fairbrother’s Film Reviews

201 Films have been rated or reviewed by fairbrother.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): A folly so bonkers it suggests even Spielberg had a mid–80s Coke Period. The constant shrieking grates and today's PC brigade will rightly have a fit – but, credit where its due, the OTT thrills and spills are terrific fun.
Ground We Won, The (2015): I have zero passion for rugby. The Ground We Won is not about rugby, but what it means to those who play. As such it's a portrait of the human need for community and purpose – and it's quite wonderful.; DVD $24.95
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001): First act: pure Kubrick, coolly cerebral. Second act: pure Spielberg, flashy and increasingly sentimental. Third act: an awkward compromise between the two. A mixed bag, then, but interesting and ambitious.; DVD ~~$24.95~~ $18.70
Braindead (Dead Alive) (1992): An aptly titled, sweet–hearted, emphatically gross, and unbearably funny zombie cartoon strip. The climactic splatterfest, maybe the goriest ever filmed, is astonishing. Ian Watkin's Uncle Les is a beaut of a Kiwi bastard throwback.
Master, The (2012): Way too opaque for general tastes, with a final half–hour that just trails off. But Phoenix's palpable intensity, and images of enigmatic portent (gloriously shot, augmented by fine music), haunted me long afterward. See it and wonder.
Raw (Grave) (2016): A queasy, darkly comic story of transgressive maturation: Cronenbergia in the Euro–realist handheld style. It doesn't entirely add up but committed acting and a handful of stunning scenes ("bikini wax" is all I'll say) leave quite an impression.
45 Years (2015): Fine evidence that some of cinema's richest drama can be found in quiet moments, unspoken words, and implication rather than incidents. Superbly written and acted, it's emotional heft sneaked up on me, and left me haunted.
White of the Eye (1987): Shows (sick) early promise as an arty slasher, but Cammell's camerawork and editing tell us he wants to make something more. Alas, the resultant melodrama's patchy, and climaxes in laughable camp. More like "Roll of the eye".
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017): There's a faint whiff of self–conscious, writerly indulgence, especially in some of the more arch "irony" and cutesy Tarantinoesque dialogue. But entertaining, provocative, and well–acted? You bethca.
Florida Project, The (2017): My favorite American film of 2017. Wrought with a docu–realism that's tender but unsentimental, funny but never flippant, and politically conscious without preaching. A bittersweet and beautifully acted ode to life below the poverty–line.

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fairbrother’s Film Reviews