The Purge: Anarchy (2014, Dir. James DeMonaco, USA/France) (Cert: 15/R) **

Starring: Carmen Ejogo, Frank Grillo, Zoë Soul

For the least six years, the new US government has been conducting an annual event known as "The Purge". Thanks to The Purge, crime is almost non-existent and ordered because for one night a year, citizens are allowed to live without laws resulting in a night of extreme danger and violence. Eva (Ejogo) and her daughter (Soul) have no desire to take part, but circumstances lead the danger to them and they must fight for their lives on the streets.

It speaks to common sense that once a film has been successful, there's an impetus to do more of the same, either with a knock-off or a sequel. It makes business sense and film industries the world over have been doing it for decades. Still, it comes as something of a shock when The Purge, a film released only last year has already got a sequel in theatres, The Purge: Anarchy. Given what little time this probably took to produce and the likely thought-process behind it, you get what's expected. More of the same.

Well, okay, that might be a little bit of a glib statement. The initial Purge film was set within the confines of a house and Anarchy widens the playing field to the local area which is a common ploy in sequels, to take a restrictive environment in the first film and have a larger setting later on like in Aliens (1986) or Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990). Anarchy does lack the big names of the first film (no-one as well-known as Ethan Hawke or Lena Heady at any rate) but the cast do okay jobs at fairly playing basic characters.

The film clearly wants to thrill and excite at every corner and the action is relentless, but the film is rather strangely dull. The concept is one I happen to like and I think it's a rich source for further sequels, but the film doesn't progress into anything particularly interesting. The closest it gets is a hunting sequence in the last half of the film, but it's very badly shot and very difficult to immerse yourself in. Frank Grillo's anti-hero makes for a somewhat engaging lead but there's a young couple who also join in the adventure that seem to just phase in and out of relevance and what you think will be a major plot point early on about the role of the super-wealthy in the Purge comes to essentially nothing.

As I've previously mentioned, the premise of The Purge intrigues me enough for me to not see the franchise end just yet, as I feel more can be done. However, on a technical and story level, I feel the series has to do better than this and I worry that it still might just all go downhill.

Earth To Echo (2014, Dir. Dave Green, USA) (Cert: PG/PG) ***

Starring: Astro, Reese Hartwig, Teo Halm

Tuck (Astro), Munch (Hartwig) and Alex (Halm) are three young friends in a small town in Nevada. Unfortunately, their friendship is threatened by the construction of a motorway through their street, forcing them all to move. At the same time, strange interferences with electronic devices cause the kids to go off exploring their cause and they find a small creature from space who they name, Echo.

Simply put, Earth To Echo is a movie with a gimmick. Originality is somewhat lacking here and the film obviously owes a debt to a number Spielberg-related projects from the 80's (The Goonies (1985) in particular)

but this time there's a twist in that the film bears relation to the "found footage" film. Found footage films have been fairly common in the last fifteen years (especially in these financially trying times because these films tend to cost very little money to make) but they've been almost entirely in the horror genre. Bringing into a film for much younger audiences makes for an interesting spin on the idea and being in science-fiction, where special effects are often king, the ways of swinging the camera about in an "amateurish" fashion help hide that there isn't as much CGI as you might think, although a scene involving a truck that serves as the key set-piece of the movie is rather underwhelming.

Most of the film's runtime is spent in the company of our child leads, all of who have either a backstory or a personality. Alex, who has been shuffled from home to home as a foster child comes the closest to having both a past and a defining characteristic, but falls a little short as a character, more as a fault of the writing than anything else. Undoubtedly, the best character is Munch, the neurotic and eccentric comic relief who is pretty amusing on occasion.

However, outside of the occasional highlight from the performances and the gimmick, the film falls flat in terms of story. By the film's end, it will become painfully clear that the plan of the antagonists makes very little sense. Speaking (or rather, writing) of the antagonists, these are a very different breed to the well-intentioned investigating forces in E.T The Extra Terrestrial (1982). Whilst not entirely nefarious in their motivations, what little we see of them comes across as very threatening very quickly. What results are characters who are, ironically, no threatening at all.

Needless to say, there are plenty of faults with Earth To Echo and compared to many of the films it could be compared to, right up to the relatively-recent Super 8 (2011) it falls short as underdone and derivative. However, it does make for a somewhat interesting experiment and does quite well given that the found footage subgenre isn't exactly consistently brilliant in its usual horror home. If you're undecided on the film, give it a miss, but it's not a total dud of a movie.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (3D) (2014, Dir. Matt Reeves, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ****

Starring: Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, Toby Kebble

It's now been several years since a virus known as "Simian Flu" spread across the Earth following an outbreak of disease carried by apes made super-intelligent through a possible Alzheimer's cure. With the human population devestated, the small community of apes living in woodland outside San Francisco build their own society. However, the apes discover that some humans have survived and tensions between man and ape quickly awaken once more.

Looking at Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes makes the ill-fated 2001 remake of Planet Of The Apes seem like a long time ago. Of course, between those two films was the reboot Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2010), which did reach critical acclaim was a success at the box office. It remains to be seen how the films will be roped into the mythology woven by the original Planet from 1968, and Rise is definitely treading a different path, but on its own merits, Dawn stands tall and even rivals Planet at times in sheer stature.

The film really does belong to the apes in this film. In fact, it's quite a way into the film until any human characters really appear on screen. As such, we see the film more from a simian perspective and the apes are the most fascinating characters anyway, bolstered by some superb performances by the likes of Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell. Their guttural speech is, personally, what I always wanted to hear from the apes and how I imagined they would speak and it gives a real sense of weight and drama with their punctuating dialogue.

The brilliant work of the apes does come with the problem that the human characters are less interesting. The performances are fine and Gary Oldman certainly gives it his all as a man leading the charge against the apes and with fairly understandable motivation but backstories and individual character traits beyond likes apes/doesn't like apes are fairly limited. The film's 3D is also pointless as it's not really noticeable. 

At just over two hours, Dawn doesn't overstay its welcome and flows rather nicely and efficiently. For the most part, the story is also given in such a way that the other films aren't really required viewing and the film works very well on its own merit, though it also appeals to fans of the franchise (a few people will pick up on the ape names like "Blue Eyes", "Maurice" and "Cornelia"). It's not a perfect film, but it's certainly worth acknowledging and in its own way, surpasses some of the ropier aspects of the 1968 Planet Of The Apes classic.

Pudsey (the Dog): The Movie (2014, Dir. Nick Moore, UK) (Cert: U/TBC) **

Starring: Pudsey, David Walliams, Jessica Hines

Pudsey (self, Walliams) is a happy-go-lucky dog who spends his time getting into adventures, dancing and dreaming about sausages. After meeting a group of kids, Pudsey gets a new home in the country, but a plan to knock down the village and turn it into a shopping centre, spurs Pudsey into action.

I can't really deny that Pudsey: The Movie is the best dancing dog movie I've ever seen. I also can't deny that the film has attained this honour by virtue of being the only dancing dog movie I've ever seen. Yes, Pudsey the grooving pooch from Britain's Got Talent has his own movie marketed towards the kiddie set and, as you probably expect, it doesn't try very hard. 

How much kids will respond to this, I can't say but personally I feel they're being short changed in a world of classic Disney, Pixar and Studio Ghibli movies. Here, there's not really much in the way of wonder or even a particularly coherent plot. Instead, the film steadfastly looks to the belief that loud is funny. Make no mistake about it, this film is LOUD! Whenever an action setpiece or a slice of bubblegum pop comes about, the noise that bursts forth is deafening and you're glad of the reprieve to shake off your jangled nerves.

The film also recycles the same tired old gags over and over again. Pudsey, like most dogs in comedic contexts, seems very fond of sausages. So much so, that at almost every juncture possible to jam in this tidbit of information, the opportunity is not passed up. There's also a pig that insists it's a chicken and keeps believing it's laid an egg (toilet humour obviously results). The film's sense of physical comedy plays off of actually rather painful acts that come off more as cruel than funny.

The performer that dominates this film without question is John Sessions but thatmisn't exactly a good thing. Playing the mean-spirited lord of the manor and the villain of the film, Sessions mugs and over-performs at every opportunity. Doubtlessly, that's his intention and the sheer gusto with which he sets about could be enjoyed but it comes across that this is a performance born from someone just going all out and doing a broad performance, but not with the enjoyable glee that scenery chewing often provides. 

