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I'm back with another set of of stand-up poetry, this time I got a bit obsessed with Harrison Ford, but I don't think it's that noticeable.

Another selection of the very best films that I've recently watched; all come highly recommended with the Lime Seal of Approval that guarantees cinematic excellence whatever the genre. An Autumn Afternoon dir. Yasujiro Ozu/1962/1h53m The final film from one of, if not the most revered Japanese directors of all time, Yasujiro Ozu, An Autumn Afternoon, like many of his films - most famously Tokyo Story - is a story of intergenerational relationships that sees the older generation having to learn to step aside let the younger generation take the reins. In this case it is a middle aged widower, Shuhei Hirayama (Chishu Ryu) who sets out to find a husband for his daughter Michiko (Shima Iwash*ta) so that she doesn't have to spend her prime looking after him. Ozu's distinctive style, his cameras locked off and never moving, would lead to a cold and distant feeling film you'd think, but the stillness and serenity of his gaze elevates the underplayed emotions of his actors to devastating effect. The final line of the film, after Michiko has married and moved out, sees Shuhei quietly remark "now I'm alone" and it is heart breaking. For a film in which seemingly nothing of note happens to contain this much humanity and humility is like a wonderful magic trick, and if you've never experienced any Ozu before I urge you to rectify that, and this would be a great starting point as it is the culmination of his four decade career and encapsulates everything that makes him one of the GOATs. 9.5/10 Glengarry Glen Ross dir. James Foley/1992/1h40m Adapted from his own play by David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross focuses on a desperate group of real estate agents all fighting over the hottest leads in the Glengarry area in order to save their jobs. But when these leads are stolen from the office their desperation and paranoia grows even more intense. Al Pacino stars as hotshot salesman Ricky Roma but the standout to me is Jack Lemmon as Shelley Levene, a graspingly pathetic character who clearly doesn't belong in this world of *ssholes. Speaking of *ssholes, Alec Baldwin appears in one scene as the big boss of the operation and nearly runs off with the whole film. What a massive c*nt. The film tries to be more cinematic with some scenes taking place outside of the office, trying to move away from its theatrical roots, but the real star here is the dialogue, which is practically caustic. It's hard to make a film enjoyable when every single character is a selfish dickhead but this one manages it with ease. 9/10 Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris dir. Terence Dixon/1970/27m This documentary short visits James Baldwin - American writer and civil rights activist - in Paris where the filmmakers insisted on making a purely literary portrait of the man ignoring the politics in his writing, something that he rejected wholeheartedly. The result is a fascinatingly confrontational film where the subject and director are constantly at odds, with the director Terence Dixon coming off as ignorant even in his own film. Baldwin is a wonderful subject as he speaks forcefully and thoughtfully but also with wit and humour (I'd also recommend the docs Baldwin's Ni- and I Am Not Your n*gro). I'll never know what it's like to be the victim of racial abuse or discriminatory laws. I'll never know the feeling personally, but Baldwin is so articulate when he speaks that I can can at least try to understand, and I think that's what will make the world a better place, just a little understanding. 9/10 Weapons dir. Zach Cregger/2025/2h9m Cregger's follow up to Barbarian, which I found quite underwhelming, stars Julia Garner as third grade teacher Justine who arrives at her class one morning to discover that 17 of the 18 children in her class are missing, all having run out of their houses at exactly the same time the previous night. She instantly becomes suspect number one, especially to Archer (Josh Brolin), father of one of the missing children. But there's something strange going on with the one child who didn't disappear, Alex (Cary Christopher). Told in chapters that focus on a single character, the structure allows for the mystery to be parcelled out bit by bit, with the supernatural elements coming not as a surprise but an awful inevitability when they finally appear. I'm not going to spoil anything about the film here but the standout performance here comes from Amy Madigan as Alex's aunt Gladys. She is totally unexpected and enthralling and a very unique take on what she is. And the way she delivers the line "oh no" and the madness that follows, just wow. I was laughing and horrifically shocked all at the same time. 9/10 Samurai Rebellion dir. Masaki Kobayashi/1967/2h1m Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, a vassal to the feudal lord Masakata Matsudaira (Tatsuo Matsumura). The lord orders Isaburo's son Yogoro (Go Kato) to marry his former concubine Ichi (Yoko Tsukasa) as he no longer has any use for her. But when he later forces her to return father and son have to decide whether or not to risk their lives saving her. This is a beautifully shot film with gorgeous, crisp black and white photography and stunning framing. Don't go into this expecting a lot of action though, as this is a love story and family drama first and foremost. It's a lot like Hara-Kiri in that regard. Mifune is excellent as always as the patriarch who just wants peace and quiet for himself and his family, and believes deeply in the love between his son and Ichi. But much like another famous story of star-crossed lovers, this is destined to end in nothing but tragedy. 9/10 Hundreds of Beavers dir. Mike Cheslik/2022/1h48m Hundreds of Beavers is a modern silent comedy about a 19th century applejack salesman, Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) who becomes a fur trader in order to win the heart of the beautiful trader's daughter (Olivia Graves). But he's up against an army of beavers who seem to be building something deep in the forest. This is pure slapstick with some brilliant gags and running jokes that had tears streaming down my face for most of the runtime. This is Buster Keaton and j*cka** mixed together in a full length, live action Looney Tunes cartoon and it is glorious. Did I mention that all of the animals in the film are people in animal costumes? It's totally unhinged, but also incredibly charming and very well made with every element - editing, special effects, music, sound effects - working perfectly in harmony with each other to create absolute nonsense. 10/10 Bring Her Back dir. Danny and Michael Philippou/2025/1h44m Another horror from the Philippou brothers after their very good Talk To Me (I honestly thought this was a sequel just based on titles), Bring Her Back stars Billy Barratt and Sora Wong as teenage siblings Andy and the younger Piper, who is blind. They are adopted after the death of their father by former counsellor Laura (Sally Hawkins), who is already caring for the mute and troubled Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips). At first Laura seems a bit kooky but ok, but pretty soon she starts gaslighting Andy and manipulating Piper, trying to force him out of the picture, with it all probably having something to do with her deceased daughter. Like Weapons this is a horror film centred on children, but where that was at times very funny, this film is brutally bleak and depressing, with Hawkins giving an excellent performance as a monster who you end up somewhat sympathising with, her Australian accent isn't half bad either. 9/10

