Mother, Couch (2023)

Some movies are so inscrutable, sometimes you just have to tackle it head on. Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans and Lara Flynn Boyle play estranged siblings whose mother (Ellen Burstyn) refuses to get up off the couch at a furniture store. No, this isn't some body horror/fusion-type deal. It's a 'thinker.'

If you sit to the end, the answers don't become much clearer. Its logic is ripped straight out of a fever dream. If I had to take a stab, I'd say this movie is about the process of letting go, moving on, or something or other. It just doesn't do a very good job of keeping its audience invested throughout. The performances are compelling, which is all that saves it from getting a much lower score.

2 dressers out of 5

The Exorcist: Believer (2023)

Taking the Halloween (2018) approach and ignoring the rest of the sequels in the franchise, they brought back Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair after an unprecedented 50-year absence and completely squandered their roles. Burstyn could have easily become the new Father Merrin character and brought it all full circle. This film essentially replicates the plot of the first movie, except this time two girls are simultaneously possessed by the same demon. That means it's twice as good, right? Fuck off.

The original film was memorable and terrifying but this movie fails to introduce anything new to the formula. This was supposed to be the first part of a new trilogy, but it underperformed so badly, it put the kibosh on all their plans. It doesn't help that David Gordon Green was also responsible for that Halloween reboot trilogy.

2 Tubular Bells 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

The Calling (2014)

Susan Sarandon, in a rather uninspired role of narcotics abuser and listless rural cop, is on the trail of a series of ritualistic murders. With the help of the rookie transfer (Topher Grace) and her fellow detective (Gil Bellows), they narrowly stumble onto each lead. Despite being pegged as a thriller in the trailer, the pace is extremely slow and many of the performances lackluster. It's blatantly obvious this is director Jason Stone's first feature. I did however find some creep factor in the cinematography portraying the bleak Ontario winter and the performances from Donald Sutherland and Christopher Heyerdahl.

2 attention-getting tennis balls out of 5

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2011)

The story of a seventeen-year-old intelligent but disillusioned loner whose family want him to fit in with their functioning dysfunctional lifestyle. I usually enjoy this kind of film, but the youthful James (Toby Regbo) has almost nothing to actually complain about. His problems are as shallow as the people he criticises. A good kick up the ass would sort him right out. Even when something meaningful happens it just skims off the surface of his underdeveloped self, not penetrating the core of the character. I enjoyed it for what it was but felt it could've been so much more.
Regbo reminded me of a younger version of Jude Law, which I realise is a cruel thing to say, but it's true.

2 breakfast rhythms out of 5

THE FOUNTAIN [2006]

The Fountain is a deeply personal film from director Darren Aronofsky that I wasn't too sure about at first but several years later have found it's aged quite nicely, amidst all its problems.
It explores themes of love, life and death meshed in with religion, science, theologies and philosophies which makes for a bit of an abnormal experience for someone not expecting it.  Still, Aronofsky never quite finds an even flow for the narrative or a heart to anchor the human aspects of this overly ambitious story, so when we are supposed to feel our hearts are manipulated by Clint Mansell's wonderful music.  When it all comes down to it The Fountain is a daring celebration of human mortality and an admirable effort in doing so.

3 Trees Of Life out of 5

The Exorcist (1973)

I don't think it's the scariest film of all time, but it is a disturbing one and an eerie aural experience. It's slow to begin but creeps under your skin, unnoticed, until it settles into your consciousness with an intensity that's very hard to define. Friedkin's direction is almost vérité which adds to the realism and heightens the unease. Unlike many Hollywood films it remains as objective as possible; it doesn't preach or attempt to influence the viewer's established notions of good and evil. It simply is what it is.
The unintentional humour is the only thing that keeps it from being perfect.

4 the pea of soup compels you out of 5

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Requiem scares me; not in the traditional sense, but in a very real, unshakable, under the skin way. It has two parallel stories that overlap occasionally. Together they present an overwhelmingly suffocating experience that once seen will never be forgotten, no matter how much you may want to.
If film awards meant anything then Ellen Burstyn would have a closet full of them for her work. Stylistically, it’s Aronofsky through and through - for me that’s a good thing. Watch it.

5 refrigerators out of 5