Movies

 

Welcome to a slightly dull South Manchester. The weather has been nice recently but it looks like it may actually rain later today. I guess as summer is effectively over and we welcome autumn, we have to expect a little rain now and then. 

Today’s Sunday Stealing  talks about movies – or films as we tend to call them in the UK (personally I use both terms). 

Shall we dive in?

1. Best movie you saw during the last year.

That’s an easy one: Spiderman: No Way Home. I love super hero films (I’m still basically a kid at heart) and Spiderman has always been right up there as one of my favourites, from the days when I used to watch the Spiderman cartoons in the 1970’s. I knew most if not all of his nemeses and in this movie, not only did they bring the best ones back, I though bringing back Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield to join Tom Holland was a brilliant idea. And we had Dr Strange thrown into the mix too. 

If you haven’t seen it, I thoroughly recommend it.

2. The most underrated movie.

I cheated on this a little because I have to say that if I genuinely like a movie, I don’t care what other people think. I don’t really know what constitutes an underrated movie – so I looked up a list of what films Google thinks fall into this category. Of all the lists that I saw, one film popped out immediately – The Dead Zone – based on the novel by Stephen King. I remember seeing the film at the cinema when it was released in 1983 and, if you are not familiar with the story, Christopher Walken plays a man who has a road accident and wakes up from a coma five years later with the ability to see a person’s future just by touching them. Of course, Stephen King is one of my favourite authors so it was fairly obvious that this story would be right up my street.

3. Favourite love story in a movie.

I don’t really like romantic movies. It’s not because I am not a romantic person; I just think that it is usually just contrived and artificial. That said, I guess love can be a motivator in some movies so I reluctantly accept that it plays a part. Regular readers will know that I particularly don’t like romantic comedies – apart from one, which is Notting Hill – not because of the love story, but because of the characters that surround the two main ones. I will therefore reluctantly nominate that one.

4. The most surprising plot twist or ending

I’ve seen a lot of movies with plot twists and I love them. I would have said The Sixth Sense apart from I spotted the plot twist about halfway through the film. The one I didn’t see coming was The Usual Suspects – so I will say that one.

5. A movie that makes you really happy.

I’m not a big fan of so-called “feel good” movies. Again I find them a little artificial. I am a little weird so give me a great action flick and I will be happy. Let’s just pluck one out of there (there are so many to pick from) – Terminator 2: Judgement Day – a bloody great film.

6. A movie that makes you sad.

I have been know to cry at movies. I try to be all masculine and macho about it and hide my emotion, but my entire body lets me down – from my heartstrings to my brain and ultimately my eyes as tears flood down my cheeks. 

“I’ve just got hay fever”, or “there’s something in my eye” are two excuses I have prepared in case I am spotted in this fragile state. Please don’t tell anyone.

The film that brings out the worst response like this has to be The Elephant Man. It’s just so sad.

7. Favourite made for TV movie

I am going to include mini-series when it come to “made for TV movies” and again I am going to select one based on a Stephen King novel. The film in question is Salem’s Lot, which I saw in the late 1970’s and starred David Soul (Hutch from Starsky and Hutch) and James Mason. 

It scared me half to death and I loved it. I still get shivers down my spine thinking about it.

8. A movie you’ve seen countless times.

There are hundreds of films I watch over and over again. Mrs PM rarely does this and questions why I do it. The answer is, honestly, that I just love them – even though I know what will happen. So let’s pick one. I’m going to go for Inception because I think it is just brilliant.

9. A movie with the best soundtrack

I think for this I am going to select The Warriors, one of  my favourite cult movies of all time. The music fits in perfectly with the movie. The theme from the Warriors is just amazing. Here it is:

“Who are the Warriors? I want ALL … the Warriors. Send the word!”

10. Favourite classic movie

How do you define a classic movie? I’m going to cheat and pick two. The first, and oldest, is Way Out West featuring the legendary Laurel and Hardy:

The other classic movie I love is Some Like it Hot with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon and, of course, Marilyn Monroe. 

11. A movie that you hate.

There are lots of movies that I hate and the ones I hate most are those that I went to see based on the hype but left me stone cold.

