T2 TRAINSPOTTING [2017]

20 years later, director Danny Boyle returns to the Trainspotting world, loosely based off of Irvine Welsh's novel, Porno.
T2 sees the boys crossing paths again as they discovers old wounds don't always heal and there's always a new get-rich scheme to hatch when hard drugs are involved.
Obviously it doesn't come with the same cultural impact as the original film but it's certainly armed with far more emotional weight for those still heavily invested in it's characters.  There's plenty of callbacks to the original (with good reason), a wicked soundtrack and good laughs that all come together to produce a pretty solid sequel proving itself worthy to it's predecessor.  As depressing as it might be with it's "what the fuck have you done with your life" it also manages to be just as uplifting as well.  Time is a real prick-arsed cunt.

4 bathroom stall reunions out of 5

TRAINSPOTTING [1996]

Director Danny Boyle takes on the difficult task of adapting author Irvine Welsh's non-linear first novel Trainspotting and turns it into one of the best and more accurate films about hard drug addiction.  

It's a raw, grungy tale about betrayal, youth subculture and being imprisoned with too much freedom.  Boyle allows the film to seep into your nerves with a flashy soundtrack, captivating wide angles & colors, a cast of charismatic, yet seedy, characters and a narrative that gleefully threatens to derail itself with each corner it takes.   One of the defining time capsules of the mid '90's, Trainspotting is fun, nasty and not afraid to spit in your face.

4½ shitty beds out of 5

28 WEEKS LATER [2007]

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to Danny Boyle's "zombie" cult classic, shows a lot of promise in the first hour.  Unfortunately it spoils almost instantly, when it drops the potential of being a fantastic character study of conflict and falls into endless action & explosions.  It's still thrilling and disturbingly terrifying but somehow feels empty with it's focus on too many one-dimensional characters.
On the plus side, the kids are great and never step into the all too common trap of stupid and/or annoying.

3 run FROM the choppas out of 5

The Beach (2000)

Living in a perpetual paradise is a myth, because once we find it we taint it and it ceases to be paradise. The realisation is thousands of years old; what's more interesting is the journey from idealism to realism. With that in mind, I sat down to watch The Beach. It was great for an hour, filled with the graceful, fragile beauty that Danny Boyle is accomplished at, but then I had to wonder did someone creep into my home and change the film to a cheap Apocalypse Now (1979) knock off? Less pop and more Badalamenti, less crap and more drama and it might've succeeded. Boyle is usually better than this.

1 inappropriate homage too far out of 5

Ravenous (1999)

Haven't seen this one in over a decade. It holds up. Starting out as what seems to be a promising dark comedy ("Eat me!"), it soon takes on a deadly serious (and sick) tone. Like any good movie about cannibalism, the gore factor is up there and this one does not disappoint. The memorable score by Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn sets up an unsettling atmosphere that elevates the movie above its source material. Not a perfect film...but you are what you eat. (?)

3.5 Bloody, Gnawed Off Femurs out of 5