I’d just like to say a few words about the basis on which I write my film reviews so that you, the reader, can see where I’m coming from.
- I like films about real people, and the relationships between them.
- Therefore I am predisposed to dislike films in which a) people behave artificially or b) there is no meaningful human reaction.
- Which means that as a rule, I dislike horror films, musicals, sci fi, comic book/superhero movies, all of which tend to dump human relations in favour of shock, singing and special effects. There are exceptions, but not many.
- I make no distinction between foreign language and English language films. Subtitles don’t make a film better or worse; they’re just a way of understanding what’s being said. Ditto black and white versus colour.
- I don’t care how much or little money is spent on a film, as long as it’s good. But if a film has cost shedloads of money and is crap, then it deserves a bigger slagging than if it cost peanuts.
- I have an ingrained prejudice against certain actors – Michael Caine, Clive Owen, Catherine Zeta-Jones, but they can (and do) prove me wrong sometimes.
- I approach every film I see with a genuine desire to enjoy it.
- The point of these reviews is not to tell you I’m right, but simply to express what I think as forcibly and passionately as I feel, for you to ignore, argue with, pay attention to or just stimulate debate. If you watch a film I like which you wouldn’t otherwise have watched (and enjoy it) then I’m happy.
