Review #1,176: 'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted' (2012)

A distinct lack of charm and originality have never been criticisms to inspire a studio to scrap a billion dollar franchise in favour of doing something a little more worthwhile, so Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) return four years after their detour to Africa for another continent-spanning adventure, this time in Europe. This third entry into the hugely successful franchise packs so much colour, noise and incident into its 90 minute running time that the issues with the first two films - which are still present here - are reduced to a mere afterthought. To my utter surprise, Europe's Most Wanted is actually quite fun.

Bored with Africa and longing for their home in New York, the anthropomorphic foursome take sail to Monte Carlo, where the penguins and primates have already made themselves at home. An incident in a casino leads to a vicious, game-hunting animal control worker named Chantal DuBois (Frances McDormand) chasing them across the city. As the authorities close in, the group make a break for it by hopping on a circus train, where they are met with resistance by a bitter, once-famous performer Vitaly the Siberian tiger (Bryan Cranston), but welcomed by the doe-eyed jaguar Gia (Jessica Chastain) and the optimistic sea lion Stefano (Martin Short). With the circus lacking inspiration with a tired act, Alex and co. come up with a plan to reinvigorate the show as they tour Europe, in the hope of making enough money to get them home.

Making up for the blocky, uninspired animation of the previous movies, Madagascar 3 is a feast for the eyes, really coming to life during the physics-defying, laser-filled circus shows. The script is slightly more sophisticated, which is possibly due to the involvement of Noah Baumbach, yet the characters still need to compensate for the lack of actual jokes by shouting nonsense or falling over. As for the newcomers, they are infinitely more engaging than the stock long-lost family members from part 2, with Cranston clearly revelling in the chance to do a ridiculous Russian accent, and Chastain purring it up as the love interest. However, the biggest impression is left by a character who doesn't speak at all; a giant female bear (the growls are performed by Frank Welker) who forms a weird romantic relationship with King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) in the movie's most endearing transgressive move. The narrative is packed with problems, but the whole thing whizzes by far too fast to care.


Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon
Voices: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Frances McDormand, Jessica Chastain
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,175: 'M' (1951)

The poster for director Joseph Losey's M promises to deliver "the greatest motion picture you've ever seen!". This, of course, isn't true; in fact, it isn't even the great motion picture entitled M you'll ever see. The original movie of the same title, directed by Fritz Lang, is possibly one of the finest pieces of cinema ever made, and one that reflected the political turmoil of Germany at the time as the Weimar Republic start to collapse under the increasing power of the Nazis. Douglas Sirk, a German working in Hollywood, was first approached to helm the remake, but wanted to scrap the original premise but keep the focus on a notorious child-killer. This could not happen, as such a grisly topic was banned in Hollywood, but would be allowed if it was a remake of a classic. Sirk held his ground, and so M was handed to Losey instead.

Martin W. Harrow (David Wayne) is a reclusive serial killer who has already gained notoriety throughout the city after a few dead bodies were found, minus their shoes. Inspector Carney (Howard Da Silva) feels the pressure of expectation, resorting to desperate measures by fleecing the regulars at a known criminal hangout in the hope of stumbling upon a clue or lead, as the city's residents are in high-paranoia mode, reporting anyone acting remotely suspicious or seen walking with a child. One old man is hauled in after helping a young girl take her skates off after a fall. Syndicate boss Charlie Marshall (Martin Gabel), seeking an opportunity to divert the attention away from his own criminal activities, rounds up his gang of crooks and brings in drunken lawyer Dan Langley (Luther Adler) in the hope of tracking down the murderer himself.

Any American remakes of foreign masterpieces will always be looked upon with some degree of disdain, and I must admit that I went into M expecting a pointless re-hash of what came before. However, under the disguise of a film noir, Losey's M is a damn good movie, with the panic-stricken city eager to turn over their neighbour in the hope of sleeping easy at night easily comparable with Joseph McCarthy's Communist witch-hunts terrorising Hollywood at the time, which saw industry giants pressured into naming names and exiling their co-workers onto the Blacklist. As Harrow, Wayne is subtly effective, sweet-talking his victims and luring them with his whistle. More focus is given to his character than in Lang's film, and Wayne manages to invite more sympathy than Peter Lorre's incarnation as he is eventually hauled in front of a public jury. It certainly doesn't have the dramatic weight or technical wizardry of the 1931 version, but Losey's effort stands out as one of the most gripping noirs of its era.


Directed by: Joseph Losey
Starring: David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Martin Gabel, Luther Adler
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,174: 'Live by Night' (2016)

I highly doubt that many people believed that Ben Affleck would ever recover from the plethora of awful decisions he made between 2000 and 2004, when he starred in such duds as Bounce, Pearl Harbor, Daredevil and, of course, Gigli. But recover he did, and he did so from behind the camera, delivering a stream of solid thrillers such as Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and the Best Picture winner of 2012, Argo (the first film to win the prize without the director receiving a nomination). For a star on a roll, 2016 wasn't particularly pleasant for Affleck, with his superhero movies Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, along with his action movie The Accountant, all receiving a critical hammering (although I rather enjoyed the latter). His awaited return to directorial duties is also a bust; an underwhelming, cliched gangster picture with a half-arsed performance by its lead, pulling in only $21 million from a $65 million budget.

