The Railway Children Returns (PG) - Movie Review

In The Railway Children Returns, Jenny Agutter breaks all records by returning to an acting role that she first played on a BBC television production in 1968. 

Her character Bobbie was the older girl in a close family who were sent to live in the Yorkshire countryside following difficulties experienced by their father in London at the turn of the last century.  The family’s adventures, while living beside a busy railway line, has proved continuously popular to screen audiences since the story of the Railway Children was first filmed.

After the BBC series, a movie of the same name, The Railway Children was shot in 1970.  The new movie is the direct sequel to that movie and is set in the same Yorkshire village where Bobbie is now a grandmother living with her daughter and grandson. 

The Railway Children Returns follows a group of children who are evacuated from Liverpool to the countryside, where they begin an idyllic adventure life beside the railway.  They live the rough and tumble life of childhood until they find a young soldier hiding from everyone in a disused railway carriage.

The Railway Children Returns which is now showing at Athlone IMC has a modern message in its very traditional story.  The art direction of the movie and its use of authentic costumes of the period is first-class and it should surely be in line for BAFTAs in those categories when that time comes around again.

However Jenny Agutter is totally underused and while there are several references to the 1970 film, a missed opportunity to reinvigorate the Bobbie character was missed, writes David Flynn.  While there were reminders of the original movie, there was little mention of the earlier characters, with the exception of Bobbie’s brother, Peter, who was revealed to have been killed in a previous war.

Sheridan Smith showed some vigour in the role of Annie, the village schoolteacher and daughter of Bobbie.  Austin Haynes as Annie’s son, Thomas and Beau Gadsdon as Lily shone very well and there were a few good actors like Tom Courtney as an elderly uncle and there was a comic role for John Bradley as a railway employee.

The storyline is adequate and old-fashioned, but it works on many levels.  The main criticism was the under-use of Bobbie, or proper development of her back-story since the original movie happened.

 

1917 (15A) - Movie Review

Audiences are taken back to the Western Front in WW1 with this new movie from Oscar winning director, Sam Mendes.

It features two young British soldiers who are sent over the lines of the trenches of the front, to deliver a message to another regiment.  The regiment is heading for a trap, and the soldiers have to battle horrific conditions in the no-man’s land terrain of broken human bodies, rats, muck and sniper rifles to reach their destination.    

Their journey is one of terror, and tension and the entire movie is shot in real-time and yet so much believable and intensive action takes place in its two hour length.  It is part adventure thriller as well as whole war-picture.

An almost entire male cast appears in ‘1917’; many of them young and unknown actors, and many others well-known in short cameo appearances.  All of them have talent and experience worthy to appear in their roles in the movie.

Cinematography of the vast landscape of WW1 in ‘1917’ is head and shoulders above many recent movies on offer. 

The two original leads in the movie are Dean-Charles Chapman playing Lance Corporal Blake and George MacKay playing Lance Corporal Schofield.   Both actors had power in their performances and are definitely ones to watch in the future, writes David Flynn.

The only place the movie falls a bit is in its screenplay because a couple of scenes wouldn’t look out of place in a Hollywood action blockbuster, but those scenes are minute and rare in ‘1917’. 

There was two Golden Globes (Best Director and Best Picture) won by Sam Mendes for 1917.  It is nominated for ten Oscars including Best Picture, and incidentally Best Screenplay, and also nominated for nine BAFTAs including Best Picture.

‘1917’ is unforgettable for all the right reasons, and is now showing at Athlone IMC.

Downton Abbey (PG) – Movie Review

A new chapter in the world of the ratings and critically hit series has been made for the cinema screen.  The big house people, upstairs and downstairs return to see the King and Queen of England and their entourage pay a visit.

Most of the cast of Downton Abbey is back for the movie of the same name.  Maggie Smith was probably the star of the series and the movie and she played the Dowager, Violet Crawley to perfection yet again.   The cast of the tv series are joined by actors, Imelda Staunton, Max Brown, Mark Addy, Lesley Nichol and many others playing new characters.  Simon Jones and Geraldine James play King George V and Queen Mary.