Medieval (2022, alt titles Jan Zizka / Warrior of God) dir Petr Jakl A biopic / action film about the Czech military leader and hero Jan Zizka – of whom I knew nothing before watching this film. It's a Czech film, but apart from a few minor characters who appeared to have their words dubbed, the actors all speak English. Set in the early 15th century, Zizka (Ben Foster) is a mercenary working for Lord Boresh (Michael Caine). They become embroiled in a conflict involving two brothers, the Kings of Bohemia and Hungary, and a wealthy but disloyal Lord Rosenburg. Boresh hatches a plan, to be carried out by Zizka's men, to kidnap Rosenburg's fiancee Katherine (Sophie Lowe), in order to force his loyalty to the Kings. Today you might think that would have the opposite effect, but as the English title of the film says, this is medieval times, things were quite different then, and schemes a bit like this were not too unusual. Obviously, this being a film based on real characters, not a history documentary, things do not go according to plan. There's plenty of double crossings and complications between certain characters. Zizka and Katherine become close as she comes to see her intended husband is quite happy letting his thugs murder, r*pe and torture peasants just to further his political aims. This is also true for most of the nobility at that time. There are some peasants starting to rise up against this treatment, inspired also by changes in religious beliefs as the reformation is getting underway, led in this part of world by the priest Jan Hus. Later, Zizka would go on to lead this rebellion and, it is claimed, never lost a battle. He was a tactical genius and innovator, coming up with ways to enable poorly equipped armies to take on the supposedly superior knights and professional solders and mastering the use of new technology like cannons. But this film just focusses on the complicated, drawn out, kidnap mission, which I think is heavily or totally fictionalised, simply mentioning at the end what Zizka would go on to do later. Foster is OK in lead role, due to the nature of the film being as much about the battles and skirmishes as any story or character development. Caine and Lowe are better, I guess because they play an old man and woman respectively, they are not that much involved in the battle scenes. To me the violence and gore were too much. Although they are not for me, I don't object to a film being focussed on this, if that is the point of the film, like a slasher horror film. But this seemed to be trying to be more about the history and character development as well, yet that kept getting put to one side for some gruesome eye gouging, chopping off of limbs, bashing in heads with rocks, etc, etc. They could have told the main story or done a slasher film in much less time than the 2 hours this ran for. But by trying to combine those it significantly weakened it for me and it got repetitive at times. 5 / 10 Amsterdam (2022) dir David O. Russel Set in 1930s New York, two WWI veterans, Burt (Christian Bale) and Harold (John David Washington), become embroiled in, and try to foil, a fascist plot to overthrow the US president. They now work as a doctor and lawyer respectively, helping other veterans. It has a huge ensemble cast of well known, and very good, actors. Margot Robbie plays Valerie, an artist and former nurse who tended to Burt and Harold after they were badly injured in the war and took them both to live with her in Amsterdam for a few years afterwards. The rest of the cast includes Chris Rock, Remy Malik, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matthias Schoenaerts, Taylor Swift, Mike Myers and Robert De Niro. It's a bit like a Wes Anderson film at times, partly because of the large cast, partly because it does not take itself too seriously (it's almost a comedy) and also the lines are sometimes delivered in a similar style to his films too and often narrated by Burt. The acting is good, particularly Robbie. Bale also, though he did seem to be doing an Al Pacino impression to me, but maybe that is just a typical accent for a New York Jewish-Catholic (what Burt describes himself as). The story is a bit complex with a lot of twists, particularly early on as Burt and Harold find themselves wrongly accused of murder, but a sympathetic detective (Schoenaerts), also a veteran, gives them chance to clear their own names. The trail of evidence they try to follow keeps going not where they thought but in doing so reveals a new line of enquiry. But I found it was easy to just watch and enjoy and not try to guess where it was going. It deals with issues of race, Burt is white, Harold is black, they fought alongside each other in a regiment of black soldiers led by white officers. It's looking into the death of the general who founded this that gets them involved in the plot. Also Valerie and Harold were lovers in Amsterdam but knew they would never be able to be open about that in the US. It is inspired by real events with the character played by di Nero based on a real retired general from the 1930s and there was evidence that a group of bankers and business men plotted to oust president Roosevelt, although they never got to put their plan into action. 8 / 10 Run (2020) dir Aneesh Chaganty A psychological thriller / mild horror about a single mother, Diane (Sarah Paulson) and her disabled daughter, Chloe (Kiera Allen, who is a wheel chair user in real life too). Chloe cannot walk and has multiple other health issues that she has to take a huge range of medication for each day for. Diane home schools Choe who, aged 17 and very good at science and technology, is eagerly awaiting responses from various universities she has applied to. Diane claims to be very happy with her daughter who has overcome so much already going off to college. But her actions start to say otherwise. After Chloe is told by Diane of a change in one of her medications and she then finds a pharmacy bottle of the tablets with her mother's name, not her own, on the label, she starts to become concerned. The tension build up as more suspicious things are revealed. The way it unfolds is quite formulaic for this sort of thriller film and there is, of course, a twist near the end and then a further twist at the very end. But Paulson and Allen are good, which is important since most of the film is just them with the occasional other bit-part character. There are some nice aspects to the plot, like the way Chloe really gets herself out of her predicaments, rather than how in many similar films such things are more just down to luck. But the very final twist I did not like nor see as necessary. The horror aspect is really very mild indeed, which is fine for me. I found absolutely nothing scary at all, there was no violence other than the briefest of shots of someone being hit, shot or stabbed with a hypodermic needle, and no blood or gore other than the odd graze or slight cut. The horror aspect simply comes from the film conveying the fear Chloe experiences, which it does well. There were a couple of things I noticed and could not work why that was being shown, whether it was just bad writing or editing. Diane's computer was on a very old version of Windows for a film made, and presumably set, in 2020, and in a shower scene we see scars on her back but that is never referred to afterwards. 6 / 10 Cam (2018) dir Daniel Goldhaber Another mild / psychological horror, and for my Halloween film this was probably too mild horror even for my relatively timid tastes. However it was an interesting, if somewhat flawed film. Madeline Brewer (Janine in The Handmaids Tale) plays Alice, a s*x-cam girl who goes by the professional name of Lola-Lola. Most of the characters are other cam-girls or their fans (clients? not sure of the right word), and there is frequent nudity in this, obviously, but nothing too explicit. The horror aspect comes from two things. The first is from some of the things Alice does in her shows, such as faking injuring herself, but these scenes are infrequent and mild. The other comes later on in the story as strange, unexplainable things start to happen. Alice gets into a ratings battle with another performer on the website they both work through. Both do things they would not normally do in their shows and Alice uses one of her big fans, who she has the phone number of, to set up something to shock other viewers and drive ratings up. Then one day she finds herself locked out of her account and all her efforts to get back in fail. She notices she is apparently still online, and someone who looks and sounds exactly like her is broadcasting live from what looks exactly like her studio, in her home. But that cannot be right, because she is at home. So this is where is gets into the more psychological horror. Alice cannot figure out what is going on. What is happening is impossible, yet it's clearly happening. The impersonator seems completely unaware that anything odd is happening. They seem to think they are the real Lola-Lola and Alice is just the girlfriend of one of her fans who just happens to look like her. Alice again uses the help of a couple of those fans she is in contact with. One of these tells her this has happened to other cam girls, and some of them are now dead. It all seems to be building up to a tense, scary conclusion, only that's not really what happens. The actually ending is relatively un-dramatic, and to be fair I quite liked that Alice works out a how to resolve it this way. There is a little bit of tension and someone does get hurt, but not really badly. But it just was not the way I was expecting a film of the type this seemed to be to end. Also it never explains what was going on at all. It's not like one of those films that puts clues to the real story in for you to pick up or, of if it is they were far too well hidden for me to spot. Maybe we are meant to wonder if the impersonator was the real Alice, or maybe it's all in Alice's imagination? But if so I did not see anything indicating that even might be the aim of the story. I genuinely wonder if the writers wanted to have a more complex plot, and maybe more scenes were even filmed, but someone higher up took the decision to edit it down to the standard film length, since it is almost exactly 90mins. It does examine a bit of what it's like to be in this sort of job, e.g. not something Alice wants her mum to know about. She has to deal with weird fans and her only real friends seem to be fellow cam-girls. Brewer is good in the lead role and generally the rest of cast are decent too. It does have some vague similarities to films like David Lynch's Mulholland Drive and David Croneburg's Videodrome (I think that' the one I have in mind, but it's a long time since I saw it) but it is not anywhere near in the same league as those. 6 / 10

