Wednesday 3 May 2017

MARCH 2017 - FILMS +TV

March saw two cinema trips, a short crime film from You Tube, a bit of intrigue and some condensed series viewing with Tom Hardy stalking around Ye Olde London in a big hat, and the much anticipated start of Broadchurch series 3!

The Last Job (2014)

Thanks to John Grant of Noirish for the tip-off on this one. 25 minutes short and and a bit of a Probert family production with four of them involved in this one. John's post is here and tells you more than I could ever hope to. A worthwhile watch
Adam is a police officer and loving husband. When his wife Jane is diagnosed with cancer he makes a deal with corrupt medical scientist Dr Redgrove who he has been hunting for years to use his research to save Jane in exchange for his own life. Adam fakes his own death to work for Redgrove as an assassin, after years working for him he is given his last assignment which is to kill his wife's new husband who is a medical scientist opposing Redgrove's research.




Taboo (2017) 

I read a scathing review of this series - to the effect that it mainly consists of Tom Hardy skulking around London in a tall, black hat and Jonathan Pryce telling someone to fuck off once a week.

I kind of get where they were coming from, but as I like Tom Hardy and Jonathan Pryce I could enjoy watching this one. Stephen Graham (Combo - This is England) and Tom Hollander (Corky from The Night Manager) also feature.

It was a bit slow in places and I can't claim to have totally understood the plot, especially the weird brother-sister-drowning in the water-shagging-mystical-occult type weirdness but it was incredibly dark. Hardy an adventurer sticking it to the powerful East India Company and the Prince Regent. 
Taboo is a British television drama programme produced by Scott Free London and Hardy Son & Baker for BBC One and FX. The show premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2017, followed by the United States premiere on FX on 10 January 2017. The programme was renewed for a second series in March 2017.
It was created by Steven KnightTom Hardy, and his father, Edward "Chips" Hardy, and is based on a story written by Tom and Chips Hardy. The eight-part series, set in 1814, begins with James Delaney (Tom Hardy) returning to England after twelve years in Africa with fourteen stolen diamonds, following the death of his father and as the war with the United States is nearing its end.

Broadchurch - series 3 (2017)
David Tennant - Olivia Colman - AMAZEBALLS! Disturbing and uncomfortable viewing in places as our intrepid pair investigate the rape of a woman at a birthday party. Plenty of suspects, including Charlie Higson (The Fast Show) and Lennie Henry - who would have thought they could produce such compelling straight man performances. Gripping - and to be concluded in April!
The third and final series of the British crime drama Broadchurch began airing on the ITV broadcast network in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2017. Set three years after the previous series, the eight-episode series focuses on the sexual assault of a local middle-aged woman in the fictional, close-knit coastal town of Broadchurch in DorsetEngland.[1]
Broadchurch was conceived as a trilogy, the second series was only announced on 22 April 2013 as series one ended, the third part being announced at the end of the second series.[2] The return features series stars Olivia Colman and David Tennant and many of their co-stars from the first two series.

Denial (2016)

A trip to the flicks and some top drama with Timothy Spall, Rachel Weisz and Tom Wilkinson in a true tale of a libel battle between a holocaust denier and a Jewish American author. All three give fantastic performances. Not a film you could forget in a hurry really.
Denial is a 2016 British-American historical drama film directed by Mick Jackson and written by David Hare, based on Deborah Lipstadt's book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier. It dramatises the Irving v Penguin Books Ltd case, in which Lipstadt, a Holocaust scholar, was sued by Holocaust denier David Irving for libel. It stars Rachel WeiszTom WilkinsonTimothy SpallAndrew ScottJack LowdenCaren Pistorius and Alex Jennings.



La La Land (2016)
Back to my local library theatre with my wife the day after watching Denial and a bit of lighter fare this time. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one too much but was pleasantly surprised. I do like Ryan Gosling and I enjoyed Emma Stone's performance in The Help. I must admit to a touch of sadness at the alternate outcome-life path scene - what the hell is wrong with me?

A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.

10 comments:

  1. Glad you had some good viewing, Col. I'd actually been wondering whether I ought to see La La Land, as it's not my normal cuppa. Perhaps I will...

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    1. I think you would probably enjoy it Margot. Not my preferred viewing genre but I was entertained. Nice to step away from mystery and crime sometimes.

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  2. I hadn't planned to watch season 3 of Broadchurch because I thought Season 2 was very inferior to season 1. But I happened to be at a friend's the night episode 1 aired here and she is a David Tennant super fan so we watched. It was outstanding and I watched all the rest eagerly. Really great to see a crime show NOT be about murder and some really great acting from all

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    1. I thought season 2 was a bit of a dip compared to the first one also, but we were still eagerly awaiting this one. I do like Olivia Colman in particular. I agree about the non-murder content, though it was an uncomfortable watch in places - very powerful without being exploitative.

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  3. Denial sounds intriguing. And just as with Emily Blunt I'll watch Rachael Weisz in anything.

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    1. Glen, I think you would enjoy the film. Difficult content but excellent. Weisz won't let you down!

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  4. Thanks for the shoutout, Col!

    Denial is definitely on my personal to-be-watched list. I've read detailed accounts of the case -- although not, oddly enough, Lipstadt's own -- and am very much looking forward to the dramatization . . . especially the happy ending! :)

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    1. John - you're welcome. I hope you cross paths with Denial soon. Timothy Spall is fantastic. I only vaguely knew of the libel case prior to the film's release.

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  5. I'd like to see Denial, and I did enjoy La La Land. My daughter and I disagreed on what the alternate-path scene meant..
    Despite not having seen any of the previous Broadchurch, I saw the last epi of this one - I think it was the Easter weekend and the family were watching together, so I sat in on it. Not really in a position to judge therefore.

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    1. I reckon Denial would be up your street Moira. I'm trying to think what other outcomes there could be to the alternate-ending, other than what was shown.

      I liked this season of Broadchurch more than the last, though I seem to remember there being a bit more of a frenzy around series two, in the media etc.

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