I do love spending time in a dark room on my own watching movies, and have been doing a fair bit of that over the last couple of weeks.
The cinema is my 'happy place', along with the bath, so here are five films I've watched recently, in order of preference. I'll start with the worst, and it really did leave me even more disappointed than the decision to discontinue the red Bounty by Mars.
The Exorcist : Believer didn't do much for me at all. I didn't even jump out of my seat much. I vaguely recall watching the iconic 1970s original in a double bill with The Shining at university in 1995, and I'd had a lot of cheap cider, so giggled a bit at the bits that were supposed to be scary. This one was just a bit dull and lifeless, and never really got out of second gear. A few individual scenes were good, but it dragged on more than a Liz Truss speech on growth. I hear it's the first of a trilogy. If I were them, I'd save time and go to the pub instead.
Expendables 4 feels like something you might have rented from Blockbuster Video in the 1980s. Just don't return it late, otherwise you'll be slapped with a big fine! Jason Statham is on top wise-cracking form, and I'm always partial to a bit of Sly Stallone. Add in 50 Cent and Dolph Lundgren, along with Megan Fox, and you've got a popcorn action film full of explosions and a wafer thin plot that you'll barely remember by the time the credits roll. Not terrible, but not memorable.
As artificial intelligence threatens many jobs, including us radio presenters (perish the thought!), The Creator pitches robots against humans in an epic battle, with largely pleasing results. It's quite Star Wars like apparently, although I've never watched a full Star Wars film, so can't confirm or deny. It looks great, it's thought-provoking, and I particularly rated young Madeline Yuna Voyles, who surely has a huge future ahead. Should have done much better than it has at the box office.
The Old Oak is set in a run down town in the north, mainly centred around a run down pub which gives the film its title. A group of Syrian refugees fleeing war arrive on a coach and are met with a barrage of visceral hate. Director Ken Loach certainly doesn't shy away from tackling tensions inflamed by the divisive 2016 Brexit vote (when the story is set). If it's his swansong, it is near perfect. Not all the acting is first rate, but the characters feel real and relatable, and it's a brilliant story. It will probably make you cry a bit too.
And Past Lives is my top film this week. It barely made an appearance at the multiplexes, but what a stunning movie. Think Before Sunrise mixed with Sleepless In Seattle. Moving, powerful, and a bit Sliding Doors at times too, with two lives going in different directions, and lots of wistful contemplation about what might have been. Amazingly, it's the debut film by writer-director Celine Song. Scenes are unrushed, and it's a mature look at the life choices we all make, and the consequences.
