Films

oh i forgot to mention how every time there's something scary in a scene either the camera or actor does at minimum a 270-degree turn before they see it. so it was basically in their original field of vision they just didn't look at it.

Terminal.

If you can get past the accents, and for the first 90% of the film, it's a solid noire(ish) fillum.

But for a fillum that makes such an effort on the look and feel, and makes it work well, it makes some really poor soundtrack choices.

The last 10 / 15 minutes tho...

Boyle out, Craig possibly to exit, cue tedious office chat of why Bond shouldn't/can't be black.

As he can both act and punch a hole in your face i've been hoping for Johnny Harris for a while but i suspect it'll be someone prettier.

set the film in the 70's/80's where bond belongs.

True. With Boyle at the helm there was a chance the franchise could put behind or even address some of the massive issues the character/stories have but i guess the producers don't wan't to rock the boat.

I wonder if Danny boy jumped ship because he wanted Idris? All they said on the radio news was “creative differences”

bond died with roger moore.

And then came back to life with him in Never Say Never Again?

Apparently script related

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/22/danny-boyle-james-bond-daniel-craig

Idris in an outstanding action scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn-PcV9p8mw&feature=youtu.be&t=226

Tonight was Yardie night. Another case of a film not matching the intensity of the book, in this case the original story being softened up to appeal to a wider audience I think. A couple of great performances from Sheldon Shepherd and Stephen Graham - though not everyone agreed with me on the latter - and the film looks and sounds great. But I thought the storyline was too ambiguous and the ending was unsatisfactory.

Finally watched Zoo. Kids movie loosely based on the real story of a zookeeper that took care of a zoo elephant in Belfast during 1941...by walking it home.

Not bad. Nice to see a low key non animated kids movie. No explosions and script is not bad, worth a watch.

The zoo in Belfast looks the same, it's worth a visit with the location in Cavehill which offers great views of Belfast. There are still elephants all rescue animals from circuses etc.

Just stuck Kubo and the two strings on Netflix for the kid, she was enthralled and I was equally impressed.

Saw that with my son, good movie!

Took family to see Blackkklansman, they are still talking about it.. Yardie next, on my own though..

looking forward to its release here, nice to see Spike back on form going by reviews I've read

great back story here, especially working with communities and understanding gang culture in the 90s..

...Spoiler alert

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/635175667/Black-sergeant-was-loyal-Klansman.html

I saw Blackkklansman last night. It was entertaining, but uncomfortable as well.

Considering how there are numerous blatant attempts to make it relevant to the present (even before you get to the final scenes), having a policeman as the hero and all the other police basically being good once they've got rid of the one bad apple seemed jarring. In the UK, with the stories about undercover police getting into relationships with groups they've infiltrated, there's another level of discomfort.

Basically, Patrice, the character who makes arguments about the systematic nature of the racism and oppression, has been ignored by the end of the film, and it seems to be Spike Lee's attempt to say 'actually the police aren't too bad, and the problem is overt racism which the police are helping to tackle.'

Then I read this this morning which summed it up:

https://twitter.com/BootsRiley/status/1027313060325670912?s=09

Spike Lee does that though.. not saying it was hands down the best scripted film, entertaining yes, factual in parts perhaps, funny yes in parts, prefer that to Mississippi Burning which left my nerves jangling for days back in late 80s..

My stepchildren has a different view and it was interesting to hear their opinions. Both are mixed race from Latin America..

Agreed, the film's defense of cops invalidates its entire message IMO.

I don’t agree. The message I got was it doesn’t matter if some white cops are good guys when the system is bust. The Klan won, their politics won and Trump is president, elected on a racist vote.

Just a postscript to the above, I’ve been thinking about it all week. I correspond with a white American writer considered a foremost authority on the slave trade, so thought he’d be a good person from whom to get an opinion. He wrote back

“Five of us who went to see it together had an e-mail chain about it for days! I think Boots is just jealous because Spike's movie also turns on a black guy sounding white on the phone.”.

Whatever your takeaway, it’s certainly got us all talking.

watched Yardie last night..
the pattwa, the tunes
trip down memory lane

First Reformed.

I think it's possibly one of the best movies i've seen this year that absolutely deserves to clean up come award season, i also think it's possibly a pile of polemical waffle with one of those ridiculous endings that makes you wonder why you bothered with the preceding hour and half.

i'm torn.