Movie review - "Midsommar" (2019) **** (re-watching)

 Very well made. Smart. Solid world building. Florence Pugh anchors a passive role with her beauty and charisma. Might've exploited the deaths more for scares. Hard to pick at thhough.

Movie review - "Midsommar" (2019) ***1/2

 Everything a horror movie should be - smart, atmospheric, consistently creepy, anchored by a star turn from a great actor, Florence Pugh. It maybe could've been a bit shorter. Fantastic music.

Movie review - "Abba: The Movie" (1977) **1/2

 Few countries adored Abba more than Australia and their tour here was a big deal - so it was typically smart of Reg Grundy to finance a film. Full of interesting names: Lasse Hallstrom directed, Robert Caswell co wrote the script, future inmate Robert Hughes starred (another deep voiced actor, Bruce Barry plays his boss), Tom Oliver is Abba's bodyguard.

The film actually wasn't a big hit but it travelled and has had a long life. 

Plenty of documentary footage of the band - answering dumb Aussie press questions ("You won a poll for best arse how do you feel  about that?"), performing in concert (SOS, Money Money Money).

Some scene age, er, not too well eg Robert Hughes asking questions of kids. Other scenes are fascinating time capsules, eg audience members going on about how they like Abba because "they're neat".

The "plot" consists of journo Hughes trying to get an interview with Abba and that's it. But it's watchable with the songs, and the band, and scenes clearly shot in Sweden.

Movie review - "48 Hours to Live" (1959) * (warning: spoilers)

 Gets points for novelty - Anthony Steel in decline in a Swedish movie made in English in Sweden. Story acceptible B movie stuff though even by 1959 it was more likely to be found on TV, even the third act twist (his random friend is with the baddies).

I think Steel was meant to play a stock swashbuckling reporter like the one Rod Taylor did in Hong Kong. It's beyond Steel's abilities but he is handsome and has that nice voice and his polite performance at least as some professionalism. The support cast are more variable.

It's badly directed. Actors consistently play scenes in two shots against bland backgrounds. It was shot on location in Sweden but only a few scenes show off that. This could have been filmed anywhere. The Swedish accents give it novelty.

Occasionally when the scientist walks across a desolate beach you get an image of what this could have been.