Film reviews part 1 (in order of viewing)

Donnie Brasco (1997). 6.1.21. Very mediocre, a sort of 2^nd rate Goodfellas. 4/10

Midnight Cowboy (1969). 7.1.21. Won best Oscar but over-rated. No plot to speak of and characters not interesting enough. 5/10

Death of Stalin (2017). 12.1.21. Very watchable....I suspect I would enjoy it slightly more second time around. First time it’s all too new and too fast. Written by Armandu Iannucci. 7/10

Dunkirk (2017). 14.1.21. Disappointingly as I expected. Wall to wall action, usually hard to follow and very uninvolving. No character studies. 4/10

All the President’s Men (1976). 18.1.21. Would need to watch again to understand it properly....often too difficult to follow (e.g. too many names). It was ok but could have been much better. The dialogue and interpersonal relationships in Spotlight were much more interesting. 6/10

Sweet sixteen (2002). 19&20.1.21. Very good; holds the attention throughout. Only minor gripe is we were never told whether he killed his best friend (it was frustrating and served no purpose to leave that unresolved). Same writer as the brilliant "I Daniel Blake"...and same director of course. 8/10

A prophet (2009). 23&24.1.21. Second time seen. Gripping thriller. Slightly complicated towards the end but maintains the attention / excellent pacing. Incredible performance from Niels Arestrup. 8/10

P'tang, yang, kipperbang (1982). 29.1.21. Pretty run of the mill, certainly not one of Rosenthal's best. Alison Steadman quite annoying. 6/10

Nocturnal animals (2016). 30.1.21. Pretty good thriller but the symbolism, although not too complicated, didn't quite work for me. One or two contrivances too (what if the guy she married the second time wasn't having an affair....) Possibly somehow 'fake' at the end of the day. 7/10

The conversation (1974). 1.2.21. Much preferred it on second time of watching but pace tended to drag / lacked incisiveness and scenes relating to hotel room were confusing regarding what he actually saw. Good twist at the end. Decidedly inferior to "The Lives of Others", which it is loosely similar to. 7/10