Watched in 2018
-
Dec 24 - Monsters University
So much delight in the animation.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 21 - Bad Santa
Not for the family.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 17 - Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Nope. Still with the bullshit face switching thing? Really?
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 16 - Dawn of the Dead
Bertie Wooster got himself into helluva scrape.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 15 - The Long Dumb Road
Road trip movie that rarely hit top gear.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 15 - The 39 steps
Sort of Hitchcock Lite - but still fun.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 10 - Courage Under Fire
Loses half a star for not ending 10 minutes earlier.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 9 - Side Effects
Nice triumvirate of baddies and twists.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 8 - The Thing
I know you Gentlemen have been through a lot...Nice line.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 2 - Back to the Future Part III
Well oiled machine.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Dec 1 - A League of their own
Centre of the bat. Was good.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 27 - Paisan
Surprisingly brutal in parts and lyrical in others
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 25 - Black Sea
No Bad.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 21 - The Siege
Even Denzil couldn’t put the brakes on once this started to slide. Shame - it started well.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 20 - The Battle of Algiers
Remarkably even handed and compelling.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 19 - Escape from New York
Had a certain something.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 18 - Ordet
Impressive.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 12 - Audition
Pretty slow for a long while, then suddenly batshit crazy.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 11 - Kingsman: The Secret Service
Some good bits. Some clunky. And gratuitous ending.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 8 - Path of Blood
Pretty grisly.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 6 - Battle of the Sexes
That was fun.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Nov 1 - I am not your negro
Thorny
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 22 - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Curiosity satisfied. Apart from - What happened to that poor lorry driver?
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 20 - Fruitvale Station
A tough but worthy progression to a tragic end.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 18 - U-571
"He didn't give up, did he?"
"Neither did you Mr Tyler"
Oof! - Loses a half a star right there.
Tropetastic
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 14 - Paprika
Incredible trippy virtuosity
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 14 - The Secret life of Bees
Inoffensive enough.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 13 - Green Room
Tense. and bloody.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 11 - The Blue Dahlia
Soft Boiled
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 10 - American interior
Nice
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 9 - Bound
Steamy, then messy.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 6 - Gomorrah
Bleak.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 6 - Joy
Ok for a slightly hungover Saturday morning watch
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Oct 4 - Carnage: Swallowing the Past
Why do you keep shaving me? I’m cold.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 22 - Ready Player One
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory full of steroid laced chocolate.
Sorta fun.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 23 - Contact
Watchable.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 22 - Prince Avalanche
Especially liked the music.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 21 - Cockneys vs Zombies
Bit one note, but had enough moments
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 18 - Aliens
How did I forget this was so good?
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 14 - Rampage
Key thing with silly action films is to keep moving and have some charisma. Boxes ticked.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 8 - The Abyss
Like two films in one. One better than the other.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 4 - Early Man
A pleasure.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 2 - The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Great central performance couldn't carry it all. Bit slow
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Sep 1 - Pride
Bit corny but solid performances all round elevated it.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 28 - Dazed and confused
Interesting strategy. Start with objectionable, unpleasant characters and make them bearable over the course of the film.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 27 - The Evil Dead
The Airbnb rating for that cabin’s gonna be shit.
Hilarious, those demons love a good laugh.
Also quite stylish.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 26 - The Lion in Winter
Full on regal play.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 25 - Set it off
Like so many 90s films, so frantic, but half decent.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 22 - The Big Short
Fascinating
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 21 - The Punk Singer
Educational - no clue how I missed her/them at the time.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 19 - Things to come
Nothing much happens in a compelling way. Performance.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 18 - Intolerable Cruelty
I do enjoy George in full mugging mode.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 16 - A prayer before dawn
Not quite sure why I watched that. Convincingly brutal and impressively executed, not sure to what end.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 15 - 12 Strong
So much action, so little drama.
I’d have liked to see a whole film about the CIA guy.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 14 - Deadpool 2
Peaks and troughs. I liked the peaks - troughs weren't too bad to bring it all down.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 13 - Young Offenders
Great fun.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 12 - Mean Girls
I was curious. Wasn't terrible but i'm probably some way out of this particular venn diagram.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 12 - All the money in the world
Solid enough.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 11 - The Babadook
AUDITION:
“Could you show us your anguished howl?”
“GRRERERGHNNNGAAAAHHHH!!”
“Yup. That’ll do it”
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 8 - Miss Oyu
Short stepping, restrictive kimono based love triangle.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 4 - Den of Thieves
Was hoping for decent action thriller, but the main action seems to tedious macho meat sacks of various stereotypes, delivering hokey lines through a fug of tattoo ink and protein shakes.
Impressive in that almost none of the characters are likeable.
And then the heist bit was pretty good. And then it got all testosterone again.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Aug 4 - The Post
Every true story pic has to have the sweepy orchestral bit. But it’s better when you have good actors.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 30 - Separado
My (Scottish) wife has a theory that the Welsh are a bit mental - never more so than evidenced by the children's TV. Whilst this isn't kids TV it does have plenty of bonkers moments and is all the better for it.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 29 - Beirut
Spy procedural with a sprinkling of stardust.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 29 - No Home Movie
Feels wrong to rate this - long, still shots where nothing happens except you are thinking. Patience in spades, letting things play out.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 28 - The Commuter
I was in the mood for something trashy - It was better than that.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 28 - The 12th Man
Flippin Heck! that was pretty gruelling. 'Based on true story' can often be a bit 'meh' - not this one. Fantastically put together.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 28 - The Purge
Started interesting, then the cartoon baddie arrived and it went downhill.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 24 - The Ballad of Lefty Brown
Rather good.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 22 - The Way Way Back
Lesson in how to lift a solid story with performances.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 21 - The Shape of Water
Beautifully strange.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 21 - 3:10 to Yuma
Not sure I bought it, but a decent ride around some Western tropes.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 19 - Game Night
That was fun.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 13 - Darkest hour
Bit corny.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 13 - Thor ragnarock
Worked well in the end. Not sure about Hulk talking.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 10 - The Manchurian Candidate
Wee bit long, but nicely played out.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 8 - The train
Pretty tense. Especially liked the end where they spelled out the greats of French Art on the crates.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 8 - Our kind of traitor
Good actors paying the bills. Most egregious thing? Damien Lewis' Glasses.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jul 4 - Jumanji welcome to the jungle
Nicely done.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jun 30 - Clear and Present Danger
Goodies and Baddies. and lots of patriotic trumpets.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jun 27 - Free Fire
sort of silly, but ok if you go with it.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jun 13 - Small town crime
Tight with some issues.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jun 10 - Prime Cut
Pretty visceral all round, and not sure it was redeemed by the charismatic leads even though they were great.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jun 6 - Justice League
I'm sure someone has a checklist somewhere on how to make a modern superhero film. Meh.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jun 3 - Downsizing
Something, something, size related critical zinger.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 28 - Inherent vice
Is it possible to get stoned watching a film?
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 27 - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Didn't disappoint. The trailer was a sweary masterpiece, but the whole thing had way more depth.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 24 - The Death of Stalin
Was fun, especially Jason Isaacs' star turn.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 21 - Dunkirk
Not sure about the multiple timelines, but spectacular.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 20 - Small Faces
Gud.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 20 - Black Panther
Less superhero-y than other Marvel - which I liked.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 17 - Rescue Dawn
Could have been terrible in the wrong hands, but Herzog handled it well.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 15 - On the Waterfront
Don’t worry I ain’t gonna hurt nobody.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 12 - The Voices
More gruesome than funny, but overall decent.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 10 - THX1138
Super stylish - the future really was cooler in the past.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 9 - Deep Water
Fascinating story, sensitively told.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 9 - The man with the iron fists
Take EVERY martial art trope you can think of and put it in a film.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 5 - The Baader Meinhof Complex
Bit of a slog in the end. Everything just got very messy.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 2 - Star Wars the last jedi
Star of the show?
The imperial ironing robot - lovely job on those uniforms.
Good kids film.
Oh, and Star Wars humour isn’t.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
May 1 - Three Kings
Pretty manic.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 29 - Force 10 from Navarone
A ‘mother hunch’? What the fuck is a ‘mother hunch’.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 28 - I Tonya
Ended up a bit long. Alison Janney was great - as always.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 28 - Come drink with me
Decent quality martial arts - I enjoyed the costumes more than anything.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 26 - Red Dawn
“Let it turn to something else”
Like cheese?
Impressive in packing in so many terrible moments of action and dialogue.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 21 - Nil by mouth
An avalanche of virtuoso swearing. and the rest? Gritty doesn't come close - but very good.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 18 - J.Edgar
File under Average.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 17 - You were never really here
Performance and Poetry.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 15 - Calvary
Father Ted's gone a bit dark these days.
