Fearless review

 Number 597 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Hong Kong Wuxia film 'Fearless.'

Fearless tells the true-life story of martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li.) He became a hero across China by restoring national pride after China lost cultural status to Europe, the US and Russia in the dying years of the Qing Dynasty.

Wuxia films have never been my thing. Although they always look great with terrific fight choreography and beautiful cinematography like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or Hero - also starring Jet Li. I've always found the storylines lacking. The exception might be IP Man, but it wasn't as good.

I think much of this was down to the character of Huo Yuanjia who wasn't as interesting as he could have been. The film started a little too early in his life as we see the effect his father had on his life. It was important backstory that fed into Yuanjia's motivations, but it could have been excised. It removed too much focus from Yuanjia.

This wasn't necessarily the fault of Jet Li, but of the direction of Ronny Yu. Jet Li was perfectly fine as the hero of this film and at least Fearless had more forward momentum than Jet Li's earlier martial arts epic 'Hero.' Although, a bit like IP man, the villains could have used more work. The actors they hired to play the foreign fighters were cliched to the max.

Like I said, I'm not a big fan of Wuxia films and I'm not sure that Fearless is going to do anything to change that.

Shine film

 Number 593 on the top 1000 films of all time is the musical biopic 'Shine.'

Shine ells the true-life story of famed Australian pianist David Helfgott from his childhood to the start of his career, where he was played by Noah Taylor, to his eventual mental breakdown where Geoffrey Rush took over the mantle.

Shine is perhaps best-known for its success at the 69th Academy awards where it generated seven nominations and one win. Armin Mueller-Stahl was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing David's tyrannical father Peter. For playing David, Geoffrey Rush took home the Best Actor gong.

Sure Rush was great, but did he shine enough to merit an Oscar? I'm not so sure. And I think that's more because he wasn't given a chance to shine. He shared the role of David with Noah Taylor and I'd argue that Taylor dominated the role. He had the more interesting parts. We see the fledgling beginnings of David's career, his tempestuous relationship with his father - more on that later - and the beginnings of David's breakdown. Rush takes over the latter half of the film, as we see David's life post-breakdown. It wasn't as interesting. Noah Taylor was more deserving of the Oscar nod, not because of the difference in acting quality, but in screen-time ratio.

However, Armin Mueller-Stahl was well-deserving of his Best Supporting Actor nomination. He cut a well-intentioned if misguided father figure trying to live out his failed dreams through his children. A toxic parent, but a great performance. Ultimately, Mueller-Stahl lost to Cuba Gooding Jr in Jerry Maguire, but this was still a memorable performance.

In some ways, Shine reminded me of Ron Howard's later film 'A Beautiful Mind,' which explored similar tortured genius mathematician John Nash. Although David was a more likable character and the plus side of having two actors portray him was that we got a well-rounded, three-dimensional character.

I'm not sure if Shine shone bright enough to be truly Oscar-worthy, but it was a good film nonetheless.

Malcolm X review

 Number 595 on the top 1000 films of all time is Spike Lee's epic biopic 'Malcolm X.'

Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) follows the life of the famed civil rights leader from his beginnings as a petty crook to his initial conversion to Islam in prison to becoming one of the highest ranking members of the Nation of Islam - perhaps evening becoming more powerful than leader Elijah Muhammed (Al Freeman Junior.)

I've seen a few Spike Lee films and if could describe them in a word, it would be heavy-handed. They're never as subtle as they could be. He's well-known for his focus on institutionalised racism and the African-American experience, so an adaptation of Malcolm X's life by an African-American director seemed like the perfect idea. Especially when the initially-attached white Norman Jewison was rejected because it was deemed a black director would be more appropriate. However, Malcolm X was a bloated, heavy-handed affair. Sure it was entertaining enough, but over-long and on the nose.

When I say over-long, I'm not kidding as it clocked in at just over two hundred minutes. And that was largely down to Spike Lee having financial control over the project thanks to many donors helping to fund the film. Like many biopics, it started too early into the main character's life and repeats too many key events - like Malcolm's father being brutalised by the KKK. Much of the film's third act focussed on Malcolm's many speeches, as he gained power within the Nation of Islam. Spike Lee insisted that you can't have a Malcolm X film without his speeches, but did we need every single speech? One or two would have sufficed.

This isn't to discredit Denzel Washington of course. He is a fine actor well-worthy of his two acting Oscars. Many people argue he should have won instead of Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. Sure Pacino was great here, but I might argue that Malcolm X went on a far more interesting journey which was strongly portrayed by Washington. It was fascinating watching Malcolm Little go from a streetwise, cocky street hustler to a dedicated student of Islam where he sheds his "slave name" of Little to charismatic leader.

No, I'm saving my criticism for Spike Lee and his heavy-handed storytelling. Unlike 25th Hour and Do the Right Thing, there were no racially charged monologues, but there was a weird tracking shot like at the end of Blackkklansman.

Ultimately Malcolm X wasn't an inherently bad film, but it was bloated and not particularly subtle.

Three Colours: White review

 Number 588 on the top 1000 films of all time is the French comedy-drama 'Three Colours White - the middle sibling in Kryzsztof Kieslowski's 'Three Colours' trilogy.

Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski) is a Polish immigrant living in France whose wife Dominique (Julie Delphy) is divorcing him. He resolves to improve his life and exact revenge on his ex-wife.

Of the Three Colours trilogy, I would say this is my favourite. All three films have their own emotional nadirs, but this one seemed to resonate the most. Three Colours: White is named because like in some films, it follows the tricolour of the French flag and that qualities each colour represents. These different qualities link the film thematically - in this case equality - although you can argue freedom/liberation are present too.

Karol Karol begins as a most pathetic man - a man being divorced by his wife due to his own impotence. The fact he seems sympathetic makes him even more pathetic. After Dominique invokes divorce proceedings and frames him for an arson attack on their shared-owned salon, he becomes a beggar in Paris. Although he goes through self-pity at first, he soon meets fellow Polish immigrant Mikolai (Janusz Gajos) who galvanises him into taking action.

Although there's nothing wrong with going through hard times, it's never being round somebody who's always feeling sorry for themselves so I enjoyed seeing turn from an omega male into - maybe not alpha, but perhaps delta? Metaphors aside, it was enjoyable seeing him regain his confidence and his standing in society, which becomes much easier once he returns to Poland.

Zbigniew was very good in the role and displayed all of the different aspects of the character well. I also enjoyed Julie Delphy as his estranged wife Dominique. She is perhaps best known to international audience for her work in the excellent Before Trilogy, but she was equally good in this antagonistic role.

If I were to criticise anything, it would be the ending. I won't spoil anything, but suffice to say, it seems that Karol and Dominique are on the brink of reconciliation. Considering Karol spends much of the film getting back at his wife, it's strange that by the film's conclusion he is trying to get back with his wife.

That notwithstanding I've finally completed the Three Colours trilogy. White is definitely my favourite.

Planet Terror review

 Number 591 on the top 1000 films of all time is Robert Rodriguez' action-comedy zombie film: Planet Terror. Planet Terror shares this position with its sister film Death Proof. I will review both films separately.

Planet Terror follows the remnants of society as they struggle to repel a zombie outbreak. The survivors include the town's sheriff Hague (Michael Biehn,) his barbecue chef brother JT (Jeff Fahey,) career criminal El Wrey (Freddy Rodriguez) his stripper girlfriend Cherry (Rose Mcgowan) and Dr Dakota Block (Marley Skelton.) Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis and Naveen Andrews all co-star.

Planet Terror was directed by Robert Rodriguez with support from producer Quentin Tarantino. The film was intended as a homage to the exploitation B movies to the 1970's, so it was over-the-top, brash and, well, just silly. I know it was a homage, not meant to be taken seriously, but it was daft. Even as a parody of sorts, I found it difficult to take it seriously.

Perhaps that's because of my dislike of the action movies it was parodying. Character development and emotional weight took second stage to gunfire and explosions. Sure the characters weren't meant to be too complex, but neither were they supposed to be paper-thin. El Wray was little more than your lovable rogue gone good.

