From the California honey opening to the final guy gets girl kiss climax The Sure Thing demonstrates what pulp teen 80s movie making was all about. It’s ridiculous and inevitable, but it also stars a young Mr. Cusack being groovy, love it.
J. Edgar is pedestrian at best. Knowing Clint’s political views makes this film a little tough to read, on the one hand it draws parallels with modern america, seemingly pointing out the folly in suspecting everyone as being the enemy, yet it also sympathises hugely with its eponymous lead character. DiCaprio ‘copes’ as the J. Edgar is probably the best description, but then there is little to work with in terms of really getting stuck in, mostly it’s prosthetics and suit-wearing. The central problem with this flick is it’s thin, like really light. And if you’re going to make a slow, brooding biopic, which I’m sure the intention was, then you need heavyweight in terms of direction, script and subject matter. This movie falls short on all three counts.
If you ever require evidence that Wes Anderson is a naturally gifted film maker, then watch Bottle Rocket. It has the easy charm and quirk of his later work and serves as the perfect opener to what is without doubt one of the finest (unfinished) canons of work in business.
Things as you might expect in an eastern western are hectic. And this is exactly why The Good The Bad The Weird is sort of brilliant. It lacks cohesion, but it makes up for it plenty with gung-ho action. The sequence near the end where all the interested parties come together in a wild ride across the desert is dust-raising, horse-riding, ground-shaking excellence. It has the essence of Indy about it due in part to most of the old school stunts, being dragged by a car and falling from a horse, appearing to have actually been performed. This makes me happy. There is little better than a heroic dude in a duster stood in the stirrups at a gallop, riding hands free shooting and reloading a shotgun in an effort to save the day.
Think I might have fell for the hype a little where My Week With Marilyn is concerned. Thing is, it’s really good, due mainly to the assembled talent, but I feel the actual story let them down. There’s nothing unexpected, ‘Marilyn was damaged goods and that’s a tragedy’ isn’t enough to sell a film on.
If you’ve not seen Animal Kingdom, see it. It’s quiet, mean and hard as nails. Ben Mendelsohn conjures up a performance so frightening as a paranoid sociopath you’ll be freaked for a week. The premise of a nephew thrown into the world of armed robbery occupied by his fucked up uncles and great aunt is superb and as the trap closes on the mob. under the watchful eye of another flawless performance by Pearce in the role of good cop, the wheels come off and then some. Brilliant and sinister are fine bed fellows!
As 80s horror goes Fright Night does the business and then some. Cracking gratuitousness nudity, Chris Sarandon, a quality automobile and special effects that thrill (if you like animatronic latex based awesome, which I do).
Tricks is Polish. Set in the rural back waters of the eastern European country, things are as you’d expect fairly basic, both in set-up and execution. However, there is a charm to it that transcends this and almost keeps you intrigued right to the end, but not quite.
Central Station is a film that wants you to be engaged and engulfed by the triumphs of individuals conquering their own short-comings and situations. It does this, but at a very, very leisurely pace…
Recent outings for Woody such as Rampart and The Walker are showing exactly how good an actor he is. This flick is dark and bleak with a capital ‘man, this is depressing’. Nevertheless it is quality character driven fare drenched in style.
