Change Your Image
levesonr
Reviews
Derailed (2005)
A high-class thriller
A tightly directed, well-acted thriller; almost in the Hitchcock tradition with an original and surprising plot. I find it very odd that this film got such lousy reviews. All thrillers that I have ever seen required some suspension of credibility - especially Hitchcock's - and in this regard "Derailed" is very moderate compared, for example, to the James Bond movies which are utterly unbelievable yet achieve rave reviews. Clive Owen does a sound job playing his usual character (e.g. "Croupier") and Jennifer Aniston is suitably beguiling and well able to deliver the witty lines given to her by Stuart Beattie. Vincent Cassel brings us a very original multi-faceted character in the menacing Laroche - who can charm a little girl one moment and, seconds later, almost tear her father apart in the same room. I have seldom enjoyed a thriller more and this one has received very unjust treatment by the critics.
District 9 (2009)
Hilarious!
This movie is a tongue-in-cheek comedy. I thought the opening scenes of the politically correct documentary approach to the "nice" aliens (ignoring their revolting appearance and table manners and their foul tempers) were hilarious. The Nigerian gangsters were gross caricatures of some very real personalities: I suppose they were operating the equivalent of a convenience store. The special effects and the aliens themselves looked pretty low budget but it didn't matter so long as you got into the spirit of the thing. The humour appeared to flag as the story progressed and it seemed that, contrary to many movies which, in desperation, mutate into comedy when the director realizes he is just not going to make it otherwise; this one becomes increasingly serious.
The vast space-ship concept was impressive and quite credible.
This is an utterly different genre from Alien or Blade-runner - bears no comparison.
It's probably a little too long but is highly original and quite entertaining.
A Touch of Frost: Endangered Species (2006)
Frost grows querulous and tiresome
I have always loved this series for its beautiful characterizations (and characters) but, as it ages along with Sir David Jason, I find the dialogues are less believable and Frost himself is becoming rather tiresome and querulous in his old age; the character is less endearing. To be blunt, he is being played as a bit of a clown and there is a heavy-handedness in presenting him that makes me cringe. For example the interplay between Frost and Mullett was once exquisitely amusing - you could see the point of view of each man as they clashed - but now Frost treats Mullett with such open contempt and rudeness that it no longer works for me. The series seems to have bowed to the current style of packing in more action at the expense of ambiance and character development and I find myself turning to the newer Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) series now on American TV (of all places) to conjure back a similar style to the old Frost episodes.
Citizen Black (2004)
Lack of depth
I don't know, I wondered how on earth they could make a documentary about such a fascinating personality so deeply boring and, worse than that, irritating. The editing was so frantic and intrusive that it distracted me from coming to grips with the character. Just as we were getting to something interesting, the moment was snatched away and we were off at a tangent.
Also the time-line was chaotic and confusing: I believe that this is already a complex story that needs to be told in proper sequence for thorough understanding - and its telling requires no special effects, animations or dressing up - I kept silently screaming "Give it to me straight guys - I can take it!" Instead you are constantly aware of the director's need for attention.
Whatever you may say about Conrad Black, he doesn't lack depth - and lack of depth was the biggest problem with this documentary.
Omnibus: Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968)
Horror by definition?
There's no doubt that this is a pretty creepy film. The black and white and the extreme closeups of the quite demented professor's haggard face, as he cringes in his narrow cot in a foetal position; terrified by the noises coming from that supposedly unoccupied bed in the corner, yet not daring to turn around to see their horrible cause. Michael Hordern had fun with this one: portraying the professor's eccentricities, his autistic relationship with other guests, his truly revolting table manners and his evident terror of the supernatural.
When the maids ask him which bed he'd be sleeping in tonight, since he appears to have been sleeping in both, we know there is a shock to come. And sure enough, when he inspects the other bed the sheets are all tangled and revoltingly stained. The professor turns his back, muttering that they should 'fix it'.
Perhaps I am insensitive, but although the film is undeniably creepy I believe it misses the mark in becoming downright horrific. It's one of those many occasions in modern artworks wherein the ultimate interpretation is left to the audience, that responsibility being abdicated by the writer who merely 'suggests' that this must be a profound and conclusive tale but where we are left alone to make it so. An army of critics, as ever, stands ready to lend assistance:leading a pack of loud supporters whom we are reluctant to challenge, for fear of ridicule!
I should rate the 1961 Jack Clayton film "The Innocents", an adaptation of Henry James' "Turn of the Screw" as far more creepy and visually shocking - and totally conclusive. But from the story that Jonathan Miller had to work with, this is a fine interpretation and he plays the horrific atmosphere for all it is worth and to considerable effect.
Flight 93 (2006)
Thank God - no cameo roles!
I cringed at the very idea of this movie. I couldn't see how it could possibly be done in this day and age without a sickening over-sentimentality; an assertion of American Pride (which surged so hysterically right after this event, and then, somehow, collapsed) and depiction of the hijackers as hateful, freedom-loathing beings.
From the very beginning the film grabbed and held me. The dialog of the ground staff at the airport was so realistic, the hijackers themselves could have been you or me - terrified youngsters, nevertheless ideologically committed to one final ruthless and despicable act. When the realization came, to the flight controllers in Boston, that American Flight 11 had probably been hijacked (the first flight to hit the Trade Center) the reactions of the people in the control tower was beautifully handled - irritation, disbelief and eventually horror as the first CNN images of the burning tower came up. John G. Moraitis as the Boston flight control supervisor did a fine job - remaining calm, giving nothing to sentimentality and taking as much responsibility as he was allowed. We could share his frustration at being unable to act, or get a decision to act, from 'the President or the Vice President' - which would have enabled defensive measures. This is how a real manager behaves, who is in touch and in charge. How could we fail to draw a connection to that man who, having been told: "America is under attack", continued to sit on his stool for seven minutes in that classroom in Texas? I think the hijackers were handled with enormous maturity and sensitivity. One was not obliged to hate them: one could just ask "why?" - and the need to ask "why?" was never more urgent than it is today.
The party of passengers who attempted to take the plane back was superbly handled. Here would have been an opportunity for cameo "John Wayne" or "Rambo" type roles - but Greengrass would have none of it. He portrayed them as clearly terrified, yet notwithstanding, their courage came across with far more eloquence. It is one of the strengths of this film that there were, in fact, virtually no opportunities for cameo roles.
Yes, the last moments of that flight did contain rather more sentimentality that was quite proper. The horrible, poignant cell-phone calls, the Lord's prayer ... these things did happen, but the power of events as depicted could already imply they happened, to the enhancement of this nevertheless very brilliant piece of direction.