Review #1,041: '10 Cloverfield Lane' (2016)

Apart from the rather cryptic title, there seems to be little connecting Dan Trachteberg's feature debut 10 Cloverfield Lane with J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot Productions' relatively well-received shaky-cam monster movie Cloverfield from eight years ago. Starting life as a claustrophobic thriller penned by Josh Campbell and Matthew Stuecken called The Cellar, Abrams claims to have noticed thematic similarities between the two during pre-production and decided to work the story into the Cloverfield universe, offering the odd wink or nod here and there along with the occasional hint at the state of the outside world following the arrival of the bandy-limbed kaiju and its pesky offspring.

Any fans of the first film looking for more of the same will be sorely disappointed, but surely captivated nonetheless at the gripping events that unfold here. The film begins almost dialogue-free with our heroine Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) packing up and leaving her apologetic partner (voiced by Bradley Cooper) for some unexplained yet irrelevant reason. After she is hit by what seems to be another vehicle whilst driving in the darkness, she wakes up chained to a wall and hooked up to a I.V. drip in a dingy cellar. She soon meets her captor in the hulking, intimidating Howard (John Goodman), who slides her some food and expects a thank you in return.

Eventually her shackles are loosened and she is informed that she was rescued when the country, or possibly the world, was hit by an attack from an unknown source. Howard lists everything from al-Qaeda to alien invaders as the possible culprit. Yet while everyone was laughing at the ex-Navy man's conspiracy theories and paranoia, he was preparing for such an event by building an all-singing, all-dancing bunker equipped with electricity, an air filtration system, movies, board games, puzzles, and all manners of activities designed to pass the time during a long stretch waiting for the air outside to clear. The bunker has another resident, the upbeat Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), who confirms Howard's claims of the apocalypse but shares Michelle's concern for his unpredictable behaviour.

There's plenty of fun to be had with trying to decipher Howard's intentions and figuring out just what the hell has happened outside the extremely secure door. The presence of two dead pigs visible from the window seems to concur with Howard's speculations of a gas attack, but what is with the frequent rumblings heard overhead? You'll also be chewing your fingers down the bone, as Trachtenberg forges an almost suffocating atmosphere from what is a pretty standard cinematic setting, with Goodman delivering the finest performance of his career. He is clearly unstable with a social ineptitude, but there is sympathy to be had when we learn of his tragic backstory. Clues to his character are given with an extreme subtlety, with an uncomfortable game of charades in particular offering suggestions that there may be a whole lot more going on than first imagined.

Winstead too, is very good, and its a wonder why her career has hit a bit of a slump of late. Michelle isn't just a pretty damsel in distress, but a strong, intelligent young woman with a crafty side of her own. With one eye permanently on the door and the other locked in suspicion at her apparent saviour, her desire to see what happened for herself offers many moments of nerve-jangling tension. Where 10 Cloverfield Lane doesn't really convince is when it's working that eye-catching word into its title. For anyone unaware of the Matt Reeves' 2008 film or those so completely caught up in the main story that it has just slipped their mind, the climax may be too much of a shift in tone. While its likely to cause the movie to linger in your mind for slightly longer than it would have if it had remained a stand-alone drama, it seems rather pointlessly shoe-horned in. But don't let that put you off, as for 90 minutes at least, 10 Cloverfield Lane is outstanding performances from a talented cast and riveting drama that occasionally weaves into horror territory.


Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,040: 'Airplane II: The Sequel' (1982)

The original Airplane! from 1980 is highly regarded as one of the funniest films of all time, and most certainly the best 'spoof' ever made. Boasting the writing talents of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (Z/A/Z), the film accurately lampooned the formulaic disaster movies from the 1970's, which commonly boasted a ridiculously large roster of former A-list superstars to battle against whatever crisis they found themselves caught up in. It was a huge success, but Z/A/Z scoffed at the idea of a sequel. Paramount decided to go ahead and make one anyway despite the protestations of the creators, and hired the writer of Grease 2 (1982) to make the magic happen once again.

Predictably, Airplane II - amusingly subtitled The Sequel - doesn't come close to matching the hilarity of the original, doing what most bad comedy sequels do and re-hashing most of the humour that worked so well previously, only without the same conviction or execution. Most of the original cast return, and this time find themselves on board a lunar shuttle named Mayflower One headed for the moon (it's set in the near future). It short-circuits, causing its on-board AI to go insane and change course for the Sun. Ted Stryker (Robert Hays), the hero from the first movie, escapes from the insane asylum he was placed in by his employers after he discovered technical problems with the space shuttles, and boards the Mayflower in the hope of averting disaster. Also on board is his old flame Elaine (Julie Hagerty), who is now engaged to one of the flight crew, Simon Kurtz (Chad Everett).

