Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (12A) - Movie Review

A prequel of sorts to the Harry Potter universe is displayed in a $180 million production, with the long title of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’.
This story from the mind of JK Rowling features a new young wizard, Newt Scamander, who stops off in Pre-Wall Street crash New York, while he is on his way with a special mission to the State of Arizona.  Newt is an English wizard who holds a suitcase of magic animals. 
Newt’s suitcase gets lost and has ended up in the possession of an innocent baker, Jacob, played by Dan Fogler.  Along the way, roving wizard, Tina, who is trying to get her credentials back from the Wizardy group, encounters and tries to bring Newt to his destiny, (and get him registered as a real wizard!) and both of them end up trying to save New York in the 20s along with the wizards reputation worldwide.   
Behind the Newt plot, the underworld of Wizards is at risk of being upended by a vocal force against wizards, writes David Flynn.
Eddie Redmayne, who has been having a great acting career of late, plays Newt, and the actor is very watchable in anything.  Katherine Waterston, another current star plays Tina, and quite well she does so.  Somewhere in there is Colin Farrell, playing a complicated wizard, who would probably be the main baddie, along with Samantha Morton as Mary Lou, who is working Public Relations against the wizards.  Dan Fogler, does well with his role, is a good actor, and has great facial expressions, but Jack Black does come to mind for the role.
‘Fantastic Beasts’ is a great production, with great old New York sets, which look great on a galactic screen.

Arrival (12A) - Movie Review

A dark movie with a strong storyline, which could have been a run of the mill feature, but for the director, Denis Villeneuve, left the cinemagoer feeling like they were watching something like a documentary, rather than a work of fiction.
Through this atmospheric thriller, there is much sadness due to the early display of the life of the lead character, Dr. Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams.  It’s probably the first time there has been a sci-fi female movie lead, since Sigourney Weaver in the Alien movies, or Jodie Foster in ‘Contact’ in 1997.  In fact there are minor similarities in the story to the Oscar nominated movie, ‘Contact’.
The plot of ‘Arrival’ involves aliens hovering in ships over cities all over the world, and is now showing at Athlone IMC.  Louise is an expert linguist, and from her academic teaching job at a university, she is headhunted in X-Files fashion, to help with communications with the aliens, by the US military, and a Col. Weber, played by Forest Whitaker
The tension builds well in the first twenty minutes, but it waned a bit after that for another twenty, until the movie really found its feet.
Jeremy Renner was subdued in his lingual role, where he played Ian, but after watching the whole movie, it will become obvious, why he plays his role as he does.
The difficulty and frustrations of Louise and Ian while communicating with the aliens are acted well by both stars, and the feature never lets up on its dark tone.
The sense of war being at close hand is shown and felt by the audience, as China and other countries become hostile to any talks with the aliens.
The atmosphere in the movie is intense, and there are times it all looks like a view of real people's lives.  It takes a while to build up, but when it does, it displays a masterpiece, writes David Flynn

A-Team Star of ‘Man From UNCLE’ Dies Aged 83 Years

Many adults today remember growing up watching actors Robert Vaughn and David McCallum star in the spy drama series, ‘The Man From UNCLE’.  Sadly a link with that time is severed with the death this weekend of Robert Vaughn, who played Napoleon Solo for the four years the hit series was on the air.
‘The Man From UNCLE’ was a major drama series, and at the time in the mid 1960s, many children were encouraged to write away to join the UNCLE club and received a wallet with secret agent messages in return.
Robert Vaughn was nominated for three Golden Globe acting awards for ‘The Man from UNCLE’.
Vaughn was also the star of many movies, including the seminal western, ‘The Magnificent Seven’.
He won an Emmy Award for playing in the 1970s political miniseries, ‘Washington Behind Closed Doors’.
In 1986, producers of the tv series, ‘The A-Team’ brought him onto their series, for its fifth season.
Veteran actor, Robert Vaughn from ‘The Man from UNCLE’ was cast as General Hunt Stockwell.  Stockwell promised the A-Team a pardon for taking part in dangerous missions, much different than they had done in the previous seasons.  While there had always been comedic elements in the series, this fifth season was the darkest, with nobody really knowing Stockwell’s real motives.
In recent years, he played a comedic role on the No. 1 British soap opera, ‘Coronation Street’.
Those are just a few examples of the screen time served by the suave Robert Vaughn, writes David Flynn.
Three generations of moviegoers and television watchers experienced the work of this actor.
He passed away on 11^th, November, 2016, aged 83 years.  Deepest sympathy is extended to his wife, Linda, son Cassidy, and daughter, Caitlin.  May he rest in peace.

