What Was All The Fuss About?

It has taken me a few decades but I have finally watched all of Blade Runner and I am left with that same strange feeling of disappointment that accompanies every viewing of 2001 A Space Odyssey. I must say I am not entirely convinced that the emperor is actually wearing any clothes. I don't mean that it is a bad film, just not the great one I have been told to expect. I enjoyed the film noir stylings, but then again I am a sucker for film noir. What is more, the Vangelis score may have sounded terribly state of the art back in 1982 but now sounds merely dated. 6.5/10.

Some weeks ago I granted the old (1958) Dunkirk a mark of 7/10. At the time I said that I had yet to view the modern offering of the same name. It had come highly recommended to me and, on that score, it was not quite as good as I had expected - the recommendation had though come from a peerless source. That said, this an impressive piece of immersive film-making which borrows from the Saving Private Ryan school of noise and visuals. And it captures gallantry which is the most important point. 7.5/10.

Finally a film of a book - The Constant Gardener. The source novel is from John le Carre, a writer I hugely admire, although I would admit a preference for the Cold War tales. This is his dispiriting but enlghteneing tirade aginst big pharma. It works as a film. I don't personally subscribe to the notion that big pharma is ineluctably evil but it does have to be said that I've negotiated with some of these blokes and the whiff of shitbaggery is never altogether absent. 7.5/10.