All I wanted was something better than KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL. It is, but only just. Given its old-fashioned adventure story origins, an Indiana Jones movie should never feel video-gamey, but during its opening and final act set pieces DIAL OF DESTINY this disappointingly does. Elsewhere it’s more promising and more fun, with a septuagenarian Indy (Harrison Ford) reluctantly recruited by his formidable goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) to find Archimedes’ legendary temporal-shifting dial before the Nazis (them again) do. You get all of the franchise greatest hits from elaborate puzzles in ancient temples to encounters with nasty beasties and various chases on an assortment of modes of transport all accompanied by John Williams’ uplifting orchestration. Ford is at his growly best until unexpected moments of humour or vulnerability shine through the cracks and it’s great to see Waller-Bridge get to play such a kick-ass role for a change, but most of the rest of the cast are disposable and by the end you find yourself asking, was that it? SSP
Review in Brief: Infinity Pool (2023)
Along with Julie Ducournau, Brandon Cronenberg is one of the most exciting, twisted directors to break through in the last decade. His latest uncomfortably funny sensory assault INFINITY POOL follows James (Alexander Skarsgård) a struggling author who has married rich and is holidaying in a perfect nightmare of a resort somewhere in Europe. Soon he gets drawn into the orbit of a gang of awful, privileged fellow guests led by Gabi (Mia Goth) who get their kicks through hallucinogen-fuelled orgies and murder without consequence, because if you’re rich enough the punishment for any heinous crime can be passed on to a purpose-built clone of yourself… Cronenberg delved into identity disassociation as a vehicle for horror in his previous film POSSESSOR and here it is used as a satirical sledgehammer standing in for inhumanity in a capitalist system. Skarsgård dials back his natural charisma to play a frankly pathetic, detestable man and Goth continues one hell of a run in horror as perhaps the most terrifying but also hilarious antagonist in recent genre cinema. SSP
Review in Brief: Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Who needs Ash? Lee Cronin’s addition to the Evil Dead franchise is just as, if not more, mischievously gnarly as the Sam Raimi-masterminded films, but he keeps things contained and personal throughout. Swapping out the usual cabin in the woods for a claustrophobic apartment building, we follow recently single mother Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) her three kids Bridget, Danny and Kassie (Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies and Nell Fisher) and their visiting guitar tech aunt Beth (Lily Sullivan). The awkwardness of slightly distant sisters soon falls by the wayside when an earthquake hits and unearths a recording of an incantation that awakens an ancient evil, an evil that corrupts Ellie and drives her to harm her family. EVIL DEAD RISE is a nail-biting chase movie confined almost entirely to a few rooms in a tower block and deviously makes it clear from the off that everyone is expendable, especially the children. More of this please. SSP
Paul Verhoeven Films Ranked
Where to Start with Wong Kar-Wai
Review in Brief: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
They only went and EMPIRE STRIKES BACK-ed SPIDER-VERSE. If the first film was “anyone can be Spider-Man” then this is “can (and should) Spider-Man save everyone?”. 2 years after several very different Spider-people crossed over to the world of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and he took the leap of faith to become a hero, the return of Gwen Stacey / Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) and the actions of supervillain the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) leads miles to encounter the fanatical Spider-Man 2099 / Miguel O’Hara’s (Oscar Isaac) Spider-Society and begins a battle to save the multiverse. One watch cannot do justice to part one of this audacious animated epic; the sheer volume of information conveyed and number of deep-cut references and gags can almost overwhelm you. This is one of the greats, from endless invention of the visuals (Gwen’s empathic watercolour world being a particular highlight) to the fearless plot swings, you still never lose track of who these heroes are and what makes them super. SSP
Review in Brief: The Five Devils (2022/23)
THE FIVE DEVILS (I never did work out why it’s called that) is a captivating, beautiful and very weird sort-of time-travel story. The life of the Soler family is rocked when aunt Julia (Swala Emati) comes to stay and young Vicky (Sally Dramé) begins to manifest powers linked to her extraordinary sense of smell. Joanne and Jimmy’s (Adèle Exarchopoulos and Moustapha Mbengue) marriage is already on the rocks, but Julia’s return brings back a scandalous past between her and Joanne and it is up to Vicky to navigate dark visions and help her family heal. It’s serene and heartfelt but equally eerie and twisted, the raw performances and fascinatingly flawed characters keeping the magical realism more weighted towards the latter. Writer-director Léa Mysius explored the horror of rapidly losing your sight in her striking feature debut AVA, and here it’s smell as a superpower, so it’ll be fascinating to see whether she incorporates other senses as genre plot devices in the future. SSP
Review in Brief: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022/23)
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON is an endearingly strange and melancholic live-action/stop-motion animation hybrid mockumentary. An anthropomorphic shell called Marcel (Jenny Slate) lives with his grandma Connie (Isabella Rossellini) in the corner of an Air BnB and wonders where the rest of his family has disappeared to. When a depressed documentarian (Dean Fleischer Camp) moves in he films and assists with Marcel’s search, prompting the tiny crustacean to go viral on YouTube. How much joy or otherwise you get out of Marcel will depend a lot on if you find Slate’s vocal delivery cute or annoying, but there’s very little else even remotely like this out there; a hand-crafted tribute to outcasts and family told in a way only outcasts would think to tell it. SSP
Review in Brief: Rye Lane (2023)
Rom-coms have an established grammar and beats everyone expects you to hit, but RYE LANE follows its own rules. A chance meeting in a club bathroom sees two lost souls find each other following all-time bad breakups. Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) of course take a while to realise it’s each other they’re looking for as they spend a day trekking over South London trying to salvage something from their respective romantic traumas, but they make for charming company. A few of these encounters like Dom’s disastrous Spotify shuffle game at a cool barbecue and Yas’s “people who don’t wave at boats” rule are destined for iconic status. Raine Allen-Miller’s feature debut marks her as one to watch, highlighting the stories of distinct British communities and subcultures with wit, warmth and a really distinct visual flair. SSP
SSP Thinks Film 