I'm not posting my reviews every week now since the site traffic is so low. I'll just post a few together maybe each month or so. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) dir George Roy Hill The first of two films watch the weekend after the death of Robert Redford. Probably Redford's most famous role, and the one that gave the name to the film festival he founded. Paul Newman and Robert Redford star in the title roles, loosely based on the true story of two wild west outlaws in the 19th – early 20th century. After a series of train robberies they find them selves on the run from a team of lawmen with an expert tracker. The decide to go to Bolivia, with Sundance's Spanish speaking girlfriend played by Kathrine Ross, who for me outshines the two highly talent male leads at times. It's a great story, light-hearted at times, and with plenty of the sort of shoot-outs you expect in a Western. There's a very good score by Burt Bacharach, including the song Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head and some impressive cinematography with the opening and some later scenes shot in a very old-style black and white. The story is in some ways reminiscent of that between Arthur and Dutch in RDR2, they even mention wanting to go to Australia after they've done with Bolivia. 9 / 10 The Great Gatsby (1974) dir Jack Clayton. The second Redford film, this watched with my wife so one more to her liking, but one I remember seeing manty years ago and it always seemed another iconic role for him that he was very well suited to. He plays the tile character in an adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald tragic novel of the same name. Jay Gatbsy is a mysterious, reclusive, millionaire living in his New York mansion where he throws lavish parties throughout the summer, sometime in the early 1920s. The story is told, mainly, from the point of view of a young Wall Str. banker, Nick (Sam Waterson), who is renting a normal sized house next to Gatsby's estate. His cousin Daisy (Mia Farrow) is Gatsby's long lost love and now lives with her husband Tom (Bruce Dearn), also a millionaire, in another estate nearby, across the bay that separates the fictitious Long Island villages of West and East Egg. The story of what happened in the past between Gatsby and Daisy, before the then Lt. Gatsby went off to fight in the First World War, slowly unfolds. It implies Daisy only married Tom for his money which Gatsby, at that time, did not have much of, and now she may be regretting it. In fact how Gatsby acquired his money is never really clear and he tells different people contradictory stories about it, but given this is the time of prohibition there is a strong suspicion he may not have acquired it all legally. There is also a connected plot line about Tom's mistress, Myrtle (Karen Black), something he barely bothers to try and hide, who is the wife of local mechanic / gas-station owner, played by Scott Wilson, who to me puts in the best acting performance of a very good cast, as a troubled, poor, man lacking in self-confidence and knowing he is powerless against the likes of the ultra-rich Tom and Gatsby. Having said all that, I should make it clear the story definitely portrays Gatsby as the good guy to Tom's villain. It has some very stylish sets and costumes and good Jazz-era music (which it got Oscar nominations and wins for). Redford is very good, but that was par for the course with him, although he is barely in the first half hour of the film. 8 / 10 Mindhorn (2016) dir Sean Foley Julian Barratt, more well known in TV comedy, plays middle aged actor, Richard Thorncroft, who's only real claim to fame was back in the 80s when he had a hit TV show playing detective Mindhorn. He gets asked to help police with a murder investigation because the deranged killer was a big fan, seems to think Mindhorn was real and is threatening to kill again unless he gets to talk to his hero. It's all set on the Isle of Man where the TV series was set and filmed. (The Isle of Man is a part of the British Isles in the sea between Britain and Ireland with some degree of autonomy but not actually an independent country. It has bit of a reputation for people who are a bit strange. But they don't seem to mind playing up to that stereo type for comedy value.) Thorncroft goes back to the island, and being a “serious” actor, really gets back into and stays in his character, ending up trying to solve the case himself. Barratt is perfect for this role, he is the sort of person who does a funny character in a slightly weird but trying to be normal way, so either that's actually him in real life or he only does those sort of roles. There's good support from various others, including Essie Davis, Steve Coogan and Simon Farnaby, all playing people who used to be in Mindhorn but, unlike Thorncroft, stayed on the Isle of Man after the show finished. Andrea Riseborough is a good as the actual detective and Russell Tovey as the killer (or is he? - Thorncroft/Mindhorn aims to get to the truth!) Also Kenneth Branagh and Simon Callow make cameo appearances as themselves. It's obviously a comedy and not to be taken seriously at all with some moments I found very funny. It pokes fun at 70s/80s cop shows. The plot has a habit of appearing to go in quite predictable directions, but then making a twist to somewhere else, so I would say it was well written, by Barratt and Farnaby. 7 / 10 The Thursday Murder Club (2025) dir Chris Columbus My wife's choice of film, and one I was happy to go along with since this was adapted from the novel of the same name by Richard Osman. I haven't read that, but I enjoy his wit and intelligence in his TV appearances, e.g. quiz/game shows he presents. So I expected a decent plo, but I was disappointed and a little bored at times. I don't know how closely the plot follows the novel of course, but I can only comment on the film. This has a very good cast that seemed wasted on the material they had to work with. Helen Miren, Celia Imre, Ben Kinglsey and Peirce Brosnan play residents of a retirement community who get together each Thursday to play at being detectives and try to solve some real police cold-cases that they get access to via a previous member of the club who used to be a detective. Then there is a real murder following an argument between the community owner, David Tennant, and a builder, Geoff Bell, who did much of the development work, linked to a mysterious gangster played by Richard E. Grant. The Club befriend a real police woman, Naomi Ackie, somehow managing to get her assigned to the murder case along side the chief detective, Daniel Mays, so she can keep them informed and they can assist using their detective skills which appear to be far superior to those of the actual police. That aspect of the plot was the first thing I found a bit hard to take. If this was much more of a comedy with a bumbling, complete incompetent of a detective then it would have made sense. But although this is not to be taken too seriously, it definitely seemed more light hearted drama with the occasional laugh than an actual comedy to me (maybe I just did not get the jokes?). The detective there to be poked fun at and he makes mistakes, but they don't do it enough to make it that sort of comedy. There were some other plot elements I won't go into that also just seemed too implausible as well. Even my wife said it was the sort of thing that seemed better suited to an episode of a TV detective show, like Midsomer Murders, than a 2 hour film. It's a bit overly sentimental for me as well, with side plots about the elderly main characters and their friends and relatives (including Jonathan Pryce as Mirren's husband), some of whom are suffering from dementia and other conditions associated with ageing. I don't have anything against that, but to me they are subjects for a more serious film than this. And again there were plot elements drawn from this that just did not make sense to me. It's almost like it didn't know whether it wanted to be comedy or drama and ended up not doing either that well. 4 / 10 Freaks – Du bist eine von uns (2020) dir Felix Binder (English; Freaks – You're One of Us) An interesting German film about a young mother, Wendy (Cornelia Gröshel), who discovers she has super powers. It's not a super hero film, nothing like the many recent such Holywood films. There's not that much in the way of special effects, and although one of Wendy's fellow “Freaks” wants to use his powers as super hero, that is not what happens. It's more about how it would change your every day life, if you did suddenly get the power of super human strength, become invincible or have the power to create and harness electricity from your finger tips. For example in one scene Wendy is playing football with her son and kicks the ball too hard, sending it soaring up into the sky at immense speed, travelling far, far away from their back garden, clearly relieved he did not try to catch it! And when she tries to think of ways she could make some desperately needed money from her powers, she realises that other than using them illegally, e.g. for breaking and entering, there isn't really anything. There's a secretive organisation that have been monitoring Wendy and the others since childhood, giving them drugs supposedly for mental health problems that are actually to cancel out their powers and holding some against their will in a psychiatric hospital. It's after an encounter with a homeless man who recognises that Wendy, like him, has superpowers, that she stops taking her prescribed medicine and unlocks her powers. She then does the same for a work colleague she recognises is one of them and all three of them try to rescue other Freaks from the hospital. It's a decent enough, low budget film. The acting is OK, but nothing more was required. The script was a little repetitive at times and I felt it ended at the right time, after about 90 mins. Had they tried to make it longer I think I could have lost interest. It does seem like the ending is a setup for a sequel or maybe a TV series, but as far as I can see neither of those have been made. 6 / 10

It's been a while since I posted here, and I've watched too many films to be bothered to review them all, so here's a selection of the best of the best that I've seen over the past couple months. I'll post a few of these until I've caught up. I log and give a rating to every film I watch on my letterboxd account if you're that interested in all the random stuff I watch (Spermageddon was a highlight). https://letterboxd.com/LimeGreenLegend/ The Lion in Winter dir. Anthony Harvey/1968/2h14m Henry II (Peter O'Toole) has his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) taken out of imprisonment for the Christmas period so they can trade barbarous insults whilst discussing which of their sons is to be heir to the throne. The chemistry between O'Toole and Hepburn is incredible here, they really love hating each other and hate that they love each other and that tension really elevates what is already a brilliant script. The supporting cast is small - most of the film is confined to Henry's castle over a short period of time - but just as good as the leads, and it features in their first film roles both Anthony Hopkins as Prince Richard, Eleanor's preferred heir, and Timothy Dalton as the French King Philip II. This domestic drama is both intimate and epic at the same time, with the stakes feeling appropriately high. Watching this is like being on a bus and overhearing a couple having a really juicy argument that makes you stay on for a couple of extra stops because you need to see how it ends. 10/10 Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron dir. Kaku Arakawa/2024/2h1m This documentary takes an unprecedented look behind the scenes at the legendary Studio Ghibli as we follow the equally legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki over the period of seven years as he comes out of retirement (not for the first time) to make The Boy and the Heron, released in 2023 it was his first film for a decade. As a subject Miyazaki comes across as very guarded and closed off, but you soon realise that everything you need to know about him is in his art, that is how he communicates. You get the feeling that working gives him energy and purpose and he can't really do anything else. When he's in work mode he is very single minded, occasionally having a negative impact on his personal relationships. But there is a warmth to him, and a love for humanity and nature and it's all in his incredible films. 9/10 Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem dir. Kazuhisa Takenouchi/2003/1h5m Interstella 5555 tells the story (5tory) of a superstar band on an alien planet who bring peace and love with their awesome funk, but during a concert they are abducted and taken off world, their memories erased, their appearance changed and they are brainwashed into performing corporate pop made just to sell products. Shep, a space pilot in love with the beautiful bass player Stella, goes on a mission to rescue them. This film has no dialogue and was made as a visual companion to Daft Punk's Discovery album, much like The Who's Tommy or The Wall by Pink Floyd. The animation is gorgeous, crisp and colourful thanks to a recent 4k remaster, and it goes without saying that the music is amazing with songs like One More Time, Digital Love and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. Discovery is one of my favourite albums and in my opinion this is the best way to experience it. 10/10 It's Such a Beautiful Day dir. Don Hertzfeldt/2012/1h2m It's Such a Beautiful Day is a simple animated film - stick figures against plain white backgrounds - that tells the story of an unremarkable man, Bill, who has a mundane life and suffers from a neurological problem and mental health issues. This feels incredibly personal, thanks in part to the fact that is was basically made by one person, and deeply moving. I found myself caring more about this stick figure than most characters in every film I've ever seen. Don't be put off by the style, this is an incredibly profound film that will make you appreciate your life a little bit more after watching it. 10/10 Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes dir. Junta Yamaguchi/2020/1h11m Kazunari Tosa plays Kato, a cafe owner who discovers on day that the TV in his flat and the TV in his cafe downstairs have somehow become linked and can communicate with each other, the kicker being that the cafe is two minutes in the future. This leads to a series of ever more complicated complications as he and his friends try to work out a way to make some money off of it. This is a brilliantly ingenious film with a really clever and original take on time travel that doesn't sacrifice character depth or charm. What makes this film really stand out is that it's all shot in one take with some really intricate choreography that sees us travel between the cafe and the flat and back again several times as well as have the characters interact with multiple past and future versions of themselves on the TV screens. It's like a magic trick or a beautifully complicated bit of clockwork. All credit to the actors for being able to do all this and still give great performances. I only watched this because it's short and has a cool title and I'm glad I did, I don't know why this isn't already a cult classic. Honestly, I think this is the best time travel film I've ever seen. 10/10 Superman dir. James Gunn/2025/2h10m James Gunn reboots the DC cinematic universe with a new take on Superman (David Corenswet). I'm not really a fan of superhero films, but I have to say I loved this. Right off the bat, it's not an origin story, which we really never need to see again. I also like how Superman feels and acts like a kid from the midwest who was raised right, he's not been turned into a cool guy who makes jokes all the time like Tony Stark. He's a boy scout who says stuff like gosh darn it, and that's how it should be. Lex Luthor is played here by Nicholas Hoult, and he's also great. He's petty and fuelled by jealousy and he's totally self aware of that and he hates it. I appreciate that this is a bright colourful film, but Gunn hasn't just copied the neon soaked aesthetic of his Guardians of the Galaxy films, here it's a natural brightness fuelled by Earth's yellow sun. The score uses the classis John Williams Superman theme, but sparingly and just for the epic moments, with the original music blending with it perfectly. This is a great film that left me feeling good, and isn't that what Superman's supposed to do? 9/10 All About Eve dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz/1950/2h19m This classic drama stars Bette Davis as aging Broadway star Margo Channing and Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington, an aspiring actor who insidiously worms her way into Margo's life by playing the fawning fan. Over time she is able to push Margo out of the spotlight whilst also nearly destroying her personal relationships. The only one who can see through her lies is theatre critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders). The film opens with Eve accepting an award before flashing back to the start, showing us how she got there, and ends not long after the ceremony with the cycle beginning all over again as Eve's biggest fan shows up, ready and willing to take her place. This is a sharp film with a script full of cutting one liners, mostly given to the always excellent Davis. The real tragedy of the film is that Margo gets everything she deserves in the end, and Davis plays that perfectly. Baxter is equally impressive as the parasitic Eve, all sweetness and smiles at the start but when she flicks that switch to reveal the fame hungry monster inside it's almost scary. 1950 was a good year for showing what fame can do to a person as Sunset Boulevard was also released, that would make a brilliant double feature. 9/10

Very cool @LimeGreenLegend, I have thought of doing some stand up, nice to see one of us actually has the b*lls to do it.

Our Times (2025) dir Chava Cartas A strange sci-fi film that did not seem to know what it really wanted to be. Set in Mexico City, a married couple, both physicists, Nora (Lucero) and Hector (Benny Ilbarra), are researching time travel. They test a machine they have invented, intending a 15 minute trip into the future, but end up going from 1966 to 2025. In the modern day the film tries to explore some effects of time travel both in terms the technological changes Nora and Hector have to adapt to but also social changes. The latter particularly effect Nora who has far more freedom and is taken far more seriously than she was back in the 60s. But the style of the whole film is bit weird. It comes across like a children's or family film. It's a 12 certificate, so no s*x, no violence, no bad language. It has some banal, cheesy music and the time machine looks more old fashioned than the 1960s. But I don't think it could have seriously been aimed at children, as there are no children in it and it's attempts at technical details are a bit too complicated. Also there is a scene where Nora is talking about things she bought at a s*x shop. So I am still confused by why it was in this style. They also attempt to explain how time travel works by throwing in some terms and concepts that do or might exist, but not in a way that could actually make it all possible. As the film was not that serious then, to me, they would have been better not trying to explain something that cannot be explained with any actual science. The acting was just about OK but felt a little amateurish at times. Overall quite disappointing. 4 / 10

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) dir Macon Blair A dark comedy in which nursing assistant Ruth (Melanie Lynskey), already pissed off with the world in general (junk mail, massive SUVs belching out thick exhausts fumes, dog's sh*tting on her lawn, etc), is even more so after her home is burgled. When the police don't take seriously some evidence she finds, she teams up with odd-ball neighbour Tony (Elijah Wood) to track down the thieves. It's not a revenge film, it's more that Ruth just wants her stuff back, especially the silver cutlery she inherited from her grandmother. There's no jokes as such. It's more a case of a few funny situations, see trailer, particularly some of the ways the incompetent thieves end up hurting themselves, or worse. Some things you can see coming, some take you a little by surprise. Tony is also somewhat of a comedy character as he thinks he is good at martial arts, and has quite a range of weapons he attempts to make use of. I'm guessing this was quite a low budget film. Elijah Wood is the only main cast member I recognise, although I now know where I have see Melanie Lynskey before, many years earlier she was in Heavenly Creatures with Kate Winslet. The director, who starred in Blue Ruin, is also in a bit part. There's no special effects, fancy sets or costumes. It didn't require any stunning performances, but the acting is good. It's just a very good, at times funny, at time a little tense story about ordinary people. 8 / 10

The Northman (2022) dir Robert Eggers This is described with terms like action, adventure, historical and epic on Netflix and IMDb, but it's quite different to the usual films with those sort of description. The brief Netflix trailer makes it seem to be something similar to TV series like Vikings or The Last Kingdom, set at same period of time with similar locations and characters. But this is not really like those. It's more in the style of a medieval Norse saga with a lot of elements of fantasy and some supernatural characters, with quite a lot of scenes depicting Viking culture and religion, rather being a more action-packed film with a clear narrative story. It's about a betrayed Viking prince, Amleth, played by Alexander Skarsgård, seeking revenge on the man who killed his father and took his inheritance when he was a boy. The story of Amleth comes from a Danish legend and was William Shakespeare's inspiration for Hamlet (the way Amleth is pronounced almost sounds like Hamlet as well). It has a very good cast who put in good performances. In addition to Skarsgård it features Anya Taylor-Joy as Olga, the sl*ve who helps and forms a romantic relationship with Amleth, Nicole Kidman as his mother and Claes Bang as the target of his revenge. There are also some good cameo roles from Ethan Hawke as Amleth's father, Willem Defoe as the father's fool / shaman, and an almost unrecognisable Bjork as the blind seer who the adult Amleth meets on a raid and reminds him of his oath to avenge his father. It has a lot of very well shot scenes of stunning scenery, especially when the story gets to Iceland, and Viking rites and rituals. Although it does not have as many battle scenes as the trailers might suggest, it still does have plenty of graphic hand-to-hand combat scenes and others that are quite brutal but with some of the more gruesome bits just out of shot in or in quite dark settings. It was not what I expected, but I thought it was very good. I can see why it's got some negative reviews on IMDb though as it seems to have been promoted as something it really is not. 9 / 10

Lucy (2014) dir Luc Besson Sci-fi set in the present day, staring Scarlett Johansson in the title role; an American tourist in Taiwan, tricked, then forced, into working for organised crime. She inadvertently gets given a large dose of a new narcotic she was meant to be smuggling into Europe. The effects of this are to expand her brain power giving her super-human abilities, which she use to gain revenge and learn as much as possible about what it is doing to her. It's a mix of action film, similar in many ways to other Luc Besson films like Anna and Nikita, and serious sci-fi about what human brain power might be capable of. The latter comes mainly via neuroscientist Prof. Norman (Morgan Freeman). The first half of the film is basically Lucy's experience in Taiwan intercut with exerts from a lecture Prof. Norman is giving in Paris about how humans only use about 10% of our brain's potential and what we might achieve if we could unlock more of it, which is exactly what the drug is doing to Lucy. It's not my field so I can't say for sure how well founded in real scientific theories and hypotheses this is. But I doubt there is anyone seriously proposing it's possible to do some of the things Lucy gets the power to do, like making objects and other people move or being able to control TV and phone signals. I don't have a problem with the film doing that, I just think it may have been a bit better if it hadn't tried to be two types of film at the same time; i.e. either stuck to being pure action without attempting explanations, or stuck to serious sci-fi based on real theories and toned the action down. None-the-less it's a decent film and I enjoyed it. I do also like that it makes a clear link to another Lucy (I assume the inspiration for the title), the name give to the first fossil found of Australopithecus Afarensis, an ape we humans evolved from that lived about 3 million years ago in Africa and whose intelligence gave it an advantage, thus leading to the evolution of our advanced brains. Johansson is very good, so are Freeman, Choi Min-sik as the crime boss Lucy is forced to work for, and Julian Rhind-Tutt as one of his henchmen. It is very stylishly made with some exquisite visual special effects and other very good cinematography, as you would expect from Luc Besson. 7 / 10

Very good Lime. They should get you in dictionary corner on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. I love Procrastination Poem. I have to say though, you sound less Devon-like (if that's a word) than you do in-game.

Because I am an attention wh*re I went back to perform again, and I think it went even better this time. It's still the absurdly short deadpan comedy poetry, but I tried something more experimental for the last bit and it might have received the biggest laugh. I'd love your guys opinion on it (unless you think it's bad). Set order: Intro - Language Poem - Phoenix Poem - Rhyme of the Brand New Mariner Poem - Post Truth Poem - Beard Poem - Procrastination Poem.

So I have reviewed all Quentin Tarantino films somewhere on this thread or its predecessor. This is my own personal ranking, best first. Pulp Fiction Jackie Brown Kill Bill Reservoir Dogs Once Upon A Time in Hollywood Inglorious Basterds Django Unchanged The Hateful Eight Death Proof

Having watched a couple of Quentin Tarantino films in the last few months and with a week's holiday (sort of) just at home, I decided to catch up and review those I have not seen in a while and the one I had not seen at all. Kill Bill (2003 – 04) dir Quentin Tarantino This is a revenge film starring Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo, taking her revenge on former boss and lover Bill (David Carradine) and his gang of assassins (Vivicia Fox, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen and Julie Dreyfus) that she was once part of. It's a film made in two parts, released separately, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2. It should be seen as one film. The second is not a sequel, it simply carries on the same story started in the first and ends with pre-credits acknowledgements of the main characters that appeared in either part. If I had to split them up then I do have a slight preference for Vol. 1. I love the final part in that where Kiddo goes to Tokyo to take out O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) now the head of organised crime there, and fights her way with a samurai sword through O-Ren's army of bodyguards in a brilliantly choreographed scene (see trailer). Also I find Vol 2. can be a little slowly paced in places. But these are minor points. The whole thing is great. Obviously, it is very violent. Normally I am not that keen on really violent films, but Tarantino does them very well and the violence is almost integral to the plot rather than there for it's own sake. For example as the afore mentioned samurai scene in Vol. 1. and the fight with the same weapon with Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) in Vol. 2. It has some fantastic music, including various Ennio Moricone pieces from Sergio Leone Westerns. The acting is good, particularly when Thurman and Carradine are in the same scene. 9 / 10 Reservoir Dogs (1992) dir dir Quentin Tarantino Tarintino's first feature film about the aftermath of a jewellery heist gone wrong, and a film I have seen at least twice before. Watching it this time I found myself appreciating it far more than in the past. The main characters are four of a gang of six thieves, all known only by code names, who survived the shoot out with the cops; Mr White (Harvey Keitel), Mr Orange(Tim Roth), Mr Pink (Steve Buscemi) and the psychopathic Mr Blonde (Michael Madsen). Some called it the most violent film ever made when it was released, they had clearly not seen the film and / or not seen many other violent films. Of course it is violent, it's about armed robbers! But I would not like it if it was too violent. There is a part of one scene where when I first watched it I had to look away (I'm sure people who have seen the film know which bit I mean), but when I watched if again I realised it wasn't that bad. Although there is a lot of blood, with one character essentially spending the entire film slowly bleeding to death from a gun shot to the guts, it's not over-the-top and this is actually a very dialogue heavy film. It could easily be done as a stage play (and I think it has), since most of it takes place in one location, the gang's safe house where the survivors gather. Others scenes are done in flash back giving us a bit more insight into how White, Blonde and Orange came to be on this heist. So there is some great actor between the people playing those four characters. And the opening scene is brilliant. Set when the gang first meet, in a diner, discussing two topics in great depth. One is the lyrics of Madonna songs, particularly “Like a v*rgin” with Mr Brown (Tarantino) giving a speech that could have been straight from an academic music-studies essay, followed by Mr Pink explaining in great detail why he does not generally tip waitresses. The relationship between Mr White and Mr Orange is also great, somewhat father-son-like, with a tragic ending. It's set to some great music too. 9 / 10 Pulp Fiction (1994) dir Quentin Tarintino Tarintino's second film, the only one I have ever seen at the cinema, and for me his best. It has a brilliant script (also written by Tarintino and Roger Avery) that weaves together 5 separate stories, some featuring the same characters, presented in a non-linear order that ends where it began. It has an impressive ensemble cast. The main characters are two hit men, Vincent (John Travolta in a role that resurrected his career) and Jules (Samuel L Jackson), working for a Mr Wallace. It also features Uma Thurman as Mrs Mia Wallace, Harvey Keitel as “The Wolf” who cleans up the messes that hit men sometimes leave behind, Bruce Willis as a boxer, Butch, paid to throw a fight for Mr Wallace and in the opening and closing scenes Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer robbing a restaurant. Each of the 5 stories could work on their own, but how they connect to each other is great. Like all Tarantino films it is violent at times, but never over the top in that respect. Some of those are actually quite funny, e.g. the situation that leads to Vince and Jules requiring The Wolf's assistance and the Samurai-sword scene that concludes business between Butch and Mr Wallace.. It has fantastic dialogue, delivered by great actors, that sometimes takes a mundane topic (e.g. what a Big Mac is called in France or is 5$ milk shake really worth 5$?) and elevates it to something almost deep and meaningful and has a great soundtrack. Travolta, Jackson and Thurman all got well deserved Oscar nominations (and I remember at that year's Bafta's when Hugh Grant won best actor for 4 Weddings and a Funeral he actually apologised to John Travolta who we thought deserved it better). It was also nominated for best Picture, Director and Editing and won Original Screenplay. One of my all-time favourite films. 10 / 10 Death Proof (2007) dir Quentin Tarintino This is the one I had not seen before. In fact I was not even aware of it for quite some time. I don't know for sure why that is, maybe because originally it was released as a double bill “Grindhouse” alongside Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror. It's his tribute to slasher / exploitation movies and is quite different to his other films. It has the usual violent elements and prominent soundtrack, but to me it lacks the great story telling, character development and dialogue of his other films. If it were not for that fact that Tarantino himself plays one of the minor roles early on, I would not have recognised it as his. Descriptions of this will tend say it stars Kurt Russel, but although he is the character that binds it all together, he isn't in enough of it to be the “star” in the usual sense. Then again neither is anyone else, so if a film has to have a star then it's him. Anyway he plays Stuntman Mike, a serial killer who used to be a stuntman specialising in car crashes. He uses a stunt car to kill his victims by crashing into their cars. They die or are horribly injured whilst he survives due to all the “Deathproof” modifications made to his. We don't know why he does this nor anything else of his back story. Also we do not know why he chooses the victims he does, other than they are all young women; but I guess that tended to be the usual case in slasher films (I don't know for sure, they are not my sort of thing) so it's the same in this one. It's made almost as two separate stories, a year or so apart and certainly each would work as a relatively short film on their own. The first is mainly set in the Texas bar the victims gather in, with friends and boyfriends. Mike is also there, having followed them. I won't say more to avoid spoilers, but we know at least what he is going to try to do, even if not when and exactly how. The next one is in Tennessee and this time his victims, who all have various film-related jobs, put up quite a fight. One of them is in fact played by real-life stunt woman Zoe Bell, as herself, and another is also a stunt woman. So although they don't have a Deathproof car, they certainly know how to drive as if they did. And the ending is pure Tarintino. But the highlight of whole film, in this section, is one of the greatest car chases ever. In fact, for me, someone who is not usually a fan of such things when they dominate a film, I would say this is the best car chase I have ever seen. There's a bit of it in the trailer, Zoe Bell is the one strapped to the front of the car. So well worth watching, but don't expect all the usual Tarantino elements. 7 / 10

Another quickfire round as I attempt to catch up, I'll only put trailers for the best ones. What I Watched This Week #184-185 (July 7-20) Insomnia dir. Christopher Nolan/2002/1h58m Al Pacino and Robin Williams are cop and killer in this Alaskan set cat and mouse thriller from Christopher Nolan. His most conventional work with the narrative unfolding linearly, this really doesn't feel like a Nolan film. But it is still gripping with two excellent lead performances. You can see Pacino unravel before your eyes as his lack of sleep really starts to get to him, and Williams is chilling as a cold hearted killer, a side of him that we rarely got to see (One Hour Photo from the same year is another example of this). 8/10 God's Creatures dir. Saela Davis, Anna Rose Holmer/2022/1h41m This Irish drama stars Emily Watson as a mother who gives a false alibi to her son, played by Paul Mescal, who has just returned home, and splits apart her family and community in the process. Beautifully bleak landscapes set the scene perfectly, and a powerful performance from Watson is the heart of the film. Mescal is great as he always is, slowly revealing more of his true self, but he never quite reaches the heights he does in Aftersun and All of us Strangers (both must watch films). An insidious score that gets under your skin puts the cherry on top of this fantastic slow burn drama. 8.5/10 Lime's Film of the Week! Mission: Impossible 1-6 dir. Brian de Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird, Christopher McQuarrie/1996-2018/12h50m Tom Cruise takes on the defining role of his career in this reboot of a sixties spy series. It all starts off quite grounded in the first one, but film by film the spectacle escalates and now the franchise is known pretty much solely for the incredible stunts that Cruise insists on performing himself. And they are spectacular and easily the highlights of each film. What I wish the series leaned more into is the team aspect of each film. Once Simon Pegg is introduced he and Ving Rhames became two of my favourite characters. I would have loved to see more of them working with Cruise. The quality is pretty consistent throughout these films, with the outlier being M:I2, though that does have the best intro scene of Cruise free climbing up a rock face. I'll give these films a combined score of 7.5/10 Two Pixar shorts: One Man Band dir. Mark Andrews, Andrew Jimenez/2005/4m Lifted dir. Gary Rydstrom/2006/5m In these two short films from Pixar we first see two one man bands vying for the attention, and money, of a young girl. In Lifted we watch a teenage alien taking his human abduction test, with bruising results for the farmer chosen as the subject. Both these films showcase the animators at Pixar's skill with movement and physical comedy, as they are both dialogue free. I slightly prefer Lifted as the final gag made me do an actual spit take. Combined I'll give them 7/10 Mikey and Nicky dir. Elaine May/1976/1h46m John Cassavetes is Nicky, a small time crook and paranoid mess, who has barricaded himself in a sleazy hotel room. Peter Falk is Mikey, his childhood friend, who must get him through what turns out to be a long night. Cassavetes is incredible here as a totally selfish *sshole who's so pathetic that you can't help but sympathise with him. Falk has the trickier role of the straight man, but you can feel a real warmth in their relationship that mostly comes from him. The direction and overall tone is a perfect example of the New Hollywood of the 70's, and it's a crime that Elaine May didn't really get a chance to make many other films because she was a woman. One of the best films about male friendship I've seen. 9/10 Lime's Film of the Week! Straight to Hell dir. Alex Cox/1987/1h26m A bizarre post-modern deconstructed western, this is about a gang of bank robbers who hide out in a small desert town after their latest job. Two of the gang are played by Joe Strummer of The Clash, and Courtney Love. The eclectic cast also includes many other musicians like Elvis Costello and the entire band The Pogues, as well as Grace Jones, Dennis Hopper, and indie filmmaking legend Jim Jarmusch, whose style heavily influenced this. Totally unhinged and thoroughly entertaining, you'll enjoy this if you like westerns and you'll love it if you don't. 9/10 Coco dir. Lee Unkrich/2017/1h45m After ignoring his families wishes to give up music, young Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) finds himself lost in the Land of the Dead, and needs the help of Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) to get home. This is one of, if not Pixar's best looking film, with a truly breath taking use of colour both in the worlds of the living and the dead. It hits all the right notes narratively, it's funny and sweet, and the scenes involving Miguel's great grandmother Coco are beautifully tender. It also has fantastic music. After a rough patch full of sequels it's nice to see Pixar back at the top of their game. 9/10

I like the idea i heard about a DM version of this, with all ships visible.

Oppenheimer (2023) dir Christopher Nolan The multi-award winning biopic of Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who led the Los Alamos Laboratory which, as part of the Manhattan project, developed the atom bomb in the Second World War. I had been meaning to watch this for a while, but with a 3 hour runtime it did not easily fit into my usual film-watching routine. But this week it did, and also it was an appropriate time, given it was the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6th August. I have to say I was a little disappointed for a film that won best picture. It was technically very good and deserved it's awards for things like sound and editing. Also Cillian Murphy lead a fantastic cast that included Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer' wife, Matt Damon as General Groves (in charge of the Manhattan project) and Robert Downey Jnr as retired Admiral Strauss (the post-war head of the US Atomic Energy Commission, who Oppenheimer worked for). But I found the way the story was presented hard to follow, especially in the first half of the film. It is told in a very non-linear way, which I don't have any issue with in principal, but I just found this too confusing as it switched between 3 main different time-lines and a couple of minor ones. One of these was shot in black and white for reasons I did not follow, unless it was supposed to make things less confusing, if so it failed to do that for me. When it focussed on the main story later in the film, that of the Manhattan project, the scientists and science and technology behind it, it was very good. But early on this was intercut with scenes from the early 1950s when Oppenheimer was facing losing his security clearance and therefore his job and another one a couple of years later (I presume) when Strauss was picked to be a member of President Eisenhower's cabinet and facing his Senate confirmation hearings. There's also other scenes from Oppenheimer's student days and early career and some of his conversations two fellow theoretical physicists, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, played in fantastic cameo roles by Tom Conti and Kenneth Branagh – these scenes were the highlight of the film for me. I liked that it showed the views of various scientists about the morals of developing such a dreadful weapon. At first, when n*zi Germany was trying to develop their own atom bomb there were no qualms. But after Germany had been defeated and the prospective target became Japan, who did not have an atom bomb program, some began to raise more questions about what they were doing. It shows how after the war Oppenheimer himself was troubled by what he had been a part of, but genuinely believed the bomb not just ended the Second World War but had the potential to prevent any future such war. The film is not judgemental, does not say who was right or wrong, just portrays the various questions and misgivings some of those involved inevitably had. 8 / 10

Hey, have you checked the above posts? We are a gaming community not affiliated with Rockstar in any way. If you want help, contact Rockstar support.

Hey, have you found the solution yet?

Asteroid City (2023) dir Wes Anderson. @LimeGreenLegend recently reviewed Wes Anderson's latest Film, The Phoenician Scheme and wrote “Well made but it does feel like Anderson's biggest influence at this point is himself, and it's getting a little overplayed.”. I was not so impressed with the last Wes Anderson film I watched (The French Dispatch). So catching up another recent-ish film of his I had yet to see, I watched this one. And I have to concur with Lime's comment. This was a well crafted film in some respects, fantastic sets and a huge ensemble cast featuring a number of very good actors with some in quite minor roles. But the plot was baffling to me. It was almost like the story was not really supposed to matter and it was just there enable some great actors to act various scenes in some stunning sets, that were sometimes only vaguely connected to each other. The basics, as far as I could tell, were this was about a stage play and we were watching the actors in that play, but most of the time rather than seeing them in the theatre, we saw them as if there were in a real “Asteroid City” that the play was set in. It switched from black & white scenes in the theatre to colour scenes in Asteroid City (somewhere in the desert in the US south west). The theatre scenes were often narrated, so you were not watching the play, you were listening to the narrator tells us about this play and some of the things the writer and actors did outside of the theatre. I found the narration off putting sometimes. In the colour scenes a group of parents and their kids have gathered for an annual science festival in this desert city built next to a prehistoric asteroid crater. The kids are all “braniacs” (their word, not mine) and have invented gadgets, the best of which are going to be awarded prizes at the festival. Now for the cast. The parents included Jason Schwartzman and Scarlett Johanson; they and their kids (unknowns actors to me) were the main characters. In the main supporting roles there were Tom Hanks (a grandfather), Jeffrey Wright (an army general in charge of the festival), Tilda Swinton (the city's resident scientist), Liev Schreiber (another parent? not sure, already forgetting and I only watched this last night! that's how confusing it was), Matt Dillon (car mechanic) and Steve Carrel (manager of the motel all the visitors are staying at). Then in various other bit parts, with some only appearing breifly, Margot Robbie, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Defoe, Adrien Brody and Edward Norton. Plus, although I did not realise it until I saw him named in the credits, Pulp lead singer and Sheffield-living-legend, Jarvis Cocker, as the washboard player in a band who got stuck in the city when they missed their bus! There were probably other reasonably well established actors that I just don't recognise as well. It's almost like loads of people really, really want to be in a Wes Anderson film and they don't mind how small a part they have or how good the film actually is. I have nothing against that in principle, e.g. when I think of the sort of people that have cropped up in minor roles in some of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespearean adaptations. But this one seemed a bit like a case of quantity (of actors) over quality (of story). It would have been a better film with fewer characters and more time to develop those it had and the story they were trying to tell. Although I enjoyed it, mainly because of the visuals and some great acting, I can't give this anything more than an average score. 5 / 10

