267. The Bookshop; movie review

THE BOOKSHOP
Cert PG
113 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language

For about 45 minutes I was a little bit in love with the quaintness of The Bookshop and its old English sensibilities.
But I waited and waited for something significant to happen and finally realised it never would.
Yes, there is a bit of treachery and tragedy but scarcely enough to create a ripple on a mill pond.
Meanwhile, its star, Emily Mortimer, is the personification of nice.
True, at one point she does shout the word 'leave' at someone who has maligned a friend but otherwise she smiles benignly at those she is trying to engage and turns the other cheek towards those who offend.
During Isabel Coixet's adaptation of Penelope Fitzgerald's novel, Mortimer's character, Florence Green is offended a great deal.
However, she always behaves with appropriate decorum.
And that will both endear and frustrate. There is not a single profanity during The Bookshop but some of the characters deserve to be on the receiving end of at least one or two.
They include the local wannabe aristocrat (Patricia Clarkson) who immediately takes against Mrs Green and her new venture.
Number two on the hit list is James Lance's layabout Milo North who also justifies a verbal lashing.
Meanwhile, ally-in-chief of Mrs Green (they stuck to surnames back in 1959) is the reclusive Edmund Brundish, played with perfect deadpan by Bill Nighy.
The Bookshop looks great - every bit the East Anglian seaside town it is mean to represent.
But the emotions are held a tad too firmly in check and not all of the contributors are quite as skilled as Mortimer, Nighy and Clarkson.
Indeed, it seems to me as if they have gone a bit overboard in maintaining the stiff upper lip.
That sums The Bookshop up - if it had been set in Victorian times I would have wanted it to break out of its corset.
They weren't around as much in the late 50s but the analogy probably fits.

Reasons to watch: A movie out of the old English school
Reasons to avoid: Very little actually happens

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Director quote - Isabel Coixet: "There was such little sentimentality to the novel when it tackled something that could have been very tearful and mushy. "

The big question - When did the English change from being quaintly discreet to be loud and brash?

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3

266. Arcadia; movie review

ARCADIA
Cert 12A
78 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, bloody images, moderate threat

The British Film Institute's promotional blurb describes Arcadia as "a very strange trip indeed".
It isn't kidding.
The BFI tends to distribute movies which are away from the norm - therefore, I saw its description of Paul Wright's movie as a warning of style over substance.
In a way that is true but Wright, aside of his apparent obsession with naked dancing and prancing, has evoked some wonderful memories of old England.
Arcadia, backed by a soundtrack from Portishead's Adrian Utley and Goldfrapp's Will Gregory, explores the connection between man and the land and how that relationship has broken down over the past century.
There are reminders of the style of Mark Cousins' work I Am Belfast which has a common producer in John Archer but even more similarities with Cousins' A Story Of Children And Film.
However, unlike Cousins' films which have contemplative narratives, it relies on the snatches of commentary of selected footage to make its point about how we have become divorced from the land and even our humanity.
It highlights an England which has drifted from being green and pleasant to one of inner city poverty.
To hammer home his point, Wright leans heavily on footage of naked cavorting in the countryside. Indeed, I was surprised at how much recorded nudity there had been in the past.
The problems with Wright's film are twofold.
Firstly, it will be far too unstructured for some. There are abstract insertions which I didn't understand and I doubt many others will.
Secondly, Wright's assertions are too simplistic. Industrialisation and the migration of people from country to cities happened much earlier than he suggests.
However, his overall points about us needing to be closer to nature and losing our eccentric English identity both hold true.
I was torn over it - and that is why I have given it 6/10

Reasons to watch: Some evocative images of Britain's past
Reasons to avoid: It is very surreal at times

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 6/10

Director quote - Paul Wright: "The power of images and sound and how they rub up against each other to create different meanings and emotions is my main passion in film-making."

The big question - Was life happier when it was simpler?

265. Mildred Pierce; movie review

MILDRED PIERCE
Cert PG
111 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild violence and sex references

