gill-man image is well remembered not only because it's a pretty cool costume, but also because Creature From The Black Lagoon is actually a good film.

The creature-feature genre is always restricted to its formulaic plot devices and tick-boxes of screaming girlfriend, square-jawed hero, and a generally non-threatening monster than you could easily run away from if in real-life or had at least half a brain. But what places Black Lagoon above the vast majority is the fact that it makes the most of these restrictions. The monster itself, although clearly a man in a suit, is genuinely quite creepy. The scene where he watches motionless from his underwater cage, his mouth slowly opening and closing like that of a fish, is unnerving.

The Amazonian backdrop is captured with a flair that goes beyond the film's budget limitations by cinematographer William E. Synder, something of a B-movie regular, and the underwater shots are mysterious and sometimes beautiful, as the two lead macho men battle with the gill-man and each other's testosterone. But most importantly, its riotously entertaining stuff, which differs from most pictures in the genre that usually have one entertaining scene surrounded by bad acting and boring plotting. It was never going to be anything more than very good, given it's limitations, but it is, and makes me sad to think that modern films will never be able to capture this sort of innocent charm.


Directed by: Jack Arnold
Starring: Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #169: 'Melvin and Howard' (1980)

Melvin Dummer (Paul La Mat) drifts through his life, taking things as they come. At one moment he is milkman of the month, then he runs a gas station. He floats through marriages and divorces. He is married twice to Lynda (Mary Steenburgen). He lives in trailer parks, apartments, and new-build houses. Melvin just tries to make an honest buck. One day he picks up what he assumes is an old bum, at the side of a desert road. The man claims to be Howard Hughes (Jason Robards), the multi-millionaire business tycoon. After setting Hughes off on the strip, Melvin continues into his life.

Some years later, Melvin receives a letter, dropped off at the gas station he works in, by a mystery man (Charles Napier), which purports to be the last will and testament of Howard Hughes, and which also leaves Melvyn $156,000,000. He leaves the will at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Mormon square, Salt Lake City. After the media frenzy placed upon Melvin, he is then dragged through court, as he is questioned about his story, and thought of as a liar, and opportunist. But Melvin doesn't really care. What he gets from this simple chance meeting, is that Howard Hughes sang one of his songs (Melvin writes songs, and they sing "Santa's Souped-Up Sleigh"), on their journey to Vegas.

Jonathan Demme's stunning comedy-drama, which is based on a true story, written by screenwriter Bo Goldman (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)), is a very well observed, and affectionate portrayal of an assortment of working class characters. The relationships are palpable, played with ease by a great cast (Steenburgen won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress). Whether the real Melvin Dummer was a fraudster or not, does not matter in this diegetic space. For just as simply as Melvin drifts through human drama, he drifts off with no allusions of grandeur about money. In reality the "Mormon Will" (as it had been named), was found to be a forgery in 1978.


Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Jason Robards, Paul Le Mat, Elizabeth Cheshire, Mary Steenburgen
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy

Review #168: 'A Bay of Blood' (1971)

After the Countess Federica (Isa Miranda) is murdered in her mansion by her husband, the beautiful surrounding bay area is up for grabs. The Countess' husband is murdered himself straight after committing the act and the body is hidden, and family members and a real estate agent conspire with their own murderous aspirations to claim their inheritance. The Countess' daughter Renata (Claudine Auger) and her husband Albert (Luigi Pistilli) arrive at the bay and start investigating the goings-on themselves, only to discover the possibility that everyone could somehow be involved in trying to claim the bay for themselves.

As a horror fan, the work of Mario Bava has somehow alluded me through the years. This is the first horror film of his that I've seen, having only seen his comic-book masterpiece Danger: Diabolik (1968), which I consider to be the greatest comic-book film ever made alongside The Dark Knight (2008). Yet knowing he is held is such regard by horror fans, I refuse to form an opinion of him based on this film, as it is as silly and pornographic as the majority of giallo films of the time. The plot and the focus on humanity's greed is directed with such an amateur grasp of subtlety that the film loses all weight. And the segment of the film devoted to the murder of four horny teenagers seems to serve no purpose other than to fill half an hour of film and play with some gore.

