It’s been a busy week watching films. and I want to talk about a few of them here.

The first film that I watched last weekend was Greed, which came out earlier this year. Part policitical satire, and part an attempt at a hard hitting expose on the fashion industry and the clothes so many of us wear. This film just didn’t work for me. It wasn’t that funny or revealing. Most people know about sweatshops and that so many designers use them to make their clothes. It isn’t shocking. The story shows the life of Richard McCreadie, a retail billionaire, played by Steeve Coogan. The main focus is on the planning of his 60th birthday and his life is shown through flashbacks. His character wasn’t really believable. He comes across as an idiot, and not a loveable one. He isn’t likeable enough to be funny and not unlikable enough for me to want to watch him suffer. He treats those aruond him horribly and that’s where most of the humour is attempted from. It just doesn’t work. A backgroud film at best. David Mitchell was good in it, as he is most of the time. I wouldn’t recommend this at all.

Angel Heart is a film that I have seen the cover for since I was a child, although I knew nothing about it before pressing play. I honestly thought this was a gangster movie, since Robert De Niro was in it, and the cover screams that to me, with De Niro sitting on a throne like chair in a suit. It’s not a gangster film, but a neo-noir private detective story. Robert De Niro plays Louis Cyphre who hires Harry Angel, played by Mickey Rourke, to find a missing person. Both are fantastic in their roles. Even though the final twist is blaringly obvious within the first 10 minutes, the film is still worth a watch. It’s dark, gripping and a little strange in places. There isn’t much I can say about this one without spoiling parts of it. I wouldn’t say I loved it, but it’s not the worst film I’ve watched.

The next film we watched last weekend was Official Secrets, staring Kiera Knightley and Matt Smith. The film tells the true story of Katherine Gun, who broke the Official Secrets Act to try and prevent the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It’s a story that I didn’t know about, I was too young at the time, although I do remember it being in the news vaguely and I also know the that the war wasn’t prevented. The film is still definitely worth a watch. Both Knightley and Smith are fantastic in this film and it does make you qustion your own morals in whether you would do the same in a similar position. Matt Smith plays Martin Bright, a reporter who breaks the story based on the memo that Katherine Gun leaks. That portion of the film feels similar to The Post, also a true story and another film I really enjoyed. I like films that are based on true events, especially when it’s about a period of time I lived through and wasn’t aware of. There is so much tension in this film and it was hard not to pause the film to see what actally happened. I can only wish I would be as brave as Katherine Gun. I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it.

The last film I’m going to talk about today is The Peanut Butter Falcon. I watched this last Saturday pretty much solely based on the short 90ish minute run time. I’m glad I did. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen Shia LaBeouf in a film. I’ve not really followed his carear since Transformers. I know it’s taken some odd turns, but beyond that I haven’t really paid any attention. The Peanut Butter Falcon follows Zak played by Zack Gottsagen, who is a man with down syndrome living in an assisted living facility. With the help of his roommate he breaks out one night and runs into Tyler, played by Laeouf, who is also on the run. Together they travel south. Tyler is heading towards Florida, and Zak wants to go to a wrestling school which has been his obcession since seeing it on an old VHS tape. This film has so much heart and I really cared about the characters from almost the second it started. It is one of the best feel-good movies ever. I really loved it.

The Best of the Bunch this time is easily The Peanut Butter Falcon. I loved it and would happily watch it again.

Next time I will be writnig about Rushmore, Frances Ha, Unforgiven and The New Mutants. Let me know if you’ve seen any of the films I’ve mentioned and what you thought of them.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley