Event: Found Footage Festival @ Soho Theatre

Another visit to the UK from the FFF guys for another hour-long show full of embarressing, dated, and just plain weird videos. This one opened with an incredible police training video entitled "Sudden Birth" that definitely woke the crowd up. Then we had sex ed videos, wrestler intros and all sorts of other nonsense.

Film #89: The Breakfast Club

A classic from the 80's sees 5 kids from different school-groups in detention together. This is a film that is still enjoyable 30 years after it was made. At some point in everyones' lives you move from liking Molly to Ally.

Film #88: The Happytime Murders

Meet the Feebles with a budget. If you've been waiting for a muppet take on 'that' scene from Basic Instinct then you're in luck. It took a little while to get over the shock of seeing muppets swear and there's a scene where silly string is used as ejaculate.

I laughed then questioned if I should have.

Film #87: Rumble in the Bronx

A perfect film to finish the marathon, sees Jackie Chan in his first US made film. This one has him moving into a Chinese community and having a run in with a local gang. The stunts are great; this is the one where he broke his ankle leaping onto a hovercraft and gets smashed in the mouth through a step ladder.

Film #86: Go!

The 4th film in the mystery marathon.

This film from the late 90's features 3 storylines all tied together by the word "go".

There's a girl who becomes a dealer for a couple of cops, a couple of kids who travel to Vegas and have a run in with a gangster, and a couple of cops hiding their gay relationship from their workplace.

I remember seeing this when it came out and enjoyed it. I did this time too. It's holding up quite nicely.

Film #85: Rollerball

Film #3 in the mystery movie marathon.

and a film I recognised from the opening shot. I love this film, it's such a classic and if you've not seen it, do so. Avoid the remake.

Film #84: The Odd Couple

2nd film in the mystery movie marathon.

This is a classic comedy from the late 60's starring Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau as two guys living together after one become suicidal following a break up. The two English women they try to partner up with a bizarre. I don't really do old movies but will admit to liking this one.

Film #83: After Hours

Film 1 in a PCC mystery movie marathon.

This is an early Scorsese film, that tells the story of a guy who meets a girl in a diner and the night with her goes all astray with enough coincidences across a small number of characters that this could be a play. Part serious, part dark, part comedy. The ending was particularly amusing.

Film #82: Equalizer 2

Everyone's favourite neighbourhood-watch vigilante Denzel is back, killing a PC-friendly ethnically-diverse group of bad guys who murder his friend. One of them, a back seat hitman is especially inept.

Almost made me want to break the ankle of the kid behind me who thought it was OK to put his feet up on the headrest of the seat next to mine. Justice should be served!

Film #81: The Spy Who Dumped Me

Meg Griffin and her friend puke and poop their way through Europe being chased by a lonely gymnast assassin and good and bad intelligence agencies (it's confusing to work out who's who). None of the cast are stretched in their performances but they all seem to have enjoyed making it. It's more entertaining than Spy.

Film #80: Unfriended - Dark Web

The second in the skype-style scary movie. Like the one before it this one isn't scary but gives a good warning of what might happen if you procure a second hand ipad. You don't sympathise for any of the characters and the ending (of which there are two apparently; mine was the big brother ending) was nuts but made sense. 

Event: Anjunadeep @ 3 Mills Island

A stage decorated with plant-covered palette boards and a music selection where I named 2 tracks all afternoon. When I booked this I thought it would be more Anjunabeats than Anjunadeep but that didn't pay off. The sets were good but there was nothing to look at. I need visuals to look at rather than a DJ or two posing between mixing tracks. 

The venue was cool though, a nice circular plot of land in Bromley.

Film #79: Hotel Artemis

This film snuck out from nowhere, I don't recall seeing any publicity for it.

Jodie Foster runs a hospital safehouse for criminals. Someone important is looking for a bed. Are the other guests there to recover or perform a hit? It felt a bit like Smoking Aces but much darker and with a more tighter plot. The performances are all good and I felt this had the making of a franchise behind it. It feels like it may have been a comic book at some point.

It disappeared from the cinema after a week, I guess Ant Man & Mission Impossible stole its potential crowd which is a shame. 

Film #78: Heathers

A film I loved when I was younger gets a re-release as part of it's 30 birthday celebrations (man, I feel so old). Winona is the girl trying to fit in with bitchy girls all called Heather. Christian Slater doesn't want to fit in and wants to kill some people.

Some people die, and we all laugh. It's very dark and still really good, although some of the homophobia references are now showing their age.

Film #77: Jumanji

A Jumanji double-bill gave me the opportunity to see the first one and I don't believe I saw it when it was initially released. (Don't ask).

The CGI has dated really really badly but the story still holds up.

I did prefer the second one though...sorry!

Film #76: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec

A film I had never heard of directed by Luc Besson, who I don't believe has done a film I've not liked. So one I had to see.

It's Besson's take on The Mummy franchise featuring a rich woman seeking an Egyptian mummy who has the power to bring her dead sister back; she died in a tennis accident.

There's a pterydactyl for no reason and a quite dark ending.

I really liked it and the Besson run continues.

Film #75: American Friend

This was seen just to kill time whilst waiting for my next film. A waste of time directed by Wim Wenders starring Dennis Hopper. It was really really slow, and writing this one month after seeing it I barely recall what happened.

Film #74: Mission Impossible Fallout

Zoinks Scoobs!! The bad guy would have gotten away with destroying the planet if it wasn't for that pesky midget with the face masks and his team of nerds.

It's a good film but the plot is too obvious and everyone makes a big hoohaa for Tom doing his own stunts again. He also manages to do a rooftop run from St Pauls to Blackfriars despite there being a wide road around the Cathedral (although it looks like the window he jumps out of on the way is in Mermaid House, my old workplace). In the last one I really liked Rebecca Ferguson, and it's cool that she's in this again but with a slightly reduced role because she was pregnant during filming. 

Film #73: Office Space

An old film from 1999 which I think it based on a comic strip. It's about a kid in an office who manages to do well by senior management despite being a complete slacker. A wise man once said give a hard task to the laziest person as he'll find the most efficient and optimal way to do it; that's basically this film.

There's a weird guy with a love of staplers who has a breakdown too. The comedy from him isn't as strong as the comedy from the good writing of the main character, but his scenes still made me laugh.

and for some reason Jennifer Aniston is in it and I'm not sure why. The ending is also quite abrupt, it could easily have gone another 10 minutes.

Gigs #60-74: Blue Dot Day 3

It was raining but I sat through Elle Mary and the Bad Men. OK, but not Lauran good.

Roberts Bakery Band were very good.

Park Hotel were OK

Lost Horizons, I couldn't get into them.

George Fitzgerald wasn't really my thing. A bit like a poor Bonobo.

Ummm, I'm not sure who this is.

Algorave is a lot of fun. Completely inclusive and random. They had a lengthy set that I kept going back to.

Warm Digits had a delayed starter and reduced set but were really good.

Levels seemed to be suffering from some syncing issues with the guy on the left being noticeably out-of-time with the rest of the band. But when they got it right they were great.

Boy Azooga weren't too shabby. I do like Girl Behind A Cigarette.

Snapped Ankles, weird.

The final headline act was the Chemical Brothers who were amazing. I'm seeing them again later in the year.

Henge are odd, just like in previous years.

Human After All was a terrible Daft Punk tribute act. They were severely impeded by the post-midnight volume lowering. Can we get the real Daft Punk please?