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Of Time and the City (2008)
Of Time and the City
At times Terence Davies provides a really quite entertaining and insightful commentary here as he takes us through his reminiscences of growing up in the English city of Liverpool. Famed around the world for "The Beatles" it was also the home to many a famous bard, poet, songster, thespian and soap manufacturer. Using a plethora of archive material it illustrates just how this city was affected after the devastation of WWII followed by decades of stagnant, socialist-leaning, civic administration that presided over the relentless decline of a city that is populated by sparky and stoic individuals determined to keep a sense of humour, proportion and purpose even if their surroundings inspired little by way of hope. Many elements of this could just as easily apply to other industrial British cities like Glasgow or Sheffield, and the imagery of the ghastly urban architecture that saw a surfeit of grey and concrete monstrosities clutter up the landscape could probably be transplanted to any number of cities where buildings that were unfit for habitation were replaced by those that were ugly as sin but at least had water running where it was supposed to. The use of some rousing classical music can seem a little incongruous at times, and some of his narrative does rather stereotype the population and his perception of their views, priorities and attitudes but it's an interesting and engaging look at a city where optimism is only now starting to make it's presence felt.
The Outlaw (1943)
The Outlaw
It's all a little light-weight and what action there is is all sandwiched into the last ten minutes, but it's still quite an enjoyable western that pitches three of the most famed from the Wild West in an amiable scenario. "Doc Holliday" (Walter Huston) gets off the train to meet with old pal and sheriff "Pat Garrett" (Thomas Mitchell) only to bump into his old (stolen) horse and it's new owner. Introductions present us with "Billy the Kid" (Jack Buetel) who plans on keeping his new horse! Some entertaining manoeuvring now goes on between these men as the "Doc" begins to quite like the "Kid" and the "Kid" gets accused of a murder that pitches him against the lawman. Add to the mix the temptations of the glamorous "Rio" (Jane Russell) and a rather comedic soundtrack from Victor Young and we are delivered of a cheery soap-style adventure that is, admittedly, completely devoid of action and peril, but has just about enough charisma from Mitchell and Russell to keep it moving along. Nope, you'll never remember it, it's far, far, too long and Buetel is clearly only there for eye-candy purposes, but it's not the worst.
Cold Comfort Farm (1995)
Cold Comfort Farm
I'm not sure "Flora" (Kate Beckinsale) really knew what to expect when she arrived at the home of her more rustic family at the eponymous location. Farmhouses always look so welcoming and inviting, but one step through the door here and she might as well have stepped back through time. With a cast of characters named as if they were inspired by Charles Dickens, John Schlesinger takes us on a darkly humorous trip through the lives (and loves) of this community. "Can someone wash my curtains?" she enquires... "I think they're red but I'd like to be sure". She's got a meagre £100 per year, but that's a fortune for many who live a life trading hens and chickens and getting up to all sorts in the hay loft. Of course, there's loads of romantic shenanigans going on too as her wealthy cousin "Charles" (Christopher Bowen) takes an unrequited shine to her whilst she prefers life with her guilt-stricken relative "Starkadder" (Eileen Atkins) whilst all are under the thumb of the reclusive "Aunt Ada" (the scene stealing Sheila Burrell). This is a society where nothing is as is seems or straightforward and any novel that "Flora" might choose to write in later life is going to be a colourful affair! The story is whimsically engaging enough but it's really the assemblage of talent here that makes this work. Freddie Jones, the cheekily expressive Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry, Sir Ian McKellen and Joanna Lumley (never a very versatile actress, I find) all chip into this tale of the startling hypocrisy existing between the vulgar and crass and the prim and the proper. It looks good, flows well and shows what can be done when everyone is on board for a bit of a muddy romp.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Drag queen "Tick" (Hugo Weaving) gets the offer of a gig in Alice Springs and suggests to fellow artiste "Bernadette" (Terence Stamp) that they both go. How to get there? Well that's where their headstrong young pal "Felicia" (Guy Pearce) comes in. He has no compunction in using a bit of emotional blackmail to extort cash from his mother. Next thing, the three have an old (soon to be pink) bus and are winging their way from Sydney at the start of their 1700 mile trip north. Like any trip in a confined space, tempers flare and these three, already near the top of the histrionics chart, provide us with some entertainingly profane language that make you smile and wince at the same time. As they travel, they tentatively explore more of each other's foibles and personalities as well as a terrain which isn't always the most hospitable. En route, they encounter "Bob" (Bill Hunter) who might just offer an hint of romance for the trans "Bernadette" who is suffering from a bit of ennui with life in general. Their eventual arrival tops a journey of discovery for all of them, but especially "Tick" who's in for quite a surprise! A great soundtrack and some earthy and witty writing help out enormously here, but it's essentially the three men whose ridiculously exaggerated characterisations and temper tantrums of an existence that make this a journey you'd love to watch but are very glad you're not actually on. There were a few popular films made that challenged the global stereotype of Australian machismo and bull-headedness but by taking this into the outback, this offers everyone a chance to contrast the open-mindedness of some with the opposite in others - all whilst keeping sight of the fact that this is a comedy, and a satirical and delightfully sarcastic one at that.