Doctor Strange (12A)

A marvel comic hero, that wouldn’t be as well- known as the Spider or Ironmen now gets a big screen outing – more than fifty years after his first appearance in a US comic book.
Dr. Stephen Strange, a genius of a surgeon is involved in a life-threatening motor accident, resulting in a crippling of his hands, and destroying his career, and to him – his very destiny.
He goes on a worldwide mission seeking out cures and therapies, ignoring the advice and concern of his sometimes lover, Dr. Christine.  A throwaway comment by a physiotherapist, leads him to a coach, (played in a cameo by Benjamin Bratt), who had previously regained the use of limbs after an accident.
The mission leads him to the mountains of Nepal, and a world of mystical folk.  Here he finds a new way, but it’s a world where time and reality bends easily, writes David Flynn. 
Benedict Cumberbatch who made such a success of BBC’s Sherlock Holmes, plays the lead role of Strange, proving that he capable of going beyond the 19^th century detective, and giving a charismatic performance of this character.  Rachel McAdams is another great performer, but her scenes and dialogue was too limited as Strange’s love interest. 
A bald Tilda Swinton, showed very good facial acting in the role of the Ancient One – but again more scenes with her would have been welcome.  Action, special effects, and bending of buildings and time are all over the movie, ‘Doctor Strange’, and so much goes on on the Galactic Screen, that it would be easy to lose track of things.

Unashamedly set up for a sequel, ‘Doctor Strange’, has a nice story, with great cinematography of particularly of Hong Kong and China.

75 Years Searching for the Maltese Flacon

It is seventy five years this year since the release of the classic film, ‘The Maltese Falcon’, which starred Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.
The story of the statute of the black bird has been a much-loved favourite, partly because it’s a story that belongs in another era, an era not necessarily of innocence, but of intrigue and mystery.  The trailer of the movie showed Sydney Greenstreet telling the movie audience to come closer, and listen to him. 
“There is a thousand tales of men and women who searched for the Maltese Falcon, and it all ended in murder,” said Greenstreet, to the anxious movie audience, writes David Flynn.
Although he was past sixty, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ was Greenstreet’s first movie.  He played the enigmatic greedy Kasper Gutman, also called ‘the fat man’.
The chief character in the story is the detective Sam Spade, a cool clean type of hero with a few rough edges, played by Bogart.  Spade is searching for a black marble statute, while protecting the woman played by Mary Astor.  In the process Spade has to watch his back from characters of all shades, including little Peter Lorre, who plays the flamboyant crook, Joel Cairo.  Spade is also avoiding Gutman and two eager policeman.
The movie has many twists and turns including the difficulty Spade has with the Mary Astor character changing names three times and personalities many more times.
Just when you think you are getting a grip on the movie’s plot, something else happens which throws the story back up in the air.
Dashiell Hammett, author of ‘The Thin Man’ had read about an arrangement in 1530 where the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem would pay Emperor Charles V as rent for the island of Malta, an annual tribute of a single falcon.
Hammett built a lot of fiction from that scenario into his plot and in 1930 wrote ‘The Maltese Falcon’.
There was an early movie version of the story in 1931, which starred Richard Conte, and there was a further version in 1936 entitled ‘Satan Met A Lady’, which starred Bette Davis but the 1941 movie directed by John Huston is the definitive version of the Hammett story.
The first part of the movie had the quote ‘In 1539, the Knights Templar of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels- - - - - but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day.’
Then the movie adventure of the Maltese Falcon in 1940’s San Francisco began.
Jack Warner, of Warner Brothers approved ‘The Maltese Falcon’ knowing it was under the young Huston’s watchful eye.
The production was given a six week schedule and a paltry budget, even by 1941 standards, of $300,000.
Unusually for a movie, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ was shot entirely in sequence, with the exception of the outdoor nightime scenes.
George Raft was offered the Sam Spade role but turned it down, supposedly because the newcomer to Hollywood, Huston, was directing.  Raft apparently wanted to work with a more experienced director.
John Huston cast his actor father Walter for free, in a cameo in the movie.  Walter is Captain Jacobi, who carries the package of the falcon to Spade’s office, and then keels over dead.
‘The Maltese Falcon’ was Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Screenplay and Supporting Actor (Sydney Greenstreet).  However the movie lost out to the multi-Oscar winner, ‘How Green Was My Valley’, directed by Galway man, John Ford.
The partnership of Bogart, Lorre and Greenstreet was re-united for the classic ‘Casablanca’, two years later.  Bogart and Huston were re-united several times in other pictures over the years, most notably ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’.
Rumors abounded from Warner Brothers about a sequel to be entitled ‘The Further Adventures of the Maltese Falcon’, which would include the main cast, except Mary Astor.  However the idea didn’t materialise.
There was great quotes by some of the characters in the movie most notably from Kasper Gutman, including “I'll tell you right out, I'm a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.”
The Sam Spade character is loosely based on Hammett himself, who for many years was a hard-drinking detective.
Rumour has it that Ingrid Bergman, who went on to star with Bogart in the classic ‘Casablanca’ watched ‘The Maltese Falcon’ over and over again, so she would know how to interact with Bogart on screen.
Peter Lorre was the only actor considered for the part of the crook, Joel Cairo.
Dublin born actress, Geraldine Fitzgerald was originally chosen for the main female role, but she opted to do a play instead.  Mary Astor who had just finished shooting her Oscar winning role in ‘The Great Lie’ then coveted the part.
The beauty of the John Huston and Humphrey Bogart version of ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is that it hasn’t dated and can be enjoyed today as much as it was on its first release in 1941.

