The KnightWatcher’s FILM REVIEWS 2013 edition
Hi! I'm Bob Brown (AKA The KnightWatcher). A big welcome to all you fellow film lovers to the 2013 edition of my film reviews.
All of these reviews have previously been published on LoveFilm under my Lovefilm name of the KnightWatcher and on my Facebook page -Bob Brown’s Film Lovers Group.
These film reviews are also published on my website , http://www. movieandfilmreviews. co. uk which you are encouraged to visit.
My interest in films has confirmed that when it comes to films ‘One man’s meat is another’s poison’. There are no films where everyone agrees that it is brilliant or awful. Everyone has different tastes. And so it is with my ratings. You may find that usually you agree with my rating, or you may find that often you disagree. And therein is the fun and interest. I love to hear other’s views and where you disagree that is just as interesting and welcome. It is fun to discuss and debate these things. You will see a table below which defines what my film ratings mean . I will warn you that I mark tough. Often on Lovefilm if someone likes a film they will automatically just give it a 10 but I do not do this. Instead I make careful use of the full range of scores and generally I would consider any film with a score of 4 or above watchable and enjoyable to some extent. So where I have given a film a score between 4 and 7 for example then I liked it and thought it watchable but it is just not a particularly great film; it might just be reasonable , average, good or very good respectably.
If you limit yourself to just great films or those with Oscar nominations or to those which are well known and widely popular then you can miss a lot of perfectly good watchable enjoyable movies. I believe you need to be open minded and sometimes you will discover a hidden gem , or one that just appeals to you personally and be surprised. It is always satisfying to discover an unknown and underrated film.
My favourite genres are , erotic thrillers (especially from the 1990s) and Rom Coms and WWII dramas and so you will find a disproportionate number of these . I like nearly all the genres except I am not really into fantasy action films so e.g. you will not find any reviews of Harry Potter , or Lord Of The Rings or Star Wars here. It is fun sometimes to watch a film when you have absolutely no idea what it is about or the genre in advance.
It is surprising how many films have the same name. The same names are used frequently even within a couple of years. . Therefore to identify a film you have to also look at the year. Where I am aware there is more than one film with the same name I have added the year to distinguish the one that I have seen.
The film reviews are arranged in alphabetical order , but this is followed by another list of what I consider the best films and which I have awarded scores of 8, 9 or 10 .
As I said above I also publish my film reviews on my Facebook page- Bob Brown's film Lovers Group. I would very much appreciate it if you would visit that page and LIKE it and even better start to add some of your own reviews occasionally to help me make it more active and fun.
Good watching-The KnightWatcher
Definitions of Ratings
Rating
Quality of Film
1
A very poor , awful and painful film with no merit that is probably unwatchable through to the end.
2
A poor just about watchable film that is disappointing and let down by some fundamental weaknesses in plot, and / or credibility, . You may not have made it through to the end.
3
A dull mediocre watchable film with some moments of interest or quality , good in parts, but overall only just so so. You may not have made it through to the end.
4
Watchable, reasonable, adequate, but slightly disappointing film probably let down by low budget feel, predictability, and not particularly memorable or enjoyable.
5
OK watchable average film , enjoyable but let down by some aspects of casting, script, or plot.
6
A good watchable film that is definitely OK but could have been better in places.
7
A very good watchable and enjoyable film.
8
A great film. May be very funny or very moving, or both , or a thriller which holds your interest and with a great plot.
9
A superb and excellent film of great merit and depth, with an excellent cast and script. A film that you would be keen and eager to watch again the following day.
10
A rare exceptional , brilliant and outstanding film of depth, meaning, superb casting, outstanding acting, and credible script. A film that touches your soul, and probably makes you laugh and cry. A film that stays with you in your immediate memory.
For more movie fun and discussion go to :
http://www. movieandfilmreviews. co. uk
and Facebook. com/MovieandFilmreviews. co. uk
Knowing my interest in films people often ask me what do I think are the best ten films ever. This is an extremely difficult question and obviously very controversial. It would be easier perhaps to list twenty! But if forced here is my list of a dozen films to take to a desert island. Sorry I could not get below 12!
