Review #1,120: 'The Secret Life of Pets' (2016)

The Secret Life of Pets, the latest cutesy, family-friendly slice of talking-animal animation from Illumination Entertainment, feels like it was written as a result of a producer stumbling upon the 'ninja cat' video from YouTube. The trailers promised a fresh spin on the usual cartoon animal antics, with the action focusing on what our mischievous but lovable pets got up to when we leave for work every morning, whether it be inviting their neighbourhood friends round for a party, raiding our fridges for chicken and cake, or using the whisk as a vibrating scratching post. It felt like we were going to get Toy Story with cats and dogs, but what we get is a 90 minute chase sequence bereft of originality and charm.

If you're not familiar with the company Illumination Entertainment, they're the ones infesting what feels like every advert, bill-board and internet video with their Minion characters, those yellow, bespectacled creatures from Despicable Me (2010) who inexplicably inspire laughter from many by simply making a noise, and inspiring children everywhere to demand their parents cough up money on merchandise. Life of Pets is so devoid of ideas that it would be more appropriate to label it an extended advertisement for a new toy range. The latest must-have toy is Max (voiced with an Average Joe twang by Louis C.K.), a Jack Russell terrier who loves his owner Katie (Ellie Kemper), but pines for her every day as she leaves him to sulk in the apartment they share.

Despite spending most of his day feeling lonely, Max is perfectly happy lapping up all the attention whenever she is home, and hooking up with his friends - fat cat Chloe (Lake Bell), pug Mel (Bobby Moynihan), dachshund Buddy (Hannibal Buress) and budgie Sweetpea - when she isn't. However, Max's idyllic lifestyle is thrown into disarray when Katie brings home a huge, shaggy rescued stray named Duke (Eric Stonestreet). A series of events unleash Max and Duke onto the busy streets of New York, where they must dodge vicious alley cats and the always-lurking pound in a bid to get home, but instead find themselves in a kind of terrorist cell for disgruntled former pets led by the maniacal rabbit Snowball (Kevin Hart). Max's disappearance alerts the smitten Pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate) from across the street, who rounds up the gang for a rescue mission.

If you've seen the trailers then you've already seen the best parts of the movie, for when the attention remains on the domestic quirks of the many animals on show, there are laughs and fun to be had. By taking the action outside of the home for the majority of the running time, directors Yarrow Cheney and Chris Renaud lose the hook, and events quickly devolve into almost every other audience-friendly animation not made by Pixar or Disney you've recently seen. Worse still, is that the many set-pieces aren't funny, with too much reliance on prat-falls and Kevin Hart's high-pitched squealing to generate any laughs. It's all just noise and colour and no heart, with only Slate's husky-voiced spunkiness and Albert Brooks' slightly unsettling eagle Tiberius managing to inject any life into their characters. It does little but reinforce just how good Disney's Zootopia was, and remind us how Illumination's priorities lie with how much cash is lining its pocket.


Directed by: Yarrow Cheney, Chris Renaud
Voices: Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell
Country: USA/Japan

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,119: 'Deadly Blessing' (1981)

Like many others of my generation, I first encountered the work of Wes Craven with Scream (1996), which went on to influence a whole new wave of teen slasher movies that everybody thought they had seen die off in the early 90's. Shortly after, I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and realised just how influential the horror giant was across his lucrative career. Of course, he was making his mark even before this with the notorious The Last House on the Left (1972), a film inspired by Ingmar Bergman that remains shocking even to this day. With Craven's passing just over a year ago, I've been busy rounding up all of those forgotten minor works, and Deadly Blessing, made in between TV movie Stranger in Our House (1978) and Swamp Thing (1982), is one of his oddest.

On a remote farm named 'Our Blessing', couple Martha (Maren Jensen) and Jim Schmidt (Douglas Barr) live amongst a rural religious community known as the 'Hiddites'. The Hiddites are similar to the Amish in that they keep to themselves and reject modern technology. Some of the Hiddite youngsters, including the dim-witted William (The Hills Have Eyes' Michael Berryman), are fascinated with the Schmidt's tractor. When Jim, an ex-Hiddite and son of sect leader Isaiah (Ernest Borgnine), is killed in a suspicious incident in the barn, Martha's friends Lana (Sharon Stone) and Vicky (Susan Buckner) join her for company, but more deaths and strange incidents soon occur. Is it the work of the 'Incubus', the demon feared by Isaiah and his followers, or is there a deranged killer on the loose?

Deadly Blessing represents Craven's awkward transition from grimy shockers such as Last House and The Hills Have Eyes (1977) to the more mainstream fare he had such great success with following Elm Street. The film's main issue is that there are too many characters, sub-plots and ideas flying around to form a coherent piece. It never seems to settle on a tone, whether it be all-out supernatural, grounded and dramatic, or giallo-esque. However, the messy style of the movie at least makes for a more interesting movie that it would have been if played completely straight. There are a few nice set-pieces, including the infamous spider-in-the-mouth moment, and some fun performances, including an early role for a gorgeous Sharon Stone and an over-the-top Ernest Borgnine, the latter harshly 'winning' a Razzie for his efforts. Certainly a minor work in Craven's repertoire, but recommended to anyone with a weakness for barmy genre movies.


Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Maren Jensen, Sharon Stone, Susan Buckner, Jeff East, Douglas Barr, Ernest Borgnine
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,118: 'Suicide Squad' (2016)

With the DC Cinematic Universe properly established with Zack Snyder's overstuffed Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, itself a sequel to 2013's Man of Steel, David Ayer's Suicide Squad is an attempt to introduce a gallery of their lesser-known rogues and misfits - albeit characters who are no doubt familiar to any comic-book fans or avid viewers of DC's animated works - and have a bit of fun before getting down to business with the likes of Wonder Woman and superhero team-up Justice League, both due next year. Surely intended to be DC's answer to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), a fun, funky and colourful exploration of a host of wilder supporting characters, but the film loses the energy and spunky appeal of the first half as it gives way to a more generic, CGI-heavy climax.

With the near-omnipotent powers of Henry Cavill's Superman now public knowledge and 'meta-humans' popping up all over the place, the government is left scratching its head at how to tackle the next inevitable global threat. No-nonsense intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) wants to assemble Task Force X, a mini-army of super-powered and highly-skilled criminals currently locked up in Arkham Asylum. She gets her wish after she demonstrates to her bosses the power of Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), an ancient witch who has possessed the body of June Moore, the girlfriend of super-soldier Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). Waller keeps the otherworldly being's heart on her person at all times, thus controlling her, but when Enchantress' brother Incubus (Alain Chanoine) escapes his confines, she is soon free of Waller's influence and seeking to end our world.

The bulk of Suicide Squad's attention is given to the hitman-who-never-misses Deadshot (Will Smith), an emotionless assassin missing his young daughter, and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), the beautiful but unhinged girlfriend of Jared Leto's Joker. The rest of the group, including cannibal Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), pyrokinetic former drug lord El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), drunken Australian thief Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and a character deemed so unimportant that he's the only one not given a background story, Slipknot (Adam Beach), are little more than window-dressing. Flag is given command of the Task Force, and has his own sidekick in Katana (Karen Fukuhara), completing a massive ensemble Ayer has little control over. Ayer has always been a poor storyteller, but here he also struggles to maintain a constant tone, with the funny and playful introduction suddenly shifting gear and taking us into yet another end-of-the-world story which offers little to no explanation to the huge thingamabob beaming light into the sky.

In pitting its 'heroes' against a global threat, the film loses the opportunity for intimacy between its characters, Only Deadshot feels properly developed, and even he doesn't truly convince as the emotionless killer he insists that he is. Robbie is very good in her role, but her rushed back-story with the Joker feels shoe-horned in, hampered further by Leto's one-note performance and limited screen-time. The most interesting character of all is El Diablo, the one-time drug lord seeking redemption for his past actions, and Hernandez's performance offers a glimpse to how interesting the film really could have been. Yet Ayer is unable to handle the sheer weight of all the personalities on show, and in failing to give the squad a more low-key mission to allow its members a bit of breathing space, the film gives way to CGI overkill and goes mainstream when it should be punk rock and rebellious. A brief appearance by Ben Affleck as Batman ties Suicide Squad to the extended universe, but DC seriously need to step up their game if they expect anyone to care for the world they are building.


Directed by: David Ayer
Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne, Jay Hernandez, Jai Courtney, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karen Fukuhara
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,117: 'Jason Bourne' (2016)

While Tony Gilroy's rather fumbling The Bourne Legacy (2012) informed us that was 'never just one', the theatrical poster however failed to realise that there would be just one audiences would remember. That, of course, is Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, thanks to Doug Liman's enjoyable first entry and Paul Greengrass later taking the reigns and simultaneously lifting the franchise to a whole new level. Legacy, the Jeremy Renner vehicle, entertained fleetingly but ultimately suffered from its need to expand a universe which was built around Damon's presence and physicality and Greengrass' kinetic action, and so, in losing the series' two main draws, the film felt like another routine action thriller.

It seemed like Damon and Greengrass were done with the world of Treadstone and sleeper agents, but they are both back on board for the fourth entry, the somewhat unimaginatively-titled Jason Bourne. 9 years have passed since the original trilogy was wrapped up beautifully with The Bourne Ultimatum, with amnesiac henchman learning his true name (the less cool-sounding David Webb) and confronting the big bad seemingly behind the brutal training/brain-washing regime that morphed Bourne into the serial killer he cannot remember he was. So, the fourth (or fifth?) entry is the sequel that nobody, including fans, were really asking for, and this was reflected in its underwhelming box-office takings. You would think Damon and Greengrass were brought back into the fold because they had something fresh, but Jason Bourne sits comfortably in the formula that previously brought huge success.

