Saint Maud

Saint Maud

Director: Rose Glass. Cast: Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lily Knight

“Saint Maud” is almost the opposite of film about “demonic possessions” as it follows the breakdown of a young live-in nurse (a terrific performance by Morfydd Clark) as she becomes obsessed by her diving mission to save the soul of a terminally ill patient.Make no mistakes, this is a horror film right from the start, but beyond the scary and sinister images, the very creepy atmosphere and a few gruesome moments, “Saint Maud” is first and foremost a character study: a film about loneliness. It’s no secret that director Rose Glass was inspired by Taxi Driver: there’s a lot of that same sense of claustrophobia and psychological unease here. But watching it unfold I was also reminded of Carrie, or rather the mother in that film, another obsessive religious devotee who thinks she’s doing God’s work but actually she’s slowly descending to hell.As the mental breakdown of the young nurse becomes more and more apparent and she gets madder and madder, so is the visual style of the film-making, the camera moves and the soundtrack.I must confess I didn’t love the film as much as many critics did. I found the pace quite slow and a bit indulgent, also I also didn’t think the ending was as shocking as it should have been (especially since you know exactly where it’s all heading to, so there’s no really any surprise, or at least I wasn’t surprised), but there’s no denying that this is an impressive and stylish debut from a new British director which we must watch closely.

Underwater

Underwater (2020)

Director: William Eubank. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, Mamoudou Athie

What better film to “inaugurate” the start of a second lockdown than one where people are living in isolation 6 miles under the sea?I remember the trailer looks rather good, so I gave it a go.Well, the start was rather promising and actually quite intriguing: creepy atmosphere… charismatic lead, a mysterious event…Unfortunately after about 20 minutes at the most… it all sunk (pun intended) and became predictable, badly done and actually very boring. There is really not a single original idea in this! I can hear the pitch in Hollywood:- “It’s like Alien meets the Abyss with a bit of the Poseidon adventure”… – “That’s good… And then?” – “Well, that’s it”.Really. That was it! Instantly forgettable and interchangeable characters die one after the other (Vincent Cassel is completely wasted here) while actually very little happens on the screen. Also, a decision was made to film everything in dark murky waters. I don’t know whether that was a stylistic choice or maybe to hide the low budget, but whatever the reason, the result is that I couldn’t really see much. In fairness, “not seen what’s going on” can sometime help to enhance the tension and it can be a pretty effective tool for film-makers… if your name is Ridley Scott, that is.Alas director William Eubank is no Ridley and this is as far away from Alien as you can imagine, despite trying very hard to copy every single thing about it. In the end it’s all very boring and rather predictable. Kristin Stewart, with short bleached hair has a great screen presence and she does her best with the little “material” (if we can call it such) she’s given. She alone manages to lift this up slightly from a complete disaster to a half-watchable B-movie … but really only just.On a positive note: it’s only just over 90 minutes… After this my lockdown looks like a lot more fun.

Available on Sky

Audition (1999)

Audition (Ôdishon) ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

Director: Takashi Miike. Cast: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki 

Tarantino named it a “masterpiece” while many critics consider this a cult classic of Japanese “horror” cinema, and yet somehow “Audition” had always escaped me.

It is fairly slow film that build to its final mad climax and which by the time the credits roll you know it’ll be the thing you’ll remember for the rest of your life. 

Like some of the best from the genre (Rosemary’s baby, just to name one), it all starts off as a “normal” film taking its time to establish the characters and setting up the stage. The film does it pretty well, creating a tense mood and getting inside of the head of our protagonist (though some of the secondary characters end up being slightly irrelevant by the time you get to the end).

It’s finally about 50 minutes into it that you realise “Audition” may actually not be the “romantic” movie they’ve been trying to sell you. Without giving much away (the less you know, the better)I feel I may have to give you note of warning in case you haven’t seen it: this is not for the squeamish people!

I knew I was in for a tough climax and to be honest I have a strong stomach and am quite used to this sort of stuff so I was able to keep my eyes on the screen (… only just).

In fact I thought it would be harder to watch. In the end I felt it all got wrapped up a bit too quickly, especially considering the time it took to get there.

Needless to say, I don’t quite agree with Tarantino. Masterpieces of cinema are well others. I was told this is one of those films that you either love or hate. Well, weirdly I’m right in between. Though I will certainly remember it for quite a while.

West Wing Special

A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Director: Thomas Schlamme. Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Bradley Whitford, Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen, Emily Procter, Dulé Hill, Richard Schiff, Melissa Fitzgerald.

Watching this a stage version of an old episode of the West Wing (“Hartsfield’s Landing” – Season 3, Episode 14) all about the importance of voting in free and fair elections has suddenly brought me back several years to a time when Donal Trump was just the name of that rich prick who appeared in “Home alone 2”.

It has not been easy to re-watch the “West Wing” for the past 4 years, but this reunion with pretty much the whole cast back (minus the John Spencer, who sadly died during season 6, but which including even some those tiny recurring minor characters), has reminded me exactly why I love this series so much (it is possibly one of my favourite TV series ever).

Not because it’s a perfect show (it’s not: it can be pedantic, showy, cheesy, a bit too “America is great”), but it’s impossible not to fall in love with every character, those rousing speeches, those press conferences, all those walk-and-talk moments and every time President Barlet put on his jacket.. and I could go on for hours.

This re-imagined special episode was not only timely, but beautifully realised.

I loved everything about it. The stage direction, the live cover of the title music, the behind-the-scenes footage showing the cast laughing together, wearing masks and elbowing each other.

I almost had tears in my eyes.

I even liked those “cheesy” little interludes in between.

I think I’ve learnt more about politics from the west wing than anywhere else in the news (let alone in school, where I was probably asleep if ever that was taught), and I’m not just talking about the mechanics of it or the rules, but the true ideals of how politics should really work. 

It is a fantasy of course a sort of “romantic” and “idealised” White House but one in which I love to lose myself.

Screw everything else, I’m just going to watch it all again from start!

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan ()

Director: Jason Woliner. Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova,

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that the first Borat however offensive, crass and tasteless was also unique. An inventive and fearless “social experiment” that somehow said more about racism, sexism and bigotry than many mainstream movies out there. 14 years have now passed since that first film and the world has not only changed quite a bit, but the bar has been raised and raised and it’s not as easy to shock us as it used to be. We are much more used “stunts” like these. In fact Sacha Baron Cohen himself has already done quite a few of those in his recent TV series “Who is America?” and this latest “Borat” movie feels very much like an extended episode of that containing a bunch of more or less successful sketches.Borat 2 was clearly rushed to production so that it could be release just in time for the forthcoming US election. Some of that rush definitely shows. Not all the jokes work, not all of them hit the mark. And while of course there are some funny ideas here and there and the “Covid surprise ending” is quite inspired, it’s all much to diluted to be really punchy as it should be. I was desperate for a strong comedy tonight… sadly this, just about floats above the average.

On Amazon Prime.