FEBRUARY 2018 - FILMS + TV (+ THEATRE)

Another half dozen or so films in the month, with one trip to the Cinema and a show in London's West End! Go me - Mr Culture-Lover!

John Wick Chapter 2 (2017)

I watched the first one a month or two ago and was just as entertained second time around. Nothing too cerebral, just plenty of action and thrills and an insanely high body count. Suspension of disbelief required and you'll have a good time with this! I quite like Keanu Reeves, though haven't seen that much of him in his post-Matrix days.

From Google....

Retired super-assassin John Wick's plans to resume a quiet civilian life are cut short when Italian gangster Santino D'Antonio shows up on his doorstep with a gold marker, compelling him to repay past favors. Ordered by Winston, kingpin of secret assassin society The Continental, to respect the organization's ancient code, Wick reluctantly accepts the assignment to travel to Rome to take out D'Antonio's sister, the ruthless capo atop the Italian Camorra crime syndicate.

Prisoners (2013)

A very good film, very dark, with a difficult story line addressing how far you would go to try and save your family. Superb cast with Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano and Jake Gyllenhaal - all of whom are all pretty amazing.

From Google....

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) faces a parent's worst nightmare when his 6-year-old daughter, Anna, and her friend go missing. The only lead is an old motorhome that had been parked on their street. The head of the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), arrests the driver (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces Loki to release his only suspect. Dover, knowing that his daughter's life is at stake, decides that he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Norfolk (2015)

Recorded when it aired recently and watched last month. Fair to say this one split opinion in our household. An hour and a half of my wife's time she'll never get back.; whereas I kind of liked it. Not the best film ever and not one I'm going to rush to watch again anytime soon, but it was a bit different. The "father and son" actors were both pretty good. Pretty sure I've seen the dad in lots else, but I can't remember what.

From the film's website...

A father and son live a reclusive lifestyle in the middle of nowhere. The man, a disillusioned mercenary, has his final target in sight – a gang of foreign revolutionaries who lay low in a nearby derelict compound. As the man closes in on his target the boy falls for the revolutionaries’ serving girl.

Having spent his whole life in isolation the boy now discovers the warmth of friendship and the pleasures of something more. As father and son collide the boy is sent running, running in pain and full of betrayal, straight into the twisted embittered arms of the boy’s maternal grandparents, who have come to snatch and save the boy. Figuring out what is right and wrong, what is good and bad is a task for both the man and the audience.

Written & Directed by: Martin Radich

The Shape of Water (2017) 

My sole cinema trip in the month and a good one. A bit different and I suppose I can see why it's garnered about a gazillion award nominations. I liked the main actress, though I can't recall seeing her elsewhere. I do like Michael Shannon (the baddie) and always have done since Kangaroo Jack years ago. He was pretty amazing in The Iceman.

From Google..

Elisa is a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. Her life changes forever when she discovers the lab's classified secret -- a mysterious, scaled creature from South America that lives in a water tank. As Elisa develops a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that its fate and very survival lies in the hands of a hostile government agent and a marine biologist.

The Resident |(2011)

There's some pretty harsh reviews for this one on-line, but I enjoyed it. It might have been a little predictable but in spite of that, it captured my attention for however long it was. Hilary Swank is very good. Maybe not quite as amazing as she was in Million Dollar Baby.

From Wikipedia....

The Resident is a 2011 British thriller film directed by Antti Jokinen and starring Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Swank stars as a recently single woman who rents an apartment in New York City and comes to suspect that someone is stalking her. The film also features a cameo from Hammer Films star Christopher Lee, in his first collaboration with the studio since 1976's To the Devil a Daughter and his last before his death in 2015.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

A second maybe third viewing here. I love Martin Sheen and i do like film's with a Vietnam War theme. If I had a complaint - it's a bit long this one, so I probably zoned out at a few points when watching. I'll probably be up for another watch in another 10 year's time.

From Google....

In Vietnam in 1970, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) takes a perilous and increasingly hallucinatory journey upriver to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a once-promising officer who has reportedly gone completely mad. In the company of a Navy patrol boat filled with street-smart kids, a surfing-obsessed Air Cavalry officer (Robert Duvall), and a crazed freelance photographer (Dennis Hopper), Willard travels further and further into the heart of darkness.

London's West End (2018)

A bit of an outing for me and the better half. A bit of shopping, a nice meal, a show and a hotel for the night. Followed by a trip to Portobello Road Market, an afternoon spent in a pub with the wife and son off Oxford Street, a bit more shopping and a train home.

I did enjoy this - a lot, but could have quite easily passed on the operatic-style singing at points in the production. I was far fonder of the duets and the Gilbert and Sullivan style riffs between the theatre owners. Churlish to be picky - but opera isn't my bag. Subtitles running in the background would have helped. Not that it marred an amazing night - which followed a pretty good day and preceded another one.