OK, this looks bad, but I didn’t intend to cheat. A few weeks ago I pledged to get caught up on everything by the last Monday in June, which was yesterday. That morning I had plans, oh such plans! I had three reviews to write and one film left to watch, which I believed I had more than enough time for if I properly utilised my half hour lunch break and an evening devoid of anything else that needed doing. And then Monday happened. Work was a busy, busy day. My lunch break existed for around 3 or 4 minutes of hastily cramming a disappointing sandwich into my munching maw, and the office was not left in a prompt fashion. On top of that, I’d promised my partner I’d assist her in making some chocolates she needed for a photo shoot at work – she works for the Marketing department of a nationwide Crafts store, and it being the hottest few days in June we’ve of course been preparing for the Christmas shoot – and the demand for the chocolates was brought forward from Friday to today. So I spent the evening looking at the clock every 30 seconds, convincing myself I still have time, I still have time, I still have… oh crap, it’s half past midnight. Hence why this weekly post didn’t go up on the regularly scheduled Monday. So you know what I did? I got all that shit done tonight instead. Film watched. Reviews written. Everything caught up with. Green ticks all over the shop. And it feels marvellous. I don’t even care that I STILL HAVEN’T EVEN OPENED LEGO JURASSIC WORLD YET. WHAT THE HELL. Here’s what I watched this week:

A Most Violent Year (2014)

JC Chandor has been hit and miss for me so far. I really liked Margin Call, but the ending of All is Lost infuriated me to the point of eventually hating that film. A Most Violent Year sits somewhere in between those two. It follows Abel, a man trying to build a successful business in 1981’s New York, but without resorting to criminal activities along the way. There are some great scenes, particularly a chase in the second half, but too much of the plot is spent with not a great deal happening. I liked all the performances, especially from Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain (add her to the list with Emily Blunt for actresses I’ll watch in anything), and I’m stunned and happy to see Elyes Gabel taking over the world after first seeing him as a regular played in BBC One’s Casualty over a decade ago. A Most Violent Year isn’t a bad film, in fact it’s often quite good, it’s just I can’t think of anything I’ll remember about it this time next year.
Lists: 2015 Movies
Choose Life 6/10

Madame De… (1953)

Nominated for me to watch by Nick Rehak of French Toast Sunday.
Lists: Nominated Movies, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Full review here.

Freaks (1932)

Nominated for me to watch by Nick Jobe of Your Face!.
Lists: Nominated Movies, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Full review here.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

WHY ISN’T IT ON THE 1001 LIST?!? WHYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?
Lists: Empire’s Top 500, Empire’s Top 301, Total Film’s Top 100, Kate Winslet Movies
Full review here.

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Nominated for me to watch by Nolahn of Your Face!.
Lists: Nominated Movies, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Full review here.

Posts you may have missed:
Simplistic Reviews Podcast, Episode 50 Spectacular: To mark the 50th episode of the Simplistic Reviews podcast, Matthew, DJ and Justin invited a bunch of their podcasting pals on to play some games and partake in the general silliness of it all. I was fortunate enough to be the “and MORE!” in their promotional materials, mainly because no-one who listens to their show knows who the heck I am. You’ll have to listen right through to the end of the 3-hour-plus show to get to my bit, and I can’t promise it’s worth it, but the rest of the show is a lot of fun.
Favourite Scene Friday: Jurassic Park: Mr. DNA: Robert and I double-teamed the animated DNA strand to celebrate his month-long dedication to Jurassic Park over at To The Escape Hatch.
FTS: Word Around the Campfire: What Film Could You Recommend to Anybody? – The latest campfire post deals with those movies everybody should like, or at least see. Some of the choices were a little unusual, but some make a lot of sense. What did I suggest? Click to find out.
Burying the Ex
Picnic at Hanging Rock
The Iron Giant
La Grande Illusion
Madame De…
Freaks
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Lambcast #275 Jurassic World – I was joined by Robert, Lindsay, Will and newcomer Sofia to discuss the latest Jurassic movie that’s taken the world by storm.

Goals Update
Aim: Watch all 61 saved TiVo films
Watched: 37
To go: 24
Should be on: 31
On Track: Yes!

Aim: Watch 59 movies released in the UK in 2015
Watched: 19
To go: 40
Should be on: 18
On Track: Yes!

Aim: Review Kate Winslet’s remaining films
Reviewed: 2
To go: 1
Should be on: 2
On Track: Yes!

Aim: Watch 12 “bad” films from the 1001 List
Reviewed: 6
To go: 6
Should be on: 6
On Track: Yes!

Aim: Watch 1 nominated film a week from the 1001 List
Reviewed: 26
To go: 26
Should be on: 26
On Track: Yes!

Aim: Cross off 75 films from the 1001 List
Reviewed: 44
To go: 31
Should be on: 38
On Track: Yes!