The Butler (2013)
CRUMBLIES… So, it turns out you can be stuffed full of good, fun performances, describe a man’s life, and still be so worthy it chokes the meaning out of your … Continue Reading The Butler (2013)
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014)
CRUMBLIES… Robin Williams. Always funny, sometimes brilliant, sometimes inaccessible, every so often utterly telling, every so more often utterly mawkish. Here, middle-aged, stressed, scowly and stuffed full of grumpy old … Continue Reading The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014)
The Karate Kid (1984)
CRUMBLIES… My grandson made me watch this. Young Steve, my son, had made him watch it. And… No. Just…no. This is a relive-the-1980s-like-you’re-still-there movie. About teens. Ugh. Steve had assured … Continue Reading The Karate Kid (1984)
All is Lost (2013)
CRUMBLIES… I can be a bit snarky about Robert Redford. It’s a long-term reaction to old Mrs Jack’s adoration of his beauty back in the day. That said, I’m an … Continue Reading All is Lost (2013)
Like Father (2018)
CRUMBLIES… Sometimes the TV room offers up something so gentle, good-natured, surprise-free and a bit meh that you can’t help but get swept along by it. Nothing unexpected, every comedy … Continue Reading Like Father (2018)
Death Wish (2018)
CRUMBLIES… What you gonna do after a four-movie menopause binge-watch? Mad Maud was swanning about looking vindicated about things she hadn’t been challenged on in the first place. Old Jack … Continue Reading Death Wish (2018)
The M Word (2014)
CRUMBLIES… Old Jack here watched this with Mad Maud. I’m not sure, but she may have found a way to project her mind onto a TV screen. Loosely coordinated, full … Continue Reading The M Word (2014)
The Hot Flashes (2013)
CRUMBLIES… Okay, look, as a follow-up to the joys of I Got Life! / Aurore (2017) and its take on the menopause, we gave a second film a go. It promised much: … Continue Reading The Hot Flashes (2013)
Cocoon (1985)
CRUMBLIES… Wry schmaltz for crumblies everywhere, with a mighty dash of wish-fulfilment (and the emptiness of eternal life, when you get to thinking about it), a specious romantic sub-plot and … Continue Reading Cocoon (1985)
Love is Strange (2014)
CRUMBLIES… Lovely, this. A story not a million miles away from Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), it’s a thoroughly modern version. Old gay couple, Ben and George, have been together for … Continue Reading Love is Strange (2014)
Within our Gates (1920)
CRUMBLIES… Wow. Silent Steve blew me out of my assumptions with this one. Ignorance is a terrible thing, eh? Old Jack, for instance, hadn’t even considered that black American directors … Continue Reading Within our Gates (1920)
RED 2 (2013)
CRUMBLES… More fun! More oldsters giving out the comedy and gunfire! Not quite so tight or sympathetic, what with familiarity, but international plotting and a touch of the Cold War. … Continue Reading RED 2 (2013)
The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
CRUMBLIES… Now this is the one! I know there have been a load of remakes, and before this version a slew of silents, but of the lot, this version is … Continue Reading The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
Duck (2005)
CRUMBLIES… Bum. What a let down. The box cover looked great. The concept looked fascinating, funny and fantastic. The execution…twenty minutes of oddly shot loveliness becomes…no. Just no. Duck. It’s … Continue Reading Duck (2005)
Falling Leaves (1912)
CRUMBLIES… Having introduced narrative story-telling to film back in 1896, French producer-director-writer and cracking storyteller, Alice Guy-Blaché developed the form through hundreds more shorts. She married, had kids, moved with … Continue Reading Falling Leaves (1912)
Rio Lobo (1970)
CRUMBLIES… Old Mrs Jack and old Jack, back in late 1970, wandering the paranoid highs and lows of America, had caught its self-flagellation in Little Big Man (1970). Okay, so that … Continue Reading Rio Lobo (1970)
