Film Review - Ad Astra (12A)

What did he find out there in the abyss?

I love a good grown-up space drama. I mean either the type that tells of real-life adventures (Apollo 13, last year's First Man) or that projects realistically into the future (2001: A Space Odyssey, The Martian, the first 90 minutes of Interstellar). The publicity for Ad Astra has 'mind-blowing existential space epic' written all over it and I was ready for the film to enter my personal pantheon of great astro-flicks. Nor did this original story fall short of asking big questions about humanity's place in a vast universe and in certain ways it's a genuinely impressive piece of work. But for much of its running time it also threatened to put me to sleep.

Brad Pitt plays Roy McBride, a seasoned astronaut who lives in the shadow cast by his legendary space-travelling father. When a freak cosmic power surge causes widespread damage on Earth, McBride is called in by a desperate NASA. The anomaly, he is told, was due to an anti-matter burst that could only have been caused by the technology used by his father on a mission to Neptune thirty years before. The dad who Roy thought long since dead may be alive after all and risking all life in pursuit of his mission goals. McBride Jnr sets out on a mission of his own that will take him to the further reaches of the solar system, as - very possibly - the final hope for humankind. 

That in itself sounds exciting and involving, and there's much here that should thrill. Co-writer/director James Gray is, after all, the man who brought us 2016's The Lost City of Z, an understated but profound story of real-life explorer Percy Fawcett. This time the voyage has even greater profundity (never mind that it's fictional), and an accompanying sense of grandeur. An early set-piece is truly spectacular and reminiscent of Gravity in its breaktaking sense of realism. There are further startling bursts of action too, punctuating the solemn journey into the void to sometimes shocking effect. And the experience of (not-too-distant) future space travel is realised with clever and convincing attention to detail, along with a sense of how our relentlessly capitalist instincts might soon pollute our cosmic neighbourhood the way they've done the planet. Did I mention that it's all gloriously shot? No? Well it is.

All of which has me wondering why I didn't like the film more than I did, while some critics are labelling it a five-star wonder. 

It's chiefly due, I think, to the sense of deadness that exists between the narrative's occasional flurries of madness. McBride is one hell of an introverted character, never threatening to connect with any of the supporting characters he meets along the way (one of whom is all-too-briefly portrayed by the great Donald Sutherland). That alienation I might have coped with, if not for the interminable inner-monologue that Pitt supplies. I was initially intrigued by his journey - outer and inner - but the voice-over's droning dullness along with a turgid score was cumulative like space debris clogging up my brain. Halfway through I was struggling on the verge of oblivion, while still vaguely thinking that I should be more interested, not least by the prospect of a father/son reunion, with Daddy McBride played in various bits of footage by Tommy Lee Jones. By the final act some seriously deep questions were being asked about our place in the universe, but the only one of any real interest was when I'd get to go home to bed. Seriously, it was tough going.

(Sorry, Brad - I loved you in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

It's odd that last year I watched First Man - another film about a taciturn astronaut as much focused on his own inner space as on the outer kind - and found every second enthralling. That one moved and inspired me, while Brad's odyssey reduced me to said stupor. It's possible that my end-of-week brain was too fatigued to engage with anything cerebral, in which case I'd need to watch it again - heavens help me - on Blu ray. But for now my take is a disappointed one. Ad Astra didn't take me to the stars - it left me struggling for consciousness in the deadening void of space.

Gut Reaction: My hand went to my face twice - once at a awe-inspiring opening sequence and once again at how painfully slow it all became.

Memorable Moment: Encounter with some unlikely space survivors. (That bit woke me up.)

Ed's Verdict: 5/10. So much is praiseworthy here on a technical level and on one of ideas. But I still found it massively boring.

Film Review - Downton Abbey (PG)

A royal luncheon, a parade and a dinner? I'm going to have to sit down!

