The Best Films of 2015: Sicario

Denis Villeneuve’s thriller follows FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) as she is drafted into a task force set up to tackle the Mexican drug cartels. There she meets the uncompromising Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and the mysterious but very knowledgeable Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro).

As Kate is drawn into a shadowy world where the lines between friend and foe are difficult to see, she finds her ideals challenged by the actions of those around her.

Sicario – which means ‘hitman’ in Spanish – is a tense and well-constructed thriller with a message. Its commentary on the drug war in Mexico is well thought out and not merely a bolted on extra serving to justify gunfights and action sequences, as can often be seen in thrillers that appropriate real-world situations in order to give themselves a ‘serious’ edge.

The film’s cast also give their very best with Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro being particularly noteworthy.

For a more comprehensive review check out the write up I did for the film during its initial release:

Or you can just go and watch the film. Your time will not be wasted if you do.

The Best Films of 2015: It Follows

Nineteen-year-old Jay (Maika Monroe) is a relatively ordinary teenager who lives in the suburbs of Detroit. Her whole life is changed one night, however, when after a sexual encounter with a man she finds herself the victim of basically the world’s worst STD: a shape-shifting creature that will follow her until it eventually catches and kills her. The only way to get rid of this ‘it’ is by sleeping with someone else and passing it on.

As Jay is relentlessly pursued by this creature, she enlists her friends to help rid herself of it once and for all.

David Robert Mitchell’s second feature film It Follows is everything a horror film should be: it’s atmospheric, has a genuinely scary premise, and is made with a true sense of craftsmanship. Think less Paranormal Activity and more John Carpenter’s work on Halloween and The Thing. Like those Carpenter films, It Follows also has a great original soundtrack – from electronic artist Disasterpiece - that beautifully complements the tension inducing cinematography and editing.

Destined for cult status in future years, It Follows promises big things for both its director and its young cast.

The Best Films of 2015: Birdman

Just making this rundown of the year’s best films – it was released on January 1^st, 2015 in the UK - is the Academy award winning Birdman.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s fifth feature film follows washed-up actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), the star of a film franchise revolving around the eponymous superhero Birdman. After leaving Hollywood, Riggan is now attempting to jump start his career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway play based on the work of Raymond Carver.

As well as the numerous challenges that arise from putting on a Broadway play, Riggan must also contend with an embittered daughter (Emma Stone), an all too serious method actor (Edward Norton), and hallucinations in which he has superpowers.

Birdman is a film with both style and substance: shot and edited so as to appear as one continuous shot, the film seamlessly pulls the viewer down winding theatre corridors into claustrophobic dressing rooms and then out onto the dark streets of New York. It’s an entrancing experience for anyone used to watching films shot and edited in a more conventional manner.

In regards to substance, the film has themes many of us can relate to: wanting to be recognised for our achievements, wanting to feel like we’ve done something worthwhile with our lives, these are things many of us experience every day.

If this isn’t enough to convince you of the merits of Birdman then, please be assured, the film is also tremendously funny. A scene where Edward Norton’s character gets a little too ‘excited’ after an intimate scene during a preview of Riggan’s play is a highlight.

In its examination of the world of theatre and the egos of actors, Birdman stands as a unique film. It also makes for a witty, visually fascinating, and wonderfully engaging introduction to the work of its director, whose next film The Revenant – out in January – is already generating a fair amount of critical praise. 

The Best Films of 2015: Whiplash

With the New Year fast approaching, a rundown of the year's best films (in the humble opinion of this critic) seems appropriate. First up: Whiplash.

Young and talented drummer Andrew harbours dreams of greatness but doesn’t seem challenged at the music school he attends. That is until he meets Fletcher, the conductor of the school’s leading jazz band. As a result of Fletcher’s brutal, unorthodox methods and his perfectionist attitude, Andrew finds himself pushed to the very limits of his musical ability and sanity. 

Whiplash was nominated for five Academy awards and it’s not hard to see why. Everything about it from its screenplay, cinematography, and acting – J. K. Simmons won Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for his portrayal of Fletcher – is superb.

It’s also relentlessly exciting. The scenes in the jazz band’s practice room where Fletcher pushes Andrew and the other students for even better and better performances feel like something from a thriller, with Fletcher taking on the role of the role of the supercriminal whose job consists of throwing obstacle after obstacle in front of the film’s hero. Sedate drama this is not.

Director Damien Chazelle’s next film is a musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling and is set for a release in the summer. If it is crafted with any of the passion and care of Whiplash then it is surely worth the price of a cinema ticket. 

Krampus review

Michael Dougherty’s first feature film was the Halloween-themed anthology Trick r Treat. Despite being well received by critics and festival audiences, it was practically shelved by Warner Bros and released straight to DVD.

Dougherty’s second film Krampus is based around that most famous holiday of all, Christmas, and unlike his first it has been given a full theatrical release. 

Krampus is also more family orientated than Trick r Treat and as such hearkens back to films of the 80’s like Gremlins and The Lost Boys, films that were just dark enough to satisfy teenagers and adults yet were not so overwhelmingly scary as to be off limits to younger children.