Air Force One
Apocalypse Now
Apollo 13
Armageddon
Blade Runner
Casino Royale
Fever Pitch
Parenthood
Saving Private Ryan
Sophies Choice
Terms of Endearment
The Graduate
FILM REVIEWS
Film
Comments and Rating
Adjustment Bureau (The)
2011 The Matrix meets The Trueman Show. Matt Damon running to be senator of New York but is torn by his love for a girl (Emily Blunt) he is not permitted to have. Their romance is sweet and credible. The ending is hard to predict.
6
Agora
2009 Rachel Weisz is as usual excellent in this Roman / Greek 3rd century saga about the rise of Religious fundamentalism and the clash with early astro theoretical physics. Brutal in parts. A bit laboured though and not particularly enjoyable.
5
All Good Things
2010 Ryan Gosling. Sad romantic drama mystery. Idyllic marriage turns bad when husband , who was messed up by his childhood, starts working for his father in New York as a cruel landlord. He forces his wife to have an abortion. After his wife , played by Kristen Dunst, goes missing and is no longer in the cast the film is much weaker and the final third is disappointing, a little bizarre and unconvincing. Based on a true story.
6
All Over Me
(1997)
1997 drama. Coming of age teenage drama about two girls in a first lesbian relationship but discovering other partners. Sensitively handled with no gratuitous explicit sex. Has all the bleakness of a typical Mike Leigh film set in the USA. Has a low budget feel but overall it is a good film , and much better than the typical offering in this genre. It has a credible feel and I do not agree with other reviews that it is predictable. Has an awesome but esoteric score.
6
Almost Famous
2000 Drama. An entertaining and sweet easy watch yarn about a 15 year old boy who somehow infiltrates the 1970s rock scene in the USA and writes reviews for music publications and eventually Rolling Stone. He travels with the band from gig to gig becoming fully accepted and forms a loving relationship with a groupie. It is a somewhat implausible plot but if you can get past that then it is a very watchable good film. The scantily clad young girl used to promote the film belies a film which contains no nudity or sexual content and could have been a U rather than the 15 that it has.
6
American Gangster
2007 Tough violent , hard hitting true story of black drug Mr. Big in New York who brought drugs into the USA from Vietnam concealed in military coffins. Also led to conviction of three quarters of the DEA !
7
American President (The)
1995 Political Drama . Classic political romance. Excellent in parts, and great cast, plot and script
9
American Psycho
2000 Thriller. A good thriller about a rich Wall Street young bull who turns out to be a highly obsessive compulsive psychotic serial killer. This unlikely combination is actually carried off quite competently and convincingly. Has a twist at the end. Not for the squeamish.
7
An Education
2009 drama. School girl has an affair with much older married inveterate playboy. Carey Mulligan is great in this and it is an interesting view of the early 1960s. A great film actually.
8
Analyse That
2002 Comedy. Sequel that should not have been made
4
Analyse This
1999 Comedy. Robert Deniro is superb as a mafia mobster who is having a breakdown and losing his grip. Billy Crystal excellent as his unfortunate psychiatrist. Very funny.
7
Another Country
1984 Good depiction of outrageously privileged pre war elite life at Eton and how it produced a number of homosexual rebel communists who became spies for Russia.
6
Another Woman
1988 Typical Woody Allen. This is a highly acclaimed film but it is not for me. A woman writing a novel in a small flat overhears the consultation sessions of a psychiatrist in the same block through an air vent. The patient is played by Mia Farrow. The emotional pain and angst of the patient make the author reevaluate her own life and she makes some radical changes including leaving her husband. But the acting is poor and the story slow and laborious and the whole film seems to be intellectually pretentious trying to be more than it is.
5
Another Year
2010 . Another Mike Leigh film! It’s ok but it is very low key even for a Mike Leigh film. It is very well observed as ever but quite tragic really and severely lacking in any action whatsoever! It is like all his previous films but less dramatic and much more ponderous . Overall-depressing.
5
Anything For Her
2008. French action thriller with sub titles. Wife is wrongly imprisoned for 20 years for a murder she did not commit. Loving husband cannot live without her and takes extreme measures to try to secure her escape. Very good.
7
Apocalypse Now
1979 War drama. Still the benchmark by which other war films should be judged. Outstanding photography, production, score, real horror, and really shows the madness of war, and the drug crazed US army in Vietnam.
