Flushed Away

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

Original image located here. Accessed 30th September 2022

Once again I approach a movie that I have been putting off for years. Not quite sure why it took me this long: I've always been impressed with what Aardman Animation have done in the past (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and Creature Comforts) but, as the saying goes, better late than never.

But yeah, this was great. The same strengths that Aardman have applied previously are at work here with rapid fire jokes, English sensibilities, great voice work from the cast and detailed animation. This being Aardman's first stab at CGI animation, it certainly allows for more spectacular set pieces that plasticine animation can't do. Also of note are the many details in the world-building and how the familiar objects are utilised.
Has this aged in the sixteen years since this was unleashed on the world? I don't so. It was still funny and still entertaining.
Yet I can't help think this is one movie that slipped through the cracks and is more or less forgotten. What, is a Dreamworks movie that isn't Shrek/Kung Fu Panda/How to Train Your Dragon DOA? Well i challenge that because this movie was better than being hit by that fate...

Lilo and Stitch

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Lilo and Stitch!

Original image located here. Accessed 23rd September 2022

I have to wonder where this movie fits in with the Disney canon. It's generally accepted that everything after Lion King is something of a hit or miss affair and it would take Disney some time (Tangled perhaps?) before it remembered how to make a runaway hit again. Still certain movies from this period have their fans and will stick up for them. So where does Lilo and Stitch fit in?
I'm not sure myself so best find my own perspective on this.

On paper this movie sounds awful: A celebration of Hawaiian culture that incorporates the music of Elvis and space aliens. Such a strange combination shouldn't work but somehow it does. Of course such elements are the window dressing: the real heart of this movie is the familial bond between Lilo and Nani and how the presence of Stitch effects this. And I will admit: the movies succeeds at this. I can't be the only one who sees said bond and compare it to that of my siblings.
Also, I appreciate that this movie seems to be aimed at slightly older audience: I don't get the impression it is once talking down or relying on 'cutesy' gimmicks to bring in the younger crowd. And Stitch is far from the atypical 'cute' animal sidekick - and is therefore all the better for it.
So in the end, despite an odd setup there is a lot going for this movie and I enjoyed it a lot. And yes consider me a freshly-converted fan of this movie

Love and Mercy

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Love and Mercy!

Original image located here. Accessed 16th September 2022

Yep, another biopic. And another music one at that - dedicated to Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame.
I can't say I'm a fan of the Beach Boys. But I am well aware of the trials and tribulations that made up Brian's life - the kind that would make a fascinating film to say the least.

So what we have here is a movie that shows two aspect of Brian: The young and enthusiastic music genius, played by Paul Dano, and the middle-aged troubled soul played by John Cusack. It does make for an interesting approach and any music pic that strays away from the familiar formula is welcome in my book.
Of course all the story beats are here: Brian's genius at songwriting, his obsessive dedication to find sounds only he can hear, his eccentricities, his mental decline, and falling in with dodgy guy extraordinaire Eugene Landry. But as this story has been told many times before, it's really in how it's told. Aside from the afore-mentioned dual Brians, it's in the empathetic approach to it's subject and the dedication of the actors that really make this movie work.
And hey, the line 'You need to come back to yourself' does indeed have resonance

Straight Outta Compton

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Straight Outta Compton!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th September 2022

I remember this being a big deal when it was released, circa 2015. Never got around to watching it - I will admit that my knowledge of the subject, N.W.A., is somewhat limited - but I was aware that this movie was generating plenty of attention. And in a way, enough that made it difficult to ignore.

I will admit that in recent years I have become quite cold towards biographical movies where music bands are the subject - Such coldness comes from watching, and enjoying, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story that points out how all of said movies tend to be formulaic and mocks them.
With such knowledge in mind, it may be difficult to take such movies seriously again.
That being said, I did enjoy the build up involved in the first half: Seeing how each member of the N.W.A. is introduced, witnessing their formation, the road to success and the controversy they courted (not to mention the danger that came with it). That part is indeed compelling and the actors involved certainly do a sterling effort of playing their real-life counterparts.
Funny thing is, once these guys stop performing live, and Ice Cube leaves, the film tends to lose focus: It goes in all kinds of directions and comes across like it's meandering around. Granted the N.W.A.'s history is plagued by infighting - and props to Ice Cube and Dr Dre for being honest about said infighting even when they're credited as producers - but somehow the second half can't compare to the fire of the first half.
Although the movie does do a great job of portraying Suge Knight as an absolutely terrifying figure.
Still I will give the movie props for avoiding the tropes associated with band-bio pics and portraying a time and place like no other

Booksmart

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

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd September 2022

Behold: Another movie that i have been wanting to see for quite some time but, for some reason or another, I never got around to it. Well, seeing as this is on Iview, I guess now is a good time as any.