As previously mentioned, Krampus is a Christmas movie and as such it begins with that quintessentially modern Christmas scene: the Black Friday supermarket riot. Images of shop clerks being bowled over by the rush of people, adults beating each other with skateboards, and security guards gleefully tasering errant shoppers, are set to Bing Crosby’s version of ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.’

In this opening sequence, we are also introduced to Max, one of the film’s key characters, as he fights another participant in a nativity play – a fight which the adults in the audience film on their mobiles.

The rest of the film follows Max as his immediate and extended family – his aunt, uncle, and cousins - celebrate Christmas together. Of course when so many different people with different personalities are forced into close proximity there is bound to be clashes, and the most heated of these occurs over dinner. This leads to a frustrated Max tearing up the letter he’d planned to send to Santa.

The next morning, Max and his family wake up to find that a blizzard has struck the town, pretty much cutting it off from the rest of the outside world. They soon discover that this blizzard is only the beginning of a terrifying series of events marking the arrival of Krampus, the shadow of Saint Nicholas who comes to punish rather than reward and take rather than give.

The balance between horror, comedy, and family drama is appropriately judged and none gets in the way of the other. The relationships between the characters are also well defined although there are some elements, such as the relationship between Max’s parents, which perhaps could have been better explored.

Krampus himself is a suitably menacing antagonist, and the designs of both him and his multiform minions have a satisfying nightmarish yet playful quality to them.

There is also a nice nod to Krampus’s Germanic origins with the addition of the family’s German grandmother Omi. Her backstory is particularly pertinent to the film and is depicted in a wonderfully stylised animated sequence.

Buried within all this, is a thoroughly Christmasy message about the importance of giving and some quite mature themes about how nostalgia affects our view of the world.

Although it’s difficult to say whether Krampus will attain the cult status of the films it tries to ape – Gremlins has already been mentioned – it does make for some fun and creepy Christmas fare.

Star Rating: 3/5

Black Mass review

Black Mass tells the story of infamous Boston crime lord James ‘Whitey’ Bulger. During his rise to the top of Boston's underworld, Bulger became an FBI informant before appearing on the Most Wanted List for 12 years after going on the run.

The title Black Mass refers to the ‘unholy alliance’ formed between Bulger and the FBI: this alliance meant that for years Bulger was allowed to commit crimes such as murder, extortion, and racketeering with relative impunity as long as he provided useful information on his mafia rivals.

With its sombre tone and lack of stylisation, Black Mass is less Martin Scorsese flick and more true crime documentary. The film's grittiness is reflected in Johnny Depp's performance as the main character. With his pale skin and eyes, Depp’s Bulger looks positively vampiric as he stalks the streets of Boston’s south side brutally overseeing the deaths of anyone he suspects of crossing him.

His character’s viciousness extends not just to his enemies but also to those he supposedly loves. This is illustrated in a scene where he and his girlfriend discuss their son as he lies in a coma nearby. Although the boy is brain dead and his mother in favour of pulling the plug, Bulger is not content with this. He cruelly questions his girlfriend’s character and snarls the words ‘my boy, my boy’ as if speaking about a possession rather than a person. 

The other cast members, however, including Kevin Bacon and Benedict Cumberbatch, feel somewhat wasted as they’re given little to do but stand around and provide ‘ahhh look it’s him’ moments for the audience.

Flashforwards to police interviews with Bulger’s gang, after they’ve turned informant, also rob the film of momentum and could easily be dispensed with.

Despite the by the numbers approach to storytelling and a tone that might be too colourless for some, Black Mass is elevated by Depp’s strong central performance and an unremitting adherence to its story’s grim details.

Star Rating: 3/5

Netflix Gems: Circle

Year: 2015

Director(s): Aaron Haan

                   Mario Miscione

Fifty people wake up in a room to find themselves arranged in two concentric circles around a strange black dome. Their reasons for being there are unclear, but as the dome begins to kill people using what appears to be electrocution, it becomes clear that only a few of them will survive.

Eventually, those in the circle realise each of them is capable of casting a ‘vote’ through means of an arrow only visible to them. With this vote, they get to decide who will die next.

Circle bears similarities to other sci-fi films like Coherence and Primer in that it is relatively low on special effects but high on ideas. There are ethical dilemmas aplenty as the group breaks down into different factions with different priorities: some want to protect the most ‘innocent’ in the group, a child and a pregnant woman, while others are concerned with their own self-preservation.

As the stakes are heightened, people’s prejudices also boil to the surface and increasingly arbitrary reasons are suggested for killing people off; racism, homophobia, and classism all get a look in here.

Indeed, it is this unravelling of the darker aspects of human nature that makes Circle such a compelling watch. Although the acting is sometimes a little iffy and the ending perhaps a little too clear cut, the film is definitely recommended for those who like their sci-fi dark and thought-provoking.

Netflix Gems: Creep

In this new series of posts, I take a look at some of the lesser-known but otherwise quite wonderful films to be found on Netflix. First up, Creep:

Year: 2014

Director(s): Patrick Brice

If you thought the found footage sub-genre was on its last legs, you’d be right. That doesn’t mean it can’t still generate some surprisingly good films, though. Horror comedy Creep is one such example.

