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Inspired by Futtocks' Cheesy B Movie thread, and by my acquisition of a Cineworld Unlimited card, I thought I'd do a bit of a film review thread of stuff I've seen recently that I'd recommend (or not) to others. Feel free to add your own! In no particular order... Funny Cow - Maxine Peake plays a good part as an aspiring female comic in the 70s, but if you're looking for a laugh, give it a wide berth. It is definitely not a comedy or an uplifting night out. And the jokes she does tell, in the brief 'on stage' sequence are excruciatingly of their time that'll make you glad times have moved on since then. Ready Player One - Spielberg does video games. It's visually spectacular, but it wasn't really my cup of tea, as I'm not and never have been a gamer so I'll have missed probably a thousand in-jokes and references. It reminded me a bit of Willy Wonka at the end (and that's a compliment). A Quiet Place - Loved this one. I'm not usually a fan of horror films, but this is more suspenseful than gory, and it's interesting to see a film with hardly any dialogue that is so gripping. I went to see it in a busy cinema on a Saturday night and people hardly dare scoff their popcorn during the really quiet bits. Ghost Stories - Another spooky offering, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would tbh. Three seemingly separate stories linked by a twist at the end, hard to say anything more without offering any spoilers, but if you like old Amicus or Hammer horrors, or Inside No. 9 on TV, you should really go to see this. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society - Don't be put off by the clunky title which doesn't really do it any favours. It's a decent little wartime mystery with a good cast, but not too many surprises. It could've done with being a bit pacier, it's about 20 minutes too long. I made the mistake of going to an early morning screening that, unbeknown to me, was subtitled for the hard of hearing. As the opening scene features shouty German soldiers, it took me a good five minutes to realise they were subtitling the English characters as well, which was a bit distracting over two hours. Scott and Sid - I saw this in a rare cinema screening in Bradford, as I don't think it's had a major release, but it is well worth catching on DVD or download. It's the (mostly) true story about a couple of downtrodden Bradford schoolmates who overcome the woes in their home lives to forge a successful business partnership and eventually go on to, er, make this film, which is basically what it's about. The two young actors who play the leads are very good, though its odd they chose to film the Bradford scenes in York, as it doesn't look grim enough (I'm a Bradfordian, I'm allowed to say that, no one else is though!! ) Black Panther - I used to watch a lot of superhero movies, then got a bit stalled with them so have missed a sizeable chunk of the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' as it's called these days, to the extent I likely won't have a clue what's going on in the new Avengers movie when it comes out in June (that's Avengers: Infinity War, not 'The New Avengers' movie, though I'd definitely pay to see the return of Purdey, Gambit and Steed, if they ever decided to make that one). The unavoidable hype surrounding Black Panther got me back into the cinema to see what the fuss was about, and it was, well, it was ok. I liked the concept of the hidden African nation of Wakanda, and the James Bond-ish elements with all the gadgets, but there were bits where I felt I was being hit over the head with a stick bearing the words 'this is a REALLY important cinematic landmark' when really, it's just another superhero film. The Greatest Showman - I thought I'd hate this, but it was hugely enjoyable. Possibly deserves a place in the cheesy B movie thread, as it is no great cinematic shakes and corny as hell, but hell, they get half a lifetime's exposition out of the way in the space of a single song, and all the songs are really catchy. I predict this'll pop up on TV on Boxing Day for the rest of recorded time. Unsane - This is really claustrophobic, filmed entirely on iPhones apparently, and starring Claire Foy (aka HM Queen on Netflix) who accidentally gets committed to a disreputable psychiatric hospital while also being terrorised by a former partner. You'll feel like you've been through the wringer after watching it. I'm not sure 'enjoyable' would be an appropriate description for the subject matter, but it's definitely gripping. That's it for now, I might add a few more later if I can be bothered!

If you have Netflix you really should watch Annihilation. (My thoughts: https://jonsmalldon.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/film-review-annhilation/) And if all you have is Amazon Prime, go to Your Name. (My thoughts: (https://jonsmalldon.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/film-review-your-name/) Neither of my scribblings does either film justice. Both well worth watching.

Glenlivet.... I've declared my liking for this particular dram in the past.... on many occasions..... Well.... 13.60 in tesco.... 13 pounds smeggin 60!!!!!

When Mrs Shadow and I went to Edinburgh for the weekend last year we visited to the Old Caton Burial Ground and saw David Hume's tomb. I had to admit I knew little about his work other than his ability to out consume both Schopenhauer and Hegel. She gave me that "You think you're being funny now but you're not" look I gave her my "Oh yes I am" look

The wife and I started watching The Good Place last night, about half way through season one. My wife couldn't work out how I knew all the philosophers they were mentioning in the first few episodes. I cited my excellent education. I didn't mention it was education courtesy of Monty Python: (mild sweary words so maybe not SFW)

That’s probably cos I’m harsh John

I've got a Cineworld card too - saw Funny Cow last night. Brilliant by Maxine Peake and although some of the jokes are so old they are funny ("Incontinence hotline - can you hold?") there's a particular one that is very much not - although the crowd in the "Crookes Club" back in the 1970s loved it and I suspect you could easily find places where the same would happen now. Nothing wrong with uncomfortable films IMO. Nice cameos by John Bishop and Vic Reeves too. I found Greatest Showman OK (better than La La Land) - it's now the new Frozen in terms of singalong cinema. Unsane was very good.

A website devoted to the Maher Cup: http://mahercup.com.au/ It looks like a real labour of love - tons of content.

Sticking to AA this year