SCREENWASH – ONE-LINER FILM REVIEWS #2

Aside from my longer, pretentious and pontificating reviews I also like to chuck in a few quick-fire posts for films I’ve watched on cable, satellite TV, catch-up, DVD and cinema over the past few months. Think of them as movie reviews for the attention deficient or for the lazy bastards like me, who from time to time, skim-read before catching the mark at the bottom. As usual I accompany the reviews with marks out of eleven.

BLOOD TIES (2013) – FILM FOUR

Very solid 1970s set crime drama boasts an excellent cast including: Clive Owen, Billy Crudup and Marion Cotillard. (Mark: 7.5 out of 11)

CLOVERFIELD PARADOX (2018) – NETFLIX

Brilliant ensemble cast propel this sub-Star-Trek-story that’s been crow-barred into the Cloverfield franchise. (Mark: 5.5 out of 11)

THE COMMUNE (2016) – SKY TV CINEMA

Thomas Vinterberg directs this appealing slice of ‘70s Swedish life as a group of adults attempt to find “perfect” living within a commune situation. (Mark: 8 out of 11)

THE CURE FOR WELLNESS (2016) – SKY TV CINEMA

Overblown, overdone and overlong gothic horror finds Dane DeHaan struggling against evil doctors and an even more unbalanced screenplay. (Mark: 6 out of 11)

DAVID BRENT: LIFE ON THE ROAD (2017) – NETFLIX

Ricky Gervais is on funny form as the deluded David Brent, as the Office ‘star’ goes on the road trying to gain fame as a pop star. (Mark: 7.5 out of 11)

DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993) – SKY TV CINEMA

Richard Linklater’s brilliantly orchestrated end-of-school-year-stoner-comedy features an incredible cast of soon-to-be-famous actors!  (Mark: 8 out of 11)

DRIFTER (AKA DETOUR) (2016) –  SKY TV CINEMA

Horrifically poor and uneven Mad-Max-Texas-Chainsaw rip off which while very stylish is completely unwatchable with unlikeable characters. (Mark: 3 out of 11)

FRANTZ (2016) – SKY TV CINEMA

This touching WW2 set love story, shot on crisp black and white and deftly directed by Francois Ozon, breaks and mends one’s heart in equal measures. (Mark: 8 out of 11)

IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE (2016) – SKY TV CINEMA

Ethan Hawke excels in an offbeat, violent revenge Western which fails dramatically because of the irritating villain and over-familiar plot. (Mark: 6 out of 11)

KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD (2017) – SKY TV CINEMA

Guy Ritchie’s take on the Camelot legend suffers a total personality breakdown; neither committing fully to Charlie Hunnam’s geezer-King-Arthur (good) or the swords and sorcery subplots (bad!). (Mark: 6.5 out of 11)

LOVING (2016) – SKY CINEMA

Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton are never less than brilliant in their performances as a mixed race couple battling the racist law which strives to keep them apart. (Mark: 8.5 out of 11)

LOVELESS (2017) – PICTUREHOUSE CENTRAL – CINEMA

Raising bleakness to the level of poetry, this tragic Russian ‘missing child’ thriller is expertly constructed, but features two of the most selfish characters I’ve ever experienced in a movie. (Mark: 8 out of 11)

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE (1985) – BFI BLU RAY

Classic 1980s British drama written by Hanif Kureishi features Daniel Day Lewis in an early role finds cultures, sexuality and politics clashing in dirty old South London. (Mark: 8 out of 11)

THE POST (2017) – WIMBLEDON ODEON – CINEMA

Steven Spielberg’s worthy freedom-of-speech drama is wonderfully shot and acted but felt too subtle and dramatically under-cooked for such an important moment in American history. (Mark: 7 out of 11)

SULLIVANS’ TRAVELS (1941) – SKY TV CINEMA

Preston Sturges brilliant comedy combines slapstick, romance and social satire as Joel McCrea’s pampered film director attempts to find the “meaning of life” in depression-hit America. (Mark: 10 out of 11)

WAKE IN FRIGHT (1971) – FILM FOUR

Cult existential Aussie psychological thriller finds Gary Bond’s English teacher attempting to escape his pitiful lot but falling further and further into a nightmarish outback abyss.  (Mark: 8 out of 11)