FilmFincher

Tron Legacy and Lion King are the only 'Formatted for IMAX' to give the full 1:43:1 image for sections of the film. Largely because they are completely CGI. I was quite surprised to hear they'd be giving the full ratio to parts of Dune because there's gonna be more 'in camera' stuff. So maybe they're really trying with this one when it comes to the IMAX stuff.

I can't believe there was nothing for Scream. It's like the next prominent Paramount film after Top Gun. Insane.

I see people complaining about Peter's decision in this trailer. Surely it's there to set up a fairly decent character arc, having to accept his new status in the world and his changed life, you can't wish some things away yadayadayada etc. etc... everybody claps, the end. The MCU is like a long running TV show so we keep getting these micro character arcs in each film, nothing super meaty or consequential which makes the individual film weaker but it all adds up by the end. Also huge Raimi fan, trailer did not do a lot for me, feels like they're gonna mess it up somehow.

I'll preface this by saying I love Westworld, it's one of my favourite TV shows. Lisa Joy is an absolute delight and incredibly smart/talented. Reminiscence was a real slog to sit through. Just narratively stagnant and emotionally removed. The positives are the visuals; the film looks incredible, genuinely cinematic and beautifully lit, one of the best of the year so far. Ramin Djwaldi's score is pretty decent, very atmospheric. All the actors are good in the film and there's one well choreographed fight scene. The world is also really cool, the concept is fantastic. The film absolutely does not trust the audience, it is so overwritten and relies on the script for any heavy lifting. This turns all the actors into exposition machines (ironically the machines in Westworld are more human), constant explaining of backstories, relationships and how the world works. Rather than the VO being a cute noir throwback I was reminded of Blade Runner's original cut. The central mystery isn't compelling enough to invest any interest into what's happening. It's pretty basic, noir stuff all things considered. You never really care about what's happening in the first place and it's made worse when it wants to be emotionally resonant at the very end. A real deflated balloon of a narrative. There's a few moments where Reminiscence is clicking and genuinely smart, the memory device machine provides a couple of fun narrative jumps and a moment towards the end worked quite well for me. But the rest of the time the film is trying so hard to be clever in how the narrative links together, and while it does all add up, none of it lands. It's all impact-less and really makes you really appreciate when those things work in a Nolan film or in Westworld. Instead of feeling effortless Reminiscence just feels tired and wrought and you'll probably forget it even existed. 4/10

I thought this was pretty great. Tonally it's Saint Maud meets The Invisible Man meets The Babadook with a tiny bit of Mike Flanagan sprinkled in. The film took a very firm grasp on it's intentions early on. It's much more about the state of mind of it central character Beth as she tries to make sense of her husbands suicide, and Rebecca Hall completely owns the performance, running the whole gamut of mental states. She's genuinely masterful. While I think the film firmly places itself in a more allegorical side of horror, they sprinkle just enough lore, and doubt about the subjectivity of Beth's perspective that you can find a lot to discuss on either side of things. There's a constant question of how much of what we're seeing is actually happening? And the film is better for it, keeping you on your toes. The scares primarily relied on tension and they really worked for me. Any scene with Beth alone in the house was anxiety inducing. There's one egregious jump scare that felt somewhat unnecessary. Where The Night House struggles is in it's last moments. For a film that's done a wonderful job of being subtle, being effortless in the construction of it's scenes and expressions of character it decides to lay the sauce on real thick. Not giving enough time to what should be an important moment, and settles on heavy handed, contrived dialogue after the fact. Nonetheless a majority of the film is really well done but you may be left with a slightly sour taste leaving the theatre. I haven't been too impressed with some of the horror this year so it was nice to see something that gave me genuine chills. 8.5/10

This was fun, light, harmless entertainment. It's just a good time at the cinema and the sort of thing everyone will enjoy. The endearing positivity of it was refreshing and the romance plot-line was a surprisingly strong core for the film. The whole cast have great chemistry with each other. Really heartwarming. I'm on board for Reynolds so I could watch him on being a lovable doofus anytime of the day and I'd be happy. Comer is already a star in my heart as well and I can't wait for the rest of her career. Like others have said it takes a template of The Truman Show, Lego Movie etc. and it's not a bad riff, nor does it feel wrought. It works for a story of self discovery. Not all of the humour lands, especially around Waititi. But there's enough chuckles and a few incredible moments especially towards the end. Genuinely 'fist pumping', 'big smile on your face' type moments. Action was solid all around, I wasn't expecting much but it surprised me and the big CGI moments are also fun to watch. Some of the 'gamer' lingo was cringe inducing but what you gonna do with these kind of films. 7/10

