What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again

A Walk Among The Tombstones (1st view) - A slight return to form for Neeson - 4/5*

X-Men: Apocalypse (1st view) - The X-Men continuity still messes with my head. It's almost unfathomable despite trying its best to make sense. Anyways, this film suffers from a weak villain and to many action scenes that involve swirly bits of CGI but the cast and the roster of heroes on show all weork well. Better than First Class at any rate - 4/5(

Miles Ahead (2015), the directorial debut of Don Cheadle, who also co-wrote the screenplay. This became something of a passion project for Cheadle, who had been working on the project on and off since 2001. After getting the blessing and support of Davis' family, various concepts came and went before Cheadle settled on a freeform way of doing a film about Davis, a way that Davis himself might have aproved of. The film has two strands, one in the late 1970's, where jazz musician Miles Davies (Cheadle) is mostly semi-retired, reclusive and mostly concentrating on art and painting, his music recording has become sporadic. His quiet lifestyle is interrupted by the arrival of rock journalist Dave Brill (Ewan McGregor), and one of Davis' tapes goes missing, and he and Brill go on a dangerous odyssey to retrieve it. We also cut back to Davis' early days in the 1940's and 50's, and his rise to fame, but it also has a negative effect on his marriage to Francis Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi), who already has a career of her own, and Davis wants her to give it up. Cheadle is brilliant as Davis, and you almost forget he's directing the film at the same time, and he shows great confidence in both roles. Even if you come to this film without much knowledge about about Davis, it's still a good film to watch, but he was a cantankerous curmudgeon. 4/5



Zodiac (2007), David Fincher returned to cinema after a 5 year gap, (it was worth it!!), with another serial killer film after Se7en (1995), but it's a serial killer film with a difference, we don't know who the killer is. The killer in question is The Zodiac Killer who stalked San Francisco in the late 1960's/early 1970's, and it focuses on cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), crime journalist Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) and cops Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards), trying to piece together a complex mystery, and succumbing to defeat, apart from Graysmith, who simply wants to know who it is, and compiles information for a book. Fincher creates a gripping and exciting thriller, different to other serial killer films, it requires your attention, but it's worth it. Fincher takes the tired old serial killer genre, and reinvents it, as he did with Se7en (1995), Zodiac turns the whole genre, upside down, back to front and inside out, finding something new to tell. The film is designed to get audiences to think and debate on who the Zodiac Killer might have been, it's that sort of film. Plus, the leads by Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr. Ruffalo and Edwards are near flawless, plus the film has excellent if understated support from Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, John Carroll Lynch, Philip Baker Hall, John Getz and Charles Fleischer. It's authentic, obsessive but mesmerising and flawless, Fincher knows how to create a mood, as well as perfectly capture an era. The best film of 2007!!  5/5

Donald McKinney wrote:

The best film of 2007!!  5/5

Apart from Ratatouille!

Gimli The Avenger wrote:

Donald McKinney wrote:

The best film of 2007!!  5/5

Apart from Ratatouille!

Yeah, but this was unfairly snubbed by the Oscars, watch it again, you'll see!!

Poor Cow (1967), the directorial debut of Ken Loach, who had made a name for himself with his plays for the BBC including Up The Junction (1965) and Cathy Come Home (1966). It was while filming the latter, he reunited with Up The Junction's writer Nell Dunn for a look at homelessness and poverty, done in a documentary style manner which has been Loach's style ever since, and it's a good timepiece as well. Joy (Carol White) has made bad choices in her life, she ran away from home aged 18 and settled up with thief Tom (John Bindon), they marry and have a son Johnny. But, when Tom is arrested and jailed for 4 years for robbery, Joy is left high and dry, and she ends up having to live with her Auntie Emm (Queenie Watts), an aging prostitute. Joy eventually finds solace in Dave (Terence Stamp), one of Tom's old associates. While Tom was a nasty piece of work, Dave is more caring and understanding, and this relationship goes OK, but when Dave is arrested for 12 years for robbery, Joy's life goes awry again, and has to take on a seedy job as a photographer's model. Loach had his fingers on the pulse of breadline Britain at the time, and he showed it in a very realistic and uncompromising light, and it proved to be a massive hit at the box office, and it put Loach on the map as a director, Kes (1969) soon followed. 4/5



Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons (1988), The Queen (2006) and Philomena (2013)), this comedy-drama is based on the true life of it's title character, a woman who sang from the heart. It's similar in tone to Frears' own Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005), another story of a strong willed woman who defied critics to do the right thing. It's a lovely, inspiring story. Set in 1944, New York socialite Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep) is a well liked philanthropist and patron of the arts. Her manager/lover is a British Shakespearean actor named St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant), who supports Florence's every decision, especially when she wants to take up singing again, something she hasn't done for many years. Florence and St. Clair employ pianist Cosmé McMoon (Simon Helberg) to accompany Florence's singing. There's one slight problem, Florence can't sing for toffee, her voice is all over the place and she can't hold a note. However, Florence is oblivious to this, and St. Clair still encourages her to go on, especially when she wants to perform at Carnegie Hall. Frears weaves a moving and gently amusing true story, and Streep has fun as Jenkins, while Grant turns in his best performance in years as Bayfield. Jenkins was a one-off and we'll never see the likes of her in this day and age again. 4/5

Unknown (2nd view) - Enjoyable B-movie action with Liam Neeson - 4/5




Room (1st view) - I kinda wanted to hate this but it was excellent, made me cry a few times, Larsaon was fantastic - 4/5*




Black Mass (1st view) - Better than most gangster film of the last few decades - 4/5*




Victoria (1st view) - There are a few moments in this when I wondered just what the hell the characters were thinking, a some of them I just wanted to punch whenever they were on screen but mostly this was very impressive, you forget sometimes it was all in one take. Great central performance - 4/5*

The Postman (1997), Kevin Costner's second film as director after the Oscar-winning Dances with Wolves (1990), this was adapted from David Brin's 1985 book by Eric Roth and Brian Helgeland. Unfortuntely for Costner, during the interim, he'd earned a negative reputation after Waterworld (1995), by the time The Postman opened, the critics had their knives out. But, it's certainly not the disaster critics made it out to be. Set in 2013, an event occurred where technology was wiped out, causing society to collapse. A nameless drifter (Costner) goes around giving Shakespeare performances in favour for food and rest, when he's captured by the evil General Bethlehem (Will Patton) and his group of Holnists, he plans an escape, which he does. He takes refuge in a mail vehicle, and he takes the uniform of a dead postman, he then goes from town to town, delivering mail claiming to be from a newly restored US government. This act of hope causes people to stand up against the Holnists, and it's not long before General Bethlehem hears about this postman, and the hope he's spreading. It's a noble folly, if somewhat overlong, but the fact it was done before CGI completely took over is an achievement in itself. It's actually a good film, and deserves a reappraisal. It's not perfect, but you can see Costner's good intentions. 3.5/5



Alexander (2004), Oliver Stone went epic with this one, he faced alot of criticism for it too. But, he decided not to do it like a conventional epic, it looks visually stunning and the battle scenes are well done. But everything else just seems odd, from the casting and even the dialogue feels stodgy, but this does not get in the way of it being a very good film. The film follows the life of Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell), Macedonian son of Olympias (Angelina Jolie) and Philip (Val Kilmer), who conquered half of the known world after he came to power in 336 B.C. He conquered Egypt, Persia, Maracanda and all the way to India, he was a mighty leader yet conspiracies within his own kingdom clouded his own judgement and he would die young after a short illness in 323 B.C, he was 33. It is a grand film, topped off with a warm narration by Anthony Hopkins, who plays the Old Ptolemy. The film does reek of folly though, and having half the Greek army sound Irish is a bit odd, Jolie hams it up and Kilmer looks slobbish for a king, the dialogue leaves alot to be desired. It is an unconventional historical epic, but that's what Oliver Stone wanted, and he's succeeeded. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's an experience. 4/5

