Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

With Euros Lyn’s The Library Suicides, or Y Llyfrgell as it’s known as in Welsh, we’ve got an atmospheric, charming thriller set in the National Library of Wales.

When one of Wales’ greatest authors, Elena Wdig (Sharon Morgan), seemingly commits suicide, her twin daughters believe that their mother’s final words point towards her biographer (Ryland Teifi) having actually murdered her. As such, the twins, Ana and Nan (both played by the brilliant Catrin Stewart), decide to use the setting of their workplace – the aforementioned National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth – to exact some bloody revenge for the death of their dear mam. Concocting a meticulous plan, the twins’ scheme has a spanner thrown into the works by the unexpected presence of night porter Dan (Dyfan Dwyfor), and from there we see the action unravel over a cold, lonely Welsh night.

Now you may think that a library may be a slightly unusual locale for such a tale, but The Library Suicides, adapted from the Fflur Dafydd’s novel, sees the vacuous-yet-claustrophobic setting of Aberystwyth’s National Library of Wales being the undisputed perfect setting for the story that we see playing out before our eyes. For those who’ve never been to the National Library, it’s massive and genuinely awe-inspiring. As Ana and Nan trap biographer Eben in the library, the never-ending corridors and open spaces give a feeling of isolation and amp up the dread, whilst the tightly-constructed corners and row after row of books also balance this out with an eerie sense of claustrophobia. It’s a well-calculated, well-crafted story, and it’s a credit to Fflur Dafydd’s original work and this subsequent adaptation in how well the location is used here.

Of course, a thriller wouldn’t be a thriller if there weren’t certain secrets, revelations and developments at play, and The Library Suicides delivers its fair share of those, but there’s no way of discussing this film without highlighting the stunning work of Catrin Stewart. As the twins at the centre of this tale, Stewart is simply mesmerising, delivering two completely different performances but not going overboard to slap the audience in the face with just how different Ana and Nan are. Whilst Ana has a softer, sympathetic side, Nan is more driven and focussed on the task at hand, and these two differing personalities really start to be distinguished as the plot unravels. The fantastic editing work from Euros Lyn and his team make the plentiful scenes of Catrin Stewart acting alongside Catrin Stewart seem flawless, and you’d genuinely think that Stewart and a twin of her own were being watched on your screen. Additionally, the rest of the small cast are also pitch-perfect for what’s required, and Dyfan Dwyfor as slacker porter Dan is a charming presence who unwittingly becomes involved in the twins’ planned murder of the man they believed killed their mother.

To look at, The Library Suicides is a glorious film, with the rich environment of Aberystwyth’s National Library of Wales giving an almost gothic shimmer proceedings. Added to that, the delicate score from Dru Masters is just the right side of ‘desolate John Carpenter’ to only further add to this well-paced affair.

In terms of small scale thrillers, The Library Suicides is one of the best to come around in years, driven powerfully forward by Catrin Stewart’s masterful dual performance and a location that is truly unique.

Special Features: Making of / Deleted scenes / Trailer

THE LIBRARY SUICIDES (Y LLYFRGELL) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: EUROS LYN / SCREENPLAY: FFLUR DAFYDD / STARRING: CATRIN STEWART, DYFAN DWYFOR, RYLAND TEIFI, SHARON MORGAN, CARWYN GLYN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Max is a simple, happy
dog. Content to sit staring at the front door all day waiting for his owner
Katie to come home, Max wants for nothing more than to live his life out alone
with her. Then Duke shows up. A mountainous shaggy carpet of a dog, Duke wastes
no time in making himself at home after dog-lover Katie rescues him from the pound.
Needless to say, Max and Duke do not get on and things only go from bad to worse
the following day.

Having
found themselves separated from the dog walker, Max and Duke soon run into trouble
with the animal control men followed by a brief induction in a gang of discarded
pets (lead by vicious ex-magician’s bunny Snowball). With their cost home falling
further and further away, it’s left up to Max’s ragtag menagerie of friends to
track them down and save the day.

What
follows are a series of predictable tropes that weave in and out of the usual heart-pulling
sentiments of two opposing characters coming together against the odds and
becoming best friends. To say that this is Illumination’s attempt to create an animal-based
carbon copy of Toy Story would not be an understatement. There’s even a sausage
dog and a pig!

