A Scanner Darkly

 

A Scanner Darkly 2006

·       Director: Richard Linklater

·       Cast: Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrelson,

·       Why? Good film

·       Seen: Once before. Now 23-24 August 2025      

       Animated but based on the real actors with their real voices. Interesting. Effective. Visually beautiful.

       Addiction to Substance D is rampant in this near-future society. Bob (Reeves) is an undercover cop fighting the drug dealers but he falls victim to the drug himself and loses his identity.

       It’s heart-breaking and very close to a masterpiece. 

5* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nocturnal Animals

 

Nocturnal Animals 2016

·       Director: Tom Ford

·       Cast: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Michael Sheen

·       Why? The cast

·       Seen: 22 August 2025      

       Susan (Adams) runs an avante-garde gallery, living off her rich business man husband (Hammer). She gets a manuscript from her ex-husband Edward (Gyllenhaal), whom she hasn’t seen for twenty years. It’s the story of Tony (also Gyllenhaal) and his wife and daughter who are run off the road in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere by a gang of thugs.

       As she reads, Susan remembers her marriage to Edward.

       It’s beautiful acting and quite captivating but I don’t really get it. 

3 ½ * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vice

 

Vice 2018

·       Director: Adam McKay

·       Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carrell, Sam Rockwell, Lisa Gay Hamilton

·       Why? Christian Bale

·       Seen: 21 August 2025      

       Political films are not my thing but Christian Bale is. Dick Cheney is not a person I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, nor do I want to. Maybe I should have. He’s a horrible person.

       Great cast. I’m bored to tears, even though it’s scary to see how the US is taken over by the far right. Not as far as today but the stage has been set for a long time. 

2* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greedy People

 

Greedy People 2024

·       Director: Potsi Ponciroli

·       Cast: Himish Patel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lily James, Uzo Aduba, Tim Blake Nelson

·       Why? Joseph Gordon-Levitt

·       Seen: 20 August 2025      

       Oh. Slapstick. Will (Patel) is on his first day as a small town cop and manages to kill a civilian. He and his loudmouth, loose-and-easy-with-the-law partner Terry (JG-L) find a lot of money and decide to stage it all as a burglary murder.

       From slapstick to deadly serious, if absurd, violence. 

3 ½ * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28 Days

 

28 Days 2000

·       Director: Betty Thomas

·       Cast: Sandra Bullock, Viggo Mortensen, Dominic West, Elizabeth Perkins, Azura Skye, Steve Buscemi, Alan Tudyk, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Margo Martindale

·       Why? Sandra Bullock

·       Seen: Once before. Now 19 August 2025      

       Gwen (Bullock) won’t admit she’s an alcoholic but after a series of drunken disasters she’s sent to rehab, instead of jail. She rebels, makes trouble, breaks rules.

       Somewhat predictable but the characters are good and the cast is strong. I just like it. 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold Run

 

Gold Run 2022

·       Director: Halvard Braein

·       Cast: Jon Ögarden, Ida Elis Broch, Sven Nordin, Eivind Sander, Morton Svartveit, Anatole Taubman

·       Why? The subject

·       Seen: 18 August 2025      

       1940. The Germans invade Norway.  The government scrambles to destroy and hide documents that will help the Nazis. And the Bank of Norway scrambles to move the country’s gold reserves to keep them out of German hands.

       It’s a decent dramatization of real events. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

Warning

 

Warning 2021

·       Director: Agata Alexander

·       Cast: Thomas Jane, Tomasz Kot, Toni Garrn, Rupert Everett, Alice Eve

·       Why? Sci fi

·       Seen: 17 August 2025      

       An astronaut is trapped in space. On Earth various characters live their lives dominated by humanoid robots and Gods in boxes and virtual reality and whatnot. They seem unconnected.

       It’s kind of interesting, kind of existential, very confusing and really weird.

       I kind of like it. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

La nuit venue / Night Ride

 

La nuit venue / Night Right 2019

·       Director: Frédéric Farucci

·       Cast: Guong Hua, Carmélia Jordana

·       Why? Possibly good.

·       Seen: 15 August 2025      

       Jin (Hua), a Chinese immigrant in Paris, drives a night cab and delivers illegal goods for a Chinese mafia. A stripper Naomi (Jordana) becomes a regular customer and they decide to try to break free from their destructive lives.

       Slow, atmospheric, and very depressing. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

Hilary & Jackie

 

Hilary & Jackie 1998

·       Director: Anand Tucker

·       Cast: Rachel Griffiths, Emily Watson, James Frain, David Morrisey, Celia Imrie

·       Why? Good film

·       Seen: Twice before. Now14 August 2025      

       Hilary (Griffiths) and Jackie (Watson) are sisters, both musicians, child prodigies.

       Jackie becomes an internationally renowned cellist. Hilary, her spirit broken by a cruel teacher, ends up on a farm with her flamboyant husband Kiffer (Morrisey) and two children.

       It’s a complex film about a very complex sibling relationship, about the cost of fame and sibling love and rivalry. It’s based on the memoirs of Hilary Du Pré and their brother.

       Griffiths and Watson are superb. 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

Dallas Buyers Club

 

Dallas Buyers Club 2013

·       Director: Jean-Marc Vallé

·       Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Steve Zahn

·       Why? Good reviews

·       Seen: 13 August 2025      

       Ron (McConaughey) is a supermacho, super hetero (he says loudly and often), homophobic electrician who is told by doctors that he is HIV positive and has a month to live.

       He decides to chase down a cure, legal, illegal, experimental, whatever.

       Does McC even deserve an Oscar for this obnoxious, foul-mouthed completely unlikeable role? There were better nominees, Christian Bale for example. Chiwetel Ejiofor, for example. I am unmoved by this film. Evidently, it’s not even remotely accurate despite the Based on a True Story label. 

2* of 5

 

 

 

 

45 Years

 

45 Years 2015

·       Director: Andrew Haigh

·       Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtney, Geraldine James

·       Why? Rampling and Courtney

·       Seen: 10 August 2025 2025      

       Kate (Rampling) and Geoff (Courtney) have been married for 45 years. They are planning a party to celebrate. Then he receives a letter from Switzerland. The body of his first fiancée Katya, killed in a fall in the Alps 50 years previously, has been found in a glacier.

       Very low-key, very intense and dramatic, brilliant acting. 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

Vesper

 

Vesper 2022

·       Director: Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper

·       Cast: Raffiella Chapman, Eddie Marsan

·       Why? Dystopia

·       Seen: 25 July 2025      

       Earth’s ecosystem has collapsed. Young Vesper (Chapman) experiments to find a solution to starvation.

       Slow, gloomy, depressing and though I slept through much of the film, it was intelligent and mesmerising. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

Van Helsing

 

Van Helsing 2004

·       Director: Stephen Sommers

·       Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh, Alun Armstrong

·       Why? Hugh Jackman

·       Seen: 21 July 2025      

       Count Dracula kills Dr Frankenstein to use the monster for his own nefarious purposes but the monster escapes.

       Vampires and other nasties plague European capitals. Vampire et al hunter Van Helsing (Jackman) fights the evil.

       Yes, it’s ludicrous. It’s not meant to be taken seriously. But how fun is it? Not very. Not even gorgeous Hugh Jackman can arouse much interest. Still, for his sake 

2* of 5