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Memoir of a Snail (2024)
Another strong family-focused adult animation
'Memoir of a Snail' is Adam Elliot's second full-length stop-motion-animation film (15 years after the excellent 'Mary & Max'), and is another thoughtful, often-sad, sometimes funny, look at the life of a young girl, but this time they're twins - Grace (Snook) and Gilbert (Smit-McPhee). They suffer some tragedies and are forced to grow up in separate houses in Canberra and Perth.
Grace's backstory and her obsession with snails is done well, taking up most of the film, and while there's lots of depressing moments - and some odd/adult ones! - there's plenty of heart and silver-linings/hope that drives the story. Part of this is quirk Pinky (Weaver) and how she plays into the happy ending. I assume chunks of this film are inspired by Elliot's real life...
Great voice cast, with Eric Bana, Tony Armstrong, Magda Szubanski and Nick Cave too. The use of colour and texture of the Claymation is superb, with the detail exceptional, especially in the title scene. It's always fun and quirky to look at, with multiple things happening on the screen in every shot. Only 95min, but a near-lifetime is packed in, with plenty of touching moments.
Here (2024)
Good tribute to set design!
'Here' is the fifth film directed by Robert Zemeckis starring Tom Hanks, and while not a 2.5-hour epic spanning 3 decades like 'Forrest Gump', it does somehow manage to span 65 million years. This is done via the film's gimmick of the camera sitting in the one spot, focusing on the living room of a house built in the early 19th century (presumably in New Jersey, USA), which includes some flashbacks of what was there on that spot of land before the house was built, including a Native American tribe.
We then follow ~5 families at various times and their life in the living room. It's not all linear, but isn't too confusing, with the main storyline following Al (Bettany) and Rose (Reilly) buying the house after WWII. There they raise their 4 kids, with Richard (Hanks) played by a de-aged/'Big'-era Hanks from ~16. He then meets de-aged Margaret (Wright), and we follow them as they age in the house over the decades. There's some nice moments, some funny bits and some sad scenes.
Even though it's a relatively short film, it probably didn't need at least 2 of these storylines! The editing is sometimes good, but often unnecessarily annoying. It's trying to portray the small moments of life that add up to create the human experience. It gets close, but due to the jumping around, you don't grow too attached to anyone, so the poignancy is lost.
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
Pretty fun final ride
'Venom: The Last Dance', or Venom 3, is potentially the final film in the Venom series - but I wouldn't be surprised if they finally get him in the MCU with Spider-Man one day. This is a pretty good finale and fits with the tone of the first film, with some action, some violence and some solid jokes. Eddie/Venom (Hardy) is on the run in Mexico, but now being hunted by a weird giant-scorpion-alien ("xennophage") from his home world, as well as running from the Army - Dr Paine (Temple, odd hearing her trying to do an American accent!) & General Strickland (Ejiofor, not the same as his character from Dr Strange).
The little side-plot with Martin (Ifans, also different to his Dr Connors character) and his family is nice. Not much of the plot is that important, other than it sets up the final battle and the required sacrifice. Nice that they got Mrs Chen in for a cameo, to give Venom a literal last dance. Hardy is good again, with his stiff-legged walk due to Venom being merged with him.
While this doesn't have the felling of seriousness or importance that some MCU films does, for one of the Sony films, it's pretty fun and enjoyable. There were quite a few chuckles from me, and the CGI and action are well done. It's all over in ~100min and has a satisfying conclusion. Not sure if he'll be back, but always happy to see more of Hardy as Venom.
Speak No Evil (2024)
Heed the red flags!
'Speak No Evil' is a very engrossing thriller, with a nice slow build as we get to know the American family: Ben (McNairy), Louise (Davis) and their daughter Agnes (Lefler); and the British family: Paddy (McAvoy), Ciara (Franciosi) and their son Ant (Hough); who meet on holiday in Italy and the Americans visit the Brits at their home in Devon. There's little comments and actions that Paddy, Ciara & Ant make from time-to-time that are odd, foreshadowing what's to come.
