Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Portsmouth, 1787. Ship’s Lieutenant Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) press-gangs a pub-load of unwilling men aboard The Bounty, heading on a two-year voyage to Tahiti in search of breadfruit. At the ship’s helm is Captain William Bligh (Charles Laughton), one of the cruellest men to ever sail the seas in the name of the King’s navy, and he more than lives up to his reputation. After Christian and the crew can take no more of Bligh’s cruelty they mutiny and take over the ship, but their problems do not end there.
mutiny-on-the-bounty-laugton-gable Continue reading

Hannah and Her Sisters

This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review.

Set over a two-year period, Hannah and Her Sisters follows the numerous exploits of three sisters living in New York and their various friends and family. Hannah (Mia Farrow) seems to have her life most effectively in place. She is an actress, getting back into her work after taking time to raise her children, and is married to her financial adviser husband Elliot (Michael Caine). Elliot however has been harbouring a long-standing infatuation with Hannah’s younger sister Lee (Barbara Hershey), who is in a relationship with standoffish artist Frederick (Max von Sydow). At the apex of Elliot and Lee’s joint feelings of dissatisfaction with their partners, the pair sleep together, and must deal with the ramifications. Meanwhile the third sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest) is a recovering drug addict turned aspiring actress and restaurateur, self-employed as a caterer alongside her friend April (Carrie Fisher), a colleague and competitor for both acting roles and eligible men. Finally Hannah’s ex-husband Mickey (Woody Allen) is a stressed out hypochondriac, whose latest imaginary malady might turn out to be his most serious, and his last.
hannah-and-her-sisters
Continue reading

Wiener Dog

This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review.

Todd Solondz is almost the dictionary definition of an acquired taste when it comes to film. For most directors, subjects like rape, dead parents, domestic terrorism and a lifetime of remorse wouldn’t necessarily inspire a comedy, yet they’re all par for the course with Solondz in this darkly comic anthology following the various owners of an ambivalent female dachshund.
wiener-dog-ch3
Continue reading

My Fortnight in Film, 2017 Weeks 4-5

We’re five weeks into the year and I’ve still not gone to the cinema, clearly something is wrong with the world. However tomorrow sees the UK release of The Lego Batman Movie, so my streak will be over in a matter of hours, hurrah! I meant to write one of these last week, and in fact I had a whole introduction revolving around my latest expedition to the barber (possibly the worst I’ve ever had) but then I realised quite how dull that idea was, and that writing nothing would be preferable to tosh, hence why I’ll be stopping this introduction and getting on with the films I saw in the past fortnight right about…now.
Continue reading