Joe Coughlin (Affleck) returns from fighting in World War I vowing never to kill another man. A petty bank robber and the son of an Irish police chief (Brendan Gleeson), Joe finds himself pulled into the gangster lifestyle when he falls in love with Emma Gould (Sienna Miller), the girlfriend of Irish mob boss Albert White (Robert Glenister). When their affair is uncovered, she wounds up dead and Joe is thrown into prison, serving only a few years thanks to the influence of his father. He comes out a changed man; one that is eager to take revenge and ready to embrace the lifestyle he always shunned in order to get it. Joe persuades White's rival, Italian boss Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone), to let him take over business in Tampa, where the rum business is booming thanks to Prohibition, and where White is trying to carve out a piece of the action for himself.

Live by Night basically follows Joe throughout his criminal career, as he partners up with his comedy relief best friend Dion Bartolo (Chris Messina) and sets about putting his rivals out of business. Yet the biggest challenge to his reign is not the White gang, but the Ku Klux Klan, who disapprove of his doing business with black folks, and dating Cuban beauty Graciela (Zoe Saldana). The most engaging sub-plot involves Joe's relationship with the local police Chief Figgis (Chris Cooper), a man who claims to be un-corruptible, yet turns a blind eye to Joe's dirty dealings. His beautiful daughter Loretta (Elle Fanning) goes off to Hollywood to become a star, only to come back a broken woman with a heroin addiction. She finds God, and draws a huge crowd as she preaches against the sin engulfing their city, placing Joe's grand casino development under threat in the process.

Whenever Cooper and Fanning are on screen, the movie hints at the far more interesting experience it could have been. The rest is a by-the-numbers gangster flick with the familiar good man corrupted by a thirst for success and power at its centre. There is some sumptuous cinematography and some colourful costume design to distract from the mediocrity of the story and performances, and an exciting shoot-out finale, but this is nowhere near enough to make up for how utterly bland Affleck's picture is. The talents of Gleeson and Saldana are wasted in underdeveloped roles, with only Messina's affable sidekick Bartolo identifiable as a fully realised character. Affleck plays the lead as stoic and damaged, but he fails to convince of the emotional turmoil bubbling beneath the surface. While it's hardly as outright embarrassing as Warner Bros.' other crime saga flop Gangster Squad (2013), the studio obviously knew they had a stinker when Live by Night was rushed onto Blu Ray a measly two months after hitting theatres.


Directed by: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Chris Messina, Zoe Saldana, Chris Cooper, Elle Fanning, Sienna Miller, Brendan Gleeson
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,173: 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' (2016)

Following their procurement of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise with it, it didn't take long for Disney to announce an all-new trilogy, continuing the legacy that was somewhat tarnished by George Lucas' terrible prequel trilogy beginning back in 1999. J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens, aka Episode VII, predictably made a ton of money in 2015, despite being a thinly-disguised re-hash of Episode IV with a few new characters thrown into the mix, and soon enough announcements were being made of spin-offs and origin stories aplenty. Many rolled their eyes at what appeared to be an easy money-spinner, but many more were excited to see this vast universe - which had been explored to no end in books, video games and comic-books - come to life on the big screen, and Gareth Edwards' Rogue One is by far the finest Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back.

Set some time after The Revenge of the Sith but just before the events of A New Hope, the universe lives in terror as the Imperial Empire, led by the feared Darth Vader, seeks to crush the Rebellion and rule the galaxy. Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is forced by Imperial weapons researcher Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) to complete his work on the Death Star, a device the size of a moon capable of destroying entire planets. Galen's young daughter escapes the Stormtroopers and is raised by Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). Years later and now a young woman, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is freed from a labour camp by Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and is taken to Rebel leader Mon Mothma, who convinces her to help persuade her father to defect so they may learn more about the weapon he is building. Joined by a rag-tag gang of fighters and criminals, Jyn unwittingly finds herself at the centre of an impossible mission to steal plans to the Death Star, and playing her part in rescuing the universe from oppressive rule.

Continuing the series' line of strong female leads after Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley, Jones' Jyn Erso stands out by not being a princess or a 'Chosen One' character, but a tough orphan without any stand-out skills other than sheer will and determination. She doesn't get any special treatment due to royal connections or suddenly start wielding the Force, but must shack up with an equally gruff and battered gang of unlikely heroes to stand any chance of survival. Her companions are as equally memorable and played by strong actors, without ever being defined for a unique attribute. With C-3PO off elsewhere, the comedy robot is K-2SO, a re-programmed Imperial droid voiced by Alan Tudyk who offers the movie such much-needed comic relief. There's also blind spiritual warrior Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen, who really looks like he's enjoying himself), his gun-wielding mercenary pal Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang), and defected pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed).

Any fans who adored the Easter eggs barely hidden in The Force Awakens will be pleased to know that there's no change here. As the timeline inevitably crosses over with A New Hope, many faces and events will be familiar. Even Peter Cushing is brought back via some impressive CGI work as Grand Moff Tarkin. Edwards ensures that these crowd-pleasing moments of nostalgia don't distract too much from the central plot, and he really goes all-out with the action scenes. Apparently, futuristic helmets were placed upon the heads of real soldiers in old war photographs by Edwards as an idea of how he felt the aesthetic of the battles should be. They pulled it off, as there's a real immediacy and grit to the fighting. and a clarity in the way it is captured. Donnie Yen going to town on some Imperial soldiers with a staff provided, for me at least, the film's highlight. While the film does move too fast for its own good on occasion, this is a thrilling experience, with characters far more interesting than those involving in the main story. It will surely delight hardened fans and newcomers in equal measure.