Despite the absence of the original writers, there are still a few laughs to be had throughout the film, namely in the form of the permanently stressed and chain-smoking air traffic controller Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges) and his incessantly chirpy assistant Jacobs (Stephen Strucker). There are welcome new faces as well, such as Chuck Connors, Raymond Burr, Rip Torn and William Shatner. But the saddest thing is that the best jokes are the ones re-worked from the original, with writer/director Ken Finkleman failing to inject enough humour to make this one stand out on its own and not just be remembered as the weak sequel to one of the funniest farces ever made. The surprise stand-out from the original, the late, great Leslie Nielsen, also sadly doesn't return. Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker claimed on a DVD commentary that they have never seen this film, and they'd probably do well to keep it that way.


Directed by: Ken Finkleman
Starring: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Chad Everett, Chuck Connors, William Shatner, Raymond Burr
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,039: 'Matinee' (1993)

Joe Dante's Matinee is a bewilderingly overlooked little gem about a period when going to the movies was a far more innocent experience. Directors such as William Castle would turn a trip to the cinema into something all the more involving for the audience, pulling stunts such as rigging audience's seats with buzzers to shock the viewers whenever a fright occurred on screen, or even allowing them to choose their own ending. It was a time when a film-makers could make a decent buck with a bit of old-fashioned theatrics and a genuine passion for delivering an exciting experience for the paying punters. Matinee is also about the loss of such innocence, both at the movies and in the U.S.A. as a whole.

It's 1962, and avid young horror buff Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton) spends his days at the movies with his little brother while his father is away on a submarine. He's recently moved to Key West, Floria, where just over the horizon the Soviets are storing missiles in Cuba, and President Kennedy has just announced the threat of nuclear destruction. Gene dotes on the prettiest girl in school, Sandra (Lisa Jakub) while his new best friend Stan (Omri Katz) tries it on with Sherry (Kellie Martin), whose ex-boyfriend is a flick-knife wielding senior. While the whole town is in a subdued panic, charismatic B-movie schlock extraordinaire Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) arrives to personally promote his new film Mant!, a cheapo creature feature about a man turned into an ant by nuclear radiation or something or other.

There was very little time spent during my viewing of Matinee without a smile plastered across my face, which is what you would expect from a Joe Dante movie during the best spell of his career. This is a picture for those who truly love the movies from a guy who clearly loves movies too. In one of Matinee's most bewitching moments, the camera sweeps into Key West's cinema with the same sense of awe I experienced as a child, when I remember gazing at posters of the upcoming movies adorning the walls and being hit with that sickly smell of popcorn. Sadly, I wasn't around for the black-and-white kitschy B-movies of the 50's and 60's (the earliest memory I have is watching Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with my brother back in 1991), but the affect is still the same.

Cathy Moriarty also stars as blonde bombshell Ruth Corday, an actress and also Woolsey's girlfriend, eternally grumpy with the man she sees as full of out-of-reach dreams and cheap gimmicks, but demonstrating loyalty by dressing up as a nurse stationed outside the screening in case anybody falls ill because of the 'horror' on show. The Cuban Missile Crisis coincided with the decline of such showmanship, as American cinema evolved into something all the more serious, cynical and paranoid, and Matinee waves goodbye to such innocence. But it does so with a smile, and Goodman is terrific as the larger-than-life promoter who is perhaps a version of Dante himself, or at least the more flamboyant directors Dante grew up admiring. Matinee has a lot to say about our love for the movies and of the important role it plays in our general society, but more importantly it is joyous, funny and often extremely touching.


Directed by: Joe Dante
Starring: John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Lisa Jakub
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,038: 'X-Men: Apocalypse' (2016)

Following Matthew Vaughn's enjoyable franchise reboot X-Men: First Class (2011) and Bryan Singer's mind-bending follow-up Days of Future Past (2014), the latest entry into the ever-expanding world of the X-Men that began back in 2000 promised - according to writer Simon Kinberg - a scale and scope on such a level never before seen in a superhero movie. While the latest villain to face Professor X and his crew certainly ups the ante by offering the threat of global extinction, X-Men: Apocalypse suffers mainly because we have seen the likes of this before, after all Ultron threatened the same thing just last year in Marvel's Avengers sequel, and Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay have been doing this since the mid-1990's.

Apocalypse just doesn't offer the same sort of unique strangeness that assisted Days of Future Past in being the best entry since X2 in 2003, nor the impressive grip it kept on its large ensemble of super-beings and superstars in First Class. When it all boils down, Apocalypse is simply a tale of good vs. bad, introducing a hefty influx of new characters and old (with many of the latter re-cast with up-and-comers) in the process. The threat facing the wheelchair-bound telepath Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his School for Gifted Youngsters this time is the first and most powerful mutant of them all, En Sabar Nuh aka Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). When we first meet him, Nuh is in Ancient Egypt where he is worshipped as a god. Fearing his power, his worshippers betray him, leaving him entombed within a collapsed pyramid and killing his Four Horsemen.

In 1983, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), the shape-shifting mutant, is in East Berlin rescuing teleporter Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) from a human-run underground fight club and its winged champion Angel (Ben Hardy). Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is hiding out in Poland with his wife and child following his attempt to assassinate the President of the USA ten years previous. Charles is still running his school, which has added some interesting new recruits in fellow telepath Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Scott Summers aka Cyclops (Tye Sheridan). When Apocalypse re-awakens and decides that humanity has lost its way, he sets about recruiting his four new Horsemen, including Magneto, to help him destroy the world and rebuild it with him as its leader.

Anyone who loved Quicksilver's scene-stealing appearance in Days of Future Past will no doubt appreciate Evan Peters' extended role here, as he is again central to an impressive set-piece that is equally playful, inventive and exciting. For a movie with such a grim outlook at stake, it ironically works best when going about its business with a sense of humour. In the dramatic moments, its fails to offer any real impact, almost completely ignoring any religious undertones that would have made the film infinitely more interesting, and covering familiar ground in terms of Charles and Erik's somewhat rocky friendship. Although Isaac gives it his all, it is the young actors that are the standouts. Turner, Sheridan and Smit-McPhee manage to both channel the actors who came before them and making the characters their own. Hopefully then, the franchise is in safe hands moving forward (there are no signs of it stopping), but for now, Apocalypse is very much a case of same-old, same-old, and not much more than a relatively entertaining way to kill 2 and a half hours.


Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,037: 'Hail, Caesar!' (2016)

When a film-maker builds up such a formidable body of work, it's all the more crushing when their next project falls somewhat flat. The Coen brothers Joel and Ethan have been churning out genre-bending masterpieces ever since 1984 with Blood Simple, and maintained a healthy independent spirit until they were eventually noticed by mainstream Hollywood with 1996's Fargo. Ever since, despite still serving up great work such as No Country for Old Men (2007) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), their filmography has been occasionally blighted by bewildering misfires such as the double-whammy of Intolerable Cruelty (2003) and The Ladykillers (2004). Sadly, they've done it again with Hail, Caesar!.

It's obvious that the Coens hold a keen interest in the old Hollywood system of the 1940's and 50's. They were satirising the world they view with a certain curiosity and perhaps a little disdain back in 1991 with the outstanding Barton Fink. Yet while that film portrayed a bleak, subdued world full of madness and loneliness as John Turturro's titular script-writer struggled with his work and his own demons, Hail, Caesar! is the glitzy, garish world of big-budget biblical epics and movie stars with everything to hide. Studio head Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is the man to try and hold it all together, from having to shield his actors' shady pasts from pesky twin journalists Thora and Thessaly Thacker (both Tilda Swinton) to handling an organisation of academic-type communists who have kidnapped his biggest star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney).

Working almost like a series of loosely-connected vignettes, the Coens also weave numerous sub-plots into the mix. Mannix must also deal with the issue that one of his leading ladies, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johnansson) is unmarried but with child and can no longer fit into her mermaid costume. Singing cowboy actor Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich), a pretty face more accustomed to strumming the guitar and riding horseback, is thrown into a drama role at the last minute, much to the frustration of sophisticated director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes). There are smaller roles also for Channing Tatum, Frances McDormand and Jonah Hill in what is an unnecessarily bulky ensemble that the Coens struggle to keep a grasp of. With no real sense of direction, Hail, Caesar! often feels like a collection of clips from separate, better movies.

