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Operation Mincemeat (2021) dir John Madden A WWII film focussing the efforts of British intelligence to trick Germany into thinking an upcoming major operation was going to happen somewhere else, so that they diverted defending forces away from the actual location. The basics are a true story. The characters are mainly the real people who were involved. It has a great ensemble cast. The main characters are two officers working for MI5, one from the navy and one from the air force, played by Colin Firth and Matthew McFadden, with Kelly MacDonald and Penelope Wilton playing their civilian assistants. It also features Johnny Flynn as the young Lt. Ian Fleming who narrates some scenes in a style that could well have been passages from his James Bond novels. You could, at a big stretch, almost class this as Bond film since it features characters referred to as M (head of MI5, Jason Issacs) and Q-branch (the gadget inventor, James Fleet). Simon Russel Beale also puts in a great performance as Winston Churchill. I have heard of Operation Mincemeat, knew the basics of it, that Ian Fleming was involved and what the outcome was. I don't think it's a spoiler to say the plan worked, as various characters in the film say that if it doesn't the allies won't win the war. The plan was to take the body of recently deceased man, a Welshman living rough in London called Glyndwr Michael, dress him in an officer's uniform, attach a brief case containing fake, but apparently top-secret documents, and then release it from a submarine such that it would wash up on a Spanish beach. Spain was neutral in WWII but under the regime of the Fascist, pro-n*zi, General Franco. So British intelligence knew that the contents of the brief case should find their way into the hands of German agents, before being returned to Britain, and thus the fake information would find it's way to Berlin. The operation they were planning for was the allied invasion of Italy, then Germany's ally. The fake information was one part of bigger plan to convince the Germans it was occupied Greece that was going to be invaded. The subsequent invasion of Italy is one of the lesser known parts of the war. Much is made, quite rightly, of the D-day landings, but that was not the first invasion of German controlled Europe, it was this invasion of Italy, nearly a year earlier. So it's nice to see a film about this aspect of the war, because there aren't very many of them. The film shows the meticulous level of detail the agents went to, creating a whole fake identity, Major William Martin, along with personal letters, a photo of a fiancé, etc. The plot does come across somewhat unbelievable at times and includes a completely unnecessary romantic sub-plot. Even if some of that is what actually happened, the way the films portrays this comes across as if the producers wanted to “s*x it up” and add these elements in because they thought the story of the planning and execution of the operation was not interesting enough. I was all set to give this a lower score than I did, but the last 30 mins or so redeemed it a little. What I found really interesting was, after the the plan had been put into action, the role British diplomats in Spain then had to play to make sure that the brief case of fake documents did indeed end up in German hands. Because after all the detailed and careful planning, it could have easily been undone by a Spanish official simply handing the brief case straight back to Britain, as was technically the correct thing for a neutral country to do, but not what they were supposed to do according to the pro-German Fascist regime in charge. There's almost none of the action you usually get in war films, until right at the end when we see an American infantry sergeant, a minor character introduced earlier, on board a landing craft, storming a Sicilian beach which was taken and held with relatively light causalities. All due to the success of Operation Mincemeat diverting German forces hundreds of miles away. 6 / 10

What I Watched This Week #179 (June 2-8) Escape from Alcatraz dir. Don Siegel/1979/1h53m Clint Eastwood stars in this prison break drama based on the true story of the only man to escape from the famous prison island off the San Francisco coast, Frank Morris. This film takes its time, much like Eastwood's performance style it's understated, deliberate and measured, with none of the melodrama of something like The Shawshank Redemption. The plot is simple, Eastwood arrives at the prison, spends some time scoping it out, then enacts his plan. It's the little things that give weight to this film, particularly the character of Doc (Roberts Blossom), who quietly represents the unshakeable human yearning for freedom with his portraits and the symbolic use of chrysanthemums. At times the pace of the film does undercut some of the urgency of the escape attempt, but I did like the ambiguous ending that doesn't tell you what happened to Frank after he got past the prison walls. 7.5/10 Rhinestone dir. Bob Clark/1984/1h51m I was scrolling through Sylvester Stallone's filmography and came across this, and knew that I had to watch it just to make sure that it's real. Rhinestone stars Dolly Parton as aspiring singer Jake who needs to get out of her crummy contract at the titular New York country music club. To do this she makes a bet with the manager, Freddie (Ron Leibman), that she can turn anyone into a country singer. The person chosen is tone deaf cab driver Nick, played by Stallone. To do this she takes him back home to Tennessee for some real country experience. Stallone also co-wrote this based on the song Rhinestone Cowboy. Really, it even says so in the opening credits. This whole thing is like a fever dream, especially the scenes where Stallone sings by howling like a demented gibbon. He plays his role like an overactive child with attention issues. Parton is just as sweet and charming as she always is, and the moments when she gets to sing are obviously excellent. I also liked Richard Farnsworth as Parton's father. This is not a good film, but it is a bizarre film, and it has its charms. 