Look Both Ways

 

Look Both Ways 2005

• Director: Sarah Watt (1958-2011)
• Based on a novel: no
• Cast: Justine Clarke, William McInnes, Anthony Hayes, Elena Carapetis, Lisa Flanagan
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Justine Clarke – Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome
• Anthony Hayes – The Slap, Ned Kelly, Rabbit-Proof Fence
• Lisa Flanagan – Strangerland, Black and White
• Why? Took a chance
• Seen: 30 August 2020      

       Three stories intertwine. Meryl (Clarke), an illustrator, imagines death in every situation, then witnesses the death of a young man running in front of a train to rescue his dog. Nick (McInnes), a photojournalist, is told after a routine medical exam that he has testicle cancer that has spread to the lungs and possibly elsewhere. His colleague Andy (Hayes), obsessed with interpreting the deaths of all young men as suicides, is told by his sometimes girlfriend Anna (Flanagan) that she is pregnant. Neither of them is happy about it.

       Other threads weave into the tapestry of this quirkily filmed Australian gem about picking up the pieces and putting them back together again after life-shattering moments.

 

4* of 5

Black Panther in memory

 

In memory of Chadwick Boseman 29 November 1976-28 August 2020

 

Black Panther 2018

• Director: Ryan Coogler
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita N’Yongo, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whittaker, Andy Serkis
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Chadwick Boseman – Fringe
• Michael B Jordan – Fantastic Four, The Wire, The Sopranos
• Lupita N’Yango – Star Wars the Last Jedi + The Force Awakens,
• Danai Gurira – The Visitor
• Martin Freeman – Shylock, Fargo, The Hobbit etc, The World’s End, Hot Fuzz, Breaking and Entering, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Shaun of the Dead, The Office, Love Actually, Black Books
• Daniel Kaluuya – Doctor Who
• Letitia Wright – Humans, Doctor Who
• Angela Bassett – Akeelah and the Bee, Music of the Heart, Contact, Strange Days, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Malcom X, Boyz n the Hood
• Forest Whittaker – Arrival, The Butler, The Last King of Scotland, Repo Men, The Great Debaters, Smoke, The Crying Game, Bird, Platoon, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
• Andy Serkis - Star Wars the Last Jedi + The Force Awakens, The Hobbit etc, Brighton Rock, King Kong, 24 Hour Party People, Topsy Turvy, Prince of Jutland
• Why? Recommended by friends
• Seen: 26 January 2019, again 29 August 2020      

       The small isolated African kingdom of Wakanda has a secret history. It’s populated by people with superpowers living in a fantastic super high-tech city. Their king has been murdered and the prince T’Challa, Black Panther, (Boseman) is about to ascend to the throne.

       His beloved Nakia (Nyong’o) wants Wakanda to share its wealth and technology with the world and start refugee programs and grant foreign aid. T’Challa is afraid the kingdom will lose its power if the world learns of its true existence.

       Villain Klaue (Serkis) has stolen the technology that makes Wakanda great and is planning on selling it to the Americans.

       How can the peaceful Wakanda stop him? Well, with the help of the better-than-James-Bond-toys invented by T’Challa’s little sister Shuri (Wright), technical genius and head of the kingdom’s technology department.

       It’s visually spectacular, funny and exciting with an appealing cast, especially Wright as Shuri. The story is rather complex with enough historical and political message to make it, well, cool.

       It’s a very cool movie.

 4 * of 5

 Seen again on 29 August 2020. If anything, the film is even better the second time, but that might be because we’re mourning Chadwick Boseman.

 

http://rubyjandsmovieblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/black-panther.html

The Dark Knight Rises updated

Updated 28 August 2020

 

