The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

Director: Guy Ritchie

Starring: Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer

The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II.

Trust Guy Ritchie to bring us a completely unique presentation of a serious matter. ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ is based on fact and tells the story of Operation Postmaster – a secret mission – which was carried out in 1942. Many people lost their lives during this operation (which off course is exaggerated in the movie) and yet the film has a lighthearted narration which sees the soldiers cracking jokes whilst killing the enemy. This is indeed a very different approach but it allowed for a highly entertaining movie which is not to be taken too seriously, and that was funny and enjoyable instead of nail-biting suspense.

I absolutely loved Henry Cavill here, in the role of Gus March-Phillips, who leads the operation. In fact, the entire cast was just brilliant and I also thoroughly enjoyed hunky Alan Ritchson as Anders Lassen. This character was so inventive when it came to killing people, he was an absolute delight to watch!

So, Gus March-Phillips is recruited to lead Operation Postmaster – a mission to cut off supplies to the German submarines in Nazi-controlled waters. Gus selects his own team, which consists of Henry, Freddy, and Anders. On their way, they rescue Geoffrey from captivity, and include him in their team.

Then there are agents Marjorie and Heron, who is sent to the island of Fernando Po, so Marjorie can get close to Nazi Commander Heinrich Luhr in order to get information from him.

The film follows the team as they execute their daring and ambitious plans. With every obstacle, they have to devise a new and more daring plan, and it was a lot of fun to watch! There was a bit too much killing for my liking, but the action sequences are fantastic and in general the film is thoroughly entertaining. The cinematography is good, and the Oscar-worthy score is AWESOME!! This was one of the best film scores I’ve heard in a while.

From an entertainment perspective, ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ delivered!! The film’s climax is action all the way! I loved it.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)

Director: Robert Day

Starring: Mike Henry, David Opatoshu, Manuel Padilla Jr.

Tarzan battles a megalomaniac millionaire named Vinero, who kidnaps a young boy whom he believes can lead him to a legendary city of gold. Vinero is accompanied by his own army, including henchman Mr. Train and gorgeous Sophia.

Mike Henry is a delicious specimen. Any Tarzan movie starring this hunk of a man is worth watching, even if just to marvel at that great physique. Together with that soothing voice, he is a gentle giant (similar to Clint Walker). When not dressed in his skimpy jungle attire, Tarzan is a distinguished gentleman. Either way, he is a sight for sore eyes! Mike Henry is also – to my knowledge – the only hairy-chested Tarzan. Oh, and those muscular legs!

But enough of Mike Henry for now. ‘Tarzan and the Valley of Gold’ is an action adventure that revolves around the legendary city of gold. When a young boy who knows the location of the city is kidnapped by the ruthless criminal Vinero, it is up to Tarzan and his animal compadres to save the boy – and the city.

More often than not Tarzan reminded me of James Bond. His antics were reminiscent of the secret agent, and at times Mike Henry even looked like Sean Connery from his 60’s Bond movies. He was not the stereotypical jungle man as we’ve come to know Tarzan, and he had a wide knowledge of…well, almost everything!

‘Tarzan and the Valley of Gold’ is not always believable, but from an action adventure perspective, it was very entertaining. This is a good option for a family friendly movie night. Kids will love the animals and the call to adventure.

Would I watch it again? I doubt it.

I, Madman (1989)

Director: Tibor Takács

Starring: Jenny Wright, Clayton Rohner, Randall William Cook

A bookshop clerk and wannabe actress starts seeing the disfigured killer from her 1950s pulp novels come to life and start killing people around her. She tries to convince her cop boyfriend, but to no avail.

‘I, Madman’ is not to be confused with 1981’s slasher movie ‘Madman’.

‘I, Madman’ happens to be the name of a novel…in the movie, that is. Virginia, who works at a book store, is obsessed with writer Michael Brand’s work. In search of his book ‘I, Madman’ she one day arrives home to find the book in front of her apartment.