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), the 9th X-Men film, and the 4th to be directed by Bryan Singer, who started the whole franchise in the first place, and who made a triumphant return to the franchise with X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), which worked really well. However, it made for an incredibly difficult act to follow, and X-Men: Apocalypse does struggle in places, and it's trying to cram too much into what should have been a simple plot. 1983, and the remains of En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) who is believed to be the first mutant, are found in Egypt, and he's revived. and he's able to give and take away power from other mutants. Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) has just taken in optically gifted mutant Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) at the school, Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is in exile in Poland. Meanwhile, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) has rescued mutant Kurt Wagner (Kodi Smit-McPhee) from a sideshow life in East Berlin. En Sabah Nur finds out about Xavier and his school, and enters Xavier's mind, and even kidnaps him to control all humans on earth, and Magneto is there too... It's a film which tries to outdo Days of Future Past, but it doesn't quite manage it, there is a lot to like about the film though. Sometimes less is more, but after this and Wolverine 3, where will the X-Men franchise go from here? We'll have to see. 3.5/5



The Secret Agent (1996), written and directed by Christopher Hampton (Carrington (1995) and Imagining Argentina (2003)), this is adapted from Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel. It had been in development for years, with it's star at one point in line to direct it for Handmade Films. When Hampton found a break after Carrington, he took the reigns. It's an OK adaptation, but it feels a little too condensed and cut down. Set in Victorian London, pornography proprietor Verloc (Bob Hoskins) leads a double life as a spy for the Russian Government, but also sharing information on foreign anarchists with London police Chief Inspector Heat (Jim Broadbent). When the new Russian ambassador Vladimir (Eddie Izzard) wants Verloc to prove his worth or lose his salary. Verloc sets off a tragic chain of events involving his wife Winnie (Patricia Arquette) and her mentally disabled brother Stevie (Christian Bale), and it involves an act of staged terrorism at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Unfortunately it all goes horribly wrong, and it sets off a tragic chain of events for everyone. It is a dark and ultimately tragic film, but it has a good cast of characters in it, (including an unbilled Robin Williams as a suicide bomber). It's little known as it was dumped on release as the studio hadn't the foggiest how to sell it. Pity. 3/5

Bill (1st view) - Maybe a bit of a disappointment compared to Horrible Histories but still rather good. A very Pythonesque feel to it, maybe a bit more hit and miss with the jokes and fumbles during the more earnest moments, but the jokes are brilliant when they hit the mark - 4/5*

Alice Through The Looking Glass (1st view) - James Bobin of Flight Of The Conchords and Muppets fame takes over the directing duties from Tim Burton but keeps the look and feel of the earlier film. Lavish in looks and design, the story is a bit of a mess, with Alice trying to save the Mad Hatter's family by stealing the ability to travel through time from Time himself, who promptly gives chase. Helana Bonham Cartter and Sacha Baron Cohen are both supremely fun to watch, hamming it up gorgeously. I don't get the hate for the film really. The film is dedicated to Alan Rickman, still such a shame - 4/5*

It's A Wonderful World (1956), written and directed by Val Guest, (The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Casino Royale (1967) and Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)), this is a light-hearted musical comedy, which has a good cast and a funny little concept. It's the sort of old fashioned film your grandparents might have on when you go round to their house on a Sunday. It focuses on two struggling musicians and songwriters, Ray Thompson (Terence Morgan) and Ken Miller (George Cole), who befriend a French singer called Georgie (Mylène Nicole), who lives in a flat across the courtyard from them. They want to write a song for George, and after Ray and Ken hear a bit of classical music played backwards on a record player, they come up with a bit of a devilish plan. They create new songs made up from existing pieces of music but played backwards, and they credit the pieces to a reclusive, eccentric new composer. They even get Georgie to sing on one of them, which becomes a big hit, even the snobbish critics like the music, then Georgie rumbles Ken and Ray's scheme. It's a very innocent affair, if you tried this now, it would have to have some sort of edginess to it. But, this was from a time when people needed light entertainment back then, and this has it in spades, it has some light, innocent laughs about it. 4/5



