films
Nobody, 2021 - ★
A waste of time. Should have stopped watching at the bus incident when I realised it was going to be unnecessarily violent.
Chungking Express, 1994 - ★★★½
I don’t quite know what to make of it. In the first half I felt like I had no clue what was going on and couldn’t make any real connection with the two central characters. And then it shifts and my experience changed completely. I wanted to spend more time with Cop 663 and Faye.
There’s a lot to love about the film making too, of course: the use of sound, the humour and the attention to detail.
BPM (Beats per Minute), 2017 - ★★★★
This has been on my list to see for some time and now it is certainly going to sit with me for some time to come. At times it felt like a documentary and at others a love story set against the realities of the 1990s AIDS crisis. By the end I was bawling my eyes out. Necessary viewing.
My Days of Mercy, 2017 - ★★
It's the chemistry between Page and Mara that makes this film. It's clear what the film wants to be but it fails to either unlock the complexity of the relationships (between all the characters) or explore the conflict between the opposing sides at the death row protests within its 100 minutes.
Blue Jean, 2022 - ★★★
I could feel the pressure building for Jean with every minute that went by. She's stuck. Questioning every action she makes. Justifying her choices as much to herself as the people around her.
It's a difficult watch at times and I found myself wondering what I would have done in her situation. It also made me recognise how lucky I am to be a generation or two on from this.
And yet, it feels so very relevant for this to be released now as we appear to be cycling round again.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, 2019 - ★★★★
I'd put off watching this as I feared that not being familiar with Mr Rogers, and his place in US culture, would be a barrier. That I wouldn't get it. But it's not a biopic in the traditional sense, as summed up by Matt Singer in his review:
"the movie is less about Fred Rogers than about his spirit and lessons"
It's also, in a way, far more about Lloyd and I really felt I journeyed with him on his arc.
TÁR, 2022 - ★★★
I think it says a lot about my response to this film that I developed a bit of an obsession with her shoes. I did wonder if this was due in part to how the film starts - I felt like I was watching something in a language I couldn't speak with no subtitles. I couldn't understand the words so I focused on noticing the detail in what I could see, how the characters interacted, their body language and habitual movements. And I think that level of observation continued throughout the film.
I did struggle a little with the pace of both the beginning and end. The film starts slow and then wraps up in a flurry. Everything in the middle felt more like it unfolded more naturally.
I left the cinema feeling a little underwhelmed. I'd expected more drama, more tension, more divisiveness, more extremes, just more of everything really.
The Guard, 2011 - ★★★
Needed something that was entertaining but not taxing for a Saturday night after a day of sport. This fit the bill nicely.
I enjoyed the developing relationship between Gerry and Wendell. And that for much of the film we’re as clueless as Cheadle’s FBI agent over whether Gleeson’s Gerry is really smart or really stupid!
Red Notice, 2021 - ★
Needed something mindless after a hard day working in the garden… this was certainly that.
The Farewell, 2019 - ★★★
The central relationship between grandma and granddaughter was enough to keep me engaged in this story. And I found myself on a similar journey to Billi, learning to appreciate the differences in familial, and particularly intergenerational, relationships between eastern and western cultures.
I’m a little bemused by references to the film as a comedy-drama. There’s humour in it for sure, but it’s bittersweet and I think to call it comedy is a stretch.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, 2022 - ★★★
Ridiculous and entertaining. I think I marginally preferred this second outing for Benoit Blanc to his debut.
There were moments however where I was pulled out of the story and reminded these "disruptors" with their endless pots of money and huge egos are out there causing havoc in the real world.
Wedding Season, 2022 - ★★
A friend recently introduced me to the concept of “fake date” films and this one certainly fits the bill. One of the better films I watched in my pre-Christmas, cold induced rom-com binge.
Falling for Christmas, 2022 - ★★
There should be a special star rating system for Christmas films. This one was actually better than I expected.
Beauty, 2022 - ★★
I liked the style of this film, including the decision not to let us hear Beauty sing. Ultimately it’s a tragedy and felt reminiscent of what I know about Whitney Houston’s life, which left me wondering whether the character of Beauty was based on her.
Overall, I felt the filmmaker was trying a bit too hard and failed to create any connection for me with either the characters or story.
