This is one of those so bad it’s good films. We laughed, we jumped, we said “oh my God, no way” a couple of times. A drink, and a snack, and no expectations, and you’ll have a good time.
Watched At the Door (2018)
I really don’t know what to make of this. Couldn’t take much from it. Just not for me.
Trailer: A24: Skin
This looks really interesting. Darker even than American History X (1998).
Watched Greta (2018)
This is good. Watch it.
Watched Mile 22 (2018)
This is a proper piece of unhinged, don’t know which way is up, thriller. Peter Berg really knows how to make androgynous macho films; the women’s balls are as big as the men. Oh, and Mark Wahlberg is great as the elastic band snapping, fast talking, manic, get the job done, hero. Not complicated, but fun to watch.
Watched Salvage (2009)
By no means a perfect film, but it has the good sense to come in under ninety minutes. Falls very much into the category of single location, small cast, and buckets of blood, monster movie. Using the no light, deep shadows, to great effect. Also doesn’t make the mistake of showing too much of the monster, who looks like an angry version of the Elephant Man.
Watched Aftermath (2014)
A solid little film that’s definitely worth a watch. Puts me in mind of Right at Your Door from 2006.
We need a radical approach to the housing crisis
An answer prompted by a George Monbiot article in The Guardian: Poor tenants pay for landlords to have a good time.
I agree that “government policy has created heaven for landlords and hell for tenants.” I am a tenant. I always have been, and always will be. Not through choice but because I have never been rich enough to buy. As tenants my partner and I are treated like children. Constantly reminded it’s the landlord’s house, not a property we’re paying to call our home. All tenants are made to feel as though they should be grateful to the landlord for letting us rent their property. How would you feel if someone could turn up at your door whenever they choose, and just let themselves into your home? It makes you feel vulnerable. As if you have no agency.
I think we need a radical approach to the housing crisis. One that puts tenants front and centre. Yes we need rent controls. But we also need guaranteed long term leases. Terms of five or ten years should be the standard. Everyone needs that kind of stability to make a life for themselves.
There should be a register of landlords. You need a license to drive a taxi. You should have a license to rent private property. Tenants should be able to report neglect of a property, or abusive behaviour, without fear of eviction. A register of landlords would go some way to keeping both parties safe.
I think the owners of a ghosted property should be fined. Not small, slap on the wrist fines, but value of the property fines. Investors then have a choice, sell their ghosted property, or let it at rent-controlled rates. Similarly second homes, or holiday homes, should be either treated as ghosted properties, or taxed out of existence.
Mortgages should be calculated not on earnings, but on a proven ability to pay rent. I would argue paying rent is better indicator of someone’s ability to repay a mortgage than earnings. And if lenders still require a deposit they should be offered to individuals by the government, in the same way as student loans are, and similarly administered by HMRC.
The problems with the housing market were created by decades of poor political choices. For the sake of everyone, we need to make better choices.
Watched Fairfield (2014)
It’s clear to see the greatest influence on this film is not Dawn of the Dead or 28 Days Later, but the The Breakfast Club. Instead of grappling with teenage angst they’re dealing with the end of times.
Watched Antisocial (2013)
There’s plenty of blood to splatter over the cracks of some B-minus writing. It has the germ of an idea, about the corrupting influence of social media, trying to get out. This film is six years old now, which is probably 120 in social media years. It’s feels almost quaint if you think about the social media horrors we now have to navigate.
Darrin // Nightingale 