That
said, for all of its pilfering of Pixar’s primary franchise, The Secret Life of
Pets actually works pretty well. Admittedly, the one-note gag that made the
teaser trailer so enjoyable does wear thin quite quickly (there’s only so many
times the head-banging poodle will make you laugh) but the quirky characters
and journey through New York’s streets (and sewers) makes for enjoyable enough
entertainment.

If
Illumination had hoped to make this an instant classic then the team behind
this film may need to go and sit in the corner. However, the fun animals, fast
pace and family-friendly fun earns this film a pat on the head and keep it from
winding up in the dog house.

There
are plenty of added features on the Blu-Ray, although they’re all pretty bog-standard.
Featurettes with staged recording sessions (at least kids won’t realize that
you don’t record audio in a big empty room filled with press material), stars
holding a variety of animals, animation breakdowns and music videos are all present.

Standing
out above the crowd are the obligatory three short films, featuring the underdog
(or rather under-hamster) Norman, the adorably bizarre hot dog sausages and –
of course – the Minions. 

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS / CERT: U / DIRECTORS: YARROW CHENEY, CHRIS RENAUD / SCREENWRITERS: CINCO PAUL & KEN DAURIO / STARRING: LOUIS C.K., ERIC STONESHEET, KEVIN HART, STEVE COOGAN, ELLIE KEMPER / RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 14TH

 

Some of 2016’s bloated big budget blockbusters absolutely and unapologetically deserved to crash and burn (hello Ghostbusters, hi there Independence Day: Resurgence) whilst some soared despite eye-wateringly vitriolic reviews (yo, Suicide Squad). The failure of Star Trek Beyond to fly at the Box office is altogether more puzzling. Generally well-reviewed and applauded as a significant improvement on its stodgy predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness, the film was met with little more than casual indifference by the multiplex masses and barely limped over the $300 million mark at the worldwide Box Office. It’s disappointing in itself for a nippy, unpretentious entertaining action movie but especially concerning in the year the Star Trek franchise celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.

Following on from two introductory films, which never quite got the USS Enterprise and its redoubtable crew off onto its trek into the stars, Star Trek Beyond hurls us three years into the ship’s five-year mission. Ennui is setting in and the crew are more than happy to enjoy a break at the massive space-station community known as Yorktown. But a random distress call sends the Enterprise off out into the unknown again and before long the crew have lost the security of their starship and finds itself separated on a hostile planet and plunged into battle with an adversary with a particular score to settle. Star Trek Beyond is a brisk, confident movie; its storyline doesn’t try to break any new ground but is in many ways hewn from the stuff of classic Trek and it benefits enormously from a cast who are now securely bedded into their roles and a warm and witty script courtesy of long-time fans, Pegg and Jung, who pepper the narrative with wry gags and knowing throwbacks to the original series. Stranded on the surface of a dangerous new world, the core Enterprise crew are split into groups, allowing Spock and McCoy to develop the snipey relationship, which characterised the pair on television, Pegg’s Scotty steps into the spotlight when he meets up with scavenger/warrior Jaylah (Boutella), Kirk and Chekhov (the much-missed Anton Yelchin) explore the shattered remains of the Enterprise and Sulu, Uhura and a phalanx of anonymous redshirts are imprisoned by the vengeful Krall (Elba, largely unrecognisable under a ton of prosthetics). There’s plenty going on here in a multi-strand story which gives all the main cast their shining moments and doesn’t stint on energetic action sequences which allow new director Lin to bring his very particular skillset, honed on the Fast and Furious series, to the Trek Universe. Star Trek Beyond plays like a movie which is comfortable in its own skin and knows what it’s doing with these iconic characters and how to tell a story which doesn’t disgrace the franchise’s long heritage.

Why, then, the audience apathy towards what’s clearly a sharp, intelligent and action-packed movie? Certainly for hardcore Trek fans (we won’t be calling them Trekkies, thanks all the same) there’s some frustration that we’ve apparently missed three years of the Enterprise’s five-year mission – but then that’s an inevitable consequence of the TV-series-to-movie-series transition. Kirk and co might be bored with wandering the space-lanes but the audience hadn’t had a chance to see them do much of it thanks to the stop/start storylines of the first two reboot movies. Whilst the destruction of the USS Enterprise manoeuvres the characters into position for their battle against Krall and his cronies (and allows for some formidable FX sequences as the ship is blown apart) it’s a shame to see the ship, one of the finest in the Federation’s fleet, destroyed yet again. Kirk and his crew might be better advised to resume their explorations in a modified giant hair-dryer as the Enterprise doesn’t seem to be a particularly reliable form of intergalactic transport. But perhaps – just perhaps – the larger problem for Star Trek is one that seems likely to plague all modern reworkings of ‘classic’ genre properties. The curious and the disenfranchised and those who’ve not had much experience of Trek are drawn to the first reboot movie but in time that casual audience falls away or moves on to some other ‘next big thing’ and all that’s left are the long-time fans, the cosplayers, the collectors and the…er…more committed Star Trek fans (still not Trekkies). This audience attrition has happened to the rebooted Doctor Who on TV, maybe the same is happening to Star Trek – which might not bode too well for next year’s new Discovery TV series?

But the Star Trek movie franchise isn’t out for the count, it’s just fallen back onto the ropes a little. A fourth movie is already greenlit and it’ll be interesting to see what steps can or will be taken to try and draw back the lost audience. Star Trek Beyond certainly boldly goes where the reboot series has not gone before and it’s a shame that this rich, colourful and often genuinely funny movie hasn’t yet found the audience it deserves.

Special Features: 2 Deleted Scenes / 9 Featurettes / Gag Reel.

STAR TREK BEYOND / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: JUSTIN LIN / SCREENPLAY: SIMON PEGG, DOUG JUNG / STARRING: CHRIS PINE, ZACHARY QUINTO, KARL URBAN, SIMON PEGG, ANTON YELCHIN, IDRIS ELBA, SOFIA BOUTELLA, JOHN CHO, ZOE SALDANA / RELEASE DATE: 14TH NOVEMBER (DIGITAL), 21ST NOVEMBER (DVD, BLU RAY)

 

To some of us who were around in the 1990s, the rise of Oasis was a phenomenon to behold. With Supersonic, which also just happens to be the title of the Manchester band’s debut single, Mat Whitecross has put together a documentary that looks to capture all of the spirit, attitude, arguments, angst, and euphoria that was viewed and felt by so many as Oasis rose to prominence.

What we have here is a look at a moment in time – one that largely focusses on the Definitely, Maybe and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? years – as we see Oasis go from their infancy of not even having a record deal, to playing their legendary Knebworth gigs to 250,000 people just 2 1/2 years later. Along the way, we see the bands early days of playing to crowds of one man and his dog, we hear about their signing to Alan McGee’s Creation label, their (in)famous behaviour that caused a media circus to follow them wherever they went, the in-fighting that threatened to destroy the band at so many turns, and we even get some moments of genuine warmth and heartbreak as we take a rarely-seen exploration into the family life of the Gallaghers. And throughout it all, we get to hear archived and all-new comments from the likes of Noel and Liam, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, manager Marcus Russell, producer Owen Morris, and many more.

With Supersonic, Mat Whitecross has put together something simply mesmerising. As the documentary starts with the instantly-recognisable Columbia, you’ll find yourself absolutely hooked as memories begin to flood back and you’re taken on an all-encompassing ride that makes you remember just what made this legendary band so special in the first place. For better or worse, Supersonic doesn’t skip on any of the details, delivering all involved in a way that lays bare what really went on as Oasis exploded to superstardom. Full of charm, wit, humour, and honesty, Whitecross doesn’t forcibly paint anyone as a saint, nor does he frame anybody as a sinner. What we get is an open, genuine view of the key players involved in this period of Oasis’ life, and it’s left to the viewers to make up their own minds. But this isn’t a documentary made for judgemental purposes, this is a celebration.

To many of us, our days of wearing parkas, growing out our hair, and practising our perfect swagger mean that we’re likely pre-programmed to want to enjoy Supersonic regardless of how good it actually is. Fear not though, for it’s good. It’s really, really good. Excellent, in fact. Rarely has a music documentary been so fascinating, so appealing, so engaging, and so flat-out enjoyable for both fans and non-fans of a band or artist. Whether you loved Oasis, hated Oasis, or have no real opinion on the world’s last truly iconic band (yeah, we said it), Supersonic will still manage to grab your attention from its opening moments, refusing to let you go as it takes you through a rip-roaring rise to superstardom that was initially started as a mission to rid the world of the likes of Sting and Phil Collins.

As is said during the documentary, “Oasis was like a Ferrari. Great to look at, great to drive, and it’ll fucking spin out of control every now and again.” Here we get to ride shotgun on this drive, as Mat Whitecross reignites a spark that you may have thought had long left you. A feature put together and edited in the ideal way for its topic, Supersonic is a poignant, perfect summation of one of British music’s greatest ever bands and one of its true forces of nature.

“People will never ever forget how you made them feel,” says Noel Gallagher at one point towards the end of Supersonic. Right now, having watched this documentary several times over, we’re certainly feeling supersonic. Now, where’s that gin and tonic…

Special Features: Deleted scenes / Behind the scenes galleries / Trailer

SUPERSONIC / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: MAT WHITECROSS / STARRING: LIAM GALLAGHER, NOEL GALLAGHER, PAUL ARTHURS, TONY MCCARROLL, ALAN MCGEE, MARK COYLE, OWEN MORRIS, MARCUS RUSSELL

A persistent theme in late 20th-century American popular culture was a mistrust of the government, the army, and the official ‘line’ of authority in general that continues today with a love for rebels and outsiders who somehow stick it to the man, man.

Cinema has been the forum for many lone renegades or small groups of freedom fighters setting out to reveal the truth to the sleeping public about how those in power plot to control and manipulate them. Directed by Robert Aldrich, 1977’s Twilight’s Last Gleaming was one of a number of suspicious thrillers from a busy period for this approach throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s that sought to reflect the mood of the time.

Burt Lancaster is the disillusioned and angry ex-General Dell who heads a team of men who take over a silo of nuclear missiles in order to get the president to tell the country the twisted reasoning behind America’s intervention in the Vietnam War. A stand-off ensues as they demand $10m, Air Force One and the President himself, and everyone wonders how far Lancaster is willing to go.

It’s a long, arguably talky journey to get to the answer, but one that’s tense, intelligent and gripping.  Highly-charged and possessed of a belief that people both deserve to and would even want to know the whole truth, it’s also bitter, cynical and defiantly unwilling to compromise. Times haven’t changed that much, what with the protests, fighting and general insanity (that means you, demented groping Wotsit) of the world these days but what has changed is the unlikeliness of any modern studio going near backing a film like this. Even at the time, Twilight’s Last Gleaming was not a financial success, rejected perhaps by a public wearying of conspiracy and talk of Vietnam.

If you’re a student of film or interested in the cinema of the ‘70s (this almost couldn’t exist in any other decade, certainly in this form), or you like the work of Aldrich and fine actors like Lancaster, Richard Widmark, and Charles Durning then it’s a great film and recommended. Though a thriller very much of its time, the themes still resonate strongly and it entertains and provokes. Included as an extra is an interesting feature-length making-of documentary Aldrich Over Munich.

As a side note, if you were ever curious to know what this earnest and idealistic movie would be like if directed by a cinematic violator, it’s worth noting that the bones of the plot were unofficially co-opted for 1996’s ludicrous and admittedly entertaining The Rock, a film of 100% less contemplative subtlety but equally arse numbing length and 100% more explosions.

TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING (1977) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ROBERT ALDRICH / SCREENPLAY: RONALD M. COHEN, EDWARD HUEBSCH / STARRING: BURT LANCASTER, ROSCOE LEE BROWNE, JOSEPH COTTEN, MELVYN DOUGLAS, CHARLES DURNING / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 31ST

 

After over thirty years Knight Rider, the cult classic TV series with David Hasselhoff and his mechanical sidekick KITT, is getting the Blu-ray treatment. STARBURST took a trip back to our childhoods to see if it still stands up…

Knight Rider sees Michael Long, a police detective, shot in the face and left for dead whilst on assignment. Saved by plastic surgery and a new identity, Michael Knight (Hasselhoff) is recruited to the Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG), led by Devon Miles (Mulhare), assisted by Bonnie Barstow (McPherson), who equips Knight with KITT, a Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am with artificial intelligence (as voiced by William Daniels). And so begins a unique crime-fighting duo that spawned four series, a revival series and a host of other media.

The Blu-ray format works incredibly well for Knight Rider, it does an excellent job of giving the series a nice remastering, which keeps the ‘80s retro charm without adding any unnecessary CGI, something that has spoilt other re-releases of classic film and TV series in recent years. Meanwhile, the box set comes complete with a variety of goodies in the way of extras including: select episode commentary from the Hoff himself and Glen A. Larson (the mastermind behind the series), a photo gallery, blueprints gallery and other general ‘making of…’ sections (or is that under the hood sections? Ahem…)

Meanwhile, as for the series itself, it’s pure unadulterated escapism. Long before his singing career and the tongue-in-cheek persona he has adopted in the last few years, you see what made David Hasselhoff an appealing part of the series in the first place: he’s charming and witty as well as threatening when he wants to be. It makes you realise that such a series just wouldn’t have worked without someone like him. Also you get to see the early appearances (and voices) of performers such as Geena Davis, Jason Bateman, Peter Cullen, and Robert Englund. What may put off some viewers is the nature of each episode more or less being self-contained; with the exception of a few two-part stories, the fact that every story is resolved within forty-five minutes may not appeal to more modern audiences who expect a certain level of story-arc with their series.

However, with this affectionate remastering, the extras and the Hoff in his prime, Knight Rider is too hard to resist.

KNIGHT RIDER – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: DAVID HASSELHOFF, EDWARD MULHARE, RICHARD BASEHART, PATRICIA MCPHERSON / RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 21ST

 

Adapted from the Vertigo comic book title of the same name, Lucifer sees the Devil himself brought to life in modern-day Los Angeles. Bored of life as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) seeks a change of scenery and so ends up in the City of Angels. Before he knows it, he finds himself working with the LAPD, particularly Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), as he uses his unique abilities and devilish charms to find criminals and punish them. With the power to have any and everybody tell him their deepest secrets and honest truths, what started off as Lucifer merely looking to enjoy punishing the guilty begins to open the door to his long-faded compassion, as we see the series’ titular character even eyeing up the chance at some sort of redemption.

What we have with Lucifer is a show that’s part cop drama, part supernatural chicanery. On the one hand, there’s Detective Decker and Kevin Alejandro’s wary Detective Espinoza, and then on the other hand there’s the likes of Maze (Lesely-Ann Brandt), a demon who has followed Lucifer from Hell to stay by his side, and Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside), a dark-winged angel who just so happens to be Lucifer’s unhappy brother. And with these two elements of the series, both have varying levels of success in how they help the show thrive… or not.

Sadly, where the LAPD-based cop work is concerned, Lucifer falls down and feels a little ‘been there, done that’ in what viewers are given. Lauren German as Chloe Decker does fine, and Kevin Alejandro is great as the untrusting ex-husband of Chloe who sees Lucifer growing closer to his former beau, but the environment, setting and stories often associated with this side of the show just ultimately fall flat and feel like the generic cop show fodder that we’ve seen over and over again throughout the years. Luckily though, in the show’s star and in the darker aspects of the series, Lucifer does enough to make it an enjoyable ride.

As the lead, Tom Ellis is the perfect balance of charming, mischievous, vindictive, and daring, and he comes off as a truly all-powerful presence who is completely confident in the knowledge that he’s more than just another mere mortal. And it’s with Ellis that Lucifer shines brightest, with his cocksure Lord of Hell bringing a dose of humour and light-heartedness to proceedings, which is certainly much-needed given the material here. And as the first season progresses, we’re given an ever-growing glimpse into the mindset and life story of Lucifer Morningstar, with the character maturing before our eyes, all whilst Tom Ellis wows the audience and holds their attention masterfully.

In a nutshell, Lucifer’s debut season is largely a mixed bag, but there’s enough sleek, sultry charm involved, mainly from the series’ fantastic anchor, to make this an enjoyable romp for the most part.

Special Features: Two featurettes / 2015 Comic-Con panel / Four character profiles / Unaired scenes / Gag reel

LUCIFER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON / CERT: 15 / CREATOR: TOM KAPINOS / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: TOM ELLIS, LAUREN GERMAN, KEVIN ALEJANDRO, D.B. WOODSIDE, LESLEY-ANN BRANDT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 

After his home town
is destroyed by a mysterious black sun and his beloved cousin lost to the void,
teenage Arata joins a school for mages to learn enough magic to rescue her. He soon
encounters the Trinity Seven, a group of powerful schoolgirl mages who aid his
efforts while he variously lusts after them.

In
the best tradition of harem series such as this, each one of the seven is
defined as a basic female archetype, such as the tough girl, the shy girl, the
aloof girl and the nerdy girl, this last one also doubling up with a sexy evil
twin. While this kind of setup is largely the focus of the harem subgenre, it
shouldn’t preclude the girls having functioning personalities beyond their
behaviour towards Arata or their primary presence being intended to provoke his
desire.

As
well as this, the series is riddled with an absurd volume of fanservice,
frequently focused on to such an extent it supersedes everything else going on,
including the occasional battle sequence. As well as the tight and revealing
outfits the girls wear, for some reason dispelling magic causes their clothes to
explode off, leaving only a few scraps strategically stuck to their shapely
bodies. There is also inadvertent groping at least once an episode and a random
beach scene a few episodes in where they slink about in skimpy bikinis. While it’s
nowhere near as explicit as, say, High School DxD (to which this series bears a
passing resemblance), the constant lechery becomes rather grating.

It
turns out Arata has an inherent ability to copy the magic of others, meaning
that he can gain powerful abilities without having to bother understanding them
or go through the inconvenience of having the slightest idea what he’s doing. He
calls to mind some dynastic scion at an elite school whose wealthy family
bought his way in, uncaring of how much work it took for his poor but talented
peers to attain the position he drifted into practically on a whim, and remains
utterly oblivious of how much advantage his fortunate circumstances have
afforded him through no effort, ability or even competence of his own.

We
are apparently supposed to admire Arata for his blunt honesty, while in reality
all his cavalier nonchalance does his highlight how thoroughly obnoxious and
unlikable he is. Possessing awareness that you are a misogynistic prick and
freely admitting it doesn’t actually excuse you for being one. It doesn’t help
that the only other male character in the entire series, the school’s
headmaster, is just as unapologetically perverted and so sees nothing wrong
with his behaviour.

Setting
aside the juvenile fantasies, other annoying issues include that the magic of
the girls is meant to be emblematic of the seven deadly sins, but is not
realised in any significant or competent way, while the magic system itself operates
by utterly arbitrary and inconsistent rules that usually require laborious
explanations to justify away single actions.

There
are numerous anime series out there with similar content and themes to Trinity
Seven that are actually entertaining. Watch any of them instead.

TRINITY
SEVEN / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: HIROSHI NISHIKIORI / SCREENPLAY: HIROYUKI YOSHINO,
KENJI SAITO, SHOGO YASUKAWA / STARRING: CAMERON BAUTSCH, ALLISON SUMRALL,
CHRISTINA STROUP, CARLI MOSIER, CHELSEA MCCURDY, PATRICIA DURAN, KIRA
VINCENT-DAVIS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 

A voiceover begins The Similars telling us this is no
normal night no matter what the characters might hope, and so it turns out to
be in this wild and inventive homage to television and movies past. 

The setting is one evening in turbulent 1968, in a
Mexico driven by social inequality, student protests and political suppression.
At a small town’s bus station a few hours away from the capital city, we find
ourselves with 8 strangers stranded in an unnaturally heavy rainstorm, all
waiting for their way out. As they hope against hope for the bus to arrive,
strange events start to unfurl, with mine worker and expectant father Ulises
possibly the cause of it all. With the weirdness building they turn against
each other as paranoia takes a tight grip. To say much else would spoil the
delights ahead. 

It’s a simple set up, and if you’re thinking one that
could have been a lost episode of The Twilight Zone then that’s wholly
intentional on the part of writer and director Isaac Ezban. Taking his cue from
classic episodes like The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, as well as Alfred
Hitchcock Presents and any number of paranoid ‘60s sci-fi thrillers it
stays focussed on the bus station and the small cast, the outside world only
filtering in through static-heavy radio broadcasts.