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Deconstructing Harry
The aptly named "Harry Block" (Woody Allen) is a seriously lapsed Jewish writer suffering from constipation of the typewriter. Adding to his woes is a nervousness about an impending honour from his alma mater (from where he was unceremoniously expelled) and the fact that his personal life makes Henry VIII's look like "Bertie and Elizabeth". Of course, "Harry" is seeing a therapist (Robert Harper) and with just a day before his conferment, he realises that his entire shambolic life is a result of his inability to fall in love. He likes women, he likes sex but he doesn't really like commitment, wanting always to treat a relationship like something he can buy in, or return to, Walmart. That's the basis of this story of a flawed individual that using a series of statically directed sit-com style scenarios takes us thorough twenty-four hours in the manic life of the shallow and unlikeable individual. I have never really been a fan of Woody Allen and this did nothing to change that. Granted his writing is quick fired and his observations potent at times, but his sense of humour is just too crass for me. There's nothing at all subtle about it, no cleverness - and the opening scenes of this set a scene for what I thought became increasingly puerile and predictable. A sort of slickly-delivered linguistic slapstick. Vulgar can be fun, but not when it's got some pseudo-intellectual underpinning about cause and effect of an human behaviour that becomes more and more contrived to fit the narrative the auteur wants to deliver. Are the jump cuts just there to divert our attention from the dwindling characterisations and increasing soapy melodrama? He doesn't imbue his character with anything I could care about, and though I did think Judy Davis and a cast of many reliable faces did their best to shore it all up, in the end it's very appropriately titled - it just doesn't happen quite quickly enough.
Bumblebee (2018)
Bumblebee
So I thought that "Herbie" had it tough! Well his traumas look like tea with the Queen compared to poor old "Bumblebee"! He actually starts off life with the much less friendly moniker of "B-127" when he is sent to Earth to set things up amidst what looks like the end of the war between the his "Autobots" and the "Decepticons" on their home planet of "Cybertron". He lands slap bang in the middle of some top secret American military testing that handily looks at all things extra-terrestrial and that's when we encounter the menacing "Burns" (John Cena) who deduces that our yellow Meccano is not natural and that it must be hunted down and captured or destroyed. As if that we're not enough, "Blitzwing" is also on the planet and they have a duel that renders our yellow hero unable to speak and forced to turn into his more recognisable motor car shape while he repairs the damage from that combat and awaits his pals. "Charlie" (Hailee Steinfeld) discovers it hiding in a scrapyard and by touching things she shouldn't, activates all sorts of beacons and gadgets that breaks his cover and summons friend and foe alike for the usual slew of "Transformer" tear 'em limb from limb escapades. There's quite a bit of fun from the dialogue and the visual effects are enjoyable too as we follow a well trammelled path of formulaic storytelling, tempered with a little human bonding, and some mediocre acting. They've tried to give "Bumblebee" some personable characteristics - think of a less cowardly "C-3PO", but as an action adventure it's all just a bit long and predictable. The denouement is quite action-packed, though, and I think it's at the better end of this franchise so just about worth two hours.