Both kids are very good and having effectively only 6 characters makes it easy to follow along. McAvoy is great as usual, with some of his 'Split'/'Glass' physique and subtle menace present. Everyone has a part to play, and while not a lot happens in the first hour, it's not boring either. But the final act/final 40min or so is pretty hectic!
There's some chuckles, some "what are you doing?" moments, not a heap of typical "horror", but lots of tension and plenty of uncomfortable moments. Some nice scenery, good score and satisfying ending. Not an all-time-classic, but enjoyable.
Megalopolis (2024)
Confused architect needs less time
'Megalopolis' is from Francis Ford Coppola (now 85), the director of 'Apocalypse Now' and 'The Godfather', where he tries to craft this epic mixture of Roman politics and near-future New York. The film mostly follows Cesar (Driver) & rival Cicero (Esposito). Besides the names, the only slightly Ancient Rome thing about the film is that there's some inter-family politics - Cicero's daughter Julia (Emmanuel) falls in love with Cesar and Cesar's ex, Wow (Plaza) marries his uncle, Crassus (Voight).
The cast is stacked - as well as the main five above, there's Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Shia LeBeouf & Jason Schwartzman. While all are OK, no-one shines and some of the dialogue is a bit wooden. I sometimes got the impression this should've been a play, not a film. I think the main issue is that Coppola's had this in his mind for 45 years and clearly hasn't refined or updated anything, so there's about 5 different, mostly-unrelated, storylines trying to be crammed in.
While 2 hours 15min isn't crazy-long, it still feels like a slog at times. Sometimes it's closer to 'The Fountain', but the editing (split screen is annoying and there's way too many cuts) mean no characters get a chance to stand out or cement themselves and the ending doesn't reward. Driver tries, but it feels like half the film has been cut, so you're not quite sure what's happening. The whole Madison Square Garden part seems so unnecessary. Not terrible, but very messy.
Transformers One (2024)
Fun, fast prequel to our favourite robots
'Transformers One' is a prequel to all the Transformers cartoons and films, and is a great return to form, partly because I think it works better when there're no pesky humans to worry about, just space robots! This is from Cooley, the writer of 'Inside Out' and director of 'Toy Story 4', so he knows how to balance comedy and heart. It's nice to have a fresh slate with Orion Pax/young Optimus (Hemsworth) and D-16/young Megatron (Tyree Henry, who are just miners trying to find their way in Cybertron.
Strong voice cast with Elita (Johansson), B-127/young Bumblebee (Key), Alpha Trion (Fishburne), Starscream (Buscemi - great origin story for his voice) and Sentinel Prime (Hamm), plus many other familiar faces of future Autobots and Decepticons. The plot is clear for younger kids - all the "Primes" (leaders) were killed in a war decades ago and the leadership matrix thing was lost, so Orion, D, B & Elita set out to find it and uncover a huge conspiracy. They set out to fix it while discovering their new abilities.
Crazy to think it's been 38 years since the first film and 40 years since the cartoon first started. It does well to give each of the main characters time to shine, and does a good of showing Orion & D-16's friendship and how/why it evolves. Also important to note there's some great action sequences, a fitting finale and lots of chuckles/funny moments. Should suit older audiences (i.e. Me) and new ones: "9.9 out of 10" from the nephew!
Blink Twice (2024)
Well-made directing debut/thriller
'Blink Twice' is a psychological thriller with a simple premise - Frida (Ackie) and Jess (Shawkat) are friends and waitresses who somehow wind up on an Elon Musk-style billionaire's island. In this case, Slater King (Tatum)'s undisclosed Mexican island, lounging by a pool and drinking all day. What could go wrong? Be careful what you wish for!
The cast is stacked, with Slater's friends and/or employees including Vic (Christian Slater), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), Stacy (Geena Davis) and Rich (Kyle MacLachlan). We see a sort of bond form between Frida, Jess, Sarah (Arjona), Camilla (Caribel) and Heather (Mullen) and it's nice to see them evolve from party girls to actual characters. Mostly easy to follow, as there's only about 12 characters, all good. The film takes time to establish things, with nothing going too astray too quickly, and some of the editing keeping you on your toes.
