#28: PROJECT: HAIL MARY

STARRING: Ryan Gosling, James Ortiz, Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub and Priya Kansara. Based on the book by Andy Weir. Screenplay by Drew Goddard. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Budget $248 million. Running time 156 minutes.

Astronaut Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) awakens from a medically induced coma on an interstellar flight to Tau Ceti, with no memory of why he's there and with the bodies of two dead crew mates as his only companions. Gradually, through flashbacks we find out just what the ruddy hell is going on and it's genuinely rocket science. It turns out that our sun and hundreds of others in our particularly arm of the galaxy are being eaten alive by something called Astrophage, a single cell organism. Well, all the suns except one, Tau Ceti. And so Ryland has been sent to find out why and maybe a cure before the Earth dies freezing. Trouble is, it's a suicide mission as Grace only has enough fuel for a one way trip. As his memory slowly returns and we discover more about his past, he arrives in orbit around Tau Ceti and discovers he's not alone in the universe. Waiting there is an alien spaceship from another part of the galaxy, whose sun is also being eaten alive and whose sole surviving inhabitant is also looking for a cure. The inhabitant is a strange, eyeless, six-legged, spider-like, rock creature who Rylan names 'Rocky' (James Ortiz) and together these two intrepid scientists search for salvation before the lights go out for both of their civilizations. Along the way bonding and becoming friends.

Based on the book by Andy Weir, who wrote the absolutely brilliant The Martian and adapted by Drew Goddard, who also adapted The Martian. It was a film I absolutely loved, one of Ridley Scott's best. And this shares a lot of the same DNA with that previous film, right down to the movie poster. 

It's also clear that Weir has tropes he likes to explore, as both his lead characters are marooned scientists using their wiles to survive and thrive, although this time round the stakes are global not personal. Both are 'hard' science fiction films eschewing space battles and killer transforming robots, but not aliens, which in this case is a good thing. Not since the exceptional 2016 movie, The Arrival has Hollywood presented us with an alien quite so, alien. 

Sadly for me, at least, the film starts off by slightly fumbling the ball by playing like a comedy with Gosling mugging, gurning and prat falling his way around the zero-G spaceship as he struggles with his amnesia and it somewhat undercuts the serious content. In the book Grace's amnesia was a fantastic way to get to know our lead character as glimpses of his forgotten life gradually restored his memory and built the plot. While here his memory loss is played mostly for laughs, not broad ones but still enough to put me slightly on edge. I suppose the trouble is I loved Grace in the book and the film seemed to be belittling him. I usually have no problems with adaptations of books into films, I know they are two separate mediums and as such I can't expect the film to be the book and wouldn't want it to be, but here the adaptations felt a less nuanced.

It's the introduction of Rocky, with his own tragic backstory, that elevates this film and gives it its heart as both beings develop a shared language and work together to defeat the Astrophaguel, or to find a cure. It's exciting, emotional and very entertaining. Gosling is easy on the eyes and can do this sort of role in his sleep. the puppetry of Ortiz and his crew pays dividends and I'm glad he wasn't just a CGI creation, having Gosling interacting with Rocky really nails the emotional connection. I'm so glad to see that this has gone down so well with the critics, scoring a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and I hope it does equally well at the cinema, I think word of mouth should work and propel this, it deserves it. I love these sort of one-and-done science fiction films that won't have sequels or overstretched franchises and I hope Hollywood keep on making them. What with this, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die and Steven Speigberg's lastest Disclosure Day (out in July) this year looks to be a good one for original science fiction films and I hope it lasts. Before I sum off, special mention needs to be made of not just the script or the skills of directors Lord and Miller, but also the music and sound track. The film expertly uses classic rock and pop songs to great effect that help to elevate the tension and drama, while the soundtrack by Daniel Pemberton is very satisfying too. 

Over all this was an entertaining, satisfying, exciting and enjoyable adventure that moved me and made me laugh, indeed there's one gag that made me laugh so much the audience laughed at my reaction. The gag was: "Knock knock." "Who's there?" "I don't do comedy." "I don't do comedy who?".

I went with daughter and wife. Daughter loved it and gave it a 9, wife not so and gave it a 7. Me...

I'd give it a solid 8/10. 

#27: BUGONIA

 

STARRING: Emma Stone, Jess Plemonds, Aidan Dlbis, Stavros Halkias and Alicia Silverstone. Screenplay by Will Tracy. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Budget $55 million. Running time 118 minutes.

Convinced his boss, Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company is actually an alien from Andromeda star system, conspiracy nut Teddy Gatz (Jess Plemons) and his autistic cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) kidnap her and keep her a prisoner in the basement of Teddy's rural and isolated house. To prevent her contacting anyone, Teddy shaves Michelle's head and covers her in body cream. Teddy wants Michelle to take him aboard her spaceship where he might be allowed to negotiate with the Emperor. All he has to do is keep her alive and his gradually fracturing sanity intact for three days when a lunar eclipse will allow communication with Andromedian spaceship which he believes is parked in orbit. And all she has to do is convince him she's not an alien with designs on ending all human life on Earth. Let the battle of wits begin.

A film hailed by critics and ignored by the public. This is a very slow moving movie, filled with lengthy monologues and unsettling music as the balance of power between Stone and Plemonds ebbs and flows, as secrets are exposed and hidden agendas revealed, but who is telling the truth? Is it Teddy, a flat-earther looney obsessed by conspiracy theories who has brow-beaten this cousin into his fanatical plan, or is it Michelle, the pent up, work-obsessed ball of nerves who governs her company like an emperor and lives alone in her hi-tech glass and steel palace isolated from everybody.

It's brilliantly acted and directed, it gets under your skin and niggles at the edge of your psyche. This builds to a conclusion which will either alienate or resonate and for me it was well worth it. Not so my long-suffering wife who disliked this greatly, although we did spend a good hour afterwards talking about it and any film that engenders discourse is alright in my book. 

It's at times extremely savage, surprisingly gory and brutal, it's also a very slow burn and will try your patience if you don't buy into its vibe. Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone keep making films that confound. surprise, frustrate and delight and this is no exception. 

8/10

#26: THE BRIDE!

STARRING: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal and Penelope Cruz. Written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. $90 million. Running time 126 minutes.

I think the tagline of the poster perfectly sums up the film, 'Here Comes The Motherfucking Bride!'

This is raw, rage-infused, manic, furious, relentless and perfectly encapsulates the notion of the original 'Punk' movement to a T, or 'P' if you'd prefer.

The plot set in America in the 1930s sees Ida (Jessie Buckley), a good time girl possessed by the spirit of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley during a drunken night out in a fancy restaurant. There she loudly spills the beans on the activities of a vicious crime boss, Lupino (Zlatko Buric) who promptly orders her execution, which her boyfriend Lupino's sidekick James (Matthew Maher) carries out by punching her down a staircase where she breaks her neck and dies. Meanwhile, 'The Monster' (Christian Bale) arrives in New York desperate for Dr. Cornelia Euphronious (Annette Bening) to help him create a bride to break his soul destroying loneliness. She reluctantly agrees and together they dig up the corpse of Ida, pump a mysterious gunk into her and then zap her with the electric output of the entire city. Ida awakens revived, still possessed by Mary but with no memory of her past life and together the two monsters runaway on a cross-country inadvertent murder spree pursued by Detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his assistant Myrna Malloy (Penelope Cruz). The two monsters fall in love and bond over Frank's love of the movies of Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), a Hollywood star and The Bride becomes a symbol of female rebellion, which in turns sparks a dance movement across the nation, as women, long the victims of male abuse, rise up to have their bloody revenge. The film builds to a bloody and violent ending which fits the material perfectly.

There is a lot to unpack here, it's not perfect, but still glorious in its reach and rage. It shifts tonally and ricochets from black comedy to feminist treaty to thriller to crime drama back to black comedy in a blink of an eye. And through it all strides Jessie Buckley who roars and rules the screen, the way she channels the spirit of Shelley is breath-taking. But this isn't a one-woman show, Christian Bale as the monster aka Frank is equally brilliant and the two actors clearly seem to revel in their roles and chemistry. Similarly, Maggie Gyllenhaal as writer and director of this astonishing film deserves special mention, her script, might be overwrought, overwritten and over-long, but it's also nevertheless insanely over the top and so packed with incident that it's like experiencing a drug-fuelled fever dream. She has created a superb and fantastic take on the Frankenstein mythos and this film pays homage to many of the those past films including Young Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein and the HAMMER Frankenstein franchise, while at the same time creating something all together new and rewarding, this is a version of the monster that is refreshingly fresh, profoundly ugly in looks but beautifully poetic and romantic beneath the scarred and mutilated flesh.