Despite the narrative flaws, there's still plenty to savour. Those distinctly 'Coen-eque' moments are peppered throughout, with Hobie's awkward first day on set and Channing Tatum's musical tap-dance being particular standouts. Although Brolin excels and Clooney makes for a very convincing wimp, Ehrenreich is the one who steals the movie as the extremely likeable dimwit who may actually be the only one paying attention. He demonstrates great comic timing and all the charm of the western idols his character is paying homage to, and he seems the perfect fit for a young Han Solo in Disney's as-yet untitled origin story. The film may have even worked better as a whole with Hobie as the lead and doing away with several side-stories. Instead, it is an unfocused splurge of good ideas rather toothlessly executed but wonderfully performed. Definitely lower-league Coen.


Directed by: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Starring: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Frances McDormand, Jonah Hill
Country: UK/USA/Japan

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,036: 'Tyrannosaur' (2011)

Having done some of his best work with director Shane Meadows, it's no surprise that first-time director Paddy Considine turned to the darkest areas of the human soul to find a story that is both violent and romantic, without ever confusing the two. The Meadows/Considine collaborations A Room for Romeo Brass (1999) and Dead Man's Shoes (2004) were an unsettling mixture of mental anguish and kitchen-sink drama, but Considine's debut, Tyrannosaur, keeps the tone firmly within the boundaries of the Ken Loach School of Gritty Film-Making, which help make this often gentle tale of two broken souls finding common ground often difficult to sit through.

An expansion of Considine's BAFTA award-winning short Dog Altogether, Tyrannosaur follows Joseph (Peter Mullan), a heavy-drinking and unemployed widower with extreme anger issues. We first meet him being thrown out of a pub following an unseen altercation, after which he kicks his dog to death in the street in a blind rage. Further anti-social behaviour sees him end up in a charity shop owned by God-fearing Hannah (Olivia Colman). Joseph is abusive and possibly dangerous, but she decides to help him anyway. Hannah's apparently comfortable middle-class life is at odds with the tougher upbringing experienced by Joseph, and he initially scolds her for it. Yet as the charity shop evolves into something of a safe haven for Joseph, he comes to learn that Hannah's marriage to James (Eddie Marsan) is an abusive one, and that she has her own demons to face.

The film certainly doesn't pull its punches. From the opening scene of witnessing the protagonist of the story brutally kill his own animal to a graphic rape later in the movie, Tyrannosaur is uncomfortable viewing but is never out to simply shock. The character of Joseph was based on Considine's father, but rather than being a carousel of unpleasant experiences torn from the directors memories, the film instead ponders whether a life wasted can be redeemed. Joseph and Hannah may seem to be complete opposites, but their shared disappointment in the life they have led and the suffering they have endured makes for a romantic bond that is both believable and profound. The relationship is given extra weight by the performances of the two leads. Mullan is uniformly excellent in a type of role he has done before, but Colman, who was up to this point of her career mainly known for her comedy work, is a revelation. An impressive debut work from an actor I have admired since I first saw him back in '99.


Directed by: Paddy Considine
Starring: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan, Ned Dennehy
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,035: 'Triple 9' (2016)

Boasting an enormously talented ensemble cast and a multi-layered story of corruption and greed set in the murky criminal world of the Russian mafia in Atlanta, John Hillcoat's Triple 9 has the ambition of Michael Mann's Heat (1995) but neither the scope or the running-time to convincingly pull it off. Telling the tale of a gang of hardened criminals and bent coppers coming together to pull of a heist, and then another, to save the skin of a brutal Russian mafia boss, it is hardly the most original entry into the crime genre, but manages to sneak a pass thanks to some splendid visuals and Hillcoat's signature brutality that gives the film a unique, raw edge.

Two cops - Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie) and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.) - and three criminals - gang leader Michael Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and brothers Russell (Norman Reedus) and Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul) - come together to rob a bank in order to retrieve a security deposit box containing evidence against the husband of mafia boss Irina (Kate Winslet). After a narrow escape, they are refused payment and are ordered to pull off another job to again retrieve data on Irina's husband. The job is near-impossible, so the gang come up with an idea of triggering a 'triple 9' call, which involves all police responding to an 'officer down' and heading to the location of the incident, therefore diverting all attention away from them. Marcus's new partner Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), a bullheaded new recruit quickly making enemies with the Mexican gangs, is chosen as the ideal candidate.

There's an undeniable star power to Triple 9, and the film struggles to allow them all the chance to shine. Because of the lack of running time required to properly develop the many characters, they are either painted with incredibly broad strokes or so thinly that they are relegated to merely 'tough good guy' or 'tough bad guy'. Weaving in and out of the main set the central story is crack-snorting Detective Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson), the hard-nosed yet likeable sergeant investigating the gang, who also happens to be Chris' uncle. Just in case his questionable drug habit isn't enough, the camera insists on showing us every bead of sweat running down his unwashed brow to reinforce the idea that this really is a tough guy who doesn't play by the rules. Triple 9 is sadly chocked full of tired genre cliches, right down to the tacky dress-sense of Winslet's Russian gangster, all big hair and garish outfits.

