Audrie & Daisy

This was pretty shocking. It made me despair about humanity a little. I'm not going to rate it because that feels insensitive to the subject matter.

But it was definitely an eye-opening documentary.

Silence

I was really excited about seeing this film having enjoyed the book so much. Ironically, despite it being a great film, I think it was my prior knowledge of the plot that spoilt my enjoyment slightly. It's that age old cliché of the film never living up to the book.

But I thought Scorsese did an amazing job, and I loved the decision not to have music in the film. I wasn't sure about the insinuations the ending made, and I think it might have deviated from the book slightly, but I'll have to go back and re-read to check.

Great cast of actors, beautifully shot. A good film overall. 7/10

Nightcrawler

This film was fantastic.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into it, but it turned out to be one of those pleasant surprises. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance was exceptional. Having seen him recently in Nocturnal Animals he seemed like an entirely different person. I loved his character in this – like a demented Steve Jobs clone working the seedy streets of LA with his camera, spouting weird business buzzwords to the excellent Riz Ahmed who played Rick (Riz is a British actor who was also in Four Lions). Rene Russo and Bill Paxton also put in great appearances.

Everything about this film worked perfectly, and was so enthralling, I'll definitely revisit it at some point. I hope it withstands multiple viewings. 9/10

The Revenant (Re-watch)

I'm not going to spend too much time on this film.

I saw it originally at the cinema, and I think I was slightly more blown away by it the first time. It didn't live up to re-watching so much.

I think the reason for this is that it's stunning visually (same cinematographer as Children of Men) but the storyline is a bit weak. There are so many little plot holes and pitfalls in the narrative that really stand out on a second viewing, and aside from the beautiful landscape photography and a couple of wicked action sequences, there's not much to this film.

A bit like ringing out a slightly damp cloth. 7/10

Coraline

I really enjoyed this film, and it made me want to check out the book. I liked the talking cat in the other world, and it made me think of a dark Alice in Wonderland. I was a bit drunk when I watched this, so I might have to go back and look at it again to get a stronger impression, but I think the story had a good kind of moral – try to be content with what you have. Things could always be worse than they are now.

Not a bad way to think about life. 8/10

Big (Re-watch)

This was one of my favourites from when I was growing up. I remember renting it from the video shop with my parents and watching it umpteen times as a kid. I don't know how many times I must have seen it.

Kind of a strange experience watching it again, and now in retrospect I can see why. When I first watched this film, I would've been about 7 or so – even younger than the 13-year-old version of Tom Hanks. And at that time, even he seemed big to me. When he transformed into a man, that was just something unfathomable at the time. But now, watching it as a 34-year-old man, there's something clawing away at me inside about how sad it all is. And maybe not in the way the film intended.

This 1980s idea of materialism, money and power keeps pervading these old films I watched, and now I see how we were kind of indoctrinated in that era to covet those things. I'm not sure whether the film deals with this in a positive way or not, and the moral message of the film seems lost to me now. Is it about growing old? Is it about staying young? Is it about a loss of sexual innocence? (someone pointed out to me while we were watching that it was kind of sick that he has a sexual encounter with an older woman in the film). Experiencing the right things at the right time? Being careful what you wish for?

And that's what makes it tough to watch now, as an older man. What seemed so sad and poignant to me as a child when he looks back at his adult girlfriend wearing that baggy suit, having changed back into a child again, I feel like I see a different kind of sadness in the film now. That I look back on a film I once loved so much, and now just see it as kind of mediocre. 7/10

Children of Men (Re-watch)

Great film. Terrific cinematography. Depressingly relevant 9/10

Barfly

I really enjoyed this film – although, I'm not sure how much I was convinced of Mickey Rourke's imitation of Bukowski. He just didn't seem much like Bukowski, and in some ways I think the film would've benefited from making the main character a bit less like Bukowski, and a bit more like Mickey Rourke, or something... But what do I know?

It didn't detract from an entertaining examination of LA's seedy underbelly with its drunkards, fighting, dive bars and seedy guesthouses, with poets and whores lurking in every corner.

I thought this was a great film, and the actors all put in solid performances. There was a good trace of humour to the story too, and it wasn't all just doom and gloom. The sprit of the film searched for a beauty, or an elegance in a subculture that many turn their noses up at. 8/10

Lo And Behold

Classic Werner Herzog.

Another solid documentary from the master. Of course, at times I don't necessarily buy into nor agree with some of the views and opinions expressed by the people interviewed for this documentary. Nor do I share such a bleak view of the Internet itself.

However, you cannot criticize Herzog's method of telling a story, or the classy little humourous bits that pop out in the film. One of the most memorable for me was the footage of all the Buddhist monks on their smartphones by the river in that American city (was it Colombus, Ohio?) coupled with his voiceover saying something like, "Do the monks still meditate? Or are they all just on Twitter?"

The parts about AI and robotics were fascinating. 8/10

They Live

This was an absolute gem.

I'd been meaning to watch this for a while, and it was good to kill a few hours on a long plane journey to America. I'd seen clips of the epic fight scene, and it didn't disappoint.

Just a fun, incisive criticism of capitalist 80s America. Brilliant concept, immersive storytelling, and good entertainment.

Loved this. 8/10