Review: Einstein's God Model

Intriguing and chilling independent science-fiction film which asks what happens if you try to reconcile the afterlife with theoretical physics.  The result is something like a blend of Contact and the 1980s low budget sci-fi film, Hardware with perhaps a dash of Sapphire and Steel.

The production is often a bit amateurish and even gimmicky in places - but in a way, that somehow makes it feel more credible as many scientific academic productions (or at least the ones I worked on) have a few basic film making fails.

But it is never boring to watch, and the special effects budget is well used.

Verdict: Thought provoking view.

Review: An American Werewolf in London

It's been several decades since I watched An American Werewolf in London on an ancient black and white portable television perched on fold up chair late one night.  I was too young at the time to appreciate the jokes or the erotica - but I do remember it being a scary suspenseful watch with plenty of jumpy moments. I'd also clearly misremembered a line I could have sworn had been said, "There's nowt here for likes of you".

This time around, Agutter's performance as Jenny stand out. She brings a lot of subtlety and helps ground the film in reality - especially in some of her street based exchanges with Naughton's David.

In amongst the catalogue of moon based songs, there's the occasional moment of comedy to lighten things. But it's blooming weird at times, particularly the dreams and visitations, David starts having afterwards.  Whoever came up with those was a genius as they give credibility to his character's concern that he's going insane.

One of the things that's a staple of werewolf films is the transformation process. At the time, it felt revolutionary - and it still feels like the benchmark against which other films are measured. The actual werewolf is a lumpen looking creature, but obviously actually there in a way that few CGI beasts manage.

Lastly, for a film of this age An American Werewolf in London looks stunning on blu-ray. It's rich in detail and naturalistic looking which, period detail aside, helps contribute to the ageless quality of this film.

Verdict: 80's horror classic.

Review: Yes Man

Carrey is a loans clerk stuck in a self-isolating rut when he's persuaded to attend a motivation conference where the participants have to agree to say Yes to everything.   This results in mostly slightly muted mayhem - with some memorable comic moments e.g. Carrey's serenading of a potential suicide.

It's a good vehicle for Carrey's particular type of physical comedy and personally, I've warmed to him considerably as I've revisited a few of his films over this last year.

The film is notable for one character's prescient obsession with taking selfies using a Polaroid before they became a ubiquitous feature of smartphones.

Add in a gently uplifting life message - good things happen when you say Yes - and a bit of light romance - and I came away from this feeling my 30 pence had been well spent on this DVD.

Verdict: Enjoyable and undemanding rom-com.

Review: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The third in the modern Mummy series starring Fraser with Weisz conspicuous in her absence  That's a shame as this entry brings back some originality with the location moving to the Far East to breeze through a bundle of myths and reality include the terracotta army, Shangri-La, and the Yeti.

Weisz aside, this entry is more likeable than the second's near retread of the first. The CGI is a considerable step up from earlier entries. There's some great casting in the form of Calder, Yeoh and Li - who are all a bit underused. Some humour is retained, but not quite enough.  But the motivations of those seeking to raise the main villain are never completely credible.

Verdict: Better than expected.

Review: Mel's Story: Surviving Military Sexual Assault

Doonesbury's trademark style suits this tale of the after effects of coercion and assault in the US military. It's by turns poignant and upsetting as Mel progresses through near complete emotional detachment to redeployment as she is encouraged to reframe her situation.  It is deeply moving when a breakthrough comes as a therapist describes her a wounded soldier.

Moments of dark humour and light wit round out the book's story of recovery. A sprinkling of military jargon and lack of justice adds to the credibility and realism.

I learned a lot of about how shockingly pervasive this experience is in the military as well one or two useful reframing techniques.

Verdict: Deftly-told powerful story

Review: One Day

This light through-the-ages romcom comes with a surprisingly bitter note.

The leads - Hathaway and Sturgess - have good chemistry and produce charismatic performances, but its fair to say that Hathaway's British accent was somewhat...erm...well travelled in its variability. Still good on her for trying.  Sturgess' character made me wonder whatever did happen to Terry Christian?

The script is often lightly witty and occasionally insightful - but particular nods to the makeup team who managed to make Sturgess convincingly age with the times and the production designers for evoking the spirit of each age so succinctly.


Verdict: Imperfect, but engaging enough.

Review: Godzilla

Darkness and largely grey colour palette frustratingly obscures the monsters in this 2014 creature feature - and hard to say whether that was a deliberate design choice or reflects budgetary restrictions. That's a shame because it makes it difficult to fully appreciate the scale of them and the destruction they cause. And it doesn't really feel like the deal with this movies is being honoured - the original wasn't afraid to show off the monsters - even if the reveal looked a bit cheap.

The exposition when it comes is very welcome as for much of the movie I was left as baffled as some of the characters as to what was going on. I'd paid to see Godzilla (admittedly not very much) and he or she takes their sweet time to make their appearance.

The story and acting is about as bland and predictable as can be. It's not really the fault of the cast, as they are only there to react against largely unseen monsters.  The two hour running time doesn't help its case either.

There are nice little musical steals/riffs from other movies e.g. the use of something like 2001's choral score during a parachute scene is inventive but one monster's roar feels like Jurassic Park's T-Rex uttered it first.

Verdict: Mediocre monster movie.