I've only ever watched the Downton Abbey TV series on Christmas Day and with my parents. During those festive specials they'd bring me up to speed with all the goings-on both upstairs and downstairs at the Crawley family estate. 'So the Irish Republican chauffeur is marrying upwards into the family? Okay, well good for him.' 'And this guy's on trial for murder because...? Ah, right, got it. Do we think he's guilty? No? Good.' It gave me enough to work with going in to see the new DA feature film. Not enough to enjoy all the naunces on which the hardcore Baby Boomer fans around me were clearly picking up, but plenty to make it a fun experience nonetheless. And it is fun, even if you're not Downton die-hard. But get real - this movie is definitely made for the faithful.

The year is 1927 and royalty is descending upon the Crawley family pile, with family members and servants bracing themselves for the arrival of King George, Queen Mary and their entourage. Among the guests is Maud Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), an estranged Crawley cousin, whose financial plans have formidable matriarch Countess Violet at her most combative. And when the advance party arrive in the form of the royal servants (led by David Haig's insufferably pompous Mr Wilson), the Downton staff find themselves in danger of being sidelined in their own duties. Maybe the return of the retired head butler Carson (Jim Carter) can help them fight back.

Those are just the main strands in this continuation of the soapy period saga, because - fair warning - the subplots are innumerable. 2015's Christmas special rounded everything off pretty neatly, so it's a good idea to have the event storyline of imminent royal guests to kick things back into motion. Plus there are a few characters - the tragedy-stricken (and aforementioned Irish Republican) Tom Branson and promoted under-butler Thomas Barrow to name a couple - whose personal stories warrant a bit more spinning out. However, virtually everyone in the extensive ensemble cast gets a bit of proper screen time here, resulting in a fragmented, if still enjoyable narrative.

This is basically a Downton Christmas special for the big screen, with added pageantry and bigger production values. Director Michael Engler, who headed up the final Yuletide episode, makes the most of the grand locations with lots of swooping aerial shots of the Abbey and long tracking shots through its labyrinthine interiors, as vital messages are conveyed and brasses are polished in preparation for the grand arrival. Writer Julian Fellowes keeps things lower key, however, touching base with every single character and providing a wide scattering of dramatic touches rather than anything genuinely explosive. (The one thread that promises a literal explosion is wrapped up surprisingly early on.) 

Performance-wise Dame Maggie Smith is of course a stand-out and granted as many dry one-liners as you'd expect, along with some moments of genuine drama. But Allen Leech and Robert James-Collier both get decent stuff to chew on as the two Toms, as do welcome richly-written newcomers like Staunton and Haig. And even first-time visitors to Downton will be amused by the central downstairs conflict - Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore fuming in the face of the royal servants' gall and plotting their retaliation.

In conventional cinematic terms this big-screen extension is not a great film. It's too structurally rooted in the TV show for that. But it's charming and funny and even touching at points - with all the high-born and lowly characters its audience has come to love and only the mildest critique of the British class structure (along with a message that toffs can be progressive too). If you've never done Downton, you'll most likely find it a diverting couple of hours. If you're a fan, I highly suspect you'll float straight to a heaven populated by all your favourite characters. And none of them will disappoint.

Gut Reaction: Unexpected swell of emotion at the theme music and quite a few laughs-out-loud. Plus something very personal - this was my mum's favourite TV drama after all.

Memorable Moment: Mr Mosely's big moment.

Ed's Verdict: 7/10. It's essentially a massive extra episode of the show, but it rattles along at a decent pace, is full of incident and hits its beats - comic and dramatic - very effectively. Champagne all round.

Film Review - Hustlers (15)

The game is rigged. And it does not reward people who play by the rules.

 

Inspired by a New York magazine article by journalist Jessica Pressler, Hustlers tells one of the stranger stories to come out of the 2008 stock market crash. And with an ensemble cast as diverse as it is starry, it's one of the autumn cinema season's genuine surprises. That's partly due to a barnstorming performance from Jennifer Lopez as veteran exotic dancer Ramona, a woman who deals with the realities of the financial crisis in cool and ruthless fashion. Lopez is good - possibly better than ever before - but she's not all this based-on-fact movie has to offer.

