The Guns of Navarone

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Guns of Navarone!

Original image located here. Accessed 14th November 2025

As is often the case, this has been sitting on my watchlist for a considerable amount of time - well over two decades to be precise. And I have only gotten around to see it through the accessibility that streaming provides. 

I was led to this movie on the impression that this is one of the best war movies ever made. Some may disagree on that one but what I got from this movie is that it is a great example of a genre crossbreed: war and adventure. 
In this case, a group of soldiers, of varying backgrounds and unique talents, go through enemy territory to complete an objective. Sure that set-up may seem tried and tested but it is for a reason: it works. 
And this movie does deliver on it's premise: Exotic locales (Greece), high stakes, great set pieces, gripping tension and a cast giving committed performances. Gregory Peck is in fine form but somehow David Niven steals the show.
I was worried that a two and a half hour runtime may be a slog to get through but, against the odds, this was anything but a dull watch.

How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... How to Train Your Dragon!

Original image located here. Accessed 11th July 2025

I will admit that I was something of a latecomer to the How to Train Your Dragon movies - but no matter: I still wound up adoring them. I equally enjoyed watching Race to the Edge. I even jumped  aboard the HMAS Hiccstrid. 

Of course, I had no plans to watch this - if the frosty reception of the Disney remakes is anything to go by - but Kiera had other plans and dragged me to it. Still, my cynicism remained: How can Live Action improve the animated splendour of the original?

I will say this: It's beautifully shot, the cast are all great, the designs are fantastic, the excitement is still there, there is a clear commitment being put into it and the strength of the source material still resonates. 
But there is still a slavish loyalty to the original: there is no need to make any improvements and there's nothing the animated original didn't do better. Furthermore, I think the original had more personality.

So yeah, it's a rollicking adventure movie but I still can't see what the point of it all was.
Mind you, if you told me that this was ploy to secure composer John Powell an Oscar then I'd believe you,
Can't wait for the Live Action remake of Shrek though...

Paddington

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

Original image located here. Accessed 31st July 2020

Being a child of the eighties, I grew up in an era where the movies for children were some real hardcore stuff (ie Never-ending Story and Labyrinth). But when the nineties rolled around, movies aimed at families tended to be weak, lacking in bite and a struggle for adults to sit through. Thus, it is only in recent years that this stigmata against 'family' movies are now turning around and the audience aren't being  treated as idiots. And Paddington, it would appear, is one such example.

As i have yet to sire children, this enables me to judge this movie from outside it's family demo-graph and see if it stands on it's own two feet. And what do you know, it succeeds admirably. This movie is very funny, complete with a British sense of humour, and is surprisingly touching. Also seeing Sally Hawkins, Peter Capaldi and Nicole Kidman in this is hilarious to me.
Having seen this movie, along with the How to Train Your Dragon series and the Pixar stable, it seems to me that filmmakers are aiming for an approach of 'family movie that adults can watch without their kids'. If that is the case then more of the same please.

They Found a Cave

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....They Found a Cave!

Original image located here. Accessed 7th September 2018

For the uninitiated, this is a movie based on a 1948 children's novel by Tasmanian author Nan Chauncy. The film was released in 1962 and is noteworthy for utilizing a Tasmanian cast and crew. This movie is of particular interest to me as I'm currently involved with a stage production of They Found a Cave.

Obviously this movie is a product of it's time and very much of a low budget quality but as a kid's movie it works well. The child actors are good and the cinematography is superb. Whilst the shots on a studio set are obvious the shots on location otherwise look great.

Ultimately this is throwing down of the gauntlet: it's something for myself and my theatrical cohorts to rise up to...