Ten Short Film Reviews 4

Lord of the Rings Trilogy – 2001, 2002, 2003 Peter Jackson
I read The Hobbit and then thought I’d dust off the first in the trilogy. Everyone tends considers the three films to be basically one massive film, and rightly so. All three extended films run to over 10 hours (I think) and there is nothing crap about a single minute of it. In cinematic terms, that is an incredible achievement.

The Deep – 1977, Peter Yates
Nick Nolte in his (physical) prime. I put this on my LoveFilm list because Harry Knowles recommended it. This was before I realised that Harry Knowles will recommend almost anything so long as there is one thing to like about it. I like a lot of bad films for a lot of bad reason but I won’t recommend one unless it’s really worth watching. The Deep is basically a poor man’s Jaws but without a shark. It’s even got Robert Shaw (Sam ‘Fingernails on the blackboard’ Quint from Jaws) in it.

Franklyn – 2008, Gerald McMorrow
A film about delusion and denial. Part real life drama, part fantasy. Well structured and almost well written. One of those ’nice idea but didn’t quite work’ films. Let down by the fact that it stars Ryan Philippe, who just shouldn’t be in films.

Ran – 1985, Akira Kurosawa
Kurosawa made more than just Samurai epics based on the Shakespeare tragedies, but they are what he will be remembered for. This is the one he spent his career building up to. The story isn’t the best one he ever made into a film, but the vivid colours and cast of thousands make up for it.

W. – 2008, Oliver Stone
Further evidence that Oliver Stone’s biographies are nowhere near as good as his fictional films (I know Platoon is semi-autobiographic but it’s not a biography). Josh Brolin does quite well as George W. Bush but he comes across as though he’s playing it for laughs even though he was playing it straight. In fact the film is generally miscast, with the exception of Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Chaney. A lot of things in this film are quite annoying actually, but the two most annoying things are: Brolin plays a collage age Bush in flashback scenes – they should have cast another younger actor for those bits; and James Cromwell’s half arsed performance as Bush Senior, while the rest of the cast are putting a lot of effort into recreating the physical and vocal mannerisms of the famous politician they are portraying, Cromwell just doesn’t bother.

Waltz With Bashir – 2008, Ari Folman
Collected personal accounts of the 1982 Lebanon War from those who fought in it and then had to deal with it in later life, presented using an innovative animation style that looks like rotoscoping but apparently it isn’t. The film has a slow pace but the subject matter is interesting enough to hold your attention. Well worth a watch, particularly for the shocking ending.

Les Visiteurs – 1993, Jean-Marie Poiré
I didn’t expect to like this film at all but I ended up liking it a lot. It’s completely bonkers, and very French, but also hilarious. It’s like no other comedy I’ve seen. The synopsis makes it sound rubbish: Jean Reno plays a 12th century French knight who gets transported to modern day France (1993) with his peasant servant, hijinks ensue, mainly in a posh hotel. The first half hour races along, they were clearly in a hurry to get to the future, but as soon as they get there it’s funny as hell, in a dated French kind of way.

The Monster Squad – 1987, Fred Dekker
One of the cultist cult films. Prime Tyler Stout poster fodder. I never understood why The Goonies was so popular, but with Monster Squad it’s far easier to appreciate why it became so beloved over the years. It’s the best type of kids’ film, basically because it’s not really suitable for kids. The young cast perv on girls, say rude words and then fight scary monsters with shotguns. There are plot holes you could drive a hearse through, but that doesn’t matter with a final act as good as this one.

Serial Mom – 1994, John Waters
A funny little film. Funny peculiar though, not necessarily funny ‘ha ha’. Kathleen Turner does a good job, better than the character deserved perhaps given how under defined she is. Maybe the whole point of the film is that we never really get to understand why the ‘Serial Mom’ is such a psycho. John Waters' most accessible film after Hairspray?


Bottle Shock – 2008, Randall Miller
Perhaps the most middle of the road film to ever premier at Sundance? It’s so inoffensive it’s offensive. The true story of how an eccentric English wine critic went to California to see if their wine was any good, and the humble American wines end up beating the French wines at some wine tasting, but they almost never got there...zzzzz. Alan Rickman parodies himself, which is a shame, ‘cos everyone likes Alan Rickman.