Films round-up
Asteroid City - Look, it's Wes Anderson; you know what you're getting - whimsical, forcibly-staged comedy full of characters that take bizarre events in their stride. Setting it within a TV version of a stage play, set in a stylised version of a 1950s American desert town, lends itself to his style, and it works better than some of his other recent efforts. The story of this play-within-a-film is of a student astronomy convention gatecrashed by a real alien, which results in the whole town being placed under military lockdown. The plot doesn't really go anywhere with this, but that's not the aim. Many of Anderson's regular cast are back, including Jason Schwartzman as the lead, joined this time by the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks and (special mention) Jeff Goldblum. Probably for fans only, but I enjoyed it.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - Disney are playing it safe with this box-ticking final adventure for Indy. Major historical events? Check. Magical McGuffin based on a real world legendary artefact? Check. Strong-willed female companion as likely to backstab Indy as to help him? Check. John Williams on score duty? Check. Car chases, Nazis, underground temples filled with ancient mechanisms? Check, check and check again. Maybe this is no bad thing. Harrison Ford is suitably grumpy, Phoebe Waller-Bridge seems born to be in this franchise, and Mads Mikkelsen is a suitably formidable adversary. It's a whole lot of old-fashioned fun. My one real complaint (other than not enough Toby Jones) is that the camera is often way too tight on the characters, such that there's no sense of scale and it doesn't feel very cinematic. A cynic might suspect this was made less for the silver screen and more for a TV streaming audience...
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - I loved this. For a film about several people looking for a key, and one guy trying to catch a train, it's spectacularly silly fun! Ethan (Tom Cruise) and Grace (Hayley Atwell, essentially playing Agent Carter once again) make a great double-act. The technobabble-heavy machinations are nonsense of course, but essentially the plot is very, very simple, and merely serves as an excuse for a never-ending series of tense undercover moments, races against time, elaborate chase scenes and ridiculously epic stunts. Yes, it's pushing 3 hours and it's only part 1 of 2, but that doesn't matter. It all works, and works brilliantly. Why can't they make Bond films like this any more? Watch it on the biggest screen you can. (Footnote - I'm amused that the end credits felt the need to reassure us that no Spanish Steps were harmed during the making!)
The Tunnel To Summer, The Exit Of Goodbyes - A curious title (with possibly something lost in translation) for a curious film, about two teenagers who discover the mythical Urashima Tunnel. This is a place which returns to you important things you have lost, but at a price - because time in the tunnel passes differently, with seconds there equating to hours in the rest of the world, minutes to days and hours to years. What starts as a fairly bland high school drama evolves into a deeper study of love, loss and obsession, as it starts exploring the implications of its fantastical concept and we learn a lot more about our two leads, their tormented backstories and their deepest desires. Visually, as you might expect, it's an absolute treat, gorgeously animated and with some truly original and memorable imagery.
Oppenheimer - This is only partly the story of the first atom bomb. There's less physics and more politics than I was expecting, with a lot of focus on McCarthyist witchhunts and the longer-term political impacts of Oppenheimer's creation. The story jumps about in time a fair bit and you need the visual cues to tell you when you are. This can make it feel like an extended montage at times, but it definitely sustains interest for its 3-hour running time. Almost every scene in the film has a basis in Oppenheimer's real life, so I feel I've learned quite a lot from watching it! As you'd expect with Nolan, the direction and sound design are top notch. Cillian Murphy strikes a contrast in the lead role, playing a man who can view events with both an academic detachment and a deep passion. The whole cast is on terrific form, including Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr.
Barbie - There are traces of Toy Story and The Lego Movie, as Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) find themselves struggling to navigate the real world, but this sharply-scripted satire is anything but a kids' film. Right from it's genius "homage" opening sequence, it's clear this is more about the good and bad of Barbie the brand than Barbie as a character. The patriarchy and capitalism are easy targets, but the gags and observations are so well-written, and the cast throw themselves into it with such gusto, that you can't help but go along with it. Writer/director Greta Gerwig summed it up best: "My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men." That's a serious message lying beneath all the pink zaniness.
