What About Bob? (1991 Frank Oz)

Tom Schulman's screenplay (of Alvin Sargent and Laura Ziskin's story) is pretty lame, really, and not overly blessed with laughs, but the opportunity to see Dreyfuss and Murray perform their shtick together is compelling.

Sargent also co-wrote You've Got Mail, as well as Paper Moon, Bobby Deerfield, Julia, Straight Time, Ordinary People, White Palace, Accidental Hero and several Spider Mans. He and Ziskin were briefly married.

The irony is that the psychiatrist is treating the patient successfully; the humour that the family and the patient bond.

Michael Ballhaus shot it (Florian 1st assistant) and Anne Coates cut it.

"Roses are red, violets are blue,
I'm a schizophrenic, and so am I."

You've Got Mail Again (1998 Nora Ephron)

A nice interpretation of the original by Nora and Delia, although also somewhat clunky e.g. what's the point of Grandpa having had a fling with Meg Ryan's mother if you're not going to use it somehow? Also I think I would have switched it so that it's she who knows the identities and not Tom Hanks (who's great when composing emails).

It's shinily shot by John Lindley, almost like a colour Charles Lang.

Jean Stapleton starred in hot seventies TV show All In the Family, which also featured Rob Reiner.... With Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Steve Zahn, Heather Burns, Dabney Coleman, John Randolph.

Did spot a Dr Zeuss and a Babar but definitely no Tintin or Alice in Wonderland in sight...

Unfaithful (2002 Adrian Lyne)

Anne Coates keeps cutting on motion, rather wonderfully; but in the main, its the cross-cutting between unfaithful wife Diane Lane (and lover Olivier Martinez) and Richard Gere that provides the frisson. Otherwise it's a curiously flat enterprise, quite sexy, but not thrillery at all (like its source, Chabrol's Une Femme Infidèle) - and perhaps it should have been. The 'tattoo' he draws on her for example - if she hadn't realised it was there...

Anyway, it's nicely shot by Peter Biziou, and the leads are good. Erik Per Sullivan (Cider House Rules) is the kid. Written by Alvin Sargent and William Broyles Jr, with a pianoey score by  Jan Kaczmarek.

The Soloist (2009 Joe Wright)

Joe Wright's long, dense, cake of a film features particularly interesting sound, designed by Craig Berkey and Chris Scarabosio, evident from the subtlety of Downey putting the phone receiver to his neck repeatedly, and the tone comes and goes, and the moment he gets into the car and everything is dulled. Also notable is the aerial spaghetti junction shot in which we hear all the radios / voices of the people below, which then feeds into the schizophrenia moments of multiple voices.

It's written by Susannah Grant (Catch and Release and In Her Shoes, Unfaithful and Erin Brockovich), based on memoir of the real Steve Lopez.

It was nominated for - and won - no major awards, which is kinda crazy as Robert Downey and Jamie Foxx are both 'Fastic!' With Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander, LisaGay Hamilton (good as Jamie's mum).

Great editing (Paul Tothill) evident in scene where Foxx retrieves cigarette butt from busy road.

Seamus McGarvey's mini-Atonement moment comes with a splendid tracking shot over the homeless.

We're the Millers (2013 Rawson Marshall Thurber)

Bob Fisher & Steve Faber and Sean Anders & John Morris wrote it - hmm. Avoided extended cut again, though it's only nine minutes longer.

Enjoyed subversive tale of 'family' constructed to smuggle pot who end of behaving like one - with the exception of that scene where Will Poulter learns to kiss with 'sister' Emma Roberts and 'Mom' Jen Aniston, while Jason Sudeikis watches - then Will's inamorata Molly Quinn walks in...

Did think Jen's reading of the RV Manual might have paid off in something useful...

The other campers are Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn (This Is Where I Leave you, She's Funny That Way) and Ed Helms is the drug importer.

'Congratulations - you just snuck into Mexico.'

The Night Before (2015 Jonathan Levine & co-scr)

A remarkably ordinary-looking bunch of people interact on Christmas Eve - Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who actually looks older in teenager scenes), Seth Rogan, Anthony Mackie, Jillian Bell, Lizzy Kaplan and Mindy Kaling, with Michael Shannon as 'Mr Green'. Lorraine Toussaint good as Mackie's mom.

It slightly overplays its hand - I would have stopped on the baby. But did enjoy Seth in the Manger.

Slightly weird to be watching a strange, drug-fuelled version of 'A Christmas Carol' in warm July. Shot by Brandon Trost in Panavision.

Analyze This (1999 Harold Ramis)

5 March 1999: movie debut in USA. 15 July 1999: Pilot of The Sopranos broadcast. A coincidence.

Billy Crystal is the executive producer. The story was by Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan, the screenplay by these two and Ramis.