Maggie Smith had a good sparring partner with Imelda Staunton, who played a cousin of the family, who was also a lady in waiting to the Queen.  She is the subject of one of the many subplots in the movie.

It’s got a few interesting themes in there, like republicanism versus monarchy, inheritance and class, and a gay character exploring his sexuality in 1920s England.

Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England is again the setting of Downton Abbey and the production bears up the world of 1927 quite well, writes David Flynn.   The costumes, furniture and city streets are all designed with the good style that was in the series.  The writer, Julian Fellowes wrote a good script, albeit not as good as his Oscar winning 2001 movie script, ‘Gosford Park’.

‘Downton Abbey’ is simply another episode of the television series, and fair play to the production team for that, because as a screen story it works, albeit not for cinematic audiences.  It would have been a good Christmas special on ITV instead of a movie feature, but it will be in future years. 

Once Upon a Time….in Hollywood (18) – Movie Review

Quentin Tarentino threw the kitchen sink at this production which re-created Hollywood in spring and summer, 1969.

Tarentino, who wrote and directed ‘Once Upon a Time ….in Hollywood’ had the power to get the double male leads of Leonardo Di Caprio and Brad Pitt together in one movie.  Leo plays a struggling TV star, Rick Dalton and Brad plays Cliff Booth, Rick’s stunt double. 

The two characters have a deep friendship and equal respect of each other, which developed when they worked together on Rick’s 1950s black and white hit TV western.   Throughout the 1960s, Rick has to work on spaghetti westerns and bit parts on TV shows, while Cliff works as his driver and house-sitter.

The house in the Hollywood hills is coincidentally next door to the rented home of director, Roman Polanski and his actress wife, Sharon Tate.  History buffs will know that in real-life a terrible murder happened in that house in August 1969.

The Tarentino script and direction of the movie deals with the lead-up to the murder, and features many of the characters involved in the atrocity.  The movie’s re-creation of Los Angeles in 1969 is done to a high-level, showing the movie theatres and street design of the era.  The ambience of the movie shows the mood of the time, with the flower power parties and the feeling of the Vietnam War in the air.

The lives of Rick and Cliff remain on the periphery of the stench of evil that is brewing with a murderous gang, as they live in a movie farmyard on the outskirts of Hollywood.  Rick and Cliff, almost in a ‘Forest Gump’ sort of way fizzle in and out of the lives of the movie elite and the evil gang.

The double male leads of Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio gave brilliant performances which were interesting to watch. Leo twisted himself in two with energy to play Rick, while Brad was more subdued in his performance of Cliff, which was totally effective.  One of these guys will take the Best Actor Oscar next March.

Margot Robbie played Sharon Tate to such a great degree that the family of the 1960s movie star was reported to be very pleased with the performance.  Footage of the movies which starred Sharon Tate were featured in ‘Once Upon a Time…..in Hollywood’, but it didn’t shake the moviegoers view of Robbie’s performance - if anything it enhanced it

It was nice to see some high-profile cameos from Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell, Al Pacino, Luke Perry and Damien Lewis.  They all added to a very good movie, writes David Flynn.

The Lion King (PG) - Movie Review

On paper it must have seemed like a great idea to remake The Lion King, with new computerised animation, which has been developed since the original film was a smash hit twenty-five years previous.

The movie is set in Africa, in a desert community of a pride of lions.  The lion cub Simba is the son of the King and Queen of the doman.  He is groomed to take over from his father, but Simba enjoys playing like a cub and getting into all sorts of young devilment.  However the cub does have respect for the traditions of his family, including the ‘circle of life’ which connects all living things on the vast land.

After Simba is fooled by his evil uncle, Scar, his life takes a turn which includes death, and a new life in the jungle forests.  Here he meets new friends, and builds a new life, but a visit from a love interest, Nala, (voiced by Beyonce) reminds him of home.  A new battle and frontier awaits Simba when he decides to return to his past.

