Eyes of a Stranger (1981)

I like the styles of John Carpenter, Dario Argento, and Alfred Hitchcock; based on this film alone, I'm willing to bet that Dir. Ken Wiederhorn does, too. It has a Carpenter vibe in both form and its simplistic but thoroughly effective use of music; the violent murders are like something Argento would stage, albeit with less Italian flair; and the plotting that Hitchcock favoured is an obvious influence on what Wiederhorn chooses to show. One could therefore argue that it's not very original, but I'd counterargue that it works and I personally didn't feel it was derivative in any way; I enjoyed it very much.
It was the big screen début of both Lauren Tewes and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Tewes plays a news reporter on the trail of a rapist/serial killer. Leigh is a blind, deaf, mute sister that Tewes cares and feels responsible for.

3 shirt stains out of 5

Fame (1980)

When it comes to musicals Alan Parker can generally be relied upon to deliver an interesting film; from a certain perspective Fame could be described as such, but it's not engaging and quite often even qualifies as downright boring.
It follows a group of hopefuls at the NY High School of Performing Arts from audition to senior year. As tensions and creativity spill out of the classroom into the halls the drama becomes real for some of the youths, but it never did for me. I rarely got the feeling that the set-pieces chosen were in any way more special than any others might have been; what was left on the cutting room floor must have been pretty dismal viewing.
The standout characters (but not necessarily standout actors) are Leroy Johnson, Doris Finsecker and Coco Hernandez (Gene Anthony Ray, Maureen Teefy, and Irene Cara, respectively), but, personally, the English teacher, Mrs. Sherwood (Anne Meara), intrigued me more than any of the students.

2½ sweaty leotards out of 5

Wonderland (2003)

The story of what became of XXX movie star John Holmes after his onscreen career had ended but his hard drug addiction hadn't.
Portrayed as a sleazy and selfish weasel, Holmes (Val Kilmer) is the quintessential lowlife user of people, befriending others solely because they can give him what he needs, with betrayal just another bump in the road.
The presentation is choppy, employing techniques that aren't always complementary to each other; in trying too hard to be edgy it goes from one stylistic choice to another sometimes with little or no rhyme or reason. It occasionally works but mostly it's disruptive and detrimental to the whole.
It's an okay film in the end, but indulging the many truth games and multiple unreliable narrators shtick wore me out long before the credits rolled.

3 lead pipes in the drug house out of 5

ZIR-E SAYEH [2016]

aka Under the Shadow

Iranian director Babak Anvari tackles much more than a scary movie with the eerie Iraq-Iran war-torn horror film Under the Shadow.
Set in Tehran, Iraq during the War of the Cities of the '80's, a young mother trying to deal with the war the that surrounds her home is given even more stress when her daughter begins talking about evil spirits.
Important themes of rebellion, feminism and oppression are tossed around, all the while Anvari is keen on keeping the viewer frightened as well.  I don't know if it was the unfamiliarity of the setting that kept me on edge or the threat of missile coming through the window any second but not once did I feel comfort within the film.  The supernatural evil of the film never really does a whole lot to frighten because it feels so familiar to the hundreds of "young woman & kid haunted" films that have come before it.  Nevertheless, it's an intriguing brisk watch for ghostly horror fans tired of the North American/Japanese settings.  

3 missing dollies out of 5

Daybreakers (2009)

A decade after the majority of the world's population is turned to vampirism their food stock (i.e. fresh human blood) is in short supply. If an alternative isn't found the society that until now has continued to function just fine will begin to die out, but not before the thirsty citizens turn on themselves.
Ethan Hawke stars as a haematologist searching for a viable solution. He's in the belly of the beast, but is there for the right reasons.
It's certainly an interesting spin on the vampire myth, with an always pertinent social message as undercurrent, but the film rarely manages to break out of its own muted atmosphere. Perhaps it was never meant to and I'm wrong to assume otherwise? Either way, in my mind its sombre mood successfully elucidates its message but also prevents it from being more memorable.

3 light modifications out of 5

THE EYES OF MY MOTHER [2016]

Director Nicolas Pesce's directorial debut The Eyes of My Mother isn't necessarily a horror film but it's certainly one of the most horrific of 2016.
Filmed in a cold black & white, it follows a young woman, who suffered a tragic loss in her early years that haunted her well into adulthood which leads the viewer down some disturbing passageways.
I went completely blind into this film and it was for all the better as it even seemed like the lead character, played by the oddly terrifying and alluring Kika Magalhaes, wanted you to view the film in such a state (you'll see what I mean).  It interestingly never shows too much violence or graphic content on screen and instead allows your imagination to run wild making it all the more grotesque.  Which is funny, considering the amount of complaints the film has received for being overly graphic.  It's a beautifully crafted immensely upsetting nightmare that shouldn't go unnoticed by fans of the weird and bizarre.

4 lenses out of 5

An Education (2009)

I knew after just two minutes of hitting the play button that I was going to enjoy An Education, and that even if it didn't wound my heart completely it would at least leave a lasting footprint or two in my sand.
It's a coming of age drama set in London, 1961. Schoolgirl Jenny (Carey Mulligan) has a bright future, but love gets in the way, as it often does at that age. The focus of her affections is the older and more worldly David (Peter Sarsgaard), a well-dressed cad who deems it appropriate to date schoolgirls.
Carey Mulligan is phenomenal as the youth who makes adult decisions based on feelings and intuition. She reminded me of a young Jenny Agutter in many ways, channelling the same kind of captivating sincerity and believability. To experience her performance is reason enough to watch it, but there's the added draw that it was scripted by author Nick Hornby.

4 French phrases out of 5

THE FOUNDER [2016]

You ever care how fast-food empire McDonald's got it start?
Me neither.  However director John Lee Hancock's The Founder does help make it somewhat interesting.
It follows businessman Ray Kroc as he takes the McDonalds brother's idea of fast-food and turns it into a towering franchise.
Micheal Keaton's dominating portrayal of Kroc is what makes the film, as the rest is a little lacking in intrigue.  Sadly the rest of the cast of characters are shamefully underwritten but thankfully actors like John Carroll Lynch, Nick Offerman & B.J. Novak have just enough acting chops to give their characters a bit of flavor.  It's not a great film, a little TV-movie-ish in fact but it's got enough going for it to at least give it a chance.

3 milkshakes without the milk out of 5

THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE [2016]

Considering a morgue is probably one of the creepiest places around it's surprising more horror films don't make use of it's setting.
Thankfully Trollhunter director André Øvredal remedies that with his English language debut The Autopsy of Jane Doe.
A father & son, working as coroners, receive a mysterious woman's body with an urgent need for cause of death, however things starting getting weird and uber-creepsome once they start slicing.
The single-location film knows it's claustrophobic setting is the star here and, boy, is it ever effective.  However riveting the first half of the film is it sadly begins going downhill near the end as the mystery gets lost in an over abundance of silliness.  Still with it's brisk pace it never feels like you're wasting your time with this well-performed little midnight creeper.

3 cats in the vents out of 5

I Don't Want to Be Born (1975)

aka The Devil Within Her / The Monster

A bizarre but lousy entry in the 'Oh no, evil infant!' sub-genre that Polanski's Rosemary’s Baby (1968) popularised. Ex-stripper Joan Collins births a bruiser of a tot that she believes is possessed by evil. Her husband Gino (Ralph Bates) flaffs about like a third wheel, occasionally offering support in a spurious Italian accent. Hysterical Joan overacts, rich Ralph underwhelms, and the mini pugilist baby looks bored, accompanied by music that's anything but scary.
I don't know who to feel the most sorry for, the baby, the actors (who obviously needed a pay-cheque), the editors who had to cut all the tacky shit together, or myself for sitting through every bad minute of it.

