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About 50 Word Film Reviews
New films, old films, strange films, obscure films....
DDDDDD – Exceptional and unparalleled.
DDDDD – Excellent, a special film.
DDDD – Highly enjoyable, recommended.
DDD – Worth watching, but flawed.
DD – Bland, dull and average.
D – You’ll envy the deaf and blind.
(1937) John Laurie, Belle Chrystall, Eric Berry, Finlay Currie, Niall MacGinnis. Dir: Michael Powell.
Review No:569
A dangerous wager has severe consequences for a dwindling island community. Powell shoot his first A picture on location, experiencing first-hand the issues facing isolated islanders. Based on a true story, he perfectly captures a beautiful but harsh landscape and the sad passing of a simpler way of life.
(2008) Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt. Dir: Louis Leterrier.
Review No:568
Pursued by the military, Bruce Banner tries to find a cure that’ll prevent him from becoming the Hulk. Even superhero movies need slow moment to build and develop characters. Seems to miss the middle out, and be on constant build-up to the finale, which has its excitements, but is hard to care about.
(1938) Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett, May Robson, Fritz Feld. Dir: Howard Hawks.
Review No:567
A palaeontologist’s life is turned upside down by a debutant who happens to have a leopard. All-time classic comedy, with a snappy and outlandish script, which yields all kinds of riches. Only a double act as good as Grant and Hepburn could pull off the breakneck speed of it. Superb.
(1972) Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Ricardo Montalbán, Natalie Trundy, Hair Rhodes. Dir: J. Lee Thompson.
Review No:566
The apes’ baby is now 20; he arrives in the city to find evolving apes are now a slave class. The first planned sequel develops the ongoing story in a more satisfying way, even if script’s patchy and rushes along. Having an experienced director pays off with a stunning climax.
(2011) Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Taylor Ross. Dir: Chris Kentis, Laura Lau.
Review No:565
A girl’s trapped in an old house with an intruder – events unfold in real-time. Novel conceit (taken from a Uruguayan movie) which gets spread thin. Iritating handheld camera frequently withholds information to pad out the thin narrative which culminates in an unconvincing twist that’s a cheat. Olsen’s convincing at least.
(1937) Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Dita Parlo, Julien Carette. Dir: Jean Renoir.
Review No:564
A diverse group of prisoners try to escape two different German WW1 prison camps. A more thoughtful Great Escape; a French classic that appeals for solidarity amongst people, regardless of social background, and rejects the idea of war as being honourable, just the fantasy of a dying breed. Superbly performed drama.
(2008) Robert Downey Jnr, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard. Dir: Jon Favreau.
Review No:563
A weapon’s manufacturer is kidnapped by terrorists but creates high-tech armour to escape. Even by superhero movie standards, Iron Man is pretty insubstantial, breezing over subjects like terrorism and the arms trade in favour of fast paced action and laughs. The cast manage to bring colour to what otherwise could be very stock roles.
(1940) Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert, Reginald Gardiner. Dir: Charlie Chaplin.
Review No: 562
A Jewish barber returns home unknowing of the rise of dictator Adenoid Hynkel. Uneasily combines hilarious farce with unsettling sequences of racial persecution. Dictator sequences are best, particularly those with Oakie. Globe sequence is odd, and should the closing speech have been delivered with all the zeal of the dictator’s?
(1978) William Holden, Lee Grant, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Robert Foxworth, Nicholas Pryor, Lance Henriksen, Leo McKern. Dir: Don Taylor.
Review No:561
Damien is on the verge of adulthood as his followers gather to exploit his Uncle’s company. The idea that Damien could find his destiny troubling is promising; shame its cast aside in favour of a retread of the first movie with less extravagant murders (one exception) to break-up the tedium.
(2012) Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Amy Acker. Dir: Drew Goddard.
Review No:560
5 teens head to an isolated cabin for a holiday, while men in a bunker wait for the action to unfold. Both celebrates and parodies genre conventions, while insisting on their constant re-evaluation and renewal. It never forgets to be scary and successfully plays with your expectations and your sympathies.
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