It is so familiar in fact that I could swear I was watching the same scenes of wrinkled government operatives barking orders at underlings in a monitor-heavy CIA office while they watch Bourne vanish before their eyes, only with Tommy Lee Jones instead of David Strathairn and Alicia Vikander instead of Joan Allen. This time around, the super soldier is forced to leave his life of bare-knuckled fisticuffs in Greece when Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), now working underground as a whistleblower, uncovers information from the CIA of Bourne's Treadstone recruitment and the death of his father. The hack alerts the head of CIA's cyber-ops division Heather Lee (Vikander) and CIA Director Robert Dewey (Jones), who hire an 'asset' (Vincent Cassel) to finally put Bourne to rest. However, Lee believes he could be brought back into the fold and put back to work.

The overbearing sense of familiarity with the story, locations and characters cast a dark cloud over what is essentially a reasonably entertaining and well-photographed slice of action cinema. Damon broods in front of a mirror, a saggy-faced suit becomes increasingly frustrated at Bourne's elusiveness, and a decent actor is wasted as a dead-eyed bad guy assassin (although he is given a history with his prey here). The feeling of repetitiveness really hangs a question mark over the world-buildings potential of the series, as well as just why Damon and Greengrass felt the need to return to a story that doesn't really drive Bourne's story forward. As a stand-alone work, this is a movie that excites with bruising action scenes and never bores throughout its 2 hour running-time, with Damon inevitably impressing. As an anticipated Bourne sequel, it's a passive shrug. The Bourne Redundancy would be a more appropriate title.


Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles, Riz Ahmed
Country: UK/China/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,116: 'Thieves' Highway' (1949)

Thieves' Highway was the penultimate American film director Jules Dassin made before finding himself banished from Hollywood and placed on the infamous Blacklist. Informed in 1948 of his fate but handed enough time to squeeze out Night and the City (1950) for Fox, Dassin was just one of many cinema giants cut down in their prime (although he would go on to make the masterpiece Rififi in France in 1955), and the bruising film noirs he made during this period were some of the finest the genre has ever seen. Thieves' Highway's world of the produce market may not seen the ideal setting for American's own brand of stylish brooding, but this is one of the toughest and darkest noirs out there.

Nico 'Nick' Garcos (Richard Conte) returns home from the war to find his father crippled after a road accident which resulted in the loss of his legs. After demanding the truth, Nick learns that the crash occurred after his father made a deal with unscrupulous market dealer Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb) and was run off the road. Seeking vengeance, Nick first of all demands back the truck his father sold to Ed Kinney (Millard Mitchell), but instead ends up going into business with him on a load of in-demand Golden Delicious apples. Following a 36-hour truck drive, Nick arrives in San Francisco and almost immediately find himself at odds with Figlia. Exhausted, Nick is cared for by good-heated prostitute Rica (Valentina Cortese) while Figlia shrewdly plunders his stock.

Cortese's performance is the beating heart of the movie. A well-rounded, decent person at odds with the shifty-eyed criminals that pepper the marketplace, she is magnificent in the role, a shining light in the midst of an entourage of shady characters. This includes Conte's lead, who while eager to do the right thing at first, soon sees terrible, naive decisions force him into desperate measures. The produce market, with its battered, growling trucks and beaten-down drivers, provides a perfect noir setting. You can hear the cogs of capitalism and industry grind as the underpaid blue-collared types risk life and limb for the chance of a payday. It's littered with the same sense of pessimism and cynicism that made Dassin's Brute Force (1947) such a powerful movie, and will leave you feel somewhat beaten down by the time it's over. American noir at its toughest.


Directed by: Jules Dassin
Starring: Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Millard Mitchell, Barbara Lawrence
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,115: 'Captain Fantastic' (2016)

At first glance, Matt Ross' Captain Fantastic appears to be yet another low-budget independent effort from a former actor that employs a 'quirky' sensibility and approach to humour, as well as roughing up a popular actor and having them play against type. Yet this tale of a family raised as survivalists by their liberal father who is attempting to shield them from the consumerist society he loathes is one of the most touching films of the year, and one that is careful not to over-simplify the difficult subject matter of how to raise your kids. While it seems at first to be leaning heavily towards a purer existence of hunting and learning, it also ponders the dangers of inexperience.

Somewhere deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest live the Cash clan. Father Ben (Viggo Mortensen) runs a right ship, teaching his six children (three boys and three girls) how to survive off the grid, hunting what they need to eat and reading everything from Chomsky to Dostoyevsky, having become tired and disillusioned with the materialism of capitalist American life. When the film begins, Ben wife's Leslie (Trin Miller) is suffering from bipolar disorder, hospitalised miles away near her wealthy father-in-law Jack (Frank Langella). When she kills herself, Ben is told by Jack to stay away from the funeral or else he will be arrested, Believing his children should not be shielded from the harsh truths of life, Ben informs his brood bluntly of how their mother died.

