So the house is falling apart and vineyard makes undrinkable wine. Excellent.

A Good Year

(2006)

The only Ridley Scott feature film I hadn't seen, and one I'd been consciously avoiding due to its bad notices. It is seriously hampered by the miscasting of Russell Crowe as Hugh Grant (I almost gave up in the first 5 minutes with his first appearance greeting the staff at his stock broking firm as “lab rats”) and Scott having zero flair for comedy.

There's compensation in the Provence setting, though, which Scott predictably makes so gorgeous that you completely appreciate why Crowe's character comes to view it as an idyll. The supporting cast fare much better than Crowe; Marion Cotillard is adorable, Albert Finney dependable in flashback scenes, and Tom Hollander plays the best friend but would have been a more natural fit for the lead.

**1/2

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My name is Dr. King Schultz, this is my valet, Django, and these are our horses, Fritz, and Tony.

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You look like an angry lizard!

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
(SPOILERS) I can quite see a Queen fan begrudging this latest musical biopic for failing to adhere to the facts of their illustrious career – but then, what biopic does steer a straight and true course? – making it ironic that they're the main fuel for Bohemian Rhapsody's box office success. Most other criticisms – and they're legitimate, on the whole – fall away in the face of a hugely charismatic star turn from Rami Malek as the band's frontman. He's the difference between a standard-issue, episodic, join-the-dots narrative and one that occasionally touches greatness, and most importantly, carries emotional heft.

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There's something wrong with the sky.

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Don’t you break into like, a billion homes a year?

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I take Quaaludes 10-15 times a day for my "back pain", Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, part to mellow me out, cocaine to wake me back up again, and morphine... Well, because it's awesome.

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I was vaguely familiar with the title, not because I knew much about Jordan Belfort but because the script had been in development for such a long time (Ridley Scott was attached at one time). So part of the pleasure of the film is discovering how widely the story diverges from the Wall Street template. “The Wolf of Wall Street” suggests one who towers over the city like a behemoth, rather than a guy …

A machine planet, sending a machine to Earth, looking for its creator. It’s absolutely incredible.

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Now In Full Color, with a Happier Ending

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