Eddie the Eagle (2015)
Eddie the Eagle
Rarely can the Olympic mantra of Baron Pierre de Coubertin have been better exemplified than by this ski jumper. Now us Brits have a tough enough time at the Winter Olympic Games at the best of times, so the fact that this slightly geeky, bespectacled, young man alighted on ski jumping is even more bizarre. You'd have had to side with his somewhat sceptical dad (Keith Allen). He's not to be deterred, though, and so he heads somewhere snowy (Garmisch) and luckily befriends a local hotel owner who lets him work his passage, so to speak. By his own admission, he's pretty hopeless - barely managing to stay erect after a jump of little more than 30m, but a chance encounter with Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman) provides the most unlikely of conduits to his improvement and eventual qualification for the Olympiad in Calgary in 1988. I remember the huge spike of interest in his death-defying efforts as the legendary Matti Nykänen (Edvin Endre) regularly and consistently jumped twice his distance but yet Eddie still persevered. It was very much a case of the taking part not the winning and Taron Egerton really does imbue his character with a determination, tempered with just a little eccentricity, that delivers a comedic drama that I think is peculiarly British. The unimpressed suits at the BOA are perfectly summed up by Mark Benton, there's the vaguest hint of romance and a scene in a sauna that could probably only be pulled off by Rune Temte. Like the man himself, it's a little slow off the mark, but once it gets going it's one enjoyably paced and humorously written tale of a man who did manage to capture the heart of a nation despite the fact that a medal was never, ever, on the cards.
Captain Phillips (2013)
Captain Phillips
Tom Hanks works particularly well in this gripping story of a real life pirate! Muse (Barkhad Abdi) is leading two small skiffs on an attack on the eponymous officer's freighter as it sails off the coat of Somalia. A certain degree of bravado and legerdemain sees the bigger ship thwart their first attempt, but next day they are back again and the powerful hoses prove poor defence against machine guns. Most of the crew now take refuge in the gunnels leaving the captain to face their captors and for the next two hours these two men play an increasingly perilous cat and mouse game that sees them ultimately taking refuge in a lifeboat soon in the sights of an unforgiving US Navy. It works on quite a few levels, this film. The Somalis themselves are not religious zealots, and from what we see of their home lives are living a fairly subsistence existence where their acts on the high seas are to make money to escape poverty rather than t make political or religious points. As the drama plays out, both men begin to understand a little more about what makes each tick and drives them - and the intimate camerawork delivers well the claustrophobic nature of the denouement in a darkened and confined space with tension high, fear and panic never far away and a political agenda from the military that nobody watching is quite clear of. Hanks may take top billing, but it's the effort from Abdi and his boat crew that really steal the plaudits here as their efforts work on both dramatically and on the thought-provoking front, too. Certanly one of Paul Greengrass's better efforts making sure we use just about all of our senses to share their experience and maybe also to understand it all a bit better.
Molly's Game (2017)
Molly's Game
Jessica Chastain is really quite good in this biopic of Molly Bloom, a would-be American skier who ended up running some seriously lucrative poker games in the USA. An injury curtails her Olympic aspirations so she heads to Los Angeles and is soon helping "Dean" (Jeremy Strong) run his successful, if somewhat low-brow, poker games. Seeing an opportunity to upscale the whole set-up, she branches out on her own and soon has many of the city's elite turning up to her plush hotel suite to play for millions. The film follows her ups and downs as she treads the line between what's legal and not; what's ethical and not - as well as dealing with the FBI and a few mobsters who fancy a slice of her cake. When, finally, the Feds swoop it falls to Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) to get her feet out of the fire. It's not the paciest of films, I have to say. Her narration does rather slow the whole thing down a bit too - as do the frequent retrospective scenes of her rather complex relationship with her parents (Kevin Costner plays her dad) and Elba really only has a chance to shine in one or two scenes towards the end. Still, it offers a fascinating insight into just how millions can be won/lost by otherwise reputable people; and just how ruthless that business and the US Government can be but Aaron Sorkin's usually quick-witted, sophisticated writing is distinctly lacking. It is worth watching, but I expected more.
