Prichards12345

I enjoyed this one, even if there were flaws. Amazing to think this was shot on an i-phone, and in just 10 days. It kind of reminds me of the days of low budget film-making which often contained interesting ideas.

The opening half of the movie works splendidly well, with Claire Foy become an in-patient against her will at a mental institution. It played like an interesting indictment of the medical insurance scam industry.

However Foy, who gives a fine performance, is saddled with a character who is not very sympathetic - she copes way better than most people would in her situation, eventually turning the tables on her old stalker, who implausibly turns up as a worker with a stolen identity there. Joshua Leonard also delivers a good performance as the disturbed David.

It does descend into thriller movie cliche, however, in the last 40 minutes. Director Stephen Soderberg handles it well throughout, however. And it's a movie worth seeing.

The last of the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies starts out as if it could be one of the best of the franchise. Bond captured in North Korea, tortured and suspected by his own side. And he's now out for revenge on the person who betrayed him.

And then we get the invisible car, gadgetry galore in lieu of a plot, lot's of evil smirks from the villain, silly ice palaces that look like something out of Batman and Robin, and the infamously bad CGI windsurfing bit. The second half is yet another stitched together Frankenstein from previous Bond movies stuff - Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, and The Living Daylights are all dutifully stuffed into the film.

Always thought Brosnan was a wooden actor, although he does manage a bit more emotion this time. Had the movie continued to develop after the opening fifty minutes it could have been an eight. Instead it falls away badly. Pretty much a template for the last two Daniel Craig Bond movies to be honest...

Its characters are one-dimensional, the story resembles 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and it borrows its robots from Star Wars with much less effect, and yet... the film is entertaining and almost 2001ish by the end, with the baddies(including the Darth Vader clone Max) apparently combined to a hell of their own making.

The visual look of the film is the thing - it's quite extraordinary at times, the effects are fantastic and it remains watchable to the end.

I recall seeing this as a kid in 1979 at the cinema and in spite of its flaws liking it; and I still do. Compare it to the empty generic sci-fi we have today and it's certainly a cut above. I liked the cast, who did the best with their underwritten characters and the Black Hole itself, glowering in the background of many scenes, is almost hypnotic. Amusingly when in France I took some friends to see it expecting subtitles, and it didn't have any! Well worth a watch.

Quantumania is a largely different experience to the first two Ant-Man movies, which were enjoyable heist-style fun. This one has a massive reliance on cartoony CGI, relegates both titular characters in favour of Kang and a few others, yet still possesses an engaging charm.

It feels like an attempt to do Guardians of the Galaxy in Subatomica, and certainly misses the supporting cast from the previous Ant-Man films. While the cast try hard, with an occasionally impressive but hardly Thanos-level villian in Kang (Jonathan Majors, now doomed to be written out or replaced) this box office flop highlights many of the problems facing Marvel.

Ant-Man was at least a little grounded in the real world, this isn't, and Marvel goes ever more fantastical. Modok was not required and looks pretty silly. Some of the CGI is pretty bad, too. Also under-lit scenes and a lack of real world references for the size-changing antics of the cast harm the thing.

They also waste the great Bill Murray in a pointless cameo. Overall though, it's a reasonable time-passer. Marvel need to rethink and get more grounded.

What should have been a glorious send-off to a cinematic legend turns out to be an uninvolving and largely uninventive affair. After a good first 20 minutes it just sort of lies there.

The plot was odd, Indy is now a broken and bitter old guy without any real motivation and although Harrison Ford is as great as ever he is let down by pedestrian script which totally lacks the ingenuity and invention of the classic Indiana Jones' movies.

There are times, though, when hints of the old style come through - the archaeological mystery of Archimedes' Tomb is interesting and the ship board scene where we learn just why Marion has deserted him is moving.

But there is no humour, no fun and in Helena Shaw we have a truly dislikeable character. Phoebe Waller-Bridge was so annoying in the role. She got on my nerves from the start, and it did not improve for her. Rescuing the broken old Indy was just a flat ending, although probably intended to keep the franchise going with her as the lead character. A lucky Indiana Jones-style escape for us all that this is not likely to happen now.