A violent, brutal, savage, chaotic, furious film that also touching, funny, moving and fugly romantic. This won't be everyone's cup-of-tea but it is insanely and fantastically unique and original. 

8/10

P.S.
I think this would make a wonderful double bill movie with Wuthering Heights.

#25: HOPPERS

 

VOCALLY STARRING: Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy and Dave Franco. Screenplay by Jesse Andrews, story by Daniel Chong and Jesse Andrews. Directed by Daniel Chong. Budget $150 million. Running time 105 minutes.

For 10 years, from 1995 until 2015 I watched every new Pixar film without fail, a total of 15 films, three of which made me cry, one which stunned me to its core thanks to its creativity, and one that remains on my top ten favourite films of all times. Sadly that legendary run faltered and I started to miss new Pixar releases, they just didn't resonate with me anymore, and it seemed to me that when once the Pixar mantra had been 'Story is King', it changed to 'Message is King', as each new film went out of its way to teach or preach at its young audience and I just didn't need to be preached at so I missed, and still haven't seen The good Dinosaur, Cars 3, Onward, Soul, Luca, Turning Red and Elio. indeed, Inside Out 2 was the last Pixar film I've seen at the cinema prior to this one, it was fun, but not necessary and sticked so closely to the classic Syd Mead three act structure that was it was just a generic sequel. Pixar didn't used to do those, but you know, Disney and their true mantra is 'Cash is the true King.' but that was it for me. 

Now, the announcement of a new Pixar film leaves me cold, or did until Hoppers. I was hooked by the trailer and the premise, it looked fun, fresh and fun and I was in!

And then I saw it.

Oh. Dear. What a disappointment, what a glorious-looking, visually stunning, and brilliantly animated film, but how generic, how average, how one note. There's a message, of course, and even that is about as fresh as three week old milk. The story sees Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda), an animal-loving Japanese-American college student's mind transferred into the body of a robotic beaver. The robotic beaver gives the wearer the ability to talk to animals, so she promptly steals it and goes off into the wild to convince the beaver population to return to her dead grandmother's idyllic wildlife pond at the bottom of her house. Turns out the greedy mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm) wants to use the site to complete his elevated ring-road around the city of Beaverton. Mabel discovers that each animal family has a king, and convinces King George, the beaver monarch (Bobby Moynihan) to unite the animal kingdom in an attempt to assassinate Jerry, using a great white shark, convinced his death will save the glade. Which in turn triggers Mabel to rethink her lifestyle choices and try to save the day. 

There's lots more going on, which I can't be arsed to try and synopsise, there's an evil villain, a human robot, a ridiculous car chase, a deeply frustrated human scientist trying to get her hands back on her animal robot, and a lot of stupid story rules that are shoehorned into proceedings only to be promptly ignored when the story demands.

I had thought, based on the trailer, that the robotic animal piloted by a human mind would be enough for a story, but sadly Pixar think that kids needs a wacky, outrageously stupid story to hang off the premise, so we get the whole environmental back story, the building of a ring road and all the rest.

It starts very well, the animation is a delight, there's a clever use of anime style to proceedings, and the Pixar look also works well here too, it looks great, the character design is fiesty and fun. Trouble is nowadays Pixar aren't the only show in town and with the likes of Blue Sky, Illumination Entertainment, Dreamworks, Sony Animation and a slew of others producing great looking and stylistic product, looking great just isn't enough anymore. This is the time when Story should be King.

Everything here is just so generic, the story so obvious, the plot beats seen a thousand times before. The conceit behind the story is so farcial, the human scientists watching Mabel in her Beaver robot interacting with animals, able to hear them talk and then witnessing the gathering of the animal kingdom royalty is ridiculous. Likewise the animals airlifting in a 3000lb Great White Shark to use as a smart bomb sounds hilarious but utterly shattered the created rules of this world. If you're going to create a science fiction story you have to have rules that work and you can't break them for the purposes of the plot. This doesn't so much jump the shark as drop it from a great height in an attempt to kill an innocent human. When the third act robot-walks into sight, and the true villian of the film is finally revealed the plot goes into overdrive and not only robs the film of all its borderline reality but ruins it completely with the introduction of a human robot suit that animals can use. 

