Infra-Man (1975)

aka The Super Inframan

Shaw Brothers Studio wanted a piece of the sweet profit that imported Japanese tokusatsu movies were generating in their native China, so they produced their own movie and filled it with their well-established form of SB Chinese style martial arts. The result is a dynamically engaging slice of madness that feels familiar but different at the same time.
To become the hero, Lei Ma undergoes a dangerous surgical procedure involving super-human DNA (that just happened to be lying around). The self-sacrifice turns him into the agile Infra-man. Hooray!
The studio didn't half-ass it when it came to the sets either; the lair of the campy villainess Demon Princess Elzebub is amazing.

3 pointy metal titties out of 5

Savage Messiah (1972)

Ken Russell loved a biopic. SM is about the life of French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (played by Scott Antony) and his relationship with Polish writer Sophie Brzeska. Both are characterised as people of strong disposition, struggling on starvation wages but living in the moment, being sustained by their passions for art and each other.
Even though it's named for Henri it's Sophie that shines the brightest. It's as if the madness infused in the production by Russell's hurried approach finds its muse in Dorothy Tutin's amazingly daring performance as the woman for whom Henri's steely heart and brass balls yearn.

4 chiselled advances out of 5

MUSTANG [2015]

Turkish director Deniz Gamze Ergüven makes a hauntingly extraordinary debut with the coming-of-age drama Mustang.
Five orphaned teenage sisters, who live in small Turkish village, are repressed by their own family when they are spotted harmlessly playing with boys.
The average moviegoer will be quick to make comparisons to The Virgin Suicides but this film is far more important and realistically portrayed.   It searches even further into it's themes of sexuality, growing up too fast, individuality and the difficulty of being a young woman in Turkey.  The brilliance of the character reveals, in it's short 90 minutes, leaves a lasting power that not many films can do with so many characters and such little time.  The photography, low-key editing, music and incredible performances give the film the sort of depth that leaves you in complete awe.

5 rebellious bus-rides out of 5

JOY [2015]

Director David O. Russell reunites with his usual cast members for the funny inspirational drama Joy.
It's a slightly fictional bio-pic on American entrepreneur Joy Mangano and the trouble she had with her world famous Miracle Mop, while still trying to juggle being a single mother who took care of her whole crazy family.
Based on Silver Linings Playbook & American Hustle, Russell and his co-stars Jennifer Lawrence  & Bradley Cooper seemed to be the perfect ingredients for success but Joy manages to fumble a bit with a distractingly uneven tone.  Still Lawrence is terrific at portraying characters who are much older than the actress actually is, with a confident performance that is worth giving the film at least a single viewing.  The script seems to start leading into all sorts of potentially interesting arcs for character interaction but never seems to find it's footing and ultimately feels like it needs a good mop-up itself.

3 soap operas out of 5

DIGGING FOR FIRE [2015]

Director Joe Swanberg stays in his mumblecore comfort zone with the humorous relationship piece Digging for Fire.
A bored husband & wife go their separate ways over the weekend putting their marriage to the test in overly tempting situations of craziness.
Still working with a micro-production budget, Swanberg inches a little closer to the mainstream with a gaggle of more well-known actors, most of which don't really know how to fit in the genre, with the exception of Sam Rockwell & Judith Light.   The director seems a little too comfortable with this type of storytelling, crossing over themes & ideas he's already visited with his previous films.  Not to say it's a bad film because there's all sorts of interesting story progressions as you're trying to figure exactly what the purpose of the film is.  In short, it's a more mature version of Drinking Buddies with a murder mystery fit in for intrigue.

3 dead man's shoes out of 5

Spider (2002)

An often overlooked film from David Cronenberg that absolutely deserves more attention than it currently receives, for a number of reasons but mostly because of Ralph Fiennes acting his socks off.
His speech characterises him, as you'd expect, but perhaps even more important are his mannerisms, clothes and even his stained fingers, all of which are an exquisite commentary on his inner feelings.
The Becket-esque halfway house in which Spider resides has a nearby factory that looms in an almost Ballardian way. The two styles work as one thanks to Cronenberg's ability to make them feel as if they deserve each other.
I really like Miranda Richardson and loved seeing her get such a powerful role.
Be warned, the trailer makes it appear something it's not.

5 bad airs out of 5

MIEKKAILIJA [2015]

aka
The Fencer

Finnish director Klaus Härö's historical sports drama, Miekkailija, aims to reach higher than it actually can.
It's the true story of Endel Nelis, who fled Leningrad to avoid the Soviet police, then ends up in a small town in Estonia where he acts as a Phys Ed teacher and begins teaching his young students the art of fencing.
At a mere 90 minutes long the film doesn't have a whole lot of time to really flesh out the story it has in it's grasp.  However, it's thoughtfully directed with convincing performances, exquisite photography & music and generally all around appealing to experience.  All until it reaches just a little past the half-way mark where it becomes a generic underdog sports film.  The outcome is far too expected and rushed, leaving very little room for the heart it yearns to touch.  

3 makeshift epees out of 5

MERU [2015]

Meru is a frighteningly riveting documentary from crazed mountaineer Jimmy Chin & his wife Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.
Three well-experienced mountain climbers decide to climb the shark's fin of  Mount Meru in the Indian Himalayas but, like everyone before them, fail to reach their goal.  After suffering some life-altering tragedies and with all odds against them, the three decide to make another attempt, no matter how insane it may seem.
How much you understand the way these men think will have direct effect on how much you'll get out of the film.  Many will write them off as reckless madmen, while others will admire their determination to overcome their troubling obstacles, both mental and physical, in order to succeed.  This isn't an action movie but it got my heart rate going a helluva lot faster than a lot of Hollywood explosions have tried to do.

3½ vertical mountainside camp-outs out of 5

THE INTERN [2015]

I'm willing to lose what little credibility I had in admitting I don't actually mind light, predictable fluffy movies, like director Nancy Meyers' The Intern.
A likable old widower decides to liven up his life a little by getting a job as a senior intern at an internet fashion site, where he takes orders from a career-crazed woman that can't seem to get a grasp on her personal life.
It's very much a fantasy world where all big crisis' are solved with a short conversation and a hug, resolutions are a plenty and all the evils of the real world are non-existent.  With that being said, it's easy to call it a flick purely made for dear old mom to escape to for two hours.  De Niro & Hathaway's chemistry is actually quite convincingly cute with such a charm I quite enjoyed each scene they shared together.  To call this is a comedy is giving it too much credit but it has some warming humor in it, mostly from it's great cast of supporting characters, who are more than just silly padding.

3 Ocean's teams out of 5

Tokyo Girl (2008)

Two hopeful writers (played by Kazuma Sano and Kaho) deeply affect each other's lives, even though one is living in 1912 and the other in 2008.
I'd describe it as a kind of light sci-fi for romantically inclined teens, which sounds absolutely awful, I know, but it does what a story should do in a straightforward, enjoyable way: it has a beginning, middle and end and the protagonists are changed in some manner by taking the journey.
The final fifteen minutes will make a real difference to how you feel about the whole. In some ways it begins to resemble a kind of live action version of a Makoto Shinkai first draft. And as someone who understands that distance can be beneficial in strengthening bonds, it even managed to make me feel oddly sentimental, so I'm giving it a decent score.

3 connecting circles out of 5

RIDE ALONG 2 [2016]

Director Tim Story brings back Ice Cube & Kevin Hart for another comedic romp in the sequel to the 2014 hit, Ride Along.
This time around the bad boys are heading to Miami to bring down a dangerous drug lord who's supplying their hometown with his product.
While the first film failed to muster a whole lot of laughter from me, this second outing somehow managed to improve upon it's tired formula with a breezier pace.  Tossing Ken Jeong into the mix to form a mismatched trio works incredibly well and offers most of the film's laughs.  The story-mapping is pretty sloppy, the character arcs are terrible and it's more predictable than downing a boxful of laxatives but at least it's pretty damned funny.

