The Wrestler

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

Original image located here. Accessed 16th May 2025

A lot has been said about this movie, with it being the resurrection of Mickey Rourke's career and being one of the best movies of the 2000s. So it therefore becomes difficult to bring something new to the table.
Personally I enjoyed it and think the approach of making this movie comparable to a documentary worked wonders. Rourke is in top form and credit is due to taking wrestling seriously. 

So is this movie the evil cousin of Rocky and Raging Bull? Well that's one way of putting it. But personally I find it fitting that this movie came out the same year as Iron Man: Both movies

• star an actor who had fallen out of favour, 
• delivering a performance that effectively breathes new life to their career 
• in which they play someone who mirrors their personal life.  

But ultimately this wasn't an easy watch so next week I think I might watch something more fun *checks schedule*....Oh hello.....

Operation Filmmaker

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

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd May 2025

Here we are with another documentary that started in direction but ended up in a completely different one.
In 2003 during the War on Iraq, a young man, Muthana Mohmed, was caught on camera lamenting how his aspiring film career had been ruined: First by the then current regime and then by the US Armed Forces. This caught the attention of Liev Schreiber who then sought Muthana out and invited to take part in a film Schrieber was making (Everything is Illuminated) as an intern. 
Surely this is a one-in-a-million success story but this documentary is more about what happened next.

Needless to say it isn't pretty: What follows is Muthana's misadventures navigating the world of filmmaking: He doesn't do the work he is assigned, makes no effort to build connections and network, spends quite a lot of time partying, bounces from film-set to film-set, is warned by his countrymen to not return to Iraq, relies on the goodwill by the people around him, acts entitled, keeps adding to his visa, and tries to get into film school.

Yet at the same time, there is another narrative going on at the same time: that of the people around Muthana. They are relying on the good intentions that got him out of Iraq and are offering no help whatsoever. Indeed, it is telling that, in the last twenty minutes, Muthana turns on the people filming him and lashes out at them. 

So who is the bad guy here? It's unclear that's for sure but that's what makes this documentary so compelling. Uncomfortable viewing? Damn straight but it's hardly dull.

Slumdog Millionaire

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

Original image located here. Accessed 4th November 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 81 (2008)

Part of the reason I am doing this year long undertaking is that I am approaching these movies with fresh eyes, divorced from trends, politics and passage of time. Indeed, there's something to be said for watching a movie as just that: a movie.

However by watching this movie, it did occur to me that it's cut from the same cloth as fellow Best Picture winner The Last Emperor: Both are movies made with a non-white cast, telling a non-white story which is handled by a white director who is anything but an Oscar favourite. And, racial politics aside, both films come across as unique entrants in the history of Best Picture Oscars. 

On paper, this movie sounds awful: A movie that tells a story where Who Wants to be a Millionaire is utilised as a framework? Come off it. And the questions facing the protagonists are built around his life experiences? Are you joking?
And yet this movie works: It is well crafted, compelling and there are numerous nods to Bollywood (least not the dance sequence at the end). The cast is great and it is never once dull.

So yeah, it's a superb movie although I have to wonder that if it wasn't for this movie, Lion wouldn't exist...

Not Quite Hollywood

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!!

Original image located here. Accessed 17th September 2021

For those not in the know, this is a documentary from 2008 that describes a particular period of Australian cinema. Whilst the seventies are widely regarded as a boom time for Australian cinema, this however concentrates on the lesser known area: the exploitation films of that era - and beyond.

So what this movie presents are the movies of the era,- divided into the camps of sex, horror and action - and it is intercut with the interviews from both the people that made them and fans - least not is one Quentin Tarantino who played a key role in getting this documentary made.

This certainly is fascinating to watch, as it describes many of the aspects of a particular era. It isn't just the movies themselves but how they were made, the trails and tribulations involved, how they represented the time they were made in, the challenges of trying to find an international audience, and the personalities who made them. Plus it's fun to see Tarantino speaking about movies - a subject where one can expect him showing the enthusiasm of an evangelist.
But really the biggest success is how this documentary generates interest in these movies - why after I was finished and added more to my 'To watch' list. Sure it may be a wasteland which builds numbers faster than it loses them but hey, it's proof this documentary did just what it set out to do.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian!

Original image located here. Accessed 28th August 2020

I've always had a soft spot for the Chronicles of Narnia. Sure, it may be easy to dismiss it for it's simplicity and it's heavy-handed Christian allegory, but for me, it was one of, if not THE, first exposures I had to high fantasy. And I have since never looked back. They say 'get them while they're young' and it certainly worked for me.
I did see the first movie in this (now unfinished) saga but, for some reason or another, I never got around to seeing the rest of it. Well, now is a good as any to rectify this situation.

It may be easy to sneer at this movie for it wishing it was the Lord of the Rings trilogy but it still has enough to make it capable of standing on it's own two feet. I loved the battle scenes, the creativity in use, the visuals, the presence of Peter Dinklage, the character development (sadly this is the last we will see of Susan and Peter) and the dialogue and the effort being put into to adapt what is one of the lesser titles in the Chronicles.
It does seem like a high-fantasy-movie-lite but ii does it's job and it does it well.

Ponyo

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

Original image located here. Accessed 7th August 2020

Once again, we take a trip to the anime and once again it's Studio Ghibli film.
I must confess: I have always had a degree of caution with Hayao Miyazaki - or to be more precise, everything that has followed since his first final movie Princess Mononoke. Sure I love Miyazaki's work as much as the next person, but for all his movies made after Princess Mononoke and all his announcements of retiring that never seem to last long, there is a sense of how long he can keep going. Are Miyazaki's advancing years catching up to him? Can anyone keep a winning streak of movies up for so long? He's gotta produce a dud movie at some point (thereby proving he is indeed human like the rest of us), right?

Well it won't be this time around. Okay, so yes this may be aimed at a younger audience, yes there are some issues around the plot, yes there are some abrupt developments narrative-wise but I am willing to forgive all of this for the truly wonderful animation. As expected in a Ghibli there are some astonishing high level of animation with some staggering attention to detail.
Is it a dud? No. Is it one of Miyazaki's lesser works? Yes. Is it ultimately a blotch on an otherwise illustrious track-record? of course not.

Gran Torino

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

Original image located here. Accessed 26th May 2017

I've always loved Clint Eastwood - one my favorite actors and he makes some great movies to boot. And here we are at what was intended to be his final hurrah as an actor.
And what do you know: He does a superb job. Clint is more or less playing an aged incarnation of one of his most famous roles, Dirty Harry, but Walt is no less charismatic, intimidating, or quick with the quip than Mr Callahan.

I've heard criticisms that this movie relied on the trope of the 'Great White Hope' to help out some oppressed Asians but I never got that impression. What i saw was a movie about a damaged man reclaiming his humanity and eventually finding redemption
But then again, that's the type of role that Clint could do in his sleep.

Red Cliff

And this weeks Friday night movie has been.....Red Cliff (parts 1 and 2)!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th September 2016

Let it be known that I like me some John Woo. The man sure knows how to make an action movie and I rank his opus The Killer as the benchmark of all action movies. And whilst I have previously been disappointed with his American-made material, a return to his Hong Kong roots may be cause to raise an eyebrow.

And boy was this duology epic. Everything about it is massive, both in length, size and scope. The battle scenes are staggering and the visuals are stunning to behold. It did take an effort to go through both installments but I tell you: it was worth it!
Have to wonder though: Was this an attempt to beat the Lord of the Rings trilogy at their own game? It's possible but if it was, then it was a pretty good effort.

Tropic Thunder

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Tropic Thunder!

Original image located here. Accessed 13th February 2015

In a way this movie surprised me: I thought it was going to be completely stupid but as it turned out, it was a riot. Okay so it may have been stupid in places but there's some moments of pure gold in here - chief among them being the acting turns done by Robert Downey Jr (!) and Tom Cruise (!!!!).

Let the Right One In

 And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Let the Right One In!

Original image located here. Accessed 17th October 2014

Well seeing as it's October now would be a good time as any to see some Horror movies. I'm not the biggest fan of horror movies so maybe seeing a clutch of them once a year seems somewhat fitting. 

As for the movie itself, I'm not sure this really counts as a horror movie. It didn't give me any scares or make me jump. True there were some grotesque moments but really I think this was really more a romance between Oskar and Eli. Still as a vampire movie this one is superb and as a movie about two social outcasts this one is a winner.