Despite the immense talent of its actors, lazy writing and too much time spent watching these characters flexing their muscles at each other means that none really make an impression. Ejiofor certainly tries, but he fails to make us sympathise with his character, who is supposed to be the conflicted emotional core of the film, and Paul repeats his Jesse Pinkman shtick without the benefit of 5 seasons worth of character development. Things lighten up when a few heated exchanges simmer with tension, as Hillcoat makes it clear from the outset that no character is safe. With his best films, The Proposition (2005) and The Road (2009), Hillcoat demonstrated a real talent forging an extremely dark mood, brimming with atmosphere and lurking threat, but here, he manages it only fleetingly, finding little time to do so amidst an overstuffed plot.


Directed by: John Hillcoat
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Clifton Collins Jr., Kate Winslet, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,034: 'Mississippi Burning' (1988)

The main question looming over the head of Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning is whether or not the film has a moral responsibility to tell its true-life tale of racial hatred and murder in Civil Rights Act-era Mississippi exactly how it happened, or if artistic license grants the creators of the film the right to tell an entertaining story that maintains a powerful message of social injustice and equal rights. I am of the opinion that any film can change events for the sake of a digestible narrative, as long as the facts aren't muddied for the sake of fitting a films own agenda. Like countless old World War II movies that softened the horrors of war or fabricated tales of heroism, a film isn't required to be a moving Wikipedia page as long as its heart is in the right place.

Mississippi Burning opens with the brutal slaying of three Civil Rights activists - two white men and one black  - by members of the Ku Klux Klan, in an event that would capture the attention of the entire nation back in 1964. Two federal agents are sent in to investigate, Agent Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman), a former Mississippi sheriff well accustomed to the attitudes of the small-town police forces in the state, and determined liberal Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe). Upon arrival, it doesn't take long for the agents to suspect widespread corruption within the police ranks and a possible cover-up. Anderson takes a hands-on approach of mingling with the locals and delivering thinly-veiled threats, while Ward respects rules and rank, bringing in over a hundred new agents to tackle the ever-increasing conspiracy.

The idea to tell this story, which is one of the key events that led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act, through the eyes of two white men would be instantly scoffed at nowadays throughout social media, and perhaps rightly so. It is most importantly a story of the suffering of African-Americans, and of their bravery and spirit in taking a stand against it. Yet while Mississippi Burning takes a procedural, buddy-cop movie approach, it highlights how ultimately powerless the agents investigating the case are. Anyone familiar with the story will know that the men responsible for the murders were eventually brought to justice, but this is only one case in a country brimming with racial tension as social integration is introduced. It would take people such as the activists murdered in the film and the many Civil Rights demonstrations carried out in defiance that would ultimately lead to changes.

At its best, the film is successful in making you feel extremely angry. As various African-Americans are lynched or attacked leaving a church by gangs carrying weapons, you, along with the bemused Agent Ward, question how such hate for another race can manifest itself within such a large portion of a community. With the FBI becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of co-operation from the residents of the town, the film somewhat indulgently gives us a scene of Anderson having an off-the-record word with suspected Klan members, particularly Deputy Pell (Brad Dourif) and hot-head redneck Frank (Michael Rooker). It's a punch-the-air moment of badassery, and one of many such scenes that allow the film to be entertaining as well as thought-provoking. It's far from perfect of course, with a shoe-horned romance between Anderson and Pell's suffering wife (Frances McDormand) in particular feeling wholly unnecessary, but this is a powerful and beautifully-made piece featuring one of Hackman's best performances.


Directed by: Alan Parker
Starring: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermey, Gailard Sartain, Stephen Tobolowsky, Michael Rooker
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,033: 'Zootopia' (2016)

Cute, talking animals are, of course, nothing new when it comes to Disney. Whether they are an anthropomorphic swash-buckler or a wide-eyed human's sidekick, I couldn't name one of Disney's animated output that didn't feature a cuddly creature. Their latest, Zootopia, may seem much more of the same then, with it's richly-imaged world of upright rabbits, polar bears, hippos and the like, all living together in harmony in the titular metropolis. You can put away your preconceptions however, as Zootopia is without doubt the corporate giants bravest and most relevant picture to date, and one with a strong message for its young audience that will hopefully rub off on at least a few viewers.