Complete with Helena's own sidekick who contributes zero, a villain played on a single note by Mads Mickkelson and forgettable new characters, this was not the great end we wanted for Indy. They bungled it.

I have to admit I prefer this to the first film, which to me suffered from a cliched story line and some predictable plot beats. It is certainly true that Chadwick Boseman is missed, and the film is certainly overlong, but at its heart it's a relatively serious film (compare this to the very silly Love and Thunder.)

The story is much better this time around, and although I'm certainly not familiar with this version of Namor compared to the character I knew from the comics the film does capture the essence of the character rather well.

This is another very well acted movie following on from the original. Angela Basset is superb, Letitia Wright does well in filling some very difficult shoes and Danai Gurira is again excellent. This also boasts splendid special effects (compare this to the dreadful CGI hair of Aquaman) and a really good score. Marvel may be struggling of late but this a fine exception for me.

While I remain outside the Ezra Miller fan club, and at times found him irritating and annoying, I was surprised that after a very poor opening, with terrible CGI effects, the movie settled down and became quite entertaining for most of it's running time. Just ignore the truly terrible hospital/baby stuff at the start.

Michael Keaton's return to the role of Batman is competing with Ben Affleck's Batman, and to a small extent George Clooney's notoriously poor Batman. But Keaton nails it, even making Bruce Wayne affable and friendly towards his time-crossed duo of two Barry Allens!

Some comical running from Miller did the movie no favours - not his fault, the effects are occasionally very ropey, but on the whole this is a reasonably good movie, with a messy but decent story. I quite enjoyed it. Due to its poor box office and the reset of the DCU this will probably be the last of The Flash for a while...

I really enjoyed this absorbing and brilliantly-acted film. J. K Simmons is remarkable as the bullying Jazz teacher, a guy so nasty he reminded me of the drill-sergeant from Full Metal Jacket! But Miles Teller, too, is wonderful as the driven young student out to become an all-time great.

However, at the end of the movie Andrew Neyman (Teller's character) appears to show his teacher's tactics working; and although the movie does hit on the suicide of a former pupil 'The end justifies the means' sort of elevates the monster that is Terence Fletcher to a position he really doesn't deserve, a morally questionable ending indeed.

But the film itself is brilliant, even if the message is dubious. And it isn't for the faint-hearted. Overall - excellent. I was gripped and held in the movie's fantastic dramatic fist. And it certainly feels like being punched!

I enjoyed this account of the early life of J. R. R. Tolkien, celebrated author of The Lord of the Rings and creator of Middle-Earth. It is a little too direct in assuming Tolkien's experiences on the battlefield of the the Somme directly translate into Sauron and the RIngwraiths, although obviously he was very influenced by his life experiences and loss of his friends during the conflict.

The movie is extremely well-designed, and the period detail is excellent. Nicholas Holt is fine in the title role, as is Lily Collins as his future wife Edith. There's nice turns from Colm Meaney and Derek Jacobi, and the central battle sequence is very well done.

I understand scenes were shot trying to show Tolkien's religious faith, but were removed before release as they didn't work, so this is less well-rounded a portrayal than it might have been. But If I had one quibble it's that there is no magic formula for translating Tolkein's life into his work - obviously it was a major influence on his work, but Middle-Earth also is so much more than that. Good film, though. The critical panning it got on release is a bit mystifying.

This is the episode that introduced the Ferenghi; billed as the new threat, they come across as silly and stupid in the main, although the episode itself is a watchable one.

Unfortunately the T'Kon Empire is not sufficiently developed, and the thing seems to be borrowing its basic story from Arena.

But overall it's okay, and the regular cast are beginning to improve and get a handle on their characters.

For a series that prided itself on promoting racial equality this ham-fisted and pretty awful early episode is cringe-worthy for it's heavy-handedness, bad acting, and spangly outfits.

The writers are struggling to find their feet, and it shows. The end is a re-tread of Amok Time, another Original Series classic show, which following on from the Naked Now rip-off gives a sense of a series already out of ideas.

Thankfully, it does get better - much better. But it would take time time for the show to find its feet.

The Naked Time is a classic episode of the original series, which helped to establish the characters and is fondly remembered for George Takei going bonkers with a foil! This re-do is a ho-hum first episode of The Next Generation proper, more interested in sexual shennanigans than giving the actors something interesting to play to.

It's a ropey and hockey episode, with a rare bad performance from Patrick Stewart and an obnoxiously-written Wesley which made the fans turn on the character pretty quickly.

The series does get a lot better, thank goodness!

Ad Astra is a visually impressive but dramatically implausible space-set drama with Brad Pitt as an astronaut out to find his father, who disappeared years earlier but whose space vessel has been detected in Neptune's orbit.

Tommy Lee Jones plays Brad's dad, and he may be threatening the whole planet by letting off an anti-matter thingy, or something.

The first 40 minutes or so are reasonably engaging; but after we have encountered space pirates on the moon, a baboon attack on a stranded ship, Brad having to manfully land a rocket in which he is just a passenger, discovering he's been set up (in a minimal way), stowing away on a vessel sent to find his father, and accidentally killing all the crew in the process, and then at the end finding his father is Colonel Kurtz (steal from the best, eh, guys) I found myself not caring a hoot about what was going on.

The story, as a whole, is silly. The science is humerous (Brad can steer himself in space without anything to get friction off), and the supporting actors get about 10 minutes of screen time each (Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, and Tommy Lee Jones) so as not to distract from the A List star the producers paid a lot of money for. Smacks of ego, to be honest.

The second half bored me to tears. The film then, is visually stunning, but surely that's the least we expect these days. So, when you get to the 894th close-up of Brad in his space suit, you just might drop off.

You can almost feel two different storylines cobbled together here. We have the Q entity popping up to challenge the brand new Enterprise-D for the first time, and the mystery of Far Point Station. And while padded, this is a reasonable introduction to the series.

Patrick Stewart's Capt. Picard is more gruff and less diplomatic with his underlings here; eventually he would become a more rounded character. Riker is, as always, Riker, and Jonathon Frakes is ideal as the first officer.

Troi has some cringe-inducing voice overs, a concept that was quickly dropped. And as the first season progressed it was obvious that the writers struggled with her character.

But Data and Geordi are interesting, and Yar could have been with more development.

A little slow at times; but an okay start to the series.

If it were not for Marlon Brando, Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, about $25 million worth of special effects, good script writing, a fine director, John Williams, Margot Kidder. Expensive sets...

This hilarious rip off of Superman The Movie is actually in the so bad it's good category, and on that account is probably a good 6/10. From the cardboard bulldozer to the evil robot which looks like a kids toy (his only power is flame-thrower everybody) and a hero that makes Nuclear Man from Superman IV look like Christian Bale's Batman this is really only bettered by Puma Man in the superhero stakes. I think those two should have a showdown!

I suspect Christopher Lee was shown a different script when he agreed to do this movie. At one point we get several shots of Lee's hand fondling a woman - and it's not his but a stand-in hand!

Judge Jeffries is a real historical figure, of course, best known for the 'bloody assizes' following the Rimehouse Plot, and for presiding over the trial of Titus Oates. Not here, where all he really does is condemn lots of women to torture and death. Even when the rebels against the king are rounded up - they are all female! Mysogyny reigns supreme in this movie, with women being whipped, racked, bled, branded and other such stuff, all while naked or nearly so.

I came into it hoping for a decent historical drama with a bit of horror, but got an inaccurate movie with lashings of torture. On occasion the movie even lapses into German!

Vastly inferior to the film it rips off - Witchfinder General, I bet Mr. Lee - the best thing by far in this picture, which makes me wish he'd have got a chance to play Jeffries in a proper film - quickly expunged this one off his cv!

