Hope

I forced myself to head to the cinema even though I was post-migraine and not fully recovered. I’d already had a nap during the day and I guess that helped with the symptoms quite a bit. It did mess up my plans for the day which went from getting lots of jobs done to none. I did have a great catch up chat with Jase though.

I had booked the 1920 showing of this film and it’s been quite a while since I went to the cinema in the actual evening! I think the last one I saw this late was probably Akira with Smith. The sun was definitely setting as I drove to the theatre, I couldn’t easily tell what the tide was doing but I think it was low. After watching this film I rated it on IMDb and I scored it 8/10. There’s a whole scoring system so read this communication if you get upset at my ratings. I was torn between a score of 6 and 8. I think I’d watch this again, if anything I’d like to laugh out loud more at certain aspects that I didn’t in the cinema.

I enjoyed this film. It’s a great mix between live action and CGI, it works really well. The suspense built up at the beginning is pretty cool and when we finally see the creatures they fit well with the rest of the story. There is clear distinction between two halves of this movie. There’s the town chase, then it settles down for some exposition and then a reveal along with the final chase scenes. Maybe, just maybe the chase scenes are slightly too long and improbable but given the ending I think you can do anything in this film.

I wonder if they are going to make a sequel? The film kinda sets this up or even a movie from the point of view of the creatures. There’s a whole back story created that would be really interesting to explore even in a game. I enjoyed this film and I’m happy with the lore it created. This is another Korean hit that just works.

Bad Apples

The second part of this two-film weekend was an early afternoon trip to watch Bad Apples. I’d decided that Sunday would be a gym rest day after some shoulder pain Saturday. That mean there was time to fit in a film and then the NFL matches later on. I guess there’s some other things that need doing as well but I can’t remember what they are, except for messing around in Minecraft rebuilding my world – which I deleted! I genuinely can’t remember what the tide was doing as I drove to the cinema, I wasn’t looking, I think I was more amazed that I had followed the car in front of me since my village and I didn’t want them to noticed / feel strange. I rated this film on IMDb as a 6/10 stars, there’s a communication in the past that covers the rules for the rating system. I liked this film but I wouldn’t watch it again.

This was a good film. It was very dark. It was even relatable to me. It covers my profession. It shows aspects of that which hit a little close to home. It’s the sort of thing we’d all like to do, but realise that it’s immoral and we have to cope like everyone else. The film was fun, funny and probably not one I should rave about in the staff room tomorrow. I did like their leather sofas in the staffroom – I want those, I will say that we do have a pool table so that didn’t seem too unlikely in the film.

Runner

It’s been a double film weekend! The first film was on Saturday and I don’t think I knew anything about this before I entered the theatre. The poster and booking images made it look like an action film. The tide was pretty high as I entered the cinema, only a few feet of mud viewable. I went to the cinema at Rochester. One day I might go to the one at Ashford, just for the shock value! I rated this film on IMDB, there’s a communication covering the rating system here, make sure you search for Runner and not The Runner both are films out this year – this particular film gained six stars from me.

I quite enjoyed this film. It was a stupid action movie with some characterisation. The pairing of Owen Wilson and Reacher made sense and worked well. You kinda end up thinking they are like that in real life. The story was pretty bullshit, but then it always is isn’t it? It was nice to see the scenery around Brisbane – I enjoyed that. I will warn you that the last fifteen minutes of the film seemed a bit of a gore fest with blood and injury everywhere. I guess that’s what you want from your macho actors. Oh, and for some reason I didn’t care for the little girl because of her angel story – that can get in the sea.

The Dog Stars

I took a trip to the cinema at Strood. I had booked my tickets earlier in the day not really sure if I was going to make it to the film as I had a shitty migraine. The plan was to pick up a delivery that had gone to a collection point and then head to the cinema IF I felt able to. In the early afternoon I was running at 75% no-go and I used the app to see if I could cancel my ticket but I think it was too late to do that. I didn’t want to get a “black mark” from the cinema so I decided I would go. I went to the parcel collection point, it was closed, and headed to the cinema. The tide was high-ish. It was more high than not. There was a little mudbank still showing, I wasn’t sure if the tide was rising or not.

I rated this film on IMDb after watching it. My migraine had not gone but it dissipated for a while and I was able to watch the film although I did spend time adjusting my sitting position, I couldn’t get comfy. To be honest it was a miserable day which has continued to today. Anyway, I gave this film 6/10. Please read this communication to understand the scoring system.

