Films round-up
Renfield - Nicholas Hoult plays the titular bug-eater. It's modern day America, so there are self-help groups for those trying to escape abusive co-dependent relationships. This is important when your boss is Nicholas Cage in full Hammer Horror mode and has decided to team up with the mob. The always-likeable Awkwafina plays the cop investigating a string of grisly deaths. The comedy obviously comes from mixing modern self-empowerment therapy with campy vampire horror. There's some pretty grisly violence too, of the ripping-arms-off-and-beating-people-to-death-with-the-wet-ends variety, so be warned. The whole film is a lot of fun though, with just the right amount of silliness to avoid being annoying. I really enjoyed it.
Suzame - A stunning, reality-bending anime epic. Suzame is an ordinary teenager until one day she starts seeing smoke billowing up into the sky where no one else can. Then she helps a mysterious stranger close a door to another world. Soon she's on the run across Japan, with a broken chair and the world's most troublesome kitten for company, trying to save the world and stay out of trouble with her mother. It's action-packed, funny, romantic, sweet, visually-stunning and up there with the very best Japanese animation has to offer. It's also a great advert for emergency phone alerts ;o)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie - Films of video games succeed when they incorporate elements from the game(s) into the plot in fun and clever ways, which make you go, "Aha! I see what you did there!" The Super Mario Bros. Movie does not do this. It is literally just like watching a game demo continuously for 90 minutes. The plot is so thin it may as well be non-existant, and no reason is given for all the platforms, pipes, power-ups and so on. Sure, there's the zany Minions-esque humour you'd expect from Illumination, much of which did make me smile, but it all feels very cynically churned out. It's nowhere near resembling a coherent film, and barely even qualifies as a film at all. Disappointing.
The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan - A French-made, French language version of Alexander Dumas's famous novel, starring François Civil as D'Artagnan and Eva Green as Milady de Winter. I've seen many versions of this story before, and this is definitely one of the better ones. It's played seriously and on a grand scale (this is part one of two), but It's solid rather than spectacular; a film to admire rather than to love. There's nothing wrong with it at all; it just left me unmoved for some reason. Perhaps it's simply because I will always feel more attachment to the version with the singing cartoon dogs ;o)
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 - The success of GotG is partly due to, no matter how outlandish their adventures or how kick-ass superpowered our heroes are, they obsess, bicker and screw up over the most stupid things. That makes them really relatable and lovable, and that winning formula continues here in their bittersweet swansong. After a jarringly melancholy opening, it soon gets back into the familiar swing, with a great soundtrack, an audacious heist, a Big Bad playing God, a desperate mission against the odds, and Nathan Fillion. There are some darker notes this time, from Rocket's tragic backstory, to our heroes getting surprisingly murderous, to the nagging sense that any of them could die before the end. Ultimately, it's a fitting and (mostly) satisfying send-off for the MCU's greatest ensemble cast.
Sisu - If Quentin Tarantino made a western set in Finland, about one guy killing a bunch of Nazis, it would probably look and sound a lot like Sisu. Other than the sparseness of dialogue, that is. Aatami (Jorma Tommila) is an old man, prospecting for gold out in the wilderness and looking to escape the war. Unfortunately, there is a Nazi platoon carrying out a scorched earth retreat through his path. Unfortunate for the Nazis, that is. For Aatami is a legendary ex-commando, about to teach them the meaning of sisu. What follows over a tight 90 minutes is mainly a lot of very brutal, highly implausible violence. The film doesn't pretend to offer anything else and doesn't overstay it's welcome. Good, if you like that kind of thing, but maybe not a classic.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - 2018's Into the Spider-Verse was a madcap mix of animations styles and different spider-heroes from across the multiverse, turned up to 11. This sequel is the same, but turned up to about 200. I struggled to take it all in, but don't let that stop you seeing this on the biggest, loudest screen you can find. The animation is stunning; it's the closest to an actual comic-book-turned-movie you're likely to see; it's a bold experiment and a great ride. The plot is a steaming great mess, of course (and annoyingly incomplete, ending with a "To be continued..." while we wait for Beyond the Spider-Verse). But it doesn't matter; you're not here for the plot. Miles (Shameik Moore) and Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) are the central characters who give it enough of a heart for you to care about all the mayhem unfolding around them. It's a film with a lot of faults, but a must-see nonetheless.
