David R. Walker

Archive for February, 2025

Captain America: Brave New World

Director: Julius Onah

Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Sebastian Stan

Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10  

It’s been nine years since the last Captain America film and a lot has changed, hence the title of the new film Captain America: Brave New World.

Nigerian born American director Julius Onah takes the helm of this Marvel film with Anthony Mackie (Detroit, Gangster Squad, The Hurt Locker) in the lead role as the new Captain America Sam Wilson opposite Oscar nominee and Hollywood veteran Harrison Ford (Witness, Star Wars, as American President Thaddeus Ross, who is desperately trying to piece the world back together post Avengers: End Game.

Anthony Mackie does a brilliant job as the new Captain America complete with a new shield and some really cool gadgets along with his young sidekick Falcon played by Danny Ramirez (Top Gun Maverick) as Joaquin Torres. Mackie and Ramirez make a good team as they battle the so called evil American President played with considerable irritability by Harrison Ford. President Ross is trying to negotiate a special deal for the celestial island in the Indian Ocean with Japan, France and India, while taking special pills for his heart and trying to retain his equanimity.  

Things go wrong for Thaddeus Ross when he survives a strange assassination attempt supposedly by Captain America aka Sam Wilson’s friend Isiah Bradley played by Carl Lumbly (A Cure for Wellness, Men of Honour). Bradley is locked up and then tried to be disposed of by the evil Serpent commander Sidewinder expertly played by Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects, Do The Right Thing).

All of these characters seem to be out of sync, as the real villain only emerges much later in a complicated narrative concocted by scriptwriters Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Masson. That’s already one too many scriptwriters but fortunately what saves Captain America Brave New World is the appearance of the creepy villain, a shadowy Elephant man type figure named Samuel Sterns expertly played with gothic relish by character actor Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Bricklayer, Nightmare Alley).

Tim Blake Nelson is excellent as the mastermind who manipulates not only Thaddeus Ross and Sam Wilson but the entire Washington establishment. Funny how life is imitating art right now.

With high end production values and Disney’s affluence behind it, Marvel does a decent job of reimagining Captain America in the mid 2020’s. This Brave New World is one that is a media-saturated American society filled with devious misinformation, manipulation and megalomaniacs.

The action is cool, the suits are awesome and there is a big red surprise at the end of the film, so catch Captain America Brave New World in cinemas now.

Captain America Brave New World gets a film rating of 7 out of 10. This film is entertaining, action packed and filled with a unique quirkiness which elevates it firmly into the fantasy realm.

As usual with Marvel films, wait until the very end for a golden nugget.

Recommended viewing for Marvel fans only.

The 78th Bafta Awards / The British Film Academy Awards

The 78th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFAs, were held on 16th February 2025 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2024.

Best Film: Conclave

Best Director: Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

Best Actor: Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

Best Actress: Mikey Madison – Anora

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldana – Emilia Perez

Best British Film: Conclave

Best Original Screenplay: Jessie Eisenberg – A Real Pain

Best Adapted Screenplay: Peter Straughan – Conclave

Best Costume Design: Paul Tazewell – Wicked

Best Foreign Language Film: Emilia Perez

Rising Star Award: David Jonsson

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Director: Michael Morris

Cast: Renee Zellweger, Leo Woodall, Chiwitel Ejiofor, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Sally Phillips, Gemma Jones, Mila Jankovic, Casper Knopf

Running Time: 2 hours and 4 minutes.

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Double Oscar winner Renee Zellweger (Judy, Cold Mountain) reprises her role of Helen Fielding’s character British TV producer Bridget Jones in the fourth film in this franchise, called Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy. The boy in question proves to be a handsome 28 years old park ranger Roxster Macduff wonderfully played by The White Lotus break out star Leo Woodall. In fact with the exception of the charismatic Hugh Grant, Leo Woodall is the best thing in the film.

The cast from the other three films including Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (Iris) as Bridget’s Dad, Gemma Jones as Bridget ‘s Mother and of course Oscar winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) as her late husband Mr Darcy who unfortunately has passed away, appear extremely briefly. Audiences will be refreshed by a brief cameo by Emma Thompson as Bridget’s straight talking doctor.

It’s been nine years since the last film, Bridget Jones’s Baby which came out in 2016 and now our quirky heroine finds herself a lonely widow in contemporary London with two beautiful but misbehaving children Billy played by Casper Knopf and Mabel played by Mila Jankovic. Basically Bridget is not coping as a single mother, needs to go back to work and more importantly needs to find a decent fellow.

The first of Mrs Darcy’s dalliances is with Roxter Macduff superbly played by Leo Woodall, whose only drawback is that he is only 28 but initially through the help of Tinder, Bridget falls madly in love with him, which is a desire so blinding that in reality, it is a simply a cougar infatuation. The scene stealing moment in the film is with Roxter, practically shirtless rescuing a little dog from a shallow pond at a delightful English garden.

Who doesn’t love a shirtless 28 year old hunk jumping out of a pond with a cute dog in front of a gasping clutch my pearls collection of ladies?

The best scenes in the film are in the first 90 minutes particularly between Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant, two consummately professional actors. Hugh Grant is fantastic as he reprises his role of Daniel Cleaver, the ageing playboy who provides Jones with some sage advice and witty comments.

Oscar nominee Chiwiitel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) plays the whistle blowing Mr Wallaker, the teacher of Bridget’s naughty children. From of their frenetic school association, Mr Wallaker develops some feelings for Bridget and he proves to become a substantial father figure to miniature Darcy, Billy.

Despite some really funny moments mixed with some genuinely poignant scenes, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy proves to be an uneven film, suitably carried by Renee Zellweger as she provides Bridget Jones with a fascinating character development from a lonely dysfunctional widow to a sensible mother, who relinquishes tinder, young men infatuations and more importantly her hideous pyjamas.

Director Michael Morris who is primarily a TV director let the film run on too long. There was a beautiful moment in the scene at Hampstead Heath in which the film should have ended, but then decided to run for an extra half an hour, which proved to be disappointing. Although this film lacks some skilful editing and comprehensive character development, it does prove to be a lovable romantic comedy about Mrs Darcy’s dalliances.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and proves to be an enjoyable Valentines film filled with unusual romances, jokes about aging and raising children. Recommended viewing for those that love the film franchise.

Maria

Director: Pablo Larrain

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancisco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Biligner, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Stephen Ashfield, Valeria Golino, Caspar Phillipson

Running Time: 2 hours and 4 minutes

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Chilean director Pablo Larrain completes his beautiful trilogy of powerful and iconic woman with his latest film Maria starring Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted) as Greek Opera diva Maria Callas all set in the last week of her gorgeous and tragic life in Paris in 1977. His first two films Jackie and Spencer were brilliant and earned both Natalie Portman and Kristen Stewart Oscar nominations for their turn as Jacqueline Kennedy and Diana Spencer respectively.

Angelina Jolie is extraordinary as Maria offering crisp pronunciation of all of screenwriter Steven Knight’s best lines as the fickle and eccentric Maria Callas.

In a series of televised interviews with the eccentric Mandrax played by Oscar nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog) as he dutifully follows Maria around Paris, she looks back in her glamourous career and her famous love affair with Greek shipping Tycoon Aristotle Onassis played by Turkish actor Haluk Biligner.

At the centre of Larrain’s film Maria is the diva’s relationship with her two dutiful servants, the Italian butler Ferruccio wonderfully played by Pierfrancisco Favino (Rush, The Traitor) and Bruna played by Alba Rohrwacher (My Brilliant Friend, The Lost Daughter). Ferruccio is adoring of Maria Callas but disapproves of her nonchalance regarding her ever failing health.

As Steven Knight’s script weaves a fascinating if slightly confusing tale about Maria Callas’s splendid life including her superb performances at some of the worlds best Opera Houses including La Scala and The Metropolitan he deftly links Larrain’s film Jackie to Maria with the reappearance of JFK played by Danish actor Caspar Phillipson who also appeared as Jackie’s husband. The link is clear and historical. After the assassination of JFK, Jacqui Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis after he broke off his affair with Maria Callas.

It is a travesty that Angelina Jolie did not get a 2025 Oscar nomination for her role as Maria Callas. She really was superb, at once elegant and tragic, maintaining her dignity and defiance in the face of impending death.

Pablo Larrain’s film Maria is beautiful but flawed in places, although there are lots of lavish historical references to the Diva’s glamourous life in the 1950’s and 1960’s. I found parts of the film slightly repetitive although the film is saved by alluring cinematography by Ed Lachman who has been Oscar nominated.

Maria is mainly for Opera fans and this film version is a fitting bookend to Larrain’s complete fascination with these iconic women, a sumptuous end to a fascinating trilogy. Maybe he will do a film about Marilyn Monroe since she is referenced in this film when she sang Happy Birthday Mr President to JFK. Larrain clearly loves iconic moment.

Like the opera diva herself, the city of Paris in 1977 is the other character, haunting and sparking in the soft hues of autumn. The French capital is a perfect back drop for a film about the fading life of a legendary Opera star as she flounders amidst her sumptuous apartment amongst beautiful clothes, sparkling jewels and illicit drugs.

Pablo Larrain’s Maria gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10, a beautiful film which could have been stylistically improved, saved by astonishing performances by Angelina Jolie and Pierfrancisco Favino.

Anora

Director: Sean Baker

Cast: Mikey Madison, Yura Borisov, Lindsey Normington, Mark Eydelshteyn, Vache Tomasyn, Karren Karagulian

Running time: 2 hours and 19 minutes

Film Rating: 9 out of 10

Tangerine and The Florida Project director Sean Baker returns with the utterly dazzling film Anora featuring a standout frenetic and motor mouth performance by Mikey Madison as Ani a wisecracking Manhattan lap dancer who gets naively embroiled in the romantic life of a young Russian playboy Ivan played by Russian actor Mark Eydelshteyn. In fact Ivan is only 21 years old and a complete hedonist and party animal who falls for Anora and offers her enough cash to be his girlfriend for a week.

Sean Baker’s first part of Anora feels like a frenetic drug induced orgy of pop music, drinking, laptop dancing and lots of vigorous sex. As Anora and Ivan fall supposedly in love, Ivan withholds how influential and wealthy his Russian parents really are. Ivan lives in a massive mansion owned by his father in Brighton Beach in the Russian community of New York.

Anora’s dream of falling in love with a rich prince that can whisk her away to Vegas seems to come true. As they party and frequent all the glittering temptations of Vegas, they impulsively decided to get married in Vegas without informing Ivan’s parents.

Written and directed by Sean Baker, Anora is like Pretty Woman on acid, a hooker love story with enough lap dancers thrown in plus a cat fight to make this film truly entertaining and utterly watchable for all the crazy antics.

Then in a deftly crafted change of pace, the hedonist partying comes to an end when Ivan’s parents discover that their spoilt rich son has married a foul-mouthed hooker from Manhattan.

Into the fray are sent to Russian tough guys, Yura Borisov as Igor, who is exceptional in this role and Paul Weissman as Nick in which they try to tame Anora in the Russian billionaire’s plush mansion. A scene so explosive and almost comical that it is absolutely riveting.

Sean Baker loves to explore the dark frayed edges of humanity, the ugly and steamy side of sex, shady prostitution and how money plays a pivotal role in power dynamics within a decadent society. What Anora also does so beautifully is to show how Ivan just treats her as a female plaything until his parents fly in from Moscow to attempt to get the marriage annulled.

In between all the chaos and the amazing acting, is Igor, a quietly spoken Russian man who’s only desire is to really protect Anora from this ruthless excessive family and while she initially dismisses Igor as just another kind idiot, she soon discovers an unexpected saviour.

Anora is perfectly filmed and directed, a Cinderella love story told in reverse with a feisty heroine who battles her way through a world of competitive sleaze, highlighting with illumination how an immigrant community can hang onto the shredded scraps of the dystopian American dream.

Experience Anora, watch Anora, it is truly a revelatory film and deserved the Palm d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Anora is not for the faint hearted but it is a viciously taut tale of one girl’s survival in the face of adversity, mistrust while battling her own conception that her sole purpose in life is just to please men.

Superbly acted by Mikey Madison and Yura Borisov, Anora is highly recommended viewing for mature audiences who appreciate a gut wrenching ending.

Anora gets a film rating of 9 out of 10. Utterly compelling and crazy. See it to believe it.

Flight Risk

Director: Mel Gibson

Cast: Michelle Dockery, Topher Grace, Mark Wahlberg, Maaz Ali, Paul Ben-Victor

Running Time: 1 hour 31 minutes

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

Actor turned director Mel Gibson won an Oscar for Best Director for Braveheart back in 1995 which was 30 years ago. Gibson’s time in the director chair has hit some highs including Hacksaw Ridge and some lows now with his new film Flight Risk.

Flight Risk is not a terrible film but it’s not brilliant. Jared Rosenberg’s script about three people being on a small plane together across snowbound Alaska is terrifying enough, claustrophobic at times and exhilarating. The three characters in question are British actress Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey, The Gentleman) as the hard as nails FBI agent Madolyn, Topher Grace (Traffic, Spiderman 3, BlacKkKlansman) as the mischievous and dodgy accountant Winston who is going to New York to testify against the mob and lastly the real villain of the show, the demented Daryl, a hired killer who starts off as the pilot of the small plane.

Similar in concept to the Steven Knight scripted 2013 film, Locke starring Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman and Ruth Wilson, all the action of Flight Risk takes place on the plane with the dramatic Alaskan mountains as landscape. Dockery’s character Madolyn has to reassure Winston that everything is going to be alright and that they will land in Anchorage safely. Of course that’s if the crazed Daryl expertly played with the right shade of psychopath by Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg (The Departed, The Fighter) doesn’t kill them first.

As in Locke in which the whole film just shows Tom Hardy’s character driving a car and all the threatening action happens via cell phone with the rest of the characters off screen, Flight Risk alludes to other characters including a friendly pilot Hassan played by Maaz Ali and Madolyn’s boss Coleridge played by Paul Ben-Victor, while the real action happens in a small plane in which Winston and Madolyn have to survive until they can land safely in Anchorage. The story is about the three characters on the plane and nothing else.

Flight Risk as a film needs a counterpoint to the claustrophobic action occurring on the plane and unfortunately Jared Rosenberg’s script is not as crisp or engaging as screenwriter Steven Knight.

Flight Risk starts off well but as the bumpy journey progresses the middle is boring and the ending is engaging but not clever. This flight lacks some real entertainment. Maybe if the plane was flying across a crowded city this film would be more interesting.

Exciting but not brilliant, Flight Risk gets a film rating of 6 out of 10 and is recommended viewing if you need to kill 90 minutes and love films with claustrophobic settings. From director Mel Gibson I did expect a far more superior thriller which this film isn’t.