Patrick Brice’s directorial debut sees cash-strapped videographer Aaron (also played by Brice) hired to do some filming via Craigslist. His employer is an eccentric and apparently wealthy individual called Josef who invites him up to his mountainside cabin. When Aaron gets there, Josef explains that he has cancer and has only a few months to live. He asks Aaron to help him make a video for his unborn son who he won’t be able to see grow up. As Aaron follows and films Josef around the cabin and the surrounding woods, though, it becomes clear that Josef has been less than truthful about his reasons for hiring him.

Unlike many of its contemporaries, Creep has a reason to be a found-footage film: the conceit that Aaron is a videographer hired to do a job provides an excuse for the camera to stay rolling even through some of the film’s more bizarre and suspenseful moments. The decision to shoot Creep in this style also seems to be the result of an aesthetic rather than a financial consideration. Throughout the film, Brice exploits the subgenre's potential for raw creepiness with a number of chill-inducing moments: one in particular will have you reluctant to keep a camera by your bed long after the film is over.

As already mentioned, Creep is a horror comedy, a combination that is difficult to pull off. Within the film, however, neither element overwhelms the other: both the funny moments and the unnerving ones accentuate each other and mingle with disturbing effect.

The two central characters are also wonderfully played by Brice and Duplass. Brice is convincing as the guy unwittingly drawn into a very bad situation and Duplass brings his comedy credentials to bear to create a role where he alternates between the eccentric and the menacing.

The film may not be a masterpiece by any stretch. It does show, however, how an effective horror film can be created on a very minimalistic basis. If you’re looking for something suspenseful and interesting to watch this evening but are otherwise stuck for ideas, then Creep is well worth your time.

Spectre review

The twenty-fourth Bond film, and Sam Mendes’ second as director, sees James Bond (Daniel Craig) on a mission to uncover the secrets behind a powerful and mysterious organisation called Spectre. As this is happening, he and his colleagues must also deal with governmental figures intent on shutting down the OO section for good.

Spectre is a worthy follow-up to Skyfall.  Once again Sam Mendes’ direction is superb with highlights including a wonderfully gripping opening sequence in Mexico city. The story arc begun in Casino Royale is also once more brought into play and resolved in a way that is immensely satisfying.

Christoph Waltz is excellent as the villainous Franz Oberhauser. In his portrayal of a psychopath with a very personal grudge against Bond, he takes something from his role as Colonel Landa in Inglourious Basterds.

The Bond franchise has gone from strength to strength in recent years. With the bar now set so high, though, the question is where can Britain’s favourite secret agent go next?

Star Rating: 4/5

The Lobster review

In his English language debut, Greek director Yorgos Lathimos (Dogtooth) shows us a world where being single is taboo. ‘Loners,’ as they are called, are forced to stay in a hotel where they are given forty five days to find a partner. If they fail they will be turned into an animal of their choice.

One of the unlucky singletons starting his forty five days is David (Colin Farrell), a middle-aged Irishman who has recently separated from his wife. His choice of animal, should he fail to meet someone, is a lobster, reasoning that lobsters have long lifespans and are blue blooded, ‘like aristocrats.’

Farrell is refreshingly cast against type as the man trying to conform to society’s expectations. All of the cast, in fact, do an excellent job of capturing an awkwardness that doesn’t seem so much as brought about by the situation their characters are in as conditioned and bred into them.

Lathimos approaches the idea at the film’s centre with the right mixture of humour and horror

as he shows us human interactions stripped down to their most superficial aspects. In one scene, a man tries to form a bond with a woman by pretending to be a frequent victim of nosebleeds – she also has nosebleeds. While in another, David becomes obsessed with the short-sightedness he shares with another character. In the world of The Lobster it is these small similarities that are considered to be the basis of a successful relationship.

For those willing to suspend their disbelief for two hours, The Lobster is a witty and intriguing allegory on millennial attitudes to love and dating.

Star Rating: 4/5

Sicario review

The opening text of Sicario reveals that the word refers to ancient Jewish zealots and is also the Spanish for ‘assassin.’ Why this is relevant is only made painfully clear towards the film’s end.

The plot of director Denis Villeneuve’s fifth feature sees FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) drafted into a special task force to help take down a Mexican drug cartel. This task force is headed up by the shady pairing of defence adviser Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro). As the campaign against the cartel intensifies, Macer finds her ideals challenged by the brutal and unorthodox methods of those around her.

Sicario works as both a thriller and a commentary on the drug war consuming Mexico. In its depiction of the actions of the cartels and of the law enforcement agencies trying to combat them, the film pulls no punches. In one scene, Kate is driven past a bridge from which the dismembered bodies of the cartel’s victims hang. Although she is shocked, the agent with her can only speak admiringly of the cartel’s terror tactics and call them ‘brilliant.’

The idea that Kate is entering a different world with a very different set of rules to those she is used to is continually emphasised with Alejandro telling her: ‘This is the land of wolves now.’

Villeneuve also makes use of an interesting device by presenting us with a separate storyline running in parallel to the main one. In this, we see a Mexican police officer called Silvio as he recovers from his night shifts and interacts with his family. The true significance of this storyline is not clear until the film’s end yet it adds a different and very human perspective to the central narrative.