Constance Wu (of Crazy Rich Asians success) takes lead duties in the role of Destiny, naive 'new girl' at a high-end New York strip club. She's chiefly working to support the beloved grandmother who has raised her, but struggles to survive there. Then she's wowed - and wouldn't we all be on some level - at the dynamism and attitude of Lopez' experienced pole dancer. Ramona takes Destiny under her wing, teaching her all the right moves on and off the pole, so that she can thrive in that testosterone-thick environment. But the 2008 crash curtails everyone's party, from the club's Wall Street trader clients to the girls themselves. When financial hardship bites, Destiny, Ramona and their fellow-workers turn creatively criminal in order to keep themselves afloat.

 

Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria Hustlers is, I'd say, a notable step forward in female-led Hollywood movies. It's bold and brash with its own voice, using the sleazy mileau of the strip club in a way we've never seen before. Instead of the leering male perspective of innumerable cop and gangster flicks, we get the girls' perspective - no less coy, but a lot more nuanced. This is a tough, unsavoury workplace for sure, but it also has its own unique energy and tawdry glamour, while a bawdy changing-room camaraderie throws the characters into relief as fiery, often hilarious flesh-and-blood individuals. These are women with whole lives outside - struggling with issues of rent and relationships and family - and this is the graft they do to stay in the game.

A relative newcomer to the director's role Scafaria shows a virtuosity with the camera that's reminiscent of Martin Scorsese in Goodfellas or Casino. She also edits her story to clever effect a la The Wolf of Wall Street, making the most of its conventional flashback framework. (Julia Stiles plays the Pressler journalist figure, interviewing Destiny in-depth about her stripper-turned-felon experiences.) And the use of music is great - a pumping dance soundtrack intercut counter-intuitively with bursts of Frederic Chopin.

Scafaria draws out great performaces too from her ensemble. Wu is a great anchor as the ingenue who finds her criminal mojo while still clinging to her conscience, while Lopez grabs the opportunity as tightly as her dance pole to play a tough, complex character. (Every gravity-defying move was hers, I've fact-checked it.) But it's the group dynamic that's perhaps most impressive. While the characters played by the likes of Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart are relatively sketchy compared to our central duo, together they make a remarkably convincing group of friends. Whether these women are bantering backstage, plotting to access their marks' credit accounts or swapping Christmas gifts, they're never less than documentary-level real.

If there's a downside it's that the con-story is a bit overlong, with a degree of rinse and repeat in what we see on screen. Nor does the climax achieve quite the level of drama you might hope, say that of last year's Widows. However this film achieves around five times' the spirit of Ocean's 8, with feisty, self-empowered characters you'll enjoy hanging out with, however reprehensible their choices. Plus it critiques 21st Century western capitalism nicely. Not bad for a low-key off-season comedy drama we'd not really been waiting for. As walks on the wild side go, Hustlers is one you should definitely consider taking.

 (Director Lorene Scafaria tests the pole.)

Gut Reaction: A lot more involvment and a lot more laughter than I'd been expecting. And goggle-eyes at one point. Speaking of which...

Memorable Moment: J-Lo's pole moves. If I said otherwise and then you saw the film, you'd know me for a liar.

Ed's Verdict: 7.5/10. A raucous heist-comedy with a human side, it's pushed to its high score by great direction and some scintillating ensemble acting. The 'true story' aspect is fascinating too.

Feature - 10 Perfect 10s (Filmic Forays' 3-Year Anniversary)

There are no rules. Wim Wenders on film-making.

(See? Capra said it too!)

I started this blog in September 2016 because I enjoy cinema as much as I enjoy writing and - Caboom - it suddenly struck me as a no-brainer. Since then I've regularly considered including retrospectives on older films I've admired for many years, but there simply hasn't been time. So on this, the Filmic Forays 3-Year Anniversary, let me present to you ten movies which for me deserve nothing less than a 10 out of 10. I say 'perfect' 10, but refer you to my January 2019 article on what constitutes a top score, and the phenomenon (as identified by my humble self) of the 'imperfect 10'. That's a film so spectacular and/or groundbreaking that any deducting of marks for perceived flaws would be nothing more than pathetic nit-picking and worthy of a slap round the head.

That said, here are my very personal thoughts on some randomly selected, and totally disparate films that have on thing in common - they've earned a bit of Filmic Forays high-scoring birthday love.

