So somehow I made it to middle-age without either reading Charles Dickens’ novel or watching any one of the numerous film adaptations even though like most people some of the scenes in it are so iconic that they are seared into my consciousness through cultural osmosis alone. This one is of course the grand-daddy of all the adaptations by David Lean. There have been other film versions before this but only this had any staying power and it influenced all other adaptations that followed.

This is the latest one of the action movies to come out of Indonesia that is good enough to gain favorable attention worldwide. Unlike some of the earlier, this one features a decent budget and extensive CGI. With its near future dystopian setting, high-tech toys and plenty of fighting scenes that takes place in the rain at night, I would count this as a solid cyberpunk film and a viable contender to Hollywood action movies.

I’ve studiously avoided all of the Transformers films since the very first one, and indeed looking it up, that means I haven’t seen one in ten years. I decided to give this prequel a chance as it was not directed by Michael Bay and I quite like the idea of a smaller scale film featuring just Bumblebee. Unfortunately while this is definitely better than Bay’s own work for many reasons, it’s still recognizably the same type of action movie and that means I cannot in good conscience call it a good film.

Pedro Almodóvar directs this film that brings together some of the biggest name performers in the Spanish speaking world. I was dubious about it at first as the story of a renowned film director in decline being addicted to drugs seemed like just another entry in a tired genre. But it opens up to cover many more aspects of the director’s and I found that I quite liked it despite its lack of a singular focus.

Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars is of course his unofficial remake of Yojimbo, being similar enough that the Japanese production sued and Leone eventually settled out of court. Being one of the earliest Spaghetti Westerns, the European crew members were so nervous that they adopted fake American-sounding names. This is why the musical score really is composed by Ennio Morricone as you can tell immediately upon hearing it but it is credited to Dan Savio.

We have watched a film by director Peter Strickland though I didn’t remember that until I went back to check. It was the Duke of Burgundy about a lesbian BDSM relationship. This one is completely different, being a horror film about, of all things, a dress. It’s a little too weird for me to really like but I have to admit that it is highly original and of course its visuals are simply sumptuous, just like the earlier film.

We’re back to the classic Akira Kurosawa samurai film with this one. It’s full of the director’s favorite actors including of course Toshiro Mifune in the lead role and indeed the shot of him slowly striding down an empty street is one of the director’s most iconic images. The plot is comparatively simple but this characterization of a wandering samurai out to do good deeds through both guile as well as force of arms has been an influential one for good reason.