Exit October Pursued By A Black Dog

Sometimes and despite our considered views, things are for the best. I find myself finishing October back on my old full diet of medication after another swallow dive off the cliff of normality. C'est la vie.

All of which has meant an awful lot of sleeping for the past week and not a lot else. I'll get there eventually.

I have however managed to catch up on some films I'd recorded so watch out folks, it's opinion time. First up is Went the Day Well, a top-draw, understated piece of British wartime propaganda. These are films made by and about that generation (largely no longer with us) who would have made the German yoke intolerable. They put us to shame. 7/10.

Next up, Return of the Jedi. I've had this one on the stocks for months but after seeing the excellent Force Awakens at the cinema at Christmas, I have been put off watching it. Well, I was right and I was wrong. Right because it lacks the power and darkness of the two earlier films. Wrong because it is by a distance superior to the twaddle of the first two prequels. And much as I appreciate the young Carrie Fisher in a metal bikini, I'm not really sure it advances the story. 6.5/10.

Finally, what I regard as a rather beautiful little film - Stand by Me. It captures the very daftness and important depth of boyhood friendships. As good a tribute to the work of the departed River Phoenix as exists 7/10.