1. His Girl Friday (1940)                                                                                                             

Think of the wittiest modern relationship comedy you know, with the sharpest dialogue and the snappiest delivery. Howard Hawks' screwball delight His Girl Friday is wittier, sharper and snappier - that I guarantee. Cary Grant is the newspaper editor, Rosalind Russell his one-time top reporter and ex-wife. When she pops back into his office to announce her imminent second marriage, she can't help but get caught up in the thrill of a breaking story - and then of course the romantic sparks begin to fly all over again. He's suave and infuriating, but she's got sass on tap and a barbed come-back for every finely-honed jibe of his. The one-liners richochet off the walls, all of them delivered with a finesse that has inspired fast-talking film comedies for generations without ever being bettered. While much humour inevitably dates, this just keeps proving its genius.

2. 12 Angry Men (1957)

Sidney Lumet's debut as a cinema director is one of the greatest ensemble movies of all time. Based for virtually all its running time in a real-time jury room setting, it depicts the struggles of Henry Fonda (Juror No. 8) to swing the opinions of his co-jurors on a verdict that might send a young man to the electric chair. Every single juror is characterised neatly and played to perfection, as tension and claustrophobia mount on the hottest day of the summer. Lumet's scrutinizing close-up camera traps each man in the frame, picking out every drop of sweat as anxieties, agendas and prejudices are laid bare. Only Fonda remains calm and utterly inscrutable as the story's moral centre. It's a masterful drama and as an examination of the US jury system it will surely never be bettered.

3. Psycho (1960)

Now here's an exploitation film for the ages, but one that's also a great deal more. There's a popular tendency to reduce Alfred Hitchcock's seminal slasher to a handful of shocking moments, but it's everything else that makes those moments so impactful. Think about the opening act that sets up Marion Crane as the morally straying heroine, who resolves to redeem her own actions before being so cruelly and unforgivingly cut down. That's what makes her death so horrific, not the chocolate sauce so famously used as blood in the scene. What about the portrayal of the killer himself - a tragic case in his own right, twitchy and vulnerable with something ironically mother-able about him? We end up sympathising with him to the extent that our breath is held, when his attempts to cover up the gruesome crime threaten to go astray. Contrast that with every two-dimensional slaughter-dispenser who's followed Norman Bates as slasher-movie antagonist. Psycho is deceptively simple in its construction, but complex in its characterisations - and all the more deliciously creepy for it.

4. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)                                                   

For a Clint Eastwood fan such as myself it's tough to select the first Sergio Leone spaghetti western not to feature the original 'Man With No Name'. But everything Leone did so wonderfully in 'Dollars' trilogy, he does even better here. In widescreen magnificence, backed with one of the most playfully memorable scores Ennio Morricone has ever written, he portrays nothing less than the establishing of America's new frontier through one simple human story. All four of the central characters are iconic. Charles Bronson takes the Eastwood role of ostensible hero 'Harmonica' and does a terrific, inscrutable job. Jason Robards is hilarious and strangely moving as scoundrel/outlaw Cheyenne. Henry Fonda (showing up in my list a second time) plays chillingly against type as family-slaughtering villain Frank. And as the steely, glamorous widow McBain, a catalytic presence in all their lives, Claudia Cardinale has more innate strength than any of them. Watch the brilliant ten minute opening sequence (three assassins waiting in near-silence for Bronson's arrival by train) and see if you're not hooked.

5. Witness (1985)

My favourite Harrison Ford movie doesn't involve human-wookie bromances or the fleeing of huge booby-trap boulders (don't hate me, anyone). Witness, directed by Australia's wonderfully talented Peter Weir, is - if you don't remember - the story of a tough city cop, forced to take refuge in a rural Amish village, after a boy from that community bears witness to a murder that ties into high-up police corruption. There's no shortage of romantic dramas, culture-clash movies or taut cop thrillers to choose from. This is all three films in one and each works a treat. Ford's relationship with the boy's mother (Kelly McGillis) is restrained, while crackling with sexual electricity. The way he interacts with the community always feels authentic, as does his father-son connection with the boy (a young Lucas Haas). And the final act throbs with menace, as the outside world comes closing in on Ford in the Amish village. Add to that a clutch of unforgettable sequences - the barn-building, dancing to Sam Cooke on the radio, the explosive encounter with bullying rednecks in the town, the...er...tub scene - and you have a classic tale that bears serious rewatching.


6. Schindler's List (1993)                                                                       

Steven Spielberg's based-on-a-true-story Holocaust drama is too emotionally exhausting to bear more than very occasional rewatching. Quite apart from the worthy subject-matter it's a fine piece of film-making - stark and restrained throughout (making the instances of casual slaughter all the more disturbing), with the director ironically at his least sentimental for much of the running time. There's genuine power here, much of it stemming from the depth in the screenplay and its recurring theme of how much a human life is actually worth. Take the congenial chat over a brandy between Oscar Schindler and commandant Amon Goeth, regarding what the businessman is willing to pay for a single Jewish worker; in Goeth's mind the question is horribly utilitarian, but for the audience it's the deepest one that could be asked. The heart of the drama is Schindler's wrestling with his own response - and the solution to which he comes. One cynic commented that 'only Spielberg could make a feel-good movie about the Holocaust', referencing the story's focus on a group's deliverance from the Nazis. It's a sharp one-liner, but I think it misses the point. There's no shortage of despair in Schindler's List, but a humane and redemptive element is the only thing that gets us through the film's murky darkness. 

7. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

I had to get a Coen Brothers title in here somewhere. While there were a few conten-out-of-tenders from the sibling-auteurs' filmography, a bit of levity feels necessary following the existential darkness of Schindler's List and no Coen movie is more exuberantly funny and life-enhancing than Oh Brother Where Art Thou? Framing a Depression-era tale of three chain-gang escapees like a retelling of Homer's Odyssey does sound like the Brothers' typical too-clever-by-half-ness, but who cares, when it's this entertaining and visually impressive? George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson and John Turturro are the hapless trio on the run and in search of a concealed treasure, and they're all as hilarious as each other. What seems like a series of disconnected vignettes gradually knits into a narrative of cunning design, while the verbal and visual motifs accumulate to ever greater comic effect. The period design is of course spot-on, remembering at all times that this is a Coen-esque movie version of the 1930s. But it's the music - all rootsy Americana from bluegrass to gospel to folk - that really pushes this to a top score. And the Soggy-Bottom Boys' rendition of 'Man of Constant Sorrows' will stay with you forever.  
               

8. Memento (2000)

Is this still my favourite Christopher Nolan film? I'd need to watch most of them again to decide - and that would be no chore, believe me. Memento was my introduction to the director and a crazily intricate puzzle-box of a movie that I only really began to figure out on my second viewing. (Even then it left a bunch of tantalizing questions). Its classic revenge-plot is skewed by the fact that the protagonist - Guy Pearce's Leonard Shelby - has short-term memory loss and has to carry out his investigations into his wife's killer by way of labelled polaroid photos and messages tattooed on his own body. That premise would still make for a relatively standard thriller, but for the fact that the main part of the narrative is told in reverse, with the backward-moving colour sequences intercut with linear black and white scenes that serve to build up a sense of dread and paranoia. The genius of the structure is that as each colour scene opens, we have no more idea as to where Leonard is and what is going on than he does. Has he gone down the correct investigative route? Are the clues he has provided for himself reliable? Should he trust either of the two key people who keep popping up in his life? Beyond the intricacies of the plot, however, is a deep sadness and a meditation on the relationship between memory, identity and truth. Deep stuff. Now... where was I?

9. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

No. 9 - that's where I was. You know, just thinking about Little Miss Sunshine makes me smile, particularly when I recall its gob-smackingly outrageous final act. Abigail Breslin (you know, the loveable youngster from Signs and Zombieland) is Olive, younger child of the Hoover family, who by default has snagged a place in the final of the eponymous child beauty pageant. Financial constraints send her and the entire dysfunctional Hoover family cross-country in a cranky VW mini-van, to get her to the contest. The chief joy of the film is how it contrasts the era's success-fixation (father of the family Greg Kinnear is a demonstrably failing self-help guru) with the shambolic, sometimes despairing members of the Hoover clan. Toni Collette, Steve Carell and Paul Dano all put in terrific turns, while Alan Arkin threatens to steal the film as Olive's disreputable but doting grandpa. The Hoovers' progress is as faltering as their mode of transport, but they're just possibly my favourite cinematic family - like - ever. And that final sequence is a reminder that success simply isn't everything. Sometimes being a bunch of messed-up failures together can be truly glorious.   

