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Nosferatu
Needless to say I did not take Ivy to see Nosferatu at the cinema. But it appeared on Amazon Prime so one evening when she deserted me, I sat in a darkened room and watched it on the TV. It’s not bad. I wouldn’t say it’s a masterpiece, and there are a handful of places (mainly at the start) which don’t, in my opinion, hang together very well. There’s not really any gore to speak of; as the spoilers say, it’s more of psychological horror. But to my mind, the best feature of the film is Count Orlok’s voice. If you watch it - and I think it’s worth putting on a to-see list - you just see if I’m right.
Wicked Little Letters
We watched this on Netflix and thoroughly enjoyed it. I confess I figured out what was going on within the first ten minutes or so, but I still enjoyed seeing how everything unravelled. Rather like Ian Mckellan in The Critic, Olivia Coleman dominated this film with an amazing performance. Worth watching just for that. So... it’s a thumbs up from me.
Rebel Ridge
My wife was out so I sat by the fire and watched Rebel Ridge, because I knew it was the sort of film she wouldn’t be interested in. I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say it’s anything special, but equally I wouldn’t put anyone off from watching it. Basically it’s the standard hero ex-soldier up against corrupt police and politicians, and it works well enough. A little better than average. Free on Netflix as I write this.
The Critic
Ivy and I went to watch The Critic at our local cinema, not entirely sure what to expect. We don’t always like the same films. But this one was different. Not a cape or a superhero to be seen, nor any lovesick duos dancing into the sunset. It was strongly character driven, but with a slowly evolving plot that became quite gripping. It’s a long while since I’ve seen one actor dominate a film to quite the extent that Sir Ian McKellen does in this film - not since the ‘old days’ when many films were just vessels for their stars. But trust me, once you’ve seen this film, you’ll know what proper acting is all about. So go watch it.
Furiosa
I remember the original Mad Maxi movie when it came out, and the sequels, and I have Fury Road in my DVD collection somewhere. The films are not masterpieces and not a lot of thought is required to watch them, but they are tremendously entertaining. Furiosa is pretty much the same; perhaps it has a revenge theme running through it that the others lacked, but otherwise it comes from the same stable as Mad Max et seq. It’s good fun. Not a lot of thought required. I wouldn’t put anyone off seeing it, although of course it’s quite violent (15 rating).
Damsel
There were a lot of contradictory reviews flying about when this movie hit the screen, although most of them approved of the way the main character was played. I was on my own one evening, so I watched it. I liked it. I thought it started a bit slowly but once it got into its stride I thought it rollicked along rather well, and there were even a couple of plot points that I didn’t see coming. I’m not going to claim that Damsel is a cinematic masterpiece, but I will say it’s not nearly as bad as some reviewers made out, and overall I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from watching it.
Dune parts I and II
I seem to have forgotten to write a review of Dune I, which was saw sometime last year. (Actually I’ve just noticed that I haven’t forgotten, but never mind.) That’s remiss of me. It’s a brilliant film, staying remarkably close to the original book. I read the book when it first came out in 1965, and have always thought it would be hard to film because much of the ‘action’ takes place in the thoughts of the characters - and how would you film that? But they have managed it, and managed it very well. What with today’s clever special effects and good performances from pretty much all the cast, Dune I is undoubtedly the masterpiece everyone is saying it is. Dune II is just as good, although I spotted a couple of inconsistencies in the action sequences. No spoilers here, as usual, but even as the action was unfolding I thought to myself, ‘But why don’t they just...’ But even so, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable film and I can recommend it just as highly as Dune I. Let’s hope Dune Messiah is as good. Not sure when it’s due out, but I shall certainly be queuing up to watch it.
Barbie
Yes, I admit it, we logged in to Amazon and watched Barbie the other evening. And we enjoyed it. Yes, it’s silly and fluffy and completely unrealistic, but it managed to raise some interesting questions while keeping the smiles on our faces. Congratulations to the casting director, who doesn’t seem to have put a foot wrong. I’m not sure I expected to say it, but: Barbie is worth watching!
TOppenheimer
RI sat down to watch Oppenheimer with Dylan and Ivy, either on Netflix or Amazon, I can’t remember which. I was in two minds about whether I was going to enjoy it, if ‘enjoy’ can be applied to a film of this nature. Normally I don’t watch films based too closely on reality; I’ve never watched Titanic, for example. One of the beauties of most good movies is that you don’t know what’s going to happen, so what’s the point of watching a film when you know it’s going to end up with a big bang (or a ship sinking)? Yes, there are exceptions - westerns and rom-coms spring to mind. But at least they’re not generally based on something that actually happened, unlike Oppenheimer. Enough of this waffle, you are thinking. Did I ‘enjoy’ it? Well, I don’t know about enjoy, but I appreciated its skill. It tells the story very well, focusing on Oppenheimer’s struggles with both trying to get his project off the ground and his mental health, not to mention fighting battles with contemporaries. That’s all very well done, and very watchable. The film certainly lives up to its hype in that way. But… put it this way. I enjoyed Barbie just as much as Oppenheimer, possibly even more.
The Mist
This is, of course, a very well known adaptation of a Stephen King story. Visually it has slightly dated, but it’s recent enough that the special effects hold up reasonably well. The story itself is as solid as you’d expect from a King story, and the characters are conveyed well. The ending of the film is one of the most traumatic I’ve ever seen, if not the most traumatic. So this isn’t one for the faint-hearted, but if you are not faint-hearted, this is a film you really ought to have on your TBS list.