Catch Us If You Can (1965), the directorial debut of John Boorman, who was before this the head of the BBC's Bristol-based Documentary Unit in 1962. His style of filmmaking caught the attention of producer David Deutsch, who was looking to do a film with The Dave Clark Five, then a massive pop group, nearly as big as The Beatles. The film is a weird hotch-potch of ideas, nice and all, but a bit too incoherent. While filming an advert for meat, stuntman Steve (Dave Clark), disillusioned by his job, suddenly absconds in an E-Type Jaguar with Dinah (Barbara Ferris), the actress in the advert. Soon, Steve's gang of friends, (Denis Payton, Mike Smith, Rick Huxley, and Lenny Davidson), join them, and they head for the West Country of England, stopping off with a group of hippies at an army base, then with a posh couple (Yootha Joyce and Robin Bailey) in Bath, before attending a shindig in Roman Baths at Bath. Finally, they head for Devon, where Steve's hero and mentor Louie (David Lodge) now lives on a farm. But, our heroes have the police and advertising executives in pursuit. By the time this came out, The Beatles had already trumped them with Help! (1965), this is trying too hard to be A Hard Day's Night (1964). Some of it works, but most of it looks like it was done on the spur of the moment. For Boorman, Hollywood beckoned... 3/5

Venom (1981), directed by Piers Haggard, (The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) and The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)), and produced by Martin Bregman (Scarface (1983)), this suspense thriller is adapted from Alan Scholefield's 1977 novel. This adaptation started out with Tobe Hooper as director, he quit after a week, and Haggard too over. It's a good film with a very inspired cast to boot, it's maybe the only siege/snake film ever. Set in London, American Philip Hopkins (Lance Holcomb) is the son of a wealthy hotel owner, while his parents are out of town, Philip is being looked after by his eccentric Grandad Howard (Sterling Hayden). Meanwhile, international criminal Jacques Müller (Klaus Kinski) plans to kidnap Philip with help from the Hopkins' maid Louise (Susan George) and their chauffeur Dave (Oliver Reed). They take Philip and Howard hostage, unfortunately, Philip has just brought home a new pet snake, but he's accidentally been given a deadly black mamba destined for a toxicology lab, now they're trapped in the house, with no chance of escaping either. It's a good thriller, with a brilliant cast, it's premise might seem unusual, especially as everything is crammed in, but it does have some good scares and some cleverly constructed sequences of suspense. Give it a go if you can. 4/5



A Hologram for the King (2016), written and directed by Tom Tykwer, (Run Lola Run (1998), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) and Cloud Atlas (2012)), this was adapted from Dave Eggers' 2012 novel, which it's star instantly optioned. It makes for a light, fluffy comedy-drama about a mid-life crisis. While it does paint a questionable picture of Saudi Arabia, it's star manages to save the film from mediocrity. Washed up and depressed American salesman Alan Clay (Tom Hanks) travels to Saudi Arabia to pitch a holographic teleconferencing device to the Saudi government. When he get's to Jeddah, he's sent to the upcoming development called the King’s Metropolis of Economy and Trade, where progress is slow, they have no wi-fi or food in the pitching tent. Meanwhile, Alan becomes friendly with Danish accountant Hanne (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and his driver Yousef (Alexander Black) has some unwelcome company on his tail. Alan stresses out over the slow progress, and has an anxiety attack, but he finds solace of sorts in local doctor Zahra (Sarita Choudhury). It's an OK film, but there's no fireworks to it so to speak, it's mostly a light, fluffy affair, hardly prestigious, but it does have some good performances and Hanks keeps things together as usual, but the film wouldn't go down well in Saudi Arabia. 3.5/5

