freakylynx

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The first film of the so-called "Cornetto trilogy" is an absolute treat. Consistently funny, but never losing its heart. You see this a long way into the film where all the silliness and stupidity becomes a truly devastating emotional moment. Even though the film is still one in which grown men attack zombies with pool cues to the beats of a Queen song. Shaun easily overcomes its occasional datedness (no smartphones, smoking in pubs) to remain a superb watch. Ideally on physical media, since the DVD extras are almost unmatched. ★★★★½

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Talking Pictures TV came up trumps here. A tough, hardbitten, almost noirish thriller set in... the gravel trucking industry in England. Oh yes. An excellent cast led by Stanley Baker (Tom) and Herbert Lom, with support from Patrick McGoohan as the main bad guy and a young Sean Connery, bring us a story of rivalry, corruption and subtly (but obviously) speeded-up truck driving scenes, which are extensive and sometimes quite thrilling. Tom's friendship with Gino (Lom) is rather bluntly expressed by today's standards, but it's charming for 1957 and it goes to a place that isn't necessarily what you'd imagine for a film this old. We even get Sid James doing that laugh, before Carry On was even a thing. A very pleasant surprise. ★★★★

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There's a 2014 horror film called Creep. This isn't it. This film is about Kate, a German woman (Franka Potente) who gets trapped in the London Underground at night and finds herself in danger not only from a male co-worker but maybe from someone, or something, else down there. It's a great setting for a horror film, with the darkness and claustrophobic tunnels and rats and so on, but Creep doesn't quite make the most of it. Kate isn't a particularly likeable person, an obviously deliberate decision but one that doesn't always work. Not keen on an attempted rape scene that lasts a fair while. either. You won't forget a certain sound a character makes by the end of the film, though.

This was director Christopher Smith's debut. I'm not especially enamoured of his admission on the DVD commentary track that he deceived first-time actor Kelly Scott, who as homeless woman Mandy is sympathetic and human, about when he was going to call cut in a particular scene of threat. It wasn't malicious and Scott herself is interviewed elsewhere on the disc speaking very positively about her experience, but I'm not a fan of this kind of thing and I hope it wouldn't happen today. ★★½

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Yes, yes, I know. But the pleasure of feeling damp again has worn off just as quickly as I suspected it would, and walking through light rain so much today was a bit of a chore. The schools have partly gone back now, but there were still a number of irritating teenagers on dodgy e-bikes and scooters in Kidderminster. Not threatening, but I doubt they'll be interested in getting back to their lessons later in the week...

The Severn Valley Railway has been able to return to using some steam locomotives as well as diesel, thanks to the recent rain. I don't know whether I'll bother attending the Autumn Steam Gala this year, as the guest engines don't excite me particularly, but I might try to get some kind of a visit in before the season ends at the end of October. I am still a member, after all, and it's good to show a little in-person support around the place.

I'm summoning up the strength to watch Stolen Babies on the iPlayer at some point, although I'm not able to watch it live right now. This is about the scandal of forced adoption in the UK, particularly from the late 1940s to the mid-1970s. There are some pretty awful parallels with the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland. Not quite as bad as those, in that mothers weren't simply imprisoned for years or decades, but some of the stories I've already read are deeply distressing.

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The first thunderstorm for ages yesterday afternoon, enough to cause a brief power cut and some quite startling lightning. Also a lot of rain, though that dried up quickly later on. Still fairly humid, but better after the storm had passed through. Looking at the forecast, normal showery business for this part of the world seems finally to have been resumed!

As well as being the final day of meteorological summer, it's also Bank Holiday Monday, and so I suppose it was written in the stars that it would rain again today – as indeed it has. This happened at the end of the summer 1976 drought as well, though this time the government didn't actually appoint a Minister for Drought! Doubtless we'll now get flooding in the winter, because that's how things tend to go...