 

 

The Siege of Jadotville (15A) - Movie Review

A story about soldiers, (most of whom were from the Irish midlands) caught up in a dangerous attack in Africa in 1961, is the premise of a new movie, ‘The Siege of Jadotville’, writes David Flynn.

The true story took place with ‘A Company’ of the 4^th Western Brigade of the Army.  The company commander was Comdt. Pat Quinlan, who lived in Athlone at the time. 

The company arrived to a very tense and uncertain time in the town of Elizabethville in the Belgian Congo in Africa.  Pat Quinlan and the company were sent about 70 miles away to Jadotville.  Their equipment, other than rifles was 2^nd World War stuff, and they had no great means of transport. A five day battle in Jadotville ensued between the Belgian Katangans and the Irish, who were only there as peacekeepers.  The Irish men of Jadotville got no help from their United Nations masters, so were left to their own devices.  The battle took place on the ground and in the air.

Most of ‘A Company’ had been based in Custume Barracks, Athlone, and for those who do not know the story, it is best to leave the plot description as stands.

The book the movie, ‘The Siege of Jadotville’ is based on was written by security analyst, Declan Power, and the man who lobbied governments for four decades on the Jadotville story is John Gorman, who was a 17 years old soldier in 1961.  John is played by a young actor, Ronan Rafferty.
Cmdt. Pat Quinlan is played by Irish star, Jamie Dornan from ’50 Shades of Grey’ and TV’s ‘The Fall’.  Jason O’Mara from TV’s ‘Love/Hate’ played Sgt. Jack Prendergast, and every story has a villain and in this case it was Conor Cruise O’Brien, who was played by Mark Strong.
O’Brien was an Irish UN official who is portrayed as being useless to the Jadotville soldiers.
It takes some time to get into the movie, but the performances of Dornan and Strong are excellent.
Cinematography is good, and the recreation of the world of the Irish in the Congo in 1961 is compelling to watch. 
Certainly for those who like war films, ‘The Siege of Jadotville’, is the genre at its best. 

Jason Bourne (12A) - Movie Review

This new action movie is a throwback to the times of the impossible screen excitements originally created in the novels of Robert Ludlum.  His mysterious creation, Jason Bourne is a busy hero, noted for jumping across East European buildings like they were steps of stairs. 
This is the fifth screen outing for Bourne, which started in 2002 with Matt Damon in the lead role.  (There was a minor television version with Richard Chamberlain in the 1980s.)  There was also a Damon less Bourne movie, ‘The Bourne Legacy’ in 2012, which didn’t light up the box office. 
‘Jason Bourne’ – the movie – features the return appearance of Matt Damon, who is also credited as producer.  ‘Jason Bourne’ is directed by Paul Greengrass, who looked after two of the former Bourne movies, which starred Damon. 
In this movie, Bourne is back from beyond the grid, showing that neither age nor the CIA has caught up with him.  However the CIA keep on trying, this time led by Robert Dewey, played by Oscar winner, Tommy Lee Jones.   
The movie also marks the return of the Nicky Parson, played by Julia Stiles.  Nicky finds Bourne living a day to day existence, and trying to forget his past in Greece.  Nicky brings Jason information on his past, involving his father, and also news of people trying to expose the work that he did with the shadowy group, Treadstone for the CIA in a different time.
Later on, Jason is befriended by rookie CIA agent, Heather Lee, played by Alicia Vikander, who plans to bring him home safely to the CIA with exoneration.  But Dewey has other ideas and plans.
There is much action in ‘Jason Bourne’, with locations from Greece, Europe, the UK and the USA.  There isn’t as much action jumping across tall buildings, but there are some hairy car-chases, with lives hanging in the balance.  Much of the modern world is highlighted in the movie such as talk about Edward Snowden and riots in Greece.
Matt Damon is his usual good self, but a better script would have got more out of Tommy Lee Jones, writes David Flynn.
Julia Stiles stole the early scenes that she appeared in from Matt Damon.
The storyline is not up to the standard of the earlier Bourne movies but it’s worth a watch anyway.

