An Irish Goodbye. This years's Oscar-winning short, currently on iPlayer. Hilarious and touching, with the accent on hilarious. Could easily have taken place in another corner of Craggy Island.

Boston Stranglers. 'Inspired by a true story', which could mean anything, though there was indeed a spate of strangled woman in that city in the 60s. Decent cast, but scuppered by a relentlessly drab palette that turns everything the colour of shit, and lacking any real drama. Lacking any drama at all, really, which is some achievement considering the subject matter. New to Disney+.

The Girl in the Spider's Web. A failed attempt to turn Sweden's angriest hacker into an action heroine franchise. The plot is the standard cobblers you get whenever there be hackers - if it had been made 30 years ago everyone would have been chasing a floppy disc. In a cast of Scandinavians speaking flawless English we get an English actress in standard broken English playing the heroine. To be fair Claire Foy (accent aside) is decent enough in the role, but with ridiculous hackety-hack skillz, her exemplary combat ability, frequent shootouts, explosions and psychopathic henchman, it really comes across as nothing more than a wannabe indie James Bond.

I just watched Amelie (2001) again - my most ever watched film I think, at 5 times now, and I enjoyed it as much this time as previously.

It's Mrs Driver's birthday, and we both really love it, ever since we managed to catch it at the cinema back in 2001-02, and it was one of my first DVD purchases (likely in a 2-for-£20 offer).

So well written and directed, the cinematography is stylish and inventive, and every single character is quirky to the max. It's an imaginative fantasy and a playful love story, with engaging puzzles to solve, all set in a beautifully clean and stylised Paris. If you don't fall in love with Audrey Tautou ? you are dead inside.

The first third absolutely races along, and is a feast for the senses, then as it slows, it does lose a tiny bit of magic in the final third, although it does have a good ending.

An absolute joy from start to finish, 9/10.

My daughter is named after the Amélie! Love the film but she (now a teenager and old enough to watch it) remains unconvinced!

I just watched Supercop Police Story 3 having bought the Eureka 4K trilogy box set last year I finally managed to get a 4K player last week. What a blockbuster it is. Chan and Yeoh excell and some of the stunts are simply breathtaking. Look fabulous in 4K too.

Have spent the time watching the few 4K films I own: the aforementioned Jackie Chan epics, Back To The Future and – free with the player – Jurassic World/Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Posted by: @frattonlad

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I just watched Supercop Police Story 3 having bought the Eureka 4K trilogy box set

I recently saw that on 4k disc too, first time I'd seen the film. Great transfer and what a cracker it is too, a superb final 15 minutes.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Not the first time I've seen it, but the time I've enjoyed it most. It always seemed to drag in the middle but this time I didn't find that. Kate Capshaw wasn't even as annoying, but she's still screechy and really only there, like all Indy's women, to be kissed at the end. Or on the face.

The Goonies. I'd always avoided it because I was already grown up when it was released and I thought it looked shit. But I thought I'd finally give it a look, on the basis of 'you never know...' and of course the little guy from Indy 2 was in it. I lasted about an hour. A bunch of completely unappealing (at best, awful at worst - the fat one, who wisely gave up acting shortly after it) kids apparently doing little more than running about shouting. Ugh. Kids' films don't have to be crap, adults should be allowed to enjoy them too. Should have trusted my instincts.

Pathaan. The biggest Hindi money-make of the last year, I think. After the tremendous RRR (still on Netflix, folks, treat yourself) I thought I'd expand my Bollywood horizon, and now I've seen three, after 4-hour epic cricketing musical Lagaan. Anyway, Pathaan. It's pure James Bond, pre-Craig, when Bond was still allowed to be preposterous fun. It seems to exist for two reasons - to show off ludicrous action sequences all over the globe that the makers of Fastfuriousfranchise would dismiss as improbable, and to make Indian movie deity Shah Rukh Khan's hair look as if it's auditioning for a Harmony advert. It must be written into his contract to have his tousled locks waft about even when he's standing still in an airless room. And to be filmed walking into said rooms in slow motion. And to defy the laws of physics. And to look half his age, unless they've finally managed seamless cgi face/off tech. It's long, of course, and the baddy talks too much, obligingly telling the goodies exactly what he's about to do next, but it's continually hilarious that this genocidal, megalomaniacal, completely ruthless evil genius is called... Jim. Not as insanely entertaining as RRR, but a grab-the-popcorn turned-up-to 11 blast.

Mrs Driver was out last night, so I watched a horror double-bill ... Don't Breathe 1 & 2.

Once it gets going, #1 is tight and tense, with some great Raimi-style camerawork. There are a few effective jump scares, low grue, some inventive set pieces and unexpected turns. Recommended for genre-fans, 7.5/10.

#2 is flabbier, and I wasn't convinced by a new prominent character. There is more gore, and the tone is nastier, at least till the end when it goes ott daftly unrealistic. Still worth a look, 6/10.

Bank of Dave (2023) - I've not watched a 'TV Movie' like this for ages! Set oop north, it's an interesting tale told in a fluffy manner, with a decent cast. But I didn't take to the lead guy who was given too much to do, when Dave's story was more interesting (BBC podcast).
Lots of cheese for a rainy Sunday, 6/10 nostalgia.

Kill Boksoon (2023) - nothing you've not seen before - a skilled female assassin with a (motherly) heart. Could have done with 15 mins trimmed, but 2 exceptional fight sequences in particular make this worth a watch. Stylishly cinematic and looks great, although the music choices were a bit weird! One problem is that I find Korean films to uncomfortably combine childish humour with VAWG.
Could have been exceptional, but still a decent 7/10.

The Lost Daughter (2021) - with several Oscar and BAFTA nominations, this is one for film critics rather than casual Netflix watchers, who might  have watched this via Coleman, Ed Harris, or even 50-Shades. (This is obvious by the unusual 2-point ratings difference between viewers/critics.)

Difficult to review without giving anything away, which is weird in itself cos there's very little to actually give away! And a heads-up that this is yet another production to show a tiny snippet of things to come at the very start, which imo always spoils things.

If you go into it expecting to be uncomfortably challenged rather than blown away, you should be OK.

A well-acted but cautiously pretentious 8/10.

I'm on a roll this week.

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) - despite being German, doesn't really add anything new ... Bodies. Mud.

But it's very well made and absolutely unflinching, and really hit my feels without being manipulative. Pacing is up and down by necessity, otherwise it would be too gruelling, and there are even one or two chuckles to be had. Not one to enjoy, but an essential 8/10.

I'll be watching Kill Boksoon, thanks; it would have gone straight into my watchlist if the site I rely on for new Netflix releases had actually mentioned it, but they didn't. The lead in it, Jeon Do Yeon, is a very good serious actress (that's serious as in one who doesn't normally do action) and action films are always better when actors you don't expect do them. But it's Easter now, apparently, and that means Ben Hur, as much a part of Easter as Zuzu's petals are of Xmas.