The Not So Magnificent Seven

After such a good start to October I somehow managed to while away the rest of the month without seeing another film, and even worse, without making use of my trusty Cineworld Card.

Desperately trying to catch up with what I'd missed, and make use of my card, I somehow managed to cram 7 films into 3 days.

I'm not going to say a great deal on all of them but I thought a brief run down of my thoughts was required.

We shall start with the first film I saw - The Hate U Give



Incredibly important film about the current Black Lives Matter movement in the US, and the frequency with which unarmed black men are being killed by white police officers. This isn't based on a true story but it could so easily be based on any number of accounts of exactly the same situation as what happens in this film.

A strong central performance from Amanda Stenberg makes this film stand out from the crowd. It's both eye opening and incredibly moving in parts. Definitely worth a watch if it's still on near you. 7/10

Film 2 was the rather lacklustre Venom. 

Disappointingly neither Tom Hardy or Riz Ahmed are at their best here. And is it just me or is Michelle Williams acting actually getting worse (and is she becoming more breathy sounding) with each passing year? The effects are kinda ropey in places, and ultimately it leaves you wondering ‘did this film need to be made’? The end credits glimpse at the new Animated Spider-Man feature film looks great though it has to be said. 5/10

The third film I saw was Bohemian Rhapsody. I have a LOT to say about this one so it’s getting a separate review. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

Film four was the overlong and incredibly boring First Man. 

If Ryan Gosling can’t make your lead character interesting and charismatic then I think your film has problems. If this film is genuinely based on truth then I’m sorry to say that Neil Armstrong is a very dull man. The director needed reining in on the running time of this beast, and I think other characters should have been given more of a chance to shine. We know he gets to the moon so why did it take so damn long to show it?

This is by no means a bad film. The acting is top notch and I can certainly see Oscar nominations rocketing towards this one, but it's incredibly long and tediously, and just boring, and therefore I can only give it 4/10.

The fifth film I saw was the first of a horror triple bill - Slaughterhouse Rulez.

I will admit that from the trailer I was fully expecting this to be a slight step up from a Goosebumps type movie but it fell somewhere between that and a real gore fest. I enjoyed it, even if the acting isn’t always top notch, it was a fun ride and a perfect post Halloween movie. 6/10

The penultimate movie of the triple (and indeed the not-always-so-magnificent 7) was Goosebumps 2. 

I know I saw the last Goosebumps movie but I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much about it. This one was loads of fun. The possessed dummy was just the right amount of creepy for a kids film, and considering this definitely WAS made for kids (it’s a PG cert) I thought it was more engaging than Slaughterhouse. I found myself enjoying it a lot more and just generally having a blast. Definitely recommend for those with kids looking for a spooky film this autumn. 7/10

Finally that leads me to him. He came home. And what a bloody and fitting end to the Halloween franchise this is (providing the powers that be don’t decide to make another one).



Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode from the original 1978 Halloween (that's right kids, that's before even I was born) returns for this sequel which effectively erases every Halloween movie that has followed in the last 40 years (including Halloween 2, H20 and Resurrection which all also featured Curtis as Laurie Strode). Forget those movies exist because this is the definitive sequel. Strode has spent the last 40 years dealing with PTSD over what happened on that fateful Halloween night, and my god has she got her Sarah Conner on.

Strode has always known the day would come when Michael Myers would again escape the mental facility that houses him, and she has prepared for the day when she would once again face him.

I won't give any spoilers away but I will say that for fans of the original this is an absolute must see. I will admit that I am nowhere near as hardcore horror as I used to be and I was scared to see this on my own, which is why I waited to see it until someone could come with me. But it's not wall to wall horror as some would have you believe.

Sure there are jump scares, and to bring the franchise bang up to date there are some scenes that are truly gruesome and horrific, but this is a Halloween movie, would you really expect anything less? Curtis and co act their socks off. It's great to see so many strong women in this movie, rather than them just being the screaming victim all the time, and for a woman in her 60s, Jamie Lee Curtis is as bad ass as they come.

As a huge fan of the original I honestly can't recommend Halloween highly enough to fellow fans. See it before it finishes in cinemas. 9/10

Three Films, Three Days, Three Cinemas

As the title of this blog suggests, last weekend I unintentionally saw three different films over three days at three different cinemas.

I'll start with the first film A Star Is Born which I saw on Friday at The Connaught Theatre in Worthing.