Boy Kills World (2023)
Boy Kills World
There's a bit of the television series "Kung Fu" (no panda) to the start of this film as we see a young deaf/mute boy being intensively trained by a mysterious and highly-skilled shaman deep in the jungle. Why? Well it turns out that civilisation is being governed by the dastardly, seriously hammy, "Van Der Koy" family and that every year they round up their enemies and kill them all on live TV. Remind you of anything? Our nameless, muscle-bound, hero (Bill Skarsgård) has an axe to grind with them, and egged on by his mentor sets about wreaking revenge on them for killing his family. Sadly, there's nothing at all original throughout the rest of this pretty dull action thriller that relies too heavily on a slightly comedic narration (his thoughts) guiding us through some set-piece and repetitious combat scenes that after about fifteen minutes left us in no doubt as to the conclusion we were headed for. The more heavily armed soldiers you have guarding something, the easier it is for one man to... The arrival of Michelle Dockery and the sparingly used Famke Janssen add nothing at all, indeed the former is actually pretty terrible and doesn't become any more menacing just because she takes on a mid-Atlantic drawl. It's a fight/stunt co-ordinators' wet dream this film, but for the rest if us it's "Hunger Games" light. Very light.
I.S.S. (2023)
I.S.S.
There are times when this drama quite effectively illustrates the claustrophobic nature of life aboard the International Space station that is jointly manned by American and Russian scientists. The arrival of "Foster" (Ariana DeBose) brings the tally to three from each nation but very shortly afterwards it's apparent that things on Earth are no-good. What look like volcanic eruptions are occurring all over the place followed by complete radio silence. Well, almost complete. The Americans are given an order that they must assume their counterparts have been given too. What now ensues is a really mediocre sci-fi thriller that tries far too hard to manufacture tension from a misfiring cast and some serious over-scripting. DeBose does enough I suppose, but Chris Messina is his usual wooden self (even if there is a scene that just made me think of that famous line from Brian Blessed). The visual effects do enough but the characterisations are shallow and the plausibility of the entire scenario is dubious. Essentially two warring tribes cohabiting the same space-borne igloo. The denouement doesn't really make a great deal of sense, but I suppose it does ask us to test the relative merits of human nature and decency against the demands of national loyalty - especially when the benefits of either are ambiguous at best. It's not terrible, but I've seen better episodes of "Space 1999".
C'è ancora domani (2023)
There's Still Tomorrow
This reminded me of one of those beautifully photographed post-war Vittorio De Sica stories with Sophia Loren. This time, it's the long suffering "Delia" (Paola Cortellesi) who is marred to the brutish "Ivano" (Valerio Mastandrea) and lives with their three children and her ailing father-in-law. The love has long since departed their marriage, and a few fleeting conversations with struggling garage-owner "Nino" (Vinicio Marchioni) fills us in on a bit of her own romantic backstory before she met "Ivano". Their elder daughter "Marcella" (Romana Maggiora Verano) is sweet on "Giulio" (Francesco Centorame) who's the son of a local and rather pompous café owner and his wife. "Delia" suspects, though, that any marriage between the pair would merely end up mirroring her own so resorts to some quite ingenious Sicilian tactics before focusing on the one thing that might offer her some sense of individual fulfilment. With the brutality becoming ever more regular, we see a woman who is resorting to desperate measures - but what exactly is she trying to achieve? What's striking about this is the way the violence is portrayed. The kids are always removed from the room and then it's a dance. Almost as if it were being portrayed on stage - and it's entirely effective. Cortellesi directs this too, but avoids falling into that trap of losing objectivity with her impassioned storytelling. It's the variety and spirit of the characters that offer us a touching look at family and community set against a backdrop of extreme chauvinism, political tensions and a little dark humour too. The monochrome presentation works really well and this really is worth a watch in the cinema if you can.
Challengers (2024)
Challengers
Tennis playing "Art" (Mike Faist) and "Patrick" (Josh C'Connor) have been best mates since school but there's a fly in the ointment of their bromance. That's the upcoming superstar that is "Tashi" (Zendaya) - whom both of the boys take a shine to. A shared beer in their hotel room and she declares she's no home wrecker - but as this story progresses we arrive at a scenario that sees her own career aspirations tragically thwarted and rather vicariously transferred onto now husband "Art" whilst her ex-boyfriend "Patrick" and he now barely speak. Having won six slams, "Art" is running out of steam - but his unfulfilled wife is not ready for him to quit. Can he win an elusive US Open? For that matter, can he even win a confidence-building Challenger event in which he must beat his former friend. It's this match that serves as the conduit for the story as we dance about the timelines delivering a story that I felt was rife with pretty toxic ambition. Zendaya handles her really ambiguous, sometimes quite cruel and selfish, role here real quite unnervingly well as Luca Guadagnino allows all three actors to develop characteristics that vary from the engaging to the detestable - and he lets us be the judge. They are all flawed individuals spurned on by hormones, desire and the highly charged and competitive nature of their touring existences makes for quite a compelling look at just what makes these guys tick! After his appearance in "Mothering Sunday" (2021) O'Connor has no issues getting naked, the others prove a little more restrained as the sexual chemistry becomes more palpable and destructive and by the denouement - well who knows what will happen? I like that uncertainty - and I know what I wanted to occur... If you can't like yourself, can anyone else?
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Night of the Living Dead
"Barbra" (Judith O'Dea) and her brother are laying some flowers at a cemetery when they espy a man wandering around aimlessly. He suggests it's really a zombie and boy how right he is. She manages to flee to their car but, oh, only if she could have just steered the thing - we might not have had a film! She hits a tree, though, and now dazed and suffering from shock has to take shelter in a nearby house where she gets an hint of what's marauding around outside. Luckily, "Ben" (Duane Jones) also finds the house and with a few emerging from the safety of it's cellar, they proceed to fortify the place as best they can and sit it out. It's soon clear from the television and radio reports that this is an epidemic and that those critters are resurrecting themselves and eating their victims. "Tom" (Keith Wayne) and girlfriend "Judy" (Judith Ridley) decide their best hope is to get the truck parked outside gassed up so they can all escape to the nearest town - but will that work? This film is almost as old as I am, and I am afraid to say it hasn't really aged an whole lot better. Much of the sense of peril comes from the frantic dialogue at the start and the scary elements are now more comical than menacing - especially towards the end. The regular use of the television reportage is useful at first but then seems more designed to pad out this thin story for a ninety minutes that I felt looked more like a TV movie that was just too contrived. It was good to see it on a big screen, but I really don't think I'd bother to watch it again.
Scarygirl (2023)
Scarygirl
"Arkie" lives with her octopus dad "Blister" on the peninsula where he does his best to harness the sunlight to protect the delicately balanced eco-structure. She's not an octopus, though - more a sort of hybrid of human being with just the one green tentacle, and she's not great when it comes to helping out with the complexities of her dad's intricate contraptions for distributing the sunlight. Meantime, "The Keeper" in the nearby city of light has tasked some searchers to seek out her dad. Her boss "Dr. Maybee" is convinced that he possesses the energy necessary to repatriate him with his long lost daughter. When "Blister" is duly apprehended, "Arkie" must follow him into the big city with her new friends "Bunniguru" the rabbit and 'Egg" to thwart his plan before her father is little better than a cephalopod smoothie. Loads of daft adventures, a menacing baddie who looks like the love child of Terence Stamp and Lionel Jeffries and gadgets and gizmos now feature as the rescue begins. The writing isn't the best but the characters are quite good fun with plenty going on and an underlying environmental message that's presented to us whimsically rather than imposed upon us. The storyline presents us with the usual character virtues of loyalty, friendship and determination and there's quite a bit of imagination gone into the look of this film. I was on my own in the cinema for this screening, which was a bit of a shame - it is worth a trip to see the colourful animation to best effect - it will look really ordinary of the television.
Munich (2005)
Munich
The start of this shows the American news reporting of the atrocity at the Munich Olympiad that resulted in the murder of eleven people at the hands of the Palestinian "Black September" movement. The Israeli government faces a difficult task in tracking down those responsible. Some political and diplomatic tightropes to walk, so they alight on a plan to engage five freelance individuals to do the job for them. This group is to be led by "Avner" (Eric Bana) and handled by "Ephraim" (Geoffrey Rush) on a distinctly arm's-length basis. What ensues now sees these men, with the help of "Louis" (Mathieu Amalric) who uses their considerable financial resources to secure information of the whereabouts of these culprits, set about their mission. This isn't a task about justice, it's straightforward revenge. No efforts are needed to capture these people alive, though they do attempt to limit the extent of collateral damage - especially as virtually none of their activities take place on Israeli soil. It's when one of their operations goes spectacularly wrong that they begin to suspect that they are also being used by other nefarious folks to do a bit of housekeeping too. The underpinning story is one of vengeance, of retribution and though initially I did have some sympathy with that cause, I found the marauding actions of these men with a self-appointed justification for their slaughtering to become a little unjustifiable. The actor Bana can't really impose himself - or his character - enough to humanise the proceedings and though Rush does impact now and again when he is on screen, the rest of the cast deliver a lacklustre contribution to what I perceived to be an increasingly unforgivable course of action that was only ever going to make matters worse and sow more seeds of counter-vengeance. To be fair to Steven Spielberg, I think he has presented this film in a fashion that invites comment and criticism. Not just of the random atrocity with which we begin, but of the futility of engaging in a dog-eat-dog cycle of self-perpetuating violence. Michael Lonsdale's outwardly rather benign "Papa" living a life of peace and family in rural France illustrating well that there are rarely any winners in these sorts of conflicts - and those that do rarely have any skin in the game beyond the venal. Amalric does quite well in these slightly sleazy sort of roles, but otherwise I was underwhelmed by the whole, somewhat lengthy, thing.
