southdavid

Back at Sheffield's Showroom Cinema for another edition of their "Kai-July" Japanese Monster movie festival, I'd never heard of the "Daimajin" films ahead of the announcement as part of this series. Whilst I appreciated the change from "big animal" films, I did think this could have done with a little more action ahead of the third act.

Four children, Tsurukichi (Hideki Ninomiya), Daisaku (Shinji Hori), Kinta (Masahide Ilzuka) and Sugitatsu (Muneyuki Nagatomo) head across a sacred mountain, with the aim of rescuing their fathers and uncles who have been enslaved by a nearby warlord. Their journey is fraught with natural hazards, but they are also tracked by a general, looking for escaped men. The children know that the mountain belongs to Daimajin, a demon god currently in the form of a giant statue and are respectful in their encounter - when the situation becomes dire, they turn to the god for salvation.

In many ways, this is very similar to the traditional aspects of the Kaiju films form the 1960's that I've come to expect. An actor in a suit interacting with scale models of the sets, some crude, though reasonably effective blending of that footage with reaction shots and background paintings. The Daimajin doesn't have Godzilla or Gamera's powers, so there are no visual effects in that sense though. He favours kicking and stomping. It seems harsh to criticism them for this, given the time the film was made, but his size is also fairly inconsistent, which wasn't an issue with any of the previous Kaiju films I've seen.

Where it differs is in pacing. A Godzilla film will have him appear a few times across the run time whereas the plot of this film sees the Daimajin dormant until the last twenty minutes or so. Thusly we spend a long time with these kids and, whilst I enjoyed their performances, it made the film reasonably hard going until those last moments. The sequences with the Eagle, the gods earthly agent for the rest of the film, were a mixed bag, sometimes fun, sometimes like watching a stuffed eagle fall into a pile of asbestos.

I didn't hate it. But I won't be rushing to see it again either.

Expectations raised somewhat by some positive reviews, I went to see "I Know What You Did Last Summer" at the weekend and, whilst I'd never suggest that it's brilliant, it's better than the diminishing returns legacy follow ups that we've come to expect from horror franchises.

Reunited for an engagement party, high school friends Danica (Madelyn Cline), Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), Teddy (Tyriq Withers) and Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon) take a drive at night to watch the fireworks. Whilst messing around on the clifftops they cause a traffic accident resulting in the death of a man. Teddy's rich father Grant (Billy Campbell) has their involvement covered up and the group decide to keep the secret. They are reunited one year later at which point Danica receives a note with a cryptic phrase inside.

As much as I'd loved Mike Flanagan's take on a full reboot I actually quite like the 're-quel' take that they've gone for here. It's a new group of kids, a slightly different type of accident but generally the same idea. However, it takes place in the same town where the 1997 version of the film was set, those events did happen, and the characters played by Freddie Prinze Jnr and Jennifer Love Hewitt both make an appearance. Whilst not a spoof, or even a comedy really, the film does play with the form a little bit and has some funny lines, and I enjoyed the performances from the five main cast members, most of whom I recognised from various bits of TV before.

I will say, keeping it spoiler free of course, that it's not perhaps the most surprising set of reveals as to who is behind the murders and, whilst the deaths are suitable gruesome for a 15-certificate film, they're not particularly inventive.

Strong performances and a decent script elevate what might otherwise have been a fairly cynical cash grab, not great - but better than expected.

"Transparent" is an interesting one for me to come to at this stage. It was on the Guardian's best of the year lists, but I'm starting it knowing that allegations will force Jeffrey Tambor to leave the show ahead of it's rushed ending. Still, that is to come, so for now I'll just judge season one.

Having retired from his job as a college professor, divorced and with her children grown, Maura (Jeffrey Tambor) finally feels comfortable enough to begin her life as a woman, something that has been a secret for decades. Though they are close with each other, all three of her children; Sarah (Amy Landecker), Josh (Jay Duplass) and Ali (Gaby Hoffmann) have their own issues with love and sex.

Inspired by the situation that creator Joey Soloway found themselves in, when one of their parents came out as trans later in their life, "Transparent" is a comedy drama with lo-fi indie cinema sensibilities. Beautifully shot and performed, the series takes a relatively light touch to some occasionally serious drama moments. Generally, they're not matters of life and death, more manners and reactions, as Maura's circle becomes wider. The show also uses regular flashbacks to earlier moments, either in the kid's childhoods or Mort's relationship with his wife, Shelly, played by Judith Light.

It's a great cast, which includes roles for Kathryn Hahn, Bradley Whitford, Jason Mantzoukas and Tig Notaro. The show can be quite sexually explicit though, which I didn't mind but can imagine will be a but much for some viewers. I'd say that I struggled initially to get a handle on what the show is actually about, as quite a lot of plot happens in those first few, but a bit of patience and it all came together later into the run and I ended up enjoying it.

Looking forward to moving on to season two.