Disclosure Day - well, the ice cream was nice

Folks had been saying how good the Disclosure Day movie was. Tonight we went to see it. Oh well. I can imagine the scene during the movie’s creation.

“Take a pinch of ET, throw in some Close Encounters and a bit of War of the Worlds flavoured with Indiana Jones”.

“How about adding a bit of Star Wars too?”

“Wrong franchise.”

… and so on. The acting was terrific. The set pieces mightily impressive. The baddy was English (so no surprises there) but even he had the possibility of redemption (so no surprises there either).

Anyhoo, I don’t regret going but an event movie it wasn’t. Worth a trip if you liked any of the above films and are good at expectation management.

Charlie the Wonderdog Movie

We went to see Charlie the Wonderdog today. The title pretty much says it all. It is a competent computer graphics presentation which passes the time just fine. For me the most telling point was the way that the President of the United States was depicted as a money grabbing simpleton. The assumption that people in power are corrupt and only in it for their own ends is now very mainstream indeed.

Sheep Detectives does the job

Can you spot the crook?

“Cosy crime” is all the rage. And people like sheep. So why not have talking sheep solve a murder? This idea is stretched over a movie that just about gets away with it. The animation is pretty impressive, the human characters are suitably shifty. And there is even some analogue photography (which is also all the rage). Worth a trip if you are prepared to manage your expectations appropriately.

Go See GOAT

Went to see the GOAT movie today. The story doesn’t do much in the way of surprising twists, but it is nicely told with terrific art direction (although I reckon the creators must have watched Zootopia a few times). Well worth the trip.

F1 - The Movie is a hoot

We watched F1 - the movie last night. It is hilarious. The in-car footage is amazing. The production values are fantastic. It looks great. Brad Pitt is in it. In case you are wondering how he gets on, here’s a brief summary (including spoilers):

• Fixes the car

• Wins the race

• Saves the team

• Gets the girl

• Beats the baddie

• Changes lives

• Rides off into the sunset

The new Naked Gun movie is worth a look

Airplane is one of the best movies of all time. The Police Squad TV show that followed was at least as good (despite only lasting six episodes). The Naked Gun movies were pretty good too. As were the Red Rock Cider ads. And now we have Naked Gun 2025. We went to see it last night and it was great fun. It doesn’t have the relentless pace of gags that we’ve seen in earlier movies, but everybody plays their part really well, especially Liam Neeson. The story is nicely done (I think that even a daft movie needs a plot) and some of the set pieces are really good. Well worth a look.

Minecraft the Movie

We went to see Minecraft the movie. The seats in the cinema were very comfortable. The images on the screen were bright and sharp. The popcorn was tasty. That’s it.

Saying Minecraft is a bad movie kind of misses the point. I don’t consider it a movie. It’s just a collection of stuff that happens, often involving explosions and improbable physics. I didn’t expect Shakespeare, but I did expect something. The dialogue is sub-bad. The exchange "Have you finished?” - “No I think he’s from Sweden” is one of the highlights.

Jack Black must have taken one look at the script and decided that the only way to get through it was to go into “super-turbo” mode. If they ever make a film like this with both him and Jim Carey in leading roles we could probably power the planet with it.

Minecraft has been very successful. Which is depressing. I think it is just that at this time of year folks are looking for somewhere dark and comfortable to sit for a while.

Inside Out 2

Went to the movies today for the first time since lockdown. It was great fun. We saw Inside Out 2 and its a lovely story very well put together. I was a bit worried that after the perfection that was the first movie they’d mess things up with the sequel, but this wasn’t the case. Well worth the trip. This moviegoing thing looks quite fun. We should do it again .

Watch the Tetris Movie

Not entirely factual…

We watched the Tetris movie last night. It’s really good. There seems to be a glut of “commercial” movies around at the moment. I think there is a even a “Beanie Baby” film around somewhere. Shudder….

However, the thing about the Tetris story is that the story is quite a bit stranger than fiction. Although it isn’t quite as strange as the fiction in the film. There definitely weren’t any car chases or May Day Parade shenanigans in real life. Worth a watch though. And if it piques your interest (great word “pique”) you should take a look at the excellent “Tetris: The Games People Play” by Brian “Box” Brown. This tells the story of the game as a brilliantly drawn cartoon.

Of course the real reason for me mentioning the Tetris movie is so I can reprise my one claim to fame, when I actually had my picture taken by the inventor of Tetris. Not with, by…

I was in Russia at the time, helping to run Microsoft’s Imagine Cup. I had just entered the judging room and noticed Alexey Pajitnov in the corner. He was helping out with the game judging. I was trying to think of a way of telling him how much I liked his game that he had not heard before when one of the student team members came in. The student saw me and decided that he really wanted a picture of himself with the famous Rob Miles of the Imagine Cup. He handed his phone to Mr. Pajitnov and asked him to take the photo. It is probably out there somewhere. And I never did get to say hello…

The Man from Toronto

The man from Toronto is on the right

Tonight we watched “The Man from Toronto”. It’s a caper movie about a failing fitness instructor who gets mistaken for a ruthless hitman with hilarious and action-packed consequences.