A Star Is Born is the fourth incarnation of this apparently timeless story, previous versions having starred Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand, James Mason and Judy Garland and Fredric March and Janet Gaynor. None of which I am ashamed to say I have seen.

In some ways it probably helped to see this version having not seen any of the previous ones as it puts less expectation on the new version, which by all accounts of Director Bradley Cooper, only has certain elements in common with the previous films anyway.

The story this time focuses on established Rock star Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) who is clearly struggling with alcohol and drug addiction when we meet him at the start of the film. After a gig he stops at a bar where he meets Ally (Lady Gaga), a waitress who has a natural talent for singing and song writing. Jackson finds himself drawn to this woman who has such a unique outlook on him, and on the world around her, and he finds himself falling for her, and her for him. But of course, with addiction thrown into the mix, it's never going to be plain sailing for the two.

A Star Is Born had me gripped from start to finish, mainly because of the performances of the two leads. I bought into their love affair from the off, even though on reflection, it did seem to happen very fast. I found the chemistry between Cooper and Gaga to be electrifying. They bounced off each other so well, and when they sang together it was a thing of beauty (I've already purchased the soundtrack).

The only negatives I can say are that the film is quite long, and does feel it. Not that that is especially bad. At no point was I not enjoying it, but I did feel it could have benefitted from being a few minutes shorter. And the shocking scene at the end of the movie I felt unprepared for. I knew it was going to be sad. People had told me it would be sad. And it was one of those movies that you could tell was going to be tragic in some way, but I was not at all prepared for what did happen, and I felt duped somewhat that I hadn't been prepared.

Having said all of that, the film is stunningly directed by first timer Cooper, and I  was definitely not expecting Gaga to be as good as she was. Yes it wasn't a big stretch to play a girl from New York who has natural talent and makes it in the music industry - if not quite being herself - but she was still fantastic and nothing can take that away from her.

8/10

On Saturday I saw A House With A Clock In It's Walls at Odeon Brighton. What an adventure that was.

Sadly that adventure had more to do with the awful experience my friend and I had at the Odeon than the film itself. Which I am sure when watched uninterrupted by several fire alarms and a restart that came with sound but no picture, would have been a perfectly adequate family romp but which would have been otherwise rather unremarkable.

A House... tells the story of an orphaned boy Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) going to live with his uncle (Jack Black) who it turns out is a warlock (boy witch), and who's neighbour (the always stylish and stunning Cate Blanchett) is also a witch. 

During the course of the movie we discover, along with Lewis, that the magnificent house his uncle lives in was cursed by the former resident, an evil warlock (Kyle MacLachlan) and the three of them must work together to break the spell he placed on the house, before it changes the course of history.

Unfortunately, it feels like I will remember A House... for all of the wrong reasons, and that my overriding thoughts on the movie will be tainted by the truly awful experience of a cinema where no-one working there knew what was happening, how to communicate with the cinema goers, let alone with each other, and where I would think twice before going to watch another movie, EVER AGAIN.

A House gets 6/10 and I think that's me being quite generous.

On Sunday I went to see The Wife at my favourite of the Brighton cinema's Dukes at Komedia.

I'd seen the trailer for this twice at said cinema, and was then shocked to see it wasn't showing there on the first week of the movie being released. It was instead only showing at The Duke Of Yorks, which if it's possible to, I despise more than the Odeon.

I don't think I have ever had a pleasant experience at the DoY's which is a real shame as I love to support independent cinema, and yet I hate to go there with every fibre of my being.

I was saddened to think that I would have to break my 'no DoY's' rule and go there to see The Wife, when to my surprise, in it's second week of release went to Dukes at Komedia. Phew.

The Wife tells the story of Joan Castleman (Glenn Close), wife of Author Joseph Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) who is about to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. You can tell from the trailer that he's going to be a bit of a shit, but to what extent it's unclear. Well, without spoiling the movie I couldn't possibly say but let's just say that he's more of a shit than the trailer would have you believe. 

The performances are fantastic from Close and Pryce, and I must say it was a lovely surprise to see Christian Slater in a mainstream movie where he's actually really good and working with really great actors again.

Regrettably, although the calibre of acting here is way above par, the story is still a little slow in places, and the end is not as punchy as I had hoped it would be from the trailer. Still an intriguing and superbly acted film that I would highly recommend, but definitely more of a slow burner.