For the uninitiated, this movie tells the story of two high schoolers who are best friends and are hardworking students. Upon realising they haven't had much of a high school experience outside of their work, they decide to spend the night before graduation going to a party. And as this is a movie, such a plan does not go...according to plan.

I have seen plenty of movies with this scenario but this still manages to stand out for a number of reasons. Firstly, these characters seem real and relatable. Secondly the gross-out humour is kept to a minimum. And thirdly it is actually funny. Makes me wonder: Did director Olivia Wilde watch the movies that follow the American Pie template and thought: 'I can do better than that"?
No matter: i like this movie a lot: It was funny, the characters seem exactly like the kind of people one would meet in high school, the situations never seem ludicrous, the script is funny and clever and it can be surprisingly touching.
Actually let me say it up font: Bugger American Pie, this is better

Persuasion

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Persuasion (1995)!

Original image located here. Accessed 26th August 2022

So there's a new adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion doing the rounds on Netflix - one that has a lot of Austen fans up in arms.
I find this of interest as Persuasion was the first Austen novel I ever read: It was for Uni back in 2000. So the anger over this new adaptation got me thinking: Has there ever been a good adaptation of Persuasion?
Apparently there has: It was a BBC production dating back to the mind-nineties. And that sounds like a challenge to me...

I suppose it is fitting that this came out the same year as the BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth in it) as that adaptation will forever be the gold-standard of Austen adaptations. Therefore it would be easy to see this one mining the same audience.
Still, it is a BBC production so it has what one expects: Devotion to the source material, beautiful photography and great production. The themes are still in place and, much like the source material, it does offer itself as an alternative to the afore-mentioend P+P. Granted I haven't seen any adaptations of Persuasion prior to this one but from the looks of it, a very high benchmark has been set.

Mystery Men

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

Original image located here. Accessed 19th August 2022

It seems I have encountered something of an anomaly: It was a bomb upon initial release but in the twenty-plus years since release it seems to have finally found an audience in that people are rediscovering it and saying good things about it. And tonight I was one of those people.

It seems that the reason behind this resurrection of this movie is that given that superhero movies have become commonplace in recent years, one would think that parody would be somewhat inevitable. But that is a niche that has already been filled and Mystery Men does it admirably.
Has time been kind to this movie? One would think so.
Okay sure some of the jokes have aged poorly but there are some genuinely laugh-out moments. There are indeed some great gags that poke fun at the familiar superhero tropes. And the premise of superheroes with useless powers still works.
Plus it has Geoffrey Rush hamming it up. And I won't say no to that

22 Jump Street

And this week's Friday night movie has been... 22 Jump Street!

Original image located here. Accessed 12th August 2022

I've been putting this one off for a while. I really enjoyed the first movie so there was a sense of dread when approaching the sequel - that the whole 'lightening in a bottle' impression I got from 21 Jump Street would prove just that.

Well it seems that the makers behind this movie realised that and pretty much latched onto it. Right from the word go, there is a sense that the movie is reveling in it's own nature as a boring, replicating sequel. And this self-awareness is the key strength of the movie. Throw in a lot of great jokes, attacks on the fourth wall, and the some interesting developments between the bond between Jenko and Schmidt and we have that rare thing: a sequel that improves on the original.
Did the distance of six years (since watching the first movie) provide a fresh perspective? It's possible.
Did I go into this not knowing what to expect? True.
But in both cases, it worked out in my favour.

Thor: Love and Thunder

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Thor: Love and Thunder!

Original image located here. Accessed 5th August 2022

Another stab at the current phase of the MCU (for those keeping score it's the fourth one). I have been watching the current phase throughout these past couple of months and I will admit that whilst they have been enjoyable there is a distinct lack of direction. Which is concerning in that the MCU has pretty much defined itself by having everything planned out and adhering to a long-term plan.
In addition, assessing a MCU entrant presents quite the challenge as previous efforts have been so spectacular. That does make for a tough benchmark to follow making anything that happens to fall short look like a red-headed stepchild. Or something.

