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.

Enter the Dragon review

Number 583 on the top 1000 films of all time is the martial arts drama Enter the Dragon.

 Lee (Bruce Lee) is an ace martial artist and instructor at the Shaolin Temple. He is approached by the English spy Braithewaite (Geoffrey Weeks) to go on an undercover operation. The objective? To investigate crime lord and former Shaolin Temple student Han. (Shih Kien) Han is suspected of running a human and drug trafficking operation from his own island under the guise of a martial arts competition. Lee is sent to compete. He is aided by the playboy and gambler Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly) who is on the run after being accosted by racist police.

If there are two types of films I don’t like, it’s action films and martial arts films. Enter the Dragon did not do anything to move the needle. Like many other martial arts, action films I’ve seen, Enter the Dragon was all too cheesy and over-the-top with admittedly well-choregraphed action sequences but rather deftless dialogue.

There have been some who have compared it to a martial arts version of a James Bond film, which would be an apt comparison. Swap the guns for Kung Fu and the suave Sean Connery for the straight forward Lee and it’s almost a spitting image. There was a multitude of unnecessary henchmen and even more unnecessary female characters who didn’t really add anything to the plot. Neither did Williams to be honest except for highlighting how bad the bad guy really was.

Enter the Dragon is regarded as being one of the most influential martial arts films of all time and you could argue that it certainly pioneered the genre in Hollywood. Subsequent Wuxia films like the IP man franchise or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon owe a lot to Enter the Dragon. It would be unfair to criticise it for its martial art sequences, but, while they were all well-choregraphed, they all became a bit tedious after a while. The same could be said for the actual film, which all culminated to a rather damp squib of an ending. It all seemed to be building toward a big bang but instead finished with little more than a whimper. Yes, Han gets his just desserts, but I was expecting something more dramatic.

 Like many of the films on this list, especially the Wuxia and action films, there is a definite audience for films like Enter the Dragon. But I am definitely not part of that audience.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind review

Number 582 on the top 1000 films of all time is Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction drama ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind.’

Close Encounters tells the story of two characters: electrical linesman and family man, Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) and single mother Jillian (Melinda Dillon) as their lives change forever after encounters with UFOs and aliens.

Spielberg is one of the most famous film directors in history. From The Colour Purple, to Jurassic Park, to Lincoln, Schindler’s List, he has done everything from period piece to tragedy to biopic. In the seventies, he is credited to kicking off the summer blockbuster trend with the iconic Jaws. I was expecting big things from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but I was left disappointed. I would definitely say it was one of Spielberg’s weaker efforts. The key reason was its pace. It was just slow.

It lacked the same narrative tension that Jaws or Jurassic Park contained. Far from being an edge-of-your seat thriller, I found myself sinking back into my sofa. The suspense was lacking. That’s because I didn’t really care for the characters. Richard Dreyfuss maybe best known for his role Matt Hooper in Jaws, where he was a far more interesting character. Spielberg demanded that Roy be an every-man character instead of a copper or a man in uniform and that’s where this character failed. In anything, he was too normal. There wasn’t too much to distinguish him from any other character. Dreyfuss wasn’t particularly memorable.

His wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) was equally annoying, but I think that was more down to how her character was written. After Roy encounters the aliens, he starts becoming obsessed with them. Ronnie initially indulges his fantasies before she loses his patience with him. She functions as an antagonist stopping Roy from achieving his goals. It was a necessary role, I guess, but not a likeable one. And it did slow up the story. I really didn’t care about Roy’s failing relationship with his family.

The actual interesting part of the story lay with the single mother Jillian whose three-year-old son Barry is abducted by the aliens. This is preceded by a particularly scary sequence where the aliens set off every appliance in Jillian’s home, as she desperately tries to stop Barry from walking toward the light. This was probably one of the best-executed scenes in the film: if the rest of Close Encounters was like this, it would have been more interesting to watch.

However, one aspect of Spielberg’s films that can never be criticised is John William’s film score. Similar to Jaws, he composed a simple five-tone motif that the aliens use to communicate with humans. And just like Jaws, this motif has become iconic throughout the film world.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call Close Encounters of the Third Kind a bad film. It isn’t bad, but in comparison to some of Spielberg’s most popular hits, it definitely struggles to leave the ground.