Big Boys Don't Cry

Based on true events tale that feels like a Shane Meadows homage, partly because it's got the lairy looking one from the This Is England TV shows in the lead role but partly because it's so grim (at times it almost feels like a lesser companion piece to The Virtues).  It lacks the Meadows touch though, especially his eye for naturalistic dialogue and effortless realism - this seems to stutter a bit when reaching too hard for either, with some clunky exposition and a couple of reeeally? moments.  I found it hard to believe that a certain character would have taken to him so readily with all his baggage so readily on display, for example - I expect he had to work a bit harder at the pivotal post-chirpsing zone irl, and presumably for more than a week, cheeky badboy points multiplier or not.  

It is powerful stuff though, with a few strong performances and some well handled dark scenes.  It's certainly not light viewing.  Overall not quite there but close enough to recommend.

Solaris (1972)

Many people, including myself, would find this an unusual choice for comfort viewing. But I find this stills my mind. The imagery on Earth is gorgeous and the overall stillness of the film mixed with the Bach music and the overall pace relaxes me.

Like all the real sci-fi greats it deals with the bigger subjects and uses advanced tech/science to create a scenario that forces the related questions. In this the question is - if an atom by atom copy of someone is made, then what is that? 

Even after the technical accomplishment of 2001 three years earlier , this, on a smaller budget, has aged just as well. Apart from perhaps the (in)famous driving sequence that was shot in early 70s Tokyo.

Saw a bit more on this viewing, in the Solaris station there's a reference to a passage in Don Quixote about how sleep is a preparation for death - the book also lies open on a table in the Earth scenes connecting the two.

Anyhow everytime I watch this it re-inforces the fact that Tarkovsky was a genius. This is film of the highest order.

Now accessible via the marvellous Mosfilm youtube channel with a clean print and redone subs.

Winchester Ghost tale about a house owned by the wife of the Winchester rifle factory owner that gets haunted by victims of the rifles!  It feels a bit like a TV-film even though Helen Mirren and Jason Clark are in the lead roles and perform well. Just felt a bit uneven and the atmosphere and "type" of film kept changing. To be honest it's a bit of a mess and I almost abandoned it early on but the story just about kept me watching.

19. Back to Black
When this finished, my thoughts were "That was alright I suppose..." But the more I've thought about this attempt at telling the story of Amy Winehouse, her rise to fame and the tragic results of burning too brightly too quickly the less I like it. I came out of the film liking Amy a hell of a lot less than I did going in and surely that's not right? As a biopic of her life and as the story of her musical genius, it dramatically fails on both counts. There's no attempt to get to the root of her addiction issues, no attempt to understand why she was so apparently reliant on men (bad ones at that) and no attempt to even look at how she created the music she did. Even the creation of the legendary titular album is boiled down to some guy saying "There's a new guy called Mark Ronson who's supposed to be great" and then 10 minutes later she's won 5 Grammy's. I've never watched a Biopic that is so disinterested in and actually disrespectful to its subject. It's often very factually wrong and seems more in love with portraying Blake Fielder-Civil as the real inspiration behind her success, rather than the destructive junkie enabler that he was. This is a shallow, poorly made and at times offensively bad film that has a final scene that appears to reduce the reasons for her death to a throwaway She was upset that Blake didn't want her and that he had a baby with someone else'. Fucking rubbish. 2

20. Welcome to the Jungle
The Rocks first lead role sees him roll safe and adhere to the tried and tested action-comedy template of the 80s/90s. His lovable 'retrieval expert' Beck just wants one last job to get him the money he needs from his crime kingpin boss so he can open a restaurant. This one last job means travelling to the Amazon to bring back his boss's wayward treasure hunting son (Shaun William Scott) who is convinced he can find a solid gold native artifact of legend. The region is controlled by the iron fist of a mining company tyrant (Christopher Walken) and his hired goons, but a guerilla resistance led by Rosario Dawson is fighting back. Cue lots of chases, punch ups, shoot outs and daftness. Absolutely basic bitch action comedy, but great fun while it lasts. 6

Luz (aka Luz Flower of Evil)  Columbian folk horror that is a bit of a cracker although it's not exactly conservative - even for the genre.

It's shot in saturated colour and has Disney-esque starfields at night. The dialogue is for the most part poetic and not always used for exposition or plot advancement. This has a surreal feel and as time progresses it ups the ante re creepiness and becomes a horror film towards the end without tapping out or becoming silly. 

This is an excellent film and I suspect will reward a rewatch.  Subtitles aren't burnt in so you have to turn them on (Prime) and they lag a bit but you soon adjust.

Haven’t seen these but the main films (and the books I’ve read) are shite. Adults pretending they are great don’t have a clue.

Nah people my age have claimed how great they are and that they get better. Got to book four and they didn’t.

I’ve fallen asleep through so many potter films, so I suppose they have a use.

Potter's fine - it's a series of pretty good kids books, that get progressively worse once Rowling's editors start letting her do whatever she wants. It doubles as a relatively cromulent reading scheme for kids, and it certainly got a lot of children reading when they didn't before.  (I remember my mother being absolutely pissed when I finally started reading as a child, because the gateway book was a Famous Five which she rightly regarded as total shit.  It doesn't matter.  Get the kids reading, and they'll find better stuff, but sometimes you need an on-ramp, and Potter provides this remarkably well.)

Are there better books?  Absolutely loads.  Do I begrudge her success?  Not really.  (I'm not a fan of Rowling herself, she's become too convinced of her self importance, but the books are fine.)

My main objection to them is that Rowling pilfers a lot from traditional folklore, but does so with remarkably little respect for its roots. Beyond that though, she spins a reasonable yarn, the world is nicely drawn if very derivative, and millions of people utterly adore it so, who the Hell am I to comment?

I'll be surprised if anyone gives a shit about Potter in 100 years though.  He's more Biggles than Bilbo.


Oh, and the Fantastic Beasts movies are irredeemable shit.

There's been a lot more chat about them being crap since Rowling blew herself up on Twitter. I've not read any of the books and I've only seen three (or possibly four) of the films, but the wizarding world doesn't strike me as something worth hating. Mainly for the reasons Tin mentions. More Biggles than Bilbo raised a smile.

There must have been something that kept you reading through four books (or watching umpteen films) other than FOMO though?

Moot_Geeza wrote:

There's been a lot more chat about them being crap since Rowling blew herself up on Twitter. I've not read any of the books and I've only seen three (or possibly four) of the films, but the wizarding world doesn't strike me as something worth hating. Mainly for the reasons Tin mentions. More Biggles than Bilbo raised a smile.

A lot of criticism at the time they came out came across as sour grapes but I think they legit become under-edited as the series goes on. Also, some of the contemporary criticisms levelled at the books relating to alleged conservatism or bigotry now seem borne out by Rowling’s recent behaviour.

I would also say generally there’s now a lot of decent fantasy being put out for all ages and while Rowling’s behaviour is anathema for an online booksphere that is extremely zealous about progressive values, the world of fantasy has also moved on and I don’t think the Harry Potter books would be at the top of any fantasy enthusiast’s recommendation list in 2024 regardless of Rowling’s real-life antics.

35. Superbad
Been a while since I watched this. Considering it's a teen boy comedy it actually holds up pretty well and doesn't have anything that felt offensive like so much old comedies do. But, like other comedies of the time it really goes for too long. Cut out a bunch of the cop stuff and I think it would be much better for regular rewatches
[7]

36. Spy x Family: Code White
Love the series and this movie is a fun diversion. Was great with an audience too as everyone loved the various fan moments and one particular moment near the start that suggested something big might happen in the movie but ultimately it's something that couldn't make any big character or story changes as that's seemingly just for the show.
[7]

37. Civil War
A really punchy and effective action drama that has some great images (in the photography sense too. I want to know how they captured those pictures) and ideas but maybe doesn't go deep enough into the politics or the characters. Was great on the big screen.
[8]

38. Immaculate
Of the two Italian set nun movies out this year this one is the lesser but that doesn't mean it's not fun. The gore moments are punchy and the set pieces are pretty fun even with too many jump scares. Just a shame there's not real story through line between scenes.
[6]

39. Cinderella
Continuing my classics rewatch for the Disneyversity podcast. This has way too much mouse stuff that probably works for the kids but is tedious as an adult. The roto style animation on Cinderella is a bit weird too. The more cartoony characters like the step mum and the godmother are much better.
[6]

40. Hereditary
Saw this on the IMAX rerelease. Still holds up as a long form version of anxiety and tension. The performances are excellent but I think I wish there was more subtlety out to the underlying stuff. I wonder if the studio mandated making what was going on more obvious because there's some clear insert shots and ADR towards the end including the last shot. A shame really.
[7]

21. The Bourne Legacy
Underrated non-Damon episode in the action spy series. Jeremy Renner is a Treadstone asset going through brainwashing drug withdrawl and needs Rachel Weiss's pharmacist to help him straighten out whilst Ed Nortons evil spook chases him down. Superb action and fantastic direction by series writer Tony Gilroy make this better than it had any right to be. 7