10.The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

If you read my review of Isle of Dogs you'll know how much I love the sheer virtuoso craftsmanship of Wes Anderson's work. And while sometimes his films can be alienating in their oddness, at their best (and this is manifestly his best) they're both superbly made and utterly captivating. I won't even attempt to summarise the Grand Budapest plot. Let's say that it's a story (framed within another couple of stories) of Ralph Fiennes' Monsieur Gustave, concierge of the impossibly magnificent titular hotel, and the misadventures he experiences along with his faithful lobby-boy Zero in a war-torn and fictionalised version of 1930s Europe. There's regular film-design and then there's the obsessive type you see in movies like Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood. This is the latter - every detail from the writer-director's fiercely vivid imagination captured on screen, so that there's delight just in looking. But there's so much more here than entrancing visuals, courtesy of the screwball narrative, ripe dialogue and delightfully weird gallery of characters (none more delightful than Fiennes' hilariously debauched yet always dignified lead). It's a movie-making triumph - and I've just reminded myself to watch it again, along with the rest.

(My TV is bigger than that one. Just saying.)

So that, Filmic Friends, is a random sample of the movies that have risen to the top for me over years of avid watching. Some are widely regarded as top-ranking classics, others are more personal to me. (And I've just realised (1) there's no David Fincher anywhere in there and (2) I've not included a single title from the 1970s!!!, so I'll have to do it again sometime - probably a year from now.) Anyway I hope that you'll check out any of the above titles you may have missed, and that they live up to my hype. 

Here's to further fabulous forays into all things filmic. Pop the corn! There's movie-watching to be done.

Film Review - IT: Chapter Two (15)

Look at you. All grown up.

Two years ago I sang the praises of IT's first chapter, lauding it as a fine coming-of-age story as well as a vivid carnival-esque horror. Director Andy Muschietti was halfway, I thought, to a classic and definitive version of Stephen King's sprawling novel. Would Chapter Two live up to or even surpass the expectations set by its predecessor? I want, more than I can say, to tell you the answer is Yes. But while certain aspects of the film are indeed glorious, overall I just can't. It's too mixed a bag for that.

Twenty-seven years have passed since a group of youngsters in the town of Derry, Maine pitted themselves against a malevolent entity that fed on children's fears. Known to them as 'It', the creature most frequently manifested as a groteque and ravenous clown called Pennywise, until its young nemeses forced it back into the shadows. The now grown-up members of the 'Losers Club' have all left Derry and its horrors behind them, aside that it from Mike, who's stayed to obsessively chart the creature's history and uncover its possible weaknesses. When Pennywise once again starts to prey on the town's vulnerable, he calls on his fellow Losers to return and fulfil their teenage blood pact - to finish 'It' for good.

What Chapter Two does well - and this it does really well - is to tell a human story beyond pure horror. While 2017's IT was all about loss of innocence, this second part deals in numerous moving ways with the longterm effects of childhood trauma. Each of our beloved Losers is running from demons of which Pennywise became the literally embodiment. Bill (James McAvoy) is still burdened with guilt over the loss of little brother Georgie. Beverly (Jessica Chastain) has substituted the abusive relationship with her father for a marriage that's turned out equally toxic. Of the seven friends only stay-at-home Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) is still connected to his pain, the others having sublimated all memory of their terrifying experiences. Return to Derry and confrontation of their past is a terrifying (and potentially deadly) form of repressed memory therapy.

 

At conveying this the adult cast are impressive. There's a delight in seeing these characters reconnect, followed by a poignancy as they face up to heartbreak. A Chinese restaurant scene direct from the novel where they all play catch-up is superbly done - a fluctuating emotional ride in itself. McAvoy is never less than terrific as the haunted Bill, Chastain beautifully portrays Beverly's search for a meaningful connection and Bill Hader is another stand-out as wise-cracking Richie, the prefessional comedian whose jokes disguise the pain existing at his core.

