On to regular business: three brand-new reviews were published this week...
God Bless America (2011)
on the surface, a little too ridiculous, but that’s masking a witty comedy and surprisingly truthful character piece. The latter is where the film’s most consistent joys are to be found. It’s carried by the charisma of the two leads; they’re a joy to spend time with, even if you for some reason objected to their righteous crusade.Read more here.
Nativity 2: Danger in the Manager! (2012)
Today has something to do with Jesus, right? Well, this has something to do with Jesus, kinda.Read more here.
The Shining (1980)
Kubrick turned his hand to horror for this Stephen King adaptation. Poorly received on release and reviled by King, it has since been reassessed as a classic. I’ve never read the novel, so have no opinion on the film’s level of faithfulness... As a movie in its own right, however, The Shining is bloody scary.Read more here.
Plus five archive reviews were reposted...
Educating Rita (1983)
Julie Walters makes her big screen debut opposite Michael Caine in this British comedy drama about a 26-year-old University student and her disenchanted drink-sodden tutor, adapted by Willy Russell from his own play and directed by the man behind Alfie and three Bond films.Read more here.
High Society (1956)
Cole Porter-scored musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, which is probably most famous for featuring Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and being star Grace Kelly’s final film before becoming a princess. Despite rarely singing, Kelly is by far the film’s standout element — it’s easy to believe three different men would be vying for her affectionRead more here.
The Man Who Sued God (2001)
funny, and righteous, and silly, and fantastical -- in an "oh, if only it were true!" way -- because in reality any such case would likely be laughed out of court and the insurance companies allowed to continue with their sorry and disreputable business. And some of these things which meant I loved it -- the "only in a film" moral victories, the sillification of the church(es), and so on -- will mean others hate itRead more here.
Taxi Driver (1976)
I didn’t buy Travis’ slide into psychosis, which is unfortunate as it’s the core of the film and why it’s meant to be so great. In fact, I found Robert Pupkin’s broadly similar, self delusion-based character arc in The King of Comedy more believable.Read more here.
Trainspotting (1996)
Choose great direction.Choose the rest of this review here.
Choose iconic images.
Choose a great soundtrack.
Choose a brilliant cast.
More next Sunday.
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