It had to happen of course. Sherlock Holmes and the unknown Jack are pretty much comtemporaries; I'm not sure if Conan Doyle ever discussed the Ripper in print; and this slightly bawdy but adventurous account of the infamous mass-murderer being uncovered by the famous detective would probably not have met with his approval. But this is a likable yarn, with John Neville making a good Holmes and Donald Huston as a stuffed-shirted Watson (not nearly as buffoonish as Nigel Bruce, though).

There's a role here for a young Judi Dench, and a guest appearance by Barbara Windsor as one of the victims, and inspite of it's historical inaccuracy (the first victim is left with a knife sticking through her entire neck) works on the whole. The mystery is nicely done and the period detail excellent. It's been a while since I saw the other Holmes/Ripper flick Murder By Decree but I think I much prefer this one. Worth a watch.

The Mummy's Shroud was Hammer Films' third Mummy picture, after the fine 1959 Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee flick and the 1964 ambitious but dull Curse of the Mummy's Tomb. This one is at least moderately watchable, looks good in a cheapish way (my blue ray has very nice picture quality), and largely churns out the standard Mummy stuff with reasonable inventiveness.

It isn't a great film, but the actors all do decent jobs, particulary Michael Ripper in one of his finest Hammer roles as the put-upon Mr. Longbarrow.

Sadly the Mummy - named Prem in this one - isn't very scary, and goes on the usual revenge bit when the tomb of an Egyptian Prince is 'descrated.'

Roger Delgado is a hoot as the gaurdian of the tomb, spouting incomprensible gibberish in his anger at the infidels, and I'm pretty sure saying 'Rissoles' at one point. Catherine Lacey is his old mad hag of a mother, ready to lure members of the expedition to their doom!

Not bad then, but not up to the same Director's Reptile and Plague of the Zombies.

Smashing account of Dick Cheney's rise to the Vice Presidency, which seems to have been made specifically to get up the nose of the Trumptons. The make-up designs for the characters are fantastic. It is heavily fictionalised, of course, but the Shakespeare scene between Chaney and his wife completely acknowledges it, and is very funny.

It is a polemic against Cheney and George W. Bush, and is openly scathing of them. Cheney is a nasty manipulator, Bush an easily-led dullard.

Well worth a look.

David Suchet is absolutely remarkable as Agatha Christie's legendary detective, and while not all the episodes are completely faithful to her work the series itself makes for a wonderfully entertaining programme.

I used to like Albert FInney and Peter Ustinov as Poirot, but for all the merit of their performances they are completely eclipsed by Mr. Suchet. He is the character to perfection, aided by fine writing and a great art deco feel to the series. Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson and Pauline Moran are also excellent in their roles, and I'd watch Zoey Wanamaker (who appears in six episodes as Ariadne Oliver - a stand-in for Christie herself) in anything.

The later episodes are darker in tone but largely in keeping with the books on which they are based. Five Little Pigs in particular is a stand-out.

Just watched The Labours of Hercules, and was deeply moved by it. One of Suchet's best showings, and that's saying something.

No one else will ever match him.

Doctor Sleep is a pretty decent effort to follow up Kubrick's The Shining, a difficult task. I haven't read Stephen King's sequel novel so I'm not sure if the weaknesses in the plot are down to the book or the script.

The bad guys in this had the potential to be really interesting, but most of them get offed in a rather perfunctory manner. Ewen McGregor gives a strong performance as a grown-up Danny Torrence, and Rebecca Ferguson is equally good as Rose The Hat, the main villain. She did remind me of a female Pennywise at times, though.

Shiners now have super powers, pretty much turning this into an adult comic book movie. Some have Jean Grey level of skills. X-Men is a good comparison. And since when did kidnapping and torturing kids to death pass as entertainment? King doesn't seem to like kids much.

The climax, at the now decayed Overlook Hotel, doesn't really work - too much of it riffs on the original movie without addding anything; it just makes me remember how frightening Kubrick's movie could be (in itself The Shining has some flaws in its construction story wise - Nicholson goes over the top way too early for one). The film is not particularly scary.

But the film looks good and is interesting for the most part. Perhaps a bit too long. I haven't seen the Director's Cut. It needs editing, not expanding.

Tomb of Ligeia's main asset is its literate script from Robert Towne, who produces some fine dialogue for Vincent Price to emote. It is a little slow in the middle, however, when not much seems to happen. A difficult Poe story to bring to the screen.

Price is good but Elizabeth Shepherd probably gives the film's best performance as Lady Rowena, fascinated by Verden Fell (Price) whom she meets after falling from her horse at the very grave of his late wife Ligeia (also played by Shepherd in a dark wig). She is very effective.

Director Roger Corman for the first time uses a lot of outdoor location shooting in his Poe movies; the result is a film that feels different from previous entries in the series. It's excellently photographed by Arthur Grant, who did many Hammer Films, and the crumbling Abbey is a splendid location; a real place in Norfolk.

It seems pretty obvious that Ligeia's soul has entered that of her pet black cat, whom in a splendid jump-cut (way better than the ones you get today) scratches Rowena's face just when she is about to kiss Fell for the first time. Ligiea's interest in Egyptology is at the route of it all, I'd say, as they believed souls were often reincarnated in animals.

There are also a few references to Hitchcock's Vertigo thrown in!

Not my favourite of Corman's Poe series but it is a good film; Roger was probably wise to leave off here.

I don't even like DC movies as a rule - Aquaman, the last one I saw, was awful. But this is like something from another Universe altogether.

Joker, of course, owes some debt to Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, but its influences are worn on its sleeve - Robert De Niro has a significant role in this for a start - his best for ages.

There isn't a dull or off moment in it. A great piece of acting from Phoenix, truly mesmerising. The Director and his fellow writer took a hugely popular comic book villain and made a human being out him, anguished and agonised. It's main point is that those abandoned by our society or system can end up inflicting the damage they received on ourselves.

Parts of the movie may be disturbing for some - people wanting a light comic book romp - well, avoid!

Dark (and actually with depth) , fascinating and a movie that will stay with me for a long time - unlike so much of the fodder Hollywood produces today. I don't often give a 10 rating to movies. But this deserved it.

Rene Zellweger thoroughly deserved her Oscar for this movie depicting Judy Garland's fragile mental state during her residency at the Talk Of The Town club in London. The film itself, after an arresting first half, doesn't always convince. But it's the lead actress you will remember.

Some of it feels false - her night with her two male gay fans, in which they fail to cook her a decent meal at their flat, does have some humour and feeling to it; and the ending itself. Garland's sad demise due to an accidental overdose is not depicted, and left merely to a caption at the end.

The film, like many I have seen recently, is also taken up with several flashbacks, depicting her appalling treatment at the hands of Louis B Mayer and MGM, some of which has been disputed, by no less a personage than Mickey Rooney himself. Some of the general situations presented in the movie are almost certainly true. The film itself is based upon a well-regarded stage play.

A good mixture of fact and fiction then, worth it for Rene's fantastic performance.

Voodoo Island has the kernal of a good idea at its heart - a reknowned television debunker (Boris Karloff) is hired by a multi-milliionaire hotel owner to prove an island with a sinister reputation is really just down to superstition. The only survivor of the last expedition there, now in a zombie-like state, is brought along for the ride.

The movie begins decently, then. And over the credits we get what looks like a pretty fake jungle and hotel set hovered over by the camera; of course it turns out to be only a model for the proposed hotel development - a neat touch.

The film after this is slackly handled and poorly developed, and the island itself proves home to merely rubber carnivore plants and Mutiny on The Bounty islanders, who have strange powers, although decent acting appears not to be one of them.

With Elisha Cook in the supporting cast and a small role for Adam West this could have been interesting. Unfortunately it isn't. Even the reknowned Boris Karloff can't save it from tedium and sillyness.