Film Shapes

Well, how's this for a comic book movie? It's like Peckinpah re-animated. Taking a cue from the altogether different,  Deadpool  of last year,  Logan  has been made with the letter  R  virtually flashing in the corner of the frame. They've gone as far away from the X franchise as possible, even dropping the name Wolverine from the title and suggesting the comics are mostly bullshit. It's a morosely fatalistic film, with a few of the characters seemingly aware of the reaper behind them and slowing down for him to catch up. Oh, and I think it's a peach. There's a great intro for the third point in the Logan-Xavier triangle, Laura (or X-23). The director, James Mangold, keeps all the initial action hidden, aside from the noise. When we do get to see her in full flow, it's Wolverine on speed - with more blood and gore than previous Marvel films. Pretty ballsy to have a 10 year-old kid deliver a severed head like a bowling ball to the feet of her torment...

My sister and I went to the Luna cinema in Leederville to see  T2 , about 21 years after seeing the first  Trainspotting  at the very same venue. A quick scan of the punters showed a similar demographic - middle aged, probably fans of the first. No surprises really. For me,  Trainspotting  is one of two films (along with  Pulp Fiction ) that epitomise the 1990s, so there was always going to be an audience. Danny Boyle, Andrew McDonald, John Hodge and the principal cast all return and there's a buzz seeing the characters again, in much the same way that people of my generation punched the air when Han Solo appeared in  The Force Awakens . T2  is funny and sad in equal measure (my sister thinks it's funnier than the first but I remember a few chuckles back then too). The 'reunion' scenes are mint - especially Renton and Begbie - and there are loads of Boyle-ish visual flourishes that show how good he can be when he's not making soap. There's o...