Mark at the movies No 11

 

The Great Escape.

Released

June 20, 1963 (London)

July 4, 1963 (United States)

In late 1942, having expended enormous resources on recapturing escaped Allied POWs, the Nazi German armed forces move the most determined to Stalag Luft III, a new, max-security prisoner-of-war camp supervised by Luftwaffe Colonel von Luger. The prisoners' escape committee, the "X" Organization, led by "Big X", RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, a former prisoner of the Gestapo, and with the support of a senior British officer 

 Ramsey mounts an audacious plan to tunnel out of the camp and break out 250 men – not just to escape, but so that German manpower will be wasted on finding POWs. The men organize into teams, simultaneously working on three tunnels, "Tom", "Dick", and "Harry".

American Flight Lieutenant Bob Hendley can find anything, from a camera to identity cards. Australian Flying Officer Sedgwick makes tools like picks and bellows for pumping air into the tunnels. Flight Lieutenants Danny Velinski and Willie Dickes are in charge of digging the tunnels. Flight Lieutenant Andy MacDonald, Bartlett's second-in-command, gathers and provides intelligence.

Lieutenant Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt of the Royal Navy devises a method of hiding the dirt from the tunnels under the guards' noses. Flight Lieutenant Griffith creates civilian outfits from scavenged cloth for the POWs to wear after the escape. Dai Nimmo and Haynes are in charge of diverting the guards' attention to other things in the camp to pull off the more risky parts of the operation unnoticed. Sorren is in charge of security.

Forging papers to get to freedom is handled by Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe. The working noise is covered by the prisoner choir led by Flight Lieutenant Dennis Cavendish, who also does surveys to measure the tunnel.

On June 20, 1943, Bartlett asks USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts, who is attempting escape with Scottish Flying Officer Archie Ives RAF but being constantly imprisoned in solitary confinement in the "cooler",[8] to help in the escape by getting out through the barbed wire, scouting out the area, and then allowing himself to be recaptured; Hilts refuses.

Bartlett orders "Dick" and "Harry" sealed off, as "Tom" is closest to completion. After hoarding potatoes, Hilts, Hendley and American Second Lieutenant Goff concoct moonshine from a homemade still and celebrate the Fourth of July with the entire camp. Amid the celebration, the guards discover "Tom". As the POWs react with dismay, a despondent Ives frantically climbs the barbed wire fence and is shot dead.

Hilts volunteers to provide reconnaissance from outside the camp and Bartlett switches the prisoners' efforts to "Harry" after the information Hilts brings back is used to create maps to guide the escapers. After experiencing a tunnel collapse, a claustrophobic Danny tries to break out through the fence but agrees to try the tunnel when Willie promises his support.

Blythe discovers that he is going blind due to progressive myopia;[note 1] Hendley takes it upon himself to be Blythe's guide in the escape.

The last part of the tunnel is completed on the scheduled night, March 24, 1944, and despite some mishaps, such as the tunnel being 20 feet (6 m) short, 76 prisoners, including Bartlett, MacDonald, Hendley, Blythe, Hilts, Ashley-Pitt, Danny, Willie, Sedgwick, Cavendish, Nimmo and Haynes, escape out the tunnel, aided by Hilts using 30 feet of rope as a guide, and an air-raid blackout.

Cavendish slips and falls after exiting the tunnel, which leads to him drawing a guard's attention and nearly being caught. However, the escape attempts ultimately end when an impatient Griffith exits the tunnel given a guard and is captured immediately.

The 76 POWs flee through the Third Reich. Cavendish hitchhikes in a truck but is delivered to the authorities where he finds Haynes, disguised as a German soldier, captured. Hendley and Blythe steal a plane to fly over the Swiss border, but the engine fails, and they crash-land; Blythe is shot and dies, while Hendley is recaptured.

Hilts steals a motorcycle at a crossroads, heading for the German-Swiss border to escape pursuing German soldiers. He begins jumping barbed-wire fences but soldiers shoot out the bike's tire, and he is recaptured. Ashley-Pitt is shot and killed at a railway station when he causes a distraction to save MacDonald and Bartlett but they are recaptured after a Gestapo officer tricks them into speaking English.

