Simon's Movie Reviews

By Allied Artists - IMPAwards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35144391   I had mixed feeling while watching The Man Who Would Be King (1975). On the one hand you could see it as a story about colonialism, cultural appropriation, and immoral men. On the other hand, said immoral men are played by Sires Sean Connery and Michael Caine, two actors who could read a dictionary and still come off as charismatic. Factor in that they are directed by John Huston, the man behind at least three other cinema classics, and you end up with one of their best films of their careers. This is another classic on found on Turner Classic Movies and is not available on most streaming channels. I had heard of it many times and was curious to see the pairing of two legends of cinema, especially Sean Connery in one of his post James Bond roles, where he played a more morally dubious character. Apart from that I was not too familiar with the story and was surprised by where it went. ...

  Zulu (1964) is a war movie that is surprisingly good in spite of its subject matter. Based on the true story of 150 British soldiers who had to hold off a force of 4000 Zulu warriors, it sometimes feels like a Monty Python sketch given how many of the soldiers keep their upper lip so stiff you would think they just graduated from gentlemen’s school. However, this is also an old-school epic shot on a grand scale with thousands of extras, it has great performances, and a surprising amount of nuance. Equally noteworthy, this is the first major role of Sir Michael Caine, demonstrating in almost every frame he has the makings of a movie star. With a 139-minute running time, this is yet another perfect movie for anyone confined to their home and with limited outdoor activities available. If you are also limited on your budget, it is streaming for free on Tubi minus a few 30-second commercial breaks. Plus, if you are tired of staring at the same walls of your apartment and winter weat...

It took the storytelling skills of British director Christopher Nolan to finally get Batman right. The 1960s TV show, starring the late great Adam West, had a lot of action, but was overly campy. The Tim Burton films felt very much like comic books come to life, but the villains stole the spotlight. Then there was Joel Schumacher who nearly killed the franchise by turning it into a live-action cartoon and by putting nipples on the suit. However with Batman Begins (2005) the spotlight was firmly placed on the character of Bruce Wayne as he becomes a vigilante, the villains were much less campy, and the action sequences seemed to be set in our world. Like many people my expectations for Batman Begins were pretty low for what would be chronologically the fifth theatrical Batman movie. I had watched Batman Forever many times on VHS, but Batman & Robin , the last Schumacher entry, had left a very bad taste in my mouth. Going into theatres in Quebec City in the summer of 2005 al...

Is there a bigger British movie star than Michael Caine? Nowadays he you can find him in major Hollywood films playing distinguished gentlemen such as Bruce Wayne’s butler in Batman, but over his long career he has played a variety of smooth criminals, spies, soldiers, and hardened gangsters. The most hardened of these gangsters is depicted in Get Carter (1971) a film that was somewhat ahead of its time. Caine’s Jack Carter is a London gangster who doesn’t care who he hurts on his path for revenge, which was seen as too immoral back in the 1970s. Nowadays this character would get his own TV show. Like many of Caine’s film it has been remade, and like many remakes the original is better. Sylvester Stallone starred in the 2000 version, unseen by me since it looked pretty grim and disposable. Back then I had no idea it was based on an original 1970s movie, but learned about it as my interest in older movies grew. I bought the DVD with one of those cheap three-for-one deals at HMV ...

Alfonso Cuaron’s “Children of Men” (2006) imagines a bleak future that is not the result of a nuclear war, a fallen meteor, or the ever-popular zombie outbreak. This possible future planet earth is going down the drain because humanity itself is slowly ebbing away after eighteen years of infertility. Set in not-so-distant future in the United Kingdom, the film shows a world overrun with pollution, corruption, massive immigration, and a totalitarian police force. You know it is the future, since all of the bright colors are gone. I first saw this movie at an art-house cinema during my first year at Sherbrooke University. The bleak future reminded me of the PC game Half-Life 2. This game, much like “Children of Men,” featured a city controlled by a totalitarian police force. Except, while the game was senseless fantasy, the movie has a much more visceral feel since it is much more grounded in reality. You just need to look at the news footage to think we are one global ca...