Category: Film Review

The Danish Girl (2016) Showing Sunday 18th September 

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Director: Tom Hooper 

Running time: 2 hours 

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw.

Tom Hooper once again makes a film which I assume I won’t like and yet I’m proven wrong. First it was The Kings Speech, now it’s Thee Danish Girl. Eddie Redmayne was fabulous in Hawking and yet terrible in Jupiter Ascending. Thankfully he is very good as Einer Wegener who is asked to help out for his wife Gerda, played by Alicia Vikander, as a model who can’t make the final sitting, in order for Gerda to complete her life painting. The feel of the stockings and dress hems and lace awakens something buried deep inside him. This gives birth to a female version of his character who, with Gerda’s help, brings Lilly to life. Soon enough though, Lilly is around more than Einer and when Gerda tries to ask for her husband back, it seems there’s little of him to show. Based on one of the earliest accounts of a transgender operation, this is an emotional roller coaster and one which will have you debating with yourself and others what the right thing to do is. I felt Einer’s plight and struggle early on but began to feel strongly for Gerda too until you just want both to have their way. 

To be honest, Redmayne often looks like man in dress and lipstick, while other times he emotes femininity convincingly while not just simply mincing about the place. While Einer and Lilly are strongly portrayed, it’s Vikander’s 

Journey that I was pulled along with. Two strong actors who at times felt as though they were in a play to me rather than a movie. 

But there’s a weight to the choices made here as you invest in the couple. Also the movie touches on the doctors who analyse Einer and come up with some frightening conclusions. 

An important portrayal of a huge step in changes in society which is nowadays much much less of an issue. While it’s important to be yourself and you have that right, what cost to those around you and does your desire outweigh theirs? 


C Whitehouse 2016

Finding Dory (2016) film review. 

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Director: Andrew Stanton

Running Time: 1 hour 37. 

Cast: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olsen, Hayden Rolence, Dianne Keaton, Eugene Levy. 

Pixar are back on top form after the oddity of Monsters University and Cars 2 (and in my opinion Toy Story 3) proved that they find sequels much more of a challenge. Andrew Stanton shows his strengths through story telling as this tender, charming and slightly sad movie plays with its audience like an old friend returning. Dory’s story naturally concentrates on her short term memory loss and her bright and cheery persona. You think she’s cute as an adult? Wait to see her as a kid! Nemo and Marlin are involved in this tale and the original movie even plays out again for a minute near the start. There are a small handful of repeat characters from Nemo’s adventure but that makes sense because of the micro society in which the fish live. But the story pulls our little team across the ocean again but this time it’s the lure of Dory’s parents which sets the journey in motion. The title Finding Dory is a tad misleading but all for the better as its good to not expect what’s coming. There’s a new star in town too as Hank the Septopus boosts the movie action as he interacts with Dory whilst on his own great adventure. Naturally the animation and writing is great but taking centre stage is the emotion. This movie has a melancholy tone because we feel deeply for our cheery blue star and care about her when she’s sad. Haters may say it plays too closely to Finding Nemo in the progression of deep sea to action set pieces to similar climax locations but I felt it all made sense. Nice use of Pixar voice favourites and good use of a big cinema star as herself which I didn’t see on the horizon. 


The heartfelt plight of Dory and the different types of sea life and their set personalities makes for a lovely sequel to enjoy again and again. 

Pixar may have submerged momentarily but here they float once again to the top. 


C Whitehouse 2016 

The Neon Demon (2016)

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Director: Nicolas Winding Refn 

Running time: 2 hours

Cast: Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Keanu Reeves, Christina Henricks, Karl Glusman. 

I had every fibre of my being wanting to like Nicolas Winding Refn’s movie Only God Forgives with Ryan Gosling starring. But ultimately I knew it was not something I fully enjoyed at all, in fact much of it, I simply endured. I feared that this vapid arty look at modelling and the value of beauty would be worse. 

There are many haters for this movie and I fully accept that many will find this slow motion, slow dialogue, long shot and out of body experience of a film to be like a bad migraine. But I have to admit I was captivated. Elle Fanning has mesmerised me since Super 8. She is perfectly cast newbie Jesse entering the modelling world in Los Angeles. The film delivers like the best work of David Lynch with its horrors and emotional strains being set to an unsettling musical score. The film is shot partly in a palette of rich colours to highlight the models fake plastic world which they inhabit. Winding Refn claims to be colour blind and only see contrast but I have no idea if that’s true. It would explain why he makes such artistic looking films. Maybe we should watch them with the colour set to black and a white to get the full benefit. 

But between the shiny clever- clever directed phases, there’s a straight forward style of film to be found where the characters try and lead a life out of the glare of a camera. Another touch stone would be the excellent Black Swan which was also partially demented and just as weirdly rewarding. 

I think if you are prepared for the almost supernatural eeriness of the Neon Demon then you may find something to enjoy. Put it this way, if you don’t like the first ten minutes then it’s not for you. Jena Malone co stars along with Keanu Reeves who both lend an interesting weight to proceedings and have both a history in the off centre kind of movies where reality is skewed. I’m thinking or Sucker Punch for Malone and A Scanner Darkly for Reeves, both of which I adore.

If you’ve managed to watch the classic Eraserhead all the way through then I have high hopes you’ll find some gold here. 



C Whitehouse 2016 

The Purge: Election Year (2016) 

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Director: James DeMonaco

Running time: 1 hr 46mins 

Cast: Frank Griilo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Myketti Williamson, Joseph Soria, Terry Serpico. 

Frank Grillo stars yet again as Leo who is now head of security for a senator played by Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell. It just so happens that this is the first year that nobody is exempt from the purge so security is heightened. For those who didn’t know, the purge is an annual day where killing is legalised for twelve hours so that society can let off steam. It sounded ludicrous for the first film but I’ve grown accepting of it. Naturally things go bad and Frank and the senator end up on the streets. Come on, that’s not a spoiler, it would be rubbish if that didn’t happen. Also making an appearance is Bubba from Forest Gump, Myketti Williamson who runs a store and gets dragged into the conflicts. This time we have a baddie who is fashioned on some sort of nazi thug and to be honest she doesn’t get enough screen time. Outside of the protecting the senator thread we get further glimpses of the gangs on the streets and there tactics on the streets. The whole political angle wasn’t exactly where I wanted things to go for film three but I’ll take it. It’s true that this is the weakest one to date but I still feel it keeps its head above water. There’s blood and fighting and a cult of sorts so what more do you need for a good purge? 


C Whitehouse 2016

Sausage Party (2016) a film review. 

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Director: Greg Tiernan

Running time: 90 mins. 

Cast : So many, please take a look at the top of the poster. 

The plot for Sausage Party is irrelevant, but since you ask, the food stuffs of a supermarket long to be bought by the gods (humans) and look forward to the paradise that awaits. Seth Rogan’s sausage, Frank learns that the gods actual mean to kill and eat them and wants to save his food friends from this fate. 

That is unimportant. All you need to know is that sexualised foods swear almost every sentence and explicitly talk about it. The cast is top notch but they are just making a comedy which is odd rather than humorous. There’s drug taking and more swearing than I’ve ever witnessed in a movie until now. It all seems rather throw away until the last fifteen minutes which features something I’ve honestly never seen on screen before. I chuckled along but couldn’t really see a point to it all besides trying to shock. I don’t really know what else to say. It’s a bit of a head scratcher.  

C Whitehouse 2016

A throw away movie for teenagers or stoners. 

Flimsy fun but mildly entertaining. 

David Brent: Life On The Road 2016 (a film review) 

On By cwhitehouse13In Film Review, Picture House Screening1 Comment


Director: Ricky Gervais

Running Time: 1 hour 36

Cast: Ricky Gervais, Doc Brown. 


Although I class myself as a Ricky Gervais fan, there’s a lot of stuff of his which I don’t like. That said, Brent is my favourite character he’s done. This film crew follows Brent’s attempt to do a few self funded gigs which he refers to as a tour, but his reluctant band mates see as just any excuse to play. The movie follows Brent which highlights his questionable lyrics, irritating persona to be around and blind faith that he’s going to get signed. 

At first I thought the setting of him being in an office of reps surrounded by carbon copies of Lucy the secretary, Gareth the sycophant and a watered down bunch of the other stars of The Office was a misstep. But by the end I somewhat preferred that to seeing him die on stage so many times. 

Even that gripe has to be ruled out though as this is about his musical endeavours. 

So is it funny? I laughed consistently and feel this is as good as the recent Alan Partridge movie. You may not. 

The use of Doc Brown as his part time rapper who has more talent in his baseball cap was a good move as it breaks up the threat of too much Brent. 

I enjoyed this through the squirming embarrassment and awkwardness that David Brent brings. 
The emotional journey is bang on as you want him to succeed and feel deflated when he’s down and elated when he gets good news. 

A really sweet, funny film which celebrates the idiot who want better things regardless of being low on talent. 
(See also, Britain’s Got Talent)  


C Whitehouse 2016. 

The Shallows (2016) a film review 

On By cwhitehouse13In Film Review1 Comment

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Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Running time: 80 mins 

Cast: Blake Lively, Oscar Jaenada, 


Nancy, played by Blake Lively finds the perfect beach to surf with its picturesque white sands and it’s clear waters. Oh and it’s shark. Stranded 200 yards from the shore, Nancy and the shark play cat and mouse together their own way. 

At a cool 80 minutes or so this little action horror manages to keep things fresh when there’s limited ways for things to play out. I would say it rides the line of movie shark rather than real shark as the fight draws to its crescendo. Until that point though, I felt myself pulling my legs close to my chair as I rooted for the plight of Nancy. 

There’s been a handful of shark water movies since Spielberg made his classic in the late 70’s but this one feels it’s succeeds where many others don’t. There’s a sense of realism, for the most part and I like the modern use of social media and the way filmmakers integrate the media onto the screen for our reading. There’s too much slow motion in the first half and it is mostly taking in Blake Lively’s body which while admittedly is something she should be proud of, made me feel a little uncomfortable in its voyeurism. 

