Tagged: 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)

Film review: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I wasn’t going to watch this but it came highly recommended by some comic-loving friends so I checked it out.

This is visually stunning, has a great story, has a vibrancy and energy all of its own and must instantly go down as one of the great superhero movies.

I was completely blown away.

• Spare Cycles: Marvel Cinematic Universe: movie reviews Assembled

Film review: In The Shadow Of The Moon

in_the_shadow_of_the_moon

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landings and there are some excellent programmes and films around at the moment.

This documentary features the surviving astronauts of the US space missions to the moon (at least, at the time of its release 12 years ago) telling stories about their experiences. It is interesting stuff, told with a good dash of humour and some great archive NASA footage.

Well recommended.

• Spare Cycles: Mini review: “The Right Stuff” by Tom Wolfe

• Spare Cycles:  Film review: The Right Stuff

• BBC Radio 4: The Infinite Monkey Cage –  Astronaut Special

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

These films basically involve Keanu Reeves beating up and shooting (mainly shooting) everyone in sight. Put your brain in neutral for a couple of hours and enjoy.

A bit more variation in how he dispatches people would be good though.

I think the films are a bit overrated but Chapter 2 is better than the first and Chapter 3 is coming out on disc / digital later this year. That’s supposed to be the best of the bunch.

Film review: Captain Marvel

I’ve managed to catch this at the cinema before it leaves the big screen – I was surprised to still find showings after a few months on release – but I guess there are still people like me who wanted to catch up after seeing Avengers: Endgame.

In my review of Avengers: Endgame I said:

The character Captain Marvel played a significant part in this film and I was disappointed that I hadn’t been able to see her own film before Endgame came out. Not knowing Captain Marvel’s background story did not affect my enjoyment of Endgame but it would have been better to have seen it beforehand. Bear in mind that the Captain Marvel film came out less than 2 months before Endgame and was not getting stellar reviews so I did not rush to see it (opportunity is also a factor). Contrast that to the release of Black Panther, which was also released only a couple of months before Infinity War, where the reviews were excellent and I made sure that I saw it in the cinema.

A lack of buzz around the film meant that I overlooked it. I also thought that it was really late in the MCU series to introduce a major character.

However, after a bit of a muddled start, I really enjoyed the film. For staunch MCU fans there is a lot to recommend the film – it is as much a film about Nick Fury as Captain Marvel and answers a number of questions that I didn’t realise I had, such as how Fury lost his eye and how the Avengers got their name.

If you haven’t seen it – and especially if you haven’t seen Endgame yet – it is well worth checking out (it’s always best to see the series in order of release and, as ever, stick around for the credits). Is it up there with your “Iron Man”, “Infinity War” or “Black Panther”? No. Does it feature in the second rung of very solid episodes like “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”? Yes indeed.