#07: ZONE OF INTEREST

 

STARRING: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller. Written and directed by Jonathan Glazer. Based on the book The Zone of Interest  Martin Amis. Music by Mika Levi. Running time 105 minutes. 

One of the most deeply unsettling and emotionally charged films I've ever seen, this will haunt me for a long time to come. 

Set in 1943 in an idyllic family house with a beautiful garden built next to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The film follows the utterly mundane daily lives of Rudolf Höss and his family as they live a life of domestic bliss and luxury seemingly oblivious to the utter horrors committed just over their garden wall. The film follows the family and their servants as they go about their daily lives of play, school, and house chores  accompanied at all times by the sounds of mechanised death which fill their lives without mention. 

When Höss is called back to Berlin, his wife refuses to leave the family home, leaving him to a few months alone, until he unveils the blueprint of his plans to systematically exterminate millions of Jews and his sent back to his beloved home as a reward. 

Against the bizarre perfect home life of the Höss family, steam from the trains arriving at Auschwitz, and the billowing smoke from the camp's chimneys stain the ground and local river to deeply unsettling degrees. 

Directed by Jonathan Glazer who's track record includes Sexy Beast and Under the Skin this is a staggering emotional experience that must rank as one of the scariest films I've ever seen. The sparring use of almost industrial sound based music and the never ending noise of the death camps that fill almost every second of this only works to create a true sense of absolute dread.

There are no high points or low, the slow moving pace of the film only serves to make it even more unsettling and the sheer banality of Höss and his wife's relationship and home life just makes you want to scream that little bit louder.

This is a powerful and deeply chilling experience, which despite its subject matter I urge you to see. We as a species must never forget the horrors of the Nazis and of fascism.  

10/10

#06: AMERICAN FICTION

 

STARRING: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam brody, Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown. Written and directed by Cord Jefferson. Music by Laura Karpman. Based on the book, Erasure by Percival Everett.  Running time 117 minutes.

Jeffrey Wright is Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a black writer of dry, academically well received novels of merit, and an English professor in a Los Angeles University. When Monk is forced to take an extended sabbatical after one of his students is triggered by his writing of the 'N' word on the blackboard he finds his troubles only growing when first his latest novel is rejected and his agent urges him to write something more 'black'. Then his sister dies and his mother gets diagnosed with dementia.

A visit to a literary festival as a guest inspires him to write an stereotypical 'Black-experience' novel, about drugs, gangs, violence and gangstas in contempt of what he sees as a glut of so called black-lives fiction written mostly for a white audience. The book written more as a joke then a real effort shocks Monk when it's optioned  for $300,000 and then even more so when the film rights get sold too. To compound the deceit, Monk creates a fake identity for the author of an escaped convict called Stagg R. Leigh and then finds himself as part of a voting community for a prestigious literary award where his book is shortlisted. 

Jeffrey Wright, whose film this is, delivers a superb and beautifully nuanced performance as the conflicted author struggling with a complicated social life and richly deserves his Oscar nomination. The film is classified as a comedy drama, although the comedy comes from clever, mostly word play jokes rather than the usual comedies Hollywood throw at us. 

Sadly it's a film with too many stories and too much baggage and the central story that of the writing of Monk's faux black experience novel, which is genuinely funny, gets sadly sidelined by the family drama and the climax somewhat fudges the ending. Still, it's a satisfying and adult drama about relationships and real life and has something to say about today's Generation Alpha's fragile psyches.

8/10    

#05: THE BOY AND THE HERON

 

STARRING: Luca Padovan, Robert Pattinson, Karen Fukuhara, Gemma Chan, Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe, Dave Bautista. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Running time 124 minutes.

I've always loved animation, indeed I even studied it at Uni, and among my favourite animators there's one name that stands head and shoulders above the rest, Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps the world's greatest living animator, writer and director of animated movies. In the past he's given us Spirited Away, My Neigbour Totoro, Laputa (my favourite), Princess Monokoe, Pocco Rosso to name but a few and to that list of masterpieces you can happily add this, his 12th film as writer and director.

