My Review of Following (1998)

 

Written And Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Bill: "When I started to follow people, specific people, when I selected a person to follow, that's when the trouble started."

There was a time when someone like Christopher Nolan made lower stakes film with a modest budget and more shockingly, something that was under 90 minutes. It was also his debut film but his familiar style was as present here as it's been throughout his whole career.

Focusing on an unemployed writer named Bill (Jeremy Theobald), this film delved into the consequences of following other people. Bill chose to follow random people in order to give him inspiration as a writer. Unfortunately he picked the wrong guy to follow.

The guy in question being a suited man named Cobb (Alex Haw). The latter knew what Bill was doing and deduced Bill's life a little too succinctly. Cobb also turned out to be a burglar and Bill quickly became his accomplice and protege. In fact, Bill made little effort to resist the idea at all.

Then there was The Blonde (Lucy Russell). She's the classic femme fatale that didn't have to do anything in order to get Bill's attention. Then again, Bill and Cobb stole from her apartment and she was involved with The Bald Guy (Dick Bradsell). He was involved in pornography and had no problem killing anyone who posed a threat to him.

Of course, the big twist here was that The Blonde and Cobb were involved with each other and were planning to frame Bill for the death of a woman that Cobb likely killed. Even when Bill worked out that he was being played, he still came afoul of Cobb and The Blonde.

Bill ended up being framed for The Blonde's death and Cobb got away with everything. Bill really should have avoided Cobb but he didn't and everything went to shit for the guy. Bill was a very foolish man.

- Jeremy Theobald has appeared in both Batman Begins and Tenet. I like that Nolan brought him back for those films. Theobald is also in Nolan's short film, Doodlebug.

- There's literally a Batman logo on one of the apartment doors. Almost as if Nolan was willing a future trilogy into existence.

- John Nolan also had a role in this film. He's Christopher's uncle.

- Chronology: 1990s London, filmed in black and white.

Following (1998) was a modest nonlinear debut (linear if you're watching the Criterion release). It's strong stuff, nice performances from both Jeremy Theobald and Alex Haw and the black and white helped evoke the intended mood.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of A Dirty Shame (2004)

Written And Directed by John Waters 

Ray-Ray: "Let's go sexing."

For the last few weeks, I've delved into the delightfully depraved mind of John Waters and now I'm at an end (of sorts) with that journey. I mean there's still some of his short movies to watch at a later date but in terms of feature films, here's where I depart.

Waters might have started with writing for characters in poor backgrounds and revelling in their filthy sides but he also proved that those in the suburbs can be just as filthy. The residents of Harford Road proved that in spades.

You've got a residence with two very divided groups. There was the Neuters, aka the most sex negative people you'd ever encounter in your life. Their most prominent being women such as Big Ethel (Suzanne Shepherd) and Marge (Mink Stole). Oh boy, did they hate sex or what?

On the other end of the scale, Ethel's daughter in law, Sylvia Stickles (Tracey Ullman) started off as a Neuter until a bump to the head brought out her inner sex addict. Sylvia had a nice put upon husband named Vaughn (Chris Isaak) and a big breasted daughter named Caprice (Selma Blair). The latter used to be known as Ursula Udders, a former exoric dancer and was now under house arrest.

Anyways, Sylvia's sudden love of sex put her in the cross hairs of Ray-Ray Perkins (Johnny Knoxville). He's a sex guru of sorts and along with the rest of the sex addicted residents, Ray-Ray needed Sylvia in order to complete an orgasm on a rather grandiose level.

The rest of the movie became long battle between the Neuters and the sex addicted to see which group would seize control of the town. Naturally, it got ridiculous in certain parts, but only one group could ultimately win. It wasn't a surprise which one did.

- This was John Waters last feature film. His other credits included a child reading of Pink Flamingos and a short movie.

- Various fetishes were looked into. This included adult babies, bears and cubs, dirt eating and sploshing to name a few. Ricki Lake and David Hasselhoff had cameos.

- Standout music: David Raksin Orchestra's Sylvia.

- Chronology: Harford Road was set in Baltimore.

A Dirty Shame is anything but sexy and not all of the jokes land as they should've done. For the most part, there's some fun to be had among the utter depravity that's on display.  It's not John Waters on all cylinders but it's decent enough.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Tenet (2020)

 

Written And Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Neil: "What the hell happened here?"

The Protagonist: "Hasn't happened yet."

Ah, this movie. Not gonna lie, it's one of the weakest things that Christopher Nolan has ever made and came out during a time that his working relationship with Warner Brothers came to a rather bitter ending. 

On top of that, it's also one of Nolan's mind bending films that doesn't quite hit the mark. Memento and Inception it's not. It's also one of those time where Nolan might have let his indulgent side out too much. I'm also gonna say something that Film Bros will hate my guts for saying but it could've benefitted from being at least an hour shorter.

Despite a brilliant cast, I just don't vibe with this movie as much as I wanted to. There are two major pluses and they are of course John David Washington and Robert Pattinson. I could watch those two play off each other all day. I just wish this had been a better movie for that.

John's literally The Protagonist of the movie. That's actually his character's name - the Protagonist, a CIA operative and on paper, it's a role that he excelled at. Unfortunately he's caught in this largely dull and confusing story where he's a part of Tenet. They're an organisation that seek out objects that move backwards in time.

When he's given scenes with Pattinson's charming but mysterious agent Neil, they're the highlight of the whole movie. Even when it appeared that Neil wasn't 100% trustworthy and even with the painfully obvious reveal of Neil being recruited by The Protagonist. Those two actors really need to appear in something else together.

On the other end of the scale, the Russian Oligarch stuff was boring as fuck and much as I like Kenneth Brannagh, I found Andrei Sator to be a dreadfully dull villain. Then there's Elizabeth Debicki as Kat. Imagine her character from The Night Manager and that's what you get here. And no, that's not a compliment. She's horrendously written in this movie from start to finish. I'd even say she's the worst written character in the entire movie itself.

- Other actors who popped up included Himesh Patel, Michael Caine, Martin Donovan, Fiona Dourif and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in a slew of fairly okay supporting roles.

- Once Upon A Time In The West was an inspiration for the film and Nolan watching spy films when writing this one.

- Standout music: Travis Scott's The Plan.

- Chronology: Took place in the likes of Kyiv, Oslo, Italy, Tallinn, Vietnam and London.

I gotta be honest, Tenet was definitely Christopher Nolan at his self indulgent worst. It's a movie desperate to be seen as being more clever than it is. In reality, it's a middle of the road spy story with a dull antagonist and a half baked side love story of sorts. On the plus side, the chemistry between John David Washington and Robert Pattinson did a lot of the heavy lifting for this film.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Insomnia (2002)

 

Written by Hillary Seitz

Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Will: "You don't get it do you, Finch? You're my job. You're what I'm paid to do. You're about as mysterious to me as a blocked toilet is to a fucking plumber. Reasons for doing what you did? Who gives a fuck?"

Delving into an earlier timeline, remember during the pre Batman days when Christopher Nolan was somewhat more small scale in his storytelling? Those were genuinely interesting times.

This movie for example was a straightforward enough cat and mouse detective drama with two top tier performances from both Al Pacino and Robin Williams. Of course, both men are on opposite sides of the law.

Al Pacino took on the role of hardened Will Dormer. The death of a young woman named Kay Connell (Crystal Lowe) had Will and his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) being paired with Ellie Burr (Hillary Swank) in order to solve the case.

On the other hand, there's Walter Finch as played by Robin Williams. He's a writer of detective fiction and was more than happy to assist Dormer in cracking the case. He's also a killer, an expert at mind games and knew enough about Dormer to be a serious threat to the man.

For the most part, Dormer was a good man but he suffered from insomnia and that impaired his judgement at times. Dormer was also responsible for the death of his partner and bent the law to make sure that a paedophile was sent down. Finch had no problem trying to use these things to control Dormer. They only worked for a bit.

In fact, the closer that William got to Ellie, the more he was able to be honest with her about the things he had done. This however did put Ellie in danger and there was a tense stand off at a lake house between Dormer and Finch. It ended in a rather brutal way for both men that felt thematically satisfying either way.

- There's some strong supporting performances from Maura Tierney, Nicky Katt and Jonathan Jackson.

- This is the only film that Christopher Nolan has directed by not written or co-written. 

- Standout music: Coldplay's Sparks and Ivy's One More Last Kiss.

- Chronology: Dormer and Eckhart were from Los Angeles but this story took place in Nightmute, Alaska.

Insomnia (2002) reminded me of Nolan's earliest and more low key of movies. There's a part of me that would like to see him go back to that type of storytelling again, at least for one future movie. Getting back to this one, both Al Pacino and Robin Williams are just on mighty form here.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Cecil B. Demented (2000)

 

Written And Directed by John Waters 

Cecil: "I'm Cecil B. Demented, and you're in my movie. Do not look into the lens and ruin the shot or you will be shot."

Heading into the 2000s, was it the right time to make a film deeply critical of Hollywood? Maybe it was a case of being a little ahead of it's time. That's happened with certain directors before.

Let's take an actress named Honey Whitlock (Melanie Griffith). She's an A List actress but she's not very liked and one of her first scenes involved her humiliating her put upon publicist, Libby (Ricki Lake). She's also not a fan of Baltimore either.

Being in Baltimore for work however put her in the cross hairs of rebel filmmaker Cecil B. Demented (Stephen Dorf) and his band of misfits. Those involved actors like Cherish (Alicia Witt) and Lyle (Adrian Grenier), art director Lewis (Larry Giliard Jr), make up artist Raven (Maggie Gyllenhaal), hairstylist Rodney (Jack Noseworthy), driver Petie (Mike Shannon), costume designer Fidget (Eric M. Barry), sound artist Chardonnay (Zenzele Uzoma), cinematographer Pam (Erika Lynn Rupli) and producer Dinah (Harriet Dodge).

That's a lot of characters to keep up with for this particular band of terrorist filmmakers. Honey's not particularly thrilled with helping them but it's not long before their rebellious spirit started to rub off on her and she became a bit too willing to go along with Cecil's increasing demands.

This included disrupting a screening of the directors cut of Patch Adams, public filming, endangering the general public but on the plus side, Cecil and the gang did manage to do humanity by sabotaging an ill advised sequel to Forest Gump and a very public final act at a drive in theatre. I'll give Cecil his due, he certainly knew how to go out in a blaze of glory while Honey Whitlock might have given herself a defining career performance.

- Honey had an ex-husband played by Eric Roberts. He had problem blasting her on Roseanne Barr's show. John Waters and Mink Stole had minor roles.

- We got to see some of Cherish's pornographic past on the big screen. One of her moments involved a gerbil. I can't imagine who that was referring to.

- Standout music: Substance D's Everyday and Liberace's Ciao!

- Chronology: Baltimore of course in 2000.

Cecil B. Demented did take a bite out of so many trends in Hollywood that are rather relevant to today. I wasn't sure about this one at first but I found myself  pretty taken with this movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Rules Of Attraction (2002)

 

Written And Directed by Roger Avary

Sean: "I didn't know where I was going, some place unoccupied I hoped, at first I thought there were things about her I would never forget, But in the end all I could think about was-..."

I saw this movie only once and it was a few years after it's initial release. It wasn't a movie that particularly impressed me but I decided to go back to it recently. I can't say that time has altered my view on it.

Based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name, you've got well college students. None of whom are particularly likable but this movie did something of a deep dive on these particular characters.

Going in for LGBT representation first, there's Paul Denton (Ian Somerhalder). He's a bisexual guy caught up in a love triangle with fellow students Lauren Hynde (Shannyn Sossamon) and Sean Bateman (James Van Der Beek). Yes, that last is related to who you'd expect him to be related to.

It's a rather toxic triangle to watch unfold with all three characters being frustrating to watch and none of them on the same page as one another. Paul pined for Sean. Sean pined for Lauren but had no problem sleeping with Kelly (Kate Bosworth). Lauren also pined for her ex boyfriend Victor (Kip Pardue).

There's a whole segment in the movie that nearly delved into Victor's European exploits that were moderately entertaining enough to watch. Victor also had sex with Lara (Jessica Biel) and there's also a purple letter subplot involving Sean to boot.

It's a film where none of the three got what they truly wanted. Sean didn't get Lauren and left. Paul didn't get Sean but reflected on things with Lauren. Lauren didn't get back together with Victor.

- Casper Van Dien was cast as Patrick Bateman but his scene was ultimately cut from the film.

- There's some good support roles from Faye Dunaway, Swoosie Kurtz, Eric Stoltz and Fred Savage to name a few. Lot of recognisable people appear in this one.

- Standout music: James Van Der Beek's version of Anna Begins and George Michael's Faith.

- Chronology: Set at Camden College in New Hampshire.

The Rules Of Attraction was more of a frustrating than fun experience. Thr performances are fine and there's some interesting character bits but it didn't really come together that well as a film.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Pecker (1998)

 

Written And Directed by John Waters 

Pecker: "I love you Shelley! I love you more than Kodak!"

I'll admit that 1990s era John Waters might be his most interesting time. There's a clear attempt to be a little mainstream while also keeping with the shock value that his earlier works have done.

There's also more of a conscious effort to have a sympathetic main character and Pecker (Edward Furlong) might be his most likable to date. Pecker's genuinely a nice kid with a hobby and talent for taking photos.

Pecker's got a family he adored - parents Jimmy (Mark Joy) and Joyce (Mary Kay Place), sisters Tina (Martha Plimpton) and Little Chrissy (Lauren Hulsey) and his grandmother (Jean Schertler). The latter had a talking Virgin Mary statue and Pecker's family and girlfriend, Shelley (Christina Ricci) were incredibly supporting of his photography. They were also subjects too.

Anyways Pecker quickly caught the attention of New York art dealer Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor) and pretty much became an overnight success. On the downside, it made Pecker a tad unpopular in his own town and his family a victim of burglary to boot.

There's a look into Pecker taking apart the elitism of the art work during the second half of the movie as well as getting back into the favour of his home town. It's a funny turn of events with Pecker this movie by proclaiming his own aspirations to make a movie himself.

- There's cameos and voice roles for John Waters, Mink Stole and Mary Vivian Pearce respectively. Tobey Maguire was originally considered for Pecker but turned it down.

- Apparently Christina Ricci wasn't a fan of either Baltimore or laundromats. Shelley ran a laundromat obsessively.

- Standout music: Paul Evans's Happy-Go-Lucky Me.

- Chronology: 1990s Baltimore as well as a brief trip to New York.

Pecker (1998) does have a certain charm to it. It's not John Waters best effort but neither would it be his worst. I think Edward Furlong did a good job in making the character as likable as he could've done.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Inception (2010)

 

Written And Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Cobb: "I need to get home. That's all I care about right now."

Ariadne: "Why can't you go home?"

Cobb: "Because they think I killed her."

One of my favourite films from the 2010s and one of the best movies from Christopher Nolan himself. Released between his two billion dollar movies from a certain trilogy, Nolan was cooking something truly extraordinary here.

Most of his players from The Dark Knight trilogy factor into this film but it's Leonardo DiCaprio who was leading the events as Dom Cobb. Cobb was an extractor along with Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Their mission involved striking their targets subconscious to extract information. Needless to say there was going to be a fall out from that.

The fallout being the death of Cobb's wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard). She served both as a femme fatale and a guilty conscience of sorts for Cobb with some rather heated moments between both former spouses. There's some genuinely strong chemistry between Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard throughout the movie.

Cobb however had a mission courtesy of Japanese businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe). The mission involved extracting information from Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) and for that Cobb needed a team.

This was where characters like Ariadne (Elliot Page), Eames (Tom Hardy), Yusuf (Dileep Rao) and Stephen Miles (Michael Caine) factored into things. All of them had certain skill sets that Cobb and Arthur needed for the mission.

It's a chaotic mission with various details into the complexity of the dream world, including limbo being outlined. There's a lot of mind bending sequences, a deep dive in Cobb's own family guilt as well as the use of a totem to see if the real world was still out there. 

- Various actors, including the likes of Kate Winslet, Emily Blunt and James Franco. Some of these actors also turned Nolan down for certain parts.

- Other actors included Lukas Haas, Peter Postlethwaite and Talulah Riley. The latter's role was rather amusing.

- Standout music: Édith Piaf's Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.

- Chronology: Largely set in the dream world, but also in Lis Angeles.

Inception (2010) deserves the accolades bestowed upon it. It's a mind bending madness of delight with weighty themes and a series of exceptional performances. It's really one of the best things I've seen Leonardo DiCaprio in and I hope that one day he will work Christopher Nolan again.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Interstellar (2014)

 

Written by Jonathan Nolan And Christopher Nolan

Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Cooper: "We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars. Now we just look down, and worry about our place in the dirt."

Yes, I'm going backwards here, given the previous movie from this director that I reviewed. Christopher Nolan has explored many things but him tackling a space based story wasn't on my bingo card at the time.

Coming off a massively successful Batman trilogy, Nolan clearly had blockbusters on the brain and this one was lofty in its ambitious but at the same time, it felt quietly intimate. It's about a family man and he just happened to be played by Matthew McConaughey.

McConaughey took on the role of former NASA pilot turned farmer, Joseph "Coop" Cooper. Being a farmer wasn't something he seemed content with because the moment he had the opportunity to venture back into space, he certainly seized it with both hands.

Cooper being part of the Endurance meant leaving behind his children - Tom (Timothee Chalamet) and Murph (Mackenzie Foy). The latter didn't exactly take her father's departure particularly well but she would follow her father footsteps and surpass him in many ways.

As much as the film focused on Cooper and Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) off planet, there was an equal amount of focus placed on Murph. We got to see older versions of her, played by both Jessica Chastain and Ellen Burstyn respective and I gotta be honest, I found her a lot interesting to watch than her father. Saying that, there's no denying that Cooper's absence really did inspire the choices that Murph made with her life and their final reunion was beautifully bittersweet.

As per usual, there's a lot of supporting players from Nolan's collection of actors as well as some newer ones in the mix. Both John Lithgow and Casey are on good form as Cooper's father in law, Donald and the older version of Tom respectively. Matt Damon had a good supporting role as Dr Mann while Michael Caine popped up as Amelia's father, Professor John Brand.

- Other actors in sizeable roles included Wes Bentley, Topher Grace, David Gyasi and Josh Stewart to name a few.

- The method of space travel for the movie was based on Dr. Kip Thorne's work. He provided guidelines for the movie.

- Standout music: Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.

- Chronology: This movie spanned several decades. Cooper reunited with Murph as she was dying of old age.

Interstellar (2014) might be one of the best movies from Christopher Nolan. It's a genuinely beautiful movie from start to finish with incredible performances all round from everyone involved. The last few minutes alone are breathtaking.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of House Of The Dragon: "Tumbleton"

 

Written by David Hancock 

Directed by Clare Kilner 

Ormund (to Daeron): "Now, you must be king."

And just like that, James Norton became the MVP of Season 3. I both love and hate Ormund Hightower in equal measures. He's a breath of fresh air and he's also a toxic menace. The influence he's got on Daeron was staggering to watch.

In his own twisted way, I don't doubt that he might love Daeron but Ormund made it abundantly clear that he's got a deep hatred for the Targaryan bloodline. The way he talked about Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne was one thing but he wanted Daeron to usurp both Aegon II and Aemond as well.

