Films 2021
| Title | Rating | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Back to the Outback | silly. | |
| Don't Look Up |  |
It would be a mega hoot if it wasn't more of a documentary on the state of our human world and all those wonderful BASH enterprises, professional politicians and world media out there.Still, I spose here is still a miniscule chance we will wake up before the planet burns? Recommended |
| Graves of the Fireflies | |
Very emotional. Beautifully done. About Setsuko and her brother Seita who become orphans during the final days of imperial Japan. |
| Howl's Moving Castle | |
Just gotta love a Ghibli... Recommended |
| My Mom's new Boyfriend | |
Silly movie, but .... Goldie Horn... |
| Christmas under Wraps | More schmaltz on Netflix. | |
| Last Christmas | |
Trash romcom with tunes on Netflix. |
| The Blue Lamp (1950) | |
Very dated UK film from the post war period. Reminds me of the nights in front of the TV with Jack Warner - "Evening All" |
| Superstore (Series) | |
A really silly series about weird people working in a store. |
| A Castle for Christmas | |
A silly American romcom. |
| Mr Robot (Series) | |
Intensive plot with some intriguing characters. |
| Zu mir oder zu dir? | |
A silly German romcom. |
| 45 Years (2015) | |
Rampling and Courtney as an old couple. He gets news of an old girlfriend's body found in a glacier. Things go downhill. The 45th anniversary gets ends up as a mess. She looses her way. Sad. Sits well with my belief that, at the end, it's only experiences which count. |
| Inside Job (2010) | |
Documentary about the raping of the world following de-regulation. Made 10 years ago, almost nothing has changed, derivaties are still unregulated and the rich are richer than ever, planning to head off to the Moon for a vacation. After all the state of things on planet Earth is pretty shitty. |
| Citizenfour (2014) | |
A documentary about Edward Snowden during the time of his disclosures and when the US government was caught spying on Merkel. |
| A Most Wanted Man | |
Based on the John le Carré novel. Suspensefull, enjoyable. Philip Symour Hoffman in one of his last roles. Rachel McAdams and Robin Wright together with Brühl and Grünemeyer. Recommended |
| Red Joan (2018) | |
How good the UK is at doing period drama, in this cae around WWII. Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson do a good job as scientists involved in the UK's development of the bomb. |
| Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu? (Serial (Bad) Weddings) | |
Another silly little movie, a French family with 4 daughters, each one married to a foreigner - Jew, Arab, Chinese and a Black man. |
| Seniour Moment | |
A silly little movie, Schatner and friends.... |
| Nomadland | |
A beautiful interpretation of the book with some of the actual people. A good (from my perspective) view of life in a van. |
| Wanda, meine Wunder | |
A delightfully different film about a personal carer, and the dysfunctional family she works in. |
| Signs | |
Dustin's latest animation, a love story. Good to see it on the big screen at Arbon Openair Kino. |
| Eight Days a Week | |
Documentary about The Beatles - enjoyable. As Caroline says: "We had The Beatles" and how lucky we were! |
| Sing Street | |
Sweet movie set in Dublin about the emergence of a band and song writer. |
| Taken (2008) | |
Liam Neeson is a hard nut who goes looking for his kidnapped daughter - taken by Albanians. It gets really messy. |
| The Kominsky Method | |
Most entertaining bin-watch. Three seasons with Micheal Douglas and Alan Arkin - very dry. Any number of walk-on parts ad others with stars abounding. |
| Lupin Part 2 | |
Continuing with the adventures of Arsène Lupin, a French thriller novel. Very good, with more to come. |
| Normal People | |
I enjoyed the book. It seems this series is going to be long and drawn out. Very well acted with the sense of the book - experience of life - preserved. It does become addictive after a few episodes, a well-constructed yarn. |
| Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) | |
A tense film, well acted, very arty. An elderly actress is persuaded to replay a role she played many years before. |
| Hope Gap | |
Bill Nighy is a lonely old man, his wife is pushy, why we do
not know. Very well acted also by Anette Bening and Josh O'Connor.