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3
I have written before that I struggle with offering admiration to Joan Crawford because of the revelations by her children in the book Mommie Dearest.
This becomes doubly difficult during Mildred Pierce in which she stars as a mother whose trouble is caused by the spoiling of her arrogant, materialistic daughter (Ann Blyth).
Crawford won the best actress oscar for her role in this 1945 film but I am afraid its heavy melodrama  has not really passed the test of time.
Indeed, nor has its portrayal of women - even though Crawford's Pierce is attempting to break out of the metaphorical shackles.
Michael Curtiz's film begins with Pierce's second husband (Zachary Scott) being shot dead and the film then traces the lead-up to the murder.
Crawford's title character is seen initially as a mother who is tied to the kitchen by an unappreciative first husband (Bruce Bennett) and then as a businesswoman trying to bring in the money to pay for the whims of her extravagant and loveless daughter.
Meanwhile, she is romanced by a local businessman (Jack Carson) whom she tries to frame for the killing.
Crawford's character is meant to be naive and desperate but, possibly because of my preconceptions of her, she looks hard and wily to me.
Meanwhile, every man seems to be so beguiled by her that he feels compelled to chat her up with mixed results.
And the movie jumps surprisingly quickly from scene to scene meaning that some of its impact is lost.
On the plus side, it offers nostalgia from the old type of big studio movies, overflowing with fur coats, glistening jewellery and shiny sedans.
And, as a whodunnit, it works pretty well, keeping its audience guessing until its finale.
Its just so sad that I can't get on with Joan Crawford. Apparently, I am not the only one.

Reasons to watch: An Oscar-winning performance from Joan Crawford
Reasons to avoid: It doesn't pass the test of time

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

The big question - How did Joan Crawford win an Oscar for this?

264. The Delinquent Season; movie review

THE DELINQUENT SEASON
Cert TBA
103 mins
BBFC advice: TBA

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3Oh, the dreariness. Two failing marriages and resolutions which satisfy nobody, accompanied by shouting, swearing and crying.
Mark O'Rowe's film focuses on beautiful people in beautiful homes sharing anything but beautiful lives.
The presence of Cillian Murphy might well attract Peaky Blinders fans but I fear they will be disappointed by his needy work-from-home, weak-willed philanderer.
I guess they might at least be impressed by him flopping around the bedroom in the altogether.
Murphy's character, Jim, initially seems satisfied if slightly uninspired by a family set-up in which he is self-employed and attends to the needs of his children while his wife (Eva Birthistle) goes out to work.
His life becomes much more complex when her best friend (Catherine Walker) seeks refuge from her wife-beating husband (Andrew Scott).
Actually, complex is an understatement - minefield would be more accurate.
The Delinquent Season becomes a web of deceit among best friends with a couple of twists which are intended to add to the intrigue.
That would be if there were any. The problem is that the movie's characters are so utterly unlikable that I had no interest in their fate.
And that is probably why I have nothing more to write.
Unlike those portrayed in The Delinquent Season, I don't have a limited amount of time on my hands so I, having spent 103 minutes of an Amtrak train journey from Seattle to Eugene on it, I choose not to waste any more.

Reasons to watch: Impressive cast
Reasons to avoid: So dreary

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 4/10

Director quote - Mark O'Rowe: "Cillian told me, ‘This is going to be tough. I’ve never played a part that was so close to myself. Every part I’ve ever played I’ve created a character. I can’t do that with this one. This one has to be me’."

The big question - What was Cillian Murphy thinking?

263. Vertigo; movie review

VERTIGO
Cert PG
122 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild threat and references to suicide

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3
The Amtrak train from Vancouver to Seattle promised decent wifi but it wasn't good enough to watch a streaming link of new movies which have been sent to me.
Therefore, I turned to one I had already downloaded on iTunes and which is set for re-release this summer.
Sadly, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo rather disappointed me.
It is some years since I watched it but I found its concentration on melodrama stifled its ability to thrill.
That, in my opinion, cannot be blamed on age because North By Northwest, Psycho and Rear Window have all passed the test of time.
I wondered whether it was down to the wide eyes of James Stewart, the ludicrous speed at which his character falls in love with Kim Novak's or the hurried finale.
Of course, it isn't a bad film - Hitchcock didn't make such a thing. It has his usual elegance, wonderful use of light and intriguing, original concept.
Stewart plays John Ferguson a detective who feels compelled to quit his job after his attack of agoraphobia cost a colleague his life.
An old pal (Tom Helmore) then givs him a strange private assignment - to follow his wife who, he believes, has been taken over by the spirit of her great grandmother.
So he follows her and...falls in love with her.
As you do. More incredibly, after scarcely two conversations, she is head over heels for him too.
This is bad news for Ferguson's best pal (Barbara Bel Geddes) who is desperate for him to recognise her allure.
Anyway, there are myriad twists and turns as with all Hitchcock thrillers and a humdinger ending.
Well, at least it probably was seen as a humdinger ending at the time of its release but it didn't quite hit the mark with me 60 years later.
Perhaps I was in a daze after all of the use of spiral backgrounds and queasy in-and-out shots to reflect dizziness.
Anyway, who cares what I say. Vertigo is in many filmwatchers' top 100 of all time. It just isn't in mine.

Reasons to watch: It's renowned as a Hitchcock classic
Reasons to avoid: Rather over melodramatic

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Director quote - Alfred Hitchcock: "I indulged in a form of necrophilia."

The big question - Why did 40s and 50s movie characters fall in love so easily.

262. Animal World (Dongwu shijie); movie review

ANIMAL WORLD (DONGWU SHIJE)
Cert 15
130 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3
It starting so intriguingly with wild dreamlike action scenes and highlights in slow motion.
But what took over was a life-or-death game of rock, paper, scissors and head-spinning mathematical equations.
It is fair to say that Animal World is quite different to any movie which will be screened in 2018.
Han Yan's picture begins with its main character, Zheng Kaisi (LI Yi Feng) losing his sick mother's house after signing up to a dodgy deal.
This also leaves him, inadvertently, in debt to a mobster, played by Michael Douglas who offers him the opportunity of writing it off if he signs up to play 'a game' on a huge cargo ship.
The movie then centres on moral dilemmas over what an individual would do to save his own skin.
Yan builds up tension during the game in which each competitor must accrue stars during challenges with cards containing images of rock, paper and scissors.
If they are eliminated they go to a mysterious back room where it is believed they will either face medical experiments or death.
With no other rules, Kaisi is faced with working out the best tactics for survival.
In itself this is pretty gripping but its link to the clown character, into which Kaisi dreams that he morphs and slices apart demons, is rather confusing.
Then he also daydreams scenarios in which he gives his enemies a violent comeuppance.
Chinese movies often have this type of surreal quality which, in this case, seems to be intended to thrill the audiences who find the maths of counting cards a bit dull.
I was rather torn on Animal World. I was impressed by Feng, quite struck by Douglas and gripped by the moral dilemmas in its denouement.
I also admired some of the slow-motion chase scenes which would have been even more inspired on a big screen (I was sent a link so saw the movie on my laptop).
However, the clown elements were baffling and I admit I didn't really understand the mathematical conundrums.
Nevertheless, it is well worth a watch.

Reasons to watch: Different to any film I have seen this year
Reasons to avoid: Its surreal tangents may be too much for some

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10

The big question - What would you do to save your own skin?

261. The Opera House; movie review

THE OPERA HOUSE

Cert U

111 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very mild bad language

İNDİRME LİNKİ 1 İNDİRME LİNKİ 2 İNDİRME LİNKİ 3

Oh, go on then - let's have another documentary about the arts scene in New York. This is literally the third in a week!

And they all have their place, albeit that there is overlap between some of them.

For example, much of the narrative of Susan Froemke's The Opera House is touched upon in Matt Tyrnauer's Citizen Jane from last year.

During that film, we saw how architect Jane Jacobs fought against the modernisation of Manhattan by  the all-powerful Robert Moses during the 50s and 60s.

Froemke's documentary takes a different although not entirely positive slant on the move of the The Metropolitan Opera to the Lincoln Center which was built following the brutal slum clearance.

It tells the story of the Met before its move with dewy-eyed recollections of an old Manhattan theatre which was scarcely fit for purpose but was home to some magnificent operas.

It introduces the tough-as-nails personalties such as the opera's manager, Rudolf Bing, city developer Moses and the new Met Opera's architect Wallace Harrison.

It demonstrates the pressure Harrison was under to come up with a building which was visually stunning, had fantastic acoustics and met budget.

Froemke's film includes contributions from those closest to the opera, including the great soprano Leontyne Price who looks nothing like her 91 years.

Even more eloquent in his memories is Alfred Hubay who was connected to the opera house for 62 years and, at 93, says he has not missed an opening night since 1943.

He confesses to sadness at the old theatre's demise and the move to Lincoln Center but admits that, from the first note, the new stage proved its quality.

Not that it was all plain sailing - there is a detailed appraisal, supported by contemporary footage, of how the first night nearly did not go ahead.

The Opera House is a truly engaging slice of history which is as much about the development of New York as about the company itself.

That said, there are still some stand-out operatic moments - not least when young Price holds her high  notes for what seems an impossible length of time.

It adds yet another layer to my knowledge of the Big Apple's art scene. 

Reasons to watch: The story about one of the pillars of world music

Reasons to avoid: Becomes bogged down in the history of New York

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10

Director quote - Susan Froemke: "The story of the Metropolitan Opera searching for a new home started in 1908 and we followed the twists and turns of that search all the way to opening night in 1966."

The big question - Why was opera allowed to become too expensive for the masses?