Review: The Bucket List

At the heart of The Bucket List is the question of what would you do with your remaining time if you knew how long you had.  While I'm sure this film didn't exactly invent the concept of a bucket list - a  list of things to do before you "kick the bucket" or die - it will have certainly helped further popularise it.   There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of webpages describing the perfect bucket list - which seems to rather miss the point.  There is something rather odd existential wise about having a bucket list when you are about to die as you have limited time to savour the memories. Perhaps it's better to start when you are young.

The film itself brings two heavyweights, Freeman and Nicholson together as two men, one rich and the other not so much,  who both have terminal cancer diagnosis.  They decide to go on a globe trotting road trip and tick off as many things as they can on their joint bucket list. It's a good pairing and while the story is a slight one, the script and performances are moving, thoughtful with the odd flash of gallows humour at times.

Verdict: A good pairing.

Review: The Smallest Show on Earth

McKenna and Travers make a handsome couple (as they did in real life) in this light British comedy about a husband and wife who inherit a run down cinema complete with equally creaky staff (Miles, Rutherford and Miles). Phillips is the suave solicitor who advises them.

There's more than a little vibe of the later Goodman vehicle, Matinee, as well as the classic Ealing comedies in the resulting escapades.  Anyone who is a fan of silent film and old cinemas will find something to enjoy in this harmless and undemanding comedy.


Verdict: Fun period piece.

Review: Tale of Tales

Tale of Tales is a series of loosely woven together fairy stories. There's a tale of a queen desperate for a child, that of a king trying to find a husband for his daughter, and two old women fooling a king.   A cautionary note for those thinking about sitting small children in front of it - there are moments of real horror. Although the original 17th Century collection they come from was known as "Entertainment for Little ones". Evidently, the children of the 1600s were likely made of tougher stuff than many of todays.

The cast is largely a mixture of character actors like Salma Hayek, Toby Jones and Vincent Cassel - and some amazing Italian locations are utilised which adds to the fresh and authentic feel of the stories.

Verdict: Darkly fun fantasy.

Review: American Gangster

This is Scott's answer to Casino and it slightly suffers from comparison. Where Scorsese is bold and hallucinatory, Scott is workman-like and down-to-earth. Another comparison might be The Wire, but it's more distant than that.

But it's still a gripping story and a big wonderful sprawling epic. The version I watched was getting on for three hours long, and the time just flew by.

The film also mirrors the experience of the investigating police force. Initially difficult to penetrate, but more than pays off towards the end.

Verdict: Lucas rising, falling.

Learning: The Power of Small Habits

This is an excellent talk by James Clear which summarises some of the changes I've made in my own life over the last year.  They include:

Making it harder to carry out bad habits. For example, I now place my phone at the other end of my bedroom so I don't immediately grab it each morning. This has two results: I have to get out of bed to turn the alarm off, and since I'm out of bed, I'm not inclined to interact with it.

Making it easier to carry out good habits. I'm vegetarian, but I figured I could probably do with eating more fruit and vegetables, plus as James says in his video - many of my vegetables would go bad and forgotten in the fridge. Each morning, I now stack all of the fruit and vegetables I want to consume each day next to my microwave.

Both of these are changes to my physical environment to make it easier to do the right thing (TM).

Aggregation of margin gains through repetition and tweaking. I tweak my morning habit stack to improve results. Most recently, I've taken to using Mel Robbin's morning framework of questions to upgrade my productivity:

1. Today, my project I'm working on....
2. This project matters to me because....
3. One small action I can take to move forward is...
4. Today, I will stop working at...

Review: The Astronaut Farmer

From the opening shots of a middle-aged man striding through farmland wearing a Mercury era spacesuit, you know you are in for something pleasingly offbeat with The Astronaut Farmer.

Thornton plays Charlie Farmer, a man who for family reasons had to leave the NASA astronaut programme.  But the urge to go to outer space has never left him, and so he decides to build his own rocket.  The endeavour sits on a suspenseful line between quixotic and credible.

The wordplay in the title works on multiple levels. There's the slightly groan-worthy allusion - the principle character is a farmer called Farmer who wants to be an astronaut. But Charlie's obsession has also come to dominate his family's life and is perhaps cultivating future space ambitions in his offspring.

Thornton plays his role with quiet determination. Special note must go the two Polish sisters who give some of the most naturalistic child performances I've seen on screen.

With judicious use of lens flare, stunning location photography and grading, the production team manage to conjure up a sense of the majesty of space without leaving Earth.

Verdict: Eccentric space-dream drama.

Review: Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel

After reading the novel recently, I was interested to see what Anne of Green Gables would look like in graphic novel form.

Prose-wise it has been sensitively condensed by Mardsen, but inevitably it has lost some of the main protagonist's early garrulousness so her voice doesn't come through quite as strongly as the original book.

Where it does succeed is in the illustration which evocatively captures the beauty of Avonlea's location and the richness of Montgomery's descriptive prose.

Verdict: Anne reimagined.