With all this being said, there's an infectiousness to it that saves it from being totally hopeless. Director Nick Moore may not be considered one of the greatest directors of his generation, but his sense of intensity does mean that for all that's wrong with the film it isn't slow and dull. There are even some moments of slight amusement, mostly from a secondary Scottish-accented dog, but almost all the time what little laughs you may get from this film will probably be at it than with it.

Begin Again (2014, Dir. John Carney, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Adam Levine

Down on his luck record producer and A & R man, Dan (Ruffalo) is fired from the record label he helped set up and looking to drown his sorrows, goes to a local bar where he witnesses a performance by Gretta (Knightley) the spotlight-avoiding songwriter girlfriend of a rising rock star (Levine). Spotting a bright new star in the making, Dan sets about trying to make Gretta his new project.

Upon its release in 2006, Once became a significant international hit for the Irish film industry. The tale of a Dublin busker and his relationship with an Eastern European immigrant, it got noticeable attention in America. Now, John Carney the director of Once has made Begin Again and it follows a similar path that its predecessor trod upon, almost as if the film started life as Carney remaking the film to appeal to a more mainstream Hollywood-centric audience who probably would've missed the more esoteric, European and lo-fi, Once.

However, Begin Again is not simply a repeat performance. Begin Again is rather more glammed-up, featuring a rather a-list cast. Mark Ruffalo, Marvel's latest Hulk, provides the lead alongside another major star in Keira Knightley. Even casual cinema-goers may recognise the supporting players of Catherine Keener and Hailee Steinfeld as Ruffalo's wife and daughter, respectively alongside James Corden and a couple of musicians in Cee Lo Green and Maroon Five frontman, Adam Levine. 

Carney seems to be trying to have his cake and eat it with this film and, as expected, it only works to a point. Alongside the cast and the noticeably higher production values, the film sometimes loses this special little spark and tip-toes towards something a little faceless and actually rather bland. It's when the film falls back on the rough-hewn and "indie" sensibility that you actually get the film at its strongest. In a sense, this is the actual message of the film. The album that is produced during the film's plot is an album looking to use the ambience of New York City. Not the cosmopolitan martini-and-high-heels New York that Sex And The City was peddling, but the subways and back-alleys of New York. Somewhat gentrified from the city's notorious dark days of the 70's but a city with perhaps more personality with its slightly grubbier side. Ironically, that sensibility is lost the most in the sequences showing the songs being recorded.

Characters are not the film's main strength. Not so much that they lack personality; in fact the problem is the opposite. Mark Ruffalo's Dan is a flawed creature and is actually the best character in the film, especially in the early going but it's different for Keira Knightley's Gretta. This isn't a mark against Keira Knightley because it's her performance that saves Gretta from being a little too forcefully idealistic and falling into po-faced obnoxiousness. The film deals with interrelationships in a similarly uneven manner. 

Ruffalo's relationship with his wife and teenage daughter is rather clichéd (he still wants to be with his wife, his daughter shuts him out and is going down a slightly troubled path) but the interplay between Knightley and Levine's characters changes in some interesting and original ways through the plot and the film, thankfully, avoids an uneasy prediction that she and Ruffalo may get together. Whilst I don't have the same dislike of James Corden that many seem to have, his part could've been fairly easily excised from the movie and serves little consequence beyond stringing plot points together.

As acting goes, this is a rather good film. As mentioned, Ruffalo and Knightley both do good jobs with Knightley performing her own singing (technically, she's okay but the style seems strangely ordinary given how ground-breaking it's supposed to sound) and there's not really a bad performance in the bunch even if Cee Lo Green doesn't get a chance to prove his acting chops but Adam Levine shows promise. Begin Again is, at heart, an inconsistent film but thankfully it does actually have something of a heart.

Boyhood (2014, Dir. Richard Linklater, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ****

Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater

Boyhood is the story told through the eyes of Mason (Coltrane) as he transitions from the age of six to eighteen. We see him move from house to house in Texas and interact with the various acquaintances along the way as he and his family mature and grow on an ongoing journey.

