I haven’t written much on this blog over the last two or three weeks, just because I don’t seem to have time. It’s an odd thing as with no commutes or going out I should have more. However, watching more movies and being sat at home typing on a laptop for work all day, I’ve not had the motivation to write about a movie for days. However, I have been watching more films as there’s been nothing else to do. So I decided to sum up my week of film watching in case you’re stuck at home wanting a recommendation or wanting to kill time on a long road trip.

I’ll get my most underwhelming pick of the week out of the way first and that was A Silent Voice (2016). A Japanese anime film, this sees our main protagonist in a dark place before deciding to right his wrongs, attempting to redeem himself by befriending a deaf girl he used to pick on.

The whole thing wasn’t awfully made, however I felt it paled in comparison to Your Name and Weathering With You which were just more engaging and interesting romantic stories. I feel that if a film is animated, it needs to have a reason. Why couldn’t it be acted? What limits are you breaking? However, this film just didn’t answer this.

It all felt rather melodramatic, with lots of over the top responses and far too much crying, compared to such understated gems as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. I gave it 2.5 stars, but if you want to watch it, to prove me wrong, it’s on Netflix.

Cruel Story of Youth (1960) is indeed about youth. It is a story and it is very very cruel. It’s a 1960’s Japanese film about the rebellious youth which sits somewhere between A Rebel Without A Cause and A Clockwork Orange. It follows a young couple who don’t fit in the world. He doesn’t treat her well. She is still obsessed. They work together to mug strangers who offer to pick her up on the way home. It could have been a good hustling film in a similar but slightly darker way than Hustlers, however the characters just weren’t likeable.

However, despite not being enjoyable, the music and camerawork and everything in general were very good. Objectively, there is very little wrong with this film, however subjectively it just didn’t work for me and I don’t think I’ll watch it again. However, I rated it 4 stars and if you want to watch it you can stream it on BFI Player.

Now on to some more likeable films including Fantastic Mr Fox (2009). Based loosely on the Roald Dahl film, we see George Clooney’s Mr Fox and his family deal with Boggs, Bean and Bruce, three mean farmers who try and catch the Fox after he steals their goods.

The Wes Anderson film is quirky, full of seemingly random title cards, lots of quick witty lines and a really weird animation style. The humour is an acquired taste, but more often than not it works with a wide range of visual gags. All of the voice actors are brilliantly in sync and the script is brilliantly written. Each scene is quirky and unpredictable, and the animation is used to great effect.

While it’s not as good as Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, on the whole Fantastic Mr Fox provides an off beat family friendly entertainment. A solid four star film which is available on Amazon Prime.

In these dark times is there anything more uplifting than a musical? Well, this week I watched Sing Street (2016), John Carney’s follow up piece to Once. The film is set in 1980s Ireland in the middle of a deep recession. The lead character Conor has to go to a strict catholic school. He then meets Raphina and falls for her, asking her to be in a music video for his band. The only problem is he doesn’t have a band.

I thought this film was wonderful. It was funny and charming with a variety of steady cam and hand cam which give it this real home made feel we saw in Once. The soundtrack is charmingly upbeat and 80s with music from the likes of Duran Duran, A-ha and The Jam. Conor’s home problems are brilliantly offset by his band and young love in this happy-sad piece.

It really is a fantastic feel good piece and if you can find it, it’s well worth a watch to help with those lockdown blues. I gave it 4 stars and you can buy it on DVD or virtually.

If you want a bit more of a traditional musical or any film, may I point you to BBC iPlayer. They have posted 27 silver screen films for your enjoyment, including Top Hat (1935), probably the oldest film I’ve ever seen. As with all musicals of this time it features the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers double act.

He falls in love with her, she reciprocates. A misunderstanding means she thinks he is married. He flies to Italy to win her back. It’s all a simple charming film. In the same way that Wall-E is infatuated by the hapiness of “Hello Dolly”, I felt myself smile as I embraced this older simpler time. Sure you had an Italian man talking in an incredibly over-exaggerated accent in third person. But did this really matter? No, it just added to the fun.

The songs were fun, the comedy was stupidly enjoyable and really, if you want to explore old films, I’d recommend this as a place to start. It’s a four star worthy film and it’s available to stream on BBC IPlayer.

As the British, we have a certain genre we make better than anyone else, and that’s a classic British feel good film. Very few tick all the boxes like Pride (2014). Underdog story? Yes. Rural meets urban? Yes. Thatcher and the miners strike? Yes. A Harry Potter actor? Yes. Bill Nighy? Yes. We have bingo.

The film focuses on the true story of how a group of lesbian and gay people support a small Welsh mining town on their strike. The contrast between these outwardly expressive liberal London individuals and this small tight-knit head-down working class community leads to world colliding. At first, many of the towns people don’t want the help of the LGSM Group. However, soon barriers are broken down as they both fight a common enemy.

The film takes some really dark stories and somehow shows a lighter side of unity. These two communities who are both in a fight can work together for what is right. You will smile throughout as every actor is on top form, the dialogue is fun and engaging and the music remains upbeat throughout.

This really does fall under the modern british fell good film and is well worth a watch. It’s warm and familiar. I gave it a very good four stars and it’s available on Amazon Prime.

Ex-Machina (2014) doesn’t provide any humour. It’s a sci-fi film where Caleb (Domnhall Gleeson) is bought to a secret facility of the owner of Bluebook (You know, that thing which totally isn’t google) where he undertakes the Turing test on a new AI robot called Ava.

It’s a relatively standard Sci-fi in the first half and I struggles to get the fact that I’d seen Gleeson in a very similar Black Mirror episode a few years prior. However, it really amped up in the second half and I totally forgot this.

The whole film played on the ideas of control with a consideration of masculinity very subtly. The setting was fantastic as this grey underground facility felt more of a prison than anything and it was about Ava’s liberation. I thought the film was great and the end was fantastic. I can’t wait to watch it again. I thought it was worth 4.5 stars and is available on Netflix.

My film of the week is Train To Busan (2016). Based in South Korea, a father who is overly work-focussed and not close with his daughter takes her to his mother for her birthday. At this point, a virus is breaking out which turns everyone into zombies. He and everyone else need to survive on this train as they attempt to get to Busan.

While a simple premise, I thought it was brilliantly written. The father always had two decisions: The selfish, for himself and his daughter, or the selfless for the community. He had a metaphorical angel and devil on his shoulder throughout in other passengers and you really got to like and care about the good people on the train. As well as being a standard zombie film there was real development leading to an emotional crescendo.

The fact it was set in a train helped even more. Nobody was armed and everybody was trapped in this small area with no escape. More zombies weren’t going to appear, but the ones that were in the train were even more dangerous.

As someone who doesn’t like horror, I thought this was a brilliant film and worthy of 5 stars. It’s not free on any streaming services, but is available on DVD or pay to download.

If ever there were a film to discourage using public transport during a pandemic…