3 brother-in-laws out of 5

BRIDGE OF SPIES [2015]

Director Steven Spielberg and screenwriters The Coen Brothers team-up to tell the story of the Cold War 1960 U-2 incident in the slightly fictionalized espionage drama Bridge of Spies.
It focuses on American lawyer, James Donovan, who's recruited to defend captured Soviet spy Rufus Abel, much to the dismay of his own country.
For the kids looking for Bourne-esque car chases and knife fights this is the wrong spy movie for you.  It's a fairly quiet film that offers no surprising twists or turns but it's told and performed by such masterful cinema veterans it captivates without all the usual flashiness.  Spielberg's precise direction is at some of it's best here, complimented with some mesmerizing lighting & photography, a tastefully dramatic score from Thomas Newman and a brilliantly low-key performance from Mark Rylance as Rufus Abel.
It's not a particularly memorable film, compared to the rest of Spielberg's huge filmography but it's certainly one of his most perfectly executed.

4 big American breakfasts out of 5

DEADPOOL [2016]

Animator/director Tim Miller, the guys who wrote Zombieland and actor Ryan Reynolds bring the foul-mouthed Canadian anti-hero, Deadpool, to life in this spin-off of the X-men comic book movie franchise.
A wisecracking mercenary who is dying from cancer decides to take part in an experimental cure that leaves him horribly scarred, but with amazing healing powers, sending him to go on a violent revenge frenzy.
Constantly breaking the fourth wall for kicks, Deadpool makes full use of it's hard R rating which results in some pretty extreme violence, filthy language and various objects up one's anus.  Reynolds was born for this role and his dedication to it raises the quality of the what could have easily been pure trash.  Instead, the film is a ruthlessly funny comic book flick that teeters on the edge of becoming the film it aims to make fun of.

3½ crime-fighting shit swizzlers out of 5

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN [2015]

Luck Number Slevin director Paul McGuigan gives the Mary Shelley classic monster story a twist by adding in Igor as the protagonist in the bafflingly sloppy Victor Frankenstein.
The good crazed doctor saves a brilliant hunchback from an abusive circus ringleader, so they can aide each other in the research of making life eternal, leading one mand down a path of self-absorbed madness and the other spiraling into a tedious love story.
I was willing to give this critically panned box office bomb a chance seeing how much I've enjoyed the two lead's previous works but left with mostly disappointment and regret.  At first it seemed like it might be an attempt to rework the energy drink makeover of Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes into the Frankenstein story and I was prepared to accept this silliness.  The first 20 minutes or so seemed to handle this idea quite well and then it just falls apart into boredom and gets duller and more duller by the minute right up until it's uninspired climax.

2 back-braces of 5

WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE? [2015]

Bobby Fischer Against the World director Liz Garbus gives us a glimpse into the troubled mind of jazz-soul singer/pianist and civil rights activist Nina Simone in the electric documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?
The film does a fine job at covering Simone's early years as a child leading up to her days as an angered black rights activist.  She suffered from a severe case of bi-polar depression, all the while the social and political issues of her time deeply affected her and the music she played.
She's always frightened me with her raw honest anger but something about her voice obviously intrigued me and this documentary furthered that interest in the woman and her works.  It's a moving tribute to the woman who wasn't afraid to speak her mind, even when it did force her blossoming career into a nosedive, which she never fully recovered from until the very end.

4 classical pianists out of 5

O MENINO E O MUNDO [2013]

aka
Boy & The World

Nearly 2 years after it's home country release, director Alê Abreu brings the rest of the world into a refreshingly colorful animated reality in Brazil's O Menino e o Mundo.
A young boy, raised in the secluded countryside, goes on a journey into the crazy world seeking out his father, where he experiences everything the planet has to offer him, both good and bad.
It's told in a uniquely designed fashion that relies on it's brilliantly designed picture and organically composed music to tell the story rather than the odd mumbled dialogue of senseless gibberish.  Abreu paints the industrial materialistic world with a downbeat ugliness but never forgets to teach there's still quite a bit of hidden beauty left still worth fighting for.  The lesson being taught gets a little heavy-handed near the end but it's so brief it can be forgiven.  It's as inspiring as it is mortifying but when it all comes down to it, the film is a brilliant feast for the ears and eyes.

