Pasha's Film Reviews Etc.

7/10 When Annie’s mother passes away Annie is stricken with surprising grief. She always had a love-hate relationship with her mother, but now a strange sense of guilt is descending on her. This is just the beginning of a chain of tragic events that seems to follow her family through generations... HEREDITARY was hailed by critics as the best horror movie of this decade. But does it deliver on the expectations?  There’s a lot to be grateful for. Hereditary is intelligent measured film making,each of its sucker punches delivered with focus and precision to the best effect. A hybrid of PET CEMETERY, ROSEMARY’ S BABY and sprinkled with the sickly paranoia of the WICKER MAN it has all recognisable elements for a horror fan, but still has a unique look and feel. When I watch a horror movie I always ask myself a question - would my 13 year old self love it. In regards to HEREDITARY the answer is NO. Would it scare me - hell yes. Would it bore me to sobs? That too. Would...

6/10 A father and a son are trying to reconnect during the trip to a remote shack when unexpected guests arrive in the face of drug traffickers. They had hidden the drugs in the shack thinking it was abandoned and now asking for what is theirs. There’s only problem with that - they will not leave witnesses. Father and son have no choice but to fight back.  Jason Momoa has his time in the spotlight with his big blockbuster AQUAMAN coming to us this year. This much smaller, almost Arthouse, effort take us back right into early nineties. This is a B action thriller with charismatic protagonists, creepy villains, and where not much makes much sense (and it’s for the better).  Don’t try to analyse it - you get handful of invaders who are going to be dispatched in various fashions, they are so hopeless that sometimes one wonders who is the real victim here. The stakes are never too high and every protagonist seems to have some superhero skill (mostly it involves b...

9/10 Some unions are made for reasons other than love. The marriage of Zhenya and Boris   is falling apart. Boris is having a baby with another woman and Zhenya has a rich older lover who can provide for the life she has always dreamed of. The only inconvinience is their son Alyosha. One night the boy hears his parents fighting and disappears the next day. When Zhenya and Boris start a frantic search for their son their conflict deepens, wounds are opened and the final masks are torn off.  How does one carry on in a LOVELESS world? Russian director Sergey Zvyagentsev is a contradiction. Russian viewers claim that he makes films for Europe and they are very un-Russian with their cold style and unfavorable characters, while the rest of the world sees Russia through the prism of his films. LOVELESS definitely hits the mark while describing Russian middle class, the type of conversations people have, the interests and values. While in LOVELESS all the characters ar...

10/10 In this busy diner there is a table where a man with a black book sits. In fact, he never seems to leave THE PLACE. People come and go. Some sit at his table. Usually the ones who have something to ask for. The man with a black book can make any wish come true. But will you be ready to pay the price? There’s one thought that occurred to me when I started watching THE PLACE – its set up is so simple and effective, why didn’t I think of it? But with one great idea at its core it’s the writing that makes THE PLACE a great movie.  Written and directed by Paoblo Genovese, whose latest movie PERFECT STRANGERS (read my review here ) made a big splash last year, is interested in the psychology of his characters, their set of values and how they distinguish right from wrong with their backs against the wall. With the fantastical premise of THE PLACE it's amazing how relatable the situations and the people of the movie are with their daily problems and grievances. ...

7/10 This small farmers’ community in Normandy is under attack. The price of milk plunges, government support dries up and banks are knocking at the doors. Is there a way to turn the situation around? George Balbuzard, the mayor, believes that nation-wide exposure would help his little town back on its feet. The arrival of American photographer Newman, who makes the crowd photos of nude crowds, may be just the opportunity he needs to put his town on the map of France. But will he be able to break through the stubbornness and prejudices of the town’s people in time for the photo session? The simple and familiar premise of NORMANDIE NUE lies heavily on the charisma of the film’s lead Francois Cluzet. Here he is a down to earth, trustworthy and sympathetic mayor who has to deal with little grudges and dramas of his fellow citizens who just refuse to see the big picture. If you have seen Full Monty and Calendar Girls you will know what to expect from NORMANDIE NUE. The...

9/10 “To be number one in life a man should have three things. Power, money and sex. No one ever has all three.”  This is declared in the film by one of the male characters. But what does it mean to be NUMBER ONE for a woman in a corporate world? The original name of the movie NUMERO  UNE  is feminine (it would be   UN  for masculine) and really should be translated LADY NUMBER ONE, but the producers probably thought it too long.  For the main character Emmanuelle (Emmanuelle Devos) to be successful means to realise her potential. Losing her mother in a drowning accident when she was just a child (was it suicide?) she worked hard to build a successful career and never played the feminist card. But as she is offered a position to be the first ever female CEO in the history of France she realises she will not be able to get where she wants to be without some female solidarity. Struggling with psychological problems, her husband’s tantrums a...

7/10 Pauline (Mylene Farmer) and her two teenage daughters arrive at a creepy house in the country they inherited from their aunt. On the first night there they are attacked by some creepy intruders and vigorously fight back…  then the story jumps 20 years forward, where one of the girls, Beth, is living in New York with her husband and son, and is a successful horror novelist. One night she receives a call from her sister begging for help. It seems that after all these years she is still being tormented by someone or something. As Beth returns to the house of her childhood she needs to figure out if the horrors that still haunt her sister are real. I am a big fan of Pascal Laugier, who created MARTYRS – one of the most terrifying, but also meaningful, horror movies of our time. While the story of GHOSTLAND is hardly original Laugier feels at home here with a familiar plot of two women confined in a creepy house, going against each other and the world and ultimat...

9/10 A family of four is living in the middle of nowhere. Night and day they are being hunted by monsters that react to sound. The family learned how to adapt, communicating by sign language and living quietly, but one night all precautions fly out of the window and all hell breaks loose. If Hitchcock was alive today he could have made THE QUIET PLACE. Director John Krasinsky has never made a horror movie before. As a director there are only three previous credits to his name, including two comedies I had never heard of, plus a few episodes of the American version of THE OFFICE. Sometimes comedy makes a horror movie better, but there are no jokes in A QUIET PLACE. As soon as we are introduced to the family a sense of doom hangs thick in the air and as 50 percent of the cast are children the stakes are raised pretty high from the start. Our protagonists are being hunted down by monsters, but their origins are surrounded by mystery. Don’t expect a back story or detailed expl...

10/10 In 1968 France is overcome with socialist ideas, the Cannes festival is about to be cancelled and Jean-Luc Godard, the greatest director of his time, falls in love with his new muse Anne Wiazemsky. But he is also in love with the idea of socialism. Can these two loves co-exist and what imprint will it make on his art? Making a biopic, especially when the subject is still alive, is a difficult task. The real Jean-Luc Godard apparently said that “this movie is a stupid, stupid idea”. The producers put it on top of the movie poster as a tag line. REDOUBTABLE is apparently shot the way Godard himself made movies (my film education will not allow me to pick on every nuance). The Oscar winning    director Michel Hazanavicius ( The Artist)   creates the grim painting of civil unrest in France of 1968 with broad strokes, but at the same time focuses on people and their place in society. Filled with memorable details REDOUBTABLE is a very personal film, its...

9/10 The First World War is coming to an end. The troops of both sides don’t want to fight any more, but bloodthirsty Lieutenant Paradelle sends two soldiers across no man’s land for no reason, apart from continuing the bloodshed. When they are shot dead the bitter fight insures…  Albert Maillard wants to go home like everyone else. When he discovers that the two shot men were the victims of friendly fire that intentionally provoked the conflict, it forever changes his life and the life of his close friend Edouard. The ripples of that day’s events go beyond the battlefield and affect many lives in the strangest ways. An epic journey of friendship and looking for a better place under the sun has begun. If the novel on which SEE YOU UP THERE is based was written two hundred years ago it could have been written by Victor Hugo. Instead it was penned by Pierre Lemaitre – a crime fiction writer who created Camille Verhoeven – a very short detective who battles with some ...

5/10 Antoine is a psychiatrist who wrote a book about “How to be a happy EX”. As the film opens with his radio interview, we are briefly introduced to the movie’s many protagonists, including a love stricken priest, an Uber driver who is stuck with his exe’s English bulldog, a divorce lawyer who struggles with his own family problems and an angry policewoman who is stalking her ex girlfriend in an hilarious way. When the lives of all the characters intervene a full picture emerges, that gives a curious outlook on our relationship with our exes and what it really means to move on. Following the patchwork-like structure of LOVE ACTUALLY, the movie is endearing enough to enjoy, but the characters lack in charisma department and the stories lack depth. The worst sin THE EXES commit is being so unbelievable. None of the plot lines are realistic and the conflicts are manufactured to suit the narrative. This is a very short review as there’s not much to say about this light h...

8/10 Antoine and Miriam have been divorced for a while but are still locked in a custody battle for the young son Julian. When a judge grants the shared custody rights to the father the conflict escalates to the point of no return… CUSTODY is an intense modern drama that cuts to the bone. How ugly and terrifying a divorce could be? Slowly sliding into the territory of a thriller it is hard to take sides until one of the spouses totally loses control. This is only a second film from Xavie Legrand. Reminiscent of this year’s Oscar nominated film LOVELESS, the film does few favours to either parent, describing the divorce in all its ugliness, and only closer to the end does it take sides as the villain emerges. There’s no surprise who of the spouses comes out as the evil one, but the final fifteen minutes are spine tingling. Adding to the tension is the absolute realism of what is shown onscreen. Denis Menochet and Lea Drucker are both terrific. For most of the film they don...

3/10 Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) is looking for love. A divorced artist and a single mom she craves the attention of men. In every next perfect stranger she sees her destiny, but only for a while until disappointment kicks in. Who is to blame? The men, the age we live in? Or Isabelle herself? Whatever the answer she will just keep on trying, and she is on a frustrating journey with no beginning and no end. Director Clair Denis had tried to impress moviegoers with another "in your face" female drama of sexual frustration and unfulfilled desires of middle age, only this time around her new creation has no focus. The characters stumble in and out of the film, seemingly without purpose, which is more frustrating for the viewer than for the movie’s protagonist Isabelle. Claire Denis is one of the most thought provoking directors of our time. I loved her previous film BASTARDS. She is the queen of raw style with plots that ask more questions than give answers. L...

10/10 Natalie is a literature professor in her late forties. Recently divorced, she is in the stage of her life where every younger woman (including her daughter Mathilde) is competition. No, she is not heading to some sort of self destruction, but she hurts everyone in sight, whether it’s her happy in marriage best friend, or her ex husband going on vacation with a new spouse, or a younger colleague with some fresh ideas about how to run the faculty. They say it is easy to break, but what will it take for Natalie to rebuild her life and start afresh? JALOUSE is an honest film about a middle age crisis with a larrikin heroine at its centre who is determined to be miserable and turn everyone else’s life into misery, no matter the cost.   Directors David & Stephanie Foekinos excel at getting into the head of a woman. Their previous effort Delicacy with Audrey Tautou was hit and miss, while JALOUSE is a total triumph. Karine Viard is inspired as Natalie. She is st...

9/10 A girl has disappeared in a small mountain town in Italy and inspector Vogel (Tony Servillo) comes to investigate. Vogel has gained a certain reputation by involving the media in his investigation. An angry crowd lynches the suspect before the clues are collected and the criminal confesses… this time around Vogel’s eyes are set on the college professor from the victim’s school. While our detective has little doubt as to the guilt of the man, things just don’t stack up. How far will our detective go to prove he is right… And in the cat and mouse game with his invisible opponent, who is really being played? The directorial debut of the author of the original novel Donato Carrisi is one of the most impressive original mysteries that had come from Italy in recent years. It is not hard to guess the twist, but it definitely is elegant. The movie borrows heavily from many famous ones that have come before (including TWIN PEAKS of course), but the film has an interesting focu...

4/10 Ismael (Mathieu Amalric) is a famous movie director who is haunted by the ghosts of his past. His wife Carlotta (Marion Cotillard) disappeared 21 years ago and is now suddenly back in his life, which puts a strain on his relationship with his present love, Silvia. Ismael’s brother Ivan, who serves as an inspiration for the current film Ismael is making, doesn’t want anything to do with him, but instead of explaining why, we get snippet’s of Ivan’s life (or are they the bits of the film Ismael is making???), that is a self contained story within a story. It doesn’t have an ending though. And then there is Carlotta’s father,the famous Jewish director Henri Bloom, who is traumatized by his daughter’s disappearance, but when she storms back into his life he cannot accept her. The nature of their past relationship is never explained. Sound confusing? You ain’t seen nothing yet. The stories switch chaotically between the characters and timelines, creating a dreamlike atmosph...