1½ nursery crimes out of 5

MY BEAUTIFUL BROKEN BRAIN [2014]

Originally produced in 2014, director Sophie Robinson & Lotje Sodderland's documentary My Beautiful Broken Brain finally got proper distribution in 2016 thanks to Netflix & executive producer David Lynch.
It documents Sodderland's uphill battle with her own brain, after she suffers a hemorrhagic stroke that makes it next to impossible to speak, read or write, while also suffering from hallucinogenic moments of nightmarish confusion.
Told mostly through Sodderland's cellphone camera, the film is deeply personal as the subject herself is instantly relatable even if she doesn't know her ownself in several moments.  Visually the film is quite captivating, as it alters the imagery quite often to reflect the hallucinations Sodderland experienced.  It manages to balance the moving human story with the medical explanations of what's going on to create an emotional journey is both fascinating and heart-breaking.

3½ frightening moments in the Red Room out of 5

Pit Stop (1969)

aka The Winner

Given almost complete free rein by Roger Corman to make a "stock car" movie, Jack Hill delivered a film that's littered with rough edges, but like most of the director's early works it has enough keen-eyed style to sate his fans.
Rick (Richard Davalos) is a street racer, a kind of poor-man's James Dean who's stubbornly independent and filled with a self-destructive drive. When given the chance by an uncaring sponsor (Brian Donlevy) to prove himself on a deadly Figure 8 racetrack, Rick indulges his hungry ego.
A rival in the form of Hill regular Sid Haig playing an arrogant prick keeps things interesting, but the most memorable part for me was Ellen Burstyn.

3 big wheels out of 5

LIFE, ANIMATED [2016]

God Loves Uganda director Roger Ross Williams brings us the warmly welcomed documentary Life, Animated.
The film documents the early life a young man struggling with autism who learned how to communicate with and understand the world around him through his love of Disney films.
Without being emotionally manipulative, the film delivers a sincere tale into a world we might not be familiar with and offers some inspirational reflections on our own daily struggles.  The film leads right up to Owen beginning his own life as an independent adult where he faces real adult struggles not covered in Disney films (sex, break-ups, jobs, bills) and it frustratingly never shows how he deals with it, when the credits begin rolling.  It might be cut off a little short but it's still a touching tale about love and the closeness of family.

3 protectors of side-kicks out of 5

LA TORTUE ROUGE [2016]

aka The Red Turtle

At the request of Studio Ghibli, Dutch director Michaël Dudok de Wit takes on the beautifully told fantasy La Tortue rouge.
Void of any dialogue, the film follows a man who's washed-up on a desert island that constantly tries to make his escape only to be mysteriously pulled back in, leading him to a life he never thought possible.
It's told with the type of logic that can only be found in myths and fables but is keen on teaching us lessons about our own hearts and actions.  Not overly concerned with facial expressions, the animation is more about the landscapes and expressive actions of the characters, thereby dwarfing the isolated protagonists against the vastness of the ocean that surrounds them.  There's nothing in this fairytale that will bother the children but the themes explored are purely adult.

4 more rafts out of 5

LOVING [2016]

Jeff Nichols' second feature film of 2016, Loving, is subtle, poignant and most of all an important retelling of American history.
It follows the story of interracial married couple, Mildred & Richard Loving, who battled the state of Virginia in the late '60s to keep their marriage together in a time that prohibited it.
Normally movies like this are proud, overly powerful, filled with "a-ha!" whipper-snapper lawyer moments, lengthy monologues, swelling music and that Oscar-winning performance clip.  However instead of easily following that path, Nichols stays true to his quiet style of film-making and it's all the more better for it.  It could have been that film that uses disturbing violence, overly weighty-moments and melodrama to get it's point across, but instead it only uses solid human drama and love to make the mightiest of statements.  It might not be instantly captivating but it's certainly is one of the most worthwhile dramas of it's kind.