Young, determined bunny Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) grows up in the rural Bunnyburrow, a small town in a larger world where predators and prey have evolved to live together peacefully. Her parents hope she'll grow up to appreciate the quiet life of selling carrots and raising a family, but she has other ideas, and hopes to one day travel to the big city of Zootopia to become a police officer. Despite facing prejudice due to her gender and her size, she eventually graduates from Police Academy top of her class, and is soon in Zootopia fulfilling her dream. But when she arrives, her colleagues instantly doubt her ability as the precinct is traditionally made up of more formidable animals, and is quickly assigned to parking duty by Chief Bogo (Idris Elba).

Frustrated at the clear-cut discrimination, Judy decides to be the best parking attendant there ever was. It is while she is stamping every vehicle with a ticket the second they're in violation that she learns that prejudice goes both ways, meeting the seemingly down-and-out fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), the exact kind of prey Judy suffered physical harm from as a child. Her suspicions turn out to be true, and Nick is indeed a 'sly' fox, but comes to learn that he acts like a fox because society treats him and expects him to be like one. Begging for a chance at something more challenging, Bogo gives Judy the task of tracking down missing person Mr. Otterton with an ultimatum that she must resign if she fails. Suspecting his street-smarts may be of an asset to her investigation, Judy blackmails Nick into helping her, and uncover a series of bizarre incidents where predators are returning to their primal state.

While it may sound like a heavy-handed educational piece on the folly of racism and pre-judgement, it actually isn't, as Zootopia is also an explosion of imagination for the vast majority of its 110-minute running time. Judy's arrival at Zootopia, as she is whisked through an array of eco-systems, designed to sustain the many different kinds of inhabitants, is a complete joy. While some jokes fail to hit the mark, like the Godfather gag that may have been funny thirty years ago, others are ingenious. It may seem obvious to employs sloths at the DMV, but the scene is still laugh-out-loud even though they played it in it's entirety in the trailer. But Zootopia isn't memorable for its comedy value, but the way it delivers its message. Without being preachy or overly-sentimental, the film actually feel frustrated at society. We have surely evolved past pretty prejudice and stereotyping, so what drives the hate? The film hints at fear induced, which is a bold statement on its own.


Directed by: Byron Howard, Rich Moore
Voices: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, J.K. Simmons
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,032: 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' (2013)

David Lowery's strangely-titled Ain't Them Bodies Saints doesn't just tip its hat to a bygone era of film-making, but attempts to completely recreate the heavily visual but emotionally complex work that swept through cinemas during the 1970's, especially in America. The early work of Terrence Malick is a particular inspiration here, as vast Texas fields and looming thunderclouds play as the backdrop to the doomed love-story at its centre. On top of being a love-letter to one of finest ever decades for cinema, it manages to tell a compelling, if often isolating, little story in its own right.

Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara) are two reckless young lovers. We meet them in the midst of an argument that is quickly laughed off as Ruth announces she is with child, but it doesn't take long for their passionate romance to be cut short. When Bob drags Ruth into his world of petty crime, they find themselves locked in a shoot-out with the police that ends when Ruth wounds Deputy Wheeler (Ben Foster). Bob takes the blame and is incarcerated for 25 years to life, and the two attempt to maintain their relationship through written correspondence. A few years later, Ruth learns through the lonely Wheeler that Bob has escaped from prison and is no doubt coming for her.

The film moves into more predictable territory following Bob's escape, as we follow him on his slow-burning journey across state lines, employing the assistance of friend Sweetie (Nate Parker) to help him creep gradually closer to Ruth without being detected. As Ruth struggles between longing for her true love and the realisation that running off with a now-hardened criminal may not be the best thing for her daughter, Wheeler lets his affections known. A gentle, morally-upright man respected in the community, he offers her a safe passage and undoubtedly a better life, but Ruth still finds herself drawn to the dangerous outlaw lifestyle. Her father Skerritt (Keith Carradine), having watched over Bob as a child, has a somewhat resentful sympathy for their love, and warns Bob of a group of ne'er-do-wells who arrives in town in search of him.

The cast are excellent in their roles and compliment Lowery's desire to tell an emotionally complex story with fewer words than you would expect. Affleck is at his best when he is carefully treading the line between volatile and gentle, injecting Bob with a sympathy despite his characters occasional dark turn, and Mara perfectly captures Ruth's inward struggle between comfort and danger. Yet most impressive of all is Foster, toning down his usual wide-eyed shtick and showing a softer side perhaps not seen since Six Feet Under. For all its melancholic poetic narration and tormented gazes into the distance, the film tends to betray this approach when the dialogue comes, as the character spell out their predicaments when there's no call for it. More frustratingly, Lowery keeps the mysterious aspects of his movie a bit too close to the chest, as the reasons behind the appearance of the men hunting for Bob's head is teased but left infuriatingly unexplained. A bit like the title, it is alluring but seemingly hollow.