One such movie is Dead Poets Society which I thought was rubbish, even though I love Robin Williams. Another is Independence Day, which despite the big budget and some great special effects, is hilariously terrible.

12. A movie that changed your opinion about something.

I don’t think any movies have changed my opinion about anything. However, there are a few that have intrigued me because they are through-provoking. Being a geek with a very vibrant but weird imagination, I look at sci-fi with a totally open mind and I think the main concept behind The Matrix was incredible, i.e. that although we are living what we think is a normal life, the truth could be a nightmare scenario. I just love that idea.

13. A character you can relate to the most.

I am going to pick a marvel superhero, not because I am a superhero – rather because I know how this guy feels. Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk is a scientific guy who prefers to stay out of the spotlight but will always be there to help if required. Of course, I wouldn’t like to become a towering colossal giant green anger monster – that’s not me at all – but everything else in terms of how he deals with his condition, I do kind of relate to.

14. A movie that is a guilty pleasure

I don’t like the term guilty pleasure because you shouldn’t feel guilty about anything that brings you pleasure. As I said above, if I like a movie I don’t actually care what people think or whether they agree with me. 

I guess what I am looking foe here is a movie that is universally known as “not good” that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am going to go for Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Timecop. Again, I love the concept if it means having to deal with the muscles from Brussels in the starring role, that is a small price to pay.

15. Favourite movie based on a book/comic

There are lots of them. I am going to cheat again and pick two because the movies go together: Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame – both brilliant movies.

16. A movie that disappointed you the most

Star Wars Episode i: The Phantom Menace – the less said about that the better.

17. A movie from your favourite actor/actress

I don’t really have a favourite actor or actress. I appreciate that there are some brilliant actors out of there but I just watch movies for the movie itself, not who is in it. 

I will pick two based on actors who are good.

The first is Goodfellas, starring Robert de Niro who is a great actor.

The second is The Silence of the Lambs because it stars Jodie Foster who is a great actress.

18. Favourite movie from your favourite director.

Again I don’t have a favourite director so I will pick a movie by a director who is good.

I’m going to go for Inglorious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino.

19 .Favourite action movie

I love action movies and it is hard to pick a favourite from that huge list. I’ll select one that I saw recently: Mission Impossible: Fallout. 

20. A movie you wish more people would have seen.

Cult films tend to be a niche that you only hear about by word of mouth and I assume that such films don’t tend to get the number of viewers that you would expect. I’m going to select my favourite film that is broadly labelled as a cult film. That film is 300. I love it.

This is Sparta!

21. Favourite documentary

I am fascinated by cults, in particular, Scientology. I have seen various documentaries about this particular cult but the only one that is a movie is Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. 

22. Favourite animation

I have to go back a few decades for this. When I was a kid, my mum took me to see The Jungle Book and I have loved it ever since. 

23. Most hilarious movie you’ve ever seen

Without a doubt, this is The Life of Brian, a controversial film that is actually still banned in a few place. At the time, it was released, lots of cinemas simply refused to show it, hailing it as blasphemous. The reality is that it simply makes fun and, as a Catholic, I don’t find it blasphemous at all. There are some brilliant jokes in it and I had to go and see it a second time because I missed so many jokes the first time because I was laughing so much.

24. A movie that you wish you had seen in the cinema

I tend to go to the cinema to see most movies that I want to see. There are a few that I have missed due to one reason or another and ended up having to see them on the TV some years later. To be honest, I can cope with that unless it is a full blown action movie or one that is filled with special effects that look much better on the big screen. 

Of all the ones I have missed, I think Starship Troopers is the one I most regret not seeing at the cinema. 

25. Your favourite movie of all time.

That is a truly difficult question that I can’t answer. I could perhaps list my top 100 movies but even that would be tricky. I am therefore going to cheat and simply not answer this one.

Top Ten Cult Movies

Certain films achieve cult status, the kind of status that acquires a passionate fan base, in a similar way to franchises such as Star Trek where people love them despite their flaws or however dated they seem to be. That doesn’t mean that cult films are bad – on the contrary – most of them are fabulous and whenever my favourites appear on my tellybox, I make an effort to watch them.

Such was the case on Friday night. I promised myself that I would go to bed relatively early but decided to have one last channel hop. And there, just starting was one of the movies you will see in the list below. I couldn’t resist. It was 11:30 pm and this film would keep me up until after 1 am. I didn’t hesitate – I made myself comfortable and watched the whole thing with my helllcat snuggled up beside me. As I lay in bed later, partially regretting my decision to stay up late, I decided that it would be a good idea to post my favourite so-called cult films. So here they are:

10. Escape from New York

The year is 1997 and New York is walled prison with the worst criminals in America housed within. Sadly Air Force One crashed within the city and there is only one man who can penetrate the city and save him; the amazing one-eyed ex-soldier with the fantastic name, Snake Plissken, played by a brooding Kurt Russell. To make matters worse, poor Snake is injected with tiny explosives that will kill him if he fails.

The plot is utterly incredible and the villains are totally over the top. Yet this strange action movie really works. Nowadays, the film looks really dated and a little bit daft. Nevertheless, if you switch off your brain to protect yourself from the incredulous plot, it really is quite enjoyable. Just count the names that people say “Snake Plissken – I thought you were dead!”

9. Airplane!

Airplane! is one of the daftest films I have ever seen and is crammed to bursting point with humour. Every scene is funny with the joke being obvious or subtle to the point where you don’t spot it immediately. It is extremely silly and the humour borders sometimes on extremely bad taste. Basically Airplane! is a parody of one of the numerous air disaster movies that we had to endure in the 1970’s but it also parodies other movies such as Saturday Night Fever.

8. The Blues Brothers

I mentioned this film in my top comedy films. When I went to the cinema to see this, I wasn’t expecting it to be a comedy film – I don’t know what I was expecting really. What struck me was the amazing musical talent who took part as mayhem ensued with our two hapless heroes, played by the brilliant John Belushi and Dan Akroyd, declare that “We are on a Mission from God!” and end up causing absolute mayhem and chaos in the pursuit of that mission. There are amazing songs performed by some true legends – like this from Aretha Franklin:

7.  Enter the Dragon

In the early 1970’s Bruce Lee made Kung Foo really cool. Kids I knew actually made their own nunchooks, a rather dangerous weapon, in an attempt to emulate their hero. Enter the Dragon was like a Chinese version of a James Bond film, complete with over-the-top villain, seemingly unbeatable hero and, once again, an incredible plot. Add to this Bruce Lee’s amazing skills, we have a recipe for a superb cult film. This movie inspired a lot of people to take up martial arts and although it looks dated today, you can’t help but marvel at Bruce Lee’s talent. It’s such a shame that he died so young.

Here is Bruce Lee demonstrating how to use nunchuks (amongst other things).

6. Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino has made some amazing films which feature in my all-time favourites. However, Pulp Fiction, in my opinion has acquired cult status simply because it features so many amazing stories and incredible quotes. I saw this movie at the cinema and laughed out loud on more than one occasion while my brain told me “Hey – you simply SHOULD NOT be laughing at this!”  

The film is graphic and full of dark humour and Samuel L Jackson’s character is wonderful as shown in the scene below. Watch out – the language is rather fruity.

5. This is Spinal Tap

I love heavy metal (regular readers may have noticed) and I love a great comedy. Combine these and you get This is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary about an English rock band in America, which lampoons every aspect of the cult of heavy metal, including creative differences, the need to shock and the pitfalls of creating a tour and performing in front of a crowd. It is hilarious and has some wonderful moments of pure genius. Incredibly the band have released music outside the movie, which is funny and, bizarrely, quite good.

4. Watchmen

Watchmen is not a conventional superhero film because the heroes are flawed and the scenes of violence are quite graphic. I dragged Mrs PM to see Watchmen at the cinema and while she can tolerate most movies of this genre, she truly despise this particular one because, in her words, it is too long and too violent. “That’s what makes it brilliant!” 

If you are expecting something similar to Spiderman, think again. Rorschach in particular is a wonderful creation. He may be a hero but he achieves his goals with violence and a psychopathic dark heart; he deserves a movie of his own though I’m sure that Mrs PM would never come to see it with me.

3. 28 Days Later

Zombies are slow. You can almost outrun a hoard of marauding zombies by walking away from their decaying hungry shuffling bodies. Unless, of course, you find yourself in the world portrayed by 28 Days Later. The zombies in this horror film run – and they run very quickly. So if you are old, unfit, fat or just not quick enough, you will find yourself being eaten before you can say “Look – a zombie!”. This is a genuinely scary British horror movie and I loved it. I also felt a pang of dismay when I saw Manchester burning in the distance.

2. The Warriors

This is the movie I mentioned at the start of this post. Up until recently it was my favourite cult movie. It tells the story of a New York gang who have to make it back from the Bronx to Coney Island having been blamed for the murder of the leader of the biggest gang in New York. And every gang is out to get them as well as the police. It’s violent and a thrill ride from the moment the Warriors set off back to their “turf”.

One of the best things about the film is the soundtrack; the Theme from the Warriors is fantastic.

“Warriors – come out to plaaaayyyyyy!”

1. 300

My new favourite cult film is the story of 300 Spartans who took on the might of the Persian army at the battle of Thermpylae. Led by the charismatic King Leonidas, played impeccably by Gerard Butler, the army of pure soldiers, noble and built to fight, defend themselves against a vast army led by the man-God Xerxes.

This is a pure boy flick and when it is on, I switch off my brain and allow myself to become fully immersed in the story. There are so many wonderful scenes in the film that it is a joy to behold.

“This is SPARTA!!”



And Finally ...

Over to you, dear reader.

Do you agree with my choices?

Do you have a favourite “cult” movie?

Watch Them And Weep

My two lads and I were forced by Mrs PM to watch a terrible movie at the cinema. It was payback for us dragging her to see a full on action film the previous month.

The film was Marley and Me, a movie about the relationship between a man and his dog. While funny in places, the basic purpose of the film was to take a hold of your heartstrings and wrench them as hard as possible, opening the tear ducts and allowing them to dispose of their contents in a flood down your face.

I sometimes hate those kind of films because although they are primarily targetted at women, they have an effect on men too.

Not all tear-jerkers are bad films. I can see the merits of some of them. For example, The Elephant Man, made me blub like a baby but it was an excellent film.

I challenge anyone not to shed a tear over this scene from the film:

My problem is that I do not like to watch sad films as a rule. I prefer to feel uplifted and happy when the closing credits start. After Marley and Me, I felt wretched, cheated and pissed off.

Needless to say, Mrs PM loved the film. As we left the cinema, my two lads were moaning that there were much better films on the other screens. Mrs PM simply wiped tears from her eyes and told us why we were all wrong. The film had everything she wanted; romance, comedy and sadness.

While I like comedy, the bias in Marley and Me was clearly towards those who wanted to blub into their popcorn.

Like many men, I am confused by this need for the fairer sex to crave misery in movies. I simply don’t understand why feeling sadness and grief during and after a film is a good thing. The kind of films I watch have lots of death and destruction but the emotions are stifled in favour of the good guys being triumphant over the bad guys.

My kind of film

The long drawn out death of a Labrador, while its owner talks to it as if it were a human being is just not something I want to have to endure as the climax to a movie that is at best a poor romantic comedy.

However, an article in last week's Sunday Times has gone some way to explaining why such movie scenes are more appealing to women than they are to men.

Evidently, tear-jerkers allow women to bond with their friends. The theory is that watching a movie filled with abject misery is a way for a woman to share a more positive emotional experience with her female friends, resulting in a positive bonding experience.

I suppose it goes a long way to explaining things to a man like me who has no idea why a long drawn out weepy would make you feel positive in any way whatsoever.

I guess, in a similar way, a typical bloke movie like, for example, The Fast and The Furious franchise cause men to bond. While the plots and action scenes may require a massive suspension of disbelief, the amazing stunts will produce as much testosterone in men as the tears produced in women by a half-decent weepy.

Perhaps this also explains why men do not want to show their emotions in public when watching a weepy. When I watched The Elephant Man for the first time, I was on my own in the house and I cried continually. Had I seen it in a cinema, or even with Mrs PM, I would almost certainly have suppressed my tears.

Does this mean that I am an emotional Neanderthal?

Not at all.

Maybe it’s just a personal thing but I think most men do not like to show their emotions and anything that tries to force the issue is not a good thing. That’s not to say I won’t ever watch another weepy again; I will just watch it on my own or, grudgingly, with Mrs PM and a handkerchief to cover any tears under the pretence of having a sniffle.

That said, Mrs PM has seen me blub at a film. I remember one Christmas Eve, when we had been out for lunch and a couple of beers. I was slightly merry from the alcohol and we opted to relax in the Christmas spirit with the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life. I think, because I had had a couple of beers, my defences were down and the two of us sat on the sofa and cried our eyes out.

It's not a bad film and not the kind I would normally watch,  but at least it was uplifting and totally got me in the mood for Christmas despite the blubbing. Had I been with a bunch of mates, we would probably have watched an explosive action movie with gallons of beer and testosterone, cheering every explosion and punching the air as the hero punched the villain.

Dear female reader, if you think I am an emotionless buffoon, you are wrong. I have deep emotions but the idea of having them brought out by a weepy movie in front of mates is an abhorrent concept to me. I consider that to be a trait for most if not all men – so I am not alone.

To be honest,  a good piece of music stirs my deep emotions probably more than a tired, contrived tear-jerker aimed to stir female emotions.

But that’s a tale for another post.

So what about you, dear reader?

Guys, am I wrong when I describe what men think of tear-jerkers?

Ladies, do you think I’m an emotionless idiot?

Hopefully, this will go some way to help me on my quest to understand the fairer sex.

Nevertheless, I still have a long way to go.

A Movie Meme

I am a big lover of films (or if you are American, “movies”) and I simply couldn’t resist a meme that I have just stumbled across – stolen originally by the mob at Sunday Stealing; now stolen again by me.


Here we go:

1. What is your all-time favourite movie costume?

That’s a tough question for me because there have been so many great costumes. However, being a shallow science fiction loving geek, I will choose what many of you may think is a bland and tedious choice. The Matrix trilogy. For any full blooded males, however, can I just remind you of Trinity’s outfit? That swings it for me.

2. What classic film would you nominate for a remake?

I would really love to see a remake of War of the Worlds but more closely related to the novel itself and set in the last few years of the 19th century in Britain. Don’t get me wrong; I love the two versions that have made it to the silver screen but I was disappointed that the remake that Tom Cruise starred in a year or two ago was set in modern day America. I guess it had to satisfy the demands of the American public but I think a gritty version set in old England would definitely be a winner.

3. Name your favourite femme fatale.

Does Uma Thurman’s performance in Pulp Fiction count as a femme fatale? Who cares – I nominate her anyway.

4. Name the best movie title.

There are loads of great film titles from the sublime to the ridiculous. 

Here are great some titles I like for good films:

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

American Psycho

Inglourious Basterds

Shaun Of The Dead

Cowboys and Aliens

And here are one or two good titles for utterly dreadful films:

Sex Lives Of The Potato Men

Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes

I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle

Killer Klowns From Outer Space

The Ghost In The Invisible Bikini

5. Describe the worst performance by a child actor that you’ve ever seen.

I have a problem with films with precocious brats as the stars. I love kids generally but spoilt brats with a “sense of humour” make me reach for my soapbox. Being a sad geek I will have to choose Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. 

That film was so wrong in places and one of them is the portrayal of Annakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader) as a child. And if you mention Jar Jar Binks I might just have to reach for my soapbox again.

6. Who gets your vote for most tragic movie monster?

I would say Godzilla in the 1990’s remake. I was with Godzilla all the way and wanted him (her?) to incinerate most of the characters in the film. What happened to the poor beast was a tragedy. America wins again – GRRR!!!

7. What is the one Western that you would recommend to anybody?

I’m torn between For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. They are both brilliant films starring one of my favourite actors of all time – the wonderful Clint Eastwood. 

I recommend them both.

8. Who is your ideal movie-viewing partner?

I would like to say Mrs PM as we partially share the same taste in films. However, she does like some absolute garbage (like Marley and Me – she dragged me and my two lads to the pictures to see that dreadful load of sentimental bilge and all three of us had to share the vomit bucket). 

I would also say my two lads but they like some pretty weird stuff as well. 

So my ideal movie watching party is a clone of me because I am the only person who likes the same films as me.