edit - double post, site seems a bit unresponsive at the moment

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Speed round incoming just to get caught up. I'll include trailers for the best ones only. What I Watched This Week #181-183 (June 16- July 6) Slade in Flame dir. Richard Loncraine1975/1h31m Legendary British glam rockers Slade play a fictionalised version of themselves - Flame - in this rags to not quite riches tale. Rather than a celebration of their rise to fame this is a story of a band who are abused and used as a product before being discarded by a machine that doesn't care about art. The band's frontman, Noddy Holder, dominates with his sheer force of personality and the soundtrack is great even without their most recognisable songs. 8/10 When the Wind Blows dir. Jimmy T. Murakami/1986/1h24m This animated film, adapted from a story by the same author as The Snowman, tells the tale of a sweet old couple in the north of England and how they slowly die in the aftermath of nuclear war. Don't let the art style fool you, this is as brutal a film as Threads, with the worst thing being their naïve optimism. They constantly reference WWII with a warm childhood nostalgia and think that nuclear war will be the same, and things will return to normal after a couple of days. Spoilers: they don't. 9/10 The War Game dir. Peter Watkins/1966/48m The War Game is a documentary style drama showing what life in Britain would be like in the aftermath of nuclear war and was commissioned by the BBC, but not broadcast at the time because "the effect of the film has been judged to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting". That's an understatement if anything. Along with Threads and When the Wind Blows, this makes up an unholy trinity of wholly depressing British films about an entire country slowly dying in agonising pain. In other words, fun for all the family. 9/10 Barbarian dir. Zach Cregger/2022/1h42m Barbarian stars Georgina Campbell as a woman staying in an Airbnb in a new town, but when she arrives there's already someone there. A decent premise for a horror film with a really solid setup just kind of falls flat for me. Justin Long is great as an *sshole, but the film feels like it doesn't trust itself with building atmosphere for too long and is too eager to get to the bloody stuff in case anyone gets bored. 5/10 Man of La Mancha dir. Arthur Hiller/1972/2h12m Peter O'Toole stars as author Miguel de Cervantes, imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition he gains the favour of his fellow prisoners by performing his greatest work, Don Quixote de la Mancha (my favourite book). Just like his famous knight, his flights of fancy come to colourful life and he constantly espouses the lesson that you shouldn't see the world as it is, but as it should be. Based on a Broadway musical this has some amazing musical numbers, but the most powerful one sees O'Toole as Quixote stood stock still while singing the incredible The Impossible Dream, a song about what it means to be a knight errant. O'Toole is amazing in the dual role of Cervantes/Quixote, with his Quixote perfectly capturing the essence of being both a pathetic figure of ridicule and a gloriously noble and honourable gentleman. He also has an excellent sidekick in James Coco as Sancho Panza, and Sophia Loren is fantastic as his muse Dulcinea. Watch this film and read Don Quixote, they're both amazing. 10/10 Lime's Film of the Week! The Player dir. Robert Altman/1992/2h4m Robert Altman's satire of Hollywood stars Tim Robbins as a sleazy studio executive who is getting death threats from a writer he pissed off, which narrows it down to about a thousand suspects. The film perhaps peaks right at the start with an epic 6 minute long oner that roams the studio lot introducing all of the main players, including a conversation between two of them about the best oners in film history. That's just showing off. The rest of the film is a well crafted blend of satire and noir thriller. The constant cameos gets a little distracting, but I have to say I laughed out loud at the final scene and not just because of the cameos, but also how it sums up the Hollywood system in a neat couple of minutes. Traffic was a b*tch indeed. 8.5/10 The Haunted Castle dir. Georges Melies/1897/1m A truncated version of a film he made just the previous year, this sees Melies use his usual wonderful tricks to cause all sorts of spooky apparitions appear. Feels rushed compared to the other version, though technically it's more impressive. This is still a lesser work that I've seen of his. Zazie dans le Metro dir. Louis Malle/1960/1h33m Catherine Demongeot stars as 10 year old Zazie, a foul mouthed force of nature who is visiting Paris for the first time, staying with her uncle (Philippe Noiret) while her parents enjoy a romantic weekend, and she wants to do it all, but most of all she wants to ride the Metro. This is a wild, madcap film that feels like a live action cartoon at times. It has the experimentation of Godard mixed with the playfulness of Tati. I had a smile on my face the entire time. 9/10 Cars 3 dir. Brian Fee/2017/1h42m The third and seemingly final film in the Cars franchise sees Lightning McQueen facing a mid life crisis as a whole new generation of cars are leaving him in the dust. Honestly, I actually quite liked this one. The animation is gorgeous, with some of the landscapes looking photo realistic, and the character of Mater, who I hate with a passion, is hardly in it. In fact, this seems to ignore the godawful second film entirely, instead evoking the first film quite heavily in its use of the character of Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), whose spirit seems to watch over the entire thing. 7/10 Piper dir. Alan Barillaro/2016/6m This charming dialogue free Pixar short sees a mother bird trying to teach its baby how to fend for itself, a process that is expedited thanks to a rough experience she must overcome or die. Some incredible animation here, particularly in the motion of the ocean, really elevates this beyond the sweet yet simple life lesson that it is. 8/10 Crimewave dir. Sam Raimi/1985/1h23m Directed by Sam Raimi and co-written by the Coen Brothers, this is a bizarre, disjointed film about a man wrongly convicted of murder and about to suffer the death penalty. We are told the story in flashback while he sits in the chair. There are hints of both Raimi's trademark visual style, and the Coen's darkly cynical sense of humour, but not enough to make this any more than a curiosity. 6/10 New York, New York dir. Martin Scorsese/1977/2h43m Scorsese's epic post war set musical stars Liza Minelli as a singer and Robert De Niro as a sax player who fall in love on VJ Day then proceed to have a tumultuous, years long relationship with more downs than ups. Like Cabaret this is a musical where people don't just break out into song and dance, all of the numbers happen on stage naturally as part of the plot, which helps ground the film in some sort of realism, which is then juxtaposed against some gorgeous sets that are made to obviously look like soundstages, evoking the classic Hollywood musicals of the 40's. In the middle of this is a pair of excellent performances that perfectly compliment each other, with De Niro playing one of his most controlling, manipulative, jealously paranoid characters. Minelli always comes across as a star, particularly the grand ending where she belts out the iconic theme song, made iconic a few years later by Sinatra. Like a lot of Scorsese's non-crime or mob related films this is criminally overlooked, so please check this out, as well as The Age of Innocence and Silence. 10/10 Lime's Film of the Week! The Phoenician Scheme dir. Wes Anderson/2025/1h42m Wes Anderson's latest is another meticulously crafted, unapologetically idiosyncratic film starring Benicio Del Toro as a businessman seeking funding for an ambitious scheme that will totally transform the fictional nation of Phoenicia. To do this he needs to sweet talk a succession of quirky investors including Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston as a pair of basketball loving siblings. Well made but it does feel like Anderson's biggest influence at this point is himself, and it's getting a little overplayed. 7/10 llusions dir. Georges Melies/1909/5m Another charmingly magical film from Georges Melies, this is much more refined than the other one I watched, and his playfulness and glee with this new medium is always apparent. 7/10 Flow dir. Gints Zilbalodis/2024/1h25m This Latvian animated film was written, directed, produced, edited, scored, and photographed by one man using free to download software and is about a near future Earth where all the humans are gone, probably because of a natural disaster, but it's never explained. We follow a cat who is caught up in a flood and survives by hitching a ride on a boat captained by a capybara. This sounds like a Disney film, but these aren't talking animals, and the threat, not just from the environment but from predators, is very real. The animation is gorgeous and unique, the lighting is particularly beautiful. A film about climate change that isn't preachy or moralising, this is also a fun adventure movie with a collection of wonderfully realised animals who have more personality than the entire Twilight series. 9/10 Ice Cold In Alex dir. J. Lee Thompson/1958/2h5m A couple of British soldiers and nurses must survive taking an ambulance over 600 miles through the North African desert during WWII. A compelling tale of survival and determination, this also has an iconic ending that anyone growing up in the UK during the 90's will recognise from a famous beer advert. The one thing that seems to keep the main character, Captain Anson (John Mills), going is the thought of downing an ice cold beer in Alexandria, hence the title, and when he finally gets to raise that pint to his lips the satisfaction radiates out of the screen. Worth waiting for indeed. The drama comes not only from trying to survive in the desert, but also the constant threat of the n*zis, and the paranoia that a South African soldier they pick up creates. A brilliant war film that doesn't even need to have any large scale battles. 9/10 La luna dir. Enrico Casarosa/2011/7m This Pixar short sees a young boy being taken to work by his father and grandfather so that he can learn the magical family business. He also learns that he can't just copy them but find his own unique way of doing things. Some fantastic animation and a genuinely spellbinding concept doesn't really get fully explored, but the emotional point is there. 7/10 Thunderbolts* dir. Jake Schreier/2025/2h7m The latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes a rag tag band of third string characters like Black Widow's sister Yelena (Florence Pugh) and the disgraced third Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and manages to create an actually engaging, well written film that doesn't rely on callbacks or cameos. I was surprised by how much I liked this considering how much I disliked the previous MCU film, Captain America Brave New World. The asterisk in the title is explained late in the film and made me actually excited to see where this goes. This is the best Marvel film since Endgame nearly a decade ago. 8/10 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre dir. John Huston/1948/2h6m This classic adventure film stars Humphrey Bogart as one of three desperate men out hunting for gold in a desolate Mexican mountain range. What starts as a fun romp with dreams of imagined riches turns into a study of greed and paranoia. Bogart is excellent as a man totally corrupted by the gold he's seeking, with the director's father Walter Huston juxtaposing him as a wise, lively old coot who can see the tragedy coming a mile off but is helpless to do anything about it. One of the first Hollywood films to shoot entirely on location, you can really feel the threat of the wilderness and the wild men that inhabit it. 9/10 Lime's Film of the Week! Heads of State dir. Ilya Naishuller/2025/1h53m This new action comedy stars Idris Elba and John Cena as the British PM and American President who are left stranded in the middle of Europe after a terrorist attack on Air Force One. Playing off the typical odd couple dynamic, the chemistry between Elba and Cena, which was fantastic in James Gunn's Suicide Squad, is the only thing that carries this tired, cliché ridden film. A couple of half decent action scenes sprinkled throughout also help. 4/10 A Man Escaped dir. Robert Bresson/1956/1h41m Based on a true story, A Man Escaped stars Francois Leterrier as Fontaine, a French resistance fighter captured by the n*zis and imprisoned. Over the course of the film we follow his attempts to escape all shot with a sparse minimalism. This is the most undramatic prison escape film I've ever seen, with no sentimentality or exaggeration. This just helps underline the seriousness of Fontaine's situation, this isn't just a story, it's life and death. The other Bresson films I've seen, Au Hasard Balthazar and Pickpocket, while very well made, just left me feeling cold. Here, that coldness is in the films benefit. And the beautifully underplayed ending, "if my mother could see me now", really leaves an impression. 9/10