7/10

American Animals

I really didn't know what to expect from American Animals. I'd seen the trailer and was suitably intrigued, but when people asked me what it was about I could never really hold it in my head. A heist/robbery was all I could mutter, but it looks really good. 

I was even more intrigued when my friend and trusted reviewer of Thursday Night At The Movies gave the film 4.5/5 which is high praise indeed. Seriously, sign up to her blog because her reviews are fantastic and way more frequent than mine.

I missed the film at Cineworld but I was determined to see it and boy am I glad I did! Part heist movie, part documentary, the film follows two college friends who decide to steal some rare, and highly valued books from the college library rare books room. It's guarded by one lowly librarian (played by The Handmaid's Tale's Aunt Lydia) so how hard can it be?

It turns out very, as the boys have to enlist the help of two other students before attempting the robbery.

This film is one of the most interesting I have seen this year. Much like Searching, this film is uniquely filmed, but this time it's in the way it seamlessly goes between interview footage from the real people that the movie is based on, to film footage of the actors playing these people. It's a fascinating story even if all you saw was the actors (who embody their characters perfectly) but to see the real people and find out what happened to them and how it affected those closest to them takes it up a whole other level.

I don't think I breathed during the robbery scenes and actually had my hands on my head for some of it, it's super tense and stylishly shot, but never feels anything other than gritty and true to life. 

Evan Peters completely stole the show for me, playing the charismatic Warren, but similarly all of the actors were faultless. I'd only seen Barry Keoghan in Dunkirk, and I don't think I've seen anything that Blake Jenner or Jared Abrahamson have done before but they were all the complete embodiment of their characters as far as I was concerned. 

If you can find this movie in cinemas I urge you to go and experience it. It's a ride you won't forget. 

9/10

The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Call Me By Your Name

My main reason for reviewing these two films together is that they cover a similar subject matter, and I saw them on the same day. But I wanted to show you the two posters for these films side by side, because it wasn't until I searched for the posters that I realised how eerily similar they are. Same colour blue, same wistful look up to the sky from one of the main characters, same colour and similar font of the titles. Weird.

Anyway, allow me to start with Cameron Post as that was the film I watched first. A film set in the 90s about a girl - Cameron Post (played brilliantly by Chloe Grace Moretz who impresses me more and more each time I see her) - who is discovered to be a lesbian by her religious family and promptly sent off to God's Promise, a camp for troubled teens, in the hope of converting her into a straight and God fearing member of society.

This might not be a true story, but the fact that this did happen to many kids and is still happening around the world today makes me really fucking angry. The story is well told and has lighter and also incredibly dark moments too but it handles everything with sensitivity and the acting on show is top notch.

I definitely felt like they could have done more to set the time period for film, as although it's a 90s set movie, there were only a few moments where my brain remembered that fact. For the most part I felt like this could have been set in the present day. I don't know if that's because the 90s doesn't feel that long ago to me, or because I know things like the conversion camp still happen, but I felt more like it was because the filmmakers hadn't done enough to make it feel like a period piece. 

Having said that, I didn't feel like this detracted from the film, more that I would have just liked to have seen more 90s references in there and had it feel more like a 90s set film. 

The acting as I said is all top notch. This is Chloe Grace Moretz's film, make no mistake, and she is fantastic in the lead role. But she is ably supported by Forrest Goodluck and Sasha Lane who play two of Cameron's alley's in the camp, whilst Jennifer Ehle (remember her? Where has she been for the last 20 years) and John Gallagher Jr are both great as the leaders of the camp.

I think it's an important film on many levels, it continues the conversation around the importance of mental health in young adults, and that they should have a safe space to express themselves, as well as adults that they can trust. It also does a great job of not talking down to the audience it's aimed at, and doesn't shy away from showing them sex scenes and pretty horrifying scenes too, but at no point do those scenes seem gratuitous or unnecessary. 

8/10

Call Me By Your Name is a film I'd wanted to see since it was released last summer but I'd somehow missed it at the cinema. It was shown on an open air screening this summer but I happened to be in London on the night it was on and so missed it again. 

Now that I've seen it I'm quite glad I didn't go out of my way to pay to see it in the cinema as I don't think anything would have been gained by seeing the film on the big screen.

I've heard such wonderful things about Call Me By Your Name, but unlike Cameron Post which is also a period set film and about a young person coming to terms with their sexuality, the sex scenes in this do feel slightly gratuitous and unnecessary. 

