Be Excellent To Each Other

Deep into Saturday evening, with Lady T out for dinner, I decided that we should watch a movie to fill in the gap between dinner and bed time, but as it was getting on a bit the movie had to be short and not some 2hr+ extravaganza.

After some searching we found an hour long film on Paramount+ called Legends of the Hidden Temple . At just under an hour long, and just about diverting enough to be watchable as a kids 'fill in some time' movie, it was a solid-if-basic pick for that particular moment.

26 - Until Dawn. Based loosely on the game (which I remember quite liking). I love modern horror films and this is exactly the sort of thing I like. A tight setting, a pretty good story and lots of silly violent kills. Decent scares too. 4/5

Transformers One is actually really good. Not quite as hilarious as TMNT but really fun watch. Plenty of laughs, call backs and there’s some really good performances from the VAs. Made me want to watch the original movie again.

Havok unfortunately is a film that should have been made in 2004. It’s from some guy who made the amazing The Raid. Unfortunately he seems to have developed Parkinson’s as the shaky cams are fucking unbearable. Tom Hardy is in it and slobbers his way through it as usual. I’m not a fan. The action is great when you can actually see it and it desperately wants to be the new John Wick. It ain’t. But it’ll entertain you if you can relax your eyeballs.

Thunderbolts is really entertaining and a good way to spend two hours.

27 - Sinners. A very solid modern horror film with a decent premise. Only let down by a very slow first half.

28 - Die Alone. A 10p Last of Us rip off that's let down by some shitty monster effects but elevated by a good story and the ever-reliable Carrie-Anne Moss. 3.5/5

29 - Predator: Killer of Killers. Well, this was a surprise. I'm not really a fan of animated films and I'd say the Predator films are lame and dull (apart from the first two which are both amazing). But this was really good. The story was decent and you get a bit of a look at how the Predators go about their business. I thought it was great. 4.5/5.

Weird question: is there a plane crash in it?

Yeah there's a bit with planes. Not specifically about crashing but lots of destruction.

Hmm. Okay, ta.

I was going to watch it on a flight on Monday, but maybe not.

It probably wouldn't be that bad. It's all quite cartoony and with WW2 planes. So it won't feel all that realistic.

That said, watching a film for the first time on a small screen with a ton of background noise isn't the best way to do it.

The next franchise for family fun viewing is Mission Impossible

The first one was a bit slow, and I remember back at the time I was a little unclear on some of the story, but it's still reasonably fun and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Man, did the title sequence seem dated though.

Mission Impossible 2 is more straightforward and action-y, we all enjoyed that one. The fight scene at the end was still exciting but also seemed a bit awkward. I remember watching some behind-the scenes footage on how they did the knife stunt for reals, it was cool.

Mate. MI2 is by a long way the worst one

That new one was a bit of a chore.

I heard it had too many plots going on and was constantly interrupted by long exposition dumps.

I haven't seen a MI since the third one, since MrsPaz despises Tom Cruise with a passion. I keep meaning to catch up on them, but spare time for movies without MrsPaz is thin on the ground to say the least

Yeah there was that but I also wasn't blown away by the action set pieces. Afterwards I saw a thing where Tom Cruise actually was crawling about on biplanes and sky diving with burning parachutes etc. the actual scene just wasn't that good even on an IMAX screen.

Pretty good film, I enjoyed it on the big screen. Didn't seem to drag either despite the run time. The science was complete guff obviously, and I had a darkly sardonic laugh at the idea that the Russians somehow got their completely broken aircraft carrier out to sea and that it was somehow a threat, but there was lots to like. A nice return of a character from the first movie as well, which I enjoyed.

And yes, everything involving the plane bits were amazing.

So, comprehensive proof indeed that as far as modern franchises go Mission Impossible > Bond.

And yet it's the one I remember the most of - all the others after this seem to blur into one pretty good but indistinct lump in my mind. I've probably mentioned it on here before (certainly when talking about the transformers films, possibly the MI films too).

Also, Thandie Newton was very attractive in it.

30 - Clown in a Cornfield. Everything you expect from a modern horror film. Gobby, annoying teens. Patronising adults. Impressively well-organised parties. And plenty of gory kills. 3.5/5

The girls went out on Saturday evening to see a show in the city, while I stayed home with the boys for a pizza and film night.

They've been wanting to watch something a bit more grown up recently and I wanted to be Cool Dad so I dipped into my collection of all time favourites and figured it was time to introduce some 80s action, and we (OK.... I) picked Commando

It's as silly, ridiculous and brilliant as ever. The boys picked up on a lot of the inconsistencies and unrealistic action movie tropes but they still really enjoyed the ride.

Commando is wonderful. Peak Arnie. Lots of action, a great bad guy and loads of iconic lines.

Chenny!

I watched some films:

Interloper: This has such a good trailer I was all in for a new zombie film. Fast zombies! Brains! Other stuff! Well, turns out this isn’t that film. Highly misleading film that might have been decent (it wasn’t) had I not been mislead into what I was going to watch. Conclusion: it’s a turd.

The Amateur: Rami Malik IS (not) Jason Borne. It’s thoroughly average and therefore thoroughly not worth watching. I didn’t hate it but I was bored.

Watched A Film!

Ballad of Wallis island. I laughed a lot, I cried a lot, Tim Key is staggering in it. A really wonderful film.

Yeah, saw a thing about that, really fancy it.

It leaves you feeling better about the world, and that's what we need right now.

Yes, absolutely, all of that. I watched the short on which it's based afterwards, and that's good, but they've only improved on it - interesting to see what they've added, and how it deepens the whole thing. As does the fact they're 15 years older.

Which segues me to: 28 Years Later. I knew nothing about it beforehand, and think that's ideal. Left with a massive smile on my face - which I did not expect.

I've had a week of catching up after a month away, so also Karate Kid: fun, better than you might think, carried by a great lead; Salt Path: more proof that great books make average films; Mission Impossible: fine, enjoyable, exposition city.

I can't stand Tim Key. He's a one-trick pony and it's not a very good trick.

(Just my opinion, obv.)

I just watched the trailer, in the hope that he wouldn't play that annoying character that is his trademark.

Unfortunately, it looks like he did.

Omg this

You what what what?!

He is the most endearing human imaginable in that film. And if you listen to his poetry program on BBC sounds, he is was one of the most awful people imaginable!

Would be very interested to know what of his work incited this reaction, as maybe I've missed it.

*I should clarify here, awful and bloody funny.

Yeah, Tim Key is brilliant.

He is in the same basket as Joe Wilkinson for me, there's just something off about them that I don't like, and they're both just not funny.

However, I am fussier about comedy than I am about food, 90% of comedy just isn't funny to me.

Joe Wilkinson is a weird one. Purely his own comedy is cringeworthy but in natural interactions with others he can be hilarious.

Just tried the poetry thing on BBC Sounds. Still just annoying, I'm afraid.

Everything I've seen him in has annoyed me. Basically, I find his whole manner irritating. I think the first thing I saw him in was Alan Partridge as Sidekick Simon which I found laboured and pretty predictable. I feel that he's always trying to appear incompetent and that's his one trick.

I legit think this is the perfect film. It doesn't put a single foot wrong for its duration (which is also perfect, not every film needs to be two hours plus.....), it's beautiful and heartfelt and melancholy, dealing deftly with a lot of 'big stuff', avoiding the easy wins and cliches, and moving to a hopeful ending that feels entirely natural and 100% earned.

I didn't have any strong opinions about Tim Key either way before watching this, but his performance here is stunning (as is the entire cast, in fairness), without which the whole thing just wouldn't work at all.

Can't recommend it enough, just make sure you're prepared to get a bit of 'dust in your eye', and more than once, at that.