A silly comedy. I enjoyed all the oddball characters in the cast.
Critics hated it.
This is a sequel. I missed the original.
JJ is persuaded to accompany his daughter Sophie on her school trip to Italy, where they become involved in a terrorist plot.
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Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe … this movie should be good.
But it received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, and was considered a box-office bomb for losing up to $75 million.
A bad plot. But super interesting special effects on the Great Wall of China.
During the reign of Renzong Emperor, a group of European mercenaries travels to China, searching for gunpowder. A few miles north of the Great Wall, they are attacked by a monster.
Only Irishman William Garin and Spaniard Pero Tovar survive.
They sever the monster’s arm and bring it with them. Upon reaching the Wall, they are taken prisoner by the Nameless Order, led by General Shao and Strategist Wang.
The Nameless Order exists to combat Tao Tie, alien monsters that arrived from a meteorite and attack once every sixty years.
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A silly lark of an action film.
Director Guy Ritchie is super talented. He should make a serious film.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a 2024 spy action comedy film directed, co-written and co-produced by Guy Ritchie, and starring Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding and Alex Pettyfer.
Based on the 2014 book Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis, the film portrays a heavily fictionalised version of Operation Postmaster. …
Ian Fleming … would use Operation Postmaster as the inspirational basis for his James Bond novels.
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Watch the film. Skip the book.
Argylle is a 2024 spy action comedy film: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Argylle Delivers Twisty-Turny Tedium, But Its Action Scenes Are Great
That sums it up.
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I thought the book would be similar.
It’s not.
I thought the book would be a fun action thriller — something like the film.
It’s not.
In 2024, Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen were revealed as the writers of the tie-in novel to the film Argylle, under the pseudonym “Elly Conway“.
… I can’t really find any relationship between the movie and book from the word Argylle.
At most you might call the book some kind of origin story for Aubrey Argylle.
But the only interesting character for me was the Russian / American uber-villain and wealthy tycoon Vasily Federov.
How did I miss this FUN movie?
The plot is nonsense, of course. But simply enjoy the ride.
Now You See Me is the first installment in the Now You See Me series.
The film features an ensemble cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman.
The plot follows an FBI agent and an Interpol detective who track and attempt to bring to justice a team of magicians who pull off bank heists and robberies during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.
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Enjoying that, I streamed Now You See Me 2, as well.
Entertaining. But nearly as good as the first.
Now You See Me 3 is in the works.
Fletch Won (1985) is a mystery/comedy novel written by American Gregory Mcdonald.
It is the eighth book to star the character Fletch, but is a prequel set before the events of first seven books in the series. …
Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher is moved off of obituaries and wedding announcements at the News Tribune and is assigned his first journalistic interview, only to have the subject turn up dead in the newspaper‘s parking lot. He investigates, beginning his dual profession of journalist and investigator.
Amusing. But I don’t think I’ll continue with any of the other Fletch books.
The book series was twice adapted for film:
Chevy seems the perfect fool to play this role.
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Paul Giamatti is always good.
Reviews were great.
Sideways director Alexander Payne reunites with Giamatti.
The Holdovers is a 2023 American Christmas comedy-drama film set in 1970.
I wouldn’t say this film is as good as Sideways, but it has something of similar feel.
A cantankerous, unpopular teacher, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti); a bright, abrasive student, Angus (Dominic Sessa); and Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the school’s head cook and a recently bereaved mother, find themselves forced to spend the winter holiday together in an otherwise empty New England elite academy …
… it’s about finding family where you least expect it.
Da’vine Joy Randolph won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress.
That’s a surprise to me. She doesn’t have nearly the same screen time as the other two stars.
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“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”.
Bhagavad Gita
Initially, I wasn’t all that interested in either the long non-fiction book, nor the film.
BUT finally got around to both.
The movie is better. Not perfect, but a fantastic job telling a difficult story.
I streamed it on Prime over 3 nights as it is LONG.
Cillian Murphy would seem to be the best possible actor to play the brilliant, complicated J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Robert Downey Jr. is excellent.
Matt Damon as Gen. Leslie Groves, as well.
Kenneth Branagh as Niels Bohr is perfect. He has the gravitas to bring depth to Oppenheimer’s hero.
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I read American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2005) by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Surprisingly, I was quite engaged in his early years. The beginnings of the theoretical Physics that would lead to the nuclear bomb.
Once it got to his downfall due to his security hearing in the McCarthy era. The efforts by Lewis Strauss and the FBI to undermine Oppenheimer — I got restless.
Always conflicted, I wished Oppenheimer had simply walked away from the controversy.
I also read The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer, the author being a friend of my brother.
It’s an interesting alternative history of the Manhattan Project historical figures.
I didn’t watch Snowpiercer (TV series).
But finally got around to the 2013 post-apocalyptic science fiction film.
Weird.
Why and how did a billionaire build a train that could run around the world?
I can see why some consider it a cult classic. It is philosophical.
It does have a terrific cast.
Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of critics gave the film a positive rating.
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GREAT. But not as fantastic as I had hoped.
Watch it just for the cinematography. I sat in the 2nd row in IMAX so the images filled my vision.
YES a bit blurry, but it feels more like I was actually riding a sand worm. 😀
Dune (1965) is one of my favourite books. I read it for the 4th or 5th time in advance of seeing part 2 of the Denis Villeneuve adaptation.
The best character in Dune 2 is not my (alleged girlfriend) Zendaya, but Feyd-Rautha, Baron Harkonnen’s younger nephew. Perfectly played by Austin Butler.
What a transformation from Elvis to the epitome of evil.
Chalamet was inspired by Austin’s commitment to the role.
Casting is all good, however.
Javier Bardem as Stilgar, is better than in the book. And he’s great in the book. 😀
Stilgar given a larger leadership role on Arrakis in future books. So he’ll likely be back in the 3rd film.
As nearly all books were in 1965, the roles played by women are quite cliche. Powerful — but mainly in devious, backroom scheming.
In this movie, Zendaya is more independent than in the book. And she rides off into the sand at the end. Alone.
In the book she meekly follows Paul as his concubine.
Of course no film can include EVERYTHING in the book.
For the most part, I liked the changes.
It was better — for example — that Chani didn’t get pregnant. That’s quite confused in the books anyway.
In the Lynch, Paul’s sister Alia was one of the most interesting characters. She’s only hinted at in the Villeneuve – part 2. I suspect she’ll be central to the 3rd movie in the series.
I quite liked the 1984 David Lynch adaptation, by the way.
Because the timeline of the Villeneuve is accelerated, Alia isn’t born yet when part 2 ends.
I do wish Thufir Hawat had been back for part 2.
Mainly I felt the first half of the long movie was near perfect. The second half less believable.
It may be that there was no perfect way to explain the beginnings of Paul conquering the galaxy with fanatic super fighters.
The knife fight between Paul and Feyd-Rautha’s is the climax of the film. And it was well done.
See it.
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related – Lynch doesn’t like the final cut of his version of Dune.
Rick McCharles 