THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

And done.

I'd actually forgot just what an amazing piece of cinema Trainspotting was. I was blown away watching it tonight. God only knows what my younger self thought of it. And I'd also forgotten just how much of a bastard Renton was.

T2... Filled with a sense of melancholy from the off. Somewhat depressing to witness four middle-aged men revert to the rolls ascribed to them when they were five. But a fitting follow up none the less. And a happy ending... sort of.

Highly recommend, especially the original.

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.

Blade Runner 2049 - how do you match an era defining original? Mostly you can't of course, and this is no exception. There are some very clever plot lines, but I came away with too many unanswered questions. On the plus side this is grand cinema of the highest order, the cinematography is breathtaking and the set designs and cityscapes at times draw dropping. Still a must see film, it was fantastically enjoyable but for me sadly not as good as some of the critics seem to think

Blade Runner 2049 - I’m one of the rare few that HATED the original, having only watched it a few months ago, I found it very slow, boring and showing its age.

2049 however is bloody fantastic, probably my favourite film of the year so far, particularly enjoyed the visuals and the soundtrack. Denis Villeneuve (the director) has to be one of the best in the film industry now - he also directed Arrival and Prisoners which were both great too. He’s rumoured to be in the running for the next Bond film, which would be awesome.

9/10

Trainspotting remains to this day one of my all time faves. I actually wore my original VHS out from repeated playbacks. The book too is spectacular. It's all written in the Scottish vernacular, so takes a couple of pages to get used to; but there's so much there that was left out of the films.
The week before the T2 release they (for one night only) played the original on the big screen. Even now 20 years on it's a completely outstanding movie.
With T2 I love the fact that Spud, whilst not necessarily center of attention as far as the films mechanic is concerned; is the charecter that stands out. This for me is in no small part because of Ewan Bremner's performance, which steals the show. In much the same way that Robert Carlsyle's 'Begbie' does in the first film.

'The Thing'

A friend of mine raves about this film and has been pestering me to watch it as I've not seen it before.
Let's just say I don't think it's aged well and I preferred 'Alien'.

Where Eagles Dare

Entertaining enough piece of late 60's jingoism, but none the worse for that. Richard Burton stars as some sort of MI6 WW2 spy, tasked with leading some commandos behind German lines, ably supported by a spectacularly wooden Clint Eastwood. Who no matter how many Germans shoot at him with machine guns, remains remarkably unscathed. He on the other hand only has to fire once to down at least a dozen of them.

And any film with Ingrid Pitt in it has to be worth a glance.

I'm actually old enough to have been taken to see this when it first came out. Nostalgia, it ain't wot it used to be.

Broadsword calling Danny boy.

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.

Love it - classic barnstorming stuff, they don't make many like that anymore

Currently watching the end of Rogue One - makes me weep like a child every time

I saw Star Wars at the cinema twice when it came out, in proper big cinemas and really loved it - but have been underwhelmed by pretty much most of what has followed

Rogue One however bucks that trend, and felt/feels like the film I waited almost 40 years for

You're entitled to your opinion. Just a shame it's wrong.

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The most optimistic pessimistic person on this forum.

Apparently.

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Prequels by and large are appalling. The Force Awakens is meh. Rogue One is perfect imo. Makes A New Hope better.

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The most optimistic pessimistic person on this forum.

Apparently.

UTF

The LEGO Ninjago Movie - great fun, way better than the LEGO Batman movie but not quite as off the wall or whacky as the LEGO movie. Chuckle-tastic way to spend an hour or two if you like whole LEGO character thing