9. Has a film ever made you want to change your life? If so, what was the film?

The Wedding Planner made me choose never ever to watch a film starring Jennifer Lopez and/or Matthew McConaughy ever again.

10. Think of one performer that you truly love. Now think of

one scene/movie/performance of theirs that is too uncomfortable for you to

watch.

Clint Eastwood again – from Paint Your Wagon – singing “I Talk To The Trees”.

AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

11. On the flip side, think of one really good scene/performance/movie

from a performer that you truly loathe.

I like action movies but the worst “action” star is probably Steven Seagal. He simply cannot act and his films are generally awful. That said, I actually really like Under Siege – despite the fact that he is the star. 

12. What is your favourite romantic comedy?

I generally think that romantic comedies are awful. The formula is the same, the plot is the same and the acting is lame in most if not all of them. 

There is one such film that I like though, even though I am not a huge fan of the main stars. 

That film is Notting Hill. 

Why do I like it? Because it is quintessentially British and I genuinely like the characters.

13. What is your favourite drama?

There are so many to choose from – but I have to say that the one that keeps popping to the surface is The Shawshank Redemption. Ask me again next week and I will choose a different one, I’m sure.

14. Worst film you've seen?

There are so many to choose from but I have to go for Highlander 2: The Quickening for the simple reason that I loved the original film, Highlander and this turd of a movie completely ruined the magic of that first film. I struggle to watch the original now because this cesspit of a sequel, a film that belongs at the bottom of Satan’s toilet, reminds me that all is not what it is meant to be.

15. How do you feel about the majority of romantic films being labelled "chick flicks"?

Let’s be honest; they are really for women because most men I know can’t stand them and, like me, only agree to be dragged to the cinema to see them as a consequence of dragging their ladies to the cinema on a previous occasion to see a “highly explosive action thriller”. 

The term “chick flick” may be a sexist way for them to be described but my feeling is that they should be consigned to a box labelled “For Ladies” or something similar.

I know that I have to suffer penance in future for dragging Mrs PM to see Avengers Assemble (or The Avengers if you are in America) earlier this year – oh and The Dark Knight Rises last week (despite the fact that she liked both of them).

16. Favourite on-screen couple?

I presume you are talking about male and female here. I’m going to choose John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis in A Fish Called Wanda. I love this film – a brilliantly quirky and hilarious film (the main reason I chose it).

17. Favourite off-screen couple?

I don’t have a favourite off screen couple because I don't care about celebrities. . Me and Mrs PM perhaps?

18. Best kiss in a movie?

The two dogs in Lady And The Tramp.

19. Favourite scene?

Again there are so many to choose from. However, here is one that leaps to mind immediately. The lobby scene from The Matrix – full of guns, bullets and great music.

Oh – and the freeway scene from The Matrix Reloaded: cars, guns, thrills and utter mayhem.

Oh - and the various action scenes from Inception, like Paris folding up on itself and … and …

I think I need a separate post for this subject.

20. Who are 2 film characters you wished had gotten together, but never did?

I think James Bond and Jason Bourne really should be put together, either united against a really nasty villain or, probably better still, against each other.

21. Two actors you think would have great chemistry, but have never done a film together?

It would have to be a few years ago, when both actors were younger, but I think Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford should have made an action movie together. Sadly, poor old Clint is just too old now (actually so is Harrison Ford).

22. Favourite song in a film (doesn't have to be from a musical)?

Well, being a massive rock fan – it has to be this from the Vin Diesel  film XXX.Not the greatest film but the song introduced me to the band – and I haven’t looked back since.

Just watch those pyrotechnics!

23. Best score from a film?

I think a lot of film themes are modern day classical music, powerful and beautiful. A recent favourite is the theme from Inception. Just listen to this wonderful piece or orchestral magic – it is truly spine-tingling.




24. Best film quote?

Again there are millions to choose from. Here are a couple of my favourites:












25. A film you'd recommend that is a "Must See" for us to watch?

Apart from the ones I’ve mentioned above? Well - not one film – but three – the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

That was an interesting meme. Please feel free to steal it because I love listening to people’s views on films, particularly if they have recommendations.

Over to you, dear reader - what is your favourite film?