On the orders of Adolf Hitler, the Gestapo murdered 48 of the prisoners, including Bartlett, MacDonald, Cavendish and Haynes, on the pretext that they were trying to escape, bringing the total dead to 50. Only 3 POWs escape, Danny and Willie, steal a rowing boat and proceed downstream to a port, where they board a merchant ship bound for Sweden. Sedgwick steals a bicycle and then rides on a train to France, where the French Resistance assists him in reaching Spain.

Hendley, Nimmo and nine others are returned to the camp. When informed of the dead, Hendley wonders if the cost was worth it, and Ramsey tells him it depends on his point of view. Von Luger is relieved of command as Hilts returns and is sent to the cooler, where he plans another escape.

This is one of my favourite films as I could probably quote from the script and tell you what happens next, this film is loosely based on the fact how shot down airmen or captured soldiers thought it their duty to escape from their imprisonment.

This film has action, comedy, conflict, and a list of actors playing their parts as if born to play them.

Their many great scenes in the film but the one I like the best and is part of the movie myth or truth is the scene where Hilts is trying to escape his german soldiers by a series of jumps over the barbed wire of course it goes wrong but it is said Steve Mc Queen(Hilts) used his motorcycle and performed this stunt.

Worth a watch on a wet autumn day sitting in your armchair with a packet of popcorn.

Running time(172 minutes)

Rated(PG).

4 out of 4.

Rocky

Released.

November 21, 1976 (New York City)

December 3, 1976 (United States)

Plot.

In 1975, the heavyweight boxing world champion, Apollo Creed, announces plans to hold a title bout in Philadelphia during the upcoming United States Bicentennial. However, he is informed five weeks from the fight date that his scheduled opponent Mac Lee Green is unable to compete due to an injured hand. With all other potential replacements booked up or otherwise unavailable, Creed decides to spice things up by giving a local contender a chance to challenge him.

Creed selects Rocky Balboa, an Italian journeyman southpaw boxer who fights primarily in small gyms and works as a collector for a loan shark. Rocky meets with promoter George Jergens assuming that Creed is seeking local sparring partners. Reluctant at first, Rocky eventually agrees to the fight which will pay him $150,000. Rocky undergoes several weeks of unorthodox training, such as using sides of beef as punching bags.

Rocky is later approached by Mickey Goldmill, a former bantamweight fighter who turned trainer and whose gym Rocky frequents, about further training. Rocky is not willing initially, as Mickey has not shown much interest in helping him before and sees him as a wasted talent, but eventually Rocky accepts the offer.

Rocky begins to build a romantic relationship with Adrian Pennino, who is working part-time at the J&M Tropical Fish pet shop. Adrian's brother and Rocky's best friend, Paulie, help Rocky get a date with his sister and offer to work as a corner man with him for the fight. Paulie becomes jealous of Rocky's success, but Rocky placates him by agreeing to advertise the meat packing business where Paulie works as part of the upcoming fight. The night before the fight, a sleepless Rocky visits the Philadelphia Spectrum and begins to lose confidence. He confesses to Adrian that he does not believe he can win but strives to go the distance against Creed, which no other fighter has done, to prove himself to everyone; if he can go the distance, he will not be just "another bum from the neighbourhood."

On New Year's Day, the fight is held with Creed making a dramatic entrance dressed as George Washington and then Uncle Sam. Taking advantage of his overconfidence, Rocky knocks him down in the first round—the first time that Creed has ever been knocked down. Humbled and worried, Creed takes Rocky more seriously for the rest of the fight, though his ego never fully fades. The fight goes on for the full fifteen rounds, with both combatants sustaining various injuries. Rocky, with hits to the head and swollen eyes, requires his right eyelid to be cut to restore his vision. Apollo, with internal bleeding and a broken rib, struggles to breathe. As the fight concludes, Creed's superior skill is countered by Rocky's unlimited ability to absorb punches and his dogged refusal to go down. As the final bell sounds, with both fighters embracing each other, they promise each other there will be no rematch.

After the fight, the sportscasters and the audience go wild. Jergens announces over the loudspeaker that the fight was "the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring", and Rocky calls out repeatedly for Adrian, who runs down and comes into the ring. As Jergens declares Creed the winner by a split decision, Rocky and Adrian embrace and profess their love for each other, not caring about the outcome of the fight.

Probably if you mentioned to anyone what was their favourite film about the world of boxing I would think Rocky would be one high on their list.

It's a bit of a classic story of a loser given the chance to prove he can be somebody by pushing himself beyond his limits.

The fight scenes are fairly realistic as possible, for a film made in Hollywood and it's the brainchild of its star and writer Sylvester Stallonewho oozes sweat, grit, determination, and viability in this role.

This film spawned sequels each in their own right as good but the original story of any popular film tends to be the best.

Running Time(119 minutes)

Rated(12).

4 out of 4 .

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Released.

16 December 1968 (London, premiere)

17 December 1968 (United Kingdom)

18 December 1968 (United States)

At a rural English garage, two children, Jeremy and Jemima Potts find a car formerly used for racing in Grand Prix in Europe until it crashed and burned in 1909. When they learn the car is due to be scrapped, they beg their widowed father, inventor Caractacus, to save it; he makes lots of unsuccessful attempts to sell his inventions to raise money to buy it until he earns tips from a song-and-dance act at a carnival. He purchases the car and rebuilds it with a new name, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" for the unusual noise of its engine. On the first trip in the car, Caractacus and the children picnic on the beach with a wealthy woman with whom they have previously had awkward encounters, Truly Scrumptious. Caractacus tells them a tale about nasty Baron Bomburst, the tyrant of fictional Vulgaria, who wants to steal Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The story starts with the quartet escaping Bomburst's pirates. The Baron then sends two spies to capture the car, but they capture Truly’s father, Lord Scrumptious, and then Caractacus’ father, Grandpa Potts by accident, mistaking each for the car's creator. Caractacus, Truly, and the children see their Grandpa Potts, being taken away by an airship, following it to Vulgaria, which involves the car sprouting wings and propellers to fly. Grandpa is taken to the castle and ordered by the Baron to make another floating car just for him. He bluffs his abilities to the Baron to avoid being executed. The Potts' party is helped and hidden by the local Toymaker, who now works only for the childish Baron. Chitty is discovered and then taken to the castle. While Caractacus and the Toymaker search for Grandpa and Truly search for food, the children are kidnapped by the Baroness's Child Catcher, as children are against the law in Vulgaria under Bomburst's rule.

The Toymaker takes Truly and Caractacus to a grotto beneath the castle where the townspeople have been hiding their children. They concoct a scheme to free the children and the village from the Baron. The Toymaker sneaks them into the castle disguised as life-size dolls for the Baron's birthday. Caractacus snares the Baron, and the children swarm into the banquet hall, overcoming the Baron's palace guards and guests. In the ensuing chaos, the Baron, Baroness, and the evil Child Catcher are captured. Jeremy and Jemima are freed by Caractacus and Truly and fight against the guards. Chitty comes to their rescue and, at the same time, they are reunited with Grandpa. The Potts family and Truly bid farewell to the Toymaker and the rest of the village, then fly back home to England.

When Caractacus finishes the story, they set off for home, stopping to drop Truly off at Scrumptious Manor, where Caractacus dismisses any possibility of them having a future together, with what she regards as inverted snobbery. The Potts family arrive back at their cottage where Lord Scrumptious surprises Caractacus with an offer to buy one of his inventions, the Toot Sweets, as a canine confection, renaming them Woof Sweets. Caractacus, realising that he will be rich, rushes to tell Truly the news. They kiss and Truly agrees to marry him. As they drive home, he acknowledges the importance of pragmatism as the car takes off into the air again, this time without wings.

  

Very much in my humble opinion a quintessential, eccentric British musical drama and musical based on the simple idea of an inventor creating the flying car and then going on a series of adventures with a series of musical tunes that stay in your head like earworms.

This film also contains one of the best villains in movie history The Child Catcher a truly terrifying character.

This film used to be a regular family film feature on television normally about Easter or Christmas time.

If you need magical escapism this is the film you and the kids can watch, you may be singing along to the songs, laughing out loud at the comedy, or hiding behind the sofa when the Child Catcher is on.

Running time(145 minutes)

Rated(U)

4 out of 4.

The Good Nurse 

Released

September 11, 2022 (TIFF)

October 19, 2022 (United States)

October 26, 2022 (Netflix)

Plot

Amy, a compassionate nurse and single mother struggling with a life-threatening heart condition, is stretched to her physical and emotional limits by the hard and demanding night shifts at the ICU. But help arrives when Charlie Cullen, a thoughtful and empathetic fellow nurse, starts at her unit. While sharing long nights at the hospital, the two develop a strong and devoted friendship, and for the first time in years, Amy truly has faith in her and her young daughter's future. But after a series of mysterious patient deaths sets off an investigation that points to Charlie as the prime suspect, Amy is forced to risk her life and the safety of her children to uncover the truth.

This film may disappoint as it fails to seek to under the skin of the serial killer character or explain his actions.

The acting between the two main characters is intense which is this film's saving grace.

As you may feel psychologically drained after watching it.

Running time(121 minutes).

Rated (15).

3 out 4

Bros

Released

September 9, 2022 (TIFF)

September 30, 2022 (United States)

Plot

Bobby Lieber, host of the podcast and radio show The Eleventh Brick at Stonewall who prides himself on being single, attends an awards ceremony for the LGBTQ community, where he wins an award for "Best Cis Male Gay Man". He announces that he has accepted a position as a curator for the upcoming new National LGBTQ+ History Museum in Manhattan.

Bobby joins his friend Henry at a nightclub in the city where a new gay dating app is being launched and spots Aaron Shepard, whom Henry describes as hot but "boring". Aaron and Bobby flirt and exchange a kiss, but Aaron doesn't appear interested in Bobby. A few days later, the two start to spend time together, but their connection is not strong. While on a date at the movies, Aaron runs into a former high school hockey teammate, Josh, and his fiancée. Bobby and Aaron aren't sure what to make of their time together; Bobby feels Aaron acts too straight and Aaron thinks Bobby is too intense and that his clout in the gay community is intimidating. Aaron later finds out that Josh called off his engagement and has come out as gay.

After some time apart, Aaron confides to Bobby that his original dream was to be a chocolatier, but had thought that it was unachievable and never pursued it. Bobby invites Aaron on a trip to Provincetown, where he solicits an eccentric millionaire for a donation to the struggling museum. The millionaire is unimpressed by Bobby at first, but Aaron helps him to adjust his pitch, and they secure a $5 million donation. Bobby is impressed by Aaron and the two grow closer romantically, and Bobby opens up about having to tone down his flamboyant behaviour to make others comfortable.

Bobby and Aaron date for several months and Aaron integrates into Bobby's group of friends. At a Christmas party, Josh arrives and Aaron asks Bobby if they can have group sex. Bobby agrees but later recants his wishes after seeing the connection Aaron and Josh have. When Aaron's family comes to the city for a visit, Bobby's excessively outspoken behaviour ends up causing a rift between the two men. Aaron hooks up with Josh again and they break up. People are threatening to boycott the museum and pull donations over an exhibit Bobby created that suggests that Abraham Lincoln was gay.

After some time, Bobby returns to work and reconciles with his coworkers over his outburst over the exhibit. The others all admit they have their issues as well over matters such as their sexual identities and agree to compromise on the exhibits that will be presented. Meanwhile, Aaron quits his job and fulfils his dream of making chocolates, telling Bobby that all proceeds will go to the museum.

On the opening night of the museum, a large crowd turns out. Bobby misses Aaron, and after talking to his friend Tina, decides to text him. Aaron gets the text and is encouraged by his brother to go after the person he loves, arriving just as Bobby begins his speech. When he sees Aaron, he proceeds to sing a song he wrote about their relationship, inspired by the music of Garth Brooks, Aaron's favourite singer. When the song ends, Bobby and Aaron kiss, to applause from the crowd.

Three months later, Aaron's mother brings her 2nd-grade class to the museum, and Bobby and Aaron are still dating.

This film is full of gags mostly at the expense of pink-washing companies and a host of celebrity cameos.

I enjoyed the premise of the film to be groundbreaking in the way it explores why gay relationships are different from overs.

It does let itself down by featuring cliched characters and trying to appeal to everyone.

Running time(116 Minutes).

Rated (15).

3  out of 4.

Barbarian.

Released

July 22, 2022 (SDCC)

September 9, 2022 (United States)

Plot.

Tess Marshall books a remote home in a rundown neighbourhood while staying in Detroit for a job interview. She is surprised to find the house is already occupied by a young man named Keith, who rented the property through a different app. With a storm raging outside and no hotel vacancies, Tess finds herself with no option but to spend the night in the house. Initially unnerved by Keith's awkwardness, Tess eventually warms up to him. That night, Tess notices her bedroom door has been opened and hears someone moving around the house, but finds Keith asleep on the couch experiencing a night terror. Tess startles Keith awake and asks him if he opened her door, which he denies, appearing disoriented and confused.

The next morning, Tess awakes to find a note from Keith stating that he is gone for the day and she goes to her interview. After a pleasant interview, she is asked where she is staying and her interviewer, visibly alarmed, warns her that the neighbourhood where she is staying is unsafe. Upon returning, Tess is chased inside by a homeless man who demands that she must leave the house. Needing to use the bathroom, Tess searches the residence for a roll of toilet paper. She ventures into the basement and the door closes itself and locks behind her. She stumbles across a hidden door in the basement, leading to a secret corridor.

There, Tess finds a small room with an old camcorder set up on a tripod along with a bloodstained mattress and a bucket in the corner as well as a bloody handprint on the wall - evidence that someone was held captive and filmed. Tess backtracks and tries to flee the house but realizes she is locked in and has left her phone in the kitchen. After some time, Keith arrives back at the house and sees Tess banging on the basement window. They can pry the basement window open so that Keith can get the house key from Tess and get inside to free her. Tess tells Keith what she has seen, and he ventures down to the basement to investigate. When he does not return, Tess goes back down after him and discovers another subterranean tunnel leading further under the house, and hears Keith screaming for help from inside. Tess finds Keith, who tells her they are not alone and the pair are suddenly attacked by a large, naked, deformed woman, who brutally kills Keith, repeatedly smashing his head into the walls of the tunnel.

Two weeks later, sitcom actor AJ Gilbride learns he has been fired from his show due to rape allegations by a co-star. Pressured to sell his assets to pay for legal costs, AJ travels to one of the rental properties he owns in Detroit, revealed to be the same house where Tess and Keith were staying.

AJ inspects the house, finding Tess and Keith's belongings throughout. Confused and angry because the property is supposed to be vacant, he calls the property manager who tells him no one has rented it in weeks. Eventually, he discovers the hidden door and tunnel in the basement, and believing that he can claim the extra square footage and sell the property for more money, begins to make his way through the tunnels measuring the space with a tape measure. He finds a room containing a television playing a video about breastfeeding newborn children before being chased by the deformed woman. Fleeing, AJ falls into a pit alongside a still-alive Tess, who explains that the woman in the tunnels (referred to as "The Mother") wants them to act as her children.

When AJ refuses to drink milk from The Mother’s bottle, she drags him away to the TV room and forces him to breastfeed. Tess takes the opportunity to flee the basement and narrowly escapes the house with the help of Andre, the homeless man she was chased by earlier. Andre warns her to leave the neighbourhood before nightfall, as The Mother goes out hunting at night. Tess finds a local gas station and calls the police for help, only to be rebuffed and threatened with arrest for breaking the basement window.

A flashback to the 1980s shows the house's original owner, Frank, who stalked and abducted young women and held them captive in the tunnels, raping them and raising the subsequent children. Back in the present, while attempting to escape, AJ finds a room that The Mother is seemingly afraid of. Inside, he finds a vegetative Frank, as well as dozens of videotapes of Frank raping different women.

AJ unintentionally gives Frank access to a gun, which Frank uses to kill himself. Taking the gun, AJ ventures back into the tunnels, while The Mother leaves the house to hunt down Tess. Tess runs her over, pinning her to the house and seemingly killing her. Tess returns to the basement tunnel to rescue AJ but is accidentally shot by him, who thought Tess was The Mother coming back. The two escape the house, only to discover that The Mother has freed herself from the car.

The pair find Andre, who takes them to his hideout and explains that The Mother is a product of decades of rape and incest by the original owner and the two have inhabited the basement of the house for 40 years. The Mother ambushes the group and violently kills Andre, before chasing Tess and AJ up a water tower. With no way to escape, AJ pushes Tess off the tower to distract The Mother. The Mother jumps off after Tess, shielding her from the fall. As AJ attempts to apologize to a gravely wounded Tess, The Mother regains consciousness and kills him by gouging his eyes out and splitting his skull. She attempts to bring Tess back to the house and nurse her, but Tess shoots her in the head with Frank's gun. With The Mother finally dead, Tess stumbles away, bloody and traumatized.

  

A great rollercoaster of a horror film which on its journey makes you laugh, scream and you don't want it to end.

The main trio of actors put in top performances getting the balance right of comedy, empathy and the plain awful when it's over you may find yourself back lining up in the queue for another go

Running Time(102 Minutes).

Rated(18)

4 out of 4.