28 Days Later

 I struggled with this. I am in a bad mood today, so perhaps I could not get immersed into this film

Firstly the world building. Why is he naked in an ITU? How does he survive? Why isn't everything on fire Where are the barking stray dogs? The loose bank notes in the street was a nice touch though. 

It was nice to see Paddington on screen- the neighbourhood

The drop of blood from an infected corpse just falls right... okay sure

Secondly the straw man villians. The brave survivors are lured to a country house by a Major West.

 We know West is evil because he has an RP accent and talks about Darwinian struggle. The Scottish Sgt tells us we're doomed, we doomed. I know there is confusion about the rest of the world in the plot We are too believe they  did  not see planes? did they not hear radio

One could argue this is Cillian taking an Irish/ Colonial revenge on the Major in the Big House

I could not get into this one 

Stand Up Dead Man!

I like Craig's Cajun. I would watch a Netflix series of him, say solving the Kentucky Derby case

Look Johnson is not catholic. So this film has a sort of clunky logic. A widower is unlikely to become a priest while he still has children. Think of a few years of seminary as well. They should have been Anglican, or some Eastern Branch Catholics. Apparently the film was filmed in London. This church looks Anglican. Some of the language sounds evangelical. You loose immersion quickly

Mila Kunis, is now playing  sherriffs and not sweethearts She is pretty good

Oh hey RF having a part in the plot

I will credit this film for mentioning classic murder mysteries So there is that. If you like Glen Close you will like this, but I have seen too much of this 

Ice Cold in Alex

 Worth Waiting for

This film was made with the help of United Kingdom of Libya, if that did not date the film. 

I was suprised how much exposition was needed to set the scene of the story

It was nice to see Harry Andrews again

Sylvia Sims is beautiful. Whatever Angelina Jolie does with her eyes, she did it first. I was surprised to learn that the film was pretty much method acting. I was confused by her sudden romance with John Mills

They gave Diane CLare, a hell of a lot Morphine

Antony Quayle plays an Afrikaaner very well. Big, strong, and charmless

I liked the resolution, I did find it satisfying they tied up the ends

A Man for All Seasons

 Oh this was a delight. 

Seeing the opening scenes and the light on the river, and the reeds. Made me feel how timeless this was. 

It was made in the 1960s but it could have been 500 years ago. The talk of Richmond and Chelsea being of places of import and status reinforced that. Oh and a scene with the autumn winds throwing their weight arround made me think. Yes this is England. I know this place.

Well here we see the England I know being made. 

I will presume my reader knows the story of the fall of Thomas More

The film ends with a gouty flushed Woolsley begging More to support him in the King's Great Matter. The King here played with menace by Robert Shaw I did not notice him. Henry roars, and threatens he  dashes back to Richmond annoyed and mocks his flunkeys trying to follow him 

and yet like Canute is bound by the tide. The river runs through this film. Royal barges, mud and boatmen who could be taxi drivers. 

We have John Hurt, and Leo McKern both playing villians. Hurt is his first role. 

Oh just go and watch it. I cannot do it justice here, with mere words. I note two things, this was more of a courtroom drama then I expected. It works well. 

Secondly it has a female lead in More's daughter. We see Anne Boylen in passing. More's wife doesn't have as much to do .

it was simply superb

The Searchers

 

Yes I can see why this is considered John Wayne's best work. Wayne is not a great actor, but I think he is playing someone close to himself. He was the grandson of a civil war veteran. A physically big man of perhaps unreconstructed views. When he throws a bag at someone or snarls at someone and utters a slur. That's Wayne

It looks glorious - the techincolor does a great service to a big country. There is the red dust of the desert and the bright white snow . There is a battle at a ford. Wayne's Irish and Scottish  ancestors would have understood. This is a story of an abduction. Of slavery..

Though we don't see it. Wayne really does a good job returning to camp after burying the body of a descreated young woman- a kinswoman he knew

A comic scene where an Indian woman believes she has been married, for is used later to show the horror of the US Calvary's attack on an Indian camp. There is a meek soul among the dead

A heroic story without heroes

Strangers on a Train

 What was the last big film- based on a proposition? What if you were offered 1 million dollars for a night of passion with your wife? What if a stranger offered to kill the person standing in your way to happiness? 

Well in Strangers in a Train, a stranger on a train offers a man a deal- kill his father and he will kill his troublesome ex wife. There would be no motive. The police before DNA and cameras would have little to work on. Though not nothing- as the male lead a gifted amateur tennis player wants to marry the daughter of a senator there is a enough of a stink. That questions are asked

It is an elegant film, a product of a more civilised age. Everyone is dressed smartly - The lead is an aspiring tennis star. We see a tennis match played in DC. DC looks great in Hitchock, he is actually one of the few people to make it feel a lived in city. Yes you see the monuments- you also see people going to work

I note that everyone in Hitchcock seems to be a true crime buff, similar to rope. Particulary the young woman - the senators daughter. 

The film does a good job in making the murder victim- the tennis player's first wife seem both unpleasant and loose- but also showing the horror of a her murder. She was a dislikeable person- she didn't deserve to die for it. There is no illusion here. 

The ending has a spectacular stunt sequence.  A fight on a merry go round. Which I did find a little jarring. I stopped caring about the fight between the protagonist and the antagonist Once I realised Children could be hurt. The mothers dashing to their children who may well have been killed- made the events look small. 

I did like the book ending with the minister-priest

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Stone

 Many happy returns on your nupitals.