PURSUED ***

Raoul Walsh's strange, noirish Western isn't much seen these days but "Pursued" is still something of a classic. It was an original screenplay by the novelist Niven Busch and is told in flashback by Robert Mitchum who is the pursued of the title. He's the adopted son of Judith Anderson who took him in after his family is killed. The thing is, it was Anderson's brother-in-law, Dean Jagger, who was responsible for the family's murder to begin with. Subsequently, Mitchum is haunted by memories of his past as he finds himself falling in love with his adoptive sister, Teresa Wright.

You might say, then, that this is far from being a conventional western yarn. I mean, in how many other westerns do you find a romantic relationship developing between a brother and sister, even if they are not blood relatives, or where a brother-in-law and sister-in-law can be so diametrically opposed in what is a family feud. The performances are mostly fine but the real star of the picture is James Wong Howe's stunning black-and-white cinematography. This film may not be as well-known as it should be but it has certainly built up a considerable cult reputation.

UNDER THE SAND ***

A psychological drama more than a psychological thriller, Francois Ozon's "Under the Sand" gives Charlotte Rampling one of her best roles, gamely seized with both hands, as a woman whose husband disappears while o
n holiday. Ozon details her subsequent emotional breakdown in almost forensic detail as she comes to believe he's still with her, totally denying his absence as Ozon muddies the water by having the husband, (Bruno Cremer), with her on screen during these scenes.

It was only Ozon's fourth feature and already it demonstrated his versatility being markedly different from the three films that preceded it, (he would later go on to show his mastery of almost every genre). What really distinguishes this from similar films is the simplicity of tone and the almost total lack of drama. It was also the film that really established Ozon as a major player in French cinema and he hasn't looked back since.

LUNACY ****

"Lunacy" is Jan Svankmajer's homage to Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis De Sade, (it's full of allusions to "Marat/Sade"), and as he tells us himself, is a horror film and not a work of art. It is certainly the first and I would argue it is also a work of art of quite a high order. It combines live-action with Svankmajer's trade-mark animation in giving us a study of what we might call 'the banality of evil' unlike almost anything else in cinema. It is a film that moves from a barely recognizable present to some kind of past as easily as it does from live-action to animation existing in a kind of no-man's-land between the real and surreal in a manner almost guaranteed to give you the very literal creeps; this is the real thing. Yet there is also something tongue-in-cheek about the horrors Svankmajer inflicts on us. There is a giddy perversity to the picture that to a degree dissipates the director's attack on the institutions he appears to condemn. This is as much a very bizarre celebration of hedonism as it is an attack on the communist regime. There's also an asylum in the film that makes the one at Charenton look like a Wendy House. Perverse, yes but also utterly extraordinary and undoubtedly one of Svankmajer's masterpieces.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH **

There's a creature in "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" that simply can't be believed. You know the creature I'm talking about, of course? Yes, that's right; Pat Boone playing a Scotsman and once he starts into Jimmy Van Huesen's treatment of Robbie Burns' "My Love is Like a Red Red Rose" you know you are watching a fantasy. Still, he looks very fetching in a kilt though this being a U certificate, I'm sure he's wearing something under it.

James Mason plays a Scotsman, too, but one with Mason's inimitable voice and off they go on a journey to the centre of the earth. It's all nonsense, of course but Henry Levin's widescreen, large-scale version of Jules Verne's novel is hugely entertaining. They are accompanied on the journey by Arlene Dahl, (well Mason does need some romantic interest), a blonde Icelandic hunk called Peter Ronson who was better known as an athlete and a duck called Gertrude, (it's that type of picture), and on the way they encounter dinosaurs and the lost city of Atlantis. Boone's red, red rose is Diane Baker but she has to stay at home in Edinburgh. There is also a villain and he is the only one to get his comeuppance, (naturally).

THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK no stars

I didn't think it was possible for anyone to make a Tarantino rip-off that's less exciting than watching paint dry but first-time director Henry Dunham has done it. A group of militia men gather in a large warehouse on the night when a lone gunman has gunned down a number of police and then through a series of questions and answers one of them tries to figure out who among them might be the shooter. This is what's commonly called 'a talking picture' that's so talky it could be on the radio, (it certainly isn't very visual). It wouldn't have been so bad if the talk was actually worth listening to or if the all-male cast were better but this is irredeemably bad and almost totally incomprehensible.

BOY ERASED **

Considering the earnestness of the subject matter, (gay conversion therapy), Joel Edgerton's film "Boy Erased", (something of a labour of love; he wrote it and directed it and plays the head of the institute), is a lot more engaging than it might have been, not to mention being a lot less preachy and as you can probably gather from the cast, it's very well acted. Lucas Hedges is the gay teenager outed to his parents, (his father is a Baptist preacher), and then finds himself in a gay conversion programme run by Edgerton.

It's the kind of picture that once upon a time would have worn its credentials, like medals, on its puffed-out chest but Edgerton keeps it nicely, and surprisingly, low-key and no-one overplays their hand. Crowe hasn't been this good in ages, Kidman is her typically wonderful self, Hedges fulfills the promise he showed in "Manchester by the Sea" and Edgerton is marvellous as the unconventional would-be analyst. It could have been more 'exciting', (maybe it's a mite too low-key), but neither is it exploitative or sensationalist and it's good to see a gay-themed film that doesn't follow convention.

BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE ***

At 141 minutes it's certainly on the long side and it's not perfect, (mucking about with the time spans and juggling several plots it sometimes feels clever just for the sake of being clever), but nevertheless Drew Goddard's "Bad Times at the El Royale" is still hugely imaginative and really good fun, something most movies  just aren't these days.  The plot or plots may stretch credulity but a terrific cast, (Cynthia Erivo, Chris Hemsworth and Lewis Pullman have the best of it), and Goddard's imagination, (he both wrote and directed it), carry the day and despite its length it moves with the speed of a rollercoaster, pulling a few genuine surprises along the way. Tarantino may have been an influence but Goddard, who also made "Cabin in the Woods", is still going places all on his own.

THE DRIVER ***

A classic cult movie from a classic cult director. You only have to look at the way they describe the cast in the credits, (Ryan O'Neal as The Driver, Bruce Dern as The Detective, Isabelle Adjani as The Player etc.), as well as a parred down plot bordering on the existentialist to figure out it was destined for cult status. It's certainly not a conventional thriller as Dern's dogged cop goes all out to bring down O'Neal's almost silent driver and basically that's it; one great chase after another and some of the best stunt driving in the movies. Add to this Hill's brusque, hard-boiled dialogue and good performances all round, (O'Neal's superb and we should also mention Ronee Blakley, wasted in too small a role, as well as the always reliable Matt Clark), and you have a movie worthy of its reputation. Nicolas Winding Refn paid homage to it when he made "Drive" with another Ryan as the driver.

ALL IS TRUE no stars

You certainly can't fault the look of Kenneth Branagh's "All is True" or Branagh's desire to get it right. This is his film about the last days of a certain William Shakespeare, Esquire, playwright and poet of this parish and Branagh plays Shakespeare, (naturally). The script is by Ben Elton and it does feel like one artist's, (or in this case, two artist's), tribute to another though it's clear that Elton and Branagh are no Bards. This may be a gorgeous looking film, well acted, especially by Ian McKellen as the Earl of Southampton and the object of Will's deepest affection, (it would appear Mr Shakespeare was at least bisexual), but otherwise very much on the dull side. There is drama to be had from the material, (intrigues etc. amongst the family), but it never comes to life. This is an airless film that just about creeps along. Kudos and prizes certainly to Cinematographer Zac Nicholson; otherwise very much a waste of time.

THE LAUNDROMAT *

A tragic accident on a lake in which 21 people died is the catalyst that kicks off this surreal comedy-drama about the Mossack-Fonseca scandal and what came to be known as the Panama Papers. It's certainly entertaining but too cartoonish, (not to mention, too complicated), to really hit home despite an all-star cast headed by Meryl Streep as a woman whose husband was one of the lake victims and whose digging into what turned out to be one hell of a giant fraud brought matters to a head.

Others involved include Gary Oldman, (outstanding), as Mossack and Antonio Banderas as Fonseca as well as Sharon Stone, David Schwimmer, Jeffrey Wright and Matthias Schoenaerts. The director is Steven Soderbergh and this is one of his 'entertainments' but it's one of his lesser ones. It's like an illustrated lecture but one where the lecturer is so unsure of his material he has to keep cracking jokes, not all of them that funny. It's certainly not a complete disaster but once it's over you're unlikely to remember a single moment.

A WALK IN THE SPRING RAIN no stars

Terrible! This middle-aged romance served as a late vehicle for Ingrid Bergman as a professor's wife who embarks on a disastrous affair with a Tennessee Mountain Man, (an over-the-top Anthony Quinn in full-throttle Zorba mode). It was based on a novel by Rachel Maddux which Stirling Silliphant thought enough of to produce and do the screenplay but by 1970 love stories were for the Ryan O'Neals and Ali McGraws of this world and not for a couple of over-the-hill old fogeys from yesteryear so the film flopped and disappeared. As Bergman's husband, Fritz Weaver isn't at all bad but otherwise "A Walk in the Spring Rain" is a film no-one might want to keep on their C.V's.

