Baghead

All in all, an enjoyable film. Apart from having a British pub in a Germany where no one speaks German. It was predictable in bits, but I did not work out how it was going to end. That is normally a sign of a good film and I rate his six out of ten. It would be higher if it had been set in an English speaking nation, or had some more indications that this was set in Germany. 

Everybody hates Starmer

It has been an interesting week in politics in the UK.  Our Prime Minister has had to vote to keep children in poverty.  

However, on a more positive note, he has reinstated funding to UNRWA which had been stopped by the previous government. Keir Starmer has also reversed plans of the government to challenge the ICC arrest warrant request against Netanyahu.  In addition to that, before the change in government policy, he has spoken to Netanyahu about the need for a ceasefire in Gaza.  

I, like many in Labour, want an end to the two child limit on child benefit.  I do think that there should be some limits on what the state can offer, but the current situation is not acceptable.  If the limit is to be kept, then the amount that is given in child benefit could be increased, or even the universal credit payments could rise.

Labour have promised to act to reduce child poverty.  I hope that this is one of the promises that is kept in both word and spirit.  

Dracula Untold

This is a frustrating film. It was not produced very well. In places it was good, but it did not flow that well. It may be because it tried to fit too much into the film, but there are better vampire films, notably Blade and Dracula. I guess the all star cast prevented it from being worse. I would rate this two out of five, a below average film which showed promise at times. 

Ouija: Origin of Evil

I preferred this to the original. I cannot recall a prequel that was better than the original. I am sure that there are others but this is miles better than the film it precedes. When watching this I appreciate how average Ouija itself is. 

The atmosphere is so much better, it is far scarier and overall, is a better horror film.  I would be tempted to watch this again and recommend this as a film for others to watch, even if they have not watched the previous film. 

Ouija

I thought that this film was okay. I would rate it average to above average. I would have been okay if I had paid to watch in the cinema, but there are better films to watch. If you are okay with happy endings, then this is the film to watch. I would never call this a classic, but it is worth watching. It has a decent plot with no major holes in it that I noticed.  There were no obvious concerns with how it flowed. The Guardian did not like it as much as me and rated it two out of five. I would give it three out of five myself. 

The Minories

My daughter has been unwell for the last few days and all of us in the house hope we do not catch her illness.  At work, there have been a few people off work with COVID, but we all are hoping we escape her germs. In fact, my youngest brother also has COVID (I must text him later).

Yesterday my wife and I went out to The Minories with a friend where we listened to music, I got to dance, and we saw an old friend of ours. I have to admit that I would probably not go out of my way to listen to the music but the choice of music and the setting was enchanting.  I look forwards to doing the same again with my wife another day.

Today my son and wife and I went to a local vineyard for lunch. My daughter was meant to come but did not feel well enough to join us, so stayed at home with our dog.  All in all, a relaxing weekend. 

Alice, Darling

After a run of average films, it was good to watch something better. I suspect that this film is more of a female than a male film, the topic being psychological abuse in a relationship. In my job, I have come across victims of this, but for obvious reasons, the victims prefer not to see someone male.

It does deal with a lot of the issues which are present, the victim being socially isolated, made to feel that they don’t deserve to be loved, the need not to risk offending the partner through others taking an interest in the victim and so much else. I would not rate this as a great film, but is is the best one since last weekend.