Rev Stan's film blog

Review: The superb Selma

Synopsis: Biopic of Martin Luther King's campaign for equal voting rights for blacks in 1965 Alabama.

Stan's thoughts: There has been a shameful lack of awards nominations for this film. Rather than trying to do a cradle to the grave biopic the narrative concentrates on particular period of Martin Luther King's life and a specific campaign to get equal voting rights which culminated in protest marches in Selma, Alabama.

David Oyelowo's performance as King is breathtaking to watch and ably supported by a whole bunch of brilliant British thesps - Tom Wilkinson as president Johnson, Carmen Ejogo as Coretta King and Tim Roth as Governor George Wallace.

The history that this film portrays is shocking and the method with which victory is secured inspiring but the film also delves into Dr King's family life, the tension between his political career and role as father and husband.

It is delicately handled and roundly presented, oozing with tension it's not always easy to watch but rewarding nonetheless.

Ratings

• Stan’s 85%
• IMDB 76%
• Metascore 89%
• Rotten Tomatoes 99%
• RT Audience Rating* 87%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: More Dame Maggie snide comments in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Synopsis: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is doing well so now they want to expand.

Stan's thoughts: Second Best is second best as sequels inevitably are. There are enough of all the elements of the original that made it such a charming film but the plot does get a bit contrived and silly.

It's great to see the royalty of British acting talent all on the screen but there are times when I wondered if this is really the best vehicle we could find for them? Dame Maggie Smith gets all the best lines, naturally, and had me laughing out loud but then she is just playing a working class version of her Downton Abbey character.

The wedding sequence at the end put a big smile on my face and I did leave the cinema with a warm fuzzy glow so it worked in that respect but ultimately this feels like a slightly diluted version of the original.

Ratings

• Stan’s 53%
• IMDB 72%
• Metascore 57%
• Rotten Tomatoes 75%
• RT Audience Rating* 75%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher

Review: Trying to make hacking exciting in Blackhat

Synopsis: Jailed hacker Nick Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth) is temporarily released to help stop a cyber attack.

Stan's thoughts: Blackhat is the epitome of how difficult it is to make an exciting film about hackers. Firstly they spend all their time on computers writing and looking at code which isn't very filmic or dramatic. Secondly, it's quite technical so mere non-coding mortals like myself don't fully understand what it is the baddies are doing or what the goodies are doing to try and stop them.

In order to get around these problems Chris Hemsworth is not only a hacker but has been made into an action hero. He doesn't merely sit in front of a lap top tapping away, oh no, he goes out with the police chasing baddies and wielding a gun. In fact he seems to be quite good at wielding a gun and fighting and doesn't in anyway seem phased by getting involved in big shoot outs. Computer science classes can't be for the faint-hearted.

Sounds bad doesn't it? It is. In fact the first three quarters of the film is dull - the computer bits you don't understand and the action hero bits are so improbable they aren't even funny.

When the filmmakers seem to abandon all attempt at geekery and it is all about action in the last half hour, it's actually quite good fun.

Ratings

• Stan’s 42%
• IMDB 56%
• Metascore 51%
• Rotten Tomatoes 33%
• RT Audience Rating* 27%

* Number of people rating 3.5/5 or higher