The last movie I saw was...

[LeMarchand]

Champions (2023) (Rakuten with a free rental, but available to rent most places)

 

 

A down on his luck basketball coach is sentenced to coach a team with intellectual disabilities.

 

You already know where the scores will stand towards the end of the final game, and once you meet the team you know who will take the final shot. The only question is will they go for the traditional sports movie triumph or the "it doesn't matter because they all became a team" ending. That said, it's reasonably funny and quite warm-hearted. Woody Harrelson is to be applauded for not having had Hollywood Tombstones implanted, but he looks like he's forgotten to put his false teeth in a lot of the time here.

[LeMarchand]

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (Cinema)

 

 

A terrifying threat to world peace has arisen, and it's up to Ethan Hunt and his team (along with a wily thief in the shape of Hayley Atwell) to follow a MacGuffin in order to determine what their actually actually plans.

 

If you've been following this series theatrically, this one is well worth a look. I'm only just recovering sensation in my hand, which Mme LeMarchand was gripping incredibly tightly for most of the last 30 minutes or so. I'm guessing it's getting hard to source the blood of virgins, as Tom Cruise has actually aged (probably not helped by the frequent display of an older picture of him). He can still run, though!

[LeMarchand]

Robots (Prime Video)

 

Trailer NSFW

 

 

Rich womaniser Charles uses his illegal robot double to seduce women so that he can reap the benefits while Elaine uses her illegal robot double to seduce men into buying her lots of saleable goodies. When C2 and E2 find out the truth about each other, things go a bit pear-shaped.

 

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this, but I found it only mildly amusing and very cheap looking. I say that if it's on your "might watch" list, cross it off.

[smurfomatic]

Watched Oppenheimer yesterday. Interesting perpective into the history, but felt it concentrated more on the development of the bomb rather than the effect of its use.

[mavhc]

Oppenheimer 2: This time it's not personal

 

I saw Spider-Man: Across the Spier-Verse, possibly the best animation in a film ever. It's part 1 of 2.

 

And Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. Pretty funny. It's also part 1 of 2.

[LeMarchand]

Love Again (Rental most sites)

 

 

Mira has lost her true love in a tragic accident, while Rob was dumped a week before his wedding. When she starts sending texts to her dead boyfriend she doesn't know that the number has been reassigned to Rob, who falls in love with the heartfelt messages.

 

Above average romcom with a cast of mainly Brits pretending to be Yanks with a couple of exceptions. The Third Act Complication is kinda baked into the concept but the Big Romantic gesture is rather touching. Well worth a look if you enjoy romcoms, but it won't make you a fan of the genre if you don't.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Hunt for the Wilderpeople from Taika Waititi - A national manhunt isordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush.

 

 

Heartfelt and hilarious throughout, we absolutely loved this one.

[LeMarchand]

Happiness for Beginners (Netflix)

 

Romcom about a divorced schoolteacher goes on a hiking holiday to find herself and also finds... guess what?

 

Slightly above Hallmark level, this features some incredible scenery and resurrects the old school "don't get along at first but don't admit the attraction until the end of the movie" plot but not really worth your time. Plus the male lead seemed a bit stalkery and (spoiler) in need of a nursemaid as much as a partner.

[Dos_Box]

Watched Oppenheimer yesterday. Interesting perpective into the history, but felt it concentrated more on the development of the bomb rather than the effect of its use.

 

Took my son to see this at the IMAX at the Trafford Centre It was the second to last showing on IMAX there and was fully booked (apparently they all were). Glad I'd booked my tickets some time before!

 

I really enjoyed it, and having seen films and TV series about the bombs development felt that it barely scratched the surface of what went on at Los Alamos at the time.

The film isn't about the bomb, but the man himself. It just uses the background of the bombs development for the story.

I will say one thing though, it certainly didn't feel like a three hour film!

The cast were great and it did take me a few mins to realise I was watching Robert Downey Jr as Strauss. He really is talented given the right role!

[Simcfc73]

Hidden Strike

 

I was quite looking forward to this as John Cena has some decent comedy skills.. well Peacemaker at least and Jackie Chan is, well, Jackie Chan but it was really poor.

 

No chemistry, cliched everything Jackie is too old to do this stuff now. Decent outtakes though as is the norm with these films especially Cena.

 

[LeMarchand]

I was quite looking forward to this as John Cena has some decent comedy skills.. well Peacemaker at least and Jackie Chan is, well, Jackie Chan but it was really poor.

 

No chemistry, cliched everything Jackie is too old to do this stuff now. Decent outtakes though as is the norm with these films especially Cena.

 

Cena was fun in Playing With Fire and Blockers. Even the trailer doesn't sell this movie, though.

[Andrew_C]

"Squaring the Circle" The story of Hypgnosis. If you don't know, they designed THE album cover of all time. Well, actually, several of them...

 

Going to see "2001" on the big screen for the first time on Saturday.

[LeMarchand]

Barbie (Cinema)

 

Not quite as funny as I was expecting, but one scene did bring tears of laughter. Otherwise, pretty much what I was expecting; i.e. less a "Barbie" movie than a film with her as the main character. I can't see that many little girls who are still playing with their Barbies will get that much out of it but when I booked the screen was getting full and it ended up the busiest I've seen it since before Covid. Lots of ladies dressed in pink making an event of it, but not many guys! Everyone seemed to be having a good time on and off-screen. Ryan Gosling looked like he was having a blast. Someone give this guy a musical!*

 

*I don't count La-La Land as I abhor jazz.

[LeMarchand]

The Meg 2: The Trench (Cinema)

 

If you enjoyed the first one, you'll enjoy this one too. Bit of a film of 2 parts: Underwater exploration and corporate skulduggery followed by three Megs and other critters chowing down at a resort.Not sure why two of the stars were written out (unless they've annoyed the Chinese government), but the little girl (now 14) is played by the same actress.

 

A Beautiful Life (Netflix)

 

Lobster boat crew member/part-time songwriter/guitarist/singer Elliot supports his best mate, the slimy, rich, Ollie in his attempt to become a star. When Ollie corpses at an open mike night, Elliot steps up and wows uber-producer Suzanne who gets her estranged daughter Lilly to set him up as the next big thing. Elliot and Lilly grow close, but can he cope with the pressure, and how will Ollie deal with his bestie getting "his" life?

 

Danish romance/drama that we started a while ago, but had to stop due to an "emergency" call from the monster-in-law. Not bad, with a sweet ending, but nothing special. Elliot is played by an actual Danish pop person; the songs here sound a bit like a more lively James Blunt.

 

They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix)

 

A pimp, a h:censored: and a dealer join forces when something bad seems to be going down in da hood.

 

Mme LeMarchand, whose hearing isn't the best, had real problems with the dialogue and I was having to listen carefully and translate into the Queen's English in my head, so we had to put on the subtitles. Wish Netflix offered non-CC as well in English language films! Mme LeMarchand wasn't feeling it and I wasn't averse to stopping so only made 20 minutes or so. I may try again at a later date.

[LeMarchand]

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (Rental most places)

 

Billy and the family find themselves targetted by three goddesses who want to reinstate their power.

 

So-so family romp. Zachary Levi looks way too old as Shazam and it's all a bit "meh" Glad this was a free rental and more glad that we passed on it at the cinema.

[Disease]

Straight Outta Compton I have seen it before about 5/6 times, great Biopic.

[Simcfc73]

Heart of stone (Netflix)

 

Gal gardot doing computer stuff. Another run of the mill Netflix movie.

[LeMarchand]

Heart of Stone (Netflix)

 

Gal Gadot stars as an MI6 techie with a secret.

 

This one has come in for a lot of flak but was exactly what I was expecting, even down to the plot "twists" and the ending. It's not a classic, but a fun action romp. Nice to see Alia Bhatt from "RRR" getting a bit more to do here. If you've seen the trailer and thought you'd like it, you probably will.

[LeMarchand]

Hypnotic (Rental most places)

 

Ben Affleck plays a cop whose daughter was kidnapped in the past and whose first call when he returns to work involves what seems to be a bank heist perpetrated by a man with mind control powers. He soon finds himself involved in a much larger conspiracy.

 

Not awful, but I'm glad I didn't bother with it at the cinema, and that it was a free rental. The first scene combined with the title kind of obviate the mid-point reveal, and subsequent twists are also fairly obvious. Watchable but there are way better films out there.

[LeMarchand]

The Pale Blue Eye (Netflix)

 

1830, West Point Military Academy. A grisly murder sees burnt out investigator Augustus Landor team up with cadet Edgar Allen Poe to solve the crime.

 

OK while you're watching it, but the reveal doesn't make a lot of sense. Mainly of interest if you've ever wanted to see Batman take on Dudley Dursley as his Robin, Charlotte Gainsbourg keep her clothes on, or a mostly British cast doing some variable American accents.

[Dos_Box]

I've got several to see with my son lined up for the next month or so.

 

• Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
  
• School of rock 20th Anniversary
  
• Joker
  

 

One thing I heard the other day on a podcast was that due to the writers strike, there will be a lot more reshowings of older films, so if you missed a gem on the big screen the first time round then there may be a chance to see it again.

I'm just annoyed I missed Return Of The Jedi earlier this year. It wasn't very well advertised and I only found out about it later.

[LeMarchand]

Accident Man (Rental most places)

 

Trailer has violence, swearing and gratuitous flesh: NSFW.

 

 

Mike Fallon is a special sort of hitman who specialises in making his kills look like accidents. When his ex is killed, he sets out to find the killer/s.

 

Based on a comic book by Pat Mills this is a bit like a grimy British John Wick (which the comic pre-dates). Star, writer and producer Scott Adkins is actually a skilled martial artist, and it shows, but whilst he looks like a beefier Ryan Reynolds, his delivery is more Statham. Nowhere near as amusing as the trailer suggests, but fun in a "bottom shelf of the video store) kinda way. The sequel is currently streaming on Sky, and I haven't ruled out watching it.

[LeMarchand]

Choose Love (Netflix)

 

 

Interactive rom-com where you have to help Cami decided between sticking with her current chap, "the one that got away" from high school or pop star Rex.

 

An interesting experiment with fairly seamless switches to your choice, but no great shakes as an actual film. We did try ending up with each of the three, but there were way more endings than we saw. It is surprisingly leaning towards her current beau rather than the "cooler" alternatives.

[6Foot2]

I watched The Matrix Resurrections (free on Prime with a subscription)

 

Afterward, I wondered why I bothered. I also wondered why they bothered - it seemed to me that they weren't really "into" what they were doing.

 

Oh, well.

[LeMarchand]

Jawan (Cinema)

 

Trailer surprisingly violent with suicide. NSFW.

 

 

Some time in the past, an injured stranger is taken in by a Himalayan(?) village. In the present, someone who looks a lot like the stranger takes a train hostage with a masterful plan.

 

My first Bollywood film at the cinema! Unfortunately, though the film is going great guns globally, it was just me and what appeared to be a couple of the older generations of an Indian family. Mme LeMarchand passed as she thought it would be took stressful but though there is one sequence that, when it's on Netflix (who seem to have put money into it) I'd probably have to fast-forward (children dying), it's more OTT comic book violence. If you enjoyed RRR, definitely worth a look at the cinema. If you thought RRR was "OK", I'd try this on Netflix. If you're new to Indian movies, RRR is still the gold standard and the one to start with, but this makes a good follow up. I'm going to see if I can convince Mme LeMarchand to give it a go at the cinema.

 

Oh, the trailer is very well put together and shows a lot, but doesn't give too much away; the reason why all those characters look alike does make sense eventually (well, about as much sense as possible in a film with song and dance numbers and action scenes that Zack Snyder would think were too OTT). The film also has a surprising political edge that, if they watched cinema from other regions, the "usual suspects" would take it to task for.