The Dark Knight Rises 2012

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Films seen by this director: Dunkirk, Interstellar, Inception, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, The Prestige, Insomnia
• Based on Book: No
• Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ann Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Tom Conti
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Christian Bale –Public Enemies, I’m Not There, Terminator Salvation, Batman Begins, The Prestige, Equilibrium, American Psycho, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Velvet Goldmine, Little Women, Prince of Jutland, Swing Kids, Henry V
• Michael Caine: Interstellar, Inception, Harry Brown, Flawless, Batman Begins, The Prestige, Children of Men, The Weatherman, Last Orders, Get Carter, The Cider House Rules, Little Voice, Mona Lisa, Educating Rita, Sleuth (both versions), Alfie
• Gary Oldman: The Space Between Us, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, The Book of Eli, Batman Begins, Friends, The Fifth Element, Immortal Beloved, Léon, Romeo is Bleeding, True Romance, Dracula, JFK, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Prick Up Your Ears, Sid and Nancy, Meantime
• Cillian Murphy:  Transcendence, Inception, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Cold Mountain, Girl with the Pearl Earring, 28 Days Later
• Morgan Freeman - Transcendence, Oblivion, Invictus, Gone Baby Gone, The Contract, Million Dollar Baby, Bruce the Almighty, Levity, Along Came a Spider, Nurse Betty, Amistad, Kiss the Girls, Moll Flanders, Seven, The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Glory, Driving Miss Daisy
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Looper, Third Rock from the Sun, Inception, The Lookout, Miracle at St. Anna, Brick, 10 Things I Hate About You
• Ann Hathaway – Les Miserables, Rachel Getting Married, Alice in Wonderland, Brokeback Mountain, Becoming Jane, Ella Enchanted
• Tom Hardy – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Inception, Legend
• Marion Cotillard – Contagion, Macbeth, Nine, La vie en rose, Inception, Public Enemies, A Good Year
• Tom Conti – The Tempest, Derailed, Friends, Shirley Valentine
• Why: Christian Bale. Good trilogy.
• Seen: 24 July 2015 and now again 28 August 2020 

The last one. A bit sad. What to see on our Friday evenings after this? But let’s enjoy this one first.

It starts out very James Bond-y with no connection to Batman. But we learn that eight years have passed, and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse and a cripple in his mansion.

Ann Hathaway is a beautiful criminal, a skilled cat burglar. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a hot shot young cop with a tragic childhood and a hero worship for Bruce Wayne and the Batman.

Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman are still with us, still loyal to Bruce Wayne, still hopeful that Batman will return. Michael Caine is still loyal and fearing that Batman will return and Bruce Wayne will be lost.

This is heavy stuff. With heavy emotions. And Batman is a prisoner in hell.

Again, serious moral dilemmas. Interesting political intrigues. We care about the characters.

Oh! The twists the story takes. Wow!

Can it really be over?

 

4* of 5. Maybe even 4 ½

 

 

 

Bread and Roses

Bread and Roses 2000

• Director: Ken Loach
• Films seen by this director: I Daniel Blake, The Angel’s Share, Sweet Sixteen, My Name is Joe, Carla’s Song, Land and Freedom, Raining Stones, Riff-Raff, Kes
• Based on a book: no
• Cast: Pilar Padilla, Adrien Brody, Elpidia Carillo
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Adrien Brody – Detachment, Cadillac Records, Darjeeling Limited, King Kong, The Village, The Pianist, Liberty Heights, The Thin Red Line
• Elpidia Carillo -  Nine Lives, Solaris
• Why? Ken Loach. Good film.
• Seen: Twice before. Now 23 August 2020      

       Maya (Padilla) is a feisty young woman who works hard to make a new life in California after escaping across the border and from the coyotes who steal her money. Her sister Rosa (Carillo) gets her a cleaning job at the same office high-rise. On Maya’s first day she runs into (almost literally) union organiser Sam (Brody) as he is chased by the bosses who don’t want him there.

       Maya joins the movement for liveable wages, benefits, respect from the bosses.

       It may be California but it’s still Ken Loach. Brody is good as always and Padilla and Carillo are outstanding.

       Si, se puede!

 5* of 5

 PS it was fun to catch very quick glimpses of Benito del Toro, Ron Perlman and Tim Roth at the party the union members crashed. 

Gräns (Border)

 

Gräns (Border) 2018

• Director: Ali Abassi
• Based on a story by: John Ajvide Lindqvist
• Cast: Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Jörgen Thorsson, Ann Petrén, Sten Ljunggren
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Eva Melander – Äkta Människor
• Ann Petrén – Radioskuggan, Bröderna Mozart
• Sten Ljunggren – Tillsammans, Snoken
• Why? John Ajvide Lindqvist
• Seen: 22 August 2020      

       Tina (Melander) jobbar på tullen och kan lukta sig till skuldkänslor, rädsla, onda intentioner. Hon hjälper polisen ta smugglare och andra kriminella. Hon bor i skogen och umgås med älgar och rävar. Hennes ansikte är deformerat, hon har ett ärr på svanskotan och ett kromosomfel.