Maybe it's because of the way the film is shot like some art history experiment that the sex scenes just feel really out of place. Yes it's got stunning scenery, yes it's got a rousing score that would impress the harshest of critics, but where is the film's heart?

I found the film over long, and quite dull until it came to Elio and Oliver actually getting together and then everything seemed rushed. I assume this was intentional, because the characters waste their summer together by denying how they both feel, and then when they realise they want to be together the summer is over. It's a great metaphor but it doesn't really make for a very interesting film.

I felt like this film also suffered from the same time period setting issues as Cameron Post, but not quite on the same scale. Yes this does feel like a period piece, but not necessarily an 80s set film. Maybe because it's set in rural Italy so you don't have the same pop culture references that would be available in movies set in the USA for example? I'm not sure but I know that again there were only moments when I remembered it was set in the 80s, and those moments were few and far between. 

I also had trouble buying into the relationship between Oliver and Elio. I could see why Elio would fall for Oliver, I mean who wouldn't fall for Armie Hammer? But I really struggled to see why Oliver would feel anything for scrawny and underage Elio who if anything, seemed to act even more childishly than his age would allow. From what the film showed you they barely spent any time together too, so it's not even plausible that they fell in love with each other's personalities over time. It just didn't work for me.

I really wanted to like it, and I didn't think that was something I'd need to work on, I assumed it was a given. How wrong I was.

5/10

Searching & The Children Act

On this gloriously sunny Sunday in September, with absolutely nothing to do, I decided last minute to take myself on a double movie date. Most people would think this was a crazy idea but as the cinema is my second home this doesn't strike me as a weird way to spend my day.

First film of the double bill was Searching. A film I'd only recently heard of and which probably wouldn't have been at the top of my list of films to see, had it not starred John Cho. Cho is someone I always enjoy watching, whether it's in a stupid role (Harold and Kumar/American Pie films), turning an iconic sci-fi character on his head (Star Trek Reboots), or in a more serious role (usually on some ill fated TV series - Kitchen Confidential/Flashforward).

The fact that Searching had Cho as the lead character immediately piqued my interest and I am so glad it did. Not only is he fantastic in this film, easily captivating the audience, it's also a really good film. I might even go so far as to say one of my favourites of the year so far. 

The story is a simple one, and if you've seen the trailer you'll know it's about a father of a missing girl. The question is, what happened to Margot Kim? Did she run away, was she kidnapped, murdered? And if she was kidnapped or murdered, who the hell did it? This is a great whodunit thriller and keeps you guessing right to the end. There are plenty of twists that I didn't see coming, and best of all, it's whole premise is something I had never seen before on film.

So if you're looking for something a bit different, something that will keep you hooked til the last reel, definitely go and see Searching. 

9/10

The second film of the day was The Children Act, starring Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci, based on the novel by Ian McEwan.

I was not familiar with the novel on going to see the movie, and in fact I knew next to nothing about it. I based my decision to see it purely on the talent involved. I mean who wouldn't want to see Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci on screen together? It's an acting powerhouse.

The story revolves around High Court judge Fiona May (Thompson) and the two big events unfolding in her life as we come into her story. One is the breakdown of her marriage to husband Jack (Tucci), and the other is the case she is presiding over regarding the life of 17 year old Jehovah's Witness Adam. Adam is in need of a blood transfusion to save his life, but on religious grounds he is refusing the transfusion. As he is a minor, the hospital seek an injunction to save the boy's life. 

For the most part this felt like a BBC drama, particularly from the point where Adam's story really started to present itself. The actors playing the roles of Adam and his family felt very much like the kind you'd see in a BBC drama. A good one, but still not quite movie worthy. Having Emma and Stanley in the film however was always going to raise it to another level. The sad thing is that I feel like the film wasn't really worthy of them. And without them it probably wouldn't have even had a theatrical release.

That's not to say that they are not both fantastic. I doubt either of them knows how to be anything but that, but sadly even Queen Emma and Superb Lord Stanley have their work cut out with such a dull storyline and bland support. It's a shame because when they are on screen together I could feel so much potential but it just wasn't realised. 

It did make me realise just how much I adore Stanley Tucci though. He's just so damn cool. 

If you're a big fan of the actors you should see it for their performances, but just don't expect to see a life changing film. 

5/10 for film 10/10 for Emma and Stanley (😍)