In the old days they used to have “B” movies. These were made because for some reason a trip to the movies used to involve seeing two films. The main feature and the “B” feature. I guess this gave them more time to sell popcorn. Anyhoo, B movies had a slightly sub-par cast and budget and got released once before appearing decades later on Sunday afternoons on ITV. Some of them turned into classics. Some of them gave directors and stars their first taste of success before they made it to the big time.

Now that streaming companies are putting money into movie making I think we are seeing the return of the “B movie”. Much better than a “Made for TV” movie but not quite at the level of a cinematic release and probably destined to be watched on a Sunday afternoon. I’m perhaps being a bit harsh on “The Man from Toronto” by saying it is a bit of a modern “B” movie. It is nicely done and everyone plays their part well. But it is no Fast and Furious film. Worth a watch though.

See How They Run is a really good film

We watched See How They Run last night. This is a lovely little movie. Lots of laugh out loud moments - at least for me. I think it leans rather too heavily on real life with its use of a real play and a real author to hang the plot on. I reckon it would have worked better if it was all made up. But that doesn’t take anything away from some lovely stuff. I hope they make some more of these.

Fast and Furious 9

We watched Fast and Furious 9 last night. It was OK. Although you really had to strain to suspend your disbelief a lot more than usual.

Everything Everywhere all at once is awesome

Last week we watched the new Dr. Strange multiverse movie. It was OK. We also watched Everything Everywhere all at once. It was awesome. It stars an incredibly game Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis.

It is all about multi-verses (like Dr Strange) but much dafter and interesting and with a beating emotional heart. Go see.

Watch Turning Red

Turning Red is a wonderful little film about a girl who turns into a giant red panda when she gets stressed. It covers some themes that don’t get that much of a mention in animated movies and is all the better for that. It has a properly heart-warming story and some splendid animation. Strongly recommended.

Matrix Resurections

There are few better illustrations of the law of diminishing returns in movies than the Matrix series. The first one was flat out awesome. It was the first DVD I ever bought and we played it to death on my PlayStation 2. with Dolby surround sound through dodgy speakers.

The sequel was OK. The third? Don’t ask.

And now, quite a while later, we have the fourth one. We watched it this evening. All the actors they have allowed back seem to have aged incredibly well. The plot was as wacky as ever and the production as glossy. They even recreated a few of my favourite scenes, which was nice. Newcomers to the franchise might be wondering what the fuss is all about. But for the rest of us I’d say that it was a lot of fun and not as bad as it could have been. Worth a look.

Watch "The Adam Project"

I had a night alone at home tonight for the first time for a while, so I watched “The Adam Project” on Netflix. It’s an action film starring Ryan Reynolds. It was OK. Not as good as “Free Guy” but plenty of action and a lot more poignant bits that I was expecting. Worth a look.

Alita-Battle Angel is watchable rubbish

Sometimes on a Saturday night all you want to do is watch a big dumb movie and eat popcorn. Tonight that is what we did. We watched Alita: Battle Angel which, as the poster says, is from the same producer as Titanic and Avatar. As if that is some kind of recommendation.

Anyhoo, it was fun. Lots of impressive computer graphics, fight scenes and whatnot. The ending is a bit of a let down though. It’s an obvious setup for a sequel that, given the performance of this movie, probably won’t be made. Worth a look as long as you have popcorn handy.

Tenet in "quite good movie" shock

I must admit that I wasn’t expecting that much from the Tenet movie. The reviews that I’d seen were a bit “meh” and made much of the mind bending “time running backwards” parts being highly confusing for the viewer.

For me it wasn’t that much of a problem, although a lot of the temporal tricks seemed to be there just so they could show some amazing set pieces. The good news is that time does run in different directions but the film does have a beginning, a middle, and a satisfactory ending, along with an over the top baddie, a damsel in distress and a ruthless hero.

If you view it as a James Bond movie with a title that reads the same forwards and backwards you’ll be just fine.

The Personal History of David Copperfield is wonderful

This is not David Copperfield

Tonight we went to see “The Personal History of David Copperfield”. It’s a great film. Wonderful characters, great locations (including Hull), a compelling storyline and deft direction. My definition of a good film is one that leaves you feeling happy. This is a good film. Go see.

Knives Out is a great film

Knives Out is great film. It’s a country house murder mystery in the Agatha Christie tradition but brought up to date.

I’m not going to give anything away. All I can say is that the ending was surprising and very satisfying. And that I got it all completely wrong.

There are some “laugh out loud” moments to be had too. Impeccably acted (which is what you would expect with a cast like this) and very well put together.

Strongly recommended.