Watched in 2017
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Dec 31 - Under the Skin
Horrifying and Mesmerising.
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Dec 31 - Lawman
Bleak and rather good.
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Dec 29 - The Big Heat
Hard-boiled. Even the dopey civilians, who were all packing. Gloria Grahame was great.
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Dec 29 - The Wolverine
Logan sure does carry a lot of films.
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Dec 27 - The Seven Five
Racketeer, Drug Dealer, Burglar, Dirty Cop, but no Rat. So that's ok then.
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Dec 25 - Toy Story 3
So enjoyable.
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Dec 24 - Unforgiven
Worth watching again.
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Dec 20 - Zero Days
Interesting
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Dec 19 - Saturn 3
This is tricky. 4 starts for the fun I had watching it, 1 star for the quality.
The kind of film to get your mates round, drink and watch. Plenty of fun to be had.
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Dec 18 - Only God Forgives
Tarantino meets Malick with a dash of Lynch.
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Dec 17 - Lion
Great looking, right side of saccharine.
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Dec 17 - Mirror
Enjoyed the quiet bits the best. Entrancing shots, but the reflections and poetry left me a bit cold.
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Dec 14 - The Happy Film
Engaging
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Dec 12 - El Topo
Read the wikipedia page, save yourself some time. Totally bizarre, terrible sound - the occasional laugh out loud moment. I don't think I'm equipped to handle so much symbolism.
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Dec 11 - Red River
Slightly lame ending.
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Dec 10 - True Romance
On paper, there was a lot to like, on film it was a mess, with moments.
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Dec 9 - Oldboy
Pretty amazing, bittersweet visceral journey.
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Dec 9 - Spellbound
Rather good.
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Dec 3 - In a Lonely Place
Tight.
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Nov 29 - The Eiger Sanction
Far odder than I remembered. Patchy.
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Nov 28 - Cachē
Those long still shots.
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Nov 27 - Winter’s Bone
Gritty.
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Nov 26 - Fury
War films have a lot of tropes - this navigated them well.
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Nov 26 - Heart of Glass
Like a Medieval Twin Peaks episode - lots of great imagery, and gnomic statements.
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Nov 25 - The Man Who Wasn't There
Turns out Noir is kind of soothing.
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Nov 25 - Berberian Sound Studio
Wonderful soundscapes. Sinister. And Italian sounds great.
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Nov 19 - This Sporting Life
Big presence and performances in a gritty drama.
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Nov 18 - We Own the Night
Solid story with proper actors.
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Nov 18 - The Dance of Reality
Operatic. Rather strange. Intriguing more than enjoyable.
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Nov 16 - Dark Horse
Lovely story put together with real flair.
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Nov 12 - Crazy Heart
Simple story, made convincing with great actors.
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Nov 12 - War Horse
Schmaltzy Sunday afternoon fare.
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Nov 12 - Crack in the World
Pretty ropey - but who doesn't like an underground science lair.
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Nov 11 - Holy Motors
way out in front for most baffling film of the year. Wierdly enjoyable.
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Nov 11 - Southpaw
Usual boxing tropes. Unsubtle signposting with music throughout.
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Nov 8 - Eyes of Laura Mars
There really was lots of everything in the seventies. Hair, smoking, rubbish, lingerie, and drama.
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Nov 6 - The Vietnam War
Essential viewing
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Nov 4 - Sightseers
Had it's moments, ran out of steam a little and then picked up.
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Nov 4 - Conspirators of Pleasure
Bonkers.
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Nov 2 - The Conversation
Outstanding
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Oct 28 - Foxcatcher
Pretty gripping, and it never felt like it was going to end well.
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Oct 28 - Black Narcissus
Visually remarkable, lots of intense, significant looks in a full on melodrama.
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Oct 25 - Ratcatcher
A poetic journey through the wringer. Gotta watch it.
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Oct 23 - Billion Dollar Brain
Favourite bits were Michael Caine and the sixties computers, the rest was a bit too mental.
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Oct 23 - Blade Runner 2049
I liked the pace and plot. Slicked back hair is evidently the sign of baddie now. Lost points for the sound - ran out of ideas and used generic too loud rumbles - crap.
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Oct 22 - T2 Trainspotting
Glad that it was good. Nearly overdid the montages, but saved it.
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Oct 21 - Alien: Covenant
The more I see the xenomorph the less interesting it is. Fassbender is great as usual.
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Oct 21 - Unbroken
By the numbers bio-pic.