3½ cotton poodles out of 5

The Killer (1989)

Chow plays a skilled assassin with a level of morality that the current Triad leadership deems outdated. When an attack of conscience weighs heavily on the killer's sense of right and wrong he quickly becomes a liability for the organisation and much bloodshed follows.
The typically black and white nature of cop and criminal is shaken up and given a new lease of life; it's bold but still within the realms of believability.
Parts of the story go directly for the heart strings with a sentimental song and subtly stirring themes but it never once compromises on the stylish, violent and balletic gunplay that Woo is famous for.

4 bullet discrepancies out of 5

THE BIG SHORT [2015]

Regular Will Ferrel film director Adam McKay takes a slight step out of his comfort zone with the funny biographical drama The Big Short.
It tells the story of th 2007-2008 U.S. mortgage housing crisis and follows four unrelated high-finance figures who foresee the financial collapse and try to milk it for everything they can.
It's not a particularly interesting tale nor is it easy to follow and fortunately McKay & a slew of high profile names make it easier for the average viewer to digest.  Thankfully the dryness of the subject matter is sprinkled with a wicked sense of humor and despicable, yet entertaining, oddball characters giving it an enticing push into an easy-to-follow pace.
McKay's usual brand of silly humor is replaced with a brainy cynicism that might still be funny but never forgets the seriousness of the topics at hand here.  In short, it's like a dull accounting class being effectively taught by an angry clown that's determined to make even the thickest of fools understand.

3½ Margo Robbie's in a bubble-bath out of 5

Welcome to the Jungle (2003)

aka The Rundown

A run-of-the-mill action movie with nauseating fight scenes and a buddy dynamic in need of a lethal injection. The Rock (when he was still called The Rock) is a 'retrieval expert' who goes to the Amazon jungle to manhandle someone who doesn't want to be retrieved.
I'm aware that he was basically doing what he did as Mathayus in The Scorpion King (2002), albeit in a more modern setting, but SK had heart and a sense of fun that wasn't forced. Welcome... has little of either of those things.

1½ hostile monkeys out of 5

RIDE ALONG [2014]

Fuck Tha Police co-writer Ice Cube & uber-zippy pint-sized comedian Kevin Hart play a cop & a cop-to-be in director Tim Story's bickering buddy action/comedy Ride Along.
Atlanta Police Academy newbie Hart rides along with gruff detective Cube in order to prove that he is worthy of marrying the hard-assed cop's younger sister.  Wacky hijinks ensue and everything falls in place in the end.
Based on the late-night talk show interviews I saw with these guys I loved their comedic chemistry so I figured this flick would be good for a few laughs.  Technically it offers a few mild belly laughs but nothing worth noting.  In fact, it's kind of a major disappointment, especially when you weren't asking for much in the first place.

2 Black Hammers out of 5

AMSAL [2015]

aka

Assassination

Hit & miss South Korean director Dong-Hoon Choi's espionage action film Amsal is so damned thrilling it's easy to forgive it's heavy missteps.  

During the 1930's in South Korea while under still under the Japanese occupation, a rag-tag team of Independence fighters are hired to assassinate the Japanese commander.

It's sort of flamboyantly stylish ride that it immediately made me think it's like something Sergio Leone and John Woo would make together if they just wanted to have mindless fun.  The catch is that the film isn't entirely mindless, in fact it's packed with enough characters and plot twists it's almost hard to keep up with.  The biggest flaw is it's lack of fleshed out characters, especially considering there's so damned many of them.
However with some brilliantly executed action sequences and all around awesome aesthetics it manages to be an insanely fun but bumpy ride.

3½ good shots in the dark out of 5

Attack of the Super Monsters (1982)

The dinosaurs didn't really die out. Instead, they hid underground, growing more intelligent, biding their time for a return. They've now surfaced to shoot fire from their mouths and take over the world. The Gemini Force Defence Squad, a team of four brave heroes who can do some pretty amazing things, fight the good fight against the evil Emperor Tyrannus (a talking T-Rex).
AotSM is the first four episodes of a thirty-nine episode Japanese TV show titled Dinosaur War Izenborg (1978-79) joined together, dubbed into English and released as a feature. Even in its bastardised form it's as mad as a hatter. It's a tokusatsu/kaijū/superhero show that mixes various kinds of live action footage with cel animation, sometimes in the same scene; think Gamera + Thunderbirds + Gatchaman and you'll be on the right track.