Great Expectations (2012)
Great Expectations
Well the Irvine's decided to keep this in the family! The young "Pip" (Toby) is out one night when he encounters the escaping convict "Magwitch" (Joseph Fiennes). Terrified for his life, he feeds the man and returns home to his kindly uncle "Joe" (Jason Flemyng) and his rather domineering wife (Sally Hawkins). Scoot on a few years and now big brother Jeremy takes over the leading role and is introduced to the solicitor "Jaggers" (Robbie Coltrane) who informs the young man that he is now a man of means. The conditions of his mysterious benefaction are that he live in London as a gentleman and that he make no enquiries as to the source of his newfound wealth. Now he, and we, make certain assumptions about the eccentric "Miss Havisham" (Helena Bonham Carter) but he is in London now, befriending old sparring partner "Herbert Pocket" (Olly Alexander) and leading a life of comfortable leisure. In truth, though, he's a bit rudderless and lacking in purpose until he returns home late one evening to be reunited with his former nemesis and told a few home truths that altogether change his agenda. It's not my favourite Dickens story this, but this adaptation does an adequate enough job more in the afternoon tea-time drama vein rather than the grand scale cinematic one. The easy-on-the-ey (elder) Irvine is charismatic enough and Alexander delivers quite cheekily as his pal "Pocket" but I thought Fiennes just over-egged his part - way too theatrical - and HBC doesn't really have the clout to deliver the "Havisham" part in the overbearing yet sad style of, say, Martita Hunt. I always find that colour photography can be an enemy to stories like this. The issues of poverty and privilege that underpin so many of this author's stories always work better in grimy monochrome, and this one is just a bit too well produced. It's perfectly watchable, but not really one to remember.
Bismarck (1940)
Bismarck
Aside from the fact that this was made at the height of the Third Reich - so it's underlying politic of the might of the German people and it's heroes it to be assumed, this is a rather dry and unremarkably sterile depiction of the eponymous statesman who worked with Wilhelm I of Prussia (Friedrich Kayßler) to create the German Imperial state. It tries to pack far too much over-simplified history into two hours and the portrayal of Bismarck himself by an underwhelming Paul Hartmann leaves us amidst a story of turbulent history told as if it were a child's "Janet and John" book. The complexities of the relationships between the Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian empire, Russians, French and British are all rather overlooked and certainly undercooked as we spend much of the film in audience chambers watching a vacillating king or in a prevaricating parliament where nothing seems to count for very much - until our hero arrives to convince and save the day. It's almost entirely confined to a sound-stage so what few opportunities offered us to experience the military tactics of Moltke against the Danes or the Austrians are largely confined to a map or to the inside of a tent. The ending justifies the dramatic means - and we know that there was a unified German Empire born in 1871. It's a watchable enough historical biopic, but no effort is made to develop the characters and the story is about as dry and processional as it can be. It's hard to imagine this as a successful piece of jingoism, to be honest. It's completely forgettable.
