Watched a bunch of films on BBC's iPlayer network this week:
Land of Mine (2015) is a Danish film that has optional English subtitles, and likely Danish subtitles for the German unless it's one of those cases where all Danes speak German anyway. It's about some German PoWs who are forced to clear their mines off of the Danish beaches after the end of hostilities of WWII.
Our German-loathing lead is assigned a troop of teenagers, to which you can pretty much predict how this is going to go. Where it stands out is that even with the predictability pretty much every single emotional beat hits home. So great acting, directing, script and all of that.
Also a great opportunity to see how lots of explosions in a film can still mean an emotional rollercoaster rather than a dumb popcorn movie, M. Bay take note.
8/10
The Accountant (2016) is a Ben Affleck thriller that borders on b-movie action flick while simultaneously bordering on Oscar bait, as he plays a severely autistic forensic accountant who works for criminal gangs but also specialises in Punisher'esque solo assaults on bad-guy citadels after being brought up by a militaristic father.
So an action movie for people who find action movies a bit too cheesy and a serious film for people who are looking for a new angle to their favourite genre of action movies.
The best Punisher/Batman film I've ever seen, even though it has neither.
8/10.
The Edge of Darkness (2010) was Mel Gibson's big return to acting after his long and controversial time out in the 2000s. It's a conspiracy theory political thriller where Gibson plays a police detective.
It plays ok while you watch it, but even after just a few days since having seen it not a lot remains in my memory. Gibson's daughter is murdered in front of his face, Gibson sets out to find out why.
Having the film start out with his daughter saying "I need to tell you something dad" after being with him for the entire day, and then, just as she's about to reveal all, she throws up and needs to be 'got to a hospital' first, when she's then shot immediately upon opening the front door, kinda tells you all you need to know.
But as I said, it plays along just fine as you watch it nevertheless.
7/10.
This is Spinal Tap (1984) is the classic mockumentary about an imaginary rock band of morons who became famous and then we follow them as they fade from public view.
It's an intelligent and well made spoof, but it didn't make me laugh out loud much and could well be one for rock music niche fans only. I didn't spot too much universal appeal beyond crude sex jokes and some classic slapstick. I don't doubt for a minute that the in-jokes about rock music just don't tickle me like they might someone obsessed with 70s rock.
Well made, but less laughs than I was expecting due to the unrelenting hype that inevitably precedes watching this title
6/10.