Movies

Children of Men might possibly be the most underrated (on release) film of all time. I set it as a prescribed text for my students and they were all stunned. It was weird going back to watch it after the death of my friend as Michael Caine’s character is exactly how I believe he would have been had he made it to that age. Even Charlie Hunnam doesn’t ruin it. It’s a masterpiece.

Is that a thing? I thought he was generally pretty good but his films are a mixed bag. Pacific Rim is a thoroughly satisfying jaunt.

I got thoroughly fed up of him in Sons of Anarchy. I’ve not seen him in much else, I’ll admit.

Pacific Rim is my go to "tired / lazy / hungover and want to watch big explodey shit" movie.

I've never watched Anarchy, so I'm not as burned out on him as budget Heath Ledger (or premium Garrett Hedlund if you prefer).

Watched the holdovers without much expectation, but really enjoyed it.

I absolutely love that film. The accident in the gym might be my favorite pratfall of all time.

Honey Don't on Prime. Directed by Ethan Coen, and starring Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza. And when I say starring, I mean they really star, if you know what I mean.

Highly recommended. It's not a bad movie either.

Remake of The Running Man is meh. Some fun action sequences but I don't buy Glen Powell's overacting and Edgar Wright does a surprisingly hamfisted job of trying to send his message. Feel very much like he was trying to make Rollerball.

Marty Supreme is entertaining enough, despite being mostly driven by the main characters making terrible decisions repeatedly.

Spinal Tap 2 isn’t really a film but has some funny bits (obviously helps that I love those characters and the actors are still great). Cameos - especially McCartney and John break the reality completely though.

Also watched Kill Your Friends. Read the book ages ago but had forgotten everything apart from the premise. Entertaining enough and a great soundtrack.

Went to see Hamnet tonight and really enjoyed it. I haven't read the book but the film worked very well, the leads are both brilliant and mostly it made me want to go see some Shakespeare again, it's been too long.

I have hated pretty much everything Shakespeare so it's not top of my list. Mentally scarred by having to play Titania as a youth.

Titania, Queen of the Fairies?

I read it. It’s very good. Maggie O’Farrell is one of my favourite contemporary authors.

Yes. They were less enlightened times.

Movies I watched on the plane:

The Roofman. Harmless, moderately entertaining, mildly interesting as it's actually a real story, but not a remarkable movie.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy. Much more entertaining than I expected, had me legitimately laughing out loud. Has a very good heart. If you like romcoms, and I do, it's well worth a watch.

Lady Bird. Been meaning to watch it for ages. Terrific.

The Break Up. Not very funny. Quite annoying. Utterly unbelievable, there's no way prime Jennifer Aniston is fawning and pining over Vince Vaughn like that IRL. GTFO with this stupidity.