This week's releases

Thor: The Dark World: The Marvel comics franchise rumbles on with nearly all the superhero characters getting a sequel, this time its the turn of Chris Hemsworth to return as Thor to fight a battle to big for him to go at alone. Natalie Portman returns as Jane Foster, the love interest in the Thor series, as does Avengers Assemble baddie Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Drinking Buddies: Indie Comedy about two people, Luke (Jake Johnson) and Kate (Olivia 'Thirteen' Wilde), who work at a local Chicago brewery and get along together perfectly. The only problem is they are both in relationships with other people that are beset with problems. Luke is in the middle of marrying Jill (Anna Kendrick) whilst Kate is taking it slow with Chris (Ron Livingston) but how long will the peace last?

Philomena: A world-weary political journalist (Steve Coogan) picks up the story of a woman's *(Judi Dench) search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent. Coogan continues his move away from TV and into the world of film following Alpha Papa and The Look of Love.

Film Review: Captain Phillips

Director: Paul Greengrass

Paul Greengrass who directs her is well known for using International locations from his work on the Bourne franchise (he directed The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatium). Here he struggled to find convincing African-American actors in the states to play the parts of the Somali pirates, so he found some locals with little acting experience to play the parts.The screenplay by Billy Ray is based upon the book, A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips who is played by Tom Hanks here.

The film was marred by questions of inaccuracies by the real crew members who were on the boat that day saying that the film portrayed Phillips as a self-sacrificing hero when in reality he was not. Many said he was reckless in his disregard for the threat of piracy by sailing just 100 miles off the coast of Somalia when it was agreed that you needed to be at least 600 miles to be safe. One even described Phillips as having a "death-wish" and "an actual desire to be attacked by pirates" as he cut costs by travelling a shorter route through dangerous waters.

Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) with the pirates

The ship MV Maersk Alabama leaves from Oman with Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) at the helm with orders to sail its cargo through the Gulf of Aden to Mombasa. Sailing round the horn of Africa is always a huge risk due to the actions of the Somali pirates nearby who decided to pick off the V Maersk Alabama as it is travelling alone in an isolated part of the sea. The crewmates try their best to thwart the attempts of the pirates to come aboard but ultimately fail and must deal with the consequences.

Naturally the comparisons to the Danish film A Hijacking (review here) which was released earlier this year have arisen. In fairness they are two very different films about the same topic of piracy around the Horn of Africa. Captain Phillips very much deals with the one character at the centre of the film and heavily involves the US military's intervention whilst A Hijacking focuses heavily on the political and bureaucratic side of negotiating a ransom with the pirates over a long drawn out period. It is easy to tell that Captain Phillips is the Hollywood film with the bigger budget and clear ratcheting up of the tension throughout the movie.

The scene off the Horn of Africa

The director does a great job of maintaining the tension and intrigue throughout as the film moves through different premises and issues for the Captain. There are numerous precarious scenes which keep you engrossed and many standoffs that the pirates face with crew members and the US Navy that seem very difficult to resolve. Unfortunately this is pushed too far by the end as the film slows towards its climax where you can see what is likely to happen way before it does as we wait and wait. It means the end is an excruciating wait and it makes the film feel very long at over two hours and the plot does become tiresome which is a shame. Hanks is excellent as you would expect him to be and the Somali actors who play the pirates are also excellent and much more authentic than any possibly American actors would have been.

3/4 Thrilling if not slightly overplayed biopic of the kidnapped Captain Phillips

The end of the financial flop?

Upon reading an article the other day that was celebrating the fact that Universal Pictures had finally broke-even on the 1995 flop Waterworld. The film was universally panned upon release and was seen as one of the biggest box office flops ever recorded, coupled with the fact it was the most expensive film ever made at the time it was an expensive mistake. Waterworld has finally recouped its initial investment because of sales on video and then DVD with people wanting to see how bad a film it was.

Kevin Costner in Waterworld

So this begs the question, can a film still be a financial flop?

If DVD sales are helping to bail out many production companies that are financing the big blockbusters then in essence they only need to be able to survive the initial loss without going under. Avoid the flop taking down your entire business and you'll probably get your money back eventually on even the worst of films. John Carter was a more recent flop lacking star power to push people to blindly go and see it but even then strong overseas sales especially in Russia have gone someway to mitigating the financial loss so far. DVD sales have already started to eat further into that loss and Disney may be profiting from this 'flop' sooner than you think.

Many films that are huge flops end up having a cult following who love to watch in a mocking fashion, this is certainly the case with films like Waterworld, Heavens Gate and Howard the Duck. Some people even go as far as to claim they were excellent films that were just mis-understood by the masses. I certainly wouldn't go that far!

Film Review: Apocalypse Now

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Its worth noting first of all that my most recent viewing of this film was of the Redux version which restores 49mins worth scenes cut from the original version. The longest section of added footage in the Redux version is a chapter involving the de Marais family's rubber plantation, a holdover from the colonization of French Indochina, featuring Coppola's two sons Gian-Carlo and Roman as children of the family. Coppola famously said that "My film is not about Vietnam, it is Vietnam" after discussing the huge amount of money and problems the crew went through in shooting this movie.

Helicopter attack on the VietCong to 'Ride of the Valkyries'

The legend of many Vietnam war films and the struggles they had filming in such inhospitable conditions has become par of the course. Although an alcoholic Martin Sheen having a heart attack on location which was covered by Coppola from the media just added to the frenzy. Martin Sheen said if he could use one word to describe the shoot for this movie it would be 'chaos'. A lot of the scenes didn't involve scripts and were ad-libbed by the actors at the time especially in the final act with Marlon Brando which at times does show to its detriment.

U.S. Army Captain and special operations veteran Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) returns to Vietnam despite his drinking problem. He's assigned a top secret mission off the official records to travel down the Nung River to Cambodia to kill a rogue Colonel (Marlon Brando) who is apparently insane and running his own troops in the jungle. As Willard and his crew descend down the river they witness the true horror of the war in Vietnam and become far removed from the reality we all know.

Captain Willard (Martin Sheen)

The trip down the river is an obvious metaphor for Willard leaving reality and heading into another world of evil and insanity as he slowly crawls towards his target of Colonel Kurtz in Cambodia. The realism in the film was incredibly intense, Sheen's poor health due to his condition and the searing heat meant as the shoot went on he genuinely looked like someone struggling mentally with what was going on around him. Many of the dead bodies hung around the base that Colonel Kurtz ran were real dead bodies that a local man had supplied but instead of getting them from the hospital he had taken to grave robbing. The grim realism of the film is key to portraying Coppola's overall message. In essence, Apocalypse Now is so much more than just a film about war as it touches on the human psyche and the horrors of war much like The Deer Hunter did just a year earlier. Although The Deer Hunter takes a very different angle on what is principally the same basic theme.

The extra 49mins were not particularly relevant to the overall plot and theme of the film so were rightly left out of the original theatrical release.  In essence, Apocalypse Now is so much more than just a film about war as it touches on the human psyche and the horrors of war much like The Deer Hunter did just a year earlier. Although The Deer Hunter takes a very different angle on what is principally the same basic theme.

3.5/4 Another classic Vietnam film on the horrors of war

Film Review: Elysium

Director: Neill Blomkamp

The second from film from South African director Neill Blomkamp, his first film District 9 was a commercial and critical success making his second film much anticipated. He also brings back Sharlto Copley who was the star of District 9 with his distinctive accent. Like its predecessor, Elysium deals with political issues such as immigration, overpopulation and the class system but fails miserably in this instance to more than hint at it in the opening act.

Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) wearing the exo-skeleton

The world is now split in two, with the poor living on an overcrowded and devastated Earth whilst the rich live on a luxurious space station called Elysium. The main plot for the film is that Max (Damon) is involved in an industrial accident that means he is going to die of radiation poisoning. The only way to stop this happening is to smuggle himself to Elysium and use the state of the art Medi-Bay they have which can cure all known human diseases and injuries.

The opening 15mins set up an intriguing story about the two worlds that the humans now have due to the problems on Earth. Although more should have been done to reveal the backstory of how we got to this point as a species and how the space station Elysium was conceived as well as how it was decided exactly that you were allowed to live there. District 9 did a great job of making a statement about politics, race and immigration as it retained that at the core of the films plot where as here it is quickly discarded in favour of fighting robot scenes and chases. By the final act I'd already lost interest in whether Max would manage to heal himself.

Downtown Los Angeles on a deprived Earth

Matt Damon is clearly comfortable in the lead role of an action movie but is never really stretched here, Sharlto Copley ends up in a not too dis-similar role to District 9 when he goes on the run whilst Jodie Foster is totally uninteresting as the main antagonist. It was a film that should have been so much more but descended into another action movie involving super strong robots fighting.

1.5/4 Good original idea ruined by the need for another boring action movie

This week's releases

Enders Game: Harrison Ford stars in this sci-fi adventure surrounded by a young cast which includes Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland). The International Military seek out a leader who can save the human race from an alien attack. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a brilliant young mind, is recruited and trained to lead his fellow soldiers into a battle that will determine the future of Earth.

One Chance: The story of Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts, played here by loathsome comedian James Corden. The shy Welshman who went on to stardom after the show changed his life and brought his talent to the world. It's expected the film will play the "X-Factor" angle of embellishing his struggle and the comedy added is unlikely to be anything different from what Peter Kay added with his spoof of the reality TV contests.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2: Sequel to the animated fantasy, hero Flint Lockwood soon discovers that his invention that turns water into food has been put to a more evil use; creating hybrids of food and animals including terrifying tacodiles, shocking shrimpanzees and diabolical double bacon cheespiders.

Film Review: A Hijacking

Director: Tobias Lindholm

Ahead of the release of Captain Phillips, I felt I should watch this Danish film which covers the same topic of Somali pirates hijacking a ship around the Gulf of Arden and the Arabian Sea. Released early this year it is a Danish language film that has brief conversations in English between the captors and the leader of the pirates called Omar (Abdihakin Asgar). The production team took the decision to not offer subtitles for the conversations in Somali to add to the realism and tension of not knowing what is happening like the crewmates at the time.

The key negotiators at Orion Seaways

Mikkel (Pilou Asbaek) is a chef onboard the MV Rozen heading to Mumbai from Denmark, he phones his wife to tell her he will be back 2 days late as he has stay in India an extra few days. As he prepares food downstairs he hears gunfire and they soon realise they are being held hostage by Somali pirates. Back in Copenhagen, the CEO of the company Peter Ludvigsen (Soren Malling) is negotiating with the pirates with the help of a specially trained negotiator to try to resolve the situation.

Chef Mikkel Hartmann (Pilou Asbaek) held hostage on the ship

The film itself is quite surprising as it focuses quite heavily on the negotiation and the strain that the kidnapping places on the CEO of the company back in Denmark. At times you feel isolated from what is happening on the ship to Mikkel and the other crew members. The negotiating tactics on both sides are eye-opening and gives you a view as to why they are so protracted and frustrating for both parties. The psychological battle between Omar who leads the pirates and CEO Peter is intriguing but at times does detract from the personal story of the men held on the boat. The ending seemed a bit forced and un-necessary for me to push a sadder ending than was needed but it lays a good marker ahead of Hollywood's attempt at the same subject matter.

2.5/4 Psychological battle takes preference over physical battle on the ship

Film Review: Lone Star

Director: John Sayles

A mystery thriller set in the heart of small town Texas, released in 1996 it was nominated for Best Screenplay written directly for the screen. It deals with issues much deeper than just the solving of a murder as it deals with the local politics of a town recently taken over by Mexican immigrants and the inbred racism towards them and the African-Americans who live in the town.

Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) is uninterested by the politics of the police force who lives in the shadow of his father Buddy (Matthew McConaughey) who is a revered Sheriff in the town but he remembers him as a distant father who cheated on his wife. He is investigating the murder of Sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson) who was found at the old Army shooting range with a shell casing from a non-army weapon. While investigating this he sees the town from different sides as he uncovers the lives of the African-Americans and Mexicans who suffered the racism of Charlie Wade and others.

Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper)

Its fair to say this is a film as much about human behaviour and social class than it is about the solving of a murder. Sayles almost captures the magic of the 1974 film Chinatown which involves a murder that reveals a whole lot more about a town. The characters create a very real town feel with its ingrained residents resistant to the change that is constantly going on around them.

The acting especially from Chris Cooper is incredibly measured but still impressive. This feels like a real portrayal of small town Texas rather than a movie. The pace of the film is slow and tentative as it slowly meanders through the people of the town as it uses flashbacks to one year before and Charlie Wades disappearance. The plot is a help and a hindrance though as the slow pace does mean the film stagnates at a few points and does require quite a lot of patience from the viewer.

3/4 More than just another murder mystery film

Film Review: Philadelphia

Director: Jonathan Demme

A film from 1993 was shockingly only of the first Hollywood films to really tackle homosexuality as well as HIV/AIDS, the film does make reference to And the Band Played On by journalist Randy Shilts which was generally accepted to be the first. Demme directed Philadelphia shortly after completing his work on the critically acclaimed The Silence of the Lambs (one of the very, very few films that is better than the original novel).

Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks)

Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) is a senior associate at the biggest corporate law firm in Philadelphia who lives with his partner Miguel Alvarez (Antonio Banderas) but is not open about his homosexuality. Beckett is also suffering from AIDS which he tries to hide from his partners at the firm but whilst he is at the hospital he is phoned because an important file which needs to be sent by 5pm that day has gone missing. The file is found at the last minute but Beckett is fired for the mistake and he believes someone hid the file on purpose as a reason for sacking him so he looks to sue his employers for wrongful dismissal because he was gay and had AIDS.

The film is loosely based on the lawsuit brought by Clarence B. Cain against Hyatt Legal Services for firing him after they found out he had AIDS. What unfolds in the second half of the film is mainly a court room drama as the big corporate company tries to defend itself against the accusations. The main board of directors of the big corporate firm are a slight caricature of the greedy and heartless people we're lead to believe are in charge of all big firms but in reality that probably isn't far from the truth.

Andrew in court with his lawyer Joe Miller (Denzel Washington)

The main song for the soundtrack is Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen and its a haunting classic that plays over the opening titles. There are not many people more suited to writing a song for a movie such as this. Tom Hanks is excellent in the lead role which helped change the public image of gay people at the time, it was slightly condescending to have him dating a hispanic guy then hire a black lawyer to show unprejudiced the film was. The scene with Beckett describing the song La Mamma Morta by Maria Callas was truly moving and it is no surprise that Hanks won the Oscar that year for Best Actor. The outcome of the trial is almost secondary here as the true focus is on Andrew Beckett and the effect AIDS had on his life.

3.5/4 Deeply moving and groundbreaking drama

This week's releases

Captain Phillips: Based on the true story of the hijacking of the cargo ship run by Captain Richard Phillips, played here by Tom Hanks. The film specifically looks at the relationship between Phillips and the four Somali pirates in a film hotly tipped to be nominated at the Oscars.

Enough Said: A divorced and single parent, Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter's impending departure for college. She meets Albert (James Gandolfini) a like-minded man also facing an empty nest. She quickly learns though that Albert is the ex-husband of her new friend.

Prince Avalanche: A comedy starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hersch about two men painting the roads out in the wilderness.

Full preview here

Film Review: We Are Marshall

Director: Joseph McGinty Nichol

The plane crash that claimed the lives of 75 people on-board was a tragedy in 1970, it killed 37 American Football players from Marshall University as well as 7 coaches, the athletic director, 25 boosters and the crew. The plane was flying low into land after an away game and caught some trees as it tried to land in Ceredo, West Virginia and crashed into the woods leaving no survivors. The film stars Matthew McConaughey as Coach Jack Lengyel who is given the role of Head Coach of the American Football team after the crash by University President Donald Dedmon (David Strathairn).

The Plane Crash

The film begins with the crash and then follows the events of the team in the following year after they convince the school board to allow them to continue to play. This is despite the fact they have just three returning players who were not on the flight and the feeling in the town that it isn't right for the team to go back to playing after what happened. It produces an underdog team with a genuine reason to back them after the tragedy that befell the town.

The story itself is an inspirational one, a town coming together through sports to show unity against a tragedy and to respect the memory of those lost. From the music to the script you can't get past the cheesy feel-good factor that the film brings. The story itself has enough feel good moments to it that they don't need to be shoved in your face with over the top theatrics. The plot also focuses too much on the quirky antics of Jack Lengyel, although McConaughey is very good in this role, and not enough on the entire community around the Universities football team.

Donald Dedmon (David Strathairn) and Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) 

Matthew McConaughey as I mentioned above is a pleasant surprise as the off-beat and quirky coach whilst David Strathairn is a pillar of integrity as the president of the University. The directing is odd at times with a very generic feel to the filming, its like something that was made for a cheap TV station rather than a major film with Hollywood stars. McG seems to be out of his depth here and its to the detriment of the final product.

2/4 Inspirational story should have been better told

Films you'll never watch again

Just to clarify from the title, I'm not talking about terrible films like Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon or Good Luck Chuck. I mean films that were so traumatizing and hard to watch that even if you enjoyed it you wouldnt want to put yourself through that again. I've briefly discussed this with people before and a few films were mentioned. The first film that comes to mind for me was The Exorcist, I saw it when I was a teenager and I didnt sleep for weeks afterwards. It really stayed with me and would probably look a bit dated now with the huge amount of exorcism based horror movies about in recent years. But I dont think I'd watch that movie again even if you paid me.

Definitive horror movie The Exorcist

Another more recent film that I class in this category is Tyrannosaur (review here). The story of widower Joseph (Peter Mullan) befriending domestic abuse victim Hannah (Olivia Colman) is a stark and depressing tale of alcoholism, abuse and violence. The acting is immense from Mullan and Colman so I'd recommend seeing it if you haven't already but in the knowledge that it won't be an easy film to sit through. The film itself is very impressive but it is a tough watch and not a film I'd revisit in a hurry. The final film I'd classify for certain is a lesser known film called Compliance, review here About a prank caller convincing a fast food worker to strip and then be sexually assaulted by her unwitting boss. Based on a true story its a hugely frustrating film as you know all along that what you are seeing shouldn't be happening and should be questioned but the characters go along with the phone callers wishes.

The lady in the radiator from Eraserhead

Some films come close in terms of their content etc to being the sort of films I'd never see again but I would certainly not rule them out like the ones listed above. Two films that immediately spring to mind are Eraserhead by David Lynch (review here) and Irreversible by Gaspar Noé (review here). The former is a bizarre film with a constant onslaught of strange imagery and excruciating noise throughout makes it a tough film as you feel your senses being constantly attacked. After the first time I saw Eraserhead I felt quite nauseous afterwards. Whereas Irreversible produces a similarly stomach turning effect in the early scene in the gay nightclub with the constantly shifting camerawork and the brutal violence suddenly displayed without a cutaway. But somehow I find this scene incredible, one of my favourites in cinematic history for its frantic energy and unsettling visuals. The rape scene though is also nine minutes of horror that I don't intend seeing again.

Please feel free to share any films that you'd class in this category.

Film Preview: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The second film in the franchise which is based on the books by Suzanne Collins, it was announced that the final book will be split into two films to cover all the material (and maximize profits). The first film was a critical and financial success for Lionsgate so there is much anticipation about the second film which will return all the main cast. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth all dyed their hair for the movie once again. Lawrence went back to training to get in shape for the role while the supporting cast undertook training in preparation for the arena scenes.

After winning the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss (Lawrence) and Peeta (Hutcherson) must embark on a victory tour around the districts to showcase hope in their victory. President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is still unhappy with the ending of the games so is determined to make Katniss pay for what she has done as the districts now have a hero to root for. So with the 75th Hunger Games nearly upon them he conjures a plan to rid the problem of Katniss and Peeta.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is released in the UK on 22nd November 2013

This week's releases

Romeo and Juliet: Just when you thought Hollywood had lost its imagination in making new films, it surprises you with another remake of the classic Shakespearean novel. By my count this is the 7th remake and you'll never guess what happens in the end. In fairness the cast is packed with stars such as Damian Lewis, Stellan Skarsgaard and Paul Giamatti.

The Fifth Estate: Benedicte Cumberbatch stars as the now infamous Julian Assange as the rise to prominence of WikiLeaks is played out here.

Full preview here

Le Weekend: A British couple go to Paris on their anniversary to try and rekindle the love in their marriage. They start off squabbling but is the spark that they feel again enough? Starring Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan.

Film Review: Enter the Void

Director: Gaspar Noé

After I Stand Alone and Irreversible, Gaspar Noé has a reputation as a very daring and shocking film-maker. The violence in his movies is almost unparalleled and his films are often very different in terms of visual style and presentation. He creates scenes that are completely unforgettable and challenges the boundaries of modern cinema, for which he should be applauded.

High visualized view of downtown Tokyo

Noé first tried to fund this film in the early 2000's but it was deemed too expensive and was shelved until after Noé had success with Irreversible and was a more established film maker. Despite this, Enter the Void was a big box office failure with financiers Wild Bunch claiming they made back less than 2% of their investment.

The film is filmed in the first person, with blinking and everything, as we follow Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) who is a drug dealer in Tokyo. We see him get a high in one beautifully colourful scene before he is busted at a local bar called The Void, instead of surrendering he flees to the bathroom then tries to escape by claiming he has a gun. The Japanese police shoot him which sees us stylishly watch Oscar's death whilst his spirit remains floating above the city able to watch the world unfold before him.

The film is related to The Tibetan Book of the Dead which is a Buddhist book about the afterlife and spirits. The visual effects are truly stunning from the drug induced hallucinations in the first scene with Oscar to the very end where Tokyo is represented by bright neon lights and by the sex scenes all in the same hotel complex. The shooting style of being truly first person followed by a nearly constant floating presence from above really works and continues Noé's tradition as ground breaking film maker.

Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) dead in the toilet

Here we have a film that has a very human element to it, Irreversible lacked this as the sickening violence all occurred at the beginning of the film when you didn't know why the characters were acting as they did or who they really were. Enter the Void is a much more touching story as we learn about the childhoods of Oscar and his sister Linda (Paz de la Huerta) who has joined him in Tokyo. Their relationship is incredibly strong but frail after what they have been through and because of the lives they both lead now.

Only one thing stopped this from being a four out of four masterpiece and that was the length, at around 160mins it really is an excruciating battle to get to the end. The great ideas in plot and cinematography are watered down by the sheer excessive nature of their use, if Noé could have cut an hour out of the film (entirely possible) then it would have been a much greater movie for me.

3/4 Incredibly stylish and daring but a real slog

Film Review: Irreversible

Director: Gaspar Noe

A 2002 film which absolutely stunned critics when it was released at the Cannes Film Festival, Roger Ebert described it as "a movie so violent and cruel that most people will find it unwatchable." In essence the film has been whittled down to two scenes by many critics which involve a man having his face smashed in with a fire extinguisher twenty-two times without the camera ever cutting away and a nine minute rape scene. The film is also known for being shot in reverse so the thirteen scenes take place in reverse chronological order with us seeing the aftermath of what is about to happen.

Alex (Monica Bellucci)

The film starts with Marcus (Vincent Cassel) being wheeled out of a gay nightclub called the Rectum, his friend Pierre (Albert Dupontel) having been arrested. The next scene then shows them entering the club looking for a man called Le Tenia whom they struggle to find until Marcus is attacked and has his arm broken before Pierre saves him by smashing the guys face in with a fire extinguisher.

The two marquee scenes are brutal and unflinching, at no point does the camera look away in either instance. The foggy haze of the inside of the nightclub along with the continually moving and swirling camera means at first you are totally disorientated and even as it settles down you struggle to comprehend exactly what is happening. The early effects in the nightclub seemed similar to Eraserhead in that your senses were almost being assaulted by the effects on-screen and the constant noise. These first two scenes were absolutely incredible.

Pierre (Albert Dupontel) saves his friend

The rape scene is a difficult watch as nine whole minutes go by where the camera is completely stationary perched on the floor. Again at no point does it cut away so you are left in no doubt as to exactly what is happening which is deeply unsettling. The final act grows weary and tired as we see the group at a party and the backstory of their lives plays out, its the often forgotten act of the film which is unsurprising given that very little of note happens in it. It's a film that leaves its mark on you but as a whole piece it falls short.

2.5/4 Sublime start slowly dies with the audiences soul

Film Review: I Stand Alone

Director: Gaspar Noé

The debut feature film of adventurous Argentinian director Gaspar Noé, it was released in 1998 and is essentially a remake to his short film Carne which features the same main character of the nameless butcher. The Butcher, played by Philippe Nahon, also appears at the very start of his second film Irreversible with a drunken monologue revealing the events after the end of this film. The gimmick of having a warning text before the story's climax was borrowed from William Castle's 1961 film Homicidal.

The story is mostly told through the narration of the Butcher in a voiceover style, hearing his thoughts as his mundane life is played out before him. The still photos at the beginning displaying the backstory talk about him fighting his incestuous urges towards his daughter and is jailed for stabbing a man he believes raped his daughter. Released he now lives a sad existence with his mistress who is pregnant and keeps promising to open a butchers shop for him to work in to keep him around.

The Butcher (Philippe Nahon)

The butcher slowly losing grip with reality as he explains his hatred for the world as there are no jobs due to recession and because immigrants are taking the jobs away. Much of the film is the portrayal of an increasingly irrational man placed in mundane everyday situations, unsure whether to carry out his true wishes discussed in his head. The film is shot in a very faded manner which adds to the boring and tired existence that the butcher is living. Its truly disturbing especially in two key scenes where he wants to take action against his mistress and the films finale.

Many have compared it to Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver, the protagonists in both films are at least partly driven by sexual compulsions they either can not control, feel they can not control or badly desire to explore. Although I Stand Alone is more about a man rationalizing his anger into everyday life rather than being pulled towards insanity by psychotic fantasies. Philippe Nahon throws himself into the role brilliantly and very much becomes the butcher himself, which is difficult considering he is very much the only character for so much of the movie.

2.5/4 Bleak and disturbing view inside the mind of an increasingly deranged mind.

Film Review: Prisoners

Director: Denis Villeneuve

An American thriller set in small town Pennsylvania, it was written by Aaron Guzikowski who wrote the dready screenplay to Contraband but does a much better job here. Mark Wahlberg is an executive producer as well. It was was actually filmed in Georgia during the winter and was quite a tough film to work on due to the subject matter and emotion involved.

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman)

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is a deeply religious man, married to Grace Dover (Maria Bello). Their daughter goes missing on Thanksgiving after going outside without consent, she disappears along with the daughter of Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard) and Nancy (Viola Davis). Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is assigned to the case then quickly finds and interviews Alex Jones (Paul Dano) whose RV was parked by the house. But he has to be released after 48 hours because they can't bring charges which angers Keller so he decides to take the law into his own hands.

The film is beautifully shot in a depressing and cold small town with many people living in slightly run down wooden houses. The recession has clearly hit the town hard with people like Keller Dover struggling for work but this is only subtly hinted at rather than blatantly played out. The tall trees and inclement weather have a very haunting quality.

Prisoners represents every parents worse nightmare as they believe they are completely safe in their small town, a heartbreaking scene involves Grace telling her husband that he promised to protect them when there was nothing he could have done to stop what happened. Jackman himself is an incredibly intense character with a constant angry frown even before the abduction. The film is swept by the performances of Paul Dano as the main suspect who has the IQ of a 10 year old and especially by Jake Gyllenhaal as the detective whose obsessive nature leads the case. Detective Loki is clearly a man fighting his past demons but these are never dealt with in the course of the movie, his homemade style tattoos and anger issues portray a man with a troubled history.

Alex Jones (Paul Dano) and Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal)

The plot has plenty of twists along the way to keep you intrigued but by the end you feel that one too many rugs have been pulled from under your feet. I genuinely felt the movie should have ended 30mins early rather than have one more final big twist which felt rather far-fetched and excessive. The mystery around their disappearance is the main motivation through the film but the bigger question here is how far would you go to find your daughter? Would you break the law? Its easy to judge from here but very different if you were in Keller Dover's shoes.

3/4 Tense mystery thriller tries one twist too many

This week's releases

Thanks for Sharing: A romantic comedy about three people who are self confessed sex addicts played by Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim Robbins. The addiction affects their lives but no more so than in the world of dating and relationships.

Emperor: Historical drama, As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers (Matthew Fox) is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito (Tommy Lee Jones) will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya (Eriko Hatsune), an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.

Filth: Centered around a bipolar policeman who is addicted to drugs and alcohol, played by James McAvoy. He is looking to solve a murder but decides to eliminate his competition in finding the killer to aid his chances of promotion. The film is supposed to be dark comedy but the trailer leaves it looking incredibly low brow and trashy.

Film Preview: Parkland

The assassination of John F. Kennedy is one of the most renowned events in world history which has sparked numerous biographies and movies as well as countless conspiracy theories about the events of that day in 1963. The belief over a second gunman on the grassy knoll and that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't working alone or was entirely innocent. These are questions that we may never know the answer to now but the events have been choreographed here by Director Peter Landesman and the film is based on the book Four Days in November by Vincent Bugliosi.

Parkland weaves together the perspectives of a handful of ordinary individuals suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances: the young doctors and nurses at Parkland Hospital; Dallas’ chief of the Secret Service; an unwitting cameraman who captured what became the most famous home movie in history; the FBI agents who were visited by Lee Harvey Oswald before the shooting; the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald, left to deal with his shattered family; and JFK’s security team, witnesses to both the president’s death and Vice President Lyndon Johnson’s rise to power over a nation whose innocence was forever altered.

Parkland is released in the UK on 8th November 2013.

Film Review: Silkwood

Director: Mike Nichols

In the current era of mistrust surrounding the governments of the first world, especially the disclosures regarding the NSA programme in America to monitor millions of people without their knowledge or consent, Silkwood helps to remind us that things weren't necessarily better in the 1970's. The Atomic Energy Commission had been turning a blind eye to hugely dangerous lapses in safety at nuclear processing plants and in this case the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site (near Crescent, Oklahoma).

The Story of Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) shows how she became aware of the safety issues and raised them with the union only for her employer and fellow employees to turn against her. It affects her relationship with her children who she lives apart from and even her boyfriend Drew (Kurt Russell). She was persecuted at a job from all parties before the threats to her became far more serious.

Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) at the Kerr-McGee Plutonium plant

The background to the story and what happened is genuinely intriguing and actually quite frightening, the power of the big companies in America. Unfortunately the film is a very slow moving and rather tedious affair, the first hour sees very little except Karen working at the plant and fooling around at home with her boyfriend. Many films rush the backstory these days and forge straight onto the main part of the plot but here the opposite happens. The finale seems to show you one thing then run title cards before the credits that tell you something different. An incredibly muddled film at best but the acting from Meryl Streep is predictably very good and her support from Kurt Russell and Cher is impressive if not slightly offbeat.

2/4 A potentially great story is wasted