Film Review: Its a Wonderful Life

Director: Frank Capra

A 1946 comedy-drama that has frequently been labelled one of the best Christmas films of all-time with the crucial scenes set on Xmas Eve and for its heart-warming message. Despite initially performing poorly at the box office due to high production costs and stiff competition at the time of its release, it did finally become a commercial success as well as a critical one. It was nominated for five Oscars but actually won none.

George Bailey with his family

George Bailey (James Stewart) is deeply troubled after events in his life means everything didn't turn out like he always dreamed of, we get to see George's life in flashback to see what lead him to this point. Unhappy with life he attempts suicide but is saved by his guardian angel Clarence (Henry Travers). After George says that he wishes he'd never been born he gets to see what would have happened to his family, friends and the town of Bedford Falls if he had never existed.

It took until 1990 for the film to be deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry. A prestigious honour held only by the most revered films, the story is a very enjoyable one with a clear message of appreciating the family and friends that are around you. Its a very sweet film but one that can't help but make you feel happy inside. Whilst the story of the Building & Loan that Bailey runs being a great example of how communities should be run at the time and even now rather than how banks have sprawled today. Another example of foreboding comes when we see the town without George Bailey has become Pottersville, many described this not as a nightmare for Bailey but a glimpse into what some towns have actually become at the time.

George Bailey with his guardian Angel Clarence 

James Stewart is brilliantly as the conscientious yet confident George who is always willing to step up and do the right thing, even at the detriment of his own feelings. His more comedic moments play perfectly into Stewart's character. The film follows his story for 95% of its running time and wouldn't have been such a big success without a great performance from its lead to carry it through.

4/4 An absolute Christmas classic

Film Review: Don Jon

Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The directorial debut of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, has he joins the long line of serious actors moving behind the camera, is a romantic comedy of a very different kind. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival with its full name Don Jon's Addiction which was then shortened before its theatrical release. Both Channing Tatum and Anne Hathaway agreed to play cameo roles in the fake movie that is seen by Jon and Barbara.

Jon Martello Jr (Levitt) is a confident New Jersey twentysomething who lives for many of the things that the rest of us do in life, except he has an unhealthy obsession with pornography which he explains is actually better than actual sex most of the time. When he meets Barbara (Johansson) he is forced to wait to have sex as well as give up watching pornography which proves a real challenge to him after years of being single and one night stands with no commitment.

Jon Martello Jr (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) with girlfriend Barbara (Scarlett Johansson)

Both Joseph Gordon Levitt and Scarlett Johansson do a good job as native Jersey youngsters, although their accents and behaviour do becomes irritating in a Jersey Shore type way. The best roles are reserved for the smaller characters played by Tony Danza, as Don's Dad, and Julianne Moore as Esther who befriends Jon at night school. They are both a little quirky and are the key elements to the comedic moments of the film.

*possible spoilers*
The film is actually less about someone getting over an addiction, in this case a less damaging one, than about a young man learning to be more mature and more sensitive. A scene sat outside the coffee shop near the end confirms that he is a different man to the one shown to us in the opening ten minutes of the movie, outwardly less cocky but actually more self assured on the inside. Many of the scenes take place in the same place over the movie with frequent visits to church, the gym and the same nightclub to less than subtly portray the change in character over time. It becomes a bit predictable by the final act but its still an enjoyable film

2/4 Solid debut for JGL behind the camera

Film Review: Cinema Paradiso

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore

A 1988 Italian film which was recently re-mastered and re-released to celebrate its 25th anniversary, an ode to cinema itself as one young boy becomes enchanted by his local cinema and the art of projection. It swept the cinema world upon its release with critical acclaim as well as the award for Best Foreign Language film at the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

Alfredo with a young Toto in the projection room

You'd imagine if a film was made that would be a celebration of the joy of the cinema it would be made by the Americans, but this sweet drama shares one boys passion as he grows up with films very much the centre of his universe. The young boy Toto (Salvatore Cascio) slowly manages to befriend the local cinema's projectionist Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) and is taught how to work the projection equipment, all whilst watching the latest films of the 50's with the rest of the town.

The film moves at a reasonably swift place after starting near the end and looking back to Toto as a young boy as he discovers the local cinema that shares its venue with the church. At first Toto is a mischievous young boy who continually gets into trouble and annoys the adults around him, but his behaviour calms and this instantly makes him more likeable not just to the characters in the film but the audience as well. From there we closely follow the adolescent life of Toto and his other love.

An older Toto make a film of his own

Philippe Noiret is excellent as the mentor Alfredo who takes Toto under his guidance to teach him how to be a projectionist but also to guide him on his life, how to make the most of his career which was incredibly sweet to watch. The relationship the two have when Toto is an adolescent is the true beauty behind this film that just keeps giving when we re-visit Toto as an adult near the end of the movie. The film has many light-hearted and funny moments usually with various characters from around the village whilst watching the censored movies but the final scene with the montage was truly heart-warming.

3.5/4 Sweet and funny drama

Film Review: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Director: Adam McKay

With most popular Hollywood films returning for sequels within just a couple of years of the original, its a surprise that it took 9 years for the story of Ron Burgundy to be revisited. The immensely random yet incredibly quotable original film achieved cult status after a slightly slow start at the box office and generally improved on future viewings. Lets hope the second is the same because on first viewing it completely lost its magic and had far too many cheap gags.

The News Team back together in New York

Rob Burgundy (Will Ferrell) learns that his wife Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) has been chosen to be the lead anchor at the TV station whilst he has been fired. After hitting rock-bottom he is hired by a new 24 hour news channel called GNN where he reunites the old group. They make their way to New York to try and rekindle their careers working the 2am graveyard shift against Jack Lime (James Marsden) who runs the primetime crew.

While the credits are rolling we can see that the sequel is already re-creating jokes from the first film with Ron Burgundy's infamous warm up routine before going on camera, but inevitably more puerile and louder. Which generally sets the tone for the rest of the movie as its generally the same sort of jokes as the first only done with more shouting, gurning and cruder material. Thats not to say there aren't quite a few funny moments for each of the cast members, a personal favourite being Brian Fantana and the ladykillers which was a tad more subtle, but as a whole a lot of the gags are more forgettable.

Another News Team Battle

Unfortunately I think Brick was a huge let-down, a bad caricature of the 2004 version who isn't actually in the original as much as you think. But he's in this one a lot and his random jokes start to fall flat as you become a bit sick of them. The addition of Kristen Wiig as Chani actually did add something as it gave him someone on his own level to bounce off. While Burgundy's love interest with African-American newscaster Linda Jackson (Meagan Good) was a needless sub-plot only included to add some ill-advised race jokes that seem to be repeated incase you didn't hear them first time.

The return of the throwdown between newscasters at first seemed a needless distraction but with many cameos and some quite funny stereotypes, including BBC news, it actually became quite one of the better parts of the movie. Another crude joke about BP again showed that the writing here could be witty and clever but before you could enjoy that one you were generally groaning at the next gag. To be fair, the film is exactly what you would expect, very similar to the first but on acid so there is more everything which isn't always good.

1.5/4 Still quotable but the magic is lost

This week's releases

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues: After nearly a decade, the greatest newsteam of all-time is re-assembling for a sequel to the surprise quote-along comedy. Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner all return whilst the film is littered with cameos from the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen, Liam Neeson and Kirsten Dunst to name just three. This time the news crew move into the 80's and the world of 24 hours news.

The Harry Hill Movie: Not a huge amount is known about this film except that Julie Walters is starring alongside Harry with many other guest appearances from well known British celebrities. The film sees Hill embark on a road trip to Blackpool with his Nan (Julie Walters) when he discovers that his hamster only has one week to live. Hopefully this does better than the last ITV comedian who took his material to the big screen (Keith Lemon).

Film Preview: Out of the Furnace

The second feature film from director Scott Cooper who previously did Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges back in 2009. The film has Leonardo DiCaprio and Ridley Scott as producers which surely must have helped in bringing together an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson and Forest Whittaker to name just four. Zoe Saldana also moves over from the big blockbuster action movies into this crime drama.

Christian Bale as Russell Baze

Russell Baze (Bale) and his younger brother Rodney Jr. (Affleck) live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, and have always dreamed of escaping and finding better lives. But when a cruel twist of fate lands Russell in prison, his brother is lured into one of the most violent and ruthless crime rings in the Northeast – a mistake that will almost cost him everything. Once released, Russell must choose between his own freedom, or risk it all to seek justice for his brother.

Out of the Furnace is released in the UK on 31st January 2014.

Film Review: Nebraska

Director: Alexander Payne

A comedy drama from the director of Sideways and The Descendants, Alexander Payne has formed a niche for himself on the independent movie circuit with touching yet funny dramas. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival where Bruce Dern won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of grumpy father Woody.

Woody Grant (Dern) is a retired married man living in small town Missouri, he is an alcoholic who is starting to suffer from Alzheimers. He receives a letter from a marketing company saying he has won $1 million but believes the scam letter is real so decides to walk to Nebraska rather than trust the postal service with his money. After being picked up by the police walking down a freeway his son, David (Will Forte) decides to drive him there as an opportunity to spend more time with him and get away from his own drab existence.

Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) and David Grant (Will Forte)

*possible spoilers ahead*

The story itself isn't as touching and dramatic as you would think, you seem to expect a grand finale as the family finally confronts its problems and work towards a solution but you are left quite disappointed. The film generally meanders along through scenes which add very little to the plot and seem rather superfluous, its not a boring or long film but at times it seems very directionless which is ironic for what is essentially a road movie. The final scenes live up to the rest of the film as it seems again they were unsure how the film should end.

In terms of realism its a grim look into middle-America with few people having well paid or meaningful jobs as they all just scrape by from month to month dreaming of the big payoff that Woody might be getting to get away from it all. All the family members and friends of Woody come out of the woodwork, excuse the pun, to claim that Woody should set things right for money previously owed due to his drinking.

Bruce Dern is impressive although unlikeable as the slow and strong willed Woody whilst Will Forte who is more accustomed to comedies is the sweet character that enables Woody's behaviour at times. The best role is saved for June Squibb as Woody's wife Kate who gets most of the funny lines in the script which she delivers with a shocking tone. Its a nice easy film to watch but it isn't one that will live long in the memory like some of Payne's previous work.

2/4 Not quite dramatic or funny enough to live up Payne's previous films

Why the Oscars are a flawed process

The Oscars are generally seen as the cream of the crop, winning a Golden Globe or a BAFTA is nothing to be sniffed at in the world of film but it's the Academy Awards that are always seen as the ultimate mark for a film-maker, actor or actress. Much weight is put behind who the winners are but in general are they representative of what the best films were in the last year? The obvious answer is of course no.

Last years main acting winners

The selection process is the best place to start and has seen many films fall short of the requirements laid out by the Academy. Hoops Dreams was one film that notoriously fell short in the Best Documentary category, a film which is still on my list to see, although a change to the process has taken place since 1995 the film wasn't shown till the end because so many voters weren't interested in following it all the way though so it was turned off after ten mins. In more recent time documentaries have struggled because voters have to attend an Academy branded screening which means taking time out of presumably busy schedules to watch a film you've probably seen more than once just to register one vote, this is the reason that great docs like Senna and The Imposter missed out in recent years.

The further problem with the selection process with the bigger films is that its generally accepted that to be an Oscar contender you have to release your film near the end of the year and then campaign for it if it is nominated, campaigning basically meaning pandering to a bunch of stuffed shirts presumably with money to entice them to vote for you. But even then if you look at the nominations for the Golden Globes and then the Oscars you'll notice they are incredibly similar. A lot of Oscar voters can't be bothered to trawl through a hundred movies over the past year to decide what to vote for, so they look at what the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have chosen and start there. In short meaning the press help decide what is nominated at the Oscars by default and of course the press are completely unbiased in who they choose.

Now we are past the issue of qualifying and being nominated for an award, the problem of actually winning one comes down to a lot of things other than how good the film was or the acting was in said film. If your film has a lot of violence in it or is generally a sci-fi movie then you might as well take January off to practice your gracious loser face. The Dark Knight was the last straw for movie fans as they campaigned vigorously after it was omitted in 2009 so the academy increased the Best Picture nomination from 5 to 10 mainly to include to help push up viewing figures.

The winners are generally quite predictable far out in advance, certain films come along that aren't particularly great as films but fit a set of criteria that the Academy loves. Films like Lincoln and The Kings Speech fall into this category, Lincoln especially as it was a mess of a film and Daniel Day-Lewis aside should never have been near the awards. But politics always rears its ugly head around the Oscars to decide that Shakespeare in Love, truly awful film, should win Best Picture rather than Saving Private Ryan because Miramax pulled out a huge ad campaign.

It also gives the voters a chance to stroke their own ego by promoting small independent films meaning their director and actors get a huge chunk of the limelight, then they can sit back and watch their career hopefully flourish safe in the knowledge it was down to them, Beasts of the Southern Wild being this years small film despite it being one of the most tedious 90mins of cinema ever.

So next time you get annoyed that a film you loved didn't get nominated like Drive in 2012, remember this.

Golden Globe Nominations

As we approach the end of the year its time to prepare ourselves for awards season which is usually kicked off by the nominations from the Golden Globe's (which has a huge bearing on what the lazy Oscar committee decided to nominate). This year sees the obsession with the civil rights era continue with 12 Years a Slave being nominated in almost all major categories although The Butler with Forest Whittaker appears to have been snubbed, the criteria for getting a nomination follows a strict formula of timing and topic which almost guarantees you recognition. Its difficult to fully critique the lists because many films like American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club aren't released in the UK until later this year or in most cases January 2014.

Best Motion Picture – Drama
"12 Years A Slave"
"Captain Phillips"
"Gravity"
"Philomena"
"Rush"

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
"American Hustle"
"Her"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Nebraska"
"The Wolf Of Wall Street"

Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years A Slave"
Idris Elba, "Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom"
Tom Hanks, "Captain Phillips"
Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club"
Robert Redford, "All Is Lost"

Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale, "American Hustle"
Bruce Dern, "Nebraska"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Oscar Isaac, "Inside Llewyn Davis"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Her"

Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine"
Sandra Bullock, "Gravity"
Judi Dench, "Philomena"
Emma Thompson, "Saving Mr. Banks"
Kate Winslet, "Labor Day"

Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams, "American Hustle"
Julie Delpy, "Before Midnight"
Greta Gerwig, "Frances Ha"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Enough Said"
Meryl Streep, "August: Osage County"

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, "Captain Phillips"
Daniel Bruhl, "Rush"
Bradley Cooper, "American Hustle"
Michael Fassbender, "12 Years A Slave"
Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins, "Blue Jasmine"
Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle"
Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years A Slave"
Julia Roberts, "August: Osage County"
June Squibb, "Nebraska"

Best Director
Alfonso Cuaron, "Gravity"
Paul Greengrass, "Captain Phillips"
Steve McQueen, "12 Years A Slave"
Alexander Payne, "Nebraska"
David O. Russell, "American Hustle"

Best Screenplay
Spike Jonze, "Her"
Bob Nelson, "Nebraska"
Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan, "Philomena"
John Ridley, "12 Years A Slave"
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, "American Hustle"

Best Original Score
"All Is Lost"
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"
"Gravity"
"The Book Thief"
"12 Years A Slave"

Best Original Song
"Atlas," Coldplay ("The Hunger Games: Catching Fire")
"Let It Go," Idina Menzel ("Frozen")
"Ordinary Love," U2 ("Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom")
"Please Mr. Kennedy," Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Adam Driver ("Inside Llewyn Davis")
"Sweet Than Fiction," Taylor Swift ("One Chance")

Best Foreign Language Film
"Blue is the Warmest Color"
"The Great Beauty"
"The Hunt"
"The Past"
"The Wind Rises"

Best Animated Feature Film
"The Croods"
"Despicable Me 2"
"Frozen"

This week's releases

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: The second film out of three in the the new Hobbit franchise sees Martin Freeman return as Bilbo Baggins to continue his quest to reclaim Erebor from Smaug. All whilst Bilbo has found a strange yet magical ring. Peter Jackson continues as director.

The Christmas Candle: A sweet natured but original Xmas movie which is mostly known for having Susan Boyle in it. Legend has it every 25 years an angel visits the candlemaker in the village of Gladbury and touches a single candle. Whoever lights this candle receives a miracle on Christmas Eve. But in 1890, at the dawn of the electric age, this centuries old legend may come to an end. When David Richmond, a progressive young minister, arrives in Gladbury, the villagers discover a new formula for miracles: good deeds and acts of kindness.

Film Review: United 93

Director: Paul Greengrass

Films based on harrowing real life events very rarely capture the genuine terror and sorrow of these events compared to the actual news footage that generally accompanies them at the time. After 9/11 it was inevitable a number of films about the events would be made and many were released to disappointing reviews. But if you are to watch just one film about the events that day, make it United 93 as it captures everything so beautifully. The confusion, the panic, the tears and the explosions all with a very real and humanistic feel to it. You don't feel like you are watching a movie, you feel like you were there.

Director Paul Greengrass has made his name working on films charting tragic real life events, the English director previously worked on TV films like Bloody Sunday and The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. His success directing The Bourne Supremacy meant he had a foot in the door to making a cinematic movie back in his favoured territory (he also went on to make Captain Phillips). 

Two passengers on the hijacked plane United 93

The story of the fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania without hitting its intended target was slightly forgotten amongst the hysteria around New York and the destruction of the World Trade Centre. The film focuses early on the people on the ground in charge of air traffic who slowly realize that not just one but four planes have been hijacked. After they scramble to do what they can after realizing it is a terrorist attack we see the developments on board United 93 as the passengers decide to take action to try and save themselves.

Shot in an almost documentary style as if we were a fly on the wall during the events. This added realism helps to build the tension and the emotions as the characters come to realize what we have all known since the start of the movie. Making a film feel real is often neglected by Hollywood in favour of cheap attempts to pull on your heart strings, which is where many other 9/11 movies failed. The final 20mins are a frantic and deeply emotional battle with the captors as the plane grows wildly out of control, rarely have I watched a movie so engrossed especially considering we all know how it turns out.

4/4 Ultrareal version of the fateful events on that day

Film Review: Secretary

Director: Steven Shainberg

An independent film from 2002 which featured as the breakthrough for director and screenwriter Steven Shainberg, a breakthrough it appears he failed to capitalize on with the disappointing Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus in 2006. Many felt the advertising campaign that ran before the films release was slightly misleading in plot, I think many felt it was going to be more titillation than substance. Maggie Gyllenhaal was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as the submissive secretary Lee.

Lee Holloway is a socially awkward young woman who lives in a dysfunctional family, after a dangerous incident of self harm she learns to type and starts to work for an attorney called Edward Grey (James Spader). Despite some initial errors, it appears her boss is aroused by her submissive behaviour and they start a secret relationship based around their dominant and submissive personalities.

Secretary Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal)

Shainberg approaches this topic with a measure of restraint, he doesn't make the film too offensive in a crude sense or trivialize the subject matter which could have so easily been done. This is an issue that is rarely talked in Hollywood films beyond it being a cheap excuse for some repulsive material. It also deals with the sorts of power struggles that are fought out in offices across the world on a daily basis and is a quite clever satire on the subject. That isn't to say the film is always completely tasteful either but nobody is perfect.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is excellent in the lead role, adding a real warmth to the film that is lost elsewhere. Once the film scratches beneath the surface you do feel it could do so much more with this, the ending felt a little forced as if Shainberg had said what he wanted to say and wasn't entirely sure how he wanted to end it all.

2.5/4 Stand out performance but the film doesn't say enough

Film Review: The Killing

Director: Stanley Kubrick

An early Kubrick movie from 1956 which was the third feature film of his career. The film struggled at the box office despite being a hit with the critics but over time it garnered a cult following especially as Kubrick's stock rose in Hollywood with films like Paths of Glory and Spartacus shortly after. The telling of the story of the heist is something that hugely inspired Quentin Tarantino when making the film Reservoir Dogs. 

Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) is a veteran criminal who comes up with the idea of robbing two millions dollars from a local racetrack, his plan is to use his share of the money to run away and get married to Fay (Coleeny Gray). He enlists a corrupt cop, a teller from the racecourse, a sniper as well as a wrestler and barman to cause a scene at the track to distract attention from the robbery. The plan is perfectly set as long as everyone agrees to stick to the original plan.

The group come together to plan the heist

The first thing that is immediately apparent is the narration at the beginning of each scene to explain what is happening, although an entirely serious part of the film it actually works out being quite funny and light-hearted against the more serious plot. Sterling Hayden is your classic bad guy wanting to go good after one last robbery with the female roles playing a much bigger part than you would have expected, in many ways they are the ones indirectly behind the heist.

This film noir was one of the early heist movies that set the bar for the many that have followed since, The repeating of key scenes from different characters perspective is a stroke of genius, rather than just having one universal truth it gives it a different edge. Kubrick has never been scared of pushing the boundaries of cinema and was doing so even in his early years.

3/4 A little dated but still an enjoyable classic

This week's releases

Oldboy: A remake of the 2003 South Korean classic, that should never have been touched by Hollywood but they can't help themselves, where Joe (Josh Brolin) intends to find out why he was locked in solitary confinement for 20 years and by whom. Many scenes from the original are re-created here including the infamous corridor fighting scene.

Class of '92: A film charting the rise in global stardom for footballers during the early 1990's as we follow six Manchester United players in this documentary. We see the players go from youngsters breaking into the squad to winning the Champions League trophy in 1999 all to the backdrop of immense social and culture change in the UK.

Frozen: Animated comedy from Disney starring Kristin Bell and and Josh Gad. Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey, encountering Everest-like conditions, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf in a race to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

Nebraska: The latest drama from director Alexander Payne who was behind hits such as The Descendants and Sideways. Here we follow alcoholic father Woody (Bruce Dern) who makes a trip from Montana to Nebraska to pick up his winnings from a Mega Sweepstakes Marketing draw.

Film Review: Threads

Director: Mick Jackson

A joint venture which the BBC helped fund and produce that looks at the effect a nuclear war would have on Great Britain with the focus mainly being on the Northern city of Sheffield. The film was made in 1984 in the style of a real life documentary and chronicles the build up to the war as well as the effects for years after on the population as a whole and a few characters whose lives we follow. The Director General of the BBC at the time, Alisdair Milne, commissioned the film after watching The War Game which deals with the same topic. The War Game was also banned upon its release in 1965 over concerns that people might commit suicide at its bleak depiction of a post-nuclear war world in the middle of the cold war.

The atomic bomb going off near Sheffield

The threat of a new world war involving nuclear weapons becomes apparent when a US-lead coup d'etat in Iran leads the Soviet Union to invade the Northern area of the country. The political battle is now on as both countries have no desire to back down as a few small skirmishes happen in the Persian gulf between their navies. A full scale war begins after fighting in Northern Iran and the Soviet Union launches a nuclear attack on the UK with a warhead hitting the North sea and more hitting cities around the UK. In Sheffield, the local families witness the nuclear warhead hitting RAF Finningley nearby and for the survivors of the initial bombings there is the threat of radiation poisoning as well as other disease.

The film does a good job of building the tension as news reports on the TV and radio report the escalation of hostilities in Iran with the locals of Sheffield becoming more concerned at the events. The threat of war becomes imminent with the government closing roads to the public and issuing warnings of what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. The whole thing feels almost surreal but given the increasing number of countries developing nuclear weapons its still a very real threat even with the end of the Cold War.

The devastation for the remaining survivors

The effect a nuclear attack would have on the UK is genuinely horrifying, almost seems that immediate death would be the preferred outcome rather than trying to survive the radiation or in a country over-run by diseases like cholera or typhoid. A country decimated down to a population around a sixth of its current levels which is too weak for manual labour where crops can't grow and there is no sunlight. I found the whole experience deeply unsettling and the outdated special effects make it feel even more real. It certainly falls into the category of a film I'm unsure I'd want to sit through again but it will certainly be memorable.

3.5/4 Grim and horrifying depiction of the effects of a nuclear attack

Film Review: Scream

Director: Wes Craven

A 1996 horror flick that became synonymous with the mid-nineties and sent the trend for so many teen horror movies that followed. I had the opportunity to watch this again having not seen it for nearly a decade, its a film that has been copied and parodied endlessly so always feels familiar. It's a film that looks less scary now and actually becomes funny with its hammy acting, poor script and terrible fashion sense. But these are all great qualities to be able to enjoy this film in a different way from when it was released.

Infamous Scream mask

The film is partly based on the real life case of the Gainesville Ripper but also is hugely inspired by older horror movies like Halloween. Scream follows a group of teenagers at the local high school and especially Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) are terrorized by a masked man who torments them on the phone before entering their house to kill them whilst they are alone. Apart from being loosely based on real life, the film was controversial as it was blamed for many copycat killings that took place in America afterwards.

It was seen as adding another dimension to the horror genre as it was knowingly mocking the clichés that followed so many movies before it, then it also became copied itself in that its own style became cliché as well. The slapstick comedy looks funnier now than it did at the time even if the scary moments have lost their effect. The sequels had their moments but never really lived up to the original and it will now be remembered for many years to come.

3/4 Still a classic, era defining horror movie