Two Paragraph Review: Dune (2021)

Dune is good. It's so good in fact that it would be a viable short film without any plot, dialogue, or any other verbal information. Bare scenes and the accompanying music would do it justice. As a whole package, Dune is probably the best science fiction film in the last 10 years, at least on this grand scale. Sure, its director Denis Villeneuve himself made a better cerebral sci-fi film, which is Arrival. However, when it comes to these immense films, Dune did nothing that no other movie manage to do since the time of The Lord of the Rings. It's an instant pop-phenomena, and its quality makes it that.

Of course, it's not a flawless film. In its essence, the plot is forgettable and rehashed many times over, while the details are the stuff that sticks. Yet, battle costumes are not that, especially for Sardukar forces. Also, similar to Blade Runner 2049, it is sometimes (less often than the cyberpunk film) trying too hard to be serious and ends up just kind of dull. That's especially present in the last 30 minutes of the film and the anticlimactic ending it pulls off. However, even with those flaws, Dune is a thing that you have to behold and held there tightly.

290. The Addams Family 2; movie review

 

THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2

Cert PG

93 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild comic threat, violence, rude humour, dangerous behaviour

Two years ago I wrote that The Addams Family left its audience "with an overwhelming sense of deja vu."

It isn't hard to imagine that the feeling is heightened by this sequel to the remake.

Yep, cinema is currently so horribly devoid of inspiration that even its franchises are re-imaginings of recreations.

I first became a fan of The Addams Family with the 1960s series which was kind of fun because of its creepy characters and the way Lurch answered the door with a lugubrious "Yeaaas".

That was followed up with the type of animated TV series which was the vogue of the early 70s.

There were several low grade offshoots until the re-emergence of a real-life film in 1991, starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd with Christina Ricci as a marvellously wicked Wednesday.

That was a movie which deserved to generate a sequel but surely nothing new could come after Addams Family Values, could it?

Well, yes. Nearly 30 years later, it feels that we are now on the way to a computer-generated franchise which sadly lacks the charm of its predecessors and adds nothing to their previous incarnations.

A-listers, Charlize Theron, Oscar Isaac, Chloe Grace Moretz, Bette Midler and Snoop Dogg all lend their voices to the familiar characters in Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan's movie.

At the forefront of this tale is the morbid Wednesday (Moretz) who becomes convinced that she is not part of her family because they are so different to her.

Thus, as a bonding exercise, her father, Gomez (Isaac), decides they should all go on holiday and the inevitable capers ensue.

There was a huge writing team and four co-directors working on The Addams Family 2 but they are still reliant on the macabre style of gags first written by cartoonist Charles Addams nearly a century ago..

And I'm afraid, we have heard them all before.

Reasons to watch: If this is your first Addams experience

Reasons to avoid: Nothing much new here

Laughs: Two

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 4.5/10

Did you know? Starting in 1938, Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley, and Thing appeared in The New Yorker in a series of cartoons by Charles Addams.

The final word. Chloë Grace Moretz: "It was a whole lot of fun to find those new shades of Wednesday and figure out what those vocals sounded like, and how to get across sentimentality and things like that in a character that's 90% of the time monotone and almost sociopathic." Screen Rant

289. Rise Of the Footsoldier - Origins; movie review

 

RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER - ORIGINS

Cert 18

107 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong bloody violence, drug misuse

Were the activities of the victims of the Rettendon murders really worth spawning 11 movies?

I would suggest only in the minds of Nick Nevern, Terry Stone, Craig Fairbrass and their pals.

Nevern has graduated to being director this time around but we are, according to my calculations treated to Fairbrass and Stone's fifth incarnation of Pate Tate and Tony Tucker respectively.

By comparison, only three films have been dedicated to the story of the far more notorious Kray twins.

Rise Of The Footsoldier Origins is boring and faintly ridiculous - it is nearly 15 years since Stone first played Tucker and, consequently, the now bewigged 50-year-old looks bizarre as he goes on the trail of young women, drugs and money.

Indeed, Nevern's movie looks more like an episode of Dad's Army that a cutting-edge crime thriller.