Directed by: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen
Country: USA/UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,172: 'Nightbirds' (1970)

American director Andy Milligan is best known on the cult circuit for the numerous trashy exploitation movies he put out during the 1960s and 70s, namely the likes of Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970), The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1972) and, most famously, the video nasty The Ghastly Ones (1968). His work isn't fondly remembered, and his horror pictures are perhaps only worthwhile for their unintentional comedic value. However, Milligan occasionally dabbled in arthouse movies, and Nightbirds - made in Britain - is one of the most interesting, if plodding, things he's ever done. Thought lost for years, the combined efforts of Nicolas Winding Refn and the BFI have allowed the film to be pieced back together and re-released after decades in the wilderness.

On the grainy streets of late 60s London, a young homeless man named Dink (Berwick Kaler) is discovered puking his guts up by the striking Dee (Julie Shaw), who takes the hapless mummy's boy back to her decaying flat. While Dink is clearly socially inept and inexperienced with women thanks to years of mental abuse at the hands of his overbearing mother, he strikes up an intensely sexual relationship with Dee. The good times soon give way to jealousy however, as Dee disapproves of any woman Dink strikes up a conversation with, and Dink becoming increasingly frustrated at the frequent presence of Dee's creepy Irish neighbour. As they gradually attempt to control one another, the once blissful and sexually-charged relationship turns to cruelty and bitterness.

It barely saw the inside of a cinema screen during its release back in 1970, and its somewhat difficult to see how it will find an audience all these years later. It's a deliberately provocative piece, full of sexual imagery and foul language, but it's also incredibly slow-moving, even at a measly 74 minutes. While Kaler does well as the timid, neurotic Dink (who went on to have a successful career on British TV), Shaw struggles to emote much at all. Her character is manipulative and sexually dominant, and calls for a performance capable of handling such complexities, but Shaw barely manages to convincingly switch between happy and sad. Still, it's a nice change of pace from the usual free-loving and swinging 60s the movies usually inform us it was, and suggests that there was a little bit more to Milligan than the schlocky output he was best known for.


Directed by: Andy Milligan
Starring: Julie Shaw, Berwick Kaler, Elaine Shore, Bill Clancy
Country: UK

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,171: 'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' (2008)

When an animated family film unexpectedly strikes a chord with its young audience and develops into an unexpected hit, as was the case with 2005's Madagascar, the most common problem faced with the inevitable sequel is where to take its collection of rag-tag anthropomorphic heroes next. The original's premise was relocating a bunch of animal characters who had been raised in a New York zoo to be adored by the paying customers to the less-welcoming island of Madagascar. It was a promising idea, but the film fell flat thanks to some blocky animation and a lack of imagination and jokes. With the first sequel, returning directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath have pulled the same trick again, only this time dumping its hapless entourage onto the brutal plains of Africa, with Hollywood again apparently forgetting that Africa is a continent, not a country.

After the adventure on Madagascar, zoo animals Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) and a small group of militaristic penguins have fixed the crashed plane and are readying to fly back home. Also joined by unhinged lemur King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), they crash again in Africa after running out of fuel, and eventually find themselves at a watering hole, where they are overjoyed to discover more of their own species. Alex also reunites with his mother (Sherri Shepherd) and father Zuma (Bernie Mac), with the latter the alpha of his herd. While the others are each given roles in their animal society, Alex must prove himself to be worthy of his position of heir and title of  'King of New York', while fellow lion Makunga (Alec Baldwin) waits eagerly to take control.

It's a very similar route taken by Ice Age and their increasingly tedious sequels. When the big idea has been used up, simply introduce a long-lost family member and give the comic relief side-kicks their own meandering side-stories. Melman, due to his hypochondria, becomes the village's witch-doctor; Marty struggles to stand out in a herd that looks and talks in the exact same way as he does; and Gloria is courted by a douchebag while she misses the true love right in front of her eyes. The only relief on offer is when the penguins are on screen, and their extreme competency with any given task and frequent bashing of an annoying old lady never fails to raise a chuckle. When they're not the focus, we are stuck with the incredibly uninteresting Alex and a bunch of generic life lessons for the kids watching. If you were content with the little charm of the first Madagascar, then chances are you'll find something to like her. For the rest of us, this is a slow trudge through familiar ground chocked full with broad slapstick prat-falls.


Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Voices: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,170: 'Amsterdamned' (1988)

In Amsterdam's Red Light District, a young prostitute catches a taxi home and is almost raped by the driver, but she manages to fight him off and flee before any harm comes to her. Sadly for her, there's also a murderous lunatic on the loose, who stabs the poor lady to death and drags her bloody corpse into the nearby canal. Her body is discovered in gruesome fashion as her lifeless body is displayed on a bridge, only be smeared across the top of a boat filled with screaming tourists. As the body count rises, gruff detective Eric Visser (Huub Stapel) is assigned to the case, but this killer proves particularly difficult to catch. As well as possessing a high level of intelligence, the masked psychopath also uses the many canals running throughout the city for shelter. With pressure building from his bosses, he must work fast before the killer strikes again.