       En dag kommer Vore (Milonoff) genom tullen. Han liknar henne – ansiktet, ärren, samförstånd med djuren. Och kromosomfel.

       Filmen är en vacker saga men det är Ajvide Lindqvist så den är också sorglig och bisarr.

       Den förtjänar alla sina priser, inklusive nomineringen till Oscar för bästa make-up.

 

English: Tina (Melander) works in customs and can smell guilt, fear and bad intentions. She helps the police catch smugglers and other criminals. She lives in the forest and keeps company with moose and foxes. Her face is deformed, she has a scar on her tailbone and a chromosome abnormality.

       One day Vore (Milonoff) comes through customs. He’s like her – face, scar, rapport with animals. And a chromosome abnormality.

       The film is a lovely fairy tale but it’s Ajvide Lindqvist (author of Let the Right One In) so it also sad and bizarre.

       It deserves all its prizes, including an Oscar nomination for best make-up.

      

 

5* of 5

 

The Dark Knight updated

 

Seen again 21 August 2020

 

The Dark Knight 2008

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Films seen by this director: Dunkirk, Interstellar, Inception, Batman Begins, The Prestige, Insomnia
• Based on Book: No
• Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Monique Gabriela Curnen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor/actress in:
• Christian Bale –Public Enemies, I’m Not There, Terminator Salvation, Batman Begins, The Prestige, Equilibrium, American Psycho, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Velvet Goldmine, Little Women, Prince of Jutland, Swing Kids, Henry V
• Michael Caine: Interstellar, Inception, Harry Brown, Flawless, Batman Begins, The Prestige, Children of Men, The Weatherman, Last Orders, Get Carter, The Cider House Rules, Little Voice, Mona Lisa, Educating Rita, Sleuth (both versions), Alfie
• Heath Ledger – The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, I’m Not There, Brokeback Mountain, The Brothers Grimm, Ned Kelly. The Monster’s Ball, A Knight’s Tale, 10 Things I Hate about You
• Gary Oldman: The Space Between Us, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, The Book of Eli, Batman Begins, Friends, The Fifth Element, Immortal Beloved, Léon, Romeo is Bleeding, True Romance, Dracula, JFK, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Prick Up Your Ears, Sid and Nancy, Meantime
• Aaron Eckhart - The Rum Diary, Rabbit Hole, Conversations with Other Women, The Pledge, Erin Brockovich
• Maggie Gyllenhaal -  Stranger than Fiction, Paris je t’aime, Sherrybaby, Mona Lisa’s Smile, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Adaption, Riding in Cars with Boys, Donnie Darko, Waterland
• Monique Gabriela Curnen – Contagion, Half Nelson
• Morgan Freeman - Transcendence, Oblivion, Invictus, Gone Baby Gone, The Contract, Million Dollar Baby, Bruce the Almighty, Levity, Along Came a Spider, Nurse Betty, Amistad, Kiss the Girls, Moll Flanders, Seven, The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Glory, Driving Miss Daisy
•  Why: Christian Bale. Good film.
• Seen: Once before. Now 10 July 2015. And now 21 August 2020 

A gang of wannabe Batmans. A hot-shot new DA romancing Batman’s sweetheart Rachel. The Joker, a really creepy Joker. Lots and lots of technical gadgets.

And generally a heavy story. This is not a feel-good Batman. Our hero has heavy ethical decisions to make and they don’t turn out well. Being a vigilante hero isn’t as much fun as Bruce Wayne might have thought.

As before the cast is excellent. Heath Ledger is especially strong and Maggie Gyllenhaal is more grown-up as Rachel than Katie Holmes (although I liked her too).

It’s a long and sometimes confusing journey and the moral dilemmas continue right to the ending. Which is strong enough to lift it to

 

4 * of 5

 

PS There’s no reason to change this review or rating.