So what of Thor: Love and Thunder? Well it can't be denied that it's following the same template as it's predecessor. Ragnarok may have done a dramatic shift for the character and rejuvenated him in what many people never thought possible so in a way, such a shift would be tricky to follow. So It looks that they decided to stick with what worked before.
And you know what? It worked.
It may be adhering to a formula that worked previously but that's not really detrimental to the movie. There is bombast, there is creativity, there are tonnes of laughs, there is inventiveness, there is a genuinely compelling villain and some very interesting developments for Odinsson and the Asgardians. Also Russell Crowe stealing the show as Zeus.
Is it a misfire? I don't think so.
Guess there is value in sticking with what works

Sorry to Bother You

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Sorry to Bother You!

Original image located here. Accessed 29th July 2022

I once saw a video on YouTube wherein the YouTuber proposed that that the movie Sorry to Bother You was better than Idiocracy. Now I haven't seen Idiocracy - I have heard a lot about it and have so far resisted - but I did see a challenge in this claim. And one worth rising to at that.

And this......

....it's a strange one.
On one hand there is decent satire with some delicious jabs taken at race, privilege and businesses that overwork employees. The surreal humour is also quite funny and there is indeed a excellent sense of creativity.
But on the other hand, there is a lot of meandering and the film seem directionless at times. Sure there are some good laughs to be had but when the movie slows down, it can be a chore to get through.
So yeah, not bad but could've been better....

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness!

Original image located here. Accessed 22nd July 2022

I have been following a lot of criticisms about the current phase (no.4) of the MCU. Chief among them is that the movies of this phase seem to lack a sense of direction and, after such a pay-off (Endgame) from years of build-up, there is nowhere left to go.
Personally I did enjoy the Eternals and Spiderman: No Way Home but even I will admit that the criticisms of being directionless are hard to ignore. After all, when you climb the mountain and find nowhere left to go, what do you do?

That being said, I did find this latest instalment to the MCU something of mixed bag. On one hand, there is so much continuity to cater for that the movie seems to groaning under it's own weight. Also, there is a lot going on here that the pacing seems to go at light speed and is therefore difficult to pick up. In addition, this isn't quite the horror movie I was expecting.
But that's for the first half: Maybe it's just me but once the second half kicks in, this movie remembers it's a Doctor Strange movie and plays into it's strengths: The creative & striking visuals and Benedict Cumberpatch. It's great to see Benedict playing different iterations of this character and some truly impressive visuals (the staircase immediately comes to mind). And I also must give credit to director Sam Raimi who is able to make his own stamp - especially when doing so isn't an easy task in the MCU.
So yeah, not a bad effort but the problem of 'where do we go from here' still persists....

Little Miss Sunshine

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Little Miss Sunshine!

Original image located here. Accessed 15th July 2022

I was planning to watch the latest Dr Strange movie but then I noticed this and realised I've been putting this off for far too long.

At first I had no idea what to make of this movie. At times I was left wondering if this was the comedy i was promised as it seemed to come across as more strange than bust-a-gut funny. The laughs seemed slow and what humour was there seemed very off the wall. But within time, this movie won me over: largely through this eccentric cast of characters and watching them facing adversity together. I cna only how many other people have watched this family and remarked: "That's just like mine..."
And there is something to be said that, in world that is divided into winners and losers, being yourself can be an act of defiance.

Also that unforgettable dance to Super Freak:
"What's your daughter doing?!"
"Kicking ass!!"

Reds

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

Original image located here. Accessed 8th July 2022

Lets talk about Warren Beatty for a minute.
To me, he is a man of two sides. One is the actor/ladykiller/'i'll-bang-anything-with-legs' and the other is the filmmaker: One who can produce, direct, is willing to take risks and is willing to back his own projects in order to make them happen. Of course, it is the latter side that interests me and the one that seems to less prominent in the mind of the public consciousness (and as such, less difficult to shake off).
So we come to this: A three hour biopic from 1981 which snagged Beatty an Oscar for Best Director. It tells the story of John Reed, a US writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution and even became involved in it. And, as a major selling point, the movie includes footage of people of the era (then aged considerably) describing John and the era this movie portrays.

Perhaps it is fitting that i mention Doctor Zhivago in last weeks post because I feel this is working from the same template: A three hour epic on the Russian Revolution with a romantic framework. And much like Doctor Zhivago I found myself more interested in the Revolution than the actual romance.
And it is with that that Beatty's talents as filmmaker shines through: In the terms of a history this movie is compelling and having the interview footage adds a lot to it with humanity and historical documentation. It may be slow to start with but this movie does indeed gather steam the more it goes on. And it is fascinating to see Reed grow from a passionate idealistic to being defeated by the system he supported.
Have to wonder though: Just how much did Reed resonate with Beatty? Obviously enough to get this movie made would be a suitable answer - But it's a story that Beatty wanted to tell so I'll give him that much.