10
Apollo 13
1995 Space drama. Tom Hanks stars in this perfect film playing James Lovell. Based on the true events of the ill fated mission to the moon. An unbelievably superb reconstruction and dramatisation of the events leading up to and during this mission. Everybody remembers those immortal words of ' Houston we have a problem'. Superbly acted and highly tense and emotional movie. Impossible to get through without a tear or two running down your cheek from time to time and I have watched this film countless times and it is still as good today as when it was made. Just outstanding from start to finish.
10
Apollo 18
2011. Apollo 13 meets Alien. Rubbish. An appolo-gy for a film.
3
Arbitrage
2012 Strong cast-Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere. Gere plays a hedge fund master of the universe who has cooked his books. Tense drama about will he be discovered. His problems get worse as his life goes into melt down when his mistress is killed in a car he is driving. Gere is excellent in the role, and the film is competent enough to be worth a watch but somehow does not excel. The plot lines are somehow too familiar, as is Richard Gere playing such roles. It has a feeling of déjà vu throughout.
6
Argo
2013 Political Thriller. Argo is a very good political thriller based on true events (1979 Iran hostage crisis) that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Would have scored 8 but does not develop the characters enough. Definitely highly watchable though and can see why it got so many nominations.
7
Arthur Christmas
2011 comedy. Children's movie about high tech Father Christmas and how he covers the entire globe in one night using latest technology. Imaginative , and original. Amusing and harmless fun.
6
Atomised
2006 Erotic tragic psycho drama German with sub titles . Bizarre story of 2 brothers exploring eroticism. One of the brothers is an introverted asexual and frustrates the love of his life, and the other is a totally selfish individual incapable of love but is a slave to his sexual fantasies. This gives the producer an excuse to indulge in his own sexual fantasies at frequent intervals! This is a very heavy highly alternative film that would not appeal to most people. The two brothers are both completely messed up by dysfunctional parents who abandoned them. Tragedy and disaster are never far away for both of them except that the introvert does invent genetic coding on the side! The female partner of the other selfish brother , with whom he participates in sex orgies, becomes crippled , goes mad , and commits suicide !
6
Avatar
2009 Very good but you have to get into it. Maybe watch twice to fully appreciate it . Loaded with spiritual and environmental messages.
7
Awake
2007 Thriller about man who needs a heart transplant but is tricked by girlfriend and the heart surgeon in negligence action scam. Man is awake while the operation is performed. Plot stretches credibility but has good twist at the end.
5
Away from her
2007 Ridiculous film about woman with creeping senility and story of husband leaving her in a home prematurely when she could have stayed home for years longer.
1
Babel
2006 Pretentious but watchable interwoven morality tale of 3 stories linked by boy shooting at tourist bus with his father's rifle in Morocco. Also about a young virgin in Tokyo and a nanny taking children to a wedding in Mexico. Good cast. Kate Blanchet.
5
Babette's Feast
1987 Classic. It's about two spinster daughters who live in a remote Danish coastal town and forsake romance and life for religion. Their cook is called Babette. Yes it is as boring as it sounds. This film is so highly acclaimed and popular that it I am sure it must be brilliant! But all I can say is that it is not for everybody. I absolutely hated it. I tried twice to watch it. First time it sent me straight to sleep. The second time I lasted 20 minutes and could bear no more. It is in Danish with sub titles and so boring and dour and dated. It was completely lost on me. Sorry! Many regard this as a perfect 10 masterpiece. I have no idea why.
2
Bank Job (The)
2008 Excellent true story based in 1970, political sex scandal, and bank robbery, police corruption, superb cast, script and acting. Great plot. This film has it all.
8
Basic Instinct
1992 erotic thriller. I have watched this many times over the years and gave it another run out in 2012. In my opinion it sets the Gold standard for erotic thrillers and even after 20 years is not the slightest bit dated. The acting, script, and music are superb and yes I know the plot is implausible but I don't care and somehow they get away with it because of the mesmerizing relationship and sexual tension between Douglas, the detective and Sharon Stone, the suspect. It is a long film but you don't want it to end, and after all that, at the end you will still not be sure who the killer was!
9
Basic Instinct 2
2006 Erotic thriller. Basic Instinct was a very good erotic thriller and a tough act to follow but this sequel unusually is worthy. It really is nearly as good as the original. Stone is even better in this and the lead who replaces Douglas playing opposite Stone does a good job I think and is credible as the psychiatrist who meets his match with the Stone character. It is a good erotic thriller that holds its own in its own right. They switch the sequel from Los Angeles to London to freshen it up which seems to work
8
Battle in Heaven
2005 Bizarre and weird story about a couple living in two parallel universes. Extremely pretentious and stylized. Spanish (or Mexican) sub titles. Copious quantities of extremely graphic sex. Weak script and totally disjointed ridiculous plot.
