Bringing Up Baby

1938, US, directed by Howard Hawks

There's little for me to add with respect to Hawks' wonderful film, which pairs Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn at their peak, except to note that I watched it on this occasion with a six-year-old and a four-year-old who remained rapt throughout, interrupting the film only to ask for occasional clarity regarding the identity of the titular leopard. The opening is so rapid-fire that I worried they would struggle to figure things out but my concerns were entirely misplaced, and they stayed with it through the final scene, aghast and delighted at the destruction on display.

The Man Who Knew Infinity

2015, UK, directed by Matthew Brown

Tasteful, visually attractive, and unfortunately deeply conventional in the British prestige picture tradition; both Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons are more than solid, but there's barely an unexpected note in the entire film.

The Trip to Italy

2014, UK, directed by Michael Winterbottom

Unsurprisingly, just as enjoyable as its successor.

The Trip to Spain

2017, UK, directed by Michael Winterbottom

I see a lot of bad films on planes, and every now and then there's a real surprise; The Trip to Spain, the third in an unlikely franchise, is charming and often hilariously funny, without ever excusing the characters' sometimes boorish behavior (the interplay of the two egos is at the heart of the picture: these men always need an audience, and in a pinch they'll accept an audience of one).