This film was a pretty standard post-apocalyptic movie. I think I’d rather watch 28 days later, it’s a better movie. The thing that possibly saved this particular film was the scenery – it was pretty amazing. Colorado looks such a pretty state. What I don’t understand is the title of the film. It doesn’t make sense. The dog doesn’t really star. There is a star named after the dog but not plural. There is an actual Dog Star but that wasn’t mentioned. There was one dog in the movie. I’m not sure. I will say the movie looked great. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and when you think about great directors putting out mediocre films you have to realise that they probably do the best they can with the script and money that they’ve got.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

I went to see a film at Rochester cinema. The tide was absolute tip top high as I drove along the road by the river Medway. I wasn’t sure how long the film was but I was curious to see the change that would happen when heading home. I rated this film on IMDb after watching it and I gave it a 6/10. There’s a whole list of rules for the scoring system so you should read this communication.

I quite enjoyed this film. I’m not really into superhero movies, I find them remarkably childish and immature – he who has the biggest fists wins. This film had some humanity in it. I liked the fact that Peter Parker had bruises and was hurt. I think we need to talk about physics and all that at some point but overall this was good fun. I definitely wasn’t expecting Jean Grey to turn up!

The End of Oak Street

Another day another film to be watched now that the kids season has ended at the local cinema. The tide was low, which makes sense – I went to see this film around the same time as yesterday’s and the tide was low then. I will admit that the views over the river were great when I left the cinema as it was golden hour and the sun reflecting off the houses on the east bank looked pretty special. I rated this film on IMDb and it’s score was 6/10, there are RULES about the scoring system so you should read this communication.

I enjoyed this film. It was good fun. The action was sensible, although I’m not sure about the giant snake thing, but then the film never made claims to be an accurate representation of dinosaurs or similar. Honestly the most incredible thing in this film was the size of the house that the Platts lived in. We don’t have any clues as to what types of jobs the adults do but to make ends meet the father is delivering pizzas after losing his main job. The house is, fucking massive. I reckon they had to set this film in the early 1980s just to justify the size of the house and the type of neighbourhood.

I was somewhat surprised about three quarters of the way through the film with an incident involving a main character but this was resolved by the end of the movie – I’m not sure if I’m happy with that – it creates many paradoxes. To be fair, this film copes with the whole time travel thing quite well. I probably need to stop thinking about time as linear and consider other ideas.

I have just been looking up giant snake things as I didn’t particularly like that aspect of the film. I was bothered by the size of the snake. So, I found a page listing all the dinosaurs in the movie and then had a look at the Titanoboa.

Size comparison of largest snakes.jpg
By Ansh Saxena 7163 – Own work, CC0, Link

That’s a pretty big snake!

Mutiny

I went to the cinema at Rochester. Finally there are some films on that aren’t just for kids. A few weeks ago I even went to see The Odyssey again, partly to enjoy the film and partly to be somewhere cooler than the oven that was “outside”. Even the second time that film was great, I loved it. This time I went to see a Statham film. You know what you are going to get with a Statham film, it delivered. On the way to the cinema I noted that the tide was quite low, mud banks visible aplenty. After the film I rated it on IMDb. This film scored 6/10 in my opinion, it is important that you understand the scoring system which is explained here.

This was a Statham film. It delivered. That’s my review.

There was quite a bit of murder in this film. A fair amount of shooting people in the head because it’s cool. A little bit of Americans to the rescue. Silly plot lines. And killing of all people involved in a human trafficking scheme rather than investigating and finding out who the customers were. It was a Statham film. You know what you are getting.

Raging Bull

I went to the cinema to see this film. There aren’t that many films on at the moment that aren’t made for kids because it’s the school holidays and Cineworld are catering to that audience. I might even go and watch The Odyssey again just to have a few hours in the cold – it’s been extremely warm recently. I might even have to see Evil Dead Burn just to get a few hours out of the house. Anyway, I think it was low tide along the estuary, I’m writing this quite a while after actually going to the cinema. After watching the film I rated it on IMDb, there are rules to this to ensure consistency so you should read those before complaining about my score. Controversially I rated this film 7/10.

I enjoyed this film. I’ve been watching a lot of older “classic” films recently, having started The Godfather series. Raging Bull was a good film. It feels like these types of films, historical epics I would call them had the time to develop characters and understanding. I can appreciate how the film was made and that it was very good. It just affected me less than I was expecting. I don’t know why.

