One Fine Morning (2022)

A romantic drama (original title Un beau matin) about a young widow who is caring for everyone around her in Paris and with little time for herself or her prospects. A father who has, what turns out to be, Benson’s Syndrome (a neurodegenerative disease which causes cognitive and sight impairment), an eight year-old girl who is seeking her mother’s attention (and some kind of ordinary life) and now and an old (married but unhappy) friend who has turned up looking for loving involvement. Director/writer Mia Hansen-Løve (Father of My Children, All Is Forgiven) draws out the best in her cast which is led by Léa Seydoux (No Time to Die, Midnight in Paris, Blue Is the Warmest Colour) as she depicts the torn-in-every-direction Sandra so very convincingly. She is supported ably by Melvil Poupaud playing Clément (the love interest), very competently by Camille Leban Martins in her first outing as Linn (the daughter) and the experienced Pascal Greggory (La Vie En Rose, The Page Turner, La Reine Margot), as Georg, her sadly deteriorating father. Her father had been an intellectual, a philosophy professor, and is surrounded by a huge library of books in his apartment, where he has been leading something of a relationship with a lady who seems to have come onto the scene (but now abandoned mainly) following his divorce from his wife, some 20 years previous. His ex-wife pops up and figures in the story as he deteriorates to such a degree that the family have to give in and accept that he needs to live in some kind of care establishment. Prior to this happening, and with a great deal of insight into the difficulties surrounding that move, the care system in France and quality of available options, Sandra attends to his care on a continual basis - not helped much by the other members of the family. It is often moving and sad as we observe the deterioration, not only of the father’s condition but also Sandra’s resolve and resignation in the situation. We observe Sandra’s vulnerability as she tries her best to please everyone, keep on top of the situations around her as many depend upon her, whilst trying to maintain a hold on her job as a language translator. Along comes Clément, a much travelled and respected scientist, and they start a passionate affair until the magic of the sex runs its course and he realises that it’s going to be difficult for him to leave his wife and son for her and Linn. He leaps about, undecided, confusing both of them in the process but amongst the grief and sadness, Sandra holds onto hope that it will end up positively for the three of them. We then follow the ups and downs of that situation, the confusion, memory and dignity loss with an unclear path regarding the care for her father and the behaviours of Linn as she seeks approval and attention from those around her. It’s touching but not soppy as all the threads are pulled together in this slow-paced but moody, atmospheric and satisfying drama. The setting throughout is within Paris, the apartments, streets, school, care homes, hospitals and landmarks, which have been very nicely filmed depicting the heat of summer and cold of winter, with thoughtful imagery and camerawork throughout. Seydoux’s performance is excellent and she holds the attention of the viewer throughout, portraying real-life emotions as the landscape around her rises and falls, crumbles and conquers but with a resounding message of hope too. Recommended.

The Infernal Machine (2022)

This mystery thriller has been created by relative newbie director/writer Andrew Hunt which takes the viewer on a roundabout trip in the company of the lead character (as he tries to unravel what on earth is going on) whilst revealing a few things of his own into the mix as we go! Confused already? Get used to it!

The story is about an English professor (Bruce Cogburn) who, some years ago, had a job teaching in America before striking oil and making himself fame and fortune from a book sale. We join the action some years later in around 1981, with flashbacks to the teaching days, where he’s living a reclusive lifestyle, refusing to connect with his fans or the public - not even having a phone and living in the dusty, dry middle of nowhere.

He starts getting letters, to his PO Box address, from a particular fan (William DuKent) asking him for his opinion on his work, writing a book. The fan starts to hound the professor, who starts to head rapidly into a booze-fuelled decline because of it. The fan leaves a phone number, so Cogburn eventually tries, politely at first, to engage with DuKent but is only able to leave his messages via an answering machine. DuKent doesn’t relent and pushes Cogburn, who descends further and further into apparent mental ill-health over it.

