JANUARY 2016 - FILMS AND TV

A fairly decent month's viewing, all done on the small screen. One TV drama series, finished, another couple started and I managed to clear some taped films that had been hanging around for a while.

Probably the second or third time I've seen this, but my daughter had recorded it, so we went again. I don't mind Julia Roberts in most things and she's pretty good here. I do like Albert Finney as well, so there were a lot worse films we could have watched! 

Second viewing of Spy, as one of my daughter's got the DVD for Christmas. Melissa McCarthy - just makes me laugh every time I see her on screen. Jason Statham doesn't take himself too seriously and pokes fun at his hard man persona. Rose Byrne is pretty good. Jude Law and Miranda Hart were tolerated. 

Richard Gere, Spike Lee, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke all star in this very dark crime thriller from 2009 - one of the best things I watched in the month.

Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser star in this adaptation of the Graham Greene novel from the 50s. I think I've come to like Michael Caine a bit more as I've gotten older. I used to think he was quite wooden, maybe mistaking his sometimes deadpan delivery.  I recorded in about 4 or 5 months ago and only got around to watching it now - not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.

Started this one a few months ago and wasn't enjoying it, but persisted. The second half of the film was so much better than the first. John Cusack and Kevin Spacey were pretty good. Not one I'd ever want to re-watch though.

2016 BBC drama series based on Ann Cleeves' Jimmy Perez books. Two episodes in and its pretty good. Apparently there were a couple of earlier series that aired in 2013 and 2014 which I missed, which was a shame because I'm enjoying this. Never read the books and probably won't. Douglas Henshall is very watchable as is Ciaran Hinds, but I don't think we'll be seeing much more of Hinds after episode 2. The previous two series dealt with four of her books over two episodes each, this one lasts for six and I'm not sure if it follows a series book or not.

One of my Christmas DVDs and a pretty dark Liam Neeson 2015 film with Ed Harris. Much enjoyed and a lot better than last month's Non-Stop in my opinion. Nick Nolte has a small part and is pretty good as Neeson's brother. First time I've seen Joel Kinnaman, who plays his son.

Mobster and hit man Jimmy Conlon has one night to figure out where his loyalties lie: with his estranged son, Mike, whose life is in danger, or his longtime best friend, mob boss Shawn Maguire, who wants Mike to pay for the death of his own son.

1967 film about the murder of a Polish prostitute in Warsaw. Omar Sharif wants to investigate which of the 3 German Generals killed her. The Generals want to brush him off and get on with ravaging the Polish Capital. A couple of years later, Sharif catches up with them all in Paris, where a couple of them are now involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Sharif gets his from our killer, who then gets his own comeuppance about twenty years after the war ends courtesy of Interpol and Tom Courtenay. Pretty good. Donald Pleasence just oozes menace from every pore. Peter O'Toole looks a bit like Julian Clary throughout.

Season 2 finale watched eventually and for a while I kind of thought it went out with a bit of a whimper. On reflection, I think it was pretty much a perfect ending. Roll on Season 3 whenever that might be! 

There's something about Dennis Lehane's books that lend themselves to decent film adaptations - Mystic River, Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone and now The Drop. I can't recall seeing Tom Hardy in anything before, he's very watchable. I think I read that this was James Gandolfini's last film before his untimely death. Well he finished with a great one. Time to dust off the book which lies in a tub somewhere. Noomi Rapace is another new-to-me actor starring as Nadia.

Bob Saginowski finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and entwined in an investigation that digs deep into the neighborhood's past where friends, families, and foes all work together to make a living - no matter the cost.

I started watching this back on Halloween, lasted all of 20 minutes before going to bed! I love Drew Barrymore, though she barely survives 20 minutes (a bit like me first time around). Great film, plenty of shocks - but then I'm a bit of a one to hide behind the cushions. No doubt everyone else would regard this as tame. I got a box set for my birthday - so still have Scream 2 and 3 to survive!

Another Christmas DVD and Jason Statham in Vegas. Not too cerebral but I really liked this and pretty much enjoy all his films that I cross paths with. Do I care that he plays the same type of figure in every movie? Err, not really. What he does, he does well.

Episode 1 watched and enjoyed so far. My son bought me the series on DVD absolutely ages ago. I'll definitely be watching more episodes in February.