Naked (1993)

Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Greg Cruttwell, Peter Wight, Ewen Bremner, Susan Vidler, Claire Skinner
Certificate: 18
Genre: Drama
Awards: None


Naked may be one of the most underrated films in the history of cinema. Everything about it is just great. The dark british film is one for the history books...

The film follows Johnny (Thewlis). After a street-side rape, he flees Manchester and ends up in London. Here he calls upon ex-girlfriend, Louise (Sharp). He stays there for a while before braving the streets of the dark city.

The story is more of an odyssey than an actual story as Johnny's journey takes us from character to character. The brilliant Thewlis brings it all together. His rantings on god and the universe are a wonder to behold. We don't know if Johnny believes anything he says or whether he just wants to rile people up. His behaviour does seem self-destructive, yet he is able to bully everyone via his well read mind which confuses and confudles even the most open-minded people.

The thing is, even though Johnny is a mad rapist, the audience cannot help siding with him. His arguments are so well thought out, he starts to make sense to us as we become more and more entwined world. This is almost surrealism dressed up to look like kitchen-sink realism.

Although the film is dark and depressing, it does have a comic side. Johnny superiority to all inevitably includes a few jokes at the victims expense and we can't help but laugh even if we feel guilty at the same time.

The one gripe I have with the film is the use of the antagonist Jeremy (Cruttwell). He is shown almost at the beginning even though he does not become part of Johnny or Louise's story until about two thirds through the film. Although the performance is fine, it's just irritating to have to cut back to him when Johnny is so captivating.

Naked is an absolutely brilliant film with one of the best performances I have ever seen, coming from David Thewlis. This is career high and it's a real shame that he wasn't nominated for an oscar. Perhaps if Mike Leigh had been as well known as he is now, all would be different.

******Genius

Crimewave (1985)

Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Reed Birney, Sheree J. Wilson, Brion James, Paul J. Smith, Louise Lasser, Bruce Campbell, Edward R. Pressman
Certificate: PG
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Awards: None

Crimewave is Sam Raimi's whacky comedy made between Evil Dead and its sequel. Its story consists of a nerdy security guard (Birney) trying to get the girl of his dreams (Wilson). However, due to an assassination plot, two murderous rodent exterminators get involved as things start to get silly.

Raimi's effects have always been a bit weird. In the Evil Dead series and Darkman, they give the films a charm that makes you want to see more of the same style. Crimewave, on the other hand, is a mess. It seems that it is supposed to be a mess, but that doesn't make it any better. Cackling, cartoonish villains, boring love story and all but a few unfunny lines makes this a particularly bad film.

There are some good bits. Bruce Campbell makes a great little character, while the stylisation of film noir is done superbly.

It's surprising how the film turned out considering the talent behind the story. Raimi collaborated with the Coen brothers for the script and it's shocking how bad it is. This is by far the worst Raimi film I have seen so far. Very disappointing.

**Pretty Bad

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Director: Alan Taylor
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddlestone, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings, Christopher Ecclestone, Idris Elba, Chris O'Dowd
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards: None

So it's been a year after the events of The Avengers, and it's time to see how our favourite norse god is doing. Other than moping over his human girlfriend, he seems to be okay, creating peace throughout the nine realms and all that.

Meanwhile, Jane Foster (Portman) is stuck on earth and - other than moping over her alien boyfriend - she seems to be doing okay. However, when she finds a portal to another dimension, she accidentally activates a special weapon called the eather that possesses her while also waking up Malekith (Christopher Elf-eston) and his army of dark elves who want to bring the world back into darkness. Oops...

So the two get back together and go to Thor's place for some Asgardian operation to get rid of the eather. However, with Malekith on their tales, Thor has to ask for help from the one he trusts the least - His brother Loki (Hiddlestone)

Like Iron Man 3, Thor 2 (or is it 3? does The Avengers count?) is filled with humour. Although Loki gets the big laughs, almost all of the human cast get a few funny lines. This a complete contrast to our main baddie. Malekith is an underused, underdeveloped villain who could have been so much better. Ecclestone is a good actor, but the film is too focused on Loki to give anything for him to do.

That said, this is the film that won me over to Loki's character. In The Avengers, he seemed too smug to like. But now he has been behind bars and is really a prisoner, he seems more of an ankle biting, playful brother to Thor: the brooding hero.

Thor 2 is a darker chapter in the character's story and is better because of it. Garish CGI Asgard is swapped for gritty CGI Asgard while dreary London replaces sunny Mexico. But the humour keeps the mood up as things get smashed up. Thor 2 is a step up from the original and miles more enjoyable than The Avengers (which I feel is the weakest of the Marvel universe films).

****Good

The Cat Returns (2002)

Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Tim Curry, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Andrew Bevis, Judy Greer
Certificate: U
Genre: Fantasy, Animation, Comedy
Awards: None

The Cat Returns is a film by studio Ghibli, famous for My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away, and has the same immense imagination as its predeccesors. After Haru (Hathaway) saves a cat from being hit by traffic, she finds out that the cat is a prince of the cat world. The cats therefore "reward" Haru by taking her to the cat world to marry the prince. Understandably, Haru isn't exactley happy about this and - following the advice of a voice - she seeks help at the cat buro where she meets the Baron (Elwes) and his friends who decide to help her out of her predicament.

As expected, The Cat Returns is as eccentric as anything made by the studio. It has a very enthralling charm about it and it's full of entertaining characters and sequences including a labyrinth with walking walls.

However, it is one of the shortest Ghibli films I have seen, lasting only 75 minutes while most are close to 2 hours. A lot more could of done with the labyrinth and the Baron's character, but the length does make it feel like a little adventure compared to Spirited Away which takes place over numerous days so it does give it a sense of time.

If you like the vast imagination of studio Ghibli, The Cat Returns will certainty tick your boxes. I watched the english dub version so I don't know if the original voices are better but the english version holds up well.

****Good