The book was called The Infernal Machine and it had been alleged that it had been written with all sorts of hidden code and instructions regarding terrorist acts, some of which had been linked to the Knoxville Massacre in which Dwight Tufford opened fire from a tower, killing 13 people. The Tufford character does make an appearance in the film, but it’s not hugely significant to the plot really. The film is based on a story by Louis Kornfeld by the way, not any basis of truth.

That’s about all I can tell you about the plot really, as to continue would give away parts of the mystery which you’ll want to see unfold. It does get horribly complicated en route, however, so keep on your toes! There are periods where the story is dragged out too much - and other times when it felt like more could have been made of the unfolding. In fact, it might have done well as a mini-series to explore further the back-stories of some of the characters who do indeed end up being central to the plot.

It’s a bit of a one-man show in many ways as Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential, Mare of Easttown) plays Cogburn beautifully. Convincing and engrossed in his role, we feel his character’s decline, anxiety, frustration and plight. Most around him are making up the numbers, but do a decent-enough job.

The setting is mostly that dusty, dry landscape of hot American outback which makes for some interesting imagery. Some of the editing seems to be a bit severe in places (adding to the theory of a better mini-series) but generally the direction tries hard to keep the audience with just enough information at any one time to keep track. Just.

Anyway, it’s an interesting film for sure, as it turns out, a great idea, thoughtful mystery/thriller and good character study - it just feels like it loses itself here and there with perhaps a slightly too-complex plot, crammed in at times, stretched at others - perhaps a pacing issue. But do watch it for Guy Pearce’s performance.

PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of May 2023

...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

Projector Room
Episode 137 - The Diplomat's Blood
Wednesday 3rd May
Back again for our fortnightly roundup of all things film, cinema and TV, so why not join Gareth, Allan and I for a bumper-length episode! All sorts on offer as usual with appreciations of Walter Matthau, Barry Humphries, Japanese animation as we Pump Up The Volume with Peter Pan and what's Coming Soon.

Whatever Works
Episode 185 - AI-Generated Mash-Up!
Wednesday 3rd May
Aidan and I are back with another roundup of Whatever Works in our lives and yours! Plenty of fun as usual and everything imaginable between sanders and multitools, grip-tape and soap, even a little Twinkly Flex!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 747 - Folding Now for Three Solid Years
Saturday 6th May
This week Steve and I welcome YouTuber Michael Fisher back for a chat for an hour during which we discover that he is 100% committed to folding/flipping devices with pretty much no space left for anything less able! So our theme continues and remains Samsung-heavy, the formidable folders! We throw in some thoughts too, but this week is very much about Mr Mobile!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 748 - Rarities and Reviews
Saturday 13th May
Ben Wood joins Steve and I this week as we chat phones for an hour. Loads of interesting stuff as always from Ben, a bit of what's gone, a bit of what's now, a bit of what's to come - and some pearls thrown in for good measure, including April's Photo of the Month!

Tech Addicts Podcast
Magic Vs The Pixel Fold
Sunday 14th May
Gareth and I are back after our 3-week break on the trail of all things tech that's crossed our paths again. This time we natter (like everyone else in the world) about folding devices, but also gaming devices, new phones, updated phones, laptops, desktops, tablets, a bunch of Chrome stuff and oodles more - in our longest show ever (peppered with lunches, fumblings and countdowns)!

Projector Room
Episode 138 - Evil Dead Beef
Wednesday 17th May
The gang is back again with another look into film, cinema and TV. Why not join Allan, Gareth and I as we focus on the work of Juliette Lewis, check out what's coming soon, deal with a Beef Invasion and with Two Weeks to Live, we consider The Mother and what makes A Good Person.

Phones Show Chat
Episode 749 - Android 14
Friday 19th May
Malcolm Bryant joins Steve Litchfield and I this week and delivers a very interesting overview of what's coming in Android 14 alongside a masterclass in becoming an App Developer! Plus a bunch of other stuff from us, deliberating between phones/OS/features as always - and never really deciding! Plenty of fodder left to get us to Show 1000..!