There's a little bit of 'Nine Perfect Strangers', 'White Lotus' and 'The Menu' about it - while there's some horrific moments in the final act, nothing overly gory or terrifying. But there's certainly plenty of "that's messed-up" moments and there is quite a few hints dropped along the way which to come together pretty well. Some laughs as well to balance some of the tension, and a very satisfying ending, all in under 100min.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Very strong Alien story
'Alien: Romulus' is the 9th 'Alien' film, and is technically the sequel to the original 1979 'Alien', chronologically falling between it and 'Aliens'. Thankfully, it takes lots of inspiration from both of those films and while not quite as great as them, comes closes in many respects. The film is called "Romulus", as that's the name of a space station our 6 main characters find abandoned, due to whatever experiments they were doing.
A lot of this film working is due to it focusing only on 6 characters and giving them each a bit of time to become sympathetic to - Rain (Spaeny), android Andy (Jonsson), Tyler (Renaux), Kay (Merced), Bjorn (Fearn) and Navarro (Wu). How many will survive? Great silent/'Jurassic Park'-like start, then quick intro to these 6 characters, then they're on the "Romulus" and the face-huggers are skittering everywhere - great stuff!
There's some good tense moments, a few jump scares, a familiar face, a truly-disturbing xenomorph at the end and a strong score. I was very impressed with the visuals/CGI of the planet and it's Saturn-like rings and how they were used to bring urgency to the final act. It's probably 15min too long overall, with some head-making decisions towards the end. But is has a strong cast with Rain not being too much like Ripley, and the xenomorph not being too powerful, but nor easy-to-kill - still always great to see emerging from the shadows! Does well to fit into the overall 'Alien' storyline and is exciting enough as a standalone sci-fi film.
Trap (2024)
Not scary enough for a thriller
'Trap' is M Night Shyamalan's 16th film, and is similar to his last few films ('Old' and 'Knock at the Cabin'): a decent concept full of promise, but never truly becomes too exciting or engaging. This time, we follow Cooper (Hartnett) and his daughter Riley (Donoghue) at a pop concert, which is fictional singer Lady Raven (M Night's daughter, Saleka). There's lots of police and FBI at the concert (allegedly in Philadelphia, even though it's filmed in Ontario) as they try to catch a serial killer.
The twist is given away early, with Cooper revealed to be the killer and main character, with the FBI profiler, Dr Grant (Mills) relegated to supporting cast, the opposite of most crime thrillers. There's another slight twist in the final act, but nothing of 'The Sixth Sense' or 'The Village' scale. About 75% of the film takes place at the concert, so it kind of feels M Night is trying to shoehorn a star-making turn for his daughter into the film.
Some pretty "very unlikely" moments throughout, but Hartnett and Donoghue are both solid. Some interesting camera choices, almost too obvious, which is how I was left feeling at the end too - not a bad film, but nothing truly memorable or special either. Glad M Night is still making original films, but expected a bit more.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Fun, fitting, enjoyable, beginning..?
'Deadpool & Wolverine' (or Deadpool 3) comes almost 8.5 years after 'Deadpool', over 7 years after 'Logan' and 24 years after 'X-Men'. A lot has happened in the MCU in that time - not as much in the Fox-verse - but it's almost instantly comfortable and fun being back in Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Reynolds)'s world. The film does a great job of both making fun of both the MCU and Fox films, whilst remaining true to the Deadpool and Wolverine/Logan (Jackman) characters and simultaneously integrating them into the MCU via the Time Variance Authority (if you haven't watched both seasons of 'Loki', highly recommended and will help with some of the multiverse aspects).
That said, this still works well as a standalone unwilling-buddy-journey film, with Logan being a curmudgeon with no hope and Wade being a defeated optimist trying to save his friends. Wade, obviously, does most of the talking, with Reynolds banter as fast and dirty as ever, but Jackman holds his own. Cassandra Nova (Corrin) and Paradox (Macfadyen) are good as the not-always-sure-they're-100%-villains. The fight scenes, especially between the 2 of them, are fast and fun. But this is still an MA-rated film - there's lots of blood throughout! The score and soundtrack are great, with some very famous songs used in unique and funny ways throughout.
