Watching - April 2023

Moonage Daydream (2022)

A sort of life story, but of David Bowie's creative life rather than anything else - if, indeed, there was much else. It's impressionistic and only approximately chronological, and the only real way to experience it is to kind of surrender to the wash of sound and vision rather that attempt to make sense of it - something I think Bowie would have appreciated and at which I am sure the director was aiming. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near engaging enough for this to happen. It felt to me like the intro montage that you get before the proper film starts - except it lasted over 2 hours and there was no proper film. Interesting in places and I kind of see what the director was going for, but not for me. Inevitably the most featured work is his 70s albums - there's little from the 80s, almost nothing from after that and, astonishingly and appallingly, no mention of the epochal Tin Machine whatsoever.

The Guard (2011)

More Irish clichés than you can shake a pint of Guinness at, but Brendan Gleeson is brilliant and the plot is nice and simple. The ending is implausible but overall, good fun.

Airplane! (1980)

Dated and politically incorrect - which is probably was at the time - but hilarious. So rammed full of jokes that there are always new ones to spot. Watched with B & Z, and happy to introduce them to a classic.

Casual Sex? (1988)

An odd film, which shows its roots in theatre, and now notable primarily for featuring the utterly divine Lea Thompson. (I don't know why but it's disappointing to read that the other star, Victoria Jackson, has since become a raving right wing Christian fundamentalist nutjob.) Nevertheless, there's plenty to enjoy here, even the heavy-handed, tacked-on ending which looks like it was a complete after-thought.

Can You Keep A Secret? (2019)

When I first read Sophie Kinsella's book I thought it was ideal material for a film. Well, give me a job, Hollywood, because blow me down if a mere 14 years later they didn't go and do just that. Inevitably transplanted to America and missing some of the charm I remember from the book, but sweet enough and enjoyable on a Sunday afternoon when I wanted something unchallenging.

21 (2008)

Based loosely on a book (Bringing Down The House - there's also an interesting article in Wired) that is itself apparently loosely based on the truth, this is nevertheless a somewhat formulaic but enjoyable thriller about MIT students beating the odds at Las Vegas - real fantasy, wish-fulfilment stuff. I don't know the details but I suspect the real thing is firstly, a lot more complicated ("counting cards" sounds simple but I don't think it is in practice) and secondly, a lot more interesting when not shoved into a Hollywood template.

Deadpool (2016)

Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson aka Deadpool is possibly one of the best casting decisions ever. And the film plays up to both the character and the actor's persona brilliantly (there's a whole sub-genre of amusing Ryan Reynolds clips on Youtube). The film is so relentlessly entertaining - in many sick ways - that it's kind of easy to overlook that it's a very simple plot. But that's OK. (Watched with Z, who hadn't seen it before)