4 snap-shots out of 5

13TH [2016]

13th is director Ava DuVernay's look into the U.S. prison system and how it is still very much relevant to the country's long history of racial inequality.
It's an articulately crafted documentary, using lawyers, academics and legislators to explain the history of American racism, the Civil Rights Movement and what each president, starting with Nixon leading right up to Trump, has done wrong to stop this problem (Obama excluded).  It's an interesting and angering watch but seems to forget to speak to that actual prisoners and victims themselves.  Yes, many are uneducated, quite often violent and unreasonable but there's many reason behind that and it needs to shown.  They're human beings that need their stories told through their own mouths and not from behind nice office desks and studio meeting rooms.  It's a well-meaning quality documentary that's sure to start some good conversations but's it's afraid to go those involved first-hand.

3½ disturbing reflections of yesterday out of 5

HACKSAW RIDGE [2016]

Mel Gibson makes a triumphant return to the director's chair with the horrifically violent war drama Hacksaw Ridge.
Based upon a true story, the film follows WWII army medic Desmond Doss, who famously refused to carry weapon and believed he was going to war to help rather than destroy, during the Battle of Okinawa.
Andrew Garfield delivers his best performance to date, proving he's going to be around for quite some time.  There's a certain amount of heroic beauty and heart found within the intense violence that will leave you emotionally drained.  There's been some magnificent battle scenes captured to film and Hacksaw Ridge should go down as some of the best.  A unique hero in a war film about peace.  They don't come around often enough.

5 pacifists out of 5

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA [2016]

If there was an award for dreariest film of the year, then writer/director Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea would be the front-runner for such an accolade.
After his brother dies, a troubled man is forced to return to his hometown to take care of his mourning nephew, where his tragic past creeps up with no remorse.
The film's biggest strengths are it's acting talent, with Casey Affleck & Lucas Hedges taking center stage with what I feel is the best onscreen chemistry of 2016.  The actors are only as good as their material and there's plenty of mesmerizing scenes and dialogue to keep the audience captivated.  It is a bit slow in moments but no matter what you can't help but keep drawn into the films devastation.

4 bar fights out of 5

PATRIOTS DAY [2016]

Director Peter Berg's second 2016 film based on real-life tragic events is the surprisingly good Patriots Day.
Centering the events around the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings might be a little too fresh in everyone's mind but Berg & co. never fully exploit the facts for the sake of popcorn action.
Rather than focus too much on the terrorist plot details the film is more interested in honoring the heroes involved and how they went about their time during the 100-hour manhunt.  There's some amazingly acted & written scenes worthy of great praise, however they find themselves in the middle of some lesser scenes that feel more boringly standard to the terrorist thriller genre.  It sits on a very fragile line of exploitation and honorable tribute and that's what deter most folks from seeing the film.

3½ bad knees out of 5

Dragon Blade (2015)

On paper (or onscreen) the premise of DB is kind of interesting: in 48 BC a Roman leader marches his army into China in an attempt to conquer the Silk Road trade routes that connected the West to the East. The trade routes are historical fact, but seeing Roman centurions in China is something uncommon in film. Sadly, the result is another modern 'epic' bore-fest that excels in its beautiful costumes while failing at almost everything else.
Really, why must we have three-hundred people in a scene that realistically only needs a few? More does not equal better. I used to consider Chinese action cinema as some of the best in the world, but dross like this has none of the vibrancy and distinctiveness that once made Asian movies so special.

1½ homemade flags out of 5

LA LA LAND [2016]

Whiplash director Damien Chazelle continues his love for music with his faithful homage to the 1950's Hollywood musicals, La La Land.
It's the simple story of boy meets girl, falls in love and everything in between against the backdrop of a colorfully glamorized version of Los Angeles.
It might callback to such classics as Singin' in the Rain or even more-so Jacques Demy films but La La Land still manages a distinct look and feel all it's own.  Aided by it's two charismatic leads, cool cat musical numbers and brilliant photography, the film's simplistic storyline takes a backseat but never trails off too far to try and bet better than it could.  In this day and age, La La Land is probably what the world needs.  Good, clean fun that wows with it's flamboyancy and outgoing spirit.  

