[Film] Film 2022

[dolphins]

The Menu
We mainly follow Anya Taylor Joy and her companion Nicholas Hoult who are attending an very exclusive, incredibly expensive fine dining experience, from highly regarded chef Ralph Fiennes, who has a very special dinner planned. There's a lot of (intentional) fun to be had at the expense of the pretentious, high faluting talk of the dinner guests.



The trailer hints at something like The Hunt, Ready or Not of the Ice T/Rutger Hauer starring 90s classic Surving the Game, but it doesn't go in that direction.

I really liked it. I look forward to watching it again, but not sure when that would be. Though a couple I overheard as I left seemed to not really know what to make of the film.

Just back from this, at a rather chilly Marina, and really enjoyed it. It went in different directions at various points, and refreshingly different. The trailer does give a slightly false impression, and agree that it does hint at The Hunt (which is a bonkers film, albeit fun). Anya Taylor Joy turns in another very good performance - I tend to be as exasperated as her at the nonsense of high-end food malarkey!

 

[Acker79]

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Running at select cinemas for a week, before showing up on Netflix (they financed it) next month is the follow up to Knives Out. Rian Johnson (diretor) and Daniel Craig (Benoit Blanc) are both back.

It's another murder mystery, and so I don't want to say too much to ruin it for anyone, but I really enjoyed it, and it seemed to go down well with a pretty busy Duke of York's. Some of it may be predictable, especially if you pay attention, but there are also plenty of twists you probably didn't see coming, too. I thought everyone was great in their roles. Kate Hudson was a particular highlight for me, Ed Norton looked like he was having fun, Kathryn Hahn and Leslie Odom jr were suitably suspicious given she is currently most famous for playing Agatha Harkness in Wandavision, and he was Aaron Burr in Hamilton. it was perhaps Dave Bautista's best non-drax performance, and there are a number of neat little cameos.

 

[dolphins]

Watched Confess, Fletch this afternoon and found it pretty enjoyable. I don't remember ever watching the originals with Chevy Chase but this new one didn't seem to have any link to the earlier ones (other than the name I guess). Jon Hamm is always a pretty likeable lead and there were some amusing lines. Not a classic, but fun nonetheless.

 

[Acker79]

Strange World
The latest from Disney's Animation studio. In a fictional village a son grows up farming an electric plant that has saved the village, as his father disappears on an expedition to find help for the village. The plants start to die, so the now grown up son with his own sun has to go on an expedition to save the plants, discovering an underground world unlike anything they've seen before.

Eh. It was fine, but not one of their strongest. There is a notable lean into diversity (the family dog is even missing a leg!), which is nice to see, but the story, at it's heart, wasn't all that original. Visually it's fun, or at least the designs are fun, but it just felt so run of the mill.


Bones and All
A young woman who occasionally needs to eat humans is abandoned by the father who had been protecting her and has to make her own way. She runs into other 'eaters' as she tries to head across country to find the mother who abandoned her a child.

Eh. Again. This is one of those stories where you follow people as they just live a life (albeit with occasional cannibalism). It looks good, with some wide open vistas. I'm sure you can read plenty into the meaning behind everything (addiction, trauma, homophobia etc), but it felt like there wasn't much of a story, which didn't work for me this time. I suspect if I was in a different mood/warmer/whatever I might have enjoyed it more, but as it is it was just fine.

 

[The Clamp]

Titane, Julia Ducournau's follow up to the superb RAW.

A woman with a titanium plate fitted in her head and murderous intent on her mind embarks on a bizarre journey of identity and unconditional love when she's forced to go on the run.

It has some interesting scenes and it was somewhat compelling but overall a disappointing follow up to RAW.

 

[Acker79]

Titane, Julia Ducournau's follow up to the superb RAW.

A woman with a titanium plate fitted in her head and murderous intent on her mind embarks on a bizarre journey of identity and unconditional love when she's forced to go on the run.

It has some interesting scenes and it was somewhat compelling but overall a disappointing follow up to RAW.

I liked the scene in the house where she doesn't realise how many people are there.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Black Friday heads-up: 40% off Picturehouse membership. Offer available until Monday

 

[Acker79]

Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical
Movie version of the stage musical based on the book that has also been made into a non-musical film.

I saw the stage show on the same day I first saw Hadestown. Hadestown is awesome, to the point by comparison Matilda didn't have a chance, so my excitement wasn't particularly high going in.

I thought it was fine. I have listened to the soundtrack a few time, and I think one of my issues is that the lyrics are a little too clever to the point they can be hard to make out, especially when sung by the whole cast singing over each other. All the performances are fine, none of the children were particularly annoying. The changes to lean into it being a movie instead of a stage show worked for me.

Perhaps it will be more liiked by people who enjoyed the stage show more than I did.

 

[Weststander]

She Said - we saw this at Cineworld Brighton tonight.

The true story of determined journalists at the New York Times nailing Harvey Weinstein.

Very powerful, quite an emotional watch as they overcome the initial wall of silence and sinister threats. As well as a reminder imho that the work’s only just begun.

 

[dolphins]

Saw Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and felt so disappointed by it. Really dull...and some slightly below par CGI at times. Some nice tributes to CB though.

 

[Is it PotG?]

If you liked 'Rams', you'll enjoy this.



Profoundly heartwarming and meditative. An instant classic.

23 / 26

 

[The Clamp]

I watched Where The Crawdads Sing today. A real late 90’s throwback and not in a good way.
Paper thin story, massively unlikeable characters and a twist so obvious it may as well have been eating a twister lolly doing the Twist on a Twister mat.

Was like some crap hybrid of Mills & Boon and John Grisham with some date rape thrown in.
Farcical, tasteless, unimaginative, saccharine and obvious. Put it in the bin.
Dogshit.

 

[Popeye]

I watched Where The Crawdads Sing today. A real late 90’s throwback and not in a good way.
Paper thin story, massively unlikeable characters and a twist so obvious it may as well have been eating a twister lolly doing the Twist on a Twister mat.

Was like some crap hybrid of Mills & Boon and John Grisham with some date rape thrown in.
Farcical, tasteless, unimaginative, saccharine and obvious. Put it in the bin.
Dogshit.

I went and saw that and thought it was utter garbage also. I think they thought since the novel was so popular, people would take the movie for what it was, but didn't pan out that way.

 

[Acker79]

She Said
A film based on a non-fiction novel about the Ney Yourk Times article about Harvey Weinstein's various assualts and wrong doings.

The story is the story. Often in films covering real-life investigations will often dramatise the impact of the investigation on the lives of the people doing the investigating, somewhat making them heroes, for persevering in the face of all the difficulties - the home life being ruined because they were too focused on the investigation, the threats - real and imagined - to their safety, the employers trying to kill the story, etc. This didn't have any of that. To the point at times I was left wondering why they didn't just make a documentary instead. I can see the idea that the people writing the story wouldn't want to be heroes in that sense, would see the women coming forward telling their stories as being the brave heroes of the story, but they also made a big issue out of the system that allows abusers to retain and reinforce power and not face repercussions that the difficulties in their lives would be part of that story - the idea of the difficulty drawing attention to the problem.

Generally, though, I thought it was a good film.

 

[keaton]

Aftersun
British film, see mostly in the late 90s about a dad taking his 11 year old daughter to a holiday resort. Not a lot happens but it's fantastic.

 

[The Clamp]

The Invitation.

After the death of her mother and having no other known relatives, Evie takes a DNA test and discovers a long-lost cousin she never knew she had. Invited by her newfound family to a lavish wedding in the English countryside, Evie's at first seduced by the sexy aristocratic host. However, she's soon thrust into a nightmare of survival as she uncovers twisted secrets about her family history and the unsettling intentions behind their sinful generosity.

Perfectly enjoyable and jump-scary vampire horror with a great supporting role for Sean Pertwee as the butler. It's no masterpiece but I enjoyed it for what it is.

6/10

 

[Stat Brother]

The Steven Spielberg Rankings and ‘The Fabelmans’

The Steven Spielberg Rankings and ‘The Fabelmans’

‘The Fabelmans,’ Spielberg’s deeply personal new film, opens wide this holiday weekend—and to celebrate, Joanna Robinson joins Sean and Amanda to break down the movie and rank all 35 of his films

www.theringer.com

‘The Fabelmans,’ Spielberg’s deeply personal new film, opens wide this holiday weekend—and to celebrate, Joanna Robinson joins Sean and Amanda to break down the movie and rank all 35 of his films

 

[Acker79]

The Steven Spielberg Rankings and ‘The Fabelmans’

The Steven Spielberg Rankings and ‘The Fabelmans’

‘The Fabelmans,’ Spielberg’s deeply personal new film, opens wide this holiday weekend—and to celebrate, Joanna Robinson joins Sean and Amanda to break down the movie and rank all 35 of his films

www.theringer.com

‘The Fabelmans,’ Spielberg’s deeply personal new film, opens wide this holiday weekend—and to celebrate, Joanna Robinson joins Sean and Amanda to break down the movie and rank all 35 of his films

I listened to that last week (well, I listened while working so kinda drift in and out). They go through them quite quickly. Hook not nearly high enough for my liking. They also didn't seem that high on Fabelmans(? from what I heard, like I said, I drifted in and out).

There's also this (imo, superior ranking podcast) upcoming in January:



They tend to spend a bit more time discussing each movie, and it's more 'competitive collaboration' where each takes turn picking a film, rather than agreeing each position as they go. more drama, and often leads to more deeper discussions on the movies involved and cinemea in general.

 

[Stat Brother]

I listened to that last week (well, I listened while working so kinda drift in and out). They go through them quite quickly. Hook not nearly high enough for my liking. They also didn't seem that high on Fabelmans(? from what I heard, like I said, I drifted in and out).

There's also this (imo, superior ranking podcast) upcoming in January:

I listened when released as a sleep aid.
Returned this morning wondering what woke me up during that first listen.

It turns out that special moment was when Sean tried to put ET at 6 and Dobbins was a little unsure.

 

[Meade's Ball]

Aftersun
British film, see mostly in the late 90s about a dad taking his 11 year old daughter to a holiday resort. Not a lot happens but it's fantastic.

I saw it this afternoon and it was amazing. It felt so real, terribly and joyously, that i feel haunted now by its seeming authenticity. The closeness we feel to our parents, and they feel to us, but the secrets kept to begin with and eternally. It said so much, and terrifies me with its resonance. A coming of age drama that slightly says of the awfulness of what you learn of your loved ones when old enough.
For a first time feature it is a stunner that brought me to a single tear at its conclusion, and a few more when cycled off straight after in the cold air to collect my son. It's what you can do with subtlety instead of noise.

Before that i watched She Said. Twas alright. All the President's Men thought of a number of times through it, but not a harmful influence of tone and make-up, as we head to a known and unavoidable truth. I loved the sound of energetic and endless typing in All the... though, which couldn't be replicated here. I wondered about the systemic abusers at a point mentioned as the hunted though, and enablers, who didn't seem caught. And of the industry itself making this expose without a long look inwards. And 1 more wonder was of how the journalist suffering from post-partum depression might be being represented, or the sightly invisible offered to her. Anywho, the monster was felled and the idea of him rightly horrifies.