[apopheniac] I bought this primarily because parts of it were filmed at Voewood - a rather attractive country house in the village where my parents live. It turned out to be one of the nicest, most heart-warming films I've seen in a long time. It's based on a 1936 novel written by Edward Plunkett, the 18th Baron of Dunsany, called "My Conversations with Dean Spanley." The person conducting the conversations is one Henslowe Fisk (Jeremy Northam) who is struggling to maintain a relationship with his elderly father (Peter O'Toole) as a result of the father's refusal to mourn the death of his other son, Henslowe's brother Harrington who was killed in the Boer War. Whether by coincidence or design, Fisk Junior encounters Dean Spanley (Sam Neill) three times during the course of one day and, intrigued by the Dean's interests and behaviour, persuades him to come to dinner. Acquiring the necessary beverage to ensure the Dean's attendance draws in local middleman and Mr Fixit, Wrather (Bryan Brown). Soon, both Wrather and Fisk Senior are also listening to Dean Spanley's rather unusual reminiscences... To say any more would give away too much of the plot - this is the sort of film it's worth seeing without even watching the trailer. It's a gentle, beautiful looking Edwardian period piece that makes the most of East Anglia's towns (and occasional chunks of New Zealand countryside!) and a stellar cast on top form.

[apopheniac] Unless they've been living under a rock for the last couple of decades, moviegoers in the UK will be aware of the film critic Dr Mark Kermode. He's an authority on horror movies in general (he has a Ph.D in the subject) and The Exorcist in particular, which he often calls the greatest film ever made. The Exorcist was written by William Blatty, who went on to write and direct The Ninth Configuration. Understandably then, the film often crops up when the good Doctor talks about underrated movies, and on his recommendation I got myself a copy. I'm glad I did. The basic story concerns Army psychiatrist Colonel Vincent Kane (Stacy Keach) who turns up to treat a group of patients who are being cared for at an abandoned castle which has been pressed into service as a military psychiatric hospital. Inside, all is bedlam. The atmosphere is a mixture of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and "M*A*S*H". One patient in particular presents a challenge: Captain Billy Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) is an astronaut who aborted his mission to the Moon a few seconds before blastoff. Kane decides to use unconventional methods in an effort to produce a cure, but soon it's difficult to tell who is trying to cure who... Blatty uses the film to investigate the meaning of good and bad, and it documents his own personal search for divinity amongst humanity. "If you believe in Satan because of all the evil in the world," Kane asks Cutshaw, "why don't you believe in God because of all the love?" The film is well worth seeing - and if you see it before you read any of the links above, you'll enjoy it even more. Highly recommended.