There are other major plusses too. The movie is never less than beautifully shot, there's a palpable intensity at points and Bill Skarsgard demonstrates consistent genius as the gloating, baby-headed Pennywise. But the flaws are simply too glaring to ignore. Chief among these is the film's tone, which veers all over the freaking place. While Chapter One used humour as a counterpoint to fear, this one has a depressing tendency to dissipate the horror through jarringly misplaced jokiness and some horrible mugging. The effect is that when the story goes dark - and at points it goes really dark - the effect is lost. It's not helped by one or two goofy CGI moments that deflate the tension, when it should be building up to popping-point.

Equally problematic is the running time and structure. It's heart-warming to see Chapter One's young cast in flashback and the scenes connect us all the more strongly with the adult characters. But these interludes would ultimately have worked better as memory flashes, rather than what amounts to a vast expansion of the original film's mythology. The new script was clearly written (or at least massively reworked) in light of IT 2017's phenomenal success and the result is a bloated running time that ultimately dilutes the drama. Chapter Two wasn't required to be the same sleek thrill-ride as One, but neither should it be exhaustively mining the first film at the expense of story momentum.

I'm as conflicted here as I've been following any film this year, not least because I wanted to love IT. And there's much I did love, mostly the scenes based around those heartfelt character connections. But I was hoping to be compelled too, and horrified and exhilerated - and not ripped out of the good stuff I was feeling through those glaring misjudgements. IT: Chapter Two starts well, ends well, and has some terrific moments in between. It's frustrating that a sequel full with good ideas can be marred by a handful of decisions that seem so - well - clownish.

Gut Reaction: It moved me and made me jump, but it also wearied me and made me cringe. And then it moved me again.

Memorable Moment: Jeopardy in the funhouse. If only it had all been that scary...

Ed's Verdict: 6/10. Ambitiously epic, with enough satisfying moments to make we want to own it. But it's just not the great film it might have been - and that makes me sad.

DVD/Blu-Ray Mini-Review - The Sisters Brothers (15)

We're the Sisters Brothers. The Sisters Brothers. Both of us.

The Gist: In 1850s Oregon Eli and Charlie Sisters (John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix) work as assassins for a mysterious businessman referred to only as The Commodore. Their reputation precedes them, not least for prospector and chemist Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed), whose formula for locating gold the Commodore means to possess by whatever unpleasant means. The Brothers pursue Warm and his new companion John Morris (Jake Gyllenhall) the length of the State, but Charlie's behaviour is becoming ever more reckless, while Eli is having a crisis regarding the duo's long-term prospects in a violent profession. Just how long can they keep killing for a living?

The Juice: Adapted from Canadian Patrick DeWitt's novel of the same name, and by Frenchman Jacques Audiard who also directed, The Sisters Brothers is a skewed homage to the classic American western. The mountains and grasslands are shot with the same sunlit lushness as last year's Hostiles, and the familiar locations of prairie homestead, fire-lit campsite and saloon are in place - but there's also the strangeness of a tale told by outsiders looking in. It's there in some of the places the brothers visit once they reach the civilisation of big-city California. It's in the characters the brothers meet along the way and at the culmination of their quest, not least the oddball pairing of Gyllenhall and Ahmed. And it's most apparent in the unpredictability of a tale you find out you really haven't seen before. This story refuses to do anything you expect. That includes the portrayal of the brothers themselves. The spasmodic violence of Phoenix's younger Sister belies his damaged soul, while Reilly's big brother Eli is protective and quietly philosophical with a broad sentimental streak (he impresses here just as much as he did in Stan and Ollie). 

The Judgement: 8/10. There's much that's recognisable as a traditional frontier tale here, including sporadic outbursts of violence. However The Sisters Brothers has an ambience all its own - macabre and darkly humorous, but also melancholic and strangely touching. With a central quartet of fine performances, plus that distinctive directorial vision, it's a welcome addition to the growing pool of fine 21st century revisionist westerns.