Almost like a warped advert for tourists, Amsterdamned portrays the great city in all its beauty. We see everything the city has to offer; the canals, the Rembrandt paintings, the breweries, and of course, the Red Light District. If it didn't include the many brutal murders, this could have been made by the tourist board. The city provides the backdrop for a string of stylishly-executed slayings, including a beheading by moonlight and a knife through a dinghy you won't soon forget. It also finds the time (and the budget) for a terrific, outlandish speed boat chase between the killer and Visser (put together by the brilliantly-named Dickey Beer), which pulls out all the stops and puts many films with much bigger budgets completely to shame. Infused with a giallo-esque sensibility, director Dick Maas makes an entire city feel somehow claustrophobic.

At almost two hours, Amsterdamned also long outstays its welcome, padding the film out with unnecessary sub-plots that seem to either disappear (Visser's relationship with his teenage daughter is given a lot of focus of early on, but then the film seems to forget about her completely) or fizzle out into nothing. While these moments are often filled with amusing dialogue (the strange sense of humour will likely have you laughing at loud on occasion), they also deliver long stretches of boredom. However, with its silly title and by-the-numbers premise, Amsterdamned is far better than it has any right to be, and will certainly surprise anyone going in expecting a routine slasher picture. Trimmed of some fat, this could have been something to write home about, but this is still an entertaining and creative little Euro-horror.


Directed by: Dick Maas
Starring: Huub Stapel, Monique van de Ven, Serge-Henri Valcke, Hidde Maas
Country: Netherlands

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,169: 'Unknown White Male' (2005)

What if you could wake up one morning and re-boot your brain, rid yourself of all the emotional baggage built up throughout the years and sever relationships with those who you perhaps feel are holding you back or influencing you in a negative way? If you could somehow throw away 30 years of your memory, would this change the person you are, and perhaps even shape you into a less cynical and all-round nicer person? This is the question pondered by first-time filmmaker Rupert Murray in his documentary Unknown White Male, a film that follows his good friend Doug Bruce following a sudden attack of amnesia which left him wandering the streets of New York without knowledge of who he is and where he was.

In 2003, Doug woke up on a subway train in Coney Island with only a backpack full of seemingly random objects and a scrawled telephone number to offer any clue to his identity. Stumbling into a police station, he rang the number and spoke to a lady who had no idea who he was. Moved onto a psychiatric hospital, it felt like Doug would never be allowed to leave until the daughter of the lady on the phone recognised him as an old boyfriend and quickly picked him up. Despite being able to remember certain facts such as the names of a few cities in Australia, everything was gone, and suddenly his friends and family became strangers. Murray joins him as he pieces the puzzle together, reuniting with his loved ones who accept the new Doug with open arms. When he was once 'cynical' with 'an edge', he now has a more optimistic, untainted view on life.

There's a lot riding on whether or not you actually believe the story being told, as although I would like to believe that it's true personally, there are some faintly questionable moments. Is it sheer luck that Doug was a photographer who decided to capture his first week with memory loss on film, or that one of his best friends was a budding documentary filmmaker? Perhaps. Regardless, Unknown White Male is a clumsily put-together and amateurish piece of work which places you in the company of a bunch of people who aren't particularly likeable. With the loose approach taken, it would have worked better as a short, but as a full-length feature, it would have been improved with more scientific background into the rare condition and expert analysis. There are moments that work well, such as Doug's amazement at the crowd gathering outside Buckingham Palace to witness the changing of the guard, but the sheer sloppiness of the film makes it a wasted opportunity to tell a fascinating story.


Directed by: Rupert Murray
Starring: Doug Bruce
Country: USA/UK

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,168: 'I, Daniel Blake' (2016)

Anyone who may be under the impression that Britain's great social realist Ken Loach has lost the sense of social injustice that has defined his magnificent track record since his milestone BBC television play Cathy Come Home (1966), may be rest assured that there is a still plenty of fire in the prolific English director's belly. In what feels like an angry reaction to the Tories' austerity measures and the tabloid cries of 'Benefits Britain', I, Daniel Blake feels like a war cry to unite the skilled, working-class grafters who continue to be chewed up by a bureaucratic system that is leaving the elderly and those truly in need behind, forcing them to demean themselves for the assistance and care they truly deserve.

In Newcastle, Daniel Blake (played by stand-up comedian Dave Johns) is informed by his GP that he has a heart condition that will keep him out of work for the foreseeable future. Apprehensively, but on his doctor's recommendation, he heads to the Job Centre to sign on. He is eager to get back to work, but is confident that a lifetime of hard manual labour and steady work has surely earned him the right to seek aid in his time of need. He is denied employment and support benefits, despite his GP's note, and is systematically passed from one department to another, each of which require him to fill in a form online (he's so clueless with computers that he runs the mouse up the side of the monitor at one point) and provide evidence that he is actively seeking employment, despite his inability to work. So begins a ludicrous, Kafka-esque battle against a system seemingly eager to make the process as difficult as possible.

It's an incredibly depressing subject matter, and a topic which tends to lead to extreme reactions, depending on who you speak to and whose opinion they've recently read and decided they agree with. Yet this is certainly not a depressing film, it's actually incredibly funny. There's a real warmth to the script by Paul Laverty, and a real tenderness to the relationship between Daniel and single mother Katie (Hayley Squires); a Londoner who has been moved up North to the next available residence, itself a damning indictment of the soaring house prices in the capital and the government's eagerness to upscale 'urban' neighbourhoods. Struggling to find a job and faced with the same bureaucratic barriers as Daniel, she starves herself so her children can eat hot food, and is caught shoplifting. Perhaps you've shaken your head at the single mother on the bus struggling to control her screaming children, but Loach shows us what life might really be like for those truly in need.