For all his critical popularity and financial success, I've always felt that Richard Linklater should be much wider known than he is. His films are well known, but in midst of directors that arose around the same time as him like Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, Linklater was smaller as a bankable name. That may finally be set to change with colossal amount of praise showered on his latest film, Boyhood; a near three-hour film shot over a staggering twelve years.

 Linklater's a director with a very solid set of themes and ideas running through his films. Time is an important factor and is a theme that is central to Boyhood and Linklater's most comparable works to it, the trilogy of Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013) with both films exploring the same characters over periods of several years. There's also the similarity of actor Ethan Hawke making an appearance and in Boyhood, he makes a charismatic presence as main character Mason's unmarried father.

 Authenticity in actors and performance is also important to Linklater which is even evident in casting genuine musicians in one of Linklater's less overtly experimental films, School Of Rock (2003) and through this we don't just see the characters grow, we see the actors grow just as much, especially with young star Ellar Coltrane and Linkager's own daughter, Lorelei as Mason's older sister.

This film rests a lot on the performances of the cast and generally doesn't disappoint. Both Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater show skill as younger actors and the supporting vast is likeable and interesting. To be fair, the film could just as much be seen as the story of Patrica Arquette as Mason's mother rather than Mason himself and Patricia Arquette gamely gives a very strong performance of a varied role.

Unlike most conventional films, Boyhood doesn't have a plot in the traditional sense. The film is simply a progression of the lives of the characters and catches some nice minutiae about family life and also serves an interesting time capsule for the different times in which the film was shot, looking towards the pop culture of the period. Certain aspects do get repetitive and the film's take on fatherhood is skewed towards a slightly negative view on father figures and repeating that theme a little too much, even if Marco Parella's turn as an abusive and alcoholic step-father is very memorable. Those daunted by the film's length should be reassured that the film fills its long runtime very well and as both an experiment in film-making and a portrait of family life, Richard Linklater has made a strong piece of work.

RERELEASE: A Hard Day's Night (1964, Dir. Richard Lester, UK) (Cert: U/G) *****

Starring: George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney

As the hottest band in Britain, The Beatles (Harrison, Lennon, McCartney, Ringo Starr) spend their days running between TV and concert performances whilst dodging adoring and screaming fans. On their way to one of these performances, Paul's grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell) seems intent to cause mischief and Ringo gets fed up with the jokes at his expense. All the while, John and George much about to a selection of hits from the Fab Four.

It's hard, even now, to think how extraordinary the lives of the Beatles as individuals must have been in 1964. Four lads from Liverpool still in their early-twenties who had shot to international superstardom in just a year of their first record and became the biggest names on the planet; an impact that's still felt half a century later. Obviously, this not a film intended to capture a realistic day in the life (pun shamelessly intended) of The Beatles but rather it captures a fun fantasy of that life.

Directing the film is Richard Lester, an American director expatriated to England and an associate of The Goons and with Lester at the helm, the film has an energetic and punchy sense of humour that delves towards the surreal (of course, The Beatles, particularly George Harrison, would also develop a connection and kinship to the inheritors of the surrealist comedy crown held by The Goons, Monty Python). The film owes a debt to the French New Wave that was popular at the period, with its energetic editing and loose, even hand-held, camera work whilst also pioneering the "mockumentary" format of comedic fictional "documentaries" in its own right.

It's probably not to be expected for The Beatles to be great actors, inexperience as they were, and it's true that they don't pull off astounding acting performances but all of them show some sort of promise and provide character and humour with the boys even having the occasional moment of showing a burgeoning skill for acting (especially John and Ringo) whilst Wilfrid Brambell, star of Steptoe And Son, has a few food scenes as Paul's manipulative Irish grandfather. 

But the reason why anyone would hand over money for a Beatles movie is the music. Working off of what is probably the best work of their early career, The Beatles occasionally break the action with sort of proto-music-videos that help sell the spontaneity and fun in their songs and the opening credits and closing concert sell just how popular the band were better than pretty much any legitimate documentary ever can. The remaster boosts the visual and especially the audio quality of this classic bringing all that was great to the forefront. 

This was the first of five films that directly involved The Beatles on screen (alongside Help! (1965), Magical Mystery Tour (1967), Yellow Submarine (1968) and the little-seen genuine documentary, Let It Be (1970)) but it's Hard Day's Night that has remained the most popular and for a reason. No other film has ever quite gotten to the root of how fun, exciting and genuinely brilliant The Beatles were than this film and it's essential viewing for any Beatle freak.

Alceste À Bicyclette (Bicycling With Molière) (2013, Dir. Philippe Le Guay, France) (Cert: 15/Not Rated) ***

Starring: Lambert Wilson, Fabrice Luchini, Maya Sansa

Gauthier Valence (Wilson), the star of an extremely popular medical drama, travels the home of Serge Tannuer (Luchini) a retired and reclusive actor living just outside La Rochelle. Gauthier's ambition is to lure Serge back onto the stage with the two of them performing Moliére's The Misanthrope. However, egos clash threaten to stop the collaboration before it even begins.

A film project co-written by and starring Fabrice Luchini, Bicycling With Molière is a film that explores the nature of acting, channeling it through the work of one of France's most cherished writers. What results is a film with an interesting subject and, on occasion, brilliant performances even if it is a little impenetrable for audiences unfamiliar with Moliére or, his work in question, The Misanthrope.

As a film about acting, Cycling With Molière provides a convincing and intriguing look into the acting process. It's when the film focuses on that aspect that it reaches its greatest potential. Both of the actors in the lead, Lambert Wilson and Fabrice Luchini give good performances in general, but they really excel when they are actually performing. These are actors playing great actors and in the process showing themselves to be great actors but it's dealt with in the right amount of realism and character flaws to ensure it doesn't come off as narcissistic. 

The film also allows for some nice contrast between our two main characters who are, in terms of career, extreme opposites. Lambert Wilson's Gauthier is famous and popular but his work on television is implied to be middle-of-the-road and not particularly good. Meanwhile Serge, played by Fabrice Luchini is revered for his craft but no longer works and is often seen as pompous. It's a shame that as well as the film explores its main characters, it often neglects the romantic subplot forming in the background with the two men interacting with Francesca, an Italian divorcee played by Maya Sansa with the main points of the plot thrown together towards the end of the film. There's also a sub-plot involving Gauthier and an ambitious porn star looking to sharpen her acting skills that never fully pays off.

Given that the film the film is called Bicycling With Molière it's not surprising that the playwright and his play, The Misanthrope figure into the plot but it frustrates that what we get are emotional character descriptions and scenes played between the two main characters devoid of the play's context. We just get the actors reciting the lines with it seeming to only vaguely resemble the actors' lives late on. As such, this probably is much to the benefit of those familiar with The Misanthrope but those who aren't might feel slightly isolated and lost on the film's plot and themes. 

As it goes, Bicycling With Molière is a decent film that rewards the viewer with some great acting and a fairly enjoyable plot that unfortunately suffers from being a little too knowing of its inspiration for its own inspiration for its own good but Molière fans may still feel the benefit.

Tammy (2014, Dir. Ben Falcone, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Mark Duplass

In the space of one day, Tammy hits a deer with her car, loses her job at a fast food restaurant and finds out her husband (Nat Faxon) has been having an affair. Moving back in with her mother (Alison Janney), Tammy soon finds herself hitting the road again with her rebellious grandmother, Pearl (Sarandon) as they go on a wild road trip.

Since the release of Bridesmaids back in 2011, the career of Melissa McCarthy has undergone a meteoric rise with it usually only being a few months between starring roles hitting the big screen in various comedies. In that capacity, McCarthy has been playing very similar roles. Usually playing a brash and devil-may-care foul-mouthed lady oaf but with a soft centre. Suffice to say, Tammy is not really any different as a performance and conforms to those ideas to the letter, but there is enough on the side to make it tolerable.

As much as she seems to be playing the same sort of role lately, McCarthy is an actress with some versatility. Last year she starred in another comic road movie, Identity Thief. It was awful but one thing that did stand out was a brief moment where McCarthy's titular thief showed a vulnerable side. More of that is on display in Tammy. It's not an emotionally resonant deconstruction of McCarthy's earlier work but it does allow for her to build on her strengths.

