The Hobbit- Desolation of Smaug

Overall that was better than the previous Hobbit movie, but still not as good as any of the LOTR trilogy, and there was a bit too much gratuitous flying objects for the 3D, and some of the CG and greenscreen was surprisingly iffy for such a huge franchise (especially the molten gold at the end.)

The best moment was shinyTauriel - wish they hadn't kept cutting away to Kili's worshipful reaction - which worked a *lot* better than the "terrible queen" effect of Galadriel in Fellowship Of The Ring. This felt right by the folklore I grew up with.

Overall an 8/10.

Spellbound

Stepping back a year from Notorious, but sticking with Hitchcock directing from a Ben Hecht script…

"Spellbound Official Trailer #1 - Gregory Peck Movie (1945) HD" (Watch on YouTube)

I'm not sure whether the introduction of Ingrid Bergman, being sexually harrassed by a colleague, is an appalling indictment of the culture, or hilarious pwnage as she just laughs in his face and takes the piss out of him. This being Bergman, I'm inclined towards the latter...

Also, it's a bit, influenced, shall we say, by Pabst's 1926 Geheimnisse eine Seele (Secrets Of A Soul), isn't it?

Somebody remind me to stop drinking

I don’t get drunk, per se, but, like Athos, I get morose and moody, and focussed on failures and guilt- especially over those I failed to save or protect from harm.

OTOH

Somebody remind me to get more booze in for next week - when it's the Eurovision Song Contest, or, as I prefer to call it, "Jesus, is that fucking shit still going?"

Last year I needed a bottle of Jack Daniels to get through it, cos Lesley was watching it...

In a swordy mood

Time to watch this favourite again.

"The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) HQ trailer" (Watch on YouTube)