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wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

A John Hughes style movie for the 21st Century. Simon has a happy life but hides a secret. He's gay. When he starts emailing a mysterious student from his school, things start to get out of control as his secret is discovered and is being used to blackmail him. This charming, funny teen drama has all the glossy elements you would find in a Hughes movie but when great use of technology and of course the coming out storyline. A real inspirational film about never fearing who you are.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated The Rainmaker (1997)

 The Rainmaker (1997) 8/10

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Francis Ford Coppola directs this version of John Grisham's novel, with Matt Damon as a fresh-faced lawyer who takes on an insurance company who refused to pay a dying man, while at the same time falling for a woman being abused by her husband. Coppola does nothing fancy, just plays out the drama, which is gripping and the usual cliches you'd find in a Grisham/courtroom drama. A first-rate cast, head by Damon and Danny DeVito help make this hugely entertaining.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated Walk with Me

 Walk with Me 8/10

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

A fascinating documentary set in the confines of a retreat in France set up by Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who was regarded as the master of mindfulness. With full access to the lives of the followers, with Benedict Cumberbatch reading some of Hanh's writings, this quiet and gentle film captures the mood and feel of the retreat, while at the same time showing a side of the followers outside the confines and in their family homes, which are often charming and moving.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated THX 1138

 THX 1138 8/10

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

I have always been slightly afraid of watching George Lucas's debut movie, as I had heard such horrible things. I need not worry. This is a complex dystopian drama in which humans are drugged so they cannot think for themselves. When THX 1138 stops taking the pills, he starts thinking and becomes a fugitive on the run. The cinematography is stunning while the stark white gives it a unique feel. Robert Duvall as THX is superb. Ig Lucas stuck to this type of filmmaking: challenging, intelligent and beautiful.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated A Quiet Place

 A Quiet Place 10/10

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Most horrors use the quiet-loud as a tool to shock. This superb film from John Krasinski uses it as part of the tension building to relentless perfect use. A family must spend their time in silence otherwise deadly creatures will come to kill. Emily Blunt is magnificent as the pregnant mother while Krasinski is the protective father in a film that grabs you from frame one and refuses to let go. A film that should, in the future, be spoken about in the same breath as Jaws, Alien and other great horrors.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated Last Man Standing

 Last Man Standing 6/10

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Walter Hill's reworking of Yojimbo (and A Fistful of Dollars) moves the story to a desert land in Texas where two gangs of booze runners try to run the territory until stranger Bruce Willis arrives and starts playing the gangs against each other in order to make some money. Hill's version has the violence and the slow motion and yet the pacing is a lot slower and the film drags in places. Willis tries his best to Clint Eastwood but comes short and the finale is a little too ordinary.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

An absolutely cracking action film with Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a former Vietnam veteran who, while stopping off in a small town starts a war against the police who arrested him. This was the start of the Rambo phenomenon but this is by far the best in the series, as we see Rambo fighting for survival in a woodland while the police want blood. The film is exciting, zipping along at a terrific pace, while Stallone gets to show is acting muscle with a finale speech.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Before Liam Neeson was punching people in the face, he was doing proper acting. Proof with this biopic of Alfred Kinsey, a professor who gave up his passion for insects in order to create a study on the sexual habits of males. Laura Linney plays his wife and the pair are terrific. The film could have become sensationalised yet director Bill Condor keeps the story in focus and shows just how important Kinsey was in releasing an America that refused to recognise the truth about sex.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Terrific psychological thriller with Cate Blanchett as an art teacher who begins an affair with a student, only for fellow teacher Judi Dench to find out. Agreeing to help, what Blanchett doesn't know is that Dench is infatuated with her. Richard Eyre's film is a dream ticket for both actresses, with Dench at her creepiest. Bill Nighy, in a relatively smaller role, is superb too but this is a battle of wills between two actresses at the top of their game.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Effective and creepy British sci-fi horror about a small village where the inhabitants suffer from a strange occurrence, which leads to the women becoming pregnant and giving birth to blonde haired children with extraordinary powers. George Sanders leads the cast in a film that is short and straight to the point, while the children, with their mind controlling powers, are unforgettably evil. Shocking in places, this is a truly gripping cult favourite.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated Blockers

 Blockers 6/10

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

A comedy that, while not belly-laughing funny does have its moments and is more reliant on being a game changer. Three best friends make a pact that they are going to lose their virginity during prom night but their parents discover their plan and try to stop them. Plenty of embarrassing set pieces for the parents while the girls play it far more sensibly. The sentiment is nicely played out and John Cena steals the film as the most embarrassing father this side of Eugene Levy in American Pie.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated Bringing Up Baby

 Bringing Up Baby 10/10

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

One of the best, funniest comedies ever made. Cary Grant is the mild-mannered dinosaur expert who gets drawn into the world of scatterbrain Katharine Hepburn, leading the pair looking after a leopard called Baby. Howard Hawks's film is a classic in screwball comedies with grant and Hepburn crackling together. The dialogue comes thick and fast, while the comedy is impeccably timed and played out. One of those films you can watch again and again and still laugh out loud.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to their collection

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 2 items to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated Isle of Dogs

 Isle of Dogs 8/10

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster added 1 item to Movies Viewed in 2018 list

Director Wes Anderson is back to stop motion animation with this quirky yet charming tale of a boy looking for his dog. In the future, a Japanese city will have a plague of dogs with flu, in which the mayor banishes to a dumping ground. There they roam the island until a young boy arrives and needs their help to find his missing dog. With all the style you'd expect from Anderson, this is a leisurely yet intelligent film with a cracking cast and terrific animation.

6 years, 11 months ago

wrenster rated ...All the Marbles

 ...All the Marbles  6/10

6 years, 11 months ago