Category: Film

Film review: Dune: Part Two (IMAX version)

Totally brilliant. Perfect storytelling. Perfect moviemaking. Not a wasted minute. Looks and sounds exquisite in IMAX.

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Dune” by Frank Herbert (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: The Art of “Dune” by Frank Herbert

Film review: Mission:Impossible Dead Reckoning Pt 1

I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of Tom Cruise but I enjoy the Mission Impossible films and to my eternal shame I have to admit to really liking the second Top Gun film.

The reviews for this film are off the scale so I thought I would go and see it on the big screen – not quite IMAX but Showcase X-Plus which is bigger than your standard screen.

There are a lot of action set-pieces to rival any James Bond film but this episode of MI left me a little underwhelmed – perhaps due to the level it was hyped. The storyline involving a self-aware AI didn’t convince and some of the stunts were clearly enhanced by CGI. That is not to say that Cruise does not do his part – it is evidently him doing the stunts, he can run like the devil and no-one works harder to bring a blockbuster to the cinema – but in past films I’ve thought “that can’t be real” but it was. I’m thinking of the vertigo-inducingly wonderful / petrifying scene in MI: Ghost Protocol where Cruise is hanging off the outside of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

The exception is when he rides a motorbike off a cliff which is an astounding moment but it felt to me like the film was built around that scene. Instead of it being just a part of the natural flow of the story it was more “watch this, this is the cool bit from the trailer”.

Overall: good and, in parts, very good.

Film review: Oppenheimer (IMAX version)

This is the story of a complex, flawed man who played a leading role in changing the world forever.

I think this is Christopher Nolan’s best film, a hugely powerful piece of art. The talented cast all do an exemplary job. I thought it delivered a massive emotional punch. It reminds me very much of “JFK”, the Oliver Stone film that also moved me a lot when I was younger.

Let’s talk about the power of cinema. Despite being a lover of going to the cinema, since Covid and the advent of streaming services I haven’t really returned, going on the odd occasion with my daughter to see her choice of movie. This is a film that I did not want to miss on the big screen, so I went for the biggest one I could – IMAX.

The experience was extraordinary. But it isn’t down to the size of the screen and the pristine quality of the picture. It was the sound – all around me in a way that I could never replicate at home. This film has a superb soundtrack, which adds a lot to the movie in many ways, but it was also the “feel” of the sound. It envelops you – the impact of the sound in the IMAX version makes the chair you are sitting in vibrate under you. At one particular moment it literally lifted me out of my seat. It is a physical as well as an emotional journey.

Now I remember why going to the cinema can be such a special experience – a good story, beautifully realised and enriched by an environment that, together, can escort you into a different reality for a few hours.

I highly recommend you see this wonderful, haunting film – especially if you can do it in IMAX.

Mini review: Summer of Soul (…or, when the revolution could not be televised)

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful stuff. Way more than just the music – a look at a significant moment in time. Simply do not miss this.

Mini review: The IPCRESS File (2022 TV adaptation)

I came to this with quite a lot of trepidation. I’m a big fan of Len Deighton’s books but my preference is for the later “Bernard Samson” novels rather than the original series of “Spy with no name” / ”Harry Palmer” books. Having said that, The IPCRESS File is probably the best of that particular bunch. The 1965 film version also got a bit too psychedelic in places for my taste. The BBC’s 2017 TV adaption of Deighton’s excellent alternative history novel “SS-GB” was good but not totally satisfying. I struggled with the casting of the main character.

All of that faded away shortly after the start of this new adaptation. From the beginning to the end this is just glorious. The whole of the casting is sublime – Harry is basically an updated version of Michael Caine in the film but done well and Jean is just stunning in all regards. The music, the typography, the camera angles, the colour grading – they have absolutely nailed the styling and vibe of the time.

The story has been altered somewhat in that it ties itself into another of the main events of the early 1960s but it is very well done and has some good twists. Six episodes allows the plot some space to breathe whilst the pace never falters.

A big success and a nice surprise.

Also see…

• Spare Cycles: Radio: “The Ipcress File” by Len Deighton (BBC Radio 4 adaptation)

Harry Palmer / “Spy with no name” series:

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “The Ipcress File” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Horse Under Water” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Film: Funeral in Berlin

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Billion Dollar Brain” by Len Deighton

• Spare Cycles: Book: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Spy

The Bernard Samson novels:

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Berlin Game” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Mexico Set” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “London Match” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Winter: A Berlin Family 1899-1945” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Spy Hook” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Spy Line” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Spy Sinker” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

Other:

• Spare Cycles: Len Deighton books (my original reviews of the books – including the “Faith, Hope and Charity” trilogy)

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “SS-GB” by Len Deighton (audiobook version)

• Spare Cycles: Review: XPD by Len Deighton

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “Bomber” by Len Deighton

• The Deighton Dossier

• The Deighton Dossier: The Ipcress File TV series

• Spybrary: 001 – All about Len Deighton with Deighton Dossier’s Rob Mallows

Film: No Time to Die (James Bond)

No Time to Die is a fantastic Bond film and in my opinion Daniel Craig has been the best Bond.

• The Guardian: No Time to Die review – Daniel Craig dispatches James Bond with panache, rage – and cuddles

• GQ: The Legacy of Daniel Craig’s James Bond

• Spare Cycles: Film: Skyfall (James Bond)

• Spare Cycles: Film: Spectre (James Bond)

Romeo and Juliet (Online 2021)

I’m not particularly a Shakespeare fan but a few years ago I went to see unconventional versions of “Romeo & Juliet” and “Much Ado About Nothing” at the Globe Theatre in London. Along with “King Lear” in a live cinema broadcast from the Globe, these showed me how seeing the plays performed totally transforms the experience:

In 2021 the world is a different place and the prospect of seeing a play performed in person seems a long way off – not to mention the all-too-real prospect that by the time it is possible to see a play performed in person again the theatres may not be in a position to reopen.

So when I saw a review of this online version I thought it would be worth checking out. At £20 it is not cheap for an online event but The Guardian review of the production sounds intriguing: “The digital enhancements, which leave us questioning where theatre ends and film begins, create a marvel of hybridity.”

This will not be to everyone’s taste visually, but given the current restrictions it is remarkable. I liked seeing such a young, varied cast and my understanding of the story has been much improved. If I had paid £20 to see this live I would have been happy.

If you are reading this as it is published you still have time to sign up and catch the production. If you are a fan of the play and like to see the many ways in which the story can be portrayed, then I fully recommend it.

And maybe this hybrid of film and theatre live performance is just the beginning. I could imagine this blurring of the real and the unreal becoming the basis of virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) versions – truly bringing the Bard into the 21st century…

The Guardian: Romeo & Juliet review – Verona is a dystopia in trailblazing tragedy

Spare Cycles: Much Ado About Nothing (The Globe Theatre, London)

Spare Cycles: King Lear: Live cinema broadcast from the Globe Theatre, London

Mini review: “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline (audiobook edition)

This has instantly become one of my favourite books – I loved every minute of this twenty-first century sci-fi celebration of 1980’s book, film and music culture.

It’s 2044 and the real world has gone to hell, so most people spend their time in a virtual reality universe called the OASIS. When the original founder / coder of the OASIS dies he leaves behind a challenge – find an easter-egg he has programmed into the virtual world by completing a number of (increasingly nerdy) tasks and win the founder’s fortune and control of the OASIS itself.

Wil Wheaton does an excellent, basically flawless narration and I would recommend the audiobook version.

There are only a couple of reservations – some people may find the geekiness overload just too much to bear and at 15 hours it is quite a time investment.

But not me – I really liked it and if it sounds like your thing, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Now to watch the movie to see how much they rip out the guts of the story…

Film review: John Wick 3 – Parabellum (Blu-ray version)

This is the best of the series so far, mainly due to the more varied ways in which Keanu Reeves dispatches his enemies. Halle Berry is good at it too. Plot is largely irrelevant. Enjoy.

• Spare Cycles: Film review: John Wick (Chapters 1 and 2) – Blu-ray version

• Wikipedia: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum