Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Year: 2011
Running time: 122 minutes
Certificate: 15
Language: English
Screenplay: Bridget O'Conner, Peter Straughan
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Ciarán Hinds, Kathy Burke, Stephen Graham, Katrina Vasilieva

To catch a spy.

Alec Guinness cast a long shadow over the making of this film. The 1979 TV miniseries was long thought to be the definitive adaptation of John le Carré's classic novel, and Guinness' performance in the lead role was also long-considered to be definitive. Turns out you really can have two definitive performances of the same character. Oldman is nothing short of astonishing in this, which takes nothing away from the original masterful performance by Guinness.

Control (John Hurt) is convinced MI:6 has a mole, and is convinced it's one of a small number of people in the higher echelons: Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), or 'Tinker', Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), or 'Tailor', Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds), or 'Soldier' or Toby Esterhase (David Dencik), or 'Poor Man'. There is also 'Beggarman' George Smiley (Gary Oldman), but as Smiley is our protagonist and Control's most trusted lieutenant, we can right him off as a possible suspect from the off.

Control assigns Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) to a mission in Budapest to try to identify the mole. Unfortunately this mission goes wrong and Control is ousted from MI:6, and Smiley along with him. When a story told by a rogue agent Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy) indicates the existence of a mole after all, Smiley is convinced to come back out of retirement to sift out the mole.

The unusual suspects.

Spies spying on spies, tension mounting, lives at stake - sounds super exciting. Except, this isn't most spy stories, and the plot unfolds not through dramatic action and car chases, but by quiet observation, discussions between men in smoky rooms, and watching Smiley slowly piece things together through the paranoia, fear and clandestine meetings. You do have to pay close attention or you can easily lose the thread, but you are rewarded if you can keep up.

One thing the Guinness version does have on this movie is length to allow all the characters and plot threads room to breathe, but at just over 2 hours, director Tomas Alfredson does a fine job of condensing the story while retaining the feel. Alfredson's previous debut feature Let the Right One In already showed he had an astonishing grasp of mood and style, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy does nothing to change this. The success of the whole thing rests heavily on Oldman's shoulders and he is every bit up to the task; with subtlety in every mannerism, he inhabits the character of Smiley completely.

Pay close attention, and you'll be rewarded with an engrossing story filled with tension, with a lead performance to cherish from Oldman.

Score: 8/10

Generally, there is a glut of reviews all effusive in their praise, but these from James at Reelviews and Stella at Digital Spy thought it was good, but a little too densely-plotted for a film, indicating it worked better a miniseries.

The Martian

Year: 2015
Running time: 144 minutes
Certificate: 12
Language: English
Screenplay: Drew Goddard
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover

All alone.

When the book The Martian was released in 2011, written by Andy Weir, it made a big splash. Weir's grasp of astronomy, orbital mechanics and human spaceflight made for an enjoyable, sometimes riveting story as the world united in an attempt to rescue and bring home Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon in the film), stranded alone on Mars after a dust-storm-related accident. What made it interesting was seeing how Watney used his knowledge and grasp of science to survive, and the same focus on science and smarts to solve pressing problems is true for Artemis, Weir's 2017 follow up set on the moon. I'm a sucker for competence, so I enjoyed them a lot. They were, however, a little derivative, with both stories applying new dressing to several well-worn story tropes.

It didn't take long for the rights to The Martian to be sold and adapted into a movie screenplay. We know this type of story can be hugely popular - see Apollo 13, and Matt Damon can be as much of a draw in a lead role as Tom Hanks, so it seems the success of The Martian was likely secured. Whether it would be any good, was another matter, but Ridley Scott is nothing if not a safe pair of hands, and he succeeded in making the science exciting and a planet that is little more than red rock look absolutely stunning.

Mark's crewmates discover that he's still alive on the way home, as well as details of an extremely risky move that might allow them to swing back round to Mars and pick Mark up, putting them all in jeopardy. But of course, they do it - all for one, right? So while his crew are coming back for him, Mark has to make his way across Mars to the landing site of the next expedition and work out how to rendezvous with his crew-mates. And all the way it's very clever people using their smarts to help and it's science and maths solving problems for a good cause and cheesy as it may be, I am all for it. It's not easy to carry a movie mostly by yourself and while there are quite a few characters in significant supporting roles, it's mostly Damon by himself, and like Bruce Willis in Die Hard and the aforementioned Tom Hanks in Cast Away, he acquits himself well here.

Home sweet home away from home.

It's one of those stories that can make you feel positive about what our species can actually achieve if working together for a common cause and the joy is in seeing just how these seemingly impossible problems can be overcome using science, ingenuity and teamwork. It's just fun and a little bit of a tonic in these times of hate and division. And it was a hoot seeing Sean Bean take part in another Council of Elrond.

It's not something that's going to set the world alight, but it is an injection of hope that can go some way to lightening dark times.

Score: 7/10

Most, if not all, reviews tend to be quite positive - this one from Peter at Rolling Stone was very impressed, but this one from Aaron at The Hollywood Outsider was much less so.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Year: 2010
Running time: 112 minutes
Certificate: 12
Language: English
Screenplay: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wight
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Satya Bhabha, Keita Saitou, Shôta Saitô, Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Mae Whitman, Jason Schwartzman, Alison Pill, Ellen Wong, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson

Ramona doesn't look exactly impressed with Scott to start with.

Scott Pilgrim was a box office disappointment for Edgar Wright, but it has since found a devoted (and deserved) following, including one of the UK's foremost film critics Mark Kermode. It's the filmic equivalent of espresso. Based on the series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, it is steeped in the energy of modern popular culture, practically leaping off the screen in an explosion of colour, frantic pacing and snark. That description is meant to be a positive one, although I can see for some it might not sound like it. A shot of manic energy it may be, but it's a really well assembled shot of manic energy, with heart to spare underneath the visuals.

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a flighty kid who is shallow and (let's face it, like a lot of kids) frequently discarding what he has to chase the next shiny thing while doing his best to avoid the consequences of his actions. He's in a band with his ex, Kim Pine (Alison Pill) on drums who quite clearly resents him for the way he treated her but still stays close, yearning for some kind of, if not apology, then at least acknowledgment from Scott.

Scott quickly becomes infatuated with new girl Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and so begins to try to work his way into her affections, hoping that his current girlfriend Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) will just get the picture and go away if he ignores and avoids her for long enough without going through the trouble of breaking up with her. Unsurprisingly, this backfires on Scott before the end of the movie.

Scott comes of age. And is rewarded with a flaming sword.

Scott soon realises he has bigger problems as in turns out winning Ramona's heart includes defeating her 'seven evil exes'. Wright clearly has a ton of fun creating set pieces for each confrontation, inspired by both the graphic novels and, basically everything in contemporary popular culture, but most obviously, video games. Each ex is essentially a 'boss' for Scott to defeat, leading to the ultimate evil ex Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman), where Scott gets power ups for discovering the power of love and of self respect. The fights are visually really quite unique, highlights including pre-Captain America Chris Evans as spoilt movie megastar Lucas Lee and Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh) using vegan-powered telekinesis to smash Scott through a wall. If all this sounds very silly, well, it is, but that doesn't stop it being visually arresting and a lot of fun.

Worth it for the uniqueness alone (I've never really seen anything like it before or since), this is an energetic blast from start to finish.

Score: 8/10

Although it failed to rake in the box office, it seems to have been a bit of a critical hit - see these reviews from Helen at Empire and Peter at the Guardian (who shock horror, I actually agree with on this).

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Year: 1964
Running time: 95 minutes
Certificate: PG
Language: English
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, Keenan Wynn, Tracy Reed

The sinister Strangelove considers Armageddon.

Kubrick's dark satire about automatic nuclear deterrents that are so inflexible that when they are kicked off in error they cannot be stopped has perhaps a little less power to terrify in a largely post-Cold War age, but the nature of the satire in regards to humans and governments and how they (don't) work is as chillingly relevant today as it ever was, if not more so.

Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) is a Brigadier General stationed at Burpelson Air Force Base. He is also certifiable. He believes fluoride in the water is a Communist plot to 'sap and impurify' his and others' 'precious bodily fluids' (yes, the fluoride conspiracy has been around for a long, long time, and still exists today, as the stranger corners of the internet (and Facebook) can attest to). Apparently frustrated by his impotence (presumably due to the Communist fluoride plot), he arranges for a pre-emptive nuclear strike to be launched against Russia. Shutting all communications down and locking himself away, only he knows the code to stop the attack. The only other person that might know is Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers), an RAF Group Captain locked in with Ripper.

In the War Room (possibly the most iconic film set ever built), those supposedly in charge including General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) and President Merkin Muffley (Sellers, again) frantically discuss a way of averting the catastrophe, only for the grim reality to be revealed bit by bit. The grim reality being only the unreachable Ripper is able to recall the plane and the Russian automatic 'doomsday' response will launch all Russian nukes in retaliation, initiating that old chestnut, 'mutually assured destruction'.

Also in the War Room is ex-Nazi scientific and strategic advisor Dr. Strangelove (Sellers, a third time), a comic yet sinister character that seems to have an unruly black-gloved hand that attempts Nazi salutes and occasionally will try to strangle Strangelove.

Major 'King' Kong (Slim Pickens) yee-haws his way to the world's end.

The film is full of funny yet-disturbing comedy, including the physical comedy of Scott as General Turgidson, miming a plane flying under Russian radar, demonstrating how nobody will be able to shoot it down, despite knowing its course, and evergreen puns ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here; this is the War Room!"). Sellers is on impeccable form in all three roles, and the telephone conversation between his image obsessed President Muffley and the Russian Government is an absolute masterclass in comedic acting, degenerating in to an argument over who is the most sorry. If a President arguing over inanities trying to save face while the whole world falls apart around him seems a little close to the bone at the moment, then try to remember the whole laughter mingled with terror reaction was exactly what Kubrick and Sellers appear to have been aiming for.

The ending is also still relevant today in that these Governments and leaders being all men make decisions based not on information and careful consideration, but instead using their gut, or their dick. The unpleasant Strangelove floats the suggestion of heading to bunkers deep underground to keep a microcosm of humanity left alive (i.e. them) until it's safe again to come up to the surface. What really gets everyone onboard is the suggestion that every man will be sent down with his own little harem of 10 women, selected specifically for their sexual attractiveness (to keep the species alive, obviously). To see a room full of powerful men literally give up the rest of their species for dead because they'll be able to spend the rest of their lives fucking 10 sexy women as much as possible is unpalatable and yet uncomfortably plausible.

Simply among the very best comedies ever made.

Score: 9/10

Dr. Strangelove is rightly held up as an example of one of Kubrick's best, which makes it one of anybody's best - reviews from Roger Ebert and Chris at The Movie Buff help to confirm as much.

Leon

Year: 1994
Running time: 110 minutes
Certificate: 18
Language: English
Screenplay: Luc Besson
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello

Quite possibly the high point in the careers of both Jean Reno and director Luc Besson, Leon is a rather intoxicating blend of striking action and character work.

Mathilda learns Leon's trade.

Leon (Reno) is a professional assassin in New York, a 'cleaner', effortlessly killing according to the contracts he is given. The opening is tense, violent and virtuoso. When a group of corrupt DEA agents, led by Stansfield (the gloriously over the top Gary Oldman, chewing up all the scenery in sight), ruthlessly murder a family living in the same apartment block as Leon, the 12 year-old daughter of the family, Mathilda (Natalie Portman, assured and incredible even in her screen debut) is spared by virtue of being out of the home when it happened. She returns to see the aftermath, the killers still there, so thinking on her feet, continues walking past ruined apartment containing the corpses of her family and knocks on a random door, hoping the person on the other side will save her by opening the door and letting her in. That person happens to be Leon, assassin extraordinaire, and while you can tell he knows it is probably a mistake, he can't leave Mathilda out there, begging to come in; especially as the DEA agents are getting a little suspicious. So he lets her in, saving her life.

One of the most unusual friendships in cinema starts to build from there. At Mathilda's insistence, Leon trains her to become an assassin. There isn't a whole lot left for her in life, so he agrees. In return, she teaches him to read, and the two of them build a bond that is familial and also has uncomfortable sexual undertones. The relationship is not sexual, but Mathilda, hero-worshipping the man who saved her life, sometimes indicates to others that their relationship might be more than platonic, naively not recognising the very series trouble this could cause for Leon. There is also an uncomfortable scene (for Leon as well as the audience), where Mathilda dresses up as Marylin Monroe for him, causing him to choke on his milk in shock. As uncomfortable as it is, what it does is stress the naivety and innocence of Mathilda all the more; it seems to me that she simply recognises that having saved her life, she is in his debt and wants to find a way of expressing her gratitude, not realising that teaching him to read and helping to humanise him is saving his life every bit as much. Mostly though, it's two lonely humans finding companionship and friendship in each other.

Stansfield on the rampage.

The film does a striking job of mixing this character-focused storytelling with explosively framed action set-pieces. Scores of men with automatic rifles descend on their apartment for the finale, and here Leon shows just how deadly he is, appearing out of nowhere from nooks, crannies and ceilings to eliminate all comers.

It ends the only way it ever really could, with Leon giving his life to give Mathilda the chance to start a new one on a different path, and although bittersweet, it brings a satisfying sense of both closure and potential new beginnings.

A '90s highlight.

Score: 8/10

Everybody loves Leon - two reviews from Christopher at The Independent and Mark at Empire.

The Jungle Book

Year: 1967 (original), 2016 (remake)
Running time: 78 minutes (original), 106 minutes (remake)
Certificate: U (original), PG (remake)
Language: English
Screenplay: Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Ken Anderson, Vance Gerry (original), Justin Marks (remake)
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman (original), Jon Favreau (remake)
Starring: Neel Sethi
Starring (voices): Bruce Reitherman, Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, George Sanders, Sterling Holloway, Louis Prima, J. Pat O'Malley, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken, Lupita Nyong'o, Giancarlo Esposito

Chilling with Baloo, 1967.

It seems The Jungle Book, an animated adaptation of a series of stories by Rudyard Kipling, was the last project that Walt Disney himself personally oversaw before his death (although I understand he did give a green light for the follow-up production, The Aristocats), and boy, what a swansong.

The animation is gorgeous and fluid, and pops off the screen throughout (there are some that dislike this technique of making the foreground action stand out so distinctly from the background art, but it works for me). It's jam-packed full of larger-than-life characters. Mowgli (Bruce Reitherman) is a young human, dubbed 'man cub' by the creatures around him, living in the jungle being raised by wolves under the caring eyes of the panther Bagheera (Sebastian Cabot). It transpires that the terrifying tiger Shere Khan (George Sanders, giving the villain a deliciously evil upper class feel) wants young Mowgli dead and so a desperate attempt is made to get him to a human settlement and back to his own.

Mowgli stands his ground against the dangerous Shere Khan.

It's on this road-trip through the jungle that the film takes flight and we are treated to one glorious set-piece after another; meeting characters as synonymous with the Disney name as Snow White herself (this of course, while testament to the stand out quality of the artistry on show in this and many other Disney movies, could be considered somewhat troubling as The Jungle Book, like many other Disney adaptations, runs the risk of overshadowing the original stories, folk and fairy tales they're based on).

With the introduction of each new character we're also treated to pretty much the best music of any Disney Classic. The showstoppers are brilliant – The Bear Necessities and I Wanna be like You are truly timeless, but the less well-known songs are also great – Trust in Me in particular. I also have a bit of a soft spot for the Beatles-esque vultures, who instead of sounding like The Beatles were a barbershop quartet. I read once that they were originally planned to sound like the fab four as well, but Walt thought the band were a flash in the pan and a barbershop quartet would be more timeless – guess you can’t get it right all the time.

A true classic.

Bagheera: Mowgli's noble protector and friend. Who can be a little grouchy.

In 2016 The Jungle Book received the now established live-action (obviously, considering the nature of most Disney material, 'live action' means mostly CGI) remake treatment at the hands of Jon Favreau. An adaptation that was so successful Disney later entrusted Favreau with arguably their most treasured property, The Lion King. Some Disney remakes have fared better than others. Cinderella, for one example. Remaking its classic back catalogue seems like Disney just asking for trouble, but so far it's not been the complete disaster it seems like it should be on paper, and The Jungle Book is a case in point.

Chilling with Baloo, 2016.

It was certainly risky recasting such iconic characterisations, but some utterly inspired casting meant this risk was pretty easily mitigated. There are really three characters that are more iconic than the others. I've already mentioned George Sanders as Shere Khan, but Phil Harris and Louis Prima as Baloo and King Louie are genuinely unforgettable in the 1967 original. When considering who might be right for the roles in the remake, it's pretty much impossible to think of anyone being better choices than Bill Murray and Chistopher Walken. It seems increasingly clear that Idris Elba has the range to play, literally, anything, and his Shere Khan is bristling with menace. Also notable is Scarlett Johansson as a very creepy Kaa, and Neel Sethi does an ok job as Mowgli with a difficult task of being the only human acting in a world of CGI (which is genuinely astonishingly well done).

The climactic battle with Shere Khan set against a backdrop of the burning jungle is a masterclass in creating convincing action with seamless CGI wizardry. It's difficult to overstate just how well the visuals manage to lift the film up.

It's not as memorable as the original, but Favreau made a decent fist of it (better than he made of The Lion King in the end), and along with Beauty and the Beast, is probably one of Disney's better remakes - one that, if you squint, you can almost see a point of making beyond mere profit.

A half-decent live-action remake of a true classic.

Score:
The Jungle Book (1967): 9/10
The Jungle Book (2016): 7/10

Both of these versions of Disney's adaptation are well thought of (the remake significantly more so than I was expecting), based on this review of the original from J P Roscoe at Basement Rejects and this one of the remake from Simon at Flickering Myth.

Nymphomaniac

Year: 2013 (Vol. I, Vol. II)
Running time: 117 minutes (Vol. I), 124 minutes (Vol. II)
Certificate: 18 (Vol. I, Vol. II)
Language: English
Screenplay: Lars von Trier
Director: Lars von Trier
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman, Connie Nielson, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Jamie Bell, Willem Dafoe, Mia Goth, Michael Pas

On another sexual escapade.

Nymphomaniac is not a sexy film. It is a rather joyless examination of the life of a woman in thrall to her biological impulses. Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is found bruised and bleeding in an alley by Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård). When she convinces him not to call an ambulance or the police, he helps her back to his nearby apartment to clean up and recover a little. This is the setting over which Joe tells Seligman (and by extension, us) her life story and how it has been influenced by a condition she refuses to describe as sex addiction, insisting instead on the term nymphomania.

There are many sexual encounters described by Joe (played as a young woman by Stacy Martin), many of them seemingly designed to shock, as you might expect from von Trier. Sex in Joe's world rarely seems to be a thing that brings a great deal of pleasure, be it a difficult encounter losing her virginity to Jerôme (Shia LaBeouf), through a moment tempting a man on a train trying to get back home to his wife to conceive, to having sex while grieving her dead father (Christian Slater).

Slowly becoming friends.

But I don't think we're meant to pity Joe; she takes power from her sexuality and if she appears to lack empathy at times (particularly during one scene where she is confronted with the wrath of Mrs. H (Uma Thurman), who's husband is cheating on her with Joe), it's worth remembering that every single one of the men have a choice to have sex with Joe or not, so it's difficult to really judge her for the shits she does not give.

We return fairly frequently to Joe and Seligman, and Seligman has a habit of interrupting the narrative to bring up some random subject that he thinks has familiarities to the events happening in Joe's life. This can be frustrating for Joe and sometimes for us, because (and I'm assuming it's intended this way by von Trier) for every meaningful insight he puts forth, there is another that is ludicrous, and Joe and Seligman spend some time debating the merits of his various asides. As stupid as his rambling sometimes is, you do get a feeling the two of them are taking tentative steps from being strangers to friends.

As we move from Vol. I to Vol. II Joe's life story continues and Gainsbourg takes on both the narrator and flashback roles. Joe's life goes to some very difficult places through the second half, not least an extended period of sadomasochism with K (or 'the Master') (Jamie Bell). Joe ends up working for L (Willem Dafoe), a businessman employing Joe to collect unpaid debts, using her knowledge and experience of sex and desire to expose unpleasant tendencies those owing money have, leaving them open to blackmail.

Joe offers no apology for who she is. Nor should she.

Eventually we catch up to where we found Joe at the start, and it turns out she's beaten in that alley thanks to Jerôme (the older version of which is played by Michael Pas), following a failed attempt to shoot him (Seligman points out it's because she hadn't set the gun correctly before shooting).

The ending annoys me intensely. After their long discussion, Joe seems to have genuinely found friendship - a human connection that isn't about sex. If fact, Seligman has confirmed all the way through that he just isn't sexual in nature. So when Joe goes to sleep happy, for what we suspect is the first time in a long time, it is distressing in the extreme to find Seligman waking her up in the middle of the night to have sex. I was hungry for Joe to feel the contentment that can come from positive human interaction, and out of the blue, contrary to everything he'd said, he ruined it.

Joe indulges herself.

Joe may be a nymphomaniac, but that still gives nobody the right to assume they can have sex with her. Seligman's confused "But you've fucked thousands of men" as Joe, heartbroken over losing her new friend as quickly as she had gained him, calmly and sadly sets the gun as he had demonstrated not long before and shoots him, gives voice to the assumptions of men everywhere that promiscuity somehow forfeits a woman's right to say no.

It's not unrealistic, and the point it makes (men, almost always, are pigs) is an overwhelmingly valid one, but god damn it, I just wanted Joe to find a little happiness with her new friend.

Not bad films, and Gainsbourg, Slater and Thurman in particular give standout performances, but I don't have an interest in ever seeing them again.

Score:
Nymphomaniac Vol. I: 6/10
Nymphomaniac Vol. II: 5/10

I find myself in the minority, as others seem to hold the films in high regard, judging by these reviews from Geoffrey at The Independent and Peter at The Guardian (although to be honest I often find myself at odds with Peter Bradshaw).