Another thing that makes Sicario effective is the strength of its performances: Emily Blunt is convincing and likeable as the protagonist, Josh Brolin is appropriately aloof and obnoxious, and Benicio Del Toro weaves a portrait of a restrained but rage-filled man whose true motivations remain a mystery until the film’s dénouement. Indeed, it is Del Toro who stands out the most and in his performance as Alejandro we certainly have a worthy contender for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars.

Thought provoking, unrelenting, and brutal: Sicario may just be one of the most interesting films released this year.

Star Rating: 5/5

The Martian review

When a mission to Mars is disrupted by a large storm, one of its crew members Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left stranded. With the next manned mission not expected for another four years, Watney is forced to use all his skills and ingenuity as a botanist and engineer in order to survive.

Great, you probably think, a film where a human being is pushed to their physiological and psychological limits while stranded on another planet. This could be a brilliant exploration of the strength of the human spirit. Indeed, The Martian could be this, but it isn’t.

The problems with the film are multifarious. For starters, its constant planet-hopping from Mars to Earth to Mars to Earth again kills any suspense or sense of peril. Is Watney ever going to return to Earth? Is he going to survive long enough to be rescued? Yes we know he is because we keep seeing all the head honchos at NASA plus their huge team of technicians working out how they’re going to bring him back. The conclusion of the film is never in doubt.

Then there is also the character of Watney. For a man who has death staring him in the face, he never seems to be short of a smile or something to joke about. This, of course, is supposed to make him endearing and likeable yet it also makes him seem more like a cardboard cut-out than a real human being. Among all the good humour he displays, shouldn’t there be at least a few moments of despair? A few moments when it looks like the dreadful realities of his situation might actually ‘break him?

That Watney doesn’t have any of these moments means for the majority of the film he looks about as inconvenienced as a man who’s broken down on the M25.

It’s not just Watney, though, but also the whole film that seems to be off in terms of tone. Even the film’s soundtrack is questionable, with ABBA's 'Waterloo' seeming an overly flippant song choice for one critical sequence. If Ridley Scott was directing a feature film version of the Great British Bake Off, the inclusion of such a song during the climax might be appropriate, but just before a man might lose his life? I’m not so sure.

If you’re looking for some light-hearted thrills, you might find The Martian to your liking. If you’re looking for something deeper and more interesting in the vein of Scott’s Blade Runner, however, expect to be disappointed.

Star Rating: 2/5

Life review

In 1955, photographer Dennis Stock was assigned by Life magazine to take photos of a little-known actor before his first major appearance in a film called East of Eden. That actor was James Dean.

The photos Stock took of Dean, first in New York and then around Dean’s family home in Indiana, would become iconic images of the young actor, who died only seven months after they appeared in print.

As director Anton Corbijn has stated, however, it was Stock who interested him more than Dean, and this interest is clear from the outset as the very first scene is of Stock (Robert Pattinson) in his darkroom.

Although he would later become world-renowned as a photographer, Stock was struggling to make a name for himself during the period in which the film is set. This is continually emphasised with Stock's editor John G. Morris (Joel Edgerton) telling him to ‘build a portfolio.’

Stock’s frustrations and his excitement at finding an interesting subject in Dean are effectively conveyed by Pattinson. The script doesn’t shy away though from depicting the less savoury parts of his personality, such as his egotism and his inability to connect to others. In one particularly telling scene, he cuts short a trip to the park with his son – who he rarely sees – to attend a business meeting.

Dane DeHaan also provides a solid performance as James Dean. He does a good job of capturing the quiet intensity that made Dean an epitome of ‘cool.’ Yet he also finds a troubled side to him and manages to show the anxiety that comes from having so much expectation on your shoulders.

Life provides an interesting exploration of the lives of its two main characters, both artists at key points in their careers. It also offers a sometimes painful look at the nature of celebrity.

There’s not a lot of showbiz glitz here, but there is a great deal of honesty. And that’s no bad thing.

 Star Rating: 4/5

Irrational Man review

The plot of Woody Allen’s latest film Irrational Man sounds compelling enough. Philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) decides to kill a corrupt judge in the hope of giving his life meaning. As this is going on, he has to juggle relationships with both student Jill (Emma Stone) and colleague Rita (Parker Posey).

There is a problem though with its execution. What could be a fascinating and philosophical drama ends up seeming more like a slightly surreal soap opera. Like a soap opera, there is no real energy and depth and, as a result, the whole thing becomes interesting only on the most superficial level.

The script is the weakest point. Aside from the college movie clichés – the troubled, alcoholic professor, the inappropriate relationship with a student – and the banal dialogue, it is also peppered with a series of annoying voiceovers that tell us little we couldn’t already grasp from the action on-screen.

Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone do their best, but they can’t bring to life what is already stillborn.

If you’re a die-hard Woody Allen fan you might get something out of this, otherwise it is best avoided.

Star Rating: 2/5

The Visit review

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit sees two teenagers, siblings Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), going on a week long stay with their grandparents. 

Rebecca is an amateur filmmaker and is eager to document her and her brother’s visit for the benefit of their mother – who hasn’t seen her parents since she eloped with the kid’s father 15 years before.

When the siblings arrive, their grandparents are warm and welcoming. As the week progresses, however, their behaviour gradually grows weirder and more disturbing.  