Una giornata particolare (1977)
A Special Day
The first fifteen minutes or so of this film consists of a mini-documentary setting the scene as Adolf Hitler makes the train journey from Germany to meet with King Vittorio Emanuele III and Benito Mussolini in Rome to seal this friendship pact in 1938. The extensive archive footage is overlaid with a propagandist style of commentary that would have entirely fitted the cinema screenings at the time extolling the might of the Italian Empire and their new, invincible, allies. It's a grand celebration in Rome that the family of "Antonietta" (Sophia Loren) are to attend. Her husband "Emanuele" (John Vernon) takes their six children to the party whilst she remains at home attending to her chores. It's while they are away that she encounters her neighbour "Gabriele" (Marcello Mastroianni). Until recently he was an announcer on state radio but no longer. An intense few hours, and a mynah bird with a mind of it's own, sees us introduced in more depth to both characters and to discover why he is no longer on air, not at the parade and why she is less than contented with her drudge of a life. It's the intensity of the hour or so we spend in this couple's company that challenges many stereotypes of expected and tolerable behaviour in the 1930s - and not just in Italy either. The scripting is poignant and delivered sometimes calmly and then as if all hell were breaking lose - and Loren is on great form exploding the exasperation of "Antonietta" all over their apartment. The conclusion is to be expected - on just about every front - but as the audio continually reminds us of what the rest of the population are up to, the intimate story of these two, flawed, people is well told.
La ciociara (1960)
Two Women
I think you could dress Sophia Loren in an old sack and she'd still ooze a personality and charisma that serves her really well in this heart-rending wartime story. She is the widowed "Cesira" who, with bombs falling all around them, decides it's best to get her young daughter "Rosetta" (Eleonora Brown) out of danger. Getting back to her home town of Sant'Eufemia together is a journey fraught with risk but upon their arrival at this Nazi occupied village, they begin to live what might pass for a normal life. "Cesira" even meets the romantic, if a little naive, younger "Michele" (Jean-Paul Belmondo) but as the food starts to run out and rumours of an Allied advance begin to substantiate, she decides that maybe a return to Rome is best as they are soon all targets for bombing raids. It's this return trip that exposes them to the abject horrors not just of warfare but of human nature at it's worst too. The full effects of warfare - both physical and psychological are visited on these two women as they seek safety where there is little to be had, and as the palpable sense of tension and fear builds up, Loren raises her game delivering a strong and plausible performance as a mother desperate to protect her daughter - who maybe doesn't quite appreciate the dangers they are in. Raf Vallone's "Giovanni" contributes sparingly but effectively and the whole style of Vittorio De Sica's intensely photographed photography and storytelling presents us with as gripping a tale of the ghastliness of war as I've ever seen. Not an easy watch, but a poignant one.
Nosferatu - Phantom der Nacht (1979)
Nosferatu - Phantom of the Night
"Harker" (Bruno Ganz) travels to remote Transylvania where he is to help "Count Dracula" (Klaus Kinski) buy a new home in his hometown of Wismar. Why? Well that's because he has fallen in love with a photograph of his beautiful wife "Lucy" (Isabelle Adjani) and has determined to make her his immortal bride. "Harker" had been warned by the locals of the dangers of visiting the "Count" but he pressed on regardless, so ought not to have been surprised when his host absconds from his castle on a schooner laden with coffins, soil and a deadly plague of rats so he can ensnare his innocent young wife. Can he race back home in time to thwart this evil? There's nothing especially new about the chronology of the story here, it's the characterisation of the vampire that helps this stand out. It's obvious from the start that "Dracula" is not of human kind. Contrasting with most interpretations of the title role, Kinski and Warner Herzog attempt to imbue "Dracula" with a degree of humanity. He doles out his lusts left, right and centre upon the innocent, spreading plague and disaster wherever he goes, but he too is cursed. By his own immortality, by his search for some kind of fulfilment or contentedness. This isn't a depiction riddled with sharp teeth and ketchup, it's much more subtle, refined even, telling of a character that it's almost impossible not to feel sorry for. The production itself has dated rather badly, and at times it did remind me of one of these "Sherlock Holmes" remakes, but the thrust of the story is still interestingly different to the normal depiction of this epitome of evil and worth sticking with.
