Northwest Frontier[aka Flame Over India](1959)
Kenneth Moore straps on his stiffest upper lip as the consummate British hero of this rousing boy's own adventure. A blood and thunder spectacular with every trimming known to man.Hundreds of extras,masses of massive explosions,gunplay, fisticuffs and even an attempt at human drama.Director J Lee Thompson treats us to a busy movie then,with little time for story The opening voice over explains everything that's going on with no fuss or bother. India,1905 and our hero(Moore)is ordered to escort a six year old Prince(Govind Raja Ross)across 300 miles of rebel infested wilderness aboard a locomotive filled with a colourful crew of supporting players led by strong willed Governess Lauren Bacall.Then its straight into the action.Good charismatic performances from all involved makes it the type of stuff that Sunday afternoon matinees are made of.
8/10
Three fairly recent watches
Being John Malkovich (1999) Directed by Spike Jonze as John Cusack finds a portal to JM's head in his office. Funny and inventive, Malkovich enters into the spirit of it, Cameron Diaz plays well against her normal glamorous role and Catherine Keener is very good in the bitchy role 7.5/10
Absentia (2011) an effective low budget and low key horror as sisters Catherine Parker and Courtney Bell investigate a tunnel they believe is linked to disappearances. Generally avoids cheap horror tactics , decent ending 7.5/10
Angel On My Shoulder(1946) A gangster played by Paul Muni is sent back to earth by The Devil as a respectable judge to make up for his previous life. Muni, so good in Scarface in 1932 is pretty stilted though Claude Rains is fine as the Devil. The film as a whole is pretty dull 4/10
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I really enjoyed the film but it wasn't without its faults, the film isn't for children so if you expecting a comic book film which can be accessible to anyone then you may be disappointed.
Ben Affleck was great as Batman and Bruce Wayne his a different kind of Batman who's brutal and conflicted and in pain certain events show why his a different kind of a Batman.
Superman was good trying to find a place to fit into the world but never being accepted by some people again his conflicted with his place and purpose.
Lex I thought was good creepy, evil and maniputive pretty much how he is in the comic at times he was a little too in-centric and lacked charm my fav version of Lex has been the one in Smallville and the Superman animated series.
Wonder Woman was good in the brief role she had Gal Gadot proved me wrong and am looking forward to her solo film next year hopful it's done right with the direction it's taking we could be getting something good. The cameos were good but brief, over all with the plot it's like being given the jigsaw pieces and as the film goes the pieces slowly fit together. The is also influenced and has elements taken from graphic novels one of which is not a spoiler is The Dark Knight Returns, three others which I can't name as that would be a spoiler one of graphic novels was made into animated movie that's all I'll say. Jeremy Irons was great forget to mentain him.
Now the negative's some people might not like the pacing, or some storylines which may look like there unfinished or some parts crammed too much. There's a certain DC character which I didn't like how the person was dealt with am all for modernising characters but you can go too far. Some may feel the film is too long for me wasn't a problem and the Jessie Esienberg may not be everyone's cup of tea, it's not perfect or flawless or even being a film of the year also tho the cameo's were good they could have been done a little bit better. All in all I liked some people may not and that's perfectly fine. I am looking forward to Directors Cut of film hopful this will fix some of the problems and explain the film a bit better. Roll on Civil War, X-Men and Suicide Squad. 9.2/10.
Blood on Satan's Claw aka Satan's Skin(1971)
In 17th century England,a farmer's plow uncovers a weird,one eyed skull.Soon the childen of the village are behaving unnaturally.A well photographed occult thriller,directed very stylishly by Piers Haggard and featuring a fine performance by Patrick Wymark as the Judge.
7/10
The Wolfpack(2015)
6 brothers who are imprisoned by their domineering father in an apartment in New York only know about life through watching movies. Director Crystal Moselle's dark,tender documentary wanders into their cramped but creative world as they act out scenes from films at home.Slotting in candid interviews for more insight into their lives and watching them break out into the city they both crave and fear is captivating stuff.The film however never really tackles the question about the fine line between what is an eccentric upbringing and what is an abusive upbringing.
7.5/10
The Incredible Hulk, all tho the critics gave the film above average rating I loved it much better then the previous one which I found boring. I liked Edward Norton as Bruce Banner just a shame he never got to carry on the role all tho Mark Ruffalo is very good. 9/10.
Three more recent watches
Night Train To Lisbon (2013) a really absorbing drama thriller which starts off strangely as staid teacher(played by Jeremy Irons) working in Bern rescues a girl and when she runs off he's left with her coat and a book, the author of this book lived in dictatorship Portugal and so on impulse he travels to Lisbon and investigates the history of early 70s Portugal, the dictatorship and the Resistance, and in the process he opens up himself. Irons is very good, and backed by an excellent cast including Lena Olin, Tom Courtney, Jack Huston and Bruno Ganz, this is worth catching. I'm already intending to read source novel 7.5/10
Dom Hemingway (2013) Jude Law is fine in the title role and Richard E Grant is OK too, as Hemingway tries to collect what he's owed after a spell in prison. It's all rather loud and over the top and doesn't stay long in the memory 4.5/10
The Other Man (2008) Liam Neeson as a husband who suspects his late wife was having an affair. Dull's the word script and twist wise fairly implausible too, not worthy of the talents of Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney 4/10
Lilly the Witch: The Dragon and the Magic Book(2009)
Alina Freund stars as Lilly in this German film based on the successful children's books by Knister and illustrator Birgit Rieger.Wonderfully and skilfully directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky.Thoroughly enjoyable thanks to a strong performance by young Alina Freund,backed up by excellent practical and visual effects.
8/10
Three more means I'm now up to date and will now be probably reviewing one film a day
Poltergeist(1982) directed by Tobe Hooper as a poltergeists emanate from the TV and cause havoc in a family home. It starts fairly slowly, building the situation up and then its mostly inventive small shocks rather than major scares, until it reaches a fine crescendo at the end. The cast (Jobeth Williams, Craig T Nelson, Heather O'Rourke, Beatrice Straight, Zelda Rubinstein) is above average for a horror film, O'Rourke a natural child actor. Steven Spielberg produced and co wrote it. A couple of tragedies attached to the film, O'Rourke died in 1988 from an intestinal blockage aged 12 and Dominique Dunne, who played the older sister was murdered by her ex-boyfriend months after the film was released, aged 22 7/10
Garden State (2004) in the wake of Scrubs Zach Braff wrote, directed and starred in this comedy/drama as an actor returning to his hometown for his mother's funeral, sees his old mates, meets an eccentric girl (Natalie Portman) and eventually build bridges with his father(Ian Holm) . Good acting all round with some comedy of the less wacky variety than Scrubs and an effective indieish soundtrack. 6.5/10
Spike Island (2012) a likeable tale of a group of young musicians attempting to deliver their demo tape to The Stone Roses at a gig at Spike Island. 6/10
missing Link(1988)
Carol and David Hughes directed Peter Elliot,as the last Ausrtralopithecus robustus(man ape)his tribe has been slaughtered by the aggressive Homo erectus(humans)in this unusual docudrama narrated by Michael Gambon.
7/10