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Oct 19 - Shame
Beautifully composed and subtly told. Loved the pacing.
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Oct 17 - Jon Wick:Chapter 2
Started annoyingly silly, got amusingly ridiculous, then a bit boring and then engagingly stupid again.
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Oct 15 - Snowden
Standard bio pic, never quite sure what isreal or extra drama. Laid on thick at the end.
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Oct 12 - Wuthering Heights
Pretty gruelling. Stylistically as well as emotionally. Certainly memorable.
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Oct 8 - Suicide Squad
Some good characters, some crap, some good actors, some crap, some good action, some crap, some good dialog some crap. everyone got a bit of stink on them.
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Oct 7 - Baby Driver
Is it possible to have too much music? Might be.
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Oct 7 - The Master
A great looking exploration of a lost character and someone who claims he can help.
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Oct 5 - Persepolis
Such subtle animation and strong story make a great package.
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Oct 3 - Wonder Woman
What a superhero movies should be all about - bit cheesy, but with cool action scenes. So good for being different.
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Oct 1 - Shadows
Manic and staccato energy to the whole thing, interesting but not exactly satisfying.
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Oct 1 - Lifeboat
Interesting bit of not too subtle propaganda which overdid it a bit at the end.
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Sep 30 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
I wished the jokes were as funny as the writers thought they were. And the plot was pretty thin. Apart from that, was ok.
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Sep 27 - Moana
Winning combination of cheesy and trippy bundled up in brilliant animation
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Sep 26 - The Handmaid's Tale
Felt longer. I guess the money spent on Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall meant they couldn't stretch to a decent script.
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Sep 24 - Control
Monochrome and monotone - Samantha Morton had depth - more than the script. Maybe cos I was unsure about watching it in the first place it felt off.
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Sep 20 - Helvetica
Broader than the title suggests, both a strength and a weakness.
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Sep 19 - Killer Nun
Loopy, trippy and a bit nasty. Bit like the 70s.
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Sep 16 - The Beckoning Silence
Eloquent explanation of why people climb mountains.
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Sep 16 - Nostalgia
I'm not clever enough to work what the hell is going on, but I am patient enough to let it all unfold in front of me, and open enough to be intrigued.
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Sep 10 - A Woman under the Influence
Compelling but uncomfortable viewing. Everyone seemed on the edge at sometime. Manic.
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Aug 28 - Shell
Claustraphobic in wide open space. Tense.
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Aug 16 - The Odessa File
Bit broad strokes at times, but decent enough.
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Aug 11 - The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse
Satisfyingly Mental
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Aug 9 - John Wick
Above average for a modern action film - which isn't saying much.Kinda fun signature 'shoot 'em up close' move. Special mention for a truly awful song in the soundtrack.
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Jul 29 - War Machine
One of those films where if you've seen the trailer, you seen most of the best bits. Extra star for Tilda Swinton.
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Jul 29 - Ivan's Childhood
Beautifully composed and strangely domestic feel for a war film. I guess it isn't really a war film.
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Jul 27 - Hidden Figures
Really enjoyable, but couldn't shake the feeling that things should be a lot further on than they are.
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Jul 25 - Legend
Tom Hardy was interesting as always, but was mostly bored and sometimes irritated.
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Jul 22 - Monsters
Not a lot happens, but interesting nonetheless. Funnily, not a monsters film.
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Jul 16 - City of God
Fast paced, snappy and stylish, which didn't wholly seem right considering the depressing subject. In the end was kinda ok about it, but a bit ambivalent
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Jul 3 - Field of Dreams
Just about the right side of schmaltz. Endearingly strange.
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Jul 3 - Red Army
Interesting story competently told, but couldn't help feeling there was more that the filmmaker didn't manage to get
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Jul 3 - Of Horses and Men
Like the previous Icelandic film I watched - 'Rams' , this had moments of great comedy and tragedy. Whole thing was lovely.
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Jun 27 - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
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Jun 26 - Babel
Trilogy of tragedies. Exhausting at times because of the tension, but beautifully put together.
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Jun 25 - The Infiltrator
Plenty of the usual undercover tropes, but expertly handled.
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Jun 25 - Hacksaw Ridge
A feel good good war movie seems an oymoron. It was good apart from the fetishised slo-motion that seems ubiquitous in war movies these days.
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Jun 24 - A Matter of Life and Death
Super saturated colour, melodramatic performances and weird ideas - pretty tidy.