The Green Mile (1999)
The Green Mile
"Edgecomb" (Tom Hanks) is in charge of the prison officers who tend to the inmates on death row. He's a decent man who, with the help of his partner "Howell" (David Morse) tries to carry out his task as humanely as possible. Their team also numbers the truly odious "Percy" (Doug Hutchinson). He's an incompetent coward, but he also happens to be the nephew of the state governor, so tends to get away with his obnoxiousness towards the prisoners. That nasty behaviour becomes more pronounced when the giant "Coffey" (Michael Clarke Duncan) arrives. Also newly arrived is a small mouse which befriends, much to the chagrin of "Percy", a fellow inmate (Harry Dean Stanton) and oddly enough it seems to help keep the peace as people come and go. Things take quite an intriguing turn when some physical contact between their gentle giant and "Edgecomb" seems to cure his liver complaint. As the officer realises that this man may well possess healing hands, he and his team begins to bond with him. Meantime, the ghastly little "Percy" screws up his first execution causing an effect straight out of a Wes Craven film and Sam Rockwell's psychopathic "Wild Bill" arrives to liven things up. It's actually Rockwell who steal this for me. His performance is viscerally effective and he really does commit to the role. It's over 3 hours long but the acting is almost perfect as these characters develop and the story unfolds reconciling the brutality of racism, crime and punishment with the attempts at humanity and decency applied by virtually everyone whose lives are touched by these scenarios - even amongst the staff who struggle at times to keep their own priorities in kilter. One of Stephen King's much better stories with depth to the personas, a good baddie to loathe and a message of redemption delivered subtly but powerfully.
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (2005)
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
This reminded me a little of "Mrs. Caldicot's Cabbage War" (2002) as it depicts the determination of an older person not to just let their toes curl up whilst waiting for God. The recently widowed eponymous lady (Dame Joan Plowright) arrives at the residential "Claremont" hotel and is introduced to quite an eclectic clientele who are all in a similar boat. She's is walking back from the post office when she takes a tumble outside the flat of the floppy haired young "Ludo" (Rupert Friend). He takes care of her, gives her a cup of tea and that's the start of the friendship that livens up both of their lives with some gentle mischief and a growing inter-dependency that reinvigorates her and helps him to get back to his writing. Robert Lang, Anna Massey and an on-form Marcia Warren provide extra richness as her fellow inmates, and the gentle humour and very less-is-more stye of delivery from Dame Joan works well with the engaging effort from her young Friend. Was she abandoned by her family or did she abandon them? It's quite a touchingly written character study and though maybe fifteen minutes too long, is still worth a watch to see some true professionals at work.
Miracolo a Milano (1951)
Miracle in Milan
Baby "Totò" is found in a cabbage patch by a kindly lady who brings him up before she dies and he must go into an orphanage. From thence he emerges as one of the most optimistic of young men (Francesco Golisano). His upbeat demeanour and good manners regularly bamboozle the miserable and curmudgeonly amongst post-war Milanese society until he encounters a gent who tries to pinch his small bag. He gives him the bag instead, and is in return invited to stay at the man's home on this wintery night. That introduces "Totò" to a lively and vibrant community living, favela-style, on some bombed-out waste ground. Shorty after his arrival, the wealthy "Mobbi" (Guglielmo Barnabò) arrives having bought the land and he wants this shanty town gone! The police arrive, fairly well equipped, but before they can evict them all his late "mother" arrives from the heavens (a bit like the ghost of "Jacob Marley" - only without chains) and offers him a dove. With this bird he can do what he likes. He can, quite comically, thwart the venal "Mobbi" yes, but what he also quickly discovers are a collection of poverty-stricken individuals who now want everything from a fur coat to a radio - oh, and squillions of Lire too! It's good fun this film as it pointedly takes a swipe at poverty and greed, extols the virtues of honesty and decency and is really quite funny too. For much of the film, Golisano's character reminded me of a combination of "Oliver Twist" and Chaplin's "Tramp" - but always with his glass half full and this is really quite an entertaining ninety-odd minutes.
Very Nice, Very Nice (1961)
Very Nice, Very Nice
This is quite a feat of editing as it pulls together a fairly quick-fired montage of still images of faces and places coupled with some very short snippets of video tape to illustrate an urban landscape that consists of all forms of humanity. Happy, sad, young, old, joyous and loads and loads of yawning. It's peppered with seemingly random sound bites but by the end you might get a sense of it's purpose? Are we all now just pre-occupied with convenience and our own small world? Like a society of ants only not remotely collaborative? It's not really a film, more a photographic exhibition with a point - but it's still worth a watch.