 By her side is Susan Sarandon playing more-or-less her real age, but that's only late-sixties and she's notoriously aged well leaving her status as "grandma" to McCarthy a little unbelievable (the same is true of Alison Janney as McCarthy's mother) but, like McCarthy, Sarandon's main strength lies in the dramatic side of the character even though Sarandon can do comedy. The real standout is Kathy Bates (because...well, she's Kathy freakin' Bates) as Sarandon's fun-loving but wise cousin, at times reminiscent of Bates' performance as Gertrude Stein in Midnight In Paris.

Early on the film does confirm the suspicions that this will be rather brainless, low-brow and a fairly infuriating experience. The trailers and promotion the film has gathered certainly don't help this impression but as mentioned above, it builds to something stronger. Despite it being a road trip movie, that element is downplayed (though given it's Susan Sarandon the notion of her shooting someone and then having to go on the run with McCarthy is never too far from the mind) and the film isn't really that funny. There may be a few sort of half-laughs but nothing particularly tickles the funny bone. However, for this film there has been an assemblage of some pretty impressive talent with some good actresses. It's probably not enough to pull in the sceptics, but in comparison to some of its contemporaries, it's not a bad film.

Hundråalingen Som Klev Ut Genom Fönstret Och Försvann (The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared) (2013, Dir. Felix Hengren, Sweden/Croatia) (Cert: 15/TBC) ***

Starring: Robert Gustaffson, Iwar Wiklander, David Wiburg

Allan Karlsson (Gustaffson) has lived an extraordinary life. Obsessed with explosions, which took him into mental healthcare and fighting in wars, Allan has met many historical figures and travelled the world. On the day of his hundredth birthday however, Allan makes a break from his retirement home and with a suitcase of 50 million Krona belonging to a gang of criminals, Allan goes on an adventure.

After becoming a hugely popular bestselling book throughout Scandinavia and later picking up popularity around the world, the inevitable has now happened and Jonas Jonasson's The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared has gotten the movie treatment. The resulting adaptation is both a triumph and a failure depending on what aspect you want to focus on.

For all of its high-concept ideas, for most audiences there will be a distinct echo of Forrest Gump (1994) about this. Both are literary adaptations about the lives of fictional protagonists who may not seem very special at first, have a had a front-row seat to the events of history. In Forrest Gump you get the sense that Forrest is America's self-effacing anthropomorphism of itself and stereotypes of its people. Forrest is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's sweet, good-natured and possesses a subtle but simple brand of wisdom and determination. Allan Carlsson, the protagonist for this film,  perhaps reflects Sweden's view of itself. Stoic, fond of the occasional drink, understated but always present and again slightly simple (though smarter than Forrest) at times and highly intelligent at other times. Iwar Wiklander gives perhaps the strongest performance as the owner of a abandoned train station and a friend Allan picks up along the way, projecting good-naturedness as he goes.

The role of Allan is played Robert Gustaffson, a big name comic in Sweden. He certainly has presence and can often be very amusing but he is more interesting playing the younger adult version of himself than the make-up applied senior. Cosmetically, the makeup effects in the film are not the highest that the field of movie makeup has achieved. The historical figures that are involved are a mixed bag. Most of them pass by with little real screen time or impact. It keeps the story on the straight-and-narrow (one of the film's biggest strengths) but characterisation suffers even if the best of these characters (Harry Truman and the physically identical but mentally inferior brother of Albert Einstein) do manage to overcome it slightly.

The film manages a mixture of gentle and dark comedy that's quite unusual. The plot deals with gang violence and the language is often coarse meaning that this perhaps isn't sweet and slightly twee family film it may present itself to be at times (although the twee aspect does occasionally crop up) but it's when the film goes for the softer and less edgy jokes that it shines best in terms of comedy. All in all, I get the feeling that The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared will not endure as a film, even if the book might but there are worse ways to waste a couple of hours than this little piece of Euro-Gump.

Hross Í Oss (Of Horses And Men) (2013, Dir. Benedikt Erlingsson. Iceland/Germany) (Cert: 15/TBC) ***

Starring: Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Charlotte Bøving, Juan Camillo Ramon Estrada

Somewhere in Iceland there is a small and close-knit town populated by several horse owners. In this story, the various citizens and visitors to this town are explored as their relationships with their horses and their relationships with eachother in both comedic and dramatic ways.