What frightening little lives. A powerful film, we find out actually
how evil this woman is, maybe her other "beliefs" take her
away to her very own place. Note: Based on William Nicholson's own life experience, when his own parents marriage broke down after 33 years. |
| Salting the Battlefield | |
And now in Heidelberg, Frankfurt and then back home. The story goes public with Ralph Fiennes as the PM and Rupert Graves as the businessman. I'm confused as to what it al means, maybe just that we are being manipulated, which is not a huge surprise is it? |
| Turks & Caicos | |
A continuation of the story, this time adding Wiona Ryder, Helena Bonham Carter and several others on a Tax Haven island. |
| Page Eight | |
An excellent film, very well acted. Bill Neighy, Rachel Weitz. One wonders how much of this stuff goes on? |
| The Cost of Living | |
Sponsored by The Green Party for a look at the miserable country the Tories have given the UK. Mostly about how UBI (Universal Basic Income) could provide a fillup to the economic and social life of the country. UI has been in effect for Alaska since the 1970s, limited but it will not be removed. |
| The Adjustment | |
Just gotta love Matt Damon, and also Emily Blunt. An interesting story and bang, a wonderful film. |
| The End of the Affair | |
Based on the Grahme Greene book which I read many, many years ago. all his superstitions. Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore and set in the 1940s. The story is (of course) influenced by Greene's religion, beyond silly all his superstitions. Quote: "Never eat onions!" |
| The English Game | |
Well filmed, a simple plot. Just classic, why the english still put up with domination by the rulling class is beyond me. Shame it's been written by Baron Fellows, upper class pratt, still he knows his side. |
| News of the World | |
Enjoyable flick about a young girl kidnapped by native indians and a journey with a Newsreader. Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel. |
| Humans Season 2 | |
The synths take their feelings to other synths. It's getting interesting, exploring feelings. |
| The Heroes of Telemark(1965) | |
A poor flick based on a true story, but a lot of men on skis, men holding machine guns and fake explosions. |
| Rabbit Hole | |
Nicole Kidman is superb as is Dianne Wiest and Aaron Eckhart. Story of a couple who have lost their young boy, a tragic scenario. |
| The Dig (2021) | |
Cary Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes do a fine job of their respectives roles. A tad slow but a good story. |
| The Salt of Life (2011) | |
Set in Roma a story of an elderly man with an eye for the ladies. Time moves relentlessly onwards. |
| Mademoiselle de Joncquières (2018) | |
Romantic drama. Fooled by a notorious libertine, a widow plans her revenge. What a game the lady plays with an unexpected ending. Not a lot to match a woman scorned. |
| So ein Schlamassel (2009) | |
Romcom. A sweet story a bit buggered by the lady being Jewish and this creating a division. Religion - such a sad state of disillusion.... |
| The Little Thief (1988) | |
Set after WWII in a small French village. Janine looks for adventure with three people(Michel Davenne, a married lover; Raoul, a fellow thief; Mauricette Dargelos, a photographer and fellow prisoner) from whom she learns, just maybe not the right things. Entertaining in a silly way. |
| The Lost City of Z | |
A true-life drama, centering on British explorer Major Percival Fawcett, who disappeared whilst searching for a mysterious city in the Amazon in the 1920s. Not a great film in so many ways. |
| The Blind Side | |
A silly little film, based on a true story. |
| Lupin Part 1 | |
A French TV series (Netflix) based on the adventures of
Arsène Lupin, a French thriller novel. Stars Omar Sy
of "Intouchables" fame. A twisted plot which moves
quickly along. Recommended |
| A Few Good Men | |
Not keen on Tom Cruise, but he plays this well, so does Demi Moore. A couple of other strong performances too. |
| 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) | |
A depressing film set in (depressing) Romania about young women dealing with abortion. Why on earth society doesn't provide support for contraception and, when it doesn't function properly, healthcare for any woman who needs it, is beyond me. |
| 3:10 to Yuka | |
Not seen a Western for a while. Enjoyable if a bit of a suspect plot. |
| Fire in the Blood | |
A documentary about the AIDS epedemic in underdeveloped societies. Yep, the international, capitalist pharmaceutical companies are to be blamed for this misery. |