MARCH 2018 - FILMS + TV

A mixed bag of viewing in the month...... a crappy wannabee I-Robot that I couldn't finish, a BBC domestic drama started, a documentary on NYPD corruption, a bit of mountaineering, some sci-fi, some twisted British comedy and Cameron Diaz's arse.

Precinct Seven Five (2014)

A bit of real life drama and history in the form of a documentary charting the corruption of certain elements of the NYPD and their subsequent downfall. Fascinating. Michael Dowd - the main focus of the film, seems unapologetic about his behaviour to this day.

From Wikipedia....

The Seven Five, also known as Precinct Seven Five, is a 2014 documentary directed by Tiller Russell, and produced by Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, and Sheldon Yellen. The film looks at police corruption in the 75th precinct of the New York Police Department during the 1980s. The documentary focuses around Michael Dowd, a former police officer of 10 years, who was arrested in 1992, leading to one of the largest police corruption scandals in New York City history. The documentary uses footage from the Mollen Commission investigation in 1992 and also provides in-depth commentary from Dowd, Ken Eurell, and Adam Diaz, among others. The documentary premiered at DOC NYC November 14, 2014. Sony Pictures recently purchased the rights of The Seven Five documentary in an auction.

Chappie (2015)

One I stuck for half an hour or so then killed, I just wan't engaged or interested enough to persist with it. A decent cast and few people involved who I usually enjoy seeing on the screen - Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver and Dev Patel. Dire and a half hour of my life I'll never get back.

From IMDB....

In the near future, crime is patrolled by a mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself.

Come Home (2018) BBC

Powerful drama - a three parter, though preparing for a house move in the middle of the month meant we only watched the first episode so far. Hopefully it's still available on catch up, or I'll be annoyed. Christopher Ecclestone stars as a husband who's wife (the excellent Paula Malcomson) inexplicably (to him at least) walks out on their marriage and their three young kids.

A bit of story background.......

The premise for Come Home, the new BBC One three-parter, appears to set up a fraught, harrowing relationship drama with very little to smile about. Christopher Eccleston plays Greg, a now-single father struggling to care for his three children after wife Marie (Paula Malcomson) leaves her family, out of the blue.

Annihilation (2018)

A bit of sci-fi with Natalie Portman and others. Interesting enough with plenty of tension and mounting terror, as Portman and her team try and discover what happened to the team prior to them who investigated a mysterious shimmer around a lighthouse.

From IMDB...

A biologist's husband disappears. She puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, a surveyor, and a linguist.

Everest (2015)

Based on a true life expedition which ended in tragedy for some. Decent cast, compelling personal stories, amazing mountain scenes which made me want to put my coat and scarf on. But ultimately I just don't understand the psyche of adventurers, explorers, mountain climbers, free divers, pot-holers, and those of a similar ilk. I kind of think of the families anxiously waiting at home for them to return... or not.

From Wikipedia....

Everest is a 2015 biographical adventure film directed and produced by Baltasar Kormákur and written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy, adapted from Beck Weathers' memoir Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest (2000). It stars an ensemble cast of Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson, and Jake Gyllenhaal. It is based on the real events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, and focuses on the survival attempts of two expedition groups, one led by Rob Hall (Clarke) and the other by Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal).  

Sex Tape (2014)

I do like Cameron Diaz, probably more as a comedy actress than when she's playing it seriously and this one is mildly amusing. Not the best film ever, but enough laughs to make it an entertaining watch. I recognise the husband in this, but haven't a scooby who he is.

From IMDB....

A married couple wake up to discover that the sex tape they made the evening before has gone missing, leading to a frantic search for its whereabouts.

The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005)

The past month or two has seen my son watching the TV series of League of Gentlemen on demand. I watched this on and off back in the day and was always slightly disturbed and unsettled by the creepiness of some of the characters. Dipping in and out with him, I was surprised to see how much I enjoyed it and how many scenes I could remember. We tracked down the film as a result. Well worth the couple of quid invested. Not quite wholesome family entertainment but plenty of laughs had in the Keane household.

From Wikipedia.....

The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is a feature film spin-off of the British television comedy series The League of Gentlemen. Starring Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the film was written by the cast with Jeremy Dyson, and directed by Steve Bendelack. Also featuring in guest roles are Michael Sheen, Victoria Wood, David Warner, Alan Morrissey, Bruno Langley, Bernard Hill, Simon Pegg and Peter Kay.