A Hologram for the King (2016 Tom Tykwer & scr)

A refreshingly different story, which actually doesn't go at all where you think it might - indeed lays several levels of paranoia which aren't realised. The source is a novel by Dave Eggers.

Tom Hanks, Alexander Black, Sarita Choudhury. Sidse Babett Knudsen, Tom Skerritt. Ben Whishaw was in it, but we didn't notice.

Shot by Frank Griebe, who also did Tykwer's Paris Je T'Aime sequence, 3 and Cloud Atlas.

La Nuit Americaine / Day For Night (1973 Francois Truffaut)

I like a film about film-making, and this is the best of all of them, reviewed well here.

Written by Truffaut with The Bride Wore Black's Jean-Louis Richard, aided by Suzanne Schiffman who is also assistant director. In a neat twist, she also recommended Nathalie Baye (Beautiful Lies, Catch Me If You Can, The Green Room, The Man Who Loved Women) as her own character the script girl. 

Jean-Luc Godard claimed in making the film that Truffaut had 'sold out', told him so by letter and they fell out irrevocably. What an arsehole.

Great music from Georges Delerue.

The Eiger Sanction (1975 Clint Eastwood)

Early thriller stuff doesn't seem to mesh with mountaineering in muddled screenplay, which takes forever to get to the sodding Eiger, where our friend Guy Neithardt helped train the actors to climb. He reported that the crew were extremely hard working and professional, as was the director, and that George Kennedy was a big softie with impeccable manners.

Lovely photography by Frank Stanley sensibly in deep focus, spectacular footage in Monument Valley and Switzerland, early score from John Williams. With Vonetta McGee, Jack Cassidy, Heidi Bruhl.

The Jungle Book (2016 Jon Favreau)

Felt like it was a good stab at the Kipling original (though haven't read it), why then include 'Bare Necessities'? And why make the orangutan so big? Crazy lapses of judgment. Otherwise, fabulous effects, photography (Bill Pope). Screenplay by Justin Marks.  Kind of 'Jungle Book - Revenant version', not, I would have thought, for kids. Crazy - a kids' film that's unsuitable for kids. Had to laugh, though, at the Apocalypse Now reference.

Neel Sethi plays Mowgli; plus Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o (Twelve Years a Slave, Star Wars), Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken.

Edited by Mark Livolsi, music John Debney.

Silver Streak (1976 Arthur Hiller)

As much to commemorate Gene Wilder as Hiller, who also died recently. Colin Higgins' screenplay is not top drawer, viz. 'I just saw a dead man outside the train window.' 'It may have been a reflection.' (Of what?? A dead man in their compartment??) 'Oh, OK then.' And borrows from The Lady Vanishes. Most of the cast seem to be just cruising through. Wilder reportedly didn't get on well with Prior and maybe that's coming over.

Best bit probably is the farmer lady who flies Wilder to the train's next stop in her biplane, and Jill Clayburgh is fine in a fairly thankless role (the moment MacGoohan punches her is totally gratuitous and doesn't suit the tone).

At one point in a Wilder-Clayburgh close-up I commented "Wow. What a lot of hairspray" and Q retorted "On which one?"

Also led to a debate about how much actors are directed, and that sometimes it's better to have a director who's had acting experience (though I can think of many outstanding ones who hadn't).

Tower Block (2012 James Nunn, Ronnie Thompson)

Assault on Precinct 13 I started thinking, down to the suitably synthy seventies score; though Q later corrected me to an older source - And Then There Were None. Also I kept getting flashes of Towering Inferno and Poseiden Adventure in largely successful independent, low budget production, scripted by James Moran (from BBC TV).

I like that Sheridan Smith supports these indie films, and she's credible as our gutsy heroine. I did think the kid's gaming prowess might come in useful later on but alas he was one of the ten. With a typically characteristic performance by Jack O'Connell, plus Ralph Brown, Russell Tovey, Julie Graham.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004 Beeban Kidron)

Not as good as the original - apart from The Bride of Frankenstein I'm not sure there ever has been a sequel better than the first. For one thing contains far too many songs, some of which actually fight with the dialogue - a ridiculous state of affairs. Are we at a movie or listening to a jukebox? It's like the model for movie-making has changed in just two years.

Also the Firth character is just too taciturn to be actually believable in places. Still has two great moments: the description of how hard he has worked to get Bridget freed, and the revelation of Jacinda Barrett, who I am delighted to say Q still did not remember.

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001 Sharon Maguire)

Amazing - it was 15 years since the not exactly productive Maguire made her feature debut. 'What are they thinking' we asked, 'why didn't they use a British actress for Bridget?' (Answer: none of them wanted to put on weight.) Then Renée Zellweger came along and stole our hearts.

Well shaped by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis, though like J-Lo it has a too extended ending. It's beautifully cast.

Cemetery Junction (2010 Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant & scr)

Christian Cooke, Tom Hughes & Jack Doolan, Felicity Jones, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Ricky Gervais, Julia Davis, Anne Reid, Steve Speirs (from Stella, his meatiest role), Burn Gorman (nasty cop).

Here's my original review, 27/8/10:

Not exactly original, with echoes of everything from Billy Liar to Saturday Night Fever and Good Will Hunting to Mean Streets, but convincing. Best scene: Cooke offering to dance with Watson (and ash in retirement bowl). Wisely they chose Remi Adefarasin to shoot it (in Panavision).

Yes, not a bad review. They definitely left the joke book at home - it's quite serious. Best moments other than the above are the way Cooke observes Watson's quiet serving of tea to Fiennes, the quiet death of the retiring worker and the pivotal scene between Hughes in his toothy insolence and Speirs in police cell.

The opening classical music is Vaughan Williams, good soundtrack. Good editing by Valerio Bonelli (The Martian, Philomena) who in 2015 was still working in Avid. It's funny to see and hear how local landmarks have become transposed in the authors' imaginations - the production design is by Anna Higginson (started on This Life, many TV things) - actually shot in Loughborough.

It was, finally, very good to hear 'Rain Song' again, which lends the film an evocative ending.

White Oleander (2002 Peter Kosminsky)

Brit Kosminsky also made The Government Inspector and Wolf Hall. In this, Alison Lohman has to escape from her controlling and dangerous mother Michelle Pfeiffer who's still trying to control her life though incarcerated for the murder of Billy Connolly. This happens with help or hindrance of various foster families, which include Robin Wright Penn and Renée Zelleweger and fellow inmate Patrick Fugit.

Thomas Newman's very recognisable score keeps film at quiet pace; that Eliot Davis chap again is on camera, Mary Agnes Donoghue (Beaches) adapted Janet Fitch's novel. The artist who drew the portraits and the graphic novel stuff are good.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946 William Wyler)

First of all, can you believe this review on Amazon:
'Prior to ordering this film I had just watched the superb Mrs Miniver and was attracted to this title by the awards and favourable reviews on Amazon. I have to say I found the film overlong and boring, perhaps life in post war America is not very appealing to us Brits!'

Unbelievable. Here's some interesting background from Wikipedia:

'Samuel Goldwyn was inspired to produce a film about veterans after reading an August 7, 1944, article in Time about the difficulties experienced by men returning to civilian life. Goldwyn hired former war correspondent MacKinlay Kantor to write a screenplay. His work was first published as a novella,' Glory for Me', which Kantor wrote in blank verse. Robert Sherwood then adapted the novella as a screenplay.

'The Best Years of Our Lives won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actor (Fredric March), Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Best Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Sherwood), and Best Original Score (Hugo Friedhofer). In addition to its critical success, the film quickly became a great commercial success upon release. It became the highest-grossing film and most attended film in both the United States and UK since the release of Gone with the Wind.'

That I did not know. Because Wyler has these long takes and he's not in a hurry with his actors you get these just great moments. One example is when March tells Andrews he can't see his daughter any more, you can see Andrews really thinking, wrestling with the problem and his feelings for her and knowing the father is right. Teresa Wright (who is as fantastic as all the other cast members) - when she sits down with Andrews' shallow wife Virginia Mayo and gradually realises what she's like - this look of barely perceptible face changes is her hallmark - she does it again in confrontation scene with Andrews later. March is a great drunk. Loy has wonderfully subtle registrations. they both do. And so on. And you forget while all this stuff is going on that it's normally in some really long take in which Russell's lit two matches and had a glass of beer or something equally complicated.

Despite its reputation for being a brave and powerful film about the after effects (social, physical, psychological, financial, romantic) of war - timeless reflections - it is superbly a top class director directing top class actors.

And unlike Now Voyager the camera is rarely moving. Gregg Toland allows everything to take place in the lovely deep staging that you just never get any more. The framing is so precise that I feel only a viewing in 1.37:1 will do, and the Blu Ray is a must.

Now Voyager (1942 Irving Rapper)

Loved Rapper's direction - the camera is always moving, usually tracking in on great acting, but otherwise Sol Polito's just sweeping around in a way people (except Marty) seem to have forgotten how to do. His angles keep changing too. Great acting by Bette Davis, her best performance (?), in eyebrows from Carry On Screaming. Claude Rains an actor you'll always welcome, here both tender and tough. Gladys Cooper doesn't give an inch of sympathy.

Olive Higgins Prouty wrote 'Stella Dallas' in 1922 and this in 1941, the middle of five novels about the Vale family of Boston. She herself suffered from prolonged nervous breakdowns making the subject matter rather personal. It's superbly adapted by Casey Robinson (also Kings Row).

But it would be an altogether different film without Max Steiner's superb score running throughout.

The way Henreid lights two cigarettes is touchingly intimate. And the moment when Janis Wilson asks Henreid her father 'Do you really like me?' would make a goat cry.

Montages by Don Siegel, nippy editing by Warren Low. Featuring Franklin Pangborn.

Blazing Saddles (1974 Mel Brooks)

For Gene Wilder, who died 29 August from Alzheimer's, aged 83. ("Are we black?... Then we're awake.') He had a nice face and though he doesn't appear in Brooks' anarchic take on Westerns (a sort of seventies Marx Brothers film with the new cool black sensibility) until 30 minutes in, his presence as the Waco Kid enriches the film. He was a character who you just loved. It's Cleavon Little's show, though, but Harvey Korman (as 'Hedley Lamarr') and Madeline Khan as the Dietrich character (Oscar nominated again after Paper Moon) are both exuberant. (Mel: 'They [these four] infused me with great joy and energy'.)

A host of writers was needed ('Quick, bring me more writers, I need more gags') means the pace, though patchy, doesn't sag often. Joseph Biroc shot it, score steals from The Big Country or something.

A welcome figure in my formative years of move-going, with this, Young Frankenstein and Silver Streak, Gene will never be missed because he is always here.

The ending, in which the film bursts out onto the film studios, and the stars end up attending its own premiere, is inspired lunacy.

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010 Steve Pink)

You get what it says on the label, perfectly self-mocked by Craig Robinson (This Is The End, Pineapple Express) who expresses the title straight to camera. Suffers from the usual moments of excessive crudity which seems to be an attempt to attract a younger audience? Fun though, as John Cusack, Clark Duke, and Ron Corddry join Craig in trip back to 1986 (you know me, I love a time travel thing). With Lyndsey Fonseca, Crispin Glover and Chevy Chase (in a sort of repeat of Pleasantville's time travel repair man).

Edited by George Folsey Jr. Some of it is deliriously fast.

Ellen (2016 Mahalia Belo)

I like the sound of Mahalia, who's only made well-regarded short films up till this point (South Westerly, Stray, Volume and Advent). Sarah Quintrell is the first time writer (otherwise appeared very fleetingly in TV, came in via a Channel 4 new writers thing). Plus Chloe Thomson as DP and Carmela Landoli editing you have a new and female team bringing us something unforgettable. Similar to Fish Tank, not as stylish, though there are certainly some interesting angles and moments. It's interesting how the earlier film is in 4x3 (for maximum focus) whilst this widescreen story sometimes cuts out the actors or places them on the edges of the shot.

Jessica Barden is a bit of an old pro already having appeared in The Lobster, Far From the Madding Crowd, Vera, Tamara Drewe and Hannah. God, she's good. So too is co-star Yasmin Monet Prince (her debut). Then more seasoned co-stars come in the shape of Jaime Winstone, Joe Dempsie (This Is England, One Of Us, Skins) and Charlie Creed-Miles.

The ending - the tree that no one hears falling - is one of those powerful ones that stays in your memory for ages, creating not just a film but a searing social statement.

Belo won the BAFTA Breakthrough Award, Quintrell and Thomson were nominated.

The Ladykillers (2004 Coen Brothers)

Having seen the film, still no idea why they decided to remake this classic. The unfortunate result is slightly unsettling, like fingernails on a blackboard, due to Hanks' too many soliloquies, too much gospel which doesn't move the story along and too much of fractious band members. Picks up in latter third; great cat (same trainer as Inside Lewyn Davis?) Even Deakins' photography is not particularly striking - was everyone on low power? It's very talky, and they stole Sturges' portrait gag.

Irma P Hall is the lady. Gang members are Marlon Wayans, JK Simmons, Tzi Ma, and Ryan Hurst (and Diane Delano).

In searching for a screen shot I inadvertently set the film to the Spanish language version - weirdly it all seemed to work much better that way.

Last Vegas (2013 John Turtletaub)

With a thoroughly predictable plot, though good dialogue by Dan Fogelman (Crazy Stupid Love still his best film), resulting in enjoyableness. With Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Kevin Kline, Robert de Niro, Mary Steenburgen, Entourage's Jerry Ferrara and Romany Malco. Does overdo the bikini clad babes but doesn't suffer from that rebarbative crude and cruel streak that infects certain Hollywood 'comedies'.

Glossy widescreen photography by David Hennings.

Mister John (2013 Joe Lawlor & Christine Molloy & scr)

They edited it as well. Film has unfamiliar Singapore feel, is quite slow. Aiden Gillan becomes involved in the life and wife of his deceased brother, and almost walks into the 'twice bitten, this time dead' snake trap. Zoe Tay is mixed so low you can barely hear her. Doesn't add up to much, has certain moments, the music is fine.