3 bionic transfers out of 5

GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY & THE PRISON OF BELIEF [2015]

As if we didn't already need anymore reasons to call the corporate religion of Scientology of load of bat-shit crazy mumbo jumbo, director Alex Gibney's documentary, Going Clear, offers us even more ammo to fire away with.
At first, it wisely offers us a lengthy history of the religion, giving the viewer insight as to why it might have seemed so appealing in the first place.  However as the church grows, we see greed, shadiness and danger become more deeply involved.  It's odd when many of the people speaking strongly against it sound just as nutty as their foes and some even appear to feeding us a load of bullshit as well.  Only when it all comes down to it, who are you going to believe: the people willing to testify or the ones too scared to even show up to defend themselves?
It's an interesting watch, for the most part, but a bit pointless when one really doesn't need anymore convincing that these folks are as nutty as a fruitcake.

3 celebrity Dwarfs out of 5

THE NIGHT BEFORE [2015]

Director Jonathan Levine brings the Christmas cheer and beers with the bawdy holiday bromance comedy The Night Before.
Three friends decide to end their longtime holiday tradition of hitting the town on Christmas Eve as they all find their getting too old to take part in such vulgar activities but not without going out with an unforgettable bang.
There's plenty of gags that fall flat on their face but with that comes some insanely funny moments that should allow it stick around for at least one annual yuletide viewing with the buddies.  The film has a tough time balancing it's heart with it's dick but manages to bring in some pretty touching moments (both ways).  It packs in just enough spirit to make an enjoyably crass joyride for those who know exactly what they're getting into.

3 not-so wise men out of 5

I SMILE BACK [2015]

Adam Salky directs comedian Sarah Silverman in a fearless and emotionally demanding performance in the simple, yet challenging drama, I Smile Back.
Silverman does an incredible job at portraying a stay-at-home mom who appears to be living the happy life, but while the husband & kids are gone for the day, she deals with her bi-polar depression with some unforgivably self-destructive behavior.
Salky's direction is pretty confident and never strays away from it's purpose but it's the story that seems to lack much purpose other than showcasing what it's like to live with or love someone suffering from mental illness.  We've all seen this before and this film gives us no reason to see it again other than Silverman's multi-layered performance that deserves more recognition than it's received.

2½ violated teddy bears out of 5

The HAMMER Mummy Collection

There have been a number of Mummy franchises over the years but, like the title says, this one is for HAMMER Studios only, of which they made four (1959–1971). The bandages aren't really that frightening, but what they represent is. While they keep the walking corpse from falling to pieces, they also serve as a constant reminder that it's possible to become trapped in an eternal prison/punishment, cursed and unable to progress to the afterlife. The horror the Mummy experiences is equal or greater than what they make us feel. The mixture of mortal fear and sympathy is an odd one that none of the films make the best use of, but that doesn't stop them being entertaining in other ways.

Films on In a Nutshell:
01. The Mummy (1959)
02. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
03. The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
04. Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)

Dead Ringers (1988)

When Cronenberg helms a story about identical twin gynaecologists who share their patients and their lovers then you expect to find an uncomfortable mixture of sexual practices with clinical ones, but Ringers goes to even deeper levels of unease. The pair live an ordered lifestyle, are outwardly confident, professional and well-respected by their peers, but it's the shadow cast by the privacy of their complex relationship that the viewer needs pay close attention to. Like in a single body or organism, when an interdependent part falls out of sync with its connecting organs malady occurs.
Jeremy Irons is amazing in a dual role, feeding himself emotional triggers and responding to the same situation, sometimes in two very different ways.