This was a rough one. Redeeming qualities were Andrew Koji as Storm Shadow who shines in a dull film, proving a more complicated performance than the film deserves. Also some of the fantastical elements like the snakes were refreshing. It also went by quicker than expected, it's not a slog, there's stuff happening on screen; not good stuff, but stuff nonetheless. But outside of that this film is exceedingly generic on every level. You get a taste of some of the dialogue these actors are forced to say from the get-go and it only gets worse from there. Golding jumps back and forth between British and his wrung American accent. Honestly think he spent more time doing the British one. Zero chemistry with anyone on screen. Everyone else is just dull as a doornail. Even the wonderful Samara Weaving (who's not in the film much and might come out unscathed) is just flatlining here. Most disappointing thing was the action. The one thing I said going in was just 'please let this film have good action'. It occasionally shows promise. There's a couple of shots per action sequence where you think the tide is turning but it ultimately resorts to a mess of extremely shoddy editing, tight angles and shaky camera work. Frustrating on every level. 3/10

Hellboy 2 was definitely the first one that came to mind. Such a shame

May The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It A Quiet Place II June Those Who Wish Me Dead Cruella The Father A Quiet Place II (Repeat) Nobody In the Heights F9 July Freaky Black Widow Jungle Cruise The Suicide Squad August Stillwater Another Round Judas and the Black Messiah Total Films : 15

I think that cynical, darkly humorous edge is what helps distinguish the film from the myriad of superhero properties. The unashamed killings of the squad at the start. The little bird being brutally killed and another one coming back and pecking on Rookers exploded head. Bloodsport and Peacemaker competing to take out those guys in brutal ways (that one guy sleeping though) and then revealing they're the rebels. King Shark making cute friends, only for them to attack him in a horrifying way. Polka Dot Man wants to die and when he fulfils his dream of being a superhero he immediately gets squashed. Then little things peppered throughout like Weasel having killed 12 children. It just feels like Gunn is having so much fun playing with all that stuff. I also don't know much about the Suicide Squad but to me he nailed the tone it needed.

This was so much fun, big smile on my face throughout. Wonderfully violent, funny, occasionally gross and disturbing. Full James Gunn and zany to the max. It's sets itself apart from Guardians by injecting a darkly humorous/cynical edge to the film. It helps give it a unique tone for the film. Reminds me a lot of how Sam Raimi's films would do this professional tonal juggling act paired with inventive visual direction. Doesn't miss out on the heart as well, great character work/dynamics across the board (nice to see The Suicide Squad actually feel like a team) and all the little character arcs come together nicely. Ratchcatcher and Peacemaker were the standouts for me representing both the heart and the humour of the film. I was genuinely surprised by how much Gunn endeared me to these (on paper) ridiculous characters, and the ones I didn't care for in the first film like Rick Flagg. There's not a weak kink in the armour aside from a couple of lacklustre villains. It's pretty straightforward plot wise (maybe too simple) but it keeps you on your toes with a couple of twists and turns. Looks pretty nice as well (seems like they added a thin layer of grain to some scenes like 'Nobody' to give it some texture), CGI was strong, solid action sequences. Gunn also has a clear, distinct vision for how he wants to shoot scenes. None of it feels like just 'coverage'. The film delivered where it should unlike some of the other bigger blockbusters this year. It's a great time at the cinema and I'm excited to watch it again. 8.5/10

I thought this was quite good overall. The performances are fantastic across the board and I think the film has a lot more going under the surface than people are giving it credit for. It's self aware about the nature of Damon's character Bill and addresses it directly in a way that worked for me. It's a much quieter film than the trailers would have you think and largely focuses on these tender relationships Bill forms and the inherit flaws of his character. The set-up is incredible stuff, wonderful filmmaking and establishing of the world/characters. The relationship between Bill and Maya is absolutely heartwarming and wonderful to watch. The biggest problem is when the film threatens to derail itself (and nearly does) in the back half when in decides to become Prisoners for 20 mins. It was a situation/point that could have been encapsulated to one scene and had the same emotional/narrative outcome but it feels too big, overcooked and overlong when the film had done such a good job underplaying everything up until that point. It manages to swing itself back around to stick the landing and make it's point. 7.5/10

JULY Movies The French Connection - 10/10 - What a film, it’s like a precursor to everything The Wire is or does. So much detail and realism in every frame. Road to Perdition - 9/10 - Every performance is incredible in this, Mendes shows so much restraint, stunning imagery. The Sting - 9/10 The Favourite - 8.5/10 Stardust - 8.5/10 - What a joy! the wonder, the magic, the humour. Wish Claire Danes was a bit less of a damsel but that’s about it. The Producers - 8.5/10 The Suicide Squad - 8.5/10 Ghost - 8/10 - Everything you want. Romantic, funny, sleazy bad guys and a surprising amount of world-building. The Lost Boys - 8/10 The Color of Money - 8/10 - I went in expecting a two hander but this really is Newman’s film. He owns it and I wish I’d watched the first one before. Good Boys - 8/10 Freaky - 8/10 Blazing Saddles - 7.5/10 Who Framed Roger Rabbit - 7.5/10 The Edge - 7/10 - Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin fight a bear in-camera, what more do you need! Solid Goldsmith score. Black Widow - 7/10 Fear Street 1978 - 6.5/10 Sleeping With the Enemy - 6/10 - Julia Roberts is great, love the resolution, would have cut the boyfriend character but it’s the 90’s I guess. Guns Akimbo - 6/10 - This almost reaches Crank levels of insane fun, it’s like it needed to be cheaper. The Tomorrow War - 6/10 - If I’d paid to see this film in a cinema it would probably be lower but it’ll keep you busy on a lazy Sunday. Young Guns - 6/10 Jungle Cruise - 6/10 Fear Street 1994 - 5/10 Fear Street 1666 - 3/10 - The Fear Street series overall didn’t really click for me, it kept falling flat and the characters were so uncharismatic and unlikable in the present day. The first hour of this one is rough, horrendous acting. TV Loki - 8/10 - What I've been looking for from the MCU shows. Godzilla Singular Point - 3/10

Just want to give a shout out to the sequence where Bloodsport and Peacemaker are competing on how they take guys out. It was already hilarious and then they reveal it's the good guy rebels and you get the whole bit of the team standing awkwardly. Great stuff, I laughed so hard.

Man this was so much fun, big smile on my face throughout. Wonderfully violent, funny, occasionally gross and disturbing. Full James Gunn and zany to the max. Doesn't miss out on the heart as well, great character work/dynamics and all the little sub-plots come together nicely. It's pretty straightforward plot wise but it keeps you on your toes with a couple of things. Looks pretty nice as well (seems like they added a thin layer of grain to some scenes like 'Nobody' to give it some texture), CGI was strong, solid action sequences. The film delivered where it should unlike some of the other bigger blockbusters this year. This and 'A Quiet Place Part II' have definitely been the best big screen cinema going experiences so far. 8.5/10

It was a serviceable adventure movie. I had fun. Some solid character work in there (everyone gets their little arc), a few hearty chuckles, some twists and turns. I'm in love with Emily Blunt. Why does she not have her own franchise. Thought the villains were pretty entertaining as well, there's a nice dynamic there. I very much enjoyed that flashback scene in the middle of the film and music choice. What kept bringing it down was the direction, especially the editing and coverage. Zero sense of geography when it came to the set-pieces. You wouldn't think this cost over $100M, the film has no sense of scope or romance for the big screen. Maybe I'm spoiled, I got the Indiana Jones 4k boxset last weekend and binged it and this just kind of feels like the diet version of all those adventure movies you want it to be. Fairly good time while I watched it though, would recommend waiting until it's free on Disney+ 6/10

Most people I've seen at the cinema in a long time. Lobby was bustling, people going to see all kinds of movies. Felt nice.

I'm actually quite fond of Hawkeye. AOU really did a lot for me when it came to his character. It re-established him as the sardonic dad of the group and made him the most down to earth character out of the Avengers. Which surprised me since Renner is at his best when playing emotionally distant men.

i revisited it at the weekend because it got added and it was a lot worse than I remember.

This looks really epic, got me so much more excited than the last trailer. Obviously that end shot is iffy but man this got me hyped. My thoughts on the look of the film, because that's what seems to be divisive from general reactions. You have MCU flatness where the image just has no texture to it and very uniform but Dune's look seems so purposeful and powered by intent. It's a very distinct image which I think is more important than being colourful and I feel as though it's going to suit the tone of the film.

Saw in cinemas, thought the CG was pretty bad, even for the MCU. Worst moment was that Taskmaster APC coming around the corner. Straight out of Uncharted 4. I didn't mind all the skydiving/explosion stuff in the finale, that stuff is expected so it doesn't bother me (and I can't deny there's something visually stimulation about Taskmaster putting her sword in a peice of building and sliding along it). CG double in a hand to hand fight was disappointing. I for one loved the Taskmaster reveal (Tied in with the themes of the film and somewhat heartbreaking), just thought the character was sorely underused and not portrayed as threatening enough. I did enjoy the film overall but all the confusing choices in the 3rd act leave a real bad taste in your mouth, especially since it's pretty solid before that. Two flashbacks to Weisz and Johansson explaining the plot. The narrative device of pheromones so you can't hurt me is such a weird obstacle to overcome and feels like at the very least it should have been introduced earlier. The cut to black and two weeks later with ZERO explanation The post-credits which is setting up an incredibly contrived conflict and is out to dumb down Yelena's character. If this isn't resolved in one scene in the Hawkeye show I'm going to be so annoyed.

- The entire opening was fantastic, also love an opening credits sequence. - The story set up is solid, it really feels like Yelena should be the main character though, she's going through a bit of a Bourne arc. - Pugh and Johansson are great together. The scenes they have together are some of the most intimate, human moments the MCU has had. - Ultimately the film needs to be a superhero film first and foremost which gets in the way of the more interesting aspects of the film. - It just doesn't delve into the themes of trauma, past coming back to haunt you as much as I would have liked. Especially on Natasha's side of things, it's in a constant state of 'okay let's move on'. - Pugh and Harbour are the standouts, Pugh just absolutely sells everything the character has been through, the dinner scene with family is A+, but her ability to switch between that and the funnier moments in magical. Harbour is hilarious throughout. - Weisz was great but should have been used more, the relationship she has with these girls deserves more than one scene before the 3rd act. - Score was forgettable and occasionally overbearing, almost like they felt a need to go big. - Terrible CGI throughout, even by Marvel standards, there's a sequence straight out of Uncharted 4. - CG doubles in fight scenes are disappointing as well. - Action jumps between being coherent to incoherent in the same sequences. Almost promising but far too choppy and confusing angle choices hamper them. The larger scale stuff, vehicle chases, big explosions is what you except from the MCU. - Really lacklustre villains, Ray Winstone isn't even trying, my god. I love the taskmaster reveal and how it's resolved, that landed for me and tied into all the things the film is trying to say. But there's not enough threat from Taskmaster throughout and they don't milk the idea of the character enough, feels like an afterthought. - The 3rd act hurts the film a lot, weird flashback/editing choices, odd narrative devices being set up and resolved in the same sequence, more bad CGI. Then a cut to black that just isn't explained and leaves you confused when it comes back. What is this need to directly tie into other instalments? A post-credits scene that leaves a bad taste in your mouth and seems like it's going to actively dumb down one of the best characters. Contrived set-up for a future property. The film really needed to stay on a smaller scale and the action scenes needed a distinct voice. The dysfunctional family aspect does shine through and the characters are all lovable, with Yelena especially being a force of nature in the film. The intimate dramatic scenes are overshadowed by the films need to be an MCU film which is fine but it could have been so much more. 7/10

Man I'm on 11 with one repeat. How do you find the time, that's incredible! I'm generally avoiding films I don't care about though like Hitman's Wife Bodyguard, probably Space Jam etc. For the most part I've managed to see everything I want. The only one that's not releasing at my local that's super frustrating is Another Round.

Seeing it in a couple of hours. Do I need to stick around for mid-credits, post credits or both?

You've literally just blown my mind. Action Man was GI Joe this whole time!