9/10 Max Angely (Jean-Pierre Bacri) runs a tight operation with his loyal staff and right hand maiden Adele. He is a party planner and this time it’s a wedding in a 17th century castle. Things invariably go wrong. First it’s something small, then the snowball starts rolling. During an evening filled with eccentric guests, mistaken identities and broken hearts will Max be able to pick up the pieces and save the party again and again? Like a juggler he has too many balls in the air, and one of them is doomed to fall. LE SENS DE LA FETE is just like its name - filled with a party atmosphere, only it’s not the atmosphere we are usually exposed to. It’s the behind the scenes drama of little intrigues where personalities collide, loyalties form and relationships begin and end. Jean-Pierre Bacri as Max delivers a solid performance, switching from sour to sad, then to fuming and frustrated in one go. His face is perfect for comedy and in each scene he is in he is bursting with...

8/10 GOLDEN SLUMBER  is a Hitchcockian “wrong man” thriller with a large dose of melodrama added to the mix.  Dong Won-Gang, a young delivery driver, becomes famous overnight when he saves a pop star from a robbery. But his fame is shortlived when he is accused of murdering a politician. Constantly on the run and no one to turn to there’s only one way out – to turn the table on his tormentors. But will he be able to stand by his ideals if he wants to beat the enemy at his own game? GOLDEN SLUMBER starts with a bang, sending the protagonist on a wild chase across Seoul. The first action filled thirty minutes are entertaining as we watch our hero using his wits and intuition to get out from some impossible situations. As the mystery deepens and the conspiracy is explained the movie slows down a little, focusing on the relationship between the protagonist and his childhood friends who choose to support or abandon him, which is a source of many heart wrenching mom...

5/10 Paula Simonian is a thirty something vagabond who has just returned to Paris and has never quite realized that no one is waiting for her. Her boyfriend wants to break up, her estranged mother doesn’t want anything to do with her and she has no friends she can go to. Lost in Paris, with little money and a cat in a carton box, what does the future has in store for Paula? JEUNE FEMME is an interesting character study. While the plot is blurry and the borderline documentary style cinematography  is designed to makes us believe we are dealing with the realities of everyday life, many coincidences of the plot are hard to swallow. The only thing that holds it all together is Leatitia Dosch as Paula. With her ability to look very plain or extremely beautiful depending on the lighting and the situation she commands the screen and is impossible to takes one’s eyes off. For an hour and a half movie JEUNE FEMME has very little happening, but with every passing minute the chaoti...

6/10 Sean (Daniel Radcliffe) is a reluctant drug trafficker who does the wrong thing for all the right reasons. While guiding his small plane across the Mexican border Sean is involved in several dialogues, as the atmosphere of danger and despair slowly builds up around him like a cocoon. His mentally unstable wife calling him on Skype, wanting to know where he is; there is a direct line to the owner of the drugs whose voice gradually builds up from mildly threatening to an open menace; and there’s also a third party that seems to represent the force of good, but is similarly dangerous. The choices Sean is to make in the next hour will define his life forever. The movie is shot almost entirely in the cabin of a small plane (similar to Tom Hardy’s movie LOCK which is entirely shot inside a moving vehicle). All the focus is on Daniel Radcliffe who proves that he can carry the film on his shoulders.  Radcliffe had been choosing a wide variety of roles in independent f...

7/10 Two  young brothers and their parents move into a new home. Both students in their twenties, the brothers share a strong bond. One rainy night the older brother is kidnapped by some strangers. When he is back 19 days later he has no memory of what has occurred.  The younger brother suspects that something strange is happening in the house. Why is one of the rooms always locked? And why did his older brother suddenly lose his limp - an injury he received in a car crash a few years ago? Little by little he discovers that all is connected to a murder where the culprit had never been found... FORGOTTEN is an elegant murder mystery that starts off slowly, but gathers pace bit by bit - which is typical for Korean movies. The clever mystery has many revelations, peeling layer after layer, slowly getting to the core, and this is how I like my mysteries to unravel. The small crew of actors excels at changing their characters from caring t...