The Trollenberg Terror (1958), directed by Quentin Lawrence, (Cash on Demand (1961) and The Man Who Finally Died (1963) and written by Jimmy Sangster (The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) and Fear in the Night (1972)), this was adapted from a 1956 ITV serial which was a ratings hit. This was picked up by producers Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman (later behind The Saint and Jason King). It's a good cheesy horror, done on the cheap. Set around the Swiss mountain of Trollenberg, a student is killed on the mountain, UN troubleshooter Alan Brooks (Forrest Tucker) has gone to an observatory on the mountain ran by Professor Crevett (Warren Mitchell), who tells Brooks about a radioactive cloud that hangs over the mountain, and that climbers have gone missing on the mountain. Two clairvoyant sisters Anne (Janet Munro) and Sarah Pilgrim (Jennifer Jayne) arrive after giving a mind reading at a nearby hotel, they use their powers to find two missing men Dewhurst (Stuart Saunders) and Brett (Andrew Faulds), who are climbing the mountain. Then, the radioactive cloud starts moving down the mountain towards the hotel... It's a compelling enough horror film, done on a shoestring, but it has a good cast too. It might be predictable, and done elsewhere, but they managed to do well with what they have, and despite cheap and nasty special effects, it's still fun to watch. 3/5



The Weapon (1956), directed by Val Guest, (The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Casino Royale (1967) and Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)), this is a dark thriller which was partially inspired by J. Lee Thompson's 1951 drama The Yellow Balloon. It turns out to be a good, compelling film, with parts of it predating and prediction what was to come in those Children's Film Foundation shorts, it has a good cast as well. 10 year old Erik (Jon Whiteley) is playing on a building site with his friends when he finds a gun embedded in a brick. It accidentally goes off, injuring another boy. Believing he's committed murder, Erik runs away. Meanwhile, Superintendent Mackenzie (Herbert Marshall) and American Captain Mark Andrews (Steve Cochran) become involved in the search for Erik and the gun, especially when they discover that the gun was involved in the murder of another man 10 years previously. Also on the look out for the gun is spiv Joshua Henry (George Cole) who used the gun for murder 10 years before. Andrews and Mackenzie call upon Erik's mother Elsa (Lizabeth Scott) to help find Erik before more trouble can happen. It's actually quite suspenseful, and it does have a dark, realistic edge. It's a good little timepiece as well, showing what post-war London was like, with old buildings getting pulled down to make way for the future. Guest gets some good performances from the cast too. 4/5

Night of the Big Heat (1967), directed by Terence Fisher (The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) and The Devil Rides Out (1968)), this was based on a 1959 book of the same name by John Lymington. It had been adapted into an ITV Play of the Week in 1960. This film adaptation is quite rough round the edges and it doesn't help that it abruptly ends, possible due to it's limited budget, (it was filmed back to back with Island of Terror (1966)), but it works, sort of. On the remote Scottish Island of Fara, (Jeff and Frankie Callum (Patrick Allen and Sarah Lawson) run the Swan Inn, Jeff is a novelist, and hires a secretary, Angela (Jane Merrow). Unknown to Frankie, Jeff and Angela are former lovers. Plus, it's red hot on the island, and it's the middle of November, plus mysterious scientist Dr. Godfrey Hanson (Christopher Lee) is doing strange experiments in his room and on the island. Adding to the mood is the fact that people are turning up, incinerated by some unusual force, and there's a high pitched buzzing sound in the air. Jeff, with help from local physician Dr. Vernon Stone (Peter Cushing) try to find the source of the deaths, and it's still roasting. It's a film which could have done with a bit more money pumped into it, and the fact they reused sets and the aliens from Island of Terror shows it was made out of necessity rather than by a personal vision. Having said that, some of it does work. 3/5