 

 

The Full Monty

 

The Full Monty 1997

• Director: Alan J Pakula
• Based on a book: no
• Cast: Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Paul Barber, Hugo Spear, Lesley Sharp, Emily Woof
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Robert Carlyle – Yesterday, Trainspotting 2, SGU Stargate Universe, Stone of Destiny, 28 Weeks Later, Flood, Hitler the Rise of Evil, Black and White, Once upon a Time in the Midlands, Beach, The World Is Not Enough, Hamish Macbeth, Carla’s Song, Trainspotting, Go Now, Riff-Raff
• Tom Wilkinson - The Lone Ranger, The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold, The Ghost Writer, Valkyria, Michael Clayton, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Girl with the Pearl Earring, Shakespeare in Love, Wilde, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Sense and Sensibility
• Mark Addy - Robin Hood, Doctor Who, A Knight’s Tale
• Lesley Sharp – Cranford, Doctor Who, Vera Drake, From Hell, Great Expectations, Naked
• Emily Woof – Velvet Goldmine, Photographing Fairies, Middlemarch
• Why? Robert Carlyle. Good film.
• Seen: Two or three times before. Now 16 August 2020

             Sheffield was known for its thriving steel industry and then its glorious age degenerated into unemployment, petty thievery, economic despair.  

             Gaz (Carlyle) is a cheeky, big-mouth misogynist who is offended that the townswomen are all excited by the Chippendales. He feels threatened by women earning and especially by his ex-wife Mandy (Woof) who’s going to court to get sole custody of their son Nathan (Snape). He’s not the only one who is desperate. His mates are desperate too. Desperate enough to put on their own strip show.

       It takes a bit of planning, you could say. And that’s what the film is about. It’s sad and funny, pathetic and warm-hearted. And those lovely British actors.

       Mind you, the whole idea of stripping is demeaning in this our sexist society but the film, while funny, is also a political statement on gender. On several levels.

       Which is why I like it so much. That and Robert Carlyle’s perfect pathetic vulnerable cockiness.

 

5*  of 5

 

 

Arctic

 

Arctic 2018

• Director: Joe Penna
• Based on a book: no
• Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Maria Thelma Smáradóttir, Tintrinai Thikhausuk
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Mads Mikkelsen – Rogue One, Casino Royale
• Why? I like snow
• Seen:15 August 2020      

       Hal said he only wanted to see this if there was a blizzard outside or if it’s hot. It’s pretty hot today, for Swedes, so here we are on a sweltering Saturday evening surviving in the Arctic with Mads Mikkelsen and Maria Thelma Smáradóttir. Their plane and helicopter have crashed. What they’re doing there or who they are we have no idea and we’re never told because the story is minimalistic, which I like and leaves Hal somewhat unsatisfied. The suspense is a slow crescendo. It was filmed in Iceland.

 4* of 5

 

Batman Begins (second review)

 

Seen again 14 August 2020

 

Batman Begins 2005

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Films seen by this director: Dunkirk, Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Insomnia
• Based on Book: No
• Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Linus Roache, Morgan Freeman
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor/actress in:
• Christian Bale – Public Enemies, I’m Not There, Terminator Salvation, The Prestige, Equilibrium, American Psycho, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Velvet Goldmine, Little Women, Prince of Jutland, Swing Kids, Henry V
• Michael Caine: Interstellar, Inception, Harry Brown, Flawless, The Prestige, Children of Men, The Weatherman, Last Orders, Get Carter, The Cider House Rules, Little Voice, Mona Lisa, Educating Rita, Sleuth (both versions), Alfie
• Liam Neeson – Widows, Seraphim Falls, Kingdom of Heaven, Love Actually, Les Misérables, Michael Collins, Rob Roy, Nell, Schindler’s List, Ruby Cairo, Excalibur
• Katie Holmes – Woman in Gold
• Gary Oldman: The Space Between Us, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, The Book of Eli, Friends, The Fifth Element, Immortal Beloved, Léon, Romeo is Bleeding, True Romance, Dracula, JFK, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Prick Up Your Ears, Sid and Nancy, Meantime
• Cillian Murphy:  Transcendence, Inception, Cold Mountain, Girl with the Pearl Earring, 28 Days Later
• Tom Wilkinson - The Lone Ranger, The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold, The Ghost Writer, Valkyria, Michael Clayton, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Girl with the Pearl Earring, Shakespeare in Love, Wilde, The Full Monty, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Sense and Sensibility
• Rutger Hauer - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Blade Runner
• Linus Roache – Seaforth
• Morgan Freeman - Transcendence, Oblivion, Invictus, Gone Baby Gone, The Contract, Million Dollar Baby, Bruce the Almighty, Levity, Along Came a Spider, Nurse Betty, Amistad, Kiss the Girls, Moll Flanders, Seven, The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Glory, Driving Miss Daisy
•  Why: Christian Bale. Good film.
• Seen: Once before. Now (first review) 10 July 2015. And now 14 August 2020. 