Like most nations, there's a certain impression that Iceland leaves on people of foreign lands. Here in the UK, there's a perception of Iceland being a strange land. A small and remote nation on the westernmost fringes of Europe, its most famous subject the infamously eccentric, Björk. Of course Icelandic people can be as varied in personality as the people of any nation, but Of Horses And Men does live up to Iceland's reputation for parochialism and oddness.

What you get with Of Horses And Men is more of a conceptual piece than a traditional kind of linear cinema. A series of short stories all revolving around a small community and their relationship with horses, with the tales usually swaying between comedy and tragedy in about equal measure. Although it is a film about horses, it should be stressed that may not be a film for all horse lovers. The closing credits state that the cast are all horse owners and that, as to be expected, no horses were harmed in the making of the film, but those expecting a film of horses just ambling about may be in for a shock, especially with a rather graphic evisceration scene.

The humour in the film plays rather broadly and sometimes its intermingling with drama comes with its own pitfalls, where it can be uncertain whether events are being played for dramatic impact or part of some crueller and darker sense of humour. Still, the performances are likeable and even given the setting. It's surprisingly diverse with characters speaking in Icelandic, Swedish, German, Spanish and English (the last one being a lingua-franca) and the characters are colourful but the film is short (a spry 80 minutes) and very abrupt to end, so you don't get much of an indication of the characters beyond almost thumbnail sketches. Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson perhaps stands out the most with an indignant role that entertains.

With some brilliant and beautiful shots, and expert framing of shots in particular, Of Horses And Men is a very nice looking film and is charming and humorous in its own way, but its jumbled nature and noticeably brief runtime make the film really more of a somewhat fun little novelty than a fully satisfying cinematic experience.

Cold In July (2014, Dir. Jim Mickle, USA/France) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson

One night in Texas, framestore owner Richard Dane (Hall) grabs his gun to fend off an intruder (Ken Holmes). Startled, Richard shoots the unarmed burglar and kills him but escapes prosecution due to self defence. The dead burglar is identified as Freddy Russell and following the shooting, Freddy's regularly-incarcerated and estranged father Ben (Shepard) stalks the Dane family for revenge. However, a case of police corruption and concealed identities cause Richard and Ben to put aside their differences and work together to solve the mystery.

Adapted from a Joe R. Lansdale novel written in 1989, this film adaptation of Cold In July keeps the story statically within 1989 and bringing with it elements reminiscent of 80's thrillers, largely succeeds in providing an engaging, entertaining and tense thriller. 

Cold In July doesn't really have a main plot element that the film revolves around. Instead the story shifts from one plot point to the next. What starts as an exploration of guilt and paranoia backed up by an exploration into the mentality of the deep south when it comes to defence changes to a story on police corruption and further on to a story of vigilantism which unfortunately means that certain aspects of the plot seem to go unresolved.

However, there is still plenty to enjoy with this movie. In recent years, there's been something of a wave of popularity for thrillers reminiscent of the 80's work of the likes of Michael Mann; Drive being a particularly prominent example. Cold In July definitely steps into that world. The soundtrack thrums and buzzes to a synth-score heavily reminiscent of John Carpenter. In fact, with Michael C. Hall's rugged reluctant action hero character and Sam Shepard's brilliant turn as a silently determined dangerous man, it wouldn't be hard to see Carpenter regulars Kurt Russell and Donald Pleasence in those respective roles. Don Johnson, reminiscences of Miami Vice at the ready, backs up the central trio as a larger-than-life urban cowboy private eye who provides occasional comic relief to good effect.

As thrillers go, Cold On July isn't amongst the most brutal and uncompromising the genre can throw at you, but it does throw in some rather tough sequences from time to time. The acts perpetrated by various characters can often cross a line into being profoundly disturbing and the scenes of violence may be a bit much for some prospective viewers. In fairness, Cold In July may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the filmmakers know the audience that this will sell the best to and caters to it accordingly so if the film intrigues you from this review, then you shouldn't be dissapointed.