Tag Archives: USA

The Martian (2015)

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Or MacGyver in Space, as Ron dubbed it as the lights went up. Benn asked me to review this one so the whole family trekked to the nearest town with a cinema for the experience. I will tell you from the outset that this review will have spoilers. Not that I will reveal anything that’s not patently obvious as soon as the movie starts, no, actually, as soon as you see the movie poster. This is a Hollywood film through and through and that means it’s predictable, patriotic and full of heroic blokes. Continue reading →

The Intern (2015)

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Should I blog about films that I really don’t recommend? I seem to see quite a few of these and there’s often not much to say other than, “it’s a dog, don’t bother.” I went to see The Intern last night at a proper cinema. I don’t often get to see movies at the cinema when they are first released and I wouldn’t really have picked that particular film but we were near the Kino and The Martian had only front row seats left (and at the Kino that would have meant sitting half way up Matt Damon’s nose) so the only other session about to start was The Intern. Continue reading →

Grey Gardens (1975)

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This US documentary by the Maysles was made in 1975 and it shows that, if you have remarkable people, you only need to point a camera at them for long enough to get a story. We are flies on the wall of the crumbling East Hampton mansion, Grey Gardens, owned by Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, ‘Little Edie’. Edith is Jackie Kennedy’s aunt and we can see that she has come from old money and the American aristocracy. That is all in the past though, as the mansion is a squalid place, full of cats and raccoons and rubbish and Edith and Little Edie live an insular and co-dependent life within its walls. Continue reading →

Tales of the Grim Sleeper (2014)

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Should you blog angry? Probably not. I hated this film. When I read the synopsis, I saw that it was directed by the same guy who made Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer in 1992. In fact that screened at MIFF in 1992 and that’s probably where I saw it. I remember being fascinated with Aileen Wuornos and having arguments in the uni cafe about her with fellow students. What I had unfortunately forgotten was that I really disliked the filmmaker and his approach to documentary and his subject. It was only as the lights dimmed in the Comedy Theatre and he appeared on screen that I thought, “Shut the front door, it’s Nick Broomfield, I can’t stand Nick Broomfield.” Continue reading →

Trainwreck (2015)

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Trainwreck screening at MIFF? Surely not. Doesn’t it feature that loud, gauche comedienne Amy Schumer? Isn’t it true that the hardest thing in Hollywood is to find a beautiful, funny women (so said former Disney CEO Michael Eisner)? The fun fact to learn from this, gentle readers, is that Michael Eisner, other than being a bit of an idiot, obviously doesn’t get out much. There are mainstream movies at MIFF, with well-known, funny, beautiful bankable stars, some with vaginas, and destined to be appearing at a cinema near you (well, not near me but I live in the country). I just haven’t booked many of them. Sleeping with Other People is mainstream. I saw that. Results is mainstream, it stars Guy Pearce after all, and that is the very movie that I blew off in order to go see Trainwreck with my dear friend Jo. Continue reading →

The Witch (2015)

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I didn’t really like this film but I was with some people who did so it has made me ruminate on horror films and why this one didn’t work for me. I don’t mind a horror film every now and then. I prefer them to be suspenseful, to imply rather than to show, to build tension and have me hiding my head behind a pillow when it gets really scary. There still needs to be a believable story and good characters that you care about. And when the violence comes, ideally it shouldn’t make you laugh. Continue reading →

Sleeping with Other People (2015)

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Tonight’s film was a change of pace for me as it was a very mainstream US romantic comedy. The main actors were all a bit familiar, I think some were from Parks and Recreation, and it revolved around the tried and true When Harry Met Sally storyline about men and women not being able to be friends. Jake and Lainey meet and briefly hook up. Around 15 years later, as she tries to extricate herself from an affair and he refuses to commit to any women, they become friends. I won’t tell you how it ends but it is a mainstream American romcom so you’ve probably already worked it out. Continue reading →

Welcome to Leith (2015)

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Another padded-out US documentary about a delusional white guy. This one had similar flaws to Prophet’s Prey, too much atmospheric footage and staged drama and not enough insight. Leith is a tiny rural town in North Dakota, and by tiny I mean 24 people including children, that unfortunately had a high profile white supremacist move in. Continue reading →

Prophet’s Prey (2015)

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Some stories deserve to be told because they are so outrageous you wouldn’t believe they could really happen. This is one of those. When Joseph Smith, the ‘prophet’ of the Latter-day Saints, retracted his revelation requiring polygamy, ostensibly because of a new revelation from God, but coincidentally after societal and governmental censure and prosecution, groups of fundamentalists broke with the church to set up their own polygamous colonies. One, at least, of those remains today, led by the Jeffs family. Continue reading →