After all, Fairbrass, who plays the unhinged Pat Tate is 58 and Roland Manookian who portrays 26-year-old Craig Rolfe is 41.

The other key players are 56-year-old Vinnie Jones as doorman Bernard O'Mahoney and Keith Allen, 68, as his boss.

Consequently, I couldn't help wondering whether a cup of tea and slippers would have been more appropriate than a pistol and bag of cocaine.

Seriously, when all of the actors are 20 years older than the characters they are portraying, a film seems out of sync.

But Nevern, Stone and co. won't care. They have scavenged every last penny out of the killings which had a connection to the terrible death of teenager Leah Betts.

Somehow her drug suppliers have now become movie heroes. Why? The same reason they plied their trade. Money without conscience.

Never mind that the acting and dialogue in these films are cringeworthy.

Reasons to watch: Descent 90s soundtrack

Reasons to avoid: Too many to list

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 1.5/10

Did you know? The Rettendon executions happened in the wake of Leah Betts' death but are believed to have followed bickering over a £125,000 cannabis smuggling racket.

The final word. Terry Stone: " I haven’t got any interest in doing a pretend-gangster film about a load of guys who don’t exist when there are so many amazing characters out there whose stories are worth telling."

288. Monster Hunter; movie review

 

MONSTER HUNTER

Cert 12A

103 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat

"Master White would have loved this when he was about ten years old."

Never was a movie damned by faint praise quite as much as Mrs W did with her words to sum up Monster Hunter.

It's the sort of film which she used to enjoy taking in with our son when he was a child.

He is now 31 and I reckon both he and the cinema have moved forward in the past 21 years.

Shame then that nobody told director Paul W.S. Anderson and the team behind this picture.

Their issue was the same faced by others who have attempted to adapt video games into movies - their fans want a non-stop diet of action.

However, while this lends itself to gaming, more depth and especially character exploration is needed for a cinematic experience.

The focus of Monster Hunter is Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich), an American army captain who leads a United Nations security team in search of a missing military unit.

They are pulled through a wormhole into a parallel world during a storm and find themselves confronted by the Diablos, a huge monster which has echoes of Dune.

Once it is overcome, many more monsters await in this waking nightmare.

I read a very brief review in which an audience member said that he was keen to see a fantasy action movie with monsters.

If no more than that is needed, Monster Hunter surely ticks the box - there are many of various shapes ad sizes but they are all huge and quick.

However, because this battle of survival has such a brief narrative, we weren't bought into its characters and, consequently, didn't care whether they lived or died.

As suggested, such depth may not be important to 10-year-olds but it is to more mature viewers.

Reasons to watch: If you need a monster movie

Reasons to avoid: very little character exploration

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? The Monster Hunter Hunting Card debuted in 2008 and is still a Japanese exclusive series. 

The final word. Paul W.S. Anderson: "This really is a long-term passion project of mine and I’m approaching it not just as a filmmaker but also as a kind of long-term player and fan of it." Polygon

287. No Time To Die; movie review

 

NO TIME TO DIE

Cert 12A

163 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, infrequent strong language

"The world’s moved on, Commander Bond."

The words of Lashana Lynch's character Nomi struck a nerve with me. After decades of 007 fandom, No Time To Die left me wondering whether the coolest hero in cinema should finally call it quits.

Of course, he won't. Studio finances are too dependent on the hundreds of millions he guarantees at the box office.

But Cary Joji Fukunaga's movie will leave everyone wondering where James Bond can go next.

Let me make it clear, No Time To Die is a decent movie but it is well below the brilliance of Daniel Craig's stand-out movies, Casino Royale and Skyfall.

The initial issue is that audience's will need a very clear memory of the previous Bond film, Spectre - a movie which was released six years ago.

Now I count myself as a Bond follower but I couldn't remember the key details, especially the apparent fact that Dr Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) is more important to our hero than any other Bond girl.

So much so that she returns as his love in this film. 

Yep, no distractions from other belles here - 2021 Bond is monogamous to the attractive French beauty who just happens to be more than a decade younger.

I guess I should be happy that Bond's eyes no longer wander and accusations of misogyny are quelled but the glamour and glint in the eye of 007 are surely part of his allure?