Put this on if you want a little suspenseful fun. 


C Whitehouse 2016 


Pete’s Dragon (2016) a film review. 

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Director: David Lowery

Running time: 1 hour 42mins. 

Cast : Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oakes Fegley, Oona Laurence, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban. 


Young Pete is orphaned as a 5 year old while on a woodland trip and he is brought up Tarzan style by a dragon. Disney’s live action version update is well cast and I was a little shocked to see Robert Redford acting in this, when it’s already got Bryce Dallas Howard as a woodland ranger called Grace. Grace discovers Pete as he’s been living in the woodland for many years. A child couldn’t have survived so long alone so who helped him? 

We know it’s a dragon but the adult in me was often questioning the logic how he would have survived even with a dragon, even one who could fly, breathe fire and turn invisible. 

The dragon is more of a hairy green puppy but that said it’s pretty seamless as it blends into the live action. I was impressed with how I couldn’t notice a jarring join. Oakes Fegley is Pete and he himself handles the role just fine it’s just that he’s written to not know what a balloon is after not having seen one for six years, or Windows for that matter. 

There were a bunch of moments like that where my logic struggled with the plausibility. But then I only had to look at my sons face as we rooted for Karl Urban not to locate ‘Elliot’ the large furry pal. 

The way that Pete seems to imprint on Elliot is never fully explained and yet there’s an undeniable bond. Which made it all the more surprising when Pete too easily adopts a human family life for a spell mid movie and seems to have moved on from his winged friend. 

Naturally the movie has a varnish of schmaltz and family lessons of unity to teach. But it kept me guessing as to the outcome. Would Pete choose returning to humanity or believe Elliot to be his family now? 

Would he ever get a haircut? What did Elliot eat? 


There are pulls at the heartstrings and moments of elation which make for a gentle journey for all the family to enjoy. A magical tale for those of us who still know what it is to want to own our own Falkor from THE NEVERENDING STORY. 

Speaking of similar films, the feral boy motif flys too close to Tarzan and The Jungle Book plus How To Train Your Dragon is still up and running. So it’s not exactly fresh ground. But I preferred this to The BFG. 


Family values in a family film, Disney playing to their strengths. 



C Whitehouse 2016. 


Jason Bourne (2016) a film review. 

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Director: Paul Greengrass

Running time: 2 hours 3 mins. 

Cast: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassell, Julia Stiles, Riz Ahmed. 


Jason Bourne is back to uncover truths about his past. Sound familiar? Yes Matt Damon is back again and Paul Greengrass returning to direct does indeed raise expectations. Plus with Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander and Vincent Cassel added to the list, which also includes the return of Julia Stiles and there’s all the ingredients of another hit. But alas the concoction is merely satisfactory in all departments. I sat through the thin story which is just Bourne blabbing on about Treadstone, Black Frier or something and his past in hushed tones once more. I actually cared very little. Even Bourne says he knows everything of interest about his past. But this spy type action dusts itself off and yet doesn’t revel in action, dialogue or suspense. I felt like I left the cinema with nothing more than I’d entered with. Even Riz Ahmed was underused. Maybe there were too many charters at play? I don’t really know but it just felt like it was waffling on retreading what we have already seen enough of. 

Totally forgettable apart from being reduced to the one known as ‘The one with Tommy Lee Jones in’. 


C Whitehouse 2016


Star Trek Beyond (2016) film review 

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Director: Justin Lin

Running time: 2 hours. 

Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urben, Zoe Salanda, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba. 


This rebooted Star Trek franchise has finally done the thing which it secretly hoped to do, that is make me me think “maybe I should go back and watch some of the tv series”. The new cast now fell bedded in and oddly Chris Pine now sounds more Shatner than ever. I’m a sucker for a scene where we get to observe what an alien metropolis functions like and recently I got his same thing in Guardians Of The Galaxy, Elysium and now this. This delivers on the different alien environment front and also plays it right down the formulaic route of ‘chase the maguffin’ while evolving the team dynamic. The story follows a Marvel movies direction of baddie wants some thing you have and they need outsmarting. In a way it’s stuck in a box when it’s enemies all look Klingon and your teleporting out of certain death scenarios but other than that I still enjoyed the interplay between the crew a lot. Certain scenes had shaky cam and too fast fighting which left me staring at blurring images which I didn’t follow but others had well paced enjoyable action pieces which I could relish in. I do wish it would put down its nostalgia for the original series’ cast though. 

I really buy into the Spock/Kirk friendship these days and tha is played upon here even as new bad guy Krall throws obstacles at the guys. Idris Elba was unrecognisable to me until half way in under all the prosthetics but once I realised it was him, it was obvious. A colourful and action packed space adventure which was just what I wanted. 

I’m still not a Trekker but I will dig deeper. 


C Whitehouse 2016