Dear friend,
sometimes there are films everybody loves that I find very difficult to appreciate. I even have a special list on Letterboxd about ‘Known masterpieces I didn’t agree with’. It’s not a long list, but this week it has one more entry.
The Quatermass Xperiment, directed by Val Guest, co-written with Richard H. Landau, based on the TV serial The Quatermass Experiment by Nigel Kneale, United Kingdom, 1955 - ⭐⭐⭐
I guess I don’t like early science fiction? I didn’t get the emotional weight of this story of an astronaut’s body and mind slowly being taken over by an alien force, while I focussed instead on some silly plot points and a clear nod to Frankenstein. I did enjoy the very final scene though.
Since I equally didn’t like Quatermass and the Pit, I suppose it’s not a genre for me.
Perfect Blue/パーフェクトブルー, directed by Satoshi Kon, written by Sadayuki Murai, based on the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, Japan, 1997 - ⭐⭐½
Also, it’s just me not liking this film, which is considered one of the masterpieces of animated horror. I see why it’s considered such an influence on Black Swan (which I love), but, aside from the depiction of sexual abuse (which was also the most uncomfortable part of Kon’s Paprika), my enjoyment of the surprising and confusing narrative was ruined by the final reveal. How many unreliable narrators can you have in a single story?
The Thursday Murder Club, directed by Chris Columbus, written by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote, based on the novel by Richard Osman, US/United Kingdom, 2025 - ⭐⭐⭐½
In this poor week, it came almost as a relief that this film was exactly what I was expecting it to be: a quiet, gentle ‘Sunday afternoon’ murder mystery whose charm relies on the charisma of its leads (Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie). Even in the adaptation, you can recognise the kind of humour you’d expect from Richard Osman based on his role in the Pointless quiz show and his appearances on British panel shows.
It doesn’t come close to de-throning Agatha Christie, but you can enjoy this with a cup of tea and a blanket.
(Fun fact: I crossed paths with Osman once, just outside the Cambridge train station, on a Friday evening, several years ago)