Last film you watched

Floodtide(1949)

A drama from Frederick Wilson revolving around the exploits of a man called David, who studies hard in order to become a ship designer.All goes well and he manages to land his dream job at a big firm.However,his life becomes immeasurably more complicated when he falls for his boss's daughter.The top class acting from Gordon Jackson,John Laurie,Rona Anderson and Elizabeth Sellars make this a real gem.

7/10

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night(2014) The Iranian town Bad City's residents are stalked by a vampiric figure. Tagged as Iran's first vampire western, it being shot in black and white, perpetually at night also gives it a noir feel, but its content(blood, brief nudity, a simulated blow job, drug abuse) means it never would have been filmed in Iran(it was actually filmed in California), though its cosmopolitan cast does include Iranians and people of Iranian origin. Sheila Vand as The Girl provides a mostly monosyllabic,but striking performance, Arash Marandi is good as a young guy with hint of James Dean about him while there is clever camera work and an excellent mix of Eastern and Western on the soundtrack. These are major plus points, but the meandering plot/lack of plot does tell against it in the second half. Also starring Marshall Manesh,Mozhan Marno,Dominic Rains and Rome Shadanloo. 6.5/10

Dial M for murder (1954)

Starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings & John Williams

A retired tennis pro blackmails an old acquaintance to murder his wealthy wife who is having an affair. The plan goes awry when the supposed killer ends up the victim.
This is a classic Hitchcock thriller.

9/10

Jackie(2017) 1963, just after Kennedy's assassination, widow Jackie(Natalie Portman) recalls the recent events to a journalist(Billy Crudup ). And this is a device that works well, as the film keeps your interest as it moves seamlessly between different time periods, covering time in The White House, the shooting and directly after and the funeral to name a few. Portman is excellent, convincing as a woman in grief, moving skilfully through different moods, such as shock, determination, crying etc. Also starring Peter Sarsgaard(Bobby Kennedy), Greta Gerwig,John Hurt, Richard E Grant, Casper Phillipson(JFK),John Carroll Lynch(Lyndon B Johnson) and Max Casella. 7/10

The Dark Tower

Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), the last Gunslinger, is locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim (Matthew McConaughey), also known as the Man in Black. The Gunslinger must prevent the Man in Black from toppling the Dark Tower, the key that holds the universe together. With the fate of worlds at stake, two men collide in the ultimate battle between good and evil.

An enjoyable watch on a Sunday afternoon 7.5/10

Oranges And Sunshine(2010) Nottingham 1986, and a social worker(Emily Watson) starts to uncover wholesale cases of children from poor/single mother families being deported to Australia in the 1950s onwards to often awful conditions, unbeknown to their parents, who thought they were being adopted in the UK. An excellent drama, helped by top performances from Watson,Hugo Weaving(good as ever),Richard Dillane and David Wenham,and a strong script which covers all angles of a complex,often grim story. Also starring Lorraine Ashbourne. 7.5/10

Snatch - 9/10.

Hadn't watched it in ages, spotted it the other day, watched it today, brilliant stuff.

At the BFI London Film Festival

Loving Vincent(2017) The first fully oil painted film, it is set in 1891 a year after Vincent Van Gogh's death, and a postman's son is tasked with delivering a letter sent by Van Gogh to his brother, and along the way meets the various people in Van Gogh's life especially in the last few months of his life. The animation both the Van Gogh painting style and the black and white flashbacks are amazing, but its not a case of style over substance as the film serves as an excellent biography and character study of the painter as well as a mystery, was his death suicide or murder? The animation is also clever enough to bring out the emotions/ moods of the actors playing the characters. Can't wait for the DVD! Featuring the voices of Douglas Booth,Jerome Flynn,Robert Gulaczyk(Vincent),Helen McCrory,Chris O'Dowd,John Sessions,Eleanor Tomlinson,Aidan Turner,Saoirse Ronan and Bill Thomas. 9/10

Amityville: The Awakening

When some footage dating back to 1976 is discovered, the case of the haunted house in Amityville is reopened. An ambitious woman who is working as a television news intern seizes the opportunity to advance her career and is soon leading a team of journalists, clergymen, and paranormal researchers into the house, but she may have unwittingly opened a door to the unreal that she will never be able to close.

Decent but no great shakes 7/10

Resident Evil -The Final Chapter (2017);

Horror/sci-fi film loosely based (& I mean the term loosely) on the popular survivor horror video game franchise (& among some of my favourite games),Final Chapter is the sixth film in the series & although the title suggests it is the last judging by the ending I doubt it is.

The film & series main character is Alice (who isn't in any of the games) played by the lovely Milla Jovovich who is harder than a coffin nail,a high-kicking & punching bone-breaking general badass who does general ass-kicking with such grace she makes it look kind of sexy.Alice takes it upon herself with rag-tag bunch in tow including Claire Redfield (the lovely Ali Larter) & the rather pretty Abigail (Ruby Rose) to save what is left of mankind by destroying the infamous 'Umbrella Corporation' who were responsible for creating a T-Virus which effectively wiped out humanity turning most of the population into zombies & mutant hybrids.
Iain Glen (Game of Throne) plays main villain Dr James Marcus who was founder of Umbrella & helped create the ill-fated T-Virus,he has made Alice his public enemy No1 & sets out to kill Alice before she gets a sniff at Umbrella.

The film's general plot-line (which doesn't really follow any of the games) is as thin as a wet fag-paper & just as flimsy but this film over-compensates for that with OTT effects which at times are little CGI heavy.The Post-Apocalyptic look of America & Raccoon City does look convincing & the hordes of zombies look menacing.

The main crux of the Resi film's are that they are pretty much same-old,same-old & because they don't really follow the game's story-lines it feels like they are taking a popular game franchise name & creating a different identity,sure certain main characters from the games appear in the films (they are only in minor roles).
Whilst I've always loved the Resi games (even the 6th one) I've never been overly enthused with the films tbh.

A perfectly watchable & okay film for what it is.5.5/10.