Robert de Niro (who can cry without shedding a single tear) finds psychiatric help in Billy Crystal. Add in wife-to-be Lisa Kudrow and some gangsters (Joe Viterelli, Chazz Palminteri) and that's it, really. Quite funny though.

Shot by Stuart Dryburgh.

Clueless (1995 Amy Heckerling & scr)

Q chose this to pull our heads out of British black and white war films and into colourful teen nonsense. Alicia Silverstone funny when being pathetic, Paul Rudd winning, Dan Hedaya rude, Wallace Shawn sympathetic. With Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Donald Faison, Breckin Meyer, Jeremy Sisto.

The Small Back Room (1949 Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)

Another dead centre arrow (I'm beginning to think they all were), this is a strangely hypnotic film, from the extraordinary opening credits scene on (there's a shot here that I'm sure I remember hearing influences Taxi Driver), in part down to magnetic performances by David Farrar and Kathleen Byron. Micheal Gough too most sympathetic as fellow bomb disposer. With Jack Hawkins, Leslie Banks, Cyril Cusack, Renée Asherson, Sid James, Robert Morley.

Shot by Chris Challis, operated by Freddie Francis, edited by Reginald Mills and Clifford Turner, music Brian Easdale, production design Hein Heckroth. No doubt Bunuel would have liked the meeting scene drowned out by road works, and there's similar noise pollution in under stairs discussion between Farrar and Cusack. Clock / bottle scene and Chesil Bank (Beach) bomb finale also stand out. Use of objects in flat - photo, clock, bottle, phone - brilliantly well done. Based on a novel by Nigel Balchin.

In a 1968 interview, Powell tells Bertrand Tavernier that he thinks it's his best film. Apart from the surrealist bottle / clock scene, the critics loved it, but the public had no longer an appetite for a grim war film, and it was a flop.

The Way to the Stars (1945 Anthony Asquith)

Or Johnny in the Clouds - really? Absolutely corking film is written by Terence Rattigan and based on an idea by he and Richard Sherman and producer Anatole de Grunwald, with inspired use of John Pudney poems. Amazing achievement to make film about air force but include not one aerial shot or airplane interior. Upper lips never stiffer, especially in truly emotional scene in which Johnny Mills has to tell Rosamund John that Peter Cook - I mean Michael Redgrave - has been killed. Good stuff about culture clash / assimilation, demonstrated in scene in which Radford tries to play baseball.

With Douglass Montgomery, Basil Radford, Renée Asherson, Joyce Carey, Stanley Holloway, Bonar Colleano, Felix Aylmer, Trevor Howard, Bill Rowbotham aka Owen, David Tomlinson, Jean Simmons, Hartley Power.

Hadn't noticed before the fateful lighter ends up with Colleano. Also like the aircraft engineer who's morose about everything.

Shot by Derrick Williams, editor Fergus McDonell, music Nicholas Brodzsky.

Last Vegas (2013 John Turtletaub)

Because we're in a Dan Fogelman mood. After a quick flashback to the fifties, Robert de Niro isn't talking to Michael Douglas, friends Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline broker peace deal, immeasurably aided by presence of singer Mary Steenburgen, who used to be a tax attorney - not that that is useful later. Has a quite cheesy ending, I seem to remember...

With Jerry Ferrara and Romany Malco.

Danny Collins (2015 Dan Fogelman & scr)

'The following is kind of based on a true story a little bit'. Though I have to say it was a mistake to pepper the film with John Lennon songs - despite his connection to the story - because it double exposes how bad Danny Collins' material is. That is the weakness in an otherwise well written and enjoyable film.

Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Garner, Bobby Cannavale.

Love the way Bobby calms his daughter Giselle Eisenberg (that seems real), and the way it's used later. And 'Goodbye, Hope'.

Fogelman in an inveterate series creator, with Like Family (2003), The Neighbors (2012), Galavant (2015), Pitch (2016) and This Is Us (2016) to his credit. Features include TV movie The King of 7B, Life Itself (2018), Last Vegas (2013), The Guilt Trip (2012), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), wrote story for Cars 2 and Rapunzel animation Tangled.

I love the way only very much later on does Plummer reveal to Cannavale something really wonderful about his father's history.

Somewhat arbitrarily, film is shot (by Steve Yedlin) in ratio of 2.6:1, though the shape is used well:

Into the Wild (2007 Sean Penn & scr)

Full details here. And with reference to that screen shot, yes there is water all over the fucking lens!

Penn and Hirsch were keen to tell the story of Chris McCandless well and realistically, Penn to focus more on what he was journeying into rather than what he was escaping from. Rather like Vilmos Zsigmond's experiences in the USA in the seventies, Eric Gautier hadn't seen much of the inner America - and it is filmed all over the place, not just Alaska but as far south as Mexico - and that foreigner's view can be helpful to have in a film like this.

Had me thinking both of Wild (which I think I preferred) and The Revenant. There's too much voiceover for me, both from the boy and his sister, and it doesn't really add enough but has the effect of making it metaphysically sludgy. Liked the leather belt story, though.

Here's a question. How would he have lived if there was no fortuitous discovery of a 'magic bus'? In a tent, yes. And would he have been there as long if he had? Here's another question - did he explore up and down the bank of the river to find a crossing point?

'Happiness is only real when shared'. It's a tough way to find that out.

It's quite Roegish at times, particularly the very end. Jay Cassidy certainly is a great editor.

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder (who appears also in Roadies) supplies original songs.

100 Streets (2016 Jim O'Hanlon)

Written by debut feature writer Leon Butler, describing multiple slightly overlapping stories within a small area of London (Battersea). Ex Rugby captain Idris Elba is separated from wife Gemma Arterton, starts maxing out on drugs. Ageing actor Ken Stott befriends Franz Drameh, who is anxious to escape gang life. Black Cab driver Charlie Creed-Miles and wife Kierston Wareing are trying to adopt.

We didn't think it was the best film in the world, for example, Idris getting into siege situation didn't seem particularly credible, but it was OK. In fact thinking about it, the Idris character has the least of the problems compared to the others. Also script suffers from lacking humour or warmth, but is well acted.

Green Door needs a good comedy!

Guerilla (2018 John Ridley)

Episode 1 - no laughs or warmth, just lots of vile racism, violence and and talk of armed response.

This is perhaps why we didn't watch any more, despite Idris Elba and Freida Pinto.

The Hippopotamus (2017 John Jencks)

Blanche McIntryre and Tom Hodgson adapted Stephen Fry. Roger Allam is joined by Emily Berrington, Fiona Shaw, Matthew Modine, Tommy Knight, Dean Ridge, Tim McInnerny, John Standing (Butler), Emma Curtis (who has written and directed her first short Chocolate Pieces) and Geraldine Somerville.

'A CEO is a mixture between a Managing Director and a cunt.'

Bron / Broen / The Bridge - Season 4 (2018 Henrik Georgsson, Rumie Hammerich)

Loved moment where arsehole officer Jonas and her are talking.
Saga "You can't link infidelity statistics to a happiness index'.
Jonas. 'I can.'
And its her look - slightly irritated, but also thinking 'Can you? I hadn't thought of that.'

And her matter-of-factness, e.g. when talking about being pregnant.  And her inability to understand jokes and sarcasm. Halfway through, the plot was already starting to exhibit signs of trademark bonkers.

Sofia Helin is the principal reason for watching, and her (fantastic) character's being pushed into some emotional waters. With Thure Lindhardt. Head writers are Hans Rosenfeldt and Camilla Ahlgren.

With Saga quitting the police force it's intriguing to wonder what will happen to her. They should bring her back in x years - did she go back into microbiology? Does she organise security for rock groups? Is she a primary school teacher?

Set It Up (2018 Claire Scanlon)

Written by Katie Silberman, using the romcom generator app, evident from crap title on. Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell set up bosses Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs, to give themselves a break. It's OK, but some of the writing is pretty lame - when you start writing better lines and situations than are in the film, you know it's in trouble. It produced the odd giggle.

Produced for Netflix.

Midnight (1939 Mitchell Leisen)

"Every Cinderella has her midnight."

Felt self crashing. See here.

The Princess Bride (1987 Rob Reiner)

William Goldman claims he cannot write a comedy. Tells us also the film was badly marketed and thus wasn't the hit it should have been - they didn't know what the film was. Well, my take on this is (a) Goldman can write a comedy and (b) that's what this is, in a fairy tale setting.

Cary Elwes ('EL-wez') pursues his love Robin Wright with the aide of Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin and Andre the Giant, up against bad guys Chris Sarandon and Christopher Guest. Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Peter Cook and Mel Smith pop up in cameos. With Fred Savage and Peter Falk.

I love the little jokey asides like 'Don't start a land war in Asia', and such malarkey as -
'You're using Bonetti's defence against me.'
'I thought it fitting, considering the rocky terrain.'

Now I realise where the name of Silk Road's founder 'The Dread Pirate Roberts' originates!

Shot by Adrian Biddle in the UK and Ireland. It's great fun, just the thing to balance a film like Dark River, in fact.