There's a rule in comic publishing that you don't tell the reader on the cover that the comic is 'fun', 'funny', 'wacky' or 'crazy', a thing is either those things or it isn't and a reader will see through it and deem the object none of the above. The film wants everyone to think it's also all the above, but it's not. The idea behind is crazy, wacky, fun and a fantastic idea, but the film is anything but. The kids who sat watching this did so in stony silence and unmoved until the final act action bonanza specifically put there for the ankle biters to get excited. 

Also, call me old, but what the fuck happened to those glorious Pixar shorts that used to be screened before the film? 

Anyway, I've had enough, I've still got The Bride! to review, and a dog to walk, and it's only 8:00am.

This get a 6/10

#23: HOW TO MAKE A KILLING

 

STARRING: Glenn (The Next Big Thing) Powell, Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Bill Camp,  Zach Woods, Topher Grace and Ed Harris. Screenplay and directed by John Patton Ford. Based on Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman. Budget $15 million. Running time 105 minutes.

Apparently this is 'loosely based on Robert Hamer's classic 1949 Ealing Comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, which was heralded as 'loosely based' on the above mentioned Roy Horniman novel. This marks the second British comedy remake of the year, with last month's immensely enjoyable Send Help being a loose remake of The Admirable Crighton.

HTMAK sees orphan Becket Redfellow (Glenn Powell) sitting in his prison cell explaining to a priest on the eve of his execution how he murdered members of his immediate family so he could inherit a family fortune of $29 billion. This, he explains he did after being inspired to do so by his school sweetheart, Julia Steinway (Margaret Qualley) who walks back into his life as a staggering beautiful heiress and discovers him folding clothes in a upmarket men's fashion boutique. Becket loves the idea and with no hassle or difficulty at all proceeds to murder his way up the food chain so to speak, exhibiting extremely impressive chemistry and weapons knowledge to achieve his goals. At one point his uncle, Warren Redfellow (Bill Camp) kindly takes him under his wing, gives him a job, the one his son had before Becket killed him and sort of adopts him. Because this is Hollywood, Warren conveniently dies of a massive heart attack so Becket doesn't have to kill him and the audience won't dislike him as a character. Anyway, he slaughters his through his cousins until that fateful final showdown with his grandfather, Ed Harris.  

Finally once he's achieved his life ambition he's captured for a murder he didn't commit, that of Julia's husband, and gets sentenced to death. 

Over all this is a rather dull and un-engaging comedy action romp. Exhibiting no real bite, the murders are all utterly vanilla, bloodless and achieved with an ease that stretches credulity to breaking point and leaves the film completely toothless. It's all so goddam tame and dreary. The sublime 1949 original, set in Edwardian Britain, with Denis Price in the Becket role and Alec Guinness as all eight members of the D'Ascoyne family, as the Redfellows where known was a charming, witty black comedy that still delights to this day. In adapting and revamping the original film, all that John Patton Ford seems to have done is just shift the time and location to New York in the 2020s. So, thank god for Margaret Qualley at least in principle, who is a truly extraordinarily exciting actress, although she sadly overwhelms the rather bland Glenn Powell. She, or at least her character who exudes seduction and sinister intent, is the sole saving grace of the whole film. Although her character is not properly established and beyond a single caste kiss when they are both children seems to have no real connection with Becket. Hollywood seem determined to launch Glenn Powell as The Next Big Thing and keep chucking him at projects and they keep misfiring, if he doesn't find something he clicks in soon, he's going be become known as The Last Hasbeen. in this he is okay, but he's simply outclassed by both Qualley and Ed Harris who both give this film some glimmer of quality.

The direction is okay, the sound mix, for once is good, but the film looks cheap, and fails to convince this is a world of billionaires.  

Not all together totally horrendous, but I'd still dump it for just one more chance to watch the original up on the big screen. 

6/10

#22: EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT

 

STARRING: ELVIS PRESLEY. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Budget $11 million. Running time 97 minutes.

The story behind the making of this film is worthy of a film in its own right. While making his 2022 bio pic of the King, Elvis Baz Luhrmann went looking for unseen footage from the two legendary Elvis concert films – Elvis: That's the Way It Is and Elvis on Tour when he stumbled across 68 boxes of unseen footage in the Warner Bros film archives, situated in a Kansas salt mine. The film, both 35mm and 8mm featured not only Elvis's legendary 'Gold Jacket' performance from his 1957 Hawaii show, but also outtakes and previously unseen material, although sadly it all came with absolutely no sound. He also uncovered a previously unheard 45 minute audio recording of Elvis talking about his life and an unseen clip of Presley singing 'Oh Happy Day'. Baz then spent the next two years getting the footage restored and synced to existing audio sources. So far, so Wikipidia.

Although what Baz did next was to craft all that incredible footage into this utterly unique and extraordinary hybrid movie that's simultaneously a classic Elvis Las Vegas concert film stitched together from various shows and also a genuinely unique glimpse behind the scenes as we watch Elvis and his band rehearse and practice, then added to that, listening to the man himself talk about about his life and answer questions from various press interviews. There's also an after party sequence, with Elvis in his black leather outfit as he talks to a obviously delighted Cary Grant and Sammy Davis Jnr.

It all works to create a truly wondrous experience that's actually breathtaking. There's something about watching Elvis that is truly memorising, he is the consummate performer, and his obvious knowledge of music and its structure is mesmerizing to behold, watching him with his band, sweating, practising, shaping the performance to come is a true delight, much in the same way the superlative Beatles: Let it Be was, it's always a genuine privilege to watch true musicians, or artist, to craft their art, to seem to peek behind the curtain and watch the magic being stirred. There's a scene, from the Vegas shows, a reverse shot from the stage back at the audience that is simply staggering, a sea of fans, all moving as one, all cheering, waving, and you can feel the sheer delight and excitement of each and every one of them. All those marvellous 1960s and 70s fashions, sunglasses, haircuts and screaming, it's breathtaking. Good I loved this! The vibrant colours, the cinematography, the film throbs and surges with life and energy and the running time, flew by. This was a film to enjoy on the big screen, Elvis's head, hair and sideburns huge for all to see, and then when he's performing, Oh. My. God. There's a reason he was called The King. That man was pure power transcendent. 

This was a fantastic, film that left me with goosebumps, dazed by his voice, his physicality, his sheer musical prowess and his magnificent high collared white suits. 

Go and see this at the cinema and watch the best concert you've ever seen. 

10/10

#21: THE GODFATHER

STARRING: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte and Diane Keaton. Screenplay by Mario Puzo. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Music by Nino Rota. Budget $7 million. Running time 175 minutes. Originally released in 1972.

The rise and rise of the Don Corn Holio crime family. A staggeringly sumptuous, brilliantly made, intensely gripping and powerful movie, indeed one of the greatest movies ever made. Directed to perfection by Coppola, from a layered and nuanced script by Puzo, and with a cast of some of the finest actors ever to grace the silver screen. This is a note perfect, beautiful film that never fails to thrill me to my actual core. 

I've lost count of the number of times I've watched this, although never on the big screen so what a treat to see it writ large the way Coppola intended. It's so packed with drama and incident, but never at the cost of the story, events unfold perfectly and it's tightly plotted structure is a marvel to behold. Watching the character of Michael (Al Pacino) change over the course of the story from war hero to Godfather of his father's crime syndicate is to witness the power of subtle corruption, how the events slowly change him and transforms him from near-innocent into the dead-behind-eyes crime family boss who calmly orders the murder of five men to secure his family's future on the day of his nephew's christening is chilling. Pacino sets the film alight with his presence. Watching this on a large screen gives you a chance to really explore the actors as they work, watching Brando is a treat that richly rewards. Like I said, everyone in this film is astounding.   

I was struck by some of Coppola's blocking, the way he moves the camera in scenes, as well as the editing prowess of William Reynolds and Peter Zinner, and the gorgeous cinematography of Gordon Willis. Indeed every aspect of this film was just a joy to behold. Starting with the wedding scene is a brilliant decision, and for the first 20 odd minutes we are slowly immersed into the working of the family, before we're exposed to evil that infects it.

This went on to make over $291million dollars on its initial release off a budget of just $7 million, and would win seven Golden Globes and was nominated for 11 Academy Awards winning just two for Best Actor (Marlon Brando) and Best Picture. It also spawned two sequels, Godfather II, and Godfather III.  

If you've only ever seen this on Blu Ray, or DVD, or VHS or just at home do yourself a favour and watch it on the big screen if you get a chance, you won't be disappointed. 

A triumph. 10/10