I also felt the makers of No Time To Die were so keen on tying up loose ends that they lost the heart of Bond.

There are rushed cameos from previous characters with the result that the film's chief villain, played by Remi Malek, doesn't have nearly as much screen time as previous baddies.

But while there is a familiarity about the people in Fukunaga's film, there is also a distancing from the past in other regards.

So, there is less emphasis on the famous gadgets provided by Q (Ben Whishaw).

On the plus side, Craig is still a very fine Bond - an all-action hero with an engaging demeanour which lures the audience in.

And there are arguably the best special effects of any movie released this year.

Whatever my reservations, this is still one of the better movies of 2021 but, let's face it, there haven't been many challengers.

However, it did fail to meet the hype.

Indeed, myself, Mrs W and two friends who joined us at Coventry Odeon, were left confused by its ending and a little disappointed with it overall.

Reasons to watch: It's Bond

Reasons to avoid: But not quite as we know it

Laughs: Two

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10 (usually Bond would be 9 or even 10)

Did you know? Gaming consultants Casino Scores, worked out that ​​the cost of the wardrobe worn by Daniel Craig in his movies is £154,334.89, including the Tom Ford custom mother-of-pearl ​'JB' engraved ​cufflinks in Spectre, at £74,500 and a Giorgio Armani leather jacket worn in Casino Royale​,​ ​at £4,800.​

The final word. Daniel Craig: "This is, for me personally, the biggest thing I've ever done in my career. It's one of the biggest things in my life. It's massively important to me, and maybe that’s taking it too seriously, and sometimes you’ve got to lighten it [up]." Empire

286. Herself; movie review

 

HERSELF

Cert 15

98 mins

BBFC advice: Contains domestic abuse, very strong language

Why do some men beat their partners?

It is almost as difficult for us to comprehend as why the victims put up with it.

Phyllida Lloyd's Herself offers explanations but also alights upon a heroine who finally decides to go her own way.

Its star and co-writer, Clare Dunne plays Sandra who escapes her violent husband (Ian Lloyd Anderson) with her two children (Molly McCann and Ruby Rose O'Hara).

She juggles two jobs while living in a funded hotel room with her children.

This trauma is exacerbated by trying to keep the wife-beater out of her life despite the very stringent orders placed upon him.

Certainly, we were very surprised that he had any access to his children and that it was her responsibility to deliver them to him.

I digress. This is a film about her determination to break out of the poverty trap and give her kids the best of a bad job.

This begins with their accommodation but she is on a long waiting list for social housing and cannot afford a private dwelling.

She is excited by an advert suggesting that homes could be built for €35,000 but has two issues: how to raise the money and where to find the land.

She finds an unexpected ally in the crotchety, fragile but wealthy woman (Harriet Walter) for whom she cleans.

Is it really possible to build a house to alleviate homelessness? Thankfully, Herself keeps it real by showing just how difficult it is.

Dunne gives a compelling performance as a mother who is desperate to do what is right for her children despite many hurdles.

The highlight is a brilliant court room scene which highlights how the system is balanced against her.

And while Mrs W questioned the easy access a violent husband had to his children, Lloyd's film gave us plenty to chew-on in our usual post-movie discussion.

Reasons to watch: Enthralling family drama

Reasons to avoid: Disturbing scenes

Laughs: Two

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? In a hard-hitting report,  a new coalition of NGOs, which includes Barnardos, Safe Ireland, Women’s Aid, the ISPCC and the Daughters of Charity, says abusive parents are routinely granted unsupervised access to children; mothers’ concerns about child abuse are minimised; and custody arrangements which “escalate” domestic violence are ordered by the courts.

The final word. Clare Dunne: “I just had a friend who was basically in that similar situation, She didn’t go on to build a house like Sandra, but I was inspired by, I suppose, the injustice of it all.” Deadline

285. The Many Saints Of Newark; movie review

 

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK

Cert 15

120 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong bloody violence, sex, domestic abuse, racism

I know absolutely nothing about the much-acclaimed TV series The Sopranos but I loved The Many Saints Of Newark.