(it was good)
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 14 - Yakuza Apocalypse
Totally bonkers, bit of a mess, but loopy enough to be enjoyable.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 7 - What’s love got to do with it
Strong Performance
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 3 - Casino
Very Good. Not great, just very good.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 2 - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Was a little irritated at the start, but it won me over in the end.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Apr 1 - Joe Kidd
Generic Eastwood, though Robert Duvall is good being bad.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 31 - Any given Sunday
Subtle it ain't, and about as far from Dogme as you can get, but it was full on sportball-tastic.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 30 - Pale Rider
Reliably Clint.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 29 - Timecrimes
Concentrate.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 28 - Why man creates
Ideas.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 27 - Stalag 17
Bit heavy on the gee schucks and wisecracks,but ok in the end.
Special mention for the poster.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 24 - Empire of the Sun
Too much sugar is bad for you.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 23 - Catch me if you can
It came on, I watched it and it was fun.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 21 - Nuts in May
If everyone took a pebble there’d be none left.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 20 - Macbeth
Thought I was gonna struggle with the language, but once I got up to speed it was great. This boy Shakespeare can write.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 18 - Seconds
Great looking and sounding as well as terrific atmosphere.
And all from 1966!
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 17 - City Hall
Decent enough, elevated by a good turn from Al Pacino doing his thing.
And when he does you know he is, and you can’t resist (mostly)
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 14 - Die Hard 2
The most potty mouthed of all the Die Hard films?
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 12 - The Firm
E’s only gone an won a fackin Oscar ain’t e?
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 11 - To Have and Have Not
Chemistry
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 10 - Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World
My swash was most definitely buckled.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 6 - The Queen of Versailles
In theory, Jackie shouldn’t have been as likeable as she was.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 5 - Birth
Fantastic score, heightening some pretty heightened stuff.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 3 - Boyhood
First half flew by. Second half dragged a bit. Like life? Maybe.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 3 - Flying Leathernecks
Pretty gritty for 1951.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Mar 1 - Suspiria
Me too. I always need a cigarette after I’ve squashed a bat with a stool.
Great sound, super colours, dodgy dubbing.
Certainly distinctive.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 27 - Logan Lucky
All came together very satisfyingly.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 26 - The Lobster
Unique.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 24 - Dune
Fond memories, but it's a bit patchy.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 22 - First Blood
Some gloriously silly bits, and some surprisingly good bits.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 21 - Run Silent, Run Deep
I like serious Burt better than jokey Burt.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 20 - Maudie
Sally Hawkins was great, and Ethan Hawke put himself back in credit with me.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 17 - The Tree of Life
Impressionistic, poetic, but also frustrating.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 16 - The Thin Blue Line
Groundbreaking.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 15 - The Funeral
Bloody Hell. For everyone.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 14 - The Help
The two stars carried this. And they carried it well.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 12 - Daisies
Lots of fun, and some super interesting techniques to boot.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 11 - Hannibal
Gruesome fun
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 10 - The killing of a Chinese Bookie
Certainly interesting, though I wish it’d been interesting a bit quicker.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 10 - Punch Drunk Love
I so wanted it to end well for Barry. Lovely.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 8 - Those Glory Glory Days
Pleasant enough.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 7 - Die Hard
Bit cheesier than I remember. I like cheese tho.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 7 - The Prestige
Pretty good n twisty.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 4 - Love and Death
The most absurd bits seem to age the best.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Feb 3 - Bug
Intense
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 28 - Computer Chess
Idiosyncratic and meandering over the irritating/amusing line.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 27 - The Sacrifice
As ever, mesmerising visuals if you wait. Rest of it a bit opaque to me.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 24 - Eagle vs Shark
Gentle, bit loopy and fun.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 21 - Mr Turner
Forces one to slow down. No bad thing.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 20 - The Wild Bunch
They do love a cackle in this bloodthirsty epic.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 20 - All this Panic
Captivating
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 14 - Two days, One night
Doesn't need to be complicated to be very good. Simple enough setup, beautifully executed.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 13 - The Reader
Some curious premises, but pretty convincing all round.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 13 - Boy
Gentle and funny.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 11 - Ida
Simple, direct and very, very still. A good thing.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 6 - American Psycho
Business card rage and jealousy.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 5 - Step Brothers
Sometimes comedy is called ‘broad ‘ which usually means unfunny. This was broad and funny.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 2 - Sophie Scholl: The Last Days
Germans do shout well.
Lookup on The Movie Database
-
Jan 1 - Gone Girl
Twisty turny fun.
Lookup on The Movie Database
