My Kid Could Paint That

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... My Kid Could Paint That!

Original image located here. Accessed 3rd April 2026

Last year I was watching a number of documentaries that started going in one direction but ended up somewhere else entirely. But for some reason, I abandoned this approach. So why not resurrect it? After all, this breed of documentary is fascinating to me. 

And this one is a doozy: This is a documentary from 2007 that chronicles a little girl named Marla Olmstead. At four years of age, she shows an ability with painting and is able to produce works that resemble that of abstract expressionism. Before too long, Marla has her own exhibitions, earning praise for her childlike approach and is making serious money.
But then, halfway through the documentary, something happens: 60 Minutes do a feature on Marla, asserting that she is not the genuine article: She is not a child prodigy, she is producing art comparable to that of a normal preschool child and she may have had assistance from her father. 
What follows is the assertions that the works are genuine - even to the point of filming Marla making a piece for five hours - even when the works produced after the expose look different when compared to those that came before.

What is fascinating about this documentary is that the conclusions it draws are non-existent. HOWEVER! The questions it raises are something else: Was it a hoax? Were 60 Minutes being needlessly aggressive? Is abstract expressionism a legit form of art? What makes a child prodigy? Is Marla allowed to be a child? Are we the audience meant to draw our own conclusions?
Given that documentaries often serve as propaganda it is remarkable just how open-ended this one ends up - why, even the director admins to camera that he himself is unable to reach a definitive conclusion. 
And that's what makes this documentary so compelling. 

A Star is Born (2018)

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... A Star is Born (2018)!

Original image located here. Accessed 27th March 2026

AKA: The one with Lady Gaga in it.

Once again, the question I posed previously persists: Given that there are four versions of this movie, what is it about it that keeps bringing people back to it?
I have mentioned the potency of the source material, the potential for real-life parallels and how easily this movie can adapt to the times. But another reason comes to mind: The role of the female lead is one that any actress can really sink their teeth into - Indeed, it is telling that each remake is defined by who plays the female lead. I guess it's fair to say Judy Garland ended up setting a benchmark that many an actress has sought to match.

Of the four this is the most recent and, without a doubt, the one most people will be familiar with - after all, that's what star power does for you. So, lets bring this little experiment to a close.

Of the three predecessors, this one owes the most to the 1976 version. And it's not just the rock music framework: A lot of the plot points were reiterated quite closely. And that is odd given that each of the previous iteration has something of their own to say. It is telling that Jon Peters, producer of the 1976 version is also credited as producer here too (still no sign of a giant mechanical spider though).
Still, this does have what worked previously: The instance of a first timer with something to prove (director Bradley Cooper and star Lady Gaga) The real-life parallels with Cooper and Gaga showing chemistry both on and off screen and the implication of a rock star being surpassed by a modern form of pop music. 

But does this movie has something of it's own to say? Well yes: Lady Gaga delivers a stellar performance and her afore-mentioned chemistry Cooper does indeed sparkle. But hey, this is tried and tested material so you know it's going to work.  

A Star is Born (1976)

And this week's Friday night movie has been... A Star is Born (1976)!

Original image located here. Accessed 20th March 2026

AKA: The one with Barbra Streisand in it.

Let us, for a moment, go back to that question I posed last week: Given that Hollywood has produced four versions of this movie, what is it about A Star is Born that keeps bringing people back to it?
One likely reason is that it can easily be adapted to fit the times it was made: If the 1937 original was a snapshot of the Golden Era of Hollywood, and 1954 version came out at a time when musicals were popular, then this one brings something it's own to the table: It ditches the movie approach for one about music. In particular rock music and the industry attached. 

It may be a new approach but let's be honest here: This is all Streisand's show. She stars, is the executive producer, used her own clothes for her wardrobe (as the credits seem eager to point out) and has her then-hairdresser-turned-boyfriend Jon Peters as producer (well before his obsession with mechanical spiders). It would be easy to say this is her bid for some credibility/An Oscar, taking some tried-and-tested material and bringing her own stamp on it - but the question is, does it work? 

When I was a young lad in the nineties, I had a view of the seventies as being one borne of derision: There were hippies everywhere, the hair was bad, the fashion was worse and a lot of the music was over-produced and over-bearing. Granted such a perception was a product of a narrow one but I bring this up because this movie does nothing to challenge said perception. 
Sure the source material does translate well into a music environment, sure Kris Kristofferson plays the role of 'washed up and self destructive' rock star well, sure Streisand does indeed get chances to flex her vocal prowess (the final eight minutes being of particular note). But does this work as a whole? 
Honestly I'm torn here: For every strength this movie has, a weakness emerges: The Oreos. Streisand not quite cutting it is a rocker type. It's meandering nature. The aforementioned aesthetic. 

Still, there's always next week.....

A Star is Born (1954)

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... A Star is Born (1954)!

Original image located here. Accessed 13th March 2026

AKA: The one with Judy Garland in it.

Given that Hollywood has done four versions of this movie the big question is: Why do people keep coming back to it? One likely reasons is that the plot summary has an eternal appeal: The contrasting storyline of a young and upcoming actress making their mark whilst the veteran, experienced actor tries a comeback and fails. With the universal theme of chances - both first and second - it certainly helps to have some parallels in real life.
With this in mind, lets consider this iteration:
 - This was one of Garland's final films after years of personal struggles and some misfires. 
 - Director George Cukor was offered a shot at doing the 1937 original but he turned it down as he felt it too similar to another film he directed What Price Hollywood?. 

So compared to it's older brother, does this one have something of it's own to say? Well it's longer and, as was the trend of the time, it was a musical. Now I personally found the length to be problem as it certainly was a slog to get through - matters weren't helped in that this was a restored version with some missing scenes added with stills and dialogue that came across as pointless and justifiably cut. 
But whatever problems I may have had with this film, they are easily forgiven with the knowledge that this is, without question, Garland's show. She pretty much carries this movie and is a presence to behold. She is funny, dramatic and can pull off some effective musical numbers (see The Man That Got Away and Born in a Trunk).

Personally I found the first A Star is Born a tough act to follow but that doesn't mean this isn't a worthy contender. 

A Star is Born

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... A Star is Born!

Original image located here. Accessed 6th March 2026

I'm going to try an experiment: Given that Hollywood has made four versions of A Star is Born, I will for the month of March, watch and assess all four of them. Indeed, it would be interesting to see how each
of them compare with one another. And which hold up given the passage of time.
And what better place to start than with the the very first, from 1937.

So this movie tells the story of a young actress who is determined to make it as a star in Hollywood. She eventually catches the attention of a veteran actor who then actively supports her career and is the only person who believes in her. And so while her career flourishes, his career flounders...
Perhaps the most striking thing about this movie is that it is clearly a product of it's time. It shows how Hollywood operated in the 1920s/30s (the supposed Golden Age of Hollywood) and the progression of our protagonist. And that in sense, it is odd, even with the passage of nearly nine decades, how this movie is a documentary, a cautionary tale and a propaganda piece at the same time.
And yet it's that honesty that makes this movie so compelling. 

So yes, this movie may be a product of it's time but it has held up well against the march of time. 
And it would be interesting to see how it's offspring measure up...

Suzume

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Suzume!

Original image located here. Accessed 27th February 2026

I've never been a fan of anime director Makoto Shinkai. Honestly I find a lot of his stuff hit or miss with some good ideas let down by laborious execution. Matter aren't helped with a lot of people venerating this guy for reasons I find baffling. And yet, I did enjoy Your Name so maybe he finally got his act together?

There's one scene from Suzume that stands out for me: It involves a car journey that features music I could recognise from other anime - namely, Kiki's Delivery Service and His & Her Circumstances. At first I was chuffed to hear something familiar but then I realised: If this anime is reminding me of other anime then something has gone seriously wrong. 

Okay seriously, there are some good ideas at work here, some extraordinary visuals and I acknowledge Shinkai as someone with a vision. But at the same time, this is a chase movie and it's pace is relentless. It can be exhausting to keep up and it makes some of the slower moments stand out less as a breather and more as aimless. Also standing out is the weirder stuff that seems to exist solely for the sake of it.

So yeah, a decent movie some admirable elements but somehow it left me cold

Unforgiven

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Unforgiven (2013)!

Original image located here. Accessed 20th February 2026

Hollywood has a reputation of taking movies that originated in Japan and remaking them - Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven being one such example. So what happens when it goes the other way?
This movie is a Japanese remake of the Clint Eastwood magnum opus (pun intended) of the same name. It takes a western and reworks it into a samurai setting. Well I rank Unforgiven as a long-standing favourite so this seems like a challenge worth rising up to. 

The first thing that leaps out is that this movie is set in the Meiji era, the period in Japanese history that saw the end of the samurai era and the beginning of modernisation (and would be very familiar to fans of Rurouni Kenshn). This also means that there are firearms in this movie but given that this is a remake of a western it somehow isn't surprising. It should also be noted that this is set in Hokkaido which is a setting never really addressed in many Japanese films (most likely due it having it's own can of worms but that's another story). 
So how does this stack up against the original? Well like any remake it can't really escape the shadow of the original. And to that end, it does follow the plot of the original closely. It also shares some truly stunning imagery - and even replicates some shots wholesale. And it certainly understands what made the original work - even if there is somewhat less subtlety and the ending was altered. 
Still this was a compelling watch and I'm glad I saw it. 

Rosaline

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Rosaline!

Original image located here. Accessed 13th February 2026

This movie came to my attention through a high concept: A re-telling of Romeo and Juliet through an unseen character - a love interest of Romeo that is immediately disregarded once Juliet enters the picture. Sounds like a challenge to me....

So this is pretty much Romeo and Juliet thrust into the lens of deconstruction and post-modernism (the kind of lens that served Shrek so well). It come across like a fanfiction someone wrote to try and force modern logic and perceptions into a centuries-old text.
And yet, I had so much fun with this movie. There were some great jokes, the cast seem to be having the time of their lives and there are certainly nods to Shakespeare that one such nerd, like myself, could pick up on. The description in the above paragraph may sound like a disaster but somehow it works.

Great stuff

Revenge of Bridesmaids

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Revenge of the Bridesmaids!

Original image located here. Accessed 6th February 2026

Sometimes a movie sneaks into your 'To-Watch' list and you forget why you put it there in the first place. Still, I'm not afraid to step out of my comfort zone and watch something I wouldn't normally consider so here we go. But hey, with a title like that you can't be at least a little curious. 
From the outset this is the story of how some ladies get invited to the wedding of a (not really) friend and the hijinks they get up to. Sounds like an excuse for some bitchiness right?

Well not quite. Yes this movie is clearly a TV-movie (to the point of painful), yes this movie is obviously done on the cheap and yes, the editing is all-over the shop. But hey: This movie was a lot of fun to watch and had some really good jokes.
And also props to showing a female bond on-screen where they are there for each other and are willing to stand up for each other. So much so, I think this should be studied...

The Cable Guy

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Cable Guy!

Original image located here. Accessed 30th January 2026

I remember when this movie came out. At the time, Jim Carrey was making a name for himself for his brand of manic comedy and scoring hit after hit. So this took a lot of people by surprise: In this Jim was less funny and more strange & even threatening. Similarly, I recall some confusion as to whether or not it was a comedy at all. 
But it seems that this movie has recently enjoyed some of a reassessment: As often the case, people have come around to it, citing it's the best performance of Carrey's career and first indication that he can do more than comedy - and the man himself seems quite proud of it. In any case, it sounds like a challenge to me. 

From the outset, there are some amusing moments and some overlooked social commentary (more on that later). And whilst Carrey does provide his usual goofball shtick here he certainly comes across as both weird and sinister. 
However it doesn't take long before the criticisms about this movie start rearing their head: It's too weird, it's too dark and Carrey is unsettling in more ways than one. Certainly such criticisms are difficult to miss so the question: was this really a comedy?
I will admit that certainly the setup works as a comedy: Some guy forces their way into another guy's life and disrupts it entirely. And the titular Cable Guy is shown to be obsessed with TV, is of a very strange disposition and clearly has no sense of boundaries. Sure that sounds no different to today where we have countless people spending far too long on the internet and far too little working on one's social skills but did it hit differently back in 1996? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if someone made the case that Carrey' character is on the ASD.
But that above question still persists: Is it a comedy at all? Sure there is some potential in the setup that the socially maladjusted guy you know could do something like this but, as the movie proves, it can easily head into thriller territory. And this movie, particularly in the second half, proves quite effective as a thriller. 

But whatever this movie is, it exists on it's own terms. It may not always work but when it does, it does it well. 

From Up on Poppy Hill

And this week's Friday night movie has been... From Up on Poppy Hill!

Original image located here. Accessed 23rd January 2026

I will admit: I have putting this one off. Because like any Ghibli enthusiast, any title that comes attached with a name that isn't Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata is going to have a tough time.
Yes that sounds cruel given the nature of this fiendishly talented studio, but the question of whether this studio can last beyond it's two creators has been floating around for years - And whether or not someone can rise up to the challenge posed by Ghibli's illustrious catalogue is indeed a monumental one.
And it would seem the public would agree as this marks the second effort from Miyazaki's son Goro - he who made the unlikely leap from gardener to director. And if that move wasn't baffling enough, his first movie, Tales of Earthsea, was greeted with a frosty reception. But this time around Goro has an ace up his sleeve: he's working off of a script provided by his father. 
Some might think that this may be counter-productive given the afore-mentioned uncertainty of Ghibli's future, but maybe there's something worth taking a look at...?

I have previously mentioned that even though Ghibli have become synonymous with their fantasy/whimsical movie, the fact that they can do more realistic-based works should not be overlooked. And From Up on Poppy Hill does indeed join that batch with ease. There are some high quality animation, packed with little details and some accurate representations of daily life. Certainly this movie may be leaning hard into the whole 'small-scale depiction of historical events' but hey, stick to one's strengths. 
So yeah, a pretty good movie and proof one needs to keep an eye on the quiet ones....

The Misfits

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Misfits!

Original image located here. Accessed 16th January 2026

It is impossible to discuss this film without mentioning the fates of it's three stars: Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift. 
For Gable this was his final film: he would suffer a heart attack shortly after completion. Prior to that the one time King of Hollywood had a string of failures and was looking washed up. Similarly, this was also the final film for Monroe as she was in the middle of drug abuse during filming. And Clift would eventually suffer a car accident that ruined his good looks, derailed his career and led to five years of drug and alcohol abuse before his own passing. 
Because of this, I was reluctant to tackle this film: Sure nothing sells like a story to go with the product but would the tragedies surrounding the stars dwarf the film itself? I mean, it's right there in the title....

There's no way around this: This movie is bleak. Sure the three leads are at the top of their game here but this movie is effectively a musing on the collapse of both the American Dream and the Old West. 
Ultimately however I did find this movie somewhat directionless, as I was somewhat stumped as to where it was going and why I should care.
Granted the three stars are compelling to watch but perhaps there's a reason as to why their real-life fates seem more important than the movie itself. 

Rental Family

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Rental Family!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th January 2026

Well, Kiera wanted to see this so, as always, she dragged me along.

So what we have here is the story of an American actor who has been stuck in Japan for seven years. He manages to find work by being part of a rental service where he provides friendship to paying customers (and I have been reassured that this type of thing does indeed exist in Japan).
Of course this description doesn't really do any justice to the film itself: While this is an effective showcase for the Japanese cast and locales, the real meat here is seeing this movie as a meditation of needing connection, how it is found and what one will do to get it. And to that end, this movie is quite the touching one and a delight to see. 

Given that Brendan Fraser is credited as Executive Producer this is clearly something that he genuinely believed in and wanted to see through. Good for him but I have to wonder if this is a bid for the Best Picture Oscar....