All of Ben's children accept their way of life except for Rellian (Nicholas Hamilton), who openly rebels against his father. It's here that Ross highlights the hypocrisy of Ben's regime, as for a father who so smugly encourages free-thinking and open-mindedness, he rules the roost with an iron fist, with any undermining of his authority quickly stamped out. Seeing his children are grieving, Ben goes against Jack's wishes and embarks on a road trip in order to give his wife the burial she wanted, and it's on this journey that we see just how detached these children have become. While the youngest daughter can make a mockery of their older cousins' education with a word-for-word rendition of the Bill of Rights from memory, eldest son Bodevine (George MacKay) cannot speak to girls, proposing to one he meets a couple of hours after meeting her.

Captain Fantastic is also very funny, with the biggest laughs coming from a no-nonsense sex education lesson and the sight of Mortensen's todger. It also features some fantastic performances all-round from a group of youngsters who are surely destined for bigger things in the future, as well as Mortensen's career-best. Stubborn and arguably selfish, yet resilient and a genuinely loving father, his character is thrown through the emotional ringer as this survivalist superman undergoes a powerful awakening when the real world starts to creep in. At just shy of 2 hours, it's too long, with the energy of the first three-quarters clearly running low as it slogs along to the ambiguous final scene. Still, this is thought-provoking drama and laugh-out-loud comedy for the majority, with a film-maker to watch at the helm.


Directed by: Matt Ross
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Frank Langella, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Zahn
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,114: 'Malcolm X' (1992)

Malcolm X, Spike Lee's epic portrayal of the street hustler turned spokesman for the Nation of Islam who was assassinated at the age of 39, is undoubtedly the director's most assured, complex and mature film, but it is a wonder that it was ever made at all. Controversy began long before production even started, with heavy criticism laid on the fact that Norman Jewison was lined up direct what many, including Lee, felt was a project a black director should handle. When Jewison gracefully bowed out and Lee took over, many still felt that the polarising activist's life would somehow be whitewashed, labelling Lee a 'Buppie' (middle-class African-American).

The irony of many of the statements thrown at the biopic before it was even made was highlighted, and the resulting film was a 3 hour 20 minute testament to Lee's persistence at getting his hands on a story he had dreamt about making since film school. The studio had thrown in a budget for and insisted on a 2 hour 15 minute running time, but Lee, understanding that the contradictions and evolution of Malcolm's teachings and the many events and influences that helped shape the man demanded a longer running time. When the budget was exhausted, Lee called in for donations from the African-American community, and many of them obliged. Somehow, it's still too short to really get to heart of Malcolm, but it's certainly a far better film than it would have been had Lee not been so insistent at bringing his vision to the screen.

Malcolm's life was crammed with incident, and Lee does a decent job getting almost everything in. Flashbacks to his childhood, when his mother and father were tormented by the Ku Klux Klan and his family lived under the constant threat of death, are juxtaposed with his early life as a sharp-suited, ambitious numbers runner in Harlem known as Red, working underneath gangster West Indian Archie (Delroy Lindo). His actions soon land him in prison, where he meets Baines (Albert Hall), a fellow inmate working for Elijah Muhammad (Al Freeman Jr.) and the Nation of Islam. Baines teaches Malcolm that the drugs and alcohol he enjoys so much are simply ways for the white man to keep the black man in their place, and that the white man is, without exception, the devil. Malcolm leaves prison as Malcolm X, ditching the 'slave name' given to him by his ancestor's owners, and is transformed into an extremely enigmatic and convincing spokesman for the Nation of Islam.

The rush of excitement and danger of the opening third soon gives way to a more serious tone, as Malcolm's radical views on segregation under the watchful eye of 'the honourable' Elijah Muhammad makes him an incredibly controversial figure; loved, hated and feared in equal measure. Malcolm's popularity soon causes rifts and jealousy within the ranks of the Nation, and he sees the man who once took him under his wing become a deadly nemesis. His wife Betty Shabazz (Angela Bassett) receives threatening phone calls, and the family's house is set ablaze. Lee's technical discipline throughout these moments, especially for a director who usually embraces visual flourishes, ensures that a steady, gloomy momentum builds up towards Malcolm's eye-opening pilgrimage to Mecca and eventual murder.

A film of such emotional weight also calls for a great performance, and Denzel Washington delivers in spades. Even when Malcolm is at his most questionable, Washington imbues the character with the same charm, wit and magnetism that no doubt saw him sore through the ranks of the Nation and become loved by many. When the pace sags, and it frequently does, Washington manages to draw you back in with his effortless screen presence. The film manages to paint a well-rounded picture of a man who underwent a few radical changes in his life, thanks both to Lee's thoughtful approach and Washington's incredible performance. Lee does go slightly overboard with his worship of the man at the climax, as Ossie Davis reads a eulogy over a montage of children declaring "I am Malcolm X!" and a speech from Nelson Mandela, but this doesn't do too much damage to what is engrossing, detailed and fearless biopic of an inspirational man.


