Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins excel in the best screen version of the famous mutiny. — Arguably the most famous mutiny in history, the notorious story of HMS Bounty, and the clash of Lieutenant William Bligh and Fletcher Christian circa 1789, has often captured the imaginations of filmmakers. Charles Chauvel’s docudrama In the Wake of the Bounty (1933) was notable mainly as it featured the debut…

An immersive, claustrophobic, heart-wrenching depiction of childhood law of the jungle from director Laura Wandel. — Playground, a Belgian film from director Laura Wandel, has a mere 72-minute running time. Proof, if ever any were needed, that length has no bearing on depth, complexity, or overall brilliance. …

Why I prefer to visit the cinema alone, and the circumstances in which I agree to companionship. — Heather Anderson Kokx recently wrote this splendid piece celebrating her return to the famous Alamo Drafthouse (a wonderful cinematic venue, by all accounts). In her article, Heather also mentioned an experience with a badly behaved cinema companion, who proceeded to natter at her throughout the entire film. Said experience did…

Mark Wahlberg impresses in an uneven but engaging biopic of Father Stuart Long. — There have been a lot of sneering reviews of this fact-based, faith-positive tale of Father Stuart Long. Frankly, much of this appears to be prejudice concerning the Christian subject matter, and an ungenerous attitude towards the casting of Mel Gibson, about which more in a moment. What is fair to…

Cult status pretty much guaranteed, but this relentless creative cacophony lost me around the halfway mark. — For about an hour or so, I thought I’d wind up loving Everything Everywhere All At Once. It features an agreeably high concept scenario, a tour de force central performance from Michelle Yeoh, inspired direction from Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (who made Swiss Army Man), plus a surplus of…

Is Tony Scott’s 1986 smash hit as great as some claim? — One film generally beloved by my fellow Generation X-ers is Top Gun. When speaking to anyone my age, mention Top Gun, and you invariably get a nostalgia-infused response of “classic film”. But is it truly an iconic classic, or merely a product of its time? I’ve seen the film more…

Oscar-winning brilliance from John Barry, John Williams, and Gabriel Yared. — I was recently asked to name my favourite music score from each decade since the coming of sound in cinema. For a while, I was on a roll. 1930s: Erich Wolfgang Korngold for The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). 1940s: Max Steiner for Casablanca (1942). 1950s: Bernard Herrmann for Vertigo…

Parents, church leaders, and spouse were not impressed. — Call me a sadist, but I often get a kick out of watching people being terrified by films. This dubious dark streak dates back to my teenage years when my younger brothers were sometimes scared by my celluloid suggestions, much to the dismay of my parents. As for my own…

A recently deceased man is harassed by ghostly political campaigners whilst attempting to haunt his family. — I didn’t expect to be harassed by a ghost campaigning for political office, but that’s exactly what happened the moment I died. The peculiar incident occurred as I rested near the summit of Helvellyn, in the Lake District. Having clambered along the rocky ridge of Striding Edge on a crisp…