If you've never wondered why the streets aren't overrun with broken people, then this might not be for you. For the rest of us, though, this is an excellent perceptive, unsettling, thought-provoking psychological drama. Blinding performances from the two leads, with solid support from the rest of the cast.
Reviews
8 Reviews
The Wolf of Wall Street
(2013)
Brilliant but...
2 April 2021
Brilliant Scorcese, massively talented actors etc etc. But I could only stand about 45mins watching these disgusting, misogynist, vile people, for whom I had not even a nanogram of empathy. You'll probably say that's the whole point, in which case enjoy. But I just found it tragic. Not tragi-comic: just tragic.
The Fox and the Child
(2007)
Doesn't Fit Comfortably into Any Particular Box
13 February 2012
I can see from some of the reviews here that many people don't like things that don't fall easily into a particular category or genre. To me, The Fox & the Child was part folk-tale, part nature documentary, part morality tale.
From the start, I revelled in the beautiful photography of beautiful landscapes. Lighting, set design, and composition create a folksy/fantasy feel that should be a bit of a give-away to those who think that the film's story is 'unlikely'. The animal shots, while portraying realistic animal behaviour, also have a quality that tells us that we are watching a celebration of the beauty of nature, rather than a scientific treatise on the flora and fauna of Europe.
The icing on the cake for me was that the story has a look at the difficult relationship between Man and Nature. The child learns that wild animals are not pets, and ends the year wiser than she started it.
I was going to give The Fox & the Child an '8', but felt compelled to subtract a whole point for that dreadful little song that is up there with Disney's "It's a Small World" for burrowing its way into your brain and refusing to leave.
From the start, I revelled in the beautiful photography of beautiful landscapes. Lighting, set design, and composition create a folksy/fantasy feel that should be a bit of a give-away to those who think that the film's story is 'unlikely'. The animal shots, while portraying realistic animal behaviour, also have a quality that tells us that we are watching a celebration of the beauty of nature, rather than a scientific treatise on the flora and fauna of Europe.
The icing on the cake for me was that the story has a look at the difficult relationship between Man and Nature. The child learns that wild animals are not pets, and ends the year wiser than she started it.
I was going to give The Fox & the Child an '8', but felt compelled to subtract a whole point for that dreadful little song that is up there with Disney's "It's a Small World" for burrowing its way into your brain and refusing to leave.
Four Lions
(2010)
Laugh at something and it's a bit less scary
27 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
One thing I don't see mentioned in other reviews is that, in this film, everybody is an idiot. From the incompetent jihadis to the incompetent police snipers (was that a bear or a wookie?), the surely-you're-not-serious MI5 man, and the clueless politician. For a moment I thought Omar's pious brother and his circle were going to be the only sensible people in the film, but, no, they shut their womenfolk in the toilet and are patently idiots too.
While I recommend subtitles to anybody not from the north of England or with no knowledge of British-Asian culture, I wholeheartedly recommend this film. Being able to laugh at something bad is the first step in diminishing its power.
While I recommend subtitles to anybody not from the north of England or with no knowledge of British-Asian culture, I wholeheartedly recommend this film. Being able to laugh at something bad is the first step in diminishing its power.
Legends of the Fall
(1994)
Dated
16 September 2008
I've only just got around to seeing this in 2008 and it really is dated nonsense. The whole time I was getting mixed up with that similar one about fishing, but I don't know which one came first.
What's wrong with it? Well, mostly the fact that it's such an American cliché. The actors try bravely to make something of it, but while Anthony Hopkins' Welsh accent was believable for the period, I was incredulous when he suddenly appeared to switch to Irish for no apparent reason. The anarchist sentiments also left me feeling very uncomfortable: isn't Montana where all the survivalists and anarchists live? The film appears to have been released a year before the Oklahoma bombing; I doubt if these people would have been so glorified afterwards.
If the music wasn't a cliché when the film was made then it certainly is now: all those sweeping massed violins just make me queasy.
The icing on the cake, though, is the noble savage depiction of the Native Americans. Patronising, 'wouldn't-it-have-been-nice-if', imaginary nonsense, straight from the Dances With Wolves genre.
What's wrong with it? Well, mostly the fact that it's such an American cliché. The actors try bravely to make something of it, but while Anthony Hopkins' Welsh accent was believable for the period, I was incredulous when he suddenly appeared to switch to Irish for no apparent reason. The anarchist sentiments also left me feeling very uncomfortable: isn't Montana where all the survivalists and anarchists live? The film appears to have been released a year before the Oklahoma bombing; I doubt if these people would have been so glorified afterwards.