Directed by: Spike Lee
Starring: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman Jr., Delroy Lindo
Country: USA/Japan

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,113: 'Cruising' (1980)

Dogged by protests from the gay community over what many believed to be a negative depiction of their subculture and a final cut having to be hacked of a whole 40 minutes in order to secure an R rating, it is no exaggeration to say that William Friedkin's Cruising was one of the most controversial films to be released in the 1980s. Based on the novel by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, the project only interested Friedkin (after initially turning it down) when a man named Paul Bateson admitted to murdering members of the S & M community, having dismembered their bodies and tossed the remains into the nearby Hudson River. Friedkin worked with Bateson. a radiologist, on the set of The Exorcist (1973).

These murders are alluded to in Cruising, and ambitious cop Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is the man tasked with going undercover in the 'leather boy' community after a university professor is found tied-up and stabbed to death. Burns is young and handsome, and fits many of the victims' physical descriptions, and so is hand-picked for the job by police captain Edelson (Paul Sorvino). At first uncomfortable with a world where men openly 'cruise' for sex and wear different coloured handkerchiefs to signify their sexual preference, Burns nevertheless immerses himself in the role, deliberately keeping his wife Nancy (Karen Allen) in the dark about his work. As more victims turn up, the pressure on Steve to find the killer before they find him starts to affect him psychologically, especially when he starts to embrace the lifestyle.

Although there is still a stigma attached to Cruising 30 years after its release, the film has aged well. Claims that the film is negative and homophobic in its portrayal of the gay lifestyle seem somewhat misguided. While this is certainly a dark, pessimistic film, it never feels like the film is trying to convince you that what you are seeing is emblematic of the gay community as a whole. The scenes of writhing, sweaty men dressed in leather in the various clubs Burns frequents feel observational and free of judgement, with many real clubs and patrons employed for these moments. The friendship Burns chalks up with gay neighbour Ted (Don Scardino), who is in a fiery relationship with boyfriend Gregory (James Remar), represents gay life outside the S & M scene.

Controversies aside, the missing 40 minutes Friedkin was forced to leave on the cutting-room floor by the MPAA leave many questions unanswered. Cruising often feels like two-thirds of a complete film, with Burns' inner struggle with the stress and danger of his work, as well as the effect it starts to have on his home life, feeling particularly underdeveloped. With Burns inner psyche still a relative mystery at the end, the ambiguous ending is rather frustrating. Still, with no sign of the missing 40 minutes even existing anymore, Cruising works incredibly well as a mood piece. It has a grimy texture to it, as did many films to come out of New York in the 80s. Even if you aren't impressed by the twists and turns at the climax, the film still manages to crawl under your skin. It is also incredibly well performed, especially by Pacino, who was making some of the finest films of his career during this period.


Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Don Scardino, Joe Spinell
Country: USA/West Germany

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,112: 'Doctor Strange' (2016)

While the focus for the Marvel Cinematic Universe of late has been on sequels and superhero mash-ups, producer Kevin Feige and his team are more than aware of the heavy roster of iconic crime-fighters which have yet to grace the screen and who fans are crying out to see. Yet they are also clearly wary of the trappings of the origin story; the obligatory introductory movie which must cover how the hero came to be and have him face-off with a bad guy in order to establish their ass-kicking prowess. This was cleverly side-stepped in Captain America: Civil War earlier this year, with Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther both being eased into the universe in somebody else's movie.

But there is one cult favourite that hadn't been given the modern-day treatment by Disney and Marvel Studios, and one who hasn't graced our screens since the unintentionally hilarious 1978 TV movie starring Peter Hotten. Doctor Strange, originally created by a true unsung hero of the comic-book world, Steve Ditko, was a counter-culture favourite in the 1960's for its psychedelic imagery and Eastern mysticism, particularly popular amongst students and Pink Floyd, with the latter incorporating one of Strange's trippy panels onto the cover of their A Saucerful of Secrets album. Strange is probably the most awkward character for Marvel to bring to a mainstream audience, but Marvel don't seem put off by a challenge, especially after they somehow turned five obscure space-travellers into one of their best and most successful movies with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a world-renowned neurosurgeon enjoying the life of fast cars, expensive watches and an astronomical ego. After a car accident leaves him with mangled hands and the inability to operate, he pushes away his on-off girlfriend Christine (Rachel McAdams) and heads to Kathmandu in search of a cure. There he finds The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who opens Strange's eyes to magic and the astral plane, and a group sworn to protect the planet from mystical threats. With defected sorcerer Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) and his zealots on the loose trying to open a portal to the dreaded Dark Dimension, Strange studies to perfect the art of magic under the tutelage of fellow sorcerers Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Wong (Benedict Wong).

Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange ultimately falls pray to the tropes of the origin story, treading similar water to the likes Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and, especially, Iron Man, but manages to distinguish itself from the others thanks to some truly dazzling imagery. Derrickson, a huge fan of the early comics, stated that most of his inspiration came from one of Ditko's most jaw-dropping drawings, depicting the Sorcerer Supreme standing high above what appears to be multiple dimensions, each defying the laws of physics as we know it. Early on, the arrogant doctor is shoved head-first into a roller-coaster of alternate worlds, and the effect is extraordinary. Like one hell of a good acid trip, Strange receives a mind-fuck of an awakening, as do we. This is the kind of beautiful, hypnotic imagery that CGI was made for, to create something otherwise impossible, not to make a camera appear to glide through a close window.

Marvel have always hit the mark with the casting of their heroes, and Cumberbatch adds incredible charisma to a hero who is, at first anyway, rather loathsome. But Doctor Strange is also backed up by an unbelievable supporting cast of award-winning thesps whose presence ensures that you keep taking the gobbledegook-heavy exposition scenes seriously. Swinton is smiling and playful in a role that usually calls for a stone-faced drill sergeant, and Ejiofor adds dimensions (no pun intended) to a character who has one of the most intriguing arcs in the film, which will be of no surprise to anyone familiar with his comic-book incarnation. Mikkelsen and McAdams also make the most of underwritten roles, with the former especially adding weight to what is another wafer-thin Marvel villain. It really is one of the most impressive line-ups in recent memory, and not just for a superhero movie.

It is, of course, far from perfect. The insistence on staying with the origin formula really do hamper the potential of Doctor Strange, with the teases of the endless worlds left to explore hinting at a crazier, bolder film that could have been, but will hopefully come. Some of the supporting cast are also left hung out to dry, especially Michael Stulhbarg's Dr. Nicomdemus West, whose minuscule screen-time gives the impression that most of his scenes were left on the cutting-room floor. Still, these are gripes in what is otherwise a fantastically entertaining film, packed with action scenes that really are like nothing I've seen before, despite the ill-conceived Inception (2010) comparisons. The film's ongoing box-office success seems to signal a sequel will be inevitable, where I hope Derrickson will be granted permission to really let loose. But for now, this is yet another hit for Marvel.


Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Stuhlbarg
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,111: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows' (2016)

The heroes in a half-shell return once again to anger children of the late 80's/early 90's who continue to voice their displeasure as the pop culture icons of their youth are turned into soulless, CGI monstrosities with the sickly, music video aesthetic of producer Michael Bay. This time, it would initially appear that Bay and his cronies have learned from their mistakes by introducing characters from the beloved animated TV series, which at least acknowledges the fans the franchise originally catered to. But this is Michael Bay, who is so satisfied with his own brand of consumerist, money-grubbing blockbusters that he would never do anything as gracious as actually try to make a half-decent movie.

A year after their battle with the evil Shredder (here recast as Brian Tee), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Leonardo (Pete Ploszek), Raphael (Alan Ritchson), Donatello (Jeremy Howard) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), are still living in the sewers, hiding from a public who are unaware of their part in saving the world. Annoying introduced with title cards that label them as 'Raph' and 'Mikey' etc. - which raises the question of just how capable the film-makers believe their target audience are of remembering names with more than two syllables - the turtles are once again indistinguishable from one another apart from the one personality trait that here wholly defines them. They are more central to the plot than last time, but they prove to be as equally off-putting as their human counterparts.

The plot revolves around Shredder escaping from prison and employing genius scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) to assist him in opening a portal to another dimension, where the mutant brain Krang (Brad Garrett) is plotting to take over the world. Journalist April O'Neil (Megan Fox, doing little else other than changing from one sexy outfit to the next, sometimes in the same scene) catches wind of the plan and approaches the Turtles for their help. Only former cameraman Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett, visibly regretting ever agreeing to take the role) has taken all the credit for the Turtles heroics and is living the life of a celebrity, so the pizza-loving foursome must reveal their existence to a horrified public and suspicious police chief Rebecca Vincent (Laura Linney).

Other than a sub-plot involving Leonardo honing his leadership skills, Out of the Shadows spends most of its time explaining its nonsensical plot and pacing towards the inevitable thingamjig-beaming-into-the-sky climax. Despite claiming to be directed by Dave Green, this is pure Bay, and anyone who despises the shallow output of the film-maker once compared to Hitler by Megan Fox will find nothing at all to appreciate here. It's the same pornographic, vacuous vision seen in all of the Transformers movies, featuring the same stock meat-head types Bay was so in love with in the likes of Pain & Gain (2013) and 13 Hours (2016), and peppered with soul-crushing product placement. It wouldn't be so bad if it was even occasionally entertaining in a switch-your-brain-off kind of way, but it isn't, it just made me want to jam an ice-pick into my ear.


