Who you calling a telly addict? I watch films, too, y’know...

Regular readers will undoubtedly be most upset that I haven't done any film reviews (such as they are) for quite some time. The reason for this is that I haven't watched any for a while. And why is that? Well, apart from the fact that I've had a bit more work on recently, it's also true that the good TV season has started here in Blighty. Well, kind of. In truth, Thursday is a good telly night.

Yep, that's today. So here, before giving you all the skinny on the movie I watched last night, is how I will spend my evening tonight.

8pm: How to Pay Off Your Mortgage in a Year (or whatever the fuck it's called), Channel 4. This is actually a really shit show, but this week it's about property development in Italy, so I'll watch it with a bit more enthusiasm than usual.

9pm: Extras, BBC2. The second episode of the new series. This week it has David Bowie and that Harry Potter kid, I think.

9.30pm: That Mitchell & Webb Look, BBC2. I'd be lying if I said this was a patch on the genius show that was/is the same guys' Peep Show, but it's not so bad. I'll give it another go and see what happens.

10pm: The Sopranos, E4. Fuck me, this is another slow season. Those first three years were absolutely fucking compelling viewing, but seasons four and six have been a bit lacklustre. At least season five was good. They better pick up the pace soon.

11.50pm: The Apprentice USA, BBC2. The Donald shatters another dream. Go Trumpy, go Trumpy...

So now that you have an insight into my exciting life, I will share my opinion on the film I watched last night.

It was another of Red's choices. It's funny, when her choices drop through the letterbox, invariably it is something I've never heard of, so I say to her: "What's this about, then?" And she'll reply: "I don't know. Is it one of mine?" Crazy woman!

This flick was a Spanish one called El Mar (The Sea). It is set in a sanitarium where young men are dying in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. It's not clear what they are dying from -- at least not to me, although it may be common knowledge to Spaniards. Suffice to say they're coughing up shitloads of blood.

The story focuses on two patients and a nun who works there. The three of them were schoolfriends ten years earlier and were kind of involved in the death of two other boys -- one killed by the other, who then committed suicide. The relationships between the three are complex and fascinating and very much grounded in their history -- a history they can never truly be free of. A history of violence (again that term), both in their personal lives and in the "life" of their country.

The three leads are all acting in their first movie here, but you would never know it. Their performances are strong, assured and wholly believable. As the film builds, it becomes more violent, bringing the story round in an inevitable circle and back to the violence with which it began.

El Mar surprised me. I expected nothing, because I knew nothing about it in advance. But it mixed real-life events with surreality, religion, and violence, leaving me never knowing what might come next. For me, this is what good cinema is all about. I hate the predictable dross that we see so much of. Sure, it's fun as popcorn fodder, but it's not real film-making.

So, how do I score this film? I think, once again, this is a film that will stay with me and appreciate in my mind. I should say at this point that Wife didn't like it at all. She doesn't know it yet, but I felt there were traces of David Lynch in there, so it doesn't surprise me that she no like. I'm going out on a limb here and giving this 67 points. Check it out.