Interstellar

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

Original image located here. Accessed 22nd May 2026

This has been a long time coming. But now: No more excuses. I am going to sit though this and I will gleam something from it.
Hopefully.

When I was a kid, I often dreamed of leaving the earth and travelling the stars in a spaceship (as kids are often wont to do). Having seen this movie however such dreams now seem like several lifetimes away.

Okay serious now: I was impressed with this movie. Certainly this is a Christopher Nolan movie so one will expect a lot of dialogue and the cerebral elements pushed to eleven - to the point where they threaten to crush the rest of the movie. 
But what makes this movie work is the vision, the visual spectacle and how it takes the science seriously. Say what you like about Nolan's tendency to get behind material that is denser than lead, he sure knows how to craft an incredible movie.

Perhaps it is fitting that Nolan will go on to tackle The Odyssey as that too features a protagonist who takes a very long time to get home..... 

Kundun

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

Original image located here. Accessed 15th May 2026

Over the years I have been slowly getting more acquainted with the oeuvre of Martin Scorsese. So let's take a look perhaps his most unique movie: A biopic on the life of the 14th Dalai Lama. 

Watching this movie I can't help but think of The Last Emperor. Sure such a declaration will be unfair to this movie but it isn't hard to imagine this movie looking over The Last Emperor's shoulder and taking notes. Both follow the pattern of a boy thrust into a position of power, not knowing quite how to handle it, and how it effects him into adulthood. 

Still this is still pretty good and quite an effective turn from someone who built their career from making New York crime dramas. But this isn't just Scorsese's show: he is backed with the staggering visuals of cinematographer Roger Deakins, the evocative score of Philip Glass and the editing of Thelma Schoonmaker. All four are bringing their A-game and the result is a truly a stunning movie. 
It's just a shame that the weak point of this movie is the narrative: It seems disjointed & plodding at times and proves to be quite the Achilles heel.

Nevertheless, this is an impressive movie and certainly a stand-out in Scorsese's filmography. 

Strangers on a Train

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... Strangers on a Train!

Original image located here. Accessed 8th May 2026

Once again, we take a look at the oeuvre of one Alfred Hitchcock. 
It can't be denied that Hitchcock produced a body of work that is both large and impressive. Problem is, some of his lesser-known movies end up lost in the shadow of the more well-known ones. Which brings me to Strangers on a Train. It may not have the name recognition as Psycho or The Birds but it is one that I've been wanting to see for years. Why? Apparently there's a climax which is a chase scene on a Merry-Go-Round - one that The Master himself said was the most dangerous sequence he ever had to shoot. 

Like Hitchcock's other movies, this has the usual building of suspense - which is not surprising given this is from the Master of Suspense - so has this one has something of it's own to say? Yes indeed: There are some impressive sequences involving shadows and night time that look unique. There are some truly stunning examples of dread which stand out decades later. 
Also of note is just how this movie had the balls to have a clearly gay relationship with it's hero and villain - and in the early 1950s no less. Sure The Master did the same thing with the earlier Rope but this is more obvious. Which makes me wonder how they got away with it at the time. 
And as for the promised climax? I was not disappointed. Certainly gripping and staggering considering that this was done in the early 1950s. 

All in all, this may not be well-known when compared to Hitchcock's more well-known movies but this is still capable of standing on it's own two feet. 

The Armstrong Lie

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

Original image located here. Accessed 1st May 2026

Continuing on with my fascination with documentaries that started in one place only to end up somewhere different, we come to this: A documentary on notorious cyclist/drug cheat Lance Armstrong.
In 2009, documentarian Alex Gibney was working on a documentary on Armstrong but the project was brought to a halt due to his exposure as a dope cheat. However such footage did end up being used years later in this documentary - alongside new material Gibney shot with Armstrong in the wake of the collapse of both his career and reputation.

There are two narratives working here but both ultimately build a portrait of Armstrong. And it isn't a pretty one: A lack of a father in his life. A determination to win. A belief that losing is a fate worse than death. A resilience that walks hand in hand with malignity. A grip on the myth he created that is held like his life depended on it. 
Certainly the story - going from beating cancer to winning the most demanding sporting challenge in the world multiple times - is a strong one but this is still a glimpse into the mind of a villain: It's someone who wants to triumph and refuses to care about the damage wrought to get there. And perhaps that's where the strength of the documentary lies: That such villains exist in the world and that one is someone who got to the top through an astonishingly crafted deception. 

It may not make for a pretty viewing experience but it is a fascinating one.