Everything That Dies, Some Day Comes Back

This is an engaging coming-of-age comedy drama, written and directed by Richard Ayoade. The central focus of the film is a romance between nerdy and shy Oliver (played by Craig Roberts) and his classmate Jordana. Maybe it's in the writing, or the performance by Yasmin Paige as Jordana, but I couldn't get as  emotionally invested in Oliver's and Jordana's relationship as I should have. Instead I really enjoyed the subplot involving Oliver's rather depressed dad, Lloyd, (played by Noah Taylor),  his mum Jill (Sally Hawkins) and her ex-boyfriend and now new-age guru Graham (Paddy Considine).  All three are great fun to watch here. There's also a lovely sequence where Oliver is recalling moments of his relationship with Jordana when it seems it's all over between them.  It's beautifully shot and very affecting.  I also liked the general air of melancholy throughout which reminded me a little of Wes Anderson, but thankfully without all the quirky detail that ...

I've seen this  Pulitzer Prize winning play by David Mamet (about real estate salesmen) twice in the theatre, including its initial run at the National Theatre when it blew me away.   This adaptation (by Mamet himself) has an ensemble cast so strong that fine actors such as Ed Harris and Alan Arkin only get to play minor roles. The cast also includes Alec Baldwin who gets just the one scene, especially written by Mamet for the film, as a guy from head office trying to kick some life into the team by threatening them with the sack.  There’s also Kevin Spacey, well-cast as the office manager who is despised by all the salesmen, and  Jonathan Pryce who is terrific as a hapless customer trying to back out of his “investment”. The biggest name in the cast is Al Pacino as the smooth salesman determined to stop Jonathan Pryce from succeeding.    It’s an understated and effective performance by Pacino, and his best scene is one where he and Jack Lemmon im...

Well this is a weird film to say the least, and a very difficult watch at times, charting the degrading behaviour of its protagonist, the eponymous Lieutenant, played by Harvey Keitel who gives an extraordinarily committed performance. Apparently the director Abel Ferrara was on drugs whilst making this film, which seems appropriate given the nightmarish quality of some of the film, not to mention the amount of substance abuse committed by the Lieutenant as his life spirals out of control. This might make a good entry in a triple bill  about police corruption, along  with 'Serpico' and 'Training Day'.   Certainly the Lieutenant exploits his badge to extract money, or drugs, or in one especially gross scene, sexual favours. The film is not interested in explaining the Lieutenant's depravity but given the prominence of the Roman Catholic Church in the film, and the Lieutenant's hostility towards it, it is tempting to speculate that childhood abuse might be a parti...

Well, once all the hoop-la has subsided how will this film, directed by Greta Gerwig, be regarded?  Is it a missed opportunity or does it find a creative way of getting across feminist ideas to a mainstream audience?   I tend towards the latter, although what does it say that in 2023, several decades after the feminist movement was launched, the pretty basic ideas found in this film still need communicating? The early scenes establish the fantasy world of Barbieland, a matriarchal society where the roles of the sexes are the reverse of those in the real world.   I found these scenes OK but rather predictable and reminiscent of the early scenes of 'The Lego Movie'. The film only really got going for me once Barbie and Ken (Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling) leave Barbieland and enter our world.   There are some funny scenes, especially those where Ken has to get his mind round the idea of men being in charge. I would have liked more of Barbie and Ken expl...

According to Wikipedia this is, along with 'Singin' In The Rain', one of the finest MGM film musicals. Well, I beg to differ. To put this film, directed by Vincente Minnelli, in the same bracket as the Gene Kelly classic is absurd; this film is clearly inferior in terms of the songs, the dance routines, the comedy, the romance. In other words it falls short in every department.  An aging Fred Astaire does what he can but he really needs a Ginger Rogers to complement him but instead he, and we, have to make do with Cyd Charisse.   Quite how she became as famous as she did is something of a mystery to me given that her acting is wooden, she doesn't sing, and even her dancing is quite limited in its range.   In this film she plays a famous ballerina so it is unfortunate that the ballet sequence which is our introduction to her is so woeful as to be laughable.  Given that there is an age gap of over 20 years between the two leads, I guess we should be thankful ...

Whilst the original 1956 film will always have pride of place in my heart, there is no denying that this remake is a damned fine film, benefitting from suspenseful, and at times surreal, direction from Philip Kaufman. The location for this remake h as been moved to San Francisco, allowing the film to tap into the theme of big city alienation and paranoia, where everyone can seem like a threatening or uncaring stranger.   The main protagonist is now a Dept of Health official, Matthew (rather than a doctor) who is well played by peak Donald Sutherland. He is ably supported by a very young looking Jeff Goldblum, as an argumentative poet, and Leonard Nimoy as a celebrity psychiatrist, both well cast.  Brooke Adams plays Elizabeth, a colleague of Matthew's.   I liked that she has a science-based job and that, to start with at least, her relationship with Matthew is not romantic, but I was disappointed that she ends up having little more agency here than does Becky in...

This is a 'black comedy thriller', according to Wikipedia, directed by Richard Linklater, based on real events and people.  As is often the case, it falls between two stools, being neither very funny nor very thrilling.  The plot is pretty simple.   Bernie (played by Jack Black) is a mortician and pillar of the small-town community that is Carthage, Texas.   He becomes the constant companion of 81-year old millionaire Marjorie (Shirley MacLaine) but her possessiveness and unpleasantness drives him to kill her.   He manages to keep this hidden for nine months by pretending she has gone away, but eventually the truth comes out, and he is convicted of murder. It's well acted and well directed, and features interviews with some actual townspeople from Carthage.  It's all fine but I couldn't help thinking that if it wasn't based on real events it wouldn't have got made, and would that have been much of a loss? RATING : x Curb Your Enthusiasm...