It didn't help you had Freddy Rodriguez playing him. Don't get me wrong, he great as the mild-mannered undertake in the TV series Six Feet Under, but I had difficulty believing him to be some tough-as-nails gangster. I could say the same for many of the other characters and actors.

Although Planet Terror was more critically regarded than its sister film Death Proof, it didn't score well commercially. Reportedly, the disgraced Harvey Weinstein killed in distribution due to his displeasure of Rose Mcgowan being cast. That being said, I much preferred Death Proof.

Yes, I know, Planet Terror is a popcorn film not meant to be taken seriously, but I also didn't think it was supposed to be so damn silly either.

Death Proof review

 Number 591 on the top 1000 films of all time is Quentin Tarantino's psychological thriller Death Proof. Death Proof shares this position with its sister film Planet Terror which were released together under the moniker Grindhouse. I will review both films separately.

Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) is a serial killer stuntman who kills women using his specially-modified car. Rose Mcgowan, Sydney Poitier, Rosario Dawson, Sam Bell among others co-star as the women he targets.

Tarantino generally regards Death Proof as his worse. Having now finally seen them all, I don't agree. I think that honour would go to the bloated and dialogue-heavy 'The Hateful Eight.' Neither is Death Proof one of his best - the simple but effective Reservoir Dogs takes the throne.

True, Death Proof is a relatively simple and straightforward film, but it lacked the same emotional pathos that Reservoir Dogs reached. Although maybe Death Proof didn't need it. It was a simple story of a psychopathic stuntman getting his just-desserts. Yes, it is rather self-validating with many callbacks to his previous films like Kill Bill - which would go over the head of casual viewers, but it was nowhere near as bad as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Kurt Russell was very good as the terrifying killer stuman and it was particularly fun seeing him go from predator to prey. His reaction to getting shot was probably one of the most realistic I've seen in many films. Speaking of realism, Tarantino does dialogue well. Its realistic yet snappy - the Hateful Eight not included of course.

While Stuntman Mike goes from predator to prey, his would-be victims played by Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms become his hunter. This was a great and unexpected twist that I didn't see coming. It was something that made you sit up and realise this wasn't your average slasher film. It was a Tarantino slasher film complete with great performances from his women cast - performances matched Kurt Russell. Albeit, it all led to a rather abrupt and random ending.

That being said, I enjoyed Death Proof for what it was - a fun and thrilling slasher. It wasn't one of Tarantino's best, but definitely not his worse either.

The Tree of Life review

Terrence Malik's 'The Tree of Life' does not feature on the top 1000 films of all time.

It is a highly experimental family-dama telling the story of the 1950's American family - father (Brad Pitt,) mother (Jessica Chastain) and their three sons Jack (Hunter McCracken,) RL and Steve (Tye Sheridan.) However when RL dies, the family begins to fall apart with Steve and Mr O'Brien having a tumultuous relationship. In the modern-day, an adult Jack (Sean Penn) reflects on his troubled family life.

Although the Tree of Life doesn't feature on the top 1000 films of all time list, it would definitely be number one on the top 1000 pretentious Oscar-bait list. I call it Oscar-bait. The better term would be failed Oscar-bait. It was nominated for three Oscars: director, picture and cinematography, it ultimately didn't win any. Although the cinematography was gorgeous especially the surreal visuals of the birth of the universe, it all became tedious after a while.

It reminded me of Mailk's third film: the equally pretentious The Thin Red Line, which had lots of random close-ups of bugs. Okay, it was cool and arty. But what was the point of it all? Was there even a point? Did there need to be a point? Knowing Malik, there probably was, but it all went over my head.

Another similarity is how Malik is once again wasted his casted. I can't really comment on whether Pitt, Chastain and Penn were good or bad, because they played visual to Malik's cerebral visuals. For Christ's sake, these actors have five acting Oscars between them. Sean Penn has three Oscars, yet he was completely irrelevant to the plot. Cut him out and nothing would change except for a twenty-minute shorter run-time.

The Tree of Life was classic Terrence Malik. High-brow, intellectual and just so damn pretentious.