PUBLIC ENEMIES

 The "Public Enemies" of the title are Baby Face Nelson and more specifically John Dillinger and Michael Mann's movie is about how Agent Melvin Purvis brought them down. Being a Michael Mann movie you know it's going to be stylish, action-packed and probably a cut above other real-life gangster films but it's not one of Mann's better pictures despite first-rate performances from Johnny Depp as Dillinger and Christian Bale as Purvis and some terrific set-pieces. The problem is Mann's always been a somewhat chilly director, a consummate professional more concerned with getting every detail right rather than fleshing out his films with empathetic characters, though perhaps the likes of John Dillinger, Hannibal Lecter and the gangsters of "Heat" could never be thought of as empathetic. Still, thanks to some extraordinary casting "Heat" wasn't just a great gangster/heist movie but a fill full of people you might actually relate to. "Public Enemies" doesn't offer us the same pleasures even if it does what it says on the tin and does it very well but then so many other films have done the same thing and done it better. Maybe what "Public Enemies" needed was to be about thirty minutes shorter, shot in black and white and with the likes of Mickey Rooney or Rod Steiger in the lead. Unfortunately those days are past. This certainly isn't a bad film, just a very impersonal one.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE?

 

.We're in 'Baby Jane' territory, or at least the title would like us to think we are. Having hit pay dirt with those Bette Davis pot-boilers "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" and "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte", Robert Aldrich may have though 'third time lucky' but while he took the producer's credit, directing duties were handed to the decidedly third-rate Lee H. Katzin. The movie, of course, is "What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?" and it's another showcase for a couple of ageing actresses in full diva mode.

This time Geraldine Page is the super-bitch who resorts to murdering elderly ladies for their savings so she can live in the style to which she was accustomed before her husband died leaving her with nothing but debts and a stamp album. Things seem to be going her way until Ruth Gordon shows up. We, of course, know that Ruth is never quite as innocent as she appears even if Geraldine doesn't, (didn't she see "Rosemary's Baby" released the year before?).

It's nonsense, of course, and not a patch on its predecessors but Page and Gordon are always a fun watch and together they make this a very juicy entertainment. Others in the cast include the underrated Rosemary Forsyth and Robert Fuller, he of 'Laramie' fame. It may have the look of a 'made-for-tv' movie and you don't have to be much a sleuth to figure out what's going to happen next but it's very enjoyable nevertheless.

HELL OR HIGH WATER

 British director David Mackenzie has been making films for around twenty years now and with his varied output I suppose he could be called one of 'the new auteurs'. The fact that he isn't necessarily that prolific only piques our interest. He made "Hell or High Water" in the US in 2016 and it was nominated for Best Picture which proves that really good independent cinema can find favour and a market. Superbly written by Taylor Sheridan, it's the story of two brothers who become somewhat less than competent bank-robbers in an effort to raise enough money to save their late mother's ranch. The brothers are Chris Pine and a brilliant Ben Foster, (surely one of the best actors working anywhere today), and an even better Jeff Bridges is the grizzled old sheriff on their trail. It's the kind of movie the Coen Brothers might have made but not improved on and it has a real feeling for the New Mexico landscapes where it was filmed, (it's beautifully shot by Giles Nuttgens), and you would never guess watching it that Mackenzie himself wasn't American. There's also a terrific Nick Cave/Warren Ellis score; the perfect package, in fact.

FISTS IN THE POCKET

 The family in Marco Bellocchio's startling debut "Fists in the Pocket" make the Femms of "The Old Dark House" seem normal. These indolent Italians laze around all day taunting each other at every opportunity while son Allessandro, (a truly terrific Lou Castel), contemplates the best ways to rid himself of the others, including his blind mother, for the sake of the one brother he cares about. This darkly funny satire wasn't like other Italian films of the time, taking an almost putrid look at the family values Italians hold most dear; a comedy about matricide, fratricide and possible incest that actually manages to be quite touching at times. It's also a movie that takes its time. For a director making only his first feature, Bellocchio bravely put narrative on the back-burner opting instead for an atmosphere as lazy as his characters and killing off a number of sacred cows in the process. The Establishment hated it while young critics loved it though not enough to make it anything other than a cult movie and it's seldom revived. Perhaps its reputation outweighs its numerous qualities but however you look at it, it's a one-off and well worth seeing.

A MAN CALLED OVE

 This Swedish comedy about a cantankerous man, old before his time and suicidal after losing his job but realising slowly that perhaps life, and people in general, aren't so bad after all, is a gem. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and deservedly so and it's certainly much better than the overrated and not dissimilar "Toni Erdmann" and as the older Ove, Rolf Lassgard is miraculously good, (we also get to meet him as a child and a much younger man). Of course, an American version would be hugely sentimental but the Swedes don't really do sentimentality and this is sweet, funny and sad. Any tears it draws, it draws honestly. It's also beautifully directed by Hannes Holm in a series of short scenes designed to show Ove's character and that of his neighbours and it's sure to put a very large smile on your face.

THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE

 One-time minimalist, now breaking out into something more substantial, Aki Kaurismaki here tackles the refugee crisis, explicitly and beautifully, proving there's always been more to him than sometimes met the eye. "The Other Side of Hope" is set in Helsinki where Syrian refugee Khaled ends up after stowing away on a coal ship and it's here he meets former salesman, gambler and restauranteur Wilkstrom who is also embarking on a new life, albeit a less drastic one. In typical Kaurismaki style, he establishes what is happening to these two men in the first several minutes without a word being spoken.

Like "Le Havre" before it, this is Kaurismaki at his most humane; you get the impression De Sica or perhaps Ken Loach might have made this and while the acting throughout is typically deadpan both Sherwan Haji, (Khaled), and Sakari Kuesmanen, (Wilkstrom), fully inhabit their characters. In Kaurismaki's films the actors never quite feel like actors and there are moments here of documentary-like realism. Of course, we wouldn't be watching a Kaurismaki film if it wasn't fanciful on occasion and this is where Kaurismaki scores over his contemporaries; he embraces magical-realism better than anybody. This funny, sad and deeply moving film might just turn out to be his masterpiece.

COLETTE

 This tale of how the French novelist Colette overturned the social norms of the day by getting herself recognized as the author of her own work, which had previously been claimed by her husband, is an extremely handsome looking and entertaining picture with a fine screenplay by director Wash Westmoreland, Richard Glatzer and Rebecca Lenkiewicz and excellent performances from Keira Knightley in the title role, Dominic West as her untrustworthy spouse and Denise Gough as the woman she loved.

It's an unusual story that many people may not have known and, of course, it makes a strong feminist statement  without feeling in any way didactic, (Colette didn't just challenge literary and social norms but sexual ones as well). It's also that rare thing, a film about writing that's also very cinematic and it plays out like a literary thriller, a will-she-or-won't-she when we already know the outcome). No classic, perhaps, but still a couple of hours in good company.