Movie Review: Chato's Land (1972)

Genre: Western  

Director: Michael Winner  

Starring: Charles Bronson, Jack Palance, James Whitmore, Richard Basehart  

Running Time: 100 minutes  

Synopsis: At a dusty town saloon, half-Apache Chato (Charles Bronson) kills the racist local sheriff in self defense. Former Confederate Captain Quincey Whitmore (Jack Palance) gathers up a posse of townfolks, local ranchers, and a Mexican tracker, and they set out to hunt down the fugitive. But in the rough and unforgiving terrain it soon becomes apparent that Chato has the upper hand, as divisions and disputes emerge between the posse members.

What Works Well: While the plot also works as a Vietnam War allegory, this is an essentially simple but uncompromising hunters-become-the-hunted Western. Writer Gerald Wilson fills the posse with bloodthirsty racists (with just a few circumspect voices), and most of the dialogue chips away at the group's unity towards disintegration. A remarkably fit Charles Bronson (at 50 years old) has a grand total of two sentences and eight words in English, but dominates proceedings like a shadow of doom descending over the posse's fate. As Captain Quincy, Jack Palance enjoys a thoughtful role lamenting battlefield losses and trying to maintain discipline among a ragtag group slow to understand that both Chato and his land are much more than they can handle.

What Does Not Work As Well: The production values are creaky, some repetitiveness sets in, and morally decrepit men don't make for good company.

Key Quote:

Chato: Back off, lawman.

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Movie Review: The Lost City Of Z (2016)

Genre: Biographical Drama  

Director: James Gray  

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson  

Running Time: 141 minutes  

Synopsis: In Britain of the early 1900s, the Royal Geographic Society assigns Army Major Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) to map the disputed border between Brazil and Bolivia. He leaves his pregnant wife Nina (Sienna Miller) behind, and is joined on his adventure by Corporal Costin (Robert Pattinson). The expedition is arduous, but exposes Fawcett to the potential for hidden tribal civilizations in the jungle. Intent on finding a mythical city covered with gold, over the years Fawcett embarks on several more dangerous expeditions into the Amazon region, straining his family relationships.

What Works Well: The cinematography and settings are often visually impressive, and some moments of tension are found in the encounters with various tribes. Fawcett's troubled heritage (his father's shortcomings hampered his career) contain the promise of an interesting character, and hiding somewhere in the jungle is the unexpanded theme of men choosing wild adventures to justify a sense of self, oblivious to family damage. 

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a ponderous, meandering, Quixotic, over-long, and ultimately dubious biography that never overcomes a sense of self-inflated importance. Director and writer James Gray finds little drama in repetitive scenes of Amazonian trudging, and errs on the side of excessive padding and distractions, including interludes of anachronistic feminism, a detour to the World War One trenches, a deer hunt, and uninspired family tension. Fawcett starts as a stoic Englishman attached to career responsibility, and 141 minutes later, ends the exact same way.

Key Quote:

Fawcett: If we may find a city, where one was considered impossible to exist, it may well write a whole new chapter in human history.

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Movie Review: Radio Days (1987)

Genre: Dramedy  

Director: Woody Allen  

Starring: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Julie Kavner, Wallace Shawn, Danny Aiello  

Running Time: 85 minutes  

Synopsis: Narrator Joe (Woody Allen) recalls childhood memories overlapping with radio's golden era from the late 1930s and early 1940s. Raised in a working class Queens family, Joe's parents (Julie Kavner and Michal Tucker) are loving but always bickering. The household is stuffed with relatives, including Aunt Bea (Dianne Wiest), who is desperately seeking a husband. The radio is the main source of entertainment and news, and Joe recounts vignettes from the swish nightclub-centred lives of radio personalities and celebrities, several featuring cigarette girl Sally (Mia Farrow).

What Works Well: This nostalgia-drenched trip down memory lane accentuates an idealized sense of time and place through the prism of childhood. Director and writer Woody Allen uses the music and radio shows of the era as a soundtrack to a warm but chaotic household filled with (dashed) hopes, (unlikely) dreams, and plenty of banter. A world away but only across town, radio stars and wannabes occupy a glitzy universe of parties, schmoozing, and career-climbing, their elite escapades morphing into perfect escapism for the masses. The ensemble cast (including small roles for Diane Keaton, Robert Joy, Tony Roberts, and Jeff Daniels) shares the kitchen lights and spotlights, Mia Farrow and Dianne Wiest leaving the most animated impressions.