Ezban knows his milieu well, both the cultural
influences and the socio-political background his story is set against. Working
with a drained palette that’s mostly black and white, flourishes of colour make
their way in to highlight events as well reinforcing the otherworldliness of
what’s taking place. 

A note of near-hysteria is struck early on and
sustained for much of the running time. The Similars walks a fine line
between nervy science-fiction and tipping into horror, with one or two moments
being effectively grisly stuff. It’s a confident film, with tight pacing and a
strong control of the material and mood. 

As with the finest Twilight Zone episodes Ezban
also strongly works in but doesn’t labour the film’s underlying messages, here
about conformity and acting before we know all the information. There’s a
constant tone of playfulness and dark humour throughout that shows he’s having
a lot of fun with the frequent tips of the hat to his inspirations whilst never
losing the points being made.

It’s highly recommended and is well worth catching,
whether you’re familiar with the references or not. A fun, witty, and
intelligent genre movie, it stands tall against its influences and is deserving
of your time. 

THE SIMILARS / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY:
ISAAC EZBAN / STARRING: LUIS ALBERTI, CARMEN BEATO, FERNANDO BECERRIL, HUMBERTO
BUSTO, CASSANDRA CIANGHEROTTI / RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 15TH (VOD), NOVEMBER 22ND (iTUNES/DIGITAL)

 

Or “The Brass… and How to Get It”, maybe. A couple
of years after Saturday Night and Sunday
Morning, and the year before Richard Lester changed the landscape with A Hard Day’s Night, Ken Hughes adapted
his 1958 TV play Sammy for the big
screen, keeping his leading man Anthony Newley and adding just enough sauce and
sass to earn himself an X certificate. With Newley now all-but forgotten,
despite a stellar career in the 1960s which included a marriage to Joan Collins
and penning the lyrics for the Goldfinger
theme and the 1971 Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory, as well as the timeless standard Feeling Good, this is a
welcome and crisply remastered BFI release of the 1963 noirish Brit New Wave
proto-Goodfellas.

Bradford
teen Patsy (Foster) arrives at the Peepshow strip revue in seedy Soho to start
a new life after a one night stand with the club’s compère Sammy Lee, only to
find him in a spot of bother. Following an ill-advised all night gambling
session, Lee (Newley) is in debt to the tune of £300 (over £4k in today’s
money) to local gangster Connor, with five hours to pay off the debt or face
the consequences. Not too proud to ask his brother (Warren Mitchell, later to
become Alf Garnett) for help, but too proud to take any from the various women
in his life, Lee eventually has to try and raise to £300 himself through a
string of hastily contrived under the counter business transactions.

Newley
is excellent, a sharp-suited spiv spin on Leonard Rossiter’s later creations
and with similar mannerisms and bodily posture, while Foster is winningly keen
as the bushy-tailed ingénue abroad in the big city, discovering the district
she’s landed in isn’t all bright lights and ultimately coming unstuck. There’s
a wide cast of familiar faces in small roles, from Wilfrid Brambell as Lee’s
lackey, to Derek Nimmo as an effete and ineffectual second in command to Roy
Kinnear’s casino owner. Lynda Baron, Cyril Shaps and Miriam Karlin also turn up
in small but notable roles, and Robert Stephens is supremely oily as the
proprietor at the Peepshow.

From
the moment the title sequence takes a tour of the early morning emptiness of
London’s most notorious neighbourhood, it’s clear that Hughes’ film is going to
be a lot more thoughtful than many of its crime drama brethren. Indeed The Small World of Sammy Lee’s roots as
a television play are clear to see in its depth of focus on the characters and
their situations, with a number of themes paying off in a variety of generally
bittersweet ways as the film progresses. An absolute must-buy for fans of
British cinema history.

REVIEW: THE SMALL WORLD OF SAMMY LEE / CERT: 12
(TBC) / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: KEN HUGHES / STARRING: ANTHONY NEWLEY, JULIA
FOSTER, ROBERT STEPHENS, WILFRID BRAMBELL, WARREN MITCHELL / RELEASE DATE: 14TH NOVEMBER