Men Behaving Badly. 'The Riot Club'.

Remember that Stewart Lee routine where he relates the tale of going to University with David Cameron and becomes the victim of a Bullingdon Club inspired prank where he is made to drink his own vomit from a champagne bucket? The story ends with the incongruous punchline: "Now that story about David Cameron is not true. But I feel what it tells us about David Cameron is."

This film is essentially the same thing.

It is adapted by Laura Wade from her play 'Posh' and it is a thoroughly effective but uncomfortable experience. It begins just as you imagine 'Harry Potter And His First Term At University' would and then becomes an excruciating-to-watch elongated dinner scene. As the wine flows, the arrogance and hedonism of this future elite spirals out of control, until the inevitable humiliation of the lower orders occurs.

When one of the toffs rants "I'm sick to fucking death of poor people" you know it isn't satire; this is how these people think, this is how they are. It is a strength of the film that it stays resolutely one sided and never becomes particularly interested in balance or attempting to redeem or apologise for these wankers. Pretty boy Miles might be more down to earth than the others and might very well condescend to be seen with a girl from Cardiff but you soon realise he is only a shade less conceited than the others and spineless too.

The theatrical origins of the piece work in the film's favour. It may largely be confined to one location but the tension is unbearable at times and the dramatic beats hit at exactly the right moments. The cast are all terrific but Sam Claflin's sociopathic Alistair is a standout, utterly devoid of any moral responsibility. Despite being a male ensemble piece, the few women that do appear are well written, have good lines and all make a believable stand in their own way against such rampant misogyny. It is always the men in this film who are impressed and awed by privilege, who want to be a part of the club.

The excesses depicted here may not be true but I feel that what it tells us about men behaving badly is. 

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? 'The Guest'

One thing you can say about 'The Guest' is that it doesn't hang about. It sets up the premise in the first scene and keeps you riveted for the remainder of the running time. Blue eyed, blonde haired angel David (Dan Stevens) ingratiates himself into the home of the Petersons by claiming to be a close friend of their enlisted son who died in action. Soon they are confiding in him and telling him their secrets and fears. He then sets about sorting all of their problems for them, Jason Bourne style, with extreme prejudice. Is he an agent for good or an agent for bad?

I loved absolutely every minute of this movie, and how often do I say that? You can relax into it early on as the filmmakers clearly know what they're doing. It has the feel of a cult movie from the 80s, a pulsating dark/gothic electro soundtrack and it is a tight, exciting blast of entertainment. Stylistically it nods its head towards John Carpenter, Walter Hill and Michael Mann. That ticks all the boxes for me! It also has a great cast, witty script and a believable screen family that keep the whole thing grounded even during its most excessive moments. There's nothing particularly new here but it doesn't feel tired, never becomes pastiche and doesn't try too hard to impress. It is just a fucking good thrill ride of a movie like they don't make any more.

It is inevitably a bit like those yuppie in peril movies that used to be so popular - 'Single White Female', 'Unlawful Entry', 'Breakdown' etc but given a contemporary twist along the lines of 'Killer Joe' or the best bits of 'Driver'. It has the pacing and feel of films like 'The Terminator' and 'The Hitcher' but best of all it is made by someone who understands and loves horror movies. This is from the team that brought us last year's 'You're Next,' which showed promise but didn't quite hit all the right notes. The climax of 'The Guest' is a horror fan's dream even though it is not a horror film per se.

Great fun, stuffed full of the stuff I love, darkly satirical and smart enough not to explain everything. It could just be my favourite B-movie of the year. Go see it.

Before I Go To ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz

*spoilers*

'Before I Go To Sleep'.

Mr Darcey turns into Papa Lazarou.

"I'm your husband."

"You're my wife now!!!!"

Here's what happens in 'Before I Go To Sleep'.

Nicole Kidman wakes up every day remembering nothing.

The filmmakers think that this is such a complicated premise that they have to go over it again and again for the first twenty minutes. Is her husband really her husband? Is her doctor really her doctor? Why have all her friends left her? Who tried to kill her?

It's the sort of thing that Hitchcock might have directed if he'd been around in the 90s. But it's not Hitchcock and it's not the 90s. This is a  psychological thriller that wouldn't look out of place as an afternoon tv movie. It might work as a book but as a film this is predictable and plodding tosh. If you can't see the twist coming then you might want to consider upping your intake of fish oils.

The palette of muted blues and greys does lend the whole thing a certain sense of domestic claustrophobia but it's no more stylish than your standard Scandi-crime drama and a lot less interesting.

Nicole Kidman is okay but underplays it to the extent that you just feel irked by her sullen confusion. As she is in every scene this soon becomes a problem. It's also one of those films where you can almost hear the direction behind the camera. She swivels her eyes left, she swivels her eyes right, she looks down, she looks up and cries. She sits on a bed, she looks at a camera, she looks at photos, she talks on the phone - that's about it for the first hour. You might want to take some sweets.

sit and stare

 sit and stare

 sit and stare

 talk and stare

Colin Firth underplays it too but has more nuance to his performance. Mark Strong sits in a car and talks doctor talk. He's nowhere near as creepy as I think we're supposed to think he is.

It all becomes so dull that every time a car passes the screen the filmmakers feel the need to turn it into a big jump scare.

On the plus side it is polished enough to work, has some sudden and well handled explosions of violence and is pleasantly diverting enough. But it is also a wearisome bore, with a twist so obvious you think "is that it?" and start picking holes in it all through the tediously stretched out ending. 

Before I Go To Sleep. Snoozefest.

Bright Lights, Shit City. Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For.

There are eight million stories in the city....

Unfortunately 'Sin City 2' seems to know only two. One is about the angel/whore who manipulates broken men to kill for her to suit her own ends. The other one is about a broken man seeking revenge or seeking respect who gets out of his depth. That's it. That's all you're getting for your money in Sin City no matter what you might hear about four or five plot lines crossing over with each other. None of the stories are complex, interesting or surprising.

When 'Sin City' came out I was conflicted. The adult in me hated it as a nasty, misogynistic, piss poor imitation of film noir. But the adolescent in me loved it as a thrilling, stylish slice of hardboiled entertainment.

With 'Sin City 2' the adult in me hated it as a misogynistic, unimaginative, piss poor imitation of 'Sin City' whilst the adolescent in me hated it as a boring, unexciting let down. In short your enjoyment of this will primarily depend on how much you enjoying seeing Eva Green's tits, or her CGI manipulated tits in black and white or how much you enjoy seeing Jessica Alba grinding sexlessly away as an erotic dancer with a gun. There's nothing else going on to hold your interest.

The original 'Sin City' at the very least had a desire to push boundaries for on-screen violence as a raison d'etre. It may not have been commendable but it was an end unto itself. There's nothing here as disturbing as Elijah Wood's silent demise at the hands of Marv in the first film. There's nothing as fucked up as the 'That Yellow Bastard' plot-line. The sequel feels reigned in, pointless and unnecessary. Even Eva Green's gratuitous nudity and sex scenes seem a watered down facsimile of her scenes in the similarly minded '300: Rise Of An Empire'.

I like Robert Rodriguez but this is the worst thing he's ever done. Come on man - you're better than this. First time out, you just knew he was enthused with a passion for telling stories in a striking way via technology, but this doesn't build on the first film visually at all. I saw it in 3D but no amount of rain or snow or smoke billowing about in every scene can disguise the fact that there is nothing new to the mix here. The aesthetic wears thin really quickly. If he wanted to make a sequel he should have done it years ago. The fire has gone for this project. Maybe that's what happens if you hang around Frank Miller too long; the 'intelligence' behind '300' and an artist in creative free fall for the past 25 years.

It's not film noir. It's film shit.

Tomb Raider - As Above So Below.

A sexy archaeologist lady runs around Paris solving cryptic clues that might lead to the infamous alchemist Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone which is  buried in a secret tomb somewhere in the catacombs beneath the city. So far so 'Lara Jones and The Philosopher's Stone Code'. It's great stuff, very enjoyable hokum but not much of a horror movie until we actually do go below the streets and into the labyrinth of tunnels laden with bones and skulls. The film exploits this setting to the max and becomes as nightmarishly claustrophobic and intense as 'The Descent'. I swear there were times when I forgot to breathe.

"Sous les pavés, la plage!" ("Under the cobblestones, the beach!") said the graffiti of the May '68 protests. 'Beneath the pavements - the horror!' could be the slogan for this film. Repressed memories, secrets and fears work against the characters in this film as much as physical confinement and time running out. 

The only way is down for these fools and the further they descend the more surreal it all becomes. Shifting geometries, impossible occurrences and madness seek to confound and torture them more.

It builds and builds, gets weirder and weirder and reaches a fever pitch. The ending when it comes is too abrupt. It's disorientating but strangely underwhelming. Worse still, there's an unnecessary epilogue which just dissipates any remaining feelings of horror. The ride stops too early and the climax is allowed to fizzle out but even so, there is still much to commend this film.

There's a proactive female lead who doesn't scream, doesn't need rescuing and she can keep her head when all about her are losing theirs. Unfortunately it goes for movie cliche #1 by having the black guy die first.

The found footage format is used well and is less distracting than normal for this type of film. It helps that all the characters legitimately have cameras fixed to their helmets. It gives us a good array of angles and points of view. The sound design gets a big thumbs up too as it was a big part of why it worked so well. Hearing distant rockfalls, boulders grinding against each other, whispers and eerie winds was a big part of placing you in situ.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot. It's a low budget horror with a weak ending that still manages to trump the big budget releases with an interesting premise, great location and a variety of scares and thrills.