Much of the events in the film is the visualization of the story as Virginia reads it. But when people start dying, the villain in the book becomes very real to her and the lines between fact and fiction starts to blur. Virginia’s boyfriend is Richard, a cop who investigates the murders. When Virginia tells him she knows when the next murder will take place, he disregards it as her obsession with the novels – especially with her having a habit of scaring herself whilst reading the novels. Virginia believes the killer to be author Michael Brand himself.

The villain is a truly creepy character and looks like an antagonist straight out of your worst nightmare. The make-up is very well done. In general, I rather enjoyed this movie and thought it wasn’t half bad.

Jenny Wright was nominated for Best Actress portraying Virginia.

Would I watch it again? Although a good watch, I somehow doubt it.

Long Weekend (1978)

Director: Colin Eggleston

Starring: John Hargreaves, Briony Behets, Mike McEwen

When a suburban couple go camping for the weekend at a remote beach, they discover that nature isn’t in an accommodating mood.

Let this movie be a lesson to treat nature with respect! Don’t, and nature will return the favour!

Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) are going away for the long weekend, but they’re off to a rocky start. In fact, their relationship seems troubled from the moment we meet them. But it would get much worse…

While Peter was trying hard to make things work between them, Marcia was a real bitch (pardon me for being so blunt!). I swear, this woman did nothing but complain about everything, and I didn’t root for her one bit. Peter on the other hand were trying to make the best of a dire situation, and I actually felt sorry for him on several occasions. It still didn’t give him the right to treat nature with disrespect, though, as his actions so clearly illustrated. He showed total disregard toward animals.

‘Long Weekend’ is an unusual feature film, and personally I believe it would have worked better as a short. Even though this is a relatively short movie, some moments gave me a sense of deja vu. There are only two characters in the film and we watch them as the tension between them increases and their relationship quickly descents into a downward spiral.

Although there’s probably much to learn from ‘Long Weekend’ it is not a film I can easily recommend. I must just add; John Hargreaves looked incredibly sexy in those short white shorts, and that lovely hairy chest!!

‘Long Weekend’ won awards for Best Film and Best Actor.

Would I watch it again? No.

The Slayer (1982)

Director: J.S. Cardone

Starring: Sarah Kendall, Frederick Flynn, Carol Kottenbrook, Alan McRae

Two couples become stranded on a rugged isle, and are haunted by a supernatural beast, drawn to the wife of one of the couples, who dreams of its killings.

Kay is an artist whose recent work is being criticized for being too abstract. Her inspiration comes from nightmares she’s having about a beast pursuing and attacking her. Together with her husband David, her brother Eric and his wife Brooke, the four of them go on vacation to a secluded island.

Kay is still plagued by nightmares and this causes tension between her and the rest of the party. However, things soon take a horrible turn which sees them fighting for survival.

The early 80’s saw the release of dozens of slasher movies. ‘The Slayer’ might sound like an all-out slasher movie, but the film is unusual in the sense that we never get to see the antagonist. Even when the killings start, we don’t see the killer. There are also only four characters in the film, so not really a slasher in the true sense.

Due to the small cast we got to know all the characters better, allowing us to root for them. There were a few nicely done suspenseful moments as well. In general, though, the film might disappoint fans of the genre for lack of gore, and an unseen villain.

Would I watch it again? Not sure. Maybe.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen

When a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.

I know I’m in the vast minority here – and you can crucify me for saying this – but I hated this movie. Quintin Tarantino’s movies require an acquired taste, and I guess I haven’t acquired that taste yet. I found this utterly boring and quite annoying, actually.

So, most of the film is set in a warehouse. The Reservoir Dogs are a bunch of thieves. A Heist – which is not shown to the audience – went wrong, and now the thieves are trying to figure out which one of them is the “rat”, who alerted the cops. They suspect one of them is an undercover cop, so the film sees the men talking, yelling, swearing, talking, yelling, swearing, talking, yelling, swearing…oh, whatever, I hated this! I swear, almost the entire movie revolved around these men arguing about who the rat is!! Ugh, enough already; this is so not my kind of entertainment!!

I mean, need I say more? There was nothing else happening here, and very little was actually shown to the audience. For most parts, the viewer had to envision what happened. I quickly loose interest in movies with too much dialogue. Add a couple of swear words in every single sentence and I’m tempted to hit the STOP button on my remote.

When they had that 5-minute conversation in the beginning of the movie about tipping in a restaurant, I should have stopped already. I don’t normally enjoy neo-noir crime movies. Did I enjoy ‘Reservoir Dogs’? Well, the answer to this is obvious: it’s a resounding NO!!

‘Reservoir Dogs’ received 36 award nominations, winning 13.

Would I watch it again? NO.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Director: Takashi Yamazaki

Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Sakura Andô

Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know by now I’m no Godzilla fan. Yet, every time there’s a new Godzilla movie I find myself watching it – maybe hoping there would finally be one that I enjoy. And such was the case with ‘Godzilla Minus One’. I think the biggest reason I enjoyed this blockbuster ‘Godzilla’ is the fact it was not made by Hollywood. I also enjoyed the fact this movie was not set in modern times. Another reason I enjoyed the movie more than the American versions, was the fact I liked the characters. (Most of the characters in the Hollywood films are bland and one-dimensional).

‘Godzilla Minus One’ starts in 1945 during World War 2. Koichi Shikishima is a Kamikaze pilot who abandoned his duties and pretended his plane was faulty. When Godzilla attacks a military base and Koichi freezes up when ordered to shoot the creature, Koichi is blamed for the deaths of the soldiers. This, together with the fact he abandoned his initial mission, sees Koichi being branded as a coward.

Returning home, he finds the city in ruins, having been bombed. He meets Noriko, who found a baby and now cares for it, and reluctantly allows her to stay with him because she has nowhere to go. Koichi finds a job disposing of landmines that were planted in the sea during the war.

Although a monster movie, the film also concentrates on character development and human drama. This allowed me to root for the characters in their fight against Godzilla. Godzilla is a giant, ugly sea monster and the film showed no mercy when it came to destruction and human casualties – just as it ought to be when a giant prehistoric creature attacks a city.

After causing unimaginable destruction, the authorities must now devise a plan to kill the monster. While the film’s first half was pretty much character driven, the second half delivers more action as the fight against Godzilla ensued. I absolutely loved the film’s toned down score (as opposed to the loud and bombarding score of most of the Hollywood blockbuster movies). In fact, the score was absolutely stunning. The visual effects are also incredibly good!

The film is also a display of heroism in the face of disaster, and an enemy almost impossible to defeat. I must be honest, I did find Godzilla’s ability to produce heat rays causing atomic bomb like destruction maybe a bit too much, but that’s just my opinion and it was still all good. This is a very entertaining movie.

At the box office, ‘Godzilla Minus One’ earned nearly $116 million on a budget of around $12 million. The film received 97 award nominations, winning 41 including the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects (well deserved!).

In Japanese.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

Night School (1981)

Director: Ken Hughes

Starring: Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder

Women in the evening curriculum at Boston’s distinguished Wendell College do a lot to get ahead in life. But there’s someone who will go to even greater heights. Someone will do anything to get a head: a killer whose modus operandi is the ritualistic decapitation of victims.

‘Night School’ might give the wrong impression the film is set at a night school. It is not; neither are the murders committed at the school. As it turns out, most of the victims are all from Wendell College, the night school.

I’m surprised by how good this 80’s slasher actually was. It has style and substance and made for an interesting whodunit murder mystery.

The film starts with a young teacher being beheaded at school after everyone had gone home already. Lt. Austin (Leonard Mann) is called to the scene. As he investigates, more murders take place – the one more bizarre than the other. They all have one thing in common, though: each victim’s head is found submerged in water.

We meet Professor Vincent Millett (Drew Snyder), who has a personal interest in the girls at the college. Eleanor (Rachel Ward) is one of his affairs. Thought to be Vincent’s only love, she is insanely jealous of him. Their relationship is taken to the next level when she announces she is pregnant.

Wendell College administrator Helene Griffin also has an interest in the girls (erm, make that a personal interest, as well), and then there’s the somewhat mysterious Gary, a peeping tom with mental issues, who works at a restaurant.

The suspense is well crafted. All the characters in the film served a purpose, and were not merely added to become victims. Most of the characters were well fleshed out, and I rooted for them. Although it might seem obvious at times who the killer might be, there are interesting reveals during the final act. ‘Night School’ is actually a darn good movie that I somehow missed back in the day.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

American History X (1998)

Director: Tony Kaye

Starring: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D’Angelo

Living a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.

By the time the film ends, it feels like a good movie. I however can’t deny the fact that ‘American History X’ was mostly an unpleasant viewing experience. With all the racist remarks and foul language, it really was not a pleasure to watch. I’ve said this so many times before but can’t stress it enough: I hate any kind of racist depiction in movies. In this day and age I don’t want to be reminded of racial issues. We are – or should be – all equal.

What I admire about the film, though, is its good script, good character development, good photography, and good performances by the entire cast. Edward Norton, especially, was fantastic, and he owned every scene he was in.

Edward Norton stars as Derek, an arrogant neo-Nazi who was jailed for cold-bloodedly shooting hijackers. Derek’s younger brother Danny is a kid with an attitude, and is quickly following in the Derek’s footsteps.

When Danny’s history teacher asks him to write a paper on Derek – called American History X – Derek’s life is told through backflashes (shown in black and white) as Danny writes the paper. With Derek now being released from prison, he is a changed man. His girlfriends and friends are still part of a gang destined to ‘set things right’ in America.

‘American History X’ deals with many different issues – mostly racism – and due to its subject matter, I did not really enjoy the movie. This is not my kind of entertainment. As mentioned, the ending almost made me believe this was a good movie in its entirety, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

‘American History X’ received several award nominations including an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actor (Edward Norton).

Would I watch it again? No.

Exhuma (2024)

Director: Jae-hyun Jang

Starring: Kim Go-eun, Choi Min-sik, Lee Do-hyun, Yoo Hae-jin

The process of excavating an ominous grave unleashes dreadful consequences buried underneath.

Note: this review might contain spoilers.

An American family contacts Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun), a shaman, when their baby son has a mysterious illness. Hwa-rim helps people who need to rid their homes and families of ghosts, demons, or supernatural beings. She discovers the baby’s illness is due to a curse from the grave.

On behalf of the family, Park Ji-Yong (Kim Jae-cheol) shows Hwa-rim and her partner Bong-Gil (Lee Do-hyun) the location of the family’s Grandfather’s grave. Accompanying them, is feng shui expert Kim Sang Deok (Choi Min-sik) and funeral home owner Ko Young Geun (Yoo Hae-jin). The grave is in a remote location on a mountain, and there is no name on the grave. The family now wants the grave relocated, but on arrival Sang Deok senses something evil.

Hwa-rim performs rituals to ward off evil spirits, and the grave is excavated. The coffin is to be cremated. When one of the diggers kills a snake with a human head, evil spirits are unleashed and shortly after it starts to rain. Apparently, cremation can’t be done when it rains as it will prevent the grandfather’s spirit from smoothly moving upward.

When a custodian at the funeral home opens the coffin, a vengeful spirit is unleashed. Now, the Grandfather’s spirit targets his family members, but when the coffin is cremated, the curse is lifted. However, later it is discovered there was a double burial on the grave site, with a large coffin being buried vertically underneath the Grandfather’s coffin, and this is when things start going terribly wrong!

‘Exhuma’ is a creepy film with a constantly foreboding atmosphere. One never really knows what to expect. There were a few confusing moments, but in general this is a good movie. The make-up and visual effects are very good. ‘Exhuma’ reminded me of a cross between the Korean film ‘The Wailing’ and the Cantonese film ‘Rigor Mortis’.

Although it is still too early for awards, the film already received nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

In Korean.

Would I watch it again? Maybe.