Recent reviews

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  The Green Knight 2021

  Watched 21 Oct 2021

  • Loose adaptation of the 14th century poem ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ means it’s set in the middle ages.
  • Dev Patel is perfectly cast as Gawain. Easily the best casting choice this year.
  • A shroom trip that, I think, is a nod to Fantastic Planet.
  • If you are looking for a satisfying plot to support an adventure tale, you are going to be massively disappointed because it forgoes logic for the majority but if you are willing to go with Gawain on an episodic journey that forgoes all logic, you are going to be deeply rewarded.

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  The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 1964

  Watched 21 Oct 2021

  • Demy’s choice to employ a musical to tell, what one might call a sad story- bittersweet at least.
  • Catherine Deneuve in a musical.
  • Michel Legrand’s score and every line of dialogue is sung. I mean.
  • That final scene. I think about it all the time.

• 

  L'Argent 1983

  Watched 27 Oct 2021

  • Riffing off a Tolstoy story, one of my all time favourites of Bresson. His last. What a way to end a career. He was over eighty when this film was released. I mean.
  • A seemingly simple story where one harmless act of crime by a teenager leads to a chain of events that affects many lives but because Bresson is telling it, it is never a simple story of causation.
  • That surprising finale involving an act of violence that is rarely present in Bresson’s work.

• 

  Halloween 1978

  Watched 23 Oct 2021

  • This Carpenter classic should be everyone’s Halloween tradition even if it isn't a thing- probably the best horror movie that does not involve a paranormal presence.
  • For the longest time, nothing happens and that sustained terror with Michael’s breathing supported by that score before all hell breaks loose. I mean.

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