4 traffic jams out of 5

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS [2016]

Director Stephen Frears remains in his comfort zone with period piece drama Florence Foster Jenkins.
Meryl Streep does a superb job as the real life 1940's socialite, who has so much money, the people around her helped her become a much-talked about opera singer, despite her not being aware of how horrid her voice was.
I rolled my eyes at first, seeing Frears, Streep and composer Alexandre Desplat involved, thinking 'oh boy, here comes another Oscar bait film'.  And it is, but Frears usually does such a fine job at it, it's easy to forgive.  Streep is in the spotlight here, both tragic and funny but The Big Bang Theory's Simon Helberg astonished me with his quirky but realistic role as her confused pianist.  It's light entertainment that really does nothing to offend the intelligence.

3 "good" reviews out of 5

25 APRIL [2015]

Director Leanne Pooley's animated documentary 25 April has it's heart in the right place but it misses the mark in the oddest of ways.
Through animated talking heads and dramatic re-enactments, the film tells of the tragically violent 1915 Gallipoli Campaign through six New Zealanders' recorded memoirs.
The film's biggest problem is the awkward animation that feels more like an early Playstation game, with it's overly clean color shadowing and stiff movement.  Top notch for originality but considering the material, I feel it just doesn't do the events the justice it rightly deserves.

3 war dogs out of 5

EDDIE THE EAGLE [2016]

For some odd reason director Dexter Fletcher & co. find it necessary to exaggerate an already unbelievable true story with Eddie the Eagle.
Inspired by British ski-jumper Eddie Edwards, the film follows his rise to fame as the most lovable personality to emerge from the 1988 Winter Olympics.
If they went so much to change the story, why couldn't they have avoided the endless amounts of underdog '80's sports movie clichés?  Maybe that's the point, if it is trying to emulate the films of it's time.  Thankfully Taron Egerton turns in a irresistible performance as the title subject, while Hugh Jackman is a ruggedly charming as ever as a drunken curmudgeon made up only for the film.  It's sweet enough to not leave a bitter aftertaste but leaves much to be desired.

3 dreams come true out of 5

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES [2016]

Director Greg Mottola's action/comedy Keeping Up with the Jonseses joins a long list of potentially very funny dumb movies that never live up to it's potential.
When a mysteriously perfect couple move into the neighborhood, a boring husband & wife think there's more than meets the eye...and there is.
Sure there's plenty of chuckle-worthy moments but it gets you going and then constantly hits a wall of unfunny boredom.  The first half of the film is so paint-by-numbers by the time you get to the better final half the film has almost lost all hope.  The always entertaining Isla Fisher and Jon Hamm keep the film from getting too ho-hum but it's nearly not enough.

2 snake bars out of 5

Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)

In order to save his reckless younger sibling from a fate worse than the film itself, brother Nick is tasked with stealing many cars, an activity that he retired from six years previously. But he's the selfless hero type, so after some badly scripted and hackneyed soul searching he obliges.
To its credit it adds a lot of story that wasn't in the original H.B. Halicki version (1974), but none of the additions are particularly interesting - some are even ruinous, nonsensical and weigh the plot down rather than lift it up.
One thing it does almost as well as its source is manage to be representative of the era in which it was made. Unfortunately, that means it replaces 70s chic with woeful 00's action clichés. The last half hour is particularly bad.

2½ dirty ladies out of 5

Gambit (2012)

A straight-to-DVD remake of a 1966 Ronald Neame film of the same name.
It stars Colin Firth as a pained art curator who plans to fleece a rich and bastardly Alan Rickman of a very large sum of money. He can't do it alone, however, so enlists the help of a Texan chicken-plucker named PJ Puznowski (Cameron Diaz), who makes an already average film even worse.
The big draw for a lot of people will be that its final screenplay was penned by the Coen brothers; and while a sizeable portion of it has their wit it lacks the timing and finesse that they themselves usually bring to a production.
Firth is the obvious comedy highlight, but a special mention for the two Savoy Hotel desk clerks is definitely in order.

2½ unforeseen wrinkles out of 5