What Does Not Work As Well: Beyond the sense of sentimentality and longing for more innocent days, not much is going on. None of the characters evolve into people worth knowing, and the choppy vignette structure squeezes in plenty of music and short sketches but no continuity and little of substance.

Key Quote:

Narrator: I love old radio stories. And I know a million of 'em.

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Movie Review: Harriet (2019)

Genre: Biographical Drama Thriller  

Director: Kasi Lemmons  

Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Joe Alwyn, Janelle Monáe  
Running Time: 125 minutes  

Synopsis: In Maryland of 1849, Araminta "Minty" Ross (Cynthia Eriva) is a slave on the Brodess plantation. Determined to achieve freedom and escape the brutality of her owner Gideon (Joe Alwyn), she leaves her family and husband behind and flees 100 miles north to Philadelphia. She adopts the name Harriet Tubman and settles into a life of freedom with help from abolitionist William Sill (Leslie Odom Jr.) and business owner Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monáe). Unsatisfied with passivity, Harriet then sets out to help others escape slavery, and emerges as a fearless leader of the Underground Railroad.

What Works Well: Based on actual events, this is a story of one formidable woman risking everything to make a difference and push back against a historical wrong. Director Kasi Lemmons co-wrote the script with Gregory Allen Howard, and captures the essence of Harriet's struggle to free herself, her family, and ultimately her race. Human drama alternates with heart-pounding escapes, and Cynthia Erivo's performance is filled with rage but also fragility, loneliness, and longing. While the focus is on Harriet, her faith-enabled journey is surrounded by the dynamic historical context of a country marching towards a civil war triggered by divergent ideological and economic realities.

What Does Not Work As Well: The narrative borders on a hagiography, with Harriet approaching saintly levels of perfection. The overblown and frequently melodramatic music score does not help.

Key Quote:

Harriet: I'm gonna be free or die.

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Movie Review: Champagne Problems (2025)

Genre: Romantic Comedy  

Director: Mark Steven Johnson  

Starring: Minka Kelly, Tom Wozniczka  

Running Time: 99 minutes  

Synopsis: In New York, Sydney Price (Minka Kelly) works for an acquisitions conglomerate specializing in buying distressed companies. She is assigned to close the deal on Chateau Cassell, a French legacy champagne manufacturer deep in debt. Sydney travels to Paris to make her pitch, and learns she is in competition with other bidders. During a night out in Paris she meets the handsome Henri (Tom Wozniczka) at a bookstore, and they spend a romantic night together. The next day Sydney is shocked to learn Henri is the son of Cassell owner Hugo (Thibault de Montalembert). 

What Works Well: Minka Kelly is adequate in the central role, without ever escaping working-girl-seeks-adventure rom-com trappings. The Parisian and French countryside scenery is crisp, beautiful, and scrubbed clean, and undeniably touristy. The French dialogue is allowed to flow freely as necessary, and a few moments of humour extract some mild laughs.

What Does Not Work As Well: The thin premise and underpowered cast result in slow pacing and an abundance of filler scenes. Meanwhile, the stereotypes are layered in thick globs, most notably the tiresome stock characters representing Sydney's rivals: the fun-loving gay Spaniard, the stiff and humourless German, and the condescending Frenchwoman. The daddy issues between patriarch Hugo and his son Henri (who does not want to take over the family business) are of the eye-rolling predictable variety, and both lovers are saddled with missing parent syndrome. Is it even necessary to say that the ending is a foregone conclusion?

Key Quote:

Henri: Do you think I'm flirting with you?

Sydney: Aren't you?

Henri: Si, absolument.