Suzame - A stunning, reality-bending anime epic. Suzame is an ordinary teenager until one day she starts seeing smoke billowing up into the sky where no one else can. Then she helps a mysterious stranger close a door to another world. Soon she's on the run across Japan, with a broken chair and the world's most troublesome kitten for company, trying to save the world and stay out of trouble with her mother. It's action-packed, funny, romantic, sweet, visually-stunning and up there with the very best Japanese animation has to offer. It's also a great advert for emergency phone alerts ;o)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie - Films of video games succeed when they incorporate elements from the game(s) into the plot in fun and clever ways, which make you go, "Aha! I see what you did there!" The Super Mario Bros. Movie does not do this. It is literally just like watching a game demo continuously for 90 minutes. The plot is so thin it may as well be non-existant, and no reason is given for all the platforms, pipes, power-ups and so on. Sure, there's the zany Minions-esque humour you'd expect from Illumination, much of which did make me smile, but it all feels very cynically churned out. It's nowhere near resembling a coherent film, and barely even qualifies as a film at all. Disappointing.
The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan - A French-made, French language version of Alexander Dumas's famous novel, starring François Civil as D'Artagnan and Eva Green as Milady de Winter. I've seen many versions of this story before, and this is definitely one of the better ones. It's played seriously and on a grand scale (this is part one of two), but It's solid rather than spectacular; a film to admire rather than to love. There's nothing wrong with it at all; it just left me unmoved for some reason. Perhaps it's simply because I will always feel more attachment to the version with the singing cartoon dogs ;o)
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 - The success of GotG is partly due to, no matter how outlandish their adventures or how kick-ass superpowered our heroes are, they obsess, bicker and screw up over the most stupid things. That makes them really relatable and lovable, and that winning formula continues here in their bittersweet swansong. After a jarringly melancholy opening, it soon gets back into the familiar swing, with a great soundtrack, an audacious heist, a Big Bad playing God, a desperate mission against the odds, and Nathan Fillion. There are some darker notes this time, from Rocket's tragic backstory, to our heroes getting surprisingly murderous, to the nagging sense that any of them could die before the end. Ultimately, it's a fitting and (mostly) satisfying send-off for the MCU's greatest ensemble cast.
Sisu - If Quentin Tarantino made a western set in Finland, about one guy killing a bunch of Nazis, it would probably look and sound a lot like Sisu. Other than the sparseness of dialogue, that is. Aatami (Jorma Tommila) is an old man, prospecting for gold out in the wilderness and looking to escape the war. Unfortunately, there is a Nazi platoon carrying out a scorched earth retreat through his path. Unfortunate for the Nazis, that is. For Aatami is a legendary ex-commando, about to teach them the meaning of sisu. What follows over a tight 90 minutes is mainly a lot of very brutal, highly implausible violence. The film doesn't pretend to offer anything else and doesn't overstay it's welcome. Good, if you like that kind of thing, but maybe not a classic.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - 2018's Into the Spider-Verse was a madcap mix of animations styles and different spider-heroes from across the multiverse, turned up to 11. This sequel is the same, but turned up to about 200. I struggled to take it all in, but don't let that stop you seeing this on the biggest, loudest screen you can find. The animation is stunning; it's the closest to an actual comic-book-turned-movie you're likely to see; it's a bold experiment and a great ride. The plot is a steaming great mess, of course (and annoyingly incomplete, ending with a "To be continued..." while we wait for Beyond the Spider-Verse). But it doesn't matter; you're not here for the plot. Miles (Shameik Moore) and Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) are the central characters who give it enough of a heart for you to care about all the mayhem unfolding around them. It's a film with a lot of faults, but a must-see nonetheless.