After a string of failed attempts at making Hollywood blockbusters (The Last Airbender, After Earth), I was looking forward to seeing M. Night Shyamalan’s return to horror/suspense thriller. The idea of a movie in the vein of his earlier works, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs had me genuinely excited. What a shame then that The Visit is so mediocre.

There are plus points: the film’s snowbound, rural location is suitably creepy and a perfect setting for any horror film. Its found-footage style also gives it a very intimate, home video feel that suits its familial themes.

Then there is the tension and atmosphere which Shyamalan effectively creates by consistently ratcheting up the weirdness factor. What’s disappointing is that the only thing Shyamalan builds towards is some not very jumpy jump scares and a few gross-out moments.

The film’s biggest flaw though is its messy juxtaposition of comedy, horror, and family drama. It shifts uncomfortably between scenes of each in a way that is quite jarring.

Perhaps the best (worst?) examples of these tonal shifts occur towards the film’s end in which scenes of domestic horror are followed by preachy moralising and then by a very cringe worthy attempt at humour. It gives you the feeling that since Shyamalan couldn’t decide how he wanted to end the thing he decided to go with three endings for good measure.

Although not as disastrous or ill-conceived as some of his previous films, The Visit is still another misfire from a director whose catalogue is slowly becoming full of them.

Star Rating: 3/5

Legend review

Before the screening of Legend, there was a Q&A with writer/director Brian Helgeland. When asked about the dangers of glamorising gangsters, Helgeland said: ‘Gangsters are glamorous.’

He then noted that just because something is glamorous doesn’t mean it’s good.

Few gangsters are as glamorous and bad as the Krays. As club owners, they rubbed shoulders with members of the British aristocracy and celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. They were also killers, whose murders of George Cornel and Jack McVitie made them bywords for underworld brutality.

In Legend (based on the book The Profession of Violence by John Pearson), Helgeland doesn’t shy away from either of these elements. The film begins with the Krays, Ronald ‘Ronnie' and Reginald 'Reggie,' (both played by Tom Hardy) already established names in London's criminal underworld. It then follows them through the 60’s as their notoriety increases and a scandal involving a member of the House of Lords propels them to celebrity status.

Tom Hardy delivers screen-dominating performances as the twins. His Reggie is controlled and concerned with maintaining a veneer of respectability, telling his future wife Frances (Emily Browning): ‘I’m not a gangster, I’m a club owner.’

It is in the role of the psychotic, bisexual Ronnie that he excels though. Whether he’s being candid about his preference for men in front of American Mafioso, or outlining his plans to build a city in Nigeria – ‘for the children’ – Hardy’s Ron Kray is a hulking, mass of lunacy who still somehow manages to be charming; he’s part Joe Pesci from Goodfellas and part Yogi Bear.

Against this performance/s, it’s difficult for the rest of the cast to compete. As its narrator, Emily Browning’s Frances Shea is meant to provide the film’s human centre. Instead she is colourless and most of the time seems to be going through the motions of the gangster’s moll: she wants Reggie to change, ultimately realises he won’t, etc. Likewise, Christopher Eccleston is adequate, though no more than that, in the role of Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read, the detective on a mission to bring the Krays down.

Some liberties with the subject matter are of course taken. In the murder of Jack McVitie, Ronnie Kray’s role is downplayed while Reggie Kray’s motivation is given a more emotional bent. There is also the issue of Ron’s sexuality: while he did have relationships with men he also had a relationship with a woman called Monica during the period in which the film is set. However, this is something that Helgeland glosses over.

While Legend doesn’t offer the most accurate or insightful look at the Krays, it does convey the glamour and celebrity that surrounded them in their heyday. It manages this without sanitising the brutality that allowed them to rise to the top of London’s underworld. Together, this makes Legend an interesting exploration of what makes the Krays culturally fascinating, as well as a worthy addition to the canon of British gangster films. 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl review

Greg (Thomas Mann) is in his senior year of high school. Graduation is just around the corner. Despite his parent’s concerns, however, he seems unwilling to seriously consider the idea of going to college. Instead, he focuses his energy on blending in and making movie parodies with his friend Earl (Ronald Cyler II).

Then one day his mum tells him that a girl at his school called Rachel (Olivia Cooke) has been diagnosed with leukaemia and, after some wonderful scenes of emotional battery, persuades him to first call and then to visit her. Although Rachel is at first reluctant to engage with Greg, she soon becomes charmed by his quirky personality.

The rest of the film sees the friendship between them grow with Earl also becoming involved so that the three of them form a mutually supportive trio.

A tight script from Jesse Andrews (author of the novel upon which the film is based) ensures that Me and Earl and the Dying Girl treads a well-judged line between comedy and drama. It avoids the clichés and calculated sentimentality that can plague a film dealing with emotive issues; as Greg says, ‘this isn’t a touching romantic story.’

Empty platitudes and motivational speeches are also helpfully avoided and are in fact made mock of in a scene where Greg and Rachel humorously imagine what the responses of their peers will be to Rachel’s diagnosis.

The performances from the three leads are suitably assured although in comparison to the other two title characters Earl is curiously underdeveloped. It also seems a shame that the friendship between him and Greg is not explored in greater depth.

