Watch the Tetris Movie

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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

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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

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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.

Matrix Resurections

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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.

Alita-Battle Angel is watchable rubbish

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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

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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.

Knives Out is a great film

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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.

The Aeronauts is a great film

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Last night we went to see “The Aeronauts”. It’s the story of a balloon trip. Just a simple up and down. Except that it is not that simple. It says that it was “Inspired by real events”. I’m OK with that, but they must have been really brave souls to go and do this for real. It’s proper edge of the seat stuff. And the acting and the effects are just spot on. Well worth a trip I reckon.

Addams Family Movie

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The Addams Family movie is OK. It’s not great. It’s not bad. It’s OK. There are some good bits, there are some predictable bits. The voice acting is very good indeed and the story is nicely played out.

As I was watching it I was struck by the fact that the art direction was good, but I’ve seen better resources and animation in some video games. But then, these days, I guess that video games have bigger budgets than some movies, so it makes sense. If you go expecting an Addams Family movie you’ll not be disappointed, but that’s about as far as it goes.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

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We went to see “Godzilla: King of the Monsters last night. Not really my idea, but I didn’t need to be dragged there. After all, there was popcorn too.

The story was a bit rubbish, the special effects were OK but the whole movie was made great by something that happened right at the end when the final big battle was over. If you go along (and you should if you like daft movies like these) make sure that you look out for it.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu is not a bad film

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I’m not a huge fan of Pokémon. But I am a fan of nights out and popcorn. So last night we went to see Pokémon Detective Pikachu. It’s fair to say that films of video games don’t have a great history. My favourite ever video game film has got to be the original “Tomb Raider” movie. Mainly because it contains this line.

“The letter’s from my father. He must have written it before he died.”

Anyhoo, expectations appropriately managed we set out to the cinema last night. And we were both pleasantly surprised. The story is a bit wonky, as are some of the special effects and the dialog. Bill Nighy was along for the ride and probably to pay off a sizeable chunk of his mortgage. Ryan Reynolds does a fantastic job of voicing the title character and things burble along in an amiable manner to a satisfying (if not terribly well explained) end.

Worth a trip. Particularly if there is popcorn.

Go and see Shazam!

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Perhaps the secret of a happy life is well-managed expectations. Anyhoo, my expectations of Shazam! were not that high. We’d been to see Captain Marvel a while back and marvelled (no pun intended) at the ease with which the Marvel empire seems to be able to turn out pitch perfect superhero movies whereas those from the rival DC stable seem to be much harder work.

However, Shazam! was really good fun. Not afraid to send itself up, but proper wholesome fun with a strong family theme. The story was very much by the numbers, but the realisation and some of the lines, along with the performances of the central characters, made for a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The Crimes of Grindelwald Film Review

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Went to see “Fantastic Beasts the Crimes of Grindelwald”. I really enjoyed the first Fantastic Beasts film. That was a lovely film with lots of invention, whimsical creatures and engaging characters. So, when the sequel came a long we decided to go and see it without thinking.

That won’t happen again. I guess the first movie in a series is designed to hook you in. Then the second one has to set up a whole bunch of plot lines that you know are going to run until the very end of the movie sequence, and probably beyond that if the takings go well. What I liked about the first film was that there wasn’t too much of the turgid stuff that weighed down the last few Harry Potter films. This one had the lot though. Including:

  • A “chosen one”

  • An “avenge the death of my father” speech

  • A blood pact between sworn rivals

  • A marginal person who is introduced, bigged up with a dark secret and then killed off just to give everyone something to be depressed about

  • Brothers who fall out and then fall in again

  • A goody that everyone knows is a baddy right from the start

  • A baddy who nobody seems to be able to kill

  • A goody who has turned into a baddy so that they can turn back into a goody in film number four

  • A sneaking into a library/bank/whatever sequence to find out something crucially important that I can’t bring myself to care about

  • Folks waving wands at each other and sparks jumping about

I don’t really think that any of the above counts as spoilers. I suppose in our hearts we were hoping for something more. It was all stuff we’d seen before, in a slightly different order and by less familiar characters. And there was so much potential for whimsical invention and new directions in the first film. By the end I was just waiting for it to end, wondering what “crimes” I was seeing and coming to the unhappy conclusion that I might be the victim of one.

If you like Harry Potter, particularly the final depressing films, you’ll be fine. If you’ve been there and done that, you might like to ponder whether you want to do it again before going and seeing this film.