In a truly Loachian touch, there's also much joy to be had in the company of working class. Daniel forms a friendship with his young neighbour China (Kema Sikazwe), a cheeky chap who is selling authentic trainers at a cut-price by shrewdly importing them directly from the warehouse (the scene in which Daniel meets his Chinese contact via Skype is one of the film's most hilarious moments). Despite the serious subject matter and occasional heart-breaking moment, there's a weird sense of optimism to the film's sense of injustice. Like a rallying cry to anyone left behind by the system, a triumphant and incredibly satisfying scene of defiance, from which the film gets its title, occurs towards the end of the film. As one would expect, Loach downplays it, ensuring that his message is properly received with a sobering climax. There's talk of Ken Loach going into retirement, and if this proves to be his final film, he's gone out with a bang, delivering from one of the finest movies of his career.


Directed by: Ken Loach
Starring: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Sharon Percy, Kema Sikazwe
Country: UK/France/Belgium

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,167: 'O.J.: Made in America' (2016)

On June 12th, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of lauded American football player and all-round superstar O.J. Simpson, was murdered, along with her friend Ron Goldman. Both were stabbed multiple times, with Nicole's injuries so severe that her head was almost completely severed from her body. The crime scene was appalling and was clearly the aftermath of a frenzied attack, with all evidence pointing to O.J.. What followed was truly the biggest media sensation of our time; a circus in the ugliest sense of the word which divided America between blacks and whites. The case continues to fascinate, and despite the many documentaries covering the trial, Ezra Edelman's O.J.: Made in America finds new ground to cover, interviewing practically anyone caught up in the trial and juxtaposing O.J.'s story with that of the horror of growing up black in Los Angeles.

Released as a five-part mini-series on ESPN for their 30 to 30 series, Made in America also made a limited appearance on cinema screen, and received its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Controversially, this qualified it as a feature and for the Best Documentary Academy Award (which it won), and watched as a whole the film runs at a whopping 7 hours plus. But anyone who states it was undeserved needs to watch the film again, as this is about as detailed, powerful and utterly gripping as documentary film-making gets. It seems to cover just about every angle, bringing in anybody who was anybody in the events leading up to the murder and the aftermath for revealing interviews, as well as boasting a stunning collection of archive footage. It's meticulously researched stuff, and even if you know the long-studied case back to front, you will still find something new. 

Starting way back, we are taken through O.J.'s rise as a star college football player, leaping over or barging through anybody who stood in his way. He was worshipped almost like a God, and took this success to an unhappy period as a professional playing in Buffalo, where he was away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. We move through his tearful retirement to his move into acting, where he appeared in the likes of Capricorn One (1977) and The Naked Gun (1988), and his successful run as the face of Hertz. There's also his initially sweeping love affair with a beautiful young blonde named Nicole Brown, before the reports of domestic violence began. We witness a black man becoming a superstar in a white world that falsely preached equality, and he sat comfortably in that world while his fellow African-Americans were suffering terrible abuse at the hands of the law. Time and time again we witness a black man, woman or child murdered, beaten or treated like a dog by the police, only for them to be acquitted of the crime. Payback, it would seem, was on the cards, as the trial of O.J. Simpson began.

We are left in no question as to whether or not O.J. did it. He comes across as a master manipulator, ready to throw anybody under the bus - and have them be grateful at the same time - if it will give him a foot forward. A controlling, egotistical bully who would leave visible prints of his boot on Nicole's face, he is truly the worst kind of scumbag. The outcome of the trial certainly isn't excused (the prosecutor reminds the court late on that nobody seems to remember than Nicole and Ron were the actual victims), but it goes some way to explain it. You can feel the anger brewing as the film goes on, and through some truly disturbing footage of the Rodney King beating and the murder of Latasha Harlin, makes you angry with them. It portrays an entire country divided, with the trial playing out as an obvious metaphor for a nation in complete disarray, while the disgusting flaws in the American Justice System are exposed to a bleary-eyed prosecution. It's a work of true scholarship and unyielding ambition, and a frightening indictment of just how little has changed. 

Directed by: Ezra Edelman

Starring: O.J. Simpson, Nicole Brown Simpson

Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,166: 'Moonlight' (2016)

Nobody was more surprised at the Academy Awards on February 26th 2017 when Moonlight was announced as the winner of Best Picture than the cast and crew behind the film, especially since it followed a colossal balls-up that saw La La Land handed the award before the people behind-the-scenes realised that Warren Beatty was reading from the wrong envelope. It was one of the true underdogs in the line-up, and one that I suspect that most viewers at home hadn't even seen. Diversity has long been an issue in Hollywood, and the #OscarsSoWhite debacle of 2015 certainly drew attention to the problem. But anyone thinking that Moonlight, with its all-black cast and African-American writer and director, was handed the trophy as a sort of guilty apology to a minority that has struggled to find a voice in cinema, is simply wrong: Moonlight is one of most engaging and powerful films of the year, and certainly the most personal.

Based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Barry Jenkins' film chronicles the journey of Chiron from childhood to manhood in Liberty City, Miami. Living with his emotionally abusive, crack-addicted mother Paula (Naomie Harris), the young Chiron (known as 'Little'), is bullied by his schoolmates and is found hiding out in boarded-up apartment by Cuban-born drug dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali). The youngster is taken under the gangster's wing, and becomes a surrogate by offering him a place to hang out to escape his troubles. In one of the most moving scenes, Juan tells Chiron that there is no shame in being gay, and that he should never let anyone call him 'faggot'. A few years later and now a teenager, Chiron is still being bullied, but finds comfort in a friendship with the outgoing Kevin (Jharrel Jerome). It is with Kevin that Chiron has his first sexual encounter, and one that will trouble him for the years to come.

As a young adult and now fully immersed in the gangster lifestyle in Atlanta, Chiron is beefed-up and blinged-up, seemingly growing into his once-guardian Juan. Apparently living a life of isolation and emotional disconnect, a phone call from an old friend takes Chiron back to his hometown to discover who he truly is. The third and final segment is where the film is at its most emotionally exposed, and it's while watching these tender moments that it becomes apparent just how little we see gay black men portrayed on screen, and especially with such vulnerability. Not only does it champion both black and gay cinema, but it opens up a whole new world, fixing its eyes on a forgotten and ignored part of society, essentially one that is not dominated by characters that are white, male or heterosexual. These are numerous independent coming-of-age tales released around the same time each year, but never have I seen one with such a strong personal touch.

Clearly inspired by the work of Lynne Ramsay, Moonlight is social realism with a dreamy, otherworldly tint. While what we see on screen is incredibly naturalistic and believable, the fantastic soundtrack, combined with James Laxton's graceful cinematography, makes it feel like we're witnessing this world through somebody else's eyes. Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes all play Chiron at the three stages of his young life, and they are all incredible. A shy, near-mute child, a lonely and scared teenager, and then a lost, regretful adult, Chiron suffers inwardly, and the three actors do a staggering job of emoting the many subtle aspects of the character. It's shame that we get to spend such little time with Juan, but that is only due to the strength of Ali's performance - one that won him the Best Supporting Actor gong. It's a triumph for low-budget, ambitious film-making, and of course one for equality. But most importantly, Moonlight will resonate with anyone who has felt different, alone and ignored in this world.


Directed by: Barry Jenkins
Starring: Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,165: 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' (1943)

Colonel Blimp started life as a satirical cartoon for the London Evening Standard by Sir David Low. An ageing, plump, pompous and eternally red-faced blowhard, Blimp was Low's idea of the militaristic upper-classes; the kind of chest-puffing Jingo who would voice his frequently contradictory declarations from a Turkish bath wearing nothing but a towel. At first, it would seem that Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is directly adapting the political cartoons, as the old man Colonel is rudely disturbed from his sleep in a Turkish bath by a group of youngsters who have arrived early for a planned war game, to declare that such chivalry in war will not be practised by the enemy. We then go back 40 years, and any hint of satire makes way for a story of romance, friendship, and growing old.

During the Boer War in 1902, the young Clive Candy (Roger Livesey) receives a letter from Edith Hunter (Deborah Kerr) in Berlin, who warns him that a known rogue named Kaunitz is spreading anti-British propaganda. Going against orders, Candy travels to Germany and ends up causing a scene by provoking Kaunitz. To settle matters, a duel is arranged with a randomly-chosen German officer, who turns out to be Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff (Anton Walbrook). While recovering from their wounds in a military hospital, the two men hit it off and begin a friendship that will last for more than 40 years. Moving through the First and Second World Wars, we follow Candy as he rises through the military ranks, fails and succeeds in love, before finding himself an old man, greatly outdated and socially displaced.

It's astonishing that this film got made at all. On top of being rather experimental in terms of tone and narrative structure (it feels very much like the English equivalent of Citizen Kane), Colonel Blimp was shot in glorious - and expensive - Technicolor during wartime, running at almost three hours when most films wouldn't dare to push 100 minutes. Winston Churchill tried to ban it, believing it to be an anti-war propaganda piece poking fun at the idea of 'British-ness', when it is anything but. Instead, the film deliberately gives out mixed signals, lovingly embracing the idea of gentlemanly conduct during a bloody war, while pondering the necessity of brutality, especially when faced with an enemy who play like the Nazis did (and were doing at the time, of course). While British propaganda was making sure to send a clear and strong message about the enemy, Colonel Blimp makes one of its main characters a sympathetic German, and is clear to highlight that these nations will be friends again in the future.

Livesey is staggering as Candy (who later becomes Wynne-Candy). The make-up work is absolutely flawless, easily trumping the big Hollywood productions we get these days. The man genuinely ages before our eyes, and Livesey manages to entirely convince as a man gaining experience and weariness through the years. He may be a man whose values are slowly becoming obsolete, but he remains a good man, and a thoroughly lovable one. Walbrook delivers an understated performance, and brings a tear to the eye during a monologue in which tries to convince British officials why they shouldn't deport him back to Nazi Germany, and Kerr juggles three roles - as Candy's lost love Edith; his wife Barbara; and his driver 'Johnny' in his later years - with absolute ease. It has remarkable scope yet is incredibly intimate, and it's a film that should have been branded across every cinema screen in the country by the War Office. Quite possibly the finest film ever to emerge from our rainy shores.


Directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Starring: Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook, John Laurie
Country: UK

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,164: 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' (2016)

Despite the enormous financial success of the eight-part Harry Potter series, adapted from J.K. Rowling's equally successful books, they never seemed to reach the heights of greatness that their box-office receipts would suggest. The main problem the few directors chosen to adapt the novels faced was having to condense the increasingly bulky word count into a coherent 2 hour plus movie. They were never anything less than fun and enchanting, but the films suffered from cramming in too many plot-lines and character backgrounds, and often felt like they were frantically lunging from one scene to the next. With Potter's time at Hogwarts now over, many wondered where Rowling would go next, and if she would even return to world of wizards, witches and house-elves at all.

To the fan's delight, she chose to keep her first screenplay within the same universe as Hagrid and Voldemort, but instead focus on a character frequently mentioned in the books as an author and good friend to headmaster Dumbledore. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the name of the textbook Harry, Hermione and Ron would often brood over, and Newt Scamander the man behind it. The development of this revered encyclopaedia of the many weird and wonderful creatures unknown to mere muggles is the focus of Rowling's first movie attempt, and the action jumps back in time to 1920s New York to find the young Newt - played with a delightful hunched eccentricity by Eddie Redmayne - discovering a world completely different the one in his native Britain.

He is in the U.S. to raise awareness of the need to protect the beloved creatures of the world, and comes with a magical bag stuffed with the oddities. But much like the dangerous world Harry Potter grew up in 70-odd years later, the wizarding community live in fear of an evil wizard named Gellert Grindelwald (I won't spoil who plays him), who has recently murdered several aurors all over Europe. However, Newt has more pressing issues when some of his fantastic beasts escape, and his suitcase accidentally ends up in the hands of bumbling wannabe-baker and muggle ('no-maj' in American) Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). Teaming up with recently-demoted auror Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), Newt must round up the creatures wreaking havoc while convincing the Magical Congress that his pets aren't to blame for several unexplained deaths happening across the city.

There's certainly a lot going on in this movie, and early on it feels like Rowling is asking a hell of a lot of the audience in taking in this new ensemble of new characters and a whole new kind of wizarding world (wizard-muggle relationships are strictly banned here). Yet the story quickly falls into place, and Rowling delights in creating a wonderful array of genuinely fantastic beasts, each with their own unique look, quirks and special abilities. With a hushed voice and gently inquisitive personality, Newt instantly brings to mind Sir David Attenborough, one of the greatest human beings on this planet. His briefcase is like a tardis, containing an entire zoo of exotic creatures, each with their own habitat to suit their needs. When Newt takes the awestruck Jacob for a grand tour, it's almost like watching an episode of Planet Earth, and this use of commentary on the state of species' endangerment in the real world adds a bit of depth to the story.

Although Alfonso Cuaron certainly made the best entry into the Potter film franchise, David Yates has been the steady hand to guide the series since number 5, so it's of no surprise that he was chosen to take the reins again. Like before, he brings a flair to the magical moments, and the special effects constantly impress (while they may not be up to the recent Jungle Book's standards). Yet the best scenes are during the quieter moments, and in particular a scene at dinner involving a dazed Jacob and Tina's sexy sister Queenie (Alison Sudol), and their charming flirtations. Newt's friendship with Jacob forms the emotional backbone of the story, and Fogler damn near steals the entire film. There's also fine support from Colin Farrell as a shady Congress official, and Samantha Morton and Ezra Miller as a fanatical mother and son rallying no-majs against wizards. While the climax may descend slightly into fight-the-CGI-fart-cloud nonsense, it just feels good to be back in Rowling's world again.


Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Dan Fogler, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Samantha Morton, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,163: 'Brain Damage' (1988)

Largely ignored on its original release but subsequently gathering a loyal cult following over the years, Brain Damage will no doubt appease fans of director Frank Henenlotter's other darkly humorous and outrageously gory works Basket Case (1982) and Frankenhooker (1990). Bringing his trademark sense of humour and mixing it up with lashings of tongue-in-cheek blood-letting, Brain Damage also strives to deliver a message, and is admirable for the anti-drug theme running throughout. With America in the midst of an AIDS and crack panic at the time, Henenlotter paints a very bleak picture of a New York City in crisis, as a parasitic killer searches for unwitting victims.

Average Joe Brian (Rick Hearst) wakes up one morning feeling disorientated, finding his bed sheets soaked through with blood. He doesn't seem to be cut, but when he looks in the mirror he finds a strange parasitic creature on his person. Looking like a turd with eyes and big teeth, it also has a name, Aylmer, and speaks in a dignified foreign accent (voiced by John Zacherle). Injecting Brian through the back of the neck with a blue liquid that gives the unsuspecting goofball a drug-like sense of euphoria, Brian gets hooked on the stuff, and Aylmer exploits his addiction for food. Only Aylmer has a taste for human brains, and so Brian must spend his sober hours searching for human victims. Alienating himself from his girlfriend Barbara (Jennifer Lowry), Brian also faces the threat of the symbiote's former owners, who have been going cold turkey ever since it fled.

Cut to pieces on its original home video release but later restored, it isn't difficult to see why the ratings board demanded the removal of certain scenes. A wonderfully wince-inducing scene in which Brian pulls his own brain out of his ear for what seems like an eternity found itself on the cutting-room floor, as did the uncomfortable scene where a woman is eaten alive while appearing to be performing fellatio in an unnecessarily sexualised moment of pure exploitation that left me genuinely horrified, and not in a good way. The story and characters are engaging enough to keep the film interesting, while the obvious lack of budget means that the acting is sub-par and the special effects are often laughable, if not charming. The main strength is Brain Damage's depiction of a drug addict going to increasingly desperate measures in order to procure his fix, and Hearst is surprisingly good in the role. Fans of Henenlotter should keep their eyes peeled for the appearance of a certain man with a basket.


