Review: Revenge

Extremely bloody rape and revenge French thriller which is notable for its promise to subvert the genre.  Sadly, it doesn't quite live up to its ambition and frankly some aspects were so unrealistic as to  almost pull me out of the story. But it does have some truly stunning cinematography and a strangely 70s vibe in some of the music and shot choices - I had a few Phase IV type flashbacks.

But Lutz is the real star here, and I hope to see her in roles which give her the chance to demonstrate greater range.

Verdict: Lead and cinematography promise more than is delivered. 

Review: Aquaman

Visually spectacular and overblown story of the titular DC universe comic book character.   The long running time, clunky dialogue and rambling plot are also enlivened by the occasional flash of humour and Momoa's charisma.

Some of the visuals are truly astounding though. Pause the image during one of the many action sequences and marvel(!) at the level of detail on offer.

Verdict: The very definition of the money being thrown at the screen.

Review: Magic Mike

I'll come right out and say I was surprised to see Soderbergh's name on the end credits of this style and fun over substance flirt with the world of male strippers.

The story is so slight its almost non-existent and the lead, Tatum, is no great shakes as an actor - but he's reasonably charismatic. It's buoyed along (at least initially) by plenty of innuendo and a surprising performance by McConaughey (an actor I've come to appreciate over the years).

Where it loses its way is in the darker turn it takes later. Tatum, in particular, doesn't have the acting chops to convey the existential angst his character feels (cf Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for a film in a similar territory which does this far better).

Lastly, the sound quality on the DVD leaves a great deal to be desired at times.  But if you are here for the exhibition of muscular male flesh - you will not be disappointed (the missus was plenty satisfied on that count).

Verdict: Sure to become a cult classic. 

Review: Chocolate

Chocolate is the latest in a run of bargain bin finds from my local Salvation Army charity shop (they've reduced all of their DVDs to 4 for £1).  It didn't augur well, as it was clear no-one had opened or watched the DVD before...

But the description looked interesting and I figured it was a long time since I'd watched an asian martial arts movie so in it went.

The story takes a while to get going, and is full of stylised non-verbal shots showing the lead's childhood development which reveals her to be autistic, but also something of a savant when it comes to reaction speed, and later martial arts. But once it gets going, we're treated to lengthy and creatively choreographed fight scenes as she collects on her mother's bad debts.

Vismitananda is a real find as she's both a credible actor as well as fighter.  Without her providing a solid emotional core to the film, it would become dull and repetitive very quickly.  By the end, this risk is in danger of becoming reality as fight after fight begin to merge into one.   But the closing credits montage reveals that the stunts were real and without wire work making them look extremely dangerous and at times painful.

Verdict: Enjoyable fighting fun with a twist. 

Review: Finding Joe

Finding Joe attempts to examine a community of people who take the hero's journey outlined by Joseph Campbell and try to apply it to their own lives. What emerges is a fascinating and diverse range of voices outlining their experiences and their resulting fulfilment.

As someone who has tried to introduce the notion of mythological archetypes in communications, campaigning and organisational change (without huge amounts of success it has to be said) - this documentary felt like the missing piece of the puzzle.

But the documentary was perhaps less successful at outlining all of stages of the hero's journey although it does cover the main ones.

Verdict: Finding Joe is by turns inspiring and sometimes extremely moving look at the modern and personal application of mythological storytelling.

Review: Bruce Almighty

The local Sally Army charity shop has reduced all of their DVDs to four for a quid so I grabbed a selection. First up into the player was Bruce Almighty.

Essentially, it's another chance for Carrey to show his comic chops against straight woman, Aniston while the velvet voiced Freeman gets the part that he was always destined for - God.  The premise is a simple one - what would happen if someone complaining about God was given the chance to be them.

What results is not top tier Carrey (that's still the Truman show), but it is quite a lot of fun.   Lastly, the DVD menu is perhaps one of the best I've seen.

Verdict: A decent Carrey comic vehicle. 

Review: La Vie en Rose

The use of the her native French language only adds to the impressionistic feel of this account of the singer, Edith Piaf's life.  Like her early stage name "little sparrow" suggests it flits between her successes, early life and final years to build up a picture of a life characterised by extreme hardship, tragedy,  self destruction and a search of love and acceptance.

If you were to give advice to a woman, what would it be? "Love." To a young girl? "Love." To a child? "Love."

Cotillard as Piaf is simply astonishing in this - perfectly conveying her transformation from early awkwardness to diva powerhouse to physical decline.

Verdict:  Luminous and melancholy.

Review: The Uninhabitable Earth

There's a potentially great book in here somewhere, but it needed a more through edit to reduce some of the repetition,  turn the parade of statistics into human relatable stories and make many of the overly long sentence easier to navigate. It's a real pity as we genuinely do need a compulsively readable account of the current situation re: climate change.


The errors of storytelling in this account are further compounded by the author arguing for more compelling mainstream narratives that help breach our inbuilt biases and heretics.  Physician heal thyself...

Lastly, the referencing. There are plenty of statements  in this book where it's not clear if they are assertions by the author, or backed up by peer reviewed research (there is a sizeable notes section, but no individual referencing).

But if you haven't tossed your copy into the bin just yet, hold on - as it may still be worth a read. For it is probably impossible not to come away from this book without learning something new or even getting a minor epiphany.

For me, they included the obvious in retrospect ie forest wildfires turning carbon sinks into sources and even feedback loops to the mind blowing such as 96% of the world's mammals by mass being humans and their livestock.  There is a frustratingly close to being compelling argument about AI which draws upon pithy quotes such as:

"When Silicon Valley tries to imagine superintelligence, what it comes up with is no-holds-barred capitalism."

Ted Chiang

and I'll definitely be digging deeper to find out more about Bostrom's existential risks (described variously depending on impact as Bangs, Crunches, Shrieks and Whimpers).

Then there's the perversely intuitive facts like school buildings accumulating CO2 concentrations at levels that may affect human cognition.  Perhaps yawning at school isn't just due to the boring nature of the classes taught - especially on hot summer days (temperature also reduces human cognitive ability). Perhaps we may even lose our ability to think of a solution to climate change. 

And the terrifying prospect of micro-organisms that we have co-existed with for millennia turning malevolent and causing new diseases. 

On the politics side, it turns out that US military (even under Trump) treats climate change related threats seriously while China taking a slow walk to greening its industry may benefit it on the global geopolitical stage due to differences in how nations will be affected. 

In the end, the doom laden view of our future Wallace-Wells presents is so total and pervasive - it's difficult not to be alarmed by the complex brutality of the problem of climate change. 

Verdict: A good account of the possible future according to climate change hampered by the telling.

Review: The Girl with all the gifts

It's quite difficult to talk about the Girl without spoiling the book and film, but I'll do my best to skirt around her true nature.  Suffice to say that when the realisation finally comes, it's one of the most satisfying elements of the novel - and brings a streak of originality to what is an overly populated sub-genre of science fiction.

Many elements of this road trip novel have been done before, but rarely with such humanity. The Girl, Melanie has distinctive perspective.

Appreciated the attempt at plausible science as well as the conflict between the scientific method, the good of humanity and the rights of the individual. It got me wandering down ethical avenues as diverse as people with dementia and the anti-vaxxers.

While not deeply drawn characters, each of the main humans were certainly very recognisable.  One of the key elements of a road trip (beyond putting odd balls together) is that of personal growth and greater understanding of each other.  I don't know that's its entirely realised that beyond the Parks-Melanie relationship.

The movie
After finishing the book, Amazon Prime delivered up a gift of its own in the form of a movie based on the book and written by the same author.

It's a simpler story, of course, and also lacks the shifts in mind's eye view that are characteristic of the original narrative.  But Close and Arterton, near devoid of makeup, anchor the film with two very different views about what to do about Melanie. Some scenes such as our gang's progress through a crowd are more claustrophobic and intense than book suggests and all of the better for it.

Only the wisely and sparsely used computer graphics betray its low budget.

Verdict: Both movie and book are worth your time if your taste in science fiction tends towards the dystopian.