Jon Bernthal (from The Walking Dead) makes his mark on the film in a small but important role as the heavily-tattooed history teacher Mr. McCarthy. A scene in which he recounts the events surrounding the death of his father to Greg is especially poignant and has a profound effect on Greg later in the film.

Rather than feeling emotionally manipulated, you come away from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl feeling you have watched a very natural and unforced piece of human drama. Refreshingly it treats its audience as adults and not children who require a cushion placing between them and life’s truths. 

The Diary of a Teenage Girl review

‘I had sex today…holy shit,’ 15-year old Minnie (Bel Powley) declares at the beginning of The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Such frankness about sex is nothing new in the coming of age film: think Superbad, Kidulthood, Fish Tank. What makes The Diary of a Teenage Girl different from those, however, is its focus on a female sexuality relatively free from exploitation; rather than being pressured into having sex, Minnie has it because she enjoys it.

Set in San Francisco in 1976, the film shows us Minnie’s life as she grows up in a home with her younger sister, her mother (Kristen Wiig), and her mother’s boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard). It is the 35-year old Monroe who Minnie loses her virginity to and who is thus responsible for her rapturous declaration at the film’s beginning.

The relationship between Minnie and Monroe becomes increasingly complicated as the film progresses. And as an outlet for her thoughts and feelings, Minnie draws cartoons, which are amusingly brought to life in a series of animated sequences.

Bel Powley is excellent as the teenage Minnie and manages to convey all the naivety, recklessness, and insecurity of somebody transitioning into adulthood. Strong support is provided by Kristen Wiig who, although playing it relatively seriously, has several funny moments as Minnie’s hippie-ish and frequently drug-addled mother. It is Alexander Skarsgard who is particularly worthy of praise though for the depth and complexity he brings to the character of Monroe; a person who, for all his posturing, is essentially as insecure and immature as Minnie.

Considering Minnie’s and Monroe’s relationship and Minnie’s resultant sexual awakening are the driving forces in the film’s narrative, the inclusion of a subplot involving Minnie’s former stepfather Pascal (Christopher Meloni) seems out of place. Meloni appears, says some lines, disappears, and is barely mentioned again. This is one of the film’s few flaws, however.

There was controversy when the BBFC decided to award the film an 18 certificate, something which absurdly prevents most teenage girls from seeing a film about a teenage girl. The BBFC’s rationale was that the film’s sex scenes and references were too numerous and that a 15 certificate wouldn't be 'defensible.' Considering that many films featuring extreme violence are routinely given 15 certificates, this seems quite ridiculous.

Indeed, if those responsible for assigning a classification had watched the film with a more open mind they might have taken note of its positive message; a message that says you should be happy within your own skin and shouldn’t rely on others to fulfil you. In a world obsessed with image and status, this is something today’s teenagers need to hear.

Straight Outta Compton review

The N.W.A stepped onto the late 80’s music scene with all the subtlety and grace of a stick of dynamite thrown in a Western. F. Gary Gray’s much-hyped biopic follows the group’s members – Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.) Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), DJ Yella, (Neil Brown, Jr.) - from the success of their first single 'Boyz-n-the-Hood' and the release of their seminal album Straight Outta Compton to their vilification by the media and their eventual downfall.

Gray does well to put the group’s confrontational stance into context by showing us an L.A. seething with racial tensions. The group’s members are all subject to police harassment at some point. And the composition of their infamous song ‘Fuck tha Police’ is effectively dramatised with it coming straight after a scene where the group are accused of being gang members and forced to get onto the pavement by several police officers – this situation is only defused by the intervention of their white manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti).

The scenes of the group’s live performances do an excellent job of capturing the energy and attitude that cemented the group’s appeal yet also made them the subject of unwanted attention from law enforcement. A scene in which the group perform in Detroit after being warned by the city’s police not to play the song ‘F the police,’ as the officer addressing them puts it, is particularly riotous, and also cathartic, when the inevitable occurs and Ice Cube is asked to ‘take the stand.’

Noteworthy performances come from O’ Shea Jackson, Jr. as Ice Cube – perhaps unsurprisingly since Jackson is Ice Cube’s son – and from Paul Giamatti as the band’s manager Jerry Heller. Giamatti seems to excel when playing seedy characters and here, as in the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, he gets to sink his teeth into just such a role.

If the film has a weakness it’s its length. There's too much time between the breakup of the N.W.A and the end of the film. Also, without the group as a united force, the film’s second half lacks the energy that makes the first so exciting. If you’re an avid hip-hop historian you might find the scenes covering the feuds between the various characters interesting. For the more casual moviegoer, however, these parts may have the feel of a rubber duck floating aimlessly in a bathtub.

The sequences surrounding Eazy-E’s HIV diagnosis are treated with care, and the emotional punches fall hard as he is visited by his old friends. These, together with a very satisfying final scene involving Dr. Dre, keep the film from petering out.

Tributes from 50 Cent and Eminem during the credits drive home the N.W.A’s musical importance in a fitting, though not quite flawless, record of the hip-hop pioneers.