The Boy and the Heron is the first film written and directed by Hayao since 2013's The Wind Rises. Whereas that film was a fictionalised biographer of Jiro Horikoshi, the father of the infamous Japanese Zero fighter plane, The Boy and the Heron is an different kettle of fish. Part fantasy, part family drama, part fairy tale.

The film follows a young boy, Mahito Maki, who loses his mother in a hospital fire that sees his father and him relocate to live with his pregnant aunt in the countryside. It's there that he encounters a mischievous magical grey heron who promises to take him to his mother, whom he claims is still alive and so begins a fantastical story that takes the boy on a quest unlike anything I've ever seen before, offering up originality and depth that just continues to delight and amaze with each passing scene. 

It's such a joy to watch an animated film at the cinema that isn't just the usual generic CG Hollywood guff filled with wise-cracking sassy kids and talking animals or robots, where pat stories and valuable life lessons are dishing out and learned by a bland boring characters. 

And this was truly astonishing to watch, it's a visual masterpiece and I found myself time after time just marveling at the subtles and exquisite attention to detail that fill this film through every single second of its 124 minute run time. I found myself opening gasping in awe at the small throw away details, the way a crease ebbs and flows across a sleeping boy's clothes, the way the lapping sea stains the beach before leeching away. The visuals are truly astounding and left me almost weeping, and yet the visuals would be nothing if the story did not match. 

In that department, Miyazaki does not disappoint, creating a fantastical world so rich and detailed it truly beggers belief, our hero, Mahito's journey into that world on his quest is never pat, or simple, the audience is never pampered and the multi-layered story deserves your attention. It's also a film filled with subtle references to his past triumphs, from Laputa to Spirited Away and Valley of the Wind via Princess Mononke and even Lupin.

In the space of a single month I have now seen two Japanese films that have had a profoundly effect upon me, this and the equally as brilliant Godzilla Minus One, both of which it occurred to me are set during WWII. 

This is a film you truly need to see, even if you're not a fan of animated films, it's a film that could only be done through the medium of animation or Anime if you're being pedantic. Miyazaki is a true master of storytelling and this film ranks as one of his greatest, up there with the Oscar winning Spirited Away, and I firmly believe that come this year's Academy Awards this film too will win the award for Best Animated film, indeed it deserves to win for Best Picture instead.

A beautiful, wonderful, dazzling movie with true heart and emotional depth that deserves to be seen on the big screen. It is pure cinematic perfection.

10/10

#04: THE HOLDOVERS

 

STARRING: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa. Written by David Hemingson. Directed by Alexander Payne. Budget $23.4 million. Running time 133 minutes.

Set in an exclusive New England boarding school at the tail end of 1970 as Christmas and New Years draw close, The Holdovers follows, bitter, vindictive and exceedingly strict classics professor, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) forced to skip his own Christmas vacation to look after four pupils of various ages left behind by their respective families while the rest of the school head off for the holidays. Joining them is Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) the kitchen administrator, who is grieving for the death of her son, an ex-pupil killed in the Vietnam War. When a twist of faith leaves just one pupil Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) behind, a strange friendship is struck between the three of them as Christmas grows ever closer. 

Emotions and relationships are explored as Paul's borderline alcoholic thick skin is slowly chipped away and Dominic's angry rebellious rage against life is tempered while Mary tries to come to terms with her devastating loss. 

This is a love letter to the movies of the 1970s, right down to the use of the old Universal logo, the opening credits, the soundtrack, and even the very look of it. It harkens back to that wonderful golden era of 1970's Hollywood and the films of Robert Altman, Hal Ashby and Mike Nichols to name but a few.
  
This is a delightful movie, which deeply satisfies, slow and sombre but never boring, the centre of it all is Paul Giamatti who mesmerising, it's his relationship with Dominic Sessa that gives the film its punch and yet without the measured performance of Ra'Vine Joy Randolph who grounds the film, it wouldn't be anything that special. 

