Sounds of the solo

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Directed by Ron Howard this film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover and Paul Bettany. Escaping from life on the streets our hero becomes involved with space criminals.

In no regard is this film ever a great film or one with any depth but it is also not a bad film either. As a stand alone action adventure this is a decent effort, as an origin story for Han Solo it is maybe not what any of us hoped for but it is still watchable in my opinion. Casting Ehrenreich in the lead is not a great fit but like most things in this film you can live with it.

3/5

Not the best

Faust (1910)

Directed by Henri Andreani and David Barnett this film is based on the Goethe play of the same name. Tempted by the devil our protagonist sets off to seduce a girl pretending to be someone else.

Not the full version of Faust and not as good as other versions this is a bit of a weak effort. There are some nice sets and costumes but this is very much an early experiment in film making. Watchable but there are much better versions of Faust out there.

3/5

How to fly

Ankhon Dekhi (2014)

Written & directed by Rajat Kapoor this film stars Sanjay Mishra, Rajat Kapoor and Seema Pahwa. An Indian man in his 50s re-evaluates life and decides to only believe in what he can see with his own eyes.

Slightly whimsical this film does not dive deeply into exploration of philosophy and religion but is a fun watch. The plot is slightly meandering but fairly entertaining. Both direction and performances are not overly remarkable.

3/5

Following familiar tracks

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Directed by Kenneth Branagh this adaptation of the novel of the same name has a large all star cast lead by Branagh. Famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot ends up on a train where a passenger is killed.

Lavishly staged and beautifully shot this adaptation does not actually bring much new to the table. I have the same problems with this version that I have with others, the protagonist spoon feeds us information out of nowhere leading up to a gimmick conclusion. As for attempting this is some sort of justice it seems very much like rich people issues to me.

3/5

Super duper

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Directed by David Leitch this comic book sequel stars Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Moerna Baccarin, Julian Dennison and Zazie Beetz. Just when everything seemed to be going well for Deadpool his girlfriend dies and our hero has to save a kid.

Keeping the tone and style of the original film this sequel manages to ramp up the action and scale but does wobble a little under all the moving parts. Incorporating more of the themes of a traditional X-Men film this is still a fun outing for the most unique comic book character in cinema at the moment. Highly enjoyable but does need you to have seen the previous film first.

4/5

A burning desire

Masaan (2015)

Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan this film stars Richa Chadda, Vicky Kaushal and Sanjay Mishra. We see two stories of death, love and caste in the holy city of Varanasi.

I really enjoyed this low key look at the way the young people of India are clashing with the traditional values of the country. The story is never overly melodramatic and is well measured in it's use of emotion. Well made and acted this is definitely worth a watch.

4/5

That Tropic Thunder Quote

The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)

Written & directed by Jared Moshe this film stars Bill Pullman, Kathy Baker, Diego Josef, Tommy Flanagan, Jim Caviezel and Peter Fonda. A bumbling ranch hand is the only witness to the murder of his friend and soon finds the murder pinned on him.

As a genre piece this is a fairly middle of the road effort that has little new to say. At times the protagonist is a little bit on the slow side and Bill Pullman's performance strays into eye brow raising territory but otherwise there is nothing to complain about. This is a decent diversion but nothing to grip your attention.

3/5