The X Files, The Dark Knight and Made of Honour

I was surprised that they made X Files - I Want to Believe. I always think the next in such a franchise has to top what went before. This fell a long way short. I was waiting for something menacingly alien, but all we had was a run of the mill serial killer yarn. Having said that, it was a passable story enriched by the setting. It was supposed to be wintry Virginia, but was in fact filmed in gorgeously snowy British Columbia. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson looked as if they were wondering why they were there, and then remebered the money. But Billy Connoly and Amanda Peet were worth watching. No superheros, no CGI, it made a change.

The Dark Knight does have a superhero, but it seemed that Batman's appearances were strictly limited, and this helped with it being a marvelous film. There have been enough reviews about it's reflection on our current anxieties of terrorism, all distilled into one persona. Heath Ledger's wonderfully disturbing Joker dominated the movie, even getting himself arrested to wreak more havoc. All the talk is about a posthumous Oscar for him, but will Christopher Nolan's direction win an award. It deserves to.

The only two reasons I went to see Made of Honour were it was a drama, of which there are so few in the summer, and the other was for the views of New York. The latter was probably the best thing about the film. After the intro from ten years ago, it fast forwards to the present day, and early morning on a street very much like the one where I stayed with Michael. I can remember when the jet lag kicked in, and watching a similar scene to that in the movie. The street cleaning vehicle, the shops opening, delivery trucks, an early jogger. They were all there.
The scenes in Central Park were similarly familiar: Hope Bridge and the Bethesda Fountain were prominent. Unfortunately, when the movie switched to Scotland two thirds through, the whole thing became acutely embarrassing. If you had been Scottish, you would have had to walk out. The whole time, not a drop of rain fell. Impossible. The only redeeming moment was when Oasis sang "Stop crying your heart out". An unknown, but terrific, track to me as it was from their little played fifth album. And a cameo from Hannah Gordon, a famous TV actress who is now sixty seven. The film ends in a church for the wedding. Not one in Scotland, but actually St Mary's in Edlesborough, a church that I have passed many times on my walks. Being near to Chequers, it was frequented by Mrs Thatcher for many years. I even photographed it a couple of years ago.