The Bargee (1964), directed by Duncan Wood (The Cuckoo Patrol (1967) and Some Will, Some Won't (1970)), and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who at that point were behind the hugely successful Steptoe and Son, indeed director Wood had directed some episodes of Steptoe. This is a lighthearted comedy with a good cast to it's name, it's also a really good timepiece focusing on bargemen, a way of life that's more or less died out. It's about Hemel Pike (Harry H. Corbett) and his cousin Ronnie (Ronnie Barker) are two boatmen, who run a barge up and down the Midlands waterways. It's a profession that's dying out, but Hemel won't give in, he's very proud of being a bargeman. Plus, Hemel is also something of a lothario, with girlfriends all along the canal network. One of them is Christine (Julia Foster), who lives at the Leg O'Mutton Lock with her drunken, brutish father Joe Turnbull (Hugh Griffith). Joe doesn't like the idea of his daughter becoming involved with bargemen, unfortunately, Christine is pregnant by Hemel, Joe finds out about this, but doesn't know it's Hemel. Joe goes to extreme measures to find out who the father is. It's got a good, innocent sense of humour about it, and it has a good cast to it's name too, with a lot of cameos abound. There is something tragi-comic about it, but that's the sort of thing Galton and Simpson specialised in, the losers who we can sympathise with. 4/5

Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013), a curious oddity indeed, written and directed by Sebastián Silva (Magic Magic (2013) and Nasty Baby (2015)), this Chilean film is a drug soaked comic romp. Largely improvised on the hoof while Silva waited for the money to come through to make Magic Magic. It's not a film for everyone, and it's freeform style might be jarring to some, (it's nearly Dogme 95), but it has a rambling, offbeat quality to it that stops it from getting boring. In Chile, American student Jamie (Michael Cera) is footloose and quite irresponsible. One reason he's in Chile is because he's looking for a local hallucinogen, the mescaline-bearing San Pedro cactus. In tow, he has 3 brothers, Champa (Juan Andrés Silva), Lel (José Miguel Silva) and Pilo (Agustín Silva), and an eccentric American known as Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffmann). It's not long before everyone starts getting on everyones nerves, the cause of it being Jamie, who has a very impulsive, selfish attitude, and the brothers are starting to lose patience with him rapidly. Before long, they're able to get a San Pedro cactus, thanks to a hasty theft. They head to a beach where they cook the cactus. It's a very low-budget affair, and it looks a bit like a student film that was made up on the spot, and was edited together from the best bits. But, for whatever reason, it manages to work. It really shouldn't do through, but against the odds, it sort of works. 3/5



Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), after the billion dollar success of Alice in Wonderland (2010), Disney wanted a sequel. Tim Burton would only produce it, while the directing reigns were handed to James Bobin (The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014)), and despite the high profile advertising, it's failed work again, either down to over selling it or Depp's private life going sour. But, it's not all bad, and it has some good moments in it. After 3 years at sea, Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) returns to London to find her ex-fiance Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill) has taken over her fathers company. Distraught, she escapes into Wonderland again, to find the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is ill and depressed because he believes his family died years ago. The White Queen (Anne Hathaway) has Alice go to visit Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) to use the Chronosphere to go back and save the Hatter's family. But Time says history cannot be changed. Matters are further complicated when the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) turns up, and also wants to use the Chronosphere to get back at the White Queen for something she did years before. It's a complicated sequel, and you get the impression this was made out of necessity rather than choice, and sadly, it looks like it's backfired on Disney. Maybe they should have struck while the iron was hot and made it a couple of years sooner. It's visually stunning though. 3.5/5

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Only one I've seen from that lot is Alice, not even heard of a few of them. A lot of them look very interesting.

Independence Day (9th view) - Slowly getting to see films at the cinema that I wish I'd seen on their original release. This now joins The Lion King, Toy Story, Jurassic Park and Back To The Future. Hard to believe it's 20 years old. Even if I didn't like the film so much I'd still appreciate of for kickstarting the 90s disaster revival. Still tremendous fun, and this extended version improves upon the already great theatrical cut. I did think though thought that if an alien invasion occured, I'd probably be one of ones on rooftops saying beam me up - 4/5*




Independence Day: Resurgence (1st view) - Coupled with the first film, this made for a bum-numbing 5 hours cinema experience. It's not as good and I think this could so with an extended version too, seems quite choppy in places. Still, it's got aliens blowing stuff up, just my sort of thing - 4/5*

Deadpool (1st view) - Maybe the 4th best X-Men film. Lots of fun, but Reynolds' motormouth gets annoying at times - 4/5*

