AUGUST 2019 - FILMS + TV (HOME VIEWING)

Not too much enjoyed in the month, as I was somewhat disrupted by family birthdays, holidays, car trouble - MOTs and repairs, work and general all-round nonsense interfering with my reading and viewing relaxation.

One TV series continued - still doggedly pursuing it to the end slowly, slowly - maybe 5 episodes to go and 2.5 films watched - 1 a re-watch from 20 odd years ago and the unfinished film to be continued with tiredness over-taking my absorption in the plot, when watching.

The Handmaid's Tale - Season 3 (2019) - TV Drama

The slow march towards the climax of this continues. Scary as fuck really, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all pans out. Interesting to note how my sympathies and compassion for certain characters constantly changes during the course of the series.

From Google.....

Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood, this series is set in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what used to be part of the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her.

Fargo (1996)

A re-watch from who knows when. My son had never seen it, so we dusted off the old DVD and had another look. I still really like it. The last watch was long enough ago that I couldn't actually remember everything prior to seeing it again. I do like Steve Buscemi. He cracks me up every time. Frances McDormand is excellent.

I've enjoyed the three TV series which have aired in the past few years. More than this? Hard to say. Maybe because of the longer format, probably.

From Wikipedia....

Fargo is a 1996 neo-noir black comedy thriller film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant Minnesota police chief investigating roadside homicides that ensue after a desperate car salesman (William H. Macy) hires two criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife in order to extort a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law (Harve Presnell).

Fargo premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, where Joel Coen won the festival's Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director Award) and the film was nominated for the Palme d'Or. A critical and commercial success, Fargo received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. McDormand received the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Coens won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.


The film was selected in 2006 for preservation in the National Film Registry of the United States by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"—one of only six films so designated in its first year of eligibility.In 1998, the American Film Institute named it one of the 100 greatest American films in history. A Coen-produced FX television series of the same name, inspired by Fargo and taking place in the same fictional universe, premiered in 2014 and received critical acclaim.

Django Unchained (2012)

About halfway through this one and enjoying it immensely. I got the DVD as a present about 6 or 7 years ago from my son and never watched it before, for some bizarre reason. Idiot. I think I've enjoyed all of Quentin Tarantino's films TBH. Jamie Foxx is excellent as is his nutty sidekick, not someone I can recall seeing before - Christoph Waltz.


From Google.....

Two years before the Civil War, Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave, finds himself accompanying an unorthodox German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) on a mission to capture the vicious Brittle brothers. Their mission successful, Schultz frees Django, and together they hunt the South's most-wanted criminals. Their travels take them to the infamous plantation of shady Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), where Django's long-lost wife (Kerry Washington) is still a slave.

The Big Short (2015)

Did I understand all the financial machinations and shenanigans? No, but it didn't stop me enjoying this one. Interesting expose, but in truth didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. Bankers, politicians, regulators..... shady fuckers the lot of 'em. 

As a side note, our current chancellor, Sajid Javid was involved in selling CDOs at Deutsche Bank - a practice which contributed to the financial crisis. Surprised? Not really 

John McDonnell's view (Labour politician)


From Wikipedia....

The Big Short is a 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Adam McKay. Written by McKay and Charles Randolph, it is based on the 2010 book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis showing how the financial crisis of 2007–2008 was triggered by the United States housing bubble.