The Odyssey

I didn’t book IMAX for this film, perhaps I should have, it did look gorgeous throughout. But, I am getting ahead of myself. There are standard details that must be included before thoughts on a film otherwise what is the point? I went to the Cineworld cinema at Rochester and the tide was about two thirds of maximum height and I wondered if it was ebbing or flowing and, given how long the film is, would I be able to tell when we left the theatre? It turns out the tide was flowing as when we left it was definitely high tide, the film was long but not that long! After watching this film I rated it on IMDb, there is a system explained in this communication, so when I tell you I scored The Odyssey 8/10 you will understand why it gained that score.

At the end of this film my initial thought was “that could’ve been longer”. There were so many little stories along the way and each of them could have been their own film. I think I almost felt cheated out of something remarkable and simply got something quite extraordinary. Can you imagine seeing almost three hours of film and then wanting it to be twice as long! This film was a delight from the start to the finish. I don’t care for the manufactured controversies about casting, those people are bigots and they can go fuck themselves. This film, was utterly great.

I know that they messed around with the actual story. Everything you can possibly do to get this story filmable means you have to make changes. I don’t know enough about Homer’s version of the story to be able to make meaningful comments about those changes. All I can tell you is that I enjoyed this film.

The overall theme of the destruction of civilisation seems pertinent for right now. Perhaps it works for every age? Perhaps humans constantly think that the before times were better times. I feel that way but mostly because there are fascists in charge of many countries around the world and we definitely were making social progress but that is in reverse now. The difference between this film and society today is that Odysseus was aware that he was responsible for the breakdown of society. He broke the rules of society to further the cause of some “righteous war” and that led to the destruction of the entire society. The fascist leaders of today do not see anything they do as wrong, they are constantly “right” and “justified” and that will surely send them all to hell [I know it doesn’t exist, it’s just an expression].

Perhaps I see every film through the lens of my perception of society. OK, yes, I do. I definitely do that. I see society reflected back in film and how much it disappoints me. Maybe I shouldn’t do that? Maybe I should accept films for what they are without pushing my ideals onto them. Maybe I could accept that superhero films are actually good? Ha, ha. Nope. Not doing that. Superhero films are bullshit, fascist, immoral wank stains.

Supergirl (2026)

The weather is, currently, terrible. It’s about the third week of heat. Two weeks ago it was mid-30C. This week it’s low 30s. Fortunately at work I am in air conditioned rooms, but I do feel guilt about that, the electricity use and carbon output is high. So, as the world warms we use air con which creates more energy use and more carbon. When I leave the buildings at work I enter an oven. I’m fed up with sweating in my own house for no reason other than weather. I’m fed up with my head feeling hot, it’s very annoying. I’d like to be able to sleep in a nice cool room. Given the terrible weather it’s worth seeing a film just to spend a couple of hours in a cool room. Towards the end of this film I almost felt chilly!

This trip to the cinema was slightly later than yesterday’s. That means that the tide was almost highest as I drove in. There was a tiny little bit of mudbank that looked like a little beach, inviting to all. I will admit that the river and the view of Rochester the other side was very pretty. On leaving the cinema the tide was at its highest and no mud could be seen. I was stuck behind someone driving around 30% the speed of normals so I used the time to observe the water.

After watching this film I rated it on IMDb and, of course, there’s a system. You can read about that system here or if you want to can refuse to learn anything and be annoyed with how things turn out. I rated this film 6/10.

I actually enjoyed this film. I am not a fan of superhero movies, I think they suck artistically and morally. But I did enjoy this one. The story is pretty standard. But the filming was ok and I thought the script was decent. I was happily surprised that it didn’t take place on Earth although the girl in the film looked remarkably human with oddly human morals and attitudes. I guess I shouldn’t worry about realism in a superhero film.

Why do baddies in films always have face-art? The main baddie in this one had tattoos and metal pins in his face. When this person arrived I kinda hoped they were going to make him a nice person, you know, shock the audience with a “don’t stereotype people” vibe. But, no, he was the baddie and not particularly interesting at that. Leather, tattoos and piercings don’t make you a baddie. If anything they tell of emotional worries. Please, please, please can we have some heroes that have face art or look ugly or are just slime. I guess this film is trying to please the masses in a time when all the baddies in the world are white old men.

Why doesn’t Supergirl just laser-eye all the baddies? If she has that power, and she does, then would it be more efficient just to sinter them all from a distance and with accuracy rather than fist punching them all into buildings that then crash down endangering all the innocents? I didn’t care for the Supergirl costume, but I guess that’s gospel according to some pictures that a bloke drew fifty years ago.

Overall I enjoyed the film. Probably won’t watch it again but there are definitely worse ways to spend two hours when it’s 32C outside.