There's so many nods/references to comics and past films from both studios that I won't mention any here. Except that Peter (Delaney) is back and has a few great moments. Needless to say, as a fan that's been following these characters since I was a teenager, there's not much more I could ask for from this film. It's maybe not as good as 'Logan', or the original 'Deadpool', but it certainly delivers a fun and emotional journey for both characters, with enough jokes to not get too serious, enough action to make it a blockbuster and enough heart to not let it descend into caricature.
Twisters (2024)
Better than 'Twister'
'Twisters' is not necessarily a sequel, but a semi-reboot of 1996's 'Twister', with no direct links to the original film, but lots of nods. This time we have a more noble storyline, with Kate (Edgar-Jones) using science (meteorology and polymer chemistry!) to attempt to dissipate tornadoes before they destroy towns. And if the science is questionable, she has a "gift", so it's OK. Her high-school friend Javi (Ramos) has a good story-arc and Tyler (Powell, in everything right now!) is the tornado-chasing cowboy - a nice change, as Paxton and Hunt were exes.
It's filmed in Oklahoma, so looks the part, and has a fair bit of Americana in it, not least of which is the mostly-country soundtrack. The score is good though, and there's plenty of tornado-action, with not more than 15min of screentime passing without having one on screen, so it delivers on that front. The 3 main characters take a while to grow on you, which also helps, as they have to earn your cheering for them. The film starts quickly and strongly, wasting no time in proving that it's not afraid to have on-screen deaths.
It's not all hectic, but does go fast at 2 hours. Kate and Javi have good stories and Tyler isn't as cliched as he initially seems. Scott (Croenswet) is adequately punchable. There's still plenty of dumb/"as if" moments, but the GCI of the tornadoes is good and the sound effects hit home. Solid ending, and another great cinema scene.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)
Nice platform for a Western epic
'Horizon: Chapter 1' is a Western in every sense of the word - set in early 1860s Arizona/Utah, as white settlers try to establish a new town called "Horizon" in Apache territory, while the Civil War is being fought back East. There's a lot of characters and storylines started, but most centre around Horizon as the focal point of the frontier and it's attached by Native Americans. Interestingly, we don't meet Hayes (Costner) until almost halfway through, further north in Wyoming. He comes across Marigold (Lee) and a child who are being pursued by Sykes (Beavers), setting in motion their journey.
There's about 4 main storylines: Hayes & Marigold on the run; Frances Kittredge (Miller) & daughter Elizabeth (MacPhail) and their interactions with Lieutenant Gephart (Worthington) and Sergent Riordan (Rooker) at the Fort; then Elias (Haze) & Russell (Kellici) who are out hunting the Apache that attacked Horizon. And finally there's the new settlers heading West on their wagons, being led by Captain Van Weyden (Wilson). It's not all perfectly linked yet, but you can start to see how most of it will connect.
The pacing is quite good, considering it's 3 hours, with a few slow moments, but given the amount of characters and the 4 distinct threads, it does well to give enough info, but also spend enough time on the epic landscapes of Arizona and Utah, with plenty of beauty on show. The score is particularly impressive. While it may sound long, I'm liking the idea of 4 longs films instead of a 15-part TV series. Costner has set things up well - and while this isn't a perfect film, with no fitting ending, I'm looking forward to the next chapters.
Bastarden (2023)
Solid foreign historical drama
'The Promised Land' ('Bastarden' in Danish) is set in the 1750s and follows a former Army Captain, Ludvig Kahlen (Mikkelsen) as he sets out to cultivate the inhospitable heath in Western Denmark, with it's poor soil and bad weather. He encounters all sorts of bureaucratic, personnel and personal hurdles. This is an at-times violent battle of wills shown over a few years, all with subtitles.
His efforts are helped by two runaways, Ann Barbara (Collin) & Johannes (Andersen), priest Anton (Lindh) and then little Roma/Tater Anmai Mus (Hagberg). Kahlen is then unknowingly pitted against the entitled "county judge" Frederik de Schinkel (Bennebjerg, a great "bad guy"), who claims the heath as his own. Matters aren't helped when de Schinkel's supposed finance, Edel (Thorp) takes an interest in Kahlen. While it's a brutal time and place to be alive, the cinematography is excellent and makes you want to visit (when it's not winter!).
It goes for 2 hours and doesn't drag too much, even if at times you're not sure what's driving the plot forward. But it manages to fit a lot in and fits quite a few genres in: Western, revenge thriller, family-overcoming-adversity, romance and drama. The ending is mostly satisfying and while I can't say it's flawless, it is a well-made film, carried relentlessly forward by Mikkelsen's determination and stare.
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
Lupita gets a pizza
'A Quiet Place: Day One' is the prequel to 2018's 'A Quiet Place' and while we've seen some flashbacks to the alien invasion in the other two films, this follows Sam (Nyong'o) on her trip into New York City from her hospice (she has an undisclosed disease), which coincides with the chaos of the invasion. While we see some of the widespread destruction, we effectively follow Sam and her cat (who has the third most screentime!) as she tries to stay alive as the hundreds of blind sound-sensitive aliens attack.
While there's some scares, it's not necessarily a "horror" film - only rated M after all, and a lot filmed during daylight - but does make you question how fragile civilisation sometimes seems... There's some cameos from Hounsou and Wolff, but other than that, it's pretty much only Sam, the cat and Eric (Quinn; Eddie from 'Stranger Things') on screen the entire time. Like the other films, lots of whispers and score only, as we watch the characters try to adapt.
Quite quick overall (100min), but still drags a bit in the middle. Not sure what's missing - maybe Krasinski directing, maybe it feels like lower state without Emily Blunt and the kids? Maybe needed more aliens? It's certainly not bad, with a few minor chuckles, some good jump-scares and a mostly-satisfying conclusion. Just not sure it does anything too new or adds anything to the franchise. That said, will watch the next one! (Spoiler: the cat doesn't die)
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)
Best 'Bad Boys' since the original
'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' (or Bad Boys 4) comes only 4 years after the 3rd film, a record turnaround-time for this franchise. It picks up the plot from that film, with Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) dealing with the fallout of Mike's newfound son, Armando (Scipio). They have to try to clear Captain Howard's (Pantoliano) name, after he's framed by the bad guy, McGrath (Dane).
Great opening, re-establishing Mike & Marcus' connection, with Marcus then having an epiphany which leads to lots of funny moments throughout the film. Lots of the cast are back from the last film: new Captain, Rita (Nunez), Marcus' son-in-law Reggie (McDonald), and young cops Kelly (Hudgens) & Dorn (Ludwig). We also have Judy (Seehorn) as Captain Howard's daughter and Lockwood (Gruffudd) as Rita's partner/future mayor. Everyone does their bit and no more.
When Mike & Marcus are set-up and have to save Armando, they end up on the run south of Miami. This also helps grow Mike & Armando's characters. It then sets up the big show-down at the end in an abandoned alligator park - what could go wrong? Pretty great final act, lots of explosions, gun battles and always some comedic quips. Nothing feels too long, and there's a bit more fun in this film than the previous one.
The Garfield Movie (2024)
Predictable kids animated adventure
'The Garfield Movie' is the first fully-CGI Garfield film, 46 years after our favourite fat-cat first appeared in newspaper comics. I can't compare this film to the other Bill Murray films, as I haven't seen them. This time, Garfield is voiced by Chris Pratt, who's earning a solid living voicing lead characters in animated films - 'The Lego Movie', 'Onward', 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie'. We get a nice flashback to how kitten Garfield, super-cute, and Jon (Hoult) first met and their comfortable life with dog Odie (Guillen).
The film then turns into a Mission:Impossible style heist film, as Garfield's dad, Vic (Jackson) is blackmailed into robbing milk from a dairy, that Garfield and Odie are coerced into too. The "baddie" is Jinx (Waddingham) - a fluffy-white cat that's straight out of Blofeld's lap from James Bond - as well as her mean-looking dog goons, Roland (Goldstein) and Nolan (Yang). This is where we meet Otto (Rhames), the bull - very fitting having Ving Rhames in the heist part of the film! There's lots of action and slapstick "injuries", as Garfield, Odie and Vic break into the dairy factory and also a train.