Directed by: David Lowery
Starring: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Keith Carradine, Nate Parker
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,031: 'Sleepwalker' (1984)

Siblings Marion (Heather Page) and Alex (Comrades (1986) director Bill Douglas in a rare acting role) share a crumbling cottage in the countryside. With Alex seemingly under constant stress due to his writing job, their relationship is somewhat strained, and things get worse when they are visited out of the blue by city-dwelling husband and wife Richard (Nickolas Grace) and Angela (Joanna David). Richard in an appalling, outspoken yuppie with a fondness for homophobic slights, and tensions mount as they go out for a dinner and the alcohol starts to flow. Afterwards back at the house, things start to get weird when somebody starts to sleepwalk with murderous in mind.

Re-released recently as part of the BFI's 'Flipside' series, which celebrates anything British, obscure and bizarre, Sleepwalker is an extremely odd yet mostly absorbing experience. While the tone is certainly British, the style is distinctly Italian. The first two-thirds consists of amusing, well-scripted character building, as the foursome clash and size each other up, while the remaining portion set back at the house goes into full-blown horror mode, turning the relatively small house into a disorientating labyrinth. It's a giallo at heart, with the work of Dario Argento in particular no doubt an influence on director Saxon Logan (cool name). Running at just over 50 minutes, the movie passes by in a flash and will probably leave you scratching your head when the screen fades to black, but it's also a film that didn't leave my mind for days afterwards, and left me itching to experience it again.


Directed by: Saxon Logan
Starring: Heather Page, Bill Douglas, Nickolas Grace, Joanna David
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,030: 'Zoolander 2' (2016)

Way back in 2001, Ben Stiller's original Zoolander was little more than an extended Saturday Night Live sketch, stretched out for 90 minutes of hit-and-miss comedy. Despite the wafer-thin premise of lampooning the fashion industry and the shallow celebrities who inhabit it, there was a clumsy charm about it and much fun to be had with its loose, zany approach. 15 years on and Stiller delivers a sequel that nobody was really asking for, and the movie's awareness of the first's quotable, make-it-up-as-we-go-along dialogue and unapologetic daftness is ultimately its downfall. That, and being painfully unfunny.

The movie's opening sequence informs us that Derek Zoolander's Centre for Kids who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to do Other Stuff Good Too collapsed in a disaster after being built using the same materials used to build the small-scale model, killing his wife Matilda (Christine Taylor) and damaging the beautiful face of his old friend Hansel (Owen Wilson). His child is eventually taken away from him when his parental skills are called into question, so Zoolander retreats into the frozen wasteland of New Jersey and turns his back on the fashion industry. Hansel has also retired, choosing instead to spend his time in the deserts of Malibu with his orgy of 11 fellow sex fiends, all of whom he has impregnated (including Kiefer Sutherland).

When Billy Zane arrives with their Neflix orders, he persuades them to return to the catwalk for ultra-hip designer Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), an annoying yet on-the-nose hipster who hates stuff because he loves them and vice versa. This is not the only plot thread in this convoluted mess of a film, as the tale of Zoolander braving a return to the world he feels he no longer has a place in was the exact same plot as the first film. We also have new villain Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), the return of Mugatu (Will Ferrell), Interpol agent Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz) who is tracking Zoolander and Hansel to help investigate the murders of music celebrities, some mythological nonsense about the Fountain of Youth, and the horrifying revelation that Zoolander's now-teenage son is, yes, fat and ugly.

It took four writers - Stiller, Justin Theroux, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg - to pen the movie and 15 years to think about it, and a tedious merry-go-round of re-hashed jokes, shoehorned celebrity cameos and eye-rolling innuendos ("Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher? Tonight is gonna be a total Jack-off!") is quite unbelievably the best they could come up with. By the time Mugatu arrives and the climax kicks into gear, you'll still be waiting for everything to somehow make sense. Up to this point, the most fun there is to be had is trying to spot all the famous faces (the funniest and most bizarre is a barely recognisable Benedict Cumberbarch) while Zoolander is left scratching his head trying to integrate into a world now so overcome by self-obsession. To make this point, we are made to suffer through endless social media gags that feel like the ramblings of a man trying desperately to fit in with the cool crowd. Even if you love the original, avoid at all costs.


Directed by: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Kyle Mooney
Country: USA

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,029: 'Dr. Phibes Rises Again' (1972)

At the end of the first film, The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), the titular genius laid himself to rest in suspended animation after laying his vengeance upon the ones he blamed for the death of his wife, Victoria. Three years later, when the moon aligns itself with the planets in a way not seen for a thousand years, Phibes (Vincent Price) rises again, and this time he is in search of the elusive River of Life, which promises resurrection for Victoria and immortality for the two of them. Discovering that a sacred scroll containing the map to the River of Life has been stolen by the equally demented Darrus Biederbeck (Robert Quarry), Phibes, along with his beautiful assistant Vulnavia (Valli Kemp), heads to Egypt where the tomb is hidden, murdering anyone who dares stand in his way.

With director Robert Fuest returning for the sequel, there's a real sense of continuity to the film, especially when a few actors - their characters slain in the first - occasionally pop up as for cameos that play out like small comic vignettes. Yet while, plot-wise, the first film was a relatively straight-forward albeit utterly bonkers tale of revenge, Rises Again is almost like a heist film, as two rival men, both mad geniuses (with one clearly madder than the other), scrap it out to uncover the most rewarding of prizes. The change of approach is certainly commendable, but it also means there's less fun to be had. Watching Price gleefully butcher a group of hapless doctors in a variety of inventive and preposterous ways in the first instalment was an absolute delight, but Phibes's battle-of-wits with his nemesis here doesn't offer quite the same amount of opportunities for inventive set-pieces.

Anyone searching for a bit of tongue-in-cheek horror will certainly get a bit of relief though, as Biederback's team find themselves the poor saps to be routinely offed, this time inspired by Egyptian mythology such a scorpions and a hawk. Sadly, there just isn't quite enough of it. With the blood-letting turned down, Rises Again increases the insanity factors. Sets adorned with psychedelic decoration and Phibes's numerous outrageous costumes means the film is also beautiful to look at. Price looks he is genuinely having a ball and no matter how sadistic his character gets as he demolishes anyone who crosses his path, you'll be rooting for him all the way. At the end, it feels like the story of Dr. Phibes is not quite finished, with American International Pictures' planned sequel unfortunately never coming to fruition.


Directed by: Robert Fuest
Starring: Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, Beryl Reid, Valli Kemp, Peter Cushing
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,028: 'H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer' (2004)

Anyone who shares my own morbid fascination with serial killers know that finding a well-made and thoroughly researched documentary feature on the Ted Bundy's and Jeffrey Dahmer's of this world is extremely hard to come by. The grisly subject matter tends to attract the attention of daytime crime channels that churn out hour-long true crime stories that sensationalise the horror to admittedly entertaining degrees (they're a good way to pass an hour), or no-name directors who substitute anything resembling a psychological character study for something all the more exploitative (although there is the odd exception, see 2000's Ed Gein or 2002's Bundy for examples of the kind of duds I'm referring to). John Borowski's H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer is a crude mixture of both.

H.H. Holmes, the notorious mass-murderer made all the more infamous for his carefully constructed 'castle' of labyrinthine corridors and winding staircases that led to various torture chambers and rooms rigged for death, arrived in Chicago in 1886. Landing a job at a chemist, Holmes eventually purchased the business when the owner died, promising the widow to pay her in monthly instalments only for her to never be seen again. Amassing a tidy sum of money through various conning schemes, Holmes constructed his house of horrors, regularly firing the workers after a short period of time to ensure that only he knew the true structure. When the World's Fair arrived in 1983, Holmes preyed upon the tourists who flooded into the city, killing up to an estimated 200 people during his spree.

Running at little over an hour, this cheap-as-chips documentary feels like a stretched-out TV special, repeatedly using the same stock footage and photographs as narrator Tony Jay blandly reads from his script, informing us of facts and theories that a better director than John Borowski would have wound into the narrative in other, more intelligent ways. As Holmes operated so long ago, the little that is actually documented about his activities and the lack of forensic analysis now so taken for granted only adds to the mystery and sheer creepiness of this terrible man, but the documentary, somehow, fails to exploit this, using laughable re-enactments that even fail in comparison to the likes of the Born to Kill? true crime series. If you have a spare half an hour and internet access, you would learn more from Holmes's Wikipedia page than you will from this movie.


Directed by: John Borowski
Narrator: Tony Jay
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie