The accidental names edition, beginning with the original film of Annie:
John Huston’s gregarious musical – with plenty of strong singers, and a spirited lead – loses the plot quite literally as it stumbles into its turgid second hour, all but ditching the songs for a dull chase sequence that goes nowhere.
One of 2014’s most acclaimed films was Ida, and I concur:
Composed like a short story – starkly photographic in appearance, economical in script and length – Ida is ostensibly the tale of a young nun-to-be who discovers dark truths about her background, and her place in the world at large. But as always with such things it’s about so much more than that.
Added to the list of ‘decent wrestling docs’ is Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story:
Some great archive footage and anecdotes in this WWE-produced profile doc on the Macho Man. But there was much more to Randy Savage than 90 minutes allows, so it only feels like a taster. (The bonus matches are a nice touch, though, even if there’s some overlap with the more comprehensive Macho Madness collection.)
Then I was unfortunate witness to Johnny English Reborn:
I sat through this as a challenge to myself, to see it I could last till the end without even raising a smile, let alone manage a chuckle. I won.
And Sydney Pollack/Dustin Hoffman ‘classic’ Tootsie didn’t fare much better:
Dustin Hoffman in drag mansplains feminism to Jessica Lange in a film that’s very much of its time, and should stay there as an example to us all.