The Importance Of Being Earnest (2nd view) - Another showing of this theatre production, originally broadcast live last October from the Vaudeville Theatre. Very enjoyable adaptation with David Suchet playing Lady Bracknell - 5/5*

Warcraft (1st view) - Never played the game, have no real idea what the game is even about. This was a bit of a mess, jumping around from location to location with no real sense of who and what was where. Still not entirely sure who some characters are. A big LOTR vibe at times with the design and action scenes, so that was good. Ace score too from Game Of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi. Screening was slightly hampered by a group of four sitting not far away, who spent most of the film arguing about whether Paula Patton was hotter as a half-orc than she is in real life - 4/5*

Krampus (1st view) - Quite good fun. A bit of a Gremlins vibe to the film at times. Plenty of ace practical effects too - 4/5*

Money Monster (2016), directed by Jodie Foster, (Little Man Tate (1991), Home for the Holidays (1995) and The Beaver (2011)), this action thriller takes it's cues from Dog Day Afternoon (1975), written here by Jamie Linden (We Are Marshall (2006)) and Jim Kouf (Stakeout (1987)), this was partially inspired by a stock market crash and glitch experienced by Cynk Technologies. It makes for a suspenseful and tense film, with some good performances in it. Lee Gates (George Clooney) is a financial guru who hosts his own stock market show Money Monster, where he's due to speak to IBIS Clear Capital's CEO Walt Camby (Dominic West) about a glitch that hurt the company, costing investors $800 million. However, Camby is in Geneva. Then things take a sinister turn when Gates is taken hostage on live TV by Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell), a labourer who invested $60,000 into IBIS, his entire life savings, which he lost. It's not long before the police are on the scene, while Money Monster's director Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts), tries to come up with solutions to calm Kyle down. Gates agrees to help Kyle find answers into how the crash happened, and uncovers a web of lies, conspiracies and skulduggery. It's a film which says a lot about how the stock market controls society, while the story does get a bit muddled with it's conspiracy theories, it makes for a good film, and Clooney, Roberts and O'Connell all give engaging performances throughout. 4/5



The Nice Guys (2016), written and directed by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon (1987), The Last Boy Scout (1991) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)), Black wrote this clever buddy-cop action film back in 2001, even trying to do it as a TV series at one point before giving up. It shows there's still life in the buddy cop action film, this one adds elements of noir and a lot of comedy. It also benefits from having a really inspired and hilarious pairing to lead the film. Los Angeles, 1977. Private Eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is looking for missing porn star Misty Mountains (Murielle Telio) and another missing girl called Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley). Only, Amelia isn't missing, she doesn't want to be found. Amelia hires enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) into ensuring Holland stays away, which Jackson does. But, Jackson and Holland end up having to team up to find Amelia. They're both aided by Holland's 13 year old daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), even though Holland isn't happy about that. Thrown into the mix is a porn film entitled called 'How Do You Like My Car, Big Boy?' which Misty starred in, but the film was allegedly destroyed in a fire, but one copy is doing the rounds. It's a very good film, with some brilliant set pieces, crackerjack dialogue and some very good performances. This proves there's life in the old buddy cop movie, and as Black gave us Lethal Weapon, it makes sense that he should revive it, and he succeeds with this film. 4/5

Serious Charge (1959), directed by Terence Young (Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965), this was adapted from a 1956 play by Philip King, and it tackles some serious and difficult issues for it's day, but it manages to tackle them without getting nasty or graphic. It's got some good performances throughout, and it paints a picture of Youth culture in the 1950's. In the small English town of Bellington, a newly arrived priest Howard Philips (Anthony Quayle) wants to reach out to the youth, which mostly consists of Teddy Boys causing trouble, and Philips wants to give the youngsters something to do, he sets up a local club and gives football lessons. The previous vicar's daughter Hester Peters (Sarah Churchill) falls for Philips, but Philips has become committed with trying to help reform young criminal Larry Thompson (Andrew Ray), who got a local girl Mary Williams (Leigh Madison) pregnant. Tempers between Philips and Thompson become frayed, and a fight ensues, when Hester walks in, Thompson accuses Philips of 'interfering with him'. Hester takes Thompson's side, everyone turns against Philips, but he protests his innocence. It's a film which would have been darker had it been made now, but Young keeps the mood tense and suspenseful, and he does well with the material. It's worth noting that this has the screen debut of one Cliff Richard, as one of the bored youths. 3.5/5



The Big Short (2015), directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)), co-written with Charles Randolph (The Life of David Gale (2003)), adapted from Michael Lewis' 2010 book of the same name. This is a compelling and amusing look at how the financial crisis of 2007-2008 happened, and a few men who saw it coming and decided to profit from the collapse. It makes for good but uneasy viewing. In 2005, maverick hedge fund manager Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale) notices the housing market is unstable, based on high risk loans with low returns. On Wall Street, trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) hears of Burry's prediction, and soon finds out Burry is right. Another hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell), learns about it, and joins forces with Vennett to bet against the banks on the stock market. Meanwhile, young  young investors Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) learn of these plans, and eager to get their foot in the doors to partake in the trades. They get help from retired banker Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt), who is able to get them to make the trades. If you don't understand any of the banking jardon in the film, don't worry, you don't have to, it's explained in amusing sequences. It has some good performances throughout, and it's emits laughs of shock and disgust about how the financial world will never learn from their mistakes. This will happen again. 4/5

Now You See Me 2 (1st view) - Completely nonsensical but good fun and better than the first - 4/5*




The Secret Life Of Pets (1st view) - Very enjoyable, some great vocals especially from Kevin Hart and Jenny Slate - 4/5*

The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), based on Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel, which some call the best novel of the 80's, Hollywood soon came calling, and it's adaptation would be produced and directed by Brian De Palma, then hot off The Untouchables (1987). It was a hot property, but it flopped, it became a joke in Hollywood and careers were scorched by it. But, it isn't all that bad, yet the tone is all over the place. Set in New York in the 1980's, during the Yuppie financial boom, Wall Street investor Sherman McCoy (Tom Hanks) picks up his mistress Maria Ruskin (Melanie Griffith) after flying in from Paris. They take a wrong turn in the Bronx, and they get caught up in a hit and run incident. Sherman and Maria try to forget it but it comes back to haunt them, courtesy of drunken journalist Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis) who covers the story and it becomes rallying point for a Jewish district attorney Abe Weiss (F. Murray Abraham) trying to win the ethnic vote, but local Judge Leonard White (Morgan Freeman) can see through Weiss, and how he's trying to manipulate voters, but Sherman nearly loses everything because of this case, but he has White and Fallow on his side. It's a film which tries hard, but too hard to capture the dark heart of the book. Maybe De Palma was the wrong man for the job, as his visual flairs are sadly wasted here, but it does have a good cast, even though it doesn't know what it wants to be. 3/5



The Company You Keep (2012), directed by Robert Redford, and based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Neil Gordon, and adapted by Lem Dobbs (The Limey (1999) and Haywire (2012)), this is an action packed thriller with a massive all star cast. There's something unashamedly old fashioned about this film, it manages to be both tense and it isn't pretentious at all, it's cast make the film work. Recently widowed father Jim Grant (Redford) was once part of a militant group called Weather Underground who committed a bank robbery in 1980. Jim's real name is Nick Sloan, and has managed has managed to stay incognito under the alias of Jim Grant for over 30 years, working as an attorney. But when one of Weather Underground's old members Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) is arrested, young journalist Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) sees an opportunity to make this a big story, and following a tip, he finds out who Jim/Nick really is, and Jim ends up on the run. Ben's ex-girlfriend Diana (Anna Kendrick), is part of the FBI team leading the hunt for Jim. Meanwhile, Jim is managing to outwit the FBI, while Ben pursues Weather Underground member Mimi Lurie (Julie Christie). It's a good thriller, with plenty of cameos throughout, many of whom possibly doing it for Robert Redford. It's focused and to the point, and it's a good thriller, little seen and well made, and it shows that director Redford can still turn in a good film as a director. 4/5