ZOMBI CHILD ****

Beginning in Haiti in the early sixties, "Zombi Child" deals with voodoo and is one of the best and most poetic horror films in many a moon. It is obvious from the title and the setting that we are meant to think of a much earlier film with a similar setting but that would appear to be where the comparisons with Jacques Tourneur's "I Walked with a Zombie" ends for in the next scene we are in contemporary France and a group of schoolgirls are being taught French history in a very white classroom.

What follows is a deliciously unsettling movie that manages to encompass the pains of teenage romance with a tale of the 'undead' as a metaphor for colonialism and it actually works. I can't think of too many examples in recent cinema where two opposing themes have been as beautifully united as they are here. In some ways it's closer to something like "The Neon Demon" or the recent remake of "Suspiria" than it is to Val Lewton. Here is a film with a creeping sense of dread, (we've all seen films in which schoolgirls are not as sweet as they appear to be), and the grand guignol finale is as spooky as a good horror movie should be. It also confirms director Bertrand Bonello as one of the most exciting talents working anywhere today.

BEANPOLE ****

Russia in the days immediately following the end of World War II. Two young women, scarred from the horrors they have encountered, do what they can to survive in what, fundamentally, is a living hell. "Beanpole" is every bit as depressing as that short synopsis might suggest. It's also only the second feature from the young Russian director Kantemir Balagov, (he's not yet thirty), who might yet turn out to be the greatest Russian filmmaker since Tarkovsky and like Tarkovsky he certainly doesn't believe in compromising.

This is a grim but deeply humanist picture, deeply engaged with its devastated characters. Shot in rigorous close-up with an astonishing use of colour and magnificently played by Vikoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelyygina as the two women in question this is great cinema and a welcome relief from so much of the highly commercial crap that Hollywood turns out these days though being Russian and 'art-house' this will never get the audience it deserves. Nevertheless, Russia thought enough of it to put it forward as their entry for this years Foreign (now 'International') Film Oscar. It would certainly be a very worthy winner.

THE TAMARIND SEED ***

One of Blake Edwards' best and certainly one of his most underrated films, "The Tamarind Seed" is equal parts romantic drama and suspenseful spy movie. Julie Andrews works for the Home Office and Omar Sharif is the Russian Military Attache who meet while on holiday in the Caribbean and whose relationship comes under scrutiny from both sides of the political divide. An outstanding supporting cast, (Anthony Quayle, Dan O'Herlihy, Sylvia Syms, Oscar Homolka), Freddie Young's widescreen cinematography and director Edwards' highly intelligent screenplay are all major pluses while both Andrews and Sharif are excellent as the mismatched lovers. In fact, this is just the kind of film Mr. Hitchcock might have made at one time and Mr. Edwards certainly doesn't let the side down. A hugely satisfying film on every level.

THE MIND OF MR. SOAMES ***

A new take on the Frankenstein myth. Terence Stamp is the man in a coma since birth but kept alive in a kind of oxygen tank, who is awakened after 30 years. Alan Cooke's "The Mind of Mr. Soames" is an unusually intelligent piece of sci-fi which, like Mary Shelley's novel, is really about the relationship between the doctor who 'awakens' him and his 'creature' , the unfortunate Mr Soames who might have been better off had he been left in his tank. In these roles Robert Vaughan, (the doctor), and in particular Stamp, (Soames), are excellent. If the plot proceeds along a somewhat predictable path, the superb handling and good performances all round, more than redeem it. Not really a success when it came out, it is now destined for cult status.

DAY OF ANGER **

As was so often the case, the only thing that lets this spaghetti western down is the atrocious dubbing. Otherwise Tonino Valerii's "Day of Anger" is a remarkably fine and suitably violent addition to the genre with Giuliano Gemma's garbage-boy being taught the art of gun-figting by gunslinger Lee Van Cleef. The setting is one of those corrupt western towns where almost everyone's a villain so when they get their come-uppence you can't help but feel a degree of satisfaction.

Van Cleef may not be much of an actor but he had real star presence and he's at his best here. It's harder to judge Gemma's performance since it's not his voice we are hearing but he was certainly photogenic and handles the role with aplomb. Enzo Serafin was responsible for the superb widescreen cinematography, (it was shot in Spain), and, perhaps not surprisingly, the film has built up something of a cult reputation.