Whatever Works
Episode 186 - Jolly Jingleless Japes!
Wednesday 24th May
Aidan has gallivanted off with his bucket'n'spade so in his absence, I've roped in Steve, Ian Barton and Chris Kelly to consider Whatever Works in our lives and yours, too! And what a selection - from Histoacryl to Tacknet, Bells to beer, Presto to pumps and even Willen to Woburn!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 750 - Notes and To-dos
Saturday 27th May
Steve and I are three-quarters done now(!) and for our (kind of) landmark episode we're joined by Chris Kelly and catch up with him on what gear/apps he's using and his thoughts going forward. Plenty more too with a Samsung Soiree, Storage with Sony and even a Screen Shine Summary! Available in all the usual places, so do join us!

Tech Addicts Podcast
Project Q and Lightly Researched News
Sunday 28th May
Gareth and I are back again, woefully underprepared, as we muddle through what we think we understand is going on in our wonderful world of tech! This time it's Beijing Bans, Samsung Sensors, Shorts, Side-panels and Samples, OnePlus and Oppo Airing Pads and much more! So do tune in - it's unskippable (unlike YouTube's ads)! Available in all the usual places.

Projector Room
Episode 139 - Blood, Air and Gold
Wednesday 31st May
Gareth, Allan and I are back again with our fortnightly roundup of all things film, cinema and TV. Bit of a long one this time, so take it in stages! All sorts of goodies though with our thoughts on Black Knight in Private Screening, Jeff Fahey as our Themed Treat, some interesting picks in The Main Feature, plenty to look forward to Coming Soon and sadly too much in The Final Curtain. Do lend us your ear though and hopefully you'll enjoy.

The Podcasts
PodHubUK - Phones Show Chat - The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat & The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Videos - PSC Classifieds - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Allan Gildea

A Good Person (2023)

I think we all know by now that Florence Pugh can do no wrong and here she is again, stealing the show in a virtual double-header with Morgan Freeman. The film is a creation of comedy actor-turned-writer/director Zach Braff and what a splendid job he has done with a beautifully crafted and moving story.

Having suggested that it's a two-header, I have to back-track a little and admit that the whole cast have done fine jobs in their roles, but most of the screen time has been engulfed by Pugh and Morgan. Florence Pugh (Don't Worry Darling, Midsommer, The Wonder) plays Allison who is about to be married to Nathan (Chinaza Urch), to whom she is deeply committed and in love. Soul Mates stuff. There's a tragic accident while she's driving a car, she wakes up in a hospital bed to find out all about it - and we leap forward a year.

There were two passengers in the accident - Nathan's sister and brother-in-law - and as we pick up the story with Allison living with her mum, it's clear that Nathan and her are no long an item. Morgan Freeman (Transcendence, Se7en, Outbreak) plays Nathan's dad, Daniel, who is an ex-soldier and long-term police officer with a drink problem. Drink problems and addiction becomes the theme of this film. Allison, a year on, is addicted to prescription pain-killers and will do pretty much anything to get them, once the doctor stops prescribing.

Grandad Daniel is living with Ryan (Celeste O'Connor) the 16 year-old niece of Nathan - now with no mum. Daniel is not making a very good job of it, but he is making a good job of keeping his drinking in check, with the help of local AA/NA group - which he is attending one day when Allison turns up to start her recovery. Daniel privately holds her responsible for the death of his daughter, but faces his greatest challenge now that she's turned up, forgiving her and keeping himself on the straight and narrow - whilst also trying to regain the trust of son Nathan, with whom he has had a difficult past.

Daniel and Allison, over time, form an unlikely bond/friendship which has its ups and downs, good and bad, challenging and smooth. The chemistry between the two of them works really well on screen and we're treated to a masterclass in acting. As I said earlier, the pair of them steal the show with phenomenally powerful performances, gut-wrenching scene after gripping emotional sequence. It would take a cold-hearted viewer not to shed a tear at the very least. But it's not soppy and holds its line with intelligence and class in terms of acting, storytelling and direction.

We now enter the meat of the film which is very much about harrowing grief, loss, recovery, relationships, abuse through alcohol, forgiveness, hopelessness, addiction, helplessness, guilt and regret. Although a central part of the production is about addiction, it's also very much about lives destroyed by events - to some degree outside of the control of the characters. The film tries to inject some humour, too, but even then - the audience sees it through the eyes of the characters' destruction.

I won't give away any of the outcomes of course, and there are one or two eventualities which I think could have been done differently, but that's not what this is really about. It's just so smart and incredibly well imagined, scripted, delivered and so very dramatic. You might have worked out by now that I'm hugely impressed! Pugh and Morgan are superb throughout and this has to be, so far in 2023, my Film of the Year. With 7 months to go, it could be usurped, but it's gonna' take some beating. Treat yourself.

Black Crab (2022)

Continuing with my Noomi Rapace appreciation flow, my next stop was this Swedish post-apocalyptic yarn about a group of soldiers who are picked for a mission (because they are good ice-skaters) in the midst of an all-out war between two sides. They had to be good ice-skaters because it was the only way to deliver a potentially war-ending package to where it needs to be - over the ice-covered landscape of northern Europe.

We start off in the thick of chaos and violence in which Noomi's character, Edh, loses track of her daughter, with whom she's travelling in a car. People with guns are indiscriminately shooting anything that moves in the midst of a huge traffic jam. We then cut to a train, where Edh is plucked from a war-torn carriage and whisked off for the mission by the military. She's clearly not only a mother, but also a trained soldier. As well as a good ice-skater!

We then join the crack team, who are given the items in question, and sent off to skate to where it needs to go across that frozen sea. They are likely to be picked off by the enemy, so much travelling is done when it's dark and resting when light. You don't need to belong to Mensa to work out that the mysterious package is not quite all it seems and that the military are possibly covering some agenda up, so unknown to the team! Amongst the adventures en route, various members of the team suddenly become less like soldiers and more like free-thinking individuals, taking moral stands about war and the fete of humanity, forgetting that they're under orders.

Relatively inexperienced director/writer Adam Berg holds the reins here and provides us with a fairly decent thriller with some suspense, violence and action thrown in as we spend most of the time with the team, on a kind of road-trip. On ice! There's some lovely scenery on offer so the cinematographer was able to cash in and make that look fairly good when it wasn't night. Though even when it was, the use of lighting, especially on and through the ice, was nicely done). There's also set considerations, with crumbling cities and barren urban landscapes which looked convincing enough too.

Noomi Rapace (Stockholm, Lamb, The Secrets We Keep, You Won't Be Alone) leads the fairly capable-looking cast who are able to keep up - and in many instances, perform convincingly. So, plenty of people shooting other people, fighting, knifework, spurting blood, explosions and general Bond-style nastiness to thrill the action-seeking folk. Not very intellectually challenging throughout, though, so don't come looking for that! The final scenes feel very much like a Bond film! Noomi is the star of course and she does an excellent job though I don't think she needed to try very hard. She's an excellent actress and many people appreciate her talent, but this is a payday job!

It's an enjoyable ride for the best part of two hours and generally the time flies along. Don't try too hard to think about it all, just enjoy the thrills! It's subtitled, dubbed or whatever, so take your pick. Worth a look, for sure, even if nobody will be winning many awards.

You Won't Be Alone (2022)

In my quest to watch anything with Noomi Rapace in it, I came across this film and ended up rather enjoying it. However, it's a bit bizarre! If you thought Lamb (her film from 2021) was a bit odd, this surpasses it as probably the strangest film I've seen in the last couple of years! But hang on in there.

Putting Noomi's involvement into perspective, she's only actually in for about 15 minutes as she plays the part of one of the people whose bodies our central character jumps into, driven by a ruthless witch in 19th century Macedonia! And there I paint a sharp picture of the story one is getting into here! It's a story of witches and simple folk living in fear of such things in a village in the countryside, working together to feed themselves from the land, avoiding the plague and just surviving.

Apart from Noomi Rapace (Stockholm, Lamb, The Secrets We Keep) I haven't seen much of the other actors - Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures) and Anamaria Marinca (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Europa Report, Fury) being the two main leads. Everyone seems to be very engaged with what is going on though and performing very well. Director/writer Goran Stolevski comes from Macedonia, though seems to have lived most of his life in Australia. He holds things together pretty well and makes the most of things visually with some very nice leadership in terms of continuity, images, shooting, lighting and set.

The film is a horror really, but it's more shocking for the audience in terms of gore and the characters with supernatural powers making a bloody mess of much of what they come in contact with. Adult humans, animals, babies - nobody gets a pass and it is a little gruesome at times. There's also some nudity and sexual scenes thrown in just in case the aforementioned wasn't quite enough to get an X-rating!

Anyway, we join the story with a severely deformed-by-fire witch hustling in on a lady (minding her own business) who has just had a child. The witch tries to snatch it but mother swiftly takes action to prevent this - at least until the child is 16. In order to keep the witch's wrinkled hands off it, she puts her in a cavern and leaves her there, attending to her needs every few days bringing her supplies etc. For 16 years she sees nobody and has no socialisation of any sort. Mother is hoping the witch has forgotten, when her child is 16, or that she doesn't know where she hid her. But of course witches know everything and she rocks up for her reward as agreed.

The witch then oversees the life of the girl (Biliana, Alice Englert) but they soon fall out as Biliana wants a normal life. She ain't going to get it though and via various gruesome and barbaric acts, she flits between various living creatures (one being Bosilka, Noomi Rapace) when they're either dead anyway or by killing them first! She then 'transforms' into their being (by removing their innards and putting them into herself) and tries to take over living their lives for them - usually with disastrous results as she has no idea how to behave socially or any other way, having been stuck in a cave all her life!

I think you get the idea. It's all fairly involved and you need to watch closely to keep up with what's going on, how things develop and to make sense of the outcome. I think I did - just about! Biliana has to learn things the hard way and through her adventures and misery, she does so. We get a snapshot of their world, too, full of male dominance leading to violence towards women generally, cultural superstition, the importance of family bonds, relationships and love. It feels very much like a fairy tale often, except the fairy seems missing and is replaced with witches! Think Merlin. Kind of. Or perhaps Rumpelstiltskin!

Finally, Biliana is trying hard to break away from the burned old witch and as we head towards the climax, showdown, a High Noon in the making, we find out if Biliana's good intentions and trapped existence conquers the evil of the old witch! Yes, it's that old good vs evil battle again! I'm sure that I've probably missed out on a lot of the metaphors and parallels which I should have picked up, so maybe I'll watch it again. It's subtitled/dubbed but actually there's not a huge amount of dialogue overall and I thought it was a very interesting film, a little slow in parts, but well worth seeking out and getting stuck into!

Last Sentinel (2023)

We're about 40 years into the future here and global warming has raised the level of the earth's water to such an extent that there's only two bits of land left - and the two 'countries' are at war. Inevitably! The setting for this film is a rig in the middle of the two, which is occupied and maintained by 4 military personnel on rotation, two years at a time.

We join the action as the 'monthly' storm is due, facilitating a potential haul of fish in their nets as they wait for their relief crew, now 3 months late and no word. There's very limited communication with the outside world (on some strangely outdated-looking equipment for the future) and the whole film is set onboard the knackered, old rig and a couple of vessels around it. The storm is raging and we get to see a few minutes of special effects as the huge waves head for the rig.

