SINUS CINEMA

Waiting for the penicillin to begin its magic me and the mutt Blue caught a few films last night.

The Silence: a Netflix movie about keeping quiet. There's another film just like it, A Quiet Place I think. Anyways, in the face of a global 'invasion' everyone has to keep stumm or else. At the centre of the thing is a tightly-knit American family, who face the catastrophe together. Now I must have seen too many horror films but the decimation of the family unit is a trope I'm not keen on. Besides which the lead actor Stan Tucci is simply far too cloyingly reasonable all of the time. I wanted him to make lots of noise and be removed from the script. I had to fast forward to the end about half way through. Shame on you Woodsy!

Cargo: another Netflix zombie movie. I usually avoid zombies like the plague as its a sub-genre that's simply died and come back to life too many times. I had thought Cargo was a sci-fi flick. Admittedly it started OK, in a sort of Dead Calm way on an Australian river, but alas, another Netflix family unit is under attack and its all very predictable. The director did at least throw in some native Aborigines but not even their outback mysticism could save rigor mortis setting in, in both me and the film. I fast forwarded to the end. I know, I know. By the way, Martin Freeman was the lead. He gets everywhere. Even Middle Earth.

The Ritual: once more I ventured into Netflix's horror selection and having read the word 'monster' I watched The Ritual. It started badly, it was British. I have a dislike of modern British horror. Its lost its way but, I persevered. The Ritual is a lot like the Descent but with blokes. After the tragic death of a group member, a circle of Uni mates is whisked away on a whirlwind of grief, blame and guilt as the remaining pals attempt to re-bond on a Swedish hiking holiday. Despite my best efforts to think badly of this film I found myself liking it. The 'lads' are irritatingly stereotyped, drowning in their own machismo, but the scenery they wander through is breathtaking. I greatly appreciated the effort the audio team put into the echoing sound effects of the 'monster' felling trees and being generally primeval. I watched it all, to the very end. If you liked Troll Hunter then maybe give The Ritual a gamble, although there are no trolls in it.

Schizo: this was the Horror Channel's late night offering and as Pete Walker directed it I thought I'd try it out. Pete Walker produced and directed sleazy twisted cinema in the Seventies and his 'Frightmare' is one of my all-time fave horrors. I hadn't seen Schizo before. You'll know the unhinged leading man, Jack Watson, when you see him. A stalwart of British films and TV. He was an interesting choice by Walker but I'm unsure if it worked. Schizo bored the hell out of me and I found myself constantly switching to Me, Myself and Irene on another channel. In the end I let Jim Carey's split persona win.

Me, Myself and Irene: I love this comedy. Never tire of seeing it as it always makes me laugh. Carey is brilliant as Charlie-Hank and Zelwegger the perfect foil. The soundtrack is wonderful too. I look forward to each of the the songs beginning. Yep, its a feelgood movie for me.

Have you seen any of these readers?