If the music wasn't a cliché when the film was made then it certainly is now: all those sweeping massed violins just make me queasy.
The icing on the cake, though, is the noble savage depiction of the Native Americans. Patronising, 'wouldn't-it-have-been-nice-if', imaginary nonsense, straight from the Dances With Wolves genre.
Keeping Mum
(2005)
Underrated
11 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I really don't know why I'd never heard of this film until it popped up on Film Four the other day. I suppose British films just don't get the promotion. But this is, as somebody else has pointed out, a classic British black comedy in the same spirit as The Ladykillers and others. If you don't remember that, in modern terms I suppose you'd say this film is what would have happened if Quentin Tarantino had directed Nanny McPhee or Mary Poppins: his usual body count but more humour and without the explicit blood and guts.
Reading the summary, prior to seeing it, it sounded as if the cast - some of my favourite British actors - were all playing to type. However, I found myself sympathising with Kristin Scott-Thomas's character in a way I haven't with any of her previous ones; she normally plays people I would cross the road to avoid, and does so quite brilliantly. Here, she shows another aspect of her talent, with a portrayal that is both sympathetic and incredibly funny.
Liz Smith is superb as always, and certainly plays to type in the sense of what happens to her character: I saw her complaining about this in an interview recently. It would be nice, I think she said, to play a character who doesn't die.
Maggie Smith again demonstrates her wonderful gift for delivering hysterically funny lines (see Quotes, above) in completely deadpan fashion, and Patrick Swayze again shows what a wonderfully good sport he is; the posing pouch had the wife & I howling with laughter.
The star of the whole show, though, has to be Rowan Atkinson's vicar. Here, in a performance worthy of an Oscar IMO, he shows that his comic timing is unparalleled. Even funnier, though, his visual, physical comedy is probably the best in the world since Jacques Tati.
Laugh? We nearly fell off the sofa.
Reading the summary, prior to seeing it, it sounded as if the cast - some of my favourite British actors - were all playing to type. However, I found myself sympathising with Kristin Scott-Thomas's character in a way I haven't with any of her previous ones; she normally plays people I would cross the road to avoid, and does so quite brilliantly. Here, she shows another aspect of her talent, with a portrayal that is both sympathetic and incredibly funny.
Liz Smith is superb as always, and certainly plays to type in the sense of what happens to her character: I saw her complaining about this in an interview recently. It would be nice, I think she said, to play a character who doesn't die.
Maggie Smith again demonstrates her wonderful gift for delivering hysterically funny lines (see Quotes, above) in completely deadpan fashion, and Patrick Swayze again shows what a wonderfully good sport he is; the posing pouch had the wife & I howling with laughter.
The star of the whole show, though, has to be Rowan Atkinson's vicar. Here, in a performance worthy of an Oscar IMO, he shows that his comic timing is unparalleled. Even funnier, though, his visual, physical comedy is probably the best in the world since Jacques Tati.
Laugh? We nearly fell off the sofa.
The Green Mile
(1999)
Uncle Tom is now a faith healer on Death Row
31 January 2006
I was coerced into sitting through "The Green Mile" the other evening on video. Quite a watchable thriller, really, but left me very uncomfortable. I'm a white Englishman, but even for me the words "Uncle Tom" were hovering in the air and refused to go away. OK, the plot device of the automatic assumption of guilt and wrongful arrest of the big black guy only worked if he was black. But the - apparently surprising - fact that he could be huge and black but still "nice" then seemed to be a central part of the plot.
The only thing this story reveals is the prejudice and bigotry of the writer and his intended audience.
The only thing this story reveals is the prejudice and bigotry of the writer and his intended audience.
Raising Victor Vargas
(2002)
Nice movie
16 February 2005
I think that Americans have trouble understanding their own diverse cultures. The negative reviews here seem to be by people who just didn't get it. I'm in UK and I "got it". It's basically a nice, feel-good, low-budget, rights-of-passage film, reminiscent of Bill Forsyth's "Gregory's Girl": at times poignant and at times funny. The kids start by pretending to be what they're not. Victor isn't, as one reviewer seems to think, the neighbourhood Lothario; he just likes, like all kids his age, to pretend that he is.
I'll tell you what, you just export these films to the rest of us, and keep the car-chases and gratuitous violence of the "action" films for yourselves.
I'll tell you what, you just export these films to the rest of us, and keep the car-chases and gratuitous violence of the "action" films for yourselves.
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