31 May 2017

The Hollow Crown: Henry VI - part 2, 2016 - ★★★★

Watched on Wednesday May 31, 2017.

May 31, 2017 at 09:57PM

The Dark Crystal, 1982 - ★★★

Surprised to find out that I had never seen this before (or don't remember any of it if I had). Technically it's impressive (although I find the Gelflings a bit odd looking) but the story is quite basic and a bit too hobbit-y for me.

May 31, 2017 at 09:50PM

30 May 2017

The Mechanical Cow, 1927

Watched on Sunday May 28, 2017.

May 30, 2017 at 05:43PM

Scents and Nonsense, 1926

Watched on Sunday May 28, 2017.

May 30, 2017 at 05:43PM

The Ocean Hop, 1927

Watched on Sunday May 28, 2017.

May 30, 2017 at 05:42PM

Felix Comes Back, 1922

Watched on Sunday May 28, 2017.

May 30, 2017 at 05:42PM

The Tantalizing Fly, 1919

Watched on Sunday May 28, 2017.

May 30, 2017 at 05:41PM

The '?' Motorist, 1906

Watched on Sunday May 28, 2017.

May 30, 2017 at 05:40PM

24 May 2017

The Edge of the World, 1937 - ★★½

Despite appearing to be a well made film this didn't really do much for me.

May 24, 2017 at 09:48PM

King Charles III, 2017 - ★★★★

I liked this a lot even though I hoped the second half wouldn't play out as it did.

May 24, 2017 at 08:08AM

19 May 2017

Alien: Covenant, 2017 - ★★★

It's all good until the aliens turn up and surely that's a huge problem for a film in the Alien series. Things aren't helped by the crew bouncing between idiotic and cliched decisions and even Waterson's mostly sensible Daniels becomes annoying by the end of the film. Those cliched moments feel like ticking off a checklist of things an alien film needs and at best add little, but often feel closer to parody. One shot of the Alien looks like it's part of the Hollyoaks title sequence and in another moment (or was it the same) it was a surprise/relief it didn't turn into a Spaceballs song and dance. All of the aliens look awful; badly animated and out of place, later CG humans are thrown around and you just have to wonder why. The final plot developments are so obvious I actually groaned when they began to be played out. People always say that a sequel or remake doesn't detract from the original film and I usually agree but this comes dangerously close to undermining the original films.

And yet having complained about nearly every aspect of the film (and I haven't really gone into the problematic plot) I did enjoy myself far more than I should have

May 19, 2017 at 11:16PM

The Hollow Crown: Henry VI - part 1, 2016 - ★★★★

Watched on Wednesday May 17, 2017.

May 19, 2017 at 10:48PM

10 May 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, 2017 - ★★★★

It's all over the place but in a way which works far more often than it fails. For two hours it provided enough entertainment to distract me from the real world and that feels like an achievement. I'm also pleased I saw this in 3D because it did actually add something to what is already a visually impressive film.

May 10, 2017 at 09:39PM

07 May 2017

A Conspiracy of Faith, 2016 - ★★★½

More cinematic than the other films in the series but still suffers many of the same problems. The biggest issue is that once again the characters do something reckless and/or ridiculous that would seriously undermine the case. It's a shame because the characters and their relationships are great and it successfully manages to be both dark and humourous.

May 07, 2017 at 06:28PM

01 May 2017

Swallows and Amazons, 2016 - ★★★

There's something quite charming about how all of this looks but there's not really much of a story. As harsh as it may be the child performances are distracting and not strong enough to carry the film.

May 01, 2017 at 05:18PM

The Absent One, 2014

Withholding a rating because even though I only watched this in the last week I can't remember enough about it (which is a sign of my failing memory and mixing it up with Follow The Money, rather than the quality). Like the previous film, It still feels like a feature length TV episode but a good one. There was something about this I was going to say but it completely escapes me now.

May 01, 2017 at 04:35PM