Kevin's Watch

Haven't seen it yet but the reviews are good, the trailer looks great and it's got Leo in it. What's not to like?

I was kinda put off by Leo DiCaprio and the subject matter, but then I realised Inarritu directed it, so I'm going to see it once it's out (15th Jan in the UK).

Leo's an odd one: you either get him or you don't!

Not for the faint of heart, and it isn't exactly an uplifting story either. But if you want to experience a visceral journey through the wilderness past of North America, and silently evaluate whether or not you might have survived under those conditions, this is the vehicle for those questions.

Agreed. It has to resonate big time in the US by virtue of it's brining to stark life one of the formative preiods of the nacent United States. DiCaprio shines as the obstinate frontiersman who just refuses to die no matter what is thrown at him, and his nemesis who's name sadly I cannot tell you is equally great [shurely a sho in for the best supporting actor catagory] as the mumbling discontent whose actions spark off the events depicted in the film. The scenery [awful word] is grand and unforgiving, the Native Americans austere and aloof [in the main], and the frontiersmen wretched and brutalised. Against this backdrop and by some miracle, one of the greatest nations the world has ever seen was forged.

[The bear mauling scene is protracted and not for the squeamish ......... but you can't help having just a bit of sympathy for it! ]

[estimate of whether you would have survived or not; not a cat in hells chance .]

I enjoyed it a lot. Really great film, beautiful shots and good use of sound, too.

(Then I saw Creed the day after and it was so goddamned pedestrian in comparison, but that's hardly a comparison you'd make.)

The actor whose name I didn't give above is none other than the redoubtable Tom Hardy who played both Kray twins in the film Legend. Man, this guy is a walking Oscar machine!

(Was Creed good Murrin. I wasn't a major Rocky fan, but have toyed with the idea of seeing this as an interesting 'finale' to the series.)

Creed was good for what it was - which was a very traditionally shot, by-the-numbers sports movie, utterly predictable but well made.

You can't say fairer than that!