He didn't hold back with testing Daeron by having the poor lad murder Hugh's brother in law. Oh, the brother in law by the way committed the crime of protecting his sister from Ormund's rapist soldier. Sadly, Daeron did exactly what Ormund wanted and just like that, both Aegon II and Aemond are no longer Rhaenyra's biggest threats.

Speaking of Aegon II, he's not having the best time. Both him and Larys have become latrine cleaners and Aegon's reunion with Sunfyre had Larys dismissing the possibility of the poor dragon still being alive. I hate that I actually feel a little bad for Aegon II this season.

As for Aemond, he's still not around but Criston got to have a delightful conversation with Alys where the latter made it clear not to mess with her. Criston's encounter with her certainly spooked him and also forced both him and Gwayne to get along and ditch Harrenhal for Tumbleton. 

Back to King's Landing, it was nice to see Rhaenyra find some common ground with Alyn, put Ulf in his place, appoint a Master of Coin on Mysaria's advice, get some useful information on Ormund from Alicent but once again, it seemed like there will be more tension between her and Daemon. Rhaenyra did a lot this episode, including trying to get the upper hand on her latest threat.

Speaking of Daemon, he didn't exactly have the greatest of meetings with Lady Jeyne but he did get some gold. Daemon also discovered that Rhaena was responsible for Jace's death and his attempts to remedy things will only make things worse. As for Rhaena, she's just taking herself out of the equation.

- Ormund certainly had a temper that Daeron was too aware of. Ormund's also sensitive to smells.

- Helaena is pregnant, which so far only Alicent is aware of. It doesn't seem she's too far along either.

- Torrhen Manderly was appointed Master of Coin. Orwyle was allowed to keep his position but has to work with Mysaria. Daemon's mistrust for the latter keeps growing.

- Ormund's view on sexual assault leave a lot to be desired, even if he did geld that soldier of his. He's also not a fan of dragons or incest.

- Corlys was still pissed at Rhaenyra that he went off to fight more Triarchy remnants. 

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Tumbleton might be the weakest compared to the first three episodes but it's a great showcase for both James Norton and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth. The Ormund/Daeron dynamic might be toxic but it's fascinating to watch.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of My Adventures With Superman: "The Death Of Superman"

 

Written by Marguerite Bennett 

Directed by Chris Palmer 

Lex (to Jon): "I hear you're trying to travel back to the past. That really doesn't work for me. Where would you even get an idea like that?"

I'm never going to get a Superman media that won't do this story, huh? This episode kind of subverted the idea with consequences. It also turned out that, future wise, Jon Kent cannot catch a break.

In this present day scenario, Hank Henshaw went on the mother of all rampages in his quest to actually kill Superman. Hank was also rather keen to kill Supergirl and Superboy and almost came close to taking all three out.

In between the big fights moments, Jon brought everyone up to speed on the future he came from. Both Superman and Lois dead. Supergirl raising him until he died. Doctor Luthor being the one to help him. It was a lot for Superman, Supergirl and Lois to take in. 

The big battles itself were the best the show has accomplished so far. It really felt like Cyborg Superman was going to annihilate all three heroes until things took a rather tragic turn for him. On top of that, Superman just lost his powers and Superboy had to go back to his own timeline.

Speaking of timelines, it turned out that things could definitely get worse. Instead of Cyborg Superman devastating the world, try a mashup of Lex Luthor/Brainiac and Eradicators. Yet again, another episode ending on one hell of a cliffhanger. This season isn't pulling it's punches.

- Lois got to punch Lex, much to Slade's delight. Lex challenged her on being Superman's girlfriend.

- Kara being the one to train Jon led to some rather cute flashbacks between the two. Kara thought Jon hated her when the truth was the exact opposite.

- I liked the changing of the title card for this episode. It worked in highlighting the more serious tone here.

- Chronology: Stopping Cyborg Superman led to a worse future where Jon is called Jonathan Lane. 

The Death Of Superman has been done so many, many times but I did genuinely like this take on the idea. How long will Superman go without his powers? Is this future going to be resolved quickly or will it play out for the remainder of the season? It's gotta be the latter.

Rating: 8 out of 10