Watching - July 2023

Gods of Tennis (BBC, 2023)

Three hour long specials about the tennis stars of the 70s and 80s, which is slap bang in the era that I started watching Wimbledon (for ages the only tennis on telly anyway). Enjoyable for both the chance to revisit some classic moments and hearing them put into context all these years later. Refreshingly for documentaries this long, they don't feel like they were padded to fit the time. Now, if we can lose the unnecessarily melodramatic voice-over, we might be getting somewhere ...

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Been meaning to rewatch this for ages, preferably with B but he hasn't shown much interest and so I went ahead anyway. Funny and well-plotted, and possibly the perfect 90s Britpop movie - all swaggering new lad mockneys and an ace soundtrack.

Le Mans '66 (2019)

You can't beat a good film about motor racing and this is superbly made. Christian Bale and Matt Damon both inhabit their characters superbly, the action sequences are fantastic and it doesn't cut too many corners round the truth to be distracting. Great fun.

Point Break (1991)

Watched with Z over fish & chips, while everyone else was out. It's a real boys' film, all male bonding and macho posturing - which makes it a bit more surprising that it was directed by a woman. 

Rush (2013)

More classic cars! I grew up reading about this era of Formula 1 but I don't think I ever watched it - and in any case, there's no way it would have looked this good on 70s TV. So it's kind of nostalgic and fresh at the same time. There's no getting away from it though: James Hunt might be the hero of the film, portrayed as a naturally talented genius - but Niki Lauda was the better driver and the real legend here.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Movie time with the family! (apart from B)

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

If you leave aside the central issue of how the fluffing flip did he get that painting into that briefcase?? this is a very effective and well-made drama. Always been one of my favourites.

L.A. Story (1991)

An old favourite that I must have watched dozens of times on video, this now seems a little uneven. At its core, it's a romcom with a hint of the fantastical, and some of the best scenes have no comedy at all, just a beautiful, romantic, almost lyricism. And then there's the slapstick - but then, it is a Steve Martin film.