4 character distortions out of 5

Scanners III: The Takeover (1992)

aka Scanner Force

If good intentions were enough to make a film good, then part three would be better than it is thanks to leading actress Liliana Komorowska giving it her all.
Elsewhere, it has a few interesting ideas and developments, such as offering up a scenario in which Scanner self-indulgence could go head-to-head with Scanner self-control, and it has a number of enjoyable kills.
It's a shame, then, that it's so badly constructed. The enthusiasm of Liliana frequently meets its opposite in her male counterpart, sometimes dialogue was recorded too close to the mic, and there seems to have been no effort made to hide the wires (or the cameraman on at least one occasion).

1½ pigeon pieces out of 5

Scanners II: The New Order (1991)

There's no Cronenberg, Howard Shore, or any returning cast members, but overall part two isn't a bad film, even if the telepathy does occasionally overstep its boundaries, borrowing principles from the telekinesis camp without explanation. You thought we wouldn't notice, Mr Writer?
The Scanners being used by a power-hungry group is once again an issue, but beyond that it actually tries to do something different with the component parts. It has some neat ideas of its own, meaning it's not just a retread of the first film's plot. Don't worry, it does still pop a few heads...

2½ nose bleeds out of 5

Scanners (1981)

The eponymous individuals are able to kill with just a thought. When a corporation that wishes to control the Scanners no longer can, they need the help of a Scanner to stop the others. Yay for dramatic irony!
Patrick McGoohan is excellent as the fatherly psychopharmacist; Michael Ironside is unquestionably good as a menace; but, I'm sorry to say, while Stephen Lack did okay as a lost soul, he didn't have the experience at the time to make the internal conflict of the lead role hit as hard as it should have.
If you're familiar with Cronenberg's early works, such as Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the Future (1970), you'll recognise trace elements of their structure beneath the action, mostly within the film's settings and concerns.

3½ head pressures out of 5

God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand (2006)

A young boy named Sou dreams of nasty things that eventually come to pass, but quite often to people he's never met. The premonitions take their toll, requiring the boy's sister to step in and help out.
The questions that arise during the first half hour lure us into the bloody strangeness, while the mystery drives the sister onward, but it doesn't last. It doesn't explain many of the important things, which is something I was hoping for and may be the reason I didn't like it as much as I otherwise could've. Plus, the film's best scene is also its worst scene, which was very annoying.
Ultimately, it's an interesting horror oddity from Japan that goes to some very dark places, yet fails to shed light where it was needed.

2½ coloured clues out of 5

Sucker Punch (2011)

Is it a movie or a very long, boring music video?
No, wait, it's a movie, right? No, no, it's definitely a music video...
Now it's a video game without any gameplay. It's a fighting game that's now a WW shooter that's now in a LoTR fantasy setting and... where's Nathan Drake?
The cinematography is like Jean-Pierre Jeunet with clinical depression.

TL:DR - Zack Snyder. Shite.

1½ parameters out of 5

Rica 3: Juvenile’s Lullaby (1973)

The killjoy authority figures drag Rica in for another (temporary) stay in reform school, one that very much resembles a women in prison movie, but she soon escapes. Once outside, the part of the story that I thought was going to develop further, about a black woman and her half-Asian daughter being harassed by a racist gang leader, was overshadowed by the expected delinquency, itself watered down with too much camp comedy shenanigans. But it remains stylish throughout, even when it turns into little more than a female motorbike gang flick with some chase chic sequences.
Interestingly, the screenplay for all three Rica films was handled by Kaneto Shindô, which seems like an odd pairing when you consider his own films.

2½ sex headaches out of 5

The King of Pigs (2011)

A South Korean animation that's as brutal and uncompromising as a lot of the country's live action output. It examines the hierarchy of violence that exists in the home of adults and in the classroom of children (middle school). The reasons for the behaviour are explored, such as fear, inadequacy, humiliation, etc, but it's up to the viewer to decide if any of them can be considered as justification. There's a class divide, too, that's relevant to some.
The story occasionally drags its heels and the animation quality dips from time to time, especially during scenes of characters walking, but there are enough powerful emotions and dramatic contrasts to make King of Pigs a worthwhile purchase for fans of Asian cinema. Just don't let the kiddies see it.

3½ real monsters out of 5