["Barbenheimer" - This doesn't really work as a double bill. Oppenheimer isn't bleak enough and Barbie isn't light-hearted enough for them to properly contrast with each other. However, it's great that these two films have become a shared pop culture event of the kind we just don't often get any more, where everybody is talking about and wanting to see the same big, current releases. If it helps give a boost to struggling cinemas, it can only be a good thing!]
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - Disney are playing it safe with this box-ticking final adventure for Indy. Major historical events? Check. Magical McGuffin based on a real world legendary artefact? Check. Strong-willed female companion as likely to backstab Indy as to help him? Check. John Williams on score duty? Check. Car chases, Nazis, underground temples filled with ancient mechanisms? Check, check and check again. Maybe this is no bad thing. Harrison Ford is suitably grumpy, Phoebe Waller-Bridge seems born to be in this franchise, and Mads Mikkelsen is a suitably formidable adversary. It's a whole lot of old-fashioned fun. My one real complaint (other than not enough Toby Jones) is that the camera is often way too tight on the characters, such that there's no sense of scale and it doesn't feel very cinematic. A cynic might suspect this was made less for the silver screen and more for a TV streaming audience...
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - I loved this. For a film about several people looking for a key, and one guy trying to catch a train, it's spectacularly silly fun! Ethan (Tom Cruise) and Grace (Hayley Atwell, essentially playing Agent Carter once again) make a great double-act. The technobabble-heavy machinations are nonsense of course, but essentially the plot is very, very simple, and merely serves as an excuse for a never-ending series of tense undercover moments, races against time, elaborate chase scenes and ridiculously epic stunts. Yes, it's pushing 3 hours and it's only part 1 of 2, but that doesn't matter. It all works, and works brilliantly. Why can't they make Bond films like this any more? Watch it on the biggest screen you can. (Footnote - I'm amused that the end credits felt the need to reassure us that no Spanish Steps were harmed during the making!)
The Tunnel To Summer, The Exit Of Goodbyes - A curious title (with possibly something lost in translation) for a curious film, about two teenagers who discover the mythical Urashima Tunnel. This is a place which returns to you important things you have lost, but at a price - because time in the tunnel passes differently, with seconds there equating to hours in the rest of the world, minutes to days and hours to years. What starts as a fairly bland high school drama evolves into a deeper study of love, loss and obsession, as it starts exploring the implications of its fantastical concept and we learn a lot more about our two leads, their tormented backstories and their deepest desires. Visually, as you might expect, it's an absolute treat, gorgeously animated and with some truly original and memorable imagery.
Oppenheimer - This is only partly the story of the first atom bomb. There's less physics and more politics than I was expecting, with a lot of focus on McCarthyist witchhunts and the longer-term political impacts of Oppenheimer's creation. The story jumps about in time a fair bit and you need the visual cues to tell you when you are. This can make it feel like an extended montage at times, but it definitely sustains interest for its 3-hour running time. Almost every scene in the film has a basis in Oppenheimer's real life, so I feel I've learned quite a lot from watching it! As you'd expect with Nolan, the direction and sound design are top notch. Cillian Murphy strikes a contrast in the lead role, playing a man who can view events with both an academic detachment and a deep passion. The whole cast is on terrific form, including Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr.
Barbie - There are traces of Toy Story and The Lego Movie, as Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) find themselves struggling to navigate the real world, but this sharply-scripted satire is anything but a kids' film. Right from it's genius "homage" opening sequence, it's clear this is more about the good and bad of Barbie the brand than Barbie as a character. The patriarchy and capitalism are easy targets, but the gags and observations are so well-written, and the cast throw themselves into it with such gusto, that you can't help but go along with it. Writer/director Greta Gerwig summed it up best: "My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men." That's a serious message lying beneath all the pink zaniness.
["Barbenheimer" - This doesn't really work as a double bill. Oppenheimer isn't bleak enough and Barbie isn't light-hearted enough for them to properly contrast with each other. However, it's great that these two films have become a shared pop culture event of the kind we just don't often get any more, where everybody is talking about and wanting to see the same big, current releases. If it helps give a boost to struggling cinemas, it can only be a good thing!]