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A monster does more walking than talking. Theres another hotel (of the exotic marigold variety). Channing Tatum enters interplanetary politics. Yes, heres this fortnights new DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Click on for our reviews of It Follows, Too Much Johnson, Falstaff, The Immortal Story, Mona Lisa, Hawk The Slayer, The Halas & Batchelor Short Film Collection, Jupiter Ascending, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, A Letter To Three Wives, Two Men In Town, Focus, Hue And Cry, Cake, Force Majeure and Still Alice. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
IT FOLLOWS
Inspired by a recurring nightmare that plagued him as a child, writer/director David Robert Mitchells It Follows is, like his youth, rooted in the 70s and early 80s: its insidiously mobile camera and unnerving synth score are versed in John Carpenters earlier, scarier movies, while key scenes, themes and ideas pay specific homage to Wes Cravens A Nightmare On Elm Street. Given the glut of film critics who are of a similar age to Mitchell and harbour the same formative cinematic experiences, its little wonder that It Follows was declared an instant masterpiece. Here are widescreen images, beautifully composed and cut, that understand the finer points of crafting suspense, while the characters arent smartarses and actually care for each other. This is a movie that looks to a time prior to postmodern snark, soulless remakes, tasteless torture porn and seesawing found-footage movies, and while its not, as some have claimed, the greatest horror film of the 21st century, it is quality genre fare, classically constructed. Mitchells nightmare begins with a dream date for its 19-year-old heroine, Jay (Maika Monroe), but her fun evening with a seemingly sweet, slightly older guy darkens abruptly when she learns that she has contracted a curse. She will now be followed by a shape-shifting It that will not stop, ever, until she is dead, or at least has sex to pass It on (but even then It can work Its way back down the chain, one death at a time). Jays pursuer will sometimes camouflage Itself as one she loves, sometimes sidle up as a nondescript stranger, and sometimes appear as an appalling vision of heart-stopping terror, but one thing is certain: wherever Jay is, It is making Its shambling, implacable way towards her. Initially set in the tree-lined suburbs of Michigan where Mitchell grew up before migrating into desolate, derelict regions of Detroit, It Follows occupies an off-kilter landscape that is at once strange and familiar: dreamlike. The cameras creeping movements are both sinuous and insidious, while meticulous framing encourages the viewer to rummage into not just the corners of the screen but also the deepest background a blot in the distance might just keep on getting bigger until Its unblinking eyes can be seen to be fixed on Jay. Everything is made more peculiar still by the almost complete absence of adults and the fluidity of the era: items of clothing and Jays TV are from the 60s; landlines, huge-lensed spectacles, and Polaroid photos suggest the 80s; one of Jays friends is forever on her Kindle. Similarly, the It that does the following is an amalgamation of old and new: slasher icons Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers are resurrected by Its unhurried, relentless progress; Its foot-dragging advancement is pure zombie; and Its frequently darkeyed, lank-haired appearance recalls the ghouls of J-Horror (never more so than when one apparition leaks urine as it closes in on Jay). And yet this is a fresh threat, ingenious in premise and so unstoppable that Mitchell himself has trouble finding a way to satisfyingly close his picture. There are other niggles, too, with the sexual politics at once progressive and reactionary for once, teens arent judged for having sex and Jay is as free as any boy to exercise her libido, yet you also only get in this mess by having intercourse while some of Its tactics make little sense. But then dreams are illogical too. So while appearing as a naked man stood on a neighbouring roof isnt the most practical route to Jay, why let rationale spoil such a memorable klaxon-scare? As the object of Its monomaniacal hunt, Monroe, after so impressing in Adam Wingards the Guest, here proves shes the Scream Queen du jour. Strong, vulnerable, smart, she