The movie is enjoyable for those who have not seen the 1994 Lion King original, although much of the emotion that was shown in the earlier movie is missing here.  Interestingly the new movie is around 30 minutes longer than the original.  There is still a feeling of the story being rushed, particularly after Nala finds her old love.  However the movie picks up in the last half hour and reaches a nice climax, which will be found satisfying by most viewers, writes David Flynn.

A Star is Born (15A) – Movie Review

Here is a story that was filmed many times in the past.  However this version brings it up to date to 2018.
Singer, Lady Gaga and box-office hit star, Bradley Cooper take up the roles of up and coming singer Ally and big star singer, Jackson Maine.  There had been versions of this story filmed in the 30s, 50s and 70s.  Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson starred in the 1976 version. 
Ally is living with her father, and is on the verge of giving up her hopes of a singing career.  Fate intervenes when she meets Jackson Maine, and he encourages her to further explore her songwriting and singing talent.  Along the way the couple fall in love, but while Jackson slips into alcoholism, Ally’s career rises.  Then Jackson’s situation starts to infringe on Ally’s burgeoning stardom.
A clash of happenings between both talented musicians bring them to the edge of disaster that can only lead to new heartache. 
Lady Gaga is absolutely marvellous in the role of Ally.  Her singing is superb, as you’d expect anyway due to her music career, and her creation of the role of Ally never diminishes for a second of film.  She portrays the humble character with humility, and it’s no wonder that she is nominated for a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination will surely beckon next year.
Bradley Cooper has got a fantastic singing voice, and he plays the part of Jackson like he was born for the role.  Concert footage in the movie is fantastic, where the massive crowds cheer on Jackson and Ally to singing success. 
Cooper too deserves the acting nomination of the Golden Globe, because of his meltdown performance alone. 
However the 1976 and 2018 movies are very similar, with the exception of the odd mention of YouTube and mobile phones around. 
Bobby, a character in the 2018 movie is a father figure for Jackson, who was played by Sam Elliott. He would be a great option for Best Supporting Actor in next years Oscars.
The 2018 story is positively brought up to date with the gay characters in the movie.  Jackson first encounters Ally singing in a Drag bar, and her best friend in the movie is a gay man, Ramon who is played by Anthony Ramos. 
As director, Bradley Cooper has created a classic.  He was helped by the great performances of his lead and supporting cast, writes David Flynn.  The music is also superb along the way, and is a worthy successor to the 1976 movie.

Halloween – Movie Review

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her most famous movie role forty years later.

Back forty years later to the scene of the crime in the small town of Haddonfield, USA, where Michael Myers went on his second spree of killing (he had also killed his sister fifteen years earlier when he was a 4 year old!), is the order of this new Hallowe’en movie.
This movie is a direct sequel of the 1978 movie of the same name and stars the same important cast members Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode and Nick Castle as Michael Myers. 
This ‘Halloween’, the cinemagoer is asked to forget about the other seven or eight Halloween movies, which built (maybe not brilliantly) on the original Myers/Strode story.  Here we take up the story forty years after the end of the original movie.  At the time, Laurie narrowly escapes being brutally murdered by the evil Myers. 
In the intervening years, Laurie has been twice divorced and is trying to connect with her granddaughter, Allyson (played by unknown Andi Matichak).  (Jamie Lee Curtis too was an unknown when she made the original movie.)  Today, Laurie lives in a forest fortress, where she is repelling the outside world.

Myers has been forty years in a prison for the criminally insane, and has baffled psychiatrists there, and has never spoken a word since 1978.  Of course he escapes, and heads back for Haddonfield, and Laurie gets ready for their inevitable confrontation.
It’s an interesting film, although it has the obvious slashings and killings.  Innocent babysitters and regular bystanders are prey for Myers when he begins his first killing spree in forty years. 
The movie pays homage to the original ‘Halloween’.  There is a late 70s feel to the movie, with the exception of the mobile phones used by characters and about their talk of using the internet.  Other than that, Haddonfield looks the same.
Halloween 2018 is a credible comeback for these familiar characters.  However it should have picked a slightly different name to differentiate it from the original.   But it was all worth the effort for the cast and crew, writes David Flynn.