Directed by: Dave Green
Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Noel Fisher, Laura Linney, Stephen Amell, Tyler Perry, Brian Tee
Country: USA/Hong Kong/China/Canada

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,110: 'The Wizard of Gore' (1970)

Although he never again reached the dizzy 'heights' of his breakthrough Blood Feast (1963), I find myself repeatedly and inexplicably drawn to the seemingly endless works of the 'Godfather of Gore', Herschell Gordon Lewis. The films of Lewis, who sadly passed away just two months ago, continued on a steady decline from the just-about-bearable to the outright unwatchable after bringing blood and guts to the drive-in audience for the first time. Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) was quite fun, and Color Me Blood Red (1965) had its moments, but by the time he reached The Wizard of Gore in 1970, his work had become entirely incoherent and just plain boring.

Magician Montag the Magnificent (Ray Sager) entertains disinterested crowds at night, introducing his act by condemning his fellow performers and promising to truly deliver what the audience has come to see. He doesn't merely do the girl-cut-in-two trick, but chainsaws a poor lady in half and then plays around in her guts. Moments later, she is fine, and the audience lap it up. Only a few hours later, the girl drops dead in a restaurant in two pieces. TV personality Sherry Carson (Judy Cler), who frequently attends Montag's show with her boyfriend Jack (Wayne Ratay). longs to get the entertainer on her show. But as more bizarre murders occur, Sherry and Jack feel that the sinister goings-on point straight to Montag.

He may not be a magician and he certainly isn't a wizard, but Montag the Magnificent is one hell of a hypnotist. During his many shows, in which Montag murders and dismembers various pretty ladies in a variety of grisly ways (punch press, sword swallowing, knife in the ear, etc.), his audience are placed in a trance as Montag fondles what must have been brought in from the local butchers. As the actual audience watching this mess, we are treated to both the illusion and reality, making for a incredibly confusing and badly-edited watch. The usual Lewis tropes of terrible acting, cheap-looking sets and laughable special effects (see the moment Sager clearly has trouble popping out an eyeball) are all present, but the worst sin of all is that The Wizard of Gore is a massive drag at a whopping 95 minutes. There's gore-a-plenty, but nothing else. And if anybody knows what that ending is about, please let me know.


Directed by: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Starring: Ray Sager, Judy Cler, Wayne Ratay, Phil Laurenson
Country: USA

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,109: 'The Conjuring 2' (2016)

With The Conjuring leaving theatres in 2013 as one of the highest-grossing horror movies of all time, it was of no surprise when director James Wan announced that he was going to helm a sequel, despite claiming to be done with the genre. The first movie was a stylish alternative to the blood-spattered torture porn and CGI-laden exorcism drivel that grace our screens every year (although it featured quite a bit of the latter), and a loving wink to the creepier, more slow-burning supernatural tales of the 1970's. The sequel keeps the 70's aesthetic, but sadly everything else too. And this time it's longer, duller and far less frightening.

It's London, 1977, and the Hodgson family move into a ramshackle council house in Enfield and quickly start experiencing paranormal occurrences. Janet (Madison Wolfe), one of two daughters, is tormented by the apparition of an old man, and furniture regularly flies across the room. The events quickly attract the attention of the police, reporters and sceptics, and word eventually travels across the pond to paranormal investigators Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson). Lorraine is battling against her own visions of a ghostly nun and the death of her husband, but the couple decide to investigate nonetheless. Soon enough, the Warrens uncover sinister forces at work at the Hodgson's home.

The first film was such an astounding success that it would seem that Wan and his four writers were simply terrified to change the formula, while bending to the fact that the audience will no doubt be expecting the ante to be upped significantly. So we are again hampered by a distracting side-story involving a previous investigation by the Warrens,as the film begins in Amityville, a story which the 2005 version starring Ryan Renyolds should have ensured wouldn't litter our screens again for at least two decades. A troubling seance seems to unleash a pissed-off, creepy nun onto Lorraine, and this story thread is shoe-horned into the central plot. Much of the first third is spent switching between continents as the Hodgsons and Warrens go about their business oblivious to the other's existence in a clunky style that doesn't really gel.

On the spooky side, it's obvious that Wan has a real knack for sculpting a set-piece, He understands the effect that a creaking floorboard, a dark corner of a room, or just plain silence can have on an audience, but Wan doesn't seem to have the discipline he had first time around. Chilling slow walks across a darkened landing soon give way to jump-scares you can spot a mile away, a spirit with a daft Cockney accent, and most inexplicably, a giant CGI 'Crooked Man'. There's a limit to how many you can be asked to watch a character make the same daft mistakes (why doesn't somebody just turn a light on at least?) or watch the so-called experts deny what is right in front of their eyes despite years of experience. And at 134 minutes, it asks you to do this for a long time. I must be missing something, as The Conjuring 2 has been another huge financial success, but I see little here that I haven't seen a hundred times before.


Directed by: James Wan
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe, Frances O'Connor, Simon McBurney
Country: Canada/USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,108: 'Black Book' (2006)

Before he dazzled Hollywood with his blood-soaked satires Robocop (1987) and Starship Troopers (1997) - and made us cringe with Basic Instinct (1992) and Showgirls (1995) - director Paul Verhoeven made Soldier of Orange (1977) in his native Netherlands, a film about the Dutch resistance movement during World War II which starred Rutgher Hauer. Almost thirty years later, and only six years since Hollow Man (2000) seemed to drain him of his creativity, Verhoeven returned to his homeland to make Zwartboek (Black Book), and to again highlight his country's heroic struggle during the Nazi occupation.

In 1944, Dutch Jew Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten), a singer living in Berlin before the war, hides from the Nazi regime in the war-torn Netherlands. When the farmhouse she was hiding in is destroyed by the Americans, she is forced to flee, reuniting with her family before setting off by boat to the safer south. However, the boat is ambushed by the Nazis and Rachel narrowly escapes with her life, watching her entire family murdered in the process. Lost and alone, she decides to join the resistance in The Hague, where her many talents are put to good use. A chance meeting on a train leads her to charming the socks off high-ranking Nazi officer Ludwig Muntze (Sebastian Koch), so Rachel, under the guise of Ellis de Vries, is given the task of seducing him.

World War II movies seem to be made with one of two intentions. One is to delve into the human soul and explore the horrors of battle, and the other is to simply entertain. Verhoeven's movie seems to lie somewhere in between, and the results are intriguing to say the least. Too often does the drama get interrupted by an unnecessary gun battle or explosion for the film to be taken too seriously, but, even at 145 minutes, Black Book is never in danger of dragging. It also never misses an opportunity to get van Houten in the nude, but to anyone familiar with the work of Paul Verhoeven, this will come as no surprise. While the actress now most famous as Melisandre the Red Priestess in Game of Thrones is staggeringly beautiful, her constant clothes-shedding hardly serves the plot or her character.

In fact, Black Book asks a hell of a lot of van Houten, who is forced to don a number of faces and personalities as her character digs herself deeper into the role of secret agent and uncovers betrayals and secret plots at every turn. She handles it exceptionally well, and van Houten really should have gone on to be a A-lister after this. She has a sparkling chemistry with Koch, who is also very good as the man on the side facing defeat, hoping to agree a truce with the resistance to avoid more bloodshed. It's a handsomely shot film all round, made all the more staggering that this was conceived on such a modest budget, and it's clear that Verhoeven was out to make a movie he could be proud of. While his familiar exploitative approach prevents it from being great, Black Book is never boring and is peppered with enough grey characters (Verhoeven certainly doesn't white-wash the portrayal of his fellow Dutch) to keep the twists and turns coming until the very end.


Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Carice Van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn, Waldemar Kobus
Country: Netherlands/Germany/UK/Belgium

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,107: 'House on Haunted Hill' (1959)

Horror icon Vincent Price has played the role of a wealthy eccentric countless times, usually holed up in a beautiful if macabre and mysterious castle while toying with his visitors. It's a role that fits his slightly creepy yet irresistibly likeable persona like a glove, and served him well throughout his extensive career. Before he became the wink-to-the-camera rogue in the films of Roger Corman and many others, he tended to play his parts more straight-faced, but always with a playful aura. One of his most enjoyable roles is in William Castle's House on Haunted Hill, a film that embraces cliche and camp, yet undoubtedly inspired countless haunted house movies that came in the years that followed.

Price plays a charismatic millionaire named Frederick Loren who, at the request of his wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), rents a supposedly haunted house to throw a party. He invites five guests - test pilot Lance Schroeder (Richard Long), psychiatrist Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshal), newspaper columnist Ruth Bridgers (Julie Mitchum), one of Loren's employees Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig), and the house's owner Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook Jr.) - to survive the night for a $10,000 reward. They are each given a small coffin containing a gun, and are offered one last chance to leave before the doors close and lock at midnight. Needing the money and believing the spooky occurrences to be the work of cheap tricks, they all stay, but regret the decision when one of the group is found hanged.

It's incredibly basic stuff and only runs for 75 minutes, but Castle's ability to keep the audience guessing and Price's wonderful, brooding performance makes House on Haunted Hill stand out above its many imitators. Castle was known for his gimmicks in the theatre, and here employed 'Emergo', which involved a skeleton being dangled above its terrified audience. Watching it at home, the fun to be had back in the day is of course lost, but the film offers enough genuine jump frights and camp-yet-charming effects to make this an incredibly fun experience on its own. It's certainly not scary, and one scene in particular had me laughing out loud (if you've seen the film, you'll know which moment I mean), but Castle's finest movie makes for a nice alternative to the blood and guts that dominated the genre in the years to come. A silly, deliciously entertaining throwback.


Directed by: William Castle
Starring: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal, Carolyn Craig, Elisha Cook Jr., Julie Mitchum
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie