"John Carter"

The latest 3D epic from Disney, sees a western pioneer in the shape of John Carter who is searching for a Cave of Gold. Upon his journey he potentially finds his fortune, only to stumble across an alien, who he promptly shoots, and then with the transportation device the alien used, Carter finds himself in another place, in fact another world, namely Mars.

Once on Mars, where he has incredible powers due to the gravitational difference, he is caught in a war between two cities.
I am not going to waste any more valuable time discussing this dreadful film, but I can say that the plot is a mess, the visuals are at times impressive, but for the most part disappoint. The film was dull, boring, it had little to engage the viewer, some quite dreadful acting with a cast delivering some equally dreadful lines, and yet again the 3D aspect was barely noticeable.And with a running time of 132 minutes, it is woefully overlong.

Ciaran Hinds deserves so much better, and should have known better......3 out of 10

"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

A film that has attracted a lot of negative comment finally gets a viewing. There have been comments ranging from it being too soon for another film about 9/11, or that the film is boring or that the young actor playing Oskar is annoying. I can certainly tell you that for this reviewer, none of those comments apply.

Oskar is a young boy living his life in New York with his parents, and life is pretty good for him. He is somewhat weary around people, and has mannerisms that some may find unusual, he may be dealing with Asperger's Syndrome. He clearly feels more connected to his father, and Oskar is regularly set challenges for him to face, something to get him thinking, something to get him out into the big wide world.
Then the tragic events of September 11th 2001 occur, and like so many children that day, Oskar finds himself without a father. When going through some of his father's possesions, he finds a key. So Oskar uses this discovery to set himself a new challenge, and find out how the key is connected to his father. In some ways it is a story strand similar to one explored in "Hugo", in that the key is a link to his father, and by finding out its history, it keeps that link to his father alive.
So off Oskar sets on his journey.

Some have argued that the journey Oskar embarks on is not realistic as here is a young boy, venturing into New York, and does not encounter any rogue elements. I personally do not have a problem with that, I feel sure that not everyone who lives in New York meets a pick-pocket, thief or rapist around every corner.
Oskar being so methodical with the challenges that his father has set him in the past devises a way to hopefully get to the truth behind the key. He also meets the Renter, an elderly man living with his Grand-mother, a man who does not speak, and clearly has demons from his past. The two form an unlikely alliance. But Oskar has demons of his own, especially from 'the worst day', his way of referring to 9/11.

The film may not be in 3D, it may not have bullet after bullet flying across the screen, and may not have action packed car chases, it is just a great story being told through the eyes of a young boy. And yes there are those people who will find it boring. I for one did not. It is beautifully told, and the Direction from Stephen Daldry, as one would expect, is faultless.
The cast are all excellent, and it is easy to see why Max Von Sydow was nominated for non-speaking role as The Renter. At 82 years of age, he is still able to show why he is one of the World's most respected actors. But even here he has been overshadowed by Thomas Horn, a young actor in his first film appearance, and he gives an astonishing performance.
When you look at some of Daldry's past work, they have involved remarkable performances from young actors, and here he has done it yet again.

A compelling and well made story.......8 out of 10

"Safe House"

Denzel Washington moves to the dark side in his latest film as fugitive Tobin Frost. Whilst in South Africa he is trying to acquire some information from a rogue British Spy which he then intends to sell to the highest bidder. But things go all to cock when the Brit Spy is taken out of the equation, and a team of highly trained men are after both Frost and the information.

Seeing no way out, he makes his way to the American Embassy, and from there he is to be transported to a Safe House.
He enters Matt Weston, he has a great job, he generally juust sees to the day to day running of a South African Safe House, answering the odd phone call, nothing particularly exciting (rather like the film) until Tobin Frost is escorted to the House for safe keeping. Safe that is until that team of mercenaries arrive, keen to get Frost into their possession. A major gunfight follows, which sees Weston flee the Safe House with Frost in the car boot.

The rest of the film consists of a tug of war between Frost and Weston, one trying to escape from the other, and also stay ahead of the mercenaries. There is also a rogue element within the CIA, but like the rest of the film, one really does not give a toss.
The photography is far too in your face, the performances are all bland, with the exception of Washington who manages to acheive something with a very one dimensional character. The story is not at all engaging, it becomes tiresome, and the film is very violent. As for the rogue element, well there are no surprises there.

Washington and Gleeson deserve better........5 out of 10

"Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace"

Episode one of the "Star Wars" franchise makes yet another return to the big screen, now with the added element of 3D.

I am not going to prattle on about the story as I am sure that everyone from Tatooine to Alderaan knows what happens and to whom. It has been a while since I last viewed the film, and I had forgotten as to how uninspiring it was. I remember a lot of negative criticism at the time the film was released, and it would seem that most of it was justified. The film is far too long, and could have easily had 15 minutes trimmed from its cutting time. It just moves along or should that be drags along at a slow pace.
There is a race sequence where Qui Gon aims to get the freedom of Anakin Skywalker, the race is aiming to do for "Star Wars" what the chariot race did for "Ben-Hur" and it fails miserably.
At times visually it is stunning, but also there are times when it is so obvious that whatever is on screen is a visual effect. I appreciate that the film was made 13 years ago, and things have moved on in leaps and bounds since then, but it did not help this particular viewing of the film.

And as is becoming the norm, the 3D element added nothing to the film. Quite clearly the 3D format is still a long way off from being great.

Good, but better is to come.......6 out of 10

"Shame"

Director and star of the biopic "Hunger" are reunited for this look into the life of sex addict Brandon Sullivan.

Brandon clearly loves sex, whether it is free or to be paid for, whether with women he knows or does not, whether in person or online,  he just wants to have sex, and as much as he can possibly get. But his sex fuelled life changes when his somewhat troubled sister, Sissy, arrives and ends up staying in his apartment. It makes it tricky now to bring women back for sex, or even to pleasure himself in his bathroom without his Sister bursting in on him.
I am not sure whether I read it wrong, but one wonders at times during the film whether there is more to relationship between brother and sister. There is a great scene when Sissy brings back to the apartment one of Brandon's work colleagues for sex, and upon hearing their pleasure from the bedroom, Brandon exits the apartment very quickly.

As actors go, Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan are at the very top of their game, and continue to show why they are on the wish list of every Casting director in the Movie business. The fact that they are both British makes it all the more sweeter. And both also love making smaller independent films, and are not swayed by the big bucks of Hollywood, and this is so much to their credit.

There are those who may be bored by the film, as one wonders how long you can be entertained by watching lives on screen, people at work, on the subway, and the occasional sex scene. But it is compelling and makes for great viewing, especially watching Fassbender, in one of this best roles to date.
And Director Steve McQueen shows why he is one of the hottest talents not only in Britain but in the whole Film industry.

The best of British at work.......7 out of 10

"Chronicle"

We have seen it all before, a loner, feeling the weight of the World is against him, gains great power and builds to a big climax.....if it is so familiar, then why is "Chronicle", for me, going to feature in my top Ten films of the year?

There are many reasons, but first a little more background on the story.
Andrew Detmer is a quite sole, no friends to speak of, his mother is dying of cancer, and his father drinks heavily and beats Andrew at times. His only contact is with his cousin Matt. Andrew decides to document his life with a video camera, whether seeing his mothers deterioration, or the violence he suffers at the hands of his father, everything is on film. This also includes his day to day activity at school, although at times this causes him more hassle as the other pupils give him more grief. But again it documents the teasing and bullying that he is subjected to at school.
Andrew and Matt go to a Frat party, and despite Matt's protestations, Andrew takes the video recorder. Matt pals up with Steve, the local jock who is running for Class President. They are outside when they happen upon something unusual, an unknown alien artifact or organism in the ground, and get Andrew to bring his recorder to document their findings. It is not made cear what it is, or why it is here, but that is of little consequence. The main thing is that it gives the lads super-powers.
They start by using them a little at a time, and doing the fun things that lads are going to do with them. As they use their powers more, their capabilities grow stronger, and they can do so much more, and this includes flying.
As the three unlikely friends become inseperable, Andrew's problems at home really escalate, and he is desperate to help his mum get medication that they cannot afford. Events start to unfold, tensions rise as the film builds to a cracking finale.

There are so many pluses to this film. The characters are introduced efficiently, and with a nice backstory. One reason that speed was of the essence is that the film has a running time of just under an hour and a half, but it does not waste a single minute. It nicely shows what the lads get upto in the beginning with their powers and the fun they would naturally have.
Technically the film is oustanding, the visual effects are first class, and the flying sequences just have to be seen on the big screen. It seems incredible that for a film with such high quality visuals that it only had an estimated budget of $12 Million. Now there is an example of how to spend money wisely.

The film ends with a stunning finale, I am not going to talk in detail about it, as that would spoil it for any potential future viewers, but rest assured it does not disappoint. It is action packed, has you on the edge of your seat, and at times very moving, epecially when the relationship between Andrew and Matt is taken to the limit.
I have to confess that I was not familiar with any of the cast prior to seeing the film, and I believe that having a cast of unknowns has really helped the movie. All give great performances but most especially Dane DeHaan as Andrew and Alex Russell as Matt, two great young actors, and names to watch out for.
Again Director Josh Trank was not a familiar name, which is hardly surprising, as this is his Feature film debut, and what a fantastic start to a great career he has ahead of him. Josh is also co-writer alongside Max Landis, who is indeed son of Director John Landis, and Max clearly exhibits some of his Father's former genius.


From start to finish "Chronicle" delivers on every level, 84 minutes of brilliance - 9 out of 10