The whole Garfield-out-of-the-house is a little different and means Jon's not really in it much. Garfield also isn't too surly and is actually friendly with Odie, which is nice. There's probably not as much charm as 'The Peanuts Movie', but it does have a nice little story about family, with Vic and Garfield and explaining why they were separated for the kids. Some smaller kids may find parts scary, particularly the big dog and the factory scene with the cheese and knives. Nothing too hilarious, but enough laughs for the adults to keep it interesting.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Another fun, action-packed outback drive
'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' is the prequel to 'Mad Max: Fury Road', which only seems recent, but actually came out 9 years ago! This film does a great job of adding useful backstory to Furiosa (Alyla Brown when young; Taylor-Joy when a bit older), Immortan Joe (Hulme), his sons Rictus (Jones) & Scrotus (Helman) and how the Wastelands (i.e. Western New South Wales) are controlled by three "outposts" - the Citadel, the Bullet-farm, and Gastown. We're shown how Furiosa is captured by motorbike marauders when young and ends up a slave of Dementus (Hemsworth).
Some good Aussie cameos - David Collins (half of The Umbilical Brothers) as Smeg, Dementus' grovelling sidekick, Angus Sampson as the "Organic Mechanic", Tim Rogers as one of Dementus' goons and John Howard back as the "People Eater". The film sets up well where Furiosa is from, why she's so stoic and why she wants to escape the Citadel. It's also good to see Hemsworth having fun and playing a semi-goofball bad guy, but with a bit of nuance (& a bit of prosthetic nose). Praetorian Jack (Burke) as the war rig driver is also good and has an important part in the final act.
The main star though, is the car chases/stunts/explosions across the desert backdrop, with lots of motorbikes and cars as always, as well as the introduction of the war rig/semi-trailer and some inventive parachuting. Pretty crazy that this film comes 45 years after the original 'Mad Max' and while some if it is of an extreme scale, it's still quite grounded and simple at it's core, with not too much noticeable CGI. The pacing and score are good and the ending is fitting.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Solid start to what I assume will be a new trilogy
'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' is about 'Planet of the Apes' #10, and the 4th prequel, following the recent 2011-2017 films. This film is set a couple of hundred years after Caesar and introduces new antagonist Noa (Teague) a chimp from a clan that raises eagles to fish with. His friends Laika (Berry) and Anaya (Jeffrey) set the scene of the new world well, undertaking an initiation climb to claim eggs. When their village is attacked by some bad apes, Noa sets out to free his clan.
It's easy to forget this is a post-apocalyptic film, as the CGI is so good and the apes facial expressions so human-like, but there's some good reminders throughout, with a telescope, ships and the bones of skyscrapers now covered in plants. On his journey, Noa meets Raka (Macon), a wise orangutan that opens his eye's to Caesar's philosophy, and they both encounter Mae (Allan), a by-now rare talking human. The "bad" apes are being led by Proximus (Durand) and his gorilla-offsider Sylva (Darville), but suitably arrogant delusional.
Always good to have the tension as a viewer of "which side am I cheering for?" when it's humans vs apes. Mae's character starts off as a bit of a caricature, but evolves into something meaningful, setting up future films. Lots obviously filmed in Australia, with gum trees noticeable and lots of bushland recognisably Aussie. Final act is exciting, but a bit predictable. Noa's character arc holds it all together nicely.
The Fall Guy (2024)
Fun, classic, enjoyable action-comedy
'The Fall Guy' is loosely based on a 1980s TV show that starred Lee Majors, that I haven't seen, so I can't compare. This film works as a tribute to stunt people that make action films exciting, while also being a fun action movie like we used to get in the late 80s/early 90s, with plenty of it's own excellent stunts. It's directed by Leitch, who has already proven himself with 'Deadpool 2', 'John Wick' and 'Bullet Train'. In the film, the director is Jody (Blunt) who has a relationship with the stunt guy Colt (Gosling). Colt is the stunt man for up-and-coming actor Tom Ryder (Taylor-Johnson), perhaps a parallel of Gosling 15 years ago. Something goes wrong, and Colt ends up trying to find where Tom's gone, while attempting to fix his relationship with Jody.
Good support cast - stunt coordinator Dan (Duke), Tom's agent Gail (Waddingham) - and nice to see Sydney looking great as a location, even if you know the route they take on the garbage truck chase isn't possible. I wonder if that's what LA/Atlanta locals always feel watching films set there? Also fun to see some part of the fictional film they're making - 'Metal Storm' which has nods to 'Mad Max' and Dune' - at the end. The storyline is paced quite well, there's plenty of laughs and a nice ending.
Both Blunt and Gosling are great leads and have lots of nice moments and plenty of screentime. However, the film never gets too serious or dramatic and makes sure it pays adequate homage to the stunt teams of Hollywood by having an excellent car chase, good fight scenes, exciting boar chase, superb beach-based car rollover and a great final 15min which have about 20 stunts crammed in, including a crazy car jump. The bar's been raised for the next 'Mission: Impossible'!
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
Unique and enjoyable horror premise
'Late Night with the Devil' is almost a "bottle episode", taking place on a TV set of a fictional late night talk show called "Night Owls" on Halloween 1977, where host Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian) and his offsider Gus (Auteri) compete for ratings against Johnny Carson. The film makes great use of grainy 4:3 footage to show that it's the 70s, and a brief intro sets up what's happened to Jack and his wife Maddie (Haig) over the past few years.
Given it's Halloween, the show's guests are a psychic, Christou (Bazzi), a former magician and now-sceptic, Carmichael (Bliss), a parapsychologist, June (Gordon) and her teenage, potentially-possessed subject, Lilly (Torelli). The way the film follows the making of the TV show is a great concept and having the screen widen and change to black-and-white for the behind-the-scenes sections during ad-breaks is a great story-telling device. It also keeps the momentum up, as things don't go horribly wrong all at once, but gradually get weirder/stranger...
It all moves fast at only 90min long, and is great to see Australian directors doing well (this is better than '100 Bloody Acres' - filmed in Melbourne, with a majority-Aussie cast. The set design and fashion is spot on and the tone, with moments of humour an suspense well executed and balanced. Dastmalchian is great and all the cast is strong. Last 15min or so is pretty crazy and not at all predictable!
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Once again, not bad, but nothing special
'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' is technically 'Ghostbusters' 5, and a direct sequel to 2021'2 'Afterlife', which introduced us to the new Ghostbusters team of Callie (Coon), Egon Spengler's daughter, and her kids Phoebe (Grace) & Trevor (Wolfhard), plus step-dad Gary (Rudd). This new team seems to have taken on the mantle well, and Nadeem (Nanjiani) introduces a new relic that obviously contains the "big bad ghost" that will appear at the end.
The film finds a way to bring back Ray (Aykroyd), Winston (Hudson), Janine (Potts) & Venkman (Murray), but only for minimum screentime, and not much of it together. Seems to be more of a focus on Phoebe being a teenager and not able to ghostbust and a near-pointless friendship with a ghost. There's a few laughs throughout - Slimer's back for a cameo, Patton Oswalt has a good exposition scene - but most laughs come from Kumail as the unwitting "fire-master".
The main problem seems to be too much ensemble cast, so no-one gets chance to shine. After the first 15min, you almost forget Paul Rudd & Carrie Coon are even in it! And for even with the fan-service Murray, Aykroyd & Hudson provide, they're barely used and have minimal impact in the final act. The big bad ghost is quite scary and formidable (would be even more-so to anyone under 10), and it all wraps up as expected.
Civil War (2024)
Interesting concept, not fully realised
'Civil War' is a "what if" scenario of a in-the-near-future of where the USA could be headed if their divisive politics continue as they have over the past decade. It starts off with the president (Offerman) practising a speech and sets up what we assume is going to be a "the people vs Trump" allegory. But then we get introduced to war photographer Lee (Dunst) and semi-protégée Jessie (Spaney) at a rally that turns violent.
We then follow a road trip of Lee, Lee's journalist partner Joel (Moura), their older colleague Sammy (McKinley Henderson) as they show Jessie the ropes of capturing the action while trying not to get hurt or effected by it, as they travel from New York to Washington DC past some sporadic battles. Intentionally, rather than full-on action and violence, there's lots of introspective moments and quietness, interspersed with their view of a firefight. The four main actors are all good, with Dunst not actually having many lines. Good cameos from Nelson Lee and Jesse Plemons.
We don't see any footage of the president again or the leaders of the "Western Front", and no backstory is given for why/how this 21st-century civil war was started. While I appreciate that's a different angle taken on purpose, it does leave the whole film feeling a bit pointless, as we're left to fill in lots of blanks and the plot leans on the generic "war is bad". There's some good moments, especially the last 20min of action, but you're probably better off watching the 'The Patriot' do justice to the actual 19th-centiry civil war.
Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (2024)
Enjoyable Aussie bush mystery
'Force of Nature: The Dry 2' comes 3 years after 'The Dry', and retains Detective Aaron Falk (Bana) as the lead and the flashbacks to fill in story gaps, but is otherwise a standalone film - it's certainly not dry this time, set in the rainy Dandenong ranges of eastern Victoria. The plot this time sounds simple - 5 women on a work retreat get lost in the bush. When 4 of them are rescued, Falk and Cooper (McKenzie) set out to find the missing Alice (Torv).
As the backstory unfolds - told via each of the 4 women: Alice's boss Jill (Furness), sister Lauren (McLeavy) and co-workers Bree (Ansell) & Beth (Stringer), we're able to piece together that there's more going on than anyone is initially letting on and start drawing our own conclusions. There's also the added layer of flashback's to Falk's own childhood when he and his parents were camping in the same national park and had their own situation...
Probably not as good as the first film, but still a well-made Aussie drama, with lots of tension, hope, great scenery and enough storyline to keep you interested and guessing. Good cameos from Richard Roxburgh and Tony Briggs, but the film's carried by Bana and the interaction of the 5 women and the ticking clock to find Alice before it's too late. Not too long at just under 2 hours, solid score.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Still fun monster battles
'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire' is the 5th film in Warners Bros. "MonsterVerse", and like all of them does a solid job of making giant Titans/Kaiju fight, with a bit of a storyline holding it together. Returning are Dr Andrews (Hall), head of the Titan-watch company, her adopted daughter Jia (Hottle) and Bernie (Henry), the comedic relief. The new addition is Trapper (Stevens), the vet. The plot is mostly Kong-centric, now that he lives in "hollow Earth" and Godzilla's on the surface.
Kong finds another part of "hollow Earth" (best not to ask too many questions, as physics went out the window a long time ago in these films) that has other apes and Titans, setting in motion a big battle with the 'Scar King', a giant Orangutan. This necessitates a semi-forced team-up with Godzilla, with the help of an unexpected Titan. There's some time spent on Jia's journey, but not too much that you get bored of the humans!
As always, the CGI is pretty good, and Kong has more empathy than some human actors. Godzilla still looks great - and gets his "pink plates" upgrade. When they're fighting each other or different Titans, it's always pretty impressive to see. Nothing crazily spectacular here, but nor is it boring or excessively dumb. Good se of KISS' "I Was Made For Loving You"!
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Epic that delivers
'Dune: Part Two' comes 2.5 years after the first film, and hopefully a final film to make it a trilogy in 3-4 years. It picks up pretty much straight after the first film, with Paul (Chalamet) and his mum Jessica (Ferguson) being shown how to live in the Arrakis desert by the Fremen, particularly Chani (Zendaya) and Stilgar (Bardem). There they continue to fight a guerrilla war against the Harkonnen.
To go along with the 'big bad bald' Baron (Skarsgard), we get his two nephews - the angry Beast (Bautista) and the psychotic Feyd-Rautha (Butler), who has a big role to play in the final act. We also get introduced to those pulling galactic strings from another planet, the Emperor (Walken) and his daughter, Princess Irulan (Pugh). There's a few chess pieces in play, but even though it goes for 2 hour 40min, the pacing is generally quite fast and everything really comes together at the end, with Paul embracing his "messiah" role.
I'll need to rewatch this, but it's certainly up there with some of the best sci-fi films - better than the first film, and certainly an excellent sequel, similar to 'The Empire Strikes Back'. The cinematography, costumes, score (or lack of in the final fight), set-design and CGI are all superb. It certainly makes it feel like you've witnessed something special and want to see what comes next.