Aww, I had such high hopes for that one...

All is Lost 7.5/10
It's a bit clumsy and improbable in places (can't say much without spoiler tags) but I really enjoyed it. You can almost feel the anguish and desperation at times.

The Master. Coincidentally during a fag break noticed that Hoffman had died sadly. The film was a tour de force for him and Phoenix but not the savage attack on religion that some hoped for. Lets just say an exploration of how such a thing could happen. Not particularly entertaining either but a worthy 6/10.
I have, in fact, watched a few films by this chap Anderson now. Emperors new clothes or what?

Bullet to the Head - Old skool-style revenge film (Walter Hill) starring Sly as a hitman. It incorporates quite a few of Sly's other roles and has some remarkably dumb moments (silenced gun or not, the people 15 feet away are gonna hear you emptying the clip lol), but it's a strangely watchable car crash.

Anderson's vastly overrated, usually by critics who think he's old-skool and the chosen one who'll lead them back to the seventies...

ION, Prince of Persia appears to be a very bad attempt at Pirates of the Caribbean on sand. Everyone's flashing grins every five seconds, presumably to go with their mysterious plummy accents... I don't know if they used a stuntman for Jake's scenes but either way, they needed someone better

The Master is his weakest film, I maintain that There Will Be Blood is one of the best films ever made.

That's the only one of his I've caught (didn't see it from the beginning) that wasn't a waste of time.

Incidentally if you want the real Emperor's Clothes of the directing world, may I present Lars Von Trier and Nicholas Winding Refn.

A Belfast Story - Has the sort of acting normally reserved for road safety adverts, only they have more realistic plots. It's full of people blabbering on about peace and it's basically a series of assassinations based on real atrocities in Ulster. It's pretty much an insult tbh, and I'm not someone who says that lightly, I'm fully aware of how ridiculous this place is...

The Long Good Friday - First time I've seen it the whole way through. Still a good film after all this time.

From Dusk 'Til Dawn 2 - It's like a sketch artist's version of the original. Not a likeable character in it and it's not even 'funny' cheap.

One for Caz, the first Carl Mørck book, Mercy, is out as a film. I've only seen the preview, but it looks very good.

I thought that was a problem with the first one too.

Tbf I didn't watch many horror films of any description in my younger days (still don't really), I was only 14 when the original appeared lol. Even back then I wouldn't have recommended FDTD over whatever else you were considering in the video shop, probably.

Just watched Robocop. 3/5 and I still think the original was better. Will post a more in depth review tomorrow but Axel Foley is on TV!

Hummingbird - It's almost a character study film starring, of all people, Jason Statham. Needless to say he slaps quite a few people about, but this is nothing like his usual fare. Worth a watch.