Indeed, the lukewarm reaction of critics and Sopranos' fans gives me the clear impression that ignorance was an advantage.

Alan Taylor's film looks back on to the making of future mob boss Tony Soprano, played in his teenage years by Michael Gandolfini, the son of James - the star of the TV series.

Actually, Tony is something of a peripheral figure to the manoeuvring for power among the Italian mob and their battles with African Americans for ascendency in New York in the late 1960s.

The key figure is his mentor and uncle, Dickie Moltisanti (portrayed with panache by Alessandro Nivola) and his story is narrated by his unborn child Chris who, I presume, is key to the later-set TV series.

Anyway, Dickie is a player in an Italian crime gang which includes Tony's dad (Jon Bernthal) who spends much of the time in jail.

His absence gives Dickie the potential of power but in his way is his own father (played with loud echoes of Goodfellas by Ray Liotta) and the distraction of the Newark race riots.

The latter gives the previously downtrodden black community the confidence to organise their own rackets, backed up by high levels of violence.

The attitudes and language of The Many Saints of Newark hark back to classic mob films, particularly Goodfellas.

On one hand there is a sense of playing by the "rules" and on the other, violent acts of betrayal are as common as unfaithfulness.

Central to the latter is Michela De Rossi whose character initially appears to be a naive Italian, dazzled by the life in the big city.

However, it soon becomes obvious that she knows exactly how to get her way.

Tradition is upheld by the excellent Vera Farmiga as Tony Soprano's mother - the backbone of the family whose grip isn't as firm as she would like it to be.

The elements are all there and Taylor ties them together in a film which looks great and entertained me more than most this year. 

However, as said, I didn't have the baggage of having The Sopranos on TV.

Reasons to watch: Gripping gangster movie

Reasons to avoid: I am told Sopranos fans are disappointed

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? The 1967 Newark riots was one of 159 race riots that swept cities in the United States during the "Long Hot Summer of 1967". Over the four days of rioting, looting, and property destruction, 26 people died and hundreds were injured.

The final word. Alan Taylor: "I think that the reason the movie works as a standalone thing - where you could come to this movie and not have ever heard the word Sopranos as a family name, and it could work for you - is partly because Dickie is a character who exists in this movie. Beginning, middle, and end: that's his story." Screen Rant

284. The Sparks Brothers; movie review

 

THE SPARKS BROTHERS

Cert 15

141 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language

Is it really 45 years ago since a school colleague gave me cassettes of Kimono My House and Propaganda?

All I knew about Sparks was This Town Isn't Big Enough for the both of us and they had a keyboard player who looked like Hitler.

Their performances on Top of the Pops became legendary because of the contrast of extrovert singing Russell Mael and the bizarre faces pulled by his moustachioed brother Ron.

I became a fan of the aforementioned albums but lost touch with Sparks because I couldn't keep up with their continual reinventions,

This excellent documentary shows why I wasn't alone. The Mael brothers have consistently put pushing artistic boundaries before chart success.

Because of their success in Britain, it has often been presumed that the pair were English but they are, in fact, Californian.

Thus, their story is traced from their childhood in Los Angeles during which sport and progressively music played a significant part.

It outlines their early days of creating moderately successful bands and includes contributions from fellow members.

Edgar Wright's documentary then moves on to their work with Nils Lofgren and the life-changing decision to move to Britain.

This is where they really gained their impetus following the success of singles, albums and even a dabble in the film industry.

The Mael brothers are great enthusiasts and their animated tales complement contributions from collaborators, including Jane Wiedlin, who hints at an affair with Russell, and Alex Kapranos, the singer of Franz Ferdinand with whom they produced an unlikely but well-received album.

Along with a host of 80s stars who basically believe that Sparks don't have the credit they deserve along with lots of contemporaneous footage.

It all adds up to a surprisingly engaging and occasionally funny documentary.

Reasons to watch: An fascinating insight into one of rock and pop's strangest duos

Reasons to avoid: It is a tribute rather than a biopic

Laughs: Two

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? The Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin, who started an unauthorised fan club for the band during their glam era. She later sang with them.

