In Bruges (2008) - *****Loved this. Hilarious and often very clever dialogue, and the three leads are brilliant.
Annie Hall (1977) - ***I really wanted to like this more than I did. It's alright, but by the last third or so I was ready for it to be over. I feel like it might have been ahead of its time when it was released, but viewed with modern eyes, I didn't find it particularly special. Allen is clearly well-read judging by most of the jokes, but by the end, the volume of them made the film feel like, in Alvy's own words, an exercise in mental masturbation. Maybe that was the point, I don't know.
Big Trouble in Little China (1986) - ****I was aware of certain scenes from this film before, but this was my first viewing in full and I really enjoyed it. A fun, campy action film delivered in a way only Carpenter can pull off. Kurt Russell is great and so is the score.
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) - ***Not as good as the book, which I finished just a day before watching it, but obviously compromises had to be made to condense it to 2 hours. Some of those compromises make the ending's impact feel less earned than in the novel, but it's a solid adaptation overall. Gregory Peck's performance as Atticus is the highlight, of course, and applause is deserved for the casting of the children who aren't as insufferable as they easily could have been.
Mad Max (1979) - **Wasn't fussed on this, just felt amateurish in a lot of ways. I've always heard it touted as a revenge film, but that's only the case for the last 15-20 minutes. It definitely picks up during that final stretch, but the majority of everything preceding it was pretty dull. I was surprised at how well done many of the stunts and crashes were though, that strawberry floating guy who gets whacked right in the bonce by the bike near the end.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) - ****This was more like it, I can see why it's lauded as one of the best 80s action films, and continually recognised how influential it has been to games and films as it went on. Max's character shift to that of a more or less silent, self-serving protagonist was a welcome one too. That car and dog are strawberry floating
rrrrrrad.