The Wolfpack review

For fourteen years the Angulo brothers were almost entirely confined to their family’s Manhattan apartment by their parents. Their main point of contact with the outside world was the films their father religiously collected, such as The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Pulp Fiction. As they grew up the boys began to make their own versions of these films with themselves playing every role.

Then in January 2010, Mukunda Angulo got up one morning and simply walked out of the apartment. This act soon encouraged the others to also rebel against their parent’s strict prohibitions. It was on one of their walks around the streets of New York that the brothers met filmmaker Crystal Moselle. With their sunglasses and suits, they looked exactly like the colour nicknamed killers from Reservoir Dogs. Fascinated by them, Moselle decided to make them the subject of a film.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, The Wolfpack provides a fascinating look into the Angulo brothers’ lives and their unusual upbringing. Candid interviews with the family members are interspersed with home video footage from the brothers’ earlier years, including footage from their DIY remakes of various Hollywood movies. These films provided the brothers with vital, albeit distorted, windows into the outside world; as one of them painfully states:  ‘It makes me feel like I’m living…sort of.’

Interviews with the brothers’ mother and father are also sources of valuable insight and show how damaging decisions can be made with the best of intentions.

There are several emotional scenes, including one where the boys are about to visit a cinema for the first time. As they embrace their mother one by one before leaving the apartment, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were about to fly to the moon, rather than doing something that many people do every day. When the boys come out of the cinema having just watched The Fighter, they are visibly abuzz and it’s difficult not to smile with them, especially when one of them declares: ‘I played that guy (Christian Bale) in The Dark Knight, Batman Begins.’

If there’s one problem with the film it’s the inclusion of more obviously staged sequences. Moments such as the one where the filmmakers ‘just happen’ to walk in on Mukunda while he’s sat on his bed typing up scripts, jar with the film’s more naturalistic parts and are liable to cause some eye rolling. Luckily these are few and far between.

Ultimately if there’s any message in The Wolfpack it’s that human beings are capable of growing beyond the confines of their environment. Different things can be the catalyst for this growth. For the Angulo brothers, it was films that allowed them to reach beyond the walls they were trapped behind for so many years. Who would have thought that dressing up as Reservoir Dog’s Mr Blonde could provide both hope and a means of escape?

Four Great Late Night Movies on Netflix

You’ve got Netflix, right? If you haven’t what are you doing with your evenings? Going out, meeting new people, breathing the sweet diesel fumes of nature?

For those of us with more important things to do (like sitting inside with the blinds closed, drinking cheap wine, and eating a whole block of cheddar cheese) here’s a list of ‘late night movies’ for you to check out; the kind with sex, monsters, and important social commentary.

The Guest (Dir: Adam Wingard, 2014)

A family is visited by a mysterious man claiming to be a friend of their dead soldier son. Very bad things then begin to happen.

This is about as much as can be said about the plot without revealing spoilers. Dan Stevens (formerly of Downton Abbey) plays Adam, the mysterious stranger and titular guest. Did I mention Stevens was in Downton Abbey? Don’t let this put you off. As Adam, Stevens is easily one of the best parts of the film: equal parts charm, menace, and muscle, it’s difficult not be beguiled by him.

In addition, Maika Monroe (from It Follows) makes for a solid heroine while the film’s soundtrack is worthy of an entire article of its own: pounding, synth-heavy, instrumentals and haunting goth rock combine to give the film a very unique and dreamlike atmosphere.

Adam’s backstory is a little shaky, but this is one of the few negatives in an otherwise compelling thriller.

Obvious Child (Dir: Gillian Robespierre, 2014)

For stand-up comedian Donna (Jenny Slate) nothing seems to be going right. Her boyfriend’s just broken up with her, she’s lost her job, and now she’s pregnant after a one night stand. Comedy and unwanted pregnancy are not new bedfellows (see Juno) but rather than deciding to go to term as Ellen Page’s titular character does, Donna decides to go for the other option and get an abortion. 

In a world where most of the people vying to be next president of the United States have such a detached view of the issue it’s nice to see a film that approaches it through a very human perspective. 

Jenny Slate is likeable as Donna while Gaby Hoffman and Gabe Liedman both provide strong support as her friends.

A witty script keeps the film ticking along nicely and tracks familiar rom-com territory without falling into cliché. If you want something that’s both funny and has real substance be sure to give it a look in.

Spring Breakers (Dir: Harmony Korine, 2012)

Four college students want to go to Florida for spring break, but they don’t have the money. What would you do in their situation? Exactly…steal your professor’s car, rob a fast food restaurant, and use the money to make the trip. When the girls reach Florida they engage in rampant booze and drug-fuelled hedonism and become entangled with gangster rapper/drug dealer ‘Alien’ (James Franco.) 

Written off by some during its initial release as an exploitative beer and boobs-fest, Spring Breakers is, in fact, a genuinely interesting film that casts a stark light on a culture where the pursuit of pleasure is placed above all other values.

James Franco is fantastically memorable as ‘Alien’: his ‘look at my shit’ speech in which he shows off his horde of weaponry, his array of aftershave, and claims to have Scarface on repeat on his TV, is worth anyone’s time alone.

Throw in some beautiful cinematography courtesy of Benoit Debie (Enter the Void, Irreversible) and possibly the greatest use of a Brittney Spears song in a film sequence ever and you have a film you can really lose yourself in. 

The Babadook (Dir: Jennifer Kent, 2014)

Ever thought that insomnia might be your thing but haven’t yet had the courage to try it? Don’t worry, this film will help.

Jennifer Kent’s directorial debut tells the story of Amelia (Essie Davis), a woman who’s been forced to raise her son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) alone since her husband died in a car crash while driving her to the hospital to give birth. As Samuel’s seventh birthday and the anniversary of the accident approaches, Samuel’s behaviour grows increasingly erratic. He becomes obsessed with a storybook monster called the Babadook, something which Amelia at first disregards as childish fantasy. Until she sees evidence of the Babadook’s presence herself that is.

With its bleak suburban setting, Kent finds the perfect locale for a film about the dark forces festering in the corners of everyday life. The Babadook itself makes for a very scary monster indeed and one that is made all the more terrifying by what it represents.

Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman are convincing as the imperilled mother and son in a film that’s sure to become a classic of the horror genre in years to come.

And remember before watching: you can’t get rid of the Babadook.

Mistress America review

Tracy Fishko (Lola Kirke) has just started college in New York but, like many who are parted from the family nest for the first time, she finds herself feeling lonely and awkward around her new peers. On top of this she has come to terms with her mother’s engagement to a man she’s met online. At her mother’s suggestion, Tracy gets in touch with her stepsister-to-be, Brooke Cardanis (Greta Gerwig.) Brooke is a glamorous socialite with a 

variety of interests (she runs a spinning class, tutors maths and is 'very into social media') but little direction in her life.

Tracy immediately finds herself enchanted by Brooke and, despite their twelve year age gap, the pair quickly become inseparable.  Not only does she become a friend but Brooke also becomes an unwitting muse to Tracy, who is a writing student, and it isn’t long before Tracy is writing a story whose central character is based upon her. Throw in Brooke’s plans to open a restaurant, despite having very little money, and you have all the ingredients for an excellent farce.

Mistress America is director Noah Baumbach’s third film with Greta Gerwig and it is the second they have co-written together, the first being Frances Ha (2012). With this film, however, we get the sense that the creative duo has really found their rhythm: its themes, friendship, becoming an adult, are more fully realised than those in Frances Ha and its characters more fully fleshed out.

As Brooke, Gerwig shines in a role that is ideally suited to her. The full breadth of her acting talents is displayed as she portrays a person who frequently shifts from being energetic and confident to desperately insecure and frustrated. It is the complexity that Gerwig brings to the role that ensures Brooke comes across as a fully rounded human being and not just a caricature of New York’s social elite.

Lola Kirke also turns in a strong performance as Tracy. She approaches the role with an earnestness that makes her character endearing even when she’s doing things that might otherwise force us to dislike her. Kirke is only 24 and if her performance in this is anything to go by she is certainly someone to watch out for in the future.

Baumbach and Gerwig’s script may meander a little but this seems to be the point in a film that is about friendship and finding your way in the world. It is funny, dramatic, touching, but never boring. 

The Man from U. N. C. L. E. review

Winston Churchill, mushroom clouds, a map of Germany being split down the middle: these are the images which begin The Man from 

U. N. C. L. E. and which lay the groundwork for the sleek tale of espionage to follow.

Henry Cavill plays Napoleon Solo, ex-con turned CIA agent, who is dispatched to bring Gabby Teller (Alicia Vikander), the daughter of a Nazi rocket scientist, from East to West Berlin. No easy task. And one that is nearly scuppered by Soviet super-agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). The three of them are soon forced to work together, however, in order to track down Teller’s father who may or may not be working with Neo-Nazis intent on creating a nuclear weapon.

Guy Ritchie’s direction lends itself well to this re-imagining of the 60’s TV series and he imbues it with both style and playfulness. He also manages to find a happy medium between ensuring that the film doesn’t drag yet also that it doesn’t rush along frantically pummelling its audience into submission, as some similar films are wont to do.

Cavill, Hammer, and Vikander also make for great leads. The personality clash between Cavill’s arrogant, apparently nonchalant Solo and Hammer’s serious, no-nonsense Kuryakin is a delight to watch (their argument about matching belts and dresses being a particular highlight.) This game of one-upmanship is prevented from becoming too suffocatingly masculine by the presence of Vikander’s Teller, who thankfully doesn’t fall into Bond girl cliché and is an essential driving force in the film’s narrative; blunt speaking and rough around the edges, damsel in distress she is not.

If there’s one thing that weighs against the film it is the lack of a strong and compelling villain. Victoria Vinciguerra (Elizabeth Debicki) has some suitably menacing moments as does Uncle Rudi (Sylvester Groth) but they don’t quite have the colour to match the rest of the film’s retro stylings. Their master plan (like all good spy film villains they must presumably have one) is also never really fleshed out and thus the audience are never given a chance to shake their fists at the screen in indignation, or at least mutter ‘Jesus Christ’ into their popcorn bags.

All in all, though, The Man from U. N. C. L. E. is a pleasant throwback to the spy movies of yesteryear, think Roger Moore era Bond. It’s fun, stylish, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. If you want an undemanding popcorn flick that won’t drown you in CGI this summer, be sure to check it out.