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Jun 22 - Colossal
Liked the premise and while it wasn't super subtle it had a bit of depth.
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Jun 19 - Logan
Good old Wolverine, growling, slashing and stabbing. A Hero to us all.
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Jun 18 - Blind
Occasionally baffling, but intriguingly funny too.
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Jun 14 - The Nice Guys
Knockabout caper. I liked it.
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Jun 4 - Out of the Past
Stands up very well, such a cool, laconic gumshoe.
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Jun 1 - Blood Simple
Lovely slow burn to a great climactic ending.
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May 29 - I Heart Huckabees
Pretty wacky, and had potential to be annoying, but turned out to be great fun.
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May 27 - The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
Speciality Nic Cage - charismatic unhinged spiral.
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May 22 - Morven Callar
Well that was good. Great mixing of visuals with focus and composition and audio. Once I let it wash over me it was great.
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May 15 - Elizabeth
Intrigue, plotting with ruffs galore.Bit hammy at times, but that's ok.
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May 13 - McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Gritty yet domestic take on the Western genre. Interesting.
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May 13 - The Wind Rises
Impressive animation, decent enough simple story, dragged a bit in the final third.
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May 7 - Philomena
Deftly done.
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May 6 - The Accountant
Patchy. Strong action, bit lame on the inner angst, and mixed on the plot twists. Decent fun, if a bit long.
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May 6 - Sink the Bismarck!
Steady as she goes - probably last of the Germans = Bad, British = Good type war films.
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May 4 - Near Dark
The baddies were the best thing about it. Honourable mention for music
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May 2 - The Insider
Restless camera, pretty intrusive music, not necessarily bad things, not quite doing it for me.
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Apr 30 - Brother
You'd think that people who's trade is killing would be harder to kill. All in giant 90s suits. Is nihilistic Zen a thing?
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Apr 29 - High Rise
Started well, but got gradually less interesting. Reached peak montage about two thirds of the way in.
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Apr 28 - Black Swan
Wasn't sure what to expect - it was a corker. Melodramatic in the very best way.
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Apr 27 - The New World
Lyrical. What cleverer people than me have called his films. There's certainly some kind of elemental feeling I can't pin down, and I end up soaking in all in.
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Apr 26 - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Jolly good fun, once it'd built up some steam.
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Apr 25 - Stroszek
We are all dancing animals. Warm, funny and tragic. Wasn't sure what to expect and put me in the mood straight away.
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Apr 24 - Before Sunrise
Mild irritation, building to annoyance. Couldn't stick it out. 1.5 stars for looking ok in bits.
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Apr 22 - A Most Violent Year
Gripping intrigue in the 1980s New York heating oil business. No really, it was excellent.
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Apr 22 - The Lady in the Van
Tender tale about guilt, faith and loss - which was more enjoyable than I've make it sound.
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Apr 20 - Bad Lieutenant
Better than I remembered. How to make you care about a Bad man? get Harvey to act the shit out of it.
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Apr 18 - The Verdict
Rock solid courtroom drama, elevated by ol'blue eyes.
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Apr 13 - Doctor Strange
Trippy, spectacular fun.
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Apr 12 - The Terminator
Stands up well and rattles along.
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Apr 10 - St. Vincent
Actors I like, doing their best with a pretty sentimental by the numbers effort.
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Apr 1 - The Girl with all the Gifts
Solid all round. Just right amount of action and apocalyptic pondering.
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Apr 1 - Cries and Whispers
Cold, hard and distant looks abound. Claustrophobic atmosphere filled with mostly isolated and cruel people.
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Mar 29 - Five Easy Pieces
Jack Nicholson effortlessly tormented, restless and charismatic.
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Mar 25 - Prisoners
Nice twists and tension - So many thrillers aren't thrilling. This was certainly tense and very good.
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Mar 21 - The Night of the Hunter
Great lighting making a great looking film with a superb Robert Mitchum, but a weird ending.
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Mar 15 - The Second Mother
Good to get away from big concept, tricksy set piece films. Warm and real.
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Mar 14 - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Chock full of beautifully composed scenes, with terrific performances all round and neither maudlin or uplifting - much more than that.
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Mar 12 - Thank You for Smoking
Good actors, but strangely flat - not enough bite for a satire.
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Mar 8 - They Might Be Giants
Top marks for oddness. Strangely engaging for such a knockabout and whimsical thing.