The final word. Edgar Wright: “They always seemed ahead of the game. Oblivious to what else was going on and just forging ahead – like space travellers who have no idea what’s going on back on their home planet.” The Guardian

283. Reminiscence; movie review

 

 

REMINISCENCE

Cert 12A

116 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, drug references, language, sex

Wouldn't we all like to delve into the past and put right a wrong or two?

Actually, in common with Rebecca Ferguson's character, Mae, I would probably need to look for my lost car keys before I could think about anything else.

Mae becomes a major distraction for entrepreneur Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) who helps clients unlock memories by hooking them up to an elaborate machine.

Bannister and his partner (Thandiwe Newton) are also employed by government agencies to help solve crime.

However, their business becomes diverted into a new sphere after a desperate Mae arrives at their premises.

She uses the lost keys as a ruse to inveigle her way into Bannister's life and he falls for her, hook line and sinker.

The intrigue surrounds her real reason for luring him and how he reacts when he finds she isn't all she seems.

Reminiscence has gone under the radar with cinema audiences because of heavier duty releases over the past couple of months.

As with most Jackman films, I thought it was worth watching. He demonstrates his range by playing a character who is more inscrutable than his usual roles and Ferguson is a decent foil as a woman who has been caught up in a dark world from which she is keen to escape.

Interestingly, Lisa Joy's film is the first I have seen which accepts there will be huge changes in the world because of climate change.

Thus, near-future Miami is seen as having adapted to streets being underwater.

This adds a thought-provoking layer to a movie which has its moments but I found rather over-complicated.

Reasons to watch: Intriguing sci-fi

Reasons to avoid: Complicated storyline

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? Miami’s sea level is rising on an average of 1 inch every 3 years. It is 8 inches higher than in 1950. Scientists now think that in the next 15 years, the sea level will rise another 6 inches, at a slightly higher rate.

The final word. Lisa Joy: "Hugh is so good-looking that you almost don't notice that he is the consummate character actor. It's like somebody forgot to tell him that he's good-looking, and he can take it easy. It's the way that he commits to a role, and has no vanity whatsoever." Screen Rant

282. Our Ladies; movie review

 

OUR LADIES

Cert 15

106 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong sex references, nudity, sex

"I've never met a girl like you before," sang Edwyn Collins - and he could have had any of the wonderful lasses of Our Ladies in mind.

It may have taken 30 years to live up to his classics Scandal and Memphis Belle but Michael Caton-Jones has found the lustre of his youth with this intoxicating coming-of-age comedy-drama.

Set in 1996, "before social media and mobile phones change things forever," this is the type of movie which has me believing in cinema again.

But, watch out, if you fear the bawdy. These girls certainly don't hold back.

Our Ladies are teenage members of a Catholic school choir being taken to Edinburgh to take part in a prestigious competition.

This provides the chance for them to paint the town red or, more accurately, find some quickie sex.

Narrator of their story is Orla (Tallulah Greive) who has found a miracle cure for cancer on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

She remains fatalistic and is, consequently, determined to lose her virginity on the trip.

Orla is not alone in her desire for some rumpy-pumpy - sex and booze are high on the agenda of her pals, Finnoula (Abigail Lawrie), Rona Morison (Chell), Kylah (Marli Siu) and Manda (Sally Messham).

The writing of Caton-Jones's film is wonderfully pithy in pondering sexuality, pregnancy, class difference and the ebbs and flows of friendships of teenage girls.

Indeed, it is so good I was astonished that a woman was not part of the writing team.

All of the girls are different (Eve Austin is added to the mix as the mixed-up head girl), given almost equal camera time and the actors all stand up to the task.

Our Ladies may be lewd but it also has a very strong heart. Its vibrant young cast help make it one of the funniest films of 2021.

Reasons to watch: Raunchy and funny

Reasons to avoid: Some will find it too crude

Laughs: Seven

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? Michael Caton-Jones optioned Alan Warner's novel The Sopranos in 1998. It was announced in 2018 that production on a film adaptation had begun.