Directed by: Frank Henenlotter
Starring: Rick Hearst, John Zacherle, Jennifer Lowry, Gordon MacDonald
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,162: 'Passengers' (2016)

Some of the greatest science-fiction films ever made are creepily prophetic, depicting a not-too-distant future in which technology has become a necessity rather than a luxury. The characters in Morten Tyldum's Passengers are in the middle of an intergalactic journey to another planet, with Earth now seemingly picked clean of all of its natural energy and resources. While this somewhat terrifying idea may seem unlikely (or maybe I'm giving humanity too much credit), the technology on board the starship Avalon, such an electronic meal dispenser and the android bartender, could very well happen tomorrow in our increasingly tech-reliant times. Passengers does well in setting up some big ideas, before descending into a tonally-uneven rom-com-cum-disaster movie.

Along with 5,000 others, mechanical engineer Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is on his way to Homestead II, a newly-established colony for humans rich or skilled enough to earn their place. 30 years into a 120-year journey, the Avalon is struck by a meteor shower which causes parts of the ship to malfunction. While the ship is highly capable of repairing the damages, Jim's hibernation pod glitches and opens 80 years too early. At first, he believes that he has a month of luxury and socialising to enjoy before arriving at his destination, before he is hit with the realisation that he is the only one awake, and will die of old age long before any of the other crew members will wake up. Spending his time trying to break into the ship's control room and drinking his sorrows away with android Arthur (Michael Sheen), he spots sleeping beauty Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) and starts to fall in love with her video profile.

After an entire year alone, Jim makes the decision to wake her up, essentially condemning her to die with him. She is naturally devastated at first, but hits it off with the charming and handsome Jim, who has convinced her that she was awoken due to a ship malfunction also. Aurora is also a gold-star member, which means that she has access to lattes and bacon while the working-class Jim has been enduring instant coffee and porridge. A happily-ever-after space romance would not make for a very interesting movie, so the couple are torn apart when the Avalon starts to experience some serious hitches and Arthur blurts out the truth to Aurora. With the ship going haywire, Chief Deck Officer Gus (Laurence Fishburne) is also woken up prematurely, and it doesn't take him long to realise that the ship is overloaded with trying to fix the multiple problems caused by the meteor shower two years earlier, and may not last much longer.

While establishing itself early on as a character study asking some interesting questions and teasing us with the idea that our protagonist is in fact not the dashing charmer one has come to expect of Pratt, but a morally-conflicted creep, Passengers becomes eager to please the wider audience. Essentially turning into a formulaic love story with some generic action thrills, the film manages to get by on the strength of its two highly charismatic leads. While its clear they are pretty much playing themselves, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and the two certainly have chemistry to burn and enough screen presence to dismiss the need for the CGI thrills that follow. It received a rather unfair roasting from the critics, but perhaps they were (understandably) expecting much more from what is an enticing set-up that ultimately chickens-out of its potential. I went in expecting mediocrity, but what I got was passable, if forgettable.


Directed by: Morten Tyldum
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,161: 'The Girl with All the Gifts' (2016)

Colm McCarthy's The Girl with All the Gifts, written in novel form and for the screen in tandem by Mike Carey, seems to have aspirations of greatness: To be that great British horror movie many of us are waiting for, and harking back to iconic pieces of horror/science fiction literature such as Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. McCarthy, who has mainly worked for television (directing episodes of Ripper Street, Doctor Who and Peaky Blinders amongst many others), certainly makes a valiant effort to help distinguish the film from a seemingly endless wave of zombie movies, but the plot rarely strays from the tropes of the post-apocalyptic road trip.

The titular girl with all the gifts is the exceptionally intelligent Melanie (Sennia Nanua), a child who appears to live in a dark cell within an underground military bunker. She is routinely ushered into English lessons strapped to a wheelchair with her arms, legs and head restrained. We soon learn that such extreme measures are taken because Melanie is a 'hungry' - someone infected by a mysterious fungal disease responsible for turning most of humanity into flesh-eating zombies. Only she is one of a few born infected with the virus who is also capable of interacting with the uninfected, and she and her classmates are believed by Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close) to be the key to a cure. When the base is attacked by a hoard of the undead, Caldwell flees with Melanie, taking kindhearted teacher Helen (Gemma Arterton) and grizzled soldier Sgt. Parks (Paddy Considine) to find a safe place to finish the experimentation.

To her credit, Nanua more than holds her own against seasoned veterans such as Close and Considine, and Melanie's sweet, curious nature combined with her instinct to kill is the film's strongest suit. However, this is more of an ensemble piece, and by taking the attention away from Melanie to focus on explaining the epidemic and placing the group into a simple get-from-A-to-B storyline, it loses its edge. The sagging middle aside - which often feels like a better-filmed episode of The Walking Dead and offers only one memorable set-piece involving a swarm of sleeping living dead - events are book-ended by an intriguing beginning and thoughtful ending. The opening is successful in luring you in before deteriorating into a midst of exposition and gun-fire, and the final moments, which ponder a different kind of future, highlight just how great things could have been.


Directed by: Colm McCarthy
Starring: Gemma Arterton, Sennia Nanua, Paddy Considine, Glenn Close
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie