“Feelgood film of the year” is an overused poster quote, but as far as IN THE HEIGHTS is concerned it’s probably true. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s pre-HAMILTON hit brought to the screen by Jon M Chu has the same confidence and similar layered R’n’B inflected and rap-peppered musical numbers but with firm rooting in its vibrant culture and place, the Dominican New York neighbourhood of Washington Heights. During a gruelling summer heatwave and subsequent power cut, Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) saves every penny from his bodega to fund a return to his childhood home of the Dominican Republic, while his friends, family and neighbours all chase their dreams as the Heights begins to change beyond recognition. You could quibble and nitpick about the editing being a little too choppy to make the most of the dazzling dance numbers and for an egregiously bad greenscreen insert shot in one of the standout sequences, but the style (including dips into dreamy fantasy), carnival atmosphere and performances, particularly from Ramos, Corey Hawkins and Melissa Barrera still make the film soar. SSP
Review in Brief: The Father (2020)
There have been many dementia dramas but few that attempt to put audiences in the POV of the person slipping away. THE FATHER is best seen with as little prior reading as possible, the tricky-clever ways the very building blocks of storytelling on film are used to befuddle the viewer as much as an increasingly confused Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) is what marks the film out along with its stellar performances. Music also plays an important part in writer-director Florian Zeller’s conveying of emotion in a mixed-up reality, key classical motifs are played diegetically as Anthony wanders his flat and then non-diegetically as his memories and perceptions become untethered. It’s Hopkins’ show, but Olivia Colman, Imogen Poots, Olivia Williams, Rufus Sewell and Mark Gatiss all make their parts vivid and memorable, lighthouses to guide or mislead Anthony lost in the storm of his mind. SSP
Review in Brief: Rare Beasts (2019/21)
Billie Piper’s directorial debut RARE BEASTS is one of the funniest and most profound, but also perhaps the most uncomfortable of films to watch this year. From an opening dinner date scene incorporating discussion of “gummy blowjobs”, Piper is completely unafraid to really get into what makes so many of us such awful, lonely people. Mandy (Piper) in a thirty-something single mum to a son with behavioural needs (Toby Woolf) and a propensity to choose the worst kinds of men to have relationships with. But when the latest Mr Wrong, Pete (Leo Bill) comes along, Mandy wonders if this is really as good as it gets. There are plenty of gruelingly awkward conversations and frankly cruel exchanges here but Piper clearly has a natural and distinctive flair and guides her cast including David Thewlis and Kerry Fox as her embittered parents to deliver some of the finest honed performances of their careers. SSP
Luca (2021) Review
‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ at 25 – Review
Review in Brief: Nobody (2021)
More melancholy than TAKEN and far funnier than JOHN WICK, NOBODY doesn’t exactly lay new ground for films of its ilk but is really rather satisfying on its own terms. Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a suburban loser stuck in a rut only exacerbated his failure to protect his family during a home break-in. When Hutch lethally intervenes to protect a woman being intimidated by a gang of men on a bus, he kicks off a chain of events that brings him into conflict with the Russian mob and reveals his violent past. Yes, it’s another mild-mannered middle-aged man with a secret special set of skills, so the setup is somewhat laboured and clichéd. But once it gets going Nobody’s inventive and ultra-violent action and Odenkirk’s versatility and wry delivery win the day. Plus, it’s always nice to see Christopher Lloyd in things (as Hutch’s retired FBI dad) and getting to be far more kick-ass than usual. SSP
Prone to Bouts of Mania, Narcissism and Power Failure: Watching High-Rise and Snowpiercer in 2021
Review in Brief: A Quiet Place Part II (2021)
Certainly less lean and no-nonsense than the first instalment and too reliant on stupid horror movie characters acting like stupid horror movie characters, A QUIET PLACE PART II is still a mostly solid follow-up. After a pretty breathtaking opening flashback documenting the day the aliens arrived on Earth, we pick up exactly where the first film left off as the Abbott family search for sanctuary and survivors. A bigger budget means the sonic-reliant creatures are usually shown in daylight and the film certainly doesn’t skimp on the action front. At its heart this is Regan’s (Millicent Simmonds) story and she gets to confirm her position as the franchise’s active main hero even as the rest of her family get by mainly on luck. This definitely loses something in the final act and ends rather abruptly, perhaps hinting that some plot points needed to be left open enough to pick up in the inevitable third instalment. SSP
Review in Brief: Psycho Goreman (2020)
If it wasn’t for all the splattery gore, this would be a great feelgood Amblin-style kids adventure movie. As it is, PSYCHO GOREMAN is an unholy union between FLASH GORDON and the TOXIC AVENGER, which is admittedly odd but works well on its own terms. An alien warlord is revived by an imaginative sister and brother (Nita-Josee Hanna and Owen Myre) and is forced to be their new friend while his mortal enemies race across the galaxy to destroy him. This has a wonderful handmade feel to it and the creature designs put a lot of far more expensive films to shame, even if the tonal ping-ponging won’t be for everyone. But if you’re into this kind of thing there’s a lot to like with all the goofy-deranged humour; it’s one of those very striking oddball indies in the vein of something like TURBO KID that’s destined for cult status almost before it’s out the gate. SSP
Review in Brief: Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Make no mistake, SPIRAL is a SAW movie, it’s not a bold new direction for the franchise. Bafflingly someone says at one point “Jigsaw didn’t target cops”, which makes you wonder how closely people have been watching the other films (including the director of 3 of them, Darren Lynn Bousman, who returns for a 4th here). A quite restrained Chris Rock is Detective Zeke Banks, on the trail of a Jigsaw Killer copycat targeting dirty cops with a connection to the upstanding Zeke. The set pieces are still flashily violent, the film moves at a pace and doesn’t waste time, but it’s not new or different or elegant enough in its storytelling to stand out much from the crowd, let alone in its own overcrowded franchise. Even the socio-political punch that is a given with a story about a black cop fighting institutional corruption lacks some much-needed bite, final loaded image aside. SSP
