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The Suicide Squad
So, this is the 2021 film, not the original the-omitting Suicide Squad. It had good reviews and we thought this might be fun. It was. The plot was ludicrous, the special effects totally impossible, and the characters (many of whom didn’t make it to the end, but no spoilers here) were off-the-scale weird. And yet, it was fun. Look out for our favourite character, King Shark. He of almost no human characteristics and virtually no brain stole the show, both physically and emotionally. Okay, that was a small spoiler. Overall verdict - well worth watching if you want your brain processes to disengage for a while.
Nomadland
This is the Oscar winner for...uh, I’ve lost track. 2020? Anyway, it got lots of rave reviews and it was the sort of film Ivy would probably enjoy, so we got hold of it to make up our own minds. It’s very well done. Given that some of the characters are real and some actors, it’s very had to tell where the line blurs (although thinking logically about some of the events portrayed yields some pretty big clues). Is it a worthy Oscar winner? I’m not so sure. I think it will have its moment of glory, but then fade away (as Parasite is already doing). Perhaps there is a lack of competition, or perhaps the Oscars have lost their way. Not for me to say, but I will say that Nomadland is a good film but, in my opinion, not a memorable Oscar winner.
Mulan (2019)
It’s not often I find myself having to post a negative review, but this is one of those times. Don’t watch this. It’s a very close copy of the original Disney animated movie, which is much, much better. This ‘real life’ version just doesn’t work. I thought, maybe it does work if you haven’t seen the animated version so you don’t know what’s coming. But no, son no.3 hasn’t seen that, and he also says this 2019 version is no good. Sorry, actors, directors and Disney people. Thumbs firmly down.
Inglorious basterds
We were trying to choose a film to watch - me, my son, and Ivy - and as usual we all wanted to watch something different. Then Dylan suggested a Quentin Tarantino. ‘Probably too bloody for your mum,’ quoth I. ‘Well, I watched Kill Bill, didn’t I?’ quoth she. So we watched Inglorious Basterds, and although it wasn’t as bloody as I feared, she still looked away a couple of times. The film is apparently one of Tarantino’s best, and both son & wife enjoyed it, but I confess I wasn’t quite so impressed. It was clever in an arty way, and the chief antagonist was genuinely chilling. But somehow it didn’t quite resonate with me. I think perhaps it was trying to be too clever for its own good. Probably a minority opinion. Despite my vague moans, a Tarantino is a Tarantino, so you know what sort of thing to expect if you watch it. And I wouldn’t try to dissuade you from doing so.
Zombieland: Double Tap
So this is the DVD I accidentally got when I was trying to get Zombieland. Various review sites say it’s OK but not as good as Zombieland, so we were not quite sure what we were going to think when we put this on. We needn’t have worried. It’s another funny take on a post-apocalyptic zombie-inhabited world, and it made us laugh without it being too gory. The reviewers have it spot on: Okay, but not as good as the original. And really, there’s not a lot more to say.
Zombieland
I accidentally bought the second of this franchise (Zombieland: Double Tap) and then discovered Zombieland on Netflix. It seemed to have good reviews, and Ivy & I were in the mood to watch something mindlessly amusing. But it’s fair to say we watched the credits roll with some apprehension - especially Ivy, who wouldn’t like anything too bloodspatteringly gory. We needn’t have worried. Sure, there were some gory bits, but the characters won us over. We laughed a lot, especially when... oops, I nearly said a spoiler. Suffice to say one scene in a fun park swarming with zombies left us giggling helplessly. So, a little surprised, I find myself recommending this film. It really does carve out a little niche for itself.
Netflix Loki
Son no.3 and I started to watch this series because it seemed to be getting a lot of hype. We are up to, I think, episode 4, maybe 5, it’s hard to remember. In our opinion (and we hardly ever agree on anything) it started off okay-ish, but went downhill. It became very Dr Who-like, and the characters become very offhand about the apocalyptic situations they meet. So - meh. Maybe the later episodes get better, but I’m not sure we’ll ever see them.
Dredd (2012)
I have embarked on a survey of older films which still get reasonable write-ups (and which I haven’t seen before). Naturally I have seen the somewhat camp Judge Dredd, but I hadn’t seen the 2012 Dredd. Needless to say, it has very little plot. Dredd and his rookie companion (who is psychic) get trapped in an enormous building ruled over by a drug cartel, and the only way out, it seems, is to kill everybody. This they proceed to do, from set piece to set piece. The body count is in the stratosphere by the time the film finishes. Despite this simple menu, I quite enjoyed the film. I’m thinking of using, ‘You have twenty seconds to comply’ on my son sometime, except I don’t suppose it’ll work. If you haven’t seen this and you fancy an old-fashioned, violent popcorn film, Dredd might just fit your bill.
What we do in the shadows
This is a black humour take on a bunch of vampires in New Zealand. It takes a few minutes to get used to what is happening, especially as it is almost documentary in style, but once you do, this is a great film. Some of the gags will stay with you – for instance when they are dressing up to go out, but can't see themselves in a mirror, so they draw pictures of each other instead. If you get the chance to see this and aren't easily grossed out, I can heartily recommend it.
The Bourne films
During lockdown, we watched the first three Bourne films (all good), the fourth one (not awful, but doesn't actually feature Bourne), and the last one, which sort of summarises all that has gone before and serves it up as a giant souffle. We liked these films because they have more of a gritty reality than the Bond films. When you watch them one after the other, you see they are very similarly plotted: the bad CIA guys or whoever are packed into a room full of computers and spying equipment, saying, 'My God, it's Bourne!' To which the newcomers say, 'We'll take him down,' and the old timers say, 'You just don't know who you're dealing with here.' All good stuff. I expect you've seen one or more of these films. They're all worth watching, although I spotted one horrible plot hole in the not-Bourne fourth one.