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Mar 5 - Secretary
Fan of Maggie Gyllenhaal and more so after this. A lesser actor could have cocked it up.
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Mar 4 - The Searchers
Some dodgy politics, but epic and with unexpected funny bits.
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Mar 4 - Crossfire
Classy, if a little blunt in it's message. A message that 70 years later is sadly all too relevant.
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Mar 3 - Sausage Party
Funny moments - not enough to relieve the increasing boredom.
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Mar 2 - Breathless
Apparently it was revolutionary. Didn't like or care about the characters.
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Feb 28 - Lord of War
Watchable, if perhaps a little jolly for what is at heart a pretty depressing trade.
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Feb 27 - Adaption.
Keeps turning inside out, but not self-consciously - in an interesting and engaging way.
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Feb 27 - Apocalypto
A non urban action film without crappy dialogue.
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Feb 27 - Hoosiers
Montage-tastic, with a healthy dose of eighties drums. Cheesy and enjoyable.
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Feb 26 - A Most Wanted Man
Low-key and tense with lots of good preformances from a big name cast.
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Feb 22 - Elysium
Gritty, interesting start, gradually tapering off to generic. Strangely flat performance from usually great Jodie Foster.
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Feb 21 - Chicago
Apparently, I like musicals now.
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Feb 20 - The Ipcress File
Visually interesting throughout, sharp and cool - Michael Caine at his best. "My name is HARRY PALMER"
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Feb 18 - The Enemy Below
Some really clunky philosophical dialogue, but then plenty of the usual submarine tropes are well done.
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Feb 12 - Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Beguiling, sad, and weirdly uplifting.
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Feb 7 - Arrival
Nicely done throughout. Nice reveal/twist.
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Feb 6 - Amy
Seemed fair. and so sad.
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Feb 5 - Milk
Pretty good and engaging performance by Sean Penn.
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Feb 5 - Moneyball
In a stats mood at the mo, so watching this again.
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Feb 4 - Youth
Couldn't tell you why I liked it, but thoroughly enjoyed it
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Feb 2 - Ten Metre Tower
Simple Idea. Great Fun
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Feb 1 - The Program
Comically huge jumps in the story, and tendency to being cartoonish.
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Jan 30 - Nightcrawler
Fantastic portrayal of a coolly ruthless character.
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Jan 29 - A Bigger Splash
Thoughtful character piece with a dramatic twist. Nicely done all round.
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Jan 28 - Dallas buyers club
Star performances, maybe a bit too front and centre, for my taste - but still good.
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Jan 25 - Only lovers left alive
Languid and cool with great music and a beautiful angle.
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Jan 24 - Another Earth
Claustrophobic, tense, atmospheric and strangely compelling.
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Jan 23 - Blue Jasmine
Rare treat of caring about all the characters, so well written and acted.
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Jan 22 - Trumbo
Little ponderous at times, amused that Helen Mirren obviously gave up on the accent, enough there to keep me interested.
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Jan 21 - Eye in the Sky
Superbly tense throughout and through-provoking. Proper thriller.
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Jan 21 - Horns
Started well, was fun and different, got gradually more clunky.
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Jan 17 - Coach Carter
Plenty of the usual sports cliches, elevated by Samuel L Jackson and a slightly unconventional angle.
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Jan 16 - Bull Durham
Sports films need chemistry, as the formula is often the same. This one had it
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Jan 15 - The Wicker Man
Bit Groovy, bit trippy, bit funny, bit creepy. Wish I'd seen it years ago.
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Jan 14 - The Thin Red Line
Entrancing visuals and strong performances in an unconventional war movie.
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Jan 14 - Eyes Without a Face
Very odd with strangely stylish bits - it is French after all.
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Jan 12 - The Hospital
Manic seventies black comedy.
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Jan 8 - Out of Sight
Enjoyable enough - thing about being cool, it's not cool to be cool. This was abit too cool.
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Jan 7 - 10 Cloverfield Lane
Decent bit of suspense. End felt a bit superfluous.
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Jan 7 - Ace in the Hole
Kirk Douglas centre stage - where he likes to be, but good parable relevant as now as ever.
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Jan 7 - Terms of Endearment
Proper, interesting characters, superbly acted.
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Jan 5 - Amadeus
Impressive Oscar fair, but didn't really do it for me.
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Jan 4 - Rosemary's Baby
Hail Adrian! Cracking film - loved the way it took it's time.
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Jan 2 - Rams
Don't need much to make an affecting film. Very sad.
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