It's a funny film, although a laugh out loud one, it's a film that finds its humour in the relationships and dialogue of the three leads. The burgeoning respect that the two male leads learn from each other is moving and subtle. And the setting of a snow bound New England at Christmas gives the film a further layer of emotional connection. 

Yet again January brings another nugget of gold, I hope and wish this continues throughout the year, but experience tells me this glorious period of cinema won't last long. 

Until then, if you fancy something not fantastical, not filled to the brim with special effects, superheroes, action or guff then give this a go. It's a truly charming and wonderful character study with a real heart and a life-affirming ending. 

9/10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

#03: POOR THINGS

 

STARRING: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christoper Abbott and Jerrod Carmichael. Written by Tony McNamara. Based on the book, Poor Things by Alasdair Gray. Budget $35 million. Running time 142 minutes.

An astonishing film. Visually staggering, brilliantly acted by everyone, Emma Stone is outstanding, Ruffalo is a delight, and Defoe just does what he does best.

The story, a bizarre twist on the Frankenstein story, and set in an alternative Victorian London sees the rise and rise of Bella Baxter, a strange young girl who we discover isn't all she seems to be. Brought up by her guardian, Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe),a visionary scientist and surgeon, whom she calls God, which makes sense when you realise their relationship. Incredibly naive and childlike, she falls under the spell of roguish and hedonistic lawyer, Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) who introduces her to sex and whisks her away for a romp across Europe, all the while Bella becomes less childlike and more a powerful and independent woman who embraces every experience to become the queen of all she surveys.

It's a film not easily synopsised and truly has to be experienced on the big screen, it's a film that'll stay with you long after it is over, it's a film rich in detail, design and production design, a film that starts in black and white and turns to a deep and truly textured full coloured world of extraordinary vision.

Directed with pure vision, with a superb soundtrack and a performance from Stone which is so pure, so raw and so passionate it propels the film into something unique and visionary. 

Sadly, despite all this greatness the film is too long, if only it had been 20 minutes shorter then it would have been a solid 10/10, sadly though the running time and the somewhat repetitive nature of Bella's adventures in Paris tested my patience beyond endurance. 

That said, perhaps on a second viewing I won't mind the length, as the actress said to the bishop. 

Still, this is a truly unique, extraordinary and superb film worthy of your time.

9/10

#02: THE BEEKEEPER

 

STARRING : Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad and Jeremy Irons. Produced by Bill block, David Ayer, Chris Long, Jason Statham and Kurt Wimmer. Written by Kurt Wimmer and directed by David Ayers. Running time 105 minutes. 

The 'story' sees withdrawn, stoic beekeeper, Adam Clay (Jason Statham) a man of serenity, peace, bees and a deep dark secret mysterious past (I wonder what that will turn out to be?) living an almost monastic life tending to his bees. Everyday he's out there in the fields servicing his six hives and making honey, lots and lots of honey or electrocuting hornets. He's renting a shed from a kindly, old ex-school teacher and trustee of a multi-million dollar charity,  Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad) and together the two have built a sort of friendship. Things are lovely and rosey (although bees prefer lavender) until the kindly, old, ex-school teacher and charity trustee is scammed out of all her millions by a pishing scam run by a ruthless National criminal call-centre. In despair she shoots herself dead. And that's just in the first 10 minutes.

Typically Eloise chooses the one day she invited Clay round for a spot of dinner to kill herself, so he's the first one to discover her body. But before he can process his grief he's suddenly arrested by an incredibly potty-mouthed FBI agent Verona Parker, who turns out she's Eloise's daughter. Who also just so happened to stop by unannounced on the day her mother killed herself. What are the odds?

Wasting no time explaining his relationship to Eloise, or even attempt to talk to Parker, Clay is promptly arrested with extreme prejudice and processed (which will be helpful later on in the plot) You see with absolutely no evidence, Verona is convinced she's got her man. However seconds later he's released and she's sharing information about her mother's death and the scam call as if they were best buddies. 

With a flicker of an eye lash (the only time Clay shows any emotion at all) he's off to the call-centre with two massive tanks of gas to burn the place to the ground.

It turns out he's a retired 'Beekeeper', a completely autonomous covert agent with the authority to act as judge and executioner with extreme violence and no oversight. Gosh that was a surprise. 

What follows is Clay working his way up the food-chain from call-centre to call-centre to the very heart of the one of American's richest families, the Danforths! Turns out its wayward eldest son, Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson) isn't very nice. 

Vaguely hindered by ex-C.I.A director Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons) who acts as Danforth's head of security and his veritable army of expendable hired guns, Clay's journey is never in doubt.

This is a by-the-numbers shot-em-up, the action is relentless and repetitive, saved only by the savagery of Stath's kills. And boy is he stoic with a capital STOIC, cos, it's Jas the Stath! Indeed THIS is the Stath's John Wick in all but name. The body count is in the hundreds, the Stath is unstoppable and seems to repel bullets almost magically. Sure he bleeds a bit and gets stabbed a bit but not enough to actually slow him down. Also he has this hilarious habit of just appearing up at scenes in the midst of a bunch of bad guys or a SWAT team dressed in his bomber jacket and baseball cap and just scowl. 

There's humour to be had but very little blood, even after fingers are severed by a buzzsaw. The script is risible and actually features the line, "To bee or not to bee." as well as many of your favourite action film dialogue tropes. Plus its use of profanity is off the chart and the use of the word 'fuck' is thrown around with such abandon it becomes quite irritating and shows a deeply lazy writer. 

The villains are the best thing in this and are so sleazy and despicable you find yourself cheering their gory gruesome deaths. There's a torture scene with a stapler that's a true stand out moment, plus the final showdown with a demented one-legged South African hitman which is worth the admission price alone. 

The direction by David Ayers he of The Fury, Bright and Suicide Squad (the first really awful one) is perfunctory at best and when it's not action it's lazy, it's clear Ayers ain't got time for the bits without guns. The plot is staggering stupid and the coincidences that trigger it are pure bunkum.

And one can't help but wonder at the absolutely intrusive product placement of Twinkies in this film, whenever the action cuts back to the two FBI investigators. Most bizarre. 

It's a stupid, silly, action film featuring actors and actresses far better than the subject matter requires. Back in the 1980s this sort of film would have been made far better by Cannon Films and featured Charles Bronson. 

This is a classic Ronsel movie, it does exactly what it says on the tin. It's not big, and it's not clever but it's amusing and entertaining in the way only bad movies can be.

6/10

#01: ONE LIFE

STARRING: Anthony Hopkins, Johny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romaola Garai, Alex Sharp, Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter. Written by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake. Directed by James Hawes. Running time 110 minutes. 

Jesus H. Christ that was an emotional start to the New Year. This drama charts the rescuing of 669 Jewish children from Prague just before the outbreak of the Second World War by the London stockbroker Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins) and members of a charity set up to help refugees. The film cuts between Winton as an old man decluttering his home when he comes across an old briefcase with a scrapbook of memories, and him as a young man arriving in Prague and becoming obsessed with rescuing as many children as he can before the Nazis arrive. 

While in 'present day' of 1987, Winton struggles with the guilt he feels for all those he couldn't save and charts how the truth of his actions came to be known to a stunned society in a truly wonderful scene during the filming of an episode of That's Life.

The cast is simply superb, led by Hopkins who brings so much emotion and empathy to the role that the whole film left me a sobbing wreck by the end. This is a truly life-affirming and uplifting film that still packs a deeply powerful emotional punch at the terrible fate that befell the many thousands of children he couldn't save. The film is very well directed and every aspect of this film is deeply satisfying.

There's nothing more to say, this was a great way to start the New Year and I'm not ashamed to say I wept. 

9/10