The final word. Michael Caton-Jones: "The reaction was absolutely beyond what I could have hoped for. I was just completely knocked out when I heard people getting all the things, all the little details I'd been working on for months and months." The Skinny

281. The Night House; movie review

 

 

THE NIGHT HOUSE

Cert 15

107 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong supernatural threat, violence, language, sexual threat

Will somebody please switch the lights on!

Another week, another movie about a haunted house which seems bizarrely without electricity or at least light bulbs during the night.

Anyone who has nightmares knows that their residual unease melts away when we brighten the room.

However, in Hollywood, it is as if Thomas Edison never existed and, consequently, terrified characters stumble around in the dark, the prey of imaginations which can see shadows around every corner.

Thankfully, while David Bruckner's psychological horror has the formulaic darkness, it is buoyed by sparks of originality.

It stars Rebecca Hall as a college lecturer who is trying to bend her head around the violent and unexpected suicide of her husband (Evan Jonigkeit).

Initially, it seems to her best friend (Sarah Goldberg) and neighbour (Vondie Curtis-Hall) that she needs urgent counselling because she believes she has seen ghosts in her home.

But as time progresses, her obsession results in some surprising revelations about her spouse.

I'll be honest, I have grown immune to haunted house films and only the Conjuring saga tends to put the wind up me.

However, Hall does manage to engage and there are enough twists here to compensate for the usual cliches.

Sure, it is overwrought and defies belief but I guess if you are into this sort of thing you will not be too bothered about reality.

As the genre goes, it's at the better end of a bad bunch.

Reasons to watch: Superior haunted house horror

Reasons to avoid: Lots of cliches

Laughs: None

Jumps: Two

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? The Night House premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. It was then withheld from release until a year and a half later due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The final word. Rebecca Hall: "To me, there was something fundamentally interesting about the idea of a woman dealing with the aftermath of a suicide of a loved one and being left with this sense of—I didn’t know that person. And if they were capable of that, what else were they capable of?" Vogue

280. Copshop; movie review

 

COPSHOP

Cert 15

107 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language, violence, injury detail

Sound the siren - a rare good movie starring Gerard Butler has emerged.

For me, Mr Butler has become a cross between a figure of fun and a bête noire over the past decade because his films have been simultaneously vacuous and successful.

But, while Copshop is not perfect and has some ludicrous moments, it also has black comedy, life-or-death decisions, plenty of action and some quality acting.

It was a pleasant surprise and I enjoyed it all the more because I had Luton Cineworld's screen 3 all to myself.

Butler was one of the co-producers of the film which stars Frank Grillo as a fixer who is on the run in an unmarked police car and deliberately gets himself arrested by punching a rookie police officer (Alexis Louder).

It turns out that he has done this for his own protection.

Meanwhile, an apparent booze-sozzled down-and-out (Butler) narrowly avoids mowing down two officers before being chucked into the same cells.

It pretty soon becomes clear being taken to the same copshop as the fixer is no coincidence and the pair being incarcerated together could be literally explosive.

Copshop is a violent movie - its action is fast and very furious and is matched by volley after volley of bad language.

However, it is also smart. Wit is as fast as guns and those who are not sharp enough of mind as well as trigger-finger soon find themselves dead.

I was drawn towards Butler's hardnut but he is outdone in the eccentric assassin stakes by Toby Huss's who emerges as his rival.

I was also impressed by Alexis Louder as a rookie police officer whose guile and brainpower may be a match for the deadly cellmates.

Joe Carnahan's film is not perfect but I found it a saving grace on a day that my football team lost 5-0.

Reasons to watch: A smart Gerard Butler film

Reasons to avoid: Lots of heavy violence

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? Valerie Young (Alexis Louder) was asked by director Joe Carnahan to watch some Clint Eastwood movies as inspiration since her character is a gunslinger in the movie. Some of the movies she watched included, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and "Dirty Harry".

The final word.  Gerard Butler: "Every character in this movie is just brimming full of personality and jumping out of the screen and smacking you in the face, so there are great characters already with incredible dialogue, and the action is not frivolous. " Looper

279. Limbo; movie review

 

 

LIMBO

Cert 12A

104 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, racism, references to sex and sexual violence

"Come off it, refugees have it easy. They are put up in five-star hotels while the rest of us suffer."

