If Beale Street Could Talk

Here's an interesting one.. Tonights Screen Unseen was 'If Beale Street Could Talk'.

Now, I did a bit of research on this one for once.. You know, tried to decipher the clues. One major pointer was that Cineworld were showing it as an Unlimited special screening... tonight.. Plus the general buzz on Twitter was ".. Beale Street." and Clue 4. This is no East Ender? Really? come on..

Now I'm not a fan of Moonlight, Barry Jenkins other snore fest character study. I was subjected to that one almost 2 years to the day (another screen unseen too).  So I decided if it was this, I'm not going to hang around and put myself through another, well acted, Oscar nominated, superb cinematography, but ultimately boring movie.

Just because broccoli is good for you, doesn't mean its tastes good.  Tonight I just didn't fancy sitting through a 2 hour movie, however nutritious it was..

This goes against the grain for me.. I've only ever once walked out of a movie and that was Frantic, 31 years ago..(I can't even remember why..!?).  As I get older I find I'm getting less tolerant of the Manchester By The Sea's, I, Daniel Blakes and The Florida Projects.. The gritty, human stories that film critics in general tend to enjoy.. I'm leaning more towards movies that provide escapism and awe..

So I can't give a review on this one as I didn't see it..

(must remember to knock it off the total at the end of the year..)

The Mule

It's a Monday and I'm at the cinema.. 

Which can only mean one thing... it's Screen Unseen night.

But first I thought I'd get in Clint Eastwood's latest, The Mule.

As IMDB would (loosely) say, it's a story about 90-year-old horticulturist and Korean War veteran (Clint) who transports millions worth of cocaine through Illinois for a Mexican drug cartel. And yes, it's based on a true story 

I'd heard mixed opinions on this one (70% on Rotten Tomatoes) so I wasn't quite sure what to expect..

Initially it reminded me of Robert Redfords previous, The Old Man and The Gun, but really that's a lazy comparison, just because both films have grizzled nonagenarian leads.. 

It had more in common with the Transporter franchise if anything.  I could imagine a 90 year old Jason Statham in Transporter XXII saying to himself  'don't look in the package.'

Clint reminded me of my late Grandad and that's probably why I enjoyed it.  He looked old and tired, but still had a certain glint in his eye. Bradley Cooper and Michael Pena were also good support as the DEA officers in opposition. 

Overall a decent 3 1/2 star movie..

Glass

Ok, here we are with M. Night. Shamalangadingdongs final piece in his Eastrail 177 trilogy..  Me and 'M' have had our ups and downs over the years (The Lady In The Water being one of the worst films I've EVER seen.. and I've seen some crap..) 

So, as you can imagine I went into this film wanting it to be Unbreakable, but prepared for TLITW..

And as it turns out I was pleasantly surprised (and secretly relieved!) If you're not familiar with 'M' s back catalogue, this follows on from Split(2016) and Unbreakable(2000) and how three of the characters end up in a mental asylum.. 

James Mcavoy was the standout for me. He's as crazy as a box of frogs, and once you accept his multiple personalities he's worth the entry fee alone..

Vice

Second film of the year and the first Odeon Screen Unseen..

After chatting to a member of staff on Saturday, the general rumour going around was that it was going to be 'Vice'.

This is Christian Bales latest 'shot at an Oscar', playing an overweight Dick Cheney (vice president to George W Bush Jr). 

Bale is the new 'De Niro' when it comes to method acting, and to be fair the transformation is quite dramatic. Where Gary Oldman was mainly prosthetic for his Churchill performance, here it appears to be all cake. 

There's good support too. Amy Adams is always excellent and I think this may be the only film I've seen Sam Rockwell not dance in..

As I'm not to up on the US political system, I struggled to keep up a bit at certain points (very similar to another Christian Bale flick 'The Big Short')

All in all though, the film was entertaining. 

***1/2 

Stan And Ollie

It's January the 12th and this is the first film I've seen.. 

To be fair I've been in no fit state to sit in a dark cinema for 2 hours.. Man-flu is a terrible illness to have to endure (you ask any man), but endure it I did..

And this film turned out to be an ideal remedy.  Focusing on the last years of Laurel and Hardy's careers, in particular their theatre tour of Britain in 1953.

Steve Cogan and John C. Reilly had Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy down to a tee, they really were excellent.  It reminded me of when we used to watch the old movies at my grandparents.  

Ultimately though, it was a sad movie.. I enjoyed it, but it was sad..

A decent ***1/2 star start to the year.

Review Of 2018

That '2018' eh? What a year..

And not necessarily in a good way..
Somehow I managed to see 62 movies this year (61 if you count the fact that I missed the end of both Bohemian Rhapsody and the first viewing of Spider-man into the spider-verse)
That's the lowest number since 2012

There was the usual plethora of Super Hero movies.. Some good (Infinity War, Deadpool 2 and Spider-man into the spider-verse) and some not so good (Venom and Aquaman)..
That being said, Venom and Aquaman weren't the worse films of the year.. That honour went to Downsizing and A Wrinkle In Time.. Both were pretty rubbish to be honest.. If only I could have Downsized A Wrinkle In Time and saved myself some precious life hours..

January was the best month quality wise.. I finally got to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing and I really enjoyed it. To be fair, all the Oscar fodder were good, ie The Post, The Shape Of Water and The Darkest Hour (Downsizing bought January's average down!)

Comedy wise, there was no standouts.. Deadpool 2 probably being the funniest..

Once again, the Screen Unseens offered some of the highlights of the year for me. I, Tonya and American Animals were particular standouts..

I think what stuck with me this year was the disappointments..
The Predator, Fantastic Beasts 2 and First Man all didn't come up to what I was expecting.. With hindsight, perhaps I should have given First Man another go..

All in all my heart wasn't in it this year.. Let's hope 2019 is better..