3
Be Cool
2005 John Travolta comedy romance in the music industry
5
Beaches
1988 Weepie that follows friendship between two women through their lives, one a self obsessed Broadway star, the other a lawyer / mother who dies young.
4
Beat
2000 erotic drama. Definitely better than the average rating suggests. An intimate examination of homosexual and heterosexual relationships within a close group of 4 male and 1 female writers in 1944 New York. Irritation and boredom prevail within the group. The viewer gets drawn into the frustration of the unfulfilled relationships and shares the hopelessness as nobody seems to get what they want. Courteney Love is superb in this film and gives the film its quality and high rating as the hub of the group and the focus of the intrigue and desire.
7
Beautiful Creatures
2001 Dark comedy British thriller, wacky tale. Rachel Weisz. Amusing and harmless. A sort of Thelma and Louise
5
Beautiful Thing
1996 Drama. Film 4 British gritty kitchen sink drama in the Mike Leigh mould. Filmed entirely in Thamesmead near the Thames on a high rise social housing estate, but where they actually managed to make some waterside areas look attractive. A close up examination of dysfunctional families, that is credible and highly realistic. The main theme is two adolescent boys from neighboring families and from the same school who face their realities that they are gay and form a relationship, and eventually come out. A very good , poignant, and underrated film that is surprising that it is not better known.
7
Bedroom (The)
1992 Japanese soft porn with sub-titles. Bizarre story of a young wife who visits a fetish house where she takes drugs which send her to sleep, during which she receives the attention of clients who use and abuse her. There are other sub plots but most of the time the white sub titles are against a background of white bed sheets! Weird and very explicit. Rubbish.
2
Before The devil Knows You’re Dead
2007 Thriller. Dark and brooding hard hitting thriller about two loser brothers who hatch up a robbery which goes badly wrong. From then onwards things go from bad to worse and engulf the entire family. It is gritty and grim and the storyline unpleasant to watch. Uncompromising and ruthless. Best to watch it on your own as not one for an enjoyable movie night in with your partner. I nearly gave it an 8 but it is spoilt a little by the unnecessary jumbling up of the order of play such that it is a cobbled together series of flashbacks. Well acted and scripted though and overall a very good watchable film.
7
Behind Enemy Lines
2001 Bosnian war action drama. I rate this as an excellent action war film. It is based on real events, and its high rating reflects the successful development of the characters and the background politics that the film achieves. It is for a change a 3D plot with depth as compared to so many superficial high octane action war films. Gene Hackman and Owen Wilson are both superb. The plot concerns the hunt for a surviving navigator from an F18 fighter jet shot down over Bosnia. An excellent war film , but one I think likely to appeal more to guys than girls.
9
Being Julia
2004 Period drama. I recommend this film. Set in London theatre land in the 1930s it is about the lives and love lives of the cast behind the scenes and in particular the relationship between the leading lady and an upwardly mobile American boy half her age. The cast is superb and in particular Annette Bening is outstanding. The film itself is often produced like a stage play. There are several parallel strands to the story but this adds interest and it is easy to follow. It is an enjoyable watch
7
Bel Ami
2011 Period drama. Kristin Scott Thomas. Period drama set in high society Paris in the 1890s. How can other reviewers say that this has no story? It is a much better film than many other reviews give it credit for. It is a modern attempt at the Dangerous Liasons theme. Young man breaks out of poverty and breaks into high society and political circles through his good looks and powers of seduction. At first he is found out to be out of his depth, empty and vacuous but increasingly he becomes ruthless and brutal and acquires great wealth through his women and in the end puts an advantageous and cynical marriage above the mistress who he really loves and loves him. This film has lots of story so do not let others put you off if this theme sounds like your cup of tea. The film is lavish and stylish in its recreation of the period. I liked it.
7
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2012 World class cast. An absolute delight. Great performance by Bill Nighy. Great portrayal of India. Terrific script. Funny, poignant, with messages. Where there is life there is hope. Life is a privilege –not a right!
8
Better than Chocolate
1999 RomCom. Pleasant enough innocuous light lesbian romantic comedy. Well acted and touching. Young teenage lovers struggle to conceal their sexuality when the newly divorced mother of one of them comes to stay. Other interweaved relationships involving various other characters combine to produce a watchable enjoyable average film with a happy ending.
5
Between Your Legs
1999 Soft porn drama. Don’t worry this is not the sexothon that it sounds like. Spanish film with sub titles. It is about two people who are attending a clinic for sex addicts but beyond that I cannot tell you much. I found it impossible to follow what was going on as it weaves a lot of fictional sub plots throughout so it is one of those films where you never know what is really happening and what is being imagined. I only lasted 30 minutes and found it boring and a waste of time. Don’t bother with this one.
3
Big Easy (The)
1987 Erotic thriller. Dennis Quaid is excellent in this as a very sure of himself womanising funny sexy maverick homicide inspector character. A good erotic thriller. The Quaid character himself becomes the subject of an investigation into police corruption by an attractive woman from the DA's office, with whom he has a steamy affair. Done in typical 1980s style and set in New Orleans. Watchable and enjoyable.
7
Big Kahuna (The)
1999 drama with a strong cast (Kevin Spacey / Danny Devito). Adaptation of a play and it shows. Whole film is set in one hotel room. Long build up of character development and dialogue , which becomes quite boring. Two disillusioned cynical salesmen clash with young naïve God squadder raw recruit preparing for an out of town cocktail party for prospective buyers. The film has a real sting in the tail with a profound finish which seeks to preach what is important in life, and what is real character etc.
6
Big Year (The)
2012 Comedy about competitive bird watching. But do not let that put you off. It’s original and very funny and has a fantastic cast –Steve Martin, Jeff Black, and Owen Wilson
8
Bitter Moon
1992 erotic drama. A good watchable film about a couple who are united by physical attraction but after this fades their relationship becomes destructive and damages another couple. This film is an acquired taste and improves on second watching. Sexually charged and dark and sad at the same time. There is a big surprise awaiting you at the ending and is worth watching for this. Hugh Grant is very young in this and a bit feeble to be honest and a bit of a weak link in the cast.
7
Black Book (The)
2006 Beautiful Jewish girl who worked for the Dutch resistance at the end of WW2 and has a relationship with Captain in the SS in order to infiltrate the Nazis. The depressing thing is that in transpires that at least 3 of the other resistance fighters turn out to be Nazi collaborators who are also betraying the Jews for their own profit. However a great film with a great performance by the female lead. The plot can be a little hard to follow in the final scenes due to confusion between the resistance characters.
8
Black Hawk Down
2001 excellent war / action movie based on true events in Somalia in 1993 directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner). Gritty, intense, high octane action drama. A routine military operation is seriously misjudged and under estimated and quickly descends into chaos as the marines are over run by local militia. Excellent cast and well acted. War films do not get much better or more realistic than this.
9
Black Swan
2010 Psychological thriller based on New York ballet. Young woman finding her sexuality, and confidence and confronting competition and shaking off her controlling mother. Explicit sex and violence. Would not be everybody's' cup of tea. A bold and unusual film –in the Carrie mould and class. I liked it.
7
Blade Runner
1982 Sci Fi. Starring a young Harrison Ford . In my opinion perhaps the best Sci Fi ever made. Brilliant. Amazing graphics and sets. Haunting and atmospheric. A movie classic that sets the Gold standard for Sci Fi.
9
Bling Ring (The)
2013 Crime drama. Shocking film based on true events about a morally bankrupt teenage gang in Los Angeles who steal from the Hollywood homes of celebrities . The film depicts a shallow degenerate society obsessed only with wealth, materialism, designer brands, vanity, and drugs. Was potentially a good film , but let down by poor sound where much of the dialogue cannot be deciphered and is obscured by obtrusive loud musical score. In addition the story is repetitive and padded out to make it a feature length film.
5
Blood Simple
1983 Coen brothers first film-erotic thriller, gritty. Dark and bloody but with some humour.
6
Blue Jasmine
2013 Comedy drama. Typical Woody Allen fare depicting how underneath we are all a mess and life is a mess! Cate Blanchett is outstanding and the script is superb. Great cast. Blanchett plays a middle aged ex wife (Jasmine