Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?

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'Ready Player One' (2018)

In Columbus Ohio 2047 a youth attempts to solve a puzzle in a virtual reality world.

Looked a bit like a kid's film but it's Spielberg directing and has Mark Rylance in it so thought I'd give it a go.

It's a cute film no doubt but it's also a bit lame. Thing with Spielberg is, he knows exactly what will play in the sticks so his films are popular but also a bit - or sometimes very - cornball. This has too much cornball to be classed as good, although spotting the hundreds of popular cultural references is quite entertaining. Any film that references 'Excalibur' can't be all bad.

Birmingham England stands in for the Columbus Ohio of the future, residents of Columbus might want to consider selling up and moving now.

Edge Of Tomorrow, 2014. Emily Blunt again in the 3rd of those time movies.



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In an interview with DigitalSpy, Doug Liman, the director of the movie explained, "If I'm going to do a sequel for the first time in my life I want to make it the opposite of what you'd expect from a sequel and we found a story that does that".

That's not a bad film, drags on a bit toward the end though.

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Originally Posted by Macca

terrible film but Emily Blunt.

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Oh yes :)

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

He deserved it too.

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Michael Caine's autobiography is a worthwhile read (there are probably a few, I read "What's it all about?") Didn't have it easy early in life. Things picked up later, and Mrs. Shakira Caine (Lady Micklewhite!) not too shabby.

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G.B.H., 1991. Written by Alan Bleasdale. Stars Robert Lindsay and Michael Palin. One of the great tv series, this from ch4.

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Although no name is given to the fictional city in which this show was set, it was filmed largely in and around Greater Manchester. However, speculation that the city is intended to be Liverpool stems from the fact that the character of Michael Murray is a thinly veiled characterization of Derek Hatton, the former Labour deputy leader of Liverpool City Council. Hatton achieved notoriety in the 1980s when he refused to co-operate with the rate-capping policy of the Conservative government and was a strong follower of Trotskyist Militant Tendencies. Hatton was expelled from the Labour Party in 1986, and in 1993 he was accused of corruption during his time as Deputy Leader of the Council. He was brought to trial, but was exonerated.

The Terminator, 1984. Its directed by James Cameron and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton).



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One of these B movies that became huge and spawned a series of movies.

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Originally Posted by struth

G.B.H., 1991. Written by Alan Bleasdale. Stars Robert Lindsay and Michael Palin. One of the great tv series, this from ch4.

https://flxt.tmsimg.com/assets/p238074_b_v7_aa.jpg


Although no name is given to the fictional city in which this show was set, it was filmed largely in and around Greater Manchester. However, speculation that the city is intended to be Liverpool stems from the fact that the character of Michael Murray is a thinly veiled characterization of Derek Hatton, the former Labour deputy leader of Liverpool City Council. Hatton achieved notoriety in the 1980s when he refused to co-operate with the rate-capping policy of the Conservative government and was a strong follower of Trotskyist Militant Tendencies. Hatton was expelled from the Labour Party in 1986, and in 1993 he was accused of corruption during his time as Deputy Leader of the Council. He was brought to trial, but was exonerated.

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finished this..

now Cat Ballou, 1965.


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At his acceptance of the Oscar, Lee Marvin opened by saying, "Half of this probably belongs to a horse out in the Valley somewhere".

Recent purchase, the 4k version of Some Like It Hot..... One of the greatest comedies ever. so far the picture is stunning, as is sound i think.(It has both 5.1 Surround & Original 2.0 Mono)



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From the brilliant minds of director Billy Wilder (One, Two, Three) and screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond (The Apartment) comes the quintessential madcap farce.

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'Sink The Bismarck' (1960)

Documents the hunt for and the eventual battle with the German battleship Bismarck in 1941.

Yes I know it's Kenneth More but thankfully he doesn't spoil things too much as the pacing is good and mostly concentrates on the action at sea rather than back at the Admiralty where More's character is stationed. Good model work used for the ships, helped by the slightly murky black and white picture quality but I personally still find it more convincing and less jarring than the modern day CGI which still looks a little cartoonish to me when used excessively (see 'Midway' from 2019 as an example).

Historical accuracy is not too bad, especially given that in 1960 a lot of info was still classified. The scene in which Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers attack Bismarck and are frustrated by their torpedoes failing to explode is now known to have not actually happened. In reality they mistakenly attacked HMS Sheffield. Luckily the magnetic detonators on the torpedoes were faulty and so the Sheffield remained unscathed.

The scene in which two British destroyers unsuccessfully attack Bismarck with torpedoes and one destroyer is hit and blows up never happened. Likewise no aircraft were lost in the attacks on Bismarck although the film depicts several being shot down.

Interestingly despite being hit by over 400 shells and multiple torpedoes Bismarck was merely superficially damaged and only sank because she was scuttled.

One story not included in the film is that of 'Unsinkable Sam', a cat that resided on the Bismarck and was rescued from the sea by the destroyer HMS Cossack. The cat went on to serve on Cossack, until it was sunk, and then transferred to HMS Ark Royal until that too was sunk. When rescued for the third time he was described as 'Unharmed but quite angry.'

Following that sinking he saw out the remainder of the war in the relative safety of a seaman's home in Belfast.

However there has been some suggestion that much, or all, of the story is apocryphal. Which would be a shame.