Star Trek: Beyond (12A)

A return to the future with the new Star Trek movie, which is about the 17^th movie in the franchise, and definitely the 3^rd movie in this rebooted franchise with the young cast, playing Kirk, Spock, Uhura and company.
It’s fifty years this year since the Star Trek trip to the stars began on US television, and it became a great classic which spawned four more television series from the 1980s onwards, and nearly a score of movies, writes David Flynn.
This version of the space saga began in 2009, and has been a huge success.  Star Trek: Beyond, begins during the third year of the crew’s five year mission to explore space.  Kirk, played by Chris Pine is feeling unsatisfied with his time in orbit, and is looking to hand over the reins to his second in command, Spock, played by Zachary Quinto.
Shades of the earlier tv series comes in when the Enterprise’s bosses, Starfleet, sends the crew to the aid of an alien girl whose family and crew is trapped in the farthest reaches of space.  But what they discover there attacks the Enterprise, and disperses Captain Kirk and his crew all over an inhospitable planet.   With scant resources the crew must work to get themselves safely back to Starfleet and to Earth.
In their way, is a being of mystery, as per usual in Star Trek.
Special effects are fantastic, but it’s hard to know nowadays whether it’s creations on a computer screen you are looking at, or something more spectacular.  But it all looks good.
The plot could be better, and tries to be throwback to the earlier decades of the Star Trek future.  It somewhat succeeds.

 

 

The Legend of Tarzan (12A)

It’s interesting to think that the Tarzan film franchise is continuing after almost ninety years of movies and tv series about the great jungle one, writes David Flynn.
There have been several versions, some good, most bad, and now over 25 years since Hollywood last filmed a Tarzan movie – a new one comes along, with the huge title – ‘The Legend of Tarzan’.
This movie is great to look at – it has got some of the most beautiful African scenes ever filmed, but sadly it lacks a plot, and yet it’s got a plot and a half.   The back story of Tarzan being raised by Apes, making friends and enemies, meeting and falling in love with Jane, and returning to his ancestral home in London under his birth name, John Clayton is told as having happened in the past.  Tarzan and Jane are played by actors Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie, both of which have done mostly tv series.  Both had great chemistry as the well-known characters.
The new movie takes up the story of he and Jane returning to Africa, along with a Dr. George Washington Williams, played effectively (obviously) by Samuel L. Jackson.  Dangerous times await them when they encounter Dr. Rom, (played well by Bond villain, Christopher Waltz) who captures Jane, and intends to bring Tarzan to the lair of an old enemy.
Unfortunately you get the feeling that you missed something in the movie, ie the prequel.  But there was no prequel.  This was it.  The whole story of Tarzan is clumsily told in this feature, which is a pity, because this movie is worth seeing, and its cinematography will certainly pick up an award next year at the Golden Globes, and be nominated for an Oscar.

 

THE REVENANT (18)

The American wilderness of the 1820s is the setting for this new survival movie with a difference.  The meaning of the title is: ‘one whom returns after a long period, especially from the dead’.
The movie features the immense mental and physical torture endured by the lead character – a frontier leader of a fur trading expedition, played by Leonardo Di Caprio. 
Hugh Glass (Di Caprio) is attacked by a bear in the wilderness, and left for dead, until he is rescued by his team.  However when his injured body becomes too much to be transported over the unforgiving wilderness, three stay behind with him, Fitzgerald, (Tom Hardy) and two boys, one of which is Glass’s son. 
Murder takes place, and Glass is left on a stretcher to survive the elements and the wilderness.  What takes place afterwards is a survival mission with a difference.
Seeing this story on the big screen is the only way to go, because of the mountains, the forest, and the waters of the wild.
At the beginning of the film, it becomes hard to study the plot, because of the different dialects used by the actors.  Their accents could have done with a bit of work.   But that’s a minor glitch, because the use of subtitles worked well. 
Watch out for a winter snow scene involving the lead character with a horse!
Di Caprio should take the Oscar, with Tom Hardy as Fitzgerald in line for Best Supporting Actor.  However Hardy will have tough competition from Sylvester Stallone for ‘Creed’.
‘The Revenant’ is a movie about the early days of America, which should help it get the Best Picture Oscar.  It has already done so at the Golden Globes, where Di Caprio also took his award.
‘The Revenant’ could be called an escapism movie, but it’s not ‘Grizzly Adams’ so it’s not for the faint-hearted.  However the story is honest, and portrayed in a believable way.  Apparently it’s loosely based on a true story.
Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson needs also to be mentioned as Capt. Henry.  It’s another fine performance from the young Gleeson, following on from his role in ‘Brooklyn’ and the new Star Wars movie.