I paraphrase literally dozens of comments on a social media post about asylum-seekers being made welcome by British people with kindness in their souls.

The haters have some warped idea of illegal aliens who have come to our shores, believing they rape and pillage while living in the lap of luxury.

The truth is, of course, far from that. People seek asylum only when they are desperate. They have likely lost family members to war and/or oppressors.

And often they find the grass in the UK  isn't as green as they had hoped.

This is fertile ground for satire in Ben Sharrock's superb Limbo - a funny but hard-hitting take on the refugee experience.

It centres on Omar (Amir El-Masry), a Syrian musician whose brother (Kais Nashif) remains fighting in their homeland.

Thus, he is wracked with guilt and his emotions flow when he calls his parents who have also fled to Turkey.

El-Masry's delivery is perfectly pitched - deadpan against the strange behaviours going on around him in his temporary home on a Scottish island.

The most hilarious distraction is the lessons in British culture for the immigrants. We certainly guffawed as the teachers played out acceptable and unacceptable dance moves.

While Omar is distressed at his plight, his Afghani (Vikash Bhai) housemate is more pragmatic.

We discovered both men's backstories and those of others as they are met with a UK system which often lets them down.

Limbo reflects the darkness which envelops refugees who have witnessed trauma, find themselves in alien environments from an often hostile local population.

But it is the belly laughs - often sparked by the well-meaning efforts of the friendlier locals - which sets Sharrock's film apart. 

It is, in view, one of the films of the year.

Reasons to watch: Smart, funny and important

Reasons to avoid: If you don't have a sense of humour

Laughs: Five

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 9.5/10

Did you know? An estimated 388,000 foreign-born people living in the UK in 2019 originally came to the UK to seek asylum, according to Migration Observatory analysis of the Labour Force Survey. This is equivalent to 0.6% of the UK’s total 2019 resident population of around 67 million. Of these, 56% had lived in the UK for sixteen years or more.

The final word. Ben Sharrock: "Limbo started with me living in Syria during my undergraduate degree in Arabic and Politics at Edinburgh University when I spent my third year in Damascus. I made friends in Syria and some have become asylum seekers." The Scotsman

278. Respect; movie review

 

RESPECT

Cert 12A

145 mins

BBFC advice: Contains domestic abuse, racism, sexual abuse references, infrequent strong language

Aretha Franklin was arguably the greatest female singer of the last century and she knew it.

Stories of her temper and diva demands are almost as legendary as her ability to belt out some of soul's iconic hits.

It is also said that she had an insatiable sex drive which had been sparked by the debauchery swirling around her father's church.

Indeed, the sexual awakening is said to have resulted in her becoming pregnant at just 12 years old.

Hold on, very little of the above is represented in Liesl Tommy's Respect which is very much a reflection of how Aretha (Jennifer Hudson) would have liked to have been seen.

Therefore, she is portrayed as a victim who made it big despite the exploiters around her.

These include her father, played by Forest Whitaker and husband (Marlon Wayans) who beat and berated her.

There is certainly evidence that their abuse may have been true and that they saw Aretha as their own vehicle to fame and fortune.

And Whitaker and Wayans both excel in the roles of domineering men.

They are, however, overshadowed by Hudson who is brooding and brilliant while also giving some high-quality renditions of the Aretha catalogue.

The movie only covers the period up until the famous gospel concert in the early 70s which saw the singer emerge from a dark period of heavy drinking.

Therefore, her greatest reported excesses are excluded by time.

However, I couldn't help feeling that this was a public relations job rather than telling the in-depth story of a charismatic but complicated character.

Reasons to watch: Great music and top performances

Reasons to avoid: Editing of history?

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Aretha Franklin won 18 Grammys, had 112 singles on the Billboard charts, and sold over 75 million records worldwide. She was the first female performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and remains the most charted female artist in history.

The final word. Jennifer Hudson: "I’m like, “Wait a minute, the ‘Amazing Grace’ I grew up singing in church was her rendition? She created ‘Mary, Don’t You Weep’?” All those songs I grew up singing in church, where I started, were inspired by her." Consequence