The Cell (2000)

The Cell (2000)

Dir. Tarsem Singh

J-Lo dives into the mind of a very mentally disturbed, comatose serial killer (Vincent D'Onofrio) hoping to convince him to take her seriously now that she's an actress in a real, genuine, honest to grud film! If she fails to reach and reason with him in time, someone dies.

It's aged badly (or maybe that's me?), and is shallower than it pretends to be — step in it and your toes will barely get wet — but the movie has a few memorable moments, most of which come from D'Onofrio, who has an intensely overbearing cinematic presence. Without him it would be little more than a bunch of pretty moving pictures attached to a plot that draws from The Silence of the Lambs (1991) movie.

Visually, it's both bad and good: the CGI is awful, but many of the visual and optical effects are pretty wonderful, with a surreal quality that on occasion seemed inspired by the likes of the Quay Brothers; there's a tiny bit of Lynch, too.

The Railway Children (1970)

The Railway Children (1970)

Dir. Lionel Jeffries

Children's Classics - each generation will find qualifying examples from its own era, but some stories are rediscovered time and again.

In Britain The Railway Children, based on Edith Nesbit's 1906 novel, is an enduring classic from yesteryear that never goes away; nor would I want it to. Set in Edwardian times, it's about a mother (Dinah Sheridan) and her three privileged "suburban children", Roberta, Phyllis, and Peter.

They're forced to move from their comfortable townhouse to a country villa in Yorkshire and live a poor life, without a father. Whilst there, they befriend a proud but kind-hearted station porter named Mr Perks (Bernard Cribbins). 

It's simple in construction but remains as welcome and warming today as it was all those decades ago. The lesson that kindness isn't dependent on social status or material riches is perfectly woven into every relevant part. The ending is a little mawkish, but the journey toward it is direct and smooth, like the train tracks that carry the focus of the faithful children's good nature into their collective midst.

The Wind of Amnesia (1993)

aka A Wind Named Amnesia (1993)

Dir. Kazuo Yamazaki

A peculiar wind blows across the world, erasing mankind's memories. It's like nature hit a reset switch: people forget how to speak; parents forget their children, and vice versa; drivers forget how to drive; doctors forget how to heal, etc. The knowledge in books remains, but no one knows how to read. With even basic life skills lost, how will humanity survive? And more to the point, do they even deserve to?

But like every post-apocalyptic scenario in fiction, not everyone is affected. A memory-wiped youth named Wataru meets one such individual and learns from him. Thereafter, Wataru journeys across America looking for something that honours his mentor / friend.

I'm a big fan of stories that encourage us to question what makes cultures tick, and by extension examine humanity's true worth. E.g., with a clean slate, can we do things better? With religion dead, will our unconscious fears cause us to invent it again? Post-apoc settings are a tremendous framework for that kind of thing.

The Karate Kid: Movies (1984-94)

The Karate Kid: Movies (1984-94)

Dirs. John G. Avildsen (Movies #01-03) / Christopher Cain (Movie #04)

01. The Karate Kid (1984). After moving to California with his mom, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) quickly makes an enemy of a clichéd high school bully. Both parties have an interest in karate, which adds flavour to what's on the surface a straightforward 80s underdog story.

There are teenager levels of romance to contend with, but it's illustrated with the best intentions, so it's not as forced as it could've been.

The real treasure is the believable sincerity that characterises the relationship that Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) has both with the eager-to-learn Daniel and the wider world, as a whole.

Morita's understated performance keeps Miyagi as a supporting character while simultaneously elevating him to become the true emotional core of the story. With a single wordless glance he can communicate a whole chapter's worth of feelings. He embodies what belief, patience, wisdom, and sensitivity can accomplish when each element achieves balance.

Kids Return (1996)

Kids Return (1996)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

Told mostly in flashback, it's the story of two high school friends, Shinji and Masaru (Masanobu Andô and Ken Kaneko, respectively), who occasionally go to school but spend very little time in actual class.

The tutors have given up on them, seeing them as either directionless morons or little more than petty thieves in training. In time, the duo would probably agree... but a single event gives perspective that leads to insight.

Often in Kitano films the secondary characters are just as interesting as the primaries, but in Kids Return some of the lesser characters actually stole the show, being arguably even more interesting than the two main ones and I'd love to have seen their sub-stories expanded and further explored.

Oddly, even though it's but a tiny portion of the film insofar as the total running time goes, I was affected more by the scenes set in the present than in flashback.

Sonatine (1993)

Sonatine (1993)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

Another great Takeshi Kitano film, again written, directed, edited by, and starring the Japanese auteur. He plays a mid-level Yakuza member named Murakawa who isn't afraid to speak out against his peers, when he speaks at all, that is. He communicates only when he feels it necessary, distanced from the bravado and bluster associated with the role.

Under orders from his superior, he dutifully but begrudgingly joins a small group that's sent to Okinawa to aid a dispute between clan allies. Whilst there, they end up with some free time on their hands. What do city Yakuza do at a beach town when they get bored?  Not what you'd expect, perhaps.

Violence and absurd hilarity trade places in some typically Kitano moments and the emotional heart of the film surfaces and hits hard. It's not a comedy, don't misunderstand, but there are some subjectively piss-inducing funny events. Music is again by Joe Hisaishi and does an equally fine job at characterising.

Apparitions (2008)

Apparitions (2008)

Dirs: Joe Ahearne [1,2,5,6] / John Strickland [3,4] | 6 episodes, approx 56 mins each.

Father Jacob Myers (Martin Shaw) examines evidence of miracles for an institution that considers itself earthly protectors and purveyors of the word and will of God, i.e., the Catholic Church. His findings help determine who does or doesn't get canonised as a Christian Saint.

While investigating the claims of a young trainee [pre-ordination] priest (Elyes Gabel), Father Jacob discovers what he believes to be an actual demonic possession. His actions thereafter lead him to uncover something even more troubling, which may affect his own future role.

I watched Apparitions solely because it starred Martin Shaw, who played the titular inspector in the George Gently TV Series (2007–17) that I'd finished and thoroughly enjoyed a few nights before. Shaw was excellent as Gently, and he was good as Father Myers, too, but the miniseries didn't come close to satisfying my 'evening viewing' time in the way that Gently had.

36 (2004)

36 (2004)

aka: The 36 / 36 Quai des Orfèvres

Dir. Olivier Marchal

Two of France's finest male actors go head to head in a gritty, violent police thriller based partly on Dir. Marchal's time in the police force.

Detective Léo Vrinks (Daniel Auteuil), a man with many friends and solid bonds, is head of the BRI, a team who look out for each other and cover each other's backs when needed.

In contrast, detective Denis Klein (Gérard Depardieu), head of the BRB, is a man with no true friends, having alienated everyone who ever got close to him, and doing a good job of preventing anyone new from trying the same.

While both men hold the same rank within the same organisation, they're in different departments. And while one follows the law when it suits him, the other makes his own law.

A series of violent armoured car heists put the duo in an awkward position, requiring some tough decision making. The two men each want to be first to solve the case, but for different reasons.

Millennium Actress (2001)

Millennium Actress (2001) 

Dir. Satoshi Kon

Chiyoko Fujiwara is an ageing actress with a fascinating story still to tell. It'll remain untold until the proper audience is found. At the whim of fate, the proper audience finds her.

Once again, Japanese director Satoshi Kon tears down the boundaries between what's real and what's imagined, allowing past and present to overlap with fiction and reality in captured time. It's my personal favourite of his works. It's both a skilfully written love letter to the film medium and a poetic celebration of the human heart. If you hate it, you're probably dead inside.

It would take a thousand words to address all of Millennium Actress' merits, but I'm determined to keep this one short so that you can stop reading and more quickly get to the watching.

Perfect Blue (1997)

Perfect Blue (1997)

Dir. Satoshi Kon

PB explores the true cost of success for twenty-one-year-old Mima Kirigoe as she makes the difficult transition from beloved Japanese idol status to impressionable TV drama actress.

Eager to please, when the fiction in Mima's head overlaps with the fiction on the film set, shit gets real, with the kind of meaningful editing that Alfred Hitchcock might applaud, if he was alive.

Perfect Blue is director Satoshi Kon's début full-length movie, but it flows like it was his fourth or fifth. It's both a careful study of splintering, crumbling reality and a skilful exercise in artifice.

The result is a genre classic that's chilling, creepy, and can be uncomfortable viewing at times, but is highly recommended to fans of anime with bite.

Tactical Unit: The TV Movies (2008-09)

Tactical Unit: The TV Movies (2008-09)

Dirs. Various (see below)

Note: Five TV Movies that followed Johnnie To's PTU (2003). You don't need to have seen PTU in order to follow the story of each TU movie, but it might be helpful and it's such a good film that I feel compelled to encourage a viewing, anyhow.

Tactical Unit TV Movies in the order released:

01. In Tactical Unit: The Code (2008), directed by Wing-Cheong Law, three members of the PTU are captured on CCTV while beating up a civilian (i.e., crook), but the picture is grainy and their faces aren't clear. While an internal division that deals with corrupt cops tries to uncover the truth, the guilty trio hunt for the one man who can identify them: the man that they left bleeding in an alley. Ultimately, it's a race against time for both parties.

PTU: Police Tactical Unit (2003)

PTU: Police Tactical Unit (2003)

aka Tactical Unit: Into the Perilous Night

Dir. Johnnie To

A small team of Hong Kong Police Tactical Unit troopers search the streets for a comrade's missing gun over the course of one eventful night. They're the typical scumbag law enforcers that are common the world over, the kind that's ordinarily difficult to sympathise with, and yet somehow Dir. Johnnie To encourages viewers to do just that; and with each incremental, upwards notch of the danger level, one can stay fixedly right alongside them.

It didn't have a huge budget, but it evidently didn't need one. Instead, PTU has enough dramatic style and subtle humour to keep the meticulously paced slow burn of the story engaging until the various threads of the story meet and it becomes more than the sum of its parts; like the roads of a busy city, its avenues and pathways are interconnected.

There's music occasionally (by Chung Chi-wing) but mostly the sounds of the night-time streets are what's heard, functioning as another subtle but perfect connection to the environment.

Daimajin Kanon (2010)

Daimajin Kanon (2010)

26 episodes, approx 24 minutes each.

A Japanese tokusatsu show that has the usual explosive combat scenes scattered throughout, but the masked heroes aren't the main focus of the narrative. Instead, the story revolves around a pretty, young University student, Misaki Kanon (Yuka Rikuna), who moves to Tokyo in the hope of becoming a successful lyricist and singer.

To survive in a harsh environment, one needs to adopt an equally harsh attitude. For Misaki, the city is that environment. Her usual sensitive, fragile personality will be eaten alive if she doesn't do something uncharacteristic to protect it.

If you've watched any amount of Japanese animation, then you'll likely have encountered a similar set-up, but Misaki isn't as simpering as the full-blown animated stereotype typically is.

The ups and downs can be predicable and there are times when she could be accused of making a mountain out of a molehill, but the setbacks and departures from the daily routine add to the overall story when you consider her role in each one. Character growth needs challenges, irrespective of whether they're real or imagined.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Dir. Brian Henson

It's a suitable for all-ages adaptation of Dickens' classic novella but with Muppets. I could end the review there because it's technically correct, but the film deserves so much more than that.

There's humans, too, most notably Michael Caine, who plays the misrely Ebenezer Scrooge, a man who hates kindness and the charitable feelings that traditionally go/went hand in hand with the season. Despite being surrounded by furry puppets, Caine plays it straight, which was absolutely the correct approach. Doing it that way kept the tragedy of the character intact, which in turn helped ensure that the dramatic power of change is given its full dues.

The puppets have all the joy and exuberance they're known for, but with a masterful layer of pathos added to those that need it. If you want kids to experience the famous story but fear that other filmed adaptations may be too difficult or dreary for them, then I know of no better alternative than the Muppet version; it hits all the important notes and has heart to spare.

Transporter: The Series: Season 2 (2014)

Transporter: The Series: Season 2 (2014)

12 episodes, approx 45 minutes each.

Much changed between Season One and Two and not all of it's good change. Frank's (Chris Vance) attitude toward his job is the same — he's still a practical, matter-of-fact guy with a plan that tends to go tits-up before the halfway point — but now he's more like James Bond in how he goes about things.

I suspect that behind the scenes someone actually said 'Let’s make him more James Bond,' and they did, sadly. The B-Movie charm that existed previously is compromised, replaced by a TV production with aspirations of being a secret agent movie.

There are personnel changes, too. Carla (Andrea Osvárt), the woman that functioned as a mysterious liaison between the transporter and the often shady customer, is replaced by Catarina Boldieu.

Catarina (Violante Placido) does a similar job, but she's more active than Carla was. Her multilingual skills are an asset to Frank, so he occasionally has a need for her to accompany him on jobs.

Ghost in the Shell: SAC: Complete 1st and 2nd GIG (2018)

GitS: SAC: Complete 1st + 2nd GIG (2018)

Dirs. Various | Seasons: 2 | 52 episodes, approx 25 mins each [Make sure and stick around for the short Tachikomatic Days entries after the credits roll on each one!]

An 8-disc collection that contains all 52 episodes of the Stand Alone Complex TV series - that's 26 episodes apiece for each of the two seasons.

The year is 2030. Public Security Section 9 is a counter-terrorist branch funded by the Japanese government, a team of ass-kicking professionals that get the job done no matter what.

The world is overly dependent on cybernetic bodies; the web has become the medium of choice for terrorists and as a result there exists a large potential for cyber-crime and hacks.

Section 9 specialise in that area. Led by Major Motoko Kusanagi the team deal with corporate terrorism, kidnapping, human trafficking, Ghost hacks (a technique in which a subject's memories are replaced with false ones) and a host of other internal and external threats. They're the people that keep the rest of us safe, often without us even knowing they exist.

Death Wish: Films (1974-94)

Death Wish: Films (1974-94)

Dir. Michael Winner / J. Lee Thompson / Allan A. Goldstein

In 01. Death Wish (1974 / Dir. Michael Winner) an average New Yorker named Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) initiates a violent crusade of justice as he takes a stand against the street thugs and muggers that terrorise the good citizens of his city. It might sound lame and clichéd when written down, but in the mid-70s that kind of thing was still pushing boundaries, and Death Wish pushed more than most.

Dir. Michael Winner doesn't shy away from showing the harsh realities of the world in which a walk in the park at night-time is a very dicey activity.

It's a measured transition from law-abiding office worker to law-breaking vigilante, fuelled by a malady that eats away at the character's moral fibre, not an instant, explosive and unrealistic Arnie flick change.

Transporter: The Series: Season 1 (2012)

Transporter: The Series: Season 1 (2012)

12 episodes, approx 45 minutes each.

British actor Chris Vance replaces Jason Statham as ex-SAS man Frank Martin in a spin-off from the Transporter movies. Frank's house is well-ordered and he carries a spare suit in the boot of his car. That's the kind of guy he is. He's also a resourceful driver that transports packages from A to B with no questions asked; discretion is paramount. He lives by his own code and is a stickler for the rules:

01. NEVER CHANGE THE DEAL.

02. NO NAMES.

03. NEVER OPEN THE PACKAGE.

He'll often quote one of them (for the audience's benefit) just a few minutes before breaking it.

Vance's portrayal of the character is more sympathetic than Stath's. He's a sucker for righting an injustice. He needs to be, though, because it isn't just 90 minutes of explosive escapism, it's an ongoing development in which the (anti)hero operates in a grey area of morality and law.

Eastern Promises (2007)

Eastern Promises (2007)

Dir. David Cronenberg

Ordinarily, I prefer it when an actor is of the same nationality as the character they're playing onscreen; e.g., if a protagonist is supposed to be Scottish, then hire an actual Scot. It's especially beneficial in biopics, or when the character isn't a native English speaker in an English language setting.

Casting someone who understands on a fundamental level the culture that they're portraying allows an actor to tap into the unconscious influence that thinking in one's native language brings. If successful, it can permeate the performance and even accentuate or enrich any traits, nuances, etc, that can be consciously observed in specific nationalities. It's basic common sense.

But sometimes an actor can be so good in a role that such concerns are almost forgotten about when viewing. Viggo as a fictional Russian mobster in Cronenberg's Eastern Promises is on that list. It's his second collaboration with the director and it tops their first in every way.

King Kong: The RKO Movies (1933)

King Kong (1933)

Dirs. Merian C. Cooper + Ernest B. Schoedsack

Given the film's revered status among film historians, and that it's considered an inspirational milestone in the evolution of special effects, it's not unreasonable for a modern viewer to expect to be wowed at every turn when viewing KK for the first time.

But it's worth keeping in mind that it was made in 1933 and much of the budget went on the aforementioned effects, so there's a lot of less than stellar moments in-between.

Having said that, when the gargantuan Kong does appear, which is about 47 mins into the 104 mins run time, it should be easy to see why it achieved what it did, doubly so if you feel, as I do, that stop motion animation has a sense of wonder and magic that CGI lacks.