Yet if there's one thing I know about Bava, it is that the man knows how to shoot a film. If Argento oozes style, Bava certainly has class. For such a low-budget movie, he makes the most of reportedly using a children's buggie as a steadicam, to build up tension and atmosphere, especially in the opening scene, where the Countess is kicked off her wheelchair and is left hanging mid-fall by a noose. The murders in the film, however, certainly lack class. Special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi (who most famously developed E.T. (1982) and Alien (1979) - which he won an Oscar for) creates some truly gruesome gore effects that come at the right time when you're just waiting, an eventually looking forward to, the demise of the four visiting youngsters. Special mention must also go to a close up of an octopus sliding across a rotting cadaver's face. The film was influential, perhaps, but relatively average in its own right.


Directed by: Mario Bava
Starring: Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Claudio Camaso, Isa Miranda
Country: Italy

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #167: 'The Great Muppet Caper' (1981)

In the short life of Jim Henson, he achieved some quite spectacular things. Technically, he took puppetry into a whole different level. A 'creature workshop' was created, and along with other great performers and skilled artists, which developed some amazing effects for such astonishingly elaborate films as The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). The workshop is still, to this day, a fully functioning company, that recently worked on Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are (2009). Aside from Henson's more forward thinking for the development of his craft, he has endowed the collective consciousness with a collection of enduring, lovable characters. Jim Henson had been developing a puppetry style for television since the 1950's. However, after the success of the Children's Television Workshop's Sesame Street (1969 - present), he wanted to be able to take creative control over a show featuring his Muppet puppets.

The cultural phenomenon that was The Muppet Show, began in 1976 and ran until 1981. The show was set in a theatre, which was harking back to the days of vaudeville. This element of variety was carried over into the first film, The Muppet Movie (1979), and has also been developed in their second feature, The Great Muppet Caper. Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear are twin brothers who, along with Gonzo, are playing investigative journalists. After being fired from their newspaper, they decide to pursue a story about jewel thieves in England. There they meet a whole host of other Muppet characters, and become embroiled in a mystery involving brother and sister, Nicky and Lady Holiday (Charles Grodin and Diana Rigg). There are some catchy musical numbers, and a Busby Berkley inspired synchronised swimming sequence with Miss Piggy and its centre.

It is testament to the characters that Henson created here. They still endure today. I have many fond memories of the Muppets. This was unfortunately the last great Muppet film. (Here's hoping that this years The Muppets will reinvigorate the franchise.) Caper is a fun film. The characters constantly refer to themselves being in a film (this is a device that Henson used also in The Muppet Movie). There are some decent cameos from John Cleese, Peter Falk and Peter Ustinov (who plays alongside Grouch from Sesame Street):

Ustinov "What are you doing here?".

Grouch "A very short cameo".

Ustinov "Me Too".


Directed by: Jim Henson
Starring: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg, John Cleese, Peter Ustinov
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Marc Ivamy

Review #166: 'The White Ribbon' (2009)

The story of The White Ribbon is narrated by The School Teacher (Ernst Jacobi) of the village many years after the events took place. He states in the opening moments of the film, that much of the story is based on hearsay and speculation. He even concludes; "a lot of it remains obscure to me even today." Set in a small Protestant village to the north of Germany, in the year building up to the First World War, a series of mysterious events, accidents, and seeming torture, occur that begin with the local doctor (Rainer Bock) being throw off the back of a horse in suspicious circumstances. The occurrences escalate through the village, bringing with it accusations, and divide, in an already hierarchically structured "society".

The tension builds throughout this masterfully structured narrative, with confidence of pace, and some beautifully composed black and white cinematography, by long time Haneke collaborator, Christian Berger. Haneke is a film maker at the top of his game. The intricate relationships throughout the village, the power struggles, and authoritarian menace, is perfectly acted by a strong cast.

It's no crime to reveal that nothing is resolved in the film. But, like in life, other more terrible events happen outside of the surroundings you dwell in, beyond your usual environment (the people for example), that evaporate the issue from memory. And, like history, we can read this as a fable about authoritarianism, and it's effects on the people around it. As allegory of war, it shows the utter contempt for humanity is lost in those who have been victim to this dictatorial rein of fear. In this village, we are only exposed to the corporal punishment that is dealt on a daily basis, to the children of the village. Part drama, part suspense-mystery, utter beauty; climbing close to that difficult to reach, perfection.


Directed by: Michael Haneke
Starring: Christian Friedel, Ulrich Tukur, Josef Bierbichler
Country: Germany/Austria/France/Italy

Rating: *****

Marc Ivamy