mondofilmaday April

• The endless - im not sure i completely followed how the time shenanigans plot actually functioned but neat ideas and a creepy tone carried through an interesting movie.
• The private life of sherlock holmes - Much more low key on the comedy stakes than i had assumed, a trifle but not without some merit.
• Vivarium - companion piece to The Endless in repetitive confinement with a terrific performance from Imogen Poots. 
• I kill giants. Another good Poots job. Sticks pretty close to what I recall of the comic, though it lacks some of that's style. There's always a danger to the trope of is it real or in their head which this mostly avoids.
• The stranger - Lesser Welles noir performance, the film is oddly structured never really digging into the suspense of the wife's situation but it manages a couple of moments of fun Hitchcocky business.
• What did Jack do? - Strangely endearing monkey noir from David Lynch that doesnt really do anything but is short enough to not be a chore.
• The polka king - A companion piece to Jack Blacks other true crime flick Bernie with a similar tone and decent performances.
• The interview - Australian thriller with a good hook but its (spoiler for 22 year old movie) lack of goodie actually ends up dampening the tension.
• Kill Ben lyk - misanthropic low rent brit crime com that never really becomes anything particularly fun.
• Columbo: no time to die - one of the worst Columbos ever (alongside the other Ed Mcbain adaptation Undercover), with an incredibly silly action film ending of a cop diving through a window that might have been classic had that cop been Columbo himself. I had heard of its bad rep (well deserved) but wanted to say on facebook that I had just watched No Time to Die. A bad joke that no-one responded to at all. 
• Basil the great mouse detective - pretty ho-hum disney affair.
• Monsters university - pretty but dull.
• Finding dory - just dull.
• Tigertail - Tzi Ma is excellent and the film is generally good but never gels into something special
• Stripes - awful, sloppy coasting on Murrays charm which is there but the typical character he plays becomes more unbearable as time goes on (Venkman is a prick)
• Love wedding repeat - mostly unfunny sort of timeloop comedy that doesnt even get to the loop for an interminable time and then rushes through what should be the fun bit. Community's Chaos Theory is the thing to watch instead.
• The woman in the window - (spoiler for 76 year old movie) a pretty good noir with a funny throughline of a smart guy doing just the worst job of covering up a killing in self defense let down by a lousy 'and you were there, and you, and you' dream ending.
• Crooked house - handsomely cast and staged Agatha Christie production with one of her better (even if quite silly) reveals.
• Columbo a bird in the hand - trying to think if any of the 90s columbos ive seen are actually good. certainly not this one. Falk is still fun though.
• Ruben Brandt collector - unusual animated movie that feels like im might have got a lot more out of if i had a greater art history knowledge base. some fun to be had nonetheless.
• Taking of Pelham 123 (1998) - even worse than the tony scott remake, and a really sloppy transfer onto netflix had a badly framed ratio and poor picture quality.
• Animal world - i think i'd have prefered a more bare bones less hyper version of this, as the maths stuff about the game was way more interesting than the stylised violence.
• Shimmer lake - the tricksy, reverse storytelling serves to only highlight the twist but without it whats the point? I did like the repeated sit in the back of the cop car gag.
• The muppet movie - maybe i just dont really care for the muppets? i liked a couple of the musical numbers but none of it was all that funny. 
• Great muppet caper - the musical numbers arent great. 
• Professor branestawm - slight but fun for the undemanding.
• Extraction - dreary macho colonialist bs. it has a showy long one take action scene that barely registers because the character work is so sloppy.
• The willoughbys - fun, with just enough bite to appeal to the weird kids
• Clouds of sils maria - beautiful, compelling with an amazing Kristen Stewart performance.
• columbo butterfly in shades of grey - lesser columbo but by no means the worst. no nearly as good as the other shatner one though.
• Plagues.of breslau - utter dreck. lousy polish se7en knock-off with an almost interesting villain
• The breaker upperers. - fun new zealand comedy with the obligatory Jermaine Clement cameo