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Movie Review: A House Of Dynamite (2025)

Genre: Thriller  

Director: Kathryn Bigelow  

Starring: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Clarke  

Running Time: 112 minutes  

Synopsis: An intercontinental ballistic missile is spotted heading towards the United States. Captain Olivia Walker (Rebecca Ferguson) leads the response in the White House Situation Room, and the missile's target is identified as Chicago. From Alaska's Fort Greely, interceptor missiles are fired, while the President (Idris Elba) and the Secretary of Defence (Jared Harris) consider their options. Advice is provided by Deputy National Security Advisor Baerington (Gabriel Basso), who urges restraint, and General Brady (Tracy Letts), who argues for an overwhelming response.

What Works Well: The film repeats the same events from three different perspectives: the first focused on the Situation Room, the second on General Brady and Advisor Baerington, and the third accompanying the President. The construction is interesting and promotes a fill-in-the-gaps narrative, marginal characters in one run-through emerging as key players in the next. The production values are excellent, and the escalating tension of a potentially catastrophic situation carries Fail-Safe echoes and builds undeniable momentum.

What Does Not Work As Well: While the attempts to humanize imperfect characters are appreciated, there are too many of them to matter, and ultimately an inordinate amount of time is wasted on trinkety personal details. Some segments, including the chaotic reactions at FEMA, simply don't work. The Noah Oppenheim script is only interested in the US perspective of a global crisis, purposefully allowing fundamental questions (who, why) to float by answered in service of here-and-now urgency. The unsettling ending can be justified within the definition of the portrayed events, but is nevertheless deeply unsatisfactory.

Key Quote:

General Brady: We've already lost one American city, sir. How many more do you want to risk?

The President: What kind of fucking question is that? That's insanity, okay?

General Brady: No, Mister President. That's reality.

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Movie Review: Mulholland Falls (1996)

Genre: Neo Noir Crime Drama  

Director: Lee Tamahori  

Starring: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, John Malkovich, Treat Williams, Chris Penn, Andrew McCarthy, Michael Madsen, Daniel Baldwin  

Running Time: 107 minutes  

Synopsis: It's the early 1950s in Los Angeles. A tough squad of police detectives led by Max Hoover (Nick Nolte) and consisting of his partners Ellery (Chazz Palminteri), Eddie (Michael Madsen), and Arthur (Chris Penn) play outside the rules to push back against organized crime. When high-class prostitute Allison Pond (Jennifer Connelly) is found dead, Max is compromised because he was one of her clients. Seedy cameraman Jimmy (Andrew McCarthy) secretly filmed Allison with her illicit lovers, including General Timms (John Malkovich). Max's dogged investigation leads to a Nevada atomic bomb test site, and a tangle with Colonel Nathan Fitzgerald (Treat Williams).

What Works Well: This character-based mood-focused drama rides on the brute charisma of Nick Nolte as Max Hoover, a detective determined to keep his town clear of mob figures. His world is suddenly upended when his trysts with the alluring Allison are exposed, collapsing his stable relationship with his wife (Melanie Griffith). The Peter Dexter script balances expertly-delivered punctuations of violence with interesting characters brought to life by a dream supporting cast, with Andrew McCarthy's opportunistic photographer a stand out. At the heart of this investigation is a strong bond of male friendship, Max's squad a cacophony of barbs united by an ends-justify-the-means ethos.

What Does Not Work As Well: The period set designs, vehicles, and wardrobes leave the conspiracy behind, the sequence of events leading to Allison's death becoming fuzzier, less interesting, and ultimately illogical with every reveal. The resources available to the antagonists should have ensured that she simply disappeared, rather than dumped in plain sight of a construction project. 

Key Quote:

General Timms (talking to Max Hoover): That's the history of the world, Lieutenant. Some people die before their time so that others can live. It's the cornerstone of civilization. War, religion, democracy. A hundred die so that a thousand may live.

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Movie Review: Eden (2024)

Genre: Historical Drama  

Director: Ron Howard  

Starring: Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Daniel Brühl, Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Kirby  

Running Time: 130 minutes  

Synopsis: In 1921, Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his partner Dore (Vanessa Kirby) escape an increasingly Fascist Europe and settle on the uninhabited island of Floreana in the Galápagos Islands. Ritter wants to write a manifesto for a better world, while Dore hopes the climate will improve her health. Their solitude is disrupted by the arrival of fellow German couple Margret and Heinz Wittmer (Sydney Sweeney and Daniel Brühl) and their sick son. They are determined to start a new life, and Margret is soon pregnant. Tension escalates with the arrival of self-proclaimed Baroness Eloise (Ana de Armas) and her small entourage. She is a hypersexual manipulative narcissist, and plans to open a luxury hotel on the island.

What Works Well: Based on astonishing actual events, this drama is a condemnation of the base human condition. In an environment combining unspoiled paradise with harsh reality, it only takes a society of five people to bring out conflict, crime, self-interest, deception, and back-stabbing. Ron Howard directs with understated watchfulness, allowing rustic beauty to house an experiment of emotional disintegration. Only small acts of kindness break through the gloom, and then only begrudgingly, momentarily, and often for convenience. The central performances are grounded in gritty survivalism, Jude Law clacking a typewriter into madness, Sydney Sweeney uncovering animal instincts during a birth scene for the ages, and Ana de Armas excelling as the Baroness of wickedness.

What Does Not Work As Well: A slight trim to the running time would have improved the pacing.

Key Quote:

Baroness: Margret! You must tell us all about the birth. Was it fun?

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Movie review: Materialists (2025)

Genre: Romantic Dramedy  

Director: Celine Song  

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Marin Ireland  

Running Time: 117 minutes  

Synopsis: In New York City, thirtysomething and single Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a successful matchmaker, working for an agency managed by Violet (Marin Ireland). While attending the wedding of a couple she matched, Lucy meets handsome and wealthy Harry (Pedro Pascal), and bumps into her former lover John (Chris Evans), who is still a penniless struggling actor. Lucy approaches dating and relationships analytically, and in Harry she finds the rich man she always wanted, although her connection with John is naturally warmer. A sudden crisis at work forces Lucy to re-evaluate her priorities.

What Works Well: This unusually intelligent rom-com abandons frivolous cliches and instead bravely delves into the crass transactional economics of relationships. Matchmaker Lucy is uninterested in chemistry and love, just the stats of wealth, education, upbringing, and physical attributes. Ticking the right materialistic boxes on both sides of the ledger means a match is made, money is paid, and clients are happy. Harry represents what she believes she craves and Harry is what she left behind, and while both will test her values, her difficult-to-match client Sophie (Zoë Winters) is about to severely disrupt the success formula.

What Does Not Work As Well: The running time needed a trim. Director Celine Song's script is generally sharp, but succumbs to repetitiveness with the flabby pacing. Some logic lapses emerge within Lucy's mathematical world, the certainty that only a wealthy man will satisfy her crumbling quickly into contradictions once Harry starts his pursuit.

Key Quote:

John: Why does anybody even get married?

Lucy: Because people tell them they should, and because they're lonely, and because they're hopeful.

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Movie Review: The Crush (1993)

Genre: Suspense  

Director: Alan Shapiro  

Starring: Cary Elwes, Alicia Silverstone, Kurtwood Smith  
Running Time: 89 minutes  

Synopsis: Investigative reporter Nick (Cary Elwes) accepts a new position working for a magazine in Seattle (but filmed in Vancouver, Canada). In a tony neighbourhood, he rents the guest house of wealthy couple Cliff and Liv (Kurtwood Smith and Gwynyth Walsh). Their precocious 14-year-old daughter Adrian (Alicia Silverstone) is frequently left home alone, and develops a serious crush on Nick. His initial ineptitude encourages her behavior, but when Nick befriends work colleague Amy (Jennifer Rubin), Adrian's obsessive malevolence is triggered.

What Works Well: Adrian is smart beyond her years, manipulative, and emerges as a psychopath. Alicia Silverstone (making her debut) just marginally overemotes as she captivates the screen with a combination of seductive flirtation and evil narcissism.

What Does Not Work As Well: The rest of the movie does not match the antagonist's potential. The mishaps become increasingly outlandish as Adrian develops far-fetched abilities to unleash wickedness on all her foes. Worse still is Nick's penchant for self-destruction by choosing the worst possible option at every turn (including skulking around Adrian's bedroom and voyeuristically hiding in her closet), and his inability to extricate himself from a clearly worsening situation (like, for example, by moving).

Key Quote:

Adrian (sarcastically): God, Amy... When I grow up I hope I can be just as smart as you.

Amy: Adrian, go play.

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