Mondofilmaday 2020 Feb

35 movies this month. Raise the Red Lantern was probably the best

• I lost my body - low key movie with a high concept. beautifully made.
• Raiders the story of the greatest fan film ever made - another doc about obsession and fandom, mostly interesting but pulls something at the end which seems a little dubious. 
• The unicorn store - slight but decent
• Columbo: Any port in a storm - yeah im counting Columbo eps. This is a classic with a brilliant Donald Pleasance playing excellently against Falk.
• Beyond the gates - another of the 80s horror throwbacks, Barbra Crampton has a bit of fun but the concept never quite gels into something truly compelling
• Columbo: now you see him - fun but not top tier
• Wont you be my neighbour - a sweet and uplifting portrait of a man not well known over here
• Columbo: blueprint for murder - Falk is always value, and this has an okay slight twist on the format
• Little monsters - fun and breezy but doesnt offer much new (which is fine)
• Mister america - odd and funny spin on 'America' and little politics
• Birds of prey - a game cast and fun action sequences dont get passed the obnoxious vibe. Not as offputting as deadpool and better than most WB dc movies but still feels like a missed op.
• Columbo goes to the guillotine - another magician based crime which is a fun backdrop
• Stalled - doesnt quite rise above its very low budget but has one or two fun ideas
• Lady Macbeth - brilliant. Pugh shows the powerhouse they are in a small but emotionally deep drama.
• Whisky galore (2016) - poorly paced, wnating to be a gentle comedy it is instead lethargic.
• Safety not guaranteed - good performances rise the drama a little from simple indie quirk.
• Allegro non toppo - offbeat euro take on Fantasia with bizarre meta tangents.
• 21 bridges - perfectly adequate action thriller, but totally forgettable.
• Extra ordinary - delightful, low key comedy. Will Forte almost unbalances it with a very broad performance but keeps it just the right side,
• Bumblebee - I mean its the best Transformer movie but that doesnt exactly make it good. 
• Point blank (2019) - another completely forgettable action-er. 
• Raise the red lantern - Excellent. Heart breaking. Complex. A friend had reccomending this for filmaday many years ago, sad it took this long to get to but glad i finally did.
• Next goal wins - another interesting doc about obssession of a kind. This should appeal to non footie fans as much as it does the converted.
• Horse girl - Alison Brie is excellent.
• Missing link - beautifully made with the usual Laika excellence but the story is a bit of nothing
• Killer clowns from outer space - atrocious. the jokes are generally awful, the scares are non-existant. it seems its cult status is mostly formed by its name.
• Like a boss - fairly forgettable work comedy with decent cast.
• Emma - well made, often funny and brilliantly played but everyone is so horrible with little time given to the redemptive part that im am unsure how much the film wants us to hate the main characters.
• Carefree - some lovely dancing from rogers and astaire but im pretty sure i sneezed and missed the conclusion of the movie.
• I am david - doesnt play to Paul Feigs strengths but passable enough
• Here comes hell - very low budget evil dead meets downton abbey. like a bunch of movies at this kind of level some fun ideas but hard to watch
• I trapped the devil - maybe too close to a specific classic twilight zone ep to be considered too highly but it has some style.
• Paradise hills - maybe has too much style but its alice in wonderland meets handmaids tale offers some interest
• Found footage 3d - some of the meta stuff involves characters lazily saying 'just like a movie' but some bits stand out including appearance by a real film critic playing himself.
• Columbo fade into murder - one of Shatners eps and fun. Pretty much all the 70s ones are watchable.