6/10 The Hustler dir. Robert Rossen/1961/2h14m Paul Newman stars in his iconic role of pool hustler Fast Eddie Felson who is on the fast track to self destruction as he becomes obsessed with beating the best pool player in the world, Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). This is a film in three distinct acts. The first and third are Felson's showdowns with Fats which bookend a tragic romance between Felson and Sarah (Piper Laurie), a depressed alcoholic. This is a bleak film about addicts and losers, yet there is beauty in the direction that makes this world of smoky pool halls cool and alluring. It also helps that Newman is incredibly handsome. The two pool games between Eddie and Fats are the showpieces here and are given the attention they deserve, with Eddie losing even when he wins, that's just the kind of man he is. Gleason is great as Eddie's opposite, someone totally calm and in control of their emotions. Laurie is heart breaking as Sarah, with only one inevitable outcome for her. Rounding out the main cast is George C. Scott as Bert, the sleazy and manipulative pool hall owner. As a standalone film this is excellent, but wouldn't it be good if we caught up with Eddie let's say twenty five years later? 9/10 Lime's Co-Film of the Week! The Color of Money dir. Martin Scorsese/1986/1h59m Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money catches up with Fast Eddie Felson (a returning Paul Newman) twenty five years after the events of The Hustler. He's now making a decent living off of whiskey, but when a hotshot young pool player, Vince (Tom Cruise), catches his eye he wants back in the hustling game. Without the context of The Hustler this is still a fantastic film full of Scorsese's trademark moves, but with the added history of the character a whole new tragic dimension is added. Eddie is a man full of regrets, so when he sees a chance to recapture his glory days he'll do anything he can to grab it, his old instincts kicking in almost instantly. He's there to use Vince, and he's open about it. But Vince is no d*mmy, even though he may act like it, and with his more emotionally mature girlfriend Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) he may end up teaching Eddie a thing or two. This has a much different vibe to the previous film, very fitting for the time it was made, and the pool scenes are edited violently by Scorsese's long time editor Thelma Schoonmaker, almost like they're fight scenes. This is a Scorsese film I've not seen before, and didn't really have any interest in before watching The Hustler, but I think this is one of his best works of the decade, only The King of Comedy is better in my opinion. Combined with The Hustler this is an epic, four hour rise and fall and rise and fall and maybe rise again story that spans decades. And it all ends on a high note with a brilliant one liner and a classic Scorsese freeze frame. 9/10 Lime's Co-Film of the Week! Bottom: Exposed dir. Adrian Edmondson/2024/1h30m This made for TV documentary covers the creation, production, reception and legacy of one of my all time favourite shows, Bottom. Written and performed by the late, great (he said so himself) Rik Mayall (seriously, his autobiography is called Bigger Than Hitler, Better Than Christ) and Adrian Edmondson (director of this documentary), Bottom was a BBC comedy that ran for three series in the 90's and was violently crude, obscene, anarchic, absurd and offensive, and one of the funniest things I've ever seen, with slapstick fight scenes that would make Chaplin blush and a sound effects guy straight out of the Looney Tunes. The documentary itself is fine if very standard, featuring interviews with cast, crew and fans, but the real gold is when Edmondson is talking about Mayall, the two being lifelong friends since university. It gets quite emotional at points, which Mayall would have f*cking hated. One of my favourite memories is going to see the Bottom live show with my dad in 2003, their last of five live tours, and even though it's the worst of the five (my favourite is split between 2 and 3), it was amazing being so close to such raw, unfiltered energy. If you've never seen Bottom before, watch it, because the main thing I took from this documentary and seeing all the clips from the show, is that it's been too long since I've seen it. 7/10 La Cage aux Folles dir. Edouard Molinaro/1978/1h32m This French comedy stars Ugo Tognazzi as Renato Baldi, owner of drag club La Cage aux Folles, with Michel Serrault playing Albin, aka Zaza, his partner and star performer. When Renato's son Laurent (Remi Laurent), who the couple have raised since he was a baby, comes home he has some big news. He's getting married. But unfortunately the parents of his girlfriend are in politics, on the conservative side. The very conservative side. So he asks his father and Albin to tone things down a bit while they are visiting. I think this film has aged pretty well considering it was made in the 70's, and while it does rely heavily on stereotypes it never comes across as mean spirited. Tognazzi is good in the lead role, being pulled between his partner, his son and his own identity, with Serrault stealing every scene he's in as a flighty drag queen. The highlight of the film is the climactic dinner party between the two sets of parents with Albin showing some real depth and character here. A little dated but still with a pure heart, I can't wait to compare it with the American remake (see next review). 8/10 The Birdcage dir. Mike Nichols/1996/1h59m Robin Williams and Nathan Lane star as drag club owner Armand Goldman and his partner and star performer Albert in this American remake of La Cage aux Folles. The plot remains basically unchanged from the French original, just with some extra time to let Williams and Lane shine. Considering he's playing a gay drag club owner Williams gives a fairly understated performance, with really only one instance of that classic over the top exuberance. All of that is left to Lane, who is hilarious here. My only real problem with this film, same as the original though I didn't mention it in my review, is that their son, Val (Dan Futterman), is an unappreciative *sshole. Thankfully that doesn't take too much away from this, and the presence of Gene Hackman as republican senator Kevin Keeley, his future father in law, really alleviates this, with him getting to exercise his comedy muscles (and he looks great in drag). This is a slice of fabulous fun and, thanks to the lead duo of Williams and Lane, is better than the original. 9/10