The Current Cinema - John Snadden's notes on HIGH AND LOW, GET OUT, JOHN WICK 2, Roger Moore, THE VILLAINESS

EDITOR'S NOTE: New contributor and mighty film enthusiast John Snadden has posted these notes on Facebook.

Only one chance to see the little seen HIGH AND LOW at ACMI this Saturday...problem is I have a long standing prior commitment on that day. Looks like I'll have to see this great Kurosawa - McBain combo on DVD. Here are some pics, anyway...

A tale of two films: GET OUT seen at the start of the week and JOHN WICK 2 watched last night. The latter knew exactly what it was doing and where it was going and was a very enjoyable cinema ride. As for GET OUT, it’s been such a long time since I've seen such a totally pretentious and, plainly, dumb film. I found it to be like a visit to a waxworks museum.

Chinese poster for Shout at the Devil

RIP Roger Moore. I always enjoyed his work and found his off-hand approach to film-making and stardom to be particularly refreshing. IMO I think he made his best movies during the 1970s and these included GOLD (1974), SHOUT AT THE DEVIL (1976) and NORTH SEA HIJACK (1980). I've only ever seen it on TV, but I also remember very much liking a little known horror / thriller pic, THE MAN WHO HAUNTED HIMSELF (1970). Unfortunately, I have little time for any of his Bond films.

If you're tiring of the Rom Coms that have been filling Chinese cinema screens of late, this new South Korean crime-action pic could be well worth a look....THE VILLAINESS has also just scored an enthusiastic review from The Hollywood Reporter. It should screen locally within a week or two.

The trailer is on YouTube