They seem to be in charge of some nuclear-bomb-looking device, which two of them have keys to activate, should the need arise. It's not really very clear what this is, what it's for or what they intend to do with it - and under what circumstances. There is a suggestion that this simply destroys what's left of the earth if detonated and so both sides in the war want it for themselves, presumably as a deterrent. Anyway, the crew have a procedure to follow under certain conditions and to detonate it. It seems that one of those conditions is simply not being able to communicate by radio with each other whilst investigating a boat floating past one day!

It's very slow, we get to know the four players (or at least we think we do) and as the film moves along it is indeed clear that all is not as it seems. People have hidden agendas, maybe not quite what the seem to be and there are twists and turns which come along to keep the audience on their toes. Or at least, not falling asleep! Director Tanel Toom (Truth and Justice) keeps thing chugging along (a bit faster might be better, at the expense of getting the audience feeling the isolation and boredom that the crew might feel) and does a decent enough job pulling together some good cinematography and the best he can from the actors.

Kate Bosworth (Barbarian, Superman Returns, Still Alice) plays the lead as Corporal Cassidy working under the command of Thomas Kretschmann (A Taxi Driver, Stalingrad, Valkyrie, U-571, The Pianist) as Sergeant Hendrichs. They are supposed to be in charge but as we will see, splinters (leading to some inconsistencies) do appear in the structure of that. The other two crew members are Privates. Lucien Laviscount (Coronation Street, Trollied) as Sullivan (who is having a fling with Cassidy on the quiet) and Martin McCann (The Survivalist, 71) as Baines. As I said, the acting is of a good standard, but it fails to lift this film much above the feeling of a B-Movie to be honest.

The purpose/message of the film I guess is a warning about climate change and what the world might end up being if we don't pull our socks up, but it's all pretty lame and shallow, slow-moving and fairly forgettable. Maybe they should have done what Amazon Studios did with The Rig and turned it into more of a TV series. Don't get me wrong - it's worth the watch, but it just ain't gripping as a storyline and the material everyone has to work with doesn't raise it above the routine. Focus on the acting, directing and visuals.

PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of April 2023

...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 742 - Essential Ecosystem

Saturday 1st April

Steve and I natter this week about the Fold4 again, me with the honeymoon over but he, still having a cracking time with his! I'm back on Pixel, Moto and Sony whilst he plays with his Apple stuff! Loads more, including a drop-in from Mark Ellis, the YouTuber.

Projector Room

Episode 135 - Winnie the Cocaine Bear!

Wednesday 5th April

The team is back again with another roundup of all things film, cinema and TV so why not join Gareth, Allan and I as we highlight the gems and filter the Fool's Gold! Dick Van Dyke takes centre-stage in Themed Treats, The Glory is in Private Screening, we have a bear-themed Main Feature and even a chance to break out a GameBoy!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 743 - A Duo of Smartphones

Saturday 8th April

Steve and I are joined this week by Scott Brady again as we natter for an hour about what he's been using, Duos, Pixels, Folds, Ultras, Pros and loads of other stuff too, including compact phones and an odd so-called upgrade from Moto!

Tech Addicts Podcast

An Ally Nomad

Sunday 9th April

Gareth and I are here again offering your our weekend thoughts on all things tech as we tinker! Asus ROG Ally, Sega Nomad, Sony ZV-E1, Lenovo Legion, Pixel Tablet, Sony WF-C700N, Marshall, PlayStation Q, Data Frog, TikTok, Vivaldi and loads more!

Whatever Works

Episode 184 - Sock Stop Tater Tots!

Thursday 13th April

Aidan and I are back again to taunt you with another hour of chaos and fun as we consider Whatever Works in our lives and yours! Power and cats, Hobos and urine, Dungeons and Dragons, smokin' hot food and loads more besides. Pull up a Chaise Longue and break out the popcorn!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 744 - A Legion of Possibilities

Saturday 15th April

Steve and I are here this week with one of our Catch-Up editions with no guest as we clear the backlog of goodies! Loads of stuff with Duos, Pixels, Folds, Flips, ROG, Android Beta, Nearby Share, Geofencing and oodles more, so get stuck in!

Projector Room

Episode 136 - Vanishing Luck

Wednesday 19th April

Gareth, Allan and I are back again with our fortnightly roundup of our thoughts (and yours) on all things film, cinema and TV. Loads of goodies as usual from 1932 to 2024! Sigourney Weaver is our Themed Treat, we see How It Ends (or rather don't) in Private Screening, enjoy some great pic(k)s in The Main Feature and look forward to what's Coming Soon. All good stuff, available from all the usual places, so do join us for an hour. Or two!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 745 - A Samsung Special

Thursday 20th April

Steve and I are joined again by Mark Swidler and his brother Lee from Detroit. They're both big Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra users, so yes, that's the focus of this show. Great chat covering loads of stuff, so do tune in.

Tech Addicts Podcast

Behold the Pixel Fold

Sunday 23rd April

Gareth and I are joined by Ricky West this week again as we toss over this week's tech trinkets! New Pixels coming, we consider a clever ring and tongue-taps, plenty of gaming, NSFW art generation, Bionic Reading, Sega gets Angry over Birds and we fit in a visit to Bedrock!

Phones Show Chat

Episode 746 - Re-inspired by Hinges

Saturday 29th April

The Authenticated Episode! Jim Fowl is guest of honour this week as Steve and I chat with him about folding phones, new and old. We reminisce a while, look to the future some and dwell in the present even more.

The Podcasts
PodHubUK - Phones Show Chat - The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat & The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Videos - PSC Classifieds - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Allan Gildea

Blood (2022)

This is basically a vampire film, wrapped up in a family drama from Brad Anderson, previously responsible for Transsiberian and The Machinist. It struggles with identity along the way, confusing itself and the audience to some degree, but turns out to be certainly very interesting.

The family is made up of two households - mum (Jess) and dad (Patrick) splitting up because mum had previously been a junkie (for reasons the film never really goes into) and dad having started a new life with the family Nanny (Shelly). There's a girl (Tyler) and boy (Owen) being passed back and forward within a framework of legal access times and days.

The details of that last paragraph could well have made a stand alone film, family drama, in-fighting, difficult lawyer/client meetings, courtroom decisions about custody and so forth. There really was enough to work it like that - without making it into something of a Let The Right One In clone! Which is pretty much where it ends up.

The active part of the story involving vampirism is that the family's lovely cuddly dog heads off into the woods surrounding the new house that mum and kids have moved into, has an apparently strange experience out there (possibly involving a knackered old tree in the middle of a dried-up lake) and comes back a day or two later looking like a Cujo style monster-dog! He bites Owen. The dog is battered to death by mum - and Owen, whisked off to hospital.

Turns out, you guessed it, that Owen is now only interested in consuming blood, warm blood, human blood - preferably from living people (as it's warmer, presumably). However, much like in Let The Right One In, mum (and eventually daughter) work out what's going on and help Owen (blood is thicker than water!) to ensure that he ongoingly gets what he craves and needs to stay alive. Mind you, unlike Let The Right One In, he doesn't seem to have much of a problem with being out in sunlight! And that's about the bones of it really as we follow the family drama, interspersed with scenes relating to the goal of the nuclear family and some of the grizzly stuff that goes on in order to maintain the supply.

Michelle Monaghan (Black Site, Mission: Impossible) plays Jess very convincingly and is clearly the talent on show. The two kids aren't far behind, Finlay Wotjak-Hissong (The Banana Splits Movie, Land) and Skylar Morgan Jones. Skeet Ulrich (Scream) as angry dad doesn't have much to do and less so again, Nanny Danika Frederick. It's clearly a half-decent production though, so no low-budget cheapo horror/thriller like the recent Humpty Dumpty and Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey horror outings! It has some bite(!) and makes for good viewing. Slows down here and there when dealing with the family drama bits, but soon picks up again and back into the thick of it.

It's got lots of inconsistencies in the story - for one thing, we never really find out about the tree and what the mystery is surrounding the origins of all this - and Jess, who is a nurse, gets involved in some very dubious practices at work in order to feed-the-need (perhaps displaying some of the previously not covered addictive/obsessive tendencies) but I won't spoil that eye-opening stuff here! But OK - it's a story! It's certainly not fun - I don't remember a single laugh from any of the characters in the whole runtime, getting on for two hours - more like dark and menacing, by intent at least.

The direction was good, cinematography engaging with lots of scenery shots in and above the woods, inside and out of buildings - good use of light and shadow to add creep and suspense here and there. It's certainly worth watching, especially for the three main performances. And don't switch off too quickly at the end as there's a post-credits final scene!

Gold (2022)

This is an interesting film focusing on survival-against-nature (human and otherwise) set in the outback of Australia somewhere (we think, right-hand drive truck, though accents seem to be American) in the near future. It's a two-man show, pretty much and one of the actors is also the writer/director, Anthony Hayes.

The story starts with an apparent drifter, looking for work, and finds it - but needs Anthony Hayes' character to get him there. A days-on-end drive in a beaten-up, just about working, truck is needed. The drifter is not interested in entering into any dialogue or friendship with the driver and the journey is hard work for both of them. It gets hotter and hotter, the air conditioning in the truck doesn't work properly and you can feel the arid atmosphere in the car, between them, and in the climate they have to endure.

When they make camp for the night, the driver, who seems to be more knowledgeable about survival in these conditions, warns about the wild dogs which will try to attack and eat humans (or anything that is alive), particularly during the night, if they are not vigilant. Fires are set while they sleep to keep the risk at bay.

Someway into the journey, whilst the driver is tinkering with the truck, our drifter finds a huge lump of yellow-looking metal in the ground. The driver confirms that it is, indeed, gold. They do a jig! The drifter won't need a job after all! Trouble is that it's so huge, they can't shift it out of the ground, try as they do by digging, dragging and using the truck's power to try and wrench it out. None of us know how big it is, but clearly it's huge.

They take stock of the situation and decide that one of them needs to stay there to 'guard' their treasure whilst the other goes and gets a digging machine to get it out. The driver says that he is used to these conditions, so he will stay. The drifter disagrees and so they swap roles. The driver goes off for the truck and the drifter stays on guard.

We stay with the drifter throughout the days it ends up taking the driver to get to where he needs to go, get the truck and come back. In the meantime, the drifter is running out of water, food and sandstorms wreck his encampment amongst other difficulties. A series of mini survival adventures. And so that's where the rest of the film is played out. Watching the drifter get sicker and drier and more dehydrated whilst he awaits the return of the driver and truck.

He is far too far from civilisation to change his mind and start off on foot - and even so, the driver assures him that he's coming (via a satellite phone he's left with the drifter). At one point he is approached by a travelling desert woman, or two, and works hard to refuse her help and not reveal the gold or it's location - with traumatic outcomes.

Zac Efron plays the drifter and as time goes on, he looks more and more battered by the climate, flies, dogs and the events which occur. He is made up to look dreadful, but presumably in keeping with how somebody in that situation would end up appearing. Most of the film is actually a one-man show and he pulls it off very well. He's engaging and convincing in what he has been asked to portray.

There are some twists and turns to enjoy in this very capable, if slow-burning (in more than one meaning) thriller. It is slow, with dialogue limited, in order to help the audience get a little feeling of how the experience was for him - so you need to be alright with that. There are tragic events and surprising outcomes with messages about trust, the darker side of human nature, greed (of course) and the price of taking risks with one's life for money. I thought it was well worth sticking with and ended up enjoying it very much. Recommended.