GODZILLA VS. KONG
Who would have thought that when KING KONG first appeared on the screen in the thirties and GODZILLA in the fifties that they would still be going strong all these decades later? This eagerly awaited clash of the titans is given a spectacular production by Adam Wingard, who first started his career by making low budget horror movies like THE GUEST and YOU’RE NEXT.
Kong now lives in a protected environment deep in the forest by a lake, where he is kept under surveillance by a group of scientists including Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall). In captivity, Kong has formed a precious bond with Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a young deaf girl, who teaches him how to communicate in sign language. Meanwhile, Godzilla, totally unprovoked attacks Florida, which prompts the experts to begin a dangerous journey in search of Kong’s true home…
The plot is too silly to take seriously but one watches this kind of spectacle for its amazing special effects and jaw dropping set pieces. The acting is strong especially by the younger actors – Hottle is terrific and so is Millie Bobby Brown, who returns as Madison Russell, Godzilla’s ally from KING OF MONSTERS.
The film cries to be seen on the big screen and hopefully you will be able to do so next month. In the meantime enjoy this digitally!
UNDINE
Christian Petzold, the German director of YELLA and PHOENIX, is one of the most exciting and original talents working in cinema today. His work is always thought provoking and unpredictable and here he tells the story of Undine (Paula Beer), a historian of Berlin urbanism giving talks about her city to foreign visitors. She tries to come to terms with a traumatic break from her boyfriend but an accidental meeting with industrial diver Christoph (Franz Rogowski) gives Undine a magical new lease of life…
Beer is magnificent as the eponymous and a worthy multiple award winner as Best Actress. She is well supported by the brilliant Rogowski, her co-star to Petzold’s equally mesmerising TRANSIT.
SEQUIN IN A BLUE ROOM
A sexually explicit debut feature from Samuel Van Grinsven, who sets his stylish film in contemporary Sydney, Australia. This is not a simple coming of age story because Sequin (Conor Leach) is not your average teenager – he is addicted to anonymous sex with older men he meets online and blocks them soon after each encounter. But when Sequin visits the Blue Room he meets an intriguing young stranger which makes him eager to go back for more…
It is a daring film with an attractive young protagonist living a dangerous life on the edge of a precipice. An assured cinematic debut worth discovering but it is certainly not for those easily offended!
A COMMON CRIME
I first saw Francisco Marquez’s intense psychological thriller back in October during the London Film Festival and on a second recent viewing, I appreciated it even more especially its atmospheric soundtrack which builds up like a crescendo in order to convey its protagonist’s inner turmoil. Single mother Cecilia (an amazing Elisa Carricajo) works hard as a Sociology Professor at the University and gets help at home by her loyal maid.
One stormy night Kevin, the teenage son of maid knocks desperately on Cecilia’s door but she is too afraid to let him in. The next day Kevin is found dead in the river…
A perfect study of guilt and conscience, which even though its main premise brings to mind the Dardenne Brothers’ THE UNKNOWN GIRL, it is a totally unique experience.
I WAS AT HOME, BUT…
German filmmaker Angela Schanelec is a great visionary who opens her mesmerising film with striking images sharply edited before the narrative begins. A 13-year-old boy disappears and still after his return the mystery is yet to be resolved…
The boy’s mother is expertly played by Maren Eggert, a fragile woman whose façade begins to crumble even in daily activities like trying to buy a second hand bicycle. Schanelec explores successfully various philosophical and existential ideas in the most poetic fashion which many filmmakers do not even dare to enter. (Blu-Ray from Second Run)
ORIGINAL GANGSTER
It is a real coup for the producers to have Steve Guttenberg – the Hollywood star of POLICE ACADEMY and THREE MEN AND A BABY – on board this low budget British crime thriller. And an even bigger one to persuade him at act wearing a larger than life blonde wig as a megalomaniac drug lord.
The story is seen through the eyes of Castor (Alex Mills), a young homeless man, whose family was executed by a group of gangsters when he was boy. His life was spared by Milo (Ian Reddington), a kind assassin and as fate would have it their paths cross again…
Mills makes a credible hero and gets solid support especially by newcomer Mike Musicos, as the proud Cretan father of Milo’s wife. The pace and editing occasionally need sharpening but overall a decent addition to the genre.
WILDNERNESS: A sweet love story between two strangers, whose one night stand leads to a romantic getaway in a country cottage by the coast. James Barnes & Katharine Davenport work well together as the lovers in this engaging film which is perfectly complimented by an evocative jazz score.
ZANA: A powerful film from Kosovo by Antonella Katsrati, who tells the story of Lume, an Albanian woman living with her husband and mother-in-law in a small village. She is haunted by nightmares and is expected to get pregnant but with no success. And she is continually threatened of being replaced by a younger woman…
A grim, solemn but touching film about the horrors of war and its many scars that never heal!
THE FRIGHTENED CITY: This British crime thriller made in 1961 is probably Sean Connery’s audition piece for James Bond in DR NO, which was filmed a year later. He plays Paddy Damion, a cool Irish criminal hired by local mobster Harry Moucher (Alfred Marks) to enforce his devious protection schemes across London’s West End…
A strong cast that also includes Herbert Lom, as a criminal mastermind and John Gregson as the Detective Inspector close on their tracks but finally it is Connery that steals the day! (StudioCanal)
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