Pasha's Film Reviews Etc.

4/5 Mathias (Kevin Klein) is 57, broke and broken. His only chance is to sell a multi million dollar apartment that his deceased father has left him in his will. On arriving to Paris, however, he finds an unwanted resident - an old lady Mathilde (Maggie Smith). According to the original contract Mathias cannot take full control of the apartment until Mathilde dies. Having no other choice but to stay Mathias befriends his old lady and her daughter Chloe (Kristin Scott Thomas). Mathilde seems to harbour a secret from her past that will impact everyone around her. Will it bring a relief or sorrow? The problem with the movie based on a play is the danger that it could drag and get boring. The dialogue delivery in theatre is not the same as in the movie, and what seems natural on stage can be pompous and fake when put on screen. Fortunately MY OLD LADY avoids that. This deceptively light-hearted drama has the best cast you could wish for.   Maggie Smith and Kristin Scott-Th...

3 1/2 /5 A young man arrives to a far away asylum to become a doctor. Soon enough he discovers that something is not quite right with the place.The strange behaviour of both patients and personnel is alarming and a bizarre secret is hidden in the dungeons underneath the building. When the secret is revealed the young man has to choose sides, but all he can think of is a beautiful patient Eliza Graves. Is she as dangerous as she is beautiful? Among many interpretations of the Edgar Allan Poe's stories only a few remain true to original. STONEHEARST ASYLUM managed to capture well the atmosphere of the short story "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" it is based on. At the time when Poe wrote the story the reformation of insane asylums was a political issue. While the patients were treated like prisoners the real criminals, killers and such, used asylums to avoid punishment. Now days the story of a young man, venturing into the menacing and strange p...

3/5 Jessabelle, a twenty something woman, has to return to her childhood home and spend time with a father she barely knows. Soon she discovers tapes that her deceased mother has recorded before her birth. Curious to know her origins Jessabelle starts watching the tapes one by one, sinking deeper into despair and into madness, just like her mother did many years ago. Jessabelle may not be very original but effective. The premise of beautiful young lady locked up in a creepy house full of ghosts and with imminent growing danger works well. The not so straight forward mystery is also pretty good. There will be no major revelations but you get a decent satisfying answer for all the happenings and sometime simple is the best. Anton Sanko's haunting soundtrack compliments the creepy setting of an old New Orlean house and some creative cinematography is just enough to fill in the absence of visual effect. Sometimes it's all about atmosphere and Jessabelle deliver...

5/5 Ivan Locke is driving through the night to do the right thing - to be with the present during the birth of his baby. The problem is that this woman is not his wife and he is leaving in the rear view mirror his family, who is waiting for him to come home and watch a football game together, and a career shuttering event at his job. During the one hour and a half drive Lock will face numerous challenges of his personal and professional life. The night in front of him seems like a dark tunnel of despair. Will he come out to the light on the other side? Locke is a small one-man thriller, that works great as a theatre play, but takes most of the advantages the cinema has to offer. There are no car chases, shootings or terrorists, but somehow LOCKE reminds the best episode of 24 TV series, only the threat is coming from within the main character, from his one mistake and one decision and determination to make things right by everyone. Ivan Locke is easy to relate to. He...

5/5 Victor is an ex soldier. Freshly returned from serving at French Legion he is low on money and down with luck. When his pal Simon proposes him a job as a wrestler Victor reluctantly agrees. It is not because he is not good at wrestling, its because on the ring he has to play the role of a villain and being a big softie at heart Victor finds it damaging for his mind and soul. Working in tandem Victor and Simon are successful, but one night they make a decision to switch the masks. This is a fatal mistake that changes everything. OUR HEROES DIED TONIGHT is a first full feature film debut by David Perrault and a love letter to the French noir of the 60s. Crossing the eccentricity of David Lynch with Tarantino’s bravado he manages to keep the balance of both all the way through the film, just like the balance of black and white of the movie’s colours. It is also the fading borders between good and evil, darkness and light , that are at the centre of this little...

2/5 Many years ago two teenagers, Paul and Georg, make a pact - Greg will give Paul his girlfriend Anna, but reserves the right to take her back whenever he pleases. Many years later Greg shows up again as Paul’s boss.   Paul and Anna now have two grown up children, their life is well set up and with the arrival of Greg an unwelcome tension enters their lives. Is Greg here to collect his due? Or is there a more sinister plan at hand. THE PACT is a little slow burning thriller with an original premise, with the twisted ending being its biggest problem - you will see miles away. Paul’s family dynamic is a little artificial. These are not the people you will care about and at times there is a feeling that they deserve exactly what’s coming to them. The tension overall is rather week and the row of missed opportunities will be obvious to every movie lover. The best quality acting comes from the younger cast. As for the grown ups - none of them is particularly good. T...