makes for an engaging heroine who is rightly surrounded by supportive friends to watch over her, though any sense of protection is cleverly stripped away by having her face It in a succession of exposing outfits: hospital gowns, swimsuits, underwear, PJs. Voyeurism, as youd expect in a movie about stalking, and in which remaining observant is crucial to your survival, is a major theme, and Monroes career trajectory will surely be one to watch. Given the many talking points, bonus materials are slight, with Mitchell and Monroe nowhere to be seen. Still, the commentary by writer/film critic Danny Leigh and film/TV prof Mark Jancovich is astute, hot on identifying motifs (water plays a vital role throughout) and eager to splash through the Freudian dread that drenches the entire movie. And an interview with composer Rich Vreerland aka Disasterpeace breaks down the melancholic unpredictable bombastic noisemongering a welcome extra given his score is one of the most memorable of recent years. EXTRAS: > Commentary > Interview Director: David Robert Mitchell Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi Blu-ray release: 29 June 2015 Jamie Graham
TOO MUCH JOHNSON/FALSTAFF/THE IMMORTAL STORY
Orson Welles filmography is famously littered with fragments: movies unfinished, lost, impounded, mutilated by unappreciative studios. Every so often some legendary missing footage shows up, to the excitement of cinephiles. One such trove was recently revealed at the Pordenone film festival: Too Much Johnson. Not a feature, but the silent-movie, slapstick-style footage Welles prepared for a 1938 mixed-media production of William Gillettes classic 19th-century farce. Film footage was intended to preface each of the three staged acts, but the idea proved unworkable and the production flopped. What we evidently have here are the outtakes, so theyre tediously repetitive. Still, to see the tyro director, three years before Citizen Kane, experimenting with tilts, angles and camera movement is fascinating as is the sight of Joseph Cotten, playing an adulterous lover, taking near-suicidal risks as he teeters on high buildings or is pursued round New Yorks Meatpacking District by a jealous husband (Edgar Barrier, with villainous tache), all to a lively piano accompaniment. Also released is Welles last-but-one feature, The Immortal Story, made for French TV from a story by Karen Blixen, with Orson as a rich Macao merchant trying to play God. Its slight but haunting, with Jeanne Moreau affecting as a hooker, but the gem of this trio is Falstaff (aka Chimes At Midnight). Chunks of five Shakespeare plays are skilfully spliced to showcase Welles majestic portrayal of the eponymous fat knight as the old England, dying and betrayed. Disc-wise, The Immortal Story is marred by a grainy soundtrack and somewhat meanly, theres not a single extra on any of the three platters. EXTRAS: > None Director: Orson Welles Blu-ray release: 29 June 2015 Philip Kemp
MONA LISA
I want to live in a world where the songs come true, says Bob Hoskins in Dennis Potters Pennies From Heaven. Its that same simpleminded yearning that (literally) drives his multi-award-winning performance as lovelorn chauffeur George in Mona Lisa. Focusing on the complex relationship between Hoskins and elegant call girl Simone (an astonishing debut from Cathy Tyson, all enigmatic stillness and locked-in anguish), it encompasses such biggies as race, class, the brutal reality of vice and, as director Neil Jordan says in a new interview included among the extras, how men misunderstand women. Yet this sad, lonely and peculiarly beautiful noir not to mention unwitting elegy for a fast-vanishing Soho (albeit a side many might wish to forget) is never entirely overwhelmed by its heartbreaking subject matter. Indeed, Jordan and screenwriter David Leland do let occasional sunlight in: with its allusions to The Frog Prince and Babes In The Wood, its white rabbits and dwarves, there are even traces of the fairytale romanticism that marked Jordans previous film, The Company Of Wolves. Romanticism, not fantasy: four years later, Richard Gere would treat Julia Roberts adorable sex worker to a Beverly Hills shopping spree. Here, its brittle Simone who buys George a new suit the better to assist her high-class cover. Representing the flipside of such social mobility is evil vice boss Mortwell (Michael Caine), using shattered girls, barely out of their childhoods, as pawns, commodities and stepping stones. Caines remarkable cameo may be just 10 minutes in total, but he leaves his sweaty prints all over this Brit-film classic. EXTRAS: > Commentary > Interview Director: Neil Jordan Starring: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Caine Blu-ray release: 6 July 2015 Ali Catterall
HAWK THE SLAYER
Hawk The Slayer as was once noted on Spaced is rubbish. And it really is: a fantasy caught in an awkward adolescence of fetishised magical objects (The Mind Sword!) and sub-Tolkien gangs of men, elves and dwarves riding through dry ice to a disco soundtrack. Roy Kinnear turns up in a bit part to show the leads and their clanging American accents how its done with humour and humanity but everything else is bland self-importance and low-budget cringe. If theres value beyond a bump of nostalgia, its well hidden. Extras offer raw rushes of on-set interviews. EXTRAS: > Gallery > Interviews > Trailer Director: Terry Marcel Starring: Jack Palance, John Terry, Bernard Bresslaw BD release: 6 July 2015 Nathan Ditum
THE HALAS & BATCHELOR SHORT FILM COLLECTION
From the 1940s onwards, the husband-and-wife team of John Halas and Joy Batchelor were Britains leading animators. While best remembered for Animal Farm, they also created over 2,000 shorts, out of which this disc presents 18. Witty, sparky and endlessly inventive, they tirelessly adapted their approach to the material. Stand-outs include the romantic The Owl And The Pussycat, the joyous Hamilton The Musical Elephant, and the classical-music farce of Tales From Hoffnung. EXTRAS: > Documentary > Featurettes > Image gallery > TV programmes Directors: John Halas, Joy Batchelor BD release: 6 July 2015 Philip Kemp
JUPITER ASCENDING
For all their pioneering FX whizz, the Wachowskis are dragging their heels at thrilling, innovative storytelling. Tackling a space epic post-John Carter should be daring, but the siblings cheesy myth-mash of Flash Gordon (Jupiter Ah-ah-scending?) and fairytale is merely deadening. As Mila Kunis cleaner uncovers her sci-fried destiny, exposition and excess override pace and excitement. The FX are so OTT they make Eddie Redmaynes ludicrously decadent space villain Voldemort via Ming The Merciless look like restraint incarnate. Only a likeable Channing Tatum and his space-skater boots summon the levity required: pity he looks like a Starlight Express extra, mind. Solid extras. EXTRAS: > Featurettes Directors: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski Starring: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean Blu-ray release: 29 June 2015 Kevin Harley
THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
Second best is right. John Maddens well-intentioned but largely unnecessary sequel adds little to the 2011 original beyond a few cast newbies Richard Gere, Tamsin Grieg and an even more manic turn from Dev Patel as Indias most cartoonishly incompetent hotel owner. Will he get to open a second haven for western oldsters while still finding time to perfect his Bollywood-themed wedding dance? If you cant guess the answer youre the ideal audience for a genteel crowd-pleaser whose exotic sights cant hold a candle to Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. Extras include the inevitable filming in India puff piece (called, um, Filming In India). EXTRAS: > Featurettes Director: John Madden Starring: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel Blu-ray release: 29 June 2015 Neil Smith
A LETTER TO THREE WIVES
Ironic comedy, mordant social satire, literate witty dialogue Letter was the first film Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve, Cleopatra) truly made his own. About to head off on a May Day school picnic, three New England wives receive a letter from a local siren telling them shes run off with one of their husbands so all day they must agonise over which it is. Cue three long flashbacks before we reach the final twist ending. Talky, sure but when the talks this good, who cares? EXTRAS: > Commentary > Newsreel > Radio adaptations > Booklet Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Starring: Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern Blu-ray release: 29 June 2015 Philip Kemp
STILL ALICE
Julianne Moores Oscar win for this film wasnt just a symbol of long-overdue recognition; this actually IS her best performance to date. As a linguistics professor diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers, Moore plots a mental deterioration so subtle that you wont even notice the extent of her characters decline until it is highlighted with a callback late on in the film. Exploring the despair at losing her intellect and showing the impact on her family, Still Alice offers little in the way of respite. But in terms of presenting a realistic and sensitive portrayal of a horrible disease, it is remarkable. EXTRAS: > Interviews Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland Starring: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart Blu-ray release: 6 July 2015 Matt Looker
TWO MEN IN TOWN
Forgiveness, intolerance, religion, redemption Theres a lot going on in Rachid Boucharebs melancholy modern western. Shame, then, that none of it really works, loaded down as it is with a script that feels like a first draft no one actually bothered to read twice, let alone working up another draft. That the film falls flat is all the more galling for the worthy efforts of everyone in it: Forest Whitaker as an ex-con trying to go straight, Harvey Keitel as the vengeful cop trying to stop him and Brenda Blethyn as a hard-luck parole officer caught in the middle. Beautifully shot, wonderfully performed, awfully written. EXTRAS: > None Director: Rachid Bouchareb Starring: Forest Whitaker, Harvey Keitel, Brenda Blethyn DVD, Digital HD release: 6 July 2015 Paul Bradshaw
FOCUS
Who doesnt like a good con movie? Unfortunately Focus isnt one. But it at least looks the part, all swagger and glimmer as greenhorn swindler Margot Robbie teams up with pro Will Smith to demonstrate the attraction of a life of grift over a life of graft. Events escalate towards a tense takedown at a football game but theres plenty of running time left, and further rug-pulls in Buenos Aires only upend the movie. Best of the extras is a featurette introducing us to Apollo Robbins, the magician/pickpocket who acted as a consultant. EXTRAS: > Alternate opening > Deleted scenes > Featurettes Director: Glenn Ficara Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 6 July 2015 Jamie Graham
CAKE
Pegged as Jennifer Anistons Oscar shot, its no surprise Cake ended up crumbling on release. Yes, the former Friend shakes off any remnant of rom-com gloss in a transformative turn. Yet her performance as Claire, a chronic pain sufferer, is more committed than the script really deserves. Its all a bit heavy-handed, not least the device that sees Claire haunted by visions of Nina (Anna Kendrick), a fellow sufferer whose suicide rocked her support group. Nor does one need to be Sherlock to put the pieces of Claires gradually-revealed back-story together. Basic extras are only enlivened by punny titles (The Many Layers Of Cake, etc) EXTRAS: > Featurettes Director: Daniel Barnz Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 29 June 2015 Matt Maytum
FORCE MAJEURE
Ruben Ostlund is oft en held up as the Swedish Michael Haneke. But unlike the Austrians many imitators, Ostlund remembers to throw some cruel comedy in with his staring, distant camera placements. This, Ostlunds best by a mile, is that rare thing: a film that consciously engages with philosophical and ethical issues while being neither pretentious nor ponderous. After his family survive an avalanche on a ski holiday, a husband who saw himself as decent must confront the fact he abandoned them. The subsequent spiralling of his life into a nightmare is at once bleakly funny and assuredly precise filmmaking from one of Europes most exciting directors. Director: Ruben Ostlund Starring: Johannes Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren DVD, Digital HD release: 29 June 2015 Andrew Lowry
HUE AND CRY
Generally reckoned the first true Ealing comedy, Charles Crichtons crime romp makes creative use of post-war Londons bomb-sites as a bunch of street kids gang up to foil a criminal mob. Jack Warner (later respectability incarnate as Dixon Of Dock Green) plays chief villain, complete with abrasive laugh, and theres a richly hammy turn from Alastair Sim as the nervous creator of a blood-and-thunder comic strip. The plots ramshackle and the humour often brash but theres an exuberance about the whole affair that carries it through. Sound extras EXTRAS: > Introduction > Featurettes Director: Charles Crichton Starring: Alastair Sim, Frederick Piper, Harry Fowler DVD, BD release: 29 June 2015 Philip Kemp