After the generally less than brilliant quartet of Batman films we’ve recently ploughed through I’ve really been looking forward to seeing this one again.

From the very start it’s too exciting and gripping to write while watching. So, see you later.

And…it lives up to expectations and memory.

It’s a real story, of how Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. And what a story.  Real characters with some depth. Nuanced and complex good vs evil. Humour. Sophisticated high-tech action.

And what a cast. I love every single one of them. Kindly Tom Wilkinson totally convincing as the ruthless villain. Cute-as-a-bug, tough, don’t-mess-with-me Katie Holmes as Rachel, the childhood sweetheart. Angelic blue-eyed Cillian Murphy as the sleazy bent psychiatrist. Gary Oldman as the family man, earnest, courageous, the only decent cop on the force and just a little dopey. Morgan Freeman as the sardonic genius scientist. Noble Liam Neeson as the creepy opposite of Schindler. Michael Caine as the cheeky butler Alfred – another Alfie. And, oh, gorgeous, tormented Christian Bale - the true and only Batman.

I’m sure there are flaws somewhere – the film, and the whole superhero concept is questionable (but we all love it). But this has to be one of the best of the genre. And the music is great too.

 

4 ½ * of 5

 

https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/2019/05/batman-begins.html

Melbourne

 

Melbourne 2014

• Director: Nima Javidi
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Payman Maadi, Negar Havaherian,
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• nothing
•  Why? Curious about this Iranian film
• Seen: 9 August 2020      

       Amir (Maadi) and Sara (Havaherian) are packing to leave Teheran to study in Melbourne. No spoilers but something terrible happens and the whole film is about how they deal with it. Twists follow turns and everything falls apart. Such suspense and what a study of people to whom very bad things happen and who make desperate choices! It’s a most unusual film with a strong and emotional ending.

 5 * of 5

Love and Pain and the Whole Damned Thing

 

Love and Pain and the Whole Damned Thing 1973

• Director: Alan J Pakula
• Also seen by this director: The Pelican Brief, Presumed Innocent, Sophie’s Choice, Klute
• Based on a book: no
• Cast: Maggie Smith, Timothy Bottoms
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey, Harry Potter, The Lady in the Van, Hotel Marigold 1&2, My Old Lady, Quartet, From Time to Time, Becoming Jane, Keeping Mum, Ladies in Lavender, Gosford Park, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Gosford Park, David Copperfield, Tea with Mussolini, The First Wives Club, Richard III, The Sister Act 1&2, A Room with a View, The Quartet, Oh What a Lovely War, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
• Timothy Bottoms – The Last Picture Show, Johnny Got His Gun
•  Why? Maggie Smith
• Seen: 8 August 2020

             Young Walter (Bottoms) is a depressed, asthmatic, socially inept underachiever in an eminent academic American family. He is coerced into participating in a gruelling bike tour of Spain with a group of over-achieving students. He escapes onto a bus tour and encounters middle-aged Lila (Smith) who, it turns out, is quite socially inept herself and suffering from a mysterious malady.

       They stumble and bumble into friendship then love.

       It’s an odd mix of slapstick, absurdity and misery. The story itself is rather banal set in a postcard picturesque Spain. As expected, it’s Maggie Smith who makes it worth watching although it is difficult not to see her as the forty years older Professor McGonagall.

       For Dame Maggie’s sake:

 

3* of 5 (Hal says 3 ½)

 

Joker

 

Joker 2019

• Director: Todd Phillips
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Joaquin Phoenix – Two Lovers, Walk the Line, Hotel Rwanda, The Village, Gladiator
• Robert De Niro – Joy, Stardust, Extras, Flawless, Cop Land, Marvin’s Room, Heat, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Awakenings, Stanley and Iris, Brazil, New York New York, The Deerhunter, Taxi Driver, 1900, Hi Mom, probably others
• Frances Conroy – Six Feet Under, Broken Flowers, The Aviator, Sleepless in Seattle, The Scent of a Woman, Billy Bathgate
• Why? A different take on the classic.
• Seen: 7 August 2020      

       Arthur (Phoenix) is pursuing a career in stand-up comedy, works as a clown and is in therapy after being in a mental hospital. He laughs hysterically at inappropriate moments. It’s a neurological condition and he carries a card to explain to strangers. He lives in poverty with his deranged mother. Everything goes from bad to worse.

       What a tragic background. What a well-conceived explanation for the evil of Batman’s enemy Joker. Phoenix is phenomenal. It’s a most worthy prequel to the Batman films, the ones with Christian Bale, that is. Now I want to see them again.

 

5* of 5 (Hal says 4 ½, something is not quite perfect though he can’t say exactly what)

 

 

The Children Act

The Children Act 2017

• Director: Richard Eyre
• Seen by this director – The Hollow Crown, Notes on a Scandal  
• Based on the book by Ian McEwan
• Cast: Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Fionn Whitehead, Jason Watkins, Ben Chaplin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Emma Thompson – Alone in Berlin, The Love Punch, Beautiful Creatures, Brave, Harry Potter, The Boat that Rocked, An Education, Last Chance Harvey, Brideshead Revisited, Stranger than Fiction, Nannie McPhee, Angels in America, Love Actually, Wit, Sense and Sensibility, In the Name of the Father, The Remains of the Day, Much Ado about Nothing, Winter Guest, Peter’s Friends, Howards End, Dead Again, Impromptu, Henry V, Fortunes of War, Tutti Frutti
• Stanley Tucci – The Hunger Games 1-4, Fortitude, Jack the Giant Slayer, Swing Vote, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Life Less Ordinary, Life During War Time, The Pelican File, Billy Bathgate, Prizzi’s Honour
• Fionn Whitehead – Dunkirk
• Jason Watkins – Friday Night Dinner, The Hollow Crown, Doctor Who
• Ben Chaplin – Cinderella, Birthday Girl, The Thin Red Line, The Remains of the Day
• Why? Emma Thompson. The book is good.
• Seen: 1 August 2020      

       Justice Fiona Maye (Thompson) has many stressful and demanding family cases behind her. She has nothing left for her husband Jack (Tucci) who leaves her just as she is handed the case of 17-year-old Adam (Whitehead), who is dying of leukaemia and who refuses a life-saving blood transfusion because he is a Jehovah’s Witness and his religion forbids it. Since he’s a minor the case is brought to court.

       It’s dramatic and profound in many ways. I can imagine no one but Thompson in this role and Whitehead too is excellent. Unfortunately, Tucci isn’t the right casting choice here.

       Ian McEwan wrote the screenplay from his novel.

4 ½ * of 5

Daredevil

Daredevil 2003

• Director: Mark Steven Johnson
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Favreau, Scott Terra, Ellen Pompeo, Joe Pantoliano, Leland Orser
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Ben Affleck – Gone Girl, He’s Just Not that into You, Dogma, Shakespeare in Love, Good Will Hunting
• Jennifer Garner – Nine Lives, Juno, Catch Me If You Can
• Colin Farrell – Widows, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Winter’s Tale, Total Recall, Fright Night, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, In Bruges, Intermission
• Michael Clarke Duncan – The Island, The Green Mile, Bulworth
• Why? Given to us by the shop manager when we bought our very first DVD player many years ago.
• Seen: Once before. Now 31 July 2020      

       The first time we saw this we were pleasantly surprised. And Colin Farrell is in it so it can’t be all bad.

        Young Matt (Terra) is blinded in an accident thereafter developing superpowers with his other senses. Adult Matt (Affleck) becomes a lawyer but when he loses cases, he gets the bad guys by becoming Daredevil.

       There is too much church nonsense and too many fist fights but otherwise it’s somewhat… nice. It’s a run-of-the-mill superpower Marvel film but it’s rather… sweet.

       Oh yes, Colin Farrell is cool. Nasty, but cool.

3* of 5