GoodFellas (1990)
Films On TV This Week uses its mob connections to find out what's coming up on the televisual side of life... Scorsese's best film? Difficult to call, though if it doesn't beat Raging Bull , it runs it a close second. What's indisputable is that Marty hasn't made a film to touch it since.
For all its flutters of greatness, Casino feels like a pale imitation; Bringing Out The Dead and The Age Of Innocence replace soul with technical excellence; while the epic fumblings of Kundun and Gangs Of New York seem fake and heavy-handed next to GoodFellas ' lithe energ.
GoodFellas (1990)
Films On TV This Week uses its mob connections to find out what's coming up on the televisual side of life... Scorsese's best film? Difficult to call, though if it doesn't beat Raging Bull , it runs it a close second. What's indisputable is that Marty hasn't made a film to touch it since.
For all its flutters of greatness, Casino feels like a pale imitation; Bringing Out The Dead and The Age Of Innocence replace soul with technical excellence; while the epic fumblings of Kundun and Gangs Of New York seem fake and heavy-handed next to GoodFellas ' lithe energ.
The Truman Show (1998)
Proving that a blockbuster doesn't have to be big, brash, vacuous and wedged with a ton of eye-stinging special effects, The Truman Show is practically an anti-Event Movie. Instead of taking a low-brow/high-thrill approach to its ingenious idea, Peter Weir has given us a thoughtful, intelligent, wholly character-driven masterpiece. Nor is it just a great movie in its own right; it's a great mainstream movie.
Watch it by yourself, take your girlfriend/ boyfriend or go with a bunch of friends, you'll enjoy it just the same. Like Titanic , The Truman Show is a rare multiplex crowd-pleaser that doesn't begin to insult your intelligence.
The Truman Show (1998)
Proving that a blockbuster doesn't have to be big, brash, vacuous and wedged with a ton of eye-stinging special effects, The Truman Show is practically an anti-Event Movie. Instead of taking a low-brow/high-thrill approach to its ingenious idea, Peter Weir has given us a thoughtful, intelligent, wholly character-driven masterpiece. Nor is it just a great movie in its own right; it's a great mainstream movie.
Watch it by yourself, take your girlfriend/ boyfriend or go with a bunch of friends, you'll enjoy it just the same. Like Titanic , The Truman Show is a rare multiplex crowd-pleaser that doesn't begin to insult your intelligence.
Blue Streak (1999)
Look, this film is rubbish. Pick any of the established criteria of film-making and Blue Streak will fall short of it. Plot? Logically impaired, coincidence-dependent and guilty of nicking great chunks of action straight from Beverly Hills Cop . Acting? Performances which wouldn't pass the audition for a junior school nativity play. Script? Strings of gags shoehorned into dialogue. Direction? Don't get us started...
But, somehow, it is also bizarrely, mystifyingly enjoyable. Maybe it's a mass hysteria thing.
Blue Streak (1999)
Look, this film is rubbish. Pick any of the established criteria of film-making and Blue Streak will fall short of it. Plot? Logically impaired, coincidence-dependent and guilty of nicking great chunks of action straight from Beverly Hills Cop . Acting? Performances which wouldn't pass the audition for a junior school nativity play. Script? Strings of gags shoehorned into dialogue. Direction? Don't get us started...
But, somehow, it is also bizarrely, mystifyingly enjoyable. Maybe it's a mass hysteria thing.
Alfie (2004)
Admit it. You’ve allowed yourself a damned good scoff over this. Retro remakes rarely work well. Look at how Sly double-dipped Get Carter in LA-bland or how Gus Van Sant bored us all blind with his nerdy, shot-for-shot Psycho chop-up.
But revisit the original Alfie now and, apart from Michael Caine’s iconic bravado, you could argue it’s a bit on the flabby side: cowed, mousey women, rickety stage-play structure stretched over two hours of dated dates... Gritty-witted and groundbreaking Alfie may have been, but in remaking it, new director/co-writer Charles Shyer has lashed on layers of a much-needed missing ingredient: glamour.
Alfie (2004)
Admit it. You’ve allowed yourself a damned good scoff over this. Retro remakes rarely work well. Look at how Sly double-dipped Get Carter in LA-bland or how Gus Van Sant bored us all blind with his nerdy, shot-for-shot Psycho chop-up.
But revisit the original Alfie now and, apart from Michael Caine’s iconic bravado, you could argue it’s a bit on the flabby side: cowed, mousey women, rickety stage-play structure stretched over two hours of dated dates... Gritty-witted and groundbreaking Alfie may have been, but in remaking it, new director/co-writer Charles Shyer has lashed on layers of a much-needed missing ingredient: glamour.
Scarface (1983)
De Palma's ambling tale of a Cuban gangster's Americanised rise and fall is as overrated as it is overlong (nearly three hours). Although Pacino plays the odious Tony Montana with a dead-on mix of predatory steel and flawed flashiness, it's an early `80s curio that's long since been overtaken by countless other life-of-crime movies ( GoodFellas, King Of New York , even New Jack City). Two or three great scenes (the chainsaw, the nightclub shootout, the `little friend') packed under too much cheesy flab.
Scarface (1983)
De Palma's ambling tale of a Cuban gangster's Americanised rise and fall is as overrated as it is overlong (nearly three hours). Although Pacino plays the odious Tony Montana with a dead-on mix of predatory steel and flawed flashiness, it's an early `80s curio that's long since been overtaken by countless other life-of-crime movies ( GoodFellas, King Of New York , even New Jack City). Two or three great scenes (the chainsaw, the nightclub shootout, the `little friend') packed under too much cheesy flab.
The Ladykillers (2004)
Get Carter, The Italian Job and now The Ladykillers : no Brit classic is safe from hollow old Hollywood. And guess what? The Coen brothers' remake isn't a patch on the original. But then you knew that before they even started filming the damn thing, right?
Still, the Brothers Grim at least had the good sense to make the 1955 Ealing classic their own, transposing the action to the banks of the Mississippi and infusing every frame with that unmistakable Coen flavour.
The Ladykillers (2004)
Get Carter, The Italian Job and now The Ladykillers : no Brit classic is safe from hollow old Hollywood. And guess what? The Coen brothers' remake isn't a patch on the original. But then you knew that before they even started filming the damn thing, right?
Still, the Brothers Grim at least had the good sense to make the 1955 Ealing classic their own, transposing the action to the banks of the Mississippi and infusing every frame with that unmistakable Coen flavour.
Body Of Lies (2008)
Let’s be honest: he still looks like a kid. When it comes to ‘grown-up’ roles, it’s tempting to see DiCaprio as the lost brother of Frank Abagnale Jr: a high-school con artist who uses charisma, good-looks and brass ballsto pull off implausible impersonations while cashing in millions of dollars.
But that snarling performance in The Departed was a warning shot: Leo is coming of age. With every minute that passes in Ridley Scott’s talky political thriller, DiCaprio swells to fit the role, forced to bring his A-game by two heavyweight co-stars.
Body Of Lies (2008)
Let’s be honest: he still looks like a kid. When it comes to ‘grown-up’ roles, it’s tempting to see DiCaprio as the lost brother of Frank Abagnale Jr: a high-school con artist who uses charisma, good-looks and brass ballsto pull off implausible impersonations while cashing in millions of dollars.
But that snarling performance in The Departed was a warning shot: Leo is coming of age. With every minute that passes in Ridley Scott’s talky political thriller, DiCaprio swells to fit the role, forced to bring his A-game by two heavyweight co-stars.
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Stateside critics who've hated What Lies Beneath have justified their scorn by pointing out its painfully slow pace, obvious storyline and total reliance on the techniques and feel of formerly-alive fat scream-master Alfred Hitchcock.
They've noted that its reliance on manufactured tension is so contrived and cynical that the whole film's simply a vanity project for director Robert Zemeckis. It is, in short, nothing more than mechanical string-pulling of audience emotions. Tellingly, the people who've loved What Lies Beneath cite exactly the same reasons.
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Stateside critics who've hated What Lies Beneath have justified their scorn by pointing out its painfully slow pace, obvious storyline and total reliance on the techniques and feel of formerly-alive fat scream-master Alfred Hitchcock.
They've noted that its reliance on manufactured tension is so contrived and cynical that the whole film's simply a vanity project for director Robert Zemeckis. It is, in short, nothing more than mechanical string-pulling of audience emotions. Tellingly, the people who've loved What Lies Beneath cite exactly the same reasons.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
There are two ways to go with a movie about global warming. One is to rope in director John Boorman and a cast headed up by Jane Fonda and Daryl Hannah, folk who place the green of the environment over that of the box office. The other is to hire Roland Emmerich.
A modern-day Sovereign of Scourge who makes Irwin Allen's celluloid catastrophes resemble a burning match ( The Towering Inferno ) and a toy boat in the tub ( The Poseidon Adventure ), Emmerich's been put on this earth to do one thing and one thing only: blow shit up.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
There are two ways to go with a movie about global warming. One is to rope in director John Boorman and a cast headed up by Jane Fonda and Daryl Hannah, folk who place the green of the environment over that of the box office. The other is to hire Roland Emmerich.
A modern-day Sovereign of Scourge who makes Irwin Allen's celluloid catastrophes resemble a burning match ( The Towering Inferno ) and a toy boat in the tub ( The Poseidon Adventure ), Emmerich's been put on this earth to do one thing and one thing only: blow shit up.
The Ghost And The Darkness (1996)
Yes, it's Jaws with lions. All the familiar elements are here: the too-nice-to-live sidekicks, the cynical hunter, the boss-man who cares less about lives than money, the unwilling amateur forced to give up his chosen craft to become a hunter...
Like Jaws , the cast is wall-to-wall blokes (there's only one lady in the film - Emily Mortimer as Patterson's wife) and, like Jaws , the killers aren't acting at all like the rest of their species. The rolling plains of Africa, represented by shots of waving grass, even do a passable sea impersonation, the silent lions cruising through the shadows like that Great White of yore.
The Ghost And The Darkness (1996)
Yes, it's Jaws with lions. All the familiar elements are here: the too-nice-to-live sidekicks, the cynical hunter, the boss-man who cares less about lives than money, the unwilling amateur forced to give up his chosen craft to become a hunter...
Like Jaws , the cast is wall-to-wall blokes (there's only one lady in the film - Emily Mortimer as Patterson's wife) and, like Jaws , the killers aren't acting at all like the rest of their species. The rolling plains of Africa, represented by shots of waving grass, even do a passable sea impersonation, the silent lions cruising through the shadows like that Great White of yore.
Fast Food Nation (2006)
Adapted from Eric Schlosser’s bestselling book, Fast Food Nation takes a daring approach, reworking the book as a fictional drama set in the featureless town of Cody, Colorado.
Three storylines are deftly woven together, Kinnear’s executive hunting shit in the meat while teenage Mickey’s cashier Amber (Ashley Johnson) gets radicalised and a group of illegal Mexican immigrants (led by Catalina Sandino Moreno from Maria Full Of Grace ) start work at the town’s meat packing plant. With its ambling, episodic narrative and ensemble cast it’s already been described (by its director) as “the Nashville of meat” and, like Robert Altman’s country and western masterpiece, it’s about the troubled soul of the American nation.
Fast Food Nation (2006)
Adapted from Eric Schlosser’s bestselling book, Fast Food Nation takes a daring approach, reworking the book as a fictional drama set in the featureless town of Cody, Colorado.
Three storylines are deftly woven together, Kinnear’s executive hunting shit in the meat while teenage Mickey’s cashier Amber (Ashley Johnson) gets radicalised and a group of illegal Mexican immigrants (led by Catalina Sandino Moreno from Maria Full Of Grace ) start work at the town’s meat packing plant. With its ambling, episodic narrative and ensemble cast it’s already been described (by its director) as “the Nashville of meat” and, like Robert Altman’s country and western masterpiece, it’s about the troubled soul of the American nation.
Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009)
Writers Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams sired LVK title-first, shooting for the most shamelessly commercial moniker anyone’s ever thought of. The screenplay came second – which could be why it often feels like an afterthought.
You get the gist in the first five minutes, a Middle Ages-set intro sequence. There’s a lesbian vampire queen. She gets killed. She’s going to come back. That’s it. Cut to the present day: best mates Jimmy (Mathew Horne) and Fletch (James Corden), both down on their luck, head to a Welsh village where they’re duped on to the moors as fresh meat for the queen and her Sapphic psycho-sisters. Chases, splattery beheadings and cock jokes follow.
Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009)
Writers Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams sired LVK title-first, shooting for the most shamelessly commercial moniker anyone’s ever thought of. The screenplay came second – which could be why it often feels like an afterthought.
You get the gist in the first five minutes, a Middle Ages-set intro sequence. There’s a lesbian vampire queen. She gets killed. She’s going to come back. That’s it. Cut to the present day: best mates Jimmy (Mathew Horne) and Fletch (James Corden), both down on their luck, head to a Welsh village where they’re duped on to the moors as fresh meat for the queen and her Sapphic psycho-sisters. Chases, splattery beheadings and cock jokes follow.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Harlin has made an astonishingly mediocre career out of taking high-concept action to its low-brow limit. But with the suprisingly efficient Deep Blue Sea , even his most irritating overindulgence (if it moves, blow it up; if it doesn't move, blow it up; if it's already blown up, blow it up again) has been dumped in favour of tightly- packed thrills.
Considering this is the man who made the sea explode in Cutthroat Islan d, the single 'copter-crash thwooming of Aquatica is a triumph of self-discipline over dynamite fetish.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Harlin has made an astonishingly mediocre career out of taking high-concept action to its low-brow limit. But with the suprisingly efficient Deep Blue Sea , even his most irritating overindulgence (if it moves, blow it up; if it doesn't move, blow it up; if it's already blown up, blow it up again) has been dumped in favour of tightly- packed thrills.
Considering this is the man who made the sea explode in Cutthroat Islan d, the single 'copter-crash thwooming of Aquatica is a triumph of self-discipline over dynamite fetish.
28 Days Later (2002)
This buzzard of an apocalyptic movie picks at the cinematic corpses of The Stand , The Omega Man , Romero's Trilogy Of The Dead and, bizarrely, Apocalypse Now . Making the zombies/infected fleet of foot instead of stumbling, grappling idiots is as resourceful as it gets - yes, it's been done before, but only in frighteningly obscure schlockfests - while the dialogue's clunky, the plot holes ragged and the DV camerawork downright ugly.
What Boyle's horror film does have, however, is scares. Admittedly they're not scares of the purest variety, composed of tantalising tension and shivery suspense, but, as knee-jerk jumps go, they're damn well precise.
28 Days Later (2002)
This buzzard of an apocalyptic movie picks at the cinematic corpses of The Stand , The Omega Man , Romero's Trilogy Of The Dead and, bizarrely, Apocalypse Now . Making the zombies/infected fleet of foot instead of stumbling, grappling idiots is as resourceful as it gets - yes, it's been done before, but only in frighteningly obscure schlockfests - while the dialogue's clunky, the plot holes ragged and the DV camerawork downright ugly.
What Boyle's horror film does have, however, is scares. Admittedly they're not scares of the purest variety, composed of tantalising tension and shivery suspense, but, as knee-jerk jumps go, they're damn well precise.
The Cell (2000)
The mind of a killer is hardly what you'd call uncharted territory these days. We got a pretty good insight into why, say, Silence Of The Lambs ' Buffalo Bill liked to cut girls up, and Bone Collector was only too happy to clumsily expose what made its killer tick. Yet, while The Cell is hardly taking us anywhere new, it makes up for being another genre re-tread by treating the madman mind-trip literally, and delivering some captivating visuals.
The Cell (2000)
The mind of a killer is hardly what you'd call uncharted territory these days. We got a pretty good insight into why, say, Silence Of The Lambs ' Buffalo Bill liked to cut girls up, and Bone Collector was only too happy to clumsily expose what made its killer tick. Yet, while The Cell is hardly taking us anywhere new, it makes up for being another genre re-tread by treating the madman mind-trip literally, and delivering some captivating visuals.
Mrs Brown (1997)
Mrs Brown is a story school history books deemed too insignificant - or too lacking in sound, historical fact - to mention. Walking a path very successfully trod by The Madness Of King George , this period drama continues to mine the eccentricities of the Royal Family.
This time, the theme is forbidden love - to be precise, the supposedly 'intimate' friendship that blossomed between the Empire's most famous monarch and a rough-and-tumble Scottish horseman. While it's never going to be a crowd-puller, Mrs Brown enjoyed much praise at the Cannes Film Festival, and it is an engrossing film: it'll delight the cineaste, and historians all over the country will, of course, be groaning.
Mrs Brown (1997)
Mrs Brown is a story school history books deemed too insignificant - or too lacking in sound, historical fact - to mention. Walking a path very successfully trod by The Madness Of King George , this period drama continues to mine the eccentricities of the Royal Family.
This time, the theme is forbidden love - to be precise, the supposedly 'intimate' friendship that blossomed between the Empire's most famous monarch and a rough-and-tumble Scottish horseman. While it's never going to be a crowd-puller, Mrs Brown enjoyed much praise at the Cannes Film Festival, and it is an engrossing film: it'll delight the cineaste, and historians all over the country will, of course, be groaning.
Walk The Line (2005)
It’s JR Cash’s first big moment. Dressed in black, auditioning for record exec Sam Phillips, he launches into AN Other song about God. Stopped after a minute because “Gospel doesn’t sell”, a taken aback Cash mumbles, “I’ve got some songs I wrote while I was in the Air Force. You got anything against the Air Force?”
“No,” replies Phillips.
“I do,” says Cash, before launching into ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ (“I shot a man in Reno/Just to watch him die”). It’s a typical moment from the Man In Black: confused, confrontational, honest and, as with most of Walk The Line , spine-tinglingly affecting.
Walk The Line (2005)
It’s JR Cash’s first big moment. Dressed in black, auditioning for record exec Sam Phillips, he launches into AN Other song about God. Stopped after a minute because “Gospel doesn’t sell”, a taken aback Cash mumbles, “I’ve got some songs I wrote while I was in the Air Force. You got anything against the Air Force?”
“No,” replies Phillips.
“I do,” says Cash, before launching into ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ (“I shot a man in Reno/Just to watch him die”). It’s a typical moment from the Man In Black: confused, confrontational, honest and, as with most of Walk The Line , spine-tinglingly affecting.
Rosemarys Baby (1968)
A near-perfect adaptation of Ira Levin's chilling bestseller, Roman Polanski's US debut is to expectant mothers what garlic is to vampires. Mia Farrow excels as the pretty young thing who suspects she's carrying the spawn of Satan, but it's Polanski who emerges as the real star, his subtle direction finding menace in sunlight, isolation in New York and sheer, screaming terror in the miracle of birth.
Rosemarys Baby (1968)
A near-perfect adaptation of Ira Levin's chilling bestseller, Roman Polanski's US debut is to expectant mothers what garlic is to vampires. Mia Farrow excels as the pretty young thing who suspects she's carrying the spawn of Satan, but it's Polanski who emerges as the real star, his subtle direction finding menace in sunlight, isolation in New York and sheer, screaming terror in the miracle of birth.
Mean Streets (1973)
"You don't make up for your sins in church; you do it in the streets, you do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it." Martin Scorsese's 1973 masterpiece marked his birth as an auteur and still feels as fresh and frightening as it did 30 years ago. Who you calling a mook?
Mean Streets (1973)
"You don't make up for your sins in church; you do it in the streets, you do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it." Martin Scorsese's 1973 masterpiece marked his birth as an auteur and still feels as fresh and frightening as it did 30 years ago. Who you calling a mook?
Apollo 13 (1995)
Ron Howard’s red, white and blue-hued film shows an early ’70s America as interested in the moon as they are in trips to Pittsburgh. No one apart from mission control and the astronauts’ trophy wives seem to realise that Apollo 13 has launched until there is a great balls-up and the entire world becomes glued to the TV.
Spliced with contemporary doom-mongering news footage, Howard treats the near-loss of three astro-lives as a triumph of the USA over adversity. The relentlessly gee-whiz patriotism becomes grating and it’s all just a little too worthy and polite to be the film it could have been: Das Boot in space.
Apollo 13 (1995)
Ron Howard’s red, white and blue-hued film shows an early ’70s America as interested in the moon as they are in trips to Pittsburgh. No one apart from mission control and the astronauts’ trophy wives seem to realise that Apollo 13 has launched until there is a great balls-up and the entire world becomes glued to the TV.
Spliced with contemporary doom-mongering news footage, Howard treats the near-loss of three astro-lives as a triumph of the USA over adversity. The relentlessly gee-whiz patriotism becomes grating and it’s all just a little too worthy and polite to be the film it could have been: Das Boot in space.
